02-08-五个孩子和沙精 [1]
！'
'Oh， don't be angry，'said Anthea kindly. ' Tell us who you are. We really don't know. '
'You don't know？'it said. ' Don't you know a Psammead when you see one？'
'A Sammyadd？ What's that？'Jane said .
' A sand-fairy， of course. Don't you know a sand-fairy when you see one？'
It looked very unhappy， and Jane said，' Of course！ I can see that you're a sand-fairy now. '
And Robert said，'Well， I didn't know that you were a Psammead， but I can see that you are something very wonder-ful. Please talk some more to us. '
The Psammead looked a little happier when it heard that，and it said，'Well，you can talk to me ，if you want to. Per- haps I'll answer you and perhaps I won't. Now saysomething. '
At first the children could not think of anything to say，but then Robert asked，' How long have you lived here？'
'Oh，thousands of years，' the Psammead answered.
The children waited， but the Psammead was silent.
' Please tell us more，' Robert said.
'Well， all right， then，'the Psammead said. ' There were lots of us then，' it went on. ' People sent their children out to look for Psammeads，and when they found us，we gave them a wish. '
'What happened to all the Psammeads， then？' Robert asked.
'Well，if they get wet，they get ill and they usually die， and that's what happened. Most of them got wet and died. And I'm not going to tell you another thing. '
' Oh，just one more question，please，'said Robert. ' Do you give wishes now？'
' You've had one，'said the Psammead. ' You wished to see me，and here I am. '
' Oh， please. Just one more，' Anthea cried.
' Well， all right， but be quick！I'm tired of you！'
It is very difficult to think of a really good wish， in just a second or two. Then Anthea remembered a wish of hers and Jane's. She knew that the boys wouldn't like it， but it was better than nothing.
' I wish we were all very， very beautiful，' she said.
The Psammead pushed out its long eyes and got bigger and fatter， and the children waited. Then it said，' I'm sorry. I haven't done this for a long time. I'll try again，butl can only do one wish a day for you. Do you agree to that？'
' Yes， oh yes！'the children cried.
' But remember， the wish is only for a day，'said the Psammead. ' When the sun goes down，everything goes back to what it was. '
The Psammead slowly got bigger， then suddenly went small again. ' That's all right！'it said. At once it turned and went back into the sand at the bottom of the hole.
The children stood there for a second， and then Anthea turned to speak to the others. But they were not there！ She was looking at three strangers— a girl with beautiful red hair and big blue eyes， and two very good-looking boys. Suddenly she understood. They had their wish. The strangers were Robert and Cyril and Jane—but now they were beautiful. Cyril's hair was golden now， and Robert's was black.
' I liked you better before！'Robert cried angrily to his brother and sisters. 'Jane's hair looks like carrots， and Cyril looks really stupid with long golden hair. '
They went to find Baby， but he was just the same as he was before.
' Perhaps it's because he's young. He can't have wishes. We'll have to remember that next time，'Anthea said，and she held out her arms to him. But Baby's mouth turned down at the corners and then he began to cry loudly. He did not know them！
It took an hour to stop him crying and then， very tired and cross， they took him home. Martha， Baby's nursemaid， was waiting at the front door. She took Baby from them quickly：
' Where are the others？'she asked. 'And who are you？'
' we're us，of course，' Robert said. ' You don't know us be-cause we're beautiful. '
' And we're very hungry，'said Cyril，'and we want our lunch， please. '
' Go away！'Martha screamed. ' Or I'll send for the police，'and she closed the door in their faces.
The children were very hungry by then， and they tried three times to get into the house—but Martha would not let them in. After a while they went and sat at the bottom of the garden to wait for the sun to go down. 'The wish will finish then
'Oh， don't be angry，'said Anthea kindly. ' Tell us who you are. We really don't know. '
'You don't know？'it said. ' Don't you know a Psammead when you see one？'
'A Sammyadd？ What's that？'Jane said .
' A sand-fairy， of course. Don't you know a sand-fairy when you see one？'
It looked very unhappy， and Jane said，' Of course！ I can see that you're a sand-fairy now. '
And Robert said，'Well， I didn't know that you were a Psammead， but I can see that you are something very wonder-ful. Please talk some more to us. '
The Psammead looked a little happier when it heard that，and it said，'Well，you can talk to me ，if you want to. Per- haps I'll answer you and perhaps I won't. Now saysomething. '
At first the children could not think of anything to say，but then Robert asked，' How long have you lived here？'
'Oh，thousands of years，' the Psammead answered.
The children waited， but the Psammead was silent.
' Please tell us more，' Robert said.
'Well， all right， then，'the Psammead said. ' There were lots of us then，' it went on. ' People sent their children out to look for Psammeads，and when they found us，we gave them a wish. '
'What happened to all the Psammeads， then？' Robert asked.
'Well，if they get wet，they get ill and they usually die， and that's what happened. Most of them got wet and died. And I'm not going to tell you another thing. '
' Oh，just one more question，please，'said Robert. ' Do you give wishes now？'
' You've had one，'said the Psammead. ' You wished to see me，and here I am. '
' Oh， please. Just one more，' Anthea cried.
' Well， all right， but be quick！I'm tired of you！'
It is very difficult to think of a really good wish， in just a second or two. Then Anthea remembered a wish of hers and Jane's. She knew that the boys wouldn't like it， but it was better than nothing.
' I wish we were all very， very beautiful，' she said.
The Psammead pushed out its long eyes and got bigger and fatter， and the children waited. Then it said，' I'm sorry. I haven't done this for a long time. I'll try again，butl can only do one wish a day for you. Do you agree to that？'
' Yes， oh yes！'the children cried.
' But remember， the wish is only for a day，'said the Psammead. ' When the sun goes down，everything goes back to what it was. '
The Psammead slowly got bigger， then suddenly went small again. ' That's all right！'it said. At once it turned and went back into the sand at the bottom of the hole.
The children stood there for a second， and then Anthea turned to speak to the others. But they were not there！ She was looking at three strangers— a girl with beautiful red hair and big blue eyes， and two very good-looking boys. Suddenly she understood. They had their wish. The strangers were Robert and Cyril and Jane—but now they were beautiful. Cyril's hair was golden now， and Robert's was black.
' I liked you better before！'Robert cried angrily to his brother and sisters. 'Jane's hair looks like carrots， and Cyril looks really stupid with long golden hair. '
They went to find Baby， but he was just the same as he was before.
' Perhaps it's because he's young. He can't have wishes. We'll have to remember that next time，'Anthea said，and she held out her arms to him. But Baby's mouth turned down at the corners and then he began to cry loudly. He did not know them！
It took an hour to stop him crying and then， very tired and cross， they took him home. Martha， Baby's nursemaid， was waiting at the front door. She took Baby from them quickly：
' Where are the others？'she asked. 'And who are you？'
' we're us，of course，' Robert said. ' You don't know us be-cause we're beautiful. '
' And we're very hungry，'said Cyril，'and we want our lunch， please. '
' Go away！'Martha screamed. ' Or I'll send for the police，'and she closed the door in their faces.
The children were very hungry by then， and they tried three times to get into the house—but Martha would not let them in. After a while they went and sat at the bottom of the garden to wait for the sun to go down. 'The wish will finish then