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diff --git a/14128-0.txt b/14128-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..859ce14 --- /dev/null +++ b/14128-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1251 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14128 *** + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 14128-h.htm or 14128-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/1/2/14128/14128-h/14128-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/1/2/14128/14128-h.zip) + + + + + +TONI, THE LITTLE WOOD-CARVER + +by + +JOHANNA SPYRI + +Author of _Heidi_ + +Translated by Helen B. Dole + +1920 + +New York +Thomas Y. Crowell Company +Publishers + + + + + + + +[Illustration: Toni the Little Woodcarver.] + + + + + +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ + | | + | JOHANNA SPYRI'S ALPINE STORIES | + | | + | | + | GRITLI'S CHILDREN. Complete Edition. Translated by LOUISE BROOKS. | + | Illustrated in color. 8vo. | + | | + | HEIDI. Complete Edition. Translated by HELENE S. WHITE. 16 full-page | + | illustrations in color. 8vo. | + | | + | LITTLE ALPINE MUSICIAN. Translated by HELEN B. DOLE. Illustrated in | + | color. 8vo. | + | | + | RICO AND WISELI. Complete Edition. Translated by LOUISE BROOKS. | + | Illustrated in color. 8vo. | + | | + | UNCLE TITUS. Translated by LOUISE BROOKS. Illustrated in color. 8vo. | + | | + | VERONICA. Translated by LOUISE BROOKS. Illustrated in color. 8vo. | + | | + | JO, THE LITTLE MACHINIST. Translated by HELEN B. DOLE. Illustrated | + | in color. 8vo. | + | | + | LITTLE CURLY HEAD. Translated by HELEN B. DOLE. Illustrated in color | + | 8vo. | + | | + | LITTLE MISS GRASSHOPPER. Translated by HELEN B. DOLE. Illustrated in | + | color by CHARLES COPELAND. 8vo. | + | | + | MONI, THE GOAT BOY. Translated by HELEN B. DOLE. Illustrated in | + | color by CHARLES COPELAND. 8vo. | + | | + | TRINI, THE LITTLE STRAWBERRY GIRL. Translated by HELEN B. DOLE. | + | Illustrated in color. 8vo. | + | | + | TONI, THE LITTLE WOOD CARVER. Translated by HELEN B. DOLE. | + | Illustrated in color. 8vo. | + | | + | TISS, A LITTLE ALPINE WAIF. Translated by HELEN B. DOLE. Illustrated | + | in color. 8vo. | + | | + | THE ROSE CHILD. Translated by HELEN B. DOLE. Illustrated in color. | + | 8vo. | + | | + | WHAT SAMI SINGS WITH THE BIRDS. Translated by HELEN B. DOLE. | + | Illustrated in color. 8vo. | + | | + +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ + + + + +[Illustration: In front of him next to the wall, stood a glass case.] + + + + + +CONTENTS + + +AT HOME IN THE LITTLE STONE HUT + +A HARD SENTENCE + +UP IN THE MOUNTAINS + +IN THE SANITARIUM + + + + +CHAPTER FIRST + +AT HOME IN THE LITTLE STONE HUT + + +High up in the Bernese Oberland, quite a distance above the +meadow-encircled hamlet of Kandergrund, stands a little lonely hut, under +the shadow of an old fir-tree. Not far away rushes down from the wooded +heights of rock the Wild brook, which in times of heavy rains, has carried +away so many rocks and bowlders that when the storms are ended a ragged +mass of stones is left, through which flows a swift, clear stream of +water. Therefore the little dwelling near by this brook is called the +stone hut. + +Here lived the honest day-laborer Toni, who conducted himself well in +every farm-house, where he went to work, for he was quiet and +industrious, punctual at his tasks, and reliable in every way. + +In his hut at home he had a young wife and a little boy, who was a joy to +both of them. Near the hut in the little shed was the goat, the milk of +which supplied food for the mother and child, while the father received +his board through the week on the farms where he worked from morning until +night. Only on Sunday was he at home with his wife and little Toni. The +wife Elsbeth, kept her little house in good order; it was narrow and tiny, +but it always looked so clean and cheerful that every one liked to come +into the sunny room, and the father, Toni, was never so happy as when he +was at home in the stone hut with his little boy on his knee. + +For five years the family lived in harmony and undisturbed peace. Although +they had no abundance and little worldly goods, they were happy and +content. The husband earned enough, so they did not suffer want, and they +desired nothing beyond their simple manner of life, for they loved each +other and their greatest delight was little Toni. + +The little boy grew strong and healthy and with his merry ways delighted +his father's heart, when he remained at home on Sundays, and sweetened all +his mother's work on week-days, when his father was away until late in the +evening. + +Little Toni was now four years old and already knew how to be helpful in +all sorts of small ways, in the house and the goat's shed and also in the +field behind the hut. From morning until night he tripped happily behind +his mother for he was as content as the little birds up in the old +fir-tree. + +When Saturday night came the mother scrubbed and cleaned with doubled +energy, to finish early, for on that day the father was through his work +earlier than other days, and she always went with little Toni by the hand, +part way to meet him. This was a great delight to the child. He now knew +very well how one task followed another in the household. When his mother +began to scrub, he jumped around in the room, with delight and cried out +again and again: "Now we are going for Father! Now we are going for +Father!" until the moment came when his mother took him by the hand and +started along. + +Saturday evening had come again in the lovely month of May. Outdoors the +birds in the trees were singing merrily up to the blue sky; indoors the +mother was cleaning busily, in order to get out early into the golden +evening, and meanwhile now outside, now in the house, little Toni was +hopping around and shouting: + +"Now we are going for Father!" + +It was not long before the work was finished. The mother put on her shawl, +tied on her best apron and stepped out of the house. + +Toni jumped for joy and ran three times around his mother, then seized her +hand and shouted once more: + +"Now we are going for Father!" + +Then he tripped along beside his mother in the lovely, sunny evening. +They wandered to the Wild brook, over the wooden bridge, which crosses it, +and came to the narrow foot-path, winding up through the flower-laden +meadows to the farm where the father worked. + +The last rays of the setting sun fell across the meadows and the sound of +the evening bells came up from Kandergrund. + +The mother stood still and folded her hands. + +"Lay your hands together Toneli," she said, "it is the Angelus." + +The child obeyed. + +"What must I pray, Mother?" he asked. + +"Give us and all tired people a blessed Sunday! Amen!" said the mother +devoutly. + +Toneli repeated the prayer. Suddenly he screamed: "Father is coming!" + +Down from the farm some one was running as fast as he could come. + +"That is not Father," said his mother, and both went towards the running +man. When they met, the man stood still and said, gasping: + +"Don't go any farther, turn around, Elsbeth. I came straight to you, for +something has happened." + +"Oh, my God!" cried the woman in the greatest anguish, "has something +happened to Toni?" + +"Yes, he was with the wood-cutters, and then he was struck. They have +brought him back; he is lying up at the farm-but don't go up there," he +added, holding Elsbeth fast, for she wanted to start off as soon as she +heard the news. + +"Not go up?" she said quickly. "I must go to him; I must help him and see +about bringing him home." + +"You cannot help him, he is--he is already dead," said the messenger in an +unsteady voice. Then he turned and ran back again, glad to have the +message off his mind. + +Elsbeth threw herself down on a stone by the way, unable to stand or to +walk. She held her apron before her face and burst into weeping and +sobbing, so that Toneli was distressed and frightened. He pressed close +to his mother and began to cry too. + +It was already dark, when Elsbeth finally came to herself and could think +of her child. The little one was still sitting beside her on the ground, +with both hands pressed to his eyes, and sobbing pitifully. His mother +lifted him up. + +"Come, Toneli, we must go home; it is late," she said, taking him by the +hand. + +But he resisted. + +"No, no, we must wait for Father!" he said and pulled his mother back. + +Again she could not keep back the tears. "Oh, Toneli, Father will come no +more," she said, stifling her sobs; "he is already enjoying the blessed +Sunday, we prayed for, for the weary. See, the dear Lord has taken him to +Heaven; it is so beautiful there, he will prefer to stay there." + +"Then we will go too," replied Toneli, starting + +"Yes, yes, we shall go there too," promised his mother, "but now we must +first go home to the stone hut," and without a word she went with the +little one back to the silent cottage. + +The proprietor of the Matten farm sent word to Elsbeth the following day +that he would do everything necessary for her husband, and so she need not +come until it was time for the service, for she would not recognize her +husband. He sent her some money in order that she would not have too much +care in the next few days, and promised to think of her later on. + +Elsbeth did as he advised and remained at home until the bells in +Kandergrund rang for the service. Then she went to accompany her husband +to his resting place. + +Sad and hard days came for Elsbeth. She missed her good, kind husband +everywhere, and felt quite lost without him. Besides, cares came now which +she had known little about before, for her husband had had his good, daily +work. But now she felt sometimes as if she would almost despair. She had +nothing but her goat and the little potato field behind the cottage, and +from these she had to feed and clothe herself and the little one, and +besides furnish rent for the little house. + +Elsbeth had only one consolation, but one that always supported her when +pain and care oppressed her; she could pray, and although often in the +midst of tears, still always with the firm belief that the dear Lord would +hear her supplication. + +When at night she had put little Toni in his tiny bed she would kneel down +beside him and repeat aloud the old hymn, which now came from the depths +of her heart, as never before: + + Oh, God of Love, oh Father-heart, + In whom my trust is founded, + I know full well how good Thou art-- + E'en when by grief I am wounded. + + Oh Lord, it surely can not be + That Thou wilt let me languish + In hopeless depths of misery, + And live in tears of anguish. + + Oh Lord, my soul yearns for thine aid + In this dark vale of weeping; + For thee I've waited, hoped and prayed + Assured of thy safe keeping. + + Lord let me bear whate'er thy Love + May send of grief or sorrow, + Until Thou, in thy Heaven above + Make dawn a brighter morrow. + + +And in the midst of her urgent praying, the mother's tears flowed +abundantly, and little Toni, deeply moved in his heart by his mother's +weeping and earnest prayer, kept his hands folded and wept softly too. + +So the time passed. Elsbeth struggled along and little Toni was able to +help her in many ways, for he was now seven years old. He was his mother's +only joy, and she was able to take delight in him for he was obedient and +willing to do everything she desired. He had always been so inseparable +from his mother that he knew exactly how the tasks of the day had to be +done, and he desired nothing but to help her whenever he could. If she +was working in the little field, he squatted beside her, pulled out the +weeds, and threw the stones across the path. + +If his mother was taking the goat out of the shed so that she could nibble +the grass around the hut, he went with her step by step, for his mother +had told him he must watch her so that she would not run away. + +If his mother was sitting in winter by her spinning-wheel, he sat the +whole time beside her, mending his winter shoes with strong strips of +cloth, as she had taught him to do. He had no greater wish than to see his +mother happy and contented. His greatest pleasure was, when Sunday came +and she was resting from all work, to sit with her on the little wooden +bench in front of the house and listen as she told him about his father +and talk with her about all kinds of things. + +But now the time had come for Toni to go to school. It was very hard for +him to leave his mother and remain away from her so much. The long way +down to Kandergrund and up again took so much time, that Toni was hardly +ever with his mother any more through the day, but only in the evening. +Indeed he always came home so quickly that she could hardly believe it +possible, for he looked forward with pleasure all day long to getting home +again. He lost no time with his school-mates but ran immediately away from +them as soon as school was over. He was not accustomed to the ways of the +other boys since he had been constantly alone with his quietly working +mother and used to performing definite tasks continually without any +noise. + +So it was altogether strange to him and he took no pleasure in it, when +the boys coming out of the school-house, set up a great screaming, one +running after another, trying to see which was the stronger, and throwing +one another on the ground, or wrestling so that their caps were thrown far +away and their jackets half torn off. + +The wrestlers would often call to him: + +"Come and play!" and when he ran away from them they would call after +him: "You are a coward." But this made little difference to him; he didn't +hear it long, for he ran with all his might in order to be at home again +with his mother. + +Now a new interest for him arose in the school: he had seen beautiful +animals drawn on white sheets, which the children of the upper classes +copied. He quickly tried to draw them, too, with his pencil and at home +continued drawing the animals again and again as long as he had a bit of +paper. Then he cut out the animals and tried to make them stand on the +table, but this he could not do. Then suddenly the thought came to him +that if they were of wood they could stand. He began quickly with his +knife to cut around on a little piece of wood until there was a body and +four legs; but the wood was not large enough for the neck and the head; so +he had to take another piece and calculate from the beginning how high it +must be and where the head must be placed. So Toni cut away with much +perseverance until he succeeded in making something like a goat and could +show it with great satisfaction to his mother. She was much delighted at +his skill and said: + +"You are surely going to be a wood-carver, and a very good one." + +From that time on Toni looked at every little piece of wood which came in +his way, to see if it would be good for carving, and if so he would +quickly put it away, so that he often brought home all his pockets full of +these pieces, which he then collected like treasures into a pile and spent +every free moment carving them. + +Thus the years passed by. Although Elsbeth always had many cares, she +experienced only joy in her Toni. He still clung to her with the same +love, helped her in every way as well as he could and spent his life +beside her, entirely at his quiet occupation, in which he gradually +acquired a quite gratifying skill. Toni was never so content as when he +was sitting in the little stone hut with his carving and his mother came +in and out happily employed, always saying a kindly word to him and +finally sat down beside him at her spinning-wheel. + + + + +CHAPTER SECOND + +A HARD SENTENCE + + +Toni was twelve years old in the winter, and now his school days were +over, and the time had come to look about for some kind of work which +would bring him in some money and by which he could learn something +necessary for future years. + +Spring had come and work had begun in the fields. His mother thought it +would be best to ask the proprietor of the Matten farm, if he had some +light work for Toni; but every time she spoke about it he would say +beseechingly: + +"Oh, Mother, don't do that; let me be a wood-carver!" + +She would have had no objection to this, but knew no way to bring it +about, and she had known the farmer up on the Matten farm ever since her +husband had worked there, and ever since his death, from time to time he +had sent her a little wood or meal. + +She hoped that he would employ Toni at first for light tasks in the field, +so that he would gradually learn to do the heavier work. + +So on Saturday night after the day's work was ended and she sat down with +Toni to their scanty supper, she said once more: + +"Toni, now we must take a decided step; I think it is best for me to go up +to the Matten farm to-morrow." + +"Oh, Mother, don't do that!" said Toni quite beseechingly. "Don't go to +the farmer! If you will only let me be a wood-carver, I will work so hard, +that I will earn enough, and you will not have to do so much, and then I +can stay at home with you. Besides you would be all alone, and I can't +bear it, if I have to be always away from you. Let me stay with you; don't +send me away, Mother." + +"Oh, you good Toni," said his mother, "what wouldn't I give to be able to +keep you always with me! But that really cannot be. I know of no way for +you to be a wood-carver; some one would have to teach you, and when you +had learned, how should we sell the carvings? You would have to know +people and go about, or else your work wouldn't bring any money. If only I +could talk with some one, who could give me good advice!" + +"Don't you know any one, Mother, you can ask?" said Toni anxiously and +racked his brain to try to think of some one. His mother too began to +consider. + +"I think I will go to the pastor, who has already given me advice," said +his mother, delighted to have found a way out of the difficulty. + +Toni was quite happy and now was determined that early the next morning +they should go down to the church and then his mother could go in to see +the pastor and Toni would wait outside. + +Everything was carried out on Sunday morning as they had planned. His +mother had put two of the little carved animals in her pocket to show the +pastor as examples of her boy's good ability. The pastor received her very +cordially, had her sit down beside him and enquired with interest about +her affairs, for he knew Elsbeth and how bravely she had helped herself +through all the hard times. + +She told him now the whole story, how Toni from a very early age had +worked at the carving with so much interest and now wished for nothing so +much as to carry on this work, but how she knew of no way for him to +learn, nor how, later, the work could be sold. Finally she showed him the +two little animals as examples of Toni's skill. + +The pastor replied to the mother that the plan would be very difficult to +carry out. Although the two little goats were not badly carved, yet in +order to perform the work right and to earn his bread by it, Toni would +have first to learn from a good carver, because making only little animals +or boxes would not amount to anything or bring in any money, and he would +only be wasting his time. + +However, down in the village of Frutigen there was a very skillful, +well-known wood-carver, who made wonderful large works which went far into +the world, even to America. He carved whole groups of animals on high +rocks, chamois and eagles and whole mountains with the herdsman and the +cows. Elsbeth could talk with this carver. If Toni studied with him he +could help him to sell the finished work, for he had ways open for it. + +Elsbeth left the pastor with gratitude and new hope in her heart. In front +of the house Toni was waiting in great suspense. She had to tell him at +once everything the pastor had said, and when she finally related about +the wood-carver in Frutigen Toni suddenly stood still and said: + +"Then come, Mother, let us go to the place at once." + +However, his mother had not thought it over--she made many objections, but +Toni begged so earnestly, that she finally said: + +"We must go home first and have something to eat, for it is very far +away; but we can do that quickly and then start off again right away." + +So they hurried back to the house, took a little bread and milk and +started on their way again. They had several hours to travel, but Toni was +so busy with his plans and thoughts for the future, the time flew like a +dream and he looked up in great surprise, when his mother said: + +"See, there is the church tower of Frutigen!" + +They were soon standing in front of the wood-carver's house, and learned +from the children before the door, that their father was at home. + +Inside in the large, wainscotted room, sat the wood-carver with his wife +at the table, looking at a large book of beautiful colored pictures of +animals which he would be able to make good use of in his handicraft. When +the two arrived he welcomed them and invited them to come and be seated on +the wooden bench, where he and his wife were sitting and which ran along +the wall around the entire room. Elsbeth accepted the invitation and +immediately began to tell the wood-carver why she had come and what she +so much desired of him. + +Meanwhile Toni stood as if rooted to the floor and stared motionless at a +single spot. In front of him next the wall was a glass case, in which +could be seen two high rocks, carved out of wood. On one was standing a +chamois with her little ones. They had such dainty, slender legs, and +their fine heads sat so naturally on their necks that it seemed as if they +were all alive and not at all made of wood. On the other rock stood a +hunter, his gun hanging by his side, and his hat, with even a feather in +it, sat on his head, all so finely carved, that one would think it must be +a real hat and a real little feather, and yet all was of wood. + +Next the hunter stood his dog, and it seemed as if he would even wag his +tail. Toni was like one enchanted and hardly breathed. + +When his mother finished speaking, the wood-carver said it seemed to him +as if she thought the affair would half go of itself, but it was not so. + +If a thing was to be done right, it cost much time and patience to learn. +He was not averse to taking the boy, for it seemed to him that he had a +desire to learn; but she would have to pay for his board for a couple of +months in Frutigen, besides paying for his instruction, which would be as +much as his board, and she herself must know whether she could spend so +much on the boy. On the other hand he would promise that the boy would be +taught right, and she could see there in the glass case, what he could +learn to do. + +At first Elsbeth was so disappointed and dismayed she was unable to speak +a word. Now she knew that it would be absolutely impossible for her to +fulfill her boy's greatest wish. The necessary expense of board and +instruction was beyond anything that she could manage, so much so that it +was quite out of the question. It was all over with Toni's plans. + +She rose and thanked the wood-carver for his willingness to take the boy, +but she would have to decline his offer. Then she beckoned to Toni, whose +eyes were still so fastened to the glass case that he paid no attention. +She took him by the hand and led him quietly out of the door. + +Outside Toni said, drawing a deep breath: + +"Did you see what was in the case? Mother, did you see it?" + +"Yes, yes, I saw it, Toni," replied his mother with a sigh, "but did you +hear what the wood-carver said?" + +Toni had heard nothing; all his mind had been directed to one point. + +"No, I didn't hear anything; when can I go?" he asked longingly. + +"Oh, it is not possible, Toni, but don't take it so to heart! See, I can't +do it, although I would like to so much," declared his mother; "but +everything would come to more than I earn in a year, and you know how hard +I have to work to manage to make the two ends meet." + +It was a hard blow for Toni. All his hopes for many years lay destroyed +before him; but he knew how his mother worked, how little good she +herself had, and how she always tried to give him a little pleasure when +she could. He said not a word and silently swallowed his rising tears, but +he was very much grieved that all his hopes were over, since for the first +time he had seen what wonderful things could be made out of a piece of +wood. + + + + +CHAPTER THIRD + +UP IN THE MOUNTAINS + + +The next morning, the farmer on the Matten farm sent word to Elsbeth, to +come up to see him towards evening, as he had something to talk with her +about. At the right time she laid aside her hoe, tied on a clean apron, +and said: + +"Finish the hoeing, Toni; then you can milk the goat and give her some +fresh straw, so she will have a better bed. Then I will be back again." + +She went up to the Matten farm. The farmer was standing in the open +barn-door gazing with satisfaction at his beautiful cows, wandering in a +long procession to the well. Elsbeth stepped up to him. + +"Well, I am glad you have come," he said, holding out his hand to her. "I +have been thinking about you on account of the boy's welfare. He is now at +an age to do some light work and help you a little, at least to take care +of himself." + +"I have already been thinking about that," replied Elsbeth, "and wanted to +ask you, if you could give him a little light work in the fields?" + +"That is fortunate," continued the farmer. "I have a little job for him, +healthy and not very hard, that is to say not hard at all. He can go up to +the small mountain with the cows. The herdsman with his boys is on the big +mountain and a man is also there to come every morning and evening for the +milking, so the boy will not be entirely alone and will have nothing to do +but watch the cows so that none wander off, that they don't hook each +other or do anything out of the way. While he sits there on the mountain +he is master and can have all the milk he wants. A king couldn't have +anything better." + +Elsbeth was a little frightened by the offer. If Toni had been more with +the farm men, and had been with cows, or if he had naturally a different +disposition, wilder and more roving and commanding-but as he was so quiet +and shy, and besides without any knowledge of such things, to be for the +first time all alone for several months, away from home, up on the +mountains, watching a herd of cows, this seemed to her too hard for Toni. +What would the poor boy, who was not particularly strong, do if anything +happened to him or to the herd? She expressed all her thoughts to the +farmer, but it made no difference; he thought it would be good for the boy +to get out for once, and up on the mountain he would be much stronger than +at home, and nothing could happen to him, for he would be given a horn and +if anything went wrong he could blow lustily, and immediately the farm man +would come from the other mountain; in a half hour he would be there. + +Elsbeth finally thought the farmer understood it much better than she, and +so it was decided that the next week, when the cows went up to the +mountain pasture, Toni should go with them. + +"He shall have a good bit of money and a new suit of clothes when he comes +down. That will be a help for the winter," said the farmer finally. + +Elsbeth thanked him as she said good-by, and turned homeward. + +Toni was at first opposed to this, when he heard that he would be away so +long without being able to come home a single time; but his mother +explained to him how easy the work would be, that he would grow stronger +up there, so as to be able to do better things later on, and that the +Matten farmer would give him a new suit and a good bit of money as pay. So +Toni objected no longer, but said he would be glad to do something and not +let his mother work alone. + +Then it occurred to Elsbeth that, if Toni was going to be away the whole +summer she could perhaps go to one of the big hotels in Interlaken where +so many strangers go for the summer. There she could earn a good sum of +money and meet the coming winter without anxiety. She was already known in +Interlaken for she had served as chambermaid in one of the hotels for +several summers before her marriage. + +When the day came for the big herd of cows to be taken up to the mountain +pasture, Toni's mother gave him his little bundle and said: + +"Go now, in God's name! Don't forget to pray, when the day begins, and +when it ends, and the dear Lord will not forget you, and His protection is +better than that of men." + +So Toni started off with his little bundle behind the herd up the +mountain. + +Immediately after this Elsbeth closed her cottage. She took the goat up to +the Matten farm. When the farmer heard that she was going to Interlaken, +he promised her to take the goat, and thought when Elsbeth came home +again, she would give twice as much milk, and what he made from her, he +would give back to Elsbeth in cheese. Then she started down to Interlaken. + +The herd had already been climbing the mountain for several hours. The +herdsman turned off to the left with the big herd, and the man went with +Toni up towards the right, followed by the smaller herd, which consisted +of fewer cows but many young cattle, for not many cows could be kept on +the small mountain pasture, because the milk had to be carried across to +the big one where the herdsman's hut stood. + +They now reached the highest point of the pasture. There stood a little +hut. All around there was nothing but pasture, not a tree, not a bush. In +the hut on one side was a narrow seat fastened to the wall in front of +which stood a table. On the other side stood a bed of hay. In the corner +was a little, round stool and on this a wooden jug. + +Toni and the man stepped inside. The latter placed on the floor the big +wooden milk-pail, which he had brought up on his back, took out of it a +round loaf of bread and a huge piece of cheese, laid both on the table and +said: "Of course you have a knife," to which Tony assented. + +Then the man took the wooden jug, swung the milk-pail on his back and went +out. Toni followed him. The man lifted a wooden basin out of the big pail, +seated himself on the little round stool which he had brought out of the +hut and began to milk one cow after another. If one was too far away, he +would call out: "Drive her here!" and Toni obeyed. When the basin was full +he poured it into the big pail and silently went on until all the cows had +been milked. At the last the man filled the jug with milk, handed it to +Toni, took the pail on his back, the basin in his hand and saying "Good +night!" went down the mountain. + +Then Toni was all alone. He put his jug of milk in the hut and came out +again. He looked around on every side. He looked over to the big mountain, +but between that and his pasture was a wide valley so one had to descend +in order to climb up to the big one. But all around both pastures great +dark masses of mountains looked down, some rocky, gray and jagged, others +covered with snow, all reaching up to the sky, so high and mighty and with +such different peaks and horns and some with such broad backs, that it +almost seemed to Toni as if they were enormous giants, each one having his +own face and looking down at him. It was a clear evening. The mountain +opposite was shining in the golden evening light, and now a little star +came into sight above the dark mountains, and looked down to Toni in such +a friendly way that it cheered him very much. + +He thought of his mother, where she was now and how she was in the habit +of standing with him at this time in front of the little cottage and +talking so pleasantly. Then suddenly there came over him such a feeling of +loneliness that he ran into the hut, threw himself down on the cot, buried +his face in the hay and sobbed softly, until the weariness of the day +overcame him and he fell asleep. + +The bright morning lured him out early. The man was already outside. He +milked the cows, spoke not a word and went away. + +Now a long, long day followed. It was perfectly still all around. The cows +grazed and lay down around in the sun-bathed pasture. Tom went into the +hut two or three times, drank some milk and ate some bread and cheese. +Then he came out again, sat down on the ground and carved on a piece of +wood he had in his pocket, for although he no longer dared to cherish the +hope of becoming a wood-carver, yet he could not help carving for himself +as well as he could. At last it was evening again. The man came and went. +He said not a word, and Toni had nothing to say either. + +Thus passed one day after another. They were all so long! so long! In the +evening, when it began to grow dark it always seemed terrible to Toni, for +then the high mountains looked so black and threatening, as if they would +suddenly do him some harm. Then he would rush back into the hut and crawl +into his bed of hay. + +Many days had passed like this, one exactly the same as the other. The +sun had always shone in a cloudless sky; always at evening the friendly +little star had gleamed above the dark mountain. But one afternoon, thick, +gray clouds began to chase one another across the sky; now and then +blinding lightning flashed, and suddenly frightful thunder-bolts sounded, +which echoed roaring from the mountains, as if there were twice as many +and then a terrible storm broke. It was as dark as night; the rain beat +against the hut, and meanwhile the thunder rolled with fearful +reverberations through the mountains; quivering lightning lighted up the +black, frightful giant-forms, which seemed quite specter-like to come +nearer and look down menacingly. The cattle ran together in alarm and +bellowed loudly, and great birds of prey flapped around with piercing +shrieks. + +Toni had long since fled into the hut, but the lightning showed him the +frightful forms and it seemed every minute as if the rolling thunder +would overthrow the hut to the ground. Toni was so alarmed he could +hardly breathe. He climbed up on the table expecting every minute that the +hut would fall and crush him. The storm lasted for hours, and the man +never came over. It was now really night but still the blinding lightning +flashed and new peals of thunder rolled and the storm howled and raged as +if it would sweep the hut away. + +Toni stood half the night stiff with fright, clinging to the table, and +with no thought, only a feeling of a frightful power, which was crushing +everything. How he reached his bed he did not know, but in the morning he +lay stretched across the hay, so exhausted he could hardly rise. He looked +anxiously out of the window. How must it look outside after such a night? +Then he went out to see about the cows. The ground was still wet, but the +animals were peacefully grazing. + +The sky was gray, and thick, black clouds were passing over it. Gloomy and +frightful the high mountains stood there. They had come so near and +looked more threateningly than ever at Toni. He ran back into the hut. + +Many days of thunder storms followed, one after another and if the sun +came out between, it burned unbearably, and new storms followed so +unceasingly and violent, that the herdsman, on the other mountain often +said that he had not known such a summer for years, and if it didn't +change he wouldn't make half so much butter as in former summers, because +the cows gave no milk, as they didn't like the fodder. + +During this time the man-servant chose the most favorable time to come +over to the small pasture, milked the cows as quickly as possible and did +not look after the boy at all; only now and then, when he thought Toni had +no more milk, he would bring the jug out quickly, fill it and put it back +again. Then he often saw Toni sitting on his bed of hay, and would call +out in passing: + +"You are lazy!" + +But then he ran right away in order to get back without being wet, and +did not trouble himself further about the boy. + +So June had passed, and already a good part of July. The thunder storms +had become less frequent, but thick fog often so enveloped the mountain +that one could hardly see two steps away, and only here and there a black +head appeared, looking gloomily through the mist. The cattle often +wandered so far that the man found some of them between the two mountains +and brought them up again. This would not do. He called up to the boy, but +received no answer. He ran to the hut and went in. Toni crouched in the +corner was sitting on his bed and staring straight before him. + +"Why don't you look after the cows?" asked the man. + +He received no answer. + +"Can't you speak? What is the matter with you?" + +No answer. + +Then the man looked at the bread and cheese, to see if Toni had eaten +everything and was suffering from hunger. But more than half the bread was +there and the larger part of the cheese. Toni had taken almost nothing but +milk. + +"What is the matter with you, then? Are you sick?" asked the man again. + +Toni gave no answer. He seemed not to hear anything and stared so +motionless before him that the man was quite alarmed. He ran out of the +hut. He told the herdsman how it was with the boy and they decided that +when one of the herdsman's boys went down with the butter, he must tell +the Matten farmer about it. + +Another week passed. Then the news was brought to the farmer. He thought +the boy would be happy again, that the heavy thunderstorms had only +frightened him a little. But he sent word for the herdsman to go over; he +had boys of his own and would understand better about this than the hired +man. If anything was wrong with Toni he must be brought down. + +Some days later the herdsman really went over with one of his boys and +found Toni still crouched in the corner just as the man had seen him. Toni +made no sound to anything the herdsman said to him, did not move and kept +staring always before him. + +"He must go down," said the herdsman to his boy, "go with him right away, +but take care that nothing happens to him and be good to him; the boy is +to be pitied," and he looked at Toni with sympathy, for the herdsman had a +good heart and took delight in his own three big, healthy boys. The one he +had with him was a strong, sturdy fellow of sixteen years. He went up to +Toni and told him to stand up, but Toni did not move. Then the lad took +him under the arms, lifted him up, like a feather, then swung him on his +back, held him firmly with both hands, and went with his light burden down +the mountain. + +When the Matten farmer saw Toni in such a sad condition, which remained +just the same, he was alarmed, for he had not expected such a thing. He +did not know at all what to do with the boy. His mother was far away, no +relatives were there, and he himself did not want to keep Toni while in +this condition. He could take such a responsibility, but he did not want +to do so. Suddenly a good thought came to him, the same as the people +there in every difficulty, in every need and every trouble, always have +first of all: + +"Take him to the Pastor," he said to the herdsman's boy, "he will have +some good advice to give, which will help." + +The lad immediately started off and went to the Pastor, who allowed the +boy to tell him as much as he knew about the details of the case, how Toni +came to be in this condition and how long it had lasted; but the lad knew +very little about it all. The Pastor first tried every means to make Toni +speak, and asked him if he would like to go to his mother, but it was all +in vain, Toni did not give the least sign of understanding or interest. + +Then the pastor sat down, wrote a letter and said to the herdsman's boy: + +"Go back to the Matten farm and tell the farmer to harness his little +carriage and send it to me, and then I will see that Toni goes to-day to +Bern. He is very sick; say that to the farmer." + +The farmer harnessed immediately, glad that further responsibility was +taken from him and he had only to carry Toni as far as the railway. But +the Pastor sent down to his sexton, an older, kindly man, who had given +him a helping hand for years in many matters of responsibility. He was +commissioned to take Toni with all care to the great sanitarium in Bern +and to give the letter to the doctor there, a good friend of the Pastor's. +A half hour later, the open carriage with the high seat drove up in front +of the Pastor's house. The sexton climbed up, placed the sick boy beside +him, held him carefully but firmly and thus Toni drove out into the world, +with a horse, for the first time in his life. But he sat there with no +sign of interest. It was as if he were no longer conscious of the outer +world. + + + + +CHAPTER FOURTH + +IN THE SANITARIUM + + +The doctor of the sanitarium was sitting with his family around the family +table, engaged in merry conversation on various subjects. Even the lady +from Geneva, who spent several hours a day with the family, seemed to-day +a little infected by the children's gayety. She had never before taken so +lively a part in the discussion, which the school-children carried on +about different interests. + +This lady's beloved and gifted son had died not long before; on this +account she had fallen into such deep sadness that her health had suffered +greatly and therefore she had been brought to the sanitarium to recover. + +The animated conversation was suddenly interrupted by a letter which was +handed to the doctor. + +"A letter from an old friend, who is sending me a patient to the +sanitarium. He is a young boy, hardly as old as our Max--there, read it." +Whereupon the doctor handed the letter to his wife. + +"Oh, the poor boy!" exclaimed his wife. "Is he here? Bring him in. Perhaps +it will do him good to see the children." + +"I think he is quite near," said the doctor; he went out, and soon came in +again with the sexton and Toni. He led the former into a bay window and +began talking with him in a low tone. Meanwhile the doctor's wife drew +near to Toni, who on entering had pressed into the nearest corner. She +spoke kindly to him and invited him to come to the table and eat something +with her children. Toni did not move. Then lively little Marie jumped down +from her chair and came to Toni with a large piece of bread and butter. + +"There, take a bite," she said encouragingly. + +Toni remained motionless. + +"See, you must do so," and the little girl bit a good piece from the bread +and held it to him, then again a little nearer, so he only needed to bite +into it. But he stared in front of him and made no motion. This silent +resistance frightened Marie and she drew back quietly. + +Then the doctor came, took Toni by the hand and went out followed by the +sexton. + +Poor Toni's appearance had made a great impression on the children. They +had become perfectly quiet. + +Later when they had gone to bed and the two women were sitting alone +together, the doctor came back again. In reply to their urgent questions +he informed them about all that the sexton had told him concerning Toni's +illness and his life with his mother, and that no one had ever noticed +anything wrong with the boy before, only he had always been a quiet, +gentle child and more slenderly built than any of the other village +children. + +The women asked how he had come into this condition in the summer up on +the beautiful mountain, and the doctor explained that it was not so +strange, if one knew how terrible the thunder storms were up in the +mountains. "Besides," he concluded, "a delicate child, such as this boy, +all alone without a human being near, for whole weeks, even months long, +without hearing a word spoken, might well be so terrified through fear and +horror in the awful loneliness that he would become wholly benumbed." + +Then the lady from Geneva, who took an unusual interest in poor Toni's +fate, exclaimed in great excitement: + +"How can a mother allow such a thing to happen to her child! It is wholly +inconceivable, quite incomprehensible!" + +"You really can have no idea," replied the doctor soothingly, "what poor +mothers are obliged to let happen to their children. But don't believe +that it causes them less pain than others. You see how many suffer that we +know nothing about, and how hard poverty oppresses." + +"Will you be able to help the poor young boy?" asked the lady from Geneva. + +"If I can only bring out the right emotion in him," he replied, "so that +the spell, which holds him imprisoned, can be broken. Now everything in +him is numbed and lifeless." + +"Oh, do help him! Do help him!" begged the sick lady imploringly. "Oh, if +I could do something for him!" And she walked to and fro thinking about a +way to help, for Toni's condition went deeply to her heart. + +It was the second week of August, when Toni came to the sanitarium. Day +after day, week after week passed and the doctor could only bring the same +sad news to the two women, who every morning awaited his report with great +anxiety. Not the slightest change was noticed. Every means was tried to +amuse the boy, to see if he would perhaps laugh. Other attempts were +devised to disturb him, to make him cry. They performed all kinds of +tricks to attract his attention. All, all were in vain; no trace of +interest or emotion was aroused in Toni. + +"If he could only be made to laugh or to cry once!" repeated the doctor +over and over again. + +When he had been four weeks in the sanitarium all hope disappeared, for +the doctor had exhausted every means. + +"Now I will try one thing more," he said one morning to his wife. "I have +written to my friend, the Pastor, and asked him if the boy was very much +attached to his mother, and if so, to send for her right away. Perhaps to +see her again would make an impression on him." + +The two women looked forward in great suspense to Elsbeth's arrival. + +In the first week of September the last guests left the hotel in +Interlaken where Elsbeth had spent the summer. She immediately started on +her way home, for she wanted to get everything in order before Toni came +down from the mountain. She never thought but that he was still up there, +and had no suspicion of all that had happened. When she reached home, she +went at once to the Matten farm to enquire for Toni and to bring the goat +home. + +The farmer was very friendly, and thought her goat was now by far one of +the finest, because she had had good fodder so long. But when Elsbeth +asked after her Toni, he broke off abruptly and said he had so much to do, +she must go to the Pastor, for he would have the best knowledge about the +boy. It immediately seemed to Elsbeth that it was a little strange for the +Pastor to know best what happened up on the mountain and while she was +leading home the goat, and thinking about the matter, a feeling of anxiety +came over her and grew stronger and stronger. As soon as she reached home, +she quickly tied the goat, without going into the cottage at all, and ran +back the same way she had come, down again to Kandergrund. + +The Pastor told her with great consideration, how Toni had not borne the +life on the mountain very well and they had been obliged to bring him +down, and since it seemed best for him that he should go at once to a good +physician for the right care, he had sent the boy immediately to Bern. + +His mother was very much shocked and wanted to travel the next day to see +for herself if her child was very ill. + +But the Pastor said that would not do, but that she should wait until the +doctor allowed a visit, and she could be sure that Toni was receiving the +best care. + +With a heavy heart Elsbeth went back to her cottage. She could do nothing +but leave it all to the dear Lord, who alone had been her trust for so +many years. But it was only a few days later when the Pastor sent her word +that she was to go to Bern at once, as the doctor wished her to come. + +Early the following day Elsbeth started. About noon she reached Bern and +soon was standing in front of the door of the sanitarium. + +She was led to the doctor's living-room and here received with great +friendliness by his wife and with still keener sympathy by the lady from +Geneva, who had so lived in the history of poor Toni and his mother that +she could hardly think of anything else but how to help these two. She had +had only the one child and could so well understand the mother's trouble. +She had even asked the doctor to allow her to be present when he took the +boy to his mother, in order to share in the joy, if the poor boy's delight +at seeing her again would affect him as they hoped. + +Soon the doctor appeared, and after he had prepared the mother not to +expect Toni to speak at the first moment, he brought him in. He led him by +the hand into the room, then he let go and stepped to one side. + +The mother ran to her Toni and tried to seize his hand. He drew back and +pressed into the corner staring into vacancy. + +The women and the doctor exchanged sad looks. + +His mother went up to him and caressed him. "Toneli, Toneli," she said +again and again in a tender voice, "don't you know me? Don't you know your +mother any more?" + +As always before Toni pressed against the wall, made no motion and stared +before him. + +In tender tones the mother continued mournfully: + +"Oh, Toneli, say just a single word! Only look at me once! Toneli, don't +you hear me?" + +Toneli remained unmoved. + +Still once again the mother looked at him full of tenderness, but only met +his staring eyes. It was too much for poor Elsbeth, that the only +possession she had on earth, and the one she loved with all her heart, her +Toni, should be lost to her, and in such a sad way! She forgot everything +around her. She fell on her knees beside her child, and while the tears +were bursting from her eyes, she poured out aloud the sorrow in her heart: + + Oh God of Love, oh Father-heart, + In whom my trust is founded, + I know full well how good Thou art-- + E'en when by grief I am wounded. + + Oh Lord, it surely can not be + That Thou wilt let me languish + In hopeless depths of misery + And live in tears of anguish. + + +Toni's eyes took on a different expression. He looked at his mother. She +did not see him and went on imploring in the midst of her tears: + + Oh Lord, my soul yearns for thine aid + In this dark vale of weeping; + For Thee I have waited, hoped and prayed, + Assured of thy safe keeping. + + +Suddenly Toni threw himself on his mother and sobbed aloud. She threw her +arms around him and her tears of sorrow turned to loud sobs of joy. The +child sobbed aloud also. + +"It is won," said the doctor in great delight to the women, who, deeply +moved, were looking on at the mother and boy. + +Then the doctor opened the door of the next room and beckoned Elsbeth to +go in there with Toni. He thought it would be good for both to be alone +for a while. In there after a while Toni began to talk quite naturally +with his mother and asked her: + +"Are we going home, Mother, to the stone hut? Shan't I have to go up on +the mountain any more?" + +And she quieted him and said she would now take him right home, and they +would stay there together. Soon all Toni's thoughts came back again quite +clearly, and after a while he said: + +"But I must earn something, Mother." + +"Don't trouble about that now," said Elsbeth quietly; "the dear Lord will +show a way when it is time." + +Then they began to talk about the goat, how pretty and fat she had grown, +and Toni gradually became quite lively. + +After an hour the doctor brought them both into the living-room back to +the ladies. Toni was entirely changed, his eyes had now an earnest but +quite different expression. The lady from Geneva was indescribably +delighted. She sat down beside him at once, and he had to tell her where +he had been to school and what he had liked to study. + +But the doctor beckoned to Elsbeth to come to him. + +"Listen, my good woman," he began, "the words which you repeated made a +deep, penetrating impression on the boy's heart. Did he know the hymn +already?" + +"Oh, my Lord," exclaimed Elsbeth, "many hundred times I have repeated it +beside his little bed, when he was very small, often with many tears, and +he would weep too, when he didn't know why." + +"He wept because you wept, he suffered because you suffered," said the +doctor. "Now I understand how he was aroused by these words. With such +impressions in early childhood it is no wonder he became a quiet and +reserved boy. This explains to me much in the past." + +Then the lady from Geneva came up for she wanted to talk with the mother. + +"My dear, good woman, he certainly must not go up on the mountain again. +He is not fit for it," she said in great eagerness. "We must find +something different for him. Has he no taste for some other occupation? +But it must be light, for he is not strong and needs care." + +"Oh, yes, he has a great desire to learn something," said his mother. +"From a little boy he has wished for it, but I hardly dare mention it." + +"There, there, my good woman, tell me right away about it," said the lady +encouragingly, expecting something unheard-of. + +"He wants so much to be a wood-carver, and has a good deal of talent for +it, but the cost of board and instruction together is more than eighty +francs." + +"Is that all?" exclaimed the lady in the greatest surprise, "is that all? +Come, my boy," and she ran to Toni again, "would you really like to +become a wood-carver--better than anything else?" + +The joy which shone in Toni's eyes, when he answered that he would, showed +the lady what she had to do. She had such a longing to help Toni, that she +wanted to act immediately that very hour. + +"Would you like to learn at once, go to a teacher right away?" she asked +him. + +Toni gladly replied that he would. + +But now came a new thought. She turned to the doctor. "Perhaps he ought to +recover his health first?" + +The doctor replied that he had been already thinking about that. The +mother had told him that she knew a very good master up in Frutigen. "Now +I think," he went on to say, "that carving is not a strenuous work, and +one of the most important things for Toni is to have for some time good, +nourishing food. In Frutigen there is a very good inn, if he only could--" + +"I will undertake that, Doctor, I will undertake that," interrupted the +lady. "I will go with him. We will start to-morrow. In Frutigen I will +provide for Toni's board and lodging and for everything he needs." In her +great delight the lady shook hands with both the mother and the boy +repeatedly, and went out to instruct her maid about preparations for the +journey. + +When the mother with her boy had been taken to their room, the doctor said +with great delight to his wife: + +"We have two recoveries. Our lady is also cured. A new interest has come +to her, and you will see she will have new life in providing for this +young boy. This has been a beautiful day!" + +On the following morning the journey was made to Frutigen, and the little +company were so glad and happy together that they reached there before +they were aware of it. + +At the wood-carver's the lady was told everything that would be needed for +the work, and after he had showed them all kinds of instruments, he +thought a fine book with good pictures, from which one could work, would +be useful. + +After the lady had charged him to teach Toni everything in any way +necessary for the future, they went to the inn. Here the lady engaged a +good room with comfortable bed, and herself arranged with the host a bill +of fare for every day in the week. The host promised, with many bows, to +follow everything exactly, for he saw very well with whom he had to deal. + +Then Toni and his mother had to eat with the lady in the inn, and during +the meal she had much more to say. She was going now, she said, the next +day, home to Geneva, where there were large shops, in which nothing was +sold but carvings. There she would immediately arrange for Toni to send +all his articles, so he could begin to work with fresh zeal. Moreover, she +insisted that Toni should remain, not two, but three months with the +carver, so that he could learn everything from the foundation. He could go +from here to visit his mother on Sundays, or she could come to him. + +Elsbeth and Toni were so full of gratitude, they could find no words to +express it, but the lady understood them nevertheless and bore home a +happy heart, such as she had not had for a long time. + +It came about just as the doctor had foreseen. The lady, who had not been +able to think any more about her home now desired to return to Geneva. She +had so many plans to carry out there, that she could hardly wait for the +day when she was to go back. + +The doctor was delighted to consent to her going soon. + +Toni, who had hardly begun with his new teacher, applied himself with so +much zeal and skill to his work, that the carver said to his wife in the +fourth week: + +"If he goes on like this, he will learn to do better than I can." + +The three months had come to an end, and Christmas was drawing near. One +morning Toni waded through the deep snow up to his home. He looked round +and fresh, and his heart was so happy he had to sing aloud as he came +along. + +But when after a long walk, he suddenly saw the stone hut with the +fir-tree thickly covered with snow behind it, tears of joy came to his +eyes. He was coming home, home for all time. He ran to the little house, +and his mother, who had already seen him, hurried out, and which one of +the two was the more delighted, no one could tell; but they were both so +happy, as they sat together again in the cottage, that they could think of +no greater fortune on earth. Their highest wish was fulfilled. Toni was a +wood-carver, and could carry on his work at home with his mother. And with +what blessings besides the dear Lord was still overwhelming them! From +Geneva such good things kept coming to Elsbeth, that she no longer had to +dread anxious days, and with each package came new assurance of the ready +acceptance of Toni's work. + +Such a Christmas festival as was celebrated two days later in the stone +hut, neither Elsbeth nor Toni had ever known before, for the candles which +his mother had lighted shone out upon a quantity of things, which Toni had +received to wear, and also a whole set of the most beautiful knives for +carving and a book with pictures, of a size and beauty such as Toni had +never in all his life seen before. His master's book was a mere child's +toy beside it. Elsbeth too was lovingly provided for. The lady from Geneva +had planned everything, and the bright reflection from it fell back +radiantly into her own heart. + +The most beautiful deer and huntsman and the wonderful eagles on the rock, +standing in the high show-window in Geneva was carved by Toni, and was +considered by him to be a particularly successful piece, so it went, not +to the dealer in Geneva, but to the lady for whom Toni preserved a +thankful heart all his life long. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14128 *** |