THE PONY CART, never known for its reliability, seems now in danger of collapsing altogether. It is unaccustomed to the weight of M. Jouy, who sits placidly at its edge, his feet dragging along the dim road and raising dust. To keep the cart from upsetting, all the brothers and sisters have scrambled to the front. They disagree over who will wield the switch. Their teeth rattle in their heads. But this cannot stop them from singing.
We are the most cunning family in the world! Claude shouts to the moon.
Jean-Luc, who has strained his back, is not as convinced of this.
Next we should kidnap the prime minister and demand ransom, says Lucie.
No! cries Mimi. He dislikes children, and will make an unpleasant prisoner. I say we should take the princess, who will do everything as we tell her.
Oh, it is easiest for the little ones! Jean-Luc moans.
To Claude's disappointment, M. Jouy has not joined them in their singing. He has not spoken, in fact, since his abduction, nor made any sound at all.
It is because his mouth is full, says Mimi.
Lucie makes a note of this: He has been taught good manners, even though he is an idiot.
What if we take away his cookie? Claude suggests.
But they shy away from the idea, these fierce-hearted children. It touches them strangely to see M. Jouy eating, the slow grinding movement of his terrible jaws, heavy as death. But he takes the tiniest of bites! It is like waking up the miller, setting those huge stones into motion, for only a half cup of meal. But this is clever, thinks Lucie. To make the cookie last.
I know, says Jean-Luc, forgetting, for a moment, the pain in his back: What if we were to flick him, lightly, with the switch?