Герберт Эрнест Бэйтс – лучшие произведения

'Home looks nice. Allus does though, don't it? Perfick' One pleasant May evening, Pop and Ma Larkin and their six children - sated on fish, chips and ice cream - return to the rustic charms of their Kent farm. Waiting for them is a young man: Mr Cedric Charlton, an upstanding inspector of taxes, come to discover why they haven't paid any. Yet as junk-dealer Pop patiently explains: nothing's ever that simple at the Larkins'. Mariette takes a shine to 'Charley' - as Pop calls him - and before long the family have introduced the uncomplaining inspector to the delights of country living: the lusty scents of wild flowers, the pleasures of a…

'I should like to go to France,' said Ma. 'God Almighty,' Pop said. 'What for?' 'For a holiday of course,' Ma said. 'I think it would do us all good to get some sun.' And so at the end of a rainy English August the Larkins - all ten of them, including little Oscar, the family's new addition - bundle into the old Rolls and cross the Channel to escape the hostile elements. But far from being the balmy, sunny and perfick spot Ma Larkin hoped for, France proves less than welcoming to an eccentric English family. The tea's weak, the furniture breakable and the hotel manager is almost as hostile as the wind and the rain they've brought with…