On the way up the mountain, Dete meets an old friend and the two begin walking together and gossiping, leaving Heidi to her own devices. The child sees Peter, the eleven-year-old goatherd who is headed up the mountain with his flock. Heidi attempts to follow them, but is too hot and slow in all her clothing. She stops and strips out of everything except her petticoat and then runs gleefully after an amused Peter and his goats. Dete is less amused when, after taking leave of her friend, she realizes that Heidi's clothes are strewn on the ground far down the mountain.
This illustration is from Johanna Spyri's 1881 children's novel Heidi. At the beginning of the book we meet Heidi, a five-year-old orphan who is being raised by her Aunt Dete in Maienfeld, Switzerland. Dete is offered a job as a maid in the city and can't take Heidi with her, so decides to bring the child to her paternal grandfather who lives on the alp above the mountain village of Dorfli. He is a recluse who, embittered over the loss of his son, avoids contact with the villagers- and his granddaughter. In spite of this, Dete determinedly starts up the mountain with her niece. She doesn't want to carry Heidi's clothes so, despite the fact that it's a warm June day, she makes Heidi wear all three of her dresses, her shawl, heavy knitted stockings, and hobnailed shoes.
On the way up the mountain, Dete meets an old friend and the two begin walking together and gossiping, leaving Heidi to her own devices. The child sees Peter, the eleven-year-old goatherd who is headed up the mountain with his flock. Heidi attempts to follow them, but is too hot and slow in all her clothing. She stops and strips out of everything except her petticoat and then runs gleefully after an amused Peter and his goats. Dete is less amused when, after taking leave of her friend, she realizes that Heidi's clothes are strewn on the ground far down the mountain.
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