PADDY and SCOUT: *Play with little matryoshka chicks.*
SCOUT: “Cheep-cheep! Hullo Henny chick!”
PADDY: “Cheep-cheep! Hullo Penny chick!”
PADDY and SCOUT: *Giggle.*
DUCKIE: “Paddy! Paddy NOOOO!”
PADDY: “Goodness Duckie, whatever is wrong?” *Concerned.*
DUCKIE: “Paddy! How could you?” *Glares at Paddy.* “And Scout, how could you let him do it?” *Glares at Scout.*
SCOUT: “How could Paddy do what, Duckie?” *Puts paw to mouth in concern.* “I don’t know what I let him do?” *Tears well in eyes.*
PADDY: “Duckie! You have upset poor little Scout.” *Puts paw comfortingly around Scout. “Please explain. Whatever did I do?”
DUCKIE: “You killed poor Henny Hen! You broke her in half! Poor Henny Hen! And I thought you were a civilised bear, Paddy!” *Huffs.* “Don’t you hurt your Penny Hen, Scout!”
PADDY and SCOUT: *Look at one another, smile and giggle.*
DUCKIE: “What are you two laughing for? Henny Hen murder is no laughing matter!” *Indignant.*
PADDY: “Oh, we’re sorry Duckie. We are just chuckling because there is nothing to worry about.”
DUCKIE: “What do you mean, Paddy? This is a very serious matter!”
SCOUT: “Please don’t be upset, Duckie. Henny and Penny aren’t real hens.”
DUCKIE: “They aren’t, Scout?”
PADDY: “No Duckie. They are matryoshka dolls.”
SCOUT: “Gesundheit Paddy.”
PADDY: “Oh, that wasn’t a sneeze, Scout. Matryoshka is the name of the type of doll.”
SCOUT: “Henny and Penny are toys made of wood, Duckie. They each have two golden eggs and a chick in their tummies. When you want to put the eggs and the little chicks safely away, you just unscrew Henny or Penny and pop them inside.”
PADDY: “And then you just screw them back together again. Matryoshka dolls, also known as babushka dolls, are a set of Russian wooden dolls of decreasing size placed one inside another.”
DUCKIE: “Oh! That’s a relief! I’m glad to know that you and Scout are still good and civilised bears! I apologise for upsetting you, Scout.”
SCOUT: “That’s alright Duckie! It’s an easy mistake to make.”
PADDY: “Of course we are civilised bears, Duckie! Daddy has brought us up well.”
SCOUT: “That’s right, Duckie! We would never harm another living being! We love everyone too much for that.”
DUCKIE: “Oh! Now I understand!”
PADDY: “Good Duckie. Err, understand what exactly, Duckie?”
DUCKIE: “Well now I understand why Henny and Penny wouldn’t speak to me! I thought they were just ignoring me because I am new to the family!” *Shakes head.* “What an odd house this is, full of strange things.” *Wanders away.* “Will I ever understand everything here?”
PADDY and SCOUT: “Goodbye Duckie.” *Look bewilderingly at one another, shrug and go back to playing with matryoshka chicks.*
SCOUT: “Cheep-cheep! Hullo Henny chick!”
PADDY: “Cheep-cheep! Hullo Penny chick!”
I recently visited Babushka's, a Russian matryoshka doll specialty shop in one of Melbourne's beautiful Victorian arcades, looking for a birthday gift for my two young goddaughters. Whilst I was browsing I chanced upon these rather different matryoshka dolls, released especially for Easter. Unlike other matryoshka dolls where a series of dolls in diminishing sizes nest one inside the other, Henny and Penny are somewhat of a novelty: inside their hollowed bellies you will find several rather pretty golden eggs and little chicks!
Matryoshka dolls, also known as babushka dolls, stacking dolls, nesting dolls, Russian tea dolls, or Russian dolls, are a set of wooden dolls of decreasing size placed one inside another. The name matryoshka, literally "little matron", is a diminutive form of the Russian female first name "Matryona" (Матрёна) or "Matryosha". A set of matryoshkas consists of a wooden figure, which separates at the middle, top from bottom, to reveal a smaller figure of the same sort inside, which has, in turn, another figure inside of it, and so on. The first Russian nested doll set was made in 1890 by wood turning craftsman and wood carver Vasily Zvyozdochkin from a design by Sergey Malyutin, who was a folk crafts painter at Abramtsevo. Traditionally the outer layer is a woman, dressed in a sarafan, a long and shapeless traditional Russian peasant jumper dress. The figures inside may be of any gender; the smallest, innermost doll is typically a baby turned from a single piece of wood. In the west, matryoshka dolls are often referred to as babushka dolls, babushka meaning "grandmother" or "old woman".
My Paddington Bear came to live with me in London when I was two years old (many, many years ago). He was hand made by my Great Aunt and he has a chocolate coloured felt hat, the brim of which had to be pinned up by a safety pin to stop it getting in his eyes. The collar of his mackintosh is made of the same felt. He wears wellington boots made from the same red leather used to make the toggles on his mackintosh.
He has travelled with me across the world and he and I have had many adventures together over the years. He is a very precious member of my small family.
Scout was a gift to Paddy from my friend. He is a Fair Trade Bear hand knitted in Africa. His name comes from the shop my friend found him in: Scout House. He tells me that life was very different where he came from, and Paddy is helping introduce him to many new experiences. Scout catches on quickly, and has proven to be a cheeky, but very lovable member of our closely knit family.
Duckie is a recent addition to the family. I saw her when I was at a Sunday market on a stall of homemade knitted and crocheted items. She caught my eye straight away with her happy, smiley face and bright colours. I think she finds life with my bears intriguing and perhaps a little confusing, however she is learning.
