



Produced by David Widger.  HTML version by Al Haines









                        THE SNOW-IMAGE

                             AND

                     OTHER TWICE-TOLD TALES



                      LITTLE DAFFYDOWNDILLY

                              By

                      Nathaniel Hawthorne


Daffydowndilly was so called because in his nature he resembled a flower,
and loved to do only what was beautiful and agreeable, and took no
delight in labor of any kind.  But, while Daffydowndilly was yet a little
boy, his mother sent him away from his pleasant home, and put him under
the care of a very strict schoolmaster, who went by the name of Mr. Toil.
Those who knew him best affirmed that this Mr. Toil was a very worthy
character; and that he had done more good, both to children and grown
people, than anybody else in the world.  Certainly he had lived long
enough to do a great deal of good; for, if all stories be true, he had
dwelt upon earth ever since Adam was driven from the garden of Eden.

Nevertheless, Mr. Toil had a severe and ugly countenance, especially for
such little boys or big men as were inclined to be idle; his voice, too,
was harsh; and all his ways and customs seemed very disagreeable to our
friend Daffydowndilly.  The whole day long, this terrible old
schoolmaster sat at his desk overlooking the scholars, or stalked about
the school-room with a certain awful birch rod in his hand.  Now came a
rap over the shoulders of a boy whom Mr. Toil had caught at play; now he
punished a whole class who were behindhand with their lessons; and, in
short, unless a lad chose to attend quietly and constantly to his book,
he had no chance of enjoying a quiet moment in the school-room of Mr.
Toil.

"This will never do for me," thought Daffydowndilly.

Now, the whole of Daffydowndilly's life had hitherto been passed with his
dear mother, who had a much sweeter face than old Mr. Toil, and who had
always been very indulgent to her little boy.  No wonder, therefore, that
poor Daffydowndilly found it a woful change, to be sent away from the
good lady's side, and put under the care of this ugly-visaged
schoolmaster, who never gave him any apples or cakes, and seemed to think
that little boys were created only to get lessons.

"I can't bear it any longer," said Daffydowndilly to himself, when he had
been at school about a week.  "I'll run away, and try to find my dear
mother; and, at any rate, I shall never find anybody half so disagreeable
as this old Mr. Toil!"

So, the very next morning, off started poor Daffydowndilly, and began his
rambles about the world, with only some bread and cheese for his
breakfast, and very little pocket-money to pay his expenses.  But he had
gone only a short distance, when he overtook a man of grave and sedate
appearance, who was trudging at a moderate pace along the road.

"Good morning, my fine lad," said the stranger; and his voice seemed hard
and severe, but yet had a sort of kindness in it; "whence do you come so
early, and whither are you going?"

Little Daffydowndilly was a boy of very ingenuous disposition, and had
never been known to tell a lie in all his life.  Nor did he tell one now.
He hesitated a moment or two, but finally confessed