The Story of Helly part 6/7
The old man said: “All
right, then, that’s what I’ll do.” Helly
said to herself “If the children can hear me, I’ll scream so hard that they’ll get tired of me and ask the old man to send me home.”
But the old man knew
what she was thinking and said:
“All right, I’ll make
it so the children not only can
hear you but will like your screams as well.”
Then he said with a loud voice: “Helly, become a sounding iron.”
And with these words Helly found that she had been turned into a big flat
piece of iron.
Then the old man took
Helly to the nearby schoolyard and hung
her up by a chain to be used as a school
bell. When it was time
for recess, the school janitor
took a big club and banged on the
sounding-iron so hard that Helly
shouted: “My belly! My belly! Ding, dang, dong!” Over and over again: “My belly
! My belly! Ding, dang, dong!”
And at the sound of Helly’s screams the children ran out of their classrooms onto the playground. They clapped their hands, laughed,
played, and danced,
delighted to be outdoors and free of
their studies.
