Chapter 11 Pippi celebrates her birthday

One day Tommy and Annika got a letter in the mailbox. On the envelope was written: "Accepted by Tangmi and Annika".They opened the letter and saw that there was an invitation card inside, which read: "Green sugar rice and Anni card name Tianxia Wudaopipi's family meal plus birthday smoke party. Di Zhi: Whatever you like." Tommy and Annika finished reading the letter, jumping and dancing for joy.Although the words on the invitation were strange, they understood everything.Pippi must have struggled to write.She didn't even know the letter "i" that day, in fact she could only write a few words.When she was at sea, one of her father's sailors sometimes sat on deck with her at night and tried to teach her to write.Unfortunately, Pippi was not a patient student.Suddenly she would say:

"No, Friedov (Friedov was the sailor's name), no, Friedov, I don't want to bother with this matter at all. I'm going up to the top of the mast to see the weather tomorrow. How about it." No wonder writing was such a chore for her.She sat there all night struggling to write invitations, and when it was almost dawn and the stars began to disappear over the roofs of Villekulla, she went to Tommy and Annika's house and dropped the letter into their mailbox. As soon as Tommy and Annika got home from school, they changed their clothes for the party.Annika begged her mother to curl her hair, and she said yes.She also tied a big pink bow on her head.Tommy brushed his hair with water to keep it from sticking up.He doesn't curl his hair at all, and puts something on it!Annika wanted to put on her best clothes, but her mother said it was impossible, because she was seldom tidy when she came home from Pippi's.Therefore, Annika can only be satisfied with wearing the second best.Tommy didn't care much about what he wore, as long as he was decent.

Of course, they bought Pippi a present.They took money out of their piggy bank, the piggy bank, and when they got home from school, they went to a toy shop on the High Street and bought a really nice thing... but let's not say what it is, just keep it safe for a while secret.There the presents lay now, wrapped in green paper, with many strings tied round them.When Tommy and Annika were ready, Tommy picked up the package of presents, and they ran away, and the mother who followed behind told them to be careful about their clothes.Annika will also take presents for a while.They had already made a deal, and when giving the gift, they both held it at the same time.

It was now November and it was getting dark early, and Tommy and Annika held hands tightly as they entered the Villekulla gate, for it was getting dark in Pippi's orchard.The old trees, shedding their last leaves, groaned and murmured in the wind. "It's really autumn," said Tommy.It was especially gratifying to see the twinkling lights of Villekulla and to know that a birthday party was waiting for them inside. Tommy and Annika usually went in through the back door, but today they took the front door.There were no horses on the front porch.Tommy knocked politely.A rough voice came from the door:

"No, Pippi, it's us," cried Annika, "open the door!" Pippi opened the door. "Oh, Pippi, why did you mention 'ghost'? I was terrified," said Annika, forgetting to congratulate Pippi on her birthday. Pippi laughed heartily, and opened the door leading to the kitchen.How good it is to be somewhere bright and warm!The birthday party is held in the kitchen because it is the most comfortable place.There are only two rooms downstairs.One is the living room, which has only one piece of furniture; the other is Pippi's bedroom.The kitchen is very big, it looks like a room, and Pippi has decorated it and kept it clean.She had a rug on the floor and a tablecloth on the table that she had sewn herself.The woven flowers were indeed a little strange, but Pippi said that they were abundant in Indochina, so there was nothing wrong with that.The curtains were drawn, and the fire was burning and sparking.Mr. Nelson sat on the box, beating the lids like cymbals, and the horse stood in the far corner.Of course, it was also invited to the banquet.

The last thing Tommy and Annika thought to do was to congratulate Pippi: Tommy bowed, Annika curtseyed, and then they both gave her the green bag at the same time, saying, "Happy birthday to you!" Pippi thanked them and couldn't wait open the bag.Inside is a hundred music instruments!Pippi was crazy with joy.She hugged Tommy, she hugged Annika, she hugged the balina, she hugged the paper that wrapped the balina.Then she turned the baroque handle, and there was a tinkling sound, which came out to be "Ah, Thy Dear Augustine." Pippi turned and turned the car, forgetting everything.But she suddenly remembered one thing.

"Honey!" she said, "you should get your birthday presents too!" "It's not our birthday today," Annika said. Pippi looked at them, feeling very strange. "Yes, it's my birthday, so I thought I should give you birthday presents too. Don't your textbooks say I can't give you birthday presents on my birthday? Does it have anything to do with the penalty table, saying no Send it?" "No, of course you can," Tang said, "but it's rare. But I'm happy to receive gifts." "Me too," said Annika. Pippi ran into the living room and brought two packages of things from the cabinet.Tommy opened his bag and saw a very curious little ivory flute.In Annika's bag was a beautiful butterfly brooch with red, blue and green gemstones in the wings.

Now that everyone has their birthday presents, it's time to sit down at the table.There were piles and piles of pastries and buns laid out on the table.The pastry looks very strange, but Pippi said that Chinese pastry is like this. Pippi had poured cups of chocolate whipped cream, and they were all about to sit down, when Tommy said: "When Mum and Dad invite guests to dinner, the gentlemen always get a card saying which lady he should have. I think we should do the same." "Do it quickly," said Pippi. "But it's very difficult for us to do this, because I'm the only one, sir." Tommy hesitated.

"Nonsense," said Pippi. "Do you think Mr. Nelson is Miss?" "Of course not, I forgot Mr. Nelson," said Tommy.Then he sat on the wooden box and wrote a card. "Mr. Settgren invites Miss Longstocking." "Mr. Settgren is me." He said proudly, and showed Pippi the written card.Then he wrote the second: "Mr. Nelson invited Miss Settgren." "The horse should have a card too," said Pippi emphatically, "even if it can't sit at the table!" So Pippi said, and Tommy wrote: "Invite the horse to stay in the corner and eat the pie and sugar."

Pippi held the card under the horse's nose and said: "Read this, and tell me what you think!" Since the horse was okay, Tommy held out his hand to Pippi, and they went to the table.Mr Nelson didn't invite Annika's representation, she simply lifted it up and carried it to the seat.But it refused to sit on the chair, so it sat on the table.It didn't want to drink whipped cream chocolate either, so Pippi poured it a glass of water, and it held it in both hands and drank it. Annika, Tommy and Pippi gorged themselves.Annika said that if Chinese cakes are so delicious, she will definitely go to China when she grows up.

Mr. Nelson finished his glass of water and turned it upside down on his head.As soon as Pippi saw it, he did it right away, but before he drank all the chocolate in the cup, a small stream of brown water flowed from his forehead to his nose, and Pippi stuck out his tongue to stop it. "Nothing should go to waste," she said. Tommy and Annika carefully licked their glasses clean, then held them on top of their heads. When they were full and the horse had finished its share, Pippi simply grabbed the four corners of the tablecloth and lifted the cups and plates together, as if they were in a big cloth bag.She stuffed the big package into the wooden box. "I like to clean up a little after dinner," she said. It's time to play.Pippi suggested playing the game of "don't fall to the floor".The game is simple, just crawl around the entire kitchen without touching the floor once.Pippi crawled around the kitchen in a second.Even Tommy and Annika climbed well.Start from the kitchen washing basin, spread the legs, and go to the fireplace, from the fireplace to the wooden box, from the wooden box to the shelf, from the shelf to the table, from the table through the two chairs to the cabinet.The cabinet was several yards from the wash-basin, and the horse happened to be in the middle.Climb on the horse from the tail, and jump from the head to the drip board. By the time they were done playing, Annika's dress was not second best but second best, and Tommy was as dark as a chimney broom.They decided to think of something else to play with. "Let's go up to the top floor to see ghosts," said Pippi. Annika gasped. "Is there a ghost on the top floor?" she said. "There are ghosts! There are plenty of them," said Pippi. "There are all kinds of ghosts crawling around there. It's easy to see. Are you going?" "Oh!" cried Annika, looking at Pippi reproachfully. "Mum says there's no ghost anywhere," said Tommy boldly. "It's true," said Pippi, "it's not anywhere but here, and they all live in my garret. It's not good to ask them to move away. But they don't do anything bad, they just pinch your arm, and so Black and blue. And they purr at the same time. And play skittles with their heads." "He he he they play skittles with their heads?" whispered Annika. "That's right," said Pippi. "Come on, let's go up and talk to them. I'm pretty good at skittles." Tommy didn't want to be seen scared, and he really wanted to see what ghosts looked like.When you arrive at school, you can blow it with your classmates.And he comforted himself, believing that ghosts would not dare to do anything to Pippi.He decided to go up.Poor Annika didn't want to go up at all, but she thought of being down there alone, in case some kid sneaked into the kitchen here?That's it!It's better to go with Pippi and Tommy to the attic with thousands of ghosts than to deal with even one baby ghost in the kitchen by yourself: Pippi walked ahead.She opened the door to the attic.It was very dark.Tommy held on to Pippi, and Annika held on to Tommy even tighter.Then they went up the stairs, creaking each step.Tommy began to wonder whether it would be better to forget the whole thing, and Annika needn't, she was convinced. Step by step, they finally reached the top of the stairs and were already standing on the top floor.It was pitch black, with only a thin ray of moonlight falling on the floor.The wind blew in through the cracks in the walls, and there were sighs and whistles on all sides. "Hello, all ghosts!" Pippi yelled. If there were ghosts, none of them agreed. "Oh, I should have thought of that," said Pippi, "they're at the Ghost Society committee meeting!" Annika breathed a sigh of relief, she just wished the committee meeting had been longer.But at this moment, a terrible cry came from the corner of the top floor. "Clar-Witt!" cried the voice.Then Tommy saw something whistling at him in the dark.He felt the thing blow on his forehead, and then something black floated out of the small open window and disappeared.He cried out: "Ghost! A ghost!" Annika yelled too. "The poor fellow is going to be late for the meeting," said Pippi, "if only it were a ghost instead of an owl! But there are absolutely no ghosts," she added after a while, "so the more I think about it the more it is an owl." Owl. If anyone says ghosts, I'll screw his nose!" "But you said it yourself!" said Annika. "Oh, did I say that?" said Pippi. "Then I must screw my nose." As she spoke, she pinched her own nose and twisted it hard. Tommy and Annika felt relieved when they heard Pippi also said that there were no ghosts.They were even so bold as to go to the window and look down on the orchard.Large dark clouds moved across the sky, trying desperately to cover the moon.The trees bent down and whined. Tommy and Annika turned around.But now—oh, how terrible! —they saw something white coming towards them. "Ghost!" Tommy yelled. Annika was too frightened to scream.That thing is closer.Tommy and Annika were close to each other, closing their eyes, and then they heard the thing say: "Look what I found! Papa's pajamas are in that old sailor's trunk over there. Just turn the hem up and I can wear them too." Pippi came towards them, her pajamas trailing behind her feet. "Oh, Pippi, I'm scared to death!" said Annika. "What's so scary about pajamas," Pippi said to her. "It never bites unless it's self-defense." Pippi felt that this was the right time to give the sailor's chest a good turn.She took it to the window, opened the lid, and the faint moonlight fell into the box.There were many old clothes in it, which she threw on the floor, a telescope, two old books, three pistols, a sword, and a bag of gold coins. "Yes, fight..." Pippi called happily. "What a power," said Tommy. Pippi stuffed all these things into her pajamas, and they went downstairs to the kitchen.Annika was overjoyed to leave the attic. "Never let a child hold a weapon," Pippi said, holding a gun in one hand, "otherwise it's easy to get into trouble." She fired two guns at the same time. "It's an oversized shot," she said, looking at the ceiling.There are two bullet holes in the ceiling. "Who knows?" she said hopefully. "Maybe the bullet went through the roof and hit one of the ghosts in the thigh. That will teach them a lesson and make them think twice the next time they try to frighten innocent children. Because Even if they didn't exist, it's unforgivable to scare children. Besides, do you want a gun for each of you?" she asked. Tommy was very strong, and Annika said she would like one if she didn't reload it. "Now we can be a bunch of pirates if we like," said Pippi, looking into the glass. "I can almost see fleas in South America with this thing," she went on. "If you really want to form a pirate gang, you can't do without that stuff." Just then someone knocked on the door.It was Tommy and Annika's dad, who had come to pick them up.He said it was too early for bedtime.Tommy and Annika hurriedly thanked Pippi, said good-bye, and put away what had been given them: the flute, the pin, and the two guns. Pippi escorted the guests to the front porch and watched them leave along the path through the orchard.They turned and waved.The light from the room shone on Pippi.She stood there with her red braids up, her father's pajamas trailing at her feet.She holds a gun in one hand and a sword in the other.She is holding them up in homage. Tommy and Annika followed their father to the gate of the yard and heard Pippi yelling behind them.They stop and listen.The wind whistled through the trees, so her cry hardly reached their ears.But they heard it anyway. "I'm going to be a pirate when I grow up," she cried, "and you want to be too?"