Chapter 19 Chapter 19 A Guest at Little Witty's House

The little ghost stood in front of the open window of the office, folded his hands on his chest, and looked into the distance thoughtfully.His hair was brushed back smoothly, and a pair of thick eyebrows were drawn together on the bridge of the nose, which gave his face a solemn expression.He didn't move when our three friends came into the house.Bagel greeted him loudly, introduced him to the little screw and the little chisel, told him that they had come for the soldering iron, but the little witty man continued to look out the window intently, as if trying to get the lingering words out of his mind. , but can't catch the tail of an extremely cunning and clever mind.Bagel shrugged embarrassingly, and looked at the little screw and the little chisel with a smile, as if to say, "Well, I told you!"

Finally, the little wit turned around to the person as if he had just woken up from a big dream, and said arrogantly in a soft and melodious voice, "Hi-a-side, y-h-hh! Excuse me, my friends. I, so to speak, have transferred my imagination to other realms, and I have left here without a trace... I am a little wit," he reported After saying the name, he stretched out his hand to the little screw. Little Screw shook his hand as soft as meatloaf, and also reported his name. "Little Witt," said Little Witt again in a soft voice, reaching out to the little chisel with a smooth and wide movement.

"Little Chisel," replied Little Chisel, shaking the meatloaf too. "Ghost," said the third time, holding out his hand to the bagel. "We know each other!" said the bagel. "Ah, this is a bagel!" Little Witty said loudly with a surprised expression. "Welcome! Welcome! Take a seat, my friends." Everyone sit down. "So, you already know this little screw?" Little Witty asked, using this question to prove that although he moved to another field and left here without a trace, he still heard what the baguette said, "He probably Did I show you the folding tables and chairs? Hehehe!"

The little screw nodded affirmatively.A mocking expression appeared on the little wit's face.Wiping his knees with his hands as if contented, he said, "Hey, hey! These inventors are so strange. Excuse me, what is the use of these foldable tables, cabinets with small doors that can be opened and closed, and rope beds that can be raised and lowered? Take me, sitting on an ordinary , comfortable, a chair that doesn't bounce up when you stand up, or a bed that doesn't move up and down, I feel much more comfortable. What's this for, please? Who can force me to sleep like this What about the bed? If I, let’s put it this way, don’t want to? Don’t want to?”

"No one forces you," said Bagel. "Screw is an inventor who tries to improve everything he comes across. It doesn't always work out, but he has many useful inventions. He's a good guy." Craftsman." "I didn't say he was bad," retorted Little Witty. "He's a very good carpenter, if you'd like to know. Yes, yes, it must be admitted, a fine carpenter! I made an excellent grunting machine." "What is this muttering machine?" Little Screw asked. "It's a talking machine. It's here, take a look." The little wit led the guests to the table, where there was a small instrument.

"This little box, or suitcase—whatever you want to call it—has a little hole in the side. Just say a few words in front of the little hole, and press a button, and the grunting machine will Repeat your words. Try it." Little Witty suggested to Little Screw. The little screw bent over the small hole and said, "Small screw, little screw, little chisel, little chisel." "And donuts." Donut added, bending over the instrument. The little ghost pressed the button, and strangely, the mumbling machine sounded an inarticulate, nasal voice. "Screws, screws, chisels, chisels. And bagels."

"What do you want this talking machine for?" asked the little chisel. "What are you doing!" exclaimed the little wit, "a writer is like losing his hands without this machine. I can put the mumbling machine in anyone's house, and it will record everything people say. I just want If you copy it down, it will be a novella or a novel." "It's so simple!" The little chisel exclaimed, "I read somewhere that a writer needs to make up and conceive..." "Cough, idea!" Little Witty interrupted him impatiently. "It's just written in the book, it says to have a conception. When everything has already been conceived, try to conceive something! No matter what you conceive, it already exists. However, if you start from reality If you collect materials, you can get something that no writer has done before."

"However, not everyone will agree to put a mumbling machine in his room," said the little screw. "I did this very cleverly," said the little wit. "I went to people's houses with a muttering machine. This machine, as you already know, is shaped like a suitcase. When I was leaving, I left it in the under the table or under the chair, and then have the honor of hearing what the master talks behind my back." "What did they talk about? It's interesting," said Little Chisel. "Extremely interesting," agreed the little ghost, "I didn't even think of it myself. It turned out that they didn't talk about anything, but laughed for no reason, meowing like a rooster, a dog, a pig, or a cat."

"Strange!" said the little screw loudly. "I also said it was strange," said the little wit. "When I sat with them, everyone talked normally and reasonably, but as soon as you left, the mess started. Listen to what you wrote down yesterday." .I went to an acquaintance's house and put the muttering machine under the chair when I left." The little ghost twirled a knob under the lid of the suitcase and pressed a button.There was a rustling sound, the crackling of a door closing.There was a moment of silence, and then suddenly there was a roar of laughter.Someone said, "Under the chair." Then there was a commotion.There was another laugh.Someone clucked, someone meowed, someone barked.Then learn how to bleat like a sheep.Someone said, "Let go of me, I'll bray like a donkey." Then he shouted: "Ah-oh! Ah-oh!..." Now he brays like a colt: "咴-er!..." And then It was a big laugh.

"You saw...you heard it, right?" Little Witty spread his hands and said. "That's right, there aren't many things here that can be used to write novels." Little Screw said cautiously. "Let me reveal the secret to you," said the bagel to the little ghost. "The muttering machine is known in the city, so when you leave, people purposely yell nonsense at the machine." "Why are you yelling such nonsense?" "Here, you tried to trick them, but they tricked you. You wanted to eavesdrop on what they were saying behind your back, and when they understood it, they deliberately made fun of you."

Annoyance appeared on the little witty face, "Ah, is that so? It's all right, I'm going to fool 'em. I'm going to stick the mumbling machine under the window. It's still going to prove itself useful. Now enjoy it, what do you say it is?" The little clever showed the guests a clumsy device.I don't know if it looks like a folded tent or a big umbrella. "Probably an umbrella?" Little Chisel made his guess. "No, it's not an umbrella. These are portable folding desks and chairs," said the little wit. "For example, you need to describe the forest. When you come to the forest, open the desk, sit down comfortably, and take pictures of what you see around you." Everything is described. Try it, and sit down," he suggested to the little chisel. The little wit pressed a button on what was supposed to be an umbrella handle, and the umbrella opened immediately, turning into a small table with chairs.Chisel sat down behind the table, for which he had to curl his legs up unnaturally. "You feel comfortable," said the Little Ghost now, "and you are immediately inspired. You must admit that it is much more comfortable than sitting on the grass or writing on the bare ground." Chisel was neither comfortable nor inspired; instead, his legs began to ache like hell.So he decided to turn the subject on to something else as soon as possible, and he asked as he peeked out from behind the desk: "Excuse me, what books have you written?" "I haven't written a book yet," admitted the little ghost. "Being a writer is hard. Before I could be a writer, you see, I had to buy something, and it wasn't that simple. First I had to wait for the portable table to be done. It took years. Then I waited for the I made the grunting machine. You know, craftsmen love to procrastinate. Small screws are especially good at this. Come to think of it, it took him two and a half years just to figure out how to make this machine. He doesn't care if I can wait or not. He doesn't understand that I'm doing creative work! Of course, the grunt machine is a complicated machine, so why complicate something that's already complicated? " "Did he make it more complicated?" Little Screw asked sympathetically. "Of course it's more complicated: what he's doing is not just a grumbler, but a grumbler and a vacuum cleaner. Excuse me, what do I need a vacuum cleaner for? It took another year and a half. But it's nothing !" Little Witty waved his hand, "Now I have everything, all I need is little things." "How wonderful it would be to invent a machine that could think for a writer," said Little Chisel. "You're right," agreed the little ghost. Our friends saw from the windows that the sun was beginning to set, and they rose to take their leave.They got their soldering irons and went out into the street. The little screw said: "We should go back. Don't walk on the road and it will be dark." "It's okay, brothers, I drove you here in the blink of an eye. First of all, you might as well have something to eat," said the bagel, and pulled the small screw and small chisel to his home to eat.