Heidi by Johanna Spyri (android e book reader txt) 📖

not

want them any more?” he asked aloud.

 

“Because I want to go about like the goats with their thin light

legs.”

 

“Well, you can do so if you like,” said her grandfather, “but

bring the things in, we must put them in the cupboard.”

 

Heidi did as she was told. The old man now opened the door and

Heidi stepped inside after him; she found herself in a good-sized room, which covered the whole ground floor of the hut. A

table and a chair were the only furniture; in one corner stood

the grandfather’s bed, in another was the hearth with a large

kettle hanging above it; and on the further side was a large door

in the wall—this was the cupboard. The grandfather opened it;

inside were his clothes, some hanging up, others, a couple of

shirts, and some socks and handkerchiefs, lying on a shelf; on a

second shelf were some plates and cups and glasses, and on a

higher one still, a round loaf, smoked meat, and cheese, for

everything that Alm-Uncle needed for his food and clothing was

kept in this cupboard. Heidi, as soon as it was opened, ran

quickly forward and thrust in her bundle of clothes, as far back

behind her grandfather’s things as possible, so that they might

not easily be found again. She then looked carefully round the

room, and asked, “Where am I to sleep, grandfather?”

 

“Wherever you like,” he answered.

 

Heidi was delighted, and began at once to examine all the nooks

and corners to find out where it would be pleasantest to sleep.

In the corner near her grandfather’s bed she saw a short ladder

against the wall; up she climbed and found herself in the

hayloft. There lay a large heap of fresh sweet-smelling hay,

while through a round window in the wall she could see right

down the valley.

 

“I shall sleep up here, grandfather,” she called down to him,

“It’s lovely, up here. Come up and see how lovely it is!”

 

“Oh, I know all about it,” he called up in answer.

 

“I am getting the bed ready now,” she called down again, as she

went busily to and fro at her work, “but I shall want you to

bring me up a sheet; you can’t have a bed without a sheet, you

want it to lie upon.”

 

“All right,” said the grandfather, and presently he went to the

cupboard, and after rummaging about inside for a few minutes he

drew out a long, coarse piece of stuff, which was all he had to

do duty for a sheet. He carried it up to the loft, where he

found Heidi had already made quite a nice bed. She had put an

extra heap of hay at one end for a pillow, and had so arranged it

that, when in bed, she would be able to see comfortably out

through the round window.

 

“That is capital,” said her grandfather; “now we must put on the

sheet, but wait a moment first,” and he went and fetched another

large bundle of hay to make the bed thicker, so that the child

should not feel the hard floor under her—“there, now bring it

here.” Heidi had got hold of the sheet, but it was almost too

heavy for her to carry; this was a good thing, however, as the

close thick stuff would prevent the sharp stalks of the hay

running through and pricking her. The two together now spread

the sheet over the bed, and where it was too long or too broad,

Heidi quickly tucked it in under the hay. It looked now as tidy

and comfortable a bed as you could wish for, and Heidi stood

gazing thoughtfully at her handiwork.

 

“We have forgotten something now, grandfather,” she said after a

short silence.

 

“What’s that?” he asked.

 

“A coverlid; when you get into bed, you have to creep in between

the sheets and the coverlid.”

 

“Oh, that’s the way, is it? But suppose I have not got a

coverlid?” said the old man.

 

“Well, never mind, grandfather,” said Heidi in a consoling tone

of voice, “I can take some more hay to put over me,” and she was

turning quickly to fetch another armful from the heap, when her

grandfather stopped her. “Wait a moment,” he said, and he

climbed down the ladder again and went towards his bed. He

returned to the loft with a large, thick sack, made of flax,

which he threw down, exclaiming, “There, that is better than hay,

is it not?”

 

Heidi began tugging away at the sack with all her little might,

in her efforts to get it smooth and straight, but her small

hands were not fitted for so heavy a job. Her grandfather came to

her assistance, and when they had got it tidily spread over the

bed, it all looked so nice and warm and comfortable that Heidi

stood gazing at it in delight. “That is a splendid coverlid,” she

said, “and the bed looks lovely altogether! I wish it was night,

so that I might get inside it at once.”

 

“I think we might have something to eat first,” said the

grandfather, “what do you think?”

 

Heidi in the excitement of bed-making had forgotten everything

else; but now when she began to think about food she felt

terribly hungry, for she had had nothing to eat since the piece

of bread and little cup of thin coffee that had been her

breakfast early that morning before starting on her long, hot

journey. So she answered without hesitation, “Yes, I think so

too.”

 

“Let us go down then, as we both think alike,” said the old man,

and he followed the child down the ladder. Then he went up to

the hearth, pushed the big kettle aside, and drew forward the

little one that was hanging on the chain, and seating himself on

the round-topped, three-legged stool before the fire, blew it up

into a clear bright flame. The kettle soon began to boil, and

meanwhile the old man held a large piece of cheese on a long

iron fork over the fire, turning it round and round till it was

toasted a nice golden yellow color on each side. Heidi watched

all that was going on with eager curiosity. Suddenly some new

idea seemed to come into her head, for she turned and ran to the

cupboard, and then began going busily backwards and forwards.

Presently the grandfather got up and came to the table with a

jug and the cheese, and there he saw it already tidily laid with

the round loaf and two plates and two knives each in its right

place; for Heidi had taken exact note that morning of all that

there was in the cupboard, and she knew which things would be

wanted for their meal.

 

“Ah, that’s right,” said the grandfather, “I am glad to see that

you have some ideas of your own,” and as he spoke he laid the

toasted cheese on a layer of bread, “but there is still

something missing.”

 

Heidi looked at the jug that was steaming away invitingly, and

ran quickly back to the cupboard. At first she could only see a

small bowl left on the shelf, but she was not long in

perplexity, for a moment later she caught sight of two glasses

further back, and without an instant’s loss of time she returned

with these and the bowl and put them down on the table.

 

“Good, I see you know how to set about things; but what will you

do for a seat?” The grandfather himself was sitting on the only

chair in the room. Heidi flew to the hearth, and dragging the

three-legged stool up to the table, sat herself down upon it.

 

“Well, you have managed to find a seat for yourself, I see, only

rather a low one I am afraid,” said the grandfather, “but you

would not be tall enough to reach the table even if you sat in

my chair; the first thing now, however, is to have something to

eat, so come along.”

 

With that he stood up, filled the bowl with milk, and placing it

on the chair, pushed it in front of Heidi on her little three-legged stool, so that she now had a table to herself. Then he

brought her a large slice of bread and a piece of the golden

cheese, and told her to eat. After which he went and sat down on

the corner of the table and began his own meal. Heidi lifted the

bowl with both hands and drank without pause till it was empty,

for the thirst of all her long hot journey had returned upon

her. Then she drew a deep breath—in the eagerness of her thirst

she had not stopped to breathe—and put down the bowl.

 

“Was the milk nice?” asked her grandfather.

 

“I never drank any so good before,” answered Heidi.

 

“Then you must have some more,” and the old man filled her bowl

again to the brim and set it before the child, who was now

hungrily beginning her bread having first spread it with the

cheese, which after being toasted was soft as butter; the two

together tasted deliciously, and the child looked the picture of

content as she sat eating, and at intervals taking further

draughts of milk. The meal being over, the grandfather went

outside to put the goat-shed in order, and Heidi watched with

interest while he first swept it out, and then put fresh straw

for the goats to sleep upon. Then he went to the little well-shed, and there he cut some long round sticks, and a small round

board; in this he bored some holes and stuck the sticks into

them, and there, as if made by magic, was a three-legged stool

just like her grandfather’s, only higher. Heidi stood and looked

at it, speechless with astonishment.

 

“What do you think that is?” asked her grandfather.

 

“It’s my stool, I know, because it is such a high one; and it

was made all of a minute,” said the child, still lost in wonder

and admiration.

 

“She understands what she sees, her eyes are in the right

place,” remarked the grandfather to himself, as he continued his

way round the hut, knocking in a nail here and there, or making

fast some part of the door, and so with hammer and nails and

pieces of wood going from spot to spot, mending or clearing away

wherever work of the kind was needed. Heidi followed him step by

step, her eyes attentively taking in all that he did, and

everything that she saw was a fresh source of pleasure to her.

 

And so the time passed happily on till evening. Then the wind

began to roar louder than ever through the old fir trees; Heidi

listened with delight to the sound, and it filled her heart so

full of gladness that she skipped and danced round the old

trees, as if some unheard of joy had come to her. The grandfather

stood and watched her from the shed.

 

Suddenly a shrill whistle was heard. Heidi paused in her

dancing, and the grandfather came out. Down from the heights

above the goats came springing one after another, with Peter in

their midst. Heidi sprang forward with a cry of joy and rushed

among the flock, greeting first one and then another of her old

friends of the morning. As they neared the hut the goats stood

still, and then two of their number, two beautiful slender

animals, one white and one brown, ran forward to where the

grandfather was standing and began licking his hands, for he was

holding a little salt which he