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.
Thus day after day Helly’s voice rang out, screamed out. “My belly! My belly! Ding, dang, dong!” Helly could see the children playing, hear their laughter and shouting. And she would ring out again when it was time for them to go home, leaving her all alone. All the children could plainly hear her voice and were delighted with the sounds she made. And there she hung, day after day, and there wasn’t a thing she could do about it.
One day after school
was over and Helly had been left all
alone, she fell to thinking: “What a hard life, being away from home ! If only I could go home again, I’d be a perfect little girl.” Remembering
the old man, she thought: “Maybe he’ll take pity on me and set me free.
Maybe he’ll ask where I want to live once more.”
And suddenly she heard
the old man’s voice, saying: “Helly, come here. It seems you’re beginning to see what wonderful
places they were-your neighborhood and
your lane and your home. Now you appreciate
your home’.”
Looking around, Helly
saw that she was back in her own shape,
in the garden with the old man. She said hello and, very politely, asked after his
health. Then she said: “Old man, please send me back home. Life is really too hard away from home. If you’ll let me go back, I promise
to be a perfect little girl.”
The old man said: “All
right, I think you’ve learned
your lesson. Since you don’t seem to like my flowery garden, nor my
parrots and nightingales, I’ll let
you go home. But your head is covered with rust-where is your smooth black hair. And you’re pale from so much screaming--where is your beautiful face? Just wait a minute and I’ll restore your health; then I’ll send
you home.”
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