First and foremost, the story is free and can be read on author's website. It is one of Neil's very first stories, and, basically, he doesn't try to create something new here, but offers his readers a pastiche on Raymond Chandler peppered with a healthy dose of humor. What we have here is an overused classic private eye yarn about a damsel in distress who enters the dick's office door, and, quite obviously, the police are going to intimidate the sleuth into dropping the case, and, without a doubt, there will be a twist at the end. Did I mention that the dialog goes like this?
What makes the story really amusing is that it is set in the world of nursery rhymes, and everybody has a rhyme or two about them. Isn't it fun to try to find all the references?"I'm now investigating three deaths. The Fat Man's, Bernie Robin's and Dr. Foster's."
"Foster the plastic surgeon? His death was an accident."
"Sure. And your mother was married to your father."
Let's begin at the beginning. The story is called
Four and Twenty Blackbirds is a line from a nursery rhyme called ''Sing a Song of Sixpence':The Case of the Four and Twenty Blackbirds
СпойлерПоказать
Sing a song of sixpence,
A pocket full of rye.
Four and twenty blackbirds,
Baked in a pie.
When the pie was opened
The birds began to sing;
Wasn't that a dainty dish,
To set before the king.
The king was in his counting house,
Counting out his money;
The queen was in the parlour,
Eating bread and honey.
The maid was in the garden,
Hanging out the clothes,
When down came a blackbird
And pecked off her nose.
A pocket full of rye.
Four and twenty blackbirds,
Baked in a pie.
When the pie was opened
The birds began to sing;
Wasn't that a dainty dish,
To set before the king.
The king was in his counting house,
Counting out his money;
The queen was in the parlour,
Eating bread and honey.
The maid was in the garden,
Hanging out the clothes,
When down came a blackbird
And pecked off her nose.
Who is the protagonist? It turns out that it is Little Jack Horner from this rhyme:
СпойлерПоказать
Little Jack Horner
Sat in the corner,
Eating his (a) Christmas pie;
He put in his thumb,
And pulled out a plum,
And said, "What a good boy am I!"
Sat in the corner,
Eating his (a) Christmas pie;
He put in his thumb,
And pulled out a plum,
And said, "What a good boy am I!"
СпойлерПоказать
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again.
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again.
It turns out that "A bad egg" is an idiom - and a pun.Humpty Dumpty was a bad egg. I remembered him when he was new in town, a smart young animal trainer with a nice line in training mice to run up clocks. He went to the bad pretty fast though; gambling, drink, women, it's the same story all over. A bright young kid thinks that the streets of Nurseryland are paved with gold, and by the time he finds out otherwise it's much too late.
Dumpty started off with extortions and robbery on a small scale - he trained up a team of spiders to scare little girls away from their curds and whey, which he'd pick up and sell on the black market. Then he moved onto blackmail -- the nastiest game. We crossed paths once, when I was hired by this young society kid - let's call him Georgie Porgie - to recover some compromising snaps of him kissing the girls and making them cry. I got the snaps, but I learned it wasn't healthy to mess with the Fat Man. And I don't make the same mistakes twice. Hell, in my line of work I can't afford to make the same mistakes once.
It's a tough world out there. I remember when Little Bo Peep first came to town...
Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's Dictionary (En-En)
bad egg
informal + somewhat old-fashioned : someone who does bad things
He was dishonest, but he was the only bad egg in the group.
The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms 2nd Ed
bad egg
An individual who turns out to be rotten, as in You can’t trust him—he’s simply a bad egg. Although egg had been used for various kinds of person (young, good, bad) since Shakespeare’s day, this transfer of a seemingly wholesome food that, when opened, turns out to be rotten took place only in the mid-1800s. An early definition appeared in The Atheneum of 1864: “A bad egg... a fellow who had not proved to be as good as his promise.” In contrast, the schoolyard saying Last one in is a rotten egg does not have any special significance other than as a way of urging others to join an activity, jump in the water, or the like.
is an allusion to this famous rhyme:mice to run up clocks
СпойлерПоказать
Hickory, dickory, dock.
The mouse ran up the clock.
The clock struck one,
The mouse ran down,
Hickory, dickory, dock
The mouse ran up the clock.
The clock struck one,
The mouse ran down,
Hickory, dickory, dock
I've got no idea what to suggest. Can anybody lend me a hand?he trained up a team of spiders to scare little girls away from their curds and whey, which he'd pick up and sell on the black market.
is about this rhymeGeorgie Porgie - to recover some compromising snaps of him kissing the girls and making them cry. I got the snaps, but I learned it wasn't healthy to mess with the Fat Man.
СпойлерПоказать
Georgie Porgie, pudding and pie,
Kissed the girls and made them cry,
When the boys came out to play,
Georgie Porgie ran away
Kissed the girls and made them cry,
When the boys came out to play,
Georgie Porgie ran away
СпойлерПоказать
Little Bo-Peep has lost her sheep,
and doesn't know where to find them;
leave them alone, And they'll come home,
wagging (bringing) their tails behind them.
and doesn't know where to find them;
leave them alone, And they'll come home,
wagging (bringing) their tails behind them.
СпойлерПоказать
Who killed Cock Robin?
I, said the Sparrow,
with my bow and arrow,
I killed Cock Robin.
Who saw him die?
I, said the Fly,
with my little eye,
I saw him die.
Who caught his blood?
I, said the Fish,
with my little dish,
I caught his blood.
Who'll make the shroud?
I, said the Beetle,
with my thread and needle,
I'll make the shroud.
Who'll dig his grave?
I, said the Owl,
with my little trowel,
I'll dig his grave.
Who'll be the parson?
I, said the Rook,
with my little book,
I'll be the parson.
Who'll be the clerk?
I, said the Lark,
if it's not in the dark,
I'll be the clerk.
Who'll carry the link?
I, said the Linnet,
I'll fetch it in a minute,
I'll carry the link.
Who'll be chief mourner?
I, said the Dove,
I mourn for my love,
I'll be chief mourner.
Who'll carry the coffin?
I, said the Kite,
if it's not through the night,
I'll carry the coffin.
Who'll bear the pall?
We, said the Wren,
both the cock and the hen,
We'll bear the pall.
Who'll sing a psalm?
I, said the Thrush,
as she sat on a bush,
I'll sing a psalm.
Who'll toll the bell?
I said the Bull,
because I can pull,
I'll toll the bell.
All the birds of the air
fell a-sighing and a-sobbing,
when they heard the bell toll
for poor Cock Robin.
I, said the Sparrow,
with my bow and arrow,
I killed Cock Robin.
Who saw him die?
I, said the Fly,
with my little eye,
I saw him die.
Who caught his blood?
I, said the Fish,
with my little dish,
I caught his blood.
Who'll make the shroud?
I, said the Beetle,
with my thread and needle,
I'll make the shroud.
Who'll dig his grave?
I, said the Owl,
with my little trowel,
I'll dig his grave.
Who'll be the parson?
I, said the Rook,
with my little book,
I'll be the parson.
Who'll be the clerk?
I, said the Lark,
if it's not in the dark,
I'll be the clerk.
Who'll carry the link?
I, said the Linnet,
I'll fetch it in a minute,
I'll carry the link.
Who'll be chief mourner?
I, said the Dove,
I mourn for my love,
I'll be chief mourner.
Who'll carry the coffin?
I, said the Kite,
if it's not through the night,
I'll carry the coffin.
Who'll bear the pall?
We, said the Wren,
both the cock and the hen,
We'll bear the pall.
Who'll sing a psalm?
I, said the Thrush,
as she sat on a bush,
I'll sing a psalm.
Who'll toll the bell?
I said the Bull,
because I can pull,
I'll toll the bell.
All the birds of the air
fell a-sighing and a-sobbing,
when they heard the bell toll
for poor Cock Robin.
СпойлерПоказать
Doctor Foster went to Gloucester,
In a shower of rain;
He stepped in a puddle,
Right up to his middle,
And never went there again.
In a shower of rain;
He stepped in a puddle,
Right up to his middle,
And never went there again.
I will conclude this post with two idioms that ran one after another in a single sentence:
What are they?She smiled; my stomach twisted around once and went into orbit. "You get another two hundred if you get me those photographs. I want to be a nurse real bad." Then she dropped three fifties on my desk-top.
I let a devil-may-care grin play across my rugged face. "Say, sister, how about letting me take you out for dinner? I just came into some money."
She gave an involuntary shiver of anticipation and muttered something about h.... a t.... a.... midgets, so I knew I was o... a g... t..... Then she gave me a lopsided smile that would have made Albert Einstein drop a decimal point. "First find my brother's killer, Mr. Horner. And my photographs. Then we can play."