Construction Work
A giraffe, a pelican and a monkey walk into an empty building. No, not a joke, but the plot. The animals take over an empty building to start their own window washing business. The narrator is introduced to their redecorating process via bathtub flying through the window. He goes to get a closer look and metaphor takes over:
“It looked as though some madman was ripping out the whole of the inside of the house, because now pieces of staircase and bits of the banisters and a whole lot of old floorboards came whistling through the windows.”
The Company Jingle
The new window-cleaning company have their own jingle. And the jingle commences with a metaphorical illustration of just how powerfully clean a giraffe, pelican and monkey can clean glass:
“We will polish your glass
Till it’s shining like brass
And it sparkles like sun on the sea!”
Hampshire House
The plot takes a turn at Hampshire House, home of the Duke of Hampshire. It is the discovering a jewel heist taking place inside and the ability of the window-cleaners to stop the thief that saves the day. One can get a sense of why this is such a turning point from the description of the house—and by extension the jewels—inside:
“Soon the huge house itself came into view, and what as house it was! It was like a palace! It was bigger than a palace!”
The Burglar in the Beak
Pelly the Pelican is the real hero of thwarted heist. His feats are described using a great deal of metaphorical imagery to punch home the full extent of the heroism deemed worthy of reward by the Duke:
“Like a bullet, the Pelican flew in through the open window.”
“A tremendous banging noise was coming from inside the Pelican’s beak. It sounded as though someone was using a sledgehammer against it from inside.”
Pishlets for the Pelican
The story ends back where it begins, with the narrator’s wish that the empty house on the street would become a candy store. It does and one of the sweets sold is called Pishlets which is described only as something bought for kids who don’t know how to whistle because it lets them to do so. This he gives to Pelly and changes the bird’s world, metaphorically speaking:
“after he had put one of them into his beak and chewed it for a while, he suddenly started singing like a nightingale. This made him wildly excited because Pelicans are not song-birds.”
