Sophie's Misfortunes (chapter 1)

         Les Malheurs de Sophie(in English, Sophie's Misfortunes) is a children's book, written in 1858 by the Countess of Ségur. The original, in French, can be read here: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/15058
         The following is an English translation of the prologue and 1st chapter, by Christopher Peck, Jr.

To my granddaughter

ÉLISABETH FRESNEAU

My dear child, you often tell me: "Oh, grandmother, I love you so much! You're such a good person!" Grandma wasn't always a good person, and there are many children who were bad like her and who mended their ways like her. Here are some true stories about a little girl that grandma knew well in her childhood. She was angry, she learned to behave herself. She was a glutton, she learned to control herself. She lied, she learned to tell the truth. She was a thief, she learned to be honest. In conclusion, she was bad, she learned how to be good. Grandma has tried to do the same. Follow her example, my dear, young children. It'll be easy for you, since you don't have all the flaws that Sophie did.

COUNTESS OF SÉGUR,

née Rostopchine.

I - The Wax Doll


"Come on, come on!" Sophie said one day running into her maid's room. "Hurry up! Open this crate that daddy sent me from Paris. I think it's a wax doll, because he promised me one!"

"Where is the crate?"

"In the antechamber. Come quick, please!"

The maid set her work down and followed Sophie to the antechamber. A white wood crate was on a chair. The maid opened it. Sophie spotted the blonde and curly head of a beautiful wax doll. She let out a cry of joy and tried to grab the doll, which was still covered in wrapping paper.

"Careful! Don't pull it yet. You'll break everything. The doll is kept in place by some cords," the maid said.

"Break them, rip them. Hurry, I want my doll!"

The maid, instead of pulling and ripping, took some scissors and cut the cords. She removed the papers and Sophie was able to grab the most beautiful doll she had ever seen. The cheeks were pink with little dimples. The eyes were blue and bright. The neck, the chest, the wax arms, charming and chubby. The outfit was simple: a scalloped, percale dress, a blue belt, cotton stockings and black, patent leather boots.

Sophie kissed her more than twenty times and, holding her by the arms, she started to jump and dance. Her cousin Paul, who was five years old, and who was visiting Sophie, ran to her cries of joy.

"Paul, look at how lovely the doll daddy sent me is!" Sophie cried out.

"Give her to me, I want a better look at her."

"No, you'll break her."

"I promise you I'll be careful. I'll give her back right away."

Sophie gave the doll to her cousin, telling him once again to be very careful not to drop her. Paul turned her around, looked at her from every side and then gave her back to Sophie, shaking his head.

"Why are you shaking your head?"

"Because that doll isn't solid. I'm afraid you're going to break her."

"Oh, be quiet. I'll take such good care of her, I'll never break her. I'm going to ask mother to invite Camille and Madeleine to have lunch with us, so I can show them my beautiful doll."

"They'll break her."

"No, they're too nice to hurt me by breaking my poor doll."

The next day, Sophie combed and dressed her doll, because her friends were supposed to come. While dressing her, she thought she was pale. "Maybe," she said, "she's cold. Her feet are freezing. I'm going to put her in the sun for a little bit so my friends can see that I'm taking care of her and keeping her nice and warm." Sophie went to put the doll in the sun in the sitting room's window.

"What are you doing at the window, Sophie?" her mother asked.

"I want to warm my doll up, mother. She's cold."

"Be careful, she'll melt."

"No, mother, there's no danger. She's as hard as wood."

"But the heat will make her soft. Something bad will happen to her, I'm warning you."

Sophie didn't want to believe her mother. She laid the doll out in the sun, which was scorching hot.

At that moment, she heard the sound of a carriage. It was her friends showing up. She ran to go meet them. Paul had been waiting for them on the front steps. They ran into the sitting room, talking all at once. Despite their impatience to see the doll, they first said hello to Mrs. de Réan, Sophie's mother. They then went to Sophie, who was holding the doll and was looking at her with dismay.

"The doll is blind. She doesn't have any eyes!" Madeleine said.

"What a shame! How beautiful she is!" Camille said.

"But how did she get blind? She was supposed to have eyes."

Sophie didn't say anything. She was looking at the doll and crying.

Sophie's mother said, "I told you so, Sophie. Something bad would happen to your doll if you insisted on putting her in the sun. Fortunately, the face and the arms didn't have enough time to melt. Come on, don't cry. I'm a very skilled doctor, I might be able to give her back her eyes."

"It's impossible, mother. They're gone," Sophie cried.

Mrs. de Réan took the doll with a smile and shook her a bit. They could hear something rolling around in the head. "Those are the eyes making the noise you hear," Mrs. de Réan said. "The wax melted around the eyes and they fell. But I'll try to get them back. Undress the doll, children, while I get my tools ready."

Right away, Paul and the three little girls came upon the doll to undress her. Sophie wasn't crying anymore. She waited restlessly for what was going to happen.

The mother came back. She took her scissors and detached the body sewn at the chest. The eyes, which were inside the head, fell onto her knees. She took them with some pliers and put them back where they were supposed to be. To prevent them from falling again, she poured some melted wax that she brought in a little pan on the place where the eyes were. She waited a little bit to let the wax cool down, then she resewed the body to the head.

The little ones didn't move. Sophie watched this whole operation with fear. She was afraid it wouldn't work out. But when she saw her doll fixed up and as beautiful as before, she jumped to her mother's neck and kissed it ten times.

"Thank you, my dear mother," she said. "Thank you. Next time, I'll listen to you, for sure."

They quickly redressed the doll, set her on a little chair and went for a triumphant walk while chanting:

Hooray for mother! She saved her! Hooray for mother! We love her!

The doll lived for a long time, well cared-for, well loved. But, bit by bit, she lost her charms. Here's how.

One day, Sophie thought it was a good idea to wash dolls, since people wash children. She took some water, a sponge, some soap and started to clean her doll. She cleaned her so well, that she removed all her color. The cheeks and lips became pale as if she were sick and were forever colorless. Sophie cried, but the doll was still pale.

Another day, Sophie thought she had to curl her hair. She put some foil in her hair. She ironed it so that it would curl better. When she removed the foil, the hair stayed within. The iron was too hot. Sophie had burned her doll's hair, she was now bald. Sophie cried, but the doll was still bald.

Another day, Sophie, who was busy with her doll's upbringing, wanted to teach her to do some amazing feats. She hanged her by the arms from a string. The doll, which wasn't holding on well, fell and broke an arm. The mother tried to fix her up. But, since some pieces were missing, she had to heat up the wax quite a bit. The arm ended up shorter than the other. Sophie cried, but the arm was still shorter.

Another time, Sophie thought that a foot bath would be useful to her doll, since all great people had them. She poured some boiling water into a little bucket and plunged the doll's feet into it. When she pulled her out, the feet had melted and were in the bucket. Sophie cried, but the doll still didn't have legs.

After all these misfortunes, Sophie didn't love her doll anymore. The doll had become hideous and Sophie's friends were mocking her. At last, one day, Sophie wanted to teach her to climb trees. She put her on a branch and sat her there. But the doll, who wasn't holding on well, fell. Her head struck some rocks and broke into a hundred pieces. Sophie didn't cry. Instead, she invited her friends to come bury her doll.