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The Phoenix and the Carpet · Chapters

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Chapter companions for The Phoenix and the Carpet by E. Nesbit.

Each chapter has a companion in the reader — open a free preview to see notes beside the text.

  1. Chapter 1

    Dedication

    The author dedicates the book to her godson Hubert Griffith and his sister Margaret, expressing a wish to use a magic carpet to visit them in magical lands, but lamenting that such wonders are not real, so she offers them this book instead.

  2. Chapter 2

    The Phoenix and the Carpet

    The children discover a mysterious egg in the new carpet, which hatches into a talking Phoenix. The Phoenix reveals the carpet is a wishing carpet that can fly, and they embark on their first magical journey.

  3. Chapter 3

    The Egg

    The children, bored and disappointed by rainy weather and lack of fireworks, decide to test their fireworks indoors. In the process, they discover a mysterious egg on the new carpet, which hatches into a Phoenix. The Phoenix explains its history and the magic carpet's origin, and the children realize they have stumbled upon new adventures.

  4. Chapter 4

    The Topless Tower

    The children awaken to find the Phoenix has hatched and is eager to converse. After a morning of chores, they decide to use the wishing carpet. Jane impulsively wishes the carpet to fit into a mysterious topless tower, causing them to descend into it while Robert is left stranded on a ledge. The Phoenix brings them food and then leaves to find a way to help them escape. While waiting, the children discover a hidden door behind a pile of stones.

  5. Chapter 5

    The Queen Cook

    The children's first journey on the wishing carpet leads to an unexpected adventure when their cook is mistaken for a prophesied queen by a copper-colored tribe. Despite the cook's decision to stay and reign, the children return home to face the consequences of the muddy carpet, which is locked away by their parents. The Phoenix goes missing, and the children endure a week of mishaps and tension with the cook, culminating in her threat to leave.

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  1. Chapter 6IV: Two Bazaars
  2. Chapter 7The Temple
  3. Chapter 8VI: Doing Good
  4. Chapter 9VII: Mews from Persia
  5. Chapter 10VIII: The Cats, the Cow, and the Burglar
  6. Chapter 11IX: The Burglar's Bride
  7. Chapter 12X: The Hole in the Carpet
  8. Chapter 13XI: The Beginning of the End
  9. Chapter 14The End of the End