Toni, the Little Woodcarver | Page 9

if the rolling thunder
would overthrow the hut to the ground. Toni was so alarmed he could
hardly breathe. He climbed up on the table expecting every minute that
the hut would fall and crush him. The storm lasted for hours, and the
man never came over. It was now really night but still the blinding
lightning flashed and new peals of thunder rolled and the storm howled
and raged as if it would sweep the hut away.
Toni stood half the night stiff with fright, clinging to the table, and with
no thought, only a feeling of a frightful power, which was crushing
everything. How he reached his bed he did not know, but in the
morning he lay stretched across the hay, so exhausted he could hardly
rise. He looked anxiously out of the window. How must it look outside
after such a night? Then he went out to see about the cows. The ground

was still wet, but the animals were peacefully grazing.
The sky was gray, and thick, black clouds were passing over it.
Gloomy and frightful the high mountains stood there. They had come
so near and looked more threateningly than ever at Toni. He ran back
into the hut.
Many days of thunder storms followed, one after another and if the sun
came out between, it burned unbearably, and new storms followed so
unceasingly and violent, that the herdsman, on the other mountain often
said that he had not known such a summer for years, and if it didn't
change he wouldn't make half so much butter as in former summers,
because the cows gave no milk, as they didn't like the fodder.
During this time the man-servant chose the most favorable time to
come over to the small pasture, milked the cows as quickly as possible
and did not look after the boy at all; only now and then, when he
thought Toni had no more milk, he would bring the jug out quickly, fill
it and put it back again. Then he often saw Toni sitting on his bed of
hay, and would call out in passing:
"You are lazy!"
But then he ran right away in order to get back without being wet, and
did not trouble himself further about the boy.
So June had passed, and already a good part of July. The thunder
storms had become less frequent, but thick fog often so enveloped the
mountain that one could hardly see two steps away, and only here and
there a black head appeared, looking gloomily through the mist. The
cattle often wandered so far that the man found some of them between
the two mountains and brought them up again. This would not do. He
called up to the boy, but received no answer. He ran to the hut and went
in. Toni crouched in the corner was sitting on his bed and staring
straight before him.
"Why don't you look after the cows?" asked the man.

He received no answer.
"Can't you speak? What is the matter with you?"
No answer.
Then the man looked at the bread and cheese, to see if Toni had eaten
everything and was suffering from hunger. But more than half the
bread was there and the larger part of the cheese. Toni had taken almost
nothing but milk.
"What is the matter with you, then? Are you sick?" asked the man
again.
Toni gave no answer. He seemed not to hear anything and stared so
motionless before him that the man was quite alarmed. He ran out of
the hut. He told the herdsman how it was with the boy and they decided
that when one of the herdsman's boys went down with the butter, he
must tell the Matten farmer about it.
Another week passed. Then the news was brought to the farmer. He
thought the boy would be happy again, that the heavy thunderstorms
had only frightened him a little. But he sent word for the herdsman to
go over; he had boys of his own and would understand better about this
than the hired man. If anything was wrong with Toni he must be
brought down.
Some days later the herdsman really went over with one of his boys
and found Toni still crouched in the corner just as the man had seen
him. Toni made no sound to anything the herdsman said to him, did not
move and kept staring always before him.
"He must go down," said the herdsman to his boy, "go with him right
away, but take care that nothing happens to him and be good to him;
the boy is to be pitied," and he looked at Toni with sympathy, for the
herdsman had a good heart and took delight in his own three big,
healthy