Who Was Eleanor Roosevelt 安娜·埃莉诺·罗斯福 Chapter 2 Daddy’s Little Girl

Eleanor’s father called her “Little Nell.” Her nickname 1 came from one of her father’s favorite books by Charles Dickens, The Old Curiosity 2 Shop. Charles Dickens was a popular English author who lived in the 1800s and wrote many famous novels, such as A Tale of Two Cities and David Copperfield. Elliott Roosevelt was a great reader and loved to tell stories. Often, he entertained Eleanor by telling stories. Eleanor later said that her father always made her feel brave. She tried to do things that she knew would please her father. She loved to make her father smile.



Eleanor’s mother, however, was a colder parent. She did not hug Eleanor or play with her. She called Eleanor “Granny” because Eleanor was such a quiet, serious little girl. Eleanor said that when she heard herself called Granny, she wanted to sink through the floor.



Eleanor looked so serious because she did not like to smile. She wanted to hide her buckteeth. When Eleanor was a child, dentists did not know how to straighten teeth with braces 3. So Eleanor rarely laughed because she thought people would think she was ugly.



Eleanor heard people talk about what a beauty her mother was. Reporters wrote about her mother in the society pages. No one told Eleanor that she was pretty. No one except her father. He reminded Eleanor that in Hans Christian 4 Andersen’s story, “The Ugly Duckling,” the duckling turns into a beautiful swan. He said that would happen to Eleanor, too. Eleanor could not wait until she turned into a swan. Until then, Eleanor promised herself that she would be the best girl that she could be. And she tried.



Eleanor’s mother often got headaches. Eleanor rubbed her forehead to make the headaches go away. It made Eleanor happy to be able to help her mother. Eleanor later wrote that these times together made her feel useful and wanted. Eleanor also had a baby brother. Elliott Roosevelt Jr. was born in the fall of 1889. She loved being the older sister. Her relatives told Eleanor that she was a sweet and good girl.



When Eleanor was almost six, she and her family sailed for Europe again. This time, Eleanor enjoyed the trip across the Atlantic. Her father promised nothing bad would happen. And it didn’t!



Eleanor loved the time that the Roosevelts spent in Italy. She and her father rode in gondolas 5 in the canals of Venice. They tossed 6 pennies into the volcano 7 Vesuvius. The pennies were thrown back at them covered in lava 8! Eleanor rode a donkey 9 on mountain paths. The guide did not have shoes and his feet often bled as he walked on the rugged 10 paths. So Eleanor bought him a pair of shoes. This simple act of kindness was typical of Eleanor. All her life, the hardships of others touched her very deeply.



The time in Europe was not always happy, however. Eleanor’s father often drank too much. Finally, he got help for his problem at a hospital in France. His family settled nearby.



Eleanor’s mother was expecting another baby. While her mother prepared for the birth of her baby, Eleanor lived at a French school run by nuns 11. She was only six years old. Eleanor could not speak French and she missed her family. She was very lonely. She wanted the attention of the nuns; she wanted the other girls to notice her.



One day, a girl swallowed a coin. The nuns called a doctor. Everyone fussed 12 over the little girl. That gave Eleanor an idea. She told the nuns that she had swallowed a coin, too! But she hadn’t. And the nuns knew it. They did not call a doctor. Instead, they called her mother who took her out of the school. Anna Roosevelt was very angry with Eleanor. She told her never to lie again. Eleanor felt terrible. All she had wanted was some attention.



On June 2, 1891, Eleanor’s brother Hall was born in France. Her father was with the family when Hall was born. Now Eleanor went to a nearby school in the mornings. In the afternoons, she and her father took long walks and fed the ducks in the park. Eleanor said that her father was the only one who did not treat her as if she were a criminal. But her father became ill again. He went to a hospital near Paris. As soon as Eleanor’s mother could travel, in early summer, the Roosevelt family returned to New York—without Eleanor’s father.



One day, an aunt of Eleanor’s found out that she could not read. Eleanor was almost seven years old at the time. Her aunt was furious 13 and told Eleanor’s mother that Eleanor must learn to read, sew, and cook immediately! Like other rich New Yorkers, Anna Roosevelt wanted her children taught at home. So she started a school on the third floor of their house. A few of the neighbors’ children came, too.



At first, Eleanor was shy. The other children knew more than she did. She couldn’t spell simple words. Her mother, who sat in the back of the room, told her to try harder. Eleanor did. By the end of the first year, she was the best reader in her class! Eleanor also learned 14 to sew, but she never learned to cook!



Finally, Eleanor’s father returned home. He was feeling better, but was weak. Often he had to stay in the hospital for months. However, when her father was home, they went on walks again and talked about books. He taught her to feed the horses with a lump 15 of sugar or a piece of apple. They studied nature together. Eleanor’s father taught her to open her eyes and really look at the world around her. He always asked Eleanor what she was thinking. From her father, Eleanor learned to question things and to seek answers for herself.



The Roosevelts were rich, but Eleanor’s father wanted her to respect poor people and appreciate what she had. One week around Thanksgiving, her father took her to a home for poor boys—“newsies,” they were called. The newsies sold newspapers on the street corners of New York City. They earned about a nickel 16 for every ten papers they sold. They were supposed to sell the papers after school. Instead, most boys skipped school to sell more papers. Many were orphans 17 and not much older than Eleanor. They were poor and hungry.



Eleanor’s grandfather had started the home for the “newsies.” So Eleanor and her father brought lots of holiday food to the boys. Eleanor felt terrible for them. She saw how important it was to help people in any way that she could.



It was a lesson that her father taught her. It was a lesson that she would never forget.