The Phoenix and the Carpet · Chapters
Chapters explained
Chapter companions for The Phoenix and the Carpet by E. Nesbit.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Chapter 6
IV: Two Bazaars
The children attempt to use the wishing carpet to obtain Indian goods for their mother's bazaar, but their plan goes awry when Mrs. Biddle buys the carpet at a bazaar. They struggle to recover it, leading to a tense confrontation.
Chapter 7
The Temple
The children search for the Phoenix, who is found hiding on the hot water cylinder. After a disagreement about where to go on the wishing carpet, the Phoenix suggests visiting its temple, which turns out to be the Phoenix Fire Office. The staff there believe in the Phoenix and hold a ceremony in its honor, complete with makeshift incense.
Chapter 8
VI: Doing Good
The children, feeling the Christmas spirit, wish to use the magic carpet to go somewhere to perform a good and kind action. However, the carpet initially refuses to move, leading them to realize they must do good deeds at home. After insisting on going elsewhere, the carpet transports them to an underground passage where they find treasure. They emerge in a shrine dedicated to St. Jean de Luz in France, where they encounter a French-speaking lady who is delighted to meet English children.
Chapter 9
VII: Mews from Persia
The children send the wishing carpet to its native home to bring back beautiful and delightful things. It returns with 199 Persian cats, which create a deafening uproar. They then send the carpet for cat food, but it returns with rats instead, two for each cat.
Chapter 10
VIII: The Cats, the Cow, and the Burglar
The children deal with a house full of Persian cats and muskrats brought by the wishing carpet, a policeman's investigation, and the Phoenix's clever diversion. They wish for milk but instead receive a cow, and later a burglar arrives who helps remove the cats in exchange for letting him go. The chapter ends with the cow being sent away via the carpet, which gets torn in the process.
Chapter 11
IX: The Burglar's Bride
The children learn that their burglar friend has been arrested on suspicion of stealing cats. They mend the worn wishing carpet while the Phoenix scolds them for mistreating it. Determined to rescue the burglar, they use the carpet to transport themselves to his prison cell, only to find him asleep. When they try to wake him, he shouts, alerting the police, and they must hide.
Chapter 12
X: The Hole in the Carpet
Mother is coming home, and the children plan one last adventure on the wishing carpet to find a present for her. After debating how to obtain money honestly, they wish to be taken somewhere they can get money in a way Mother would believe. During the flight, the large, poorly-darned hole in the carpet gives way, and Robert and Jane fall through, landing on a rooftop in New Cross. The carpet flies on with Anthea, Cyril, and the Phoenix, who eventually land in Deptford Road and encounter the Psammead. The Psammead grants them a wish for a sovereign, which they use to buy Mother a present. They return home, patch the carpet, and welcome Mother, who believes their story about Uncle Reginald giving them the money.
Chapter 13
XI: The Beginning of the End
Mother criticizes the worn carpet, and the children try to repair it with Tatcho and paraffin. They attend a theatre performance of The Water Babies, but a fire breaks out. The Phoenix uses its power over fire to save them and undo the damage. The children realize they must get rid of the Phoenix.
Chapter 14
The End of the End
The children struggle with how to tell the Phoenix it must leave, but the Phoenix reveals it already knows and intends to depart. It asks for the remains of the magic carpet as a final boon. The children prepare a funeral pyre with cedar pencils and sandalwood, and the Phoenix burns the carpet, leaving only ashes. The next day, a mysterious box arrives filled with gifts, including a tiny golden feather, which Robert keeps. The family attributes the gifts to an insane millionaire, but the children know it is the Psammead fulfilling the Phoenix's last wish.
