مکانی جدید

CHAPTER FIVE

A New Place

‘What did you do, my dear, while Fritz and I were on the ship?’ I asked.

‘I found a place for our new home,’ said my wife. ‘It was impossible to stay in the tent because it was so hot. And there are no trees here that we can sit under.

So Ernest and Jack took their guns, and we took enough food with us for the day. The dogs came too.

‘We came to a river and crossed it on stones. Then we walked up to higher ground. From there, I could see a small group of ten or twelve trees. They were the biggest trees that I’ve ever seen. We stopped and ate our lunch there. It seemed to me to be the perfect place to live.

‘There! Now you know my story! I went to look for a new place to live, and I found one. Promise me that we’ll go there tomorrow. We’ll make a home for ourselves in one of those big trees.’

‘What!’ I said, laughing. ‘In a tree? A tree house! We can live under a tree, but how can we get up into the tree? Fly?’

‘You can laugh if you want to. But I’m sure that we can build a small hut in the branches. We’ll think of a way to get up there.’

‘Right,’ I said. ‘We’ll all go and see the place tomorrow. Then we’ll think about what we can do.’

During the night, I thought about our conversation. Then, as we sat at breakfast the next day, I said, ‘Yes, we’ll move to the place that you saw on the other side of the river.’ I turned to the boys and said, ‘Now, what’s the first thing that we must do?’

‘I know!’ said Jack. ‘We must move the tent there and then take all our things and the animals.’

‘What do you think, Fritz?’

‘The place is on the other side of the river. Mother, Ernest, Jack and Franz went across on stones. But the donkey and pig can’t cross on those stones, and we can’t carry our things across the water. We must build a bridge. That’s the first thing, isn’t it?’

‘No,’ said Ernest. ‘First, we must go out to the ship and bring back wood for the bridge.’

‘We don’t have to do that,’ said Jack. ‘There was a lot of wood on the beach where that shellfish caught me. It’s come from other ships, and there will be more there now.’

‘Good boy!’ I said. ‘Let’s see what we can find.’

Jack was right. We found plenty of wood. We tied together the big pieces which were useful to us. We pulled them to the mouth of the river. Then we got the donkey and, with its help, we pulled the pieces of wood up the river. Finally, they were at the place where we wanted to build our bridge.

It wasn’t easy, but we put three long pieces across the river. Then we nailed more wood across them. It was very hard work, and we all slept well that night. The next morning, we got up early and began preparing for our journey.

We put our pots, food and smaller things into bags and hung them on each side of the donkey.

We put little bags on the goats, but the pig refused to carry anything. Franz sat on the back of the donkey, so it could not run away. The boys and I carried the other things that we needed for the first few days in our new home.

When we were all ready, my wife said, ‘We can’t leave the chickens here. If we leave them, we’ll lose them all.’

Fritz and Ernest tried to catch the chickens, but it was impossible. They ran away.

‘I’ll show you how to do it,’ my wife said.

She threw a little corn on the ground, and all the chickens ran to it. When she threw some more inside the tent, they all went inside. Then, while they were eating, she closed the tent.

‘Now, Jack, you go into the tent. Catch the birds and pass them out to us. We’ll tie their legs and put them in two barrels on the donkey’s back.’

At last, we were ready to start. We put our other things inside the tent and closed it carefully.

Fritz and my wife went in front. Next came the donkey, with Franz on its back, then Jack with the goats. The monkey rode on the goat that gave him his milk. After him came Ernest and the sheep, and I came last. The dogs helped us to keep all the animals in line.

The pig did not want to come with us, so we left it behind. But when it saw us leaving, it came running after us. When we reached the bridge, it was there too!

We crossed the bridge very carefully. I was worried about the weight of the donkey, so I went first. The bridge was all right, so the donkey went next. Then the rest followed. But not the pig! Oh no! The pig refused to go on to the bridge.

We tried everything, but without success. Then, when we were all on the other side, the pig swam across. It followed us. So we reached the place where we wanted to make our new home.

‘These are wonderful trees!’ said Fritz. ‘They’re so tall!’

‘Yes,’ I said, ‘I didn’t think they were as big as this. This is an excellent place. If we can make a house in one of these trees, we’ll be safe from wild animals.’

We tied up the animals so they couldn’t escape - but not the pig. The pig lay down and slept. We freed the chickens, and my wife started a fire and cooked a meal for us.