A L I T T L E PRINCESS

Ralph Crewe lives in India, with his little daughter Sara.

He is a rich man, and when he brings Sara to Miss
Minchin’s school in London, Miss Minchin is very
pleased. She likes girls with rich fathers, because it is
good for her school. M r Crewe loves Sara very much,
and he buys her lots of beautiful dresses, and books,
and dolls. Miss Minchin smiles, but she says to her
sister: ‘Sara looks like a little princess, not a schoolgirl!5

M r Crewe goes back to his work in India, and Sara

begins her new life at school. She is a kind, friendly girl.
Everybody likes her, and she soon makes friends.

But when you are rich, everybody is your friend. On

Sara’s eleventh birthday, there is some terrible news
from India. Poor Sara is very unhappy, and she quickly
learns who her true friends are . . .
FRANCES HODGSON BURNETT

A Little Princess

Retold by
Jen n ifer Bassett

Illustrated by
Gwen Tourret

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

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 CONTENTS

STORY IN TR ODU CTIO N i

1 School in England 1
2 The diamond mines 8
3 The new servant-girl 16
4 Ram Dass and the monkey 22
5 The magic 30
6 Lost and found 37

GLOSSARY 42
A CTIV IT IE S: Before Reading 44
ACT IV IT IE S: While Reading 45
a c t iv it ie s: After Reading 48
ABOUT THE AUTHOR 52
ABOUT THE B OOKW O R M S LIBRARY 53
 1

School in England.

ne cold winter day a little girl and her father

0 arrived in London. Sara Crewe was seven years

old, and she had long black hair and green eyes. She sat
in the cab next to her father and looked o a t of the
window at the tall houses and the dark sky.
‘W hat are you thinking about, Sara?’ M r Crewe asked.

'What are you thinking about, Sara?’ Mr Crewe asked.

1
 A Little Princess

‘You are very quiet.’ He put his arm round his daughter.
‘I’m thinking about our house in India,’ said Sara.
‘And the hot sun and the blue sky. I don’t think I like
England very much, Father.’
‘Yes, it’s very different from India,’ her father said.
‘But you must go to school in London, and I must go
back to India and w ork.’
‘Yes, Father, 1 know ,’ said Sara. ‘But I want to be with
you. Please come to school with me! I can help you with
your lessons.’
M r Crewe smiled, but he was not happy. He loved his
little Sara very much, and he did not w ant to be without
her. Sara’s mother was dead, and Sara was his only child.
Father and daughter were very good friends.
Soon they arrived at M iss M inchin’s School for Girls
and went into the big house.
Miss M inchin was a tall woman in a black dress. She
looked at Sara, and then gave a very big smile.
‘W hat a beautiful child!’ she said to M r Crewe.
Sara stood quietly and watched M iss M inchin. ‘Why
does she say th at?’ she thought. ‘I am not beautiful, so
why does she say it?’
Sara was not beautiful, but her father was rich. And
M iss M inchin liked girls with rich fathers, because it was
good for the school (and good for Miss M inchin, too).
‘Sara is a good girl,’ M r Crewe said to Miss M inchin.

2
 Miss Minchin was a tall woman in a black dress.

‘H er mother was French, so she speaks French well. She

loves books, and she reads all the time. But she must play
with the other girls and make new friends, to o .’
‘O f course,’ said Miss M inchin. She smiled again.
‘Sara is going to be very happy here, M r Crewe.’
 A Little Princess

M r Crewe stayed in London for a week. He and Sara

went to the shops, and he bought many beautiful,
expensive dresses for his daughter. He bought books,
and flowers for her room , and a big doll with beautiful
dresses, too.
M iss M inchin smiled, but she said to her sister
Amelia: ‘All that money on dresses for a child of seven!
She looks like a little princess, not a schoolgirl!’
V

Mr Crewe bought many expensive dresses fo r his daughter.

4
 S ch oo l in England

W hen M r Crewe left

London, he was very
sad. Sara was very sad
to o , but she did not
cry. She sat in her room
and thought about her
father on the ship back
to India.
‘Father wants me to
be happy,’ she said to
her new doll. ‘I love him
very much and I want to
be a good daughter, so I
must be happy.’
It was a very big, and
very beautiful doll, but
of course it could not
answer.
Sara soon made new friends in the school. Some little
rich girls are not very nice children - they think they are
im p ortan t because they have m oney and lots o f
expensive things. But Sara was different. She liked
beautiful dresses and dolls, but she was more interested
in people, and books, and telling stories.
She was very good at telling stones. She was a clever
child, and the other girls loved to listen to her. The

5
 The stories w ere all abou t kings and queens and princesses.

stories were all about kings and queens and princesses

and wonderful countries across the sea.
‘How do you think of all those things?’ asked her best
friend, Ermengarde,
‘I have all these pictures in my head,’ said Sara. ‘So it’s
easy to tell stories about them .’
Poor Ermengarde was not clever. She could never
remember any o f her school lessons, and M iss M inchin
was always angry with her.
Sara often helped Ermengarde with her lessons.
‘Listen, Erm ie,’ she said. ‘You remember that French
king, Louis the Sixteenth? W ell, this is a story about him.
One day in 1 7 9 2 . . . ’

6
 S ch oo l in England

And so Ertnengarde learnt her lessons through Sara’s

stories, and she loved her friend very much. But not
everybody was Sara’s friend. Lavinia was an older girl.
Before Sara came, Lavinia was the richest and the most
important girl in the school. But Sara’s father was richer
than Lavinia’s father. So now Sara was more important
than Lavinia, and Lavinia did not like that.
‘Oh, Sara is so clever!’ Lavinia often said. ‘Sara is so
good at French! Her dresses are 50 beautiful, and she can
sing so well! And she is so rich! O f course Miss M inchin
likes her best!’
Sara did not answer when Lavinia said these things.
Sometimes, it was not easy, but Sara was a kind, friendly
girl, and she did not like to be angry with anyone.

N ow Sara was important, and Lavinia did not like that.

 2

(The diamond mines

WWW

nd so three years went by. Sara’s father wrote

c / " L to her often, and Sara wrote loving little letters
back to him. One day a very exciting letter arrived.
Everybody in the school talked about it for days.
‘My f r i e n d wrote M r Crewe, ‘has som e mines in
northern India, and a m onth ago his w orkers fou n d
diam on ds there. T here are thousands o f diam onds in

'There are thousands o f diam onds in these mines

8
 The diam ond mines

these mines, but it is expensive w ork to get them out.

My frien d needs my help. So, Little M issus’ (this was
M r Crewe’s special name for Sara), 7 am putting all
m y m oney into m y frien d ’s d iam on d mines, an d on e
day you and I are going to he very rich . . . ’
Sara was not interested in money, but a story about
diamond mines in India was exciting. Nearly everybody
was very pleased for Sara, but not Lavinia, of course.
‘H u h!’ she said. ‘M y mother has a diamond. Lots of
people have diamonds. W hat’s so interesting about
diamond m ines?’
‘But there are thousands o f diamonds in these mines,’
said Ermengarde. ‘Perhaps millions o f them !’
Lavinia laughed. ‘Is Sara going to wear diamonds in
her hair at breakfast, then? Or is it “Princess Sara” now?’
Sara’s face went red. She looked at Lavinia angrily,
but said quietly, ‘Some people call me “princess” . I
know that. But princesses don’t get angry or say unkind
things, so I’m not going to say
anything to you, Lavinia.’
‘T o me, you are a princess,’
Ermengarde said to Sara later.
‘And you always look like a
princess, in your beautiful
dresses.’
™ ‘My mother has a diam ond.'

9
 A Little Princess

Sara was a princess to another girl, too. This was Becky.

She was a servant in Miss M inch in’s school, and she was
only fourteen years old, but she worked all day and
sometimes hal f the night. She carried things upstairs and
downstairs, she cleaned the floors, she made the fires,
and she was always tired and hungry and dirty. She and
Sara had very different lives.

But one day Sara came into her bedroom, and there
was Becky, sleeping in a chair.
‘O h, you poor thing!’ Sara said.
Then Becky opened her eyes and saw Sara. She got up
at once. ‘O h, M iss!’ she said. T m very sorry, M iss! I just
sat down for a minute and— ’
‘D on’t be afraid,’ said Sara. She gave Becky a friendly
smile. ‘You were tired. T h at’s all.’

10
 There was Becky, sleeping in a chair.

‘Are you - are you going to tell M iss M inchin?’ asked

Becky, She began to move to the door.
‘O f course n o t,’ said Sara. ‘Please don’t run away. Sit
down again for a minute. You look so tired.’
‘Oh, M iss, I can’t ! ’ Becky said. ‘Y o u ’re very kind,
Miss, but Miss M inchin— ’
‘Please,’ said Sara. She took Becky’s hand. ‘Y o u ’re
only a little girl, like me. L et’s be friends.’
And so Becky sat down again, and soon she and Sara
were friends. Nobody knew about this, o f course. Rich
little girls at M iss M inchin’s school did not make friends
with servant-girls, and it was a wonderful thing for
 A Little Princess

Becky. Nearly every day she and Sara met in Sara’s

bedroom, just for five or ten minutes. Becky was always
hungry, and Sara often bought nice things for her to eat.
They sat and talked, and sometimes Sara told Becky
some of her stories. Becky loved that.
‘Oh, M iss,’ she said. ‘You tell them so beautifully!
Sometimes I like your stories better than things to eat.’
And after those visits to Sara’s room , Becky always
felt better - not so tired, and not so hungry.

Some months later Sara had her eleventh birthday.

Lessons stopped for the afternoon and there was a big
party for all the girls in the school.

Everybody at Sara’s party was very happy.

12
 The diam ond mines

‘This party is expensive for us,’ Miss M inchin said to

her sister Amelia. ‘But it looks good for the school.’
T hat afternoon there was a visitor to the school - Miss
M inchin’s lawyer. He went with Miss M inchin into her
office and they closed the door. In the schoolroom next
door there was a lot o f noise from Sara’s party.
Everybody in there was very happy.
But in the office M iss M inchin was not happy. She
looked at the lawyer angrily. ‘W hat are you saying?
M r Crewe has no money? W hat about the diamond
mines?’
 A Tjttle Princess

‘There are no diamond mines,’ said the lawyer. ‘W ell,

there are mines, but there are no diamonds in them .’
‘But M r Crewe’s good friend— ’ began Miss M inchin.
‘M r Crewe’s good friend,’ said the lawyer, ‘ran away
with all M r Crewe’s money. Ralph Crewe was ill with a
fever, and when he heard about this, he got worse. A
week later he was dead.’
‘D ead!’ cried Miss M inchin. ‘But what about his
daughter Sara? And this expensive birthday party?’
‘Sara Crewe has no m oney,’ said the lawyer. ‘N ot a
penny in the world, Miss M inchin. N ot a penny.’
‘She must leave my school at once,’ Miss M inchin said
angrily. ‘She must go this afternoon!’
‘W here?’ said the lawyer. ‘O ut into the streets? An
eleven-year-old girl? T h at’s not going to look very good
for your school, Miss M inchin.’
M iss M inchin’s face went red.
‘You can’t put her out in the streets,’ said the lawyer.
He stood up. ‘But perhaps she can work for you.’
The lawyer left, and Miss M inchin called her sister
Amelia. ‘Bring Sara Crewe here at once,’ she said.
Tw o minutes later Sara, in her beautiful blue party
dress, stood in front of M iss M inchin.
‘Have you a black dress, Sara?’ M iss M inchin said
coldly.
‘Yes, M iss M inchin,’ said Sara. ‘But it’s very sm all.’

14
 ‘She must leave my school at once,’ Miss Minchin said.

‘Go and put it on at once,’ said M iss M inchin. ‘Your

father is dead. There were no diamond mines, and your
father’s friend ran away with all his money. You have
nothing. N ot a penny. But I am going to be very kind to
you. You can stay in my house, but now you must be a
servant and work for your bread. You can sleep in a
servant’s room upstairs, next to Becky’s room .’
 s
(The new servant-girl

hat evening, in the little attic room , Sara sat on the

L bed in her old black dress. She did not cry, but her
face was white and she did not move or speak for hours.
Late at night the door opened quietly, and Becky
looked in. Her eyes were red from crying. ‘O h, M iss,’ she
said. ‘All the servants are talking about it. I’m so so rry -
so sorry!’ She looked at Sara’s white face, and began to
cry again. Then she ran to Sara, and took her hand.
At last Sara moved. Slowly, she turned her head and
looked at Becky. ‘O h, Becky,’ she said. And that was all.

B ecky ran to Sara, and took her hand.

16
 The new servant-girl

T hat first night in the attic was very long. Sara did not
sleep. ‘Father is dead,’ she whispered, again and again.
‘Father is dead. Fm never going to see him again.’
The next morning Sara’s new life began. She learnt to
clean floors and to make fires. She ran upstairs and
downstairs, and she worked in the kitchen.

'Run dow n to the shops and get m e som e apples. ’

The cook was a big woman with a red, angry face.

‘So,’ she said, ‘the little rich girl with the diamond mines
is now a servant, eh?’ She looked at Sara. ‘Now, I’m
making apple pies this morning. Run down to the shops
and get me some apples. And be quick!’
So Sara ran to the shops, and carried a big bag of
apples back to the house. Then she cleaned the kitchen
floor, and carried hot water up to all the bedrooms.

17
 A L ittle Princess

She worked every day, from early in the morning to

late at night. She helped in the school, too.
‘You speak French w ell,5 M iss M inchin said to her
coldly. ‘So you can teach French to the younger children.
But you’re only a servant. D on ’t forget th at.5
The first months of Sara’s new life were very hard. She
was always tired and hungry, but she never cried. At
night, in her little attic, she thought about her father,
dead in India all those miles away.
‘I must be brave,’ she said. ‘Father always wanted me
to be brave. And I have a bed to sleep in, and something
to eat every day. Lots of people don’t have th at.’
At first Sara’s only friend was Becky. Every day Becky
came into Sara’s room. They did not talk much, but it
helped Sara a lot to see Becky’s friendly, smiling face.
The girls in the school were sorry for Sara, but Sara
was a servant now, and they could not be friendly with
a servant. Lavinia, of course, was pleased. ‘I never liked
Sara Crew e,’ she told her friends. ‘And I was right about
the diamonds - there weren’t any!’
Ermengarde was very unhappy. W hen she saw Sara in
the school, Sara walked past her and did not speak. Poor
Ermengarde loved Sara and wanted to be friendly, but
she was not clever, and she did not understand.
One morning, very early, she got quietly out of bed,
went upstairs to the attics, and opened Sara’s door.

18
 'What are you doing here?’ said Sara.

‘Erm engarde!’ Sara said. ‘W hat are you doing here?’

Ermengarde began to cry. ‘Oh, Sara, please tell me.
W hat is the matter? Why don’t you like me now ?’
I do like you,’ Sara said. ‘O f course I do. But, you see,
everything is different now. M iss M inchin doesn’t want
me to talk to the girls. M ost of them don’t want to talk
to me. And I thought, perhaps, you didn’t want to
‘But I’m your friendV cried Ermengarde. ‘I ’m alw ays
going to be your friend - and n o b o d y can stop m e!’
Sara took Erm engarde’s hands. She suddenly felt very
happy. Perhaps she cried a little, too. W ho can say?
There was only one chair, so the two friends sat on the

19
 A Little Princess

bed. Ermengarde looked round the attic. ‘O h, Sara, how

can you live in this room? It’s so cold and - and dirty.’
‘It’s not so bad,’ said Sara. ‘And I’ve got lots of friends.
There’s Becky in the next room , and - come and see.’
She moved the table under the window, and then she
and Ermengarde stood on it and looked out of the

20
 The n ew servant-girl

window, over the roofs of the houses. In her pocket Sara

had some small pieces of bread. She put her hand out of
the window, with the bread on it. ‘W atch,’ she said.
After a minute a little brown bird flew down to Sara’s
hand and began to eat the bread. Then a second bird
came, and a third, and a fourth.
‘O h Sara, how w onderful!’ said Ermengarde.
‘They know I’m their friend,’ said Sara, ‘so they’re not
afraid. Sometimes they come into the room , to o .’
Ermengarde looked across the roof to the next attic
window. ‘W ho lives in that house?’ she asked.
‘N obody,’ said Sara sadly. ‘So I never see anybody at
that window, and I can only talk to the birds.’

But one night, two or three weeks later, Becky came into
Sara’s room. She was very excited.
‘O ooh, M iss!’ she said. ‘An Indian gentleman is
moving into the house next door. W ell, he’s English, but
he lived in India for years and years. And now he’s going
to live next door. H e’s very rich, and he’s ill. Something
bad happened to him, but 1 don’t know w hat.’
Sara laughed. ‘How do you know all this?’ she said.
‘W ell, M iss, you know the Carmichael family across
the street?’ Becky said. ‘I’m friendly with their kitchen-
girl, and she told me. M r Carmichael is the Indian
gentleman’s lawyer, so they know all about him .’
 4
vm Q)as$ and the monkey
y.~-——
^ u'—--i
V V V

very morning, when Sara gave the birds their

bread, she looked across to the attic window next
door. But nobody opened it. N obody called out ‘Good
m orning!’ across the roof, or gave Sara a friendly smile.
‘Perhaps the Indian gentleman’s servants all sleep
downstairs,’ she thought sadly.
Her life was very lonely now. She saw Becky every
day, of course, but they did not have much time for
talking. The cook and the other servants were not
friendly. Sometimes, at night, Ermengarde came up to
Sara’s room , but it was not easy for her to come often.
Then one evening, Sara was
in her attic when she heard a
noise on the roof. She looked
up - and there at the open
window was a small monkey.
‘O h, you dear little thing!’
cried Sara.
At once, the monkey j umped
down and began to run round
the room. Sara laughed. She
At the w indow
was a m onkey. got up on the table and looked

22
 Ram Dass thanked Sara again and again.

out o f her window, and at the next window she saw a

face - the smiling face of an Indian lascar.
‘O h ,’ cried Sara, ‘have you got a monkey? H e’s in my
room .’
The lascar’s name was Ram Dass, and yes, it was his
monkey. He gave Sara a big smile.
‘I’m so sorry,’ he said. ‘Can I come and get him ?’
‘Oh yes, please,’ said Sara. ‘I think he’s afraid of me.
And he runs so fast! But can you get across the ro o f?’
Yes, Ram Dass could, and a minute later he was in
Sara’s room. Soon the monkey jumped into his arms,
and Ram Dass thanked Sara again and again. Then he
went away, across the roof, back into the house next door.

23
 A Little Princess

Sara went to the shops five or six times a day, and when
she walked past the house next door, she often thought
about the Indian gentleman. She felt sorry for him. He
had no wife or family, and the doctor visited the house
every day. M r Carmichael the lawyer often visited, too,
and sometimes the Carmichael children went with him.
Sara was pleased about that. ‘It’s nice to see friendly
faces when you are ill,’ she thought.
The Indian gentleman thought that, too. He liked
children very much, but he was a very unhappy man. M r
Carmichael was his friend, and he talked to him a lot.
But they talked about only one thing.
‘I must find the child,’ said the Indian gentleman (his
name was M r Carrisford). ‘I must find her and take care
of her. But where is she? Here I am, with all this money
from the diamond mines -a n d half of it is Ralph C rewe’s
money. Oh, Carmichael, why did I leave my friend and
run away when things looked bad? W hy?’
‘You ran away because you were ill with a fever,’ said
M r Carmichael. ‘It nearly killed you, remem ber?’
‘And it d id kill poor R alp h,’ said M r Carrisford. ‘He
put all his money into the mines because I was his friend.
But at first we didn’t find any diamonds, and all Ralph’s
money was gone. I was afraid to tell him, so I ran away.
And later, when we did find diamonds, Ralph was dead.’
He laughed, angrily. ‘W hat a brave friend I w as!’

24
 7 must find the child and take care o f her.’

‘It’s not easy to be brave,’ M r Carmichael said quietly,

‘when you’re ill with a fever.’
M r Carrisford looked into the fire. ‘Ram Dass tells
m e,’ he said, ‘about a little servant-girl next door. The
monkey ran away, and Ram Dass went across the roof
to get him back from her room. The poor child sleeps in
a cold, dirty attic, and works about sixteen hours a day.
Is R alph’s daughter living like that? I can ’t stop thinking
about it.’
‘W e’re going to find her one day,’ said M r Carmichael.

25
 A Little Princess

‘But how ?’ said M r Carrisford. He put his head in his

hands. ‘I never saw her. I don’t know her name! Ralph
always called her his “Little M issus”. We talked all the
time about the mines. He never told me the name of her
school. Her m other was French, so did he take her to a
school in France? O r was it in England?’
‘W ell, we know there was a child at a school in Paris,’
said M r Carmichael, ‘with the name of Carew or Crewe.
Her father died suddenly, and a Russian family took her
away with them, because she was a friend of their
daughter. Perhaps this girl is Ralph Crewe’s child. N ext
week I’m going to M oscow to look for her.’
‘I want to go with you, but I’m not well,’ said M r
Carrisford. ‘I must find her, Carmichael. I must. Every
night, in my dreams, I see Ralph Crewe’s face, and he
says: “Tom , T om , where is my Little M issus?” And I
have no answer for him .’ M r Carrisford took his friend’s
hand. ‘Help me to find her. Help m e.’

W inter cam e, with its short, dark days, and the attic
rooms were very cold. There were no fires for servant-
girls, and often Sara and Becky could not sleep because
of the cold. Sara was taller now, and her old black dress
was very short. Her shoes were old, and she had no
warm coat for the winter weather. She was thin, too. She
did not get very much to eat, and she was always hungry.

26
 R am D ass an d the m on key

She carried big baskets of shopping through the rain

and the snow. One day she found a sixpence in the snow,
and she bought some hot new bread with it. Then she
saw a child by the door of the shop. The child had no
shoes and no coat, and her thin face was blue with cold.
‘She is hungrier than I am ,’ thought Sara. And she
gave her hot new bread to the child.
When she got back to the school, Miss M inchin was
angry. ‘Cook is waiting for you, Sara. W hy are you late? ’

‘She is hungrier than I am, ’ thought Sara.

27
 ‘O b, h ere’s Princess Sara,’ Lavinia said.

‘I can’t walk quickly through the snow ,’ said Sara. ‘My

shoes are old, Miss Minchin, and my feet get very cold.’
Miss M inchin did not like to hear this. ‘D on’t speak
to me like th a t!’ she said. ‘I am kind to you, I’m giving
you a home, but you never say “thank you” to me.’
Sara looked at her. ‘You are not kind,’ she said
quietly. ‘And this is not a hom e.’
‘Go to your room at once!’ said Miss Minchin.
On the stairs Sara met Lavinia. Lavinia looked at her
and gave a little laugh. ‘O h, here’s Princess Sara,’ she
said, ‘in her old dress and her dirty shoes!’
In the attic, Sara sat down on the chair by her table.
‘I must be brave,’ she whispered. ‘A princess is always

28
 R am D ass an d the m on key

brave, so I must be, too. But it’s not easy.’ She put her
head down on her arms. ‘Oh, Father, do you remember
your Little Missus? Can you see me now ?’
And in the house next door M r Carrisford sat by a
warm fire. M oscow is a long way from London, and he
could only wait, but he thought about Ralph Crewe’s
child every day. He thought about other children, too.
‘Ram D ass,’ he said. ‘How is that poor little servant-
girl next door? Can we do something for her?’
‘I see her in the street every day,’ said Ram Dass. ‘In
the rain, in the snow. She looks thin and hungry. But
we can help her. I can easily get in through her attic
window. Listen . . . ’ And he talked for some minutes.
M r Carrisford smiled. ‘Y es,’ he said to Ram Dass.
‘Yes, I like it. Let’s do it.’

‘Listen . . . ’ said Ram Dass.

 5
^The magic

ne night, a week later, Ermengarde got quietly out

of bed and went upstairs to the attic. Sara was not
there, so Ermengarde sat on the bed and waited. At ten
o ’clock Sara came slowly up the stairs and into the room.
Ermengarde looked at her. ‘O h, Sara!’ she cried. ‘Are
you ill? Your face is white, and you look so tired!’
‘It was a hard day, Erm ie,’ said Sara. She sat down.
‘Miss M inchin was angry with Cook. Then Cook was
angry with us. Becky and I had no dinner and no tea.’
‘Does that happen often?’ said Ermengarde unhappily.
‘You never told me. Are you - are you hungry now ?’
Sara looked at her. ‘Y es,’ she whispered. ‘Yes, I am. I
would like to eat that table.
I would like to eat y o u .’
Ermengarde jumped up.
‘Sara,’ she cried. ‘I had a box
of things from home today.
There’s a big cake in it. I’m
going to get it - now! You
and Becky can eat it all!’
Soon, Erm engarde was
‘T here’s a big cake in it.’ back. T he three girls sat

30
 The magic

on Sara’s bed, and there were some happy smiles when

Ermengarde opened her box and took out the cake.
‘O h, M iss, look at th at!’ said Becky.
‘You are kin d , Erm ie,’ said Sara. She laughed. ‘It’s
magic, you know. W hen things are very bad, something
nice always happens. Here we are, having a party!’
Ermengarde gave Sara and Becky some cake, and they
began to eat. Suddenly, they stopped. There was a noise
of feet on the stairs. They listened.
‘Oh n o !’ whispered Becky. ‘It’s - it’s Miss M inchin!’
‘Y es,’ said Sara. Her face was white again.
Then the door opened, and M iss M inchin came in.
‘So, Lavinia was right,’ she said angrily. ‘T ea with
Princess Sara! Becky, get back to your attic at once!’

'Tea with Princess Sara!’ Miss Minchin said angrily.

31
 A Little Princess

‘Oh, please, M iss M inchin!’ cried Ermengarde. ‘It was

my cake, from home. W e’re only having a party.’
‘Go back to your room , Erm engarde,’ Miss M inchin
said coldly, ‘and take these things with you. And
tom orrow ’ - she looked at Sara - ‘there’s no breakfast,
no dinner, and no tea for you. Rem ember th at!’

Soon the attics were quiet again. Tired and hungry, the
two servant-girls went to sleep. But after an hour or two
Sara opened her eyes. W as it a noise from the window
perhaps?
‘Something is different,’ Sara whispered. ‘W hat is it?’
She sat up in bed and looked round the room. She looked
again and again, and her eyes were very big.
The room w as different - very different. There was a
wonderful hot fire. There were new, warm blankets on
her bed, and beautiful pictures on the walls.
Sara slowly got out of bed. ‘Is this a dream?’ she said.
‘W here did all these things come from ?’ She put out her
hand to the fire. ‘N o, it’s not a dream. The fire is hot - 1
can feel it. And oh! Look at the tab le!’
There was a red cloth on the table, and cups and plates.
There was hot tea, and wonderful things to eat - hot
meat pies and sandwiches and cake, oranges and apples.
Sara ran to Becky’s room. ‘Becky,’ she whispered.
‘Come quickly. The magic is here again. Come and look.’

32
 The magic

W hen Becky saw the room , she could not speak at

first. Then she said, ‘Oh, Miss! W hat is it? H ow did all
these things get here?’
‘I don’t know ,’ said Sara. ‘It’s magic. At first I thought

On the table there were wonderful things to eat.

33
 A Little Princess

it was a dream, but it isn’t. Look - these pies are hot.

Let’s eat them. H ot meat pies aren’t a dream !’
They sat down by the fire, and ate and drank.
‘Oh, those pies were good, Miss! ’ Becky said. ‘And the
tea and the cake. I don’t understand magic, but I like it!’
Sara looked round the room. ‘Oh, Becky, look! There
are some books, too. I didn’t see them before.’
She ran to look at them, and opened the top book.
‘T here’s some writing here! Listen. It says, “T o the little
girl in the attic. From a friend.” Oh, Becky!’ Sara closed
the book and looked up. ‘I have a friend, Becky,’ she said
slowly. ‘Someone is my friend.’

The next morning Becky met Sara in the kitchen.

‘Oh, M iss,’ she whispered. ‘W as the magic there this
morning? O r did it go away in the night?’
‘N o, it’s still there,’ Sara whispered back. ‘I ate some
cold meat pie for breakfast. And the fire was still w arm !’
Becky laughed happily. ‘Oh my! Oh m y!’ she said.
M iss M inchin could not understand it. W hen Sara
came into the schoolroom , she looked happy and well.
Miss M inchin wanted to see a white, unhappy face, and
eyes red from crying. ‘How can that child smile?’ she
thought angrily. But of course, she did not know about
the magic.
And the magic did not go away. Every evening, when

34
 'Was the magic there this morning?’ Becky whispered.

Sara went up to bed, she found new things in the attic.

There were more warm blankets, for her and for Becky.
There were pictures on the walls; there were books, new
shoes, and a winter coat. And best of all, there was
always a fire, and a wonderful hot dinner on the table.
‘But where does it all come from ?’ Becky said one
night when they sat by the fire. ‘W ho does it, M iss?’
‘A friend does it,’ Sara said. ‘A kind, wonderful friend.
But he doesn’t want us to know his nam e.’
They began to look at one o f the new books, and then
Becky looked up.
‘Oh, M iss,’ she whispered. ‘There’s something at the
window. W hat is it?’

35
 A Little Princess

Sara got up to look, ‘It’s the m onkey!’ she said. ‘The

monkey from next door.’ She opened the window, and
the monkey jumped down into her arms. ‘Oh, you poor
little thing,’ Sara said. ‘Y o u ’re so cold !’
Becky was very interested. ‘I never saw a monkey
before,’ she said. ‘H e’s not very beautiful, M iss! W hat
are you going to do with him?’
‘It’s very late now ,’ said Sara. ‘He can stay in my room
tonight, and I can take him home in the m orning.’

‘Oh, you p o o r little thing,’ Sara said.

 6
andfc
■y=*r\ r s * r \ /y p
V v v

/ - 1 he next morning, the first visitor to the house next

L door was M r Carmichael, back from Russia. But
when he came into the house, his face was sad. M r
Carrisford knew the answer at once.
‘You didn’t find her,’ he said.
‘I found her,’ M r Carmichael said. ‘But it was the
wrong girl. Her name is Emily Carew, and she’s much
younger than Ralph Crewe’s daughter. I’m very sorry.’
‘We must begin again,’ said M r Carrisford unhappily.
‘But where? It’s two years now. Tw o years!’
‘W ell, she isn’t at a school in Paris. We know th at,’ M r
Carmichael said. ‘Let’s look at schools in England now .’
‘Y es,’ said M r Carrisford. ‘Yes, we can begin in
London. T here’s a school next door, Carm ichael.’
Perhaps it was the magic again, but at that moment
Ram Dass came quietly into the room .
‘The little servant-girl from the attic is here,’ he said
to M r Carrisford. ‘W ith the monkey. He ran away again
last night to her room . W ould you like to see her?’
‘Y es,’ said M r Carrisford. ‘Yes, I would. Bring her in .’
And so Sara came into the room and stood in front of
the Indian gentleman. She smiled at him.

37
 A Little Princess

‘Your monkey came to my room last night,’ she said,

‘and I took him in because it was so cold .’
M r Carrisford watched her face with interest. ‘T hat
was kind of you,’ he said.
Sara looked at Ram Dass by the door. ‘Shall I give him
to the lascar?’ she asked.

'1 was born in India,’ Sara said.

38
 L o st an d fou n d

‘How do you know lie is a lascar ?’ said M r Carrisford.

‘Oh, I know lascars,’ Sara said. ‘I was born in India.’
M r Carrisford sat up suddenly. ‘In India?’ he said.
‘But you’re a servant at the school next door.’
‘Yes, I am now ,’ said Sara. ‘But I wasn’t at first.’
The Indian gentleman looked at M r Carmichael, and
then M r Carmichael looked at Sara.
‘W hat do you mean by “at first”, child?’ he asked.
‘W hen Father first took me to the school.’
‘Where is your father?’ said M r Carmichael.
‘He died,’ said Sara, very quietly. ‘His friend ran away
with all his money, and there was no money for me.
There was nobody to take care of me. So Miss M inchin
put me in the attic and said I must work for my bread.’
The Indian gentleman moved in his chair. ‘W hat -
what was your father’s nam e?’ he said. ‘Tell m e.’
Sara looked at him sadly. ‘Ralph Crewe,’ she said. ‘He
died in India from a fever, two years ago.’
M r Carrisford’s face went very white. ‘Carm ichael,’
he whispered, ‘it is the child - the child!’

That was an exciting day for many people. At first poor

Sara did not understand. But M r Carmichael talked to
her quietly and told her everything - the true story about
her father’s friend and the diamond mines, and the two
years of looking for Ralph Crewe’s daughter.

39
 ‘And all the time I was in the house next door. ’

‘And all the tim e,’ she said later to M r Carrisford,

when they sat by his fire, ‘I was in the house next door.’
Tom Carrisford took her hand. ‘Y es,’ he said. ‘And
you’re never going back there. Your home is with me
now. I’m going to take care o f R alph’s Little M issus.’
Sara laughed, happily. ‘And you were the friend, too.
All those beautiful things in my attic came from you -
you and Ram Dass. Becky and I thought it was m agic!’
The Indian gentleman smiled at her. ‘We were sorry
for you,’ he said. ‘Ram Dass can move very quietly, and
he carried the things across the roof when you were out.
I couldn’t find R alph’s daughter, but I wanted to help
somebody. And then Ram Dass told me about this sad,
lonely little servant-girl in the attic next d oor.’

40
 L o st and fou n d

And so the story ended happily for everybody - but

not for Miss M inchin. Sara was very rich now, and Miss
M inchin wanted her to conie back to the school. She
came to see M r Carrisford, but he said some very angry
things to her, and she went away with a red face.
Becky came to live in M r C arrisford’s house, too. She
was Sara’s servant, and she was very happy. She had a
warm room , nice dresses, and good things to eat every
day. And she loved Sara very much.
Ermengarde often came to visit Sara, and Sara helped
her with her school lessons again. Ermengarde was not
clever, but she was a true friend. On that first day in the
Indian gentleman’s house, Sara wrote a letter to her, and
Ermengarde carried the letter into the schoolroom .
‘There w ere diamond mines,’ she told Lavinia and the
other girls. ‘There w erel There were m illions and
millions of diamonds in the mines, and half of them are
Sara’s. And they were her diamonds all the time when
she was cold and hungry in the attic. And she was a
princess then, and she’s a princess nowV
 GLOSSARY

brave not crying or asking for help when you are very unhappy
buy (past tense bought) to give money to get something
clever a clever person can learn, understand, and do things
quickly and well
dream a picture in your head when you are sleeping
fever when you are ill with a very hot head and body, you have
a fever
gentleman a man of good family, often rich
hard difficult; not easy
kind friendly and good to other people
lascar an Indian seaman
lawyer a person who knows about the law
lonely unhappy because you are not with other people
magic when strange, exciting, unusual things happen
next door the nearest house to your house
poor you say ‘poor’ when you feel sad for somebody
princess the daughter of a king or queen
sad not happy
servant a person who works in another person’s house
take care of to be kind to somebody; to give them love, a home,
food, clothes, etc.
unhappy not happy
whisper (v) to speak very, very quietly

42