The Story of Helly part 2/7



The Story of Helly part 2/7


One evening a wise old man  from a distant city came  to visit Helly’s mother. She  told  the old man how Helly bothered everyone,  even the dog, and how nobody  liked her. The old man thought  for a while and  then said:   “You know, I think your daughter  doesn’t appreciate her home and her neighborhood. If she did, she wouldn’t  be always bothering everyone. The trouble is that she has never been sad and unhappy  because  she was  lonely. Now, I  think you should  send her somewhere  far  from home where she would be by herself and very, very  lonely.”

Helly’s mother  laughed and said: “How could I send her away? Where could I send her  to be  lonely?  Is there a place where no one could hear her voice and her crying? Where? Where?”


The old man said: “Well,  send her along  to me and you’ll see how well I manage  things.”

Helly’s mother  laughed  and said: “But  I love her so much. How could I bear parting with her?”

Helly was in the same room, busily tying up  the legs of their white cat with some string. Now, hearing  their conversation, she turned pale and let the cat go. She was suddenly afraid and went to one corner of the room where she was very, very silent.

Presently  the old man went  to bed. Then Helly ran to her mother, hugged her, and between sobs said: “Mother, Mother. I don’t want to be lonely. Please don’t  send me away. Please don’t send me  to a place where nobody can even hear my voice.”

Heartbroken by  this plea, Helly’s mother kissed  her and caressed her smooth black hair and said,  laughing:  “Look, Helly,  I promise not  to send you anywhere  if only you’ll listen  to what I say and don’t  throw water on people, and don’t  throw stones at the dog, and don’t mark up the walls, and don’t yell all the time, and don’t cry, and don’t make noise at school, and don’t  throw snowballs  at people. And now you’d better go to bed so you can get up early in the morning.”

Helly went to bed, but she still kept worrying  about what the old man had said. She  thought:  “What  if Mother  really does send me away  to some  far place? What  if she  sends me
to this old man? What if the old man turns me into a bird or a cockroach  or an ant or a tree in a flowerbed?  . . .” While she was  thinking and  thinking, Helly  fell asleep.

No sooner had her eyes closed than she began  dreaming. She was walking with her mother along a broad path  in a big, green,  and  flowery  garden.  She asked her mother:  “What place  is this?”

....to be CONTINUE ...The Story of Helly part 3/7


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