rumor no. 14
a hen blackbird — she said, near the bramble fence at half-past dusk, that a fox has been seen reading. the moth confirms. [— mab, scribe of jars]
gabs.quest
a registry of what was overheard, kept by goblins who should know better.
welcome, fellow gossip — you have descended a little way past the foxglove and the third bent root, and arrived in a chamber where seven scribes are presently transcribing rumours older than the parish. mind your head on the lichen. the kettle is on. [— grindle, scribe of the third root]
spec. 01a — Helix susurrans
order Susurrida — the rumour catalogue
family Burrowwhisper, kept in jars 1 through 47
rumor no. 22
the badger absolutely — did see, in her own opinion, what i think she saw. THE MOON WAS AT HER THINNEST. [— grindle, scribe of the third root]
rumor no. 31
the snail is — still going. she set out forty-one years ago. she will arrive at the gate eventually. [— pim, scribe of slow things]
rumor no. 47
two jackdaws were — overheard arguing about whose turn it is to remember the names of the new mushrooms. neither admits guilt. [— wisp, scribe of birds]
rumor no. 53
the kettle has — been on, by every available account, since some time before the war. nobody has poured the tea. [— grindle, scribe of the third root]
rumor no. 61
the pickled crabapples — in jar twenty-nine — they are humming, and not in a key any of us can name. [— mab, scribe of jars]
reading nook — chapter the first
it begins, as so — many burrow-dwelt manuscripts begin, with a small noise — the dragging of a moth-leg across vellum, an apologetic cough from the kettle-corner, and then grindle, who insists on opening every chapter, clearing his throat in three distinct registers before he says a single word. the result is that we have, in the registry, more throat-clearings than entries.
the second matter — concerns a fox who, the moth says, has been seen reading. we will not name the volume; the moth would not have us. it is sufficient to record the posture: hindquarters folded, tail curled tidily over front paws, an expression we are choosing to call contemplative, though pim insists it was smug. [— pim, scribe of slow things]
it is reported, — by the badger and corroborated only by herself, that the moon was at her thinnest the night the unnamed thing was observed at the bramble fence. the badger is a perfectly reliable witness in matters concerning brambles; she is less reliable in matters concerning moons; we have therefore filed the entry under partial, with two thumbtacks. [— wisp, scribe of birds]
the kettle remains — on. it has been on, as previously noted, for some considerable time. nobody pours; nobody dares; the ritual has become its own object, and we are all of us, in our small ways, kept warm by the suggestion of tea rather than by any tea itself. mab insists this is metaphysics. grindle insists it is laziness. they are, as ever, both right. [— mab, scribe of jars]
— end of chapter the first. the second chapter is filed, currently, in the wrong jar.
the pickle pantry — jars in arrangement
family Conservata, kept in shelf the second, sorted by smell.
arranged on the — shelf in no particular order — the goblins have insisted on smell as a sorting criterion, and as smell does not yield a stable ordering, the jars rearrange themselves, sometimes overnight. tip a jar to read its rumour.
the pantry is — kept by mab. mab has not slept since the equinox. mab does not consider this remarkable. the pantry, accordingly, is in a kind of perpetual half-finished state, like a sentence the speaker forgot to end.
click any jar to tip it. the scrap inside will unfold. [— mab, scribe of jars]
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rumour no. 04 — the bramble has a name. she has refused to share it. [— mab]
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rumour no. 11 — the moss is migrating, in the only direction available to moss. [— pim]
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rumour no. 22 — every footnote in the registry is also, secretly, a footnote in another. [— grindle]
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rumour no. 29 — the wren said it twice, then refused to say it a third time. wisp recorded both. [— wisp]
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rumour no. 38 — the ink, when left alone with paper, has been known to add its own marginalia. [— grindle]
interlude — the rumour-jar inset
genus Convolvo, the folded-paper kept under glass.
embedded mid-text — like a stone in a bowl of porridge, you will find the small jar below. it contains a folded scrap of paper. the paper, when the jar is tipped, will unfold itself, and a single rumour, written in a hand neither grindle nor mab will admit to, will appear.
rumour no. 79 — the oak, beneath whose root we keep this registry, has been listening the whole time. she has not said so. she has only, very slightly, leaned. [— hand unknown]
it is the — habit of the burrow to leave such jars in the path of the reader, hoping the reader will tip one, the way a kettle tips when the wind changes. the rumours are the kettle. the wind is, presumably, you.
colophon — by whom, in what hand
set by lantern-light beneath the third root of the old oak.
the seven scribes
- grindle — scribe of the third root. opens every chapter. throat-clearer.
- mab — scribe of jars. has not slept since the equinox.
- pim — scribe of slow things. recorder of the snail's progress.
- wisp — scribe of birds. corroborator of corroborations.
- thistle — scribe of the bramble. seldom seen.
- nettle — scribe of the kettle. the kettle disagrees.
- fen — scribe-emeritus. retired into a teacup.
the inks & the press
tannin ink, brewed from oak gall and rainwater, set with a thumb of vinegar. the press, a small one, is operated chiefly by grindle, who insists it is haunted. the paper is rag, twice-pressed, occasionally chewed by mab.
a note on the snail
she is still going. she has been going for thirty-eight seconds, then resetting, then going again. pim records each traversal with a small tick in the margin. by last count: a great many ticks.
forwarding address
do not write. the goblins receive correspondence only by being whispered to, in the small hours, near a hedge. if you must reach us, leave a sentence on a leaf. we will, if it pleases mab, find it.