Old Mr. Pettle, who hadn’t spoken a voluntary sentence in eleven years, looked out his window at the rain and said, “The clouds bobdule today.” And indeed, they did seem to drift with a peculiar, gentle, side-to-side wobble, as if the sky were rocking a cradle.
By Wednesday, the word had spread. Mr. Hix, the clockmaker, told a customer that his antique pendulum would “bobdule more smoothly after a drop of oil.” The postman, delivering letters, muttered that his satchel strap needed to bobdule across his shoulder. Children on the playground started playing a game called Bobdule-Ball, though none could agree on the rules. It seemed to involve wobbling and humming at the same time. bobdule
The hall was quiet. Then Mr. Hix nodded. Mrs. Gimbel wiped her hands on her apron. The postman smiled. Old Mr
The town librarian, a sensible woman named Edna Quirk, grew concerned. She pulled out the colossal Oxford English Dictionary (Volume B, folio edition). She searched. She found “bob” (to move up and down), “bobber” (a float on a fishing line), and “bobstay” (a rope on a ship). But bobdule was nowhere. She checked the etymology supplements. Nothing. She even called the linguistics department at the distant city university. The professor there laughed. “Bobdule isn’t a word,” he said. It seemed to involve wobbling and humming at the same time
And from that day on, whenever anyone in Puddling Parva felt rushed, or sharp, or too certain, they would stop and say, “Let it bobdule a bit.”
