Speaker 1: Section twelve of Birds and All Nature, Volume seven, number two,
Speaker 1: February nineteen hundred, recorded for LibriVox dot Org by Betty B.
Speaker 1: Hans and Mitzi Doctor Albert Schneider. Hans was a little
Speaker 1: blue eyed German orphan who had been adopted by a
Speaker 1: man and wife because they thought they could make good
Speaker 1: use of him. But to their chagrin they were disappointed.
Speaker 1: Hans had been told again and again that he was
Speaker 1: an ungrateful, lazy good for nothing. This was also the
Speaker 1: reason why his master whipped him so frequently. Now, Hans
Speaker 1: was only nine years old, and of course he could
Speaker 1: not know that he was so thoroughly bad unless he
Speaker 1: was told and the telling of it accompanied by cuffs
Speaker 1: in order to impress this fact more fully upon his
Speaker 1: dull brain. It was really true that Hans was lazy
Speaker 1: and perhaps queer in many ways. He disliked hard work,
Speaker 1: preferring to wander about the fields and meadows, the ditches, pastures,
Speaker 1: and the trees of the nearby forest. He had been
Speaker 1: discovered lying in the grass, watching the fleeting clouds overhead
Speaker 1: and listening to the sighing of the wind in the
Speaker 1: tall grass and the overshadowing trees in his imagination, the
Speaker 1: breezes whispered soothing words, soft and low. He watched the
Speaker 1: busy bees, the ants, and the black carrion beetles tugging
Speaker 1: great loads up hill. Often he had observed a lady
Speaker 1: with two children about his age, going by on their
Speaker 1: way to Sunday school. With wistful eyes, he would watch
Speaker 1: the romping of the children and listen to their exclamations
Speaker 1: of joy as they played among the flowers. Sometimes the
Speaker 1: kind lady would beckon to Hans and talk kindly to
Speaker 1: him and make him presents. Then little Hans would cry,
Speaker 1: as though his poor heart would break. He hid the
Speaker 1: gifts and a secret nook in the granary, which was
Speaker 1: also his sleeping place, and often he would think of
Speaker 1: the kind lady and her happy children while the love
Speaker 1: hunger shone in his eyes. Mitsy was only a half starved,
Speaker 1: homeless gray kitten which came to Hans while he was
Speaker 1: hoeing in the orchard. The two understood each other at once,
Speaker 1: and why should they not? Both were homeless, friendless and soulss.
Speaker 1: Everybody knows that a cat, much less a stray kitten,
Speaker 1: has no soul. You may say that Hans was neither
Speaker 1: a cat nor a kitten, but some little boys of
Speaker 1: the neighborhood had sneeringly remarked that he was a fraid cat. Besides,
Speaker 1: his master had whipped all the spirit out of him.
Speaker 1: Therefore he too was without a soul. Hans petted Mitsy
Speaker 1: and gave her some bread crusts, and hid her in
Speaker 1: the shed to keep her out of sight of his master.
Speaker 1: Mitsy gained in flesh and became very fond of Hans,
Speaker 1: and at times would try to follow him, but Hans
Speaker 1: would take her back and put her in a more
Speaker 1: secure place. Mitsy did not know of the cruel master,
Speaker 1: and in spite of all precautions, she finally made her
Speaker 1: escape and searched for Hans. She could not find him,
Speaker 1: so she mewed again and again, and finally succeeded in
Speaker 1: attracting not only the attention of Hans, but also that
Speaker 1: of the Master, who promptly picked up a stone and
Speaker 1: hurled it at Mitsy, but fortunately missed her. It may
Speaker 1: be that Mitsy was not so easily frightened as Hans,
Speaker 1: for in time she tried to get to him, even
Speaker 1: if the Master was near poor ignorant Mitzi. She did
Speaker 1: not know that the show of friendliness would get Hans
Speaker 1: into trouble. The Master concluded that Hans was responsible for
Speaker 1: the presence of Mitsi and ordered him to take her
Speaker 1: and kill her then and there. In agony and despair,
Speaker 1: Hans ran to Mitzi to frighten her way, but she
Speaker 1: only rubbed her glossy fur against him and purred gently.
Speaker 1: And only when the frenzied master attempted to grasp out
Speaker 1: of the protecting arms of Hans did she attempt to flee,
Speaker 1: but too late a vicious kick caught her in the side,
Speaker 1: but she managed to escape under the protecting granary. In
Speaker 1: the evening, Hans went to the shed and called Mitsi Mitzi,
Speaker 1: and poor suffering Mitzi dragged herself far enough so that
Speaker 1: little Hans might stroke her head. Hans brought some bread
Speaker 1: and milk, but Mitsi only mewed piteously. In the morning,
Speaker 1: Hans found Mitzi stiff and cold near the opening of
Speaker 1: the shed. Poor Hans he sobbed and sobbed, and called
Speaker 1: Mitsi Mitzi, most piteously, but Mitsi did not answer. Her
Speaker 1: sufferings were over. End of section. This recording is in
Speaker 1: the public domain.