Heidi
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Johanna Spyri >> Heidi
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"Bring them to Mr. Sesemann's house; there is a golden dog on the
door, with a ring in his mouth."
The old man had lived in the tower a long time and knew everybody;
Sebastian also was a special friend of his.
"I know," he said. "But to whom shall I send them? Do you belong to
Mr. Sesemann?"
"No. Please send them to Clara; she will like them, I am sure."
Heidi could hardly tear herself away from the pretty things, so the
old man put one kitten in each of her pockets to console her. After
that she went away.
The boy was waiting patiently for her, and when she had taken leave of
the tower-keeper, she asked the boy: "Do you know where Mr. Sesemann's
house is?"
"No," was the reply.
She described it as well as she could, till the boy remembered it. Off
they started, and soon Heidi found herself pulling the door-bell. When
Sebastian arrived he said: "Hurry up." Heidi went in, and the boy was
left outside, for Sebastian had not even seen him.
"Come up quickly, little Miss," he urged. "They are all waiting for
you in the dining-room. Miss Rottenmeier looks like a loaded cannon.
How could you run away like that?"
Heidi sat down quietly on her chair. Nobody said a word, and there was
an uncomfortable silence. At last Miss Rottenmeier began with a severe
and solemn voice: "I shall speak with you later, Adelheid. How can you
leave the house without a word? Your behavior was very remiss. The
idea of walking about till so late!"
"Meow!" was the reply.
"I didn't," Heidi began--"Meow!"
Sebastian nearly flung the dish on the table, and disappeared.
"This is enough," Miss Rottenmeier tried to say, but her voice was
hoarse with fury. "Get up and leave the room."
[Illustration: OFF THEY STARTED, AND SOON HEIDI WAS PULLING THE
DOOR-BELL]
Heidi got up. She began again. "I made--" "Meow! meow! meow!--"
"Heidi," said Clara now, "why do you always say 'meow' again, if you
see that Miss Rottenmeier is angry?"
"I am not doing it, it's the kittens," she explained.
"What? Cats? Kittens?" screamed the housekeeper. "Sebastian, Tinette,
take the horrible things away!" With that she ran into the study,
locking herself in, for she feared kittens beyond anything on earth.
When Sebastian had finished his laugh, he came into the room. He had
foreseen the excitement, having caught sight of the kittens when Heidi
came in. The scene was a very peaceful one now; Clara held the little
kittens in her lap, and Heidi was kneeling beside her. They both
played happily with the two graceful creatures. The butler promised to
look after the new-comers and prepared a bed for them in a basket.
A long time afterwards, when it was time to go to bed, Miss
Rottenmeier cautiously opened the door. "Are they away?" she asked.
"Yes," replied the butler, quickly seizing the kittens and taking them
away.
The lecture that Miss Rottenmeier was going to give Heidi was
postponed to the following day, for the lady was too much exhausted
after her fright. They all went quietly to bed, and the children were
happy in the thought that their kittens had a comfortable bed.
[Illustration]
VIII
GREAT DISTURBANCES IN THE SESEMANN HOUSE
A short time after the tutor had arrived next morning, the door-bell
rang so violently that Sebastian thought it must be Mr. Sesemann
himself. What was his surprise when a dirty street-boy, with a
barrel-organ on his back, stood before him!
"What do you mean by pulling the bell like that?" the butler said.
"I want to see Clara."
"Can't you at least say 'Miss Clara', you ragged urchin?" said
Sebastian harshly.
"She owes me forty pennies," said the boy.
"You are crazy! How do you know Miss Clara lives here?"
"I showed her the way yesterday and she promised to give me forty
pennies."
"What nonsense! Miss Clara never goes out. You had better take
yourself off, before I send you!"
The boy, however, did not even budge, and said: "I saw her. She has
curly hair, black eyes and talks in a funny way."
"Oh," Sebastian chuckled to himself, "that was the little Miss."
Pulling the boy into the house, he said: "All right, you can follow
me. Wait at the door till I call you, and then you can play something
for Miss Clara."
Knocking at the study-door, Sebastian said, when he had entered: "A
boy is here who wants to see Miss Clara."
Clara, delighted at his interruption, said: "Can't he come right up,
Mr. Candidate?"
But the boy was already inside, and started to play. Miss Rottenmeier
was in the adjoining room when she heard the sounds. Where did they
come from? Hurrying into the study, she saw the street-boy playing to
the eager children.
"Stop! stop!" she called, but in vain, for the music drowned her
voice. Suddenly she made a big jump, for there, between her feet,
crawled a black turtle. Only when she shrieked for Sebastian could her
voice be heard. The butler came straight in, for he had seen
everything behind the door, and a great scene it had been! Glued to a
chair in her fright, Miss Rottenmeier called: "Send the boy away! Take
them away!"
Sebastian obediently pulled the boy after him; then he said: "Here are
forty pennies from Miss Clara and forty more for playing. It was well
done, my boy."
With that he closed the door behind him. Miss Rottenmeier found it
wiser now to stay in the study to prevent further disturbances.
Suddenly there was another knock at the door. Sebastian appeared with
a large basket, which had been brought for Clara.
"We had better have our lesson before we inspect it," said Miss
Rottenmeier. But Clara, turning to the tutor, asked: "Oh, please, Mr.
Candidate, can't we just peep in, to see what it is?"
"I am afraid that you will think of nothing else," the teacher began.
Just then something in the basket, which had been only lightly
fastened, moved, and one, two, three and still more little kittens
jumped out, scampering around the room with the utmost speed. They
bounded over the tutor's boots and bit his trousers; they climbed up
on Miss Rottenmeier's dress and crawled around her feet. Mewing and
running, they caused a frightful confusion. Clara called out in
delight: "Oh, look at the cunning creatures; look how they jump!
Heidi, look at that one, and oh, see the one over there?"
Heidi followed them about, while the teacher shook them off. When the
housekeeper had collected her wits after the great fright, she called
for the servants. They soon arrived and stored the little kittens
safely in the new bed.
No time had been found for yawning that day, either!
When Miss Rottenmeier, who had found out the culprit, was alone with
the children in the evening, she began severely:
"Adelheid, there is only one punishment for you. I am going to send
you to the cellar, to think over your dreadful misdeeds, in company
with the rats."
A cellar held no terrors for Heidi, for in her grandfather's cellar
fresh milk and the good cheese had been kept, and no rats had lodged
there.
But Clara shrieked: "Oh, Miss Rottenmeier, you must wait till Papa
comes home, and then he can punish Heidi."
The lady unwillingly replied: "All right, Clara, but I shall also
speak a few words to Mr. Sesemann." With those words she left the
room. Since the child's arrival everything had been upset, and the
lady often felt discouraged, though nothing remarkable happened for a
few days.
Clara, on the contrary, enjoyed her companion's society, for she
always did funny things. In her lesson she could never get her letters
straight. They meant absolutely nothing to her, except that they would
remind her of goats and eagles. The girls always spent their evenings
together, and Heidi would entertain her friend with tales of her
former life, till her longing grew so great that she added: "I have to
go home now. I must go tomorrow."
Clara's soothing words and the prospect of more rolls for the
grandmother kept the child. Every day after dinner she was left alone
in her room for some hours. Thinking of the green fields at home, of
the sparkling flowers on the mountains, she would sit in a corner till
her desire for all those things became too great to bear. Her aunt had
clearly told her that she might return, if she wished to do so, so one
day she resolved to leave for the Alm-hut. In a great hurry she packed
the bread in the red shawl, and putting on her old straw hat, started
off. The poor child did not get very far. At the door she encountered
Miss Rottenmeier, who stared at Heidi in mute surprise.
"What are you up to?" she exploded. "Haven't I forbidden you to run
away? You look like a vagabond!"
"I was only going home," whispered the frightened child.
"What, you want to run away from this house? What would Mr. Sesemann
say? What is it that does not suit you here? Don't you get better
treatment than you deserve? Have you ever before had such food,
service and such a room? Answer!"
"No," was the reply.
"Don't I know that?" the furious lady proceeded. "What a thankless
child you are, just idle and good-for-nothing!"
But Heidi could not bear it any longer. She loudly wailed: "Oh, I want
to go home. What will poor Snowhopper do without me? Grandmother is
waiting for me every day. Poor Thistlefinch gets blows if Peter gets
no cheese, and I must see the sun again when he says good-night to the
mountains. How the eagle would screech if he saw all the people here
in Frankfurt!"
"For mercy's sake, the child is crazy!" exclaimed Miss Rottenmeier,
running up the stairs. In her hurry she had bumped into Sebastian,
who was just then coming down.
"Bring the unlucky child up!" she called to him, rubbing her head.
"All right, many thanks," answered the butler, rubbing his head, too,
for he had encountered something far harder than she had.
When the butler came down, he saw Heidi standing near the door with
flaming eyes, trembling all over. Cheerfully he asked: "What has
happened, little one? Do not take it to heart, and cheer up. She
nearly made a hole in my head just now, but we must not get
discouraged. Oh, no!--Come, up with you; she said so!"
Heidi walked up-stairs very slowly. Seeing her so changed, Sebastian
said:
"Don't give in! Don't be so sad! You have been so courageous till now;
I have never heard you cry yet. Come up now, and when the lady's away
we'll go and look at the kittens. They are running round like wild!"
Nodding cheerlessly, the child disappeared in her room.
That night at supper Miss Rottenmeier watched Heidi constantly, but
nothing happened. The child sat as quiet as a mouse, hardly touching
her food, except the little roll.
Talking with the tutor next morning, Miss Rottenmeier told him her
fears about Heidi's mind. But the teacher had more serious troubles
still, for Heidi had not even learned her A,B,C in all this time.
Heidi was sorely in need of some clothes, so Clara had given her some.
Miss Rottenmeier was just busy arranging the child's wardrobe, when
she suddenly returned.
"Adelheid," she said contemptuously, "what do I find? A big pile of
bread in your wardrobe! I never heard the like. Yes, Clara, it is
true." Then, calling Tinette, she ordered her to take away the bread
and the old straw hat she had found.
"No, don't! I must keep my hat! The bread is for grandmother," cried
Heidi in despair.
"You stay here, while we take the rubbish away," said the lady
sternly.
Heidi threw herself down now on Clara's chair and sobbed as if her
heart would break.
"Now I can't bring grandmother any rolls! Oh, they were for
grandmother!" she lamented.
"Heidi, don't cry any more," Clara begged. "Listen! When you go home
some day, I am going to give you as many rolls as you had, and more.
They will be much softer and better than those stale ones you have
kept. Those were not fit to eat, Heidi. Stop now, please, and don't
cry any more!"
Only after a long, long time did Heidi become quiet. When she had
heard Clara's promise, she cried: "Are you really going to give me as
many as I had?"
At supper, Heidi's eyes were swollen and it was still hard for her to
keep from crying. Sebastian made strange signs to her that she did not
understand. What did he mean?
Later, though, when she climbed into her high bed, she found her old
beloved straw hat hidden under her cover. So Sebastian had saved it
for her and had tried to tell her! She crushed it for joy, and
wrapping it in a handkerchief, she hid it in the furthest corner of
her wardrobe.
IX
THE MASTER OF THE HOUSE HEARS OF STRANGE DOINGS
A few days afterwards there was great excitement in the Sesemann
residence, for the master of the house had just arrived. The servants
were taking upstairs one load after another, for Mr. Sesemann always
brought many lovely things home with him.
When he entered his daughter's room, Heidi shyly retreated into a
corner. He greeted Clara affectionately, and she was equally delighted
to see him, for she loved her father dearly. Then he called to Heidi:
"Oh, there is our little Swiss girl. Come and give me your hand!
That's right. Are you good friends, my girls, tell me now? You don't
fight together, what?"
"Oh, no, Clara is always kind to me," Heidi replied.
"Heidi has never even tried to fight, Papa," Clara quickly remarked.
"That's good, I like to hear that," said the father rising. "I must
get my dinner now, for I am hungry. I shall come back soon and show
you what I have brought home with me."
In the dining-room he found Miss Rottenmeier surveying the table with
a most tragic face. "You do not look very happy at my arrival, Miss
Rottenmeier. What is the matter? Clara seems well enough," he said to
her.
"Oh, Mr. Sesemann, we have been terribly disappointed," said the lady.
"How do you mean?" asked Mr. Sesemann, calmly sipping his wine.
"We had decided, as you know, to have a companion for Clara. Knowing
as I did that you would wish me to get a noble, pure child, I thought
of this Swiss child, hoping she would go through life like a breath of
pure air, hardly touching the earth."
"I think that even Swiss children are made to touch the earth,
otherwise they would have to have wings."
"I think you understand what I mean. I have been terribly
disappointed, for this child has brought the most frightful animals
into the house. Mr. Candidate can tell you!"
"The child does not look very terrible. But what do you mean?"
"I cannot explain it, because she does not seem in her right mind at
times."
Mr. Sesemann was getting worried at last, when the tutor entered.
"Oh, Mr. Candidate, I hope you will explain. Please take a cup of
coffee with me and tell me about my daughter's companion. Make it
short, if you please!"
But this was impossible for Mr. Candidate, who had to greet Mr.
Sesemann first. Then he began to reassure his host about the child,
pointing out to him that her education had been neglected till then,
and so on. But poor Mr. Sesemann, unfortunately, did not get his
answer, and had to listen to very long-winded explanations of the
child's character. At last Mr. Sesemann got up, saying: "Excuse me,
Mr. Candidate, but I must go over to Clara now."
He found the children in the study. Turning to Heidi, who had risen at
his approach, he said: "Come, little one, get me--get me a glass of
water."
"Fresh water?"
"Of course, fresh water," he replied. When Heidi had gone, he sat down
near Clara, holding her hand. "Tell me, little Clara," he asked,
"please tell me clearly what animals Heidi has brought into the house;
is she really not right in her mind?"
Clara now began to relate to her father all the incidents with the
kittens and the turtle, and explained Heidi's speeches that had so
frightened the lady. Mr. Sesemann laughed heartily and asked Clara if
she wished Heidi to remain.
"Of course, Papa. Since she is here, something amusing happens every
day; it used to be so dull, but now Heidi keeps me company."
"Very good, very good, Clara; Oh! Here is your friend back again. Did
you get nice fresh water?" asked Mr. Sesemann.
Heidi handed him the glass and said: "Yes, fresh from the fountain."
"You did not go to the fountain yourself, Heidi?" said Clara.
"Certainly, but I had to get it from far, there were so many people at
the first and at the second fountain. I had to go down another street
and there I got it. A gentleman with white hair sends his regards to
you, Mr. Sesemann."
Clara's father laughed and asked: "Who was the gentleman?"
"When he passed by the fountain and saw me there with a glass, he
stood still and said: 'Please give me to drink, for you have a glass;
to whom are you bringing the water?' Then I said: 'I am bringing it to
Mr. Sesemann.' When he heard that he laughed very loud and gave me his
regards for you, with the wish that you would enjoy your drink."
"I wonder who it was? What did the gentleman look like?"
"He has a friendly laugh and wears a gold pendant with a red stone on
his thick gold chain; there is a horsehead on his cane."
"Oh, that was the doctor--" "That was my old doctor," exclaimed father
and daughter at the same time.
In the evening, Mr. Sesemann told Miss Rottenmeier that Heidi was
going to remain, for the children were very fond of each other and he
found Heidi normal and very sweet. "I want the child to be treated
kindly," Mr. Sesemann added decidedly. "Her peculiarities must not be
punished. My mother is coming very soon to stay here, and she will
help you to manage the child, for there is nobody in this world that
my mother could not get along with, as you know, Miss Rottenmeier."
"Of course, I know that, Mr. Sesemann," replied the lady, but she was
not very much pleased at the prospect.
Mr. Sesemann only stayed two weeks, for his business called him back
to Paris. He consoled his daughter by telling her that his mother was
coming in a very few days. Mr. Sesemann had hardly left, when the
grandmother's visit was announced for the following day.
Clara was looking forward to this visit, and told Heidi so much about
her dear grandmama that Heidi also began to call her by that name, to
Miss Rottenmeier's disapproval, who thought that the child was not
entitled to this intimacy.
[Illustration]
X
A GRANDMAMA
The following evening great expectation reigned in the house. Tinette
had put on a new cap, Sebastian was placing footstools in front of
nearly every armchair, and Miss Rottenmeier walked with great dignity
about the house, inspecting everything.
When the carriage at last drove up, the servants flew downstairs,
followed by Miss Rottenmeier in more measured step. Heidi had been
sent to her room to await further orders, but it was not long before
Tinette opened the door and said brusquely: "Go into the study!"
The grandmama, with her kind and loving way, immediately befriended
the child and made her feel as if she had known her always. To the
housekeeper's great mortification, she called the child Heidi,
remarking to Miss Rottenmeier: "If somebody's name is Heidi, I call
her so."
The housekeeper soon found that she had to respect the grandmother's
ways and opinions. Mrs. Sesemann always knew what was going on in the
house the minute she entered it. On the following afternoon Clara was
resting and the old lady had shut her eyes for five minutes, when she
got up again and went into the dining-room. With a suspicion that the
housekeeper was probably asleep, she went to this lady's room,
knocking loudly on the door. After a while somebody stirred inside,
and with a bewildered face Miss Rottenmeier appeared, staring at the
unexpected visitor.
"Rottenmeier, where is the child? How does she pass her time? I want
to know," said Mrs. Sesemann.
"She just sits in her room, not moving a finger; she has not the
slightest desire to do something useful, and that is why she thinks of
such absurd things that one can hardly mention them in polite
society."
"I should do exactly the same thing, if I were left alone like that.
Please bring her to my room now, I want to show her some pretty books
I have brought with me."
"That is just the trouble. What should she do with books? In all this
time she has not even learned the A,B,C for it is impossible to instil
any knowledge into this being. If Mr. Candidate was not as patient as
an angel, he would have given up teaching her long ago."
"How strange! The child does not look to me like one who cannot learn
the A,B,C," said Mrs. Sesemann. "Please fetch her now; we can look at
the pictures anyway."
The housekeeper was going to say more, but the old lady had turned
already and gone to her room. She was thinking over what she had heard
about Heidi, making up her mind to look into the matter.
Heidi had come and was looking with wondering eyes at the splendid
pictures in the large books, that Grandmama was showing her. Suddenly
she screamed aloud, for there on the picture she saw a peaceful flock
grazing on a green pasture. In the middle a shepherd was standing,
leaning on his crook. The setting sun was shedding a golden light over
everything. With glowing eyes Heidi devoured the scene; but suddenly
she began to sob violently.
The grandmama took her little hand in hers and said in the most
soothing voice: "Come, child, you must not cry. Did this remind you of
something? Now stop, and I'll tell you the story to-night. There are
lovely stories in this book, that people can read and tell. Dry your
tears now, darling, I must ask you something. Stand up now and look at
me! Now we are merry again!"
Heidi did not stop at once, but the kind lady gave her ample time to
compose herself, saying from time to time: "Now it's all over. Now
we'll be merry again."
When the child was quiet at last, she said: "Tell me now how your
lessons are going. What have you learnt, child, tell me?"
"Nothing," Heidi sighed; "but I knew that I never could learn it."
"What is it that you can't learn?"
"I can't learn to read; it is too hard."
"What next? Who gave you this information?"
"Peter told me, and he tried over and over again, but he could not do
it, for it is too hard."
"Well, what kind of boy is he? Heidi, you must not believe what Peter
tells you, but try for yourself. I am sure you had your thoughts
elsewhere when Mr. Candidate showed you the letters."
"It's no use," Heidi said with such a tone as if she was resigned to
her fate.
"I am going to tell you something, Heidi," said the kind lady now.
"You have not learnt to read because you have believed what Peter
said. You shall believe me now, and I prophesy that you will learn it
in a very short time, as a great many other children do that are like
you and not like Peter. When you can read, I am going to give you this
book. You have seen the shepherd on the green pasture, and then you'll
be able to find out all the strange things that happen to him. Yes,
you can hear the whole story, and what he does with his sheep and his
goats. You would like to know, wouldn't you, Heidi?"
Heidi had listened attentively, and said now with sparkling eyes: "If
I could only read already!"
"It won't be long, I can see that. Come now and let us go to Clara."
With that they both went over to the study.
Since the day of Heidi's attempted flight a great change had come over
the child. She had realized that it would hurt her kind friends if she
tried to go home again. She knew now that she could not leave, as her
Aunt Deta had promised, for they all, especially Clara and her father
and the old lady, would think her ungrateful. But the burden grew
heavier in her heart and she lost her appetite, and got paler and
paler. She could not get to sleep at night from longing to see the
mountains with the flowers and the sunshine, and only in her dreams
she would be happy. When she woke up in the morning, she always found
herself on her high white bed, far away from home. Burying her head in
her pillow, she would often weep a long, long time.
Mrs. Sesemann had noticed the child's unhappiness, but let a few days
pass by, hoping for a change. But the change never came, and often
Heidi's eyes were red even in the early morning. So she called the
child to her room one day and said, with great sympathy in her voice:
"Tell me, Heidi, what is the matter with you? What is making you so
sad?"
But as Heidi did not want to appear thankless, she replied sadly: "I
can't tell you."
"No? Can't you tell Clara perhaps?"
"Oh, no, I can't tell anyone," Heidi said, looking so unhappy that the
old lady's heart was filled with pity.
"I tell you something, little girl," she continued. "If you have a
sorrow that you cannot tell to anyone, you can go to Our Father in
Heaven. You can tell Him everything that troubles you, and if we ask
Him He can help us and take our suffering away. Do you understand me,
child? Don't you pray every night? Don't you thank Him for all His
gifts and ask Him to protect you from evil?"
"Oh no, I never do that," replied the child.
"Have you never prayed, Heidi? Do you know what I mean?"
"I only prayed with my first grandmother, but it is so long ago, that
I have forgotten."
"See, Heidi, I understand now why you are so unhappy. We all need
somebody to help us, and just think how wonderful it is, to be able to
go to the Lord, when something distresses us and causes us pain. We
can tell Him everything and ask Him to comfort us, when nobody else
can do it. He can give us happiness and joy."
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