Heimatlos Part 1

Heimatlos.

by Johanna Spyri.

PREFACE

In the translation of "Heimatlos" an effort has been made to hold as far as possible to the original, in order to give the reader of English the closest possible touch with the story as it stands in the German. This method retains the author's delightful simplicity, and it leaves revealed, even in her roundabout way of telling things, her charming adaptability as a writer for children.

The adult reader will pardon the repet.i.tions, where the same thought is expressed in different ways, when it is remembered that the author is making doubly sure of reaching the understanding of the young mind.

The literal rendering has been sacrificed only in a few instances, and then because of local idioms and national standards.

It is the hope of the translator that these two stories, so widely read by the children of Germany, will help our own little ones, in these days of general prosperity, to appreciate the everyday comforts of home, to which they grow so accustomed as often to take them for granted, with little evidence of grat.i.tude.

E. S. H.

HEIMATLOS

LAKE SILS AND LAKE GARDA

CHAPTER I

THE QUIET HOME

In the Upper Engadine Valley, on the road leading up to the Maloja Pa.s.s, lies a lonely town called Sils. Taking a diagonal path from the street back to the mountains, one comes to a smaller village known as Sils-Maria. Here, a little aside from the highway, in a field, two dwellings stood opposite each other. Both had old-fas.h.i.+oned doors and tiny windows set deep in the wall. One house had a garden, where herbs and vegetables and a few straggling flowers were growing. The other, which was much smaller, had only an old stable with a couple of chickens wandering in and out of it.

At the same hour every morning there came out of this forlorn little house a man who was so tall that he had to stoop in order to pa.s.s through the doorway. His hair and eyes were very dark, and the lower part of his face was hidden by a heavy black beard. Familiar as this man's figure was to the people of Sils, they always spoke of him as "the Italian." His work took him regularly up the Maloja, where the roads were being improved, or down the Pa.s.s to St. Moritz Bath, where some new houses were going up.

Each morning a boy followed the man to the door and stood looking wistfully after him. It would have been hard to say just what those great dark eyes were fixed upon, their gaze seemed so far reaching.

Sunday afternoons, when the weather was favorable, the father and son would go for a walk together. So striking was the likeness between them that no one could help noticing it, although in the bearded face of the man the sadness was less apparent. They seldom spoke, but sometimes the man would hum or whistle a tune, and then the boy would listen eagerly. It was easy to see that music was their chief pleasure. When they were kept in the house by bad weather, the father would play familiar airs on a mouth organ or on a whistle that he had made himself--perhaps on a comb or even on a leaf from a tree. Once he brought home a violin, which delighted the boy beyond measure. He watched the father intently as he played, and later tried to bring out the same notes himself. He must have succeeded fairly well, for the man laughed, and laying his own fingers over the little ones, played several melodies from beginning to end.

The next day, while the father was away, the boy practiced until he succeeded in playing his favorite tune, but after that the violin disappeared and was never brought back again. Sometimes, however, the father would sing in his deep voice,--softly, perhaps, at first, but louder as he caught the spirit of the music. Then the boy would sing, too, and when the words failed him--for the songs were in Italian, which he did not understand--he could still hum the air. There was one tune that he knew better than all the rest, for it was one his father had sung over and over again. It had many verses, and this was the way it began:

"Una sera In Peschiera--"

Though the music was sad, this song was the boy's favorite. He would always sing it with much feeling, his clear, bell-like voice blending smoothly with the father's rich ba.s.s. Often when they had finished all the verses, the man would put his hand on his son's shoulder and say, "Good, Enrico! that went very well." Only his father called him "Enrico"; to all others he was simply "Rico."

There was still another person who lived in the little cottage. This was Rico's aunt, who kept house for the father and himself. In the winter, when she sat spinning beside the stove and it was too stormy to be out of doors, Rico had to be very careful of his behavior.

Everything he did seemed to annoy her. The faultfinding made the loneliness still harder to bear when, as often happened, the father's work kept him away from home for days at a time.

Sometimes when Rico tried to escape from the presence of his aunt, she would say sharply: "Shut the door and sit down, Rico. You are forever letting the cold air into the house."

He was thankful that his bed upstairs offered a safe retreat after supper; and then he always had the pleasant antic.i.p.ation that his father would probably soon come home again.

CHAPTER II

IN SCHOOL

Rico was nearly nine years old and had attended school two winters.

There was no school in the mountains in the summer, for every one, including the teacher, was busy farming. Rico did not mind this, however, for he had his own way of pa.s.sing the time. In the morning he would go out to the doorsteps where he would remain watching the house opposite until a girl with laughing eyes beckoned him to come across.

They always had much to say to each other of all that had happened since they were together before. Her name was Stineli, and she and Rico were nearly the same age. They had always gone to school together, were in the same cla.s.ses, and from the first had been the best of friends.

Rico extended his intimacy to no one else. It was little pleasure to him to be with the boys of the neighborhood. When they wrestled in the school yard, Rico either walked away or paid no attention to them. If, however, they attacked him, he would face them with such a strange look that they ceased troubling him.

With Stineli he was perfectly contented. She had a lovely face with merry light-brown eyes. Her fluffy golden hair was gathered into two heavy braids which hung loosely from her shoulders. She was scarcely nine years old, but there were seven younger brothers and sisters. For these she had to do a great many things, so that her time for play was sadly limited. The other children were Trudt, Sam, Peter, Urschli, Anna, Kunzli, and the baby. Calls for Stineli seemed to come from every direction, and she willingly helped wherever she could. The mother said that Stineli could put on three pairs of stockings for the little ones while Trudt, the younger sister, was getting a child's foot in place for the first one.

Stineli went to school gladly, for there was always the pleasant walk going and returning with Rico. So many duties fell to her share during the summer that she had no leisure except on Sunday afternoons. Then she and Rico, who had usually been waiting on the doorsteps opposite, would go hand in hand over the wide meadow to the wooded hill beyond that stretched far out into the lake. There they would sit and look down into the water and watch the waves beat against the sh.o.r.e. Here they enjoyed themselves so much that Stineli was happy all the week in looking forward to the pleasure of the next Sunday.

There was some one else who contributed greatly to Stineli's pleasure. This was her aged grandmother, who made her home with the family. She noticed how much was expected of Stineli and often gave her bits of money to brighten a hard day's work. She was very fond of Rico and occasionally made it possible for Stineli to play with him by taking the household duties upon herself.

The grandmother frequently spent the summer evenings sitting in the front yard, and Stineli and Rico liked to sit with her and listen to the stories she told them. When the vesper bell rang she would say, "Remember, that is the signal for our evening wors.h.i.+p." Then the three would devoutly repeat the Lord's Prayer.

"Your evening devotion ought never to be neglected," the grandmother continued one evening; "I have lived many more years than you have, and I have known many people, but I have observed that there is a time in the life of every one when prayer is needful. I have some in mind who did not pray, but when troubles came they had nothing to comfort them. I want you to know that you need not worry so long as you use this prayer."

It was May and the school was still in session, although it could not be kept open much longer, for the trees were beginning to show green tips, and great stretches of ground were entirely free from snow.

Rico was standing in the doorway, observing these facts while waiting for Stineli. Earlier than usual the door across the way opened and she ran to him.

"Have you been waiting long? No doubt you've been building air castles at the same time," she said, laughing. "We shall not be late to-day, even if we walk slowly. Do you ever think about that pretty lake any more?" asked Stineli, as they walked along.

"Indeed I do," replied Rico; "I often dream of it, too, and I see large red flowers near the violet-colored hills I told you about."

"But dreams don't count," broke in Stineli. "I have dreamed that Peter climbed up the tallest tree, but when he got to the topmost branch I thought it was only a bird, and then he called to me to dress him.

That proves how impossible dreams may be."

"This one of mine is possible," a.s.serted Rico. "It makes me think of something that I have really seen, and I know that I have looked at those flowers and the hills. The picture is too real to be a dream only." As they neared the schoolhouse a company of children ran to meet them, and they all entered the schoolroom together.

In a few moments the teacher came. He was an old man who had taught in this room many years, and his hair had grown thin and gray as the years pa.s.sed by. This morning he began the exercises with a number of questions on previous work, following this with the song, "Little Lambs."

Rico was looking so attentively at the teacher's fingering of the violin strings that he forgot to sing. The children, being accustomed to depending upon Rico's voice, sang out of tune, and the notes from the violin became more and more uncertain until all was in confusion.

The song was abruptly ended by the teacher's throwing the violin on the table in disgust. "What are you trying to sing, you foolish children?" he exclaimed. "If I only knew who gets so out of tune and spoils the whole song!"

A lad sitting next to Rico ventured to say, "I know why it went that way; it always does when Rico doesn't sing."

"What is that I hear about you, Rico?" began the teacher, sharply.

"You are a very obedient little fellow, but inattention is a serious fault, the result of which you have just seen. Let us try again. Now, Rico, see that you sing this time."