Perri
By Felix Salten
4/5
()
About this ebook
Perri is a young squirrel living in Bambi’s forest. She grows up, learning about survival, friendship, and love as she observes and interacts with the complicated world around her. Most exciting of all, she meets a three-year-old human girl who can understand and talk to animals!
Called an “exquisite thing” by a 1938 Kirkus Reviews, this heartwarming classic is now available to a whole new generation of readers in this beautiful repackaged edition.
Felix Salten
Felix Salten (1869–1945) was an Austrian author and critic in Vienna. His most famous work is Bambi.
Read more from Felix Salten
Bambi's Children: The Story of a Forest Family Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Forest World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Renni the Rescuer Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fifteen Rabbits Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hound of Florence Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFlorian: The Emperor's Stallion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The City Jungle Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDjibi Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to Perri
Related ebooks
The City Jungle Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDjibi Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Florian: The Emperor's Stallion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Our Little Cuban Cousin Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFarm Boy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRaggedy Ann and the Paper Dragon - Illustrated by Johnny Gruelle Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Adventures of Chatterer the Red Squirrel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPeter Pan Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJust So Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beyond the Wall Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Return to Sender Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Raggedy Ann and the Golden Butterfly - Illustrated by Johnny Gruelle Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Merry Adventures of Robin Hood Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPeter Pan and Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bobbsey Twins at Snow Lodge Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Caterpillar Woman Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Freddy Goes to Florida: Children's Adventure Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Summer We Saved the Bees Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEscape from the Palace Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Buster Bear's Twins Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Adventures of Paddy the Beaver Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLug: Dawn of the Ice Age Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tree of Freedom Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Adventures of Reddy Fox Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Whale Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5LITTLE JOE OTTER - an animal story for children Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5The Wind in the Willows Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Story of a Fierce Bad Rabbit Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Classic Starts®: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Children's For You
The Phantom Tollbooth Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fever 1793 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Coraline Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dark Is Rising Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Witch of Blackbird Pond: A Newbery Award Winner Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Over Sea, Under Stone Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Number the Stars: A Newbery Award Winner Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Much Ado About Nothing (No Fear Shakespeare) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAlice In Wonderland: The Original 1865 Unabridged and Complete Edition (Lewis Carroll Classics) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPete the Kitty Goes to the Doctor Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Island of the Blue Dolphins: A Newbery Award Winner Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cedric The Shark Get's Toothache: Bedtime Stories For Children, #1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Amari and the Night Brothers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Day My Fart Followed Me Home Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Twas the Night Before Christmas Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Long Walk to Water: Based on a True Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anne of Green Gables: A Graphic Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Alone Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Tower Treasure: The Hardy Boys Book 1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Presents a Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Don't Judge An Alligator By Its Teeth!: Benjamin's Adventures, #1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Peter Pan Complete Text Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Shadow Is Purple Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Workbook on How to Do the Work by Nicole LePera: Summary Study Guide Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Dork Diaries 1: Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dealing with Dragons Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Pete the Kitty and the Unicorn's Missing Colors Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for Perri
9 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Perri - Felix Salten
Chapter One
WHISH! WITH A RUSH THE squirrel whizzed down from the treetop, spreading all four legs wide, bushy tail twitching like a loose rudder. It was hardly a leap, but rather a drop from the sky in mad terror.
Before one could even hear the twigs rustle, the dainty creature was sitting completely bewildered in the lap of little Anna. The two looked at each other, puzzled—but only for a second. Then the squirrel whispered breathlessly, Help me!
The child spread tiny hands over her trembling guest, who had fallen as though from heaven, and was cowering under the living roof of fingers. Anna felt the heart of the fugitive beating wildly.
Up in the treetop the leaves rustled softly, and the branches bent a trifle, Anna looked up. She smiled, for up there the marten was creeping about. He was prowling, taking care that his sly, dangerous face should be seen only seldom. His prey had escaped him; and at the moment of leaping after it, he had caught a human scent dangerously near. This he hated; it hampered him. Now he hesitated.
The May morning dawned gray and wan; the sun had not yet risen, but Anna was already sitting on her little bench in the grass near the lodge of her gamekeeper father. Everything was waking up in the forest round about. Before the first rays tipped the leaves of the treetops with gold, the reveille of the cuckoo rang out. The fluting of the blackbird was heard, the joyful note of the thrush, the piercing laughter of the woodpecker, the song of the finch, the whispering of the titmouse. These little folk were sure that fine weather was coming. They greeted the new day.
Anna, a little girl of three, sat here as she did every morning when the weather permitted. Here under the great beech the morning sun reached far, and stayed long. In the afternoons and evenings she sat around in the grass, played in her silent way or sat by the hazel bushes which, with the blackthorn hedge, surrounded the small plot in front of the house. She had big brown curls that fluttered gently around her head, and a delicate but healthy face; in short, she looked like the cherubs the old German artists were so fond of representing with heavenly musical instruments in their hands. Anna was all alone, but she felt little loneliness, neither indoors nor—least of all—out in the woods. She had no mother. Her grandmother had little time to spend with her once the necessary things were tended to. The child ruled kindly and gently, but hers was an unlimited monarchy.
Her father loved the forest, loved hunting, loved the game which he protected and sometimes shot, or chased out of the bushes for his master to shoot; he also loved two dogs, the dachshund Fido and the slender, spotted pointer Treff; of course he was fond of his mother; but above all he loved Anna, his only child. He called her Annerle, saying the diminutive with a singing intonation, and Anna would reply, singing too, Ye-es!
Often this was the whole of their conversations. It was enough; their love for each other could not be more truly expressed.
Ever since she was two—a long time—Annerle had had her way about getting up before dawn, when her father left his bed, and going out with him into the sleeping forest. There she would sit quietly, enjoying the awakening of the small folk, and would wait patiently until her father came back from his stalking. Then she would sleep two or three hours, be fresh again at noon, and spend the rest of the day just as she had spent the morning.
Annerle was now in that mysterious state where children are still distant from adults, and as yet feel no urge to be grown up. For the moment they enjoy the infinite blessing of having no fate; they live in natural innocence, like Adam and Eve before they ate the apple from the tree of knowledge. And, as in Paradise, all creatures confide their friendship to children. Perhaps this is because the animals, half-consciously or quite unconsciously, have an inexplicable hope and longing for the old original harmony between man and beast. If only human children could grow up with the memory of all the gentleness, all the patience and devotion, which they have had from living creatures! But when they grow out of the dawning of their lives, they forget everything. And they forget, too, that in babyhood, when they did not know the language of men, and only babbled it clumsily, they understood the speech of all innocent creatures. This understanding, word for word, vanishes forever; even the memory of it vanishes, and animals become to them what they are to everyone else—dumb friends.
Today Annerle understood the squirrel’s terrified plea: Help me!
She understood also the shouting of jays and magpies in the branches of the beech: He’s still there! He’s lying in wait, the robber! Little girl, help the squirrel mother! You can save her.
Annerle asked the poor creature, Have you any children?
And the squirrel replied sorrowfully, I had five. Only one is left. Two the marten got; one the Owl caught at night; one the sparrow hawk flew off with. That’s the way it goes; it can’t be helped. Now I have only my little Perri. But who knows if she’s still alive?
From the hazel bush a finch called out, Yes, she’s alive; calm yourself.
The squirrel sat up. Thank you, kind finch.
If you want to thank me,
the finch called, leave me and my brood alone.
Leave you alone?
said the squirrel. Who spares me and my brood? You’ll have children again, my kind finch friend,
she called after the bird, which had taken wing, and I shall have children again,
she added. Then the squirrel went on, turning to Annerle: You just have to be careful not to fall victim to someone stronger. It’s easy enough to get away from owls and sparrow hawks and other winged enemies. But the marten is worse. He can climb a tree as well as I. Then I have to move like a flash, or I’m lost. Do you know how far he chased me? All the way over here from where I live. The beech was the third tree I jumped to. I was dreadfully tired and out of breath, and my strength was used up. In desperation I came down to the ground. Luckily I landed in your lap.
Annerle laughed, and the squirrel, who had been smiling politely, said with a sigh, Yes, this is a lovely world, but not an easy one.
From the beech tree the magpie chattered, He’s gone!
The jay screeched, Gone away!
And the woodpecker said with a piercing laugh, By day that fellow always crawls away and hides.
Then I’ll go look after Perri,
the squirrel decided. She hopped to the ground, leaped wide-legged through grass and bushes, and was high up the trunk of the nearest oak in an instant. She whisked like a flash through the treetops, and vanished.
The sun had risen magnificently. In the sky the clouds scattered, and the pale green of the heavens was overspread with a delicate blue.
There was a sharp crack in the distance.
After some time Annerle’s father came home with the owner of the forest.
She and the dogs ran to meet them. Her father at once picked her up in his arms to caress her.
Then he patted the two dogs. Work for you, Fido,
he said.
Well,
said the owner, it will hardly be much work. The buck is not thirty paces from the opening in the underbrush.
A little practice never does any harm,
replied the gamekeeper. That’s what I wanted the dog to have, or I’d have fetched the buck right away.
First let’s have breakfast,
the owner decided.
The two sat down at the table in front of the house, with Annerle between them. Grandmother soon brought coffee, bread, butter and eggs.
Meanwhile Annerle began to talk, and as they ate she went on eagerly about the squirrel that had fled to her; what it had said; about the warning cries of the magpie and the jay; about their reassurance when the marten had gone, and about the good news of Perri which the finch had brought. Her speech was childish, full of those imperfect, often homemade, words peculiar to children.
I don’t quite understand what the little one is talking about,
the owner whispered.
Annerle heard him and began again at the beginning with redoubled enthusiasm.
Her father smiled. The child is so lively she imagines whole fairy tales. I don’t know just what she’s trying to tell us either. But it’s nice to listen to.
Yes indeed,
the owner agreed. Annerle is a sweet child.
He stroked her curls caressingly. Go on, little one, go on.
Annerle thought they understood her now, and she started off again.
But they did not understand her at all. The two adults guessed rather than understood that she was making an oft-repeated attempt of nature to be a link between human beings and other creatures.
Chapter Two
PERRI SAT SNUGLY AGAINST THE trunk of the oak, her neat little tail stiffly upright behind her. The oak trunk was as warm as a living, breathing creature: it drank in the morning sun until almost noon. The fresh green leaves grew in bunches at the end of the twigs, and the clusters of blossoms were hidden away in them. Many trees rose about it, one close to another—oak, ash, beech—crown by crown. When the wind passed over, there was a melodious rustling which sometimes swelled to a wild roar, mighty music that inspired or frightened, depending on the listener.
Perri had no love for the roar. Like the deer, she was shy of strong wind, and usually felt bad weather keenly.
Today the kind sun was shining from a blue sky; the leaves fanned gently and pleasantly. The cuckoo kept calling through the woods, now from afar, now close at hand. Now and again a magpie chattered, or a jay screeched.
Each time Perri listened intently. Her ears, with tufts of hair at the top like brushes, were always ready to be pricked up. But the warning cries were none of Perri’s business.
She sat waiting. Where could her mother be?
As yet Perri was hardly independent, but she had known horrible experiences, even though it was scarcely two weeks since she had left the nest. Her brothers and sisters had been carried off, and Perri knew the terror of their fate.
Only one had she seen die. That was her sister Murri, who ran carelessly and clumsily out along the far-reaching branch. The sparrow hawk came, stuck its talons into the tiny creature, and carried it off into the air. A short shriek of pain. Then nothing. Perri was left with a feeling of terror and of the grandeur of the great bird rising quickly skyward on broad wings.
Where could her mother be? What fun it had been to play with her, to talk with her, to be fondled and guided! Perri was homesick for her mother, and she was hungry. Then she jumped in alarm. Close before her something fluttered and perched