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+ <head>
+ <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" />
+ <title>
+ WHAT SAMI SINGS WITH THE BIRDS
+ </title>
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+
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+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+
+Project Gutenberg's What Sami Sings with the Birds, by Johanna Spyri
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: What Sami Sings with the Birds
+
+Author: Johanna Spyri
+
+Translator: Helen B. Dole
+
+First Posted: October 5, 2003 [EBook #9482]
+Last Updated: November 19, 2016
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHAT SAMI SINGS WITH THE BIRDS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Suzanne Shell, Mary Meehan, and Distributed Proofreaders
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+ <hr />
+ <p>
+ <br /><br /><br /><br />
+ </p>
+ <h1>
+ WHAT SAMI SINGS WITH THE BIRDS
+ </h1>
+ <p>
+ <br /><br />
+ </p>
+ <h3>
+ BY
+ </h3>
+ <p>
+ <br /><br />
+ </p>
+ <h2>
+ JOHANNA SPYRI
+ </h2>
+ <p>
+ <br /><br /><br /><br />
+ </p>
+ <h3>
+ TRANSLATED BY HELEN B. DOLE
+ </h3>
+ <p>
+ <br /><br /><br /><br />
+ </p>
+ <h2>
+ 1917
+ </h2>
+ <p>
+ <br /><br /><br /><br />
+ </p>
+ <div class="fig" style="width:80%">
+ <img alt="illustpc.jpg (94K)" src="images/illustpc.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
+ </div>
+ <p>
+ <br /><br /><br /><br />
+ </p>
+ <h2>
+ CONTENTS
+ </h2>
+ <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto">
+ <tr>
+ <td>
+ <p>
+ <a href="#linkc1">FIRST OLD MARY ANN</a>
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ <a href="#linkc2">SECOND AT THE GRANDMOTHER&rsquo;S</a>
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ <a href="#linkc3">THIRD ANOTHER LIFE</a>
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ <a href="#linkc4">FOURTH HARD TIMES</a>
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ <a href="#linkc5">FIFTH THE BIRDS ARE STILL SINGING</a>
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ <a href="#linkc6">SIXTH SAMI SINGS TOO</a>
+ </p>
+ </td>
+ </tr>
+ </table>
+ <p>
+ <br /><br /><br /><br />
+ </p>
+ <h2>
+ LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+ </h2>
+ <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto">
+ <tr>
+ <td>
+ <p>
+ <a href="#linkash">UP IN THE ASH-TREES THE BIRDS PIPED AND SANG
+ MERRILY TOGETHER</a>.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ <a href="#linkgoods">WHERE HAVE YOU COME FROM WITH ALL YOUR
+ HOUSEHOLD GOODS?</a>
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ <a href="#linkwaifs">SUCH STRAY WAIFS AS YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO DO
+ ANYTHING.</a>
+ </p>
+ </td>
+ </tr>
+ </table>
+ <p>
+ <br /><br /> <a name="linkash" id="linkash"></a><br /> <br /><br />
+ </p>
+ <div class="fig" style="width:80%">
+ <img alt="frontisc.jpg (111K)" src="images/frontisc.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
+ </div>
+ <p>
+ <br /><br /><br /><br /> <br /><br />
+ </p>
+ <h1>
+ WHAT SAMI SINGS WITH THE BIRDS
+ </h1>
+ <p>
+ <br /><br /> <a name="linkc1" id="linkc1"></a><br /> <br /><br />
+ </p>
+ <h2>
+ CHAPTER FIRST
+ </h2>
+ <p>
+ <br /><br />
+ </p>
+ <h3>
+ OLD MARY ANN
+ </h3>
+ <p>
+ <br />
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ For three days the Spring sun had been shining out of a clear sky and
+ casting a gleaming, golden coverlet over the blue waters of Lake Geneva.
+ Storm and rain had ceased. The breeze murmured softly and pleasantly up in
+ the ash-trees, and all around in the green fields the yellow buttercups
+ and snow-white daisies glistened in the bright sunshine. Under the
+ ash-trees, the clear brook was running with the cool mountain water and
+ feeding the gaily nodding primroses and pink anemones on the hillside, as
+ they grew and bloomed down close to the water.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ On the low wall by the brook, in the shadow of the ash-trees, an old woman
+ was sitting. She was called &ldquo;Old Mary Ann&rdquo; throughout the whole
+ neighborhood. Her big basket, the weight of which had become a little
+ heavy, she had put down beside her. She was on her way back from La Tour,
+ the little old town, with the vine-covered church tower and the ruined
+ castle, the high turrets of which rose far across the blue lake. Old Mary
+ Ann had taken her work there. This consisted in all kinds of mending which
+ did not need to be done particularly well, for the woman was no longer
+ able to do fine work, and never could do it.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Old Mary Ann had had a very changeable life. The place where she now found
+ herself was not her home. The language of the country was not her own.
+ From the shady seat on the low wall, she now looked contentedly at the
+ sunny fields, then across the murmuring brook to the hillside where the
+ big yellow primroses nodded, while the birds piped and sang in the green
+ ash-trees above her, as if they had the greatest festival to celebrate.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Every Spring, people think it never was so beautiful before, when they
+ have already seen so many,&rdquo; she now said half aloud to herself, and as she
+ gazed at the fields so rich in flowers, many of the past years rose up and
+ passed before her, with all that she had experienced in them.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ As a child she had lived far beyond the mountains. She knew so well how it
+ must look over there now at her father&rsquo;s house, which stood in a field
+ among white-blooming pear-trees. Over yonder the large village with its
+ many houses could be seen. It was called Zweisimmen. Everybody called
+ their house the sergeant&rsquo;s house, although her father quite peacefully
+ tilled his fields. But that came from her grandfather. When quite a young
+ fellow, he had gone over the mountains to Lake Geneva and then still
+ farther to Savoy. Under a Duke of Savoy he had taken part in all sorts of
+ military expeditions and had not returned home until he was an old man. He
+ always wore an old uniform and allowed himself to be called sergeant. Then
+ he married and Mary Ann&rsquo;s father was his only child. The old man lived to
+ be a hundred years old, and every child in all the region round knew the
+ old sergeant.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Mary Ann had three brothers, but as soon as one of them grew up he
+ disappeared, she knew not where. Only this much she understood, that her
+ mother mourned over them, but her father said quite resignedly every time:
+ &ldquo;We can&rsquo;t help it, they will go over the mountains; they take it from
+ their grandfather.&rdquo; She had never heard anything more about her brothers.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ When Mary Ann grew up and married, her young husband also came into the
+ house among the pear-trees, for her father was old and could no longer do
+ his work alone. But after a few years Mary Ann buried her young husband; a
+ burning fever had taken him off. Then came hard times for the widow. She
+ had her child, little Sami, to care for, besides her old, infirm parents
+ to look after, and moreover there was all the work to be done in the house
+ and in the fields which until now her husband had attended to. She did
+ what she could, but it was of no use, the land had to be given up to a
+ cousin. The house was mortgaged, and Mary Ann hardly knew how to keep her
+ old parents from want. Gradually young Sami grew up and was able to help
+ the cousin in the fields. Then the old parents died about the same time,
+ and Mary Ann hoped now by hard work and her son&rsquo;s help little by little to
+ pay up her debts and once more take possession of her fields and house.
+ But as soon as her father and mother were buried, her son Sami, who was
+ now eighteen years old, came to her and said he could no longer bear to
+ stay at home, he must go over the mountains and so begin a new life. This
+ was a great shock to the mother, but when she saw that persuasion,
+ remonstrance and entreaty were all in vain her father&rsquo;s words came to her
+ mind and she said resignedly, &ldquo;It can&rsquo;t be helped; he takes it from his
+ great-grandfather.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ But she would not let the young man go away alone, and he was glad to have
+ his mother go with him. So she wandered with him over the mountains. In
+ the little village of Chailly, which lies high up on the mountain slope
+ and looks down on the meadows rich in flowers and the blue Lake Geneva,
+ they found work with the jolly wine-grower Malon. This man, with curly
+ hair already turning grey and a kindly round face, lived alone with his
+ son in the only house left standing, near a crooked maple-tree.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Mary Ann received a room for herself and was to keep house for Herr Malon,
+ and keep everything in order for him and his son. Sami was to work for
+ good pay in Malon&rsquo;s beautiful vineyard. The widow Mary Ann passed several
+ years here in a more peaceful way than she had ever known before.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ When the fourth Summer came to an end, Sami said to her one day:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Mother, I must really marry young Marietta of St. Legier, for I am so
+ lonely away from her.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ His mother knew Marietta well and besides she liked the pretty, clever
+ girl, for she was not only always happy but there were few girls so good
+ and industrious. So she rejoiced with her son, although he would have to
+ go away from her to live with Marietta and her aged father in St. Legier,
+ for she was indispensable to him. Herr Malon&rsquo;s son also brought a young
+ wife home, and so Mary Ann had no more duties there, and had to look out
+ for herself. She kept her room for a small rent, and was able to earn
+ enough to support herself. She now knew many people in the neighborhood,
+ and obtained enough work.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Mary Ann pondered over all these things, and when her thoughts returned
+ from the distant past to the present moment, and she still heard the birds
+ above her singing and rejoicing untiringly, she said to herself:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;They always sing the same song and we should be able to sing with them.
+ Only trust in the dear Lord! He always helps us, although we may often
+ think there is no possible way.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Then Mary Ann left the low wall, took her basket up again on her arm and
+ went through the fragrant meadows of Burier up towards Chailly. From time
+ to time she cast an anxious look in the direction of St. Legier. She knew
+ that young Marietta was lying sick up there and that her son Sami would
+ now have hard work and care, for a much smaller Sami had just come into
+ the world. Tomorrow Mary Ann would go over and see how things were going
+ with her son and if she ought to stay with him and help.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Mary Ann had scarcely stepped into her little room and put on her house
+ dress, to prepare her supper, when she heard some one coming along with
+ hurried footsteps. The door was quickly thrown open and in stepped her son
+ Sami with a very distressed face. Under his arm he carried a bundle
+ wrapped up in one of Marietta&rsquo;s aprons. This he laid on the table, threw
+ himself down and sobbed aloud, with his head in his arms:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;It is all over, mother, all over; Marietta is dead!&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Oh, for Heaven&rsquo;s sake, what are you saying?&rdquo; cried his mother in the
+ greatest horror. &ldquo;Oh, Sami, is it possible?&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Then she lifted Sami gently and continued in a trembling voice:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Come, sit down beside me and tell me all about it. Is she really dead?
+ Oh, when did it happen? How did it come so quickly?&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Sami willingly dropped down on a chair beside his mother. But then he
+ buried his face in his hands and went on sobbing again.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Oh, I can&rsquo;t bear it, I must go away, mother, I can&rsquo;t bear it here any
+ longer, it is all over!&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Oh, Sami, where would you go?&rdquo; said his mother, weeping. &ldquo;We have already
+ come over the mountains, where would you go from here?&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;I must go across the water, as far as I possibly can, I can&rsquo;t stay here
+ any longer. I cannot, mother,&rdquo; declared Sami. &ldquo;I must go across the great
+ water as far as possible!&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Oh, not that!&rdquo; cried Mary Ann. &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t be so rash! Wait a little, until
+ you can think more calmly; it will seem different to you.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;No, mother, no, I must go away. I am forced to it; I can&rsquo;t do any
+ different,&rdquo; cried Sami, almost wild.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ His mother looked at him in terror, but she said nothing more. She seemed
+ to hear her father saying: &ldquo;It can&rsquo;t be helped. He takes it from his
+ grandfather.&rdquo; And with a sigh she said:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;It will have to be so.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Then there sounded from the bundle a strange peeping, exactly as if a
+ chicken were smothering inside. &ldquo;What have you put in the bundle, Sami?&rdquo;
+ asked the mother, going towards it, to loosen the firmly tied apron.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;That&rsquo;s so, I had almost forgotten it, mother,&rdquo; replied Sami, wiping his
+ eyes, &ldquo;I have brought the little boy to you, I don&rsquo;t know what to do with
+ it.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Oh, how could you pack him up so! Yes, yes, you poor little thing,&rdquo; said
+ the grandmother soothingly, taking the diminutive Sami out of one wrapping
+ and then a second and a third.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ The father Sami had wrapped the little baby first in its clothes, then in
+ a shawl, and then in the apron as tight as possible, so that it couldn&rsquo;t
+ slip out on the way, and fall on the ground. When little Sami was freed
+ from the smothering wrappings and could move his arms and legs he fought
+ with all his limbs in the air and screamed so pitifully that his
+ grandmother thought it seemed exactly as if he already knew what a great
+ misfortune had come to him.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ But father Sami said perhaps he was hungry, for since the evening before
+ no one had paid any attention to the little baby. This seemed to the
+ sympathetic Mary Ann quite too cruel, and she realised that if she didn&rsquo;t
+ care for the poor little mite it would die. She wrapped him up again
+ carefully in his blanket, but not around his head, and carried him upright
+ on her arm, not under it, as one carries a bundle. Then she ran all around
+ her room to collect milk, a dish and fire together, so that the starving
+ little creature might have some nourishment. As she sat on her stool, and
+ the little one eagerly sipped the milk, while his tiny little hand tightly
+ clasped his grandmother&rsquo;s forefinger like a life-preserver, she said,
+ greatly touched:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Yes, indeed, you little Sami, you poor little orphan, I will do what I
+ can for you and the dear Lord will not forsake us.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ And to the big Sami she said:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;I will keep him, but don&rsquo;t take any rash steps! In the first great sorrow
+ many a one does what he later regrets. See, you can&rsquo;t run away from
+ sorrow, it runs with you. Stay and bear what the dear Lord sends. He is
+ not angry with you. Hold to him still in time of sorrow, then the sun will
+ shine tomorrow! It will be the same with you as it has been with so many
+ others.&rdquo; Sami had listened in silence, but like one who does not
+ understand what he hears.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Good night, mother! May God reward you for what you do for the boy,&rdquo; he
+ said then, after wiping his eyes again. Then he pressed his mother&rsquo;s hand,
+ and went out of the door.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ <br /><br /><br /><br /> <a name="linkc2" id="linkc2"></a><br /> <br /><br />
+ </p>
+ <h2>
+ CHAPTER SECOND
+ </h2>
+ <p>
+ <br /><br />
+ </p>
+ <h3>
+ AT THE GRANDMOTHER&rsquo;S
+ </h3>
+ <p>
+ <br />
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Old Mary Ann had now to begin over again, where she had left off
+ twenty-one years before, to bring up a little Sami. But then she was fresh
+ and strong, she had her husband by her side, and lived at home among
+ friends and acquaintances. Now she was in a strange land and was a
+ worn-out woman, and felt that her strength would not last much longer. But
+ little Sami did not realise all this. He was tended and cared for as if
+ his grandmother wanted to make up to him every moment for what he had
+ lost, and she was always saying to him, pityingly:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;You poor little thing, you have nobody in the world now but an old
+ grandmother.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Moreover it was so. Father Sami could not be consoled. As soon as his
+ young wife was buried he went away, and must have landed a long time ago
+ in the far away country.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Little Sami grew finely, and as his grandmother talked with him a great
+ deal, he began very early to imitate her. His words became more and more
+ distinct, and when the end of his second year came, he talked very plainly
+ and in whole sentences. His grandmother didn&rsquo;t know what to do for joy,
+ when she realised that her little Sami spoke not a word of French, but
+ pure Swiss-German, as she had heard it only in her native land. He spoke
+ exactly like his grandmother, who was indeed the only one he had to talk
+ with.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Now every day her baby gave her a new surprise. First he began to say
+ after her the little prayer she repeated for him morning and evening; then
+ he said it all alone. She had to weep for joy when the little one began to
+ sing after her the little Summer song she had learned in her own childhood
+ and had always sung to him, and one day suddenly knew the whole song from
+ beginning to end and sang one verse after another without hesitation.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ In spite of all the grandmother&rsquo;s trouble and work, the years passed so
+ quickly to her, that one day when she began to reckon she discovered that
+ Sami must be fully seven years old. Then she thought it was really time
+ that he learned something. But suddenly to send the boy to a French school
+ when he didn&rsquo;t understand a word of French seemed dreadful to her, for he
+ would be as helpless as a chicken in water. She would rather try, as well
+ as she possibly could, to teach him herself to read. She thought it would
+ be very hard but it went quite easily. In a short time, the youngster knew
+ all his letters, and could even put words together quite well. That
+ something could be made out of this which he could understand and which he
+ did not know before was very amusing to him, and he sat over his
+ reading-book with great eagerness. But to go out with his grandmother to
+ deliver her mending and to get new work was a still greater pleasure to
+ him, for nothing pleased him better than roaming through the green
+ meadows, then stopping at the brook to listen to the birds singing up in
+ the ash-trees.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ The changeable April days had just come to an end and the beaming May sun
+ shone so warm and alluring that all the flowers looked up to it with
+ wide-open petals. Mary Ann with Sami by the hand, her big basket on her
+ arm, was coming along up from La Tour. The boy opened both his eyes as
+ wide as he could, for the red and blue flowers in the green grass and the
+ golden sunshine above them delighted him very much.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Grandmother,&rdquo; he said taking a deep breath, &ldquo;to-day we will sit on the
+ low wall for twelve long hours, won&rsquo;t we, really?&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Yes, indeed,&rdquo; assented his grandmother, &ldquo;we will stay there long enough
+ to get well rested and enjoy ourselves; but when the sun goes down and it
+ grows dark, then we will go. Then all the little birds are silent in the
+ trees and the old night-owl begins to hoot.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ This seemed right to Sami, for he didn&rsquo;t want to hear the old owl hoot.
+ Now they had reached the wall. A cool shadow was lying on it; below the
+ fresh brook murmured, and up in the ash-trees the birds piped and sang
+ merrily together and one kept singing very distinctly:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Sing too! Sing too!&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Sami listened. Suddenly he lifted up his voice and sang as loud and
+ lustily as the birds above, the whole song that his grandmother had taught
+ him:
+ </p>
+ <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto">
+ <tr>
+ <td>
+ <p>
+ Last night Summer breezes blew:&mdash;<br /> All the flowers awake
+ anew,<br /> Open wide their eyes to see,<br /> Nodding, bowing in
+ their glee.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ All the merry birds we hear<br /> Greet the sunshine bright and
+ clear;<br /> See them flitting thru the sky,<br /> Singing low and
+ singing high!
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Flowers in Summer warmth delight:&mdash;<br /> What of Winter and its
+ blight?<br /> Snowy fields and forests cold?<br /> Flowers are by
+ their faith consoled.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Songsters, all so blithe and gay,<br /> Know ye what your carols say?<br />
+ How will your sweet carols fare<br /> When your nests the snow-storms
+ tear?
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ All the birdlings everywhere<br /> Now their loveliest songs prepare;<br />
+ All the birdlings gayly sing:&mdash;<br /> &ldquo;Trust the Lord in
+ everything!&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ </td>
+ </tr>
+ </table>
+ <p>
+ Then Sami listened very attentively, as if he wanted to hear whether the
+ birds really sang so.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Listen, listen, grandmother!&rdquo; he said after a while. &ldquo;Up there in the
+ tree is one that doesn&rsquo;t sing like the others. At first he keeps singing
+ &lsquo;Trust! Trust! Trust! Trust!&rsquo; and then the rest comes after.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Yes, yes, that is the finch, Sami,&rdquo; she replied. &ldquo;See, he wants to
+ impress it upon you, so that you will think about what will always keep
+ you safe and happy. Just listen, now, he is calling again: Trust! trust!
+ trust! trust! trust! Only trust the dear Lord.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Sami listened again. It was really wonderful, how the finch always sounded
+ above the other birds with his emphatic &ldquo;Trust! trust! trust!&rdquo; &ldquo;You must
+ never forget what the finch calls,&rdquo; continued the grandmother. &ldquo;See, Sami,
+ perhaps I cannot stay with you much longer, and then you will have no one
+ else, and will have to make your way alone. Then the little bird&rsquo;s song
+ can oftentimes be a comfort to you. So don&rsquo;t forget it, and promise me too
+ that you will say your little prayer every day, so that you will be
+ God-fearing; then no matter what happens, it will be well with you.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Sami promised that he would never forget to pray. Then he became
+ thoughtful and asked somewhat timidly:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Must I always be afraid, grandmother?&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;No, no! Did you think so because I said God-fearing? It doesn&rsquo;t mean
+ that: I will explain it to you as well as I can. You see to be God-fearing
+ is when one has the dear Lord before his eyes in everything he does, and
+ fears and hesitates to do what is not pleasing to Him, everything that is
+ wicked and wrong. Whoever lives so before Him has no reason to fear what
+ may happen to him, for such a man has the dear Lord&rsquo;s help everywhere, and
+ if he has to meet hardship oftentimes, he knows that the dear Lord allows
+ it so, in order that some good may come out of it for him, and then he can
+ sing as happily as the little birds: &lsquo;Only trust the dear Lord!&rsquo; Will you
+ remember that well, Sami?&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Yes, that I will,&rdquo; said Sami, decidedly, for this pleased him much
+ better, than if he had to be always afraid.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Now the setting sun cast its last long rays across the meadows, and
+ disappeared. The grandmother left the wall, took Sami by the hand and then
+ the two wandered in the rosy twilight along the meadow path, then up the
+ green vine-clad hill to the little village of Chailly up on the mountain.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ <br /><br /><br /><br /> <a name="linkc3" id="linkc3"></a><br /> <br /><br />
+ </p>
+ <h2>
+ CHAPTER THIRD
+ </h2>
+ <p>
+ <br /><br />
+ </p>
+ <h3>
+ ANOTHER LIFE
+ </h3>
+ <p>
+ <br />
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ One morning, a few days later, Mary Ann was so tired she couldn&rsquo;t get up.
+ Sami sat beside her waiting for her to be fully awake in order to go into
+ the kitchen and make the coffee. His grandmother opened her eyes once and
+ fell asleep again. She had never done anything like this before. Now she
+ was really awake. She tried to raise herself up a little, then took Sami
+ by the hand and said in a low voice:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Sami, listen to me, I must tell you something. See, when I am no longer
+ with you, you have no one else here, and are an entire stranger. But there
+ over the mountains you have relatives, and you must return to them. Malon
+ will tell you how to get there. You must go to Zweisimmen. There ask for
+ the sergeant, your cousin, who lives in the house with the big pear-trees
+ near it. Tell him your grandmother was the sergeant&rsquo;s Mary Ann and your
+ father was Sami. Work hard and willingly, you will have to earn your
+ living. There in the chest is some money in the little bag; take it, it is
+ yours; don&rsquo;t spend it foolishly. Sami, think of what you promised me.
+ Don&rsquo;t neglect to pray, it will bring you comfort and happiness which you
+ will need. Try to associate with God-fearing people and live with them,
+ then you will learn only good. Go, now, Sami, and call Herr Malon. I must
+ talk with him.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Sami went and came back with the man of the house. He stepped up to Mary
+ Ann&rsquo;s bed, and tried to encourage her, as that was his way. But he was
+ alarmed at her appearance and wanted to go for the doctor, as he told her.
+ But she held him fast and tried with great difficulty to express herself
+ in his language, for she had only a scanty knowledge of it. Malon nodded
+ his head understandingly and then hurried away. When he returned to the
+ room a couple of hours later with the doctor, Sami was still sitting in
+ the same place by the bed, waiting very quietly for his grandmother to
+ wake up again. The doctor drew near the bed. Then he spoke with Malon a
+ while, and finally came to Sami. He told him his grandmother would never
+ wake again, that she was dead.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Malon was a good man; he said he himself would go with Sami part of the
+ way until he found some one who could talk with him and take him further;
+ but he must put all his belongings together in a bundle. Then the two men
+ went away.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ After a while the young woman of the house came, for the forsaken boy had
+ deeply aroused her sympathy. She found Sami still sitting in the same
+ place by the bed. He was looking steadfastly at his grandmother and
+ weeping piteously. The woman spoke to him, but he did not understand her.
+ Then she took everything out of the cupboard and drawers, packed them into
+ a bundle and showed Sami that he was to eat the bread and milk on the
+ table. Sami swallowed the milk obediently, but the woman put the bread in
+ his pocket. Then she led the boy once more to the bed, that he might take
+ his grandmother&rsquo;s hand in farewell.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Sami obeyed still sobbing, and let himself be led away by the woman. Herr
+ Malon was already waiting beside his little cart in which lay Sami&rsquo;s
+ bundle. The boy understood that he was to draw the cart, but he knew not
+ where. He wept softly to himself for it seemed to him as if he were going
+ out into the wilderness where he would be wholly alone. Malon went on
+ ahead of him.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ It was the same way Sami had often gone with his grandmother down to La
+ Tour. When he came to the wall by the brook, he sobbed aloud. How lovely
+ it had been there with his grandmother! He could not see the way because
+ of his falling tears, but he heard Herr Malon&rsquo;s heavy step in front of
+ him, and he followed after. At the little station house above the
+ vine-covered church Malon stopped. Soon after the train came puffing
+ along. Malon got in and pulled Sami after him, and they started away. Sami
+ crouched in a corner and did not stir. They travelled thus for an hour.
+ Sami did not understand a word that was spoken around him, although
+ several times one and another tried to talk with him a little, for the
+ softly weeping boy had indeed awakened their sympathy.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ The train stopped again. Malon got out and Sami followed him. They went a
+ short distance together and then Malon stepped to the left into a large
+ garden and then into the house. Here he talked a while with the man of the
+ house, who from time to time looked pityingly at Sami. Then Malon took
+ Sami&rsquo;s hand, shook it and left him behind alone in the big room.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ After some time the man of the house came back and a sturdy fellow behind
+ him. The latter began to talk in Sami&rsquo;s own language. He wanted to console
+ the boy and said he would soon go on in a carriage. Then Sami asked if he
+ was his cousin, and if this was the village of Zweisimmen? But the fellow
+ laughed loudly and said he was no cousin, but a servant here in the inn,
+ and the place was called Aigle. Sami would have to travel an hour longer
+ and would not reach Zweisimmen before twelve o&rsquo;clock at night. But there
+ was a coachman here from Interlaken, who had to go back and would take him
+ along.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ The man of the house had bread and eggs brought for Sami and when he said
+ he wasn&rsquo;t hungry, he put everything kindly into the boy&rsquo;s pocket. Then he
+ led the boy out. Outside stood a large coach with two horses and high up
+ on the top sat the driver. No one was inside. Sami was lifted up, the
+ driver placed him next himself and drove away. At any other time this
+ would have pleased Sami very much, but now he was too sad. He kept
+ thinking of his grandmother, who could no longer talk with him and would
+ never wake again. After some time the driver began to talk to him. Sami
+ had to tell him where he came from and to whom he was going. He told him
+ everything, how he had lived with his grandmother, how she had fallen
+ asleep early that day, and did not wake up again; and that he was going to
+ find a cousin in Zweisimmen and would have to live with him. Sami&rsquo;s
+ childish description touched the driver so deeply that he finally said:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;It will be too late when we reach there, you must stay with me to-night.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Then when he saw Sami&rsquo;s eyes close with the approaching twilight and only
+ open again when they went over a stone, and the two of them up on the box
+ were jounced almost dangerously against each other, he grasped the boy
+ firmly, lifted him up and slipped him backwards into the coach. Here he
+ fell at once fast asleep and when he finally opened his eyes again, the
+ sun was shining brightly in his face. He was lying in his clothes on a
+ huge, big bed in a room with white walls. In all his life he had never
+ seen such walls. He looked around in consternation. Then the coachman of
+ the day before came in the door.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ <br /><br /> <a name="linkgoods" id="linkgoods"></a><br /> <br /><br />
+ </p>
+ <div class="fig" style="width:80%">
+ <img alt="illusp32c.jpg (99K)" src="images/illusp32c.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
+ </div>
+ <p>
+ <br /><br /><br /><br />
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Have you had your sleep out?&rdquo; he said laughing. &ldquo;Come and have some
+ coffee with me. Then I will take you to your cousin. Some one else must
+ carry your bundle. It is too heavy for you.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Sami followed him into the coffee-room. Here the good man kept pouring out
+ coffee for the boy, but Sami could neither eat nor drink.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ When the coachman had finished his breakfast, he rose and started with
+ Sami on the way to the sergeant&rsquo;s house. It was not far. At the house in
+ the meadow among the pear-trees he laid Sami&rsquo;s bundle down, shook him by
+ the hand and said:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Well, good luck to you. I have nothing to do in there and have farther to
+ go.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Sami thanked him for all his kindness, and gazed after his benefactor,
+ until he disappeared behind the trees. Then he knocked on the door. A
+ woman came out, looked in amazement first at the boy, then at his big
+ bundle, and said rudely: &ldquo;Where have you come from with all your household
+ goods?&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Sami informed her where he had come from and that his grandmother was Mary
+ Ann, and his father, Sami. Meanwhile three boys had come running up to
+ them, placed themselves directly in front of him, and were looking at him
+ from top to toe with wide-open eyes. This embarrassed Sami exceedingly.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Bring your father out,&rdquo; said the mother to one of her boys. Their father
+ was sitting inside at the table, eating his breakfast.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;What&rsquo;s the matter now?&rdquo; he growled.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;There is someone here, who claims to be a relative of yours. He doesn&rsquo;t
+ know where he is going,&rdquo; exclaimed his wife.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;He can come in to me, perhaps I can tell him, if I know,&rdquo; replied the
+ man, without moving.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Well, go in,&rdquo; directed the woman, giving Sami an assisting push. The boy
+ went in and replied very timidly, where he had come from and to whom he
+ had belonged. The peasant scratched his head.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Make quick work of it,&rdquo; said the woman impatiently, who had followed with
+ her three boys.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;I think we have enough with the three of them, and there are people who
+ might need such a boy.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;This is quickly decided,&rdquo; said the peasant, thoughtfully cutting his
+ piece of bread in two; &ldquo;send all four boys out.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ After this command had been carried out, he continued slowly: &ldquo;There is no
+ help for it. It was stipulated at the time the house was sold, that room
+ must be made in the house if either Mary Ann, Sami or the child should
+ come back. Besides, it is not so bad as it seems. Where three sleep
+ together there is room for a fourth, and he can do some work for his food.
+ The parish can do something for his clothes.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ His wife had no desire to have a fourth added to her three boys, for her
+ own made enough noise and trouble for her. She protested, saying she knew
+ how it was with such stray children and they could expect to have a fine
+ time!
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ But it was of no use; it was decided that Sami should have a place in the
+ house. The farmer brought in the bundle and carried it up to the oldest
+ boy&rsquo;s room, where until now the broad-shouldered Stöffi had slept in a bed
+ alone. He could take Sami in with him, for he was smaller than the other
+ two; Michael and Uli could stay together as before.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Then the woman opened the bundle. She was not a little surprised, when she
+ found inside not only Sami&rsquo;s clothes, all in the best of order, but also
+ two good dresses, aprons and neckerchiefs. She called Sami up to her, and
+ showed him the corner in the chest where she had put his things. Then she
+ said she would take the woman&rsquo;s clothes for herself, since he could surely
+ make no use of them. The clothes which his grandmother had always worn
+ were so dear to Sami, that he looked on with sad eyes, as they were
+ carried away, but he thought it had to be so.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ He had already made the acquaintance of the three boys. They had shown him
+ below in front of the house how one of them could best throw down the
+ others, and had demonstrated all sorts of useful tricks. But as each tried
+ to outdo the others in showing off his knowledge, a struggle ensued and
+ the tricks were immediately applied; one threw another over the third,
+ Sami was knocked and thrown around by all three.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ When he now came down from his room a voice from the barn called out:
+ &ldquo;Come here and help pull.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Sami ran along. There stood the two younger boys, Michael and Uli, with
+ great hoes on their shoulders, and Stöffi beside a cart which had to be
+ taken along. They waited for their father, and then all went out to the
+ field. Here Stöffi and Sami had to rake together the grass, which the
+ father cut, and load it on the cart, and bring home to the cows. Michael
+ and Uli had to hoe the weeds in the next field near by. Now it appeared
+ that Sami did not know at all how to use the rake, for he had never done
+ such work.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;He shall weed with Uli, and Michael can do this work,&rdquo; said the farmer.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ But when Sami tried to do this, the hoe was too heavy for him, and he
+ could do nothing.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Then kneel on the ground and pull them up with your hands,&rdquo; said the
+ farmer.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Sami squatted down and pulled at the weeds with all his might. The ground
+ was hard and the work very tiresome. But Sami did not forget how his
+ grandmother had impressed it upon him to do all his work well and
+ willingly.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ At noon the two weeders took their hoes on their shoulders and Sami had to
+ pull the cart, which was now much heavier than on the way there. The boy
+ had to use all his strength, for Stöffi showed him plainly that he would
+ not take upon himself the larger part of the work.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Then when they passed by the field the father indicated to each one the
+ piece he would have to weed that afternoon; for he himself would be
+ obliged to go to the cattle market. They would find a smaller hoe at home
+ for Sami to take with him in the afternoon, for pulling up the weeds was
+ too slow work.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ After the boys had worked several hours in the afternoon, they sat down in
+ the shade of an old apple-tree to eat their luncheon, and the piece of
+ black bread with pear juice tasted very good after the hot work.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Have you ever seen a bear?&rdquo; asked Stöffi of Sami.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ He said he had not.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Then you would be fearfully frightened if you should suddenly see one,&rdquo;
+ continued Stöffi; &ldquo;only those who know them are not afraid of them. This
+ evening there is to be one in the village, and, as I am almost through
+ with my piece in the field, you can finish it, so I can go early to see
+ the bear.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Sami agreed. When all four had begun to hoe again, Stöffi soon exclaimed:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Well, you won&rsquo;t have much more to do now, Sami, but keep your promise, or&mdash;&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Stöffi doubled up his fist, and Sami understood what that meant.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ He had hardly gone when Michael said:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;See, Sami, there isn&rsquo;t much left of mine, you can do that too; I am going
+ to see the bear.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Whereupon Michael ran off.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Me, too,&rdquo; cried Uli, throwing down his hoe. &ldquo;You can finish that also,
+ Sami.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ When the twilight came on and the family put the sour milk and the
+ steaming potatoes on the table, Sami was missing.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;I suppose he will keep us waiting,&rdquo; remarked the farmer&rsquo;s wife sharply.
+ When all had finished and the milk mugs were empty, the woman cleared them
+ away and placed the few potatoes left over on the kitchen table and
+ growled:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;He can eat here, if he wants anything.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ It was quite dark, and Sami still had not come. Just as the other three
+ were being sent to bed, he came in, so tired he could hardly stand. The
+ woman asked him harshly, if he couldn&rsquo;t come home with the others. The
+ farmer assumed that the piece he had told Sami to weed had been too much
+ for him to do, and he said consolingly:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;It is right that you wanted to finish your work, but you must work
+ faster.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Sami understood the signs which Stöffi made behind his father&rsquo;s back, that
+ he was to keep silent about the bear, and he was too much afraid of the
+ three boys&rsquo; fists to say anything about it.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ He preferred to go straight to bed, for he was too tired to eat. But he
+ couldn&rsquo;t go to sleep. He had received so many new impressions, he had
+ borne so much anguish, and had to do so much work besides, he could think
+ of nothing else. But now his grandmother came before his eyes again as she
+ had prayed with him at evening and had been so kind to him, and everything
+ she had told him. He wanted so much to pray, it seemed to him as if his
+ grandmother was near and told him the dear Lord would always comfort him
+ if he prayed, and that comfort he was so anxious to have.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ He was so troubled, when he wondered if he could do his work the next day,
+ so that the farmer would not be cross, and how his wife would be, for he
+ was very much afraid of her, and how it would be with the boys, who forced
+ him to make everything appear contrary to the truth.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Then Sami began to pray and prayed for a long time, for he already began
+ to feel comforted, because he could take refuge with the dear Lord and ask
+ Him to help him, now that he had no one left in the world to whom he could
+ speak and who could assist him. When at last his eyes closed from great
+ weariness he dreamed he was sitting with his grandmother on the wall and
+ above them all the birds were singing so loud and so joyfully that he had
+ to sing with them: &ldquo;Only trust the dear Lord!&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ <br /><br /><br /><br /> <a name="linkc4" id="linkc4"></a><br /> <br /><br />
+ </p>
+ <h2>
+ CHAPTER FOURTH
+ </h2>
+ <p>
+ <br /><br />
+ </p>
+ <h3>
+ HARD TIMES
+ </h3>
+ <p>
+ <br />
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ The following morning Sami was awakened by loud tones, but it was no
+ longer the birds singing; it was the farmer&rsquo;s wife ordering the boys
+ harshly to get up right away. She had already called them three times, and
+ if this time they didn&rsquo;t obey, their father would come. Then they all
+ sprang out of bed and in a few minutes were down-stairs, where their
+ father was already sitting at the table and would not have waited much
+ longer.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ The day did not pass very differently from the one before, and thus passed
+ a long series of days. There was already a change in the work.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Sami, little by little, learned to do everything very well, for he took
+ pains and followed his grandmother&rsquo;s advice carefully. He always had
+ something to do for the other boys still, so that he never finished his
+ work a moment before supper-time. But he was no longer late. A change had
+ also come about in this. Stöffi had learned that there was one thing Sami
+ could not or would not do which he himself could do very well: he could
+ not tell a lie.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ He had been late again a couple of times, but had never told the reason.
+ Finally, however, the farmer had spoken harshly:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Now speak out, and tell why you can&rsquo;t get through your work faster; you
+ are quick enough when anyone is watching you.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Then Sami had accordingly told all the truth, and the father had
+ threatened to beat the boys if they didn&rsquo;t do their work themselves.
+ Afterwards Stöffi had thrashed Sami to punish him, and had warned him that
+ he would do it every time Sami complained of him.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Sami had replied that he had never complained and didn&rsquo;t want to do so,
+ but when his father questioned him he could only tell him the truth.
+ Stöffi tried to explain to him that it didn&rsquo;t matter whether he told the
+ truth or not, but here he found Sami more obstinate than he had expected,
+ and no matter what fearful threats he hurled at him, he always said the
+ same thing in the end:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;But I shall do it.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ This firmness was the result of Sami&rsquo;s sure conviction that the dear Lord
+ heard and knew everything and that lying was something wicked, which did
+ not please Him.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ So Stöffi had to find some other way to get off from his work early and
+ make Sami finish what he left. He found that all three could never dare
+ abandon their work and leave it for Sami, but one of them might do so each
+ evening, and he threatened to punish his brothers severely if they would
+ not agree to this. Then there would always be three or four evenings in
+ succession when Stöffi wanted to go away early; then the brothers had to
+ stay and work, and this led to many a quarrel, with heavy blows which
+ regularly fell upon Sami.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ So he never had any happy days. But every evening he could be alone with
+ his thoughts of his grandmother, of all the beautiful bygone days and all
+ the good words she had spoken to him. Nobody troubled him, or called to
+ him, or pulled him then, as usually happened all day long.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Thus the Summer and Autumn passed away, and a cold Winter had come. There
+ was no more work to be done in the fields and meadows, but there were all
+ sorts of things to be done to help the farmer in the barn and his wife in
+ the house and the kitchen. This Sami had to do.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Meanwhile their own three boys could go to school, which had now begun
+ again, for they had to get some education. Sami could get that by and by.
+ In the Summer he had acquired a good deal of quickness and now did his
+ work so skilfully that the farmer said a couple of times:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;I would not have believed it, for in the Summer he was always the last.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Sami now thought that everything would go easier than in the Summer, but
+ something came which was much harder to bear than the extra burden of
+ work, which was too much for the others.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Every day the boys fought in the field outside, and Sami, as the smallest,
+ always came off with the most blows. But that was the end of it, and when
+ the boys came home at night no one thought any more about it. In the
+ evening the three boys were assigned to the little room with the feeble
+ light of a low oil lamp, to do their arithmetic for school, while Sami had
+ to cut apples and pears for drying. From the first the three were angry
+ because Sami had no arithmetic to do, and then one would accuse the other
+ of taking the light away from him, and all three would scream that Sami
+ didn&rsquo;t need any at all for his work. Then one would pull the lamp one way,
+ and another the other way, until it was upset and the oil would run over
+ the table into Sami&rsquo;s apples. Then there would be a really murderous
+ tumult in the darkness; all hands would grope in the oil and one would
+ always outcry the others. Then the mother would come in very cross and
+ want to know who was always starting such mischief. Then one would blame
+ the other, and finally the blame would fall on Sami, because he made the
+ least noise. Usually the farmer too came in then, and his angry wife would
+ always reply that she had indeed said the boy would be an apple of discord
+ in the house, and a Winter like this they had never experienced. Often
+ Sami had to endure many hard words and undeserved punishment. On such
+ evenings he remained sleepless for a long time sitting on his bed.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Then he would rack his brains as to how it could happen so, since his
+ grandmother had told him that if he was God-fearing everything would
+ happen for the best. That he should be so scolded and badly treated was
+ not the best for him. He really wanted to be God-fearing and not forget
+ that the dear Lord saw and heard everything. But Sami was still very young
+ and could not know, what he later knew, that it is good for everyone if he
+ learns early in life to bear hardship. Then when the evil days, which none
+ escape, come again later on, he can cope with them bravely, because he
+ knows them already and his strength has become hardened; and when the good
+ days come he can enjoy them as no one else can who has never tasted the
+ bad ones.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ At this time Sami knew nothing about this and almost never went to sleep
+ without tears; indeed, he often wondered whether the birds were still
+ calling up in the ash-trees: &ldquo;Only trust in the dear Lord!&rdquo; and if it were
+ still true that everything would come out right. The only comfort for him
+ was that his grandmother had told him so positively, and he held fast to
+ that.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ It was a long, hard Winter. The snow lay so deep and immovable on the
+ meadows and trees, that Sami often asked with anxiety in his heart, if it
+ would ever entirely disappear, so that the meadows would be green again,
+ and the flowers become alive. It was already April, and the cold white
+ covering of snow still lay all around. Then a warm wind from the South
+ blew all one night into the valley, and when on the next day a very warm
+ rain fell, the obstinate snow melted into great brooks. Then came the sun
+ and dried up all the brooks, and everywhere the new young grass sprang up
+ over the meadows.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ The four boys came across the big street of the village and turned into
+ the meadow. They were pulling along the cart, on which lay the cooking
+ utensils which the farmer&rsquo;s wife had just purchased at the annual fair in
+ the village. The boys had followed their mother&rsquo;s command to go slowly and
+ carefully, so that nothing would be broken, for they knew very well that
+ their mother set great store by these things, and it was worth while to
+ follow her instructions.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Now that they had come safely over the rough street and had turned into
+ the meadow road, two pulling, two pushing, they wanted to rest a little
+ while. They stopped under the first large pear-tree, stretched themselves
+ out on the ground and looked up into the blue sky. In the pear-tree above,
+ the birds were singing merrily together, and suddenly one piped up in the
+ midst of the others, always the same note, exactly as if he had a special
+ call to give.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;There he is,&rdquo; cried Sami, springing up from the ground with delight. Then
+ he listened again, and again sounded the staccato call, clear and sharp
+ above the singing of all the other birds.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Do you hear it? Do you hear it?&rdquo; cried Sami in his delight. &ldquo;Now he is
+ calling again: &lsquo;Trust! Trust! Trust! Trust!&rsquo; And then they all sing
+ together: &lsquo;Only trust the dear Lord!&rsquo;&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;You are just talking nonsense!&rdquo; exclaimed Stöffi to the happy Sami. &ldquo;The
+ bird is more knowing than you are. That is the rain bird; I know him well.
+ He notices the rain-wind and is calling: &lsquo;Shower! Shower! Shower!&rsquo; Then we
+ know it is going to rain.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ But Sami would not give up what was so dear to him and kept saying to
+ himself:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;But he is singing: &lsquo;Trust! Trust! Trust! Trust!&rsquo;&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Keep quiet!&rdquo; continued Stöffi sharply to him. &ldquo;You are nothing but a
+ little tramp, who can&rsquo;t do anything and doesn&rsquo;t know anything and twists
+ everything he hears.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Then the blood rose to Sami&rsquo;s cheeks and the tears came into his eyes and,
+ more courageously than usual towards Stöffi, he cried:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t do that, but you have done it many times!&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Then Stöffi sprang up and seized hold of Sami to throw him down; but in
+ his anger Sami turned quite differently from usual, so that Stöffi had to
+ call the others to help him.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ A great struggle ensued; the blows became more and more violent, first on
+ one side and then on the other. Suddenly the cart was upset. A fearful
+ cracking and crashing sounded, and a great heap of red, brown and white
+ crockery lay on the ground. Dumb with fright, the boys stood and looked at
+ the destruction.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Stöffi was the first to recover himself.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;We will say that a wheel came off the cart, and it suddenly fell down.&rdquo;
+ He immediately picked up a big stone in order to pound out the nail and
+ take the wheel off from the axle.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;I shall say just how it all happened, that we quarreled, and upset the
+ wagon,&rdquo; said Sami calmly.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Then Steffi&rsquo;s wrath rose to its height.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;You traitor, you spy and mischief-maker!&rdquo; he screamed. &ldquo;You are nothing
+ but a ragamuffin. We will force you.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;You cannot,&rdquo; said Sami, &ldquo;and you are no good either! If you were
+ God-fearing, you would not want to lie so.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Well, well,&rdquo; they all screamed together, and shaking their fists in the
+ most threatening way. &ldquo;You needn&rsquo;t say that. We are just exactly as
+ God-fearing as you, and even much more so!&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Suddenly a new thought came to Stöffi. He ran off with all his might, and
+ Michael and Uli rushed after him. Sami saw that they were hurrying to the
+ house; he followed slowly after. The farmer&rsquo;s wife had come back to the
+ house by a shorter way, and the farmer was just returning home too from
+ the field, when the three boys came rushing along. The whole family was
+ standing in great excitement at the door and all were talking loudly
+ together and making threatening gestures, when Sami came along. He was met
+ by the farmer, shaking his fist, and his wife threw such harsh words at
+ him that he stood quite dumfounded.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;That was the last straw,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;that after all the kindness he had
+ received he should tell them they were not God-fearing people.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Then the farmer joined in. Such talk was insolent from Sami, and it had
+ been known for a long time how upright they were in his house, before such
+ a scamp had come there and tried to show them the way. Then his wife began
+ again and said Sami would have nothing more to do in her house; for he had
+ brought nothing but trouble since he stepped into it; he could go to his
+ room, and she would come right along.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Sami was so surprised and confused by all the attacks and charges, that he
+ had stood quite dumb until now. Now he wanted to explain how the cart had
+ been upset, but the father said they knew everything already, and all he
+ had to do was to go to his room. He obeyed.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Soon the farmer&rsquo;s wife came upstairs, packed Sami&rsquo;s things together and
+ tied them up again into a bundle, which was now much smaller than when he
+ had brought it there, for some pieces of his old things had been worn out
+ and were not replaced, and his grandmother&rsquo;s clothes were no longer there.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ While she was packing the woman kept on talking very angrily about Sami&rsquo;s
+ wickedness and insolence, so that he now for the first time understood it
+ all. The boys had stated that he had reproached them for not being
+ God-fearing people; they had punished him for it, and through his
+ resistance he had overturned the cart. Sami now tried to explain to the
+ woman that it had not happened so, but she said she knew enough, threw his
+ tied-up bundle beside his bed, and went out.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Now for the first time Sami was able to think over what had happened to
+ him and what was going to come. Then he was angry because he had to bear
+ such injustice and not once have a chance to speak. And now he was driven
+ out, or perhaps he would be sent to people where it would be even worse
+ for him. Then he was so overcome with anger and fear and anguish, that he
+ began to cry aloud and called out:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Yes, yes, Grandmother, you said if I was God-fearing everything would
+ happen to me for the best; and I have been, and now it has happened this
+ way!&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ But with the thought of his grandmother, there rose in his heart all the
+ memories of his life with her, how they had wandered so peacefully through
+ the meadows, and how beautiful it had been under those trees, how the
+ birds had sung and the brook murmured, and suddenly Sami was mightily
+ overcome, and he exclaimed:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Away! away! Over there! over there!&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ From that moment on a bright light rose in his heart. It was hope in a new
+ life as beautiful as the first had been. Then Sami said his evening prayer
+ gladly and fell asleep.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ <br /><br /><br /><br /> <a name="linkc5" id="linkc5"></a><br /> <br /><br />
+ </p>
+ <h2>
+ CHAPTER FIFTH
+ </h2>
+ <p>
+ <br /><br />
+ </p>
+ <h3>
+ THE BIRDS ARE STILL SINGING
+ </h3>
+ <p>
+ <br />
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ The next morning when Sami sat at the table with the family, no one said a
+ word to him. The farmer&rsquo;s wife pushed a piece of bread towards his
+ coffee-cup and made up an unfriendly face. The farmer was no different.
+ The three boys looked sourly down at their coffee-cups, for they had no
+ good consciences, and all three feared that their lies of the day before
+ might yet be found out, if Sami should happen to speak.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ When they rose from the table, the farmer said shortly:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Get your bundle! I shall have to lose more time with you, until I have
+ found a place for you, for surely no one will want you.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Since the night before a change had taken place in Sami. He no longer hung
+ his head, as he had done almost always before from fear; he lifted it up
+ and said:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;I know already where I must go.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ The farmer and his wife looked at each other in astonishment.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;I want to go over the mountains,&rdquo; he added.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Yes, that is best, that he should go back there, where he came from,&rdquo;
+ said the farmer&rsquo;s wife quickly; &ldquo;there will no doubt be someone going over
+ there from the inn. Go quickly with him up there.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ This seemed right to the farmer also. The leave-taking was as short as
+ possible, and Sami was light-hearted when he started with his little
+ bundle on his back away from his cousins&rsquo; house.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ At the inn, sure enough, they found a driver who was going with a big
+ wood-wagon to Château d&rsquo;Æux. He was ready to take the boy with him and
+ thought he would be able to find someone to take him farther, if the boy
+ knew his way down there on the French side. The farmer said Sami had been
+ brought up there and wanted to go back, he knew where.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Now the driver was ready. Sami&rsquo;s bundle was thrown into the wagon and the
+ boy seated on it.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Good luck!&rdquo; said the farmer, gave Sami his hand and went away.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Then the driver swung himself up on his seat and the two strong horses
+ started off. Although the wood-wagon was far less handsome and easy than
+ the coach in which Sami had come, still he sat much happier in his hard
+ seat than when he had left his grandmother lying so alone and had to go
+ away, without knowing where. Now he was going home, where he knew
+ everything and where everything was dear to him, every tree and every wall
+ by the way; and although he wouldn&rsquo;t see his grandmother any longer, he
+ would find all the places where he had been with her and where it was more
+ beautiful than anywhere else. With these thoughts a multitude of questions
+ arose in Sami&rsquo;s mind: Would everything be still the same as before? Would
+ the ash-trees still be standing there by the wall? and the red and yellow
+ flowers be growing on the hillside? And Sami had so much to think about
+ that he didn&rsquo;t notice how the time was passing. So he was very much
+ astonished when the wagon stopped, for they had come to a large village,
+ and the driver took firm hold of him, lifted him up and set him down on
+ the street. Sami looked around him. They had stopped in front of an inn,
+ above which a big brown bear stood for a sign and which was surrounded by
+ all kinds of vehicles. But he couldn&rsquo;t look around any longer, for the
+ driver had already seized him again and lifted him together with his
+ bundle into another team and then went away. Soon he came back with a
+ large piece of bread and said:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;There, eat; you still have far to go.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Are we yet in Château d&rsquo;Æux?&rdquo; asked Sami.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Yes, to be sure, but you are going farther,&rdquo; was the reply; then the
+ driver disappeared.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Sami was now sitting in a small country wagon to which an enormous horse
+ was harnessed. No one was as yet up in the high seat, but Sami was seated
+ with his bundle back in the empty space on the floor. Then two big, stout
+ men climbed up on the high seat, and they started away. After a short time
+ Sami&rsquo;s eyes closed involuntarily, he slipped off on the floor of the
+ wagon, his head fell over on his bundle, and he sank into a deep sleep.
+ When he woke again, he was still in the wagon on the floor, but everything
+ was quiet around him; he did not hear the horse trotting; the wagon was no
+ longer moving forward. It looked very strange all around him. He looked,
+ and looked again, until he realized what had happened. The wagon was
+ standing without horse or driver in a shed; they had forgotten Sami and
+ left him lying there.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Where can I be?&rdquo; Sami asked himself. The door of the shed stood open, and
+ outside there was bright sunshine. Sami climbed down from his
+ sleeping-place, stepped outside and went a little way farther around the
+ house, which stood directly in front of the shed. Then he knew everything
+ about it&mdash;there stood the house with the garden, where he had taken
+ the beautiful coach; right before him was the railway station&mdash;he was
+ in Aigle again. Only a little way farther in the train and he would be at
+ home!
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Then it came to Sami that here he could no longer talk with the people,
+ for now he was among the French. But he knew what to do. He still had the
+ little bag with his grandmother&rsquo;s money. He ran to the place where the
+ people were getting their tickets, laid a piece of money in front of the
+ little window, and said: &ldquo;La Tour!&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Immediately he had his ticket; he sprang into the train, which was already
+ standing outside, and crouched down quickly in his corner, the very same
+ corner where he had sat before with Herr Malon. He knew all the names
+ which were called out at the stations; nearer and nearer he came&mdash;now&mdash;&ldquo;La
+ Tour!&rdquo; He jumped down and ran to the right across the fields, then to the
+ left up the hill. He knew every tree along the way. Now&mdash;there stood
+ the wall, there stood the ash-trees and their tops were waving to and fro.
+ Underneath, the clear brook was murmuring, and above, on the hillside, the
+ bright sun was shining on the big golden primroses and the red anemones.
+ It was all exactly as it had been before! Moreover, above&mdash;oh, that
+ was the most beautiful of all!&mdash;up in the ash-trees the birds were
+ piping and singing as loudly and as merrily as ever and, to be sure, there
+ was the chief singer, the finch. &ldquo;Trust! Trust! Trust! Trust!&rdquo; sounded his
+ clear song, and all the birds joined in with their warbling and rejoiced
+ loudly:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Only trust the dear Lord!&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Sami was so overcome because everything was still exactly the same as he
+ had known it before, that he stood speechless for a long time and
+ listened, looking around him and listening again. It seemed so good to him
+ and he had never felt such happiness in his heart since that evening when
+ he had sat there with his grandmother. Now his grandmother rose so vividly
+ before him, that he suddenly threw himself down on the wall and wept. She
+ was no longer there, and would come back to him no more. But all the good
+ words she had spoken to him here that evening rose vividly in his heart,
+ and it seemed as if he distinctly heard her talking again, and as if she
+ must really be quite near and see him.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Sami straightened himself up again, sat a while longer listening, and then
+ began to think what he should do. At first he wanted to go to Malon and
+ ask him if he could work for him, perhaps get out the weeds in his
+ vineyard. But he could not explain to him why he was there again; they
+ would not understand each other and Malon might think he had done
+ something wrong and had been sent away for it by his cousin. But perhaps
+ the woman who always gave mending to his grandmother would set him to work
+ in her garden. She lived down below, near the Lake. He jumped down from
+ the wall. Once more he looked at the hillside, and up into the tree, but
+ he could come here again; he was here and could stay here.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ On the way he thought how he could explain to the woman what he wanted to
+ do for her. He would bend down and show her how he could pull up the
+ weeds; then he would show her by a gesture that he knew how to hoe.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ There stood already the old castle of La Tour before him, with its two
+ high, weather-beaten towers, which he had looked at so many times. All
+ around and high up thick ivy covered the old walls, and above them
+ multitudes of merry birds were chirping. Sami had to stop and listen to
+ their happy singing for a while, then he went along by the high old wall
+ around the courtyard, for he wanted to see if it was still the same as
+ before down below in the lonely place where the water kept falling on the
+ old stones and singing a gentle song. He had once stood there a long time
+ with his grandmother. There lay the place before him, but it was not
+ lonely. A big wagon was standing there, with a grey cover stretched over
+ it. No horse stood in front of it, but a thin nag was nibbling the hedge,
+ and this evidently belonged to the wagon. Near the old castle tower a fire
+ was blazing merrily; a man was sitting by it, hammering with all his
+ might. Close by him four little children were crawling around on the
+ ground. Sami stood still at this unexpected sight, then came slowly a
+ little nearer. Then he heard the man warning the children not to come so
+ near the fire. This he was doing in Sami&rsquo;s own language, exactly as all
+ the people in Zweisimmen had spoken. This gave courage to Sami; he came
+ along quite near, and watched the man mend a hole in an old pan.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Does it please you?&rdquo; asked the man, after Sami had looked on attentively
+ for some time. The boy answered by nodding his head.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Are you French, that you can&rsquo;t talk?&rdquo; asked the man again.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Sami then said he could talk, but not at all in French, but he was glad
+ that the tinker spoke German, because otherwise he would not be able to
+ understand anyone there.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Whom do you belong to?&rdquo; asked the man again.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Nobody,&rdquo; answered Sami.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Then the man wanted to know where he had come from and why he had come
+ among the French. Sami told him his history, and how he had only come
+ there again that morning.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;And now don&rsquo;t you know at all what you are going to do, and where you are
+ going?&rdquo; asked the man.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Sami said he did not.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;If I knew that you would do something, and not just stand around and look
+ in the air, I would give you work,&rdquo; continued the man, &ldquo;but such stray
+ waifs as you are not willing to do anything.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Meanwhile a woman had come from the wagon. She had heard her husband&rsquo;s
+ last words.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Take him,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;What work is there for him? He might run errands;
+ all boys can do that. I never get through with the running about and the
+ four bawlers, and the cooking besides; take him!&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Well, stay here,&rdquo; said the man; &ldquo;you can carry the pan back; it is very
+ good that you know the way.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Sami had suddenly found a place; he did not himself know how, but he was
+ very glad about it. Quite content, he started out with his pan and did
+ exactly as the tinker had told him. He wandered through the long street of
+ La Tour, went into every house and showed his mended pan. He made
+ significant gestures, to make the people understand that he would like to
+ get more articles to mend. This he did so eagerly and earnestly that most
+ of the people burst out laughing, and this put them in such good humor
+ that they always found a pan or a kettle with a hole in it which they
+ handed him to be repaired.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Thus in a short time Sami had collected as much old stuff as he was able
+ to carry, and could now take his pan to the house pointed out to him,
+ where it belonged. Then he turned back.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ <br /><br /> <a name="linkwaifs" id="linkwaifs"></a><br /> <br /><br />
+ </p>
+ <div class="fig" style="width:80%">
+ <img alt="illusp64c.jpg (107K)" src="images/illusp64c.jpg" width="100%" /><br />
+ </div>
+ <p>
+ <br /><br /><br /><br />
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ The tinker was very much pleased with Sami&rsquo;s harvest and his wife said
+ very kindly, if he kept on doing like that, he would get along all right,
+ but he must sit down at once and have some supper. The four little
+ children were no longer there. Sami guessed that they were lying out in
+ the wagon asleep. On the fire a pot was now standing. It was bubbling
+ merrily inside and from under the cover came forth a very inviting odor.
+ Sami had never been so hungry in his life before, for he had had nothing
+ the whole day but the rest of the piece of bread which the driver had
+ given him the day before in Château d&rsquo;Æux.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ The woman took the cover off the pot and filled three dishes with the
+ good-smelling soup. Each of the three now placed his dish before him on
+ the ground, and the meal began.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Nothing had ever tasted so good to Sami in all his life as this soup. It
+ was not a thin soup, it was as thick as pulp, of cooked peas and potatoes,
+ and with this quite large lumps of meat came into his spoon.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ When he had finished, the woman said:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;You can go to sleep whenever you want to. In the back of the wagon there
+ is room, and your bundle will make a good pillow.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ This seemed a little strange to Sami, and he said:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Must I sleep in my clothes?&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ The woman thought he would find that he would not be too warm in the
+ night. He would be ready all the sooner in the morning. Then he could wash
+ his face quickly down in the lake and be all in order again for the next
+ day.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Sami was tired. He went immediately to the wagon and climbed up from the
+ back, and was able to slip in under the big cover. There was a little room
+ where he could lie down, and next him came the four little children, one
+ after another. Sami sat down and said his evening prayer. Then he thought
+ of his grandmother for a while, and what she would say if she could see
+ him thus in the wagon, and know that he would have to sleep all the time
+ in his clothes, and if only she could see how it looked in the wagon, so
+ dirty and in disorder. She had been so neat and orderly about everything
+ and had kept him so clean from a baby up. But she had never spoken to him
+ about this, as about other things which he must avoid, and perhaps the
+ people were quite God-fearing; then he ought to stay with them. That would
+ be as his grandmother wished. Then he placed his bundle under his head,
+ and went peacefully to sleep.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ <br /><br /><br /><br /> <a name="linkc6" id="linkc6"></a><br /> <br /><br />
+ </p>
+ <h2>
+ CHAPTER SIXTH
+ </h2>
+ <p>
+ <br /><br />
+ </p>
+ <h3>
+ SAMI SINGS TOO
+ </h3>
+ <p>
+ <br />
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Sami had now been working five days for the tinker, and had passed his
+ nights in the wagon. He was well treated, for the man and his wife were
+ pleased with him. Every day Sami dragged along such a pile of old pans,
+ pots and kettles, that they both wondered where he found them. His
+ grandmother had not charged him in vain to do everything he had to do as
+ well as he possibly could, because the dear Lord always saw what he was
+ doing.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ He never loitered on the way, and if a woman was going to send him away
+ quickly and would not listen to him, then he looked at her so beseechingly
+ that she would find an old pan somewhere and bring it out. From morning
+ till night he ran with the greatest zeal, in order to get as much work as
+ possible for his master, and the praise he won every evening he enjoyed as
+ much as the savoury soup which followed.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Nevertheless Sami was not very well contented. Every evening as he sat in
+ the wagon, he had to think what his grandmother would say to all the dirt
+ around him, and things pleased him less and less. The woman did not do for
+ the little children as his grandmother had done for him. All four crawled
+ around in the dirt and looked so that Sami didn&rsquo;t care to have anything to
+ do with them. If they cried they were knocked this way and that, and at
+ night the woman took up one after another from the ground, put it in the
+ wagon, pulled the dirty grey blanket over them and went away again.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ The largest boy could talk quite well. He could have learned a little
+ prayer long before this, but the woman never taught him any.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Such a homesickness for his grandmother now arose in Sami&rsquo;s heart every
+ evening that he had to bury his head deep in his bundle, so that no one
+ would hear him sob.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Often on his expeditions he would come near the wall, under the ash-trees,
+ but he never went over to it, for he had to work and did not dare sit idle
+ and listen to the birds. But every time he had looked longingly there and
+ sent a whistle from a distance as greeting to the birds.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ From the old house on the hillside, from which one could look down at the
+ ash-trees and the wall, he had brought a little kettle to the tinker, and
+ was delighted at the thought of taking it back again, for then he could
+ look down there for a moment and perhaps hear the birds.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Two days had passed, and Sami hoped that on the following day the little
+ kettle would be ready. When he returned that evening to the fire with his
+ last collection, the tinker was sitting thoughtfully there, turning the
+ little kettle round and round in his hands. His wife was looking over his
+ shoulders and both were scrutinizing the old kettle as if it were
+ something unusual.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;It is as like the other as if it were its brother,&rdquo; said the wife. &ldquo;You
+ know how the man said you must not spoil the pictures scratched on it, and
+ on that account he gave you so much more for it. Here are exactly the same
+ figures on this, and the nose in front has just the same curve as the
+ other, which he would not have mended for fear it would be spoiled.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;I see it all, surely,&rdquo; said the man, &ldquo;but I don&rsquo;t know what can be done
+ about it. With the other one I could say, it couldn&rsquo;t be mended any more,
+ for it looked much worse than this, and the people didn&rsquo;t know that the
+ old stuff was worth anything, and I wouldn&rsquo;t have believed it was myself.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;They won&rsquo;t know either. The boy brought the kettle from the old house up
+ there. They only know the ground they hoe, but not such a thing as this.
+ Just say it can&rsquo;t be mended any more, it is not good for anything, and
+ give them something for the copper. They will be satisfied enough. If we
+ go back to Bern we will take it to the man, who will give eighty francs
+ for it.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;That is true. We can do that,&rdquo; said the man, delighted; &ldquo;perhaps they
+ won&rsquo;t want anything for the kettle when they know they can&rsquo;t use it any
+ more. Come, Sami,&rdquo; he called to the boy, who stood staring at them on the
+ other side of the fire, and had heard and understood everything&mdash;&ldquo;come
+ here, I want to tell you something.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Sami obeyed.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Run quickly up to the old house, where you brought the little kettle
+ from, and say it isn&rsquo;t good for anything, that it can&rsquo;t be mended any
+ more.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Sami, filled with horror, stared at the man. &ldquo;Now hurry up and go along,&rdquo;
+ said his wife, who was still standing there; &ldquo;you understand well enough
+ what you have to do.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Sami continued looking at the man without moving, as if he really had not
+ understood his words.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;What is the matter with you? Why don&rsquo;t you hurry along?&rdquo; snarled the man
+ to him.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t do that. You are not God-fearing if you do such a thing as that,&rdquo;
+ said Sami.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;What is it to you, what I do? Be quick and go along!&rdquo; commanded the
+ tinker, and his wife screamed angrily:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Do you think a little beggar like you is going to tell us what is
+ God-fearing? We ought to know much better than you! Will you do at once
+ what you are told, or not?&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Sami did not stir.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Will you go and do what I told you, or&mdash;&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ The man raised his hand high up. Sami was pale with fright. Suddenly he
+ turned around, ran to the wagon, took his bundle out, and ran with all his
+ might up the road, turned to the right between the high walls and rushed
+ on into the open field. Not a moment did he stop running, until he had
+ reached the ash-trees. The spot was like a place of refuge to him.
+ Breathless, he sat down on the wall. The twilight was already coming on
+ and it was perfectly still all around. No one had run after him as he
+ feared. He was quite alone.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Now he began to think. It was all done so quickly that he had only now
+ come to his senses. Yes, it was right that he had run away, for what he
+ had to do was something wrong, and he had to come away because they were
+ not God-fearing. It surely would seem right to his grandmother that he had
+ done this. But where should he go now? The people had all gone home from
+ the fields, perhaps were already asleep. Up in the ash-trees not one
+ little bird made a single sound. They were surely all in their nests and
+ fast asleep. If the dear Lord kept them up there in the trees safe from
+ all harm, so that they could sleep so well, He would surely protect him
+ too under the trees. In this spot he always had the feeling that his
+ grandmother was nearer to him than anywhere else, and this gave him
+ confidence. So he laid himself down under the tree quite trustfully and
+ immediately after he had ended his evening prayer, his eyes closed, for
+ the brook was murmuring such a beautiful slumber song under the ash-trees
+ there.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Golden sunshine was streaming in Sami&rsquo;s eyes when he awoke. Above him all
+ the birds were warbling their morning song up into the blue sky. It
+ sounded like pure thanksgiving and delight. It awakened in Sami&rsquo;s heart
+ the same tones, and he had to sing praise and thanksgiving, for the dear
+ Lord had protected him too so well through the night and let His golden
+ sun shine on him again. With a clear voice Sami joined in the glad chorus
+ and sang a hymn of praise and thanksgiving, the only one he knew:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Last night Summer breezes blew:&mdash; All the flowers awake anew,&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ And when he had come to the end, he sang like the merry finch with all his
+ might:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Trust! Trust! Trust! Trust! Only trust the dear Lord!&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ The song had awakened in Sami new assurance that he would find a piece of
+ bread and some worthy work. This he wanted to look for now, for his
+ grandmother had not impressed it upon him in vain from his earliest days,
+ that in the morning after praying one should immediately go to work. So
+ Sami started off.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ He did not go down to the Lake this day, lest he should come near the
+ tinker. With his bundle under his arm he wandered up the gradually rising
+ field road. Where this crossed the narrow street, leading over to Clarens,
+ Sami met a child&rsquo;s carriage which a girl was pushing in front of her. She
+ wore a spotless white cap and a white apron. Over the carriage, too, was
+ spread a snow-white cover, and out from under it peeped a little head with
+ bright golden hair and a little white hat on it.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ This unusual neatness and the smart appearance of the carriage attracted
+ Sami very much and he followed along the same way. On the white carriage
+ robe was worked a wreath of blue silk, but not of flowers. It was of
+ strange figures. The shining blue silk on the white cloth looked so
+ beautiful that Sami could not keep his eyes away from it. Suddenly it
+ became plain to him that the strange figures were letters, but he had
+ never seen any like them in his life. Their appearance captivated him more
+ and more. Then he began to try to see if he couldn&rsquo;t spell them out and
+ perhaps read the words. He tried as hard as he could, but it was
+ difficult. Sami kept beginning over again from the first. Finally he made
+ out all the words. It was a proverb which read thus:
+ </p>
+ <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto">
+ <tr>
+ <td>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;So let the little angels sing:<br /> This child is safe beneath our
+ wing.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ </td>
+ </tr>
+ </table>
+ <p>
+ This proverb reminded him so much of his grandmother; he didn&rsquo;t know why,
+ but it seemed to him as if she had prayed exactly like this over his bed.
+ The tears came to his eyes, and yet it seemed so good, just as if he had
+ found his home again. The girl now turned suddenly to the left from the
+ road, and went through the high iron gate which stood open, and led into a
+ wide courtyard. Great, ancient plane-trees stood inside and cast their
+ broad shade over the sunny courtyard. A large flower garden surrounded the
+ high stone house, which looked forth from behind the trees.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Sami followed the carriage into the courtyard. It stopped under the trees.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;What do you want here? That is the way out,&rdquo; said the girl impatiently to
+ Sami, pointing so plainly to the gate that Sami would have understood the
+ meaning of her words even if her language had been foreign. But it was
+ surely German, and he had understood it all very well, although he could
+ not speak like that himself. His grandmother had told him that there were
+ people who spoke just like the reading in the books.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Sami did not reply, and the girl did not wait for him. She snatched the
+ child quickly out of the carriage, took the beautiful robe over her arm,
+ and went into the house.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Meanwhile a little girl had come out of the house and was standing at some
+ distance gazing at Sami with two big eyes. Now she came quickly forward,
+ jumped nimbly into the empty carriage, and said:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Come, give me a ride!&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Where?&rdquo; asked Sami.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Out there along the road, and far, far away!&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Sami obeyed immediately. For a long while he trotted along without
+ stopping. The little girl seemed to enjoy the ride. She looked so eagerly
+ around with her bright eyes on every side, as if she couldn&rsquo;t see enough.
+ Then they came to a meadow thick with flowers.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Hold still! Hold still!&rdquo; cried the little one suddenly, and sprang with a
+ big jump out of the low carriage.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Now we must have all the flowers, every single one! Come!&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ And the little girl was already in the midst of the grass, stamping
+ bravely forward. But Sami said quite prudently:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;You mustn&rsquo;t go so into the grass. It is forbidden. But see, if we go
+ around outside and take all the flowers you can reach, there will be a big
+ bunch.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ The little one came out, for she knew that she ought not to do what was
+ forbidden. Then the flowers were gathered according to Sami&rsquo;s advice, but
+ the little companion soon had enough of such exertion, seated herself on
+ the ground and said:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Come, sit down by me. But you must not speak French to me. I have to
+ learn that with Madame Laurent, but I would rather speak German, and you
+ must do so too.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t speak French, I don&rsquo;t know how,&rdquo; replied Sami; &ldquo;but I can&rsquo;t speak
+ like you either.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Where do you come from then, if you don&rsquo;t speak German and don&rsquo;t speak
+ French?&rdquo; the little one wanted to know.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Sami thought for a moment, then he said:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;First I came from Chailly and then from Zweisimmen.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;No, no,&rdquo; interrupted the little one warmly. &ldquo;People are never from two
+ places, only from one. I am from Berlin, in Germany, you see. Then Papa
+ bought an estate and now we are living on Lake Geneva. What is your name?&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Sami told her.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;And my name is Betti. Why did you come into the courtyard when Tina
+ wanted to send you out?&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Sami had to think for a while, then he said:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Because those words were on the robe, I knew they were God-fearing people
+ where it belonged, and my grandmother told me I must stay with such people
+ and never go away, for I should learn nothing but good from them.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Must you stay with us now, and never go away again?&rdquo; asked little Betti
+ eagerly.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Yes, I think so,&rdquo; answered Sami. &ldquo;Perhaps I can weed the garden.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;That is right,&rdquo; said Betti, delighted. &ldquo;You see, Tina will not take me in
+ the carriage; she says I am too big. Will you take me every day in the
+ carriage to the meadow for ever so many hours?&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Yes, indeed, I will do that gladly,&rdquo; promised Sami, &ldquo;and you shall have
+ all the flowers. Then I will take you besides to the trees where all the
+ birds sing &lsquo;Only trust the dear Lord!&rsquo; and where the finch cries so loud
+ above them all: &lsquo;Trust! Trust! Trust! Trust!&rsquo; Have you heard him too?&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ At this description little Betti&rsquo;s eyes grew bigger and brighter with
+ expectation.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Come now, let&rsquo;s go right away to the birds,&rdquo; she exclaimed, jumped up and
+ ran in haste to the carriage.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Sami followed.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ At this moment Tina, with a very red face, came running up from below. Her
+ looks did not portend anything good.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;So I have found you at last,&rdquo; she cried angrily from a distance.
+ &ldquo;Everybody is running around looking for you&mdash;your three brothers,
+ the servants, the coachman&mdash;everybody! I have run myself half dead
+ for you. Sit down in the carriage, you naughty little thing. The little
+ tramp can go where he likes. No, he must come back again; his bundle is
+ lying in the courtyard. So he can pull the carriage if he has to come with
+ us.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Little Betti did not seem very much frightened by this lively speech. She
+ climbed quickly into the carriage and said gaily: &ldquo;Go ahead, Sami!&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ He obeyed quite crushed, for now he could only return for his bundle; then
+ he would have to go away again, and he had so firmly believed this was the
+ place where he was to stay according to his grandmother&rsquo;s advice, and it
+ had pleased him so much. He had started out in the morning full of trust
+ from the song of the birds, and now he was returning very down-hearted the
+ same way.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ When the three on their way home came to the courtyard, a tall man was
+ standing there, looking out up and down the road; a lady was coming out of
+ the house and going in again very restlessly, and three young boys were
+ running first one way and then another, screaming at the top of their
+ voices:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;She is nowhere to be seen! She is nowhere to be seen!&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ But there she was, drawn by Sami, just coming into the courtyard. Before
+ any question, reproach or accusation could be heard in regard to the
+ unlawful expedition, Betti had run straight to her Papa, and in his
+ delight that she was safely there again, he had taken her in his arms, and
+ with the greatest eagerness she said:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;He will take me every day in the carriage, Papa, the whole day long, if I
+ like, and bring all the flowers to me, because I must not go in the high
+ grass. And he must always stay with us, because his grandmother knew about
+ it, and, Papa, think, he knows birds that sing a whole song, and the finch
+ sings above them all: &lsquo;Trust! Trust!&rsquo; We were going right to see them when
+ Tina came and we had to come home. But now we can go, can&rsquo;t we, Papa,
+ right away? Sami will take me there again; he isn&rsquo;t tired yet. Only say
+ yes, Papa.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Your story is wonderful,&rdquo; said her Papa, laughing. &ldquo;Where is the little
+ coachman whom you have engaged and who, according to his grandmother&rsquo;s
+ advice, must stay with us?&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Meanwhile the three brothers had come running along and, together with
+ their mother, stood near their father under the gateway, so that Sami, who
+ with his bundle on his arm was trying to go out, could not pass through,
+ and had betaken himself very quietly to a corner of the courtyard. The
+ master of the house now placed his daughter on the ground and looked
+ towards the boy. But he was already surrounded, for during their little
+ sister&rsquo;s story the three brothers had made their examination and
+ calculation and then had turned to the boy. Nine-year-old Edward had
+ decided with satisfaction that Sami was the one he had for a long time
+ needed, for since the donkey, which had been given to him at Christmas,
+ had overturned him and his little cart three times running, his father had
+ forbidden him to drive out again without the coachman, Johann. But when
+ Edward wanted to go out driving Johann was always occupied some other way,
+ and when Johann announced that he could go it didn&rsquo;t suit Edward at all.
+ Now Sami was found, an attendant whom he could call whenever he wanted
+ him.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Eleven-year-old Karl was an enthusiastic archer, but to have to be always
+ running after his arrows after they were shot and to hunt for them was
+ very irksome to him. Suddenly someone was found whom he could make use of
+ to hunt for his arrows.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Fourteen-year-old Arthur had permission to sail in his boat on the lake,
+ but he needed some one to steer for him. Now here was a satisfactory boy,
+ on the spot, whom he could teach, and have to steer for him. So it
+ happened that there was a great uproar when their Papa drew near the group
+ in the corner of the courtyard.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Keep him, Papa, I have enough work for him to do!&rdquo; cried Arthur, while
+ Karl&rsquo;s voice was heard above his screaming:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Let him stay here, Papa, please, I need him so much!&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ But Edward&rsquo;s piercing voice was heard above the other two:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Papa, he can drive the donkey, he must stay with us, then Johann won&rsquo;t
+ need to come with me any longer!&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ And in the midst of all sounded Betti&rsquo;s high little voice, untiringly:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Can we go to see the birds now, Papa? Can we go now to the birds?&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Then Papa turned away from the noisy group and said, laughing:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;My dear wife, what do you say to this whole story?&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ The lady addressed had until now listened silently and watched Sami, whose
+ eyes grew brighter and brighter the louder the children begged for him to
+ stay. She looked at him kindly and said first of all she would like to
+ know from him where he came from, and what the story which Betti told
+ about his grandmother meant; he ought to tell where he had been living
+ hitherto, who his parents were and who his grandmother was.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ The kind lady had inspired Sami with great confidence and he now told from
+ the beginning all that he knew about his life up to the present moment,
+ and also how he had come into the courtyard, on account of the proverb,
+ which led him to believe that here lived the people with whom he should
+ stay.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ When Sami came to an end, the lady turned to her husband and said:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;It is the dear Lord who has led him here. We cannot send him away!&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ The children all shouted together for joy.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Can we go to the birds now, Papa? Right away?&rdquo; repeated Betti with
+ irrepressible eagerness.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;By and by, by and by,&rdquo; said her father, soothingly. &ldquo;Sami is going with
+ me first up to Chailly, to show me where Herr Malon lives. I want to talk
+ with him. When we come back, we will see what to do first.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ The mother understood that her husband wanted to have Herr Malon&rsquo;s
+ assurance that everything Sami had told was true, and held back the
+ children, who all four were anxious to explain immediately to Sami what
+ they desired of him.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;But bring him back again, Papa!&rdquo; cried Betti following after them as they
+ started away.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Herr Malon was very much surprised to see Sami again, and moreover in such
+ company, for he recognized the master of the plane-tree estate at once.
+ After the first greeting Sami was sent out doors for a little, and this
+ delighted him very much, for now he could look at the garden again and the
+ crooked maple-tree, under which he had so often sat with his grandmother.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Herr Malon assured his guest that all Sami&rsquo;s words were correct and
+ besides gave a description of Old Mary Ann, her fidelity and
+ conscientiousness, so that the gentleman was very glad to have such good
+ news to carry to his wife.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ A loud shout of delight welcomed them on their return, and still louder
+ was the applause, when their father announced that Sami was henceforth to
+ remain in the house and be the children&rsquo;s playmate.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Sami did not know what to make of it. Since his grandmother&rsquo;s death, no
+ one had shown the slightest pleasure in his presence; on the contrary
+ everywhere he had felt as if he were tolerated only out of pity, and now
+ he was received with loud rejoicing by the children of a house to which he
+ had been more attracted than anywhere else before, and where his
+ grandmother would be glad to see him; of that he was sure. His heart was
+ so overflowing with joy that he wanted to sing aloud and give praise and
+ thanksgiving evermore like the finch:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Trust! Trust! Only trust the dear Lord!&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ * * * * *
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ It is now ten years since Sami entered the plane-tree estate. Whoever
+ passes by there on a beautiful Spring day will surely stand still at the
+ high iron gateway and listen for a little, for there is seldom heard such
+ a merry song as sounds from the thick branches of the planetrees. Up in
+ the tree sits the young gardener pruning the branches. At the same time he
+ sings continually, like the merriest finch, and carols loudest the end of
+ his song, accompanied by all the birds:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Only trust the dear Lord!&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ The young gardener is Sami. At first he received a good knowledge of
+ reading, writing and arithmetic with the children of the house; later,
+ according to his great wish, he was trained as a gardener of the estate.
+ But he is now not only gardener, he has much more to oversee about the
+ estate than any one would imagine. Arthur, who has just finished his
+ studies, is still an ardent sailor. Without Sami, no trip is possible, and
+ Arthur is apt to say:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Without God&rsquo;s help and Sami&rsquo;s assistance I should have been drowned
+ twenty times.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ When Karl comes from the university in his vacation, his first question
+ is, &ldquo;Where is Sami?&rdquo; and this he asks numberless times every day, for
+ without him he can never get ready. He alone knows where to find
+ everything Karl needs in vacation-time for his amusements, from his old
+ bow and quiver up to his riding whip and gun.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Edward has now given up his donkey cart and instead is interested in
+ strange animals, which have their dwelling-place in the back of the
+ courtyard and often make a great spectacle there. He owns two marmots, two
+ parrots and a monkey. No one could manage these and keep them in order but
+ Sami, and he does it so well and so successfully that Edward often
+ exclaims:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Without Sami everything we have would go to ruin, animals and people, the
+ animals for want of proper care and the people from anger over it.&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ But Betti still remains Sami&rsquo;s greatest friend. She can call him at any
+ hour of the day she pleases, Sami is immediately on the spot, and Betti
+ knows he is more devoted than any one else and besides can keep secrets
+ like a stone. No one knows how many little notes he has to carry every
+ week to the neighbouring estates. Sami will not tell, for her brothers
+ would laugh at their sister Betti&rsquo;s endless correspondence which she has
+ with numerous girl friends around on all the estates. Sami is her most
+ devoted friend, for he would run through fire and water for her without
+ hesitation. He never forgets what persuasive words in his behalf Betti
+ used with her father, when, broken-hearted, he was going to fetch his
+ bundle and go away again.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ The youngest, Ella, with golden curls, who has taken over the donkey and
+ cart from her brother Edward, is entrusted to Sami&rsquo;s especial care when
+ she desires to go for a drive. Whenever she brings out her white robe to
+ spread over her knees, Sami&rsquo;s eyes sparkle with delight and thankfulness
+ as he remembers how the proverb led him to his good fortune, and still
+ more at the memory of his grandmother, who brought about all this good,
+ and whom he never forgets.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ When, recently, a lady, owning one of the neighbouring estates, proposed
+ to Herr von K. to transfer his merry gardener to her, merely because the
+ servants in her house had sullen faces, he replied:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;You can have him, just as much as you can have one of my own children, if
+ you should try to entice one away. Sami is the most faithful, trustworthy,
+ conscientious person who has ever come in my way. I can leave my whole
+ house and go wherever I will, I know that everything will be taken care
+ of, as if I stood by. This is so because Sami has another Master besides
+ me, before whose eyes he performs all his work. The dear Lord himself sent
+ my glad-hearted Sami to me, and I esteem him. He belongs to my house, and
+ it shall remain his home!&rdquo;
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ <br /><br /><br />
+ </p>
+ <hr />
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+
+
+
+
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+</pre>
+ </body>
+</html>
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