It’s a story about a family that take on a couple of gerbils as pets, much to the utter dismay-disgust of the mum. She hates messy things, especially gerbils that chew soft furnishings.
“Bulbo had carried a rose in his mouth all the time of the dismal ceremony. It was a fairy rose, and he was told by his mother that he ought never to part with it. So he had kept it between his teeth, even when he laid his poor head upon the block, hoping vaguely that some chance would turn up in his favour.”