Chapter 4 – NAIFI
“It would sound queer, said out loud
and in public, that they were in love with the King of Spain.”
“Betsy very seldom said “Gee whiz!”
She was too religious.” and “The sooner we don't see them the
better.”
The great goat chase is on. They
realize it was an animal who stole lunch and they go after it. Mostly
Tib, natch.
But they are stopped short when Tib
bumps into “a little girl so strange that she seemed to have
stepped out of one of Betsy's stories.” She is dressed like a grown
woman, but is a girl like them. She is talking in a language they
don't understand and she is very obviously upset at the goat's
behavior. “She is the excitedest person I ever saw,” says Betsy.
They try to assure her that they aren't fussed about the lunch –
which has been scattered across the grass.
They decide to invite her to their
picnic. There is a bit about the importance of
picnics and then they commence to eat. The little girl joins them and
she has pita and cheese of her own. They start teaching each other
words in English [1] and whatever language the little girl speaks.
The pictures for this chapter show a
running goat, a naughty goat and a welcoming picnic - all lovely.
They share some words and then their
names. She is Naifi. But it gets late and everyone has to head home.
They talk about Naifi as they head home and it is only when they see
their newspapers blowing around that they realize that their letter
is gone. They fear that Julia and Katie might find the letter and
make their lives a misery. It can NOT just be worry. Those older
girls are a pain. I will fight anyone who says otherwise. Middle
sisters forever!!
They decide to keep Naifi a secret and
Tib says okay, but she wants to lose the underpants pictures of the
king. Betsy and Tacy acquiesce, but tell Tib that they aren't done
with trying to make her a queen.
They all head home. The picture of the
Ray kitchen is the most Julia picture ever! She is practicing her
piece and she is SO the center of attention in this pic. She lives
for the spotlight. She is talking about being “Queen of the May”
- hmmmm... I wonder what that is?
Chapter 5 – THE SCHOOL
ENTERTAINMENT
 |
| Tib - Marjorie Gerlach in the baby dance dress! Accordion sold separately. |
There is a school entertainment coming
and everyone is excited. Maud compares Julia and Katie's personal
senses of anticipation. Julia is thrilled! “Her feet loved a
platform as Betsy's loved a grassy hill.” I would make some snarky
attention-whore comment here, but I have just finished the book (for
the first time in ages) a few minutes ago and am in love with Julia
once again. I will try very hard to regain my level of scorn once we
get into chapter 6. (Spoiler – it's called “A Quarrel.” Can
you guess who ruins everything with her sense of big-sister
entitlement? Oh, I bet you can.)
Katie, on the other hand, despised
performing. But she is a reliable memorizer and a smart cookie, so
she finds herself obligated to perform The Gettysburg Address.
THE CAT DUET!! THE CAT DUET!! Here we
have the dramatic unveiling of the cat duet – complete with Betsy
climbing up from the alto line to join Tacy. No matter – they are
adorable and it is a classic routine that will bring joy to Deep Valley
for at least 5 more books. Tib will bring the Baby Dance, complete
with the death defying Russian step which is done from a squatting
position. As someone who is attending physical therapy to learn how
to squat again (WHY? Can't I just plan to live a squat-free life from
here on out?) this seems unbelievably risky.
Fashion Alert – Tib's Baby Dance
dress is described in glorious detail. I have read it, seen pictures
of it and still couldn't describe it other than “accordian pleated”
which I am 99.6% sure doesn't mean that she can play La Vie en Rose
with it. But I could be wrong. It is awfully skippy though. So much
so that Mrs. Mueller loans Tib her Opera Cape. This glorious garment
is made of black lace trimmed with ribbons and rosebuds. Real
rosebuds? I imagine not. But I could be wrong. Man, the clothes in
Betsy-Tacy, they get described a lot... [2]
Off they go – the school is on high
alert for the Mothers are coming! Miss Dooley, grade 4 teacher, is
dressed to the nines and looks tense. There is no more joyful time
for an educator than when the parents come to school. I know it well.
“Position! Rise! Turn! March!” When
I would read books about pre-1970s school, I though the marching that
was mentioned was special occasion kind of stuff. [3] I didn't realize
that in many schools, that was how students changed classes – in
quiet orderly lines. Trust me when I say, that is no longer the case.
The program begins with Men of Harlach
which probably sounded not very much like this -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRtnWVvDX6k
Julia is up next. She kills. “She
smiled and yet she seemed ready to cry.” Betsy overhears someone
say, “That child is certainly going to be an actress,” and she is
embarrassed and proud. Then some no-name talent and shortly up –
Katie.
The paragraph about Katie's performance
is comedy gold. I know you've read it, so I won't type it verbatim
but it ends with, “When she had to take bad medicine, Katie knew
how to take it.” That is worth embroidering on a sampler. More kids
after Katie and them Tom plays the violin. He's probably up there
thinking he's going to steal the show, pitying the act that has to
follow him. But no. Betsy and Tacy bring down the house with the Cat
Duet.
I love the way Mrs. Ray is playing the
piano in the picture with her head turned completely to watch the
girls. If that isn't motherly multitasking, I don't know what is.
Here's a cute version of the Cat Duet
for the uninitiated - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMngXo9B_Vg
Miss Dooley says that they will have to sing it again next year. And
Maud assures us that they do it until Betsy and Joe... I mean until
they graduate from high school.
Tib closes the show with the Baby
Dance. It is magnificent! She gets a curtain call. She's a natural.
You can see her charm in the illustration at the beginning of the
chapter. On the way home Betsy and Tacy offer to carry The Opera Cape
so that she can show off those snazzy pleats. Tib thinks it's funny
because to have them waiting on her because usually, she says, “I
wait on you.” Which is such a Tib thing to say. [4]
As they walk home, they hear some
concerning noise. Someone is being teased. They hear boys dressed in
their good clothes behaving very badly. Nicely put, Maud! When they
see who is being tormented, they are shocked! It is their new friend
Naifi being tormented by horrible boys! How dare they?? The picture is really evocative. Those boys
look wretched and Naifi is terrified. There are the girls on the
sidelines, but not for long. Tib is already making a fist and is
ready to rumble.
Tacy, shy shy Tacy starts yelling! But
there is no response other than some teasing. But there goes Tib
against these giant inbred boys! She pushes Sam, he pushes back. And
the accordion pleated dress rips! Tib doesn't even care, she is in
the zone – she breaks through the circle and tries to get Naifi
out.
Betsy recognizes her friends' bravery and drops the Cat costumes
to join in. This distracts Sam enough for Naifi to run away. Now he
is acting the fool with the costumes and some of his gang start to
look ashamed. But another bonehead is promenading in the Opera Cape.
Betsy and Tacy almost start crying
until they remember they are 10. Not to point fingers here, but Tib
is the one with the ripped dress and defiled Opera Cape and she is
not even considering crying. Tib is a boss. But things are looking
dire. But not for long! Julia and Katie storm in. Julia shouts,
“Leave my little sister alone!” Katie issues orders and they are
obeyed. Everybody minds Katie. It's the law.
The bigs offer to go to Muellers' with
the trio to explain what happened. Now that the fight is over, Tib is
taking in the damage and she is downcast. Never fear, little Tiblet,
your mother is proud of you! Mrs. Mueller has a speech about how it
is important to appreciate newcomers and we (nearly) all come from
someplace else back in our family history. [5] She assures Tib that the
dress can be fixed. Betsy and Tacy are relieved – Tib's future
Queen-hood is mostly based on wardrobe. And they are determined she
will be some sort of Queen.
All is well in Deep Valley. Everyone is
getting along fine. (Except Sam and his buddies. They'll live lives
of misery and die alone) Yep, it's just friendship and sisterly
affection from here on out. I'm almost sure...
Chapter 6 – A QUARREL
There are some
haughty looking gals in the illustration at the top of this chapter.
It is Katie and Julia off to corner the Deep Valley market on crepe paper.
They have plans. But so do our girls and they are digging in their
heels. But more on that later.
Betsy and Julia
(and the rest) usually get along fine. At one point Julia bought
Betsy a candy egg in a little tin pan to make up for a fight. It cost
a penny at Mrs. Chubbocks. Man, you could get a lot of candy for next
to nothing back then. Remember the ALL OF A KIND FAMILY girls and
their half penny's worth of chocolate babies. If I ever get to travel
in time, I am going to bring a ton of pennies. I was trying to find a
picture of an egg/frying pan candy and came across this -
http://www.truetreatscandy.com/ - which is a candy story website, but it has lots of neat historical candy facts.
Julia is reciting
“Queen o' the May” all over town. Insufferable. The immortal
trio are eating carrots from Tacy's garden and trying to suss out
what is going on. They decide to focus their energies on making Tib a
Queen. Betsy asks her mom about May Queens. Mrs. Ray has finished the
morning chores and is sitting around embroidering waiting for
callers. Did people just show up for calls? Did you serve snacks. It
seems I have read enough fiction (and seen enough Masterpiece
Theater) to know about this, but if anyone has any actual knowledge
based on facts, I'd love to hear it! [6]
And it comes out.
Katie has decided that Julia should be queen of something and they
are going to make her Queen of Summer. Oh yeah, that just occurred to
Katie – I'm sure no one put a bug in her ear about that. Katie is
so full of romance and pageantry, surely it was HER idea... Humph.
Betsy is FREAKING
OUT!! They had been Queen-planning for ages! J&K are copy cats!
THIS WILL NOT STAND!!! Truly, Betsy's descent into madness is
beautifully written. Maud has a great ability to show Betsy's
emotional life. What is your favorite Betsy Ray meltdown? Okay, not
meltdown, perhaps "What is your favorite example of Maud's illumination
of Betsy's emotional life?" [7] Yep, that sounds better!
BT&T discuss
this. Tib is all for caving, but “Betsy and Tacy would have none of
such weakness.” They are kicking themselves for not getting started
on organizing something Queen-ish, but it is manifesting itself in
righteous indignation. I have to say, Betsy can procrastinate. What
do you think was her worst case blowing-something-off scenario from
the books? [8]
Betsy composes
some fine verse about the big sisters and the girls treat them to a
performance when they come back up the hill. The older girls are
confused. Katie speaks calmly and reasonably – as ever. It is just
hilarious. “This time Julia spoke, using that tone of gentle
patience which Betsy, Tacy and Tib found particularly maddening.” I
know that tone! Big sisters get special training to use that tone.
(And many people use it with me, I have no idea why...) And a measly
offer of flower girls?? PLEASE!! It goes down.
The picture shows
the precise point where Betsy's soul leaves her body and she goes all
Hulk. Tib - once again – has her hands in tiny fists! She is always
ready to throw down, our Tib. Everybody's eyebrows are angry, except
Katie. She has a look of dopey resignation on her face.
The whole
neighborhood is in an uproar, crepe paper is torn, and here comes Mr.
Ray up the hill – just wanting to read his paper before dinner.
Instead, he has to become judge jury and executioner. He says,
“What's up?” which sounds so modern, he lets Old Mag find her way
to the barn and he tries to sort out the issue.
The picture is
adorable. BT&T are just staring into space because Julia is doing
three acts of tragedy (with real fake tears!) and they know they
shouldn't have let her have the closing argument. “Katie and I
would give in. We always do...” But Mr. Ray is aware of her wiles.
And he is just. “It seems clear that each side thinks his side is
right.” Can you think of any current day situations where both
sides are completely convinced of their infallibility?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHH!!!
Please, don't
answer that...
Wise King Bob says
that the American way is to count on the vote to sort this out. Can
you think of any current-- nope, never mind. Moving on...
To wrap up, there
is going to be an election in Deep Valley and it is going to solve
EVERYTHING!
Below are the questions for discussion I posted to the MAUD-L listerv. Please feel free to contemplate them however you see fit!
-----------------------------------
(I am a spinach mit ei girl, myself...)
(I am pretty much a mutt, but my paternal grandfather's parents came from "Da Bohemian Country" and that is what I always considered myself. My English/Irish forbears came to this country speaking "Da American Language". How dull...)
[6] What do you know about "making calls"?
[7] What is your favorite example of Maud's illumination of Betsy's emotional life?"
[8] What do you think was Betsy's worst case blowing-something-off scenario from the books?
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