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Back in the 1960s, going to school in some European countries was a rather unpleasant experience: teachers were allowed to punish students, which often meant chasing them around with a huge wooden ruler or a bamboo cane!
Thank goodness times have changed, but in those days, if a student was unlucky enough to come across a mean teacher, or if the child was a troublemaker or something like that, it took a lot of diplomacy and wit to stay out of trouble.
To get on the teacher's good side, parents would often send treats. And when it came to your grandmother Mimi, that was surely needed.
First, because her teacher, Miss Joaquina, wasn't exactly an evil woman, but she "suffered from nerve ailments", or so she said. Being considered an old spinster by the town's folk and leading a lonely life surely didn't help her mood, either. Not that it was an excuse to terrorise innocent children, but it was an acceptable explanation at the time.
And second, because Mimi had issues with staying put: as the teacher would say, she had ants in her pants and her head in the clouds.
She resembled an angel, with her platinum blonde ringlets framing her pretty little face, skin like a china doll, and amber coloured eyes that were always on the lookout for the next adventure; but her vivid imagination and restlessness often took the best of her, and she often behaved more like a little devil.
Ever the peace-maker, your great grandmother Tete made sure to please Miss Joaquina with small gifts and kind words, hoping to keep Mimi in her good graces.
Now, your great grandparents lived in a large, beautiful house within a vast plot of land that gave them all sorts of fresh fruit and vegetables. Grandma Tete managed the house with the help of an old, sassy housekeeper, Mrs. Molelas, who cursed at people she didn't like telling them to "go dance with a limping pig".
She also hired help to take care of the orchard, the poultry, and the market farm. Grandpa Abel ran an automobile company and was so popular among his clients that every week he had gifts of delicatessen, preserves, nuts, wine, produce, and all sorts of delicious things delivered at home.
They were happy to share such treats with their friends, and every now and then grandma Tete would send Miss Joaquina something nice.
On that day, it was a big basket of fresh eggs: hen eggs, goose eggs, pheasant eggs, duck eggs, blue, white and brown, of several sizes, piling together and looking pretty as a picture. Grandma Tete had been selecting them specifically to gift the teacher and was sure she would be impressed.
"Mimi" – said the mother – "I need you to take these lovely eggs to your teacher. See how nice they look? Make sure they stay that way until she gets them. Take the basket with great care, and go straight to her house. Don't go out of your way and don't stop anywhere! You can play afterwards". Knowing her daughter, grandma Tete couldn't be specific enough. Mimi always managed to do things her way, often with not-so-great outcomes.
Mimi heard and promised to do just that. She left the house with her mind firmly set on following the instructions to a T.
However, the day was so bright and lovely, and it was quite a stretch to her teacher's house, that she thought it would be nice to have company.
Mimi had a good friend, and the best adventure companion that anyone could wish for: his name was Charlie. He was a hearty, boisterous boy of seven who led an extraordinary life and lived in quite a remarkable house.
Charlie's parents had moved in Africa for business, and often traveled around the globe, so the lad lived with his grandparents. The old couple loved their grandson to bits and raised him really well to be a proper gentleman; but not only they indulged him to make up for the absence of his mummy and daddy, they no longer had the energy to keep a close eye on him all the time, let alone discipline him.
Since Charlie was well-bred and good-natured, the result wasn't as bad as it could have been, but he had way more freedom than most children of his age – which obviously, made him an ideal playmate.
And then there was that fantastic house of his- an elegant, spacious building with endless rooms filled with antiques, oddities, and exotic furniture that Charlie and his friends were allowed to explore freely. The best part was the basement, which Charlie claimed as his "explorer headquarters"- a large, comfortable room packed with intriguing old books, African art, souvenirs from all corners of the globe and lots of hunting trophies, including a poor cheetah turned into a carpet. Mimi loved to read and dream of quests and expeditions, so Charlie's basement was something out of a dream to her.
Anticipating the fun afternoon she would have with her friend, Mimi decided to ignore her mother's advice and go straight to the teacher's house, but dropping by Charlie's first. And as if this wasn't bad enough, she decided not to use the front door to get there.
You see, Charlie's garden was separated from the street by a low wall. Mimi thought that she could hop over it as she usually did, not counting on how the basket of eggs would swing as she jumped.
She was still in the air when she heard several "plop" and "crash" sounds. The basket hit the wall at full blast, and the eggs that didn't smash against it instantly, crashed right on the floor, one by one. Not a single one escaped the disaster- poor Mimi was left covered in yolk and egg whites and not knowing how to explain the misfortune to her mum.
When your great grandma Tete saw what happened, she grounded Mimi and swore she washed her hands off how the teacher would treat her from then on. Luckily, it was just talk and her fury didn't last long, neither did Mimi's punishment- the shock of losing the eggs and coming home to tell the truth had been hard enough already.
As for Mimi, I'd love to say she never disobeyed her parents again, but she had many more adventures like this one – and is stubborn and headstrong until this day! However, she went on to be very careful when handling eggs, so the lesson wasn't totally lost-I guess.
