Archive for May 23rd, 2007
A Fly Upon Her Nose
“Fie. No. Bye-bye.”
Jemima’s telling her story again. For some reason, this event has really stayed with her. Probably, I guess, because, since the weather began to warm, we’ve been pointing out all the newly appeared insects to her and her sisters. Bees, butterflies, ladybirds and flies are suddenly real instead of just being another strange picture they know the word for from a book.
In this case, Jem is recounting the moment, last week, when a fly appeared on the kitchen table at tea time. I guess it must have been the first fly they’d seen up close because all three girls sat right back in their chairs and regarded it with deep suspicion at first. Then, as so often happens with new animals, Evie shouted “boo!” at it and all as well. Still, I tried to do my own part to reassure them.
“Don’t worry, girls. It’s just a fly. It can’t hurt you. Remember the Peter Rabbit song? Even if it landed on your nose it wouldn’t matter. Just flap it away.”
Of course, they all began to flap at it, making the poor creature dart around the table in confusion… until, unable to find any safe tabletop to land on, it opted instead for Jemima’s nose.
She went rigid. She tried so hard to keep still, in fact, that she shook with the effort, her little fists clenched, her eyes crossed as she watched the fly take a rest from being wafted from three directions. Her sisters just looked on in amazement.
And then it was gone to a chorus of “bye-bye”s as Jemima turned to me and explained, in what was going to become a familiar anecdote, what had happened.
“Fie! No! Bye-bye!” she shouted, thoroughly excited by the whole event, which translates as “Fly! Nose! Bye-bye!” or “Father, how remarkable! A fly just alighted on my nose for almost a minute before flying away.”