Bartholomew and the Oobleck Paragraphs 20-23 Summary

Here They Come 

  • Finally! The Great Magicians arrive at the sound of a secret whistle from a secret hook! And they've! They've…
  • …apparently been playing Dungeons and Dragons for the past month and a half, judging from the dazed expressions on their faces. Even that mouse can't quite believe they're putting down the Mountain Dew and shuffle-dufflin' it on up into the human realm.
  • And it turns out they're even weirder than it might at first seem. Dudes eat boiled owl. That cannot be pleasant. No wonder they've got the groans and howls.
  • It should tell us something about this King fellow that he doesn't even blink one of those gray-green eyes. Rather, he acts like he's on the phone with the pizza delivery guy: "Yeah, I'd like to order a pepperoni pizza with a side of shock and awe, please. Do you take American Express?"
  • We've got to give a big shout out here to the alliteration going down throughout this section. Look at all the B's, L's and S's in "blew long, low blast" and "secret stairway." We can see repetition of both internal and regular rhyme in, "Shuffle, duffle, muzzle muff / Fista, wista, mista-cuff."
  • Sure, Seuss cheats a little by making up words, but he's so good at it. Together, both the alliteration and the rhyme do a great job of imitating the rhythm of the magicians' shuffling feet. Here they come. Closer and closer.