# Heidi by Johanna Spyri – Chapter 1

An episode of [Heidi by Johanna Spyri](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1896859638), 1 Jun 2026, 31 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/72283813/heidi_01.mp3



## Transcript

[0:01] Speaker 1: Chapter one. Up the mountain to alm Uncle from the
[0:07] Speaker 1: old and pleasantly situated village of Maienfeld, a footpath winds
[0:11] Speaker 1: through green and shady meadows to the foot of the mountains,
[0:15] Speaker 1: which on this side look down from their stern and
[0:18] Speaker 1: lofty heights upon the valley below. The land grows gradually
[0:23] Speaker 1: wilder as the path ascends, and the climber has not
[0:27] Speaker 1: gone far before he begins to inhale the fragrance of
[0:30] Speaker 1: the short grass and sturdy mountain plants, for the way
[0:33] Speaker 1: is steep and leads directly up to the summits above.
[0:38] Speaker 1: On a clear sunny morning in June, two figures might
[0:42] Speaker 1: be seen climbing the narrow mountain path, one a tall,
[0:46] Speaker 1: strong looking girl, the other a child, whom she was
[0:50] Speaker 1: leading by the hand, and whose little cheeks were so
[0:53] Speaker 1: aglow with heat that the crimson color could be seen
[0:56] Speaker 1: even through the dark sunburnt skin. And this was hardly
[1:01] Speaker 1: to be wondered at, for in spite of the hot
[1:03] Speaker 1: June sun, the child was clothed, as if to keep
[1:07] Speaker 1: off the bitterest frost. She did not look more than
[1:11] Speaker 1: five years old, if as much, but what her natural
[1:15] Speaker 1: figure was like it would have been hard to say,
[1:18] Speaker 1: for she had apparently two, if not three dresses, one
[1:21] Speaker 1: above the other, and over these a thick red woolen
[1:25] Speaker 1: shawl wound round about her, so that the little body
[1:29] Speaker 1: presented a shapeless appearance. As with its small feet shod
[1:33] Speaker 1: in thick nailed mountain shoes, it slowly and laboriously plotted
[1:38] Speaker 1: its way up in the heat. The two must have
[1:42] Speaker 1: left the valley a good hour's walk behind them when
[1:44] Speaker 1: they came to the hamlet known as Dwarfley, which is
[1:48] Speaker 1: situated half way up the mountain. Here the wayfarers met
[1:53] Speaker 1: with greetings from all sides, some calling to them from windows,
[1:57] Speaker 1: some from open doors, others from outside. For the elder
[2:01] Speaker 1: girl was now in her old home. She did not, however,
[2:05] Speaker 1: pause in her walk to respond to her friend's welcoming
[2:09] Speaker 1: cries and questions, but passed on without stopping for a moment,
[2:13] Speaker 1: until she reached the last of the scattered houses of
[2:16] Speaker 1: the hamlet. Here a voice called to her from the door,
[2:21] Speaker 1: Wait a moment, data, If you are going up higher,
[2:24] Speaker 1: I will come with you. The girl, thus addressed, stood still,
[2:29] Speaker 1: and the child immediately let go her hand and seated
[2:31] Speaker 1: herself on the ground. Are you tired, Heidi asked her companion. No,
[2:39] Speaker 1: I am hot, answered the child. We shall soon get
[2:44] Speaker 1: to the top. Now you must walk bravely on a
[2:46] Speaker 1: little longer and take good long steps, and in another
[2:50] Speaker 1: hour we shall be there, said Data in an encouraging voice.
[2:55] Speaker 1: They were now joined by a stout, good natured looking
[2:58] Speaker 1: woman who walked on ahead with her old acquaintance, the
[3:02] Speaker 1: two breaking forth at once into lively conversation about everybody
[3:06] Speaker 1: and everything in Dorfley and its surroundings, while the child
[3:10] Speaker 1: wandered behind them. And where are you off to with
[3:15] Speaker 1: the child? Asked the one who had just joined the party.
[3:19] Speaker 1: I suppose it is the child your sister left, Yes,
[3:24] Speaker 1: answered Data. I am taking her up to Uncle, where
[3:27] Speaker 1: she must stay. The child stay up there with alm Uncle.
[3:33] Speaker 1: You must be out of your senses, Data, how can
[3:36] Speaker 1: you think of such a thing. The old man, however,
[3:38] Speaker 1: will soon send you and your proposal packing off home again.
[3:43] Speaker 1: He cannot very well do that. Seeing that he is
[3:45] Speaker 1: her grandfather, he must do something for her. I have
[3:49] Speaker 1: had the charge of the child till now, and I
[3:51] Speaker 1: can tell you, Barble, I am not going to give
[3:53] Speaker 1: up the chance which has just fallen to me of
[3:55] Speaker 1: getting a good place for her sake. It is for
[3:59] Speaker 1: the grandfather now to do his duty by her. That
[4:03] Speaker 1: would be all very well if he were like other people,
[4:06] Speaker 1: asserted stout Barble warmly. But you know what he is,
[4:10] Speaker 1: and what can he do with a child, especially with
[4:13] Speaker 1: one so young. The child cannot possibly live with him.
[4:18] Speaker 1: But where are you thinking of going yourself to Frankfort,
[4:23] Speaker 1: where an extra good place awaits me? Answered Daeta. The
[4:27] Speaker 1: people I am going to were down at the baths
[4:30] Speaker 1: last summer, and it was part of my duty to
[4:33] Speaker 1: attend upon their rooms. They would have liked then to
[4:37] Speaker 1: take me away with them, but I could not leave.
[4:40] Speaker 1: Now they are there again and have repeated their offer,
[4:42] Speaker 1: and I intend to go with them. You may make
[4:45] Speaker 1: up your mind to that. I am glad. I am
[4:48] Speaker 1: not the child, exclaimed Barble, with a gesture of horrified pity.
[4:53] Speaker 1: Not a creature knows anything about the old man up there.
[4:57] Speaker 1: He will have nothing to do with anybody, and no
[5:00] Speaker 1: never sets his foot inside a church from one year's
[5:02] Speaker 1: end to another. When he does come down once in
[5:07] Speaker 1: a while, everybody clears out of the way of him
[5:09] Speaker 1: and his big stick. The mere sight of him, with
[5:12] Speaker 1: his bushy, gray eyebrows and his immense beard is alarming enough.
[5:17] Speaker 1: He looks like any old heathen or Indian, and few
[5:20] Speaker 1: would care to meet him alone. Well, and what of that,
[5:26] Speaker 1: said Data in a defiant voice. He is the grandfather
[5:30] Speaker 1: all the same and must look after the child. He
[5:33] Speaker 1: is not likely to do her any harm, and if
[5:35] Speaker 1: he does, he will be answerable for it. Not I
[5:40] Speaker 1: I should very much like to know, continued Barbo, in
[5:43] Speaker 1: an inquiring tone of voice. What the old man has
[5:47] Speaker 1: on his conscience? That he looks as he does and
[5:50] Speaker 1: lives up there on the mountain like a hermit, hardly
[5:53] Speaker 1: ever allowing himself to be seen. All kinds of things
[5:57] Speaker 1: are said about him. You, however, must certainly have learnt
[6:02] Speaker 1: a good deal concerning him from your sister. Am I
[6:05] Speaker 1: not right? You are right? I did, But I am
[6:09] Speaker 1: not going to repeat what I heard. If it should
[6:12] Speaker 1: come to his ears, I should get into trouble about it. Now.
[6:17] Speaker 1: Barble had for long past been most anxious to ascertain
[6:20] Speaker 1: particulars about alm uncle, as she could not understand why
[6:25] Speaker 1: he seemed to feel such hatred towards his fellow creatures,
[6:29] Speaker 1: and insisted on living all alone, or why people spoke
[6:32] Speaker 1: about him half in whispers, as if afraid to say
[6:36] Speaker 1: anything against him, and yet unwilling to take his part. Moreover,
[6:41] Speaker 1: Barble was in ignorance as to why all the people
[6:44] Speaker 1: Endorfley called him alm uncle, for he could not possibly
[6:48] Speaker 1: be uncle to everybody living there, as however, it was
[6:52] Speaker 1: the custom she did like the rest, and called the
[6:54] Speaker 1: old man uncle. Barble had only lived in Dorfley since
[6:59] Speaker 1: her marriage, which had taken place not long before. Previous
[7:04] Speaker 1: to that, her home had been below in Pratagau, so
[7:07] Speaker 1: that she was not well acquainted with all the events
[7:09] Speaker 1: that had ever taken place and with all the people
[7:12] Speaker 1: who had ever lived in Dorfley and its neighborhood. Daeta,
[7:17] Speaker 1: on the contrary, had been born in Dorfley and had
[7:20] Speaker 1: lived there with her mother until the death of the
[7:22] Speaker 1: latter the year before, and had then gone over to
[7:25] Speaker 1: the baths at Ragat's and taken service in the large
[7:29] Speaker 1: hotel there as chambermaid. On the morning of this day,
[7:34] Speaker 1: she had come all the way from Ragats with the child,
[7:37] Speaker 1: a friend, having given them a lift in a hay
[7:39] Speaker 1: cart as far as Mayenefeld. Barble was therefore determined not
[7:44] Speaker 1: to lose this good opportunity of satisfying her curiosity, she
[7:49] Speaker 1: put her arm through Datas in a confidential sort of
[7:51] Speaker 1: way and said, I know I can find out the
[7:55] Speaker 1: real truth from you and the meaning of all these
[7:57] Speaker 1: tales that are afloat about him. I believe you know
[8:01] Speaker 1: the whole story. Now, do just tell me what is
[8:04] Speaker 1: wrong with the old man? And if he was always
[8:07] Speaker 1: shunned as he is now and was always such a misanthrope,
[8:12] Speaker 1: how can I possibly tell you whether he was always
[8:15] Speaker 1: the same? Seeing I am only six and twenty and
[8:18] Speaker 1: he at least seventy years of age, so you can
[8:21] Speaker 1: hardly expect me to know much about his youth. If
[8:24] Speaker 1: I was sure, however, that what I tell you would
[8:27] Speaker 1: not go the whole round of Pratagau, I could relate
[8:30] Speaker 1: all kinds of things about him. My mother came from domlshk,
[8:34] Speaker 1: and so did he. Nonsense, Data, what do you mean?
[8:39] Speaker 1: Replied Barble, somewhat offended. Gossip has not reached such a
[8:44] Speaker 1: dreadful pitch in Pratagau as all that, and I am
[8:48] Speaker 1: also quite capable of holding my tongue when it is necessary.
[8:53] Speaker 1: Very well, then I will tell you, But just wait
[8:56] Speaker 1: a moment, said Daeta in a warning voice, and she
[9:00] Speaker 1: looked back to make sure that the child was not
[9:02] Speaker 1: near enough to hear all she was going to relate.
[9:07] Speaker 1: But the child was nowhere to be seen, and must
[9:10] Speaker 1: have turned aside from following her companions some time before,
[9:14] Speaker 1: while these were too eagerly occupied with their conversation to
[9:17] Speaker 1: notice it. Data stood still and looked around her in
[9:21] Speaker 1: all directions. The footpath wound a little here and there,
[9:25] Speaker 1: but could nevertheless be seen along its whole length, nearly
[9:29] Speaker 1: to Dorfley. No one, however, was visible upon it at
[9:33] Speaker 1: this moment. I see where she is, exclaimed Barble. Look
[9:39] Speaker 1: over there, and she pointed to a spot far away
[9:42] Speaker 1: from the footpath. She is climbing up the slope yonder
[9:47] Speaker 1: with the goatherd and his goats. I wonder why he
[9:50] Speaker 1: is so late to day in bringing them up. It
[9:52] Speaker 1: happens well, however, for us, for he can now see
[9:56] Speaker 1: after the child, and you can the better tell me
[9:58] Speaker 1: your tale. Oh as to the looking after, remarked Datta,
[10:04] Speaker 1: the boy need not put himself out about that. She
[10:07] Speaker 1: is not by any means stupid, for her five years
[10:09] Speaker 1: and knows how to use her eyes. She notices all
[10:13] Speaker 1: that is going on, as I have often had occasion
[10:16] Speaker 1: to remark, And this will stand her in good stead
[10:18] Speaker 1: some day. For the old man has nothing beyond his
[10:21] Speaker 1: two goats and his hut. Did he ever have more,
[10:26] Speaker 1: asked barble, He I should think so, indeed, replied Daeta
[10:31] Speaker 1: with animation. He was owner once of one of the
[10:35] Speaker 1: largest farms in Domlisch. He was the elder of two brothers.
[10:40] Speaker 1: The younger was a quiet, orderly man, but nothing would
[10:44] Speaker 1: please the other but to play the grand gentleman and
[10:47] Speaker 1: go driving about the country and mixing with bad company,
[10:50] Speaker 1: strangers that nobody knew. He drank and gambled away the
[10:55] Speaker 1: whole of his property, and when this became known to
[10:59] Speaker 1: his mother and father, they died, one shortly after the
[11:02] Speaker 1: other of sorrow. The younger brother, who was also reduced
[11:07] Speaker 1: to beggary, went off in his anger. No one knew whither,
[11:11] Speaker 1: while uncle himself, having nothing now left to him but
[11:15] Speaker 1: his bad name, also disappeared. For some time his whereabouts
[11:20] Speaker 1: were unknown. Then some one found out that he had
[11:23] Speaker 1: gone to Naples as a soldier. After that nothing more
[11:28] Speaker 1: was heard of him for twelve or fifteen years. At
[11:31] Speaker 1: the end of that time, he reappeared in Domlishk, bringing
[11:35] Speaker 1: with him a young child, whom he tried to place
[11:38] Speaker 1: with some of his kinspeople. Every door, however, was shut
[11:42] Speaker 1: in his face, for no one wished to have any
[11:44] Speaker 1: more to do with him. Embittered by this treatment, he
[11:49] Speaker 1: vowed never to set foot in Domleshk again, and he
[11:52] Speaker 1: then came to Dorfley, where he continued to live with
[11:55] Speaker 1: his little boy. His wife was probably a native of
[11:59] Speaker 1: the Girl Reasons, whom he had met down there, and
[12:02] Speaker 1: who died soon after their marriage. He could not have
[12:06] Speaker 1: been entirely without money, for he apprenticed his son, Tobias
[12:10] Speaker 1: to a carpenter. He was a steady lad and kindly
[12:14] Speaker 1: received by every one in Dorfley. The old man was, however,
[12:19] Speaker 1: still looked upon with suspicion, and it was even rumored
[12:23] Speaker 1: that he had been forced to make his escape from
[12:25] Speaker 1: Naples or it might have gone badly with him, for
[12:28] Speaker 1: that he had killed a man, not in a fair fight,
[12:31] Speaker 1: you understand, but in some brawl. We however, did not
[12:35] Speaker 1: refuse to acknowledge our relationship with him. My great grandmother
[12:39] Speaker 1: on my mother's side, having been sister to his grandmother,
[12:43] Speaker 1: so we call him uncle, and as through my father,
[12:47] Speaker 1: we are also related to nearly every family in Dorfley.
[12:50] Speaker 1: He became known all over the place as uncle, and
[12:54] Speaker 1: since he went to live on the mountain side, he
[12:56] Speaker 1: has gone everywhere by the name of alm Uncle. And
[13:01] Speaker 1: what happened to Tobias, asked Barble, who was listening with
[13:05] Speaker 1: deep interest. Wait a moment, I am coming to that,
[13:09] Speaker 1: but I cannot tell you everything at once, replied Datta.
[13:14] Speaker 1: Tobias was taught his trade in mels, and when he
[13:17] Speaker 1: had served his apprenticeship, came back to Dorfley and married
[13:21] Speaker 1: my sister Adelhide. They had always been fond of one another,
[13:25] Speaker 1: and they got on very well together after they were married,
[13:29] Speaker 1: but their happiness did not last long. Her husband met
[13:33] Speaker 1: with his death only two years after their marriage, a
[13:36] Speaker 1: beam falling upon him as he was working and killing
[13:39] Speaker 1: him on the spot. They carried him home, and when
[13:43] Speaker 1: Adelaide saw the poor, disfigured body of her husband, she
[13:46] Speaker 1: was so overcome with horror and grief that she fell
[13:49] Speaker 1: into a fever, from which she never recovered. She had
[13:53] Speaker 1: always been rather delicate and subject to curious attacks, during
[13:57] Speaker 1: which no one knew whether she was awake or sleeping.
[14:01] Speaker 1: And so two months after Tobias had been carried to
[14:04] Speaker 1: the grave, his wife followed him. Their sad fate was
[14:08] Speaker 1: the talk of everybody far and near, and both in
[14:11] Speaker 1: private and public. The general opinion was expressed that it
[14:14] Speaker 1: was a punishment which uncle had deserved for the godless
[14:18] Speaker 1: life he had led. Some went so far even as
[14:22] Speaker 1: to tell him so to his face. Our minister endeavored
[14:26] Speaker 1: to awaken his conscience and exhorted him to repentance. But
[14:29] Speaker 1: the old man grew only more wrathful and obdurate, and
[14:33] Speaker 1: would not speak to a soul, and everyone did their
[14:36] Speaker 1: best to keep out of his way. All at once
[14:39] Speaker 1: we heard that he had gone to live up the
[14:41] Speaker 1: alm and did not intend ever to come down again.
[14:45] Speaker 1: And since then he has led his solitary life on
[14:48] Speaker 1: the mountain side, at enmity with God and man. Mother
[14:53] Speaker 1: and I took Adelaide's little one, then only a year old,
[14:56] Speaker 1: into our care. When Mother died last year, and I
[15:00] Speaker 1: went down to the baths to earn some money. I
[15:03] Speaker 1: paid old Ursul, who lives in the village just above,
[15:06] Speaker 1: to keep and look after the child. I stayed on
[15:10] Speaker 1: at the baths through the winter. For as I could
[15:13] Speaker 1: sew and knit, I had no difficulty in finding plenty
[15:16] Speaker 1: of work. And early in the spring the same family
[15:18] Speaker 1: I had waited on before returned from Frankfort and again
[15:22] Speaker 1: asked me to go back with them. And so we
[15:25] Speaker 1: leave the day after tomorrow. And I can assure you
[15:28] Speaker 1: it is an excellent place for me. And you are
[15:32] Speaker 1: going to give the child over to the old man
[15:34] Speaker 1: up there. It surprises me beyond words that you can
[15:37] Speaker 1: think of doing such a thing, Data, said Barble, in
[15:41] Speaker 1: a voice full of reproach. What do you mean, retorted Daeta.
[15:47] Speaker 1: I have done my duty by the child, and what
[15:50] Speaker 1: would you have me do with it now? I cannot
[15:52] Speaker 1: certainly take a child of five years old with me
[15:54] Speaker 1: to Frankfort. But where are you going to yourself? Barble?
[15:59] Speaker 1: We are now half way up the alm. We have
[16:02] Speaker 1: just reached the place I wanted, answered Barble. I had
[16:05] Speaker 1: something to say to the goatherd's wife, who does some
[16:08] Speaker 1: spinning for me in the winter, So good bye, Data,
[16:11] Speaker 1: and good luck to you. Data shook hands with her
[16:15] Speaker 1: friend and remained standing while Barble went towards the small,
[16:19] Speaker 1: dark brown hut which stood a few steps away. From
[16:22] Speaker 1: the path in a hollow that afforded it some protection
[16:25] Speaker 1: from the mountain wind. The hut was situated half way
[16:29] Speaker 1: up the alm reckoning from Dorfley, and it was well
[16:33] Speaker 1: that it was provided with some shelter, for it was
[16:35] Speaker 1: so broken down and dilapidated that even then it must
[16:39] Speaker 1: have been very unsafe as a habitation, for when the
[16:42] Speaker 1: stormy south wind came sweeping over the mountain, everything inside it,
[16:46] Speaker 1: doors and windows shook and rattled, and all the rotten
[16:52] Speaker 1: old beams creaked and trembled. On such days as this,
[16:57] Speaker 1: had the goatherd's dwelling been standing above the exposed mountain side,
[17:02] Speaker 1: it could not have escaped being blown straight down into
[17:04] Speaker 1: the valley without a moment's warning. Here lived Peter, the
[17:10] Speaker 1: eleven year old boy, who every morning went down to
[17:13] Speaker 1: Dorfley to fetch his goats and drive them up onto
[17:16] Speaker 1: the mountain, where they were free to browse till evening
[17:19] Speaker 1: on the delicious mountain plants. Then Peter, with his light
[17:24] Speaker 1: footed animals, would go running and leaping down the mountain
[17:26] Speaker 1: again until he reached Doarfully, and there he would give
[17:30] Speaker 1: a shrill whistle through his fingers, whereupon all the owners
[17:33] Speaker 1: of the goats would come out to fetch home the
[17:35] Speaker 1: animals that belonged to them. It was generally the small
[17:40] Speaker 1: boys and girls who ran in answer to peter swhistle,
[17:43] Speaker 1: for they were none of them afraid of the gentle goats.
[17:45] Speaker 1: And this was the only hour of the day through
[17:48] Speaker 1: all the summer months that Peter had any opportunity of
[17:51] Speaker 1: seeing his young friends, since the rest of his time
[17:54] Speaker 1: was spent alone with the goats. He had a mother
[17:58] Speaker 1: and a blind grandmother at home. It is true, but
[18:02] Speaker 1: he was always obliged to start off very early in
[18:04] Speaker 1: the morning and only got home late in the evening
[18:07] Speaker 1: from Dorfley, for he always stayed as long as he could,
[18:11] Speaker 1: talking and playing with the other children, and so he
[18:14] Speaker 1: had just time enough at home, and that was all
[18:17] Speaker 1: to swallow down his bread and milk in the morning,
[18:20] Speaker 1: and again in the evening to get through a similar meal,
[18:23] Speaker 1: lie down in bed and go to sleep. His father,
[18:27] Speaker 1: who had been known also as the Goatherd, having earned
[18:30] Speaker 1: his living as such when younger had been accidentally killed
[18:34] Speaker 1: while cutting wood some years before. His mother, whose real
[18:38] Speaker 1: name was Brigitta, was always called the Goatherd's wife for
[18:42] Speaker 1: the sake of old association, while the blind grandmother was
[18:46] Speaker 1: just grandmother to all the old and young in the neighborhood.
[18:52] Speaker 1: Data had been standing for a good ten minutes, looking
[18:54] Speaker 1: about her in every direction for some sign of the
[18:57] Speaker 1: children and the goats. Not a glimpse of them, however,
[19:02] Speaker 1: was to be seen. So she climbed to a higher spot,
[19:05] Speaker 1: whence she could get a fuller view of the mountain
[19:08] Speaker 1: as it sloped beneath her to the valley. While with
[19:11] Speaker 1: ever increasing anxiety on her face and in her movements,
[19:15] Speaker 1: she continued to scan the surrounding slopes. Meanwhile, the children
[19:20] Speaker 1: were climbing up by a far and roundabout way. For
[19:23] Speaker 1: Peter knew many spots were all kinds of good food
[19:27] Speaker 1: in the shape of shrubs and plants grew for his goats,
[19:31] Speaker 1: and he was in the habit of leading his flock
[19:33] Speaker 1: aside from the beaten track. The child, exhausted with the
[19:38] Speaker 1: heat and weight of her thick armor of clothes, panted
[19:42] Speaker 1: and struggled after him. At first with some difficulty, She
[19:46] Speaker 1: said nothing, but her little eyes kept watching first Peter
[19:50] Speaker 1: as he sprang nimbly hither and thither on his bare feet,
[19:53] Speaker 1: clad only in his short light breeches, and then the
[19:57] Speaker 1: slim legged goats that went leaping over rocks and shines, shrubs,
[20:00] Speaker 1: and up the steep ascents with even greater ease. All
[20:04] Speaker 1: but once she sat herself down on the ground, and
[20:07] Speaker 1: as fast as her little fingers could move, began pulling
[20:10] Speaker 1: off her shoes and stockings. This done, she rose, unwound
[20:15] Speaker 1: the hot red shawl and threw it away, and then
[20:19] Speaker 1: proceeded to undo her frock. It was often a second,
[20:23] Speaker 1: but there was still another to unfasten, for Data had
[20:26] Speaker 1: put the Sunday frock on over the every day one
[20:29] Speaker 1: to save the trouble of carrying it. Quick as lightning,
[20:33] Speaker 1: the every day frock followed the other, and now the
[20:36] Speaker 1: child stood up, clad only in her light short sleeved undergarment,
[20:41] Speaker 1: stretching out her little bare arms with glee. She put
[20:45] Speaker 1: all her clothes together in a tidy little heap, and
[20:48] Speaker 1: then went jumping and climbing up after Peter and the
[20:51] Speaker 1: goats as nimbly as any one of the party. Peter
[20:55] Speaker 1: had taken no heed of what the child was about
[20:57] Speaker 1: when she stayed behind, but when she ran up to
[21:00] Speaker 1: him in her new attire, his face broke into a grin,
[21:03] Speaker 1: which grew broader still as he looked back and saw
[21:06] Speaker 1: the small heap of clothes lying on the ground, till
[21:09] Speaker 1: his mouth stretched almost from ear to ear. He said nothing. However,
[21:16] Speaker 1: the child, able now to move at her ease, began
[21:19] Speaker 1: to enter into conversation with Peter, who had many questions
[21:23] Speaker 1: to answer for his companion wanted to know how many
[21:26] Speaker 1: goats he had, where he was going to with them,
[21:29] Speaker 1: and what he had to do when he arrived there.
[21:32] Speaker 1: At last, after some time, they and the goats approached
[21:35] Speaker 1: the hut and came within view of cousin. Data. Hardly
[21:40] Speaker 1: had the latter caught sight of the little company climbing
[21:42] Speaker 1: up towards her when she shrieked out, Heidi, what have
[21:46] Speaker 1: you been doing? What a sight you have made of yourself?
[21:50] Speaker 1: And where are your two frocks and the red wrapper
[21:54] Speaker 1: and the new shoes I bought and the new stockings
[21:57] Speaker 1: I knitted for you? Everything gone? A thing left? What
[22:01] Speaker 1: can you have been thinking of? Heidi? Where are all
[22:04] Speaker 1: your clothes? The child quietly pointed to a spot below
[22:09] Speaker 1: on the mountain side and answered, down there. Data followed
[22:15] Speaker 1: the direction of her finger. She could just distinguish something
[22:18] Speaker 1: lying on the ground with a spot of red at
[22:21] Speaker 1: the top of it, which she had no doubt was
[22:23] Speaker 1: the woolen wrapper. You good for nothing, little thing, exclaimed
[22:29] Speaker 1: Data angrily. What could have put it into your head
[22:33] Speaker 1: to do like that? What made you undress yourself? What
[22:36] Speaker 1: do you mean by it? I don't want any clothes,
[22:41] Speaker 1: said the child, not showing any sign of repentance for
[22:44] Speaker 1: her past deed. You wretched, thoughtless child, have you no
[22:49] Speaker 1: sense in you at all? Continued Data, scolding and lamenting.
[22:55] Speaker 1: Who is going all that way down to fetch them?
[22:57] Speaker 1: It's a good half hour's walk. You go off and
[23:01] Speaker 1: fetch them for me as quickly as you can, and
[23:03] Speaker 1: don't stand there gaping at me as if you were
[23:06] Speaker 1: rooted to the ground. I am already past my time,
[23:11] Speaker 1: answered Peter slowly, without moving from the spot where he
[23:15] Speaker 1: had been standing with his hands in his pockets, listening
[23:18] Speaker 1: to Data's outburst of dismay and anger. Well, you won't
[23:22] Speaker 1: get far if you only keep on standing there with
[23:25] Speaker 1: your eyes staring out of your head, was Data's cross reply.
[23:29] Speaker 1: But see, you shall have something nice, and she held
[23:33] Speaker 1: out a bright new piece of money to him that
[23:36] Speaker 1: sparkled in the sun. Peter was immediately up and off
[23:41] Speaker 1: down the steep mountain side, taking the shortest cut, and
[23:45] Speaker 1: in an incredibly short space of time had reached the
[23:48] Speaker 1: little heap of clothes, which he gathered up under his arm,
[23:51] Speaker 1: and was back again so quickly that even Data was
[23:54] Speaker 1: obliged to give him a word of praise as she
[23:57] Speaker 1: handed him the promised money. Peter promptly thrust it into
[24:03] Speaker 1: his pocket, and his face beamed with delight, for it
[24:07] Speaker 1: was not often that he was the happy possessor of
[24:09] Speaker 1: such riches. You can carry the things up for me
[24:14] Speaker 1: as far as Uncle's as you are going the same way,
[24:17] Speaker 1: went on Data, who was preparing to continue her climb
[24:21] Speaker 1: up the mountain side, which rose in a steep ascent
[24:24] Speaker 1: immediately behind the goatherd's hut. Peter willingly undertook to do this,
[24:30] Speaker 1: and followed after her on his bare feet, with his
[24:33] Speaker 1: left arm round the bundle and the right swinging his
[24:36] Speaker 1: goatherds stick, while Heidi and the goats went skipping and
[24:40] Speaker 1: jumping joyfully beside him. After a climb of more than
[24:45] Speaker 1: three quarters of an hour, they reached the top of
[24:47] Speaker 1: the alm mountain. Uncle's hut stood on a projection of
[24:51] Speaker 1: the rock exposed indeed to the winds, but where every
[24:55] Speaker 1: ray of sun could rest upon it, and a full
[24:58] Speaker 1: view could be had of the valley. Beneath behind the
[25:03] Speaker 1: hut stood three old fir trees with long, thick, unlopped branches.
[25:08] Speaker 1: Beyond these rose a further wall of mountain, the lower
[25:12] Speaker 1: heights still overgrown with beautiful grass and plants, above which
[25:17] Speaker 1: were stonier slopes covered only with scrub that led gradually
[25:21] Speaker 1: up to the steep, bare, rocky summits against the hut
[25:27] Speaker 1: on the side, looking towards the valley, Uncle had put
[25:30] Speaker 1: up a seat here. He was sitting his pipe in
[25:33] Speaker 1: his mouth and his hands on his knees, quietly looking out,
[25:37] Speaker 1: when the children, the goats and cousin data suddenly clambered
[25:42] Speaker 1: into view. Heidi was at the top first. She went
[25:46] Speaker 1: straight up to the old man, put out her hand
[25:49] Speaker 1: and said, good evening, grandfather. So so what is the
[25:54] Speaker 1: meaning of this? He asked gruffly, as he gave the
[25:58] Speaker 1: child an abrupt shake of the head hand and gazed
[26:01] Speaker 1: long and scrutinizingly at her from under his bushy eyebrows.
[26:07] Speaker 1: Hide stared steadily back at him in return, with unflinching gaze.
[26:11] Speaker 1: For the grandfather, with his long beard and thick gray
[26:14] Speaker 1: eyebrows that grew together over his nose and looked just
[26:18] Speaker 1: like a bush, was such a remarkable appearance that Heidie
[26:21] Speaker 1: was unable to take her eyes off him. Meanwhile, Data
[26:26] Speaker 1: had come up with Peter after her, and the latter
[26:29] Speaker 1: now stood still a while to watch what was going on.
[26:33] Speaker 1: I wish you good day, uncle, said Daeta as she
[26:36] Speaker 1: walked towards him. And I have brought you Tobias and
[26:40] Speaker 1: Adelhyde's child. You will hardly recognize her, as you have
[26:44] Speaker 1: never seen her since she was a year old. And
[26:47] Speaker 1: what has the child to do with me up here?
[26:50] Speaker 1: Asked the old man curtly. You there. He then called
[26:54] Speaker 1: out to Peter, be off with your goats, you are
[26:56] Speaker 1: none too early as it is, and take mine with you.
[27:00] Speaker 1: Peter obeyed on the instant and quickly disappeared, for the
[27:04] Speaker 1: old man had given him a look that made him
[27:06] Speaker 1: feel that he did not want to stay any longer.
[27:10] Speaker 1: The child is here to remain with you, Daeta made answer.
[27:14] Speaker 1: I have I think done my duty by her for
[27:17] Speaker 1: these four years, and now it is time for you
[27:20] Speaker 1: to do yours. That's it is, it, said the old
[27:24] Speaker 1: man as he looked at her with a flash in
[27:26] Speaker 1: his eye. And when the child begins to fret and
[27:30] Speaker 1: whine after you, as is the way with these unreasonable
[27:34] Speaker 1: little beings, what am I to do with her? Then
[27:38] Speaker 1: that's your affair, retorted Data. I know I had to
[27:41] Speaker 1: put up with her without complaint when she was left
[27:44] Speaker 1: on my hands as an infant, and with enough to do,
[27:47] Speaker 1: as it was for my mother and self. Now I
[27:50] Speaker 1: have to go in look after my own earnings. And
[27:53] Speaker 1: you are the next of kin to the child. If
[27:56] Speaker 1: you cannot arrange to keep her, do with her as
[27:58] Speaker 1: you like, you will be answerable for the result if
[28:01] Speaker 1: harm happens to her, though you have hardly need, I
[28:04] Speaker 1: should think to add to the burden already on your conscience. Now,
[28:10] Speaker 1: Data was not quite easy in her own conscience about
[28:13] Speaker 1: what she was doing, and consequently was feeling hot and irritable,
[28:17] Speaker 1: and said more than she had intended. As she uttered
[28:21] Speaker 1: her last words, Uncle rose from his seat. He looked
[28:24] Speaker 1: at her in a way that made her draw back
[28:26] Speaker 1: a step or two. Then, flinging out his arm, he
[28:29] Speaker 1: said to her in a commanding voice, be off with you.
[28:33] Speaker 1: This instant, and get back as quickly as you can
[28:35] Speaker 1: to the place whence you came, and do not let
[28:38] Speaker 1: me see your face again. In a hurry. Data did
[28:41] Speaker 1: not wait to be told twice. Good Bye to you then,
[28:45] Speaker 1: and to you too, heidy, she called, as she turned
[28:48] Speaker 1: quickly away and started to descend the mountain at a
[28:51] Speaker 1: running pace, which she did not slacken till she found
[28:54] Speaker 1: herself safely again at Dorfley. For some inward agitation drove
[28:59] Speaker 1: her forards, as if a steam engine was at work
[29:02] Speaker 1: inside her. Again, questions came raining down upon her from
[29:07] Speaker 1: all sides. For every one knew Data as well as
[29:10] Speaker 1: all particulars of the birth and former history of the child,
[29:14] Speaker 1: and all wondered what she had done with it. From
[29:18] Speaker 1: every door and window came voices calling, where is the child?
[29:24] Speaker 1: Where have you left the child? Data? And more and
[29:27] Speaker 1: more reluctantly, Data made answer up there with all, uncle,
[29:32] Speaker 1: with all, uncle, have I not told you so already?
[29:37] Speaker 1: Then the women began to hurl reproaches at her. First
[29:40] Speaker 1: one cried out, how could you do such a thing,
[29:44] Speaker 1: Then another to think of leaving a helpless little thing
[29:48] Speaker 1: up there, While again and again came the words, the
[29:52] Speaker 1: poor might, the poor might, pursuing her as she went along.
[30:00] Speaker 1: Unable at last to bear it any longer, data ran
[30:03] Speaker 1: forward as fast as she could until she was beyond
[30:06] Speaker 1: reach of their voices. She was far from happy at
[30:09] Speaker 1: the thought of what she had done for the child
[30:12] Speaker 1: had been left in her care by her dying mother.
[30:16] Speaker 1: She quieted herself, however, with the idea that she would
[30:19] Speaker 1: be able to do something for the child if she
[30:21] Speaker 1: was earning plenty of money. And it was a relief
[30:24] Speaker 1: to her to think that she would soon be far
[30:26] Speaker 1: away from all these people who were making such a
[30:29] Speaker 1: fuss about the matter. And she rejoiced further still that
[30:33] Speaker 1: she was at liberty now to take such a good place.
[30:38] Speaker 1: End of Chapter one

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