Chapter 15 - Concerning Presents
Wherever I went during my tour in Switzerland and elsewhere Guides gave me the sweetest welcome, and I received very many moving signs of affection which touched me deeply.
Bunches of flowers, greeting cards, quaint little drawings, simple poems, packets of home-made sweets, or comic wee badges of various kinds, accompanied by small notes of welcome would often be found in my room at the hotel, or discovered in the railway carriages on leaving stations. One of these took the form of a V sign made out of bananas, placed on the seat of the carriage.
As a rule, no name or address was given, so that I could not write to send my thanks to the unknown giver, though occasionally there might be the signature of some unusual.Totem name.
While I am on this subject of presents, I want to tell you a secret! People sometimes say that I have some odd ideas, and perhaps this is one of them, but to tell you the truth I would really much rather Guides did not give me presents—at least, not bought presents of the ordinary sort:
The nicest one I ever received from some Guides was a very original one, in that they handed to me the receipt which had been sent to them for a gift which they had made to a hospital appeal. That is the sort of thing that delights me most.
And another nice present of the same kind was a piece of paper on which was written a list of the ' good turns ' done.
You see just as I have so often told you that Guides don't thank each other for a good turn, so also I feel that Guides do not offer gifts and rewards to one another. I certainly need no reward for being your Chief Guide.
But there is the great reward which automatically comes to me in that position. You are yourselves that ' reward '—you and the standard of your Guiding, the spirit of keenness and energy which you put into it and the good you do in the world. That is the loveliest present you can ever give me, and it is one which makes me very proud and happy.
But I was going to tell you about Totem names!
In France and in Switzerland Guides and Guiders adopt Totem names much more than you do here. These titles are earned
56
either by some activity or through some personal characteristic, or even as a result of some achievement, and I think it is a nice custom.
You may become a ' Flying Eagle,' or a ' Jumping Chamois,' Silent Rock,' or a ' Running Brook '; but you may also of course sometimes stand the chance of being awarded an uncomplimentary name in fun, which will stick to you, just as occasionally you find someone with a hideous and quite inappropriate nickname. I have known a ' Fatty ' who was quite thin, a ' Grumpy ' who was exactly the opposite, and even an 'Ugly ' who was good-looking and charming! In fact, someone you know very well is I gather known as Pink Pig or Pork!
A nickname is usually a sign of a friendly feeling and you must Live something special about you to merit the giving of one. And I is just the same with the 'totemising ' in the Guides, and it isn't everyone who possesses a Totem name, for it cannot be bought or taken, but has to be given to you, which gives it a value all its own.,
One of the last messages that I got before leaving Switzerland was typical of the quaint choice of name, however. It read : ' We all, Eclaireuses in Switzerland, are happy to see you and thank for you come. Excuse please I write so bad. I cannot
English so write with dictionary. Our Patrol device will be "Bon Courage, gai visage." Une tres forte poignée de la gauche — Votre Escargot.'
Fancy being called 'Snail'!
The only fault I have to find about Switzerland is the multiplicity of languages.
As you know the country is divided into four sections of varied aizes — the German, French and Italian speaking areas, and also that of the Romanche.
The latter is the one that is least known about, because it is so small, consisting only of a few valleys, with quite a tiny population. But it has its own special language, and the people who live there are determined to retain this, and now actually Romanche has been accepted as the fourth official language in govemment circles.
Then over and above these four written languages, there is the actual Swiss language itself, called 'Schwyzerduetsch,' which again has several distinct patois and dialects, so different indeed that people speaking it at opposite ends of the country cannot understand one another. So you see people in Switzerland have
57
to be jolly good linguists, as they not only know these languages of their own country, but they nearly all know and speak a little English as well, leaming it at school, and taking every opportunity they can of talking it.
That is where they are different from British people, who, even if they do know a foreign language quite well from learning it from a teacher or from a book at school, are apt to be too shy and too self-conscious to talk it.
But you Guides who are taking up the idea of forming ' Friendship Companies ' with the intention of not only entertaining Guides from the continent here in your midst, but also of eventually travelling over there when you can, will no doubt practise conversing in the language of your choice. Then not only will you be able to show how well you have managed to leam another language, but you will find that people appreciate enormously the fact of your trying to talk to them in their own tongue, however badly you may pronounce it. I say this from personal experience, and cannot stress too strongly the value there is in knowing languages, not only for your own personal advantage, but because of the good understanding it brings between people of different nationalities.
Leaving Zurich behind me, I spent one lovely day travelling south into the Italian speaking part of Switzerland, passing through some of the most exquisite scenery in the world.
We climbed up gradually from the lower lands into the foothills, the higher mountains towering up ahead, aloof, snowcapped, their topmost peaks veiled in sweeping mists. We tumed and wound, sometimes nearly catching up with our own tail, crossing and re-crossing many tumbling, tossing, bounding streams of ice water from the eternal snowfields above. The sides of the mountains were scarred and tom where avalanches, let loose by the melting snow in spring, came hurtling down to fall astride the river, and the whole scene became wilder and more majestic as the train slowly climbed on its zigzag course.
Then the train plunged into the long famous St. Gothard tunnel, which is one of the most wonderful feats of engineering ever accomplished.
As we came out on the other side of the great watershed, we found the Swiss character of the countryside had entirely changed. Gone were the little homely chalets, the great forests and deep valleys. In their stead were vineyards and cultivation, little villages high on the mountain sides, the • houses tall with tiled
58
roofs and green shutters clasped back against their painted walls, all completely Italian looking, though we were still within the Swiss border.
This part of Switzerland, which is called The Tessin, has immense charm, and more especially as you get down to the lower level of the celebrated Lakes.
And so we came at last to Lugano, a jewel of a place lying at the head of the still blue sun-kissed Lake, fringed with little houses and gardens, steep wooded hills all round, with dark fringes of trees streaming right down to the water's edge.
Scouts and Guides were there to meet me, and, going in the evening to the Rally that was held in a lovely Park—shut to the public but opened to us for that evening—I was escorted by Rovers holding flaming torches along a path to the great Camp Fire.
It was a very lovely scene as we sang and laughed and talked for an hour and more. And then, in the dim light of the fading fire, the Scouts and Guides were dismissed, and I found myself engulfed in a quiet, happy crowd of children. Hot little hands were thrust into mine, and one after another these boys and girls that I had never seen before came one by one saying ' Bon soir,' ' Goodnight Mees,' 'Bon soir, Lady,' `Buona Notte, Madame,' ' Thank you, Chief,' A riverderci, Signora,' 'Buona sera.'
And then we strolled home in the warm velvety darkness, the still lake bespangled with the reflection of the moon and stars, utterly beautiful right in the middle of battered Europe.
59
