Grandfathers -- Fiction; Mountain life -- Switzerland -- Fiction; Orphans -- Fiction; Switzerland -- History -- 19th century -- Fiction
The goats were now beginning to climb the rocks again, each seeking for
the plants it liked in its own fashion, some jumping over everything
they met till they found what they wanted, others going more carefully
and cropping all the nice leaves by the way, the Turk still now and
then giving the others a poke with his horns. Little Swan and Little
Bear clambered lightly up and never failed to find the best bushes,
and then they would stand gracefully poised on their pretty legs,
delicately nibbling at the leaves. Heidi stood with her hands behind
her back, carefully noting all they did.
"Peter," she said to the boy who had again thrown himself down on the
ground, "the prettiest of all the goats are Little Swan and Little
Bear."
"Yes, I know they are," was the answer. "Alm-Uncle brushes them down
and washes them and gives them salt, and he has the nicest shed for
them."
All of a sudden Peter leaped to his feet and ran hastily after the
goats. Heidi followed him as fast as she could, for she was too eager
to know what had happened to stay behind. Peter dashed through the
middle of the flock towards that side of the mountain where the rocks
fell perpendicularly to a great depth below, and where any thoughtless
goat, if it went too near, might fall over and break all its legs. He
had caught sight of the inquisitive Greenfinch taking leaps in that
direction, and he was only just in time, for the animal had already
sprung to the edge of the abyss. All Peter could do was to throw
himself down and seize one of her hind legs. Greenfinch, thus taken by
surprise, began bleating furiously, angry at being held so fast and
prevented from continuing her voyage of discovery. She struggled to get
loose, and endeavored so obstinately to leap forward that Peter shouted
to Heidi to come and help him, for he could not get up and was afraid
of pulling out the goat's leg altogether.
Heidi had already run up and she saw at once the danger both Peter and
the animal were in. She quickly gathered a bunch of sweet-smelling
leaves, and then, holding them under Greenfinch's nose, said coaxingly,
"Come, come, Greenfinch, you must not be naughty! Look, you might fall
down there and break your leg, and that would give you dreadful pain!"
The young animal turned quickly and began contentedly eating the leaves
out of Heidi's hand. Meanwhile Peter got on to his feet again and took
hold of Greenfinch by the band round her neck from which her bell was
hung, and Heidi taking hold of her in the same way on the other side,
they led the wanderer back to the rest of the flock that had remained
peacefully feeding. Peter, now he had his goat in safety, lifted his
stick in order to give her a good beating as punishment, and Greenfinch
seeing what was coming shrank back in fear. But Heidi cried out, "No,
no, Peter, you must not strike her; see how frightened she is!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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