Down at the Dinghy by J. D. Salinger. Short summary

5 seconds

Little Lionel heard the anti-Semitic remarks of the cook to his father. The boy climbed into a boat on the lake. His mother manages to calm the boy down, and the two of them return home.

1 minute

The story is part of the «9 Stories» series about the Glass family.

Sandra, the cook, and Stella, the housekeeper, are talking at Mrs. Tannenbaum’s (maiden name Boo-Boo Glass) house. Sandra says she has allowed herself to call the owner of the house «a big dirty Jew,» and his son, little Lionel, has heard it. The cook is concerned that the boy might tell his parents about it.

Lionel is missing. His mother, Boo-Boo, went looking for the boy. The house stood on the shore of the lake. Boo-Boo found her son in a boat. She said she was an admiral of a fighting fleet and asked to take her aboard.

But Lionel started throwing things into the water that were in the boat: his uncle Simor’s diving mask (who had committed suicide) and the key chain his mother had given him.

Boo-Boo manages to climb into the boat. Lionette burst into tears and told him what he had heard from the cook. His mother reassured him by telling him that it can all be overcome by supporting each other. Mother and son return home.