Level 5

On the Mountain
W hen Heidi woke up the next morning,
at first she could not remember where
she was. Then she heard Grandfather’s deep
voice coming from the room below and she
climbed down the ladder. While they were
having breakfast, they heard a loud whistle.
They went outside, and there stood Peter
with his herd of goats.
“Do you want to go with them up the
mountain?” asked Grandfather.
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 Nothing could have pleased Heidi more.
She started joyfully up the mountain with
Peter and the goats. Soon, she was running
here, there, and everywhere, shouting with
delight. She was enchanted by the waving
fields of flowers. Whenever she caught sight
of a bright patch of red or yellow blossoms,
she ran off. She picked handfuls of the fresh
flowers and carried them in her apron. She
wanted to take them all home and stick them
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in the hay. She wanted to make her bedroom
look just like the mountain meadows.
“Where are you now, Heidi?” Peter called
out.
Heidi looked around. Some of the goats
had followed her, but she couldn’t see Peter.
“Here,” she called back.
“We still have a long way to go!” called
Peter again. Then he whistled loudly and
started calling the goats by name. One
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 after the other they bounded off, and Heidi
followed. Surrounded by the goats, Peter led
the way to a green plateau, where the goats
could nibble juicy stems while he and Heidi
ate lunch.
Heidi sat down. “Is the milk for me?” she
asked.
“Yes,” replied Peter, “and the two large
pieces of bread, and the cheese is yours too.”
Grandfather had packed a lunch for Heidi
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and given it to Peter to carry. It was much
bigger than Peter’s own lunch. Heidi cut off
big chunks of her bread and cheese and gave
them to Peter. “Here, you can have this, I
have plenty,” she said.
Peter looked at Heidi with astonishment,
unable to speak. Then he shyly nodded his
thanks.
All of a sudden, Peter leapt to his feet
and ran after a goat that was leaping in the
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 direction of some dangerous rocks. When
he brought the goat back to where they were
eating, Peter lifted his stick to hit the goat.
“No, no, Peter, you must not hit her. See
how frightened she is?”
“She deserves it,” growled Peter.
“It will hurt her, leave her alone!”
Peter looked with surprise at the outspoken
little girl. “Well, I will let her off if you will
give me some more cheese tomorrow.”
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 “You shall have some tomorrow and
every day,” Heidi agreed. And she made
Peter promise not to hit any of the goats ever
again.
After a long afternoon, the sun began
to sink behind the mountain, and the rocks
began to glow red with the sun’s fading
light.
It was a beautiful sight, and Heidi
jumped to her feet. “Peter! Peter!” she cried.
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 “Everything is on fire!”
“It is always like that,” said Peter. “It will
happen again tomorrow. But we must go
home now, it’s getting late.”
Heidi had never had a better day in her
life. She loved the beauty of the mountainside,
and the sun setting behind the mountaintop.
As Heidi arrived at her hut, Peter called
out from the path, “Good night! Come with
me again tomorrow!”
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 Heidi quickly ran back and shook Peter’s
hand, promising to go with him again.

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 Level 5

On the Mountain

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