Pollyanna
1
This is really not a story .... it's
a rainbow -- born of the sun-
shine of a little girl's smile
glistening through her tears
....it's a fantasy of children's
laughter, of hope, of gladness
.... for Pollyanna's "Glad Game"
holds forth this message --
Be thou the rainbow
to the storms of life,
the joyous beam that
smiles the clouds away.
2
One lovely morning
when Spring was
glorifying the Ozark
mountains, a little girl
sang a tired man to rest.
3
"Rock-a-bye baby
on the tree top,
when the wind blows,
the cradle will rock,
when the bough breaks-"
4
"Oh, Daddy - you
must not leave
me....I love you so."
5
"Time will pass quickly.
It won't be long before
my little girl will be a
great, big girl ---- then
she'll find someone else
to love and protect her."
6
"Not the Ladies' Aiders?"
7
"I'll only marry ministers."
8
"They're easy to
cook for 'cause
they don't eat much."
9
"We've had so much
fun together, haven't
we, Daddy dear?"
10
"I'm glad - he's gone to
Heaven. I-I'm sure
it's an improvement
over missionarying in
the Ozark mountains."
11
... And so Pollyanna
was left with only one
living relative in the
whole world. In far-away
New England, a spinster
aunt Polly Harrington, lived
with wealth and comfort,
but without happiness.
12
"Nancy!!! Hot water
and baking soda!"
13
Duty was a religion with
Pollyanna's aunt ----
so, as a duty alone, she
offered the orphan shelter.
14
The day of Pollyanna's
leaving was filled
with excitement, antici-
pation ---- memories.
15
"That contains my
necessaries."
16
".... and this contains
my dearest treasures."
17
"Wherever you are,
Daddy Dear, I want
you to know that
I'll try to be glad."
18
"I am going to live
with my own
dear Aunt Polly."
19
On the day Pollyanna
arrived in Beldings-
ville, the only sunshine
was within her own heart.
20
"Oh, Aunt Polly! I'm so
glad, glad, glad
to see you!"
21
"Well, I'm glad you're
not Aunt Polly!
Now I have that to
look forward to."
22
But nothing could dampen
Pollyanna's enthusiasm.
23
The glad girl crosses
the threshold of her
new life, sure of a ten-
der love awaiting her.
24
"Well, this is a nice
howdy do! But
just what I expected."
25
"My stars! Look
at that mud!"
26
"Don't flatter yourself,
Miss! This is my room."
27
"Your room is
in the attic."
28
"I'm glad I have that
to look forward to."
29
"What are you
crying about?
She - she isn't
your aunt!"
30
The sultry night
that followed the
rain led Pollyanna
into more difficulties.
31
"I says, says I, you're
a miserable, selfish
old woman to treat
your poor little niece
like that, I says."
32
"An' wot did she say?"
33
"Oh, she was upstairs --
she didn't hear me."
34
"A perfectly terrible
looking man sprang
through the window
-- at my throat!"
35
"Excuse me, Aunt Polly
-- it was me."
36
"I'll attend to you in
the morning, Miss."
37
"Well, anyway - I'm glad
it isn't tonight ! 'cause
maybe perhaps tomorrow
she might forget."
38
A lot of turnips, fast being
surrounded by a hungry
little boy ---- a fugitive
from a distant orphanage.
39
At every turn
Pollyanna found
some dark life
to brighten...
40
"My name's Jimmy Bean,
I'm an orphan."
41
"That's nothing,
so am I."
42
"I'm lookin' for a home
and a real mother."
43
"Maybe - perhaps -
my Aunt Polly
will adopt you."
44
"I won't be no trouble
to her. I can work."
45
"I'm smart, I got
brains, too....."
46
"An' I don't eat much...."
47
"Oh! them's turnips!"
48
The Ladies' Aid
of Beldingsville
are met to consider
the welfare of the
orphans of Timbuctoo.
49
"Here's Jimmy Bean....
a nice little boy
for you to adopt."
50
"As if mangy dogs
and stray cats
weren't enough
without bringing in
filthy little beggars
from the street...."
51
"Excuse me, Ma'm,
I wouldn't have
come here only
she told me you
was a good adopter."
52
"Maybe, perhaps, you
hurt his feelings."
53
Night..... A dark and
stormy night -- there
was a mysterious reason
why Pollyanna did not
want her aunt to put
the butter in the cellar.
54
"Please don't go into
that terrible cellar,
Aunt Polly -- maybe,
perhaps, the Goblins
might get you!"
55
"Help, the turnips
have got me!"
56
"Aunt Polly, dear, how
would you like to
be a little boy and
have someone turn
you out in the rain?"
57
"Pollyanna, go get
me the old red
crazy quilt -----
I don't know why
I give in to your
outlandish whims."
58
And then there was John
Pendleton, the richest
and most lonely man in
town, who had closed the
gates of his heart when
the girl he loved married
a missionary and departed
for the Ozark mountains.
59
"Dear Little Memory Eyes."
60
"Old Son-of-a-Gun!
I bet he's goin'
to skin her alive."
61
"Why, it's my own
darling mamma!"
62
"I promised Daddy
to be glad, and
I try so hard, but,
Oh, mother dear - I
want to be wanted."
63
"I want to be loved,
please .... come
back to me ... please!"
64
"I also loved
your mother."
65
"You oughta be
ashamed of your-
self - pickin' on her."
66
"Jimmy -- I'm crying
because he's made
me so ---- so glad."
67
"Gee, if that ain't
just like a girl."
68
"I'm sorry, Mr. Pendleton,
but there's about thir-
teen of 'em I can't return."
69
Aunt Polly had known
romance, too .... but
a quarrel had separated
her, for fifteen lonely
years, from her girl-
hood's sweetheart, the
kindly village doctor --
Tom Chilton.
70
"Oh, I'm dying,
Pollyanna,
dying!!!""
71
On the day of
Aunt Polly's
shopping trip to
the city.
72
"Do you want to
go to Heaven,
little fly?...you shall."
73
"I'm so glad I'm going
for the lovely ride."
74
"I'm tired of this 'glad'
business, it's nothing
but 'glad, glad, glad'
from morning 'til night
-- just for that you
stay home."
75
"Well, anyway, I'm
glad I didn't
count on going."
76
"It's her birthday today,
Pollyanna. I was
jest thinkin' what a pity
she was ever born."
77
"Well, I'm glad - that
she isn't twins."
78
"He ain't no good,
you can have him."
79
"Many happy returns,
Aunt Polly."
80
"You see -- she
loves him ! she's
glad to adopt him."
81
"Please may we borrow
your baby ?"
82
"This ain't no baby buggy,
it's a fire engine !"
83
"You're the beginnings
of a wife-beater !"
84
But Aunt Polly did
not forget ----
So let us draw the veil
and pass on, say
three or four months later.
85
Like a sunbeam, Pollyanna
with her glad game, sought
to brighten the shadowed
lives of young and old.
86
Old Lady Snow, for years
had enjoyed poor health,
and stubbornly insisted she
had nothing to be glad about.
87
"These are my friends,
Mrs. Snow - I brought
them to cheer you up."
88
"'Her golden hair
was hanging
down her back'....
I haven't danced
to that tune
for twenty years !"
89
"She can't hear the
music, she's - deaf."
90
"I'm thankful that
I'm not deaf !"
91
"I'm glad that I'm
not blind ...."
92
"Oh, Mrs. Snow, you're
playing it - you're
playing the 'glad game'!"
93
"My daddy used to say-
if the dear Lord told
us eight hundred times,
to rejoice and be glad -
He must have wanted
us to do it -- some."
94
"How can I shoot straight
with you looking
crooked like that ?"
95
"Man's love is of man's life
a thing apart; 'tis
woman's whole existence."
BYRON
96
"Jimmy didn't fudge."
97
"I can't be bothered
with women now,
this is a man's game."
98
"You'll be sorry
when I'm dead."
99
"All right, go on
and die."
100
"You know Jimmy Bean,
Mr. Pendleton. Well-
he's just dyin' to adopt
you as a father."
101
"He's such a little
gentleman."
102
"He'll be so good to you."
103
"I'll teach Pollyanna
not to dilly-dally."
104
"I didn't realize
how much she
meant to me."
105
It was Aunt Polly who
insisted they have
a specialist, though
Pollyanna pleaded
for Dr. Chilton.
106
"... and I told her
to go and die."
107
"Are you comfortable, dear?"
108
"Oh, Aunt Polly, you
called me dear !"
109
"Maybe -- if I got
really sick you
would -- -- kiss me."
110
"It's so good to have
you love me, Aunt
Polly, I--I'm really
glad I was hurt."
111
"Tomorrow, Jimmy Bean
will legally adopt
me as a father."
112
Hushed hours of
fearful waiting ....
113
"My heart is breaking,
Pendleton... to think
that child has asked
for me - and I am not
allowed to see her."
114
"Doctor, why don't my
legs wake up ?"
115
"Not that! Doctor,
not that! You
don't mean ----
the - child - will
never walk again!"
116
"I suppose, Jimmy
I won't be able
to play with you
any more."
117
"God wouldn't allow
those little feet
to be destroyed
when He needs them
to run His errands."
118
"You made us all so
happy, Pollyanna,
by teachin' us the
Glad Game. Please
try to play it - somehow."
119
"If I can't walk - how
am I going to be
glad - about anything?"
120
"Aw go on - try!"
121
"I'm glad -- I had
so much fun --
on my legs --
while they lasted."
122
The songs of gladness were
hushed while the long
shadows crept into winter.
123
"You won't be
mad at me ?"
124
"Please, Aunt Polly dear,
why can't I have
Dr. Chilton ? I -- just
know he would help me."
125
"Pollyanna, you know I told
Dr. Chilton years ago,
the next time I asked
him into this house --
he could consider him-
self forgiven and I will
not give in now."
126
"Remember, Jimmy, un-
happy thoughts will
only hurt Pollyanna."
127
Love had entered
Aunt Polly's heart
and there was no
longer any room
for hurt vanity or
false pride.
128
"I am going to make
you well, Pollyanna,
because ...you have
faith in me."
129
Even when it had become
doubtful whether Pollyanna
would ever walk again,
the seeds of love she
had sown flowered into
a wondrous hope - a hope
overshadowed with fear.
130
"Is there anyone you
would like to see ?"
131
"No -- no one ....
where's Jimmy?"
132
"I wasn't cryin' 'bout
Pollyanna ---- I
got the toothachin'"
133
"Aw - she's kissin' him."
134
"Me an' you'll be growin'
up pretty soon.
Guess I'll have to shave
in 'bout five years."
135
"I guess we'll be awful
rich... I'm goin' to be
a street car conductor."
136
"I'm glad of that, 'cause
maybe perhaps we'll
take our children for
free rides for nothing
on Sundays."
THE
END
Home