Henry Huggins (1) by Beverly Cleary

Author:Beverly Cleary [Cleary, Beverly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780061685286
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 1950-12-22T05:08:09+00:00

4. The Green Christmas

Henry was glad he sat in the row by the windows in Room Four, because he could watch for snowflakes. Even though his father said they would probably have a green Christmas this year, Henry still hoped for snow. He was pretty sure the package hidden behind some boxes in the garage was the sled he wanted, a real Flexible Flyer.

While he sat at his desk looking out at the clouds for signs of snow, he was listening to Miss Roop talk about the Christmas operetta and thinking he had taken part in enough school plays for one semester.

In September he had been Second Indian in a play for the Westward Expansion Unit.

That hadn’t been too bad. He had stuck an old feather out of a duster in his hair and worn an auto robe his mother let him take to school. It was an easy part, because all he had to say was “Ugh!” First Indian and Third Indian also said “Ugh!” It really hadn’t mattered which Indian said “Ugh!” Once all three said it at the same time.

Then in November Robert came down with mumps just before Book Week. At the last minute Henry had to wear a long cotton beard and read Robert’s part, one of the seven dwarfs in a play called Storyland Favorites Come to Life. It was not a play that appealed to Henry, but at least he did not have to memorize any lines or do much practicing, because there wasn’t time.

During the performance he had to stop reading several times in order to take pieces of his beard out of his mouth.

His worst part had been in a Parent Teacher program for National Brush Your Teeth Week. Henry had been really disgusted that day. He had to wear his best trousers and a white shirt to school and he had to stay clean all day. Then he missed practicing with his football, because the meeting was after school.Worst of all, he had to stand up in front of all the mothers and teachers, bow, and recite:

I am Sir Cuspid,

My job is to bite.

Brush me twice daily

To keep me so white.

The kids called him Sir Cuspidor for a long time after that.

Now Miss Roop was telling the class that the Christmas operetta was called A Visit to Santa Claus. It was about a mother and father and their two children who visited Santa Claus at the North Pole on Christmas Eve.

Henry thought it was a dumb play. In the end it turned out that the little boy had dreamed the whole thing. Henry disliked stories that ended by being someone’s dream.

Miss Roop said, “Since the whole school is giving the operetta, there won’t be parts for everyone in our room.”

That’s good, thought Henry. He slid way down in his seat so Miss Roop wouldn’t notice him when she assigned parts.

Miss Roop continued. “Richard, Arthur, Ralph, and David will be four of Santa Claus’s reindeer. The other four will be chosen from Room Five.

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