“Why, that’s Cruella de Vil,” said Mrs Dearly. “We were at school together. She was expelled for drinking ink.”
from The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith
Threading a Needle with Wool
“But how do you make the wool go through? It’s horrid to lick, too. All the whiskers come off.”
“Don’t you know the special way of threading wool into a needle?” asked Aunt Helen, laughing. “How about when you darn your socks?”
“Mummy does them,” said Mary, going a little pink. “Yes – I know I’m spoilt. Gran says so. But with homework and everything, and going to bed early, there isn’t much time. Besides,” in a small voice, “it’s awfully boring.”
“Well, I’m not really one to talk,” said Aunt Helen, “as my mother always darned mine. Come over here and I’ll show you how to thread a wool needle. Look – fold it round the shaft of the needle, pinch it together so that it makes a little loop, and slip it off. Now push the loop through the eye of the needle and it goes in quite happily.”
from Embroidery Mary by Priscilla M Warner
What's In a Name?
‘The name of the song is called “Haddocks’ Eyes“.’
‘Oh, that’s the name of the song, is it?’ Alice said, trying to feel interested.
‘No, you don’t understand,’ the Knight said, looking a little vexed. ‘That’s what the name is called. The name really is “The Aged Aged Man”.’
‘Then I ought to have said “That’s what the song is called”?’ Alice corrected herself.
‘No, you oughtn’t: that’s quite another thing! The song is called “Ways and Means“: but that’s only what it’s called, you know!’
‘Well, what is the song, then?’ said Alice, who was by this time completely bewildered.
‘I was coming to that,’ the Knight said. ‘The song really is “A-sitting On a Gate”: and the tune’s my own invention.’
from Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll