Heidi (1899)/Part 1/Chapter 14

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Heidi stood under the swaying branches of the fir trees, waiting for her grandfather, who was going to fetch the trunk from Dörfli, while she stayed with the grandmother. The child could hardly wait to see the grandmother again and to hear how the rolls had tasted; yet the time did not seem long to her, for she could not listen enough to the tones of her native sighing fir trees above her, and drink in all the fragrance and brightness of the green pastures and their golden blossoms.

The grandfather came out of the hut, took a look around him, and then said in a satisfied tone:—

"Well, now we can go."

It was Saturday night, and on that day it was the Alm-Uncle's custom to clean and put everything in order in the hut, in the shed, and all about; and to-day he had taken the morning for this, in order to go out with Heidi in the afternoon, and so everything all around looked neat and to his satisfaction. At Peter's hut they parted and Heidi ran in. The grandmother had already heard her step, and called out to her affectionately:—

"Have you come, child? Have you come again?"

​Then she grasped Heidi's hand and held it very tightly, for she still feared that the child might be taken away from her again. And now the grandmother had to tell how the rolls had tasted, and she said she had been so refreshed by them that she thought she was much stronger that day than she had been for a long time, and Peter's mother added that the grandmother was much worried lest the rolls should soon be gone, and she had eaten only one roll the day before and that day together, and she really could not gain much strength; they would last only a week if she should eat one a day. Heidi listened attentively to Brigitte and remained for some time thinking. Then she found a way out of the difficulty.

"I know now what I will do, grandmother," she said with eager delight.

"I will write a letter to Klara, and she will surely send me as many more rolls and twice as many as there are, for I had a great pile just like them in my closet, and when they were taken away from me Klara said she would give me just as many more, and she will do so."

"Dear me!" said Brigitte, "that is a good idea; but think, they would grow hard, too. If we only had a spare penny now and then; the baker down in Dörfli makes them, but I am hardly able to pay for the black bread."

Then a bright, joyful light spread over Heidi's face.

"Oh, I have a tremendous lot of money, grandmother!" she exclaimed triumphantly, and danced up and down with delight; "now I know what I can do ​with it. Every single day you must have a new roll, and two on Sunday, and Peter can bring them up from Dörfli."

"No, no, child!" said the grandmother in disapproval, "that cannot be; the money was not given you for that you must give it to your grandfather, and he will tell you what you are to do with it."

But Heidi would not be disturbed in her delight; she shouted and danced around the room and exclaimed again and again:—

"Now the grandmother can eat a roll every day and will grow quite strong again, and—oh, grandmother!" she cried with new delight, "if you should grow so well, it would really become light to you again; it is perhaps only because you are so weak."

The grandmother was silent; she did not wish to disturb the child's pleasure. In her dancing around, Heidi suddenly spied the grandmother's old hymn book, and a new and delightful thought came to her.

"Grandmother, I can read quite well now; shall I read a song out of your old book?"

"Oh, yes!" said the grandmother, overcome with delight; "can you really do that, can you do that?"

Heidi climbed up in a chair and took down the book, covered thick with dust, for it had long lain there undisturbed. She then wiped it clean, sat down with it on her stool beside the grandmother, and asked what she should read.

"Whatever you like, child, whatever you like"; and the grandmother sat with eager expectancy, and pushed the spinning wheel a little way from her.

​Heidi turned the leaves and read a line here and there.

"Here is something about the sun; I will read you that, grandmother"; and Heidi began, and became more and more eager and interested as she read:—

The grandmother sat still with folded hands and an expression of indescribable joy on her face, such as Heidi had never seen there before, although the tears were running down her cheeks. When Heidi stopped reading she said entreatingly:—

"Oh, just once more, Heidi, let me hear it just once more:—

And the child began again and read with eager delight:—

"Oh, Heidi, that gives me light! it gives me light in my heart. Oh, how much good you have done me, Heidi!"

The grandmother repeated the joyful words again and again; and Heidi beamed with pleasure, and had to keep looking at the grandmother, for she had never seen her so before. She no longer had the old expression on her face, but appeared so happy and thankful, as if she already looked with new bright eyes into the beautiful heavenly garden.

Then some one knocked on the window, and Heidi saw her grandfather outside, beckoning to her to go home with him. She followed quickly, but not without assuring the grandmother that she would come again the next day, and that even if she went up to the pasture with Peter she would only stay there half the day, for to be able to make it light again for the grandmother was to her the very greatest pleasure she could enjoy, even much greater than to be in the sunny pasture among the flowers and goats.

Brigitte ran out at the door after Heidi with her dress and hat, that she might take them with her. She took the dress on her arm, for her grandfather knew her now, she thought; but the hat she obstinately refused. Brigitte must keep it for her, for she would never, never ​put it on her head again. Heidi was so full of her experiences that she had to tell her grandfather at once all that had delighted her heart that they could get white bread for the grandmother down in Dörfli if they only had the money, and that it had suddenly become so light to the grandmother, and she looked so well; and when Heidi had described it all to the end she went back to the beginning and said very confidently:—

"Surely, grandfather, if the grandmother is not willing, you will give me all my money, so that I can give Peter a piece for a roll every day and two on Sunday?"

"But the bed, Heidi?" said the grandfather; "a real bed would be a good thing for you, and then there would be enough left for many rolls."

But Heidi gave her grandfather no peace, and assured him that she slept much better on her bed of hay than she had ever done in her pillowed bed in Frankfurt, and begged so urgently and incessantly that her grandfather finally said:—

"The money is yours, do whatever pleases you; you can get bread for the grandmother with it for many a long year."

Heidi shouted for joy:—

"Oh, hurrah! now the grandmother will never have to eat hard black bread any more, and oh, grandfather, now everything is lovelier than it ever was before in our lives!"

Heidi took hold of her grandfather's hand and jumped into the air and shouted as merrily as the ​birds in the sky. But all of a sudden she grew quite serious and said:—

"Oh, if the dear Lord had done right away what I prayed for so hard, then everything would not be as it is now. I should only have come home again and brought the grandmother just a few rolls, and shouldn't have been able to read to her, which does her good; but the dear Lord had already thought it all out so much better than I knew; the grandmamma told me so, and now it has all come true. Oh, how glad I am that the dear Lord did not grant what I asked and longed for! Now I will always pray as the grandmamma told me, and always thank the dear Lord, and if he does not do what I ask, then I will surely think all the same, it will just be as it was in Frankfurt; the dear Lord is planning something much better. But we will pray every day, won't we, grandfather? And we will never forget Him, so that the dear Lord may never forget us."

"And if one should do so?" murmured the grandfather.

"Oh, it would not be well for him, for then the dear Lord would forget him, too, and let him go away, and if he should get into trouble and complain, nobody would pity him, but everybody would say: 'He first ran away from the dear Lord; now the dear Lord, who might have helped him, lets him go.'"

"That is true, Heidi; how did you know it?"

"From the grandmamma; she told me all about it."

​The grandfather was silent for a while. Then he said to himself, following his own thoughts:—

"And if it is so, then it is so; no one can go back, and whomever God has forgotten, He has forgotten."

"Oh, no, grandfather; one can go back; that I know, too, from the grandmamma; and then it says so in the beautiful story in my book; but you don't know about that; we are almost home, and you shall see how beautiful the story is."

Heidi, in her eagerness to get home, hurried faster and faster the last part of the way, and they had scarcely reached the top when she let go her grandfather's hand and ran into the hut. Her grandfather had put half of the things from the trunk into a basket, for the entire trunk was too heavy for him to carry. He now took the basket from his back and then sat down on the bench and became absorbed in thought. Heidi came running out again, with her big book under her arm.

"Oh, this is good, grandfather, that you are already sitting down here"; and with one bound Heidi was by his side and had found her story, for she had read it so often over and over again, that the book opened of itself at the place. Heidi then read with great feeling about the Prodigal Son.

"Isn't that a beautiful story, grandfather?" asked Heidi, when he sat in silence and she had expected him to be delighted and surprised.

"Yes, Heidi, the story is beautiful," said her grandfather; but his face was so serious that Heidi became quite still and looked at her pictures. She quietly ​pushed her book in front of her grandfather and said: "See, how happy he is," and pointed with her finger to the picture of his return home, where he stands in fresh garments beside his father, and once more belongs to him as his son.

A few hours later, when Heidi had long been wrapt in deep sleep, her grandfather climbed the little ladder; he put his lamp beside Heidi's bed so that the light fell on the sleeping child. She lay there with folded hands, for Heidi had not forgotten to pray. On her rosy face was an expression of peace and blessed trust that must have appealed to her grandfather, for he stood there a long, long time without moving or taking his eyes from the sleeping child. Then he, too, folded his hands and half aloud, with bowed head, said:—

"Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before Thee and am no more worthy to be called Thy son!" and great tears rolled down his cheeks.

In the early daylight the Alm-Uncle stood in front of his hut, looking around with beaming eyes. The Sunday morning glistened and shone over mountain and valley. The sound of early bells came up from below, and the birds in the fir trees were beginning their morning songs.

The grandfather stepped back into the hut.

"Come, Heidi!" he called from below. "The sun is up! Put on a good dress, and we will go to church together!"

It did not take Heidi long; this was an entirely new call from her grandfather, and she felt that she must ​follow quickly. In a short time she came running down in her fine Frankfurt dress, but she remained standing in front of her grandfather and looked at him in great surprise.

"Oh, grandfather, I have never seen you look so before!" she exclaimed at last, "and you have never

worn the coat with the silver buttons. Oh, you are so splendid in your beautiful Sunday coat!"

The old man looked at the child with a contented smile and said:—

"And you in yours; now come!"

He took Heidi's hand in his, and thus they went together down the mountain.

The clear-toned bells were now sounding in every ​direction, and fuller and richer as they came nearer, and Heidi listened with delight and said:—

"Do you hear them, grandfather? it is like a great, great festival."

Down in Dörfli the people were already in the church and just beginning to sing when the grandfather and Heidi entered and seated themselves far back in the last seat. But in the midst of the singing the person sitting next them nudged his neighbor with his elbow and said:—

"Have you noticed? The Alm-Uncle is in church!"

And the person nudged touched the next one and so on, and in a short time it was whispered in every corner: "The Alm-Uncle! The Alm-Uncle!" and almost all the women had to turn their heads for a moment, and most of them lagged in the singing, so that the leader had the greatest difficulty in keeping the time.

But when the pastor began to preach they became attentive, for there was such warm praise and thanksgiving in his words that all the listeners were affected by it, and it was as if a great joy had happened to them all. When the service was over, the Alm-Uncle went out with the child by the hand and walked to the parsonage. All those who went out with him, and those who were standing outside, gazed after him, and most followed to see whether he really went into the parsonage; he did so. Then they gathered in groups and discussed in great excitement this unheard-of thing that the Alm-Uncle had been in church, and they all looked eagerly toward the parsonage to see how he would ​come out, whether in scorn and strife or in peace with the pastor, for they had no idea what had brought the old man down and what it really meant. But there was already a change of feeling experienced by many of them, and one said to another:—

"It may be that the Alm-Uncle is not so bad as they say; you can see how carefully he held the little one by the hand"; and another one said: "That is what I have always said; and he would not go to the pastor's house if he were so thoroughly bad, for he would be afraid; people exaggerate a great many things." And the baker said:—

"Didn't I tell you that the first of all? Do you suppose a little child that has all it wants to eat and drink, and everything else good besides, would run away from it all and go home to a grandfather if he was wicked and wild, and she was afraid of him?"

And a very friendly feeling for the Alm-Uncle arose and increased; the women also drew near. They had heard from Peter the goatherd and the grandmother so many things that represented the Alm-Uncle as quite different from the popular opinion, and now all at once it seemed as if they were waiting to welcome an old friend who had long been absent.

Meanwhile the Alm-Uncle had gone to the study door and knocked. The pastor opened it and met the visitor, not with surprise, as he might have done, but as if he were expecting him. His unusual appearance in the church could not have escaped him. He grasped the old man's hand and shook it heartily, and the Alm​Uncle stood in silence, and at first could not say a word, for he was not prepared for such a warm greeting. Then he collected himself and said:—

"I have come to ask the pastor to forget the words I said to him on the Alm, and that he will not bear me ill will for being obstinate toward his well-meant advice. The pastor was right in all that he said, and I was wrong; but I will now follow his advice, and next winter take up quarters in Dörfli, for the severe weather up yonder is not good for the child; she is too delicate. And even if the people down here look at me askance, as one who is not to be trusted, I deserve nothing better, and certainly the pastor will not do so."

The pastor's friendly eyes beamed with delight. He took the old man's hand once more and pressed it in his, and said with emotion:—

"Neighbor, you went to the right church before you came down to mine; this delights me! You shall not regret your willingness to come down and live among us again; you will always be welcome in my house as a dear friend and neighbor, and I expect to spend many a pleasant hour of a winter evening with you, for I find your company agreeable and profitable, and we shall find good friends also for the little girl."

And the pastor laid his hand very kindly on Heidi's curly head, and took her by the hand and led her out, as he accompanied the grandfather, and when they were outside the door he bade them farewell.

All the people standing round could see how the pastor shook hands with the Alm-Uncle, as if he were ​his best friend and he could hardly bear to part with him. Scarcely had the door closed behind the pastor, when the whole assembly pressed toward the Alm-Uncle, and each was eager to be the first, and so many hands were held out together to him that he did not know which he ought to grasp first.

One said to him:—

"I am glad! I am glad, uncle, that you are coming back to us again!" And another said: "I have long wanted to speak with you again, uncle!" Similar remarks were heard on every side, and when the uncle replied to all their friendly greetings that he intended to take up his quarters in Dörfli again and spend the winter with his old acquaintances, there was great rejoicing, and it seemed exactly as if the Alm-Uncle were the best-beloved person in all Dörfli, whom they had had great difficulty to get along without. Most of them accompanied the grandfather and the child far up the Alm, and when they left them each one wished the Alm-Uncle to promise to call on him when he came down again. And when the people turned to go down the mountain the old man stood for a long time gazing after them, and a warm light was spread over his face, as if the sun shone out from within him. Heidi looked steadily at him and said with delight:—

"Grandfather, you never looked so handsome before as you have to-day!"

"Do you think so?" said her grandfather, smiling. "Well, you see, Heidi, I feel happy because I am on good terms with people and at peace with God and ​man; that does one good! The dear Lord was good to me when he sent you up on the Alm."

When they reached Peter the goatherd's hut the grandfather straightway opened the door and went in.

"Good-day, grandmother," he called out; "I think we must do a little more mending, before the autumn wind comes."

"Dear me, that is the uncle!" exclaimed the grandmother, full of surprise and delight. "That I should live to see this! I can thank you for all you have done for us, uncle! May God reward you for it! May God reward you for it!"

Trembling with delight, the old grandmother held out her hand, and when the uncle shook it heartily she continued, still holding him fast:—

"I have one thing more at heart to ask of you, uncle: if I have ever done you any harm, do not punish me by letting Heidi go away again before I lie at rest in the churchyard. Oh, you do not know what the child is to me!" and she hugged Heidi fast, for she had already drawn close to the grandmother's side.

"Never fear, grandmother," said the uncle soothingly, "that I should punish either you or myself in that way. We shall all stay together, and, God willing, for a long time."

Then Brigitte drew the uncle somewhat mysteriously into a corner and showed him the lovely hat trimmed with feathers, and told him how the matter stood, and that she naturally did not like to take such a thing from a child.

​But the grandfather looked well pleased at Heidi and said:—

"The hat is hers, and if she does n't care to wear it any more it is all right, and if she gave it to you, why, take it."

Brigitte was highly delighted at this unexpected decision.

"It is really worth more than ten francs; only see!" and in her delight she held the hat high in the air. "What a blessing this Heidi has brought home with her from Frankfurt! I have often thought whether I would not send Peterli to Frankfurt for a little while; what do you think about it, uncle?"

The uncle's eyes twinkled merrily. He thought it could not do Peterli any harm, but he would wait for a good opportunity.

Just then the person in question came in at the door, after he had first run against it and hit his head so hard that it made everything rattle; he must have been in haste. Panting and out of breath, he now stood in the middle of the room, holding out a letter. This was something that had never happened before—a letter addressed to Heidi, which had been given to him at the post-office in Dörfli. They all sat down, full of expectation, around the table, and Heidi opened her letter and read it aloud without stumbling. The letter was from Klara Sesemann. She told Heidi that since she went away it had been so dreary in her house that she could no longer bear it, and she had begged her father so often that he had at last consented to take ​the journey to Bad Ragaz the coming autumn; and the grandmamma would come with them, for she, too, would like to visit Heidi and her grandfather on the Alm. Moreover, the grandmamma sent word to Heidi that she had done right in wishing to buy the old grandmother some rolls, and in order that she might not have to eat them dry she had sent some coffee, which was already on the way, and if she should come to the Alm, Heidi must take her to see the grandmother.

Then there was such joy and wondering at this news, and so much to tell and ask about, for the great expectation concerned all alike, that even the grandfather had not noticed how late it was already getting; and they were all so happily content at the prospect of the days to come, and almost even more in the joy of being together at the present time, that the grandmother finally said:—

"The best of all is for an old friend to come and give us his hand again, as he used to do long ago; it gives one such a comforting feeling in the heart, to find everything that is dear to us once more. You will come again soon, uncle, and the child to-morrow?"

This was promised to the grandmother at once; now it was time to go, and the grandfather started up the Alm with Heidi; and as the clear bells from near and far in the morning had called them down, so now the peaceful sound of the evening bells rising from the valley accompanied them to the sunny Alm hut, which shone in the Sunday evening light.