Chapter 10 Pippi became a hero

One Sunday evening ago, Pippi sat there not knowing what to do.Tommy and Annika had gone with their parents to tea at other people's houses, so there was no need to wait for them to see her. The day was supposed to be full of interesting events.She got up early and gave Mr. Nelson fruit juice and buns in bed.He looked so cute sitting there in his blue pajamas with the glass in his hands.Then she fed and combed the horse, and told him long stories of her voyages.Then she went to the living room and painted a big mural on the wall.This painting depicts a fat lady in a red dress and a black hat, holding a yellow flower in one hand and a dead mouse in the other.Pippi thought the painting was so beautiful that it brightened the whole room.Then she sat by her cupboard and looked over all her eggs and shells.Then she thought of all the beautiful places she and Daddy had been to collect them, and the cute little shops around the world they had been to shop.These fun things I bought are now in the drawer of the cabinet.Then she tried to teach Mr. Nelson the two-time waltz, but he wouldn't do it.After a while she wondered if she should teach the horse to jump, but instead of that, she climbed into the crate, closed the lid, and shut herself in, pretending to be a can of sardines.If Tommy and Annika weren't here, they would be sardines too.

But now it was starting to get dark.Pippi put her little potato nose against the windowpane, watching the autumn sunset outside.At this time, she suddenly remembered that she hadn't ridden a horse for several days, so she decided to do it now.Not a bad way to end a merry Sunday. She went to put on her big straw hat, and with Mr. Nelson, who was beating marbles in the corner, saddled the horse, and brought the horse down from the porch.They rode off, Mr. Nelson on Pippi, and Pippi rode the horse. It was so cold that the roads were frozen, and they ran rattling.Mr. Nelson squatted on Pippi's shoulders, trying to grab the branches he encountered on the road, but Pippi rode too fast, and he didn't have time to catch them. Instead, the passing branches broke his ears, and even wearing a straw hat hurt. .

Pippi rode through the town.As she sped past, passers-by were so frightened that they pressed their bodies as close to the wall as possible. Every town in the Swedish countryside has a market, and there is one in this town.Near it was a small town hall, painted yellow, and several handsome one-story houses.In addition, there is a big house so tall that it looks like it is crumbling.The three-story building was new and called a "skyscraper" because it was taller than any house in town. On this Sunday evening, the town seemed very quiet.But the silence was suddenly broken by a loud cry:

"The skyscraper is on fire! Fight the fire! Fight the fire!" People came running from all directions with their eyes wide open.Firetrucks went down the street with horrific clanging bells.The little children in the town, who always loved watching the firetrucks, were crying because they decided their houses were going to be on fire.The square in front of the skyscraper was packed with people.The police did their best to get them out of the way so that the firetruck could pass.Flames poured from skyscraper windows as smoke and sparks enveloped brave firefighters. The fire started downstairs and quickly spread to the upper two floors, and the people crowded in the square suddenly saw a terrible sight that made them gasp with fright.It turned out that there was an attic on the roof, and a child's hand just opened the window of the attic, and then saw two little boys standing in the window and shouting for help.

"We can't come down, someone built a fire on the stairs!" cried the older one. He is only five years old, and his brother is one year younger.Their mother had gone out, and now it was just the two of them standing there.Many people in the square below were weeping, and the fire chief seemed very anxious.Of course there were ladders on the firetruck, but they weren't long enough to reach that high.There was no way to enter the house and go upstairs to save the two children.People in the square felt desperate after knowing that the two children could not be rescued.Those two poor little guys just stood there crying.Time was running out before the fire reached the top floor.

Pippi was riding a horse among the crowd in the square.She looked at the firetruck with interest, wondering if she should buy herself one of these cars.She likes it because it's red and it makes such a loud noise as it walks through the street.Then she watched the flaming fire, and a little spark fell on her, and she thought it was very funny. She looked east and west, and suddenly saw the two little boys on the top floor.She was very surprised, this fire is so beautiful, how come they don't seem to appreciate it at all?She really didn't understand, and finally had to ask the people standing around her:

"Why are those two children crying?" At first she got no answer, only whimpering.Then a big fat man said. "Hey, what do you think? If you can't get down there yourself, do you think you can stop crying?" "I never cry," said Pippi, "but if they can't get down, why doesn't anyone help them?" "Just because it can't be done," said the fat man. Pippi thought for a while. "Can someone give me a long rope?" she said. "What's the use of that?" said the fat man. "Those boys are too young to climb down the rope. And how can the rope get up to them?"

"Oh, sailors have a way," said Pippi lightly. "I need a rope." Everyone didn't believe that Pippi could do anything with the rope, but they still got the rope for Pippi. There is a tall tree next to the gable of the skyscraper.The treetops were almost level with the attic window, but at least three meters away.The trunk was smooth and slippery, and there was not a single branch to climb on.Pippi couldn't climb up either. The fire was burning, the children were crying on the attic, the crowd in the square was crying. Pippi jumped off the horse and walked under the tree.Then she took the rope and hung it on Mr. Nelson's tail.

"Now you'll listen to my Pippi, won't you?" She said, placing Mr. Nelson on the tree trunk and spreading it lightly.It knew exactly what to tell it to do, so it climbed up the tree obediently.Little monkeys climbing trees are nothing at all. The people in the square stared at Mr. Nelson with bated breath.It quickly reached the treetops.It sat on a branch and looked down at Pippi.She beckoned him to come down again, which he did.But this time it came down on the other side of the branch, so it was under the ground, and the rope was already hanging on the branch, and both ends of the rope were here on the ground.

"Mr. Nelson, you are so smart. In ancient times, you could have been a professor." Pippi said as he untied the knot on the monkey's tail. A house nearby is being repaired.Pippi ran to fetch a long plank.She clamped the springboard, grabbed the rope with the other hand, kicked the tree trunk with her feet, and climbed up the rope briskly.People were so surprised that they forgot to cry.When she reached the top of the tree, she put the long gangplank over a thick branch and pushed it carefully up to the attic window.The long gangway made a bridge between the treetops and the window.

The people in the square stared up silently, too worried to say a word.They only saw Pippi stepping onto the diving board in the sky, smiling kindly at the two children on the top floor. "You look a little upset," she said. "Is it a stomachache?" She ran across the gangplank and jumped into the top floor. "It's hot in here," she said, "and I can assure you that you won't need any more wood today. I think you can light a little fire in the stove tomorrow." Then she grabbed a boy under each arm, climbed out again, and stood on the diving board. "Now you can really play," she said. "It's like walking on a tightrope." When she reached the middle of the gangplank, she raised one leg high, just as she did in the circus.A disturbed hum passed through the crowd.Then one of Pippi's leather shoes fell off, and several old ladies fainted on the spot.But Pitt led the two little boys back to the tree safely, and the cheers of the crowd below resounded through the dark evening, drowning out the crackling and crackling of the fire. Then Pippi pulled up the rope, fastened one end firmly to a branch, and tied a little boy to the other end, and lowered it slowly and carefully.The child's mother stood in the square and waited, full of surprises, and the child caught it as soon as he came down.With tears in her eyes, she threw her arms around her baby.Kepipi said on it: "Please untie the rope! There is another one here, and he can't fly." Several people helped to untie the rope and put down the little boy.Pippi really knows how to tie knots!She studied at sea.Then she pulled the rope up again and lowered the other little boy. Now Pippi was left alone in the tree.She jumped onto the diving board again.Everyone looked up at her, not knowing what she was going to do.Pippi danced on the narrow plank, up and down, raised and lowered his arms gracefully, and sang in a rough voice that was easily heard by the people in the square. As she sang, she danced more and more crazily. Many people in the square were so frightened that they even closed their eyes, thinking that if she did this, she would fall and hurt herself.The fire had burst out of the window on the top floor, and everyone could clearly see Pippi in the light of the fire.She stretched out her hands to the night sky.As sparks fell over her head, she cried out: "What a lovely, lovely, lovely fire!" Then she jumped onto the rope in one jump. "Woo-!" She cried and slid to the ground as quickly as lightning. "Long live Pippi Longstocking!" cried the Fire Chief. "Long live! Long live! Long live! Long live!" The crowd cheered.But one person cheered five times.This person is Pippi.