The New Meaning of Hills in CCFS
— By Anneth White —
Pony's Hills was Candy's Place to Release her Sorrows and to Remember the One who Reminded her to Smile
Candy Candy fans who read the manga or watched the anime (in the 1970s) have a lovely memory of Pony´s Hill. Pony’s Hill was the hill near Pony´s home, where Candy grew up with her “sister” Annie, surrounded by the love of Sister Lane and Miss Pony.
For Candy, Pony´s Hill was like a sacred place, where she could be alone with her own memories, those which she started to fill with any new episode of her life, just like are described in the next CCFS´ excerpts.
When Annie was adopted when she and Candy were six years old, Candy ran to Pony´s hill to avoid being seen crying while she thought:
“When this hill gets filled with all the flowers that bloom in a little while, we won’t be able to pick them together . . . no tag . . . no swimming or fishing in the river…” Those days that she spent with Annie kept flying through her mind, one after the other.
That day when they decided to call this hill “Pony’s Hill” while making flower decorations out of buttercups. They even used a daisy to do a “Daddy and Mommy fortune telling.” That one day, daddy and mommy would “come get me, come get me not . . .” —”
Candy was a strong girl, and she knew she had to continue with her life. To put all of that sadness behind her, she decided to cry so loud on her Pony´s hill, to not have to do it anymore afterward, and we read this such lovely description of her cry:
“Candy made her decision and engaged her core. “Oowaaan! Waaaan!” She was now crying louder and tried crying with all of her strength. “Waaaan! Aaaaaan! Waooooo!”
As she heard the echoes of herself crying, her tears started to stop. Candy started to feel a bit silly. —I sound like a hungry wolf when I’m crying. She chuckled quietly.”
— Chapter 2, part 1, CCFS.
At that moment, suddenly a boy in a kilt appeared in front of her, making her think he was an alien. But to her surprise, the boy told him he was wearing Scottish attire, and he also had a bagpipe which he played for her. Candy, like the talkative little girl she was, started to signal and explain to the boy that she lived in the church they could see down the hill, called Pony´s Home. It was both a church and an orphanage. But the boy didn´t have time to stay for her. He disappeared just as he appeared before. She called him “the Prince on the Top of the Hill” since that day.
Pony´s hill continued being Candy´s refugee, and the place to feel sorrow for her destiny without being adopted, just as she did when she was thirteen years old, running to that place to read and cry when she received the sad news from Annie telling her she wouldn’t be writing to her anymore to avoid being connected to the orphanage (Chapter 4, part 1, CCFS).
“It had been a long time since Candy had received a prompt reply from Annie. Filled with happiness,
Candy had pressed the envelope she received to her bosom. Jumping up and down with excitement, she had run towards Pony’s Hill so that she could read her letter, undisturbed.”
Once Candy´s life changed after being adopted by Uncle William Ardlay, she still had Pony´s hill in her heart. She shared her thoughts with Anthony, the boy who was interested in her and she was having romantic feelings toward too. When they were riding horses on the day of the fox hunting, they talked about Pony´s hill, because Candy saw a spot that resembled that place. Anthony told her he would like to visit it someday to see the place where she grew up, and to know her teachers, Miss Pony and Sister Lane. Candy promised to go with him. But sadly, this didn’t happen because Anthony died in an accident that day (Chapter 19, part 1. CCHD).
“Anthony entered the thick dark woods, proceeding with his back low. All of a sudden, everything was illuminated and just as if it were an oasis, we found ourselves in a clearing. The atmosphere of the place immediately brought me back to Pony’s Hill and without hardly thinking, I shared that thought with him.
“Pony’s Hill, you say? It is the place where you come from, isn’t it Candy?” asked Anthony, turning to me. “I’d like to see it one day. And I’d also like to visit it to see where you grew up and meet Miss Pony and Sister Lane.
“It’s a promise, Anthony!”
Some years later, Candy found out that the “Prince on the top of the hill” was Albert William Ardlay, the man who adopted her when she had 13 years old. The day Albert Ardlay revealed that secret, he invited her to go to the Pony´s Hill again. But when they were both back at Pony’s Hill, he repeated his old behavior of not staying for so long because he had some more important things to do (Albert´s letter to Candy, Epilogue, CCFS):
I knew that someday, I was going to surprise you again, but I had been thinking about when to tell you the truth about this for a while. If possible, I wanted to tell you on Pony’s Hill – in the season we first met each other. I wanted to do that because maybe, that would make me feel like the young man I used to be back then.
Candy, You understood me so quickly. As I watched you cry then, just by that I felt like you understood everything. After that, my plan was to talk to you for a while on top of the hill. However – something got in the way. George always gets in the way when things start to go well.
I didn’t disappear. Remember, you came to send me off to the car?”
Until here, we have a sacred and beloved place of Candy’s that Anthony Brown wanted to visit. The boy who had romantic feelings for her, but couldn´t go because of the fatal accident he had. Also, Pony´s hill was a place that had a sentimental meaning for William Albert, the Prince on the top of the Hill and Candy´s adoptive father Nonetheless, it was a place Albert wouldn´t stay for the two occasions when he was with Candy; such occasions having been described in detail by Nagita. The first time was when Albert was seventeen when he ran away from home and from George, his guardian and secretary. The second time was when Albert was around twenty-nine. This time, he had to leave even earlier and the time he stayed on Pony’s Hill even shorter, because George was waiting for him in the car, insisting that Albert didn’t have time for vacations or personal affairs when had so many obligations and responsibilities being the head of the Ardlay´s family.
The Fake Pony's Hill at Saint Paul's School, Terry and Candy's Refuge to Share their Love
After Anthony´s death, Candy was sent to Saint Paul School in London by the order of her adoptive father, Great Uncle William Ardlay. On the ship she was traveling on to Europe, she met the boy she would fall deeply in love with, Terence G. Granchester, a teenager boy and the son of a duke, who used to tease her to make her upset as a demonstration of his inexperience feelings of his love for her as a young boy (Chapter 1, part 2, CCFS)
At St. Paul’s School, Candy found a little hill which she named “The Fake Pony´s Hill”. She was enchanted by the trees and the calm she could enjoy there, because it was so similar to her real “Pony´s hill”. This was something she said when she ran after Annie after Eliza heard them admitting they were both were orphans (Chapter 11, part 2, CCFS).
Coincidentally, that “fake Pony´s hill” was the hill where Terence used to spend time alone too to enjoy smoking and being away from all the people in the school he didn´t like (Chapter 4, part 2, CCFS).
“I am Candy. Candice White Ardlay! And, this place is called Fake Pony’s Hill, and it’s my spot! Never come back here again and smoke cigarettes! And make sure to bring that end of the cigarette back with you and get rid of it without the Sisters finding out!” Candy talked on and on in one breath and ran down the hill like a bullet.
“What a brat . . .” Even though Terius said that, he picked up the cigarette end.
Fake Pony’s Hill? . . . Her spot? . . . Does she even know how long I’ve been here at this academy? . . . Candy . . . huh . . .
Terrius laid back down into the bushes and looked up at the sky.”
The little hill at Edinburg, the place where Candy and Terry looked for each other when they were in love during their summer vacation
Candy wanted to go to Scotland to see the land where Anthony and the Prince on the top of the hill had their family roots. But once she arrived there, she only had thoughts for Terry, something that was so evident since the first time she was on another hill in front of a lake in Edinburg, which she called “the little Pony’s Hill”.
“Under the rays of the summer sun, the mass of water shone like a golden ball. Candy took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of water and green trees.
It’s a place that I’m seeing for the first time, and yet it’s like I’ve always known it. It’s so familiar to me… Terry should be at his villa by now…
Absentmindedly, her thoughts had flown to Terry.
Realizing it, Candy flinched and smiled awkwardly.
Oh no! I’m still thinking of him… Oh, Anthony, lately I’m very strange, don’t you think?
She laid down on the grass among the buttercups and the small blue flowers blowing in the wind. It almost seemed to her as if that blue cloudless sky could hug her and lift her in the air.
“I like freckles.”
She had really heard that sentence. It was not a figment of her imagination.
Terry had just spoken of her freckles and yet, every time she recalled that moment, she felt her heart pounding.
Oh, God, thank you for filling my face with freckles… although until now I’ve always tormented myself about them.
She closed her eyes. It was nice to feel the warmth of the sun on her eyelids.
Who knows what Terry is doing now…
Napping, she started thinking about the boy. Suddenly, something tickled her face.
“If you lie here sleeping, you’ll end up getting bitten by a poisonous snake.”
“Aaah!”
Frightened, she rose sharply and found herself facing Terry. The boy was laughing and was looking down at her, shaking the fruit of grass.
The girl sat up in a flash. How strange, just a moment earlier she was just thinking about him and now…
“For goodness sake! You’re always scaring me…”
Holding back the emotions that stirred within her, Candy pouted and took the little grass fruit that he had tickled her cheek with out of the boy’s hands.
I’m the one who got scared. Who would have guessed that Tarzan was afraid of snakes? I actually
think they’re much more afraid of you.”
“Terry!”
It was useless trying to look at him threateningly. She could not express the severity in her eyes.
Moreover, Terry was even smiling at her.
“Why are you here at the lake? Ah, I got it! Were you looking for me?”
Candy’s happiness even shone through the tone of her voice. The girl forced herself to regain control.
“Please! Since I’ve arrived, I’ve been coming here to read. It’s my favourite place. I would have never thought to find an intruder today.”
Terry lifted the voluminous book he had with him to lightly tap Candy’s head. In reality, he was just waiting for the arrival of the girl. He tried very hard to maintain his facial muscles, which were about to melt into an uncontrollable smile.
“Well look at that…So you’re a great reader, even though you don’t look like it.”
She regained her composure and glanced at Terry’s book.
“What’s it about?”
“It’s Shakespeare.”
The boy handed her the volume, bound in a heavy dark brown leather cover.
“Shakespeare… Oh yeah! The one who wrote Romeo and Juliet!” she said candidly.
Both averted their gaze simultaneously. Candy realized that Terry had remembered the May Festival and she began browsing through the book to hide her embarrassment.”
In Scotland, Candy and Terry realized they were in love. They shared almost all of the last days of their summer vacation at Terry’s villa. There, he gave her private piano lessons. Also in that villa, Candy made Terry promise her that he would go to visit her Pony’s Home (Chapter 14, part 2, CCFS):
“Sighing, Candy returned slowly to observe the fire.
“Even at Pony’s Home there is a fireplace… The directors always used to prepare marshmallows for us.”
“Your conversations are often about food.”
Time began to flow again. As if the tension had finally dissolved, Terry smiled at her and stretched his legs on the carpet.
“In fact, every single day I couldn’t wait for lunch and dinner time to arrive… I also liked making bread and biscuits together with the directors… They were delicious! I wish so much that you could taste Sister Lane’s cookies with raisins too!”
“I would love to go there once… I would be curious to see the apple tree where you learnt to act like Tarzan.”
“Really? You must promise me!” she exclaimed, turning to face him with shining eyes.”
When the summer vacation ended and the students returned to Saint Paul´s School, Candy and Terry transformed the “Fake Pony’s Hill” into the place where they would meet in secret during lunch to enjoy their time with each other (Chapter 5, part 2, CCFS):
“Since they had returned to the institute, the two had met secretly every day at the same time and place. They had not agreed on a date to meet, but during the summer holidays, on the final day of their secret piano lessons at Terry’s Scottish residence, he had said:
“I really think that from now on I will spend the lunch break on the hill.”
The boy had muttered those words so that Candy could hear him.
“I think I’ll do the same,” she had replied nonchalantly, pretending to talk to herself.
At the mere thought of being able to see him again even once back at school, Candy’s heart had begun to beat faster. She would have even settled for a little amount of time. She just wanted to be close to him and listen to his voice.
The little hill at Edinburg, the place where Candy and Terry looked for each other when they were in love during their summer vacation
Candy wanted to go to Scotland to see the land where Anthony and the Prince on the top of the hill had their family roots. But once she arrived there, she only had thoughts for Terry, something that was so evident since the first time she was on another hill in front of a lake in Edinburg, which she called “the little Pony’s Hill”.
“Under the rays of the summer sun, the mass of water shone like a golden ball. Candy took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of water and green trees.
It’s a place that I’m seeing for the first time, and yet it’s like I’ve always known it. It’s so familiar to me… Terry should be at his villa by now…
Absentmindedly, her thoughts had flown to Terry.
Realizing it, Candy flinched and smiled awkwardly.
Oh no! I’m still thinking of him… Oh, Anthony, lately I’m very strange, don’t you think?
She laid down on the grass among the buttercups and the small blue flowers blowing in the wind. It almost seemed to her as if that blue cloudless sky could hug her and lift her in the air.
“I like freckles.”
She had really heard that sentence. It was not a figment of her imagination.
Terry had just spoken of her freckles and yet, every time she recalled that moment, she felt her heart pounding.
Oh, God, thank you for filling my face with freckles… although until now I’ve always tormented myself about them.
She closed her eyes. It was nice to feel the warmth of the sun on her eyelids.
Who knows what Terry is doing now…
Napping, she started thinking about the boy. Suddenly, something tickled her face.
“If you lie here sleeping, you’ll end up getting bitten by a poisonous snake.”
“Aaah!”
Frightened, she rose sharply and found herself facing Terry. The boy was laughing and was looking down at her, shaking the fruit of grass.
The girl sat up in a flash. How strange, just a moment earlier she was just thinking about him and now…
“For goodness sake! You’re always scaring me…”
Holding back the emotions that stirred within her, Candy pouted and took the little grass fruit that he had tickled her cheek with out of the boy’s hands.
I’m the one who got scared. Who would have guessed that Tarzan was afraid of snakes? I actually
think they’re much more afraid of you.”
“Terry!”
It was useless trying to look at him threateningly. She could not express the severity in her eyes.
Moreover, Terry was even smiling at her.
“Why are you here at the lake? Ah, I got it! Were you looking for me?”
Candy’s happiness even shone through the tone of her voice. The girl forced herself to regain control.
“Please! Since I’ve arrived, I’ve been coming here to read. It’s my favourite place. I would have never thought to find an intruder today.”
Terry lifted the voluminous book he had with him to lightly tap Candy’s head. In reality, he was just waiting for the arrival of the girl. He tried very hard to maintain his facial muscles, which were about to melt into an uncontrollable smile.
“Well look at that…So you’re a great reader, even though you don’t look like it.”
She regained her composure and glanced at Terry’s book.
“What’s it about?”
“It’s Shakespeare.”
The boy handed her the volume, bound in a heavy dark brown leather cover.
“Shakespeare… Oh yeah! The one who wrote Romeo and Juliet!” she said candidly.
Both averted their gaze simultaneously. Candy realized that Terry had remembered the May Festival and she began browsing through the book to hide her embarrassment.”
In Scotland, Candy and Terry realized they were in love. They shared almost all of the last days of their summer vacation at Terry’s villa. There, he gave her private piano lessons. Also in that villa, Candy made Terry promise her that he would go to visit her Pony’s Home (Chapter 14, part 2, CCFS):
“Sighing, Candy returned slowly to observe the fire.
“Even at Pony’s Home there is a fireplace… The directors always used to prepare marshmallows for us.”
“Your conversations are often about food.”
Time began to flow again. As if the tension had finally dissolved, Terry smiled at her and stretched his legs on the carpet.
“In fact, every single day I couldn’t wait for lunch and dinner time to arrive… I also liked making bread and biscuits together with the directors… They were delicious! I wish so much that you could taste Sister Lane’s cookies with raisins too!”
“I would love to go there once… I would be curious to see the apple tree where you learnt to act like Tarzan.”
“Really? You must promise me!” she exclaimed, turning to face him with shining eyes.”
When the summer vacation ended and the students returned to Saint Paul´s School, Candy and Terry transformed the “Fake Pony’s Hill” into the place where they would meet in secret during lunch to enjoy their time with each other (Chapter 5, part 2, CCFS):
“Since they had returned to the institute, the two had met secretly every day at the same time and place. They had not agreed on a date to meet, but during the summer holidays, on the final day of their secret piano lessons at Terry’s Scottish residence, he had said:
“I really think that from now on I will spend the lunch break on the hill.”
The boy had muttered those words so that Candy could hear him.
“I think I’ll do the same,” she had replied nonchalantly, pretending to talk to herself.
At the mere thought of being able to see him again even once back at school, Candy’s heart had begun to beat faster. She would have even settled for a little amount of time. She just wanted to be close to him and listen to his voice.
Southampton's Little Hill and Candy's Confession of her Love for Terry
One of the sad moments in Candy and Terry´s story was that they fell for a trap set by their enemy Eliza to separate them at Saint Paul’s. In the aftermath, Terry decided to leave Saint Paul’s School and go to America to to save Candy’s reputation. The night Candy found out Terry had left the school, she ran after him to try to stop him and to confess her love to him. On her way to Southampton, she realized she had run out of time and would not be able reach Terry before the ship departed. The coachman suggested they go to a “Little Hill” where she could watch Terry’s ship set sail (Chapter 17, part 2, CCFS):
“The carriage continued to run through the deserted streets and the sky was gradually dyed white.
Praying for dawn to delay, Candy looked up. She hoped that the sun would ascend slowly, at least until she had arrived at the harbour. To herself, she continued to repeat Terry’s name.
The carriage, driven at full speed, gradually began to slow down.
“Sir, please!”
Intent on reiterating her urgency, Candy leaned out to talk to the driver. The man, thin and gentleeyed, looked back at her with a sad expression. “Miss, we will not make it. I know I promised, but the sun will rise before we arrive at the harbour.”
“Sir… I absolutely must…” Candy’s eyes filled with tears again.
“You must meet a person. I know… But try as I might an impossibility still remains impossible.”
With a sorry air, the man wiped his sweat. Even the horse was panting with fatigue. Candy looked down.
“I’m sorry… you’re right…” Wiping away her tears, she raised her head. “So please, take me to a place where I can see the sea. I want to see… at least the ship.”
“Very well! I know the right place!” The man nodded and the coach resumed its race.
When they reached the top of a hill, the sun was already rising. In the distance the sea could be seen, covered in mist. Candy got out of the carriage and watched the water wrapped in a gray silk shawl.
The sea seemed so near, and yet it was very far.
At that moment, slowly advancing through the morning mist, a large passenger ship suddenly appeared. Candy let out a small scream. Certainly Terry was in there.
“Terry!” she shouted.
The girl started to run towards the edge of the hill. If she could hover in the air, she would have certainly reached the ship, but unfortunately she had no wings to fly.
“Terry! Terry!”
Tears fell on her trembling lips. The wind blew hard and her voice broke, but she did not stop calling that name.
Terry, why did you expel yourself for me? Did you think that… this way you would make me happy?
She wanted to beat him strongly on the chest. Suddenly though, she thought she heard the boy’s voice in her ears.
“There is something I would like to do.”
The same phrase was written in the short message he had left her.
Were you serious, Terry?
Gradually the mist cleared and it was as if the sea was loudly singing an aria to the rising sun. The ship now glistened, as if sprinkled with gold dust, while on the vast ocean stood a road so bright as to be almost blinding. Terry’s ship continued to advance on that direction.
Candy took a big breath.
Oh Terry… You started to follow your path… you have something you want to do… You didn’t lie to me when you told me so…
The girl was no longer crying. Terry’s ship advanced into the light and she was certain that the future had in store an even more brilliant tomorrow for the young man. Without blinking her glistening eyes, she continued to stare at the ship that was becoming more and more distant.
I also want to find my path. And one day, she promised to herself, she would see Terry again.
Of course! I’m sure we’ll meet again! We are alive… one day we will be in each other’s arms again!
Even when the ship was out of sight, Candy stood on that hill swept by the cold wind.
No matter how much I write, I cannot express the feelings I have for Terry.
T.G. is gone, leaving me with many memories… But I would not want to talk about memories and the fact that he’s gone, because one day we will meet again! TG, until that time comes, I will continue to nourish and care for the feelings I have for you.”
The story continues in America, with Terry arriving first to that continent because Candy decided to stay with the Carson family to help little Susie to recover from measles. It is important to point out that the first thing Terry did in America was to go to Candy Pony´s home to see what it was like, and to see Pony´s hill and the trees. This he did to keep the promise he made to Candy in Scotland. Once Candy arrived at Pony´s home and learned that Terry had been there, she confessed that Pony’s Hill now had a new important meaning in her life:
“Terry,
These letters I write to you. No matter how many I write, I’m sure it will stay in my hand with no address written on it.
Terry . . . After coming back to the United States, chasing you, the only thing that passes by is time.
Terry . . . I wish I could go back in time. If I was there in time for when that boat left, and if you had visited Pony’s house when I had gone back there.
“One day I’d like to visit Pony’s house that you grew up in.” . . . I think you and those words. I think about your smile when you told me that too.
Thank you for coming and visiting me Terry. That short period of time that you came to visit Pony’s house.
But the teachers told me about how you walked around Pony’s Hill, visited the big Japanese oak tree that I used to climb and the apple tree where did my lasso training. Those trees that you may have touched, the hill where you may have stood still – those things became more important to me than ever before.”
We can see clearly here how for Candy, hills are so important. In Great Britain, all those hills resembled her home in Michigan. Also, all of them–the Fake Pony´s hill at Saint Paul, the little hill in Edinburg, and the hill in South Hampton–were directly related to Terry, the person Candy loves more than anyone else, as she confessed in CCFS.
On Terry’s side, it was so important to him to go to Pony’s Home, that sacred place that belong to his Freckles girl, and to see all the trees and surroundings of the Pony´s Hill. It was a place that he had probably he engraved in his mind and heart as being the place of the person he love most in his life.
With these last facts, it is obvious when Candy retold the story that she was greatly surprised by how her love (Terence – anohito) recognized at once, in a small oil painting in a flea market in London, Pony´s home – Slim painting. He saw and gave her the painting because it was the place that they had both kept in their hearts as one of the most important places in the world. This was something Candy described in the Prologue of the novel:
“I stood up slowly from in front of my desk and slowly walked towards the console . The size 10 oil painting that has been decorated with a handmade frame. He hung it up in a place where I’d be able to see from anywhere. A few years ago, that person who found this oil painting at a flea market in London. What a beautiful gift that was.
Out of all of the old oil paintings, he knew that the painting was of “Pony’s house” at first sight. On top of that, he knew that it was a complete view of Pony’s house, looking down at it from Pony’s Hill.”
Pony´s hill at the end of Candy Candy Final Story was a lovely memory in the heart and mind of the Candy who was living with her love in her new home in Avon, with a lovely painting hanging in their living room depicting Pony’s Hill, a place where they could both always be able to return.
But the narrative of hills didn´t end there. In fact, hills are very important places in Keiko Nagita´s own life and in her other stories too. In her autobiography, a series named “Love and Heart”, published by Poblar Publishing Co. Ltd. Japan, 1990, Nagita said she had lovely memories of the time when she lived with her parents in Moji when she was nine years old. Back then, she loved to play on the hills in that town with her imaginary friends and her older imaginary brother, whom she called her prince. On those hills, she could also see the port of the town and the ocean, something we can see in the descriptions of all the hills she added to and described in CCFS.
We cannot forget also the special meaning of LOVE as symbolized in a hill for Claudine, the main character of the Nagita´s manga “Bajo el Cielo Azul de Lorient”, translated to Spanish by Arechi Manga and originally published by Nakayoshi, in 1974, before publishing CC.
The importance of hill was also shown in what Nagita told her Italian readers in the second volume of CCFS, translated to Italian by Kappalab in 1915, when she said she lives:
“In the sunny hill beyond the milk slope”
It is a secret place with a secret meaning for her, but we are sure it is a very lovely one, full of love and good memories.
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In 1913, Candy arrived at St. Paul’s Principal’s Office. The first words she heard from Sister Grey were, “you are 3 minutes and 28 seconds late!”
The numbers 3 and 28 can be used to indicate that early spring date in Candy’s present day is March 28th.
In 1913, Susie was 3 years old. So, at what age she went to Calcutta as a volunteer nurse, should be the key in determining what Candy’s present year could be.
1933 is the year that marks more than 20 years of Anthony’s death. Susie would be 23 years of age in 1933.
It means that the current date and year for Candy in CCFS could be March 28th, 1933.
Wait!! Are you all talking about Albert and Susie as an item? I really don’t want to think about him like that though. Anyway, I think we all believe that anohito is Terry and this is the most important thing in this website! My lips are zipped!
Yes, we all believe that anohito is Terry in this website. But, there are many CCfans worldwide who insist that Candy would not wait for Terry forever. And unfortunately, many publishers all prefer pairing up an older man with a younger woman. So, it seems to make sense that Keiko Nagita would make Albert and Susie a pair just to make her publisher happy.
“The Ardlay family’s Lakewood estate has passed into new ownership now.” The reasons for this surprising fact might be that Albert wanted to break the cycle of premature death in his family, and he might have finally found his love after all these years.
“The Education of Betty” is a short story included in the book “Further Chronicles of Avonlea” written by Lucy Maud Montgomery. After reading that short story I came upon a question regarding whether Albert might be like that protagonist falling in love with a woman who is more than 20 years younger than him.
In CCFS, the revelation of Albert’s age might have an unforeseen purpose. I started to ponder why Susie Ann Carson is 22 to 23 years younger than William Albert Ardlay. I tried to understand why Susie called Candy “mama” right after recovering from her illness. And, I tried to sense why Candy expressed “this world is connected by the really brilliant bond–” right after reading Susie’s postcard…
In case anyone wants to read “The Education of Betty”, here is the link: http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/montgomery/further/further-11.html
After meeting Anthony for the first time, Candy recalled Miss Pony’s words about the threads.
“This world is complexly woven with many threads, one’s happiness or unhappiness cannot be decided until the threads come apart.”
—–
Albert mentioned the thread in his letter to Candy from São Paulo, Brazil.
“However, I think that I could again meet you coincidentally like that of being connected by a mysterious thread as you always say.”
—–
After reading Susie’s postcard from Calcutta, Candy expresses her present view about the bond.
“This world is connected by the really brilliant bond—.”
—–
After reflecting on her years of friendship with Albert, Candy expresses her conclusion about the bond and the thread.
“Now I can comprehend the meaning of the bond connected by the invisible thread.”
—–
The mysterious thread connected between Candy and Albert has come apart ever since the identity revelation of Prince on the Hill as William Albert Ardlay.
Candy’s comprehensive thought about the invisible thread being connected to the really brilliant bond seems to mean something different. It makes me recall the similarities between Susie and Albert.
Susie’s mom and Albert’s mom died when they were very little.
Susie sent Candy a postcard from abroad, so did Albert.
Candy nursed Susie and Albert when they were ill.
And the most fascinating thing is that Susie Ann Carson and William Albert Ardlay have the same middle name initial, the letter A.
Dear @Ichimoku and @Akiraka, you have proposed a very interesting hypothesis, i never had thought or read about before!! But it is interesting so see how Susie and Albert love to help people. Susie now in Calcutta and Albert when was in Africa and just talking about a young nurse he saw!!… Yes they have so many things in common!!! I would love to read more ideas you have about this lovely Nagita´s story!! Thanks for posting!!!
Yes Akiraka, you have a fascinating point.
So obviously that could be the reason why in CCFS, Keiko Nagita chose the special alphabet ‘A’ to be Susie Carson’s middle initial. If the author only wanted Susie to remain an insignificant minor character in the story, there would be no need to give her that ‘A’ middle initial.
Candy and Susie’s correspondence might have continued during her residing period in Magnolia Manor Apartment. Just imagine that Candy might have allowed Albert to read some of her letters from Susie. And then, that unforeseen invisible thread between Susie and Albert thus might have started to weave naturally ever since.
The truth is always hidden in plain sight. Slim’s painting of Pony’s Home, it obviously represents a time period that William Albert Ardlay has never thought of revisiting the little girl of the hill. For this reason alone, it’s extremely unlikely that Albert would have bought the painting to constantly remind himself what an inconsiderate person he really was.
In contrast, Terence G. Granchester chose to see Pony’s Home before he started to pursue his dream in acting. Terry’s action on this issue here definitely proves his love to Candy is the most sincere one in the whole story.
So in conclusion, Slim’s painting represents the time Albert has lost in his young adulthood.
But, the painting represents the time Terry has spent on thinking about his Little Freckled Candy.
Hi Ichimoku, it is so wonderful to hear your interpretation of the story!! We’ve always wanted to know the Japanese readers’ interpretation and point of view about CCFS!!!! Thank you for commenting, and please tell us more about your overall thoughts and insights about this story. ❤️❤️❤️🌹
The phrase “one glance” has a special meaning to Candy.
There was a letter from Terry to Candy in the CC manga Japanese edition volume 6 page 189.
Terry wrote “一目でもきみに会えてよかった” meaning “It was good to have one glance of you.”
The meaning of kanji “一目” is “one glance”.
All can see clearly why the phrase “one glance” is so significant to Candy in her retrospective narration.
In one glance from among many old oil paintings, he immediately recognized the painting was a depiction of “Pony’s Home”.
Hi Ichimoku, so nice what you have said about the letter Terry wrote Candy in CC manga with a similar expresion. In which part of the manga happened that?
And you are right, for Candy is important his love recognized at once the drawing of the place she loves so much!! something not difficult for someone who is used to go frequently to Pony´s (like Albert) but not so easy for a person that was there few times or only one time, like Terry, in this story!!
Hugs!
Hi ANNETH WHITE, you can find the letter in CC manga Japanese edition volume 6 page 189.
Here is my translation of that page:
休憩室
LOUNGE
さしだし人の名まえが書いてないわ……
The sender’s name is not written……
ひょっとして大おじさまかしら……
I wonder, maybe it’s from granduncle William……
ビリッ
Envelope ripping sound
ガサガサ
Paper rustling sound
もしかしてフラニーかも……
Or perhaps it’s from Franny……
なつかしいチビでソバカスのキャンディ……
Dear cute little Freckled Candy……
だれからだと思った？
Who did you think it was from?
テリィ!
Terry!
一目でもきみに会えてよかった
It was good to have one glance of you.
シカゴにいるときいたがじぶんの目で見るまでは信じられなかった……
I heard you were in Chicago, but I couldn’t believe it until I saw you with my own eyes……
テリィ……
Terry……
Thank you so much Ichimoku for your answer!!
It is so nice to read you in Japanese and English!!! I love to read this Terry´s letter for her “Little Freckled Candy” I LOVE THAT NICKNAME!!! and also to read the way he teases her!!! telling he liked a lot to see her at least once!!and now he knows she was in Chicago.
I would love to continue reading your opinions here or in another part of the analysis if you wish!!!
Hugs!!
Beautiful analysis!