DANCE AT GRANDPAS Little House in the Big Woods By Laura Ingalls Wilder
dance at grandpa’s
monday morning everybody got up early in
a hurry to get started to grandpa’s
paul wanted to be there to help with the
work of gathering
and boiling the sap ma would help
grandma and the ants make good things to
eat for all the people who were coming
to the dance
breakfast was eaten and the dishes
washed and the beds made by lamplight
pa packed his fiddle carefully in its
box and put it in the big sled
that was already waiting at the gate the
air was cold and frosty
and the light was gray when laura and
mary and ma
with baby carry were tucked in snug and
warm under the robes on the straw in the
bottom of the sled
the horses shook their heads and pranced
making the sleigh bells ring merrily and
away they went
on the road through the big woods to
grandpa’s
the snow was damp and smooth in the road
so the sled slipped quickly over it and
the big trees seemed to be hurrying by
on either side after a while
there was sunshine in the woods and the
air
sparkled the long streaks of yellow
light
lay between the shadows of the tree
trunks and the snow
was colored faintly pink all the shadows
were thin
and blue and every little curve of snow
drifts
and every little track in the snow had a
shadow
paw showed laura the tracks of the wild
creatures and the snow at the sides of
the road the small
leaping tracks of cottontail rabbits the
tiny tracks of field mice
and the feather stitching tracks of
snowbirds
there were larger tracks like dogs
tracks
where foxes had run and there were the
tracks of a deer that had bounded away
into the woods
the air was growing warmer already and
paw said
the snow wouldn’t last long it did not
seem long
until they were sweeping into the
clearing at grandpa’s house
all the sleigh bells jingling grandma
came to the door and stood there smiling
calling to them to come in
she said that grandpa and uncle george
were already at work out in the maple
woods
so paul went to help them while laura
and mary
and ma with baby carrie in her arms went
into grandma’s house and took off their
wraps
laura loved grandma’s house it was much
larger than their house at home
there was one great big room and then
there was a little room that belonged to
uncle george
and there was another room for the ants
aunt dosia
and aunt ruby and then there was the
kitchen with a
big cook stove it was fun to run the
whole length of the big room from the
large fireplace at one end
all the way to grandma’s bed under the
window in the other end
the floor was made of wide thick slabs
that grandpa had hewed from the logs
with his axe
the floor was smoothed all over
and scrubbed clean and white and the big
bed under the window was soft with
feathers the day seemed very short while
laura and mary played in the big room
and ma helped grandma and the ants in
the kitchen
the men had taken their dinners to the
maple woods
so for dinner they did not set the table
but ate cold venison sandwiches and
drank milk
but for supper grandma made hasty
pudding
she stood by the stove sifting the
yellow cornmeal from her fingers
into a kettle of boiling salted water
she stirred the water all the time with
a big wooden spoon
and sifted in the meal until the kettle
was full
of a thick yellow bubbling mass then she
set it on the back of the stove where it
would cook
slowly it smelled good
the whole house smelled good with the
sweet and spicy smells from the
kitchen and the smell of the hickory
logs burning with clear bright flames in
the fireplace
and the smell of a clove apple beside
grandma’s mending basket on the table
the sunshine came in through the
sparkling window panes and everything
was
large and spacious and clean
at suppertime paw and grandpa came from
the woods
each hat on his shoulders a wooden yoke
that grandpa
had made it was cut to fit around their
necks in the back
and hollowed out to fit over their
shoulders
from each end hung a chain with a hook
and on each hook hung a big wooden
bucket full of hot
maple syrup paw and grandpa had brought
the syrup from the big cattle in the
woods
they steadied the buckets with their
hands but the weight
hung from the yolks on their shoulders
grandma made room for a huge brass
kettle on the stove
paw and grandpa poured the syrup into
the brass kettle
and it was so large that it held all the
syrup from the four big buckets
then uncle george came with a smaller
bucket of syrup
and everybody ate the hot hasty pudding
with maple syrup
for supper uncle george was home from
the army
he wore his blue army coat with the
brass buttons
and he had bold merry blue eyes
he was big and broad and he walked with
a swagger
laura looked at him all the time she was
eating her hasty pudding
because she’d heard paul say to ma that
he was
wild george is wild
since he came back from the war paul had
said
shaking his head as if he was sorry but
it couldn’t be helped
uncle george had run away to be a
drummer boy in the army when he was
14 years old laura had never seen a wild
man before
she did not know whether she was afraid
of uncle george or not
when supper was over uncle george went
outside the door
and blew his army bugle long and loud
it made a lovely ringing sound far
away through the big woods the woods
were dark and silent
and the trees stood still as though they
were listening
then from very far away the sound
came back thin and clear
and small like a little bugle answering
the big one
listen uncle george said isn’t that
pretty
laura looked at him but she did not say
anything
and when uncle george stopped blowing
the bugle she ran
into the house ma and grandma cleared
away the dishes and washed them and
swept the hearth
while aunt dosha and aunt ruby made
themselves pretty in their room
laura sat on their bed and watched them
comb out their long hair
and part it carefully they parted it
from their foreheads to the napes of
their necks
and then they parted it across from ear
to ear
they braided their back hair in long
braids
and then they did the braids up
carefully in big knots
they had washed their hands and faces
and scrubbed them well with soap
at the wash basin on the bench in the
kitchen they had used
store soap not the slimy soft dark brown
soap that grandma made and kept in a big
jar to use for common every day
they fussed for a long time with their
front hair
holding up the lamp and looking at their
hair and the little looking glass that
hung on the log
wall they brushed it so smooth on each
side of the straight white
part that it shone like silk in the lamp
light
the little puff on each side shown two
and the ends were coiled and twisted
neatly under the big knot
in the back then they pulled on their
beautiful white stockings that they had
knit a fine cotton thread
in lacy open work patterns and they
buttoned up their best shoes
they helped each other with their
corsets aunt dosha pulled as hard as she
could on aunt ruby’s corset strings
and then aunt dosha hung onto the foot
of the bed while aunt ruby pulled on
hers
said breathless pull harder
so aunt ruby braced her feet and pulled
harder
aunt dosia kept measuring her waist with
her hands and at last she gasped
i guess that’s the best you can do
she said caroline says charles could
span her waist with his hands when they
were married
caroline was laura’s ma and when she
heard this
lara felt proud then aunt ruby
and aunt dosha put on their flannel
petticoats
and their plain petticoats and their
stiff
starched white petticoats with knitted
lace all around the flounces and they
put on their beautiful dresses
aunt docia’s dress was a sprigged print
dark blue with sprigs of red flowers and
green
leaves thick upon it the basque was
buttoned down the front with black
buttons which looked
so exactly like juicy big blackberries
that
laura wanted to taste them aunt ruby’s
dress
was wine colored calico covered all over
with a feathery pattern
in lighter wine color it buttoned
with gold colored buttons and every
button
had a little castle and a tree carved on
it
and dosha’s pretty white collar was
fastened in front with a large round
cameo pin
which had a lady’s head on it but aunt
ruby pinned her collar
with a red rose made of sealing wax
she had made it herself on the head of a
darning needle
which had a broken eye so it couldn’t be
used as a needle anymore
they looked lovely sailing over the
floor so
smoothly with their large round skirts
their little waists rose up tight and
slender in the middle
and their cheeks were red and their eyes
bright under the wings of
shining sleek hair ma was beautiful
too and heard dark green delaying with
the little leaves that looked like
strawberries scattered over it
the skirt was ruffled and flounced and
draped
and trimmed with knots of dark green
ribbon
and nestling at her throat was a gold
pin
the pin was flat as long and as wide as
laura’s two biggest fingers
and it was carved all over and scalloped
on the edges
ma looked so rich and fine that laura
was afraid to
touch her people had begun to come
they were coming on foot through the
snowy woods with their lanterns and they
were driving up to the door in sleds and
in wagons
sleigh bells were jingling all the time
the big room filled with tall boots and
swishing skirts and
ever so many babies were lying in rows
on grandma’s bed
uncle james and aunt libby had come with
their little girl
whose name was laura ingalls too the two
lauras leaned on the bed and looked at
the babies
and the other lara said her baby was
prettier than baby carrie
she is not either laura said carrie’s
the prettiest baby
in the whole world no she isn’t
the other laura said yes she is
no she isn’t ma came sailing over in her
fine delane
and said severely laura so neither laura
said anything more
uncle george was blowing his bugle it
made a loud
ringing sound in the big room and uncle
george
joked and laughed and danced blowing the
bugle
then paw took his fiddle out of its box
and began to play
and all the couples stood in squares on
the floor and began to dance when paul
called the figures
grand right and left paul called out and
all the
skirts began to swirl and all the boots
began to stamp
the circles went round and round all the
skirts going one way and all the boots
going the other way
and hands clasping and parting high up
in the air
swing your partner’s paw called and each
gent bow to the lady on the left
they all did as paul said laura watched
ma’s skirt swaying and her little waist
bending and her dark head bowing and she
thought ma
was the loveliest dancer in the world
the fiddle was singing oh you buffalo
gals aren’t you coming up tonight aren’t
you coming out tonight aren’t you coming
out tonight oh you buffalo gals aren’t
you coming out tonight to
dance by the light of the moon the
little circles
and the big circles went round and round
and the skirts swirled and the boots
stamped and the partners
bowed and separated and met and bowed
again
in the kitchen grandma was all by
herself
stirring the boiling syrup in the big
brass kettle
she stirred in time to the music by the
back door was a pail of clean snow
and sometimes grandma took a spoonful of
syrup from the kettle
and poured it on some of the snow in a
saucer
lara watched the dancers again paul was
playing
the irish washerwoman now he called
dosie ladies docido come down heavy on
your heel and toe
laura could not keep her feet still
uncle george looked at her and laughed
then he caught it by the hand and did a
little dance with her in the corner
she liked uncle george everybody was
laughing over by the kitchen door
they were dragging grandma in from the
kitchen grandma’s dress was beautiful
too a dark blue calico with autumn
colored
leaves scattered over it her cheeks were
pink from laughing and she was shaking
her head
the wooden spoon was in her hand i can’t
leave the syrup
she said but paul began to play the
arkansas traveler
and everybody began to clap in time to
the music
so grandma bowed to them all and did a
few steps by herself
she could dance as prettily as any of
them
the clapping almost drowned the music of
paw’s fiddle
suddenly uncle george did a pigeon wing
and bowing low before grandma he began
to jig
grandma tossed her spoon to somebody she
put her hands on her hips and faced
uncle george and
everybody shouted grandma was jigging
laura clapped her hands in time to the
music with all the other clapping hands
the fiddle saying is it had never sung
before
grandma’s eyes were snapping and her
cheeks were red and
underneath her skirts her heels were
clicking as fast as the thumping of
uncle george’s boots
everybody was excited uncle george kept
on jigging
and grandma kept on facing him jigging
too the fiddle did not stop
uncle george began to breathe loudly and
he wiped sweat off his forehead
grandma’s eyes twinkled you can’t beat
her george
somebody shouted uncle george jigged
faster
he jigged twice as fast as he’d been
jigging
so did grandma everybody cheered again
all the women were laughing and clapping
their hands and all the men were teasing
george
george did not care but he did not have
breath enough to laugh
he was jigging paw’s blue eyes were
snapping and
sparking he was standing up watching
george and grandma and the bow
danced over the fiddle strings laura
jumped up and down
and squealed and clapped her hands
grandma kept on jigging
her hands were on her hips and her chin
was up and she was smiling
george kept on jigging but his boots did
not thump as loudly as they had thumped
it first
grandma’s heels kept on
clickity-clacking daily
a drop of sweat dripped off george’s
forehead and shone on his cheek
all at once he threw up both arms and
gasped
i’m beat he stopped jigging
everybody made a terrific noise shouting
and yelling and stamping cheering
grandma
grandma jig just a little minute more
then she stopped
she laughed and gasps her eyes sparkled
just like paws when he laughed
george was laughing too and wiping his
forehead on his sleeve
suddenly grandma stopped laughing she
turned and ran as fast as she could into
the kitchen
the fiddle had stopped playing all the
women were talking at once and all the
men teasing george
but everybody was still for a minute
when grandma looked like that
then she came to the door between the
kitchen and the big room and said
the syrup is waxing come and help
yourselves
then everybody began to talk and laugh
again
they all hurried to the kitchen for
plates and outdoors to fill the plates
with snow
the kitchen door was open and the cold
air came in
outdoors the stars were frosty in the
sky
and the air nipped laura’s cheeks and
nose her breath was like smoke
she and the other lara and all the other
children scooped up
clean snow with their plates then they
went back into the crowded kitchen
grandma stood by the brass kettle and
with the big wooden spoon
she poured hot syrup on each plate of
snow
it cooled into soft candy and as fast as
it cooled
they ate it they could eat all they
wanted
from maple sugar never hurt anybody
there was plenty of syrup in the kettle
and plenty of snow outdoors as soon as
they ate one plate full
they filled their plates with snow again
and grandma poured more syrup on it
when they had eaten the soft maple candy
until they could eat no more of it
then they helped themselves from the
long table loaded with
pumpkin pies and dried berry pies
and cookies and cakes it was salt rising
bread too
and cold boiled pork and pickles
ooh how sour the pickles were
they all ate till they could hold no
more
and then they began to dance again but
grandma watched the syrup in the kettle
many times she took a little bit of it
out into a saucer
and stirred it round and round then she
shook her head and poured the syrup back
into the kettle
the other room was loud and merry with
the music of the fiddle and the noise of
the dancing
at last as grandma stirred the syrup in
the saucer
turned into little grains like sand and
grandma
called quick girls it’s raining
aunt ruby and aunt dosia and ma left the
dance and came running
they set out pans big pans and little
pans
and as fast as grandma could fill them
with syrup they set out more
they set the filled ones away to cool
into maple sugar
then grandma said now bring the patty
pans for the children
there was a patty pan or at least a
broken cup or a saucer
for every little girl and boy they all
watched anxiously while grandma ladled
out the syrup
perhaps it would not be enough then
somebody would have to be unselfish and
polite
there was just enough syrup to go round
the last scrapings of the brass kettle
exactly filled the very last patty pan
nobody was left out the fiddling and the
dancing went
on and on laura and the other lara stood
around and watched the dancers
then they sat down on the floor in a
corner and watched
the dancing was so pretty and the music
so gay
that laura knew she could never get
tired of it
all the beautiful skirts went swirling
by
and the boots went stamping and the
fiddle kept on singing
gaily then laura woke up and she was
lying across the foot of grandma’s bed
it was morning ma and grandma
and baby carrie were in the bed paw and
grandpa
were sleeping rolled up in blankets on
the floor by the fireplace
mary was nowhere in sight she was
sleeping with aunt docia and aunt ruby
in their bed
soon everybody was getting up there were
pancakes and maple syrup for breakfast
and then paul brought the horses and
sled to the door
he helped ma and carrie in while grandpa
picked up
mary and uncle george picked up laura
and they tossed them over the edge of
the sled into the straw paw tucked in
the robes around them
and grandpa and grandma and uncle george
stood calling
goodbye goodbye as they rode away into
the big woods
going home the sun was
warm and the trotting horses threw up
bits of muddy snow with their hooves
behind the sled laura could see their
footprints
and every footprint had gone through the
thin snow into the
mud before night paw said
we’ll see the last of the sugar snow