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The Little Princess Chapter 1 - Sara · The Frances Hodgson Burnett Library

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Speaker 1: CHAPTER I. SARAH Once on a dark winter's day, when
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Speaker 1: the yellow fog hung so thick and heavy in the
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Speaker 1: streets of London that the lamps were lighted and the
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Speaker 1: shop windows blazed with gas as they do at night,
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Speaker 1: an odd-looking little girl sat in a cab with her
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Speaker 1: father and was driven rather slowly through the big thoroughfares.
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Speaker 1: She sat with her feet tucked under her and leaned
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Speaker 1: against her father, who held her in his arm as
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Speaker 1: she stared out of the window at the passing people
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Speaker 1: with a queer old-fashioned thoughtfulness in her big eyes. She
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Speaker 1: was such a little girl that one did not expect
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Speaker 1: to see such a look on her small face. It
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Speaker 1: would have been an old look for a child of twelve,
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Speaker 1: and Sarah Crewe was only seven. The fact was, however,
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Speaker 1: that she was always dreaming and thinking odd things, and
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Speaker 1: could not herself remember any time when she had not
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Speaker 1: been thinking things about grown-up people and the world they
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Speaker 1: belonged to. She felt as if she had lived a long,
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Speaker 1: long time. At this moment, she was remembering the voyage
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Speaker 1: she had just made from Bombay with her father, Captain Crewe.
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Speaker 1: She was thinking of the big ship, of the lascars
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Speaker 1: passing silently to and fro on it, of the children
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Speaker 1: playing about on the hot deck, and of some young
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Speaker 1: officers' wives who used to try and make her talk
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Speaker 1: to them and laugh at the things she said. Principally
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Speaker 1: she was thinking of what a queer thing it was
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Speaker 1: that at one time she was in India in the
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Speaker 1: blazing sun, and then in the middle of the ocean,
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Speaker 1: and then driving in a strange vehicle through strange streets
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Speaker 1: where the day was as dark as the night. She
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Speaker 1: found this so puzzling that she moved closer to her father. Papa,
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Speaker 1: she said in a low, mysterious little voice which was
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Speaker 1: almost a whisper. Papa? What is it, darling? Captain Crewe answered,
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Speaker 1: holding her closer and looking down into her face. What
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Speaker 1: is Sarah thinking of? Is this the place? Sarah whispered,
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Speaker 1: cuddling still closer to him. Is it, Papa? Yes, little Sarah,
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Speaker 1: it is. We have reached it at last. And though
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Speaker 1: she was only seven years old, she knew that he
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Speaker 1: felt sad when he said it. It seemed to her
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Speaker 1: many years since he had begun to prepare her mind
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Speaker 1: for the place, as she always called it. Her mother
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Speaker 1: had died when she was born and so she had
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Speaker 1: never known or missed her. Her young, handsome, rich, petting
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Speaker 1: father seemed to be the only relation she had in
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Speaker 1: the world. They had always played together and been fond
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Speaker 1: of each other. She only knew that he was rich
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Speaker 1: because she had heard people say so when they thought
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Speaker 1: she was not listening, and she had also heard them
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Speaker 1: say that when she grew up she would be rich too.
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Speaker 1: She did not know all that being rich meant. She
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Speaker 1: had always lived in a beautiful bungalow and had been
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Speaker 1: used to seeing many servants who made salaams to her
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Speaker 1: and called her Missy Sahib and gave her her own
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Speaker 1: way in everything. She had had toys and pets and
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Speaker 1: an ayah who worshipped her and she had gradually learned
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Speaker 1: that people who were rich had these things. That, however,
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Speaker 1: was all she knew about it. During her short life
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Speaker 1: only one thing had troubled her and that thing was
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Speaker 1: the place she was to be taken to some day.
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Speaker 1: The climate of India was very bad for children, and
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Speaker 1: as soon as possible they were sent away from it,
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Speaker 1: generally to England and to school. She had seen other
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Speaker 1: children go away, and had heard their fathers and mothers
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Speaker 1: talk about the letters they received from them. She had
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Speaker 1: known that she would be obliged to go also, and
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Speaker 1: though sometimes her father's stories of the voyage and the
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Speaker 1: new country had attracted her, she had been troubled by
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Speaker 1: the thought that he could not stay with her.' Couldn' t
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Speaker 1: you go to that place with me, papa?' she had
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Speaker 1: asked when she was five years old.' Couldn' t you go
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Speaker 1: to school too? I would help you with your lessons.''
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Speaker 1: But you will not have to stay for a very
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Speaker 1: long time, little Sarah,' he had always said.' You will
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Speaker 1: go to a nice house, where there will be a
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Speaker 1: lot of little girls, and you will play together, and
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Speaker 1: I will send you plenty of books, and you will
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Speaker 1: grow so fast that it will seem scarcely a year
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Speaker 1: before you are big enough and clever enough to come
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Speaker 1: back and take care of papa.' She had liked to
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Speaker 1: think of that, to keep the house for her father,
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Speaker 1: to ride with him, and sit at the head of
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Speaker 1: his table when he had dinner parties, to talk to
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Speaker 1: him and read his books. That would be what she
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Speaker 1: would like most in the world. And if one must
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Speaker 1: go away to the place in England to attain it,
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Speaker 1: she must make up her mind to go. She did
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Speaker 1: not care very much for other little girls, but if
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Speaker 1: she had plenty of books, she could console herself. She
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Speaker 1: liked books more than anything else, and was in fact
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Speaker 1: always inventing stories of beautiful things and telling them to herself.
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Speaker 1: Sometimes she had told them to her father, and he
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Speaker 1: had liked them as much as she did.' Well, papa,'
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Speaker 1: she said softly,' if we are here I suppose we
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Speaker 1: must be resigned.' He laughed at her old-fashioned speech and
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Speaker 1: kissed her. He was really not at all resigned himself,
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Speaker 1: though he knew he must keep that a secret. his
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Speaker 1: quaint little sarah had been a great companion to him
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Speaker 1: and he felt he should be a lonely fellow when
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Speaker 1: on his return to india he went into his bungalow
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Speaker 1: knowing he need not expect to see the small figure
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Speaker 1: in its white frock come forward to meet him so
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Speaker 1: he held her very closely in his arms as the
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Speaker 1: cab rolled into the big dull square in which stood
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Speaker 1: the house which was their destination it was a big
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Speaker 1: dull brick house exactly like all the others in its
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Speaker 1: row but that on the front door there shone a
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Speaker 1: brass plate, on which was engraved in black letters, Miss Minchin,
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Speaker 1: Select Seminary for Young Ladies.' Here we are, Sarah,' said
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Speaker 1: Captain Crewe, making his voice sound as cheerful as possible.
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Speaker 1: Then he lifted her out of the cab, and they
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Speaker 1: mounted the steps and rang the bell. Sarah often thought
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Speaker 1: afterward that the house was somehow exactly like Miss Minchin.
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Speaker 1: It was respectable and well furnished. but everything in it
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Speaker 1: was ugly, and the very arm-chair seemed to have hard
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Speaker 1: bones in them. In the hall everything was hard and polished,
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Speaker 1: even the red cheeks of the moon-face on the tall
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Speaker 1: clock in the corner had a severe, varnished look. The
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Speaker 1: drawing-room into which they were ushered were covered by a
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Speaker 1: carpet with a square pattern upon it, the chairs were square,
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Speaker 1: and a heavy marble timepiece stood upon the heavy marble mantle.
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Speaker 1: As she sat down in one of the stiff mahogany chairs,
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Speaker 1: Sarah cast one of her quick looks around her. I
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Speaker 1: don't like it, Papa, she said. But then, I dare
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Speaker 1: say soldiers, even brave ones, don't really like going into battle.
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Speaker 1: Captain Crewe laughed outright at this. He was young and
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Speaker 1: full of fun, and he never tired of hearing Sarah's
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Speaker 1: queer speeches. Oh, little Sarah, he said. What shall I
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Speaker 1: do when I have no one to say solemn things
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Speaker 1: to me? No one else is as solemn as you are.''
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Speaker 1: But why do solemn things make you laugh so?' inquired Sarah.'
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Speaker 1: Because you are such fun when you say them,' he answered,
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Speaker 1: laughing still more. And then suddenly he swept her into
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Speaker 1: his arms and kissed her very hard, stopping laughing all
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Speaker 1: at once, and looking almost as if tears had come
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Speaker 1: into his eyes. It was just then that Miss Minchin
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Speaker 1: entered the room. She was very like her house, Sarah felt,
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Speaker 1: tall and dull and respectable and ugly. She had large, cold,
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Speaker 1: fishy eyes and a large, cold, fishy smile. It spread
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Speaker 1: itself into a very large smile when she saw Sarah
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Speaker 1: and Captain Crewe. She had heard a great many desirable
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Speaker 1: things of the young soldier from the lady who had
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Speaker 1: recommended her school to him. Among other things, She had
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Speaker 1: heard that he was a rich father who was willing
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Speaker 1: to spend a great deal of money on his little daughter.'
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Speaker 1: It will be a great privilege to have charge of
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Speaker 1: such a beautiful and promising child, Captain Crewe,' she said,
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Speaker 1: taking Sarah's hand and stroking it.' Lady Meredith has told
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Speaker 1: me of her unusual cleverness. A clever child is a
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Speaker 1: great treasure in an establishment like mine.' Sarah stood quietly,
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Speaker 1: with her eyes fixed upon Miss Minchin's face. She was
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Speaker 1: thinking something odd, as usual. Why does she say I
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Speaker 1: am a beautiful child? She was thinking. I am not
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Speaker 1: beautiful at all. Colonel Granger's little girl, Isabel, is beautiful.
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Speaker 1: She has dimples and rose-coloured cheeks and long hair the
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Speaker 1: colour of gold. I have short black hair and green eyes,
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Speaker 1: besides which I am a thin child and not fair
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Speaker 1: in the least. I am one of the ugliest children
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Speaker 1: I ever saw. She is beginning by telling a story.
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Speaker 1: She was mistaken, however, in thinking she was an ugly child.
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Speaker 1: She was not in the least like Isabel Grange, who
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Speaker 1: had been the beauty of the regiment, but she had
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Speaker 1: an odd charm of her own. She was a slim,
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Speaker 1: supple creature, rather tall for her age, and had an intense,
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Speaker 1: attractive little face. Her hair was heavy and quite black,
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Speaker 1: and only curled at the tips. Her eyes were greenish-gray,
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Speaker 1: it is true, but they were big, wonderful eyes with long,
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Speaker 1: black lashes, and though she herself did not like the
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Speaker 1: color of them, many other people did. Still, she was
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Speaker 1: very firm in her belief that she was an ugly
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Speaker 1: little girl, and she was not at all elated by
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Speaker 1: Miss Minchin's flattery. I should be telling a story if
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Speaker 1: I said she was beautiful, she thought, and I should
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Speaker 1: know I was telling a story. I believe I am
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Speaker 1: as ugly as she is, in my way. What did
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Speaker 1: she say that for? After she had known Miss Minchin longer,
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Speaker 1: she learned why she had said it. She discovered that
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Speaker 1: she said the same thing to each papa and mama
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Speaker 1: who brought a child to her school. Sarah stood near
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Speaker 1: her father and listened while he and Miss Minchin talked.
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Speaker 1: She had been brought to the seminary because Lady Meredith's
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Speaker 1: two little girls had been educated there, and Captain Crewe
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Speaker 1: had a great respect for Lady Meredith's experience. Sarah was
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Speaker 1: to be what was known as a parlour boarder, and
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Speaker 1: she was to enjoy even greater privileges than parlour boarders
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Speaker 1: usually did. She was to have a pretty bedroom and
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Speaker 1: sitting-room of her own, she was to have a pony
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Speaker 1: and a carriage, and a maid to take the place
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Speaker 1: of the ayah, who had been her nurse in India.'
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Speaker 1: I am not in the least anxious about her education,'
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Speaker 1: Captain Crewe said with his gay laugh, as he held
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Speaker 1: Sarah's hand and patted it.' The difficulty will be to
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Speaker 1: keep her from learning too fast and too much. She
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Speaker 1: is always sitting with her little nose burrowing into books.
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Speaker 1: She doesn't read them, Miss Minchin. She gobbles them up
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Speaker 1: as if she were a little wolf instead of a
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Speaker 1: little girl. She is always starving for new books to gobble,
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Speaker 1: and she wants grown-up books.' great big fat ones, French
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Speaker 1: and German as well as English, history and biography and
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Speaker 1: poets and all sorts of things. Drag her away from
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Speaker 1: her books when she reads too much. Make her ride
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Speaker 1: her pony in the row, or go out and buy
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Speaker 1: a new doll. She ought to play more with dolls.'' Papa,'
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Speaker 1: said Sarah,' you see, if I went out and bought
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Speaker 1: a new doll every few days, I should have more
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Speaker 1: than I could be fond of. Dolls ought to be
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Speaker 1: intimate friends. Emily is going to be my intimate friend.'
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Speaker 1: Captain Crewe looked at Miss Minchin, and Miss Minchin looked
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Speaker 1: at Captain Crewe.' Who is Emily?' she inquired.' Tell her, Sarah,'
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Speaker 1: Captain Crewe said, smiling. Sarah's grey-green eyes looked very solemn
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Speaker 1: and quite soft as she answered.' She is a doll
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Speaker 1: I haven't got yet,' she said.' She is a doll
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Speaker 1: Papa is going to buy for me. We are going
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Speaker 1: out together to find her. I have called her Emily.'
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Speaker 1: She is going to be my friend when Papa is gone.
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Speaker 1: I want her to talk to about him. Miss Minchin's large,
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Speaker 1: fishy smile became very flattering indeed. What an original child,
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Speaker 1: she said. What a darling little creature. Yes, said Captain Crewe,
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Speaker 1: drawing Sarah close. She is a darling little creature. Take
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Speaker 1: great care of her for me, Miss Minchin. Sarah stayed
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Speaker 1: with her father at his hotel for several days. In fact,
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Speaker 1: she remained with him until he sailed away again to India.
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Speaker 1: They went out and visited many big shops together, and
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Speaker 1: bought a great many things. They bought, indeed, a great
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Speaker 1: many more things than Sarah needed, but Captain Crewe was
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Speaker 1: a rash, innocent young man, and wanted his little girl
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Speaker 1: to have everything she admired and everything he admired himself.
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Speaker 1: So between them they collected a wardrobe much too grand
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Speaker 1: for a child of seven. There were velvet dresses trimmed
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Speaker 1: with costly furs, and lace dresses, and embroidered ones, and
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Speaker 1: hats with great soft ostrich feathers, and ermine coats and muffs,
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Speaker 1: and boxes of tiny gloves and handkerchiefs and silk stockings
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Speaker 1: in such abundant supplies that the polite young women behind
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Speaker 1: the counters whispered to each other that the odd little
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Speaker 1: girl with the big solemn eyes must be at least
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Speaker 1: some foreign princess, perhaps the little daughter of an Indian rajah.
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Speaker 1: and at last they found Emily. But they went to
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Speaker 1: a number of toy shops and looked at a great
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Speaker 1: many dolls before they discovered her. I want her to
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Speaker 1: look as if she wasn't a doll really, Sarah said.
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Speaker 1: I want her to look as if she listens when
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Speaker 1: I talk to her. The trouble with dolls, Papa, and
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Speaker 1: she put her head on one side and reflected as
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Speaker 1: she said it, the trouble with dolls is that they
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Speaker 1: never seem to hear. So they looked at big ones
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Speaker 1: and little ones at dolls with black eyes and dolls
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Speaker 1: with blue, at dolls with brown curls and dolls with
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Speaker 1: golden braids, dolls dressed and dolls undressed. You see, Sarah said,
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Speaker 1: when they were examining one who had no clothes, if,
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Speaker 1: when I find her, she has no frocks, we can
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Speaker 1: take her to a dressmaker and have her things made
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Speaker 1: to fit. They will fit better if they are tried on.
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Speaker 1: After a number of disappointments, they decided to walk and
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Speaker 1: look at the shop windows and let the cab follow them.
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Speaker 1: They had passed two or three places without even going in, when,
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Speaker 1: as they were approaching a shop, which was really not
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Speaker 1: a very large one, Sarah suddenly started and clutched her
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Speaker 1: father's arm.' Oh, Papa!' she cried.' There is Emily!' A
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Speaker 1: flush had risen to her face, and there was an
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Speaker 1: expression in her grey-green eyes as if she had just
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Speaker 1: recognized someone she was intimate with and fond of.' She' s
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Speaker 1: actually there waiting for us,' she said. Let us go
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Speaker 1: in to her.'' Dear me,' said Captain Crewe,' I feel
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Speaker 1: as if we ought to have someone introduce us.'' You
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Speaker 1: must introduce me, and I will introduce you,' said Sarah.'
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Speaker 1: But I knew her the minute I saw her, so
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Speaker 1: perhaps she knew me too.' Perhaps she had known her.
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Speaker 1: She had certainly a very intelligent expression in her eyes
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Speaker 1: when Sarah took her in her arms. She was a
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Speaker 1: large doll, but not too large to carry about easily.
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Speaker 1: She had naturally curling golden-brown hair, which hung like a
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Speaker 1: mantle about her, and her eyes were a deep, clear grey-blue,
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Speaker 1: with soft, thick eyelashes, which were real eyelashes and not
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Speaker 1: mere painted lines. Of course, said Sarah, looking into her
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Speaker 1: face as she held her on her knee. Of course, Papa,
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Speaker 1: this is Emily. So Emily was bought, and actually taken
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Speaker 1: to a children's outfitter's shop and measured for a wardrobe
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Speaker 1: as grand as Sarah's own. She had lace frocks, too,
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Speaker 1: and velvet and muslin ones, and hats and coats and
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Speaker 1: beautiful lace-trimmed underclothes and gloves and handkerchiefs and furs.' I
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Speaker 1: should like her always to look as if she was
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Speaker 1: a child with a good mother,' said Sarah.' I' m her mother,
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Speaker 1: though I am going to make a companion of her.'
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Speaker 1: Captain Crewe would really have enjoyed the shopping tremendously, but
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Speaker 1: that a sad thought kept tugging at his heart. This
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Speaker 1: all meant that he was going to be separated from
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Speaker 1: his beloved, quaint little comrade. He got out of his
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Speaker 1: bed in the middle of that night and went and
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Speaker 1: stood looking down at Sarah, who lay asleep with Emily
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Speaker 1: in her arms. Her black hair was spread out on
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Speaker 1: the pillow and Emily's golden brown hair mingled with it.
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Speaker 1: Both of them had lace ruffled nightgowns and both had
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Speaker 1: long eyelashes which lay and curled up on their cheeks.
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Speaker 1: Emily looked so like a real child, that Captain Crewe
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Speaker 1: felt glad she was there. He drew a big sigh
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Speaker 1: and pulled his moustache with a boyish expression.' Hey- ho, little Sarah,'
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Speaker 1: he said to himself.' I don't believe you know how
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Speaker 1: much your daddy will miss you.' The next day he
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Speaker 1: took her to Miss Minchin's and left her there. He
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Speaker 1: was to sail away the next morning. He explained to
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Speaker 1: Miss Minchin that his solicitors, Messrs. Barrow and Skipworth, had
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Speaker 1: charge of his affairs in England and and would give
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Speaker 1: her any advice she wanted, and that they would pay
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Speaker 1: the bills she sent in for Sarah's expenses. He would
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Speaker 1: write to Sarah twice a week, and she was to
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Speaker 1: be given every pleasure she asked for.' She is a
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Speaker 1: sensible little thing, and she never wants anything it isn't
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Speaker 1: safe to give her,' he said. Then he went with
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Speaker 1: Sarah into her little sitting-room, and they bade each other good-bye.
18:30
Speaker 1: Sarah sat on his knee and held the lapels of
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Speaker 1: his coat in her small hands, and looked long and
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Speaker 1: hard at his face. Are you learning me by heart,
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Speaker 1: little Sarah? he said, stroking her hair. No, she answered.
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Speaker 1: I know you by heart. You are inside my heart.
18:51
Speaker 1: And they put their arms round each other and kissed
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Speaker 1: as if they would never let each other go. When
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Speaker 1: the cab drove away from the door, Sarah was sitting
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Speaker 1: on the floor of her sitting room with her hands
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Speaker 1: under her chin and her eyes following it till it
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Speaker 1: had turned the corner of the square. Emily was sitting
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Speaker 1: by her, and she looked after it, too. When Miss
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Speaker 1: Minchin sent her sister, Miss Amelia, to see what the
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Speaker 1: child was doing, she found she could not open the door.'
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Speaker 1: I have locked it,' said a queer, polite little voice
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Speaker 1: from inside.' I want to be quite by myself, if
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Speaker 1: you please.' Miss Amelia was fat and dumpy, and stood
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Speaker 1: very much in awe of her sister. She was really
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Speaker 1: the better-natured person of the two, but she never disobeyed
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Speaker 1: Miss Minchin. She went downstairs again, looking almost alarmed. I
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Speaker 1: never saw such a funny old-fashioned child, sister, she said.
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Speaker 1: She has locked herself in and she is not making
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Speaker 1: the least particles of noise.'' It is much better than
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Speaker 1: if she kicked and screamed, as some of them do,'
19:55
Speaker 1: Miss Minchin answered.' I expected that a child as much
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Speaker 1: spoiled as she is would set the whole house in
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Speaker 1: an uproar. If a child was ever given her own
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Speaker 1: way in everything, she is.' I' ve been opening her trunks
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Speaker 1: and putting her things away,' said Miss Amelia. I never
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Speaker 1: saw anything like them. Sable and ermine on her coats
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Speaker 1: and real Valenciennes lace on her underclothing. You've seen some
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Speaker 1: of her clothes. What do you think of them? I
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Speaker 1: think they are perfectly ridiculous, replied Miss Minchin sharply. But
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Speaker 1: they will look well at the head of the line
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Speaker 1: when we take the schoolchildren to church on Sunday. She
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Speaker 1: has been provided for as if she were a little princess.
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Speaker 1: And upstairs, in the locked room, Sarah and Emily sat
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Speaker 1: on the floor and stared at the corner around which
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Speaker 1: the cab had disappeared, while Captain Crewe looked backward, waving
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Speaker 1: and kissing his hand as if he could not bear
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Speaker 1: to stop. End of chapter 1