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THIS boy and girl live in the mountains of Switzerland. The language
which they use is a very strange one, called _Schweizer-Deutsch_
(Swiss-German).
These children in the picture are dressed up in their Sunday clothes to
have their photographs taken. When they go home to the little village
way up on the mountain side they will take off these garments and put on
their everyday things. Hans will draw a long-sleeved black apron over
his school suit, and then, fastening on his back the wooden pail which
you see in the picture, will run down the steep cobble-stoned street,
with his shoes clattering at every step, to the big stone fountain to
draw water for his mother. It takes a long time to draw that pail of
water, for all the boys run out to hear about what he saw in Berne that
day when he had his photograph taken. So Hans tells them about the two
big bears in the bear pit, to whom he and Gretchen threw some bits of
bread and an apple; about the tall clock tower built three or four
hundred years ago, where carved bears march around and strike a big gong
every hour. You know that Berne is full of bears. The coat of arms of
the city is a bear with a banner, and not only have live bears been
maintained at public expense for many, many years, but bears of all
kinds, carved in wood and stone, painted, or wrought in plaster, are
seen everywhere.
[Illustration: Two Little Switzers.]
[Illustration]
Hans has at last filled his pail and hurries back to the house, whose
thatched roof is so low that it almost touches the ground. Gretchen has
taken off her grandmother’s clothes and is busy helping the mother
prepare supper. She is very proud of the fact that her pretty filagree
chains and pins, together with her velvet bodice and delicate muslin
waist, were worn by the dear old grandmother, on whose grave she lays
fresh flowers every Sunday. By and by they all draw the straight wooden
chairs to the table and the father says a simple prayer. Hans and
Gretchen eat thankfully the black bread and creamy cheese which was made
last summer up on the Alps high above them, where the snow flowers bloom
and the winds blow cold from the glaciers.
When the curfew bell in the church tower rings out at sundown Hans and
Gretchen tumble into their bed on the top of the stove. Yes, really, on
the top of the big, square white porcelain stove! It is a good, warm
place, although it never gets hot, and even on bitter January nights,
covered with a big red feather bed, the children are only comfortably
warm. They cannot fall off because the father has placed high boards on
each side of the bed.
Early in the morning, by the light of a candle, they drink coffee, with
plenty of milk, but no sugar. It is only on great festivals, like
birthdays and Christmas, that they taste sugar or cake. By seven o’clock
Hans buckles on his knapsack, in which he carries his books, and after
helping Gretchen to adjust hers they both run gayly off to school, each
one carrying in a roomy basket a huge chunk of black bread to eat at ten
o’clock.
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[Illustration]
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