10. The Big Wedding

CHAPTER 10 THE BIG WEDDING It was Saturday, the day of the big wedding. Miss Anthrope, true to her word, had taken care of everything. In just one week, she had transformed the gymnasium into a beautiful wedding hall, complete with food, decorations, and even a six-foot-tall ice sculpture. All of the children were dressed in their finest clothes. (Harold even wore a tie!) "Man," said George, "I can't believe we have to go to school on SATURDAY!" "I know," said Harold. "Why couldn't they have had this wedding during Monday's math test?"

Soon the organist began to play. The rabbi walked down the aisle. He approached George and Harold and stopped to talk to the boys. "I've heard a lot about you two," said the rabbi, "and I don't want you boys playing any of your tricks today." "Silly Rabbi," said George, "tricks are for kids!" Believe it or not, George and Harold had not planned any pranks for the big wedding. They had no Joy Buzzers up their sleeves... no squirting flowers in their lapels... and no whoopee cushions on their chairs. They were on their best behaviour. Nothing could go wrong today!

In no time at all, Ms. Ribble and Mr. Krupp were standing in front of the rabbi, looking quite ill. The rabbi asked Mr. Krupp if he would take Ms. Ribble to be his lawfully wedded wife. "B-B-Bubba bobba hob-hobba-hobba wah-wah," said Mr. Krupp. Then the rabbi asked Ms. Ribble if she would take Mr. Krupp to be her husband. There was a long silence. Everyone leaned forward. Ms. Ribble looked nervously from side to side. Suddenly, she shouted out at the top of her lungs, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Ms. Ribble turned to Mr. Krupp and jabbed her finger into his shoulder. "Listen, Krupp," she said. "I can't marry you." "Hooray! —er, I mean —aww, that's too bad!" said Mr. Krupp. "You're a mean, cruel, and vicious man," said Ms. Ribble, "and I respect that. It's just... it's just..." "Just what?" asked Mr. Krupp.

"It's just your nose!" said Ms. Ribble. "You've got the most ridiculous nose— I've never seen anything quite like it! I just couldn't marry somebody with such a silly nose."

Mr. Krupp got angry. "Well fine!" he shouted. "I didn't want to marry you anyway! It was all George and Harold's fault. They tricked us!" Suddenly, everybody in the gymnasium turned and looked at George and Harold.