"Assim refuto Beelzy" , um conto de John Collier , publicado na edição de outubro de 1940 de The Atlantic Monthly . Foi reimpresso em Famous Fantastic Mysteries , outubro de 1952 , que está disponível no Internet Archive . Uma leitura de Nelson Olmsted de um episódio de 1957 do programa de rádio Sleep No More também está disponível no Internet Archive . Aqui está um resumo do enredo de Plot Spot :
A little boy, Small Simon, refuses to acknowledge to his father, Big Simon, that Mr Beelzy is nothing more than a daydream. The father attempts to reason with his son, laying forth his arguments in a logical and straight-forward manner, but then resorts to threats of violence when his son fails to heed him. Small Simon seems unconcerned—he claims that Mr Beelzy won't let anyone hurt him...
Existe uma antologia que eu tive quando criança. A primeira história
Hmm. O único livro que eu pude encontrar com "Thus I Refute Beelzy" como a primeira história é a antologia de capa de comércio de 1974 a capa não é nada como sua descrição. Existe alguma essas capas que você lembra? Se você lê-lo em uma brochura Bantam, pode ter sido uma edição Bantam da coleção de Collier Fancies and Goodnights .
era sobre uma criança que tinha um monstro / criatura, talvez chamado Mr. (algo ou outro).
"He is six," said her husband. "He is a reasonable being. He must choose for himself. But what game is this, Small Simon, that is worth getting nervy and dazed over? There are very few games as good as all that."
"It's nothing," said the boy.
"Oh, come," said his father. "We are friends, are we not? You can tell me. I was a Small Simon once, just like you, and played the same games you play. Of course there were no aeroplanes in those days. With whom do you play this fine game? Come on, we must all answer civil questions, or the world would never go round. With whom do you play?
"Mr. Beelzy," said the boy, unable to resist.
"Mr. Beelzy?" said his father, raising his eyebrows inquiringly at his wife.
"It's a game he makes up," said she.
"Not makes up!" cried the boy. "Fool!"
"That is telling stories," said his mother. "And rude as well. We had better talk of something different."
O pai não acreditava que a criatura existisse.
"I hope you are listening to me," said his father. "All you have to do is say, 'I have been playing a game of let's-pretend. With someone I make up, called Mr. Beelzy.' Then no one will say you tell lies, and you will know the difference between dreams and reality. Mr. Beelzy is a day dream."
A história termina com a família encontrando a mão do pai no patamar da escada.
Pé, não de mão:
It was on the second-floor landing that they found the shoe, with the man's foot still in it, like that last morsel of a mouse which sometimes falls unnoticed from the side of the jaws of the cat.