He had always been so inseparable
from his mother that he knew exactly how the tasks of the day had to be
done, and he desired nothing but to help her whenever he could. If she
was working in the little field, he squatted beside her, pulled out the
weeds, and threw the stones across the path.
If his mother was taking the goat out of the shed so that she could nibble
the grass around the hut, he went with her step by step, for his mother
had told him he must watch her so that she would not run away.
If his mother was sitting in winter by her spinning-wheel, he sat the
whole time beside her, mending his winter shoes with strong strips of
cloth, as she had taught him to do. He had no greater wish than to see his
mother happy and contented. His greatest pleasure was, when Sunday came
and she was resting from all work, to sit with her on the little wooden
bench in front of the house and listen as she told him about his father
and talk with her about all kinds of things.
But now the time had come for Toni to go to school. It was very hard for
him to leave his mother and remain away from her so much. The long way
down to Kandergrund and up again took so much time, that Toni was hardly
ever with his mother any more through the day, but only in the evening.
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