Level 5

Heidi Learns
to Read
A bout one week after Heidi started
praying, the tutor asked to speak with
Clara’s grandmother. He wanted to tell her
about something remarkable. “Something I
had stopped hoping for has happened,” said
the tutor. “It can only be looked upon as a
miracle.”
“Has Heidi learned to read at last?” asked
Grandmamma.
The tutor looked at the lady with
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 astonishment. “How did you guess?” he
asked. “It is truly marvelous! At first she
seemed unable to learn her letters. Now it is
as if she has learned them overnight.”
“Many unlikely things happen in life,”
said Grandmamma with a pleased smile.
Grandmamma was so pleased that she
wanted to reward Heidi with a present. She
found her reading aloud to Clara. “Heidi, I
am so pleased that you have learned to read.
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The picture book is yours to keep,”
Grandmamma said.
Heidi was overwhelmed with delight.
“Mine to keep always? Even when I go
home?” said Heidi, blushing with pleasure.
“Yes, of course, yours forever,”
Grandmamma assured her.
When Heidi went to bed that night, she
looked at her book again before falling
asleep. From that day forward, her chief
3
 pleasure was to read over and over again the
tales that belonged to the beautiful pictures
of the shepherd and his flock.
Heidi often went to Grandmamma’s room
in the afternoons while Clara took her nap.
There she learned to sew, and Grandmamma
listened to Heidi read aloud. All the people
Heidi read about became like dear friends. It
always delighted her to be with them. But
Heidi’s homesickness never left her.
4
 In the last week of her visit, Grandmamma
called Heidi into her room one evening after
dinner. “Now, child,” she said, “tell me why
you are not happy? Do you still have the
same trouble in your heart?”
Heidi nodded in reply.
“Have you told God about it?”
“Yes,” said Heidi, sadly.
“And do you pray every night to ask God
to make things right so that you may be
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 happy again?”
“No, I have stopped praying,” said Heidi.
Grandmamma was surprised. “Do not tell
me that! Why have you stopped praying?”
“It doesn’t do any good. God does not
listen,” Heidi said in an agitated voice.
“How can He listen when so many people
pray to Him every night? He cannot hear
them all. He certainly has not heard what I
said to Him.”
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 “You are wrong, Heidi. You must not
think of Him like that. God has heard you. If
He has not given you what you prayed for,
He will give you something better when the
time is right. He knows better than we do
what is good for us. Continue to pray and to
trust Him.”
Heidi had perfect confidence in
Grandmamma, and every word she said sank
into her heart. That night, Heidi prayed once
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 again so that God would go on thinking
about her.
The day came for Grandmamma to leave.
Both Clara and Heidi were very sad, but all
morning, Grandmamma kept them lively and
amused with songs and games so that they
had no time to be unhappy. After she had
left, the house seemed silent and empty.
Clara and Heidi sat the remainder of the day
like two lost children.
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 Level 5

Heidi Learns
to Read

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