Heidi

Author: Johanna Spyri
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-05-01
Features: Heidi still stood by the door as she had when she first arrived. Clara had been watching them talk silently. Now she waved Heidi over: "Come here!" Heidi walked up to her. "Would you rather be called Heidi or Adèle?" Clara asked. "I've never been called anything else but Heidi," the child replied quickly. "Then I'll call you Heidi forever," Clara said. "That's a very fitting name for you. I've never heard of it before, and I've never seen a child like you. Do you always have that curly short hair?" "Well, I think so," Heidi said. "Would you like to come to Frankfurt?" Clara asked next. "No. But I'm going home tomorrow, and I'll bring a loaf of white bread for Grandma," Heidi explained. "You're so interesting," Clara exclaimed. "You were specially sent to keep me company and learn lessons. Now they're in for a treat, because you can't read, so you can do some fresh things. They're all so boring, and I always feel like the morning never ends. You know, my teacher comes every morning at ten o'clock and teaches until two, which is too long. Sometimes, he picks up a book and holds it almost to his face, as if he's very nearsighted. But I know he's just trying to yawn and can't help it. Florence Rountree often pulls out a large handkerchief and covers her face, as if she's deeply moved by what we're reading, but she's actually yawning too. I often feel like yawning too, but I have to struggle to hold it in, because Florence Rountree sees me yawn and runs to get cod liver oil, saying I need to eat something because I'm getting weak. Cod liver oil smells so awful, so I do my best to control myself and not yawn. But now, that's just great. I can lie down and listen to you read."
At that moment, Florence Rountree returned. She was furious that she had missed Heidi and seemed very angry. She had wanted to learn more about the child and had insisted that Heidi was completely unsuitable as Clara's companion. She truly didn't know how to handle this tricky situation. The mere thought of being responsible for all of this made her even angrier, especially since it was her who had agreed to bring Heidi here. She paced back and forth between the dining room and study like a furious lion, then began shouting at Seebastian, who was examining the newly set table to make sure everything was in place. "You can imagine what tomorrow morning will be like. Hurry up, or we won't get dinner today." With that, she went out to call Tine, her voice sharp, scaring the maid into hurrying over with smaller, more hurried steps than usual. But she looked quite lively, and Florence Rountree couldn't say anything, which only added to her unexpressed anger.
"You need to get the room ready for the little girl who just arrived," the lady said, trying to control herself. "The things are in place, but it needs to be cleaned."
"I should really start working now," Tine teased, turning and walking out. At that moment, Seebastian pushed open the folding door to the dining room, making a much louder noise than usual. Although he didn't dare to...