II + 

The world went on widening. + 

There were, for instance, uncles and aunts. + 

Uncle Sydney was MummyтАЩs brother. He was short and stout and had rather a red face. He had a habit of humming tunes and of rattling the money in his trouser pockets. He was fond of making jokes, but Vernon did not always think his jokes very funny. + 

тАЬSupposing,тАЭ Uncle Sydney would say, тАЬI were to put on your hat? Hey? What should I look like, do you think?тАЭ + 

Curious, the questions grown up people asked! CuriousтБатАФand also difficult, because if there was one thing that Nurse was always impressing upon Vernon, it was that little boys must never make personal remarks. + 

тАЬCome now,тАЭ said Uncle Sydney perseveringly. тАЬWhat should I look like? ThereтБатАФтАЭ he snatched up the linen affair in question and balanced it on top of his head. тАЬтБатАФwhat do I look like, eh?тАЭ + 

Well, if one must answer, one must. Vernon said politely and a little wearily: + 

тАЬI think you look rather silly.тАЭ + 

тАЬThat boy of yours has no sense of humour, Myra,тАЭ said Uncle Sydney to his mother. тАЬNo sense of humour at all. A pity.тАЭ + 

Aunt Nina, FatherтАЩs sister, was quite different. + 

She smelt nice, like the garden on a summerтАЩs day, and she had a soft voice that Vernon liked. She had other virtuesтБатАФshe didnтАЩt kiss you when you didnтАЩt want to be kissed, and she didnтАЩt insist on making jokes. But she didnтАЩt come very often to Abbots Puissants. + 

She must be, Vernon thought, very brave, because it was she who first made him realize that one could master the Beast. + 

The Beast lived in the big drawing-room. It had four legs and a shiny brown body. And it had a long row of what Vernon had thought when he was very small, to be teeth. Great yellow shining teeth. From his earliest memory, Vernon had been fascinated and terrified by the Beast. For if you irritated the Beast, it made strange noises, an angry growling or a shrill angry wailтБатАФand somehow those noises hurt you more than anything in the world could, they hurt you right down in your inside. They made you shiver and feel sick, and they made your eyes sting and burn, and yet by some strange enchantment, you couldnтАЩt go away. + 

When Vernon had stories read to him about dragons, he always thought of them as like the Beast. And some of the best games with Mr.┬аGreen were where they killed the BeastтБатАФVernon plunging a sword into his brown shining body whilst the hundred children whooped and sang behind. + 

Now that he was a big boy he knew better, of course. He knew that the BeastтАЩs name was Grand Piano, and that when you deliberately attacked its teeth, that was called тАЬplayingtherpianoтАЭ! and that ladies did it after dinner to gentlemen. But in his inmost heart he was still afraid and dreamt sometimes of the Beast pursuing him up the nursery stairsтБатАФand he would wake up screaming. + 

In his dreams the Beast lived in the Forest, and was wild and savage, and the noises it made were too terrible to be borne. + 

Mummy sometimes did тАЬplayingtherpiano,тАЭ and that Vernon could just bear with difficulty. The Beast, he felt, would not really be waked up by what she was doing to it. But the day Aunt Nina played was different. + 

Vernon had been conducting one of his imaginary games in a corner. He and Squirrel and Poodle were having a picnic and eating lobsters and chocolate ├йclairs. + 

His Aunt Nina had not even noticed that he was in the room. She had sat down on the music stool and was playing idly. + 

Fascinated, Vernon crept nearer and nearer. Nina looked at last to see him staring at her, the tears running down his face and great sobs shaking his small body. She stopped. + 

тАЬWhatтАЩs the matter, Vernon?тАЭ + 

тАЬI тАЩate it,тАЭ sobbed Vernon. тАЬI тАЩate it. I тАЩate it. It hurts me here.тАЭ His hands clasped his stomach. + 

Myra came into the room at that minute. She laughed. + 

тАЬIsnтАЩt it odd? That child simply hates music. So very queer.тАЭ + 

тАЬWhy doesnтАЩt he go away if he hates it?тАЭ said Nina. + 

тАЬI canтАЩt,тАЭ sobbed Vernon. + 

тАЬIsnтАЩt it ridiculous?тАЭ said Myra. + 

тАЬI think itтАЩs rather interesting.тАЭ + 

тАЬMost children are always wanting to strum on the piano. I tried to show Vernon тАШChopsticksтАЩ the other day, but he wasnтАЩt a bit amused.тАЭ + 

Nina remained staring at her small nephew thoughtfully. + 

тАЬI can hardly believe a child of mine can be unmusical,тАЭ said Myra in an aggrieved voice. тАЬI played quite difficult pieces when I was eight years old.тАЭ + 

тАЬOh! well,тАЭ said Nina vaguely. тАЬThere are different ways of being musical.тАЭ + 

Which, Myra thought, was so like the silly sort of thing the Deyre family would say. Either one was musical and played pieces, or one was not. Vernon clearly was not. + 