1.8 How Daddy made a mistake
A bedtime story from 'When Daddy was a little boy' by Alexander Raskin
A story from a dad’s childhood, narrated to his daughter, written in 1961. Read the introduction below.
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HOW DADDY MADE A MISTAKE
When Daddy was little, he used to have milk, water, tea and cod-liver oil.
Cod-liver oil was supposed to be very good for growing children. But it was awful. Little Daddy thought there was nothing worse than cod-liver oil in the whole world. But he was wrong.
One day in summer little Daddy was playing outside. It was very hot. Little Daddy had been running a lot and he was thirsty. He rushed into the house. At home everyone was busy. They were baking pies and setting the table for company. And no one saw little Daddy pour himself a glass of water from a small decanter. He knew that cooled boiled water was always kept in it. He gulped down half a glass of water and... choked. He couldn't understand what had happened.
Little Daddy thought he had swallowed a live hedgehog. Then he decided that maybe the water was good, but something was wrong with him. He became very frightened and decided he was dying. He screamed so loudly that everyone came running.
Little Daddy was coughing and choking, his mouth was on fire. He felt terrible, and no one could understand what had happened.
"He's terribly sick!" Grandma moaned.
"He's just making believe!" Grandpa said.
Just then Nanny came in to see what was wrong. She guessed what had happened.
"He's been drinking vodka!" Nanny said. "There's vodka in that decanter!"
Then everyone began to shout again.
"Call the doctor!" Grandma shouted.
"I'll tan his hide!" Grandpa shouted.
"Give him something to eat!" Nanny shouted.
Little Daddy munched on a sandwich and mumbled: "I guess vodka's very nourishing, too."
Suddenly, little Daddy began to feel much worse. He sat down on the floor. He felt very dizzy.
Little Daddy didn't remember anything after that. But they said he slept all day. He felt better towards evening. When the company came and they began drinking vodka, little Daddy looked through the door at them. He felt very sorry for them. He knew how awful they would soon begin to feel. He even said, "Don't drink that awful stuff!"
The next morning, little Daddy felt quite well. But he never drank from that decanter again. And when he sees vodka now he turns a bit green.
Daddy often tells this story. And he always says: "That's when I gave up drinking!"
THE END
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