ZZZ - The podcast that helps you sleep

Welcome to today's triple Z..... The triple Z podcast is a daily program that you can use to help you fall asleep each night. Just turn down the volume, lay back, relax, and enjoy as you fall asleep.
"Heidi" is a classic novel written by Swiss author Johanna Spyri. It was originally published in 1881 in two parts: "Heidi's Years of Learning and Travel" ("Heidis Lehr- und Wanderjahre") and "Heidi Makes Use of What She Has Learned" ("Heidi kann brauchen, was es gelernt hat"). The story has since become one of the most well-loved and enduring children's books, captivating readers of all ages with its heartwarming narrative and picturesque portrayal of the Swiss Alps.

The novel tells the story of Heidi, a young orphaned girl who is sent to live with her reclusive grandfather in the Swiss Alps. Her grandfather, who is initially gruff and distant, gradually warms up to her and they form a deep bond. Heidi's innocence, kindness, and love for the mountains begin to transform the lives of those around her, including her grandfather and a young disabled girl named Clara, whom she befriends in Frankfurt.
If you enjoy our program, please be sure To write us a review On your podcast platform, and share us with a friend, you both might sleep just a little better at night. Our website Is triple Z, that's three Z's dot media. You can also like and share our content on facebook or our instargram account Z Z Z Media podcast. Music for today's episode was provided by the Sleep Channel on spotify.
CHAPTER V
A RAILROAD JOURNEY

Heidi was now in her eighth year; she had learnt all kinds of useful things from her grandfather; she knew how to look after the goats as well as any one, and Little Swan and Little Bear would follow her like two faithful dogs, and give a loud bleat of pleasure when they heard her voice. Twice during the course of this last winter Peter had brought up a message from the schoolmaster at Doerfli, who sent word to Alm-Uncle that he ought to send Heidi to school, as she was over the usual age, and ought indeed to have gone the winter before. Uncle had sent word back each time that the schoolmaster would find him at home if he had anything he wished to say to him, but that he did not intend to send Heidi to school.
As Heidi was running about one sunny March morning, and had just jumped over the water-trough for the tenth time at least, she nearly fell backwards into it with fright, for there in front of her stood an old gentleman dressed in black. When he saw how startled she was, he said in a kind voice, "Don't be afraid of me, for I am very fond of children. Shake hands! You must be the Heidi I have heard of; where is your grandfather?"
"He is sitting by the table, making round wooden spoons," Heidi informed him, as she opened the door.
It was the old village pastor from Doerfli who had been a neighbor of Uncle's when he lived down there. He stepped inside the hut, and going up to the old man, who was bending over his work, said, "Good-morning, neighbor."
The grandfather looked up in surprise, and then rising said, "Good-morning" in return. He pushed his chair towards the visitor as he continued, "If you do not mind a wooden seat there is one for you."
The pastor sat down. "It is a long time since I have seen you, neighbor," he said. "I think you know already what it is that has brought me here," and as he spoke he looked towards the child who was standing at the door.
"Heidi, go off to the goats," said her grandfather. "You can take them a little salt and stay with them till I come."
Heidi vanished on the spot.
"The child ought to have been at school a year ago, and most certainly this last winter," said the pastor. "The schoolmaster sent you word about it, but you gave him no answer. What are you thinking of doing with the child, neighbor?"
"I am thinking of not sending her to school," was the answer.
"How are you going to let her grow up then?"
"I am going to let her grow up and be happy among the goats and birds; with them she is safe, and will learn nothing evil."
"But the child is not a goat or a bird, she is a human being. It is time she began her lessons. This is the last winter she must be allowed to run wild; next winter she must come regularly to school every day."
"She will do no such thing," said the old man with calm determination.
"Do you mean that you intend to stick obstinately to your decision?" said the pastor, growing somewhat angry. "You have been about the world, and I should have given you credit for more sense, neighbor."
"Indeed," replied the old man, "could you expect me to send a young child down the mountain on ice-cold mornings through storm and snow, and let her return at night when the wind is raging? Have you forgotten the child's mother, Adelaide? She was a sleep-walker, and had fits. Might not the child be attacked in the same way if obliged to over-exert herself? And you think you can come and force me to send her? I will go before all the courts of justice in the country, and then we shall see who will force me to do it!"
"Perhaps you are right, neighbor," said the pastor in a friendly tone of voice. "If it is impossible to send the child to school from here, come down into Doerfli and live again among your fellow-men. What sort of a life is this you lead, alone, and with bitter thoughts towards God and man."
"No, pastor, as to going down to Doerfli to live, that is far from my thoughts; the people despise me and I them; it is therefore best for all of us that we live apart."
The visitor had risen and stood holding out his hand to the old man as he added with renewed earnestness, "I will wager, that next winter you will be down among us again, and we shall be good neighbors as of old. Promise me that you will come and live with us again and become reconciled to God and man."
Alm-Uncle gave the pastor his hand and answered him calmly and firmly, "You mean well by me, I know, but I will not send the child to school nor come and live among you."
"Then God help you!" said the pastor, as he left the hut and went down the mountain.

Alm-Uncle was out of humor. When Heidi said as usual that afternoon, "Can we go down to grandmother now?" he answered, "Not today." He did not speak again the whole day, and the following morning when Heidi again asked the same question, he replied, "We will see." But before the dinner bowls bad been cleared away another visitor arrived, and this time it was Dete. She wore a fine feathered hat and a long trailing dress which swept the floor.
The grandfather looked her up and down without uttering a word. But Dete was prepared with an exceedingly amiable speech and began at once to praise the looks of the child. She should hardly have known her again, and it was evident that Heidi had been happy and well-cared-for with her grandfather. But she had just heard of something that would be a lucky chance for her. Some wealthy people in Frankfurt wanted a companion for their only daughter who was an invalid. Heidi was just the sort of child they were looking for, simple-minded and unspoiled, and after Dete had given them a description of Heidi, they had agreed to take her. And no one could tell what good fortune there might not be in store for her, for if these rich people should take a fancy to Heidi-
"Have you nearly finished what you had to say?" broke in Alm-Uncle, who had allowed her to talk on uninterruptedly so far.
"Ugh!" exclaimed Dete, throwing up her head in disgust, "one would think I had been talking to you about the most ordinary matter; why, there is not one person in all Praettigau who would not thank God if I were to bring them such a piece of news as I am bringing you."
"You may take your news to anybody you like, I will have nothing to do with it."
Dete leaped up from her seat like a rocket and cried, "If that is all you have to say about it, why, then I will give you a bit of my mind. The child is now eight years old and knows nothing, and you will not let her learn. You will not send her to church or school, as I was told down in Doerfli, and she is my own sister's child. I am responsible for what happens to her, and this is a good opening for her. I have everybody in Doerfli on my side; there is not one person there who will not take my part against you; and I advise you to think well before bringing it into court, if that is your intention; there are certain things which might be brought up against you that you would not care to hear, for when one has to do with lawcourts there is a great deal raked up that had been forgotten."
"Be silent!" thundered the Uncle, and his eyes flashed with anger. "Go and be done with you! and never let me see you again with your hat and feather." And with that he strode out of the hut.
"You have made grandfather angry," said Heidi, and her dark eyes had anything but a friendly expression in them as she looked at Dete.
"He will soon be all right again; come now," said Dete hurriedly, "and show me where your clothes are."
"I am not coming," said Heidi.
"Come, come, you will have all sorts of good things that you never dreamed of." Then she went to the cupboard and taking out Heidi's things rolled them up in a bundle. "Come along now, there's your hat; it is very shabby but will do for the present; put it on and let us make haste off."
"I am not coming," repeated Heidi.
"Don't be stupid and obstinate, like a goat; I suppose it's from the goats you have learnt to be so. Listen to me: you saw your grandfather was angry and heard what he said, that he did not wish to ever see us again; he wants you to go away with me and you must not make him angrier still. You can't think how nice it is at Frankfurt, and if you do not like it you can come back again; your grandfather will be in a good humor by that time."
"Can I return at once and be back home again here this evening?" asked Heidi.
"What are you talking about, come along now! I tell you that you can come back here when you like. Today we shall go as far as Mayenfeld, and early tomorrow we shall start in the train; it will bring you home again in no time when you wish it, for it goes as fast as the wind."
They started down the mountain and as they neared the grandmother's hut they met Peter coming round the corner carrying an immense bundle of long, thick hazel sticks on his shoulders. He stood still and stared at the two approaching figures; as they came up to him, he exclaimed, "Where are you going, Heidi?"
"I am only just going over to Frankfurt for a little visit with Dete," she replied; "but I must first run in to grandmother, she will be expecting me."
"No, no, you must not stop to talk; it is already too late," said Dete, holding Heidi, who was struggling to get away. "You can go in when you come back," and she pulled the child on with her. Peter ran into the hut and banged against the table with his bundle of sticks with such violence that everything in the room shook, and his grandmother leaped up with a cry of alarm from her spinning-wheel.

"What is the matter? what is the matter?" cried the frightened old woman.
"She is taking Heidi away," explained Peter.
"Who? who? where to, Peter, where to?" asked the grandmother, growing still more agitated; but even as she spoke she guessed what had happened, for Brigitta had told her shortly before that she had seen Dete going up to Alm-Uncle. The old woman opened the window and called out beseechingly, "Dete, Dete, do not take the child away from us! do not take her away!"
The two who were hastening down the mountain heard her voice, and Dete evidently caught the words, for she grasped Heidi's hand more firmly. Heidi struggled to get free, crying, "Grandmother is calling, I must go to her."
But Dete had no intention of letting the child go, and quieted her as best she could by promising that she could take something nice back to grandmother. This was a new idea to Heidi, and it pleased her so much that Dete had no longer any difficulty in getting her along.
"What could I take back to her?" Heidi asked.
"A soft roll of white bread; she would enjoy that, for now she is old she can hardly eat the hard, black bread," answered Dete.
"Yes, she always gives it back to Peter, telling him it is too hard," affirmed Heidi. "Do let us make haste, for then perhaps we can get back soon from Frankfurt, and I shall be able to give her the white bread today." And Heidi started off running so fast that Dete with the bundle under her arm could scarcely keep up with her.
Chapter: 6
From that day forward Alm-Uncle looked fiercer and more forbidding than ever when he came down and passed through Doerfli. He spoke to no one, and looked such an ogre as he came along with his pack of cheeses on his back, his immense stick in his hand, and his thick, frowning eyebrows, that the women would call to their little ones, "Take care! get out of Alm-Uncle's way or he may hurt you!"
The old man took no notice of anybody as he strode through the village on his way to the valley below, where he sold his cheeses and bought what bread and meat he wanted for himself. After he had passed, the villagers all crowded together looking after him. They agreed that it was a great mercy the child had got away from him. Only the blind grandmother would have nothing to say against him, and told those who came to bring her work, how kind and thoughtful he had been with the child, how good to her and her daughter, and how many afternoons he had spent mending the house. All this was repeated down in Doerfli; but most of the people who heard it said that grandmother was too old to understand, and very likely had not heard rightly what was said; as she was blind, probably she was also deaf.

CHAPTER VI
CLARA, THE PATIENT LITTLE INVALID

In her home at Frankfurt, Clara, the little daughter of Mr. Sesemann, was lying on the invalid couch on which she spent her whole day, being wheeled in it from room to room.
Her little face was thin and pale, and at this moment her two soft blue eyes were fixed on the clock, which seemed to her to go very slowly this day, and with a slight accent of impatience, which was very rare with her, she asked, "Isn't it time yet, Miss Rottermeyer?"
This lady was sitting very upright at a small work-table, busy with her embroidery. She wore a dome-shaped head piece which made her look very solemn and dignified. For many years past, since Clara's mother had died, the housekeeping and the superintendence of the servants had been entrusted to Miss Rottermeyer. The father who was often away from home, left her in sole charge, with the condition only that his little daughter should have a voice in all matters, and that nothing should be done against her wish.
As Clara was putting her impatient question for the second time, Dete and Heidi arrived at the front door.
Tinette, the maid in dainty cap and apron, ushered them upstairs into the library. Dete remained standing politely near the door, still holding Heidi tightly by the hand, for she did not know what the child might take it into her head to do amid these new surroundings.
Miss Rottermeyer rose slowly and went up to the little new companion for the daughter of the house, to see what she was like. She did not seem very pleased with her appearance. Heidi was dressed in her plain little woolen frock, and her hat was an old straw one bent out of shape. The child looked innocently out from beneath it, gazing with unconcealed astonishment at the lady's towering head dress.

"What is your name?" asked Miss Rottermeyer, after examining the child for some minutes, while Heidi in return kept her eyes steadily fixed upon the lady.
"Heidi," she answered in a clear, ringing voice.
"What? what? that's no Christian name for a child; you were not christened that. What name did they give you when you were baptized?" continued Miss Rottermeyer.
"I do not remember," replied Heidi.

"What a way to answer!" said the lady, shaking her head. "Dete, is the child a simpleton or only saucy?"
"If the lady will allow me, I will speak for the child, for she is very unaccustomed to strangers," said Dete, who had given Heidi a silent poke for making such an unsuitable answer. "She is certainly not stupid nor yet saucy, she speaks exactly as she thinks. This is the first time she has ever been in a gentleman's house and she does not know good manners; but she is very willing to learn. She was christened Adelaide, after her mother, my sister, who is now dead."
"Well, that's a name that one can pronounce," remarked Miss Rottermeyer. "But I must tell you, Dete, that I am astonished to see so young a child. I told you that I wanted a companion of the same age as the young lady of the house, one who could share her lessons, and all her other occupations. Miss Clara is now over twelve; what age is this child?"
"If the lady will allow me," began Dete again, in her usual fluent manner, "I myself had lost count of her exact age; she is certainly a little younger, but not much; I cannot say precisely, but I think she is ten, or thereabouts."
"Grandfather told me I was eight," put in Heidi. Dete gave her another poke, but as the child had not the least idea why she did so she was not at all confused.
"What--only eight!" cried Miss Rottermeyer angrily. "Four years too young! Of what use is such a child! And what have you learnt? What books did you have to learn from?"
"None," said Heidi.
"How? what? How then did you learn to read?" continued the lady.
"I have never learnt to read, or Peter either," Heidi informed her.
"Mercy upon us! you do not know how to read! is it really so?" exclaimed Miss Rottermeyer, greatly horrified. "Is it possible--not able to read? What have you learnt then?"
"Nothing," said Heidi with unflinching truthfulness.
"Young woman," said the lady to Dete, "this is not at all the sort of companion we want. How could you think of bringing me a child like this?"
But Dete was not to be put down so easily, and answered warmly, "If you will allow me, the child is exactly what I thought you required; she is unlike all other children, and I thought this child seemed as if made for the place. But I must go now, for my mistress will be waiting for me; if you will permit I will come again soon and see how she is getting on." And with a bow Dete quickly left the room and ran downstairs. Miss Rottermeyer stood for a moment taken aback and then ran after Dete. But she had disappeared out the front door.
Heidi remained where she had been standing since she first came in. Clara had looked on during the interview without speaking; now she beckoned to Heidi and said, "Come here!"
Heidi went up to her.
"Would you rather be called Heidi or Adelaide?" asked Clara.
"I am never called anything but Heidi," was the child's prompt answer.
"Then I shall always call you by that name," said Clara, "it suits you. I have never heard it before, but neither have I ever seen a child like you before. Have you always had that short curly hair?"
"Yes, I think so," said Heidi.
"Are you pleased to come to Frankfurt?" went on Clara.
"No, but I shall go home again tomorrow and take grandmother a white loaf," explained Heidi.
"Well, you are a funny child!" exclaimed Clara. "Don't you know you were sent for to come here and stay with me and share my lessons? They are dreadfully dull, and I think the morning will never pass away. My tutor comes every morning at about ten o'clock, and then we go on with lessons till two, and it does seem such a long time. Sometimes he takes up the book and holds it close up to his face, as if he were very short-sighted, but I know it's only because he wants to gape, and Miss Rottermeyer takes her large handkerchief out also now and then and covers her face with it, as if she was moved by what we had been reading, but that is only because she is longing to gape too. And I myself often want to gape, but I dare not, for if Miss Rottermeyer sees me gaping she runs off at once and fetches the cod-liver oil and says I must have a dose, as I am getting weak again, and the cod-liver oil is horrible. But now it will be much more amusing, for I shall be able to lie back and listen while you learn to read."
Heidi shook her head doubtfully when she heard of learning to read.
"Oh, nonsense, Heidi, of course you must learn to read, everybody must, and my tutor is very kind, and never cross, and he will explain everything to you. But mind, when he explains anything to you, you won't be able to understand; but don't ask any questions, or else he will go on explaining and you will understand less than ever. Later, when you have learnt more and know about things yourself, then you will begin to understand what he meant."

Miss Rottermeyer now came back into the room; she had not been able to overtake Dete, and was evidently very much put out. She walked backwards and forwards in a state of agitation between the study and the dining-room, and began scolding the butler. "Make haste, Sebastian, or we shall get no dinner today at all," she said.
Then hurrying out, she called to Tinette to see that the bed-room was prepared for the little girl who had just arrived.
Meanwhile Sebastian had flung open the folding doors leading into the dining-room with rather more noise than he need, for he was feeling cross, although he did not dare answer back when Miss Rottermeyer spoke to him; he went up to Clara's chair to wheel her into the next room. Heidi stood staring at him. Seeing her eyes fixed upon him, he suddenly growled out, "Well, what is there in me to stare at like that?" which he would certainly not have done if he had been aware that Miss Rottermeyer was just then entering the room. "You look so like Peter," answered Heidi. The housekeeper clasped her hands in horror. "Is it possible!" she stammered half-aloud, "she is now addressing the servant as if he were a friend! I never could have imagined such a child!"
Sebastian wheeled the couch into the dining-room and helped Clara on to her chair. Miss Rottermeyer took the seat beside her and made a sign to Heidi to take the one opposite. Beside Heidi's plate lay a nice white roll, and her eyes lighted up with pleasure as she saw it. When Sebastian came up to her side and handed her the dish of fish, she looked at the roll and asked, "Can I have it?" Sebastian nodded, and Heidi immediately seized the roll and put it in her pocket. Sebastian still remained standing beside Heidi; it was not his duty to speak, nor to move away until she had helped herself. Heidi looked wonderingly at him for a minute or two, and then said, "Am I to eat some of that too?" Sebastian nodded again. "Give me some then," she said, looking calmly at her plate.
"I see I shall have to teach you the first rules of behavior," said the housekeeper with a sigh. "You must not speak to Sebastian at table, or at any other time, unless you have an order to give him, and then you are not to address him as if he was some one belonging to you. Never let me hear you speak to him in that way again! It is the same with Tinette, and for myself you are to address me as you hear others doing. Clara must herself decide what you are to call her."
"Why, Clara, of course," put in the latter. Then followed a long list of rules as to general behavior, during the course of which Heidi's eyes gradually closed, for she had been up before five o'clock that morning and had had a long journey. She leaned back in her chair and fell fast asleep. Miss Rottermeyer having at last come to the end of her lecture said, "Now remember what I have said, Adelaide! Have you understood it all?"
"Heidi has been asleep for ever so long," said Clara, her face rippling all over with amusement, for she had not had such an entertaining dinner for a long time.
"It is really insupportable what one has to go through with this child," exclaimed Miss Rottermeyer, in great indignation, and she rang the bell so violently that Tinette and Sebastian both came running in; but no noise was sufficient to wake Heidi, and it was with difficulty that they roused her sufficiently to get her to her bed-room.