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+Project Gutenberg's Stories from Hans Andersen, by Hans Christian Andersen
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Stories from Hans Andersen
+
+Author: Hans Christian Andersen
+
+Illustrator: Edmund Dulac
+
+Release Date: February 26, 2006 [EBook #17860]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STORIES FROM HANS ANDERSEN ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Stacy Brown, Jason Isbell and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+STORIES _FROM_
+HANS ANDERSEN
+
+_WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY_
+EDMUND DULAC
+
+
+HODDER & STOUGHTON
+LIMITED   LONDON
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+_THE SNOW QUEEN_
+                                                             PAGE
+One day he was in a high state of delight because he had
+invented a mirror                                               5
+
+Many a winter's night she flies through the streets            11
+
+Then an old, old woman came out of the house                   23
+
+She has read all the newspapers in the world, and forgotten
+them again, so clever is she                                   37
+
+'It is gold, it is gold!' they cried                           51
+
+Kissed her on the mouth, while big shining tears trickled
+down its face                                                  63
+
+The Snow Queen sat in the very middle of it when she sat
+at home                                                        71
+
+
+_THE NIGHTINGALE_
+
+Even the poor fisherman ... lay still to listen to it          81
+
+'Is it possible?' said the gentleman-in-waiting. 'I should
+never have thought it was like that'                           89
+
+Took some water into their mouths to try and make the same
+gurgling, ... thinking so to equal the nightingale             95
+
+The music-master wrote five-and-twenty volumes about the
+artificial bird                                               101
+
+Even Death himself listened to the song                       109
+
+
+_THE REAL PRINCESS_
+
+'I have hardly closed my eyes the whole night!
+Heaven knows what was in the bed. I seemed to
+be lying upon some hard thing, and my whole body
+is black and blue this morning. It is terrible!'   _Frontispiece_
+
+
+_THE GARDEN OF PARADISE_
+
+His grandmother had told him ... that every flower in the
+Garden of Paradise was a delicious cake                       117
+
+The Eastwind flew more swiftly still                          131
+
+The Fairy of the Garden now advanced to meet them             139
+
+The Fairy dropped her shimmering garment, drew back the
+branches, and a moment after was hidden within their depths   147
+
+
+_THE MERMAID_
+
+The Merman King had been for many years a widower             155
+
+He must have died if the little mermaid had not come to
+the rescue                                                    169
+
+At the mere sight of the bright liquid                        183
+
+The prince asked who she was and how she came there           189
+
+Dashed overboard and fell, her body dissolving into foam      199
+
+
+_THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES_
+
+The poor old minister stared as hard as he could, but he
+could not see anything                                        209
+
+Then the Emperor walked along in the procession under the
+gorgeous canopy, and everybody in the streets and at the
+windows exclaimed, 'How beautiful the Emperor's new
+clothes are!'                                                 215
+
+
+_THE WIND'S TALE_
+
+She played upon the ringing lute, and sang to its tones       225
+
+She was always picking flowers and herbs                      233
+
+He lifted it with a trembling hand and shouted with a
+trembling voice: 'Gold! gold!'                                241
+
+Waldemar Daa hid it in his bosom, took his staff in his
+hand, and, with his three daughters, the once wealthy
+gentleman walked out of Borreby Hall for the last time        247
+
+
+
+
+THE SNOW QUEEN
+
+A TALE IN SEVEN STORIES
+
+
+FIRST STORY
+
+WHICH DEALS WITH A MIRROR AND ITS FRAGMENTS
+
+[Illustration: _One day he was in a high state of delight because he had
+invented a mirror with this peculiarity, that every good and pretty
+thing reflected in it shrank away to almost nothing._]
+
+Now we are about to begin, and you must attend; and when we get to the
+end of the story, you will know more than you do now about a very wicked
+hobgoblin. He was one of the worst kind; in fact he was a real demon.
+One day he was in a high state of delight because he had invented a
+mirror with this peculiarity, that every good and pretty thing reflected
+in it shrank away to almost nothing. On the other hand, every bad and
+good-for-nothing thing stood out and looked its worst. The most
+beautiful landscapes reflected in it looked like boiled spinach, and the
+best people became hideous, or else they were upside down and had no
+bodies. Their faces were distorted beyond recognition, and if they had
+even one freckle it appeared to spread all over the nose and mouth. The
+demon thought this immensely amusing. If a good thought passed through
+any one's mind, it turned to a grin in the mirror, and this caused real
+delight to the demon. All the scholars in the demon's school, for he
+kept a school, reported that a miracle had taken place: now for the
+first time it had become possible to see what the world and mankind were
+really like. They ran about all over with the mirror, till at last there
+was not a country or a person which had not been seen in this distorting
+mirror. They even wanted to fly up to heaven with it to mock the angels;
+but the higher they flew, the more it grinned, so much so that they
+could hardly hold it, and at last it slipped out of their hands and fell
+to the earth, shivered into hundreds of millions and billions of bits.
+Even then it did more harm than ever. Some of these bits were not as big
+as a grain of sand, and these flew about all over the world, getting
+into people's eyes, and, once in, they stuck there, and distorted
+everything they looked at, or made them see everything that was amiss.
+Each tiniest grain of glass kept the same power as that possessed by the
+whole mirror. Some people even got a bit of the glass into their hearts,
+and that was terrible, for the heart became like a lump of ice. Some of
+the fragments were so big that they were used for window panes, but it
+was not advisable to look at one's friends through these panes. Other
+bits were made into spectacles, and it was a bad business when people
+put on these spectacles meaning to be just. The bad demon laughed
+till he split his sides; it tickled him to see the mischief he had done.
+But some of these fragments were still left floating about the world,
+and you shall hear what happened to them.
+
+
+SECOND STORY
+
+ABOUT A LITTLE BOY AND A LITTLE GIRL
+
+[Illustration: _Many a winter's night she flies through the streets and
+peeps in at the windows, and then the ice freezes on the panes into
+wonderful patterns like flowers._]
+
+In a big town crowded with houses and people, where there is no room for
+gardens, people have to be content with flowers in pots instead. In one
+of these towns lived two children who managed to have something bigger
+than a flower pot for a garden. They were not brother and sister, but
+they were just as fond of each other as if they had been. Their parents
+lived opposite each other in two attic rooms. The roof of one house just
+touched the roof of the next one, with only a rain-water gutter between
+them. They each had a little dormer window, and one only had to step
+over the gutter to get from one house to the other. Each of the parents
+had a large window-box, in which they grew pot herbs and a little
+rose-tree. There was one in each box, and they both grew splendidly.
+Then it occurred to the parents to put the boxes across the gutter, from
+house to house, and they looked just like two banks of flowers. The pea
+vines hung down over the edges of the boxes, and the roses threw out
+long creepers which twined round the windows. It was almost like a green
+triumphal arch. The boxes were high, and the children knew they must not
+climb up on to them, but they were often allowed to have their little
+stools out under the rose-trees, and there they had delightful games. Of
+course in the winter there was an end to these amusements. The windows
+were often covered with hoar-frost; then they would warm coppers on the
+stove and stick them on the frozen panes, where they made lovely
+peep-holes, as round as possible. Then a bright eye would peep through
+these holes, one from each window. The little boy's name was Kay, and
+the little girl's Gerda.
+
+In the summer they could reach each other with one bound, but in the
+winter they had to go down all the stairs in one house and up all the
+stairs in the other, and outside there were snowdrifts.
+
+'Look! the white bees are swarming,' said the old grandmother.
+
+'Have they a queen bee, too?' asked the little boy, for he knew that
+there was a queen among the real bees.
+
+'Yes, indeed they have,' said the grandmother. 'She flies where the
+swarm is thickest. She is biggest of them all, and she never remains on
+the ground. She always flies up again to the sky. Many a winter's night
+she flies through the streets and peeps in at the windows, and then the
+ice freezes on the panes into wonderful patterns like flowers.'
+
+'Oh yes, we have seen that,' said both children, and then they knew
+it was true.
+
+'Can the Snow Queen come in here?' asked the little girl.
+
+'Just let her come,' said the boy, 'and I will put her on the stove,
+where she will melt.'
+
+But the grandmother smoothed his hair and told him more stories.
+
+In the evening when little Kay was at home and half undressed, he crept
+up on to the chair by the window, and peeped out of the little hole. A
+few snow-flakes were falling, and one of these, the biggest, remained on
+the edge of the window-box. It grew bigger and bigger, till it became
+the figure of a woman, dressed in the finest white gauze, which appeared
+to be made of millions of starry flakes. She was delicately lovely, but
+all ice, glittering, dazzling ice. Still she was alive, her eyes shone
+like two bright stars, but there was no rest or peace in them. She
+nodded to the window and waved her hand. The little boy was frightened
+and jumped down off the chair, and then he fancied that a big bird flew
+past the window.
+
+The next day was bright and frosty, and then came the thaw--and after
+that the spring. The sun shone, green buds began to appear, the swallows
+built their nests, and people began to open their windows. The little
+children began to play in their garden on the roof again. The roses were
+in splendid bloom that summer; the little girl had learnt a hymn, and
+there was something in it about roses, and that made her think of her
+own. She sang it to the little boy, and then he sang it with her--
+
+    'Where roses deck the flowery vale,
+    There, Infant Jesus, we thee hail!'
+
+The children took each other by the hands, kissed the roses, and
+rejoiced in God's bright sunshine, and spoke to it as if the Child Jesus
+were there. What lovely summer days they were, and how delightful it was
+to sit out under the fresh rose-trees, which seemed never tired of
+blooming.
+
+Kay and Gerda were looking at a picture book of birds and animals one
+day--it had just struck five by the church clock--when Kay said, 'Oh,
+something struck my heart, and I have got something in my eye!'
+
+The little girl put her arms round his neck, he blinked his eye; there
+was nothing to be seen.
+
+'I believe it is gone,' he said; but it was not gone. It was one of
+those very grains of glass from the mirror, the magic mirror. You
+remember that horrid mirror, in which all good and great things
+reflected in it became small and mean, while the bad things were
+magnified, and every flaw became very apparent.
+
+Poor Kay! a grain of it had gone straight to his heart, and would soon
+turn it to a lump of ice. He did not feel it any more, but it was still
+there.
+
+'Why do you cry?' he asked; 'it makes you look ugly; there's nothing the
+matter with me. How horrid!' he suddenly cried; 'there's a worm in that
+rose, and that one is quite crooked; after all, they are nasty roses,
+and so are the boxes they are growing in!' He kicked the box and broke
+off two of the roses.
+
+'What are you doing, Kay?' cried the little girl. When he saw her alarm,
+he broke off another rose, and then ran in by his own window, and left
+dear little Gerda alone.
+
+When she next got out the picture book he said it was only fit for
+babies in long clothes. When his grandmother told them stories he always
+had a but--, and if he could manage it, he liked to get behind her
+chair, put on her spectacles and imitate her. He did it very well and
+people laughed at him. He was soon able to imitate every one in the
+street; he could make fun of all their peculiarities and failings. 'He
+will turn out a clever fellow,' said people. But it was all that bit of
+glass in his heart, that bit of glass in his eye, and it made him tease
+little Gerda who was so devoted to him. He played quite different games
+now; he seemed to have grown older. One winter's day, when the snow was
+falling fast, he brought in a big magnifying glass; he held out the tail
+of his blue coat, and let the snow flakes fall upon it.
+
+'Now look through the glass, Gerda!' he said; every snowflake was
+magnified, and looked like a lovely flower, or a sharply pointed star.
+
+'Do you see how cleverly they are made?' said Kay. 'Much more
+interesting than looking at real flowers. And there is not a single flaw
+in them; they are perfect, if only they would not melt.'
+
+Shortly after, he appeared in his thick gloves, with his sledge on his
+back. He shouted right into Gerda's ear, 'I have got leave to drive in
+the big square where the other boys play!' and away he went.
+
+In the big square the bolder boys used to tie their little sledges to
+the farm carts and go a long way in this fashion. They had no end of fun
+over it. Just in the middle of their games a big sledge came along; it
+was painted white, and the occupant wore a white fur coat and cap. The
+sledge drove twice round the square, and Kay quickly tied his sledge on
+behind. Then off they went, faster, and faster, into the next street.
+The driver turned round and nodded to Kay in the most friendly way, just
+as if they knew each other. Every time Kay wanted to loose his sledge
+the person nodded again, and Kay stayed where he was, and they drove
+right out through the town gates. Then the snow began to fall so heavily
+that the little boy could not see a hand before him as they rushed
+along. He undid the cords and tried to get away from the big sledge, but
+it was no use, his little sledge stuck fast, and on they rushed, faster
+than the wind. He shouted aloud, but nobody heard him, and the sledge
+tore on through the snow-drifts. Every now and then it gave a bound, as
+if they were jumping over hedges and ditches. He was very frightened,
+and he wanted to say his prayers, but he could only remember the
+multiplication tables.
+
+The snow-flakes grew bigger and bigger, till at last they looked like
+big white chickens. All at once they sprang on one side, the big sledge
+stopped and the person who drove got up, coat and cap smothered in snow.
+It was a tall and upright lady all shining white, the Snow Queen
+herself.
+
+'We have come along at a good pace,' she said; 'but it's cold enough to
+kill one; creep inside my bearskin coat.'
+
+She took him into the sledge by her, wrapped him in her furs, and he
+felt as if he were sinking into a snowdrift.
+
+'Are you still cold?' she asked, and she kissed him on the forehead.
+Ugh! it was colder than ice, it went to his very heart, which was
+already more than half ice; he felt as if he were dying, but only for a
+moment, and then it seemed to have done him good; he no longer felt the
+cold.
+
+'My sledge! don't forget my sledge!' He only remembered it now; it was
+tied to one of the white chickens which flew along behind them. The Snow
+Queen kissed Kay again, and then he forgot all about little Gerda,
+Grandmother, and all the others at home.
+
+'Now I mustn't kiss you any more,' she said, 'or I should kiss you to
+death!'
+
+Kay looked at her, she was so pretty; a cleverer, more beautiful face
+could hardly be imagined. She did not seem to be made of ice now, as she
+was outside the window when she waved her hand to him. In his eyes she
+was quite perfect, and he was not a bit afraid of her; he told her that
+he could do mental arithmetic, as far as fractions, and that he knew the
+number of square miles and the number of inhabitants of the country. She
+always smiled at him, and he then thought that he surely did not know
+enough, and he looked up into the wide expanse of heaven, into which
+they rose higher and higher as she flew with him on a dark cloud, while
+the storm surged around them, the wind ringing in their ears like
+well-known old songs.
+
+They flew over woods and lakes, over oceans and islands; the cold wind
+whistled down below them, the wolves howled, the black crows flew
+screaming over the sparkling snow, but up above, the moon shone bright
+and clear--and Kay looked at it all the long, long winter nights; in the
+day he slept at the Snow Queen's feet.
+
+
+STORY THREE
+
+THE GARDEN OF THE WOMAN LEARNED IN MAGIC
+
+[Illustration: _Then an old, old woman came out of the house; she was
+leaning upon a big, hooked stick, and she wore a big sun hat, which was
+covered with beautiful painted flowers._]
+
+But how was little Gerda getting on all this long time since Kay left
+her? Where could he be? Nobody knew, nobody could say anything about
+him. All that the other boys knew was, that they had seen him tie his
+little sledge to a splendid big one which drove away down the street and
+out of the town gates. Nobody knew where he was, and many tears were
+shed; little Gerda cried long and bitterly. At last, people said he was
+dead; he must have fallen into the river which ran close by the town.
+Oh, what long, dark, winter days those were!
+
+At last the spring came and the sunshine.
+
+'Kay is dead and gone,' said little Gerda.
+
+'I don't believe it,' said the sunshine.
+
+'He is dead and gone,' she said to the swallows.
+
+'We don't believe it,' said the swallows; and at last little Gerda did
+not believe it either.
+
+'I will put on my new red shoes,' she said one morning; 'those Kay never
+saw; and then I will go down to the river and ask it about him!'
+
+It was very early in the morning; she kissed the old grandmother, who
+was still asleep, put on the red shoes, and went quite alone, out by the
+gate to the river.
+
+'Is it true that you have taken my little playfellow? I will give you my
+red shoes if you will bring him back to me again.'
+
+She thought the little ripples nodded in such a curious way, so she took
+off her red shoes, her most cherished possessions, and threw them both
+into the river. They fell close by the shore, and were carried straight
+back to her by the little wavelets; it seemed as if the river would not
+accept her offering, as it had not taken little Kay.
+
+She only thought she had not thrown them far enough; so she climbed into
+a boat which lay among the rushes, then she went right out to the
+further end of it, and threw the shoes into the water again. But the
+boat was loose, and her movements started it off, and it floated away
+from the shore: she felt it moving and tried to get out, but before she
+reached the other end the boat was more than a yard from the shore, and
+was floating away quite quickly.
+
+Little Gerda was terribly frightened, and began to cry, but nobody heard
+her except the sparrows, and they could not carry her ashore, but they
+flew alongside twittering, as if to cheer her, 'We are here, we are
+here.' The boat floated rapidly away with the current; little Gerda sat
+quite still with only her stockings on; her little red shoes floated
+behind, but they could not catch up the boat, which drifted away faster
+and faster.
+
+The banks on both sides were very pretty with beautiful flowers, fine
+old trees, and slopes dotted with sheep and cattle, but not a single
+person.
+
+'Perhaps the river is taking me to little Kay,' thought Gerda, and that
+cheered her; she sat up and looked at the beautiful green banks for
+hours.
+
+Then they came to a big cherry garden; there was a little house in
+it, with curious blue and red windows, it had a thatched roof, and two
+wooden soldiers stood outside, who presented arms as she sailed past.
+Gerda called out to them; she thought they were alive, but of course
+they did not answer; she was quite close to them, for the current drove
+the boat close to the bank. Gerda called out again, louder than before,
+and then an old, old woman came out of the house; she was leaning upon a
+big, hooked stick, and she wore a big sun hat, which was covered with
+beautiful painted flowers.
+
+'You poor little child,' said the old woman, 'how ever were you driven
+out on this big, strong river into the wide, wide world alone?' Then she
+walked right into the water, and caught hold of the boat with her hooked
+stick; she drew it ashore, and lifted little Gerda out.
+
+Gerda was delighted to be on dry land again, but she was a little bit
+frightened of the strange old woman.
+
+'Come, tell me who you are, and how you got here,' said she.
+
+When Gerda had told her the whole story and asked her if she had seen
+Kay, the woman said she had not seen him, but that she expected him.
+Gerda must not be sad, she was to come and taste her cherries and see
+her flowers, which were more beautiful than any picture-book; each one
+had a story to tell. Then she took Gerda by the hand, they went into the
+little house, and the old woman locked the door.
+
+The windows were very high up, and they were red, blue, and yellow;
+they threw a very curious light into the room. On the table were
+quantities of the most delicious cherries, of which Gerda had leave to
+eat as many as ever she liked. While she was eating, the old woman
+combed her hair with a golden comb, so that the hair curled, and shone
+like gold round the pretty little face, which was as sweet as a rose.
+
+'I have long wanted a little girl like you!' said the old woman. 'You
+will see how well we shall get on together.' While she combed her hair
+Gerda had forgotten all about Kay, for the old woman was learned in the
+magic art; but she was not a bad witch, she only cast spells over people
+for a little amusement, and she wanted to keep Gerda. She therefore went
+into the garden and waved her hooked stick over all the rose-bushes, and
+however beautifully they were flowering, all sank down into the rich
+black earth without leaving a trace behind them. The old woman was
+afraid that if Gerda saw the roses she would be reminded of Kay, and
+would want to run away. Then she took Gerda into the flower garden. What
+a delicious scent there was! and every imaginable flower for every
+season was in that lovely garden; no picture-book could be brighter or
+more beautiful. Gerda jumped for joy and played till the sun went down
+behind the tall cherry trees. Then she was put into a lovely bed with
+rose-coloured silken coverings stuffed with violets; she slept and
+dreamt as lovely dreams as any queen on her wedding day.
+
+The next day she played with the flowers in the garden again--and many
+days passed in the same way. Gerda knew every flower, but however many
+there were, she always thought there was one missing, but which it was
+she did not know.
+
+One day she was sitting looking at the old woman's sun hat with its
+painted flowers, and the very prettiest one of them all was a rose. The
+old woman had forgotten her hat when she charmed the others away. This
+is the consequence of being absent-minded.
+
+'What!' said Gerda, 'are there no roses here?' and she sprang in among
+the flower-beds and sought, but in vain! Her hot tears fell on the very
+places where the roses used to be; when the warm drops moistened the
+earth the rose-trees shot up again, just as full of bloom as when they
+sank. Gerda embraced the roses and kissed them, and then she thought of
+the lovely roses at home, and this brought the thought of little Kay.
+
+'Oh, how I have been delayed,' said the little girl, 'I ought to have
+been looking for Kay! Don't you know where he is?' she asked the roses.
+'Do you think he is dead and gone?'
+
+'He is not dead,' said the roses. 'For we have been down underground,
+you know, and all the dead people are there, but Kay is not among them.'
+
+'Oh, thank you!' said little Gerda, and then she went to the other
+flowers and looked into their cups and said, 'Do you know where Kay is?'
+
+But each flower stood in the sun and dreamt its own dreams. Little Gerda
+heard many of these, but never anything about Kay.
+
+And what said the Tiger lilies?
+
+'Do you hear the drum? rub-a-dub, it has only two notes, rub-a-dub,
+always the same. The wailing of women and the cry of the preacher. The
+Hindu woman in her long red garment stands on the pile, while the flames
+surround her and her dead husband. But the woman is only thinking of the
+living man in the circle round, whose eyes burn with a fiercer fire than
+that of the flames which consume the body. Do the flames of the heart
+die in the fire?'
+
+'I understand nothing about that,' said little Gerda.
+
+'That is my story,' said the Tiger lily.
+
+'What does the convolvulus say?'
+
+'An old castle is perched high over a narrow mountain path, it is
+closely covered with ivy, almost hiding the old red walls, and creeping
+up leaf upon leaf right round the balcony where stands a beautiful
+maiden. She bends over the balustrade and looks eagerly up the road. No
+rose on its stem is fresher than she; no apple blossom wafted by the
+wind moves more lightly. Her silken robes rustle softly as she bends
+over and says, 'Will he never come?''
+
+'Is it Kay you mean?' asked Gerda.
+
+'I am only talking about my own story, my dream,' answered the
+convolvulus.
+
+What said the little snowdrop?
+
+'Between two trees a rope with a board is hanging; it is a swing. Two
+pretty little girls in snowy frocks and green ribbons fluttering on
+their hats are seated on it. Their brother, who is bigger than they are,
+stands up behind them; he has his arms round the ropes for supports, and
+holds in one hand a little bowl and in the other a clay pipe. He is
+blowing soap-bubbles. As the swing moves the bubbles fly upwards in all
+their changing colours, the last one still hangs from the pipe swayed by
+the wind, and the swing goes on. A little black dog runs up, he is
+almost as light as the bubbles, he stands up on his hind legs and wants
+to be taken into the swing, but it does not stop. The little dog falls
+with an angry bark; they jeer at it; the bubble bursts. A swinging
+plank, a fluttering foam picture--that is my story!'
+
+'I daresay what you tell me is very pretty, but you speak so sadly and
+you never mention little Kay.'
+
+What says the hyacinth?
+
+'They were three beautiful sisters, all most delicate, and quite
+transparent. One wore a crimson robe, the other a blue, and the third
+was pure white. These three danced hand-in-hand, by the edge of the lake
+in the moonlight. They were human beings, not fairies of the wood. The
+fragrant air attracted them, and they vanished into the wood; here the
+fragrance was stronger still. Three coffins glide out of the wood
+towards the lake, and in them lie the maidens. The fire-flies flutter
+lightly round them with their little flickering torches. Do these
+dancing maidens sleep, or are they dead? The scent of the flower says
+that they are corpses. The evening bell tolls their knell.'
+
+'You make me quite sad,' said little Gerda; 'your perfume is so strong
+it makes me think of those dead maidens. Oh, is little Kay really dead?
+The roses have been down underground, and they say no.'
+
+'Ding, dong,' tolled the hyacinth bells; 'we are not tolling for little
+Kay; we know nothing about him. We sing our song, the only one we know.'
+
+And Gerda went on to the buttercups shining among their dark green
+leaves.
+
+'You are a bright little sun,' said Gerda. 'Tell me if you know where I
+shall find my playfellow.'
+
+The buttercup shone brightly and returned Gerda's glance. What song
+could the buttercup sing? It would not be about Kay.
+
+'God's bright sun shone into a little court on the first day of spring.
+The sunbeams stole down the neighbouring white wall, close to which
+bloomed the first yellow flower of the season; it shone like burnished
+gold in the sun. An old woman had brought her arm-chair out into the
+sun; her granddaughter, a poor and pretty little maid-servant, had come
+to pay her a short visit, and she kissed her. There was gold, heart's
+gold, in the kiss. Gold on the lips, gold on the ground, and gold above,
+in the early morning beams! Now that is my little story,' said the
+buttercup.
+
+'Oh, my poor old grandmother!' sighed Gerda. 'She will be longing to see
+me, and grieving about me, as she did about Kay. But I shall soon go
+home again and take Kay with me. It is useless for me to ask the flowers
+about him. They only know their own stories, and have no information to
+give me.'
+
+Then she tucked up her little dress, so that she might run the faster;
+but the narcissus blossoms struck her on the legs as she jumped over
+them, so she stopped and said, 'Perhaps you can tell me something.'
+
+She stooped down close to the flower and listened. What did it say?
+
+'I can see myself, I can see myself,' said the narcissus. 'Oh, how sweet
+is my scent. Up there in an attic window stands a little dancing girl
+half dressed; first she stands on one leg, then on the other, and looks
+as if she would tread the whole world under her feet. She is only a
+delusion. She pours some water out of a teapot on to a bit of stuff that
+she is holding; it is her bodice. "Cleanliness is a good thing," she
+says. Her white dress hangs on a peg; it has been washed in the teapot,
+too, and dried on the roof. She puts it on, and wraps a saffron-coloured
+scarf round her neck, which makes the dress look whiter. See how high
+she carries her head, and all upon one stem. I see myself, I see
+myself!'
+
+'I don't care a bit about all that,' said Gerda; 'it's no use telling me
+such stuff.'
+
+And then she ran to the end of the garden. The door was fastened, but
+she pressed the rusty latch, and it gave way. The door sprang open, and
+little Gerda ran out with bare feet into the wide world. She looked back
+three times, but nobody came after her. At last she could run no
+further, and she sat down on a big stone. When she looked round she saw
+that the summer was over; it was quite late autumn. She would never have
+known it inside the beautiful garden, where the sun always shone, and
+the flowers of every season were always in bloom.
+
+'Oh, how I have wasted my time,' said little Gerda. 'It is autumn. I
+must not rest any longer,' and she got up to go on.
+
+Oh, how weary and sore were her little feet, and everything round looked
+so cold and dreary. The long willow leaves were quite yellow. The damp
+mist fell off the trees like rain, one leaf dropped after another from
+the trees, and only the sloe-thorn still bore its fruit; but the sloes
+were sour and set one's teeth on edge. Oh, how grey and sad it looked,
+out in the wide world.
+
+
+FOURTH STORY
+
+PRINCE AND PRINCESS
+
+[Illustration: _She has read all the newspapers in the world, and
+forgotten them again, so clever is she._]
+
+Gerda was soon obliged to rest again. A big crow hopped on to the snow,
+just in front of her. It had been sitting looking at her for a long time
+and wagging its head. Now it said, 'Caw, caw; good-day, good-day,' as
+well as it could; it meant to be kind to the little girl, and asked her
+where she was going, alone in the wide world.
+
+Gerda understood the word 'alone' and knew how much there was in it, and
+she told the crow the whole story of her life and adventures, and asked
+if it had seen Kay.
+
+The crow nodded its head gravely and said, 'May be I have, may be I
+have.'
+
+'What, do you really think you have?' cried the little girl, nearly
+smothering him with her kisses.
+
+'Gently, gently!' said the crow. 'I believe it may have been Kay, but he
+has forgotten you by this time, I expect, for the Princess.'
+
+'Does he live with a Princess?' asked Gerda.
+
+'Yes, listen,' said the crow; 'but it is so difficult to speak your
+language. If you understand "crow's language,"[1] I can tell you about
+it much better.'
+
+'No, I have never learnt it,' said Gerda; 'but grandmother knew it, and
+used to speak it. If only I had learnt it!'
+
+'It doesn't matter,' said the crow. 'I will tell you as well as I can,
+although I may do it rather badly.'
+
+Then he told her what he had heard.
+
+'In this kingdom where we are now,' said he, 'there lives a Princess who
+is very clever. She has read all the newspapers in the world, and
+forgotten them again, so clever is she. One day she was sitting on her
+throne, which is not such an amusing thing to do either, they say; and
+she began humming a tune, which happened to be
+
+    "Why should I not be married, oh why?"
+
+"Why not indeed?" said she. And she made up her mind to marry, if she
+could find a husband who had an answer ready when a question was put to
+him. She called all the court ladies together, and when they heard what
+she wanted they were delighted.
+
+'"I like that now," they said. "I was thinking the same thing myself the
+other day."
+
+'Every word I say is true,' said the crow, 'for I have a tame
+sweetheart who goes about the palace whenever she likes. She told me the
+whole story.'
+
+Of course his sweetheart was a crow, for 'birds of a feather flock
+together,' and one crow always chooses another. The newspapers all came
+out immediately with borders of hearts and the Princess's initials. They
+gave notice that any young man who was handsome enough might go up to
+the Palace to speak to the Princess. The one who spoke as if he were
+quite at home, and spoke well, would be chosen by the Princess as her
+husband. Yes, yes, you may believe me, it's as true as I sit here,' said
+the crow. 'The people came crowding in; there was such running, and
+crushing, but no one was fortunate enough to be chosen, either on the
+first day, or on the second. They could all of them talk well enough in
+the street, but when they entered the castle gates, and saw the guard in
+silver uniforms, and when they went up the stairs through rows of
+lackeys in gold embroidered liveries, their courage forsook them. When
+they reached the brilliantly lighted reception-rooms, and stood in front
+of the throne where the Princess was seated, they could think of nothing
+to say, they only echoed her last words, and of course that was not what
+she wanted.
+
+'It was just as if they had all taken some kind of sleeping-powder,
+which made them lethargic; they did not recover themselves until they
+got out into the street again, and then they had plenty to say. There
+was quite a long line of them, reaching from the town gates up to the
+Palace.
+
+'I went to see them myself,' said the crow. 'They were hungry and
+thirsty, but they got nothing at the Palace, not even as much as a glass
+of tepid water. Some of the wise ones had taken sandwiches with them,
+but they did not share them with their neighbours; they thought if the
+others went in to the Princess looking hungry, that there would be more
+chance for themselves.'
+
+'But Kay, little Kay!' asked Gerda; 'when did he come? was he amongst
+the crowd?'
+
+'Give me time, give me time! we are just coming to him. It was on the
+third day that a little personage came marching cheerfully along,
+without either carriage or horse. His eyes sparkled like yours, and he
+had beautiful long hair, but his clothes were very shabby.'
+
+'Oh, that was Kay!' said Gerda gleefully; 'then I have found him!' and
+she clapped her hands.
+
+'He had a little knapsack on his back!' said the crow.
+
+'No, it must have been his sledge; he had it with him when he went
+away!' said Gerda.
+
+'It may be so,' said the crow; 'I did not look very particularly; but I
+know from my sweetheart, that when he entered the Palace gates, and saw
+the life-guards in their silver uniforms, and the lackeys on the stairs
+in their gold-laced liveries, he was not the least bit abashed. He just
+nodded to them and said, "It must be very tiresome to stand upon the
+stairs. I am going inside!" The rooms were blazing with lights. Privy
+councillors and excellencies without number were walking about barefoot
+carrying golden vessels; it was enough to make you solemn! His boots
+creaked fearfully too, but he wasn't a bit upset.'
+
+'Oh, I am sure that was Kay!' said Gerda; 'I know he had a pair of new
+boots, I heard them creaking in grandmother's room.'
+
+'Yes, indeed they did creak!' said the crow. 'But nothing daunted, he
+went straight up to the Princess, who was sitting on a pearl as big as a
+spinning-wheel. Poor, simple boy! all the court ladies and their
+attendants; the courtiers, and their gentlemen, each attended by a page,
+were standing round. The nearer the door they stood, so much the greater
+was their haughtiness; till the footman's boy, who always wore slippers
+and stood in the doorway, was almost too proud even to be looked at.'
+
+'It must be awful!' said little Gerda, 'and yet Kay has won the
+Princess!'
+
+'If I had not been a crow, I should have taken her myself,
+notwithstanding that I am engaged. They say he spoke as well as I could
+have done myself, when I speak crow-language; at least so my sweetheart
+says. He was a picture of good looks and gallantry, and then, he had not
+come with any idea of wooing the Princess, but simply to hear her
+wisdom. He admired her just as much as she admired him!'
+
+'Indeed it was Kay then,' said Gerda; 'he was so clever he could do
+mental arithmetic up to fractions. Oh, won't you take me to the Palace?'
+
+'It's easy enough to talk,' said the crow; 'but how are we to manage it?
+I will talk to my tame sweetheart about it; she will have some advice to
+give us I daresay, but I am bound to tell you that a little girl like
+you will never be admitted!'
+
+'Oh, indeed I shall,' said Gerda; 'when Kay hears that I am here, he
+will come out at once to fetch me.'
+
+'Wait here for me by the stile,' said the crow, then he wagged his head
+and flew off.
+
+The evening had darkened in before he came back. 'Caw, caw,' he said,
+'she sends you greeting. And here is a little roll for you; she got it
+out of the kitchen where there is bread enough, and I daresay you are
+hungry! It is not possible for you to get into the Palace; you have bare
+feet; the guards in silver and the lackeys in gold would never allow you
+to pass. But don't cry, we shall get you in somehow; my sweetheart knows
+a little back staircase which leads up to the bedroom, and she knows
+where the key is kept.'
+
+Then they went into the garden, into the great avenue where the leaves
+were dropping, softly one by one; and when the Palace lights went out,
+one after the other, the crow led little Gerda to the back door, which
+was ajar.
+
+Oh, how Gerda's heart beat with fear and longing! It was just as if she
+was about to do something wrong, and yet she only wanted to know if this
+really was little Kay. Oh, it must be him, she thought, picturing to
+herself his clever eyes and his long hair. She could see his very smile
+when they used to sit under the rose-trees at home. She thought he would
+be very glad to see her, and to hear what a long way she had come to
+find him, and to hear how sad they had all been at home when he did not
+come back. Oh, it was joy mingled with fear.
+
+They had now reached the stairs, where a little lamp was burning on a
+shelf. There stood the tame sweetheart, twisting and turning her head to
+look at Gerda, who made a curtsy, as grandmother had taught her.
+
+'My betrothed has spoken so charmingly to me about you, my little miss!'
+she said; 'your life, "_Vita_," as it is called, is most touching! If
+you will take the lamp, I will go on in front. We shall take the
+straight road here, and we shall meet no one.'
+
+'It seems to me that some one is coming behind us,' said Gerda, as she
+fancied something rushed past her, throwing a shadow on the walls;
+horses with flowing manes and slender legs; huntsmen, ladies and
+gentlemen on horseback.
+
+'Oh, those are only the dreams!' said the crow; 'they come to take the
+thoughts of the noble ladies and gentlemen out hunting. That's a good
+thing, for you will be able to see them all the better in bed. But don't
+forget, when you are taken into favour, to show a grateful spirit.'
+
+'Now, there's no need to talk about that,' said the crow from the woods.
+
+They came now into the first apartment; it was hung with rose-coloured
+satin embroidered with flowers. Here again the dreams overtook them, but
+they flitted by so quickly that Gerda could not distinguish them. The
+apartments became one more beautiful than the other; they were enough to
+bewilder anybody. They now reached the bedroom. The ceiling was like a
+great palm with crystal leaves, and in the middle of the room two beds,
+each like a lily hung from a golden stem. One was white, and in it lay
+the Princess; the other was red, and there lay he whom Gerda had come to
+seek--little Kay! She bent aside one of the crimson leaves, and she saw
+a little brown neck. It was Kay. She called his name aloud, and held the
+lamp close to him. Again the dreams rushed through the room on
+horseback--he awoke, turned his head--and it was not little Kay.
+
+It was only the Prince's neck which was like his; but he was young and
+handsome. The Princess peeped out of her lily-white bed, and asked what
+was the matter. Then little Gerda cried and told them all her story, and
+what the crows had done to help her.
+
+'You poor little thing!' said the Prince and Princess. And they praised
+the crows, and said that they were not at all angry with them, but they
+must not do it again. Then they gave them a reward.
+
+'Would you like your liberty?' said the Princess, 'or would you prefer
+permanent posts about the court as court crows, with perquisites from
+the kitchen?'
+
+Both crows curtsied and begged for the permanent posts, for they thought
+of their old age, and said 'it was so good to have something for the old
+man,' as they called it.
+
+The Prince got up and allowed Gerda to sleep in his bed, and he could
+not have done more. She folded her little hands, and thought 'how good
+the people and the animals are'; then she shut her eyes and fell fast
+asleep. All the dreams came flying back again; this time they looked
+like angels, and they were dragging a little sledge with Kay sitting on
+it, and he nodded. But it was only a dream; so it all vanished when she
+woke.
+
+Next day she was dressed in silk and velvet from head to foot; they
+asked her to stay at the Palace and have a good time, but she only
+begged them to give her a little carriage and horse, and a little pair
+of boots, so that she might drive out into the wide world to look for
+Kay.
+
+They gave her a pair of boots and a muff. She was beautifully dressed,
+and when she was ready to start, there before the door stood a new
+chariot of pure gold. The Prince's and Princess's coat of arms were
+emblazoned on it, and shone like a star. Coachman, footman, and
+outrider, for there was even an outrider, all wore golden crowns. The
+Prince and Princess themselves helped her into the carriage and wished
+her joy. The wood crow, who was now married, accompanied her for the
+first three miles; he sat beside Gerda, for he could not ride with his
+back to the horses. The other crow stood at the door and flapped her
+wings; she did not go with them, for she suffered from headache since
+she had become a kitchen pensioner--the consequence of eating too much.
+The chariot was stored with sugar biscuits, and there were fruit and
+ginger nuts under the seat. 'Good-bye, good-bye,' cried the Prince and
+Princess; little Gerda wept, and the crow wept too. At the end of the
+first few miles the crow said good-bye, and this was the hardest parting
+of all. It flew up into a tree and flapped its big black wings as long
+as it could see the chariot, which shone like the brightest sunshine.
+
+[1] Children have a kind of language, or gibberish, formed by adding
+letters or syllables to every word, which is called 'crow's language.'
+
+
+FIFTH STORY
+
+THE LITTLE ROBBER GIRL
+
+[Illustration: _'It is gold, it is gold!' they cried._]
+
+They drove on through a dark wood, where the chariot lighted up the way
+and blinded the robbers by its glare; it was more than they could bear.
+
+'It is gold, it is gold!' they cried, and darting forward, seized the
+horses, and killed the postilions, the coachman, and footman. They then
+dragged little Gerda out of the carriage.
+
+'She is fat, and she is pretty; she has been fattened on nuts!' said the
+old robber woman, who had a long beard, and eyebrows that hung down over
+her eyes. 'She is as good as a fat lamb, and how nice she will taste!'
+She drew out her sharp knife as she said this; it glittered horribly.
+'Oh!' screamed the old woman at the same moment, for her little daughter
+had come up behind her, and she was biting her ear. She hung on her
+back, as wild and as savage a little animal as you could wish to find.
+'You bad, wicked child!' said her mother, but she was prevented from
+killing Gerda on this occasion.
+
+'She shall play with me,' said the little robber girl; 'she shall give
+me her muff, and her pretty dress, and she shall sleep in my bed.' Then
+she bit her mother again and made her dance. All the robbers laughed and
+said, 'Look at her dancing with her cub!'
+
+'I want to get into the carriage,' said the little robber girl, and she
+always had her own way because she was so spoilt and stubborn. She and
+Gerda got into the carriage, and then they drove over stubble and stones
+further and further into the wood. The little robber girl was as big as
+Gerda, but much stronger; she had broader shoulders, and darker skin,
+her eyes were quite black, with almost a melancholy expression. She put
+her arm round Gerda's waist and said--
+
+'They shan't kill you as long as I don't get angry with you; you must
+surely be a Princess!'
+
+'No,' said little Gerda, and then she told her all her adventures, and
+how fond she was of Kay.
+
+The robber girl looked earnestly at her, gave a little nod, and said,
+'They shan't kill you even if I am angry with you. I will do it myself.'
+Then she dried Gerda's eyes, and stuck her own hands into the pretty
+muff, which was so soft and warm.
+
+At last the chariot stopped: they were in the courtyard of a robber's
+castle, the walls of which were cracked from top to bottom. Ravens and
+crows flew in and out of every hole, and big bulldogs, which each looked
+ready to devour somebody, jumped about as high as they could, but they
+did not bark, for it was not allowed. A big fire was burning in the
+middle of the stone floor of the smoky old hall. The smoke all went up
+to the ceiling, where it had to find a way out for itself. Soup was
+boiling in a big caldron over the fire, and hares and rabbits were
+roasting on the spits.
+
+'You shall sleep with me and all my little pets to-night,' said the
+robber girl.
+
+When they had something to eat and drink they went along to one corner
+which was spread with straw and rugs. There were nearly a hundred
+pigeons roosting overhead on the rafters and beams. They seemed to be
+asleep, but they fluttered about a little when the children came in.
+
+'They are all mine,' said the little robber girl, seizing one of the
+nearest. She held it by the legs and shook it till it flapped its wings.
+'Kiss it,' she cried, dashing it at Gerda's face. 'Those are the wood
+pigeons,' she added, pointing to some laths fixed across a big hole high
+up on the walls; 'they are a regular rabble; they would fly away
+directly if they were not locked in. And here is my old sweetheart Be,'
+dragging forward a reindeer by the horn; it was tied up, and it had a
+bright copper ring round its neck. 'We have to keep him close too, or he
+would run off. Every single night I tickle his neck with my bright
+knife, he is so frightened of it.' The little girl produced a long knife
+out of a hole in the wall and drew it across the reindeer's neck. The
+poor animal laughed and kicked, and the robber girl laughed and pulled
+Gerda down into the bed with her.
+
+'Do you have that knife by you while you are asleep?' asked Gerda,
+looking rather frightened.
+
+'I always sleep with a knife,' said the little robber girl. 'You never
+know what will happen. But now tell me again what you told me before
+about little Kay, and why you went out into the world.' So Gerda told
+her all about it again, and the wood pigeons cooed up in their cage
+above them; the other pigeons were asleep. The little robber girl put
+her arm round Gerda's neck and went to sleep with the knife in her other
+hand, and she was soon snoring. But Gerda would not close her eyes; she
+did not know whether she was to live or to die. The robbers sat round
+the fire, eating and drinking, and the old woman was turning
+somersaults. This sight terrified the poor little girl. Then the wood
+pigeons said, 'Coo, coo, we have seen little Kay; his sledge was drawn
+by a white chicken, and he was sitting in the Snow Queen's sledge; it
+was floating low down over the trees, while we were in our nests. She
+blew upon us young ones, and they all died except we two; coo, coo.'
+
+'What are you saying up there?' asked Gerda. 'Where was the Snow Queen
+going? Do you know anything about it?'
+
+'She was most likely going to Lapland, because there is always snow and
+ice there! Ask the reindeer who is tied up there.'
+
+'There is ice and snow, and it's a splendid place,' said the reindeer.
+'You can run and jump about where you like on those big glittering
+plains. The Snow Queen has her summer tent there, but her permanent
+castle is up at the North Pole, on the island which is called
+Spitzbergen!'
+
+'Oh Kay, little Kay!' sighed Gerda.
+
+'Lie still, or I shall stick the knife into you!' said the robber girl.
+
+In the morning Gerda told her all that the wood pigeons had said, and
+the little robber girl looked quite solemn, but she nodded her head and
+said, 'No matter, no matter! Do you know where Lapland is?' she asked
+the reindeer.
+
+'Who should know better than I,' said the animal, its eyes dancing. 'I
+was born and brought up there, and I used to leap about on the
+snowfields.'
+
+'Listen,' said the robber girl. 'You see that all our men folks are
+away, but mother is still here, and she will stay; but later on in the
+morning she will take a drink out of the big bottle there, and after
+that she will have a nap--then I will do something for you.' Then she
+jumped out of bed, ran along to her mother and pulled her beard, and
+said, 'Good morning, my own dear nanny-goat!' And her mother filliped
+her nose till it was red and blue; but it was all affection.
+
+As soon as her mother had had her draught from the bottle and had
+dropped asleep, the little robber girl went along to the reindeer, and
+said, 'I should have the greatest pleasure in the world in keeping you
+here, to tickle you with my knife, because you are such fun then;
+however, it does not matter. I will untie your halter and help you
+outside so that you may run away to Lapland, but you must put your best
+foot foremost, and take this little girl for me to the Snow Queen's
+palace, where her playfellow is. I have no doubt you heard what she was
+telling me, for she spoke loud enough, and you are generally
+eavesdropping!'
+
+The reindeer jumped into the air for joy. The robber girl lifted little
+Gerda up, and had the forethought to tie her on, nay, even to give her a
+little cushion to sit upon. 'Here, after all, I will give you your fur
+boots back, for it will be very cold, but I will keep your muff, it is
+too pretty to part with. Still you shan't be cold. Here are my mother's
+big mittens for you, they will reach up to your elbows; here, stick your
+hands in! Now your hands look just like my nasty mother's!'
+
+Gerda shed tears of joy.
+
+'I don't like you to whimper!' said the little robber girl. 'You ought
+to be looking delighted; and here are two loaves and a ham for you, so
+that you shan't starve.'
+
+These things were tied on to the back of the reindeer; the little robber
+girl opened the door, called in all the big dogs, and then she cut the
+halter with her knife, and said to the reindeer, 'Now run, but take care
+of my little girl!'
+
+Gerda stretched out her hands in the big mittens to the robber girl and
+said good-bye; and then the reindeer darted off over briars and bushes,
+through the big wood, over swamps and plains, as fast as it could go.
+The wolves howled and the ravens screamed, while the red lights quivered
+up in the sky.
+
+'There are my old northern lights,' said the reindeer; 'see how they
+flash!' and on it rushed faster than ever, day and night. The loaves
+were eaten, and the ham too, and then they were in Lapland.
+
+
+SIXTH STORY
+
+THE LAPP WOMAN AND THE FINN WOMAN
+
+[Illustration: _The reindeer did not dare to stop. It ran on till it
+came to the bush with the red berries. There it put Gerda down, and
+kissed her on the mouth, while big shining tears trickled down its
+face._]
+
+They stopped by a little hut, a very poverty-stricken one; the roof
+sloped right down to the ground, and the door was so low that the people
+had to creep on hands and knees when they wanted to go in or out. There
+was nobody at home here but an old Lapp woman, who was frying fish over
+a train-oil lamp. The reindeer told her all Gerda's story, but it told
+its own first; for it thought it was much the most important. Gerda was
+so overcome by the cold that she could not speak at all.
+
+'Oh, you poor creatures!' said the Lapp woman; 'you've got a long way
+to go yet; you will have to go hundreds of miles into Finmark, for the
+Snow Queen is paying a country visit there, and she burns blue lights
+every night. I will write a few words on a dried stock-fish, for I have
+no paper. I will give it to you to take to the Finn woman up there. She
+will be better able to direct you than I can.'
+
+So when Gerda was warmed, and had eaten and drunk something, the Lapp
+woman wrote a few words on a dried stock-fish and gave it to her,
+bidding her take good care of it. Then she tied her on to the reindeer
+again, and off they flew. Flicker, flicker, went the beautiful blue
+northern lights up in the sky all night long;--at last they came to
+Finmark, and knocked on the Finn woman's chimney, for she had no door at
+all.
+
+There was such a heat inside that the Finn woman went about almost
+naked; she was little and very grubby. She at once loosened Gerda's
+things, and took off the mittens and the boots, or she would have been
+too hot. Then she put a piece of ice on the reindeer's head, and after
+that she read what was written on the stock-fish. She read it three
+times, and then she knew it by heart, and put the fish into the pot for
+dinner; there was no reason why it should not be eaten, and she never
+wasted anything.
+
+Again the reindeer told his own story first, and then little Gerda's.
+The Finn woman blinked with her wise eyes, but she said nothing.
+
+'You are so clever,' said the reindeer, 'I know you can bind all the
+winds of the world with a bit of sewing cotton. When a skipper unties
+one knot he gets a good wind, when he unties two it blows hard, and if
+he undoes the third and the fourth he brings a storm about his head wild
+enough to blow down the forest trees. Won't you give the little girl a
+drink, so that she may have the strength of twelve men to overcome the
+Snow Queen?'
+
+'The strength of twelve men,' said the Finn woman. 'Yes, that will be
+about enough.'
+
+She went along to a shelf and took down a big folded skin, which she
+unrolled. There were curious characters written on it, and the Finn
+woman read till the perspiration poured down her forehead.
+
+But the reindeer again implored her to give Gerda something, and Gerda
+looked at her with such beseeching eyes, full of tears, that the Finn
+woman began blinking again, and drew the reindeer along into a corner,
+where she whispered to it, at the same time putting fresh ice on its
+head.
+
+'Little Kay is certainly with the Snow Queen, and he is delighted with
+everything there. He thinks it is the best place in the world, but that
+is because he has got a splinter of glass in his heart and a grain of
+glass in his eye. They will have to come out first, or he will never be
+human again, and the Snow Queen will keep him in her power!'
+
+'But can't you give little Gerda something to take which will give her
+power to conquer it all?'
+
+'I can't give her greater power than she already has. Don't you see how
+great it is? Don't you see how both man and beast have to serve her? How
+she has got on as well as she has on her bare feet? We must not tell her
+what power she has; it is in her heart, because she is such a sweet
+innocent child. If she can't reach the Snow Queen herself, then we can't
+help her. The Snow Queen's gardens begin just two miles from here; you
+can carry the little girl as far as that. Put her down by the big bush
+standing there in the snow covered with red berries. Don't stand
+gossiping, but hurry back to me!' Then the Finn woman lifted Gerda on
+the reindeer's back, and it rushed off as hard as it could.
+
+'Oh, I have not got my boots, and I have not got my mittens!' cried
+little Gerda.
+
+She soon felt the want of them in that cutting wind, but the reindeer
+did not dare to stop. It ran on till it came to the bush with the red
+berries. There it put Gerda down, and kissed her on the mouth, while big
+shining tears trickled down its face. Then it ran back again as fast as
+ever it could. There stood poor little Gerda, without shoes or
+gloves, in the middle of freezing icebound Finmark.
+
+She ran forward as quickly as she could. A whole regiment of snow-flakes
+came towards her; they did not fall from the sky, for it was quite
+clear, with the northern lights shining brightly. No; these snow-flakes
+ran along the ground, and the nearer they came the bigger they grew.
+Gerda remembered well how big and ingenious they looked under the
+magnifying glass. But the size of these was monstrous. They were alive;
+they were the Snow Queen's advanced guard, and they took the most
+curious shapes. Some looked like big, horrid porcupines, some like
+bundles of knotted snakes with their heads sticking out. Others, again,
+were like fat little bears with bristling hair, but all were dazzling
+white and living snow-flakes.
+
+Then little Gerda said the Lord's Prayer, and the cold was so great that
+her breath froze as it came out of her mouth, and she could see it like
+a cloud of smoke in front of her. It grew thicker and thicker, till it
+formed itself into bright little angels, who grew bigger and bigger when
+they touched the ground. They all wore helmets, and carried shields and
+spears in their hands. More and more of them appeared, and when Gerda
+had finished her prayer she was surrounded by a whole legion. They
+pierced the snow-flakes with their spears and shivered them into a
+hundred pieces, and little Gerda walked fearlessly and undauntedly
+through them. The angels touched her hands and her feet, and then she
+hardly felt how cold it was, but walked quickly on towards the Palace of
+the Snow Queen.
+
+Now we must see what Kay was about. He was not thinking about Gerda at
+all, least of all that she was just outside the Palace.
+
+
+SEVENTH STORY
+
+WHAT HAPPENED IN THE SNOW QUEEN'S PALACE AND AFTERWARDS
+
+[Illustration: _The Snow Queen sat in the very middle of it when she sat
+at home._]
+
+The Palace walls were made of drifted snow, and the windows and doors of
+the biting winds. There were over a hundred rooms in it, shaped just as
+the snow had drifted. The biggest one stretched for many miles. They
+were all lighted by the strongest northern lights. All the rooms were
+immensely big and empty, and glittering in their iciness. There was
+never any gaiety in them; not even so much as a ball for the little
+bears, when the storms might have turned up as the orchestra, and the
+polar bears might have walked about on their hind legs and shown off
+their grand manners. There was never even a little game-playing party,
+for such games as 'touch last' or 'the biter bit'--no, not even a little
+gossip over the coffee cups for the white fox misses. Immense, vast,
+and cold were the Snow Queen's halls. The northern lights came and went
+with such regularity that you could count the seconds between their
+coming and going. In the midst of these never-ending snow-halls was a
+frozen lake. It was broken up on the surface into a thousand bits, but
+each piece was so exactly like the others that the whole formed a
+perfect work of art. The Snow Queen sat in the very middle of it when
+she sat at home. She then said that she was sitting on 'The Mirror of
+Reason,' and that it was the best and only one in the world.
+
+Little Kay was blue with cold, nay, almost black; but he did not know
+it, for the Snow Queen had kissed away the icy shiverings, and his heart
+was little better than a lump of ice. He went about dragging some sharp,
+flat pieces of ice, which he placed in all sorts of patterns, trying to
+make something out of them; just as when we at home have little tablets
+of wood, with which we make patterns, and call them a 'Chinese puzzle.'
+
+Kay's patterns were most ingenious, because they were the 'Ice Puzzles
+of Reason.' In his eyes they were first-rate and of the greatest
+importance: this was because of the grain of glass still in his eye. He
+made many patterns forming words, but he never could find out the right
+way to place them for one particular word, a word he was most anxious to
+make. It was 'Eternity.' The Snow Queen had said to him that if he could
+find out this word he should be his own master, and she would give him
+the whole world and a new pair of skates. But he could not discover it.
+
+'Now I am going to fly away to the warm countries,' said the Snow Queen.
+'I want to go and peep into the black caldrons!' She meant the volcanoes
+Etna and Vesuvius by this. 'I must whiten them a little; it does them
+good, and the lemons and the grapes too!' And away she flew.
+
+Kay sat quite alone in all those many miles of empty ice halls. He
+looked at his bits of ice, and thought and thought, till something gave
+way within him. He sat so stiff and immovable that one might have
+thought he was frozen to death.
+
+Then it was that little Gerda walked into the Palace, through the great
+gates in a biting wind. She said her evening prayer, and the wind
+dropped as if lulled to sleep, and she walked on into the big empty
+hall. She saw Kay, and knew him at once; she flung her arms round his
+neck, held him fast, and cried, 'Kay, little Kay, have I found you at
+last?'
+
+But he sat still, rigid and cold.
+
+Then little Gerda shed hot tears; they fell upon his breast and
+penetrated to his heart. Here they thawed the lump of ice, and melted
+the little bit of the mirror which was in it. He looked at her, and she
+sang:
+
+    'Where roses deck the flowery vale,
+    There, Infant Jesus, we thee hail!'
+
+Then Kay burst into tears; he cried so much that the grain of glass
+was washed out of his eye. He knew her, and shouted with joy, 'Gerda,
+dear little Gerda! where have you been for such a long time? And where
+have I been?' He looked round and said, 'How cold it is here; how empty
+and vast!' He kept tight hold of Gerda, who laughed and cried for joy.
+Their happiness was so heavenly that even the bits of ice danced for joy
+around them; and when they settled down, there they lay! just in the
+very position the Snow Queen had told Kay he must find out, if he was to
+become his own master and have the whole world and a new pair of skates.
+
+Gerda kissed his cheeks and they grew rosy, she kissed his eyes and they
+shone like hers, she kissed his hands and his feet, and he became well
+and strong. The Snow Queen might come home whenever she liked, his order
+of release was written there in shining letters of ice.
+
+They took hold of each other's hands and wandered out of the big Palace.
+They talked about grandmother, and about the roses upon the roof.
+Wherever they went the winds lay still and the sun broke through the
+clouds. When they reached the bush with the red berries they found the
+reindeer waiting for them, and he had brought another young reindeer
+with him, whose udders were full. The children drank her warm milk and
+kissed her on the mouth. Then they carried Kay and Gerda, first to the
+Finn woman, in whose heated hut they warmed themselves and received
+directions about the homeward journey. Then they went on to the Lapp
+woman; she had made new clothes for them and prepared her sledge. Both
+the reindeer ran by their side, to the boundaries of the country; here
+the first green buds appeared, and they said 'Good-bye' to the reindeer
+and the Lapp woman. They heard the first little birds twittering and saw
+the buds in the forest. Out of it came riding a young girl on a
+beautiful horse, which Gerda knew, for it had drawn the golden chariot.
+She had a scarlet cap on her head and pistols in her belt; it was the
+little robber girl, who was tired of being at home. She was riding
+northwards to see how she liked it before she tried some other part of
+the world. She knew them again, and Gerda recognised her with delight.
+
+'You are a nice fellow to go tramping off!' she said to little Kay. 'I
+should like to know if you deserve to have somebody running to the end
+of the world for your sake!'
+
+But Gerda patted her cheek, and asked about the Prince and Princess.
+
+'They are travelling in foreign countries,' said the robber girl.
+
+'But the crow?' asked Gerda.
+
+'Oh, the crow is dead!' she answered. 'The tame sweetheart is a widow,
+and goes about with a bit of black wool tied round her leg. She pities
+herself bitterly, but it's all nonsense! But tell me how you got on
+yourself, and where you found him.'
+
+Gerda and Kay both told her all about it.
+
+'Snip, snap, snurre, it's all right at last then!' she said, and she
+took hold of their hands and promised that if she ever passed through
+their town she would pay them a visit. Then she rode off into the wide
+world. But Kay and Gerda walked on, hand in hand, and wherever they went
+they found the most delightful spring and blooming flowers. Soon they
+recognised the big town where they lived, with its tall towers, in which
+the bells still rang their merry peals. They went straight on to
+grandmother's door, up the stairs and into her room. Everything was just
+as they had left it, and the old clock ticked in the corner, and the
+hands pointed to the time. As they went through the door into the room
+they perceived that they were grown up. The roses clustered round the
+open window, and there stood their two little chairs. Kay and Gerda sat
+down upon them, still holding each other by the hand. All the cold empty
+grandeur of the Snow Queen's palace had passed from their memory like a
+bad dream. Grandmother sat in God's warm sunshine reading from her
+Bible.
+
+'Without ye become as little children ye cannot enter into the Kingdom
+of Heaven.'
+
+Kay and Gerda looked into each other's eyes, and then all at once the
+meaning of the old hymn came to them.
+
+    'Where roses deck the flowery vale,
+    There, Infant Jesus, we thee hail!'
+
+And there they both sat, grown up and yet children, children at heart;
+and it was summer--warm, beautiful summer.
+
+
+
+
+THE NIGHTINGALE
+
+[Illustration: _Among these trees lived a nightingale, which sang so
+deliciously, that even the poor fisherman, who had plenty of other
+things to do, lay still to listen to it, when he was out at night
+drawing in his nets._]
+
+In China, as you know, the Emperor is a Chinaman, and all the people
+around him are Chinamen too. It is many years since the story I am going
+to tell you happened, but that is all the more reason for telling it,
+lest it should be forgotten. The emperor's palace was the most beautiful
+thing in the world; it was made entirely of the finest porcelain, very
+costly, but at the same time so fragile that it could only be touched
+with the very greatest care. There were the most extraordinary flowers
+to be seen in the garden; the most beautiful ones had little silver
+bells tied to them, which tinkled perpetually, so that one should not
+pass the flowers without looking at them. Every little detail in the
+garden had been most carefully thought out, and it was so big, that even
+the gardener himself did not know where it ended. If one went on
+walking, one came to beautiful woods with lofty trees and deep lakes.
+The wood extended to the sea, which was deep and blue, deep enough for
+large ships to sail up right under the branches of the trees. Among
+these trees lived a nightingale, which sang so deliciously, that even
+the poor fisherman, who had plenty of other things to do, lay still to
+listen to it, when he was out at night drawing in his nets. 'Heavens,
+how beautiful it is!' he said, but then he had to attend to his business
+and forgot it. The next night when he heard it again he would again
+exclaim, 'Heavens, how beautiful it is!'
+
+Travellers came to the emperor's capital, from every country in the
+world; they admired everything very much, especially the palace and the
+gardens, but when they heard the nightingale they all said, 'This is
+better than anything!'
+
+When they got home they described it, and the learned ones wrote many
+books about the town, the palace and the garden; but nobody forgot the
+nightingale, it was always put above everything else. Those among them
+who were poets wrote the most beautiful poems, all about the nightingale
+in the woods by the deep blue sea. These books went all over the world,
+and in course of time some of them reached the emperor. He sat in his
+golden chair reading and reading, and nodding his head, well pleased to
+hear such beautiful descriptions of the town, the palace and the garden.
+'But the nightingale is the best of all,' he read.
+
+'What is this?' said the emperor. 'The nightingale? Why, I know nothing
+about it. Is there such a bird in my kingdom, and in my own garden into
+the bargain, and I have never heard of it? Imagine my having to
+discover this from a book?'
+
+Then he called his gentleman-in-waiting, who was so grand that when any
+one of a lower rank dared to speak to him, or to ask him a question, he
+would only answer 'P,' which means nothing at all.
+
+'There is said to be a very wonderful bird called a nightingale here,'
+said the emperor. 'They say that it is better than anything else in all
+my great kingdom! Why have I never been told anything about it?'
+
+'I have never heard it mentioned,' said the gentleman-in-waiting. 'It
+has never been presented at court.'
+
+'I wish it to appear here this evening to sing to me,' said the emperor.
+'The whole world knows what I am possessed of, and I know nothing about
+it!'
+
+'I have never heard it mentioned before,' said the gentleman-in-waiting.
+'I will seek it, and I will find it!' But where was it to be found? The
+gentleman-in-waiting ran upstairs and downstairs and in and out of all
+the rooms and corridors. No one of all those he met had ever heard
+anything about the nightingale; so the gentleman-in-waiting ran back to
+the emperor, and said that it must be a myth, invented by the writers of
+the books. 'Your imperial majesty must not believe everything that is
+written; books are often mere inventions, even if they do not belong to
+what we call the black art!'
+
+'But the book in which I read it is sent to me by the powerful Emperor
+of Japan, so it can't be untrue. I will hear this nightingale; I insist
+upon its being here to-night. I extend my most gracious protection to
+it, and if it is not forthcoming, I will have the whole court trampled
+upon after supper!'
+
+'Tsing-pe!' said the gentleman-in-waiting, and away he ran again, up and
+down all the stairs, in and out of all the rooms and corridors; half the
+court ran with him, for they none of them wished to be trampled on.
+There was much questioning about this nightingale, which was known to
+all the outside world, but to no one at court. At last they found a poor
+little maid in the kitchen. She said, 'Oh heavens, the nightingale? I
+know it very well. Yes, indeed it can sing. Every evening I am allowed
+to take broken meat to my poor sick mother: she lives down by the shore.
+On my way back, when I am tired, I rest awhile in the wood, and then I
+hear the nightingale. Its song brings the tears into my eyes; I feel as
+if my mother were kissing me!'
+
+'Little kitchen-maid,' said the gentleman-in-waiting, 'I will procure
+you a permanent position in the kitchen, and permission to see the
+emperor dining, if you will take us to the nightingale. It is commanded
+to appear at court to-night.'
+
+Then they all went out into the wood where the nightingale usually sang.
+Half the court was there. As they were going along at their best pace a
+cow began to bellow.
+
+'Oh!' said a young courtier, 'there we have it. What wonderful power
+for such a little creature; I have certainly heard it before.'
+
+'No, those are the cows bellowing; we are a long way yet from the
+place.' Then the frogs began to croak in the marsh.
+
+'Beautiful!' said the Chinese chaplain, 'it is just like the tinkling of
+church bells.'
+
+'No, those are the frogs!' said the little kitchen-maid. 'But I think we
+shall soon hear it now!'
+
+Then the nightingale began to sing.
+
+'There it is!' said the little girl. 'Listen, listen, there it sits!'
+and she pointed to a little grey bird up among the branches.
+
+'Is it possible?' said the gentleman-in-waiting. 'I should never have
+thought it was like that. How common it looks! Seeing so many grand
+people must have frightened all its colours away.'
+
+'Little nightingale!' called the kitchen-maid quite loud, 'our gracious
+emperor wishes you to sing to him!'
+
+'With the greatest of pleasure!' said the nightingale, warbling away in
+the most delightful fashion.
+
+'It is just like crystal bells,' said the gentleman-in-waiting. 'Look at
+its little throat, how active it is. It is extraordinary that we have
+never heard it before! I am sure it will be a great success at court!'
+
+'Shall I sing again to the emperor?' said the nightingale, who thought
+he was present.
+
+'My precious little nightingale,' said the gentleman-in-waiting, 'I have
+the honour to command your attendance at a court festival to-night,
+where you will charm his gracious majesty the emperor with your
+fascinating singing.'
+
+'It sounds best among the trees,' said the nightingale, but it went with
+them willingly when it heard that the emperor wished it.
+
+[Illustration: _'Is it possible?' said the gentleman-in-waiting. 'I
+should never have thought it was like that. How common it looks. Seeing
+so many grand people must have frightened all its colours away.'_]
+
+The palace had been brightened up for the occasion. The walls and the
+floors, which were all of china, shone by the light of many thousand
+golden lamps. The most beautiful flowers, all of the tinkling kind, were
+arranged in the corridors; there was hurrying to and fro, and a great
+draught, but this was just what made the bells ring; one's ears were
+full of the tinkling. In the middle of the large reception-room where
+the emperor sat a golden rod had been fixed, on which the nightingale
+was to perch. The whole court was assembled, and the little kitchen-maid
+had been permitted to stand behind the door, as she now had the actual
+title of cook. They were all dressed in their best; everybody's eyes
+were turned towards the little grey bird at which the emperor was
+nodding. The nightingale sang delightfully, and the tears came into the
+emperor's eyes, nay, they rolled down his cheeks; and then the
+nightingale sang more beautifully than ever, its notes touched all
+hearts. The emperor was charmed, and said the nightingale should
+have his gold slipper to wear round its neck. But the nightingale
+declined with thanks; it had already been sufficiently rewarded.
+
+'I have seen tears in the eyes of the emperor; that is my richest
+reward. The tears of an emperor have a wonderful power! God knows I am
+sufficiently recompensed!' and then it again burst into its sweet
+heavenly song.
+
+'That is the most delightful coquetting I have ever seen!' said the
+ladies, and they took some water into their mouths to try and make the
+same gurgling when any one spoke to them, thinking so to equal the
+nightingale. Even the lackeys and the chambermaids announced that they
+were satisfied, and that is saying a great deal; they are always the
+most difficult people to please. Yes, indeed, the nightingale had made a
+sensation. It was to stay at court now, and to have its own cage, as
+well as liberty to walk out twice a day, and once in the night. It
+always had twelve footmen, with each one holding a ribbon which was tied
+round its leg. There was not much pleasure in an outing of that sort.
+
+The whole town talked about the marvellous bird, and if two people met,
+one said to the other 'Night,' and the other answered 'Gale,' and then
+they sighed, perfectly understanding each other. Eleven cheesemongers'
+children were called after it, but they had not got a voice among them.
+
+One day a large parcel came for the emperor; outside was written the
+word 'Nightingale.'
+
+'Here we have another new book about this celebrated bird,' said the
+emperor. But it was no book; it was a little work of art in a box, an
+artificial nightingale, exactly like the living one, but it was studded
+all over with diamonds, rubies and sapphires.
+
+When the bird was wound up it could sing one of the songs the real one
+sang, and it wagged its tail, which glittered with silver and gold. A
+ribbon was tied round its neck on which was written, 'The Emperor of
+Japan's nightingale is very poor compared to the Emperor of China's.'
+
+Everybody said, 'Oh, how beautiful!' And the person who brought the
+artificial bird immediately received the title of Imperial
+Nightingale-Carrier in Chief.
+
+'Now, they must sing together; what a duet that will be.'
+
+Then they had to sing together, but they did not get on very well, for
+the real nightingale sang in its own way, and the artificial one could
+only sing waltzes.
+
+'There is no fault in that,' said the music-master; 'it is perfectly in
+time and correct in every way!'
+
+Then the artificial bird had to sing alone. It was just as great a
+success as the real one, and then it was so much prettier to look at; it
+glittered like bracelets and breast-pins.
+
+[Illustration: _Then it again burst into its sweet heavenly song.]
+
+'That is the most delightful coquetting I have ever seen!' said the
+ladies, and they took some water into their mouths to try and make the
+same gurgling, thinking so to equal the nightingale._
+
+It sang the same tune three and thirty times over, and yet it was
+not tired; people would willingly have heard it from the beginning
+again, but the emperor said that the real one must have a turn now--but
+where was it? No one had noticed that it had flown out of the open
+window, back to its own green woods.
+
+'But what is the meaning of this?' said the emperor.
+
+All the courtiers railed at it, and said it was a most ungrateful bird.
+
+'We have got the best bird though,' said they, and then the artificial
+bird had to sing again, and this was the thirty-fourth time that they
+heard the same tune, but they did not know it thoroughly even yet,
+because it was so difficult.
+
+The music-master praised the bird tremendously, and insisted that it was
+much better than the real nightingale, not only as regarded the outside
+with all the diamonds, but the inside too.
+
+'Because you see, my ladies and gentlemen, and the emperor before all,
+in the real nightingale you never know what you will hear, but in the
+artificial one everything is decided beforehand! So it is, and so it
+must remain, it can't be otherwise. You can account for things, you can
+open it and show the human ingenuity in arranging the waltzes, how they
+go, and how one note follows upon another!'
+
+'Those are exactly my opinions,' they all said, and the music-master got
+leave to show the bird to the public next Sunday. They were also to hear
+it sing, said the emperor. So they heard it, and all became as
+enthusiastic over it as if they had drunk themselves merry on tea,
+because that is a thoroughly Chinese habit.
+
+Then they all said 'Oh,' and stuck their forefingers in the air and
+nodded their heads; but the poor fishermen who had heard the real
+nightingale said, 'It sounds very nice, and it is very like the real
+one, but there is something wanting, we don't know what.' The real
+nightingale was banished from the kingdom.
+
+The artificial bird had its place on a silken cushion, close to the
+emperor's bed: all the presents it had received of gold and precious
+jewels were scattered round it. Its title had risen to be 'Chief
+Imperial Singer of the Bed-Chamber,' in rank number one, on the left
+side; for the emperor reckoned that side the important one, where the
+heart was seated. And even an emperor's heart is on the left side. The
+music-master wrote five-and-twenty volumes about the artificial bird;
+the treatise was very long and written in all the most difficult Chinese
+characters. Everybody said they had read and understood it, for
+otherwise they would have been reckoned stupid, and then their bodies
+would have been trampled upon.
+
+[Illustration: _The music-master wrote five-and-twenty volumes about the
+artificial bird; the treatise was very long and written in all the most
+difficult Chinese characters._]
+
+Things went on in this way for a whole year. The emperor, the court, and
+all the other Chinamen knew every little gurgle in the song of the
+artificial bird by heart; but they liked it all the better for this, and
+they could all join in the song themselves. Even the street boys
+sang 'zizizi' and 'cluck, cluck, cluck,' and the emperor sang it too.
+
+But one evening when the bird was singing its best, and the emperor was
+lying in bed listening to it, something gave way inside the bird with a
+'whizz.' Then a spring burst, 'whirr' went all the wheels, and the music
+stopped. The emperor jumped out of bed and sent for his private
+physicians, but what good could they do? Then they sent for the
+watchmaker, and after a good deal of talk and examination he got the
+works to go again somehow; but he said it would have to be saved as much
+as possible, because it was so worn out, and he could not renew the
+works so as to be sure of the tune. This was a great blow! They only
+dared to let the artificial bird sing once a year, and hardly that; but
+then the music-master made a little speech, using all the most difficult
+words. He said it was just as good as ever, and his saying it made it
+so.
+
+Five years now passed, and then a great grief came upon the nation, for
+they were all very fond of their emperor, and he was ill and could not
+live, it was said. A new emperor was already chosen, and people stood
+about in the street, and asked the gentleman-in-waiting how their
+emperor was going on.
+
+'P,' answered he, shaking his head.
+
+The emperor lay pale and cold in his gorgeous bed, the courtiers thought
+he was dead, and they all went off to pay their respects to their new
+emperor. The lackeys ran off to talk matters over, and the chambermaids
+gave a great coffee-party. Cloth had been laid down in all the rooms and
+corridors so as to deaden the sound of footsteps, so it was very, very
+quiet. But the emperor was not dead yet. He lay stiff and pale in the
+gorgeous bed with its velvet hangings and heavy golden tassels. There
+was an open window high above him, and the moon streamed in upon the
+emperor, and the artificial bird beside him.
+
+The poor emperor could hardly breathe, he seemed to have a weight on his
+chest, he opened his eyes, and then he saw that it was Death sitting
+upon his chest, wearing his golden crown. In one hand he held the
+emperor's golden sword, and in the other his imperial banner. Round
+about, from among the folds of the velvet hangings peered many curious
+faces: some were hideous, others gentle and pleasant. They were all the
+emperor's good and bad deeds, which now looked him in the face when
+Death was weighing him down.
+
+'Do you remember that?' whispered one after the other; 'Do you remember
+this?' and they told him so many things that the perspiration poured
+down his face.
+
+'I never knew that,' said the emperor. 'Music, music, sound the great
+Chinese drums!' he cried, 'that I may not hear what they are saying.'
+But they went on and on, and Death sat nodding his head, just like a
+Chinaman, at everything that was said.
+
+'Music, music!' shrieked the emperor. 'You precious little golden bird,
+sing, sing! I have loaded you with precious stones, and even hung my own
+golden slipper round your neck; sing, I tell you, sing!'
+
+But the bird stood silent; there was nobody to wind it up, so of course
+it could not go. Death continued to fix the great empty sockets of his
+eyes upon him, and all was silent, so terribly silent.
+
+Suddenly, close to the window, there was a burst of lovely song; it was
+the living nightingale, perched on a branch outside. It had heard of the
+emperor's need, and had come to bring comfort and hope to him. As it
+sang the faces round became fainter and fainter, and the blood coursed
+with fresh vigour in the emperor's veins and through his feeble limbs.
+Even Death himself listened to the song and said, 'Go on, little
+nightingale, go on!'
+
+'Yes, if you give me the gorgeous golden sword; yes, if you give me the
+imperial banner; yes, if you give me the emperor's crown.'
+
+And Death gave back each of these treasures for a song, and the
+nightingale went on singing. It sang about the quiet churchyard, when
+the roses bloom, where the elder flower scents the air, and where the
+fresh grass is ever moistened anew by the tears of the mourner. This
+song brought to Death a longing for his own garden, and, like a cold
+grey mist, he passed out of the window.
+
+'Thanks, thanks!' said the emperor; 'you heavenly little bird, I know
+you! I banished you from my kingdom, and yet you have charmed the evil
+visions away from my bed by your song, and even Death away from my
+heart! How can I ever repay you?'
+
+'You have rewarded me,' said the nightingale. 'I brought the tears to
+your eyes, the very first time I ever sang to you, and I shall never
+forget it! Those are the jewels which gladden the heart of a
+singer;--but sleep now, and wake up fresh and strong! I will sing to
+you!'
+
+Then it sang again, and the emperor fell into a sweet refreshing sleep.
+The sun shone in at his window, when he woke refreshed and well; none of
+his attendants had yet come back to him, for they thought he was dead,
+but the nightingale still sat there singing.
+
+'You must always stay with me!' said the emperor. 'You shall only sing
+when you like, and I will break the artificial bird into a thousand
+pieces!'
+
+[Illustration: _Even Death himself listened to the song and said, 'Go
+on, little nightingale, go on!'_]
+
+'Don't do that!' said the nightingale, 'it did all the good it could!
+keep it as you have always done! I can't build my nest and live in this
+palace, but let me come whenever I like, then I will sit on the branch
+in the evening, and sing to you. I will sing to cheer you and to make
+you thoughtful too; I will sing to you of the happy ones, and of those
+that suffer too. I will sing about the good and the evil, which are kept
+hidden from you. The little singing bird flies far and wide, to the poor
+fisherman, and the peasant's home, to numbers who are far from you and
+your court. I love your heart more than your crown, and yet there is an
+odour of sanctity round the crown too!--I will come, and I will
+sing to you!--But you must promise me one thing!--
+
+'Everything!' said the emperor, who stood there in his imperial robes
+which he had just put on, and he held the sword heavy with gold upon his
+heart.
+
+'One thing I ask you! Tell no one that you have a little bird who tells
+you everything; it will be better so!'
+
+Then the nightingale flew away. The attendants came in to see after
+their dead emperor, and there he stood, bidding them 'Good morning!'
+
+
+
+
+THE REAL PRINCESS
+
+
+There was once a prince, and he wanted a princess, but then she must be
+a _real_ Princess. He travelled right round the world to find one, but
+there was always something wrong. There were plenty of princesses, but
+whether they were real princesses he had great difficulty in
+discovering; there was always something which was not quite right about
+them. So at last he had to come home again, and he was very sad because
+he wanted a real princess so badly.
+
+One evening there was a terrible storm; it thundered and lightened and
+the rain poured down in torrents; indeed it was a fearful night.
+
+In the middle of the storm somebody knocked at the town gate, and the
+old King himself went to open it.
+
+It was a princess who stood outside, but she was in a terrible state
+from the rain and the storm. The water streamed out of her hair and her
+clothes; it ran in at the top of her shoes and out at the heel, but she
+said that she was a real princess.
+
+'Well we shall soon see if that is true,' thought the old Queen, but she
+said nothing. She went into the bedroom, took all the bedclothes off and
+laid a pea on the bedstead: then she took twenty mattresses and piled
+them on the top of the pea, and then twenty feather beds on the top of
+the mattresses. This was where the princess was to sleep that night. In
+the morning they asked her how she had slept.
+
+'Oh terribly badly!' said the princess. 'I have hardly closed my eyes
+the whole night! Heaven knows what was in the bed. I seemed to be lying
+upon some hard thing, and my whole body is black and blue this morning.
+It is terrible!'
+
+They saw at once that she must be a real princess when she had felt the
+pea through twenty mattresses and twenty feather beds. Nobody but a real
+princess could have such a delicate skin.
+
+So the prince took her to be his wife, for now he was sure that he had
+found a real princess, and the pea was put into the Museum, where it may
+still be seen if no one has stolen it.
+
+Now this is a true story.
+
+
+
+
+THE GARDEN OF PARADISE
+
+
+There was once a king's son; nobody had so many or such beautiful books
+as he had. He could read about everything which had ever happened in
+this world, and see it all represented in the most beautiful pictures.
+He could get information about every nation and every country; but as to
+where the Garden of Paradise was to be found, not a word could he
+discover, and this was the very thing he thought most about. His
+grandmother had told him, when he was quite a little fellow and was
+about to begin his school life, that every flower in the Garden of
+Paradise was a delicious cake, and that the pistils were full of wine.
+In one flower history was written, in another geography or tables; you
+had only to eat the cake and you knew the lesson. The more you ate, the
+more history, geography and tables you knew. All this he believed then;
+but as he grew older and wiser and learnt more, he easily perceived that
+the delights of the Garden of Paradise must be far beyond all this.
+
+[Illustration: _His grandmother had told him, when he was quite a
+little fellow and was about to begin his school life, that every flower
+in the Garden of Paradise was a delicious cake, and that the pistils
+were full of wine._]
+
+'Oh, why did Eve take of the tree of knowledge? Why did Adam eat the
+forbidden fruit? If it had only been I it would not have happened! never
+would sin have entered the world!'
+
+This is what he said then, and he still said it when he was seventeen;
+his thoughts were full of the Garden of Paradise.
+
+He walked into the wood one day; he was alone, for that was his greatest
+pleasure. Evening came on, the clouds drew up and it rained as if the
+whole heaven had become a sluice from which the water poured in sheets;
+it was as dark as it is otherwise in the deepest well. Now he slipped on
+the wet grass, and then he fell on the bare stones which jutted out of
+the rocky ground. Everything was dripping, and at last the poor Prince
+hadn't got a dry thread on him. He had to climb over huge rocks where
+the water oozed out of the thick moss. He was almost fainting; just then
+he heard a curious murmuring and saw in front of him a big lighted cave.
+A fire was burning in the middle, big enough to roast a stag, which was
+in fact being done; a splendid stag with its huge antlers was stuck on a
+spit, being slowly turned round between the hewn trunks of two fir
+trees. An oldish woman, tall and strong enough to be a man dressed up,
+sat by the fire throwing on logs from time to time.
+
+'Come in, by all means!' she said; 'sit down by the fire so that your
+clothes may dry!'
+
+'There is a shocking draught here,' said the Prince, as he sat down on
+the ground.
+
+'It will be worse than this when my sons come home!' said the woman.
+'You are in the cavern of the winds; my sons are the four winds of the
+world! Do you understand?'
+
+'Who are your sons?' asked the Prince.
+
+'Well that's not so easy to answer when the question is stupidly put,'
+said the woman. 'My sons do as they like; they are playing rounders now
+with the clouds up there in the great hall,' and she pointed up into the
+sky.
+
+'Oh indeed!' said the Prince. 'You seem to speak very harshly, and you
+are not so gentle as the women I generally see about me!'
+
+'Oh, I daresay they have nothing else to do! I have to be harsh if I am
+to keep my boys under control! But I can do it, although they are a
+stiff-necked lot! Do you see those four sacks hanging on the wall? They
+are just as frightened of them as you used to be of the cane behind the
+looking-glass. I can double the boys up, I can tell you, and then they
+have to go into the bag; we don't stand upon ceremony, and there they
+have to stay; they can't get out to play their tricks till it suits me
+to let them. But here we have one of them.' It was the Northwind who
+came in with an icy blast; great hailstones peppered about the floor and
+snow-flakes drifted in. He was dressed in bearskin trousers and jacket,
+and he had a sealskin cap drawn over his ears. Long icicles were
+hanging from his beard, and one hailstone after another dropped down
+from the collar of his jacket.
+
+'Don't go straight to the fire,' said the Prince. 'You might easily get
+chilblains!'
+
+'Chilblains!' said the Northwind with a loud laugh. 'Chilblains! they
+are my greatest delight! What sort of a feeble creature are you? How did
+you get into the cave of the winds?'
+
+'He is my guest,' said the old woman, 'and if you are not pleased with
+that explanation you may go into the bag! Now you know my opinion!'
+
+This had its effect, and the Northwind told them where he came from, and
+where he had been for the last month.
+
+'I come from the Arctic seas,' he said. 'I have been on Behring Island
+with the Russian walrus-hunters. I sat at the helm and slept when they
+sailed from the north cape, and when I woke now and then the stormy
+petrels were flying about my legs. They are queer birds; they give a
+brisk flap with their wings and then keep them stretched out and
+motionless, and even then they have speed enough.'
+
+'Pray don't be too long-winded,' said the mother of the winds. 'So at
+last you got to Behring Island!'
+
+'It's perfectly splendid! There you have a floor to dance upon, as flat
+as a pancake, half-thawed snow, with moss. There were bones of whales
+and Polar bears lying about; they looked like the legs and arms of
+giants covered with green mould. One would think that the sun had never
+shone on them. I gave a little puff to the fog so that one could see the
+shed. It was a house built of wreckage and covered with the skins of
+whales; the flesh side was turned outwards; it was all red and green; a
+living Polar bear sat on the roof growling. I went to the shore and
+looked at the birds' nests, looked at the unfledged young ones screaming
+and gaping; then I blew down thousands of their throats and they learnt
+to shut their mouths. Lower down the walruses were rolling about like
+monster maggots with pigs' heads and teeth a yard long!'
+
+'You're a good story-teller, my boy!' said his mother. 'It makes my
+mouth water to hear you!'
+
+'Then there was a hunt! The harpoons were plunged into the walruses'
+breasts, and the steaming blood spurted out of them like fountains over
+the ice. Then I remembered my part of the game! I blew up and made my
+ships, the mountain-high icebergs, nip the boats; whew! how they
+whistled and how they screamed, but I whistled louder. They were obliged
+to throw the dead walruses, chests and ropes out upon the ice! I shook
+the snow-flakes over them and let them drift southwards to taste the
+salt water. They will never come back to Behring Island!'
+
+'Then you've been doing evil!' said the mother of the winds.
+
+'What good I did, the others may tell you,' said he. 'But here we have
+my brother from the west; I like him best of all; he smells of the sea
+and brings a splendid cool breeze with him!'
+
+'Is that the little Zephyr?' asked the Prince.
+
+'Yes, certainly it is Zephyr, but he is not so little as all that. He
+used to be a pretty boy once, but that's gone by!'
+
+He looked like a wild man of the woods, but he had a padded hat on so as
+not to come to any harm. He carried a mahogany club cut in the American
+mahogany forests. It could not be anything less than that.
+
+'Where do you come from?' asked his mother.
+
+'From the forest wildernesses!' he said, 'where the thorny creepers make
+a fence between every tree, where the water-snake lies in the wet grass,
+and where human beings seem to be superfluous!'
+
+'What did you do there?'
+
+'I looked at the mighty river, saw where it dashed over the rocks in
+dust and flew with the clouds to carry the rainbow. I saw the wild
+buffalo swimming in the river, but the stream carried him away; he
+floated with the wild duck, which soared into the sky at the rapids; but
+the buffalo was carried over with the water. I liked that and blew a
+storm, so that the primæval trees had to sail too, and they were whirled
+about like shavings.'
+
+'And you have done nothing else?' asked the old woman.
+
+'I have been turning somersaults in the Savannahs, patting the wild
+horse, and shaking down cocoanuts! Oh yes, I have plenty of stories to
+tell! But one need not tell everything. You know that very well, old
+woman!' and then he kissed his mother so heartily that she nearly fell
+backwards; he was indeed a wild boy.
+
+The Southwind appeared now in a turban and a flowing bedouin's cloak.
+
+'It is fearfully cold in here,' he said, throwing wood on the fire; 'it
+is easy to see that the Northwind got here first!'
+
+'It is hot enough here to roast a polar bear,' said the Northwind.
+
+'You are a polar bear yourself!' said the Southwind.
+
+'Do you want to go into the bag?' asked the old woman. 'Sit down on that
+stone and tell us where you have been.'
+
+'In Africa, mother!' he answered. 'I have been chasing the lion with the
+Hottentots in Kaffirland! What grass there is on those plains! as green
+as an olive. The gnu was dancing about, and the ostriches ran races with
+me, but I am still the fastest. I went to the desert with its yellow
+sand. It looks like the bottom of the sea. I met a caravan! They were
+killing their last camel to get water to drink, but it wasn't much they
+got. The sun was blazing above, and the sand burning below. There were
+no limits to the outstretched desert. Then I burrowed into the fine
+loose sand and whirled it up in great columns--that was a dance! You
+should have seen how despondently the dromedaries stood, and the
+merchant drew his caftan over his head. He threw himself down before me
+as if I had been Allah, his god. Now they are buried, and there is a
+pyramid of sand over them all; when I blow it away, sometime the sun
+will bleach their bones, and then travellers will see that people have
+been there before, otherwise you would hardly believe it in the desert!'
+
+'Then you have only been doing harm!' said the mother. 'Into the bag you
+go!' And before he knew where he was she had the Southwind by the waist
+and in the bag; it rolled about on the ground, but she sat down upon it
+and then it had to be quiet.
+
+'Your sons are lively fellows!' said the Prince.
+
+'Yes, indeed,' she said; 'but I can master them! Here comes the fourth.'
+
+It was the Eastwind, and he was dressed like a Chinaman.
+
+'Oh, have you come from that quarter?' said the mother. 'I thought you
+had been in the Garden of Paradise.'
+
+'I am only going there to-morrow!' said the Eastwind. 'It will be a
+hundred years to-morrow since I have been there. I have just come from
+China, where I danced round the porcelain tower till all the bells
+jingled. The officials were flogged in the streets, the bamboo canes
+were broken over their shoulders, and they were all people ranging from
+the first to the ninth rank. They shrieked "Many thanks, Father and
+benefactor," but they didn't mean what they said, and I went on ringing
+the bells and singing "Tsing, tsang, tsu!"'
+
+'You're quite uproarious about it!' said the old woman. 'It's a good
+thing you are going to the Garden of Paradise to-morrow; it always has a
+good effect on your behaviour. Mind you drink deep of the well of
+wisdom, and bring a little bottleful home to me.'
+
+'That I will,' said the Eastwind, 'But why have you put my brother from
+the south into the bag? Out with him. He must tell me about the
+phoenix; the Princess always wants to hear about that bird when I call
+every hundred years. Open the bag! then you'll be my sweetest mother,
+and I'll give you two pockets full of tea as green and fresh as when I
+picked it!'
+
+'Well, for the sake of the tea, and because you are my darling, I will
+open my bag!'
+
+She did open it and the Southwind crept out, but he was quite
+crestfallen because the strange Prince had seen his disgrace.
+
+'Here is a palm leaf for the Princess!' said the Southwind. 'The old
+phoenix, the only one in the world, gave it to me. He has scratched
+his whole history on it with his bill, for the hundred years of his
+life, and she can read it for herself. I saw how the phoenix set fire
+to his nest himself and sat on it while it burnt, like the widow of a
+Hindoo. Oh, how the dry branches crackled, how it smoked, and what a
+smell there was! At last it all burst into flame; the old bird was burnt
+to ashes, but his egg lay glowing in the fire; it broke with a loud bang
+and the young one flew out. Now it rules over all the birds, and it is
+the only phoenix in the world. He bit a hole in the leaf I gave you;
+that is his greeting to the Princess.'
+
+'Let us have something to eat now!' said the mother of the winds; and
+they all sat down to eat the roast stag, and the Prince sat by the side
+of the Eastwind, so they soon became good friends.
+
+'I say,' said the Prince, 'just tell me who is this Princess, and where
+is the Garden of Paradise?'
+
+'Oh ho!' said the Eastwind, 'if that is where you want to go you must
+fly with me to-morrow. But I may as well tell you that no human being
+has been there since Adam and Eve's time. You know all about them I
+suppose from your Bible stories?'
+
+'Of course,' said the Prince.
+
+'When they were driven away the Garden of Eden sank into the ground, but
+it kept its warm sunshine, its mild air, and all its charms. The queen
+of the fairies lives there. The Island of Bliss, where death never
+enters, and where living is a delight, is there. Get on my back
+to-morrow and I will take you with me; I think I can manage it! But you
+mustn't talk now, I want to go to sleep.'
+
+When the Prince woke up in the early morning, he was not a little
+surprised to find that he was already high above the clouds. He was
+sitting on the back of the Eastwind, who was holding him carefully; they
+were so high up that woods and fields, rivers and lakes, looked like a
+large coloured map.
+
+'Good morning,' said the Eastwind. 'You may as well sleep a little
+longer, for there is not much to be seen in this flat country below us,
+unless you want to count the churches. They look like chalk dots on the
+green board.'
+
+He called the fields and meadows 'the green board.'
+
+'It was very rude of me to leave without saying good-bye to your mother
+and brothers,' said the Prince.
+
+'One is excused when one is asleep!' said the Eastwind, and they flew on
+faster than ever. You could mark their flight by the rustling of the
+trees as they passed over the woods; and whenever they crossed a lake,
+or the sea, the waves rose and the great ships dipped low down in the
+water, like floating swans. Towards evening the large towns were amusing
+as it grew dark, with all their lights twinkling now here, now there,
+just as when one burns a piece of paper and sees all the little sparks
+like children coming home from school. The Prince clapped his hands, but
+the Eastwind told him he had better leave off and hold tight, or he
+might fall and find himself hanging on to a church steeple.
+
+The eagle in the great forest flew swiftly, but the Eastwind flew more
+swiftly still. The Kossack on his little horse sped fast over the
+plains, but the Prince sped faster still.
+
+[Illustration: _The eagle in the great forest flew swiftly, but the
+Eastwind flew more swiftly still._]
+
+'Now you can see the Himalayas!' said the Eastwind. 'They are the
+highest mountains in Asia; we shall soon reach the Garden of Paradise.'
+
+They took a more southerly direction, and the air became scented with
+spices and flowers. Figs and pomegranates grew wild, and the wild vines
+were covered with blue and green grapes. They both descended here and
+stretched themselves on the soft grass, where the flowers nodded to the
+wind, as much as to say, 'Welcome back.'
+
+'Are we in the Garden of Paradise now?' asked the Prince.
+
+'No, certainly not!' answered the Eastwind. 'But we shall soon be there.
+Do you see that wall of rock and the great cavern where the wild vine
+hangs like a big curtain? We have to go through there! Wrap yourself up
+in your cloak, the sun is burning here, but a step further on it is icy
+cold. The bird which flies past the cavern has one wing out here in the
+heat of summer, and the other is there in the cold of winter.'
+
+'So that is the way to the Garden of Paradise!' said the Prince.
+
+Now they entered the cavern. Oh, how icily cold it was; but it did not
+last long. The Eastwind spread his wings, and they shone like the
+brightest flame; but what a cave it was! Large blocks of stone, from
+which the water dripped, hung over them in the most extraordinary
+shapes; at one moment it was so low and narrow that they had to crawl
+on hands and knees, the next it was as wide and lofty as if they were in
+the open air. It looked like a chapel of the dead, with mute organ pipes
+and petrified banners.
+
+'We seem to be journeying along Death's road to the Garden of Paradise!'
+said the Prince, but the Eastwind never answered a word, he only pointed
+before them where a beautiful blue light was shining. The blocks of
+stone above them grew dimmer and dimmer, and at last they became as
+transparent as a white cloud in the moonshine. The air was also
+deliciously soft, as fresh as on the mountain-tops and as scented as
+down among the roses in the valley.
+
+A river ran there as clear as the air itself, and the fish in it were
+like gold and silver. Purple eels, which gave out blue sparks with every
+curve, gambolled about in the water; and the broad leaves of the
+water-lilies were tinged with the hues of the rainbow, while the flower
+itself was like a fiery orange flame, nourished by the water, just as
+oil keeps a lamp constantly burning. A firm bridge of marble, as
+delicately and skilfully carved as if it were lace and glass beads, led
+over the water to the Island of Bliss, where the Garden of Paradise
+bloomed.
+
+The Eastwind took the Prince in his arms and bore him over. The flowers
+and leaves there sang all the beautiful old songs of his childhood, but
+sang them more wonderfully than any human voice could sing them.
+
+Were these palm trees or giant water plants growing here? The Prince
+had never seen such rich and mighty trees. The most wonderful climbing
+plants hung in wreaths, such as are only to be found pictured in gold
+and colours on the margins of old books of the Saints or entwined among
+their initial letters. It was the most extraordinary combination of
+birds, flowers and scrolls.
+
+Close by on the grass stood a flock of peacocks with their brilliant
+tails outspread. Yes, indeed, it seemed so, but when the Prince touched
+them he saw that they were not birds but plants. They were big dock
+leaves, which shone like peacocks' tails. Lions and tigers sprang like
+agile cats among the green hedges, which were scented with the blossom
+of the olive, and the lion and the tiger were tame. The wild dove,
+glistening like a pearl, beat the lion's mane with his wings; and the
+antelope, otherwise so shy, stood by nodding, just as if he wanted to
+join the game.
+
+The Fairy of the Garden now advanced to meet them; her garments shone
+like the sun, and her face beamed like that of a happy mother rejoicing
+over her child. She was young and very beautiful, and was surrounded by
+a band of lovely girls, each with a gleaming star in her hair.
+
+When the Eastwind gave her the inscribed leaf from the Phoenix her
+eyes sparkled with delight. She took the Prince's hand and led him into
+her palace, where the walls were the colour of the brightest tulips in
+the sunlight. The ceiling was one great shining flower, and the longer
+one gazed into it the deeper the calyx seemed to be. The Prince went to
+the window, and looking through one of the panes saw the Tree of
+Knowledge, with the Serpent, and Adam and Eve standing by.
+
+'Are they not driven out?' he asked, and the Fairy smiled, and explained
+that Time had burned a picture into each pane, but not of the kind one
+usually sees; they were alive, the leaves on the trees moved, and people
+came and went like the reflections in a mirror.
+
+Then he looked through another pane, and he saw Jacob's dream, with the
+ladder going straight up into heaven, and angels with great wings were
+fluttering up and down. All that had ever happened in this world lived
+and moved on these window panes; only Time could imprint such wonderful
+pictures.
+
+[Illustration: _The Fairy of the Garden now advanced to meet them; her
+garments shone like the sun, and her face beamed like that of a happy
+mother rejoicing over her child._]
+
+The Fairy smiled and led him into a large, lofty room, the walls of
+which were like transparent paintings of faces, one more beautiful than
+the other. These were millions of the Blessed who smiled and sang, and
+all their songs melted into one perfect melody. The highest ones were so
+tiny that they seemed smaller than the very smallest rosebud, no bigger
+than a pinpoint in a drawing. In the middle of the room stood a large
+tree, with handsome drooping branches; golden apples, large and small,
+hung like oranges among its green leaves. It was the Tree of
+Knowledge, of whose fruit Adam and Eve had eaten. From every leaf
+hung a shining red drop of dew; it was as if the tree wept tears of
+blood.
+
+'Now let us get into the boat,' said the Fairy. 'We shall find
+refreshment on the swelling waters. The boat rocks, but it does not move
+from the spot; all the countries of the world will pass before our
+eyes.'
+
+It was a curious sight to see the whole coast move. Here came lofty
+snow-clad Alps, with their clouds and dark fir trees. The horn echoed
+sadly among them, and the shepherd yodelled sweetly in the valleys. Then
+banian trees bent their long drooping branches over the boat, black
+swans floated on the water, and the strangest animals and flowers
+appeared on the shore. This was New Holland, the fifth portion of the
+world, which glided past them with a view of its blue mountains. They
+heard the song of priests, and saw the dances of the savages to the
+sound of drums and pipes of bone. The pyramids of Egypt reaching to the
+clouds, with fallen columns, and Sphynxes half buried in sand, next
+sailed past them. Then came the Aurora Borealis blazing over the peaks
+of the north; they were fireworks which could not be imitated. The
+Prince was so happy, and he saw a hundred times more than we have
+described.
+
+'Can I stay here always?' he asked.
+
+'That depends upon yourself,' answered the Fairy. 'If you do not, like
+Adam, allow yourself to be tempted to do what is forbidden, you can stay
+here always.'
+
+'I will not touch the apples on the Tree of Knowledge,' said the Prince.
+'There are thousands of other fruits here as beautiful.'
+
+'Test yourself, and if you are not strong enough, go back with the
+Eastwind who brought you. He is going away now, and will not come back
+for a hundred years; the time will fly in this place like a hundred
+hours, but that is a long time for temptation and sin. Every evening
+when I leave you I must say, "Come with me," and I must beckon to you,
+but stay behind. Do not come with me, for with every step you take your
+longing will grow stronger. You will reach the hall where grows the Tree
+of Knowledge; I sleep beneath its fragrant drooping branches. You will
+bend over me and I must smile, but if you press a kiss upon my lips
+Paradise will sink deep down into the earth, and it will be lost to you.
+The sharp winds of the wilderness will whistle round you, the cold rain
+will drop from your hair. Sorrow and labour will be your lot.'
+
+'I will remain here!' said the Prince.
+
+And the Eastwind kissed him on the mouth and said: 'Be strong, then we
+shall meet again in a hundred years. Farewell! Farewell!' And the
+Eastwind spread his great wings; they shone like poppies at the harvest
+time, or the Northern Lights in a cold winter.
+
+'Good-bye! good-bye!' whispered the flowers. Storks and pelicans flew
+in a line like waving ribbons, conducting him to the boundaries of the
+Garden.
+
+'Now we begin our dancing!' said the Fairy; 'at the end when I dance
+with you, as the sun goes down you will see me beckon to you and cry,
+"Come with me", but do not come. I have to repeat it every night for a
+hundred years. Every time you resist, you will grow stronger, and at
+last you will not even think of following. To-night is the first time.
+Remember my warning!'
+
+And the Fairy led him into a large hall of white transparent lilies, the
+yellow stamens in each formed a little golden harp which echoed the
+sound of strings and flutes. Lovely girls, slender and lissom, dressed
+in floating gauze, which revealed their exquisite limbs, glided in the
+dance, and sang of the joy of living--that they would never die--and
+that the Garden of Paradise would bloom for ever.
+
+The sun went down and the sky was bathed in golden light which gave the
+lilies the effect of roses; and the Prince drank of the foaming wine
+handed to him by the maidens. He felt such joy as he had never known
+before; he saw the background of the hall opening where the Tree of
+Knowledge stood in a radiancy which blinded him. The song proceeding
+from it was soft and lovely, like his mother's voice, and she seemed to
+say, 'My child, my beloved child!'
+
+Then the Fairy beckoned to him and said so tenderly, 'Come with me,'
+that he rushed towards her, forgetting his promise, forgetting
+everything on the very first evening that she smiled and beckoned to
+him.
+
+The fragrance in the scented air around grew stronger, the harps sounded
+sweeter than ever, and it seemed as if the millions of smiling heads in
+the hall where the Tree grew nodded and sang, 'One must know everything.
+Man is lord of the earth.' They were no longer tears of blood which fell
+from the Tree; it seemed to him that they were red shining stars.
+
+'Come with me, come with me,' spoke those trembling tones, and at every
+step the Prince's cheeks burnt hotter and hotter and his blood coursed
+more rapidly.
+
+'I must go,' he said, 'it is no sin; I must see her asleep; nothing will
+be lost if I do not kiss her, and that I will not do. My will is
+strong.'
+
+The Fairy dropped her shimmering garment, drew back the branches, and a
+moment after was hidden within their depths.
+
+'I have not sinned yet!' said the Prince, 'nor will I'; then he drew
+back the branches. There she lay asleep already, beautiful as only the
+Fairy in the Garden of Paradise can be. She smiled in her dreams; he
+bent over her and saw the tears welling up under her eyelashes.
+
+[Illustration: _The Fairy dropped her shimmering garment, drew back the
+branches, and a moment after was hidden within their depths._]
+
+'Do you weep for me?' he whispered. 'Weep not, beautiful maiden. I
+only now understand the full bliss of Paradise; it surges through my
+blood and through my thoughts. I feel the strength of the angels and of
+everlasting life in my mortal limbs! If it were to be everlasting night
+to me, a moment like this were worth it!' and he kissed away the tears
+from her eyes; his mouth touched hers.
+
+Then came a sound like thunder, louder and more awful than any he had
+ever heard before, and everything around collapsed. The beautiful Fairy,
+the flowery Paradise sank deeper and deeper. The Prince saw it sink into
+the darkness of night; it shone far off like a little tiny twinkling
+star. The chill of death crept over his limbs; he closed his eyes and
+lay long as if dead.
+
+The cold rain fell on his face, and the sharp wind blew around his head,
+and at last his memory came back. 'What have I done?' he sighed. 'I have
+sinned like Adam, sinned so heavily that Paradise has sunk low beneath
+the earth!' And he opened his eyes; he could still see the star, the
+far-away star, which twinkled like Paradise; it was the morning star in
+the sky. He got up and found himself in the wood near the cave of the
+winds, and the mother of the winds sat by his side. She looked angry and
+raised her hand.
+
+'So soon as the first evening!' she said. 'I thought as much; if you
+were my boy, you should go into the bag!'
+
+'Ah, he shall soon go there!' said Death. He was a strong old man, with
+a scythe in his hand and great black wings. 'He shall be laid in a
+coffin, but not now; I only mark him and then leave him for a time to
+wander about on the earth to expiate his sin and to grow better. I will
+come some time. When he least expects me, I shall come back, lay him in
+a black coffin, put it on my head, and fly to the skies. The Garden of
+Paradise blooms there too, and if he is good and holy he shall enter
+into it; but if his thoughts are wicked and his heart still full of sin,
+he will sink deeper in his coffin than Paradise sank, and I shall only
+go once in every thousand years to see if he is to sink deeper or to
+rise to the stars, the twinkling stars up there.'
+
+
+
+
+THE MERMAID
+
+
+Far out at sea the water is as blue as the bluest cornflower, and as
+clear as the clearest crystal; but it is very deep, too deep for any
+cable to fathom, and if many steeples were piled on the top of one
+another they would not reach from the bed of the sea to the surface of
+the water. It is down there that the Mermen live.
+
+Now don't imagine that there are only bare white sands at the bottom; oh
+no! the most wonderful trees and plants grow there, with such flexible
+stalks and leaves, that at the slightest motion of the water they move
+just as if they were alive. All the fish, big and little, glide among
+the branches just as, up here, birds glide through the air. The palace
+of the Merman King lies in the very deepest part; its walls are of coral
+and the long pointed windows of the clearest amber, but the roof is made
+of mussel shells which open and shut with the lapping of the water. This
+has a lovely effect, for there are gleaming pearls in every shell, any
+one of which would be the pride of a queen's crown.
+
+The Merman King had been for many years a widower, but his old mother
+kept house for him; she was a clever woman, but so proud of her noble
+birth that she wore twelve oysters on her tail, while the other grandees
+were only allowed six. Otherwise she was worthy of all praise,
+especially because she was so fond of the little mermaid princesses, her
+grandchildren. They were six beautiful children, but the youngest was
+the prettiest of all; her skin was as soft and delicate as a roseleaf,
+her eyes as blue as the deepest sea, but like all the others she had no
+feet, and instead of legs she had a fish's tail.
+
+All the livelong day they used to play in the palace in the great halls,
+where living flowers grew out of the walls. When the great amber windows
+were thrown open the fish swam in, just as the swallows fly into our
+rooms when we open the windows, but the fish swam right up to the little
+princesses, ate out of their hands, and allowed themselves to be patted.
+
+[Illustration: _The Merman King had been for many years a widower, but
+his old mother kept house for him; she was a clever woman, but so proud
+of her noble birth that she wore twelve oysters on her tail, while the
+other grandees were only allowed six._]
+
+Outside the palace was a large garden, with fiery red and deep blue
+trees, the fruit of which shone like gold, while the flowers glowed like
+fire on their ceaselessly waving stalks. The ground was of the finest
+sand, but it was of a blue phosphorescent tint. Everything was bathed in
+a wondrous blue light down there; you might more readily have supposed
+yourself to be high up in the air, with only the sky above and below
+you, than that you were at the bottom of the ocean. In a dead calm you
+could just catch a glimpse of the sun like a purple flower with a
+stream of light radiating from its calyx.
+
+Each little princess had her own little plot of garden, where she could
+dig and plant just as she liked. One made her flower-bed in the shape of
+a whale; another thought it nice to have hers like a little mermaid; but
+the youngest made hers quite round like the sun, and she would only have
+flowers of a rosy hue like its beams. She was a curious child, quiet and
+thoughtful, and while the other sisters decked out their gardens with
+all kinds of extraordinary objects which they got from wrecks, she would
+have nothing besides the rosy flowers like the sun up above, except a
+statue of a beautiful boy. It was hewn out of the purest white marble
+and had gone to the bottom from some wreck. By the statue she planted a
+rosy red weeping willow which grew splendidly, and the fresh delicate
+branches hung round and over it, till they almost touched the blue sand
+where the shadows showed violet, and were ever moving like the branches.
+It looked as if the leaves and the roots were playfully interchanging
+kisses.
+
+Nothing gave her greater pleasure than to hear about the world of human
+beings up above; she made her old grandmother tell her all that she knew
+about ships and towns, people and animals. But above all it seemed
+strangely beautiful to her that up on the earth the flowers were
+scented, for they were not so at the bottom of the sea; also that the
+woods were green, and that the fish which were to be seen among the
+branches could sing so loudly and sweetly that it was a delight to
+listen to them. You see the grandmother called little birds fish, or the
+mermaids would not have understood her, as they had never seen a bird.
+
+'When you are fifteen,' said the grandmother, 'you will be allowed to
+rise up from the sea and sit on the rocks in the moonlight, and look at
+the big ships sailing by, and you will also see woods and towns.'
+
+One of the sisters would be fifteen in the following year, but the
+others,--well, they were each one year younger than the other, so that
+the youngest had five whole years to wait before she would be allowed to
+come up from the bottom, to see what things were like on earth. But each
+one promised the others to give a full account of all that she had seen,
+and found most wonderful on the first day. Their grandmother could never
+tell them enough, for there were so many things about which they wanted
+information.
+
+None of them was so full of longings as the youngest, the very one who
+had the longest time to wait, and who was so quiet and dreamy. Many a
+night she stood by the open windows and looked up through the dark blue
+water which the fish were lashing with their tails and fins. She could
+see the moon and the stars, it is true; their light was pale, but they
+looked much bigger through the water than they do to our eyes. When she
+saw a dark shadow glide between her and them, she knew that it was
+either a whale swimming above her, or else a ship laden with human
+beings. I am certain they never dreamt that a lovely little mermaid was
+standing down below, stretching up her white hands towards the keel.
+
+The eldest princess had now reached her fifteenth birthday, and was to
+venture above the water. When she came back she had hundreds of things
+to tell them, but the most delightful of all, she said, was to lie in
+the moonlight, on a sandbank in a calm sea, and to gaze at the large
+town close to the shore, where the lights twinkled like hundreds of
+stars; to listen to music and the noise and bustle of carriages and
+people, to see the many church towers and spires, and to hear the bells
+ringing; and just because she could not go on shore she longed for that
+most of all.
+
+Oh, how eagerly the youngest sister listened! and when, later in the
+evening she stood at the open window and looked up through the dark blue
+water, she thought of the big town with all its noise and bustle, and
+fancied that she could even hear the church bells ringing.
+
+The year after, the second sister was allowed to mount up through the
+water and swim about wherever she liked. The sun was just going down
+when she reached the surface, the most beautiful sight, she thought,
+that she had ever seen. The whole sky had looked like gold, she said,
+and as for the clouds! well, their beauty was beyond description; they
+floated in red and violet splendour over her head, and, far faster than
+they went, a flock of wild swans flew like a long white veil over the
+water towards the setting sun; she swam towards it, but it sank and all
+the rosy light on clouds and water faded away.
+
+The year after that the third sister went up, and, being much the most
+venturesome of them all, swam up a broad river which ran into the sea.
+She saw beautiful green, vine-clad hills; palaces and country seats
+peeping through splendid woods. She heard the birds singing, and the sun
+was so hot that she was often obliged to dive, to cool her burning face.
+In a tiny bay she found a troop of little children running about naked
+and paddling in the water; she wanted to play with them, but they were
+frightened and ran away. Then a little black animal came up; it was a
+dog, but she had never seen one before; it barked so furiously at her
+that she was frightened and made for the open sea. She could never
+forget the beautiful woods, the green hills and the lovely children who
+could swim in the water although they had no fishes' tails.
+
+The fourth sister was not so brave; she stayed in the remotest part of
+the ocean, and, according to her account, that was the most beautiful
+spot. You could see for miles and miles around you, and the sky above
+was like a great glass dome. She had seen ships, but only far away, so
+that they looked like sea-gulls. There were grotesque dolphins turning
+somersaults, and gigantic whales squirting water through their nostrils
+like hundreds of fountains on every side.
+
+Now the fifth sister's turn came. Her birthday fell in the winter, so
+that she saw sights that the others had not seen on their first trips.
+The sea looked quite green, and large icebergs were floating about, each
+one of which looked like a pearl, she said, but was much bigger than the
+church towers built by men. They took the most wonderful shapes, and
+sparkled like diamonds. She had seated herself on one of the largest,
+and all the passing ships sheered off in alarm when they saw her sitting
+there with her long hair streaming loose in the wind.
+
+In the evening the sky became overcast with dark clouds; it thundered
+and lightened, and the huge icebergs glittering in the bright lightning,
+were lifted high into the air by the black waves. All the ships
+shortened sail, and there was fear and trembling on every side, but she
+sat quietly on her floating iceberg watching the blue lightning flash in
+zigzags down on to the shining sea.
+
+The first time any of the sisters rose above the water she was delighted
+by the novelties and beauties she saw; but once grown up, and at liberty
+to go where she liked, she became indifferent and longed for her home;
+in the course of a month or so they all said that after all their own
+home in the deep was best, it was so cosy there.
+
+Many an evening the five sisters interlacing their arms would rise above
+the water together. They had lovely voices, much clearer than any
+mortal, and when a storm was rising, and they expected ships to be
+wrecked, they would sing in the most seductive strains of the wonders of
+the deep, bidding the seafarers have no fear of them. But the sailors
+could not understand the words, they thought it was the voice of the
+storm; nor could it be theirs to see this Elysium of the deep, for when
+the ship sank they were drowned, and only reached the Merman's palace in
+death. When the elder sisters rose up in this manner, arm-in-arm, in the
+evening, the youngest remained behind quite alone, looking after them as
+if she must weep; but mermaids have no tears, and so they suffer all the
+more.
+
+'Oh! if I were only fifteen!' she said, 'I know how fond I shall be of
+the world above, and of the mortals who dwell there.'
+
+At last her fifteenth birthday came.
+
+'Now we shall have you off our hands,' said her grandmother, the old
+queen-dowager. 'Come now, let me adorn you like your other sisters!' and
+she put a wreath of white lilies round her hair, but every petal of the
+flowers was half a pearl; then the old queen had eight oysters fixed on
+to the princess's tail to show her high rank.
+
+'But it hurts so!' said the little mermaid.
+
+'You must endure the pain for the sake of the finery!' said her
+grandmother.
+
+But oh! how gladly would she have shaken off all this splendour, and
+laid aside the heavy wreath. Her red flowers in her garden suited her
+much better, but she did not dare to make any alteration. 'Good-bye,'
+she said, and mounted as lightly and airily as a bubble through the
+water.
+
+The sun had just set when her head rose above the water, but the clouds
+were still lighted up with a rosy and golden splendour, and the evening
+star sparkled in the soft pink sky, the air was mild and fresh, and the
+sea as calm as a millpond. A big three-masted ship lay close by with
+only a single sail set, for there was not a breath of wind, and the
+sailors were sitting about the rigging, on the cross-trees, and at the
+mast-heads. There was music and singing on board, and as the evening
+closed in hundreds of gaily coloured lanterns were lighted--they looked
+like the flags of all nations waving in the air. The little mermaid swam
+right up to the cabin windows, and every time she was lifted by the
+swell she could see through the transparent panes crowds of gaily
+dressed people. The handsomest of them all was the young prince with
+large dark eyes; he could not be much more than sixteen, and all these
+festivities were in honour of his birthday. The sailors danced on deck,
+and when the prince appeared among them hundreds of rockets were let off
+making it as light as day, and frightening the little mermaid so much
+that she had to dive under the water. She soon ventured up again, and it
+was just as if all the stars of heaven were falling in showers round
+about her. She had never seen such magic fires. Great suns whirled
+round, gorgeous fire-fish hung in the blue air, and all was reflected
+in the calm and glassy sea. It was so light on board the ship that every
+little rope could be seen, and the people still better. Oh, how handsome
+the prince was! how he laughed and smiled as he greeted his guests,
+while the music rang out in the quiet night.
+
+It got quite late, but the little mermaid could not take her eyes off
+the ship and the beautiful prince. The coloured lanterns were put out,
+no more rockets were sent up, and the cannon had ceased its thunder, but
+deep down in the sea there was a dull murmuring and moaning sound.
+Meanwhile she was rocked up and down on the waves, so that she could
+look into the cabin; but the ship got more and more way on, sail after
+sail was filled by the wind, the waves grew stronger, great clouds
+gathered, and it lightened in the distance. Oh, there was going to be a
+fearful storm! and soon the sailors had to shorten sail. The great ship
+rocked and rolled as she dashed over the angry sea, the black waves rose
+like mountains, high enough to overwhelm her, but she dived like a swan
+through them and rose again and again on their towering crests. The
+little mermaid thought it a most amusing race, but not so the sailors.
+The ship creaked and groaned; the mighty timbers bulged and bent under
+the heavy blows; the water broke over the decks, snapping the main mast
+like a reed; she heeled over on her side, and the water rushed into the
+hold.
+
+Now the little mermaid saw that they were in danger, and she had for
+her own sake to beware of the floating beams and wreckage. One moment it
+was so pitch dark that she could not see at all, but when the lightning
+flashed it became so light that she could see all on board. Every man
+was looking out for his own safety as best he could; but she more
+particularly followed the young prince with her eyes, and when the ship
+went down she saw him sink in the deep sea. At first she was quite
+delighted, for now he was coming to be with her, but then she remembered
+that human beings could not live under water, and that only if he were
+dead could he go to her father's palace. No! he must not die; so she
+swam towards him all among the drifting beams and planks, quite
+forgetting that they might crush her. She dived deep down under the
+water, and came up again through the waves, and at last reached the
+young prince just as he was becoming unable to swim any further in the
+stormy sea. His limbs were numbed, his beautiful eyes were closing, and
+he must have died if the little mermaid had not come to the rescue. She
+held his head above the water and let the waves drive them whithersoever
+they would.
+
+By daybreak all the storm was over, of the ship not a trace was to be
+seen; the sun rose from the water in radiant brilliance, and his rosy
+beams seemed to cast a glow of life into the prince's cheeks, but his
+eyes remained closed. The mermaid kissed his fair and lofty brow, and
+stroked back the dripping hair; it seemed to her that he was like the
+marble statue in her little garden; she kissed him again and longed that
+he might live.
+
+At last she saw dry land before her, high blue mountains on whose
+summits the white snow glistened as if a flock of swans had settled
+there; down by the shore were beautiful green woods, and in the
+foreground a church or temple, she did not quite know which, but it was
+a building of some sort. Lemon and orange trees grew in the garden, and
+lofty palms stood by the gate. At this point the sea formed a little bay
+where the water was quite calm, but very deep, right up to the cliffs;
+at their foot was a strip of fine white sand to which she swam with the
+beautiful prince, and laid him down on it, taking great care that his
+head should rest high up in the warm sunshine.
+
+The bells now began to ring in the great white building, and a number of
+young maidens came into the garden. Then the little mermaid swam further
+off behind some high rocks and covered her hair and breast with foam, so
+that no one should see her little face, and then she watched to see who
+would discover the poor prince.
+
+[Illustration: _His limbs were numbed, his beautiful eyes were closing,
+and he must have died if the little mermaid had not come to the
+rescue._]
+
+It was not long before one of the maidens came up to him. At first she
+seemed quite frightened, but only for a moment, and then she fetched
+several others, and the mermaid saw that the prince was coming to life,
+and that he smiled at all those around him, but he never smiled at her.
+You see he did not know that she had saved him. She felt so sad
+that when he was led away into the great building she dived sorrowfully
+into the water and made her way home to her father's palace.
+
+Always silent and thoughtful, she became more so now than ever. Her
+sisters often asked her what she had seen on her first visit to the
+surface, but she never would tell them anything.
+
+Many an evening and many a morning she would rise to the place where she
+had left the prince. She saw the fruit in the garden ripen, and then
+gathered, she saw the snow melt on the mountain-tops, but she never saw
+the prince, so she always went home still sadder than before. At home
+her only consolation was to sit in her little garden with her arms
+twined round the handsome marble statue which reminded her of the
+prince. It was all in gloomy shade now, as she had ceased to tend her
+flowers, and the garden had become a neglected wilderness of long stalks
+and leaves entangled with the branches of the tree.
+
+At last she could not bear it any longer, so she told one of her
+sisters, and from her it soon spread to the others, but to no one else
+except to one or two other mermaids who only told their dearest friends.
+One of these knew all about the prince; she had also seen the
+festivities on the ship; she knew where he came from and where his
+kingdom was situated.
+
+'Come, little sister!' said the other princesses, and, throwing their
+arms round each other's shoulders, they rose from the water in a long
+line, just in front of the prince's palace.
+
+It was built of light yellow glistening stone, with great marble
+staircases, one of which led into the garden. Magnificent gilded cupolas
+rose above the roof, and the spaces between the columns which encircled
+the building were filled with life-like marble statues. Through the
+clear glass of the lofty windows you could see gorgeous halls adorned
+with costly silken hangings, and the pictures on the walls were a sight
+worth seeing. In the midst of the central hall a large fountain played,
+throwing its jets of spray upwards to a glass dome in the roof, through
+which the sunbeams lighted up the water and the beautiful plants which
+grew in the great basin.
+
+She knew now where he lived, and often used to go there in the evenings
+and by night over the water. She swam much nearer the land than any of
+the others dared; she even ventured right up the narrow channel under
+the splendid marble terrace which threw a long shadow over the water.
+She used to sit here looking at the young prince, who thought he was
+quite alone in the clear moonlight.
+
+She saw him many an evening sailing about in his beautiful boat, with
+flags waving and music playing; she used to peep through the green
+rushes, and if the wind happened to catch her long silvery veil and any
+one saw it, they only thought it was a swan flapping its wings.
+
+Many a night she heard the fishermen, who were fishing by torchlight,
+talking over the good deeds of the young prince; and she was happy to
+think that she had saved his life when he was drifting about on the
+waves, half dead, and she could not forget how closely his head had
+pressed her breast, and how passionately she had kissed him; but he knew
+nothing of all this, and never saw her even in his dreams.
+
+She became fonder and fonder of mankind, and longed more and more to be
+able to live among them; their world seemed so infinitely bigger than
+hers; with their ships they could scour the ocean, they could ascend the
+mountains high above the clouds, and their wooded, grass-grown lands
+extended further than her eye could reach. There was so much that she
+wanted to know, but her sisters could not give an answer to all her
+questions, so she asked her old grandmother, who knew the upper world
+well, and rightly called it the country above the sea.
+
+'If men are not drowned,' asked the little mermaid, 'do they live for
+ever? Do they not die as we do down here in the sea?'
+
+'Yes,' said the old lady, 'they have to die too, and their lifetime is
+even shorter than ours. We may live here for three hundred years, but
+when we cease to exist we become mere foam on the water and do not have
+so much as a grave among our dear ones. We have no immortal souls; we
+have no future life; we are just like the green sea-weed, which, once
+cut down, can never revive again! Men, on the other hand, have a soul
+which lives for ever, lives after the body has become dust; it rises
+through the clear air, up to the shining stars! Just as we rise from the
+water to see the land of mortals, so they rise up to unknown beautiful
+regions which we shall never see.'
+
+'Why have we no immortal souls?' asked the little mermaid sadly. 'I
+would give all my three hundred years to be a human being for one day,
+and afterwards to have a share in the heavenly kingdom.'
+
+'You must not be thinking about that,' said the grandmother; 'we are
+much better off and happier than human beings.'
+
+'Then I shall have to die and to float as foam on the water, and never
+hear the music of the waves or see the beautiful flowers or the red sun!
+Is there nothing I can do to gain an immortal soul?'
+
+'No,' said the grandmother; 'only if a human being so loved you that you
+were more to him than father or mother, if all his thoughts and all his
+love were so centred in you that he would let the priest join your hands
+and would vow to be faithful to you here, and to all eternity; then your
+body would become infused with his soul. Thus, and only thus, could you
+gain a share in the felicity of mankind. He would give you a soul while
+yet keeping his own. But that can never happen! That which is your
+greatest beauty in the sea, your fish's tail, is thought hideous up on
+earth, so little do they understand about it; to be pretty there you
+must have two clumsy supports which they call legs!'
+
+Then the little mermaid sighed and looked sadly at her fish's tail.
+
+'Let us be happy,' said the grandmother; 'we will hop and skip during
+our three hundred years of life; it is surely a long enough time; and
+after it is over we shall rest all the better in our graves. There is to
+be a court ball to-night.'
+
+This was a much more splendid affair than we ever see on earth. The
+walls and the ceiling of the great ballroom were of thick but
+transparent glass. Several hundreds of colossal mussel shells, rose red
+and grass green, were ranged in order round the sides holding blue
+lights, which illuminated the whole room and shone through the walls, so
+that the sea outside was quite lit up. You could see countless fish,
+great and small, swimming towards the glass walls, some with shining
+scales of crimson hue, while others were golden and silvery. In the
+middle of the room was a broad stream of running water, and on this the
+mermaids and mermen danced to their own beautiful singing. No earthly
+beings have such lovely voices. The little mermaid sang more sweetly
+than any of them, and they all applauded her. For a moment she felt glad
+at heart, for she knew that she had the finest voice either in the sea
+or on land. But she soon began to think again about the upper world, she
+could not forget the handsome prince and her sorrow in not possessing,
+like him, an immortal soul. Therefore she stole out of her father's
+palace, and while all within was joy and merriment, she sat sadly in her
+little garden. Suddenly she heard the sound of a horn through the water,
+and she thought, 'Now he is out sailing up there; he whom I love more
+than father or mother, he to whom my thoughts cling and to whose hands I
+am ready to commit the happiness of my life. I will dare anything to win
+him and to gain an immortal soul! While my sisters are dancing in my
+father's palace I will go to the sea-witch, of whom I have always been
+very much afraid; she will perhaps be able to advise and help me!'
+
+Thereupon the little mermaid left the garden and went towards the
+roaring whirlpools at the back of which the witch lived. She had never
+been that way before; no flowers grew there, no seaweed, only the bare
+grey sands, stretched towards the whirlpools, which like rushing
+mill-wheels swirled round, dragging everything that came within reach
+down to the depths. She had to pass between these boiling eddies to
+reach the witch's domain, and for a long way the only path led over warm
+bubbling mud, which the witch called her 'peat bog.' Her house stood
+behind this in the midst of a weird forest. All the trees and bushes
+were polyps, half animal and half plant; they looked like hundred-headed
+snakes growing out of the sand, the branches were long slimy arms, with
+tentacles like wriggling worms, every joint of which, from the root to
+the outermost tip, was in constant motion. They wound themselves tightly
+round whatever they could lay hold of and never let it escape. The
+little mermaid standing outside was quite frightened, her heart beat
+fast with terror and she nearly turned back, but then she remembered the
+prince and the immortal soul of mankind and took courage. She bound her
+long flowing hair tightly round her head, so that the polyps should not
+seize her by it, folded her hands over her breast, and darted like a
+fish through the water, in between the hideous polyps, which stretched
+out their sensitive arms and tentacles towards her. She could see that
+every one of them had something or other, which they had grasped with
+their hundred arms, and which they held as if in iron bands. The
+bleached bones of men who had perished at sea and sunk below peeped
+forth from the arms of some, while others clutched rudders and
+sea-chests, or the skeleton of some land animal; and most horrible of
+all, a little mermaid whom they had caught and suffocated. Then she came
+to a large opening in the wood where the ground was all slimy, and where
+some huge fat water snakes were gambolling about. In the middle of this
+opening was a house built of the bones of the wrecked; there sat the
+witch, letting a toad eat out of her mouth, just as mortals let a little
+canary eat sugar. She called the hideous water snakes her little
+chickens, and allowed them to crawl about on her unsightly bosom.
+
+'I know very well what you have come here for,' said the witch. 'It is
+very foolish of you! all the same you shall have your way, because it
+will lead you into misfortune, my fine princess. You want to get rid of
+your fish's tail, and instead to have two stumps to walk about upon like
+human beings, so that the young prince may fall in love with you, and
+that you may win him and an immortal soul.' Saying this, she gave such a
+loud hideous laugh that the toad and the snakes fell to the ground and
+wriggled about there.
+
+'You are just in the nick of time,' said the witch; 'after sunrise
+to-morrow I should not be able to help you until another year had run
+its course. I will make you a potion, and before sunrise you must swim
+ashore with it, seat yourself on the beach and drink it; then your tail
+will divide and shrivel up to what men call beautiful legs. But it
+hurts; it is as if a sharp sword were running through you. All who see
+you will say that you are the most beautiful child of man they have ever
+seen. You will keep your gliding gait, no dancer will rival you, but
+every step you take will be as if you were treading upon sharp knives,
+so sharp as to draw blood. If you are willing to suffer all this I am
+ready to help you!'
+
+'Yes!' said the little princess with a trembling voice, thinking of the
+prince and of winning an undying soul.
+
+'But remember,' said the witch, 'when once you have received a human
+form, you can never be a mermaid again; you will never again be able to
+dive down through the water to your sisters and to your father's palace.
+And if you do not succeed in winning the prince's love, so that for your
+sake he will forget father and mother, cleave to you with his whole
+heart, let the priest join your hands and make you man and wife, you
+will gain no immortal soul! The first morning after his marriage with
+another your heart will break, and you will turn into foam of the sea.'
+
+'I will do it,' said the little mermaid as pale as death.
+
+'But you will have to pay me, too,' said the witch, 'and it is no trifle
+that I demand. You have the most beautiful voice of any at the bottom of
+the sea, and I daresay that you think you will fascinate him with it;
+but you must give me that voice; I will have the best you possess in
+return for my precious potion! I have to mingle my own blood with it so
+as to make it as sharp as a two-edged sword.'
+
+'But if you take my voice,' said the little mermaid, 'what have I left?'
+
+'Your beautiful form,' said the witch, 'your gliding gait, and your
+speaking eyes; with these you ought surely to be able to bewitch a human
+heart. Well! have you lost courage? Put out your little tongue, and I
+will cut it off in payment for the powerful draught.'
+
+'Let it be done,' said the little mermaid, and the witch put on her
+caldron to brew the magic potion. 'There is nothing like cleanliness,'
+said she, as she scoured the pot with a bundle of snakes; then she
+punctured her breast and let the black blood drop into the caldron, and
+the steam took the most weird shapes, enough to frighten any one. Every
+moment the witch threw new ingredients into the pot, and when it boiled
+the bubbling was like the sound of crocodiles weeping. At last the
+potion was ready and it looked like the clearest water.
+
+'There it is,' said the witch, and thereupon she cut off the tongue of
+the little mermaid, who was dumb now and could neither sing nor speak.
+
+'If the polyps should seize you, when you go back through my wood,' said
+the witch, 'just drop a single drop of this liquid on them, and their
+arms and fingers will burst into a thousand pieces.' But the little
+mermaid had no need to do this, for at the mere sight of the bright
+liquid, which sparkled in her hand like a shining star, they drew back
+in terror. So she soon got past the wood, the bog, and the eddying
+whirlpools.
+
+She saw her father's palace; the lights were all out in the great
+ballroom, and no doubt all the household was asleep, but she did not
+dare to go in now that she was dumb and about to leave her home for
+ever. She felt as if her heart would break with grief. She stole into
+the garden and plucked a flower from each of her sisters' plots, wafted
+with her hand countless kisses towards the palace, and then rose up
+through the dark blue water.
+
+[Illustration: _But the little mermaid had no need to do this, for at
+the mere sight of the bright liquid which sparkled in her hand like a
+shining star, they drew back in terror._]
+
+The sun had not risen when she came in sight of the prince's palace
+and landed at the beautiful marble steps. The moon was shining bright
+and clear. The little mermaid drank the burning, stinging draught, and
+it was like a sharp, two-edged sword running through her tender frame;
+she fainted away and lay as if she were dead. When the sun rose on the
+sea she woke up and became conscious of a sharp pang, but just in front
+of her stood the handsome young prince, fixing his coal black eyes on
+her; she cast hers down and saw that her fish's tail was gone, and that
+she had the prettiest little white legs any maiden could desire; but she
+was quite naked, so she wrapped her long thick hair around her. The
+prince asked who she was and how she came there. She looked at him
+tenderly and with a sad expression in her dark blue eyes, but could not
+speak. Then he took her by the hand and led her into the palace. Every
+step she took was, as the witch had warned her beforehand, as if she
+were treading on sharp knives and spikes, but she bore it gladly; led by
+the prince, she moved as lightly as a bubble, and he and every one else
+marvelled at her graceful gliding gait.
+
+Clothed in the costliest silks and muslins she was the greatest beauty
+in the palace, but she was dumb, and could neither sing nor speak.
+Beautiful slaves clad in silks and gold came forward and sang to the
+prince and his royal parents; one of them sang better than all the
+others, and the prince clapped his hands and smiled at her; that made
+the little mermaid very sad, for she knew that she used to sing far
+better herself. She thought, 'Oh! if he only knew that for the sake of
+being with him I had given up my voice for ever!' Now the slaves began
+to dance, graceful undulating dances to enchanting music; thereupon the
+little mermaid, lifting her beautiful white arms and raising herself on
+tiptoe, glided on the floor with a grace which none of the other dancers
+had yet attained. With every motion her grace and beauty became more
+apparent, and her eyes appealed more deeply to the heart than the songs
+of the slaves. Every one was delighted with it, especially the prince,
+who called her his little foundling; and she danced on and on,
+notwithstanding that every time her foot touched the ground it was like
+treading on sharp knives. The prince said that she should always be near
+him, and she was allowed to sleep outside his door on a velvet cushion.
+
+He had a man's dress made for her, so that she could ride about with
+him. They used to ride through scented woods, where the green branches
+brushed her shoulders, and little birds sang among the fresh leaves. She
+climbed up the highest mountains with the prince, and although her
+delicate feet bled so that others saw it, she only laughed and followed
+him until they saw the clouds sailing below them like a flock of birds,
+taking flight to distant lands.
+
+[Illustration: _The prince asked who she was and how she came there; she
+looked at him tenderly and with a sad expression in her dark blue eyes,
+but could not speak._]
+
+At home in the prince's palace, when at night the others were
+asleep, she used to go out on to the marble steps; it cooled her
+burning feet to stand in the cold sea-water, and at such times she used
+to think of those she had left in the deep.
+
+One night her sisters came arm in arm; they sang so sorrowfully as they
+swam on the water that she beckoned to them, and they recognised her,
+and told her how she had grieved them all. After that they visited her
+every night, and one night she saw, a long way out, her old grandmother
+(who for many years had not been above the water), and the Merman King
+with his crown on his head; they stretched out their hands towards her,
+but did not venture so close to land as her sisters.
+
+Day by day she became dearer to the prince; he loved her as one loves a
+good sweet child, but it never entered his head to make her his queen;
+yet unless she became his wife she would never win an everlasting soul,
+but on his wedding morning would turn to sea-foam.
+
+'Am I not dearer to you than any of them?' the little mermaid's eyes
+seemed to say when he took her in his arms and kissed her beautiful
+brow.
+
+'Yes, you are the dearest one to me,' said the prince, 'for you have the
+best heart of them all, and you are fondest of me; you are also like a
+young girl I once saw, but whom I never expect to see again. I was on
+board a ship which was wrecked; I was driven on shore by the waves close
+to a holy Temple where several young girls were ministering at a
+service; the youngest of them found me on the beach and saved my life; I
+saw her but twice. She was the only person I could love in this world,
+but you are like her, you almost drive her image out of my heart. She
+belongs to the holy Temple, and therefore by good fortune you have been
+sent to me; we will never part!'
+
+'Alas! he does not know that it was I who saved his life,' thought the
+little mermaid. 'I bore him over the sea to the wood where the Temple
+stands. I sat behind the foam and watched to see if any one would come.
+I saw the pretty girl he loves better than me.' And the mermaid heaved a
+bitter sigh, for she could not weep.
+
+'The girl belongs to the holy Temple, he has said; she will never return
+to the world, they will never meet again. I am here with him; I see him
+every day. Yes! I will tend him, love him, and give up my life to him.'
+
+But now the rumour ran that the prince was to be married to the
+beautiful daughter of a neighbouring king, and for that reason was
+fitting out a splendid ship. It was given out that the prince was going
+on a voyage to see the adjoining countries, but it was without doubt to
+see the king's daughter; he was to have a great suite with him. But the
+little mermaid shook her head and laughed; she knew the prince's
+intentions much better than any of the others. 'I must take this
+voyage,' he had said to her; 'I must go and see the beautiful princess;
+my parents demand that, but they will never force me to bring her home
+as my bride; I can never love her! She will not be like the lovely girl
+in the Temple whom you resemble. If ever I had to choose a bride it
+would sooner be you with your speaking eyes, my sweet, dumb foundling!'
+And he kissed her rosy mouth, played with her long hair, and laid his
+head upon her heart, which already dreamt of human joys and an immortal
+soul.
+
+'You are not frightened of the sea, I suppose, my dumb child?' he said,
+as they stood on the proud ship which was to carry them to the country
+of the neighbouring king; and he told her about storms and calms, about
+curious fish in the deep, and the marvels seen by divers; and she smiled
+at his tales, for she knew all about the bottom of the sea much better
+than any one else.
+
+At night, in the moonlight, when all were asleep, except the steersman
+who stood at the helm, she sat at the side of the ship trying to pierce
+the clear water with her eyes, and fancied she saw her father's palace,
+and above it her old grandmother with her silver crown on her head,
+looking up through the cross currents towards the keel of the ship. Then
+her sisters rose above the water; they gazed sadly at her, wringing
+their white hands. She beckoned to them, smiled, and was about to tell
+them that all was going well and happily with her, when the cabin-boy
+approached, and the sisters dived down, but he supposed that the white
+objects he had seen were nothing but flakes of foam.
+
+The next morning the ship entered the harbour of the neighbouring king's
+magnificent city. The church bells rang and trumpets were sounded from
+every lofty tower, while the soldiers paraded with flags flying and
+glittering bayonets. There was a _fête_ every day, there was a
+succession of balls, and receptions followed one after the other, but
+the princess was not yet present; she was being brought up a long way
+off, in a holy Temple they said, and was learning all the royal virtues.
+At last she came. The little mermaid stood eager to see her beauty, and
+she was obliged to confess that a lovelier creature she had never
+beheld. Her complexion was exquisitely pure and delicate, and her
+trustful eyes of the deepest blue shone through their dark lashes.
+
+'It is you,' said the prince, 'you who saved me when I lay almost
+lifeless on the beach?' and he clasped his blushing bride to his heart.
+'Oh! I am too happy!' he exclaimed to the little mermaid.
+
+'A greater joy than I had dared to hope for has come to pass. You will
+rejoice at my joy, for you love me better than any one.' Then the little
+mermaid kissed his hand, and felt as if her heart were broken already.
+
+His wedding morn would bring death to her and change her to foam.
+
+All the church bells pealed and heralds rode through the town
+proclaiming the nuptials. Upon every altar throughout the land fragrant
+oil was burnt in costly silver lamps. Amidst the swinging of censers by
+the priests the bride and bridegroom joined hands and received the
+bishop's blessing. The little mermaid dressed in silk and gold stood
+holding the bride's train, but her ears were deaf to the festal strains,
+her eyes saw nothing of the sacred ceremony; she was thinking of her
+coming death and of all that she had lost in this world.
+
+That same evening the bride and bridegroom embarked, amidst the roar of
+cannon and the waving of banners. A royal tent of purple and gold softly
+cushioned was raised amidships where the bridal pair were to repose
+during the calm cool night.
+
+The sails swelled in the wind and the ship skimmed lightly and almost
+without motion over the transparent sea.
+
+At dusk lanterns of many colours were lighted and the sailors danced
+merrily on deck. The little mermaid could not help thinking of the first
+time she came up from the sea and saw the same splendour and gaiety; and
+she now threw herself among the dancers, whirling, as a swallow skims
+through the air when pursued. The onlookers cheered her in amazement,
+never had she danced so divinely; her delicate feet pained her as if
+they were cut with knives, but she did not feel it, for the pain at her
+heart was much sharper. She knew that it was the last night that she
+would breathe the same air as he, and would look upon the mighty deep,
+and the blue starry heavens; an endless night without thought and
+without dreams awaited her, who neither had a soul, nor could win one.
+The joy and revelry on board lasted till long past midnight; she went on
+laughing and dancing with the thought of death all the time in her
+heart. The prince caressed his lovely bride and she played with his
+raven locks, and with their arms entwined they retired to the gorgeous
+tent. All became hushed and still on board the ship, only the steersman
+stood at the helm; the little mermaid laid her white arms on the gunwale
+and looked eastwards for the pink-tinted dawn; the first sunbeam, she
+knew, would be her death. Then she saw her sisters rise from the water;
+they were as pale as she was; their beautiful long hair no longer
+floated on the breeze, for it had been cut off.
+
+[Illustration: _Once more she looked at the prince, with her eyes
+already dimmed by death, then dashed overboard and fell, her body
+dissolving into foam._]
+
+'We have given it to the witch to obtain her help, so that you may not
+die to-night! She has given us a knife; here it is, look how sharp it
+is! Before the sun rises, you must plunge it into the prince's heart,
+and when his warm blood sprinkles your feet they will join together and
+grow into a tail, and you will once more be a mermaid; you will be able
+to come down into the water to us, and to live out your three hundred
+years before you are turned into dead, salt sea-foam. Make haste! you or
+he must die before sunrise! Our old grandmother is so full of grief that
+her white hair has fallen off as ours fell under the witch's scissors.
+Slay the prince and come back to us! Quick! Quick! do you not see
+the rosy streak in the sky? In a few minutes the sun will rise and then
+you must die!' saying this they heaved a wondrous deep sigh and sank
+among the waves.
+
+The little mermaid drew aside the purple curtain from the tent and
+looked at the beautiful bride asleep with her head on the prince's
+breast. She bent over him and kissed his fair brow, looked at the sky
+where the dawn was spreading fast, looked at the sharp knife, and again
+fixed her eyes on the prince, who, in his dream called his bride by
+name. Yes! she alone was in his thoughts! For a moment the knife
+quivered in her grasp, then she threw it far out among the waves, now
+rosy in the morning light, and where it fell the water bubbled up like
+drops of blood.
+
+Once more she looked at the prince, with her eyes already dimmed by
+death, then dashed overboard and fell, her body dissolving into foam.
+
+Now the sun rose from the sea and with its kindly beams warmed the
+deadly cold foam, so that the little mermaid did not feel the chill of
+death. She saw the bright sun, and above her floated hundreds of
+beauteous ethereal beings, through which she could see the white ship
+and the rosy heavens; their voices were melodious, but so spirit-like
+that no human ear could hear them, any more than earthly eye could see
+their forms. Light as bubbles they floated through the air without the
+aid of wings. The little mermaid perceived that she had a form like
+theirs; it gradually took shape out of the foam. 'To whom am I coming?'
+said she, and her voice sounded like that of the other beings, so
+unearthly in its beauty that no music of ours could reproduce it.
+
+'To the daughters of the air!' answered the others; 'a mermaid has no
+undying soul, and can never gain one without winning the love of a human
+being. Her eternal life must depend upon an unknown power. Nor have the
+daughters of the air an everlasting soul, but by their own good deeds
+they may create one for themselves. We fly to the tropics where mankind
+is the victim of hot and pestilent winds; there we bring cooling
+breezes. We diffuse the scent of flowers all around, and bring
+refreshment and healing in our train. When, for three hundred years, we
+have laboured to do all the good in our power, we gain an undying soul
+and take a part in the everlasting joys of mankind. You, poor little
+mermaid, have with your whole heart struggled for the same thing as we
+have struggled for. You have suffered and endured, raised yourself to
+the spirit-world of the air, and now, by your own good deeds you may, in
+the course of three hundred years, work out for yourself an undying
+soul.'
+
+Then the little mermaid lifted her transparent arms towards God's sun,
+and for the first time shed tears.
+
+On board ship all was again life and bustle. She saw the prince with his
+lovely bride searching for her; they looked sadly at the bubbling foam,
+as if they knew that she had thrown herself into the waves. Unseen she
+kissed the bride on her brow, smiled at the prince, and rose aloft with
+the other spirits of the air to the rosy clouds which sailed above.
+
+'In three hundred years we shall thus float into Paradise.'
+
+'We might reach it sooner,' whispered one. 'Unseen we flit into those
+homes of men where there are children, and for every day that we find a
+good child who gives pleasure to its parents and deserves their love God
+shortens our time of probation. The child does not know when we fly
+through the room, and when we smile with pleasure at it one year of our
+three hundred is taken away. But if we see a naughty or badly disposed
+child, we cannot help shedding tears of sorrow, and every tear adds a
+day to the time of our probation.'
+
+
+
+
+THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES
+
+
+Many years ago there was an Emperor, who was so excessively fond of new
+clothes that he spent all his money on them. He cared nothing about his
+soldiers, nor for the theatre, nor for driving in the woods except for
+the sake of showing off his new clothes. He had a costume for every hour
+in the day, and instead of saying, as one does about any other king or
+emperor, 'He is in his council chamber,' here one always said, 'The
+Emperor is in his dressing-room.'
+
+Life was very gay in the great town where he lived; hosts of strangers
+came to visit it every day, and among them one day two swindlers. They
+gave themselves out as weavers, and said that they knew how to weave the
+most beautiful stuffs imaginable. Not only were the colours and patterns
+unusually fine, but the clothes that were made of the stuffs had the
+peculiar quality of becoming invisible to every person who was not fit
+for the office he held, or if he was impossibly dull.
+
+'Those must be splendid clothes,' thought the Emperor. 'By wearing them
+I should be able to discover which men in my kingdom are unfitted for
+their posts. I shall distinguish the wise men from the fools. Yes, I
+certainly must order some of that stuff to be woven for me.'
+
+He paid the two swindlers a lot of money in advance so that they might
+begin their work at once.
+
+They did put up two looms and pretended to weave, but they had nothing
+whatever upon their shuttles. At the outset they asked for a quantity of
+the finest silk and the purest gold thread, all of which they put into
+their own bags, while they worked away at the empty looms far into the
+night.
+
+'I should like to know how those weavers are getting on with the stuff,'
+thought the Emperor; but he felt a little queer when he reflected that
+any one who was stupid or unfit for his post would not be able to see
+it. He certainly thought that he need have no fears for himself, but
+still he thought he would send somebody else first to see how it was
+getting on. Everybody in the town knew what wonderful power the stuff
+possessed, and every one was anxious to see how stupid his neighbour
+was.
+
+'I will send my faithful old minister to the weavers,' thought the
+Emperor. 'He will be best able to see how the stuff looks, for he is a
+clever man, and no one fulfils his duties better than he does!'
+
+So the good old minister went into the room where the two swindlers sat
+working at the empty loom.
+
+'Heaven preserve us!' thought the old minister, opening his eyes very
+wide. 'Why, I can't see a thing!' But he took care not to say so.
+
+Both the swindlers begged him to be good enough to step a little nearer,
+and asked if he did not think it a good pattern and beautiful colouring.
+They pointed to the empty loom, and the poor old minister stared as hard
+as he could, but he could not see anything, for of course there was
+nothing to see.
+
+'Good heavens!' thought he, 'is it possible that I am a fool. I have
+never thought so, and nobody must know it. Am I not fit for my post? It
+will never do to say that I cannot see the stuffs.'
+
+'Well, sir, you don't say anything about the stuff,' said the one who
+was pretending to weave.
+
+'Oh, it is beautiful! quite charming!' said the old minister, looking
+through his spectacles; 'this pattern and these colours! I will
+certainly tell the Emperor that the stuff pleases me very much.'
+
+'We are delighted to hear you say so,' said the swindlers, and then they
+named all the colours and described the peculiar pattern. The old
+minister paid great attention to what they said, so as to be able to
+repeat it when he got home to the Emperor.
+
+[Illustration: _They pointed to the empty loom, and the poor old
+minister stared as hard as he could, but he could not see anything, for
+of course there was nothing to see._]
+
+Then the swindlers went on to demand more money, more silk, and
+more gold, to be able to proceed with the weaving; but they put it all
+into their own pockets--not a single strand was ever put into the loom,
+but they went on as before weaving at the empty loom.
+
+The Emperor soon sent another faithful official to see how the stuff was
+getting on, and if it would soon be ready. The same thing happened to
+him as to the minister; he looked and looked, but as there was only the
+empty loom, he could see nothing at all.
+
+'Is not this a beautiful piece of stuff?' said both the swindlers,
+showing and explaining the beautiful pattern and colours which were not
+there to be seen.
+
+'I know I am not a fool!' thought the man, 'so it must be that I am
+unfit for my good post! It is very strange, though! However, one must
+not let it appear!' So he praised the stuff he did not see, and assured
+them of his delight in the beautiful colours and the originality of the
+design. 'It is absolutely charming!' he said to the Emperor. Everybody
+in the town was talking about this splendid stuff.
+
+Now the Emperor thought he would like to see it while it was still on
+the loom. So, accompanied by a number of selected courtiers, among whom
+were the two faithful officials who had already seen the imaginary
+stuff, he went to visit the crafty impostors, who were working away as
+hard as ever they could at the empty loom.
+
+'It is magnificent!' said both the honest officials. 'Only see, your
+Majesty, what a design! What colours!' And they pointed to the empty
+loom, for they thought no doubt the others could see the stuff.
+
+'What!' thought the Emperor; 'I see nothing at all! This is terrible! Am
+I a fool? Am I not fit to be Emperor? Why, nothing worse could happen to
+me!'
+
+'Oh, it is beautiful!' said the Emperor. 'It has my highest approval!'
+and he nodded his satisfaction as he gazed at the empty loom. Nothing
+would induce him to say that he could not see anything.
+
+The whole suite gazed and gazed, but saw nothing more than all the
+others. However, they all exclaimed with his Majesty, 'It is very
+beautiful!' and they advised him to wear a suit made of this wonderful
+cloth on the occasion of a great procession which was just about to take
+place. 'It is magnificent! gorgeous! excellent!' went from mouth to
+mouth; they were all equally delighted with it. The Emperor gave each of
+the rogues an order of knighthood to be worn in their buttonholes and
+the title of 'Gentlemen weavers.'
+
+[Illustration: _Then the emperor walked along in the procession under
+the gorgeous canopy, and everybody in the streets and at the windows
+exclaimed, 'How beautiful the Emperor's new clothes are!'_]
+
+The swindlers sat up the whole night, before the day on which the
+procession was to take place, burning sixteen candles; so that people
+might see how anxious they were to get the Emperor's new clothes ready.
+They pretended to take the stuff off the loom. They cut it out in the
+air with a huge pair of scissors, and they stitched away with
+needles without any thread in them. At last they said: 'Now the
+Emperor's new clothes are ready!'
+
+The Emperor, with his grandest courtiers, went to them himself, and both
+the swindlers raised one arm in the air, as if they were holding
+something, and said: 'See, these are the trousers, this is the coat,
+here is the mantle!' and so on. 'It is as light as a spider's web. One
+might think one had nothing on, but that is the very beauty of it!'
+
+'Yes!' said all the courtiers, but they could not see anything, for
+there was nothing to see.
+
+'Will your imperial majesty be graciously pleased to take off your
+clothes,' said, the impostors, 'so that we may put on the new ones,
+along here before the great mirror?'
+
+The Emperor took off all his clothes, and the impostors pretended to
+give him one article of dress after the other of the new ones which they
+had pretended to make. They pretended to fasten something round his
+waist and to tie on something; this was the train, and the Emperor
+turned round and round in front of the mirror.
+
+'How well his majesty looks in the new clothes! How becoming they are!'
+cried all the people round. 'What a design, and what colours! They are
+most gorgeous robes!'
+
+'The canopy is waiting outside which is to be carried over your majesty
+in the procession,' said the master of the ceremonies.
+
+'Well, I am quite ready,' said the Emperor. 'Don't the clothes fit
+well?' and then he turned round again in front of the mirror, so that he
+should seem to be looking at his grand things.
+
+The chamberlains who were to carry the train stooped and pretended to
+lift it from the ground with both hands, and they walked along with
+their hands in the air. They dared not let it appear that they could not
+see anything.
+
+Then the Emperor walked along in the procession under the gorgeous
+canopy, and everybody in the streets and at the windows exclaimed, 'How
+beautiful the Emperor's new clothes are! What a splendid train! And they
+fit to perfection!' Nobody would let it appear that he could see
+nothing, for then he would not be fit for his post, or else he was a
+fool.
+
+None of the Emperor's clothes had been so successful before.
+
+'But he has got nothing on,' said a little child.
+
+'Oh, listen to the innocent,' said its father; and one person whispered
+to the other what the child had said. 'He has nothing on; a child says
+he has nothing on!'
+
+'But he has nothing on!' at last cried all the people.
+
+The Emperor writhed, for he knew it was true, but he thought 'the
+procession must go on now,' so held himself stiffer than ever, and the
+chamberlains held up the invisible train.
+
+
+
+
+THE WIND'S TALE
+
+ABOUT WALDEMAR DAA AND HIS DAUGHTERS
+
+
+When the wind sweeps across a field of grass it makes little ripples in
+it like a lake; in a field of corn it makes great waves like the sea
+itself: this is the wind's frolic. Then listen to the stories it tells;
+it sings them aloud, one kind of song among the trees of the forest, and
+a very different one when it is pent up within walls with all their
+cracks and crannies. Do you see how the wind chases the white fleecy
+clouds as if they were a flock of sheep? Do you hear the wind down
+there, howling in the open doorway like a watchman winding his horn?
+Then, too, how he whistles in the chimneys, making the fire crackle and
+sparkle. How cosy it is to sit in the warm glow of the fire listening to
+the tales it has to tell! Let the wind tell its own story! It can tell
+you more adventures than all of us put together. Listen now:--
+
+'Whew!--Whew!--Fare away!' That was the refrain of his song.
+
+'Close to the Great Belt stands an old mansion with thick red walls,'
+says the wind. 'I know every stone of it; I knew them before when they
+formed part of Marsk Stig's Castle on the Ness. It had to come down. The
+stones were used again, and made a new wall of a new castle in another
+place--Borreby Hall as it now stands.
+
+'I have watched the highborn men and women of all the various races who
+have lived there, and now I am going to tell you about Waldemar Daa and
+his daughters!
+
+'He held his head very high, for he came of a royal stock! He knew more
+than the mere chasing of a stag, or the emptying of a flagon; he knew
+how to manage his affairs, he said himself.
+
+'His lady wife walked proudly across the brightly polished floors, in
+her gold brocaded kirtle; the tapestries in the rooms were gorgeous, and
+the furniture of costly carved woods. She had brought much gold and
+silver plate into the house with her, and the cellars were full of
+German ale, when there was anything there at all. Fiery black horses
+neighed in the stables; Borreby Hall was a very rich place when wealth
+came there.
+
+'Then there were the children, three dainty maidens, Ida, Johanna and
+Anna Dorothea. I remember their names well.
+
+'They were rich and aristocratic people, and they were born and bred in
+wealth! Whew!--whew!--fare away!' roared the wind, then he went on with
+his story.
+
+'I did not see here, as in other old noble castles the highborn lady
+sitting among her maidens in the great hall turning the spinning-wheel.
+No, she played upon the ringing lute, and sang to its tones. Her songs
+were not always the old Danish ditties, however, but songs in foreign
+tongues. All was life and hospitality; noble guests came from far and
+wide; there were sounds of music and the clanging of flagons, so loud
+that I could not drown them!' said the wind. 'Here were arrogance and
+ostentation enough and to spare; plenty of lords, but the Lord had no
+place there.
+
+'Then came the evening of May-day!' said the wind. 'I came from the
+west; I had been watching ships being wrecked and broken up on the west
+coast of Jutland. I tore over the heaths and the green wooded coasts,
+across the island of Funen and over the Great Belt puffing and blowing.
+I settled down to rest on the coast of Zealand close to Borreby Hall,
+where the splendid forest of oaks still stood. The young bachelors of
+the neighbourhood came out and collected faggots and branches, the
+longest and driest they could find. These they took to the town, piled
+them up in a heap, and set fire to them; then the men and maidens danced
+and sang round the bonfire. I lay still,' said the wind, 'but I softly
+moved a branch, the one laid by the handsomest young man, and his billet
+blazed up highest of all. He was the chosen one, he had the name of
+honour, he became 'Buck of the Street!' and he chose from among the
+girls his little May-lamb. All was life and merriment, greater far than
+within rich Borreby Hall.
+
+'The great lady came driving towards the Hall, in her gilded chariot
+drawn by six horses. She had her three dainty daughters with her; they
+were indeed three lovely flowers. A rose, a lily and a pale hyacinth.
+The mother herself was a gorgeous tulip; she took no notice whatever of
+the crowd, who all stopped in their game to drop their curtsies and make
+their bows; one might have thought that, like a tulip, she was rather
+frail in the stalk and feared to bend her back. The rose, the lily, and
+the pale hyacinth--yes, I saw them all three. Whose May-lambs were they
+one day to become, thought I; their mates would be proud
+knights--perhaps even princes!
+
+'Whew!--whew!--fare away! Yes, the chariot bore them away, and the
+peasants whirled on in their dance. They played at "Riding the Summer
+into the village," to Borreby village, Tareby village, and many others.
+
+'But that night when I rose,' said the wind, 'the noble lady laid
+herself down to rise no more; that came to her which comes to every
+one--there was nothing new about it. Waldemar Daa stood grave and silent
+for a time; "The proudest tree may bend, but it does not break," said
+something within him. The daughters wept, and every one else at the
+Castle was wiping their eyes; but Madam Daa had fared away, and I fared
+away too! Whew!--whew!' said the wind.
+
+[Illustration: _She played upon the ringing lute, and sang to its
+tones._]
+
+'I came back again; I often came back across the island of Funen and
+the waters of the Belt, and took up my place on Borreby shore close to
+the great forest of oaks. The ospreys and the wood pigeons used to build
+in it, the blue raven and even the black stork! It was early in the
+year; some of the nests were full of eggs, while in others the young
+ones were just hatched. What a flying and screaming was there! Then came
+the sound of the axe, blow upon blow; the forest was to be felled.
+Waldemar Daa was about to build a costly ship, a three-decked
+man-of-war, which it was expected the king would buy. So the wood fell,
+the ancient landmark of the seaman, the home of the birds. The shrike
+was frightened away; its nest was torn down; the osprey and all the
+other birds lost their nests too, and they flew about distractedly,
+shrieking in their terror and anger. The crows and the jackdaws screamed
+in mockery, Caw! caw! Waldemar Daa and his three daughters stood in the
+middle of the wood among the workmen. They all laughed at the wild cries
+of the birds, except Anna Dorothea, who was touched by their distress,
+and when they were about to fell a tree which was half-dead, and on
+whose naked branches a black stork had built its nest, out of which the
+young ones were sticking their heads, she begged them with tears in her
+eyes to spare it. So the tree with the black stork's nest was allowed to
+stand. It was only a little thing.
+
+'The chopping and the sawing went on--the three-decker was built. The
+master builder was a man of humble origin, but of noble loyalty; great
+power lay in his eyes and on his forehead, and Waldemar Daa liked to
+listen to him, and little Ida liked to listen too, the eldest
+fifteen-year-old daughter. But whilst he built the ship for her father,
+he built a castle in the air for himself, in which he and little Ida sat
+side by side as man and wife. This might also have happened if his
+castle had been built of solid stone, with moat and ramparts, wood and
+gardens. But with all his wisdom the shipbuilder was only a poor bird,
+and what business has a sparrow in a crane's nest? Whew! whew! I rushed
+away, and he rushed away, for he dared not stay, and little Ida got over
+it, as get over it she must.
+
+'The fiery black horses stood neighing in the stables; they were worth
+looking at, and they were looked at to some purpose too. An admiral was
+sent from the King to look at the new man-of-war, with a view to
+purchasing it. The admiral was loud in his admiration of the horses. I
+heard all he said,' added the wind. 'I went through the open door with
+the gentlemen and scattered the straw like gold before their feet.
+Waldemar Daa wanted gold; the admiral wanted the black horses, and so he
+praised them as he did; but his hints were not taken, therefore the ship
+remained unsold. There it stood by the shore covered up with boards,
+like a Noah's Ark which never reached the water. Whew! whew! get along!
+get along! It was a miserable business. In the winter, when the fields
+were covered with snow and the Belt was full of ice-floes which I drove
+up on to the coast,' said the wind, 'the ravens and crows came in
+flocks, the one blacker than the other, and perched upon the desolate,
+dead ship by the shore. They screamed themselves hoarse about the forest
+which had disappeared, and the many precious birds' nests which had been
+devastated, leaving old and young homeless; and all for the sake of this
+old piece of lumber, the proud ship which was never to touch the water!
+I whirled the snow about till it lay in great heaps round the ship. I
+let it hear my voice, and all that a storm has to say, I know that I did
+my best to give it an idea of the sea. Whew! whew!'
+
+'The winter passed by; winter and summer passed away! They come and go
+just as I do. The snow-flakes, the apple blossom, and the leaves fall,
+each in their turn. Whew! whew! they pass away, as men pass too!
+
+'The daughters were still young. Little Ida, the rose, as lovely to look
+at as when the shipbuilder turned his gaze upon her. I often took hold
+of her long brown hair when she stood lost in thought by the apple-tree
+in the garden. She never noticed that I showered apple-blossom over her
+loosened hair; she only gazed at the red sunset against the golden
+background of the sky, and the dark trees and bushes of the garden. Her
+sister Johanna was like a tall, stately lily; she held herself as
+stiffly erect as her mother, and seemed to have the same dread of
+bending her stem. She liked to walk in the long gallery where the family
+portraits hung. The ladies were painted in velvet and silk, with tiny
+pearl embroidered caps on their braided tresses. Their husbands were all
+clad in steel, or in costly cloaks lined with squirrel skins and stiff
+blue ruffs; their swords hung loosely by their sides. Where would
+Johanna's portrait one day hang on these walls? What would her noble
+husband look like? These were her thoughts, and she even spoke them
+aloud; I heard her as I swept through the long corridor into the
+gallery, where I veered round again.
+
+'Anna Dorothea, the pale hyacinth, was only a child of fourteen, quiet
+and thoughtful. Her large blue eyes, as clear as water, were very
+solemn, but childhood's smile still played upon her lips; I could not
+blow it away, nor did I wish to do so. I used to meet her in the garden,
+the ravine, and in the manor fields. She was always picking flowers and
+herbs, those she knew her father could use for healing drinks and
+potions. Waldemar Daa was proud and conceited, but he was also learned,
+and he knew a great deal about many things. One could see that, and many
+whispers went about as to his learning. The fire blazed in his stove
+even in summer, and his chamber door was locked. This went on for days
+and nights, but he did not talk much about it. One must deal silently
+with the forces of nature. He would soon discover the best of
+everything, the red, red gold!
+
+'This was why his chimney flamed and smoked and sparkled. Yes, I was
+there, too,' said the wind.
+
+[Illustration: _I used to meet her in the garden, the ravine, and in
+the manor fields. She was always picking flowers and herbs, those she
+knew her father could use for healing drinks and potions._]
+
+'Away with you, away! I sang in the back of the chimney. Smoke smoke,
+embers and ashes, that is all it will come to! You will burn yourself up
+in it. Whew! whew! away with it! But Waldemar Daa could not let it go.
+
+'The fiery steeds in the stable, where were they? The old gold and
+silver plate in cupboard and chest, where was that? The cattle, the
+land, the castle itself? Yes, they could all be melted down in the
+crucible, but yet no gold would come.
+
+'Barn and larder got emptier and emptier. Fewer servants; more mice. One
+pane of glass got broken and another followed it. There was no need for
+me to go in by the doors,' said the wind. 'A smoking chimney means a
+cooking meal, but the only chimney which smoked here swallowed up all
+the meals, all for the sake of the red gold.
+
+'I blew through the castle gate like a watchman blowing his horn, but
+there was no watchman,' said the wind. 'I twisted round the weather-cock
+on the tower and it creaked as if the watchman up there was snoring,
+only there was no watchman. Rats and mice were the only inhabitants.
+Poverty laid the table; poverty lurked in wardrobe and larder. The doors
+fell off their hinges, cracks and crannies appeared everywhere; I went
+in and out,' said the wind, 'so I know all about it.
+
+'The hair and the beard of Waldemar Daa grew grey, in the sorrow of his
+sleepless nights, amid smoke and ashes. His skin grew grimy and yellow,
+and his eyes greedy for gold, the long expected gold.
+
+'I whistled through the broken panes and fissures; I blew into the
+daughters' chests where their clothes lay faded and threadbare; they had
+to last for ever. A song like this had never been sung over the cradles
+of these children. A lordly life became a woeful life! I was the only
+one to sing in the castle now,' said the wind. 'I snowed them up, for
+they said it gave warmth. They had no firewood, for the forest was cut
+down where they should have got it. There was a biting frost. Even I had
+to keep rushing through the crannies and passages to keep myself lively.
+They stayed in bed to keep themselves warm, those noble ladies. Their
+father crept about under a fur rug. Nothing to bite, and nothing to
+burn! a lordly life indeed! Whew! whew! let it go! But this was what
+Waldemar Daa could not do.
+
+'"After winter comes the spring," said he; "a good time will come after
+a time of need; but they make us wait their pleasure, wait! The castle
+is mortgaged, we are in extremities--and yet the gold will come--at
+Easter!"
+
+'I heard him murmur to the spider's web.--"You clever little weaver! You
+teach me to persevere! If your web is broken, you begin at the beginning
+again and complete it! Broken again--and cheerfully you begin it over
+again. That is what one must do, and one will be rewarded!"
+
+'It was Easter morning, the bells were ringing, and the sun was at play
+in the heavens. Waldemar Daa had watched through the night with his
+blood at fever pitch; boiling and cooling, mixing and distilling. I
+heard him sigh like a despairing soul; I heard him pray, and I felt that
+he held his breath. The lamp had gone out, but he never noticed it; I
+blew up the embers and they shone upon his ashen face, which took a
+tinge of colour from their light; his eyes started in their sockets,
+they grew larger and larger, as if they would leap out.
+
+'Look at the alchemist's glass! something twinkles in it; it is glowing,
+pure and heavy. He lifted it with a trembling hand and shouted with a
+trembling voice: "Gold! gold!" He reeled, and I could easily have blown
+him over,' said the wind, 'but I only blew upon the embers, and followed
+him to the room where his daughters sat shivering. His coat was powdered
+with ash, as well as his beard and his matted hair. He drew himself up
+to his full height and held up his precious treasure, in the fragile
+glass: "Found! won! gold!" he cried, stretching up his hand with the
+glass which glittered in the sunbeams: his hand shook, and the
+alchemist's glass fell to the ground shivered into a thousand atoms. The
+last bubble of his welfare was shattered too. Whew! whew! fare away! and
+away I rushed from the goldmaker's home.
+
+[Illustration: _He lifted it with a trembling hand and shouted with a
+trembling voice: 'Gold! gold!'_]
+
+'Late in the year, when the days were short and dark up here, and the
+fog envelops the red berries and bare branches with its cold moisture,
+I came along in a lively mood clearing the sky and snapping off the dead
+boughs. This is no great labour, it is true, yet it has to be done.
+Borreby Hall, the home of Waldemar Daa, was having a clean sweep of a
+different sort. The family enemy, Ové Ramel from Basness, appeared,
+holding the mortgage of the Hall and all its contents. I drummed upon
+the cracked window panes, beat against the decaying doors, and whistled
+through all the cracks and crannies, whew! I did my best to prevent Herr
+Ové taking a fancy to stay there. Ida and Anna Dorothea faced it
+bravely, although they shed some tears; Johanna stood pale and erect and
+bit her finger till it bled! Much that would help her! Ové Ramel offered
+to let them stay on at the Castle for Waldemar Daa's lifetime, but he
+got no thanks for his offer; I was listening. I saw the ruined gentleman
+stiffen his neck and hold his head higher than ever. I beat against the
+walls and the old linden trees with such force that the thickest branch
+broke, although it was not a bit rotten. It fell across the gate like a
+broom, as if some one was about to sweep; and a sweeping there was
+indeed to be. I quite expected it. It was a grievous day and a hard time
+for them, but their wills were as stubborn as their necks were stiff.
+They had not a possession in the world but the clothes on their backs;
+yes, one thing--an alchemist's glass which had been bought and filled
+with the fragments scraped up from the floor. The treasure which
+promised much and fulfilled nothing. Waldemar Daa hid it in his
+bosom, took his staff in his hand, and, with his three daughters, the
+once wealthy gentleman walked out of Borreby Hall for the last time. I
+blew a cold blast upon his burning cheeks, I fluttered his grey beard
+and his long white hair; I sang such a tune as only I could sing. Whew!
+whew! away with them! away with them! This was the end of all their
+grandeur.
+
+'Ida and Ana Dorothea walked one on each side of him: Johanna turned
+round in the gateway, but what was the good of that? nothing could make
+their luck turn. She looked at the red stones of what had once been
+Marsk Stig's Castle. Was she thinking of his daughters?
+
+    '"The elder took the younger by the hand,
+    And out they roamed to a far-off land."
+
+Was she thinking of that song? Here there were three and their father
+was with them. They walked along the road where once they used to ride
+in their chariot. They trod it now as vagrants, on their way to a
+plastered cottage on Smidstrup Heath, which was rented at ten marks
+yearly. This was their new country seat with its empty walls and its
+empty vessels. The crows and the magpies wheeled screaming over their
+heads with their mocking "Caw, caw! Out of the nest, Caw, caw!" just as
+they screamed in Borreby Forest when the trees were felled.
+
+'Herr Daa and his daughters must have noticed it. I blew into their
+ears to try and deaden the cries, which after all were not worth
+listening to.
+
+'So they took up their abode in the plastered cottage on Smidstrup
+Heath, and I tore off over marshes and meadows, through naked hedges and
+bare woods, to the open seas and other lands. Whew! whew! away, away!
+and that for many years.'
+
+What happened to Waldemar Daa? What happened to his daughters? This is
+what the wind relates.
+
+'The last of them I saw, yes, for the last time, was Anna Dorothea, the
+pale hyacinth. She was old and bent now; it was half a century later.
+She lived the longest, she had gone through everything.
+
+'Across the heath, near the town of Viborg, stood the Dean's new,
+handsome mansion, built of red stone with toothed gables. The smoke
+curled thickly out of the chimneys. The gentle lady and her fair
+daughters sat in the bay window looking into the garden at the drooping
+thorns and out to the brown heath beyond. What were they looking at
+there? They were looking at a stork's nest on a tumble-down cottage; the
+roof was covered, as far as there was any roof to cover, with moss and
+house-leek; but the stork's nest made the best covering. It was the only
+part to which anything was done, for the stork kept it in repair.
+
+[Illustration: _Waldemar Daa hid it in his bosom, took his staff in his
+hand, and, with his three daughters, the once wealthy gentleman walked
+out of Borreby Hall for the last time._]
+
+'This house was only fit to be looked at, not to be touched. I had to
+mind what I was about,' said the wind. 'The cottage was allowed to
+stand for the sake of the stork's nest; in itself it was only a
+scarecrow on the heath, but the dean did not want to frighten away the
+stork, so the hovel was allowed to stand. The poor soul inside was
+allowed to live in it; she had the Egyptian bird to thank for that; or
+was it payment for once having pleaded for the nest of his wild black
+brother in the Borreby Forest? Then, poor thing, she was a child, a
+delicate, pale hyacinth in a noble flower-garden. Poor Anna Dorothea;
+she remembered it all! Ah, human beings can sigh as well as the wind
+when it soughs through the rushes and reeds.
+
+'Oh dear! oh dear! No bells rang over the grave of Waldemar Daa. No
+schoolboys sang when the former lord of Borreby Castle was laid in his
+grave. Well, everything must have an end, even misery! Sister Ida became
+the wife of a peasant, and this was her father's sorest trial. His
+daughter's husband a miserable serf, who might at any moment be ordered
+the punishment of the wooden horse by his lord. It is well that the sod
+covers him now, and you too, Ida! Ah yes! ah yes! Poor me! poor me! I
+still linger on. In Thy mercy release me, O Christ!'
+
+'This was the prayer of Anna Dorothea, as she lay in the miserable hovel
+which was only left standing for the sake of the stork.
+
+'I took charge of the boldest of the sisters,' said the wind. 'She had
+clothes made to suit her manly disposition, and took a place as a lad
+with a skipper. Her words were few and looks stubborn, but she was
+willing enough at her work. But with all her will she could not climb
+the rigging; so I blew her overboard before any one discovered that she
+was a woman, and I fancy that was not a bad deed of mine!' said the
+wind.
+
+'On such an Easter morning as that on which Waldemar Daa thought he had
+found the red gold, I heard from beneath the stork's nest a psalm
+echoing through the miserable walls. It was Anna Dorothea's last song.
+There was no window; only a hole in the wall. The sun rose in splendour
+and poured in upon her; her eyes were glazed and her heart broken! This
+would have been so this morning whether the sun had shone upon her or
+not. The stork kept a roof over her head till her death! I sang at her
+grave,' said the wind, 'and I sang at her father's grave. I know where
+it is, and hers too, which is more than any one else knows.
+
+'The old order changeth, giving place to the new. The old high-road now
+only leads to cultivated fields, while peaceful graves are covered by
+busy traffic on the new road. Soon comes Steam with its row of waggons
+behind it, rushing over the graves, forgotten, like the names upon them.
+Whew! whew! Let us be gone! This is the story of Waldemar Daa and his
+daughters. Tell it better yourselves, if you can,' said the wind, as it
+veered round. Then it was gone.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Printed in Great Britain
+
+Text printed by T. and A. Constable, Printers to His Majesty, Edinburgh
+
+Illustrations by Henry Stone and Son, Ltd., Banbury
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Stories from Hans Andersen, by 
+Hans Christian Andersen
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STORIES FROM HANS ANDERSEN ***
+
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+
+
+<pre>
+
+Project Gutenberg's Stories from Hans Andersen, by Hans Christian Andersen
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Stories from Hans Andersen
+
+Author: Hans Christian Andersen
+
+Illustrator: Edmund Dulac
+
+Release Date: February 26, 2006 [EBook #17860]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STORIES FROM HANS ANDERSEN ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Stacy Brown, Jason Isbell and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 350px;">
+<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="350" height="443" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 350px;">
+<a name="Plate_01" id="Plate_01"></a><a href="images/plate01.jpg"><img src="images/plate01-th.jpg" width="350" height="443" alt="" title="" /></a>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px; margin-top: 3em;">
+<img src="images/title.jpg" width="500" height="240" alt="Stories From Hans Andersen With Illustrations by Edmund Dulac"
+title="Stories From Hans Andersen With Illustrations by Edmund Dulac" />
+</div>
+
+
+<h4 style="margin-top: 3em;">HODDER &amp; STOUGHTON<br />
+LIMITED   LONDON</h4>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/detail02.jpg" width="600" height="88" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h2>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+<p class="center">
+<a href="#THE_SNOW_QUEEN">THE SNOW QUEEN</a><br />
+<a href="#THE_NIGHTINGALE">THE NIGHTINGALE</a><br />
+<a href="#THE_REAL_PRINCESS">THE REAL PRINCESS</a><br />
+<a href="#THE_GARDEN_OF_PARADISE">THE GARDEN OF PARADISE</a><br />
+<a href="#THE_MERMAID">THE MERMAID</a><br />
+<a href="#THE_EMPERORS_NEW_CLOTHES">THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES</a><br />
+<a href="#THE_WINDS_TALE">THE WIND'S TALE</a><br />
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/detail02.jpg" width="600" height="88" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h2><a name="ILLUSTRATIONS" id="ILLUSTRATIONS"></a>ILLUSTRATIONS</h2>
+
+
+
+<table summary="illustrations" width="60%" cellpadding="3">
+<tr>
+<td class="center"><i>THE SNOW QUEEN</i></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tl"><a href="#Plate_02">One day he was in a high state of delight because he had invented a
+mirror</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tl"><a href="#Plate_03">Many a winter's night she flies through the streets</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tl"><a href="#Plate_04">Then an old, old woman came out of the house</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tl"><a href="#Plate_05">She has read all the newspapers in the world, and forgotten them again,
+so clever is she</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tl"><a href="#Plate_06">'It is gold, it is gold!' they cried</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tl"><a href="#Plate_07">Kissed her on the mouth, while big shining tears trickled down its
+face</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tl"><a href="#Plate_08">The Snow Queen sat in the very middle of it when she sat at home</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="center"><i>THE NIGHTINGALE</i></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tl"><a href="#Plate_09">Even the poor fisherman ... lay still to listen to it</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tl"><a href="#Plate_10">'Is it possible?' said the gentleman-in-waiting. 'I should never have
+thought it was like that'</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tl"><a href="#Plate_11">Took some water into their mouths to try and make the same gurgling,
+... thinking so to equal the nightingale</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tl"><a href="#Plate_12">The music-master wrote five-and-twenty volumes about the artificial
+bird</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tl"><a href="#Plate_13">Even Death himself listened to the song</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+
+<td class="center"><i>THE REAL PRINCESS</i></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tl"><a href="#Plate_01">'I have hardly closed my eyes the whole night! Heaven knows what
+was in the bed. I seemed to be lying upon some hard thing, and my
+whole body is black and blue this morning. It is terrible!' (<i>Frontispiece</i>)</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="center"><i>THE GARDEN OF PARADISE</i></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tl"><a href="#Plate_14">His grandmother had told him ... that every flower in the Garden
+of Paradise was a delicious cake </a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tl"><a href="#Plate_15">The Eastwind flew more swiftly still</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tl"><a href="#Plate_16">The Fairy of the Garden now advanced to meet them </a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tl"><a href="#Plate_17">The Fairy dropped her shimmering garment, drew back the branches,
+and a moment after was hidden within their depths</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+
+<td class="center"><i>THE MERMAID</i></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tl"><a href="#Plate_18">The Merman King had been for many years a widower </a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tl"><a href="#Plate_19">He must have died if the little mermaid had not come to the
+rescue</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tl"><a href="#Plate_20">At the mere sight of the bright liquid</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tl"><a href="#Plate_21">The prince asked who she was and how she came there</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tl"><a href="#Plate_22">Dashed overboard and fell, her body dissolving into foam</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="center"><i>THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES</i></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tl"><a href="#Plate_23">The poor old minister stared as hard as he could, but he could not see
+anything</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tl"><a href="#Plate_24">Then the Emperor walked along in the procession under the gorgeous
+canopy, and everybody in the streets and at the windows exclaimed,
+'How beautiful the Emperor's new clothes are!'</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+
+<td class="center"><i>THE WIND'S TALE</i></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tl"><a href="#Plate_25">She played upon the ringing lute, and sang to its tones</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tl"><a href="#Plate_26">She was always picking flowers and herbs </a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tl"><a href="#Plate_27">He lifted it with a trembling hand and shouted with a trembling voice:
+'Gold! gold!'</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tl"><a href="#Plate_28">Waldemar Daa hid it in his bosom, took his staff in his hand, and, with
+his three daughters, the once wealthy gentleman walked out of
+Borreby Hall for the last time</a></td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/detail02.jpg" width="600" height="88" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<p><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1"></a></p>
+<h2><a name="THE_SNOW_QUEEN" id="THE_SNOW_QUEEN"></a>THE SNOW QUEEN</h2>
+
+<h3>A TALE IN SEVEN STORIES</h3>
+
+<div class="story">
+<p class="center"><b>FIRST STORY</b></p>
+
+<p class="center"><b>WHICH DEALS WITH A MIRROR AND ITS FRAGMENTS</b></p>
+</div>
+
+<table summary="illo">
+<tr>
+<td><div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;">
+<a href="#Plate_02"></a><a name="Plate_02" id="Plate_02"></a><a href="images/plate02.jpg"><img src="images/plate02-th.jpg" width="350" height="440" alt="" title="" /></a>
+</div>
+</td>
+<td style="width: 40%;">
+<p><i>One day he was in a high state of delight because he had invented a
+mirror with this peculiarity, that every good and pretty thing reflected
+in it shrank away to almost nothing.</i></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>Now we are about to begin, and you must attend; and when we get to the
+end of the story, you will know more than you do now about a very wicked
+hobgoblin. He was one of the worst kind; in fact he was a real demon.
+One day he was in a high state of delight because he had invented a
+mirror with this peculiarity, that every good and pretty thing reflected
+in it shrank away to almost nothing. On the other hand, every bad and
+good-for-nothing thing stood out and looked its worst. The most
+beautiful landscapes reflected in it looked like boiled spinach, and the
+best people became hideous, or else they were upside down and had no
+bodies. Their faces were distorted beyond recognition, and if they had
+even one freckle it <a name="Page_2" id="Page_2"></a>appeared to spread all over the nose and mouth. The
+demon thought this immensely amusing. If a good thought passed through
+any one's mind, it turned to a grin in the mirror, and this caused real
+delight to the demon. All the scholars in the demon's school, for he
+kept a school, reported that a miracle had taken place: now for the
+first time it had become possible to see what the world and mankind were
+really like. They ran about all over with the mirror, till at last there
+was not a country or a person which had not been seen in this distorting
+mirror. They even wanted to fly up to heaven with it to mock the angels;
+but the higher they flew, the more it grinned, so much so that they
+could hardly hold it, and at last it slipped out of their hands and fell
+to the earth, shivered into hundreds of millions and billions of bits.
+Even then it did more harm than ever. Some of these bits were not as big
+as a grain of sand, and these flew about all over the world, getting
+into people's eyes, and, once in, they stuck there, and distorted
+everything they looked at, or made them see everything that was amiss.
+Each tiniest grain of glass kept the same power as that possessed by the
+whole mirror. Some people even got a bit of the glass into their hearts,
+and that was terrible, for the heart became like a lump of ice. Some of
+the fragments were so big that they were used for window panes, but it
+was not advisable to look at one's friends through these panes. Other
+bits were made into spectacles, and it was a bad business when people
+put on these spectacles meaning to <a name="Page_3" id="Page_3"></a>be just. The bad demon laughed
+till he split his sides; it tickled him to see the mischief he had done.
+But some of these fragments were still left floating about the world,
+and you shall hear what happened to them.</p>
+
+
+<div class="story">
+<p class="center"><b>SECOND STORY</b></p>
+
+<p class="center"><b>ABOUT A LITTLE BOY AND A LITTLE GIRL</b></p>
+</div>
+
+<table summary="illo">
+<tr>
+<td>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;">
+<a href="#Plate_03"></a><a name="Plate_03" id="Plate_03"></a><a href="images/plate03.jpg"><img src="images/plate03-th.jpg" width="350" height="440" alt="" title="" /></a>
+</div>
+</td>
+<td style="width: 40%;">
+<p><i>Many a winter's night she flies through the streets and peeps in at the
+windows, and then the ice freezes on the panes into wonderful patterns
+like flowers.</i></p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+
+<p>In a big town crowded with houses and people, where there is no room for
+gardens, people have to be content with flowers in pots instead. In one
+of these towns lived two children who managed to have something bigger
+than a flower pot for a garden. They were not brother and sister, but
+they were just as fond of each other as if they had been. Their parents
+lived opposite each other in two attic rooms. The roof of one house just
+touched the roof of the next one, with only a rain-water gutter between
+them. They each had a little dormer window, and one only had to step
+over the gutter to get from one house to the other. Each of the parents
+had a large window-box, in which they grew pot herbs and a little
+rose-tree. There was one in each box, and they both grew splendidly.
+Then it occurred to the parents to put the boxes across the gutter, from
+house to house, and they looked just like two banks of flowers. The pea
+vines hung down over the edges of the <a name="Page_8" id="Page_8"></a>boxes, and the roses threw out
+long creepers which twined round the windows. It was almost like a green
+triumphal arch. The boxes were high, and the children knew they must not
+climb up on to them, but they were often allowed to have their little
+stools out under the rose-trees, and there they had delightful games. Of
+course in the winter there was an end to these amusements. The windows
+were often covered with hoar-frost; then they would warm coppers on the
+stove and stick them on the frozen panes, where they made lovely
+peep-holes, as round as possible. Then a bright eye would peep through
+these holes, one from each window. The little boy's name was Kay, and
+the little girl's Gerda.</p>
+
+<p>In the summer they could reach each other with one bound, but in the
+winter they had to go down all the stairs in one house and up all the
+stairs in the other, and outside there were snowdrifts.</p>
+
+<p>'Look! the white bees are swarming,' said the old grandmother.</p>
+
+<p>'Have they a queen bee, too?' asked the little boy, for he knew that
+there was a queen among the real bees.</p>
+
+<p>'Yes, indeed they have,' said the grandmother. 'She flies where the
+swarm is thickest. She is biggest of them all, and she never remains on
+the ground. She always flies up again to the sky. Many a winter's night
+she flies through the streets and peeps in at the windows, and then the
+ice freezes on the panes into wonderful patterns like flowers.'</p>
+
+<p><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9"></a>'Oh yes, we have seen that,' said both children, and then they knew
+it was true.</p>
+
+<p>'Can the Snow Queen come in here?' asked the little girl.</p>
+
+<p>'Just let her come,' said the boy, 'and I will put her on the stove,
+where she will melt.'</p>
+
+<p>But the grandmother smoothed his hair and told him more stories.</p>
+
+<p>In the evening when little Kay was at home and half undressed, he crept
+up on to the chair by the window, and peeped out of the little hole. A
+few snow-flakes were falling, and one of these, the biggest, remained on
+the edge of the window-box. It grew bigger and bigger, till it became
+the figure of a woman, dressed in the finest white gauze, which appeared
+to be made of millions of starry flakes. She was delicately lovely, but
+all ice, glittering, dazzling ice. Still she was alive, her eyes shone
+like two bright stars, but there was no rest or peace in them. She
+nodded to the window and waved her hand. The little boy was frightened
+and jumped down off the chair, and then he fancied that a big bird flew
+past the window.</p>
+
+<p>The next day was bright and frosty, and then came the thaw&mdash;and after
+that the spring. The sun shone, green buds began to appear, the swallows
+built their nests, and people began to open their windows. The little
+children began to play in their garden on the roof again. The roses were
+in splendid bloom that summer; <a name="Page_14" id="Page_14"></a>the little girl had learnt a hymn, and
+there was something in it about roses, and that made her think of her
+own. She sang it to the little boy, and then he sang it with her&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">'Where roses deck the flowery vale,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">There, Infant Jesus, we thee hail!'<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The children took each other by the hands, kissed the roses, and
+rejoiced in God's bright sunshine, and spoke to it as if the Child Jesus
+were there. What lovely summer days they were, and how delightful it was
+to sit out under the fresh rose-trees, which seemed never tired of
+blooming.</p>
+
+<p>Kay and Gerda were looking at a picture book of birds and animals one
+day&mdash;it had just struck five by the church clock&mdash;when Kay said, 'Oh,
+something struck my heart, and I have got something in my eye!'</p>
+
+<p>The little girl put her arms round his neck, he blinked his eye; there
+was nothing to be seen.</p>
+
+<p>'I believe it is gone,' he said; but it was not gone. It was one of
+those very grains of glass from the mirror, the magic mirror. You
+remember that horrid mirror, in which all good and great things
+reflected in it became small and mean, while the bad things were
+magnified, and every flaw became very apparent.</p>
+
+<p>Poor Kay! a grain of it had gone straight to his heart, and <a name="Page_15" id="Page_15"></a>would soon
+turn it to a lump of ice. He did not feel it any more, but it was still
+there.</p>
+
+<p>'Why do you cry?' he asked; 'it makes you look ugly; there's nothing the
+matter with me. How horrid!' he suddenly cried; 'there's a worm in that
+rose, and that one is quite crooked; after all, they are nasty roses,
+and so are the boxes they are growing in!' He kicked the box and broke
+off two of the roses.</p>
+
+<p>'What are you doing, Kay?' cried the little girl. When he saw her alarm,
+he broke off another rose, and then ran in by his own window, and left
+dear little Gerda alone.</p>
+
+<p>When she next got out the picture book he said it was only fit for
+babies in long clothes. When his grandmother told them stories he always
+had a but&mdash;, and if he could manage it, he liked to get behind her
+chair, put on her spectacles and imitate her. He did it very well and
+people laughed at him. He was soon able to imitate every one in the
+street; he could make fun of all their peculiarities and failings. 'He
+will turn out a clever fellow,' said people. But it was all that bit of
+glass in his heart, that bit of glass in his eye, and it made him tease
+little Gerda who was so devoted to him. He played quite different games
+now; he seemed to have grown older. One winter's day, when the snow was
+falling fast, he brought in a big magnifying glass; he held out the tail
+of his blue coat, and let the snow flakes fall upon it.</p>
+
+<p>'Now look through the glass, Gerda!' he said; every snow<a name="Page_16" id="Page_16"></a>flake was
+magnified, and looked like a lovely flower, or a sharply pointed star.</p>
+
+<p>'Do you see how cleverly they are made?' said Kay. 'Much more
+interesting than looking at real flowers. And there is not a single flaw
+in them; they are perfect, if only they would not melt.'</p>
+
+<p>Shortly after, he appeared in his thick gloves, with his sledge on his
+back. He shouted right into Gerda's ear, 'I have got leave to drive in
+the big square where the other boys play!' and away he went.</p>
+
+<p>In the big square the bolder boys used to tie their little sledges to
+the farm carts and go a long way in this fashion. They had no end of fun
+over it. Just in the middle of their games a big sledge came along; it
+was painted white, and the occupant wore a white fur coat and cap. The
+sledge drove twice round the square, and Kay quickly tied his sledge on
+behind. Then off they went, faster, and faster, into the next street.
+The driver turned round and nodded to Kay in the most friendly way, just
+as if they knew each other. Every time Kay wanted to loose his sledge
+the person nodded again, and Kay stayed where he was, and they drove
+right out through the town gates. Then the snow began to fall so heavily
+that the little boy could not see a hand before him as they rushed
+along. He undid the cords and tried to get away from the big sledge, but
+it was no use, his little sledge stuck fast, and on they rushed, faster
+than the wind. He shouted aloud, but nobody <a name="Page_17" id="Page_17"></a>heard him, and the sledge
+tore on through the snow-drifts. Every now and then it gave a bound, as
+if they were jumping over hedges and ditches. He was very frightened,
+and he wanted to say his prayers, but he could only remember the
+multiplication tables.</p>
+
+<p>The snow-flakes grew bigger and bigger, till at last they looked like
+big white chickens. All at once they sprang on one side, the big sledge
+stopped and the person who drove got up, coat and cap smothered in snow.
+It was a tall and upright lady all shining white, the Snow Queen
+herself.</p>
+
+<p>'We have come along at a good pace,' she said; 'but it's cold enough to
+kill one; creep inside my bearskin coat.'</p>
+
+<p>She took him into the sledge by her, wrapped him in her furs, and he
+felt as if he were sinking into a snowdrift.</p>
+
+<p>'Are you still cold?' she asked, and she kissed him on the forehead.
+Ugh! it was colder than ice, it went to his very heart, which was
+already more than half ice; he felt as if he were dying, but only for a
+moment, and then it seemed to have done him good; he no longer felt the
+cold.</p>
+
+<p>'My sledge! don't forget my sledge!' He only remembered it now; it was
+tied to one of the white chickens which flew along behind them. The Snow
+Queen kissed Kay again, and then he forgot all about little Gerda,
+Grandmother, and all the others at home.</p>
+
+<p>'Now I mustn't kiss you any more,' she said, 'or I should kiss you to
+death!'</p>
+
+<p><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18"></a></p><p>Kay looked at her, she was so pretty; a cleverer, more beautiful face
+could hardly be imagined. She did not seem to be made of ice now, as she
+was outside the window when she waved her hand to him. In his eyes she
+was quite perfect, and he was not a bit afraid of her; he told her that
+he could do mental arithmetic, as far as fractions, and that he knew the
+number of square miles and the number of inhabitants of the country. She
+always smiled at him, and he then thought that he surely did not know
+enough, and he looked up into the wide expanse of heaven, into which
+they rose higher and higher as she flew with him on a dark cloud, while
+the storm surged around them, the wind ringing in their ears like
+well-known old songs.</p>
+
+<p>They flew over woods and lakes, over oceans and islands; the cold wind
+whistled down below them, the wolves howled, the black crows flew
+screaming over the sparkling snow, but up above, the moon shone bright
+and clear&mdash;and Kay looked at it all the long, long winter nights; in the
+day he slept at the Snow Queen's feet.</p>
+
+
+<div class="story">
+<p class="center"><b>STORY THREE</b></p>
+
+<p class="center"><b>THE GARDEN OF THE WOMAN LEARNED IN MAGIC</b></p>
+</div>
+
+<table summary="illo">
+<tr>
+<td><div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;">
+<a name="Plate_04" id="Plate_04"></a><a href="images/plate04.jpg"><img src="images/plate04-th.jpg" width="350" height="438" alt="" title="" /></a>
+</div>
+</td>
+<td style="width: 40%;">
+<p><i>Then an old, old woman came out of the house; she was leaning upon a
+big, hooked stick, and she wore a big sun hat, which was covered with
+beautiful painted flowers.</i></p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>But how was little Gerda getting on all this long time since Kay left
+her? Where could he be? Nobody knew, nobody could say anything about
+him. All that the other boys <a name="Page_19" id="Page_19"></a>knew was, that they had seen him tie his
+little sledge to a splendid big one which drove away down the street and
+out of the town gates. Nobody knew where he was, and many tears were
+shed; little Gerda cried long and bitterly. At last, people said he was
+dead; he must have fallen into the river which ran close by the town.
+Oh, what long, dark, winter days those were!</p>
+
+<p>At last the spring came and the sunshine.</p>
+
+<p>'Kay is dead and gone,' said little Gerda.</p>
+
+<p>'I don't believe it,' said the sunshine.</p>
+
+<p>'He is dead and gone,' she said to the swallows.</p>
+
+<p>'We don't believe it,' said the swallows; and at last little Gerda did
+not believe it either.</p>
+
+<p>'I will put on my new red shoes,' she said one morning; 'those Kay never
+saw; and then I will go down to the river and ask it about him!'</p>
+
+<p>It was very early in the morning; she kissed the old grandmother, who
+was still asleep, put on the red shoes, and went quite alone, out by the
+gate to the river.</p>
+
+<p>'Is it true that you have taken my little playfellow? I will give you my
+red shoes if you will bring him back to me again.'</p>
+
+<p>She thought the little ripples nodded in such a curious way, so she took
+off her red shoes, her most cherished possessions, and threw them both
+into the river. They fell close by the shore, and were carried straight
+back to her by the little wavelets; it seemed <a name="Page_20" id="Page_20"></a>as if the river would not
+accept her offering, as it had not taken little Kay.</p>
+
+<p>She only thought she had not thrown them far enough; so she climbed into
+a boat which lay among the rushes, then she went right out to the
+further end of it, and threw the shoes into the water again. But the
+boat was loose, and her movements started it off, and it floated away
+from the shore: she felt it moving and tried to get out, but before she
+reached the other end the boat was more than a yard from the shore, and
+was floating away quite quickly.</p>
+
+<p>Little Gerda was terribly frightened, and began to cry, but nobody heard
+her except the sparrows, and they could not carry her ashore, but they
+flew alongside twittering, as if to cheer her, 'We are here, we are
+here.' The boat floated rapidly away with the current; little Gerda sat
+quite still with only her stockings on; her little red shoes floated
+behind, but they could not catch up the boat, which drifted away faster
+and faster.</p>
+
+<p>The banks on both sides were very pretty with beautiful flowers, fine
+old trees, and slopes dotted with sheep and cattle, but not a single
+person.</p>
+
+<p>'Perhaps the river is taking me to little Kay,' thought Gerda, and that
+cheered her; she sat up and looked at the beautiful green banks for
+hours.</p>
+
+<p>Then they came to a big cherry garden; there was a little <a name="Page_25" id="Page_25"></a>house in
+it, with curious blue and red windows, it had a thatched roof, and two
+wooden soldiers stood outside, who presented arms as she sailed past.
+Gerda called out to them; she thought they were alive, but of course
+they did not answer; she was quite close to them, for the current drove
+the boat close to the bank. Gerda called out again, louder than before,
+and then an old, old woman came out of the house; she was leaning upon a
+big, hooked stick, and she wore a big sun hat, which was covered with
+beautiful painted flowers.</p>
+
+<p>'You poor little child,' said the old woman, 'how ever were you driven
+out on this big, strong river into the wide, wide world alone?' Then she
+walked right into the water, and caught hold of the boat with her hooked
+stick; she drew it ashore, and lifted little Gerda out.</p>
+
+<p>Gerda was delighted to be on dry land again, but she was a little bit
+frightened of the strange old woman.</p>
+
+<p>'Come, tell me who you are, and how you got here,' said she.</p>
+
+<p>When Gerda had told her the whole story and asked her if she had seen
+Kay, the woman said she had not seen him, but that she expected him.
+Gerda must not be sad, she was to come and taste her cherries and see
+her flowers, which were more beautiful than any picture-book; each one
+had a story to tell. Then she took Gerda by the hand, they went into the
+little house, and the old woman locked the door.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26"></a></p><p>The windows were very high up, and they were red, blue, and yellow;
+they threw a very curious light into the room. On the table were
+quantities of the most delicious cherries, of which Gerda had leave to
+eat as many as ever she liked. While she was eating, the old woman
+combed her hair with a golden comb, so that the hair curled, and shone
+like gold round the pretty little face, which was as sweet as a rose.</p>
+
+<p>'I have long wanted a little girl like you!' said the old woman. 'You
+will see how well we shall get on together.' While she combed her hair
+Gerda had forgotten all about Kay, for the old woman was learned in the
+magic art; but she was not a bad witch, she only cast spells over people
+for a little amusement, and she wanted to keep Gerda. She therefore went
+into the garden and waved her hooked stick over all the rose-bushes, and
+however beautifully they were flowering, all sank down into the rich
+black earth without leaving a trace behind them. The old woman was
+afraid that if Gerda saw the roses she would be reminded of Kay, and
+would want to run away. Then she took Gerda into the flower garden. What
+a delicious scent there was! and every imaginable flower for every
+season was in that lovely garden; no picture-book could be brighter or
+more beautiful. Gerda jumped for joy and played till the sun went down
+behind the tall cherry trees. Then she was put into a lovely bed with
+rose-coloured silken coverings stuffed with violets; she <a name="Page_27" id="Page_27"></a>slept and
+dreamt as lovely dreams as any queen on her wedding day.</p>
+
+<p>The next day she played with the flowers in the garden again&mdash;and many
+days passed in the same way. Gerda knew every flower, but however many
+there were, she always thought there was one missing, but which it was
+she did not know.</p>
+
+<p>One day she was sitting looking at the old woman's sun hat with its
+painted flowers, and the very prettiest one of them all was a rose. The
+old woman had forgotten her hat when she charmed the others away. This
+is the consequence of being absent-minded.</p>
+
+<p>'What!' said Gerda, 'are there no roses here?' and she sprang in among
+the flower-beds and sought, but in vain! Her hot tears fell on the very
+places where the roses used to be; when the warm drops moistened the
+earth the rose-trees shot up again, just as full of bloom as when they
+sank. Gerda embraced the roses and kissed them, and then she thought of
+the lovely roses at home, and this brought the thought of little Kay.</p>
+
+<p>'Oh, how I have been delayed,' said the little girl, 'I ought to have
+been looking for Kay! Don't you know where he is?' she asked the roses.
+'Do you think he is dead and gone?'</p>
+
+<p>'He is not dead,' said the roses. 'For we have been down underground,
+you know, and all the dead people are there, but Kay is not among them.'</p>
+
+<p>'Oh, thank you!' said little Gerda, and then she went to the <a name="Page_28" id="Page_28"></a>other
+flowers and looked into their cups and said, 'Do you know where Kay is?'</p>
+
+<p>But each flower stood in the sun and dreamt its own dreams. Little Gerda
+heard many of these, but never anything about Kay.</p>
+
+<p>And what said the Tiger lilies?</p>
+
+<p>'Do you hear the drum? rub-a-dub, it has only two notes, rub-a-dub,
+always the same. The wailing of women and the cry of the preacher. The
+Hindu woman in her long red garment stands on the pile, while the flames
+surround her and her dead husband. But the woman is only thinking of the
+living man in the circle round, whose eyes burn with a fiercer fire than
+that of the flames which consume the body. Do the flames of the heart
+die in the fire?'</p>
+
+<p>'I understand nothing about that,' said little Gerda.</p>
+
+<p>'That is my story,' said the Tiger lily.</p>
+
+<p>'What does the convolvulus say?'</p>
+
+<p>'An old castle is perched high over a narrow mountain path, it is
+closely covered with ivy, almost hiding the old red walls, and creeping
+up leaf upon leaf right round the balcony where stands a beautiful
+maiden. She bends over the balustrade and looks eagerly up the road. No
+rose on its stem is fresher than she; no apple blossom wafted by the
+wind moves more lightly. Her silken robes rustle softly as she bends
+over and says, 'Will he never come?''</p>
+
+<p>'Is it Kay you mean?' asked Gerda.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29"></a></p><p>'I am only talking about my own story, my dream,' answered the
+convolvulus.</p>
+
+<p>What said the little snowdrop?</p>
+
+<p>'Between two trees a rope with a board is hanging; it is a swing. Two
+pretty little girls in snowy frocks and green ribbons fluttering on
+their hats are seated on it. Their brother, who is bigger than they are,
+stands up behind them; he has his arms round the ropes for supports, and
+holds in one hand a little bowl and in the other a clay pipe. He is
+blowing soap-bubbles. As the swing moves the bubbles fly upwards in all
+their changing colours, the last one still hangs from the pipe swayed by
+the wind, and the swing goes on. A little black dog runs up, he is
+almost as light as the bubbles, he stands up on his hind legs and wants
+to be taken into the swing, but it does not stop. The little dog falls
+with an angry bark; they jeer at it; the bubble bursts. A swinging
+plank, a fluttering foam picture&mdash;that is my story!'</p>
+
+<p>'I daresay what you tell me is very pretty, but you speak so sadly and
+you never mention little Kay.'</p>
+
+<p>What says the hyacinth?</p>
+
+<p>'They were three beautiful sisters, all most delicate, and quite
+transparent. One wore a crimson robe, the other a blue, and the third
+was pure white. These three danced hand-in-hand, by the edge of the lake
+in the moonlight. They were human beings, not fairies of the wood. The
+fragrant air attracted them, and they <a name="Page_30" id="Page_30"></a>vanished into the wood; here the
+fragrance was stronger still. Three coffins glide out of the wood
+towards the lake, and in them lie the maidens. The fire-flies flutter
+lightly round them with their little flickering torches. Do these
+dancing maidens sleep, or are they dead? The scent of the flower says
+that they are corpses. The evening bell tolls their knell.'</p>
+
+<p>'You make me quite sad,' said little Gerda; 'your perfume is so strong
+it makes me think of those dead maidens. Oh, is little Kay really dead?
+The roses have been down underground, and they say no.'</p>
+
+<p>'Ding, dong,' tolled the hyacinth bells; 'we are not tolling for little
+Kay; we know nothing about him. We sing our song, the only one we know.'</p>
+
+<p>And Gerda went on to the buttercups shining among their dark green
+leaves.</p>
+
+<p>'You are a bright little sun,' said Gerda. 'Tell me if you know where I
+shall find my playfellow.'</p>
+
+<p>The buttercup shone brightly and returned Gerda's glance. What song
+could the buttercup sing? It would not be about Kay.</p>
+
+<p>'God's bright sun shone into a little court on the first day of spring.
+The sunbeams stole down the neighbouring white wall, close to which
+bloomed the first yellow flower of the season; it shone like burnished
+gold in the sun. An old woman had brought her arm-chair out into the
+sun; her granddaughter, a poor and <a name="Page_31" id="Page_31"></a>pretty little maid-servant, had come
+to pay her a short visit, and she kissed her. There was gold, heart's
+gold, in the kiss. Gold on the lips, gold on the ground, and gold above,
+in the early morning beams! Now that is my little story,' said the
+buttercup.</p>
+
+<p>'Oh, my poor old grandmother!' sighed Gerda. 'She will be longing to see
+me, and grieving about me, as she did about Kay. But I shall soon go
+home again and take Kay with me. It is useless for me to ask the flowers
+about him. They only know their own stories, and have no information to
+give me.'</p>
+
+<p>Then she tucked up her little dress, so that she might run the faster;
+but the narcissus blossoms struck her on the legs as she jumped over
+them, so she stopped and said, 'Perhaps you can tell me something.'</p>
+
+<p>She stooped down close to the flower and listened. What did it say?</p>
+
+<p>'I can see myself, I can see myself,' said the narcissus. 'Oh, how sweet
+is my scent. Up there in an attic window stands a little dancing girl
+half dressed; first she stands on one leg, then on the other, and looks
+as if she would tread the whole world under her feet. She is only a
+delusion. She pours some water out of a teapot on to a bit of stuff that
+she is holding; it is her bodice. "Cleanliness is a good thing," she
+says. Her white dress hangs on a peg; it has been washed in the teapot,
+too, and dried on the roof. She puts it on, and wraps a saffron-coloured
+scarf round her <a name="Page_32" id="Page_32"></a>neck, which makes the dress look whiter. See how high
+she carries her head, and all upon one stem. I see myself, I see
+myself!'</p>
+
+<p>'I don't care a bit about all that,' said Gerda; 'it's no use telling me
+such stuff.'</p>
+
+<p>And then she ran to the end of the garden. The door was fastened, but
+she pressed the rusty latch, and it gave way. The door sprang open, and
+little Gerda ran out with bare feet into the wide world. She looked back
+three times, but nobody came after her. At last she could run no
+further, and she sat down on a big stone. When she looked round she saw
+that the summer was over; it was quite late autumn. She would never have
+known it inside the beautiful garden, where the sun always shone, and
+the flowers of every season were always in bloom.</p>
+
+<p>'Oh, how I have wasted my time,' said little Gerda. 'It is autumn. I
+must not rest any longer,' and she got up to go on.</p>
+
+<p>Oh, how weary and sore were her little feet, and everything round looked
+so cold and dreary. The long willow leaves were quite yellow. The damp
+mist fell off the trees like rain, one leaf dropped after another from
+the trees, and only the sloe-thorn still bore its fruit; but the sloes
+were sour and set one's teeth on edge. Oh, how grey and sad it looked,
+out in the wide world.<a name="Page_33" id="Page_33"></a></p>
+
+
+<div class="story">
+<p class="center"><b>FOURTH STORY</b></p>
+
+<p class="center"><b>PRINCE AND PRINCESS</b></p>
+</div>
+
+<table summary="illo">
+<tr>
+<td><div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;">
+<a name="Plate_05" id="Plate_05"></a><a href="images/plate05.jpg"><img src="images/plate05-th.jpg" width="350" height="436" alt="" title="" /></a>
+</div>
+</td>
+<td style="width: 40%;">
+<p><i>She has read all the newspapers in the world, and forgotten them again,
+so clever is she.</i></p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+
+<p>Gerda was soon obliged to rest again. A big crow hopped on to the snow,
+just in front of her. It had been sitting looking at her for a long time
+and wagging its head. Now it said, 'Caw, caw; good-day, good-day,' as
+well as it could; it meant to be kind to the little girl, and asked her
+where she was going, alone in the wide world.</p>
+
+<p>Gerda understood the word 'alone' and knew how much there was in it, and
+she told the crow the whole story of her life and adventures, and asked
+if it had seen Kay.</p>
+
+<p>The crow nodded its head gravely and said, 'May be I have, may be I
+have.'</p>
+
+<p>'What, do you really think you have?' cried the little girl, nearly
+smothering him with her kisses.</p>
+
+<p>'Gently, gently!' said the crow. 'I believe it may have been Kay, but he
+has forgotten you by this time, I expect, for the Princess.'</p>
+
+<p>'Does he live with a Princess?' asked Gerda.</p>
+
+<p>'Yes, listen,' said the crow; 'but it is so difficult to speak <a name="Page_34" id="Page_34"></a>your
+language. If you understand "crow's language,"<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">1</a> I can tell you about
+it much better.'</p>
+
+<p>'No, I have never learnt it,' said Gerda; 'but grandmother knew it, and
+used to speak it. If only I had learnt it!'</p>
+
+<p>'It doesn't matter,' said the crow. 'I will tell you as well as I can,
+although I may do it rather badly.'</p>
+
+<p>Then he told her what he had heard.</p>
+
+<p>'In this kingdom where we are now,' said he, 'there lives a Princess who
+is very clever. She has read all the newspapers in the world, and
+forgotten them again, so clever is she. One day she was sitting on her
+throne, which is not such an amusing thing to do either, they say; and
+she began humming a tune, which happened to be</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Why should I not be married, oh why?"<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>"Why not indeed?" said she. And she made up her mind to marry, if she
+could find a husband who had an answer ready when a question was put to
+him. She called all the court ladies together, and when they heard what
+she wanted they were delighted.</p>
+
+<p>'"I like that now," they said. "I was thinking the same thing myself the
+other day."</p>
+
+<p><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39"></a>'Every word I say is true,' said the crow, 'for I have a tame
+sweetheart who goes about the palace whenever she likes. She told me the
+whole story.'</p>
+
+<p>Of course his sweetheart was a crow, for 'birds of a feather flock
+together,' and one crow always chooses another. The newspapers all came
+out immediately with borders of hearts and the Princess's initials. They
+gave notice that any young man who was handsome enough might go up to
+the Palace to speak to the Princess. The one who spoke as if he were
+quite at home, and spoke well, would be chosen by the Princess as her
+husband. Yes, yes, you may believe me, it's as true as I sit here,' said
+the crow. 'The people came crowding in; there was such running, and
+crushing, but no one was fortunate enough to be chosen, either on the
+first day, or on the second. They could all of them talk well enough in
+the street, but when they entered the castle gates, and saw the guard in
+silver uniforms, and when they went up the stairs through rows of
+lackeys in gold embroidered liveries, their courage forsook them. When
+they reached the brilliantly lighted reception-rooms, and stood in front
+of the throne where the Princess was seated, they could think of nothing
+to say, they only echoed her last words, and of course that was not what
+she wanted.</p>
+
+<p>'It was just as if they had all taken some kind of sleeping-powder,
+which made them lethargic; they did not recover themselves until they
+got out into the street again, and then they had <a name="Page_40" id="Page_40"></a>plenty to say. There
+was quite a long line of them, reaching from the town gates up to the
+Palace.</p>
+
+<p>'I went to see them myself,' said the crow. 'They were hungry and
+thirsty, but they got nothing at the Palace, not even as much as a glass
+of tepid water. Some of the wise ones had taken sandwiches with them,
+but they did not share them with their neighbours; they thought if the
+others went in to the Princess looking hungry, that there would be more
+chance for themselves.'</p>
+
+<p>'But Kay, little Kay!' asked Gerda; 'when did he come? was he amongst
+the crowd?'</p>
+
+<p>'Give me time, give me time! we are just coming to him. It was on the
+third day that a little personage came marching cheerfully along,
+without either carriage or horse. His eyes sparkled like yours, and he
+had beautiful long hair, but his clothes were very shabby.'</p>
+
+<p>'Oh, that was Kay!' said Gerda gleefully; 'then I have found him!' and
+she clapped her hands.</p>
+
+<p>'He had a little knapsack on his back!' said the crow.</p>
+
+<p>'No, it must have been his sledge; he had it with him when he went
+away!' said Gerda.</p>
+
+<p>'It may be so,' said the crow; 'I did not look very particularly; but I
+know from my sweetheart, that when he entered the Palace gates, and saw
+the life-guards in their silver <a name="Page_41" id="Page_41"></a>uniforms, and the lackeys on the stairs
+in their gold-laced liveries, he was not the least bit abashed. He just
+nodded to them and said, "It must be very tiresome to stand upon the
+stairs. I am going inside!" The rooms were blazing with lights. Privy
+councillors and excellencies without number were walking about barefoot
+carrying golden vessels; it was enough to make you solemn! His boots
+creaked fearfully too, but he wasn't a bit upset.'</p>
+
+<p>'Oh, I am sure that was Kay!' said Gerda; 'I know he had a pair of new
+boots, I heard them creaking in grandmother's room.'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes, indeed they did creak!' said the crow. 'But nothing daunted, he
+went straight up to the Princess, who was sitting on a pearl as big as a
+spinning-wheel. Poor, simple boy! all the court ladies and their
+attendants; the courtiers, and their gentlemen, each attended by a page,
+were standing round. The nearer the door they stood, so much the greater
+was their haughtiness; till the footman's boy, who always wore slippers
+and stood in the doorway, was almost too proud even to be looked at.'</p>
+
+<p>'It must be awful!' said little Gerda, 'and yet Kay has won the
+Princess!'</p>
+
+<p>'If I had not been a crow, I should have taken her myself,
+notwithstanding that I am engaged. They say he spoke as well as I could
+have done myself, when I speak crow-language; at least <a name="Page_42" id="Page_42"></a>so my sweetheart
+says. He was a picture of good looks and gallantry, and then, he had not
+come with any idea of wooing the Princess, but simply to hear her
+wisdom. He admired her just as much as she admired him!'</p>
+
+<p>'Indeed it was Kay then,' said Gerda; 'he was so clever he could do
+mental arithmetic up to fractions. Oh, won't you take me to the Palace?'</p>
+
+<p>'It's easy enough to talk,' said the crow; 'but how are we to manage it?
+I will talk to my tame sweetheart about it; she will have some advice to
+give us I daresay, but I am bound to tell you that a little girl like
+you will never be admitted!'</p>
+
+<p>'Oh, indeed I shall,' said Gerda; 'when Kay hears that I am here, he
+will come out at once to fetch me.'</p>
+
+<p>'Wait here for me by the stile,' said the crow, then he wagged his head
+and flew off.</p>
+
+<p>The evening had darkened in before he came back. 'Caw, caw,' he said,
+'she sends you greeting. And here is a little roll for you; she got it
+out of the kitchen where there is bread enough, and I daresay you are
+hungry! It is not possible for you to get into the Palace; you have bare
+feet; the guards in silver and the lackeys in gold would never allow you
+to pass. But don't cry, we shall get you in somehow; my sweetheart knows
+a little back staircase which leads up to the bedroom, and she knows
+where the key is kept.'</p>
+
+<p><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43"></a></p><p>Then they went into the garden, into the great avenue where the leaves
+were dropping, softly one by one; and when the Palace lights went out,
+one after the other, the crow led little Gerda to the back door, which
+was ajar.</p>
+
+<p>Oh, how Gerda's heart beat with fear and longing! It was just as if she
+was about to do something wrong, and yet she only wanted to know if this
+really was little Kay. Oh, it must be him, she thought, picturing to
+herself his clever eyes and his long hair. She could see his very smile
+when they used to sit under the rose-trees at home. She thought he would
+be very glad to see her, and to hear what a long way she had come to
+find him, and to hear how sad they had all been at home when he did not
+come back. Oh, it was joy mingled with fear.</p>
+
+<p>They had now reached the stairs, where a little lamp was burning on a
+shelf. There stood the tame sweetheart, twisting and turning her head to
+look at Gerda, who made a curtsy, as grandmother had taught her.</p>
+
+<p>'My betrothed has spoken so charmingly to me about you, my little miss!'
+she said; 'your life, "<i>Vita</i>," as it is called, is most touching! If
+you will take the lamp, I will go on in front. We shall take the
+straight road here, and we shall meet no one.'</p>
+
+<p>'It seems to me that some one is coming behind us,' said Gerda, as she
+fancied something rushed past her, throwing a shadow <a name="Page_44" id="Page_44"></a>on the walls;
+horses with flowing manes and slender legs; huntsmen, ladies and
+gentlemen on horseback.</p>
+
+<p>'Oh, those are only the dreams!' said the crow; 'they come to take the
+thoughts of the noble ladies and gentlemen out hunting. That's a good
+thing, for you will be able to see them all the better in bed. But don't
+forget, when you are taken into favour, to show a grateful spirit.'</p>
+
+<p>'Now, there's no need to talk about that,' said the crow from the woods.</p>
+
+<p>They came now into the first apartment; it was hung with rose-coloured
+satin embroidered with flowers. Here again the dreams overtook them, but
+they flitted by so quickly that Gerda could not distinguish them. The
+apartments became one more beautiful than the other; they were enough to
+bewilder anybody. They now reached the bedroom. The ceiling was like a
+great palm with crystal leaves, and in the middle of the room two beds,
+each like a lily hung from a golden stem. One was white, and in it lay
+the Princess; the other was red, and there lay he whom Gerda had come to
+seek&mdash;little Kay! She bent aside one of the crimson leaves, and she saw
+a little brown neck. It was Kay. She called his name aloud, and held the
+lamp close to him. Again the dreams rushed through the room on
+horseback&mdash;he awoke, turned his head&mdash;and it was not little Kay.</p>
+
+<p>It was only the Prince's neck which was like his; but he was <a name="Page_45" id="Page_45"></a>young and
+handsome. The Princess peeped out of her lily-white bed, and asked what
+was the matter. Then little Gerda cried and told them all her story, and
+what the crows had done to help her.</p>
+
+<p>'You poor little thing!' said the Prince and Princess. And they praised
+the crows, and said that they were not at all angry with them, but they
+must not do it again. Then they gave them a reward.</p>
+
+<p>'Would you like your liberty?' said the Princess, 'or would you prefer
+permanent posts about the court as court crows, with perquisites from
+the kitchen?'</p>
+
+<p>Both crows curtsied and begged for the permanent posts, for they thought
+of their old age, and said 'it was so good to have something for the old
+man,' as they called it.</p>
+
+<p>The Prince got up and allowed Gerda to sleep in his bed, and he could
+not have done more. She folded her little hands, and thought 'how good
+the people and the animals are'; then she shut her eyes and fell fast
+asleep. All the dreams came flying back again; this time they looked
+like angels, and they were dragging a little sledge with Kay sitting on
+it, and he nodded. But it was only a dream; so it all vanished when she
+woke.</p>
+
+<p>Next day she was dressed in silk and velvet from head to foot; they
+asked her to stay at the Palace and have a good time, but she only
+begged them to give her a little carriage and horse, and a <a name="Page_46" id="Page_46"></a>little pair
+of boots, so that she might drive out into the wide world to look for
+Kay.</p>
+
+<p>They gave her a pair of boots and a muff. She was beautifully dressed,
+and when she was ready to start, there before the door stood a new
+chariot of pure gold. The Prince's and Princess's coat of arms were
+emblazoned on it, and shone like a star. Coachman, footman, and
+outrider, for there was even an outrider, all wore golden crowns. The
+Prince and Princess themselves helped her into the carriage and wished
+her joy. The wood crow, who was now married, accompanied her for the
+first three miles; he sat beside Gerda, for he could not ride with his
+back to the horses. The other crow stood at the door and flapped her
+wings; she did not go with them, for she suffered from headache since
+she had become a kitchen pensioner&mdash;the consequence of eating too much.
+The chariot was stored with sugar biscuits, and there were fruit and
+ginger nuts under the seat. 'Good-bye, good-bye,' cried the Prince and
+Princess; little Gerda wept, and the crow wept too. At the end of the
+first few miles the crow said good-bye, and this was the hardest parting
+of all. It flew up into a tree and flapped its big black wings as long
+as it could see the chariot, which shone like the brightest sunshine.<a name="Page_47" id="Page_47"></a></p>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p style="margin-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;"><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1">1</a> Children have a kind of language, or gibberish, formed by
+adding letters or syllables to every word, which is called 'crow's
+language.'</p></div>
+
+
+<div class="story">
+<p class="center"><b>FIFTH STORY</b></p>
+
+<p class="center"><b>THE LITTLE ROBBER GIRL</b></p>
+</div>
+
+<table summary="illo">
+<tr>
+<td><div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;">
+<a name="Plate_06" id="Plate_06"></a><a href="images/plate06.jpg"><img src="images/plate06-th.jpg" width="350" height="433" alt="" title="" /></a>
+</div>
+</td>
+<td style="width: 40%;">
+<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <i>'It is gold, it is gold!' they cried.</i></p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+
+<p>They drove on through a dark wood, where the chariot lighted up the way
+and blinded the robbers by its glare; it was more than they could bear.</p>
+
+<p>'It is gold, it is gold!' they cried, and darting forward, seized the
+horses, and killed the postilions, the coachman, and footman. They then
+dragged little Gerda out of the carriage.</p>
+
+<p>'She is fat, and she is pretty; she has been fattened on nuts!' said the
+old robber woman, who had a long beard, and eyebrows that hung down over
+her eyes. 'She is as good as a fat lamb, and how nice she will taste!'
+She drew out her sharp knife as she said this; it glittered horribly.
+'Oh!' screamed the old woman at the same moment, for her little daughter
+had come up behind her, and she was biting her ear. She hung on her
+back, as wild and as savage a little animal as you could wish to find.
+'You bad, wicked child!' said her mother, but she was prevented from
+killing Gerda on this occasion.</p>
+
+<p>'She shall play with me,' said the little robber girl; 'she shall give
+me her muff, and her pretty dress, and she shall sleep in <a name="Page_48" id="Page_48"></a>my bed.' Then
+she bit her mother again and made her dance. All the robbers laughed and
+said, 'Look at her dancing with her cub!'</p>
+
+<p>'I want to get into the carriage,' said the little robber girl, and she
+always had her own way because she was so spoilt and stubborn. She and
+Gerda got into the carriage, and then they drove over stubble and stones
+further and further into the wood. The little robber girl was as big as
+Gerda, but much stronger; she had broader shoulders, and darker skin,
+her eyes were quite black, with almost a melancholy expression. She put
+her arm round Gerda's waist and said&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'They shan't kill you as long as I don't get angry with you; you must
+surely be a Princess!'</p>
+
+<p>'No,' said little Gerda, and then she told her all her adventures, and
+how fond she was of Kay.</p>
+
+<p>The robber girl looked earnestly at her, gave a little nod, and said,
+'They shan't kill you even if I am angry with you. I will do it myself.'
+Then she dried Gerda's eyes, and stuck her own hands into the pretty
+muff, which was so soft and warm.</p>
+
+<p>At last the chariot stopped: they were in the courtyard of a robber's
+castle, the walls of which were cracked from top to bottom. Ravens and
+crows flew in and out of every hole, and big bulldogs, which each looked
+ready to devour somebody, jumped about as high as they could, but they
+did not bark, for it <a name="Page_53" id="Page_53"></a>was not allowed. A big fire was burning in the
+middle of the stone floor of the smoky old hall. The smoke all went up
+to the ceiling, where it had to find a way out for itself. Soup was
+boiling in a big caldron over the fire, and hares and rabbits were
+roasting on the spits.</p>
+
+<p>'You shall sleep with me and all my little pets to-night,' said the
+robber girl.</p>
+
+<p>When they had something to eat and drink they went along to one corner
+which was spread with straw and rugs. There were nearly a hundred
+pigeons roosting overhead on the rafters and beams. They seemed to be
+asleep, but they fluttered about a little when the children came in.</p>
+
+<p>'They are all mine,' said the little robber girl, seizing one of the
+nearest. She held it by the legs and shook it till it flapped its wings.
+'Kiss it,' she cried, dashing it at Gerda's face. 'Those are the wood
+pigeons,' she added, pointing to some laths fixed across a big hole high
+up on the walls; 'they are a regular rabble; they would fly away
+directly if they were not locked in. And here is my old sweetheart Be,'
+dragging forward a reindeer by the horn; it was tied up, and it had a
+bright copper ring round its neck. 'We have to keep him close too, or he
+would run off. Every single night I tickle his neck with my bright
+knife, he is so frightened of it.' The little girl produced a long knife
+out of a hole in the wall and drew it across the reindeer's neck. The
+poor <a name="Page_54" id="Page_54"></a>animal laughed and kicked, and the robber girl laughed and pulled
+Gerda down into the bed with her.</p>
+
+<p>'Do you have that knife by you while you are asleep?' asked Gerda,
+looking rather frightened.</p>
+
+<p>'I always sleep with a knife,' said the little robber girl. 'You never
+know what will happen. But now tell me again what you told me before
+about little Kay, and why you went out into the world.' So Gerda told
+her all about it again, and the wood pigeons cooed up in their cage
+above them; the other pigeons were asleep. The little robber girl put
+her arm round Gerda's neck and went to sleep with the knife in her other
+hand, and she was soon snoring. But Gerda would not close her eyes; she
+did not know whether she was to live or to die. The robbers sat round
+the fire, eating and drinking, and the old woman was turning
+somersaults. This sight terrified the poor little girl. Then the wood
+pigeons said, 'Coo, coo, we have seen little Kay; his sledge was drawn
+by a white chicken, and he was sitting in the Snow Queen's sledge; it
+was floating low down over the trees, while we were in our nests. She
+blew upon us young ones, and they all died except we two; coo, coo.'</p>
+
+<p>'What are you saying up there?' asked Gerda. 'Where was the Snow Queen
+going? Do you know anything about it?'</p>
+
+<p>'She was most likely going to Lapland, because there is <a name="Page_55" id="Page_55"></a>always snow and
+ice there! Ask the reindeer who is tied up there.'</p>
+
+<p>'There is ice and snow, and it's a splendid place,' said the reindeer.
+'You can run and jump about where you like on those big glittering
+plains. The Snow Queen has her summer tent there, but her permanent
+castle is up at the North Pole, on the island which is called
+Spitzbergen!'</p>
+
+<p>'Oh Kay, little Kay!' sighed Gerda.</p>
+
+<p>'Lie still, or I shall stick the knife into you!' said the robber girl.</p>
+
+<p>In the morning Gerda told her all that the wood pigeons had said, and
+the little robber girl looked quite solemn, but she nodded her head and
+said, 'No matter, no matter! Do you know where Lapland is?' she asked
+the reindeer.</p>
+
+<p>'Who should know better than I,' said the animal, its eyes dancing. 'I
+was born and brought up there, and I used to leap about on the
+snowfields.'</p>
+
+<p>'Listen,' said the robber girl. 'You see that all our men folks are
+away, but mother is still here, and she will stay; but later on in the
+morning she will take a drink out of the big bottle there, and after
+that she will have a nap&mdash;then I will do something for you.' Then she
+jumped out of bed, ran along to her mother and pulled her beard, and
+said, 'Good morning, my own dear nanny-goat!' And her mother filliped
+her nose till it was red and blue; but it was all affection.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56"></a></p><p>As soon as her mother had had her draught from the bottle and had
+dropped asleep, the little robber girl went along to the reindeer, and
+said, 'I should have the greatest pleasure in the world in keeping you
+here, to tickle you with my knife, because you are such fun then;
+however, it does not matter. I will untie your halter and help you
+outside so that you may run away to Lapland, but you must put your best
+foot foremost, and take this little girl for me to the Snow Queen's
+palace, where her playfellow is. I have no doubt you heard what she was
+telling me, for she spoke loud enough, and you are generally
+eavesdropping!'</p>
+
+<p>The reindeer jumped into the air for joy. The robber girl lifted little
+Gerda up, and had the forethought to tie her on, nay, even to give her a
+little cushion to sit upon. 'Here, after all, I will give you your fur
+boots back, for it will be very cold, but I will keep your muff, it is
+too pretty to part with. Still you shan't be cold. Here are my mother's
+big mittens for you, they will reach up to your elbows; here, stick your
+hands in! Now your hands look just like my nasty mother's!'</p>
+
+<p>Gerda shed tears of joy.</p>
+
+<p>'I don't like you to whimper!' said the little robber girl. 'You ought
+to be looking delighted; and here are two loaves and a ham for you, so
+that you shan't starve.'</p>
+
+<p>These things were tied on to the back of the reindeer; the little robber
+girl opened the door, called in all the big dogs, and then <a name="Page_57" id="Page_57"></a>she cut the
+halter with her knife, and said to the reindeer, 'Now run, but take care
+of my little girl!'</p>
+
+<p>Gerda stretched out her hands in the big mittens to the robber girl and
+said good-bye; and then the reindeer darted off over briars and bushes,
+through the big wood, over swamps and plains, as fast as it could go.
+The wolves howled and the ravens screamed, while the red lights quivered
+up in the sky.</p>
+
+<p>'There are my old northern lights,' said the reindeer; 'see how they
+flash!' and on it rushed faster than ever, day and night. The loaves
+were eaten, and the ham too, and then they were in Lapland.</p>
+
+
+<div class="story">
+<p class="center"><b>SIXTH STORY</b></p>
+
+<p class="center"><b>THE LAPP WOMAN AND THE FINN WOMAN</b></p>
+</div>
+
+<table summary="illo">
+<tr>
+<td><div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;">
+<a name="Plate_07" id="Plate_07"></a><a href="images/plate07.jpg"><img src="images/plate07-th.jpg" width="350" height="436" alt="" title="" /></a>
+</div>
+</td>
+<td style="width: 40%;">
+<p><i>The reindeer did not dare to stop. It ran on till it came to the bush
+with the red berries. There it put Gerda down, and kissed her on the
+mouth, while big shining tears trickled down its face.</i></p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+
+<p>They stopped by a little hut, a very poverty-stricken one; the roof
+sloped right down to the ground, and the door was so low that the people
+had to creep on hands and knees when they wanted to go in or out. There
+was nobody at home here but an old Lapp woman, who was frying fish over
+a train-oil lamp. The reindeer told her all Gerda's story, but it told
+its own first; for it thought it was much the most important. Gerda was
+so overcome by the cold that she could not speak at all.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58"></a></p><p>'Oh, you poor creatures!' said the Lapp woman; 'you've got a long way
+to go yet; you will have to go hundreds of miles into Finmark, for the
+Snow Queen is paying a country visit there, and she burns blue lights
+every night. I will write a few words on a dried stock-fish, for I have
+no paper. I will give it to you to take to the Finn woman up there. She
+will be better able to direct you than I can.'</p>
+
+<p>So when Gerda was warmed, and had eaten and drunk something, the Lapp
+woman wrote a few words on a dried stock-fish and gave it to her,
+bidding her take good care of it. Then she tied her on to the reindeer
+again, and off they flew. Flicker, flicker, went the beautiful blue
+northern lights up in the sky all night long;&mdash;at last they came to
+Finmark, and knocked on the Finn woman's chimney, for she had no door at
+all.</p>
+
+<p>There was such a heat inside that the Finn woman went about almost
+naked; she was little and very grubby. She at once loosened Gerda's
+things, and took off the mittens and the boots, or she would have been
+too hot. Then she put a piece of ice on the reindeer's head, and after
+that she read what was written on the stock-fish. She read it three
+times, and then she knew it by heart, and put the fish into the pot for
+dinner; there was no reason why it should not be eaten, and she never
+wasted anything.</p>
+
+<p>Again the reindeer told his own story first, and then little<a name="Page_59" id="Page_59"></a> Gerda's.
+The Finn woman blinked with her wise eyes, but she said nothing.</p>
+
+<p>'You are so clever,' said the reindeer, 'I know you can bind all the
+winds of the world with a bit of sewing cotton. When a skipper unties
+one knot he gets a good wind, when he unties two it blows hard, and if
+he undoes the third and the fourth he brings a storm about his head wild
+enough to blow down the forest trees. Won't you give the little girl a
+drink, so that she may have the strength of twelve men to overcome the
+Snow Queen?'</p>
+
+<p>'The strength of twelve men,' said the Finn woman. 'Yes, that will be
+about enough.'</p>
+
+<p>She went along to a shelf and took down a big folded skin, which she
+unrolled. There were curious characters written on it, and the Finn
+woman read till the perspiration poured down her forehead.</p>
+
+<p>But the reindeer again implored her to give Gerda something, and Gerda
+looked at her with such beseeching eyes, full of tears, that the Finn
+woman began blinking again, and drew the reindeer along into a corner,
+where she whispered to it, at the same time putting fresh ice on its
+head.</p>
+
+<p>'Little Kay is certainly with the Snow Queen, and he is delighted with
+everything there. He thinks it is the best place in the world, but that
+is because he has got a splinter of glass in his <a name="Page_60" id="Page_60"></a>heart and a grain of
+glass in his eye. They will have to come out first, or he will never be
+human again, and the Snow Queen will keep him in her power!'</p>
+
+<p>'But can't you give little Gerda something to take which will give her
+power to conquer it all?'</p>
+
+<p>'I can't give her greater power than she already has. Don't you see how
+great it is? Don't you see how both man and beast have to serve her? How
+she has got on as well as she has on her bare feet? We must not tell her
+what power she has; it is in her heart, because she is such a sweet
+innocent child. If she can't reach the Snow Queen herself, then we can't
+help her. The Snow Queen's gardens begin just two miles from here; you
+can carry the little girl as far as that. Put her down by the big bush
+standing there in the snow covered with red berries. Don't stand
+gossiping, but hurry back to me!' Then the Finn woman lifted Gerda on
+the reindeer's back, and it rushed off as hard as it could.</p>
+
+<p>'Oh, I have not got my boots, and I have not got my mittens!' cried
+little Gerda.</p>
+
+<p>She soon felt the want of them in that cutting wind, but the reindeer
+did not dare to stop. It ran on till it came to the bush with the red
+berries. There it put Gerda down, and kissed her on the mouth, while big
+shining tears trickled down its face. Then it ran back again as fast as
+ever it could. There stood poor little <a name="Page_65" id="Page_65"></a>Gerda, without shoes or
+gloves, in the middle of freezing icebound Finmark.</p>
+
+<p>She ran forward as quickly as she could. A whole regiment of snow-flakes
+came towards her; they did not fall from the sky, for it was quite
+clear, with the northern lights shining brightly. No; these snow-flakes
+ran along the ground, and the nearer they came the bigger they grew.
+Gerda remembered well how big and ingenious they looked under the
+magnifying glass. But the size of these was monstrous. They were alive;
+they were the Snow Queen's advanced guard, and they took the most
+curious shapes. Some looked like big, horrid porcupines, some like
+bundles of knotted snakes with their heads sticking out. Others, again,
+were like fat little bears with bristling hair, but all were dazzling
+white and living snow-flakes.</p>
+
+<p>Then little Gerda said the Lord's Prayer, and the cold was so great that
+her breath froze as it came out of her mouth, and she could see it like
+a cloud of smoke in front of her. It grew thicker and thicker, till it
+formed itself into bright little angels, who grew bigger and bigger when
+they touched the ground. They all wore helmets, and carried shields and
+spears in their hands. More and more of them appeared, and when Gerda
+had finished her prayer she was surrounded by a whole legion. They
+pierced the snow-flakes with their spears and shivered them into a
+hundred pieces, and little Gerda walked fearlessly and undauntedly
+through them.<a name="Page_66" id="Page_66"></a> The angels touched her hands and her feet, and then she
+hardly felt how cold it was, but walked quickly on towards the Palace of
+the Snow Queen.</p>
+
+<p>Now we must see what Kay was about. He was not thinking about Gerda at
+all, least of all that she was just outside the Palace.</p>
+
+
+<div class="story">
+<p class="center"><b>SEVENTH STORY</b></p>
+
+<p class="center"><b>WHAT HAPPENED IN THE SNOW QUEEN'S PALACE AND AFTERWARDS</b></p>
+</div>
+
+<table summary="illo">
+<tr>
+<td><div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;">
+<a name="Plate_08" id="Plate_08"></a><a href="images/plate08.jpg"><img src="images/plate08-th.jpg" width="350" height="437" alt="" title="" /></a>
+</div>
+</td>
+<td style="width: 40%;">
+<p><i>The Snow Queen sat in the very middle of it when she sat at home.</i></p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+
+<p>The Palace walls were made of drifted snow, and the windows and doors of
+the biting winds. There were over a hundred rooms in it, shaped just as
+the snow had drifted. The biggest one stretched for many miles. They
+were all lighted by the strongest northern lights. All the rooms were
+immensely big and empty, and glittering in their iciness. There was
+never any gaiety in them; not even so much as a ball for the little
+bears, when the storms might have turned up as the orchestra, and the
+polar bears might have walked about on their hind legs and shown off
+their grand manners. There was never even a little game-playing party,
+for such games as 'touch last' or 'the biter bit'&mdash;no, not even a little
+<a name="Page_67" id="Page_67"></a>gossip over the coffee cups for the white fox misses. Immense, vast,
+and cold were the Snow Queen's halls. The northern lights came and went
+with such regularity that you could count the seconds between their
+coming and going. In the midst of these never-ending snow-halls was a
+frozen lake. It was broken up on the surface into a thousand bits, but
+each piece was so exactly like the others that the whole formed a
+perfect work of art. The Snow Queen sat in the very middle of it when
+she sat at home. She then said that she was sitting on 'The Mirror of
+Reason,' and that it was the best and only one in the world.</p>
+
+<p>Little Kay was blue with cold, nay, almost black; but he did not know
+it, for the Snow Queen had kissed away the icy shiverings, and his heart
+was little better than a lump of ice. He went about dragging some sharp,
+flat pieces of ice, which he placed in all sorts of patterns, trying to
+make something out of them; just as when we at home have little tablets
+of wood, with which we make patterns, and call them a 'Chinese puzzle.'</p>
+
+<p>Kay's patterns were most ingenious, because they were the 'Ice Puzzles
+of Reason.' In his eyes they were first-rate and of the greatest
+importance: this was because of the grain of glass still in his eye. He
+made many patterns forming words, but he never could find out the right
+way to place them for one particular word, a word he was most anxious to
+make. It was 'Eternity.' The Snow Queen had said to him that if he could
+find out this word he should <a name="Page_68" id="Page_68"></a>be his own master, and she would give him
+the whole world and a new pair of skates. But he could not discover it.</p>
+
+<p>'Now I am going to fly away to the warm countries,' said the Snow Queen.
+'I want to go and peep into the black caldrons!' She meant the volcanoes
+Etna and Vesuvius by this. 'I must whiten them a little; it does them
+good, and the lemons and the grapes too!' And away she flew.</p>
+
+<p>Kay sat quite alone in all those many miles of empty ice halls. He
+looked at his bits of ice, and thought and thought, till something gave
+way within him. He sat so stiff and immovable that one might have
+thought he was frozen to death.</p>
+
+<p>Then it was that little Gerda walked into the Palace, through the great
+gates in a biting wind. She said her evening prayer, and the wind
+dropped as if lulled to sleep, and she walked on into the big empty
+hall. She saw Kay, and knew him at once; she flung her arms round his
+neck, held him fast, and cried, 'Kay, little Kay, have I found you at
+last?'</p>
+
+<p>But he sat still, rigid and cold.</p>
+
+<p>Then little Gerda shed hot tears; they fell upon his breast and
+penetrated to his heart. Here they thawed the lump of ice, and melted
+the little bit of the mirror which was in it. He looked at her, and she
+sang:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">'Where roses deck the flowery vale,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">There, Infant Jesus, we thee hail!'<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73"></a>Then Kay burst into tears; he cried so much that the grain of glass
+was washed out of his eye. He knew her, and shouted with joy, 'Gerda,
+dear little Gerda! where have you been for such a long time? And where
+have I been?' He looked round and said, 'How cold it is here; how empty
+and vast!' He kept tight hold of Gerda, who laughed and cried for joy.
+Their happiness was so heavenly that even the bits of ice danced for joy
+around them; and when they settled down, there they lay! just in the
+very position the Snow Queen had told Kay he must find out, if he was to
+become his own master and have the whole world and a new pair of skates.</p>
+
+<p>Gerda kissed his cheeks and they grew rosy, she kissed his eyes and they
+shone like hers, she kissed his hands and his feet, and he became well
+and strong. The Snow Queen might come home whenever she liked, his order
+of release was written there in shining letters of ice.</p>
+
+<p>They took hold of each other's hands and wandered out of the big Palace.
+They talked about grandmother, and about the roses upon the roof.
+Wherever they went the winds lay still and the sun broke through the
+clouds. When they reached the bush with the red berries they found the
+reindeer waiting for them, and he had brought another young reindeer
+with him, whose udders were full. The children drank her warm milk and
+kissed her on the mouth. Then they carried Kay and Gerda, first to the
+Finn <a name="Page_74" id="Page_74"></a>woman, in whose heated hut they warmed themselves and received
+directions about the homeward journey. Then they went on to the Lapp
+woman; she had made new clothes for them and prepared her sledge. Both
+the reindeer ran by their side, to the boundaries of the country; here
+the first green buds appeared, and they said 'Good-bye' to the reindeer
+and the Lapp woman. They heard the first little birds twittering and saw
+the buds in the forest. Out of it came riding a young girl on a
+beautiful horse, which Gerda knew, for it had drawn the golden chariot.
+She had a scarlet cap on her head and pistols in her belt; it was the
+little robber girl, who was tired of being at home. She was riding
+northwards to see how she liked it before she tried some other part of
+the world. She knew them again, and Gerda recognised her with delight.</p>
+
+<p>'You are a nice fellow to go tramping off!' she said to little Kay. 'I
+should like to know if you deserve to have somebody running to the end
+of the world for your sake!'</p>
+
+<p>But Gerda patted her cheek, and asked about the Prince and Princess.</p>
+
+<p>'They are travelling in foreign countries,' said the robber girl.</p>
+
+<p>'But the crow?' asked Gerda.</p>
+
+<p>'Oh, the crow is dead!' she answered. 'The tame sweetheart is a widow,
+and goes about with a bit of black wool tied <a name="Page_75" id="Page_75"></a>round her leg. She pities
+herself bitterly, but it's all nonsense! But tell me how you got on
+yourself, and where you found him.'</p>
+
+<p>Gerda and Kay both told her all about it.</p>
+
+<p>'Snip, snap, snurre, it's all right at last then!' she said, and she
+took hold of their hands and promised that if she ever passed through
+their town she would pay them a visit. Then she rode off into the wide
+world. But Kay and Gerda walked on, hand in hand, and wherever they went
+they found the most delightful spring and blooming flowers. Soon they
+recognised the big town where they lived, with its tall towers, in which
+the bells still rang their merry peals. They went straight on to
+grandmother's door, up the stairs and into her room. Everything was just
+as they had left it, and the old clock ticked in the corner, and the
+hands pointed to the time. As they went through the door into the room
+they perceived that they were grown up. The roses clustered round the
+open window, and there stood their two little chairs. Kay and Gerda sat
+down upon them, still holding each other by the hand. All the cold empty
+grandeur of the Snow Queen's palace had passed from their memory like a
+bad dream. Grandmother sat in God's warm sunshine reading from her
+Bible.</p>
+
+<p>'Without ye become as little children ye cannot enter into the Kingdom
+of Heaven.'</p>
+
+<p><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76"></a></p><p>Kay and Gerda looked into each other's eyes, and then all at once the
+meaning of the old hymn came to them.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">'Where roses deck the flowery vale,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">There, Infant Jesus, we thee hail!'<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>And there they both sat, grown up and yet children, children at heart;
+and it was summer&mdash;warm, beautiful summer.</p>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/detail02.jpg" width="600" height="88" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<p><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77"></a></p>
+<h2><a name="THE_NIGHTINGALE" id="THE_NIGHTINGALE"></a>THE NIGHTINGALE</h2>
+
+<table summary="illo">
+<tr>
+<td><div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;">
+<a name="Plate_09" id="Plate_09"></a><a href="images/plate09.jpg"><img src="images/plate09-th.jpg" width="350" height="439" alt="" title="" /></a>
+</div>
+</td>
+<td style="width: 40%;">
+<p><i>Among these trees lived a nightingale, which sang so deliciously, that
+even the poor fisherman, who had plenty of other things to do, lay still
+to listen to it, when he was out at night drawing in his nets.</i></p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+
+<p>In China, as you know, the Emperor is a Chinaman, and all the people
+around him are Chinamen too. It is many years since the story I am going
+to tell you happened, but that is all the more reason for telling it,
+lest it should be forgotten. The emperor's palace was the most beautiful
+thing in the world; it was made entirely of the finest porcelain, very
+costly, but at the same time so fragile that it could only be touched
+with the very greatest care. There were the most extraordinary flowers
+to be seen in the garden; the most beautiful ones had little silver
+bells tied to them, which tinkled perpetually, so that one should not
+pass the flowers without looking at them. Every little detail in the
+garden had been most carefully thought out, and it was so big, that even
+the gardener himself did not know where it ended. If one went on
+walking, one came to beautiful woods with lofty trees and deep lakes.
+The wood extended to the sea, which was deep and blue, deep enough for
+large ships to sail up right under the branches of <a name="Page_78" id="Page_78"></a>the trees. Among
+these trees lived a nightingale, which sang so deliciously, that even
+the poor fisherman, who had plenty of other things to do, lay still to
+listen to it, when he was out at night drawing in his nets. 'Heavens,
+how beautiful it is!' he said, but then he had to attend to his business
+and forgot it. The next night when he heard it again he would again
+exclaim, 'Heavens, how beautiful it is!'</p>
+
+<p>Travellers came to the emperor's capital, from every country in the
+world; they admired everything very much, especially the palace and the
+gardens, but when they heard the nightingale they all said, 'This is
+better than anything!'</p>
+
+<p>When they got home they described it, and the learned ones wrote many
+books about the town, the palace and the garden; but nobody forgot the
+nightingale, it was always put above everything else. Those among them
+who were poets wrote the most beautiful poems, all about the nightingale
+in the woods by the deep blue sea. These books went all over the world,
+and in course of time some of them reached the emperor. He sat in his
+golden chair reading and reading, and nodding his head, well pleased to
+hear such beautiful descriptions of the town, the palace and the garden.
+'But the nightingale is the best of all,' he read.</p>
+
+<p>'What is this?' said the emperor. 'The nightingale? Why, I know nothing
+about it. Is there such a bird in my kingdom, and in my own garden into
+the bargain, and I have never <a name="Page_83" id="Page_83"></a>heard of it? Imagine my having to
+discover this from a book?'</p>
+
+<p>Then he called his gentleman-in-waiting, who was so grand that when any
+one of a lower rank dared to speak to him, or to ask him a question, he
+would only answer 'P,' which means nothing at all.</p>
+
+<p>'There is said to be a very wonderful bird called a nightingale here,'
+said the emperor. 'They say that it is better than anything else in all
+my great kingdom! Why have I never been told anything about it?'</p>
+
+<p>'I have never heard it mentioned,' said the gentleman-in-waiting. 'It
+has never been presented at court.'</p>
+
+<p>'I wish it to appear here this evening to sing to me,' said the emperor.
+'The whole world knows what I am possessed of, and I know nothing about
+it!'</p>
+
+<p>'I have never heard it mentioned before,' said the gentleman-in-waiting.
+'I will seek it, and I will find it!' But where was it to be found? The
+gentleman-in-waiting ran upstairs and downstairs and in and out of all
+the rooms and corridors. No one of all those he met had ever heard
+anything about the nightingale; so the gentleman-in-waiting ran back to
+the emperor, and said that it must be a myth, invented by the writers of
+the books. 'Your imperial majesty must not believe everything that is
+written; books are often mere inventions, even if they do not belong to
+what we call the black art!'</p>
+
+<p><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84"></a></p><p>'But the book in which I read it is sent to me by the powerful Emperor
+of Japan, so it can't be untrue. I will hear this nightingale; I insist
+upon its being here to-night. I extend my most gracious protection to
+it, and if it is not forthcoming, I will have the whole court trampled
+upon after supper!'</p>
+
+<p>'Tsing-pe!' said the gentleman-in-waiting, and away he ran again, up and
+down all the stairs, in and out of all the rooms and corridors; half the
+court ran with him, for they none of them wished to be trampled on.
+There was much questioning about this nightingale, which was known to
+all the outside world, but to no one at court. At last they found a poor
+little maid in the kitchen. She said, 'Oh heavens, the nightingale? I
+know it very well. Yes, indeed it can sing. Every evening I am allowed
+to take broken meat to my poor sick mother: she lives down by the shore.
+On my way back, when I am tired, I rest awhile in the wood, and then I
+hear the nightingale. Its song brings the tears into my eyes; I feel as
+if my mother were kissing me!'</p>
+
+<p>'Little kitchen-maid,' said the gentleman-in-waiting, 'I will procure
+you a permanent position in the kitchen, and permission to see the
+emperor dining, if you will take us to the nightingale. It is commanded
+to appear at court to-night.'</p>
+
+<p>Then they all went out into the wood where the nightingale usually sang.
+Half the court was there. As they were going along at their best pace a
+cow began to bellow.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85"></a></p><p>'Oh!' said a young courtier, 'there we have it. What wonderful power
+for such a little creature; I have certainly heard it before.'</p>
+
+<p>'No, those are the cows bellowing; we are a long way yet from the
+place.' Then the frogs began to croak in the marsh.</p>
+
+<p>'Beautiful!' said the Chinese chaplain, 'it is just like the tinkling of
+church bells.'</p>
+
+<p>'No, those are the frogs!' said the little kitchen-maid. 'But I think we
+shall soon hear it now!'</p>
+
+<p>Then the nightingale began to sing.</p>
+
+<p>'There it is!' said the little girl. 'Listen, listen, there it sits!'
+and she pointed to a little grey bird up among the branches.</p>
+
+<p>'Is it possible?' said the gentleman-in-waiting. 'I should never have
+thought it was like that. How common it looks! Seeing so many grand
+people must have frightened all its colours away.'</p>
+
+<p>'Little nightingale!' called the kitchen-maid quite loud, 'our gracious
+emperor wishes you to sing to him!'</p>
+
+<p>'With the greatest of pleasure!' said the nightingale, warbling away in
+the most delightful fashion.</p>
+
+<p>'It is just like crystal bells,' said the gentleman-in-waiting. 'Look at
+its little throat, how active it is. It is extraordinary that we have
+never heard it before! I am sure it will be a great success at court!'</p>
+
+<p><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86"></a></p><p>'Shall I sing again to the emperor?' said the nightingale, who thought
+he was present.</p>
+
+<p>'My precious little nightingale,' said the gentleman-in-waiting, 'I have
+the honour to command your attendance at a court festival to-night,
+where you will charm his gracious majesty the emperor with your
+fascinating singing.'</p>
+
+<p>'It sounds best among the trees,' said the nightingale, but it went with
+them willingly when it heard that the emperor wished it.</p>
+
+<table summary="illo">
+<tr>
+<td><div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;">
+<a name="Plate_10" id="Plate_10"></a><a href="images/plate10.jpg"><img src="images/plate10-th.jpg" width="350" height="441" alt="" title="" /></a>
+</div>
+</td>
+<td style="width: 40%;">
+<p><i>'Is it possible?' said the gentleman-in-waiting. 'I should never have
+thought it was like that. How common it looks. Seeing so many grand
+people must have frightened all its colours away.'</i></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>The palace had been brightened up for the occasion. The walls and the
+floors, which were all of china, shone by the light of many thousand
+golden lamps. The most beautiful flowers, all of the tinkling kind, were
+arranged in the corridors; there was hurrying to and fro, and a great
+draught, but this was just what made the bells ring; one's ears were
+full of the tinkling. In the middle of the large reception-room where
+the emperor sat a golden rod had been fixed, on which the nightingale
+was to perch. The whole court was assembled, and the little kitchen-maid
+had been permitted to stand behind the door, as she now had the actual
+title of cook. They were all dressed in their best; everybody's eyes
+were turned towards the little grey bird at which the emperor was
+nodding. The nightingale sang delightfully, and the tears came into the
+emperor's eyes, nay, they rolled down his cheeks; and then the
+nightingale sang more beautifully than ever, its notes touched all
+hearts. The emperor was charmed, and said the <a name="Page_91" id="Page_91"></a>nightingale should
+have his gold slipper to wear round its neck. But the nightingale
+declined with thanks; it had already been sufficiently rewarded.</p>
+
+<p>'I have seen tears in the eyes of the emperor; that is my richest
+reward. The tears of an emperor have a wonderful power! God knows I am
+sufficiently recompensed!' and then it again burst into its sweet
+heavenly song.</p>
+
+<p>'That is the most delightful coquetting I have ever seen!' said the
+ladies, and they took some water into their mouths to try and make the
+same gurgling when any one spoke to them, thinking so to equal the
+nightingale. Even the lackeys and the chambermaids announced that they
+were satisfied, and that is saying a great deal; they are always the
+most difficult people to please. Yes, indeed, the nightingale had made a
+sensation. It was to stay at court now, and to have its own cage, as
+well as liberty to walk out twice a day, and once in the night. It
+always had twelve footmen, with each one holding a ribbon which was tied
+round its leg. There was not much pleasure in an outing of that sort.</p>
+
+<p>The whole town talked about the marvellous bird, and if two people met,
+one said to the other 'Night,' and the other answered 'Gale,' and then
+they sighed, perfectly understanding each other. Eleven cheesemongers'
+children were called after it, but they had not got a voice among them.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92"></a></p><p>One day a large parcel came for the emperor; outside was written the
+word 'Nightingale.'</p>
+
+<p>'Here we have another new book about this celebrated bird,' said the
+emperor. But it was no book; it was a little work of art in a box, an
+artificial nightingale, exactly like the living one, but it was studded
+all over with diamonds, rubies and sapphires.</p>
+
+<p>When the bird was wound up it could sing one of the songs the real one
+sang, and it wagged its tail, which glittered with silver and gold. A
+ribbon was tied round its neck on which was written, 'The Emperor of
+Japan's nightingale is very poor compared to the Emperor of China's.'</p>
+
+<p>Everybody said, 'Oh, how beautiful!' And the person who brought the
+artificial bird immediately received the title of Imperial
+Nightingale-Carrier in Chief.</p>
+
+<p>'Now, they must sing together; what a duet that will be.'</p>
+
+<p>Then they had to sing together, but they did not get on very well, for
+the real nightingale sang in its own way, and the artificial one could
+only sing waltzes.</p>
+
+<p>'There is no fault in that,' said the music-master; 'it is perfectly in
+time and correct in every way!'</p>
+
+<p>Then the artificial bird had to sing alone. It was just as great a
+success as the real one, and then it was so much prettier to look at; it
+glittered like bracelets and breast-pins.</p>
+
+<table summary="illo">
+<tr>
+<td><div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;">
+<a name="Plate_11" id="Plate_11"></a><a href="images/plate11.jpg"><img src="images/plate11-th.jpg" width="350" height="439" alt="" title="" /></a>
+</div>
+</td>
+<td style="width: 40%;">
+<p><i>Then it again burst into its sweet heavenly song.</i></p>
+
+<p><i>'That is the most delightful coquetting I have ever seen!' said the
+ladies, and they took some water into their mouths to try and make the
+same gurgling, thinking so to equal the nightingale.</i></p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>It sang the same tune three and thirty times over, and yet it <a name="Page_97" id="Page_97"></a>was
+not tired; people would willingly have heard it from the beginning
+again, but the emperor said that the real one must have a turn now&mdash;but
+where was it? No one had noticed that it had flown out of the open
+window, back to its own green woods.</p>
+
+<p>'But what is the meaning of this?' said the emperor.</p>
+
+<p>All the courtiers railed at it, and said it was a most ungrateful bird.</p>
+
+<p>'We have got the best bird though,' said they, and then the artificial
+bird had to sing again, and this was the thirty-fourth time that they
+heard the same tune, but they did not know it thoroughly even yet,
+because it was so difficult.</p>
+
+<p>The music-master praised the bird tremendously, and insisted that it was
+much better than the real nightingale, not only as regarded the outside
+with all the diamonds, but the inside too.</p>
+
+<p>'Because you see, my ladies and gentlemen, and the emperor before all,
+in the real nightingale you never know what you will hear, but in the
+artificial one everything is decided beforehand! So it is, and so it
+must remain, it can't be otherwise. You can account for things, you can
+open it and show the human ingenuity in arranging the waltzes, how they
+go, and how one note follows upon another!'</p>
+
+<p>'Those are exactly my opinions,' they all said, and the music-master got
+leave to show the bird to the public next Sunday. They were also to hear
+it sing, said the emperor. So they heard it, <a name="Page_98" id="Page_98"></a>and all became as
+enthusiastic over it as if they had drunk themselves merry on tea,
+because that is a thoroughly Chinese habit.</p>
+
+<p>Then they all said 'Oh,' and stuck their forefingers in the air and
+nodded their heads; but the poor fishermen who had heard the real
+nightingale said, 'It sounds very nice, and it is very like the real
+one, but there is something wanting, we don't know what.' The real
+nightingale was banished from the kingdom.</p>
+
+<p>The artificial bird had its place on a silken cushion, close to the
+emperor's bed: all the presents it had received of gold and precious
+jewels were scattered round it. Its title had risen to be 'Chief
+Imperial Singer of the Bed-Chamber,' in rank number one, on the left
+side; for the emperor reckoned that side the important one, where the
+heart was seated. And even an emperor's heart is on the left side. The
+music-master wrote five-and-twenty volumes about the artificial bird;
+the treatise was very long and written in all the most difficult Chinese
+characters. Everybody said they had read and understood it, for
+otherwise they would have been reckoned stupid, and then their bodies
+would have been trampled upon.</p>
+
+<table summary="illo">
+<tr>
+<td><div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;">
+<a name="Plate_12" id="Plate_12"></a><a href="images/plate12.jpg"><img src="images/plate12-th.jpg" width="350" height="437" alt="" title="" /></a>
+</div>
+</td>
+<td style="width: 40%;">
+<p><i>The music-master wrote five-and-twenty volumes about the artificial
+bird; the treatise was very long and written in all the most difficult
+Chinese characters.</i></p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>Things went on in this way for a whole year. The emperor, the court, and
+all the other Chinamen knew every little gurgle in the song of the
+artificial bird by heart; but they liked it all the better for this, and
+they could all join in the song themselves. <a name="Page_103" id="Page_103"></a>Even the street boys
+sang 'zizizi' and 'cluck, cluck, cluck,' and the emperor sang it too.</p>
+
+<p>But one evening when the bird was singing its best, and the emperor was
+lying in bed listening to it, something gave way inside the bird with a
+'whizz.' Then a spring burst, 'whirr' went all the wheels, and the music
+stopped. The emperor jumped out of bed and sent for his private
+physicians, but what good could they do? Then they sent for the
+watchmaker, and after a good deal of talk and examination he got the
+works to go again somehow; but he said it would have to be saved as much
+as possible, because it was so worn out, and he could not renew the
+works so as to be sure of the tune. This was a great blow! They only
+dared to let the artificial bird sing once a year, and hardly that; but
+then the music-master made a little speech, using all the most difficult
+words. He said it was just as good as ever, and his saying it made it
+so.</p>
+
+<p>Five years now passed, and then a great grief came upon the nation, for
+they were all very fond of their emperor, and he was ill and could not
+live, it was said. A new emperor was already chosen, and people stood
+about in the street, and asked the gentleman-in-waiting how their
+emperor was going on.</p>
+
+<p>'P,' answered he, shaking his head.</p>
+
+<p>The emperor lay pale and cold in his gorgeous bed, the courtiers thought
+he was dead, and they all went off to pay their respects to their new
+emperor. The lackeys ran off to talk matters <a name="Page_104" id="Page_104"></a>over, and the chambermaids
+gave a great coffee-party. Cloth had been laid down in all the rooms and
+corridors so as to deaden the sound of footsteps, so it was very, very
+quiet. But the emperor was not dead yet. He lay stiff and pale in the
+gorgeous bed with its velvet hangings and heavy golden tassels. There
+was an open window high above him, and the moon streamed in upon the
+emperor, and the artificial bird beside him.</p>
+
+<p>The poor emperor could hardly breathe, he seemed to have a weight on his
+chest, he opened his eyes, and then he saw that it was Death sitting
+upon his chest, wearing his golden crown. In one hand he held the
+emperor's golden sword, and in the other his imperial banner. Round
+about, from among the folds of the velvet hangings peered many curious
+faces: some were hideous, others gentle and pleasant. They were all the
+emperor's good and bad deeds, which now looked him in the face when
+Death was weighing him down.</p>
+
+<p>'Do you remember that?' whispered one after the other; 'Do you remember
+this?' and they told him so many things that the perspiration poured
+down his face.</p>
+
+<p>'I never knew that,' said the emperor. 'Music, music, sound the great
+Chinese drums!' he cried, 'that I may not hear what they are saying.'
+But they went on and on, and Death sat nodding his head, just like a
+Chinaman, at everything that was said.</p>
+
+<p>'Music, music!' shrieked the emperor. 'You precious little <a name="Page_105" id="Page_105"></a>golden bird,
+sing, sing! I have loaded you with precious stones, and even hung my own
+golden slipper round your neck; sing, I tell you, sing!'</p>
+
+<p>But the bird stood silent; there was nobody to wind it up, so of course
+it could not go. Death continued to fix the great empty sockets of his
+eyes upon him, and all was silent, so terribly silent.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly, close to the window, there was a burst of lovely song; it was
+the living nightingale, perched on a branch outside. It had heard of the
+emperor's need, and had come to bring comfort and hope to him. As it
+sang the faces round became fainter and fainter, and the blood coursed
+with fresh vigour in the emperor's veins and through his feeble limbs.
+Even Death himself listened to the song and said, 'Go on, little
+nightingale, go on!'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes, if you give me the gorgeous golden sword; yes, if you give me the
+imperial banner; yes, if you give me the emperor's crown.'</p>
+
+<p>And Death gave back each of these treasures for a song, and the
+nightingale went on singing. It sang about the quiet churchyard, when
+the roses bloom, where the elder flower scents the air, and where the
+fresh grass is ever moistened anew by the tears of the mourner. This
+song brought to Death a longing for his own garden, and, like a cold
+grey mist, he passed out of the window.</p>
+
+<p>'Thanks, thanks!' said the emperor; 'you heavenly little bird, I know
+you! I banished you from my kingdom, and yet you <a name="Page_106" id="Page_106"></a>have charmed the evil
+visions away from my bed by your song, and even Death away from my
+heart! How can I ever repay you?'</p>
+
+<p>'You have rewarded me,' said the nightingale. 'I brought the tears to
+your eyes, the very first time I ever sang to you, and I shall never
+forget it! Those are the jewels which gladden the heart of a
+singer;&mdash;but sleep now, and wake up fresh and strong! I will sing to
+you!'</p>
+
+<p>Then it sang again, and the emperor fell into a sweet refreshing sleep.
+The sun shone in at his window, when he woke refreshed and well; none of
+his attendants had yet come back to him, for they thought he was dead,
+but the nightingale still sat there singing.</p>
+
+<p>'You must always stay with me!' said the emperor. 'You shall only sing
+when you like, and I will break the artificial bird into a thousand
+pieces!'</p>
+
+<table summary="illo">
+<tr>
+<td><div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;">
+<a name="Plate_13" id="Plate_13"></a><a href="images/plate13.jpg"><img src="images/plate13-th.jpg" width="350" height="437" alt="" title="" /></a>
+</div>
+</td>
+<td style="width: 40%;">
+<p><i>Even Death himself listened to the song and said, 'Go on, little
+nightingale, go on!'</i></p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>'Don't do that!' said the nightingale, 'it did all the good it could!
+keep it as you have always done! I can't build my nest and live in this
+palace, but let me come whenever I like, then I will sit on the branch
+in the evening, and sing to you. I will sing to cheer you and to make
+you thoughtful too; I will sing to you of the happy ones, and of those
+that suffer too. I will sing about the good and the evil, which are kept
+hidden from you. The little singing bird flies far and wide, to the poor
+fisherman, and the peasant's home, to numbers who are far from you and
+your court. I love your heart more than your crown, and yet there is an
+odour <a name="Page_111" id="Page_111"></a>of sanctity round the crown too!&mdash;I will come, and I will
+sing to you!&mdash;But you must promise me one thing!&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Everything!' said the emperor, who stood there in his imperial robes
+which he had just put on, and he held the sword heavy with gold upon his
+heart.</p>
+
+<p>'One thing I ask you! Tell no one that you have a little bird who tells
+you everything; it will be better so!'</p>
+
+<p>Then the nightingale flew away. The attendants came in to see after
+their dead emperor, and there he stood, bidding them 'Good morning!'</p>
+
+
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/detail02.jpg" width="600" height="88" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<p><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112"></a></p>
+<h2><a name="THE_REAL_PRINCESS" id="THE_REAL_PRINCESS"></a>THE REAL PRINCESS</h2>
+
+
+<p>There was once a prince, and he wanted a princess, but then she must be
+a <i>real</i> Princess. He travelled right round the world to find one, but
+there was always something wrong. There were plenty of princesses, but
+whether they were real princesses he had great difficulty in
+discovering; there was always something which was not quite right about
+them. So at last he had to come home again, and he was very sad because
+he wanted a real princess so badly.</p>
+
+<p>One evening there was a terrible storm; it thundered and lightened and
+the rain poured down in torrents; indeed it was a fearful night.</p>
+
+<p>In the middle of the storm somebody knocked at the town gate, and the
+old King himself went to open it.</p>
+
+<p>It was a princess who stood outside, but she was in a terrible state
+from the rain and the storm. The water streamed out of her <a name="Page_113" id="Page_113"></a>hair and her
+clothes; it ran in at the top of her shoes and out at the heel, but she
+said that she was a real princess.</p>
+
+<p>'Well we shall soon see if that is true,' thought the old Queen, but she
+said nothing. She went into the bedroom, took all the bedclothes off and
+laid a pea on the bedstead: then she took twenty mattresses and piled
+them on the top of the pea, and then twenty feather beds on the top of
+the mattresses. This was where the princess was to sleep that night. In
+the morning they asked her how she had slept.</p>
+
+<p>'Oh terribly badly!' said the princess. 'I have hardly closed my eyes
+the whole night! Heaven knows what was in the bed. I seemed to be lying
+upon some hard thing, and my whole body is black and blue this morning.
+It is terrible!'</p>
+
+<p>They saw at once that she must be a real princess when she had felt the
+pea through twenty mattresses and twenty feather beds. Nobody but a real
+princess could have such a delicate skin.</p>
+
+<p>So the prince took her to be his wife, for now he was sure that he had
+found a real princess, and the pea was put into the Museum, where it may
+still be seen if no one has stolen it.</p>
+
+<p>Now this is a true story.</p>
+
+
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/detail02.jpg" width="600" height="88" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<p><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114"></a></p>
+<h2><a name="THE_GARDEN_OF_PARADISE" id="THE_GARDEN_OF_PARADISE"></a>THE GARDEN OF PARADISE</h2>
+
+
+<p>There was once a king's son; nobody had so many or such beautiful books
+as he had. He could read about everything which had ever happened in
+this world, and see it all represented in the most beautiful pictures.
+He could get information about every nation and every country; but as to
+where the Garden of Paradise was to be found, not a word could he
+discover, and this was the very thing he thought most about. His
+grandmother had told him, when he was quite a little fellow and was
+about to begin his school life, that every flower in the Garden of
+Paradise was a delicious cake, and that the pistils were full of wine.
+In one flower history was written, in another geography or tables; you
+had only to eat the cake and you knew the lesson. The more you ate, the
+more history, geography and tables you knew. All this he believed then;
+but as he grew older and wiser and learnt more, he easily perceived that
+the delights of the Garden of Paradise must be far beyond all this.</p>
+
+<table summary="illo">
+<tr>
+<td><div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;">
+<a name="Plate_14" id="Plate_14"></a><a href="images/plate14.jpg"><img src="images/plate14-th.jpg" width="350" height="438" alt="" title="" /></a>
+</div>
+</td>
+<td style="width: 40%;">
+<p><i>His grandmother had told him, when he was quite a little fellow and
+was about to begin his school life, that every flower in the Garden of
+Paradise was a delicious cake, and that the pistils were full of wine.</i></p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+
+<p><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119"></a>'Oh, why did Eve take of the tree of knowledge? Why did Adam eat the
+forbidden fruit? If it had only been I it would not have happened! never
+would sin have entered the world!'</p>
+
+<p>This is what he said then, and he still said it when he was seventeen;
+his thoughts were full of the Garden of Paradise.</p>
+
+<p>He walked into the wood one day; he was alone, for that was his greatest
+pleasure. Evening came on, the clouds drew up and it rained as if the
+whole heaven had become a sluice from which the water poured in sheets;
+it was as dark as it is otherwise in the deepest well. Now he slipped on
+the wet grass, and then he fell on the bare stones which jutted out of
+the rocky ground. Everything was dripping, and at last the poor Prince
+hadn't got a dry thread on him. He had to climb over huge rocks where
+the water oozed out of the thick moss. He was almost fainting; just then
+he heard a curious murmuring and saw in front of him a big lighted cave.
+A fire was burning in the middle, big enough to roast a stag, which was
+in fact being done; a splendid stag with its huge antlers was stuck on a
+spit, being slowly turned round between the hewn trunks of two fir
+trees. An oldish woman, tall and strong enough to be a man dressed up,
+sat by the fire throwing on logs from time to time.</p>
+
+<p>'Come in, by all means!' she said; 'sit down by the fire so that your
+clothes may dry!'</p>
+
+<p><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120"></a></p><p>'There is a shocking draught here,' said the Prince, as he sat down on
+the ground.</p>
+
+<p>'It will be worse than this when my sons come home!' said the woman.
+'You are in the cavern of the winds; my sons are the four winds of the
+world! Do you understand?'</p>
+
+<p>'Who are your sons?' asked the Prince.</p>
+
+<p>'Well that's not so easy to answer when the question is stupidly put,'
+said the woman. 'My sons do as they like; they are playing rounders now
+with the clouds up there in the great hall,' and she pointed up into the
+sky.</p>
+
+<p>'Oh indeed!' said the Prince. 'You seem to speak very harshly, and you
+are not so gentle as the women I generally see about me!'</p>
+
+<p>'Oh, I daresay they have nothing else to do! I have to be harsh if I am
+to keep my boys under control! But I can do it, although they are a
+stiff-necked lot! Do you see those four sacks hanging on the wall? They
+are just as frightened of them as you used to be of the cane behind the
+looking-glass. I can double the boys up, I can tell you, and then they
+have to go into the bag; we don't stand upon ceremony, and there they
+have to stay; they can't get out to play their tricks till it suits me
+to let them. But here we have one of them.' It was the Northwind who
+came in with an icy blast; great hailstones peppered about the floor and
+snow-flakes drifted in. He was dressed in bearskin trousers and jacket,
+<a name="Page_121" id="Page_121"></a>and he had a sealskin cap drawn over his ears. Long icicles were
+hanging from his beard, and one hailstone after another dropped down
+from the collar of his jacket.</p>
+
+<p>'Don't go straight to the fire,' said the Prince. 'You might easily get
+chilblains!'</p>
+
+<p>'Chilblains!' said the Northwind with a loud laugh. 'Chilblains! they
+are my greatest delight! What sort of a feeble creature are you? How did
+you get into the cave of the winds?'</p>
+
+<p>'He is my guest,' said the old woman, 'and if you are not pleased with
+that explanation you may go into the bag! Now you know my opinion!'</p>
+
+<p>This had its effect, and the Northwind told them where he came from, and
+where he had been for the last month.</p>
+
+<p>'I come from the Arctic seas,' he said. 'I have been on Behring Island
+with the Russian walrus-hunters. I sat at the helm and slept when they
+sailed from the north cape, and when I woke now and then the stormy
+petrels were flying about my legs. They are queer birds; they give a
+brisk flap with their wings and then keep them stretched out and
+motionless, and even then they have speed enough.'</p>
+
+<p>'Pray don't be too long-winded,' said the mother of the winds. 'So at
+last you got to Behring Island!'</p>
+
+<p>'It's perfectly splendid! There you have a floor to dance upon, as flat
+as a pancake, half-thawed snow, with moss. There were <a name="Page_122" id="Page_122"></a>bones of whales
+and Polar bears lying about; they looked like the legs and arms of
+giants covered with green mould. One would think that the sun had never
+shone on them. I gave a little puff to the fog so that one could see the
+shed. It was a house built of wreckage and covered with the skins of
+whales; the flesh side was turned outwards; it was all red and green; a
+living Polar bear sat on the roof growling. I went to the shore and
+looked at the birds' nests, looked at the unfledged young ones screaming
+and gaping; then I blew down thousands of their throats and they learnt
+to shut their mouths. Lower down the walruses were rolling about like
+monster maggots with pigs' heads and teeth a yard long!'</p>
+
+<p>'You're a good story-teller, my boy!' said his mother. 'It makes my
+mouth water to hear you!'</p>
+
+<p>'Then there was a hunt! The harpoons were plunged into the walruses'
+breasts, and the steaming blood spurted out of them like fountains over
+the ice. Then I remembered my part of the game! I blew up and made my
+ships, the mountain-high icebergs, nip the boats; whew! how they
+whistled and how they screamed, but I whistled louder. They were obliged
+to throw the dead walruses, chests and ropes out upon the ice! I shook
+the snow-flakes over them and let them drift southwards to taste the
+salt water. They will never come back to Behring Island!'</p>
+
+<p>'Then you've been doing evil!' said the mother of the winds.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123"></a></p><p>'What good I did, the others may tell you,' said he. 'But here we have
+my brother from the west; I like him best of all; he smells of the sea
+and brings a splendid cool breeze with him!'</p>
+
+<p>'Is that the little Zephyr?' asked the Prince.</p>
+
+<p>'Yes, certainly it is Zephyr, but he is not so little as all that. He
+used to be a pretty boy once, but that's gone by!'</p>
+
+<p>He looked like a wild man of the woods, but he had a padded hat on so as
+not to come to any harm. He carried a mahogany club cut in the American
+mahogany forests. It could not be anything less than that.</p>
+
+<p>'Where do you come from?' asked his mother.</p>
+
+<p>'From the forest wildernesses!' he said, 'where the thorny creepers make
+a fence between every tree, where the water-snake lies in the wet grass,
+and where human beings seem to be superfluous!'</p>
+
+<p>'What did you do there?'</p>
+
+<p>'I looked at the mighty river, saw where it dashed over the rocks in
+dust and flew with the clouds to carry the rainbow. I saw the wild
+buffalo swimming in the river, but the stream carried him away; he
+floated with the wild duck, which soared into the sky at the rapids; but
+the buffalo was carried over with the water. I liked that and blew a
+storm, so that the prim&aelig;val trees had to sail too, and they were whirled
+about like shavings.'</p>
+
+<p>'And you have done nothing else?' asked the old woman.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124"></a></p><p>'I have been turning somersaults in the Savannahs, patting the wild
+horse, and shaking down cocoanuts! Oh yes, I have plenty of stories to
+tell! But one need not tell everything. You know that very well, old
+woman!' and then he kissed his mother so heartily that she nearly fell
+backwards; he was indeed a wild boy.</p>
+
+<p>The Southwind appeared now in a turban and a flowing bedouin's cloak.</p>
+
+<p>'It is fearfully cold in here,' he said, throwing wood on the fire; 'it
+is easy to see that the Northwind got here first!'</p>
+
+<p>'It is hot enough here to roast a polar bear,' said the Northwind.</p>
+
+<p>'You are a polar bear yourself!' said the Southwind.</p>
+
+<p>'Do you want to go into the bag?' asked the old woman. 'Sit down on that
+stone and tell us where you have been.'</p>
+
+<p>'In Africa, mother!' he answered. 'I have been chasing the lion with the
+Hottentots in Kaffirland! What grass there is on those plains! as green
+as an olive. The gnu was dancing about, and the ostriches ran races with
+me, but I am still the fastest. I went to the desert with its yellow
+sand. It looks like the bottom of the sea. I met a caravan! They were
+killing their last camel to get water to drink, but it wasn't much they
+got. The sun was blazing above, and the sand burning below. There were
+no limits to the outstretched desert. Then I burrowed into the fine
+loose sand and whirled it up in great columns&mdash;that was a dance! You
+<a name="Page_125" id="Page_125"></a>should have seen how despondently the dromedaries stood, and the
+merchant drew his caftan over his head. He threw himself down before me
+as if I had been Allah, his god. Now they are buried, and there is a
+pyramid of sand over them all; when I blow it away, sometime the sun
+will bleach their bones, and then travellers will see that people have
+been there before, otherwise you would hardly believe it in the desert!'</p>
+
+<p>'Then you have only been doing harm!' said the mother. 'Into the bag you
+go!' And before he knew where he was she had the Southwind by the waist
+and in the bag; it rolled about on the ground, but she sat down upon it
+and then it had to be quiet.</p>
+
+<p>'Your sons are lively fellows!' said the Prince.</p>
+
+<p>'Yes, indeed,' she said; 'but I can master them! Here comes the fourth.'</p>
+
+<p>It was the Eastwind, and he was dressed like a Chinaman.</p>
+
+<p>'Oh, have you come from that quarter?' said the mother. 'I thought you
+had been in the Garden of Paradise.'</p>
+
+<p>'I am only going there to-morrow!' said the Eastwind. 'It will be a
+hundred years to-morrow since I have been there. I have just come from
+China, where I danced round the porcelain tower till all the bells
+jingled. The officials were flogged in the streets, the bamboo canes
+were broken over their shoulders, and they were all people ranging from
+the first to the ninth rank. They shrieked<a name="Page_126" id="Page_126"></a> "Many thanks, Father and
+benefactor," but they didn't mean what they said, and I went on ringing
+the bells and singing "Tsing, tsang, tsu!"'</p>
+
+<p>'You're quite uproarious about it!' said the old woman. 'It's a good
+thing you are going to the Garden of Paradise to-morrow; it always has a
+good effect on your behaviour. Mind you drink deep of the well of
+wisdom, and bring a little bottleful home to me.'</p>
+
+<p>'That I will,' said the Eastwind, 'But why have you put my brother from
+the south into the bag? Out with him. He must tell me about the
+ph&oelig;nix; the Princess always wants to hear about that bird when I call
+every hundred years. Open the bag! then you'll be my sweetest mother,
+and I'll give you two pockets full of tea as green and fresh as when I
+picked it!'</p>
+
+<p>'Well, for the sake of the tea, and because you are my darling, I will
+open my bag!'</p>
+
+<p>She did open it and the Southwind crept out, but he was quite
+crestfallen because the strange Prince had seen his disgrace.</p>
+
+<p>'Here is a palm leaf for the Princess!' said the Southwind. 'The old
+ph&oelig;nix, the only one in the world, gave it to me. He has scratched
+his whole history on it with his bill, for the hundred years of his
+life, and she can read it for herself. I saw how the ph&oelig;nix set fire
+to his nest himself and sat on it while it burnt, like the widow of a
+Hindoo. Oh, how the dry branches crackled, how <a name="Page_127" id="Page_127"></a>it smoked, and what a
+smell there was! At last it all burst into flame; the old bird was burnt
+to ashes, but his egg lay glowing in the fire; it broke with a loud bang
+and the young one flew out. Now it rules over all the birds, and it is
+the only ph&oelig;nix in the world. He bit a hole in the leaf I gave you;
+that is his greeting to the Princess.'</p>
+
+<p>'Let us have something to eat now!' said the mother of the winds; and
+they all sat down to eat the roast stag, and the Prince sat by the side
+of the Eastwind, so they soon became good friends.</p>
+
+<p>'I say,' said the Prince, 'just tell me who is this Princess, and where
+is the Garden of Paradise?'</p>
+
+<p>'Oh ho!' said the Eastwind, 'if that is where you want to go you must
+fly with me to-morrow. But I may as well tell you that no human being
+has been there since Adam and Eve's time. You know all about them I
+suppose from your Bible stories?'</p>
+
+<p>'Of course,' said the Prince.</p>
+
+<p>'When they were driven away the Garden of Eden sank into the ground, but
+it kept its warm sunshine, its mild air, and all its charms. The queen
+of the fairies lives there. The Island of Bliss, where death never
+enters, and where living is a delight, is there. Get on my back
+to-morrow and I will take you with me; I think I can manage it! But you
+mustn't talk now, I want to go to sleep.'</p>
+
+<p>When the Prince woke up in the early morning, he was not a little
+surprised to find that he was already high above the clouds.<a name="Page_128" id="Page_128"></a> He was
+sitting on the back of the Eastwind, who was holding him carefully; they
+were so high up that woods and fields, rivers and lakes, looked like a
+large coloured map.</p>
+
+<p>'Good morning,' said the Eastwind. 'You may as well sleep a little
+longer, for there is not much to be seen in this flat country below us,
+unless you want to count the churches. They look like chalk dots on the
+green board.'</p>
+
+<p>He called the fields and meadows 'the green board.'</p>
+
+<p>'It was very rude of me to leave without saying good-bye to your mother
+and brothers,' said the Prince.</p>
+
+<p>'One is excused when one is asleep!' said the Eastwind, and they flew on
+faster than ever. You could mark their flight by the rustling of the
+trees as they passed over the woods; and whenever they crossed a lake,
+or the sea, the waves rose and the great ships dipped low down in the
+water, like floating swans. Towards evening the large towns were amusing
+as it grew dark, with all their lights twinkling now here, now there,
+just as when one burns a piece of paper and sees all the little sparks
+like children coming home from school. The Prince clapped his hands, but
+the Eastwind told him he had better leave off and hold tight, or he
+might fall and find himself hanging on to a church steeple.</p>
+
+<p>The eagle in the great forest flew swiftly, but the Eastwind flew more
+swiftly still. The Kossack on his little horse sped fast over the
+plains, but the Prince sped faster still.</p>
+
+<table summary="illo">
+<tr>
+<td><div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;">
+<a name="Plate_15" id="Plate_15"></a><a href="images/plate15.jpg"><img src="images/plate15-th.jpg" width="350" height="433" alt="" title="" /></a>
+</div>
+</td>
+<td style="width: 40%;">
+<p><i>The eagle in the great forest flew swiftly, but the Eastwind flew more
+swiftly still.</i></p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133"></a>'Now you can see the Himalayas!' said the Eastwind. 'They are the
+highest mountains in Asia; we shall soon reach the Garden of Paradise.'</p>
+
+<p>They took a more southerly direction, and the air became scented with
+spices and flowers. Figs and pomegranates grew wild, and the wild vines
+were covered with blue and green grapes. They both descended here and
+stretched themselves on the soft grass, where the flowers nodded to the
+wind, as much as to say, 'Welcome back.'</p>
+
+<p>'Are we in the Garden of Paradise now?' asked the Prince.</p>
+
+<p>'No, certainly not!' answered the Eastwind. 'But we shall soon be there.
+Do you see that wall of rock and the great cavern where the wild vine
+hangs like a big curtain? We have to go through there! Wrap yourself up
+in your cloak, the sun is burning here, but a step further on it is icy
+cold. The bird which flies past the cavern has one wing out here in the
+heat of summer, and the other is there in the cold of winter.'</p>
+
+<p>'So that is the way to the Garden of Paradise!' said the Prince.</p>
+
+<p>Now they entered the cavern. Oh, how icily cold it was; but it did not
+last long. The Eastwind spread his wings, and they shone like the
+brightest flame; but what a cave it was! Large blocks of stone, from
+which the water dripped, hung over them in the most extraordinary
+shapes; at one moment it was so low and <a name="Page_134" id="Page_134"></a>narrow that they had to crawl
+on hands and knees, the next it was as wide and lofty as if they were in
+the open air. It looked like a chapel of the dead, with mute organ pipes
+and petrified banners.</p>
+
+<p>'We seem to be journeying along Death's road to the Garden of Paradise!'
+said the Prince, but the Eastwind never answered a word, he only pointed
+before them where a beautiful blue light was shining. The blocks of
+stone above them grew dimmer and dimmer, and at last they became as
+transparent as a white cloud in the moonshine. The air was also
+deliciously soft, as fresh as on the mountain-tops and as scented as
+down among the roses in the valley.</p>
+
+<p>A river ran there as clear as the air itself, and the fish in it were
+like gold and silver. Purple eels, which gave out blue sparks with every
+curve, gambolled about in the water; and the broad leaves of the
+water-lilies were tinged with the hues of the rainbow, while the flower
+itself was like a fiery orange flame, nourished by the water, just as
+oil keeps a lamp constantly burning. A firm bridge of marble, as
+delicately and skilfully carved as if it were lace and glass beads, led
+over the water to the Island of Bliss, where the Garden of Paradise
+bloomed.</p>
+
+<p>The Eastwind took the Prince in his arms and bore him over. The flowers
+and leaves there sang all the beautiful old songs of his childhood, but
+sang them more wonderfully than any human voice could sing them.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135"></a></p><p>Were these palm trees or giant water plants growing here? The Prince
+had never seen such rich and mighty trees. The most wonderful climbing
+plants hung in wreaths, such as are only to be found pictured in gold
+and colours on the margins of old books of the Saints or entwined among
+their initial letters. It was the most extraordinary combination of
+birds, flowers and scrolls.</p>
+
+<p>Close by on the grass stood a flock of peacocks with their brilliant
+tails outspread. Yes, indeed, it seemed so, but when the Prince touched
+them he saw that they were not birds but plants. They were big dock
+leaves, which shone like peacocks' tails. Lions and tigers sprang like
+agile cats among the green hedges, which were scented with the blossom
+of the olive, and the lion and the tiger were tame. The wild dove,
+glistening like a pearl, beat the lion's mane with his wings; and the
+antelope, otherwise so shy, stood by nodding, just as if he wanted to
+join the game.</p>
+
+<p>The Fairy of the Garden now advanced to meet them; her garments shone
+like the sun, and her face beamed like that of a happy mother rejoicing
+over her child. She was young and very beautiful, and was surrounded by
+a band of lovely girls, each with a gleaming star in her hair.</p>
+
+<p>When the Eastwind gave her the inscribed leaf from the Ph&oelig;nix her
+eyes sparkled with delight. She took the Prince's hand and led him into
+her palace, where the walls were the colour <a name="Page_136" id="Page_136"></a>of the brightest tulips in
+the sunlight. The ceiling was one great shining flower, and the longer
+one gazed into it the deeper the calyx seemed to be. The Prince went to
+the window, and looking through one of the panes saw the Tree of
+Knowledge, with the Serpent, and Adam and Eve standing by.</p>
+
+<p>'Are they not driven out?' he asked, and the Fairy smiled, and explained
+that Time had burned a picture into each pane, but not of the kind one
+usually sees; they were alive, the leaves on the trees moved, and people
+came and went like the reflections in a mirror.</p>
+
+<p>Then he looked through another pane, and he saw Jacob's dream, with the
+ladder going straight up into heaven, and angels with great wings were
+fluttering up and down. All that had ever happened in this world lived
+and moved on these window panes; only Time could imprint such wonderful
+pictures.</p>
+
+<table summary="illo">
+<tr>
+<td><div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;">
+<a name="Plate_16" id="Plate_16"></a><a href="images/plate16.jpg"><img src="images/plate16-th.jpg" width="350" height="439" alt="" title="" /></a>
+</div>
+</td>
+<td style="width: 40%;">
+<p><i>The Fairy of the Garden now advanced to meet them; her garments shone
+like the sun, and her face beamed like that of a happy mother rejoicing
+over her child.</i></p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>The Fairy smiled and led him into a large, lofty room, the walls of
+which were like transparent paintings of faces, one more beautiful than
+the other. These were millions of the Blessed who smiled and sang, and
+all their songs melted into one perfect melody. The highest ones were so
+tiny that they seemed smaller than the very smallest rosebud, no bigger
+than a pinpoint in a drawing. In the middle of the room stood a large
+tree, with handsome drooping branches; golden apples, large and small,
+hung like oranges among its green leaves. It was the Tree of
+<a name="Page_141" id="Page_141"></a>Knowledge, of whose fruit Adam and Eve had eaten. From every leaf
+hung a shining red drop of dew; it was as if the tree wept tears of
+blood.</p>
+
+<p>'Now let us get into the boat,' said the Fairy. 'We shall find
+refreshment on the swelling waters. The boat rocks, but it does not move
+from the spot; all the countries of the world will pass before our
+eyes.'</p>
+
+<p>It was a curious sight to see the whole coast move. Here came lofty
+snow-clad Alps, with their clouds and dark fir trees. The horn echoed
+sadly among them, and the shepherd yodelled sweetly in the valleys. Then
+banian trees bent their long drooping branches over the boat, black
+swans floated on the water, and the strangest animals and flowers
+appeared on the shore. This was New Holland, the fifth portion of the
+world, which glided past them with a view of its blue mountains. They
+heard the song of priests, and saw the dances of the savages to the
+sound of drums and pipes of bone. The pyramids of Egypt reaching to the
+clouds, with fallen columns, and Sphynxes half buried in sand, next
+sailed past them. Then came the Aurora Borealis blazing over the peaks
+of the north; they were fireworks which could not be imitated. The
+Prince was so happy, and he saw a hundred times more than we have
+described.</p>
+
+<p>'Can I stay here always?' he asked.</p>
+
+<p>'That depends upon yourself,' answered the Fairy. 'If you <a name="Page_142" id="Page_142"></a>do not, like
+Adam, allow yourself to be tempted to do what is forbidden, you can stay
+here always.'</p>
+
+<p>'I will not touch the apples on the Tree of Knowledge,' said the Prince.
+'There are thousands of other fruits here as beautiful.'</p>
+
+<p>'Test yourself, and if you are not strong enough, go back with the
+Eastwind who brought you. He is going away now, and will not come back
+for a hundred years; the time will fly in this place like a hundred
+hours, but that is a long time for temptation and sin. Every evening
+when I leave you I must say, "Come with me," and I must beckon to you,
+but stay behind. Do not come with me, for with every step you take your
+longing will grow stronger. You will reach the hall where grows the Tree
+of Knowledge; I sleep beneath its fragrant drooping branches. You will
+bend over me and I must smile, but if you press a kiss upon my lips
+Paradise will sink deep down into the earth, and it will be lost to you.
+The sharp winds of the wilderness will whistle round you, the cold rain
+will drop from your hair. Sorrow and labour will be your lot.'</p>
+
+<p>'I will remain here!' said the Prince.</p>
+
+<p>And the Eastwind kissed him on the mouth and said: 'Be strong, then we
+shall meet again in a hundred years. Farewell! Farewell!' And the
+Eastwind spread his great wings; they shone like poppies at the harvest
+time, or the Northern Lights in a cold winter.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143"></a></p><p>'Good-bye! good-bye!' whispered the flowers. Storks and pelicans flew
+in a line like waving ribbons, conducting him to the boundaries of the
+Garden.</p>
+
+<p>'Now we begin our dancing!' said the Fairy; 'at the end when I dance
+with you, as the sun goes down you will see me beckon to you and cry,
+"Come with me", but do not come. I have to repeat it every night for a
+hundred years. Every time you resist, you will grow stronger, and at
+last you will not even think of following. To-night is the first time.
+Remember my warning!'</p>
+
+<p>And the Fairy led him into a large hall of white transparent lilies, the
+yellow stamens in each formed a little golden harp which echoed the
+sound of strings and flutes. Lovely girls, slender and lissom, dressed
+in floating gauze, which revealed their exquisite limbs, glided in the
+dance, and sang of the joy of living&mdash;that they would never die&mdash;and
+that the Garden of Paradise would bloom for ever.</p>
+
+<p>The sun went down and the sky was bathed in golden light which gave the
+lilies the effect of roses; and the Prince drank of the foaming wine
+handed to him by the maidens. He felt such joy as he had never known
+before; he saw the background of the hall opening where the Tree of
+Knowledge stood in a radiancy which blinded him. The song proceeding
+from it was soft and lovely, like his mother's voice, and she seemed to
+say, 'My child, my beloved child!'</p>
+
+<p><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144"></a></p><p>Then the Fairy beckoned to him and said so tenderly, 'Come with me,'
+that he rushed towards her, forgetting his promise, forgetting
+everything on the very first evening that she smiled and beckoned to
+him.</p>
+
+<p>The fragrance in the scented air around grew stronger, the harps sounded
+sweeter than ever, and it seemed as if the millions of smiling heads in
+the hall where the Tree grew nodded and sang, 'One must know everything.
+Man is lord of the earth.' They were no longer tears of blood which fell
+from the Tree; it seemed to him that they were red shining stars.</p>
+
+<p>'Come with me, come with me,' spoke those trembling tones, and at every
+step the Prince's cheeks burnt hotter and hotter and his blood coursed
+more rapidly.</p>
+
+<p>'I must go,' he said, 'it is no sin; I must see her asleep; nothing will
+be lost if I do not kiss her, and that I will not do. My will is
+strong.'</p>
+
+<p>The Fairy dropped her shimmering garment, drew back the branches, and a
+moment after was hidden within their depths.</p>
+
+<p>'I have not sinned yet!' said the Prince, 'nor will I'; then he drew
+back the branches. There she lay asleep already, beautiful as only the
+Fairy in the Garden of Paradise can be. She smiled in her dreams; he
+bent over her and saw the tears welling up under her eyelashes.</p>
+
+<table summary="illo">
+<tr>
+<td><div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;">
+<a name="Plate_17" id="Plate_17"></a><a href="images/plate17.jpg"><img src="images/plate17-th.jpg" width="350" height="438" alt="" title="" /></a>
+</div>
+</td>
+<td style="width: 40%;">
+<p><i>The Fairy dropped her shimmering garment, drew back the branches, and a
+moment after was hidden within their depths.</i></p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>'Do you weep for me?' he whispered. 'Weep not, beautiful <a name="Page_149" id="Page_149"></a>maiden. I
+only now understand the full bliss of Paradise; it surges through my
+blood and through my thoughts. I feel the strength of the angels and of
+everlasting life in my mortal limbs! If it were to be everlasting night
+to me, a moment like this were worth it!' and he kissed away the tears
+from her eyes; his mouth touched hers.</p>
+
+<p>Then came a sound like thunder, louder and more awful than any he had
+ever heard before, and everything around collapsed. The beautiful Fairy,
+the flowery Paradise sank deeper and deeper. The Prince saw it sink into
+the darkness of night; it shone far off like a little tiny twinkling
+star. The chill of death crept over his limbs; he closed his eyes and
+lay long as if dead.</p>
+
+<p>The cold rain fell on his face, and the sharp wind blew around his head,
+and at last his memory came back. 'What have I done?' he sighed. 'I have
+sinned like Adam, sinned so heavily that Paradise has sunk low beneath
+the earth!' And he opened his eyes; he could still see the star, the
+far-away star, which twinkled like Paradise; it was the morning star in
+the sky. He got up and found himself in the wood near the cave of the
+winds, and the mother of the winds sat by his side. She looked angry and
+raised her hand.</p>
+
+<p>'So soon as the first evening!' she said. 'I thought as much; if you
+were my boy, you should go into the bag!'</p>
+
+<p>'Ah, he shall soon go there!' said Death. He was a strong <a name="Page_150" id="Page_150"></a>old man, with
+a scythe in his hand and great black wings. 'He shall be laid in a
+coffin, but not now; I only mark him and then leave him for a time to
+wander about on the earth to expiate his sin and to grow better. I will
+come some time. When he least expects me, I shall come back, lay him in
+a black coffin, put it on my head, and fly to the skies. The Garden of
+Paradise blooms there too, and if he is good and holy he shall enter
+into it; but if his thoughts are wicked and his heart still full of sin,
+he will sink deeper in his coffin than Paradise sank, and I shall only
+go once in every thousand years to see if he is to sink deeper or to
+rise to the stars, the twinkling stars up there.'</p>
+
+
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/detail02.jpg" width="600" height="88" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<p><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151"></a></p>
+<h2><a name="THE_MERMAID" id="THE_MERMAID"></a>THE MERMAID</h2>
+
+
+<p>Far out at sea the water is as blue as the bluest cornflower, and as
+clear as the clearest crystal; but it is very deep, too deep for any
+cable to fathom, and if many steeples were piled on the top of one
+another they would not reach from the bed of the sea to the surface of
+the water. It is down there that the Mermen live.</p>
+
+<p>Now don't imagine that there are only bare white sands at the bottom; oh
+no! the most wonderful trees and plants grow there, with such flexible
+stalks and leaves, that at the slightest motion of the water they move
+just as if they were alive. All the fish, big and little, glide among
+the branches just as, up here, birds glide through the air. The palace
+of the Merman King lies in the very deepest part; its walls are of coral
+and the long pointed windows of the clearest amber, but the roof is made
+of mussel shells which open and shut with the lapping of the water. This
+has a lovely effect, for there are gleaming pearls in every shell, any
+one of which would be the pride of a queen's crown.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152"></a></p><p>The Merman King had been for many years a widower, but his old mother
+kept house for him; she was a clever woman, but so proud of her noble
+birth that she wore twelve oysters on her tail, while the other grandees
+were only allowed six. Otherwise she was worthy of all praise,
+especially because she was so fond of the little mermaid princesses, her
+grandchildren. They were six beautiful children, but the youngest was
+the prettiest of all; her skin was as soft and delicate as a roseleaf,
+her eyes as blue as the deepest sea, but like all the others she had no
+feet, and instead of legs she had a fish's tail.</p>
+
+<p>All the livelong day they used to play in the palace in the great halls,
+where living flowers grew out of the walls. When the great amber windows
+were thrown open the fish swam in, just as the swallows fly into our
+rooms when we open the windows, but the fish swam right up to the little
+princesses, ate out of their hands, and allowed themselves to be patted.</p>
+
+<table summary="illo">
+<tr>
+<td><div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;">
+<a name="Plate_18" id="Plate_18"></a><a href="images/plate18.jpg"><img src="images/plate18-th.jpg" width="350" height="435" alt="" title="" /></a>
+</div>
+</td>
+<td style="width: 40%;">
+<p><i>The Merman King had been for many years a widower, but his old mother
+kept house for him; she was a clever woman, but so proud of her noble
+birth that she wore twelve oysters on her tail, while the other grandees
+were only allowed six.</i></p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>Outside the palace was a large garden, with fiery red and deep blue
+trees, the fruit of which shone like gold, while the flowers glowed like
+fire on their ceaselessly waving stalks. The ground was of the finest
+sand, but it was of a blue phosphorescent tint. Everything was bathed in
+a wondrous blue light down there; you might more readily have supposed
+yourself to be high up in the air, with only the sky above and below
+you, than that you were at the bottom of the ocean. In a dead calm you
+could just catch a<a name="Page_157" id="Page_157"></a> glimpse of the sun like a purple flower with a
+stream of light radiating from its calyx.</p>
+
+<p>Each little princess had her own little plot of garden, where she could
+dig and plant just as she liked. One made her flower-bed in the shape of
+a whale; another thought it nice to have hers like a little mermaid; but
+the youngest made hers quite round like the sun, and she would only have
+flowers of a rosy hue like its beams. She was a curious child, quiet and
+thoughtful, and while the other sisters decked out their gardens with
+all kinds of extraordinary objects which they got from wrecks, she would
+have nothing besides the rosy flowers like the sun up above, except a
+statue of a beautiful boy. It was hewn out of the purest white marble
+and had gone to the bottom from some wreck. By the statue she planted a
+rosy red weeping willow which grew splendidly, and the fresh delicate
+branches hung round and over it, till they almost touched the blue sand
+where the shadows showed violet, and were ever moving like the branches.
+It looked as if the leaves and the roots were playfully interchanging
+kisses.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing gave her greater pleasure than to hear about the world of human
+beings up above; she made her old grandmother tell her all that she knew
+about ships and towns, people and animals. But above all it seemed
+strangely beautiful to her that up on the earth the flowers were
+scented, for they were not so at the bottom of the sea; also that the
+woods were green, and that <a name="Page_158" id="Page_158"></a>the fish which were to be seen among the
+branches could sing so loudly and sweetly that it was a delight to
+listen to them. You see the grandmother called little birds fish, or the
+mermaids would not have understood her, as they had never seen a bird.</p>
+
+<p>'When you are fifteen,' said the grandmother, 'you will be allowed to
+rise up from the sea and sit on the rocks in the moonlight, and look at
+the big ships sailing by, and you will also see woods and towns.'</p>
+
+<p>One of the sisters would be fifteen in the following year, but the
+others,&mdash;well, they were each one year younger than the other, so that
+the youngest had five whole years to wait before she would be allowed to
+come up from the bottom, to see what things were like on earth. But each
+one promised the others to give a full account of all that she had seen,
+and found most wonderful on the first day. Their grandmother could never
+tell them enough, for there were so many things about which they wanted
+information.</p>
+
+<p>None of them was so full of longings as the youngest, the very one who
+had the longest time to wait, and who was so quiet and dreamy. Many a
+night she stood by the open windows and looked up through the dark blue
+water which the fish were lashing with their tails and fins. She could
+see the moon and the stars, it is true; their light was pale, but they
+looked much bigger through the water than they do to our eyes. When she
+saw a dark shadow glide between her and them, she knew that it was
+either a whale <a name="Page_159" id="Page_159"></a>swimming above her, or else a ship laden with human
+beings. I am certain they never dreamt that a lovely little mermaid was
+standing down below, stretching up her white hands towards the keel.</p>
+
+<p>The eldest princess had now reached her fifteenth birthday, and was to
+venture above the water. When she came back she had hundreds of things
+to tell them, but the most delightful of all, she said, was to lie in
+the moonlight, on a sandbank in a calm sea, and to gaze at the large
+town close to the shore, where the lights twinkled like hundreds of
+stars; to listen to music and the noise and bustle of carriages and
+people, to see the many church towers and spires, and to hear the bells
+ringing; and just because she could not go on shore she longed for that
+most of all.</p>
+
+<p>Oh, how eagerly the youngest sister listened! and when, later in the
+evening she stood at the open window and looked up through the dark blue
+water, she thought of the big town with all its noise and bustle, and
+fancied that she could even hear the church bells ringing.</p>
+
+<p>The year after, the second sister was allowed to mount up through the
+water and swim about wherever she liked. The sun was just going down
+when she reached the surface, the most beautiful sight, she thought,
+that she had ever seen. The whole sky had looked like gold, she said,
+and as for the clouds! well, their beauty was beyond description; they
+floated in red and violet splendour over her head, and, far faster than
+they went, a flock of <a name="Page_160" id="Page_160"></a>wild swans flew like a long white veil over the
+water towards the setting sun; she swam towards it, but it sank and all
+the rosy light on clouds and water faded away.</p>
+
+<p>The year after that the third sister went up, and, being much the most
+venturesome of them all, swam up a broad river which ran into the sea.
+She saw beautiful green, vine-clad hills; palaces and country seats
+peeping through splendid woods. She heard the birds singing, and the sun
+was so hot that she was often obliged to dive, to cool her burning face.
+In a tiny bay she found a troop of little children running about naked
+and paddling in the water; she wanted to play with them, but they were
+frightened and ran away. Then a little black animal came up; it was a
+dog, but she had never seen one before; it barked so furiously at her
+that she was frightened and made for the open sea. She could never
+forget the beautiful woods, the green hills and the lovely children who
+could swim in the water although they had no fishes' tails.</p>
+
+<p>The fourth sister was not so brave; she stayed in the remotest part of
+the ocean, and, according to her account, that was the most beautiful
+spot. You could see for miles and miles around you, and the sky above
+was like a great glass dome. She had seen ships, but only far away, so
+that they looked like sea-gulls. There were grotesque dolphins turning
+somersaults, and gigantic whales squirting water through their nostrils
+like hundreds of fountains on every side.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161"></a></p><p>Now the fifth sister's turn came. Her birthday fell in the winter, so
+that she saw sights that the others had not seen on their first trips.
+The sea looked quite green, and large icebergs were floating about, each
+one of which looked like a pearl, she said, but was much bigger than the
+church towers built by men. They took the most wonderful shapes, and
+sparkled like diamonds. She had seated herself on one of the largest,
+and all the passing ships sheered off in alarm when they saw her sitting
+there with her long hair streaming loose in the wind.</p>
+
+<p>In the evening the sky became overcast with dark clouds; it thundered
+and lightened, and the huge icebergs glittering in the bright lightning,
+were lifted high into the air by the black waves. All the ships
+shortened sail, and there was fear and trembling on every side, but she
+sat quietly on her floating iceberg watching the blue lightning flash in
+zigzags down on to the shining sea.</p>
+
+<p>The first time any of the sisters rose above the water she was delighted
+by the novelties and beauties she saw; but once grown up, and at liberty
+to go where she liked, she became indifferent and longed for her home;
+in the course of a month or so they all said that after all their own
+home in the deep was best, it was so cosy there.</p>
+
+<p>Many an evening the five sisters interlacing their arms would rise above
+the water together. They had lovely voices, much clearer than any
+mortal, and when a storm was rising, and they <a name="Page_162" id="Page_162"></a>expected ships to be
+wrecked, they would sing in the most seductive strains of the wonders of
+the deep, bidding the seafarers have no fear of them. But the sailors
+could not understand the words, they thought it was the voice of the
+storm; nor could it be theirs to see this Elysium of the deep, for when
+the ship sank they were drowned, and only reached the Merman's palace in
+death. When the elder sisters rose up in this manner, arm-in-arm, in the
+evening, the youngest remained behind quite alone, looking after them as
+if she must weep; but mermaids have no tears, and so they suffer all the
+more.</p>
+
+<p>'Oh! if I were only fifteen!' she said, 'I know how fond I shall be of
+the world above, and of the mortals who dwell there.'</p>
+
+<p>At last her fifteenth birthday came.</p>
+
+<p>'Now we shall have you off our hands,' said her grandmother, the old
+queen-dowager. 'Come now, let me adorn you like your other sisters!' and
+she put a wreath of white lilies round her hair, but every petal of the
+flowers was half a pearl; then the old queen had eight oysters fixed on
+to the princess's tail to show her high rank.</p>
+
+<p>'But it hurts so!' said the little mermaid.</p>
+
+<p>'You must endure the pain for the sake of the finery!' said her
+grandmother.</p>
+
+<p>But oh! how gladly would she have shaken off all this splendour, and
+laid aside the heavy wreath. Her red flowers in <a name="Page_163" id="Page_163"></a>her garden suited her
+much better, but she did not dare to make any alteration. 'Good-bye,'
+she said, and mounted as lightly and airily as a bubble through the
+water.</p>
+
+<p>The sun had just set when her head rose above the water, but the clouds
+were still lighted up with a rosy and golden splendour, and the evening
+star sparkled in the soft pink sky, the air was mild and fresh, and the
+sea as calm as a millpond. A big three-masted ship lay close by with
+only a single sail set, for there was not a breath of wind, and the
+sailors were sitting about the rigging, on the cross-trees, and at the
+mast-heads. There was music and singing on board, and as the evening
+closed in hundreds of gaily coloured lanterns were lighted&mdash;they looked
+like the flags of all nations waving in the air. The little mermaid swam
+right up to the cabin windows, and every time she was lifted by the
+swell she could see through the transparent panes crowds of gaily
+dressed people. The handsomest of them all was the young prince with
+large dark eyes; he could not be much more than sixteen, and all these
+festivities were in honour of his birthday. The sailors danced on deck,
+and when the prince appeared among them hundreds of rockets were let off
+making it as light as day, and frightening the little mermaid so much
+that she had to dive under the water. She soon ventured up again, and it
+was just as if all the stars of heaven were falling in showers round
+about her. She had never seen such magic fires. Great suns whirled
+round, <a name="Page_164" id="Page_164"></a>gorgeous fire-fish hung in the blue air, and all was reflected
+in the calm and glassy sea. It was so light on board the ship that every
+little rope could be seen, and the people still better. Oh, how handsome
+the prince was! how he laughed and smiled as he greeted his guests,
+while the music rang out in the quiet night.</p>
+
+<p>It got quite late, but the little mermaid could not take her eyes off
+the ship and the beautiful prince. The coloured lanterns were put out,
+no more rockets were sent up, and the cannon had ceased its thunder, but
+deep down in the sea there was a dull murmuring and moaning sound.
+Meanwhile she was rocked up and down on the waves, so that she could
+look into the cabin; but the ship got more and more way on, sail after
+sail was filled by the wind, the waves grew stronger, great clouds
+gathered, and it lightened in the distance. Oh, there was going to be a
+fearful storm! and soon the sailors had to shorten sail. The great ship
+rocked and rolled as she dashed over the angry sea, the black waves rose
+like mountains, high enough to overwhelm her, but she dived like a swan
+through them and rose again and again on their towering crests. The
+little mermaid thought it a most amusing race, but not so the sailors.
+The ship creaked and groaned; the mighty timbers bulged and bent under
+the heavy blows; the water broke over the decks, snapping the main mast
+like a reed; she heeled over on her side, and the water rushed into the
+hold.</p>
+
+<p>Now the little mermaid saw that they were in danger, and she <a name="Page_165" id="Page_165"></a>had for
+her own sake to beware of the floating beams and wreckage. One moment it
+was so pitch dark that she could not see at all, but when the lightning
+flashed it became so light that she could see all on board. Every man
+was looking out for his own safety as best he could; but she more
+particularly followed the young prince with her eyes, and when the ship
+went down she saw him sink in the deep sea. At first she was quite
+delighted, for now he was coming to be with her, but then she remembered
+that human beings could not live under water, and that only if he were
+dead could he go to her father's palace. No! he must not die; so she
+swam towards him all among the drifting beams and planks, quite
+forgetting that they might crush her. She dived deep down under the
+water, and came up again through the waves, and at last reached the
+young prince just as he was becoming unable to swim any further in the
+stormy sea. His limbs were numbed, his beautiful eyes were closing, and
+he must have died if the little mermaid had not come to the rescue. She
+held his head above the water and let the waves drive them whithersoever
+they would.</p>
+
+<p>By daybreak all the storm was over, of the ship not a trace was to be
+seen; the sun rose from the water in radiant brilliance, and his rosy
+beams seemed to cast a glow of life into the prince's cheeks, but his
+eyes remained closed. The mermaid kissed his fair and lofty brow, and
+stroked back the dripping hair; it seemed <a name="Page_166" id="Page_166"></a>to her that he was like the
+marble statue in her little garden; she kissed him again and longed that
+he might live.</p>
+
+<p>At last she saw dry land before her, high blue mountains on whose
+summits the white snow glistened as if a flock of swans had settled
+there; down by the shore were beautiful green woods, and in the
+foreground a church or temple, she did not quite know which, but it was
+a building of some sort. Lemon and orange trees grew in the garden, and
+lofty palms stood by the gate. At this point the sea formed a little bay
+where the water was quite calm, but very deep, right up to the cliffs;
+at their foot was a strip of fine white sand to which she swam with the
+beautiful prince, and laid him down on it, taking great care that his
+head should rest high up in the warm sunshine.</p>
+
+<p>The bells now began to ring in the great white building, and a number of
+young maidens came into the garden. Then the little mermaid swam further
+off behind some high rocks and covered her hair and breast with foam, so
+that no one should see her little face, and then she watched to see who
+would discover the poor prince.</p>
+
+<table summary="illo">
+<tr>
+<td><div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;">
+<a name="Plate_19" id="Plate_19"></a><a href="images/plate19.jpg"><img src="images/plate19-th.jpg" width="350" height="439" alt="" title="" /></a>
+</div>
+</td>
+<td style="width: 40%;">
+<p><i>His limbs were numbed, his beautiful eyes were closing, and he must
+have died if the little mermaid had not come to the rescue.</i></p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>It was not long before one of the maidens came up to him. At first she
+seemed quite frightened, but only for a moment, and then she fetched
+several others, and the mermaid saw that the prince was coming to life,
+and that he smiled at all those around him, but he never smiled at her.
+You see he did not know that she <a name="Page_171" id="Page_171"></a>had saved him. She felt so sad
+that when he was led away into the great building she dived sorrowfully
+into the water and made her way home to her father's palace.</p>
+
+<p>Always silent and thoughtful, she became more so now than ever. Her
+sisters often asked her what she had seen on her first visit to the
+surface, but she never would tell them anything.</p>
+
+<p>Many an evening and many a morning she would rise to the place where she
+had left the prince. She saw the fruit in the garden ripen, and then
+gathered, she saw the snow melt on the mountain-tops, but she never saw
+the prince, so she always went home still sadder than before. At home
+her only consolation was to sit in her little garden with her arms
+twined round the handsome marble statue which reminded her of the
+prince. It was all in gloomy shade now, as she had ceased to tend her
+flowers, and the garden had become a neglected wilderness of long stalks
+and leaves entangled with the branches of the tree.</p>
+
+<p>At last she could not bear it any longer, so she told one of her
+sisters, and from her it soon spread to the others, but to no one else
+except to one or two other mermaids who only told their dearest friends.
+One of these knew all about the prince; she had also seen the
+festivities on the ship; she knew where he came from and where his
+kingdom was situated.</p>
+
+<p>'Come, little sister!' said the other princesses, and, throwing <a name="Page_172" id="Page_172"></a>their
+arms round each other's shoulders, they rose from the water in a long
+line, just in front of the prince's palace.</p>
+
+<p>It was built of light yellow glistening stone, with great marble
+staircases, one of which led into the garden. Magnificent gilded cupolas
+rose above the roof, and the spaces between the columns which encircled
+the building were filled with life-like marble statues. Through the
+clear glass of the lofty windows you could see gorgeous halls adorned
+with costly silken hangings, and the pictures on the walls were a sight
+worth seeing. In the midst of the central hall a large fountain played,
+throwing its jets of spray upwards to a glass dome in the roof, through
+which the sunbeams lighted up the water and the beautiful plants which
+grew in the great basin.</p>
+
+<p>She knew now where he lived, and often used to go there in the evenings
+and by night over the water. She swam much nearer the land than any of
+the others dared; she even ventured right up the narrow channel under
+the splendid marble terrace which threw a long shadow over the water.
+She used to sit here looking at the young prince, who thought he was
+quite alone in the clear moonlight.</p>
+
+<p>She saw him many an evening sailing about in his beautiful boat, with
+flags waving and music playing; she used to peep through the green
+rushes, and if the wind happened to catch her long silvery veil and any
+one saw it, they only thought it was a swan flapping its wings.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173"></a></p><p>Many a night she heard the fishermen, who were fishing by torchlight,
+talking over the good deeds of the young prince; and she was happy to
+think that she had saved his life when he was drifting about on the
+waves, half dead, and she could not forget how closely his head had
+pressed her breast, and how passionately she had kissed him; but he knew
+nothing of all this, and never saw her even in his dreams.</p>
+
+<p>She became fonder and fonder of mankind, and longed more and more to be
+able to live among them; their world seemed so infinitely bigger than
+hers; with their ships they could scour the ocean, they could ascend the
+mountains high above the clouds, and their wooded, grass-grown lands
+extended further than her eye could reach. There was so much that she
+wanted to know, but her sisters could not give an answer to all her
+questions, so she asked her old grandmother, who knew the upper world
+well, and rightly called it the country above the sea.</p>
+
+<p>'If men are not drowned,' asked the little mermaid, 'do they live for
+ever? Do they not die as we do down here in the sea?'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes,' said the old lady, 'they have to die too, and their lifetime is
+even shorter than ours. We may live here for three hundred years, but
+when we cease to exist we become mere foam on the water and do not have
+so much as a grave among our dear ones. We have no immortal souls; we
+have no future life; we are just like the green sea-weed, which, once
+cut down, can never revive <a name="Page_174" id="Page_174"></a>again! Men, on the other hand, have a soul
+which lives for ever, lives after the body has become dust; it rises
+through the clear air, up to the shining stars! Just as we rise from the
+water to see the land of mortals, so they rise up to unknown beautiful
+regions which we shall never see.'</p>
+
+<p>'Why have we no immortal souls?' asked the little mermaid sadly. 'I
+would give all my three hundred years to be a human being for one day,
+and afterwards to have a share in the heavenly kingdom.'</p>
+
+<p>'You must not be thinking about that,' said the grandmother; 'we are
+much better off and happier than human beings.'</p>
+
+<p>'Then I shall have to die and to float as foam on the water, and never
+hear the music of the waves or see the beautiful flowers or the red sun!
+Is there nothing I can do to gain an immortal soul?'</p>
+
+<p>'No,' said the grandmother; 'only if a human being so loved you that you
+were more to him than father or mother, if all his thoughts and all his
+love were so centred in you that he would let the priest join your hands
+and would vow to be faithful to you here, and to all eternity; then your
+body would become infused with his soul. Thus, and only thus, could you
+gain a share in the felicity of mankind. He would give you a soul while
+yet keeping his own. But that can never happen! That which is your
+greatest beauty in the sea, your fish's tail, is thought hideous up on
+earth, <a name="Page_175" id="Page_175"></a>so little do they understand about it; to be pretty there you
+must have two clumsy supports which they call legs!'</p>
+
+<p>Then the little mermaid sighed and looked sadly at her fish's tail.</p>
+
+<p>'Let us be happy,' said the grandmother; 'we will hop and skip during
+our three hundred years of life; it is surely a long enough time; and
+after it is over we shall rest all the better in our graves. There is to
+be a court ball to-night.'</p>
+
+<p>This was a much more splendid affair than we ever see on earth. The
+walls and the ceiling of the great ballroom were of thick but
+transparent glass. Several hundreds of colossal mussel shells, rose red
+and grass green, were ranged in order round the sides holding blue
+lights, which illuminated the whole room and shone through the walls, so
+that the sea outside was quite lit up. You could see countless fish,
+great and small, swimming towards the glass walls, some with shining
+scales of crimson hue, while others were golden and silvery. In the
+middle of the room was a broad stream of running water, and on this the
+mermaids and mermen danced to their own beautiful singing. No earthly
+beings have such lovely voices. The little mermaid sang more sweetly
+than any of them, and they all applauded her. For a moment she felt glad
+at heart, for she knew that she had the finest voice either in the sea
+or on land. But she soon began to think again about the upper world, she
+could not forget the handsome prince and <a name="Page_176" id="Page_176"></a>her sorrow in not possessing,
+like him, an immortal soul. Therefore she stole out of her father's
+palace, and while all within was joy and merriment, she sat sadly in her
+little garden. Suddenly she heard the sound of a horn through the water,
+and she thought, 'Now he is out sailing up there; he whom I love more
+than father or mother, he to whom my thoughts cling and to whose hands I
+am ready to commit the happiness of my life. I will dare anything to win
+him and to gain an immortal soul! While my sisters are dancing in my
+father's palace I will go to the sea-witch, of whom I have always been
+very much afraid; she will perhaps be able to advise and help me!'</p>
+
+<p>Thereupon the little mermaid left the garden and went towards the
+roaring whirlpools at the back of which the witch lived. She had never
+been that way before; no flowers grew there, no seaweed, only the bare
+grey sands, stretched towards the whirlpools, which like rushing
+mill-wheels swirled round, dragging everything that came within reach
+down to the depths. She had to pass between these boiling eddies to
+reach the witch's domain, and for a long way the only path led over warm
+bubbling mud, which the witch called her 'peat bog.' Her house stood
+behind this in the midst of a weird forest. All the trees and bushes
+were polyps, half animal and half plant; they looked like hundred-headed
+snakes growing out of the sand, the branches were long slimy arms, with
+tentacles like wriggling worms, every joint of <a name="Page_177" id="Page_177"></a>which, from the root to
+the outermost tip, was in constant motion. They wound themselves tightly
+round whatever they could lay hold of and never let it escape. The
+little mermaid standing outside was quite frightened, her heart beat
+fast with terror and she nearly turned back, but then she remembered the
+prince and the immortal soul of mankind and took courage. She bound her
+long flowing hair tightly round her head, so that the polyps should not
+seize her by it, folded her hands over her breast, and darted like a
+fish through the water, in between the hideous polyps, which stretched
+out their sensitive arms and tentacles towards her. She could see that
+every one of them had something or other, which they had grasped with
+their hundred arms, and which they held as if in iron bands. The
+bleached bones of men who had perished at sea and sunk below peeped
+forth from the arms of some, while others clutched rudders and
+sea-chests, or the skeleton of some land animal; and most horrible of
+all, a little mermaid whom they had caught and suffocated. Then she came
+to a large opening in the wood where the ground was all slimy, and where
+some huge fat water snakes were gambolling about. In the middle of this
+opening was a house built of the bones of the wrecked; there sat the
+witch, letting a toad eat out of her mouth, just as mortals let a little
+canary eat sugar. She called the hideous water snakes her little
+chickens, and allowed them to crawl about on her unsightly bosom.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178"></a></p><p>'I know very well what you have come here for,' said the witch. 'It is
+very foolish of you! all the same you shall have your way, because it
+will lead you into misfortune, my fine princess. You want to get rid of
+your fish's tail, and instead to have two stumps to walk about upon like
+human beings, so that the young prince may fall in love with you, and
+that you may win him and an immortal soul.' Saying this, she gave such a
+loud hideous laugh that the toad and the snakes fell to the ground and
+wriggled about there.</p>
+
+<p>'You are just in the nick of time,' said the witch; 'after sunrise
+to-morrow I should not be able to help you until another year had run
+its course. I will make you a potion, and before sunrise you must swim
+ashore with it, seat yourself on the beach and drink it; then your tail
+will divide and shrivel up to what men call beautiful legs. But it
+hurts; it is as if a sharp sword were running through you. All who see
+you will say that you are the most beautiful child of man they have ever
+seen. You will keep your gliding gait, no dancer will rival you, but
+every step you take will be as if you were treading upon sharp knives,
+so sharp as to draw blood. If you are willing to suffer all this I am
+ready to help you!'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes!' said the little princess with a trembling voice, thinking of the
+prince and of winning an undying soul.</p>
+
+<p>'But remember,' said the witch, 'when once you have received a human
+form, you can never be a mermaid again; you will <a name="Page_179" id="Page_179"></a>never again be able to
+dive down through the water to your sisters and to your father's palace.
+And if you do not succeed in winning the prince's love, so that for your
+sake he will forget father and mother, cleave to you with his whole
+heart, let the priest join your hands and make you man and wife, you
+will gain no immortal soul! The first morning after his marriage with
+another your heart will break, and you will turn into foam of the sea.'</p>
+
+<p>'I will do it,' said the little mermaid as pale as death.</p>
+
+<p>'But you will have to pay me, too,' said the witch, 'and it is no trifle
+that I demand. You have the most beautiful voice of any at the bottom of
+the sea, and I daresay that you think you will fascinate him with it;
+but you must give me that voice; I will have the best you possess in
+return for my precious potion! I have to mingle my own blood with it so
+as to make it as sharp as a two-edged sword.'</p>
+
+<p>'But if you take my voice,' said the little mermaid, 'what have I left?'</p>
+
+<p>'Your beautiful form,' said the witch, 'your gliding gait, and your
+speaking eyes; with these you ought surely to be able to bewitch a human
+heart. Well! have you lost courage? Put out your little tongue, and I
+will cut it off in payment for the powerful draught.'</p>
+
+<p>'Let it be done,' said the little mermaid, and the witch put on her
+caldron to brew the magic potion. 'There is nothing like <a name="Page_180" id="Page_180"></a>cleanliness,'
+said she, as she scoured the pot with a bundle of snakes; then she
+punctured her breast and let the black blood drop into the caldron, and
+the steam took the most weird shapes, enough to frighten any one. Every
+moment the witch threw new ingredients into the pot, and when it boiled
+the bubbling was like the sound of crocodiles weeping. At last the
+potion was ready and it looked like the clearest water.</p>
+
+<p>'There it is,' said the witch, and thereupon she cut off the tongue of
+the little mermaid, who was dumb now and could neither sing nor speak.</p>
+
+<p>'If the polyps should seize you, when you go back through my wood,' said
+the witch, 'just drop a single drop of this liquid on them, and their
+arms and fingers will burst into a thousand pieces.' But the little
+mermaid had no need to do this, for at the mere sight of the bright
+liquid, which sparkled in her hand like a shining star, they drew back
+in terror. So she soon got past the wood, the bog, and the eddying
+whirlpools.</p>
+
+<p>She saw her father's palace; the lights were all out in the great
+ballroom, and no doubt all the household was asleep, but she did not
+dare to go in now that she was dumb and about to leave her home for
+ever. She felt as if her heart would break with grief. She stole into
+the garden and plucked a flower from each of her sisters' plots, wafted
+with her hand countless kisses towards the palace, and then rose up
+through the dark blue water.</p>
+
+<table summary="illo">
+<tr>
+<td><div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;">
+<a name="Plate_20" id="Plate_20"></a><a href="images/plate20.jpg"><img src="images/plate20-th.jpg" width="350" height="438" alt="" title="" /></a>
+</div>
+</td>
+<td style="width: 40%;">
+<p><i>But the little mermaid had no need to do this, for at the mere sight
+of the bright liquid which sparkled in her hand like a shining star,
+they drew back in terror.</i></p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185"></a>The sun had not risen when she came in sight of the prince's palace
+and landed at the beautiful marble steps. The moon was shining bright
+and clear. The little mermaid drank the burning, stinging draught, and
+it was like a sharp, two-edged sword running through her tender frame;
+she fainted away and lay as if she were dead. When the sun rose on the
+sea she woke up and became conscious of a sharp pang, but just in front
+of her stood the handsome young prince, fixing his coal black eyes on
+her; she cast hers down and saw that her fish's tail was gone, and that
+she had the prettiest little white legs any maiden could desire; but she
+was quite naked, so she wrapped her long thick hair around her. The
+prince asked who she was and how she came there. She looked at him
+tenderly and with a sad expression in her dark blue eyes, but could not
+speak. Then he took her by the hand and led her into the palace. Every
+step she took was, as the witch had warned her beforehand, as if she
+were treading on sharp knives and spikes, but she bore it gladly; led by
+the prince, she moved as lightly as a bubble, and he and every one else
+marvelled at her graceful gliding gait.</p>
+
+<p>Clothed in the costliest silks and muslins she was the greatest beauty
+in the palace, but she was dumb, and could neither sing nor speak.
+Beautiful slaves clad in silks and gold came forward and sang to the
+prince and his royal parents; one of them sang better than all the
+others, and the prince clapped his hands and smiled at <a name="Page_186" id="Page_186"></a>her; that made
+the little mermaid very sad, for she knew that she used to sing far
+better herself. She thought, 'Oh! if he only knew that for the sake of
+being with him I had given up my voice for ever!' Now the slaves began
+to dance, graceful undulating dances to enchanting music; thereupon the
+little mermaid, lifting her beautiful white arms and raising herself on
+tiptoe, glided on the floor with a grace which none of the other dancers
+had yet attained. With every motion her grace and beauty became more
+apparent, and her eyes appealed more deeply to the heart than the songs
+of the slaves. Every one was delighted with it, especially the prince,
+who called her his little foundling; and she danced on and on,
+notwithstanding that every time her foot touched the ground it was like
+treading on sharp knives. The prince said that she should always be near
+him, and she was allowed to sleep outside his door on a velvet cushion.</p>
+
+<p>He had a man's dress made for her, so that she could ride about with
+him. They used to ride through scented woods, where the green branches
+brushed her shoulders, and little birds sang among the fresh leaves. She
+climbed up the highest mountains with the prince, and although her
+delicate feet bled so that others saw it, she only laughed and followed
+him until they saw the clouds sailing below them like a flock of birds,
+taking flight to distant lands.</p>
+
+<table summary="illo">
+<tr>
+<td><div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;">
+<a name="Plate_21" id="Plate_21"></a><a href="images/plate21.jpg"><img src="images/plate21-th.jpg" width="350" height="443" alt="" title="" /></a>
+</div>
+</td>
+<td style="width: 40%;">
+<p><i>The prince asked who she was and how she came there; she looked at him
+tenderly and with a sad expression in her dark blue eyes, but could not
+speak.</i></p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>At home in the prince's palace, when at night the others were
+<a name="Page_191" id="Page_191"></a>asleep, she used to go out on to the marble steps; it cooled her
+burning feet to stand in the cold sea-water, and at such times she used
+to think of those she had left in the deep.</p>
+
+<p>One night her sisters came arm in arm; they sang so sorrowfully as they
+swam on the water that she beckoned to them, and they recognised her,
+and told her how she had grieved them all. After that they visited her
+every night, and one night she saw, a long way out, her old grandmother
+(who for many years had not been above the water), and the Merman King
+with his crown on his head; they stretched out their hands towards her,
+but did not venture so close to land as her sisters.</p>
+
+<p>Day by day she became dearer to the prince; he loved her as one loves a
+good sweet child, but it never entered his head to make her his queen;
+yet unless she became his wife she would never win an everlasting soul,
+but on his wedding morning would turn to sea-foam.</p>
+
+<p>'Am I not dearer to you than any of them?' the little mermaid's eyes
+seemed to say when he took her in his arms and kissed her beautiful
+brow.</p>
+
+<p>'Yes, you are the dearest one to me,' said the prince, 'for you have the
+best heart of them all, and you are fondest of me; you are also like a
+young girl I once saw, but whom I never expect to see again. I was on
+board a ship which was wrecked; I was driven on shore by the waves close
+to a holy Temple where several <a name="Page_192" id="Page_192"></a>young girls were ministering at a
+service; the youngest of them found me on the beach and saved my life; I
+saw her but twice. She was the only person I could love in this world,
+but you are like her, you almost drive her image out of my heart. She
+belongs to the holy Temple, and therefore by good fortune you have been
+sent to me; we will never part!'</p>
+
+<p>'Alas! he does not know that it was I who saved his life,' thought the
+little mermaid. 'I bore him over the sea to the wood where the Temple
+stands. I sat behind the foam and watched to see if any one would come.
+I saw the pretty girl he loves better than me.' And the mermaid heaved a
+bitter sigh, for she could not weep.</p>
+
+<p>'The girl belongs to the holy Temple, he has said; she will never return
+to the world, they will never meet again. I am here with him; I see him
+every day. Yes! I will tend him, love him, and give up my life to him.'</p>
+
+<p>But now the rumour ran that the prince was to be married to the
+beautiful daughter of a neighbouring king, and for that reason was
+fitting out a splendid ship. It was given out that the prince was going
+on a voyage to see the adjoining countries, but it was without doubt to
+see the king's daughter; he was to have a great suite with him. But the
+little mermaid shook her head and laughed; she knew the prince's
+intentions much better than any of the others. 'I must take this
+voyage,' he had said to her;<a name="Page_193" id="Page_193"></a> 'I must go and see the beautiful princess;
+my parents demand that, but they will never force me to bring her home
+as my bride; I can never love her! She will not be like the lovely girl
+in the Temple whom you resemble. If ever I had to choose a bride it
+would sooner be you with your speaking eyes, my sweet, dumb foundling!'
+And he kissed her rosy mouth, played with her long hair, and laid his
+head upon her heart, which already dreamt of human joys and an immortal
+soul.</p>
+
+<p>'You are not frightened of the sea, I suppose, my dumb child?' he said,
+as they stood on the proud ship which was to carry them to the country
+of the neighbouring king; and he told her about storms and calms, about
+curious fish in the deep, and the marvels seen by divers; and she smiled
+at his tales, for she knew all about the bottom of the sea much better
+than any one else.</p>
+
+<p>At night, in the moonlight, when all were asleep, except the steersman
+who stood at the helm, she sat at the side of the ship trying to pierce
+the clear water with her eyes, and fancied she saw her father's palace,
+and above it her old grandmother with her silver crown on her head,
+looking up through the cross currents towards the keel of the ship. Then
+her sisters rose above the water; they gazed sadly at her, wringing
+their white hands. She beckoned to them, smiled, and was about to tell
+them that all was going well and happily with her, when the cabin-boy
+approached, and the <a name="Page_194" id="Page_194"></a>sisters dived down, but he supposed that the white
+objects he had seen were nothing but flakes of foam.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning the ship entered the harbour of the neighbouring king's
+magnificent city. The church bells rang and trumpets were sounded from
+every lofty tower, while the soldiers paraded with flags flying and
+glittering bayonets. There was a <i>f&ecirc;te</i> every day, there was a
+succession of balls, and receptions followed one after the other, but
+the princess was not yet present; she was being brought up a long way
+off, in a holy Temple they said, and was learning all the royal virtues.
+At last she came. The little mermaid stood eager to see her beauty, and
+she was obliged to confess that a lovelier creature she had never
+beheld. Her complexion was exquisitely pure and delicate, and her
+trustful eyes of the deepest blue shone through their dark lashes.</p>
+
+<p>'It is you,' said the prince, 'you who saved me when I lay almost
+lifeless on the beach?' and he clasped his blushing bride to his heart.
+'Oh! I am too happy!' he exclaimed to the little mermaid.</p>
+
+<p>'A greater joy than I had dared to hope for has come to pass. You will
+rejoice at my joy, for you love me better than any one.' Then the little
+mermaid kissed his hand, and felt as if her heart were broken already.</p>
+
+<p>His wedding morn would bring death to her and change her to foam.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195"></a></p><p>All the church bells pealed and heralds rode through the town
+proclaiming the nuptials. Upon every altar throughout the land fragrant
+oil was burnt in costly silver lamps. Amidst the swinging of censers by
+the priests the bride and bridegroom joined hands and received the
+bishop's blessing. The little mermaid dressed in silk and gold stood
+holding the bride's train, but her ears were deaf to the festal strains,
+her eyes saw nothing of the sacred ceremony; she was thinking of her
+coming death and of all that she had lost in this world.</p>
+
+<p>That same evening the bride and bridegroom embarked, amidst the roar of
+cannon and the waving of banners. A royal tent of purple and gold softly
+cushioned was raised amidships where the bridal pair were to repose
+during the calm cool night.</p>
+
+<p>The sails swelled in the wind and the ship skimmed lightly and almost
+without motion over the transparent sea.</p>
+
+<p>At dusk lanterns of many colours were lighted and the sailors danced
+merrily on deck. The little mermaid could not help thinking of the first
+time she came up from the sea and saw the same splendour and gaiety; and
+she now threw herself among the dancers, whirling, as a swallow skims
+through the air when pursued. The onlookers cheered her in amazement,
+never had she danced so divinely; her delicate feet pained her as if
+they were cut with knives, but she did not feel it, for the pain at her
+heart was much sharper. She knew that it was the last night that she
+would <a name="Page_196" id="Page_196"></a>breathe the same air as he, and would look upon the mighty deep,
+and the blue starry heavens; an endless night without thought and
+without dreams awaited her, who neither had a soul, nor could win one.
+The joy and revelry on board lasted till long past midnight; she went on
+laughing and dancing with the thought of death all the time in her
+heart. The prince caressed his lovely bride and she played with his
+raven locks, and with their arms entwined they retired to the gorgeous
+tent. All became hushed and still on board the ship, only the steersman
+stood at the helm; the little mermaid laid her white arms on the gunwale
+and looked eastwards for the pink-tinted dawn; the first sunbeam, she
+knew, would be her death. Then she saw her sisters rise from the water;
+they were as pale as she was; their beautiful long hair no longer
+floated on the breeze, for it had been cut off.</p>
+
+<table summary="illo">
+<tr>
+<td><div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;">
+<a name="Plate_22" id="Plate_22"></a><a href="images/plate22.jpg"><img src="images/plate22-th.jpg" width="350" height="438" alt="" title="" /></a>
+</div>
+</td>
+<td style="width: 40%;">
+<p><i>Once more she looked at the prince, with her eyes already dimmed by
+death, then dashed overboard and fell, her body dissolving into foam.</i></p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>'We have given it to the witch to obtain her help, so that you may not
+die to-night! She has given us a knife; here it is, look how sharp it
+is! Before the sun rises, you must plunge it into the prince's heart,
+and when his warm blood sprinkles your feet they will join together and
+grow into a tail, and you will once more be a mermaid; you will be able
+to come down into the water to us, and to live out your three hundred
+years before you are turned into dead, salt sea-foam. Make haste! you or
+he must die before sunrise! Our old grandmother is so full of grief that
+her white hair has fallen off as ours fell under the witch's scissors.
+Slay the <a name="Page_201" id="Page_201"></a>prince and come back to us! Quick! Quick! do you not see
+the rosy streak in the sky? In a few minutes the sun will rise and then
+you must die!' saying this they heaved a wondrous deep sigh and sank
+among the waves.</p>
+
+<p>The little mermaid drew aside the purple curtain from the tent and
+looked at the beautiful bride asleep with her head on the prince's
+breast. She bent over him and kissed his fair brow, looked at the sky
+where the dawn was spreading fast, looked at the sharp knife, and again
+fixed her eyes on the prince, who, in his dream called his bride by
+name. Yes! she alone was in his thoughts! For a moment the knife
+quivered in her grasp, then she threw it far out among the waves, now
+rosy in the morning light, and where it fell the water bubbled up like
+drops of blood.</p>
+
+<p>Once more she looked at the prince, with her eyes already dimmed by
+death, then dashed overboard and fell, her body dissolving into foam.</p>
+
+<p>Now the sun rose from the sea and with its kindly beams warmed the
+deadly cold foam, so that the little mermaid did not feel the chill of
+death. She saw the bright sun, and above her floated hundreds of
+beauteous ethereal beings, through which she could see the white ship
+and the rosy heavens; their voices were melodious, but so spirit-like
+that no human ear could hear them, any more than earthly eye could see
+their forms. Light as bubbles they floated through the air without the
+aid of wings. The little <a name="Page_202" id="Page_202"></a>mermaid perceived that she had a form like
+theirs; it gradually took shape out of the foam. 'To whom am I coming?'
+said she, and her voice sounded like that of the other beings, so
+unearthly in its beauty that no music of ours could reproduce it.</p>
+
+<p>'To the daughters of the air!' answered the others; 'a mermaid has no
+undying soul, and can never gain one without winning the love of a human
+being. Her eternal life must depend upon an unknown power. Nor have the
+daughters of the air an everlasting soul, but by their own good deeds
+they may create one for themselves. We fly to the tropics where mankind
+is the victim of hot and pestilent winds; there we bring cooling
+breezes. We diffuse the scent of flowers all around, and bring
+refreshment and healing in our train. When, for three hundred years, we
+have laboured to do all the good in our power, we gain an undying soul
+and take a part in the everlasting joys of mankind. You, poor little
+mermaid, have with your whole heart struggled for the same thing as we
+have struggled for. You have suffered and endured, raised yourself to
+the spirit-world of the air, and now, by your own good deeds you may, in
+the course of three hundred years, work out for yourself an undying
+soul.'</p>
+
+<p>Then the little mermaid lifted her transparent arms towards God's sun,
+and for the first time shed tears.</p>
+
+<p>On board ship all was again life and bustle. She saw the prince with his
+lovely bride searching for her; they looked sadly at the <a name="Page_203" id="Page_203"></a>bubbling foam,
+as if they knew that she had thrown herself into the waves. Unseen she
+kissed the bride on her brow, smiled at the prince, and rose aloft with
+the other spirits of the air to the rosy clouds which sailed above.</p>
+
+<p>'In three hundred years we shall thus float into Paradise.'</p>
+
+<p>'We might reach it sooner,' whispered one. 'Unseen we flit into those
+homes of men where there are children, and for every day that we find a
+good child who gives pleasure to its parents and deserves their love God
+shortens our time of probation. The child does not know when we fly
+through the room, and when we smile with pleasure at it one year of our
+three hundred is taken away. But if we see a naughty or badly disposed
+child, we cannot help shedding tears of sorrow, and every tear adds a
+day to the time of our probation.'</p>
+
+
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/detail02.jpg" width="600" height="88" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<p><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204"></a></p>
+<h2><a name="THE_EMPERORS_NEW_CLOTHES" id="THE_EMPERORS_NEW_CLOTHES"></a>THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES</h2>
+
+
+<p>Many years ago there was an Emperor, who was so excessively fond of new
+clothes that he spent all his money on them. He cared nothing about his
+soldiers, nor for the theatre, nor for driving in the woods except for
+the sake of showing off his new clothes. He had a costume for every hour
+in the day, and instead of saying, as one does about any other king or
+emperor, 'He is in his council chamber,' here one always said, 'The
+Emperor is in his dressing-room.'</p>
+
+<p>Life was very gay in the great town where he lived; hosts of strangers
+came to visit it every day, and among them one day two swindlers. They
+gave themselves out as weavers, and said that they knew how to weave the
+most beautiful stuffs imaginable. Not only were the colours and patterns
+unusually fine, but the clothes that were made of the stuffs had the
+peculiar quality of becoming invisible to every person who was not fit
+for the office he held, or if he was impossibly dull.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205"></a></p><p>'Those must be splendid clothes,' thought the Emperor. 'By wearing them
+I should be able to discover which men in my kingdom are unfitted for
+their posts. I shall distinguish the wise men from the fools. Yes, I
+certainly must order some of that stuff to be woven for me.'</p>
+
+<p>He paid the two swindlers a lot of money in advance so that they might
+begin their work at once.</p>
+
+<p>They did put up two looms and pretended to weave, but they had nothing
+whatever upon their shuttles. At the outset they asked for a quantity of
+the finest silk and the purest gold thread, all of which they put into
+their own bags, while they worked away at the empty looms far into the
+night.</p>
+
+<p>'I should like to know how those weavers are getting on with the stuff,'
+thought the Emperor; but he felt a little queer when he reflected that
+any one who was stupid or unfit for his post would not be able to see
+it. He certainly thought that he need have no fears for himself, but
+still he thought he would send somebody else first to see how it was
+getting on. Everybody in the town knew what wonderful power the stuff
+possessed, and every one was anxious to see how stupid his neighbour
+was.</p>
+
+<p>'I will send my faithful old minister to the weavers,' thought the
+Emperor. 'He will be best able to see how the stuff looks, for he is a
+clever man, and no one fulfils his duties better than he does!'</p>
+
+<p><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206"></a></p><p>So the good old minister went into the room where the two swindlers sat
+working at the empty loom.</p>
+
+<p>'Heaven preserve us!' thought the old minister, opening his eyes very
+wide. 'Why, I can't see a thing!' But he took care not to say so.</p>
+
+<p>Both the swindlers begged him to be good enough to step a little nearer,
+and asked if he did not think it a good pattern and beautiful colouring.
+They pointed to the empty loom, and the poor old minister stared as hard
+as he could, but he could not see anything, for of course there was
+nothing to see.</p>
+
+<p>'Good heavens!' thought he, 'is it possible that I am a fool. I have
+never thought so, and nobody must know it. Am I not fit for my post? It
+will never do to say that I cannot see the stuffs.'</p>
+
+<p>'Well, sir, you don't say anything about the stuff,' said the one who
+was pretending to weave.</p>
+
+<p>'Oh, it is beautiful! quite charming!' said the old minister, looking
+through his spectacles; 'this pattern and these colours! I will
+certainly tell the Emperor that the stuff pleases me very much.'</p>
+
+<p>'We are delighted to hear you say so,' said the swindlers, and then they
+named all the colours and described the peculiar pattern. The old
+minister paid great attention to what they said, so as to be able to
+repeat it when he got home to the Emperor.</p>
+
+<table summary="illo">
+<tr>
+<td><div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;">
+<a name="Plate_23" id="Plate_23"></a><a href="images/plate23.jpg"><img src="images/plate23-th.jpg" width="350" height="439" alt="" title="" /></a>
+</div>
+</td>
+<td style="width: 40%;">
+<p><i>They pointed to the empty loom, and the poor old minister stared as
+hard as he could, but he could not see anything, for of course there was
+nothing to see.</i></p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>Then the swindlers went on to demand more money, more <a name="Page_211" id="Page_211"></a>silk, and
+more gold, to be able to proceed with the weaving; but they put it all
+into their own pockets&mdash;not a single strand was ever put into the loom,
+but they went on as before weaving at the empty loom.</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor soon sent another faithful official to see how the stuff was
+getting on, and if it would soon be ready. The same thing happened to
+him as to the minister; he looked and looked, but as there was only the
+empty loom, he could see nothing at all.</p>
+
+<p>'Is not this a beautiful piece of stuff?' said both the swindlers,
+showing and explaining the beautiful pattern and colours which were not
+there to be seen.</p>
+
+<p>'I know I am not a fool!' thought the man, 'so it must be that I am
+unfit for my good post! It is very strange, though! However, one must
+not let it appear!' So he praised the stuff he did not see, and assured
+them of his delight in the beautiful colours and the originality of the
+design. 'It is absolutely charming!' he said to the Emperor. Everybody
+in the town was talking about this splendid stuff.</p>
+
+<p>Now the Emperor thought he would like to see it while it was still on
+the loom. So, accompanied by a number of selected courtiers, among whom
+were the two faithful officials who had already seen the imaginary
+stuff, he went to visit the crafty impostors, who were working away as
+hard as ever they could at the empty loom.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212"></a></p><p>'It is magnificent!' said both the honest officials. 'Only see, your
+Majesty, what a design! What colours!' And they pointed to the empty
+loom, for they thought no doubt the others could see the stuff.</p>
+
+<p>'What!' thought the Emperor; 'I see nothing at all! This is terrible! Am
+I a fool? Am I not fit to be Emperor? Why, nothing worse could happen to
+me!'</p>
+
+<p>'Oh, it is beautiful!' said the Emperor. 'It has my highest approval!'
+and he nodded his satisfaction as he gazed at the empty loom. Nothing
+would induce him to say that he could not see anything.</p>
+
+<p>The whole suite gazed and gazed, but saw nothing more than all the
+others. However, they all exclaimed with his Majesty, 'It is very
+beautiful!' and they advised him to wear a suit made of this wonderful
+cloth on the occasion of a great procession which was just about to take
+place. 'It is magnificent! gorgeous! excellent!' went from mouth to
+mouth; they were all equally delighted with it. The Emperor gave each of
+the rogues an order of knighthood to be worn in their buttonholes and
+the title of 'Gentlemen weavers.'</p>
+
+<table summary="illo">
+<tr>
+<td><div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;">
+<a name="Plate_24" id="Plate_24"></a><a href="images/plate24.jpg"><img src="images/plate24-th.jpg" width="350" height="474" alt="" title="" /></a>
+</div>
+</td>
+<td style="width: 40%;">
+<p><i>Then the emperor walked along in the procession under the gorgeous
+canopy, and everybody in the streets and at the windows exclaimed, 'How
+beautiful the Emperor's new clothes are!'</i></p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>The swindlers sat up the whole night, before the day on which the
+procession was to take place, burning sixteen candles; so that people
+might see how anxious they were to get the Emperor's new clothes ready.
+They pretended to take the stuff off the loom. They cut it out in the
+air with a huge pair of scissors, and they <a name="Page_217" id="Page_217"></a>stitched away with
+needles without any thread in them. At last they said: 'Now the
+Emperor's new clothes are ready!'</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor, with his grandest courtiers, went to them himself, and both
+the swindlers raised one arm in the air, as if they were holding
+something, and said: 'See, these are the trousers, this is the coat,
+here is the mantle!' and so on. 'It is as light as a spider's web. One
+might think one had nothing on, but that is the very beauty of it!'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes!' said all the courtiers, but they could not see anything, for
+there was nothing to see.</p>
+
+<p>'Will your imperial majesty be graciously pleased to take off your
+clothes,' said, the impostors, 'so that we may put on the new ones,
+along here before the great mirror?'</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor took off all his clothes, and the impostors pretended to
+give him one article of dress after the other of the new ones which they
+had pretended to make. They pretended to fasten something round his
+waist and to tie on something; this was the train, and the Emperor
+turned round and round in front of the mirror.</p>
+
+<p>'How well his majesty looks in the new clothes! How becoming they are!'
+cried all the people round. 'What a design, and what colours! They are
+most gorgeous robes!'</p>
+
+<p>'The canopy is waiting outside which is to be carried over your majesty
+in the procession,' said the master of the ceremonies.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218"></a></p><p>'Well, I am quite ready,' said the Emperor. 'Don't the clothes fit
+well?' and then he turned round again in front of the mirror, so that he
+should seem to be looking at his grand things.</p>
+
+<p>The chamberlains who were to carry the train stooped and pretended to
+lift it from the ground with both hands, and they walked along with
+their hands in the air. They dared not let it appear that they could not
+see anything.</p>
+
+<p>Then the Emperor walked along in the procession under the gorgeous
+canopy, and everybody in the streets and at the windows exclaimed, 'How
+beautiful the Emperor's new clothes are! What a splendid train! And they
+fit to perfection!' Nobody would let it appear that he could see
+nothing, for then he would not be fit for his post, or else he was a
+fool.</p>
+
+<p>None of the Emperor's clothes had been so successful before.</p>
+
+<p>'But he has got nothing on,' said a little child.</p>
+
+<p>'Oh, listen to the innocent,' said its father; and one person whispered
+to the other what the child had said. 'He has nothing on; a child says
+he has nothing on!'</p>
+
+<p>'But he has nothing on!' at last cried all the people.</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor writhed, for he knew it was true, but he thought 'the
+procession must go on now,' so held himself stiffer than ever, and the
+chamberlains held up the invisible train.</p>
+
+
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/detail02.jpg" width="600" height="88" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<p><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219"></a></p>
+<h2><a name="THE_WINDS_TALE" id="THE_WINDS_TALE"></a>THE WIND'S TALE</h2>
+
+<h3>ABOUT WALDEMAR DAA AND HIS DAUGHTERS</h3>
+
+
+<p>When the wind sweeps across a field of grass it makes little ripples in
+it like a lake; in a field of corn it makes great waves like the sea
+itself: this is the wind's frolic. Then listen to the stories it tells;
+it sings them aloud, one kind of song among the trees of the forest, and
+a very different one when it is pent up within walls with all their
+cracks and crannies. Do you see how the wind chases the white fleecy
+clouds as if they were a flock of sheep? Do you hear the wind down
+there, howling in the open doorway like a watchman winding his horn?
+Then, too, how he whistles in the chimneys, making the fire crackle and
+sparkle. How cosy it is to sit in the warm glow of the fire listening to
+the tales it has to tell! Let the wind tell its own story! It can tell
+you more adventures than all of us put together. Listen now:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Whew!&mdash;Whew!&mdash;Fare away!' That was the refrain of his song.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220"></a></p><p>'Close to the Great Belt stands an old mansion with thick red walls,'
+says the wind. 'I know every stone of it; I knew them before when they
+formed part of Marsk Stig's Castle on the Ness. It had to come down. The
+stones were used again, and made a new wall of a new castle in another
+place&mdash;Borreby Hall as it now stands.</p>
+
+<p>'I have watched the highborn men and women of all the various races who
+have lived there, and now I am going to tell you about Waldemar Daa and
+his daughters!</p>
+
+<p>'He held his head very high, for he came of a royal stock! He knew more
+than the mere chasing of a stag, or the emptying of a flagon; he knew
+how to manage his affairs, he said himself.</p>
+
+<p>'His lady wife walked proudly across the brightly polished floors, in
+her gold brocaded kirtle; the tapestries in the rooms were gorgeous, and
+the furniture of costly carved woods. She had brought much gold and
+silver plate into the house with her, and the cellars were full of
+German ale, when there was anything there at all. Fiery black horses
+neighed in the stables; Borreby Hall was a very rich place when wealth
+came there.</p>
+
+<p>'Then there were the children, three dainty maidens, Ida, Johanna and
+Anna Dorothea. I remember their names well.</p>
+
+<p>'They were rich and aristocratic people, and they were born and bred in
+wealth! Whew!&mdash;whew!&mdash;fare away!' roared the wind, then he went on with
+his story.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221"></a></p><p>'I did not see here, as in other old noble castles the highborn lady
+sitting among her maidens in the great hall turning the spinning-wheel.
+No, she played upon the ringing lute, and sang to its tones. Her songs
+were not always the old Danish ditties, however, but songs in foreign
+tongues. All was life and hospitality; noble guests came from far and
+wide; there were sounds of music and the clanging of flagons, so loud
+that I could not drown them!' said the wind. 'Here were arrogance and
+ostentation enough and to spare; plenty of lords, but the Lord had no
+place there.</p>
+
+<p>'Then came the evening of May-day!' said the wind. 'I came from the
+west; I had been watching ships being wrecked and broken up on the west
+coast of Jutland. I tore over the heaths and the green wooded coasts,
+across the island of Funen and over the Great Belt puffing and blowing.
+I settled down to rest on the coast of Zealand close to Borreby Hall,
+where the splendid forest of oaks still stood. The young bachelors of
+the neighbourhood came out and collected faggots and branches, the
+longest and driest they could find. These they took to the town, piled
+them up in a heap, and set fire to them; then the men and maidens danced
+and sang round the bonfire. I lay still,' said the wind, 'but I softly
+moved a branch, the one laid by the handsomest young man, and his billet
+blazed up highest of all. He was the chosen one, he had the name of
+honour, he became 'Buck of the Street!' and he chose from <a name="Page_222" id="Page_222"></a>among the
+girls his little May-lamb. All was life and merriment, greater far than
+within rich Borreby Hall.</p>
+
+<p>'The great lady came driving towards the Hall, in her gilded chariot
+drawn by six horses. She had her three dainty daughters with her; they
+were indeed three lovely flowers. A rose, a lily and a pale hyacinth.
+The mother herself was a gorgeous tulip; she took no notice whatever of
+the crowd, who all stopped in their game to drop their curtsies and make
+their bows; one might have thought that, like a tulip, she was rather
+frail in the stalk and feared to bend her back. The rose, the lily, and
+the pale hyacinth&mdash;yes, I saw them all three. Whose May-lambs were they
+one day to become, thought I; their mates would be proud
+knights&mdash;perhaps even princes!</p>
+
+<p>'Whew!&mdash;whew!&mdash;fare away! Yes, the chariot bore them away, and the
+peasants whirled on in their dance. They played at "Riding the Summer
+into the village," to Borreby village, Tareby village, and many others.</p>
+
+<p>'But that night when I rose,' said the wind, 'the noble lady laid
+herself down to rise no more; that came to her which comes to every
+one&mdash;there was nothing new about it. Waldemar Daa stood grave and silent
+for a time; "The proudest tree may bend, but it does not break," said
+something within him. The daughters wept, and every one else at the
+Castle was wiping their eyes; but Madam Daa had fared away, and I fared
+away too! Whew!&mdash;whew!' said the wind.</p>
+
+<table summary="illo">
+<tr>
+<td><div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;">
+<a name="Plate_25" id="Plate_25"></a><a href="images/plate25.jpg"><img src="images/plate25-th.jpg" width="350" height="442" alt="" title="" /></a>
+</div>
+</td>
+<td style="width: 40%;">
+<p><i>She played upon the ringing lute, and sang to its tones.</i></p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227"></a>'I came back again; I often came back across the island of Funen and
+the waters of the Belt, and took up my place on Borreby shore close to
+the great forest of oaks. The ospreys and the wood pigeons used to build
+in it, the blue raven and even the black stork! It was early in the
+year; some of the nests were full of eggs, while in others the young
+ones were just hatched. What a flying and screaming was there! Then came
+the sound of the axe, blow upon blow; the forest was to be felled.
+Waldemar Daa was about to build a costly ship, a three-decked
+man-of-war, which it was expected the king would buy. So the wood fell,
+the ancient landmark of the seaman, the home of the birds. The shrike
+was frightened away; its nest was torn down; the osprey and all the
+other birds lost their nests too, and they flew about distractedly,
+shrieking in their terror and anger. The crows and the jackdaws screamed
+in mockery, Caw! caw! Waldemar Daa and his three daughters stood in the
+middle of the wood among the workmen. They all laughed at the wild cries
+of the birds, except Anna Dorothea, who was touched by their distress,
+and when they were about to fell a tree which was half-dead, and on
+whose naked branches a black stork had built its nest, out of which the
+young ones were sticking their heads, she begged them with tears in her
+eyes to spare it. So the tree with the black stork's nest was allowed to
+stand. It was only a little thing.</p>
+
+<p>'The chopping and the sawing went on&mdash;the three-decker <a name="Page_228" id="Page_228"></a>was built. The
+master builder was a man of humble origin, but of noble loyalty; great
+power lay in his eyes and on his forehead, and Waldemar Daa liked to
+listen to him, and little Ida liked to listen too, the eldest
+fifteen-year-old daughter. But whilst he built the ship for her father,
+he built a castle in the air for himself, in which he and little Ida sat
+side by side as man and wife. This might also have happened if his
+castle had been built of solid stone, with moat and ramparts, wood and
+gardens. But with all his wisdom the shipbuilder was only a poor bird,
+and what business has a sparrow in a crane's nest? Whew! whew! I rushed
+away, and he rushed away, for he dared not stay, and little Ida got over
+it, as get over it she must.</p>
+
+<p>'The fiery black horses stood neighing in the stables; they were worth
+looking at, and they were looked at to some purpose too. An admiral was
+sent from the King to look at the new man-of-war, with a view to
+purchasing it. The admiral was loud in his admiration of the horses. I
+heard all he said,' added the wind. 'I went through the open door with
+the gentlemen and scattered the straw like gold before their feet.
+Waldemar Daa wanted gold; the admiral wanted the black horses, and so he
+praised them as he did; but his hints were not taken, therefore the ship
+remained unsold. There it stood by the shore covered up with boards,
+like a Noah's Ark which never reached the water. Whew! whew! get along!
+get along! It was a miserable business. In the winter, when the fields
+were covered with snow and the Belt was full of <a name="Page_229" id="Page_229"></a>ice-floes which I drove
+up on to the coast,' said the wind, 'the ravens and crows came in
+flocks, the one blacker than the other, and perched upon the desolate,
+dead ship by the shore. They screamed themselves hoarse about the forest
+which had disappeared, and the many precious birds' nests which had been
+devastated, leaving old and young homeless; and all for the sake of this
+old piece of lumber, the proud ship which was never to touch the water!
+I whirled the snow about till it lay in great heaps round the ship. I
+let it hear my voice, and all that a storm has to say, I know that I did
+my best to give it an idea of the sea. Whew! whew!'</p>
+
+<p>'The winter passed by; winter and summer passed away! They come and go
+just as I do. The snow-flakes, the apple blossom, and the leaves fall,
+each in their turn. Whew! whew! they pass away, as men pass too!</p>
+
+<p>'The daughters were still young. Little Ida, the rose, as lovely to look
+at as when the shipbuilder turned his gaze upon her. I often took hold
+of her long brown hair when she stood lost in thought by the apple-tree
+in the garden. She never noticed that I showered apple-blossom over her
+loosened hair; she only gazed at the red sunset against the golden
+background of the sky, and the dark trees and bushes of the garden. Her
+sister Johanna was like a tall, stately lily; she held herself as
+stiffly erect as her mother, and seemed to have the same dread of
+bending her stem. She liked to walk in the long gallery where the family
+portraits hung. The <a name="Page_230" id="Page_230"></a>ladies were painted in velvet and silk, with tiny
+pearl embroidered caps on their braided tresses. Their husbands were all
+clad in steel, or in costly cloaks lined with squirrel skins and stiff
+blue ruffs; their swords hung loosely by their sides. Where would
+Johanna's portrait one day hang on these walls? What would her noble
+husband look like? These were her thoughts, and she even spoke them
+aloud; I heard her as I swept through the long corridor into the
+gallery, where I veered round again.</p>
+
+<p>'Anna Dorothea, the pale hyacinth, was only a child of fourteen, quiet
+and thoughtful. Her large blue eyes, as clear as water, were very
+solemn, but childhood's smile still played upon her lips; I could not
+blow it away, nor did I wish to do so. I used to meet her in the garden,
+the ravine, and in the manor fields. She was always picking flowers and
+herbs, those she knew her father could use for healing drinks and
+potions. Waldemar Daa was proud and conceited, but he was also learned,
+and he knew a great deal about many things. One could see that, and many
+whispers went about as to his learning. The fire blazed in his stove
+even in summer, and his chamber door was locked. This went on for days
+and nights, but he did not talk much about it. One must deal silently
+with the forces of nature. He would soon discover the best of
+everything, the red, red gold!</p>
+
+<p>'This was why his chimney flamed and smoked and sparkled. Yes, I was
+there, too,' said the wind.</p>
+
+<table summary="illo">
+<tr>
+<td><div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;">
+<a name="Plate_26" id="Plate_26"></a><a href="images/plate26.jpg"><img src="images/plate26-th.jpg" width="350" height="438" alt="" title="" /></a>
+</div>
+</td>
+<td style="width: 40%;">
+<p><i>I used to meet her in the garden, the ravine, and in the manor fields.
+She was always picking flowers and herbs, those she knew her father
+could use for healing drinks and potions.</i></p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235"></a>'Away with you, away! I sang in the back of the chimney. Smoke smoke,
+embers and ashes, that is all it will come to! You will burn yourself up
+in it. Whew! whew! away with it! But Waldemar Daa could not let it go.</p>
+
+<p>'The fiery steeds in the stable, where were they? The old gold and
+silver plate in cupboard and chest, where was that? The cattle, the
+land, the castle itself? Yes, they could all be melted down in the
+crucible, but yet no gold would come.</p>
+
+<p>'Barn and larder got emptier and emptier. Fewer servants; more mice. One
+pane of glass got broken and another followed it. There was no need for
+me to go in by the doors,' said the wind. 'A smoking chimney means a
+cooking meal, but the only chimney which smoked here swallowed up all
+the meals, all for the sake of the red gold.</p>
+
+<p>'I blew through the castle gate like a watchman blowing his horn, but
+there was no watchman,' said the wind. 'I twisted round the weather-cock
+on the tower and it creaked as if the watchman up there was snoring,
+only there was no watchman. Rats and mice were the only inhabitants.
+Poverty laid the table; poverty lurked in wardrobe and larder. The doors
+fell off their hinges, cracks and crannies appeared everywhere; I went
+in and out,' said the wind, 'so I know all about it.</p>
+
+<p>'The hair and the beard of Waldemar Daa grew grey, in the sorrow of his
+sleepless nights, amid smoke and ashes. His skin <a name="Page_236" id="Page_236"></a>grew grimy and yellow,
+and his eyes greedy for gold, the long expected gold.</p>
+
+<p>'I whistled through the broken panes and fissures; I blew into the
+daughters' chests where their clothes lay faded and threadbare; they had
+to last for ever. A song like this had never been sung over the cradles
+of these children. A lordly life became a woeful life! I was the only
+one to sing in the castle now,' said the wind. 'I snowed them up, for
+they said it gave warmth. They had no firewood, for the forest was cut
+down where they should have got it. There was a biting frost. Even I had
+to keep rushing through the crannies and passages to keep myself lively.
+They stayed in bed to keep themselves warm, those noble ladies. Their
+father crept about under a fur rug. Nothing to bite, and nothing to
+burn! a lordly life indeed! Whew! whew! let it go! But this was what
+Waldemar Daa could not do.</p>
+
+<p>'"After winter comes the spring," said he; "a good time will come after
+a time of need; but they make us wait their pleasure, wait! The castle
+is mortgaged, we are in extremities&mdash;and yet the gold will come&mdash;at
+Easter!"</p>
+
+<p>'I heard him murmur to the spider's web.&mdash;"You clever little weaver! You
+teach me to persevere! If your web is broken, you begin at the beginning
+again and complete it! Broken again&mdash;and cheerfully you begin it over
+again. That is what one must do, and one will be rewarded!"</p>
+
+<p><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237"></a></p><p>'It was Easter morning, the bells were ringing, and the sun was at play
+in the heavens. Waldemar Daa had watched through the night with his
+blood at fever pitch; boiling and cooling, mixing and distilling. I
+heard him sigh like a despairing soul; I heard him pray, and I felt that
+he held his breath. The lamp had gone out, but he never noticed it; I
+blew up the embers and they shone upon his ashen face, which took a
+tinge of colour from their light; his eyes started in their sockets,
+they grew larger and larger, as if they would leap out.</p>
+
+<p>'Look at the alchemist's glass! something twinkles in it; it is glowing,
+pure and heavy. He lifted it with a trembling hand and shouted with a
+trembling voice: "Gold! gold!" He reeled, and I could easily have blown
+him over,' said the wind, 'but I only blew upon the embers, and followed
+him to the room where his daughters sat shivering. His coat was powdered
+with ash, as well as his beard and his matted hair. He drew himself up
+to his full height and held up his precious treasure, in the fragile
+glass: "Found! won! gold!" he cried, stretching up his hand with the
+glass which glittered in the sunbeams: his hand shook, and the
+alchemist's glass fell to the ground shivered into a thousand atoms. The
+last bubble of his welfare was shattered too. Whew! whew! fare away! and
+away I rushed from the goldmaker's home.</p>
+
+<table summary="illo">
+<tr>
+<td><div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;">
+<a name="Plate_27" id="Plate_27"></a><a href="images/plate27.jpg"><img src="images/plate27-th.jpg" width="350" height="437" alt="" title="" /></a>
+</div>
+</td>
+<td style="width: 40%;">
+<p><i>He lifted it with a trembling hand and shouted with a trembling voice:
+'Gold! gold!'</i></p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>'Late in the year, when the days were short and dark up here, and the
+fog envelops the red berries and bare branches with its <a name="Page_238" id="Page_238"></a>cold moisture,
+I came along in a lively mood clearing the sky and snapping off the dead
+boughs. This is no great labour, it is true, yet it has to be done.
+Borreby Hall, the home of Waldemar Daa, was having a clean sweep of a
+different sort. The family enemy, Ov&eacute; Ramel from Basness, appeared,
+holding the mortgage of the Hall and all its contents. I drummed upon
+the cracked window panes, beat against the decaying doors, and whistled
+through all the cracks and crannies, whew! I did my best to prevent Herr
+Ov&eacute; taking a fancy to stay there. Ida and Anna Dorothea faced it
+bravely, although they shed some tears; Johanna stood pale and erect and
+bit her finger till it bled! Much that would help her! Ov&eacute; Ramel offered
+to let them stay on at the Castle for Waldemar Daa's lifetime, but he
+got no thanks for his offer; I was listening. I saw the ruined gentleman
+stiffen his neck and hold his head higher than ever. I beat against the
+walls and the old linden trees with such force that the thickest branch
+broke, although it was not a bit rotten. It fell across the gate like a
+broom, as if some one was about to sweep; and a sweeping there was
+indeed to be. I quite expected it. It was a grievous day and a hard time
+for them, but their wills were as stubborn as their necks were stiff.
+They had not a possession in the world but the clothes on their backs;
+yes, one thing&mdash;an alchemist's glass which had been bought and filled
+with the fragments scraped up from the floor. The treasure which
+promised much and fulfilled nothing. <a name="Page_243" id="Page_243"></a>Waldemar Daa hid it in his
+bosom, took his staff in his hand, and, with his three daughters, the
+once wealthy gentleman walked out of Borreby Hall for the last time. I
+blew a cold blast upon his burning cheeks, I fluttered his grey beard
+and his long white hair; I sang such a tune as only I could sing. Whew!
+whew! away with them! away with them! This was the end of all their
+grandeur.</p>
+
+<p>'Ida and Ana Dorothea walked one on each side of him: Johanna turned
+round in the gateway, but what was the good of that? nothing could make
+their luck turn. She looked at the red stones of what had once been
+Marsk Stig's Castle. Was she thinking of his daughters?</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">'"The elder took the younger by the hand,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And out they roamed to a far-off land."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Was she thinking of that song? Here there were three and their father
+was with them. They walked along the road where once they used to ride
+in their chariot. They trod it now as vagrants, on their way to a
+plastered cottage on Smidstrup Heath, which was rented at ten marks
+yearly. This was their new country seat with its empty walls and its
+empty vessels. The crows and the magpies wheeled screaming over their
+heads with their mocking "Caw, caw! Out of the nest, Caw, caw!" just as
+they screamed in Borreby Forest when the trees were felled.</p>
+
+<p>'Herr Daa and his daughters must have noticed it. I blew <a name="Page_244" id="Page_244"></a>into their
+ears to try and deaden the cries, which after all were not worth
+listening to.</p>
+
+<p>'So they took up their abode in the plastered cottage on Smidstrup
+Heath, and I tore off over marshes and meadows, through naked hedges and
+bare woods, to the open seas and other lands. Whew! whew! away, away!
+and that for many years.'</p>
+
+<p>What happened to Waldemar Daa? What happened to his daughters? This is
+what the wind relates.</p>
+
+<p>'The last of them I saw, yes, for the last time, was Anna Dorothea, the
+pale hyacinth. She was old and bent now; it was half a century later.
+She lived the longest, she had gone through everything.</p>
+
+<p>'Across the heath, near the town of Viborg, stood the Dean's new,
+handsome mansion, built of red stone with toothed gables. The smoke
+curled thickly out of the chimneys. The gentle lady and her fair
+daughters sat in the bay window looking into the garden at the drooping
+thorns and out to the brown heath beyond. What were they looking at
+there? They were looking at a stork's nest on a tumble-down cottage; the
+roof was covered, as far as there was any roof to cover, with moss and
+house-leek; but the stork's nest made the best covering. It was the only
+part to which anything was done, for the stork kept it in repair.</p>
+
+<table summary="illo">
+<tr>
+<td><div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;">
+<a name="Plate_28" id="Plate_28"></a><a href="images/plate28.jpg"><img src="images/plate28-th.jpg" width="350" height="439" alt="" title="" /></a>
+</div>
+</td>
+<td style="width: 40%;">
+<p><i>Waldemar Daa hid it in his bosom, took his staff in his hand, and, with
+his three daughters, the once wealthy gentleman walked out of Borreby
+Hall for the last time.</i></p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>'This house was only fit to be looked at, not to be touched. I had to
+mind what I was about,' said the wind. 'The cottage <a name="Page_249" id="Page_249"></a>was allowed to
+stand for the sake of the stork's nest; in itself it was only a
+scarecrow on the heath, but the dean did not want to frighten away the
+stork, so the hovel was allowed to stand. The poor soul inside was
+allowed to live in it; she had the Egyptian bird to thank for that; or
+was it payment for once having pleaded for the nest of his wild black
+brother in the Borreby Forest? Then, poor thing, she was a child, a
+delicate, pale hyacinth in a noble flower-garden. Poor Anna Dorothea;
+she remembered it all! Ah, human beings can sigh as well as the wind
+when it soughs through the rushes and reeds.</p>
+
+<p>'Oh dear! oh dear! No bells rang over the grave of Waldemar Daa. No
+schoolboys sang when the former lord of Borreby Castle was laid in his
+grave. Well, everything must have an end, even misery! Sister Ida became
+the wife of a peasant, and this was her father's sorest trial. His
+daughter's husband a miserable serf, who might at any moment be ordered
+the punishment of the wooden horse by his lord. It is well that the sod
+covers him now, and you too, Ida! Ah yes! ah yes! Poor me! poor me! I
+still linger on. In Thy mercy release me, O Christ!'</p>
+
+<p>'This was the prayer of Anna Dorothea, as she lay in the miserable hovel
+which was only left standing for the sake of the stork.</p>
+
+<p>'I took charge of the boldest of the sisters,' said the wind. 'She had
+clothes made to suit her manly disposition, and took a <a name="Page_250" id="Page_250"></a>place as a lad
+with a skipper. Her words were few and looks stubborn, but she was
+willing enough at her work. But with all her will she could not climb
+the rigging; so I blew her overboard before any one discovered that she
+was a woman, and I fancy that was not a bad deed of mine!' said the
+wind.</p>
+
+<p>'On such an Easter morning as that on which Waldemar Daa thought he had
+found the red gold, I heard from beneath the stork's nest a psalm
+echoing through the miserable walls. It was Anna Dorothea's last song.
+There was no window; only a hole in the wall. The sun rose in splendour
+and poured in upon her; her eyes were glazed and her heart broken! This
+would have been so this morning whether the sun had shone upon her or
+not. The stork kept a roof over her head till her death! I sang at her
+grave,' said the wind, 'and I sang at her father's grave. I know where
+it is, and hers too, which is more than any one else knows.</p>
+
+<p>'The old order changeth, giving place to the new. The old high-road now
+only leads to cultivated fields, while peaceful graves are covered by
+busy traffic on the new road. Soon comes Steam with its row of waggons
+behind it, rushing over the graves, forgotten, like the names upon them.
+Whew! whew! Let us be gone! This is the story of Waldemar Daa and his
+daughters. Tell it better yourselves, if you can,' said the wind, as it
+veered round. Then it was gone.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 100px;">
+<img src="images/detail.jpg" width="100" height="153" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h4 style="font-weight: normal;">Printed in Great Britain<br />
+Text printed by T. and A. Constable, Printers to His Majesty, Edinburgh<br />
+Illustrations by Henry Stone and Son, Ltd., Banbury</h4>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Stories from Hans Andersen, by 
+Hans Christian Andersen
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STORIES FROM HANS ANDERSEN ***
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+</pre>
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+</body>
+</html>
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@@ -0,0 +1,4205 @@
+Project Gutenberg's Stories from Hans Andersen, by Hans Christian Andersen
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Stories from Hans Andersen
+
+Author: Hans Christian Andersen
+
+Illustrator: Edmund Dulac
+
+Release Date: February 26, 2006 [EBook #17860]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STORIES FROM HANS ANDERSEN ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Stacy Brown, Jason Isbell and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+STORIES _FROM_
+HANS ANDERSEN
+
+_WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY_
+EDMUND DULAC
+
+
+HODDER & STOUGHTON
+LIMITED   LONDON
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+_THE SNOW QUEEN_
+                                                             PAGE
+One day he was in a high state of delight because he had
+invented a mirror                                               5
+
+Many a winter's night she flies through the streets            11
+
+Then an old, old woman came out of the house                   23
+
+She has read all the newspapers in the world, and forgotten
+them again, so clever is she                                   37
+
+'It is gold, it is gold!' they cried                           51
+
+Kissed her on the mouth, while big shining tears trickled
+down its face                                                  63
+
+The Snow Queen sat in the very middle of it when she sat
+at home                                                        71
+
+
+_THE NIGHTINGALE_
+
+Even the poor fisherman ... lay still to listen to it          81
+
+'Is it possible?' said the gentleman-in-waiting. 'I should
+never have thought it was like that'                           89
+
+Took some water into their mouths to try and make the same
+gurgling, ... thinking so to equal the nightingale             95
+
+The music-master wrote five-and-twenty volumes about the
+artificial bird                                               101
+
+Even Death himself listened to the song                       109
+
+
+_THE REAL PRINCESS_
+
+'I have hardly closed my eyes the whole night!
+Heaven knows what was in the bed. I seemed to
+be lying upon some hard thing, and my whole body
+is black and blue this morning. It is terrible!'   _Frontispiece_
+
+
+_THE GARDEN OF PARADISE_
+
+His grandmother had told him ... that every flower in the
+Garden of Paradise was a delicious cake                       117
+
+The Eastwind flew more swiftly still                          131
+
+The Fairy of the Garden now advanced to meet them             139
+
+The Fairy dropped her shimmering garment, drew back the
+branches, and a moment after was hidden within their depths   147
+
+
+_THE MERMAID_
+
+The Merman King had been for many years a widower             155
+
+He must have died if the little mermaid had not come to
+the rescue                                                    169
+
+At the mere sight of the bright liquid                        183
+
+The prince asked who she was and how she came there           189
+
+Dashed overboard and fell, her body dissolving into foam      199
+
+
+_THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES_
+
+The poor old minister stared as hard as he could, but he
+could not see anything                                        209
+
+Then the Emperor walked along in the procession under the
+gorgeous canopy, and everybody in the streets and at the
+windows exclaimed, 'How beautiful the Emperor's new
+clothes are!'                                                 215
+
+
+_THE WIND'S TALE_
+
+She played upon the ringing lute, and sang to its tones       225
+
+She was always picking flowers and herbs                      233
+
+He lifted it with a trembling hand and shouted with a
+trembling voice: 'Gold! gold!'                                241
+
+Waldemar Daa hid it in his bosom, took his staff in his
+hand, and, with his three daughters, the once wealthy
+gentleman walked out of Borreby Hall for the last time        247
+
+
+
+
+THE SNOW QUEEN
+
+A TALE IN SEVEN STORIES
+
+
+FIRST STORY
+
+WHICH DEALS WITH A MIRROR AND ITS FRAGMENTS
+
+[Illustration: _One day he was in a high state of delight because he had
+invented a mirror with this peculiarity, that every good and pretty
+thing reflected in it shrank away to almost nothing._]
+
+Now we are about to begin, and you must attend; and when we get to the
+end of the story, you will know more than you do now about a very wicked
+hobgoblin. He was one of the worst kind; in fact he was a real demon.
+One day he was in a high state of delight because he had invented a
+mirror with this peculiarity, that every good and pretty thing reflected
+in it shrank away to almost nothing. On the other hand, every bad and
+good-for-nothing thing stood out and looked its worst. The most
+beautiful landscapes reflected in it looked like boiled spinach, and the
+best people became hideous, or else they were upside down and had no
+bodies. Their faces were distorted beyond recognition, and if they had
+even one freckle it appeared to spread all over the nose and mouth. The
+demon thought this immensely amusing. If a good thought passed through
+any one's mind, it turned to a grin in the mirror, and this caused real
+delight to the demon. All the scholars in the demon's school, for he
+kept a school, reported that a miracle had taken place: now for the
+first time it had become possible to see what the world and mankind were
+really like. They ran about all over with the mirror, till at last there
+was not a country or a person which had not been seen in this distorting
+mirror. They even wanted to fly up to heaven with it to mock the angels;
+but the higher they flew, the more it grinned, so much so that they
+could hardly hold it, and at last it slipped out of their hands and fell
+to the earth, shivered into hundreds of millions and billions of bits.
+Even then it did more harm than ever. Some of these bits were not as big
+as a grain of sand, and these flew about all over the world, getting
+into people's eyes, and, once in, they stuck there, and distorted
+everything they looked at, or made them see everything that was amiss.
+Each tiniest grain of glass kept the same power as that possessed by the
+whole mirror. Some people even got a bit of the glass into their hearts,
+and that was terrible, for the heart became like a lump of ice. Some of
+the fragments were so big that they were used for window panes, but it
+was not advisable to look at one's friends through these panes. Other
+bits were made into spectacles, and it was a bad business when people
+put on these spectacles meaning to be just. The bad demon laughed
+till he split his sides; it tickled him to see the mischief he had done.
+But some of these fragments were still left floating about the world,
+and you shall hear what happened to them.
+
+
+SECOND STORY
+
+ABOUT A LITTLE BOY AND A LITTLE GIRL
+
+[Illustration: _Many a winter's night she flies through the streets and
+peeps in at the windows, and then the ice freezes on the panes into
+wonderful patterns like flowers._]
+
+In a big town crowded with houses and people, where there is no room for
+gardens, people have to be content with flowers in pots instead. In one
+of these towns lived two children who managed to have something bigger
+than a flower pot for a garden. They were not brother and sister, but
+they were just as fond of each other as if they had been. Their parents
+lived opposite each other in two attic rooms. The roof of one house just
+touched the roof of the next one, with only a rain-water gutter between
+them. They each had a little dormer window, and one only had to step
+over the gutter to get from one house to the other. Each of the parents
+had a large window-box, in which they grew pot herbs and a little
+rose-tree. There was one in each box, and they both grew splendidly.
+Then it occurred to the parents to put the boxes across the gutter, from
+house to house, and they looked just like two banks of flowers. The pea
+vines hung down over the edges of the boxes, and the roses threw out
+long creepers which twined round the windows. It was almost like a green
+triumphal arch. The boxes were high, and the children knew they must not
+climb up on to them, but they were often allowed to have their little
+stools out under the rose-trees, and there they had delightful games. Of
+course in the winter there was an end to these amusements. The windows
+were often covered with hoar-frost; then they would warm coppers on the
+stove and stick them on the frozen panes, where they made lovely
+peep-holes, as round as possible. Then a bright eye would peep through
+these holes, one from each window. The little boy's name was Kay, and
+the little girl's Gerda.
+
+In the summer they could reach each other with one bound, but in the
+winter they had to go down all the stairs in one house and up all the
+stairs in the other, and outside there were snowdrifts.
+
+'Look! the white bees are swarming,' said the old grandmother.
+
+'Have they a queen bee, too?' asked the little boy, for he knew that
+there was a queen among the real bees.
+
+'Yes, indeed they have,' said the grandmother. 'She flies where the
+swarm is thickest. She is biggest of them all, and she never remains on
+the ground. She always flies up again to the sky. Many a winter's night
+she flies through the streets and peeps in at the windows, and then the
+ice freezes on the panes into wonderful patterns like flowers.'
+
+'Oh yes, we have seen that,' said both children, and then they knew
+it was true.
+
+'Can the Snow Queen come in here?' asked the little girl.
+
+'Just let her come,' said the boy, 'and I will put her on the stove,
+where she will melt.'
+
+But the grandmother smoothed his hair and told him more stories.
+
+In the evening when little Kay was at home and half undressed, he crept
+up on to the chair by the window, and peeped out of the little hole. A
+few snow-flakes were falling, and one of these, the biggest, remained on
+the edge of the window-box. It grew bigger and bigger, till it became
+the figure of a woman, dressed in the finest white gauze, which appeared
+to be made of millions of starry flakes. She was delicately lovely, but
+all ice, glittering, dazzling ice. Still she was alive, her eyes shone
+like two bright stars, but there was no rest or peace in them. She
+nodded to the window and waved her hand. The little boy was frightened
+and jumped down off the chair, and then he fancied that a big bird flew
+past the window.
+
+The next day was bright and frosty, and then came the thaw--and after
+that the spring. The sun shone, green buds began to appear, the swallows
+built their nests, and people began to open their windows. The little
+children began to play in their garden on the roof again. The roses were
+in splendid bloom that summer; the little girl had learnt a hymn, and
+there was something in it about roses, and that made her think of her
+own. She sang it to the little boy, and then he sang it with her--
+
+    'Where roses deck the flowery vale,
+    There, Infant Jesus, we thee hail!'
+
+The children took each other by the hands, kissed the roses, and
+rejoiced in God's bright sunshine, and spoke to it as if the Child Jesus
+were there. What lovely summer days they were, and how delightful it was
+to sit out under the fresh rose-trees, which seemed never tired of
+blooming.
+
+Kay and Gerda were looking at a picture book of birds and animals one
+day--it had just struck five by the church clock--when Kay said, 'Oh,
+something struck my heart, and I have got something in my eye!'
+
+The little girl put her arms round his neck, he blinked his eye; there
+was nothing to be seen.
+
+'I believe it is gone,' he said; but it was not gone. It was one of
+those very grains of glass from the mirror, the magic mirror. You
+remember that horrid mirror, in which all good and great things
+reflected in it became small and mean, while the bad things were
+magnified, and every flaw became very apparent.
+
+Poor Kay! a grain of it had gone straight to his heart, and would soon
+turn it to a lump of ice. He did not feel it any more, but it was still
+there.
+
+'Why do you cry?' he asked; 'it makes you look ugly; there's nothing the
+matter with me. How horrid!' he suddenly cried; 'there's a worm in that
+rose, and that one is quite crooked; after all, they are nasty roses,
+and so are the boxes they are growing in!' He kicked the box and broke
+off two of the roses.
+
+'What are you doing, Kay?' cried the little girl. When he saw her alarm,
+he broke off another rose, and then ran in by his own window, and left
+dear little Gerda alone.
+
+When she next got out the picture book he said it was only fit for
+babies in long clothes. When his grandmother told them stories he always
+had a but--, and if he could manage it, he liked to get behind her
+chair, put on her spectacles and imitate her. He did it very well and
+people laughed at him. He was soon able to imitate every one in the
+street; he could make fun of all their peculiarities and failings. 'He
+will turn out a clever fellow,' said people. But it was all that bit of
+glass in his heart, that bit of glass in his eye, and it made him tease
+little Gerda who was so devoted to him. He played quite different games
+now; he seemed to have grown older. One winter's day, when the snow was
+falling fast, he brought in a big magnifying glass; he held out the tail
+of his blue coat, and let the snow flakes fall upon it.
+
+'Now look through the glass, Gerda!' he said; every snowflake was
+magnified, and looked like a lovely flower, or a sharply pointed star.
+
+'Do you see how cleverly they are made?' said Kay. 'Much more
+interesting than looking at real flowers. And there is not a single flaw
+in them; they are perfect, if only they would not melt.'
+
+Shortly after, he appeared in his thick gloves, with his sledge on his
+back. He shouted right into Gerda's ear, 'I have got leave to drive in
+the big square where the other boys play!' and away he went.
+
+In the big square the bolder boys used to tie their little sledges to
+the farm carts and go a long way in this fashion. They had no end of fun
+over it. Just in the middle of their games a big sledge came along; it
+was painted white, and the occupant wore a white fur coat and cap. The
+sledge drove twice round the square, and Kay quickly tied his sledge on
+behind. Then off they went, faster, and faster, into the next street.
+The driver turned round and nodded to Kay in the most friendly way, just
+as if they knew each other. Every time Kay wanted to loose his sledge
+the person nodded again, and Kay stayed where he was, and they drove
+right out through the town gates. Then the snow began to fall so heavily
+that the little boy could not see a hand before him as they rushed
+along. He undid the cords and tried to get away from the big sledge, but
+it was no use, his little sledge stuck fast, and on they rushed, faster
+than the wind. He shouted aloud, but nobody heard him, and the sledge
+tore on through the snow-drifts. Every now and then it gave a bound, as
+if they were jumping over hedges and ditches. He was very frightened,
+and he wanted to say his prayers, but he could only remember the
+multiplication tables.
+
+The snow-flakes grew bigger and bigger, till at last they looked like
+big white chickens. All at once they sprang on one side, the big sledge
+stopped and the person who drove got up, coat and cap smothered in snow.
+It was a tall and upright lady all shining white, the Snow Queen
+herself.
+
+'We have come along at a good pace,' she said; 'but it's cold enough to
+kill one; creep inside my bearskin coat.'
+
+She took him into the sledge by her, wrapped him in her furs, and he
+felt as if he were sinking into a snowdrift.
+
+'Are you still cold?' she asked, and she kissed him on the forehead.
+Ugh! it was colder than ice, it went to his very heart, which was
+already more than half ice; he felt as if he were dying, but only for a
+moment, and then it seemed to have done him good; he no longer felt the
+cold.
+
+'My sledge! don't forget my sledge!' He only remembered it now; it was
+tied to one of the white chickens which flew along behind them. The Snow
+Queen kissed Kay again, and then he forgot all about little Gerda,
+Grandmother, and all the others at home.
+
+'Now I mustn't kiss you any more,' she said, 'or I should kiss you to
+death!'
+
+Kay looked at her, she was so pretty; a cleverer, more beautiful face
+could hardly be imagined. She did not seem to be made of ice now, as she
+was outside the window when she waved her hand to him. In his eyes she
+was quite perfect, and he was not a bit afraid of her; he told her that
+he could do mental arithmetic, as far as fractions, and that he knew the
+number of square miles and the number of inhabitants of the country. She
+always smiled at him, and he then thought that he surely did not know
+enough, and he looked up into the wide expanse of heaven, into which
+they rose higher and higher as she flew with him on a dark cloud, while
+the storm surged around them, the wind ringing in their ears like
+well-known old songs.
+
+They flew over woods and lakes, over oceans and islands; the cold wind
+whistled down below them, the wolves howled, the black crows flew
+screaming over the sparkling snow, but up above, the moon shone bright
+and clear--and Kay looked at it all the long, long winter nights; in the
+day he slept at the Snow Queen's feet.
+
+
+STORY THREE
+
+THE GARDEN OF THE WOMAN LEARNED IN MAGIC
+
+[Illustration: _Then an old, old woman came out of the house; she was
+leaning upon a big, hooked stick, and she wore a big sun hat, which was
+covered with beautiful painted flowers._]
+
+But how was little Gerda getting on all this long time since Kay left
+her? Where could he be? Nobody knew, nobody could say anything about
+him. All that the other boys knew was, that they had seen him tie his
+little sledge to a splendid big one which drove away down the street and
+out of the town gates. Nobody knew where he was, and many tears were
+shed; little Gerda cried long and bitterly. At last, people said he was
+dead; he must have fallen into the river which ran close by the town.
+Oh, what long, dark, winter days those were!
+
+At last the spring came and the sunshine.
+
+'Kay is dead and gone,' said little Gerda.
+
+'I don't believe it,' said the sunshine.
+
+'He is dead and gone,' she said to the swallows.
+
+'We don't believe it,' said the swallows; and at last little Gerda did
+not believe it either.
+
+'I will put on my new red shoes,' she said one morning; 'those Kay never
+saw; and then I will go down to the river and ask it about him!'
+
+It was very early in the morning; she kissed the old grandmother, who
+was still asleep, put on the red shoes, and went quite alone, out by the
+gate to the river.
+
+'Is it true that you have taken my little playfellow? I will give you my
+red shoes if you will bring him back to me again.'
+
+She thought the little ripples nodded in such a curious way, so she took
+off her red shoes, her most cherished possessions, and threw them both
+into the river. They fell close by the shore, and were carried straight
+back to her by the little wavelets; it seemed as if the river would not
+accept her offering, as it had not taken little Kay.
+
+She only thought she had not thrown them far enough; so she climbed into
+a boat which lay among the rushes, then she went right out to the
+further end of it, and threw the shoes into the water again. But the
+boat was loose, and her movements started it off, and it floated away
+from the shore: she felt it moving and tried to get out, but before she
+reached the other end the boat was more than a yard from the shore, and
+was floating away quite quickly.
+
+Little Gerda was terribly frightened, and began to cry, but nobody heard
+her except the sparrows, and they could not carry her ashore, but they
+flew alongside twittering, as if to cheer her, 'We are here, we are
+here.' The boat floated rapidly away with the current; little Gerda sat
+quite still with only her stockings on; her little red shoes floated
+behind, but they could not catch up the boat, which drifted away faster
+and faster.
+
+The banks on both sides were very pretty with beautiful flowers, fine
+old trees, and slopes dotted with sheep and cattle, but not a single
+person.
+
+'Perhaps the river is taking me to little Kay,' thought Gerda, and that
+cheered her; she sat up and looked at the beautiful green banks for
+hours.
+
+Then they came to a big cherry garden; there was a little house in
+it, with curious blue and red windows, it had a thatched roof, and two
+wooden soldiers stood outside, who presented arms as she sailed past.
+Gerda called out to them; she thought they were alive, but of course
+they did not answer; she was quite close to them, for the current drove
+the boat close to the bank. Gerda called out again, louder than before,
+and then an old, old woman came out of the house; she was leaning upon a
+big, hooked stick, and she wore a big sun hat, which was covered with
+beautiful painted flowers.
+
+'You poor little child,' said the old woman, 'how ever were you driven
+out on this big, strong river into the wide, wide world alone?' Then she
+walked right into the water, and caught hold of the boat with her hooked
+stick; she drew it ashore, and lifted little Gerda out.
+
+Gerda was delighted to be on dry land again, but she was a little bit
+frightened of the strange old woman.
+
+'Come, tell me who you are, and how you got here,' said she.
+
+When Gerda had told her the whole story and asked her if she had seen
+Kay, the woman said she had not seen him, but that she expected him.
+Gerda must not be sad, she was to come and taste her cherries and see
+her flowers, which were more beautiful than any picture-book; each one
+had a story to tell. Then she took Gerda by the hand, they went into the
+little house, and the old woman locked the door.
+
+The windows were very high up, and they were red, blue, and yellow;
+they threw a very curious light into the room. On the table were
+quantities of the most delicious cherries, of which Gerda had leave to
+eat as many as ever she liked. While she was eating, the old woman
+combed her hair with a golden comb, so that the hair curled, and shone
+like gold round the pretty little face, which was as sweet as a rose.
+
+'I have long wanted a little girl like you!' said the old woman. 'You
+will see how well we shall get on together.' While she combed her hair
+Gerda had forgotten all about Kay, for the old woman was learned in the
+magic art; but she was not a bad witch, she only cast spells over people
+for a little amusement, and she wanted to keep Gerda. She therefore went
+into the garden and waved her hooked stick over all the rose-bushes, and
+however beautifully they were flowering, all sank down into the rich
+black earth without leaving a trace behind them. The old woman was
+afraid that if Gerda saw the roses she would be reminded of Kay, and
+would want to run away. Then she took Gerda into the flower garden. What
+a delicious scent there was! and every imaginable flower for every
+season was in that lovely garden; no picture-book could be brighter or
+more beautiful. Gerda jumped for joy and played till the sun went down
+behind the tall cherry trees. Then she was put into a lovely bed with
+rose-coloured silken coverings stuffed with violets; she slept and
+dreamt as lovely dreams as any queen on her wedding day.
+
+The next day she played with the flowers in the garden again--and many
+days passed in the same way. Gerda knew every flower, but however many
+there were, she always thought there was one missing, but which it was
+she did not know.
+
+One day she was sitting looking at the old woman's sun hat with its
+painted flowers, and the very prettiest one of them all was a rose. The
+old woman had forgotten her hat when she charmed the others away. This
+is the consequence of being absent-minded.
+
+'What!' said Gerda, 'are there no roses here?' and she sprang in among
+the flower-beds and sought, but in vain! Her hot tears fell on the very
+places where the roses used to be; when the warm drops moistened the
+earth the rose-trees shot up again, just as full of bloom as when they
+sank. Gerda embraced the roses and kissed them, and then she thought of
+the lovely roses at home, and this brought the thought of little Kay.
+
+'Oh, how I have been delayed,' said the little girl, 'I ought to have
+been looking for Kay! Don't you know where he is?' she asked the roses.
+'Do you think he is dead and gone?'
+
+'He is not dead,' said the roses. 'For we have been down underground,
+you know, and all the dead people are there, but Kay is not among them.'
+
+'Oh, thank you!' said little Gerda, and then she went to the other
+flowers and looked into their cups and said, 'Do you know where Kay is?'
+
+But each flower stood in the sun and dreamt its own dreams. Little Gerda
+heard many of these, but never anything about Kay.
+
+And what said the Tiger lilies?
+
+'Do you hear the drum? rub-a-dub, it has only two notes, rub-a-dub,
+always the same. The wailing of women and the cry of the preacher. The
+Hindu woman in her long red garment stands on the pile, while the flames
+surround her and her dead husband. But the woman is only thinking of the
+living man in the circle round, whose eyes burn with a fiercer fire than
+that of the flames which consume the body. Do the flames of the heart
+die in the fire?'
+
+'I understand nothing about that,' said little Gerda.
+
+'That is my story,' said the Tiger lily.
+
+'What does the convolvulus say?'
+
+'An old castle is perched high over a narrow mountain path, it is
+closely covered with ivy, almost hiding the old red walls, and creeping
+up leaf upon leaf right round the balcony where stands a beautiful
+maiden. She bends over the balustrade and looks eagerly up the road. No
+rose on its stem is fresher than she; no apple blossom wafted by the
+wind moves more lightly. Her silken robes rustle softly as she bends
+over and says, 'Will he never come?''
+
+'Is it Kay you mean?' asked Gerda.
+
+'I am only talking about my own story, my dream,' answered the
+convolvulus.
+
+What said the little snowdrop?
+
+'Between two trees a rope with a board is hanging; it is a swing. Two
+pretty little girls in snowy frocks and green ribbons fluttering on
+their hats are seated on it. Their brother, who is bigger than they are,
+stands up behind them; he has his arms round the ropes for supports, and
+holds in one hand a little bowl and in the other a clay pipe. He is
+blowing soap-bubbles. As the swing moves the bubbles fly upwards in all
+their changing colours, the last one still hangs from the pipe swayed by
+the wind, and the swing goes on. A little black dog runs up, he is
+almost as light as the bubbles, he stands up on his hind legs and wants
+to be taken into the swing, but it does not stop. The little dog falls
+with an angry bark; they jeer at it; the bubble bursts. A swinging
+plank, a fluttering foam picture--that is my story!'
+
+'I daresay what you tell me is very pretty, but you speak so sadly and
+you never mention little Kay.'
+
+What says the hyacinth?
+
+'They were three beautiful sisters, all most delicate, and quite
+transparent. One wore a crimson robe, the other a blue, and the third
+was pure white. These three danced hand-in-hand, by the edge of the lake
+in the moonlight. They were human beings, not fairies of the wood. The
+fragrant air attracted them, and they vanished into the wood; here the
+fragrance was stronger still. Three coffins glide out of the wood
+towards the lake, and in them lie the maidens. The fire-flies flutter
+lightly round them with their little flickering torches. Do these
+dancing maidens sleep, or are they dead? The scent of the flower says
+that they are corpses. The evening bell tolls their knell.'
+
+'You make me quite sad,' said little Gerda; 'your perfume is so strong
+it makes me think of those dead maidens. Oh, is little Kay really dead?
+The roses have been down underground, and they say no.'
+
+'Ding, dong,' tolled the hyacinth bells; 'we are not tolling for little
+Kay; we know nothing about him. We sing our song, the only one we know.'
+
+And Gerda went on to the buttercups shining among their dark green
+leaves.
+
+'You are a bright little sun,' said Gerda. 'Tell me if you know where I
+shall find my playfellow.'
+
+The buttercup shone brightly and returned Gerda's glance. What song
+could the buttercup sing? It would not be about Kay.
+
+'God's bright sun shone into a little court on the first day of spring.
+The sunbeams stole down the neighbouring white wall, close to which
+bloomed the first yellow flower of the season; it shone like burnished
+gold in the sun. An old woman had brought her arm-chair out into the
+sun; her granddaughter, a poor and pretty little maid-servant, had come
+to pay her a short visit, and she kissed her. There was gold, heart's
+gold, in the kiss. Gold on the lips, gold on the ground, and gold above,
+in the early morning beams! Now that is my little story,' said the
+buttercup.
+
+'Oh, my poor old grandmother!' sighed Gerda. 'She will be longing to see
+me, and grieving about me, as she did about Kay. But I shall soon go
+home again and take Kay with me. It is useless for me to ask the flowers
+about him. They only know their own stories, and have no information to
+give me.'
+
+Then she tucked up her little dress, so that she might run the faster;
+but the narcissus blossoms struck her on the legs as she jumped over
+them, so she stopped and said, 'Perhaps you can tell me something.'
+
+She stooped down close to the flower and listened. What did it say?
+
+'I can see myself, I can see myself,' said the narcissus. 'Oh, how sweet
+is my scent. Up there in an attic window stands a little dancing girl
+half dressed; first she stands on one leg, then on the other, and looks
+as if she would tread the whole world under her feet. She is only a
+delusion. She pours some water out of a teapot on to a bit of stuff that
+she is holding; it is her bodice. "Cleanliness is a good thing," she
+says. Her white dress hangs on a peg; it has been washed in the teapot,
+too, and dried on the roof. She puts it on, and wraps a saffron-coloured
+scarf round her neck, which makes the dress look whiter. See how high
+she carries her head, and all upon one stem. I see myself, I see
+myself!'
+
+'I don't care a bit about all that,' said Gerda; 'it's no use telling me
+such stuff.'
+
+And then she ran to the end of the garden. The door was fastened, but
+she pressed the rusty latch, and it gave way. The door sprang open, and
+little Gerda ran out with bare feet into the wide world. She looked back
+three times, but nobody came after her. At last she could run no
+further, and she sat down on a big stone. When she looked round she saw
+that the summer was over; it was quite late autumn. She would never have
+known it inside the beautiful garden, where the sun always shone, and
+the flowers of every season were always in bloom.
+
+'Oh, how I have wasted my time,' said little Gerda. 'It is autumn. I
+must not rest any longer,' and she got up to go on.
+
+Oh, how weary and sore were her little feet, and everything round looked
+so cold and dreary. The long willow leaves were quite yellow. The damp
+mist fell off the trees like rain, one leaf dropped after another from
+the trees, and only the sloe-thorn still bore its fruit; but the sloes
+were sour and set one's teeth on edge. Oh, how grey and sad it looked,
+out in the wide world.
+
+
+FOURTH STORY
+
+PRINCE AND PRINCESS
+
+[Illustration: _She has read all the newspapers in the world, and
+forgotten them again, so clever is she._]
+
+Gerda was soon obliged to rest again. A big crow hopped on to the snow,
+just in front of her. It had been sitting looking at her for a long time
+and wagging its head. Now it said, 'Caw, caw; good-day, good-day,' as
+well as it could; it meant to be kind to the little girl, and asked her
+where she was going, alone in the wide world.
+
+Gerda understood the word 'alone' and knew how much there was in it, and
+she told the crow the whole story of her life and adventures, and asked
+if it had seen Kay.
+
+The crow nodded its head gravely and said, 'May be I have, may be I
+have.'
+
+'What, do you really think you have?' cried the little girl, nearly
+smothering him with her kisses.
+
+'Gently, gently!' said the crow. 'I believe it may have been Kay, but he
+has forgotten you by this time, I expect, for the Princess.'
+
+'Does he live with a Princess?' asked Gerda.
+
+'Yes, listen,' said the crow; 'but it is so difficult to speak your
+language. If you understand "crow's language,"[1] I can tell you about
+it much better.'
+
+'No, I have never learnt it,' said Gerda; 'but grandmother knew it, and
+used to speak it. If only I had learnt it!'
+
+'It doesn't matter,' said the crow. 'I will tell you as well as I can,
+although I may do it rather badly.'
+
+Then he told her what he had heard.
+
+'In this kingdom where we are now,' said he, 'there lives a Princess who
+is very clever. She has read all the newspapers in the world, and
+forgotten them again, so clever is she. One day she was sitting on her
+throne, which is not such an amusing thing to do either, they say; and
+she began humming a tune, which happened to be
+
+    "Why should I not be married, oh why?"
+
+"Why not indeed?" said she. And she made up her mind to marry, if she
+could find a husband who had an answer ready when a question was put to
+him. She called all the court ladies together, and when they heard what
+she wanted they were delighted.
+
+'"I like that now," they said. "I was thinking the same thing myself the
+other day."
+
+'Every word I say is true,' said the crow, 'for I have a tame
+sweetheart who goes about the palace whenever she likes. She told me the
+whole story.'
+
+Of course his sweetheart was a crow, for 'birds of a feather flock
+together,' and one crow always chooses another. The newspapers all came
+out immediately with borders of hearts and the Princess's initials. They
+gave notice that any young man who was handsome enough might go up to
+the Palace to speak to the Princess. The one who spoke as if he were
+quite at home, and spoke well, would be chosen by the Princess as her
+husband. Yes, yes, you may believe me, it's as true as I sit here,' said
+the crow. 'The people came crowding in; there was such running, and
+crushing, but no one was fortunate enough to be chosen, either on the
+first day, or on the second. They could all of them talk well enough in
+the street, but when they entered the castle gates, and saw the guard in
+silver uniforms, and when they went up the stairs through rows of
+lackeys in gold embroidered liveries, their courage forsook them. When
+they reached the brilliantly lighted reception-rooms, and stood in front
+of the throne where the Princess was seated, they could think of nothing
+to say, they only echoed her last words, and of course that was not what
+she wanted.
+
+'It was just as if they had all taken some kind of sleeping-powder,
+which made them lethargic; they did not recover themselves until they
+got out into the street again, and then they had plenty to say. There
+was quite a long line of them, reaching from the town gates up to the
+Palace.
+
+'I went to see them myself,' said the crow. 'They were hungry and
+thirsty, but they got nothing at the Palace, not even as much as a glass
+of tepid water. Some of the wise ones had taken sandwiches with them,
+but they did not share them with their neighbours; they thought if the
+others went in to the Princess looking hungry, that there would be more
+chance for themselves.'
+
+'But Kay, little Kay!' asked Gerda; 'when did he come? was he amongst
+the crowd?'
+
+'Give me time, give me time! we are just coming to him. It was on the
+third day that a little personage came marching cheerfully along,
+without either carriage or horse. His eyes sparkled like yours, and he
+had beautiful long hair, but his clothes were very shabby.'
+
+'Oh, that was Kay!' said Gerda gleefully; 'then I have found him!' and
+she clapped her hands.
+
+'He had a little knapsack on his back!' said the crow.
+
+'No, it must have been his sledge; he had it with him when he went
+away!' said Gerda.
+
+'It may be so,' said the crow; 'I did not look very particularly; but I
+know from my sweetheart, that when he entered the Palace gates, and saw
+the life-guards in their silver uniforms, and the lackeys on the stairs
+in their gold-laced liveries, he was not the least bit abashed. He just
+nodded to them and said, "It must be very tiresome to stand upon the
+stairs. I am going inside!" The rooms were blazing with lights. Privy
+councillors and excellencies without number were walking about barefoot
+carrying golden vessels; it was enough to make you solemn! His boots
+creaked fearfully too, but he wasn't a bit upset.'
+
+'Oh, I am sure that was Kay!' said Gerda; 'I know he had a pair of new
+boots, I heard them creaking in grandmother's room.'
+
+'Yes, indeed they did creak!' said the crow. 'But nothing daunted, he
+went straight up to the Princess, who was sitting on a pearl as big as a
+spinning-wheel. Poor, simple boy! all the court ladies and their
+attendants; the courtiers, and their gentlemen, each attended by a page,
+were standing round. The nearer the door they stood, so much the greater
+was their haughtiness; till the footman's boy, who always wore slippers
+and stood in the doorway, was almost too proud even to be looked at.'
+
+'It must be awful!' said little Gerda, 'and yet Kay has won the
+Princess!'
+
+'If I had not been a crow, I should have taken her myself,
+notwithstanding that I am engaged. They say he spoke as well as I could
+have done myself, when I speak crow-language; at least so my sweetheart
+says. He was a picture of good looks and gallantry, and then, he had not
+come with any idea of wooing the Princess, but simply to hear her
+wisdom. He admired her just as much as she admired him!'
+
+'Indeed it was Kay then,' said Gerda; 'he was so clever he could do
+mental arithmetic up to fractions. Oh, won't you take me to the Palace?'
+
+'It's easy enough to talk,' said the crow; 'but how are we to manage it?
+I will talk to my tame sweetheart about it; she will have some advice to
+give us I daresay, but I am bound to tell you that a little girl like
+you will never be admitted!'
+
+'Oh, indeed I shall,' said Gerda; 'when Kay hears that I am here, he
+will come out at once to fetch me.'
+
+'Wait here for me by the stile,' said the crow, then he wagged his head
+and flew off.
+
+The evening had darkened in before he came back. 'Caw, caw,' he said,
+'she sends you greeting. And here is a little roll for you; she got it
+out of the kitchen where there is bread enough, and I daresay you are
+hungry! It is not possible for you to get into the Palace; you have bare
+feet; the guards in silver and the lackeys in gold would never allow you
+to pass. But don't cry, we shall get you in somehow; my sweetheart knows
+a little back staircase which leads up to the bedroom, and she knows
+where the key is kept.'
+
+Then they went into the garden, into the great avenue where the leaves
+were dropping, softly one by one; and when the Palace lights went out,
+one after the other, the crow led little Gerda to the back door, which
+was ajar.
+
+Oh, how Gerda's heart beat with fear and longing! It was just as if she
+was about to do something wrong, and yet she only wanted to know if this
+really was little Kay. Oh, it must be him, she thought, picturing to
+herself his clever eyes and his long hair. She could see his very smile
+when they used to sit under the rose-trees at home. She thought he would
+be very glad to see her, and to hear what a long way she had come to
+find him, and to hear how sad they had all been at home when he did not
+come back. Oh, it was joy mingled with fear.
+
+They had now reached the stairs, where a little lamp was burning on a
+shelf. There stood the tame sweetheart, twisting and turning her head to
+look at Gerda, who made a curtsy, as grandmother had taught her.
+
+'My betrothed has spoken so charmingly to me about you, my little miss!'
+she said; 'your life, "_Vita_," as it is called, is most touching! If
+you will take the lamp, I will go on in front. We shall take the
+straight road here, and we shall meet no one.'
+
+'It seems to me that some one is coming behind us,' said Gerda, as she
+fancied something rushed past her, throwing a shadow on the walls;
+horses with flowing manes and slender legs; huntsmen, ladies and
+gentlemen on horseback.
+
+'Oh, those are only the dreams!' said the crow; 'they come to take the
+thoughts of the noble ladies and gentlemen out hunting. That's a good
+thing, for you will be able to see them all the better in bed. But don't
+forget, when you are taken into favour, to show a grateful spirit.'
+
+'Now, there's no need to talk about that,' said the crow from the woods.
+
+They came now into the first apartment; it was hung with rose-coloured
+satin embroidered with flowers. Here again the dreams overtook them, but
+they flitted by so quickly that Gerda could not distinguish them. The
+apartments became one more beautiful than the other; they were enough to
+bewilder anybody. They now reached the bedroom. The ceiling was like a
+great palm with crystal leaves, and in the middle of the room two beds,
+each like a lily hung from a golden stem. One was white, and in it lay
+the Princess; the other was red, and there lay he whom Gerda had come to
+seek--little Kay! She bent aside one of the crimson leaves, and she saw
+a little brown neck. It was Kay. She called his name aloud, and held the
+lamp close to him. Again the dreams rushed through the room on
+horseback--he awoke, turned his head--and it was not little Kay.
+
+It was only the Prince's neck which was like his; but he was young and
+handsome. The Princess peeped out of her lily-white bed, and asked what
+was the matter. Then little Gerda cried and told them all her story, and
+what the crows had done to help her.
+
+'You poor little thing!' said the Prince and Princess. And they praised
+the crows, and said that they were not at all angry with them, but they
+must not do it again. Then they gave them a reward.
+
+'Would you like your liberty?' said the Princess, 'or would you prefer
+permanent posts about the court as court crows, with perquisites from
+the kitchen?'
+
+Both crows curtsied and begged for the permanent posts, for they thought
+of their old age, and said 'it was so good to have something for the old
+man,' as they called it.
+
+The Prince got up and allowed Gerda to sleep in his bed, and he could
+not have done more. She folded her little hands, and thought 'how good
+the people and the animals are'; then she shut her eyes and fell fast
+asleep. All the dreams came flying back again; this time they looked
+like angels, and they were dragging a little sledge with Kay sitting on
+it, and he nodded. But it was only a dream; so it all vanished when she
+woke.
+
+Next day she was dressed in silk and velvet from head to foot; they
+asked her to stay at the Palace and have a good time, but she only
+begged them to give her a little carriage and horse, and a little pair
+of boots, so that she might drive out into the wide world to look for
+Kay.
+
+They gave her a pair of boots and a muff. She was beautifully dressed,
+and when she was ready to start, there before the door stood a new
+chariot of pure gold. The Prince's and Princess's coat of arms were
+emblazoned on it, and shone like a star. Coachman, footman, and
+outrider, for there was even an outrider, all wore golden crowns. The
+Prince and Princess themselves helped her into the carriage and wished
+her joy. The wood crow, who was now married, accompanied her for the
+first three miles; he sat beside Gerda, for he could not ride with his
+back to the horses. The other crow stood at the door and flapped her
+wings; she did not go with them, for she suffered from headache since
+she had become a kitchen pensioner--the consequence of eating too much.
+The chariot was stored with sugar biscuits, and there were fruit and
+ginger nuts under the seat. 'Good-bye, good-bye,' cried the Prince and
+Princess; little Gerda wept, and the crow wept too. At the end of the
+first few miles the crow said good-bye, and this was the hardest parting
+of all. It flew up into a tree and flapped its big black wings as long
+as it could see the chariot, which shone like the brightest sunshine.
+
+[1] Children have a kind of language, or gibberish, formed by adding
+letters or syllables to every word, which is called 'crow's language.'
+
+
+FIFTH STORY
+
+THE LITTLE ROBBER GIRL
+
+[Illustration: _'It is gold, it is gold!' they cried._]
+
+They drove on through a dark wood, where the chariot lighted up the way
+and blinded the robbers by its glare; it was more than they could bear.
+
+'It is gold, it is gold!' they cried, and darting forward, seized the
+horses, and killed the postilions, the coachman, and footman. They then
+dragged little Gerda out of the carriage.
+
+'She is fat, and she is pretty; she has been fattened on nuts!' said the
+old robber woman, who had a long beard, and eyebrows that hung down over
+her eyes. 'She is as good as a fat lamb, and how nice she will taste!'
+She drew out her sharp knife as she said this; it glittered horribly.
+'Oh!' screamed the old woman at the same moment, for her little daughter
+had come up behind her, and she was biting her ear. She hung on her
+back, as wild and as savage a little animal as you could wish to find.
+'You bad, wicked child!' said her mother, but she was prevented from
+killing Gerda on this occasion.
+
+'She shall play with me,' said the little robber girl; 'she shall give
+me her muff, and her pretty dress, and she shall sleep in my bed.' Then
+she bit her mother again and made her dance. All the robbers laughed and
+said, 'Look at her dancing with her cub!'
+
+'I want to get into the carriage,' said the little robber girl, and she
+always had her own way because she was so spoilt and stubborn. She and
+Gerda got into the carriage, and then they drove over stubble and stones
+further and further into the wood. The little robber girl was as big as
+Gerda, but much stronger; she had broader shoulders, and darker skin,
+her eyes were quite black, with almost a melancholy expression. She put
+her arm round Gerda's waist and said--
+
+'They shan't kill you as long as I don't get angry with you; you must
+surely be a Princess!'
+
+'No,' said little Gerda, and then she told her all her adventures, and
+how fond she was of Kay.
+
+The robber girl looked earnestly at her, gave a little nod, and said,
+'They shan't kill you even if I am angry with you. I will do it myself.'
+Then she dried Gerda's eyes, and stuck her own hands into the pretty
+muff, which was so soft and warm.
+
+At last the chariot stopped: they were in the courtyard of a robber's
+castle, the walls of which were cracked from top to bottom. Ravens and
+crows flew in and out of every hole, and big bulldogs, which each looked
+ready to devour somebody, jumped about as high as they could, but they
+did not bark, for it was not allowed. A big fire was burning in the
+middle of the stone floor of the smoky old hall. The smoke all went up
+to the ceiling, where it had to find a way out for itself. Soup was
+boiling in a big caldron over the fire, and hares and rabbits were
+roasting on the spits.
+
+'You shall sleep with me and all my little pets to-night,' said the
+robber girl.
+
+When they had something to eat and drink they went along to one corner
+which was spread with straw and rugs. There were nearly a hundred
+pigeons roosting overhead on the rafters and beams. They seemed to be
+asleep, but they fluttered about a little when the children came in.
+
+'They are all mine,' said the little robber girl, seizing one of the
+nearest. She held it by the legs and shook it till it flapped its wings.
+'Kiss it,' she cried, dashing it at Gerda's face. 'Those are the wood
+pigeons,' she added, pointing to some laths fixed across a big hole high
+up on the walls; 'they are a regular rabble; they would fly away
+directly if they were not locked in. And here is my old sweetheart Be,'
+dragging forward a reindeer by the horn; it was tied up, and it had a
+bright copper ring round its neck. 'We have to keep him close too, or he
+would run off. Every single night I tickle his neck with my bright
+knife, he is so frightened of it.' The little girl produced a long knife
+out of a hole in the wall and drew it across the reindeer's neck. The
+poor animal laughed and kicked, and the robber girl laughed and pulled
+Gerda down into the bed with her.
+
+'Do you have that knife by you while you are asleep?' asked Gerda,
+looking rather frightened.
+
+'I always sleep with a knife,' said the little robber girl. 'You never
+know what will happen. But now tell me again what you told me before
+about little Kay, and why you went out into the world.' So Gerda told
+her all about it again, and the wood pigeons cooed up in their cage
+above them; the other pigeons were asleep. The little robber girl put
+her arm round Gerda's neck and went to sleep with the knife in her other
+hand, and she was soon snoring. But Gerda would not close her eyes; she
+did not know whether she was to live or to die. The robbers sat round
+the fire, eating and drinking, and the old woman was turning
+somersaults. This sight terrified the poor little girl. Then the wood
+pigeons said, 'Coo, coo, we have seen little Kay; his sledge was drawn
+by a white chicken, and he was sitting in the Snow Queen's sledge; it
+was floating low down over the trees, while we were in our nests. She
+blew upon us young ones, and they all died except we two; coo, coo.'
+
+'What are you saying up there?' asked Gerda. 'Where was the Snow Queen
+going? Do you know anything about it?'
+
+'She was most likely going to Lapland, because there is always snow and
+ice there! Ask the reindeer who is tied up there.'
+
+'There is ice and snow, and it's a splendid place,' said the reindeer.
+'You can run and jump about where you like on those big glittering
+plains. The Snow Queen has her summer tent there, but her permanent
+castle is up at the North Pole, on the island which is called
+Spitzbergen!'
+
+'Oh Kay, little Kay!' sighed Gerda.
+
+'Lie still, or I shall stick the knife into you!' said the robber girl.
+
+In the morning Gerda told her all that the wood pigeons had said, and
+the little robber girl looked quite solemn, but she nodded her head and
+said, 'No matter, no matter! Do you know where Lapland is?' she asked
+the reindeer.
+
+'Who should know better than I,' said the animal, its eyes dancing. 'I
+was born and brought up there, and I used to leap about on the
+snowfields.'
+
+'Listen,' said the robber girl. 'You see that all our men folks are
+away, but mother is still here, and she will stay; but later on in the
+morning she will take a drink out of the big bottle there, and after
+that she will have a nap--then I will do something for you.' Then she
+jumped out of bed, ran along to her mother and pulled her beard, and
+said, 'Good morning, my own dear nanny-goat!' And her mother filliped
+her nose till it was red and blue; but it was all affection.
+
+As soon as her mother had had her draught from the bottle and had
+dropped asleep, the little robber girl went along to the reindeer, and
+said, 'I should have the greatest pleasure in the world in keeping you
+here, to tickle you with my knife, because you are such fun then;
+however, it does not matter. I will untie your halter and help you
+outside so that you may run away to Lapland, but you must put your best
+foot foremost, and take this little girl for me to the Snow Queen's
+palace, where her playfellow is. I have no doubt you heard what she was
+telling me, for she spoke loud enough, and you are generally
+eavesdropping!'
+
+The reindeer jumped into the air for joy. The robber girl lifted little
+Gerda up, and had the forethought to tie her on, nay, even to give her a
+little cushion to sit upon. 'Here, after all, I will give you your fur
+boots back, for it will be very cold, but I will keep your muff, it is
+too pretty to part with. Still you shan't be cold. Here are my mother's
+big mittens for you, they will reach up to your elbows; here, stick your
+hands in! Now your hands look just like my nasty mother's!'
+
+Gerda shed tears of joy.
+
+'I don't like you to whimper!' said the little robber girl. 'You ought
+to be looking delighted; and here are two loaves and a ham for you, so
+that you shan't starve.'
+
+These things were tied on to the back of the reindeer; the little robber
+girl opened the door, called in all the big dogs, and then she cut the
+halter with her knife, and said to the reindeer, 'Now run, but take care
+of my little girl!'
+
+Gerda stretched out her hands in the big mittens to the robber girl and
+said good-bye; and then the reindeer darted off over briars and bushes,
+through the big wood, over swamps and plains, as fast as it could go.
+The wolves howled and the ravens screamed, while the red lights quivered
+up in the sky.
+
+'There are my old northern lights,' said the reindeer; 'see how they
+flash!' and on it rushed faster than ever, day and night. The loaves
+were eaten, and the ham too, and then they were in Lapland.
+
+
+SIXTH STORY
+
+THE LAPP WOMAN AND THE FINN WOMAN
+
+[Illustration: _The reindeer did not dare to stop. It ran on till it
+came to the bush with the red berries. There it put Gerda down, and
+kissed her on the mouth, while big shining tears trickled down its
+face._]
+
+They stopped by a little hut, a very poverty-stricken one; the roof
+sloped right down to the ground, and the door was so low that the people
+had to creep on hands and knees when they wanted to go in or out. There
+was nobody at home here but an old Lapp woman, who was frying fish over
+a train-oil lamp. The reindeer told her all Gerda's story, but it told
+its own first; for it thought it was much the most important. Gerda was
+so overcome by the cold that she could not speak at all.
+
+'Oh, you poor creatures!' said the Lapp woman; 'you've got a long way
+to go yet; you will have to go hundreds of miles into Finmark, for the
+Snow Queen is paying a country visit there, and she burns blue lights
+every night. I will write a few words on a dried stock-fish, for I have
+no paper. I will give it to you to take to the Finn woman up there. She
+will be better able to direct you than I can.'
+
+So when Gerda was warmed, and had eaten and drunk something, the Lapp
+woman wrote a few words on a dried stock-fish and gave it to her,
+bidding her take good care of it. Then she tied her on to the reindeer
+again, and off they flew. Flicker, flicker, went the beautiful blue
+northern lights up in the sky all night long;--at last they came to
+Finmark, and knocked on the Finn woman's chimney, for she had no door at
+all.
+
+There was such a heat inside that the Finn woman went about almost
+naked; she was little and very grubby. She at once loosened Gerda's
+things, and took off the mittens and the boots, or she would have been
+too hot. Then she put a piece of ice on the reindeer's head, and after
+that she read what was written on the stock-fish. She read it three
+times, and then she knew it by heart, and put the fish into the pot for
+dinner; there was no reason why it should not be eaten, and she never
+wasted anything.
+
+Again the reindeer told his own story first, and then little Gerda's.
+The Finn woman blinked with her wise eyes, but she said nothing.
+
+'You are so clever,' said the reindeer, 'I know you can bind all the
+winds of the world with a bit of sewing cotton. When a skipper unties
+one knot he gets a good wind, when he unties two it blows hard, and if
+he undoes the third and the fourth he brings a storm about his head wild
+enough to blow down the forest trees. Won't you give the little girl a
+drink, so that she may have the strength of twelve men to overcome the
+Snow Queen?'
+
+'The strength of twelve men,' said the Finn woman. 'Yes, that will be
+about enough.'
+
+She went along to a shelf and took down a big folded skin, which she
+unrolled. There were curious characters written on it, and the Finn
+woman read till the perspiration poured down her forehead.
+
+But the reindeer again implored her to give Gerda something, and Gerda
+looked at her with such beseeching eyes, full of tears, that the Finn
+woman began blinking again, and drew the reindeer along into a corner,
+where she whispered to it, at the same time putting fresh ice on its
+head.
+
+'Little Kay is certainly with the Snow Queen, and he is delighted with
+everything there. He thinks it is the best place in the world, but that
+is because he has got a splinter of glass in his heart and a grain of
+glass in his eye. They will have to come out first, or he will never be
+human again, and the Snow Queen will keep him in her power!'
+
+'But can't you give little Gerda something to take which will give her
+power to conquer it all?'
+
+'I can't give her greater power than she already has. Don't you see how
+great it is? Don't you see how both man and beast have to serve her? How
+she has got on as well as she has on her bare feet? We must not tell her
+what power she has; it is in her heart, because she is such a sweet
+innocent child. If she can't reach the Snow Queen herself, then we can't
+help her. The Snow Queen's gardens begin just two miles from here; you
+can carry the little girl as far as that. Put her down by the big bush
+standing there in the snow covered with red berries. Don't stand
+gossiping, but hurry back to me!' Then the Finn woman lifted Gerda on
+the reindeer's back, and it rushed off as hard as it could.
+
+'Oh, I have not got my boots, and I have not got my mittens!' cried
+little Gerda.
+
+She soon felt the want of them in that cutting wind, but the reindeer
+did not dare to stop. It ran on till it came to the bush with the red
+berries. There it put Gerda down, and kissed her on the mouth, while big
+shining tears trickled down its face. Then it ran back again as fast as
+ever it could. There stood poor little Gerda, without shoes or
+gloves, in the middle of freezing icebound Finmark.
+
+She ran forward as quickly as she could. A whole regiment of snow-flakes
+came towards her; they did not fall from the sky, for it was quite
+clear, with the northern lights shining brightly. No; these snow-flakes
+ran along the ground, and the nearer they came the bigger they grew.
+Gerda remembered well how big and ingenious they looked under the
+magnifying glass. But the size of these was monstrous. They were alive;
+they were the Snow Queen's advanced guard, and they took the most
+curious shapes. Some looked like big, horrid porcupines, some like
+bundles of knotted snakes with their heads sticking out. Others, again,
+were like fat little bears with bristling hair, but all were dazzling
+white and living snow-flakes.
+
+Then little Gerda said the Lord's Prayer, and the cold was so great that
+her breath froze as it came out of her mouth, and she could see it like
+a cloud of smoke in front of her. It grew thicker and thicker, till it
+formed itself into bright little angels, who grew bigger and bigger when
+they touched the ground. They all wore helmets, and carried shields and
+spears in their hands. More and more of them appeared, and when Gerda
+had finished her prayer she was surrounded by a whole legion. They
+pierced the snow-flakes with their spears and shivered them into a
+hundred pieces, and little Gerda walked fearlessly and undauntedly
+through them. The angels touched her hands and her feet, and then she
+hardly felt how cold it was, but walked quickly on towards the Palace of
+the Snow Queen.
+
+Now we must see what Kay was about. He was not thinking about Gerda at
+all, least of all that she was just outside the Palace.
+
+
+SEVENTH STORY
+
+WHAT HAPPENED IN THE SNOW QUEEN'S PALACE AND AFTERWARDS
+
+[Illustration: _The Snow Queen sat in the very middle of it when she sat
+at home._]
+
+The Palace walls were made of drifted snow, and the windows and doors of
+the biting winds. There were over a hundred rooms in it, shaped just as
+the snow had drifted. The biggest one stretched for many miles. They
+were all lighted by the strongest northern lights. All the rooms were
+immensely big and empty, and glittering in their iciness. There was
+never any gaiety in them; not even so much as a ball for the little
+bears, when the storms might have turned up as the orchestra, and the
+polar bears might have walked about on their hind legs and shown off
+their grand manners. There was never even a little game-playing party,
+for such games as 'touch last' or 'the biter bit'--no, not even a little
+gossip over the coffee cups for the white fox misses. Immense, vast,
+and cold were the Snow Queen's halls. The northern lights came and went
+with such regularity that you could count the seconds between their
+coming and going. In the midst of these never-ending snow-halls was a
+frozen lake. It was broken up on the surface into a thousand bits, but
+each piece was so exactly like the others that the whole formed a
+perfect work of art. The Snow Queen sat in the very middle of it when
+she sat at home. She then said that she was sitting on 'The Mirror of
+Reason,' and that it was the best and only one in the world.
+
+Little Kay was blue with cold, nay, almost black; but he did not know
+it, for the Snow Queen had kissed away the icy shiverings, and his heart
+was little better than a lump of ice. He went about dragging some sharp,
+flat pieces of ice, which he placed in all sorts of patterns, trying to
+make something out of them; just as when we at home have little tablets
+of wood, with which we make patterns, and call them a 'Chinese puzzle.'
+
+Kay's patterns were most ingenious, because they were the 'Ice Puzzles
+of Reason.' In his eyes they were first-rate and of the greatest
+importance: this was because of the grain of glass still in his eye. He
+made many patterns forming words, but he never could find out the right
+way to place them for one particular word, a word he was most anxious to
+make. It was 'Eternity.' The Snow Queen had said to him that if he could
+find out this word he should be his own master, and she would give him
+the whole world and a new pair of skates. But he could not discover it.
+
+'Now I am going to fly away to the warm countries,' said the Snow Queen.
+'I want to go and peep into the black caldrons!' She meant the volcanoes
+Etna and Vesuvius by this. 'I must whiten them a little; it does them
+good, and the lemons and the grapes too!' And away she flew.
+
+Kay sat quite alone in all those many miles of empty ice halls. He
+looked at his bits of ice, and thought and thought, till something gave
+way within him. He sat so stiff and immovable that one might have
+thought he was frozen to death.
+
+Then it was that little Gerda walked into the Palace, through the great
+gates in a biting wind. She said her evening prayer, and the wind
+dropped as if lulled to sleep, and she walked on into the big empty
+hall. She saw Kay, and knew him at once; she flung her arms round his
+neck, held him fast, and cried, 'Kay, little Kay, have I found you at
+last?'
+
+But he sat still, rigid and cold.
+
+Then little Gerda shed hot tears; they fell upon his breast and
+penetrated to his heart. Here they thawed the lump of ice, and melted
+the little bit of the mirror which was in it. He looked at her, and she
+sang:
+
+    'Where roses deck the flowery vale,
+    There, Infant Jesus, we thee hail!'
+
+Then Kay burst into tears; he cried so much that the grain of glass
+was washed out of his eye. He knew her, and shouted with joy, 'Gerda,
+dear little Gerda! where have you been for such a long time? And where
+have I been?' He looked round and said, 'How cold it is here; how empty
+and vast!' He kept tight hold of Gerda, who laughed and cried for joy.
+Their happiness was so heavenly that even the bits of ice danced for joy
+around them; and when they settled down, there they lay! just in the
+very position the Snow Queen had told Kay he must find out, if he was to
+become his own master and have the whole world and a new pair of skates.
+
+Gerda kissed his cheeks and they grew rosy, she kissed his eyes and they
+shone like hers, she kissed his hands and his feet, and he became well
+and strong. The Snow Queen might come home whenever she liked, his order
+of release was written there in shining letters of ice.
+
+They took hold of each other's hands and wandered out of the big Palace.
+They talked about grandmother, and about the roses upon the roof.
+Wherever they went the winds lay still and the sun broke through the
+clouds. When they reached the bush with the red berries they found the
+reindeer waiting for them, and he had brought another young reindeer
+with him, whose udders were full. The children drank her warm milk and
+kissed her on the mouth. Then they carried Kay and Gerda, first to the
+Finn woman, in whose heated hut they warmed themselves and received
+directions about the homeward journey. Then they went on to the Lapp
+woman; she had made new clothes for them and prepared her sledge. Both
+the reindeer ran by their side, to the boundaries of the country; here
+the first green buds appeared, and they said 'Good-bye' to the reindeer
+and the Lapp woman. They heard the first little birds twittering and saw
+the buds in the forest. Out of it came riding a young girl on a
+beautiful horse, which Gerda knew, for it had drawn the golden chariot.
+She had a scarlet cap on her head and pistols in her belt; it was the
+little robber girl, who was tired of being at home. She was riding
+northwards to see how she liked it before she tried some other part of
+the world. She knew them again, and Gerda recognised her with delight.
+
+'You are a nice fellow to go tramping off!' she said to little Kay. 'I
+should like to know if you deserve to have somebody running to the end
+of the world for your sake!'
+
+But Gerda patted her cheek, and asked about the Prince and Princess.
+
+'They are travelling in foreign countries,' said the robber girl.
+
+'But the crow?' asked Gerda.
+
+'Oh, the crow is dead!' she answered. 'The tame sweetheart is a widow,
+and goes about with a bit of black wool tied round her leg. She pities
+herself bitterly, but it's all nonsense! But tell me how you got on
+yourself, and where you found him.'
+
+Gerda and Kay both told her all about it.
+
+'Snip, snap, snurre, it's all right at last then!' she said, and she
+took hold of their hands and promised that if she ever passed through
+their town she would pay them a visit. Then she rode off into the wide
+world. But Kay and Gerda walked on, hand in hand, and wherever they went
+they found the most delightful spring and blooming flowers. Soon they
+recognised the big town where they lived, with its tall towers, in which
+the bells still rang their merry peals. They went straight on to
+grandmother's door, up the stairs and into her room. Everything was just
+as they had left it, and the old clock ticked in the corner, and the
+hands pointed to the time. As they went through the door into the room
+they perceived that they were grown up. The roses clustered round the
+open window, and there stood their two little chairs. Kay and Gerda sat
+down upon them, still holding each other by the hand. All the cold empty
+grandeur of the Snow Queen's palace had passed from their memory like a
+bad dream. Grandmother sat in God's warm sunshine reading from her
+Bible.
+
+'Without ye become as little children ye cannot enter into the Kingdom
+of Heaven.'
+
+Kay and Gerda looked into each other's eyes, and then all at once the
+meaning of the old hymn came to them.
+
+    'Where roses deck the flowery vale,
+    There, Infant Jesus, we thee hail!'
+
+And there they both sat, grown up and yet children, children at heart;
+and it was summer--warm, beautiful summer.
+
+
+
+
+THE NIGHTINGALE
+
+[Illustration: _Among these trees lived a nightingale, which sang so
+deliciously, that even the poor fisherman, who had plenty of other
+things to do, lay still to listen to it, when he was out at night
+drawing in his nets._]
+
+In China, as you know, the Emperor is a Chinaman, and all the people
+around him are Chinamen too. It is many years since the story I am going
+to tell you happened, but that is all the more reason for telling it,
+lest it should be forgotten. The emperor's palace was the most beautiful
+thing in the world; it was made entirely of the finest porcelain, very
+costly, but at the same time so fragile that it could only be touched
+with the very greatest care. There were the most extraordinary flowers
+to be seen in the garden; the most beautiful ones had little silver
+bells tied to them, which tinkled perpetually, so that one should not
+pass the flowers without looking at them. Every little detail in the
+garden had been most carefully thought out, and it was so big, that even
+the gardener himself did not know where it ended. If one went on
+walking, one came to beautiful woods with lofty trees and deep lakes.
+The wood extended to the sea, which was deep and blue, deep enough for
+large ships to sail up right under the branches of the trees. Among
+these trees lived a nightingale, which sang so deliciously, that even
+the poor fisherman, who had plenty of other things to do, lay still to
+listen to it, when he was out at night drawing in his nets. 'Heavens,
+how beautiful it is!' he said, but then he had to attend to his business
+and forgot it. The next night when he heard it again he would again
+exclaim, 'Heavens, how beautiful it is!'
+
+Travellers came to the emperor's capital, from every country in the
+world; they admired everything very much, especially the palace and the
+gardens, but when they heard the nightingale they all said, 'This is
+better than anything!'
+
+When they got home they described it, and the learned ones wrote many
+books about the town, the palace and the garden; but nobody forgot the
+nightingale, it was always put above everything else. Those among them
+who were poets wrote the most beautiful poems, all about the nightingale
+in the woods by the deep blue sea. These books went all over the world,
+and in course of time some of them reached the emperor. He sat in his
+golden chair reading and reading, and nodding his head, well pleased to
+hear such beautiful descriptions of the town, the palace and the garden.
+'But the nightingale is the best of all,' he read.
+
+'What is this?' said the emperor. 'The nightingale? Why, I know nothing
+about it. Is there such a bird in my kingdom, and in my own garden into
+the bargain, and I have never heard of it? Imagine my having to
+discover this from a book?'
+
+Then he called his gentleman-in-waiting, who was so grand that when any
+one of a lower rank dared to speak to him, or to ask him a question, he
+would only answer 'P,' which means nothing at all.
+
+'There is said to be a very wonderful bird called a nightingale here,'
+said the emperor. 'They say that it is better than anything else in all
+my great kingdom! Why have I never been told anything about it?'
+
+'I have never heard it mentioned,' said the gentleman-in-waiting. 'It
+has never been presented at court.'
+
+'I wish it to appear here this evening to sing to me,' said the emperor.
+'The whole world knows what I am possessed of, and I know nothing about
+it!'
+
+'I have never heard it mentioned before,' said the gentleman-in-waiting.
+'I will seek it, and I will find it!' But where was it to be found? The
+gentleman-in-waiting ran upstairs and downstairs and in and out of all
+the rooms and corridors. No one of all those he met had ever heard
+anything about the nightingale; so the gentleman-in-waiting ran back to
+the emperor, and said that it must be a myth, invented by the writers of
+the books. 'Your imperial majesty must not believe everything that is
+written; books are often mere inventions, even if they do not belong to
+what we call the black art!'
+
+'But the book in which I read it is sent to me by the powerful Emperor
+of Japan, so it can't be untrue. I will hear this nightingale; I insist
+upon its being here to-night. I extend my most gracious protection to
+it, and if it is not forthcoming, I will have the whole court trampled
+upon after supper!'
+
+'Tsing-pe!' said the gentleman-in-waiting, and away he ran again, up and
+down all the stairs, in and out of all the rooms and corridors; half the
+court ran with him, for they none of them wished to be trampled on.
+There was much questioning about this nightingale, which was known to
+all the outside world, but to no one at court. At last they found a poor
+little maid in the kitchen. She said, 'Oh heavens, the nightingale? I
+know it very well. Yes, indeed it can sing. Every evening I am allowed
+to take broken meat to my poor sick mother: she lives down by the shore.
+On my way back, when I am tired, I rest awhile in the wood, and then I
+hear the nightingale. Its song brings the tears into my eyes; I feel as
+if my mother were kissing me!'
+
+'Little kitchen-maid,' said the gentleman-in-waiting, 'I will procure
+you a permanent position in the kitchen, and permission to see the
+emperor dining, if you will take us to the nightingale. It is commanded
+to appear at court to-night.'
+
+Then they all went out into the wood where the nightingale usually sang.
+Half the court was there. As they were going along at their best pace a
+cow began to bellow.
+
+'Oh!' said a young courtier, 'there we have it. What wonderful power
+for such a little creature; I have certainly heard it before.'
+
+'No, those are the cows bellowing; we are a long way yet from the
+place.' Then the frogs began to croak in the marsh.
+
+'Beautiful!' said the Chinese chaplain, 'it is just like the tinkling of
+church bells.'
+
+'No, those are the frogs!' said the little kitchen-maid. 'But I think we
+shall soon hear it now!'
+
+Then the nightingale began to sing.
+
+'There it is!' said the little girl. 'Listen, listen, there it sits!'
+and she pointed to a little grey bird up among the branches.
+
+'Is it possible?' said the gentleman-in-waiting. 'I should never have
+thought it was like that. How common it looks! Seeing so many grand
+people must have frightened all its colours away.'
+
+'Little nightingale!' called the kitchen-maid quite loud, 'our gracious
+emperor wishes you to sing to him!'
+
+'With the greatest of pleasure!' said the nightingale, warbling away in
+the most delightful fashion.
+
+'It is just like crystal bells,' said the gentleman-in-waiting. 'Look at
+its little throat, how active it is. It is extraordinary that we have
+never heard it before! I am sure it will be a great success at court!'
+
+'Shall I sing again to the emperor?' said the nightingale, who thought
+he was present.
+
+'My precious little nightingale,' said the gentleman-in-waiting, 'I have
+the honour to command your attendance at a court festival to-night,
+where you will charm his gracious majesty the emperor with your
+fascinating singing.'
+
+'It sounds best among the trees,' said the nightingale, but it went with
+them willingly when it heard that the emperor wished it.
+
+[Illustration: _'Is it possible?' said the gentleman-in-waiting. 'I
+should never have thought it was like that. How common it looks. Seeing
+so many grand people must have frightened all its colours away.'_]
+
+The palace had been brightened up for the occasion. The walls and the
+floors, which were all of china, shone by the light of many thousand
+golden lamps. The most beautiful flowers, all of the tinkling kind, were
+arranged in the corridors; there was hurrying to and fro, and a great
+draught, but this was just what made the bells ring; one's ears were
+full of the tinkling. In the middle of the large reception-room where
+the emperor sat a golden rod had been fixed, on which the nightingale
+was to perch. The whole court was assembled, and the little kitchen-maid
+had been permitted to stand behind the door, as she now had the actual
+title of cook. They were all dressed in their best; everybody's eyes
+were turned towards the little grey bird at which the emperor was
+nodding. The nightingale sang delightfully, and the tears came into the
+emperor's eyes, nay, they rolled down his cheeks; and then the
+nightingale sang more beautifully than ever, its notes touched all
+hearts. The emperor was charmed, and said the nightingale should
+have his gold slipper to wear round its neck. But the nightingale
+declined with thanks; it had already been sufficiently rewarded.
+
+'I have seen tears in the eyes of the emperor; that is my richest
+reward. The tears of an emperor have a wonderful power! God knows I am
+sufficiently recompensed!' and then it again burst into its sweet
+heavenly song.
+
+'That is the most delightful coquetting I have ever seen!' said the
+ladies, and they took some water into their mouths to try and make the
+same gurgling when any one spoke to them, thinking so to equal the
+nightingale. Even the lackeys and the chambermaids announced that they
+were satisfied, and that is saying a great deal; they are always the
+most difficult people to please. Yes, indeed, the nightingale had made a
+sensation. It was to stay at court now, and to have its own cage, as
+well as liberty to walk out twice a day, and once in the night. It
+always had twelve footmen, with each one holding a ribbon which was tied
+round its leg. There was not much pleasure in an outing of that sort.
+
+The whole town talked about the marvellous bird, and if two people met,
+one said to the other 'Night,' and the other answered 'Gale,' and then
+they sighed, perfectly understanding each other. Eleven cheesemongers'
+children were called after it, but they had not got a voice among them.
+
+One day a large parcel came for the emperor; outside was written the
+word 'Nightingale.'
+
+'Here we have another new book about this celebrated bird,' said the
+emperor. But it was no book; it was a little work of art in a box, an
+artificial nightingale, exactly like the living one, but it was studded
+all over with diamonds, rubies and sapphires.
+
+When the bird was wound up it could sing one of the songs the real one
+sang, and it wagged its tail, which glittered with silver and gold. A
+ribbon was tied round its neck on which was written, 'The Emperor of
+Japan's nightingale is very poor compared to the Emperor of China's.'
+
+Everybody said, 'Oh, how beautiful!' And the person who brought the
+artificial bird immediately received the title of Imperial
+Nightingale-Carrier in Chief.
+
+'Now, they must sing together; what a duet that will be.'
+
+Then they had to sing together, but they did not get on very well, for
+the real nightingale sang in its own way, and the artificial one could
+only sing waltzes.
+
+'There is no fault in that,' said the music-master; 'it is perfectly in
+time and correct in every way!'
+
+Then the artificial bird had to sing alone. It was just as great a
+success as the real one, and then it was so much prettier to look at; it
+glittered like bracelets and breast-pins.
+
+[Illustration: _Then it again burst into its sweet heavenly song.]
+
+'That is the most delightful coquetting I have ever seen!' said the
+ladies, and they took some water into their mouths to try and make the
+same gurgling, thinking so to equal the nightingale._
+
+It sang the same tune three and thirty times over, and yet it was
+not tired; people would willingly have heard it from the beginning
+again, but the emperor said that the real one must have a turn now--but
+where was it? No one had noticed that it had flown out of the open
+window, back to its own green woods.
+
+'But what is the meaning of this?' said the emperor.
+
+All the courtiers railed at it, and said it was a most ungrateful bird.
+
+'We have got the best bird though,' said they, and then the artificial
+bird had to sing again, and this was the thirty-fourth time that they
+heard the same tune, but they did not know it thoroughly even yet,
+because it was so difficult.
+
+The music-master praised the bird tremendously, and insisted that it was
+much better than the real nightingale, not only as regarded the outside
+with all the diamonds, but the inside too.
+
+'Because you see, my ladies and gentlemen, and the emperor before all,
+in the real nightingale you never know what you will hear, but in the
+artificial one everything is decided beforehand! So it is, and so it
+must remain, it can't be otherwise. You can account for things, you can
+open it and show the human ingenuity in arranging the waltzes, how they
+go, and how one note follows upon another!'
+
+'Those are exactly my opinions,' they all said, and the music-master got
+leave to show the bird to the public next Sunday. They were also to hear
+it sing, said the emperor. So they heard it, and all became as
+enthusiastic over it as if they had drunk themselves merry on tea,
+because that is a thoroughly Chinese habit.
+
+Then they all said 'Oh,' and stuck their forefingers in the air and
+nodded their heads; but the poor fishermen who had heard the real
+nightingale said, 'It sounds very nice, and it is very like the real
+one, but there is something wanting, we don't know what.' The real
+nightingale was banished from the kingdom.
+
+The artificial bird had its place on a silken cushion, close to the
+emperor's bed: all the presents it had received of gold and precious
+jewels were scattered round it. Its title had risen to be 'Chief
+Imperial Singer of the Bed-Chamber,' in rank number one, on the left
+side; for the emperor reckoned that side the important one, where the
+heart was seated. And even an emperor's heart is on the left side. The
+music-master wrote five-and-twenty volumes about the artificial bird;
+the treatise was very long and written in all the most difficult Chinese
+characters. Everybody said they had read and understood it, for
+otherwise they would have been reckoned stupid, and then their bodies
+would have been trampled upon.
+
+[Illustration: _The music-master wrote five-and-twenty volumes about the
+artificial bird; the treatise was very long and written in all the most
+difficult Chinese characters._]
+
+Things went on in this way for a whole year. The emperor, the court, and
+all the other Chinamen knew every little gurgle in the song of the
+artificial bird by heart; but they liked it all the better for this, and
+they could all join in the song themselves. Even the street boys
+sang 'zizizi' and 'cluck, cluck, cluck,' and the emperor sang it too.
+
+But one evening when the bird was singing its best, and the emperor was
+lying in bed listening to it, something gave way inside the bird with a
+'whizz.' Then a spring burst, 'whirr' went all the wheels, and the music
+stopped. The emperor jumped out of bed and sent for his private
+physicians, but what good could they do? Then they sent for the
+watchmaker, and after a good deal of talk and examination he got the
+works to go again somehow; but he said it would have to be saved as much
+as possible, because it was so worn out, and he could not renew the
+works so as to be sure of the tune. This was a great blow! They only
+dared to let the artificial bird sing once a year, and hardly that; but
+then the music-master made a little speech, using all the most difficult
+words. He said it was just as good as ever, and his saying it made it
+so.
+
+Five years now passed, and then a great grief came upon the nation, for
+they were all very fond of their emperor, and he was ill and could not
+live, it was said. A new emperor was already chosen, and people stood
+about in the street, and asked the gentleman-in-waiting how their
+emperor was going on.
+
+'P,' answered he, shaking his head.
+
+The emperor lay pale and cold in his gorgeous bed, the courtiers thought
+he was dead, and they all went off to pay their respects to their new
+emperor. The lackeys ran off to talk matters over, and the chambermaids
+gave a great coffee-party. Cloth had been laid down in all the rooms and
+corridors so as to deaden the sound of footsteps, so it was very, very
+quiet. But the emperor was not dead yet. He lay stiff and pale in the
+gorgeous bed with its velvet hangings and heavy golden tassels. There
+was an open window high above him, and the moon streamed in upon the
+emperor, and the artificial bird beside him.
+
+The poor emperor could hardly breathe, he seemed to have a weight on his
+chest, he opened his eyes, and then he saw that it was Death sitting
+upon his chest, wearing his golden crown. In one hand he held the
+emperor's golden sword, and in the other his imperial banner. Round
+about, from among the folds of the velvet hangings peered many curious
+faces: some were hideous, others gentle and pleasant. They were all the
+emperor's good and bad deeds, which now looked him in the face when
+Death was weighing him down.
+
+'Do you remember that?' whispered one after the other; 'Do you remember
+this?' and they told him so many things that the perspiration poured
+down his face.
+
+'I never knew that,' said the emperor. 'Music, music, sound the great
+Chinese drums!' he cried, 'that I may not hear what they are saying.'
+But they went on and on, and Death sat nodding his head, just like a
+Chinaman, at everything that was said.
+
+'Music, music!' shrieked the emperor. 'You precious little golden bird,
+sing, sing! I have loaded you with precious stones, and even hung my own
+golden slipper round your neck; sing, I tell you, sing!'
+
+But the bird stood silent; there was nobody to wind it up, so of course
+it could not go. Death continued to fix the great empty sockets of his
+eyes upon him, and all was silent, so terribly silent.
+
+Suddenly, close to the window, there was a burst of lovely song; it was
+the living nightingale, perched on a branch outside. It had heard of the
+emperor's need, and had come to bring comfort and hope to him. As it
+sang the faces round became fainter and fainter, and the blood coursed
+with fresh vigour in the emperor's veins and through his feeble limbs.
+Even Death himself listened to the song and said, 'Go on, little
+nightingale, go on!'
+
+'Yes, if you give me the gorgeous golden sword; yes, if you give me the
+imperial banner; yes, if you give me the emperor's crown.'
+
+And Death gave back each of these treasures for a song, and the
+nightingale went on singing. It sang about the quiet churchyard, when
+the roses bloom, where the elder flower scents the air, and where the
+fresh grass is ever moistened anew by the tears of the mourner. This
+song brought to Death a longing for his own garden, and, like a cold
+grey mist, he passed out of the window.
+
+'Thanks, thanks!' said the emperor; 'you heavenly little bird, I know
+you! I banished you from my kingdom, and yet you have charmed the evil
+visions away from my bed by your song, and even Death away from my
+heart! How can I ever repay you?'
+
+'You have rewarded me,' said the nightingale. 'I brought the tears to
+your eyes, the very first time I ever sang to you, and I shall never
+forget it! Those are the jewels which gladden the heart of a
+singer;--but sleep now, and wake up fresh and strong! I will sing to
+you!'
+
+Then it sang again, and the emperor fell into a sweet refreshing sleep.
+The sun shone in at his window, when he woke refreshed and well; none of
+his attendants had yet come back to him, for they thought he was dead,
+but the nightingale still sat there singing.
+
+'You must always stay with me!' said the emperor. 'You shall only sing
+when you like, and I will break the artificial bird into a thousand
+pieces!'
+
+[Illustration: _Even Death himself listened to the song and said, 'Go
+on, little nightingale, go on!'_]
+
+'Don't do that!' said the nightingale, 'it did all the good it could!
+keep it as you have always done! I can't build my nest and live in this
+palace, but let me come whenever I like, then I will sit on the branch
+in the evening, and sing to you. I will sing to cheer you and to make
+you thoughtful too; I will sing to you of the happy ones, and of those
+that suffer too. I will sing about the good and the evil, which are kept
+hidden from you. The little singing bird flies far and wide, to the poor
+fisherman, and the peasant's home, to numbers who are far from you and
+your court. I love your heart more than your crown, and yet there is an
+odour of sanctity round the crown too!--I will come, and I will
+sing to you!--But you must promise me one thing!--
+
+'Everything!' said the emperor, who stood there in his imperial robes
+which he had just put on, and he held the sword heavy with gold upon his
+heart.
+
+'One thing I ask you! Tell no one that you have a little bird who tells
+you everything; it will be better so!'
+
+Then the nightingale flew away. The attendants came in to see after
+their dead emperor, and there he stood, bidding them 'Good morning!'
+
+
+
+
+THE REAL PRINCESS
+
+
+There was once a prince, and he wanted a princess, but then she must be
+a _real_ Princess. He travelled right round the world to find one, but
+there was always something wrong. There were plenty of princesses, but
+whether they were real princesses he had great difficulty in
+discovering; there was always something which was not quite right about
+them. So at last he had to come home again, and he was very sad because
+he wanted a real princess so badly.
+
+One evening there was a terrible storm; it thundered and lightened and
+the rain poured down in torrents; indeed it was a fearful night.
+
+In the middle of the storm somebody knocked at the town gate, and the
+old King himself went to open it.
+
+It was a princess who stood outside, but she was in a terrible state
+from the rain and the storm. The water streamed out of her hair and her
+clothes; it ran in at the top of her shoes and out at the heel, but she
+said that she was a real princess.
+
+'Well we shall soon see if that is true,' thought the old Queen, but she
+said nothing. She went into the bedroom, took all the bedclothes off and
+laid a pea on the bedstead: then she took twenty mattresses and piled
+them on the top of the pea, and then twenty feather beds on the top of
+the mattresses. This was where the princess was to sleep that night. In
+the morning they asked her how she had slept.
+
+'Oh terribly badly!' said the princess. 'I have hardly closed my eyes
+the whole night! Heaven knows what was in the bed. I seemed to be lying
+upon some hard thing, and my whole body is black and blue this morning.
+It is terrible!'
+
+They saw at once that she must be a real princess when she had felt the
+pea through twenty mattresses and twenty feather beds. Nobody but a real
+princess could have such a delicate skin.
+
+So the prince took her to be his wife, for now he was sure that he had
+found a real princess, and the pea was put into the Museum, where it may
+still be seen if no one has stolen it.
+
+Now this is a true story.
+
+
+
+
+THE GARDEN OF PARADISE
+
+
+There was once a king's son; nobody had so many or such beautiful books
+as he had. He could read about everything which had ever happened in
+this world, and see it all represented in the most beautiful pictures.
+He could get information about every nation and every country; but as to
+where the Garden of Paradise was to be found, not a word could he
+discover, and this was the very thing he thought most about. His
+grandmother had told him, when he was quite a little fellow and was
+about to begin his school life, that every flower in the Garden of
+Paradise was a delicious cake, and that the pistils were full of wine.
+In one flower history was written, in another geography or tables; you
+had only to eat the cake and you knew the lesson. The more you ate, the
+more history, geography and tables you knew. All this he believed then;
+but as he grew older and wiser and learnt more, he easily perceived that
+the delights of the Garden of Paradise must be far beyond all this.
+
+[Illustration: _His grandmother had told him, when he was quite a
+little fellow and was about to begin his school life, that every flower
+in the Garden of Paradise was a delicious cake, and that the pistils
+were full of wine._]
+
+'Oh, why did Eve take of the tree of knowledge? Why did Adam eat the
+forbidden fruit? If it had only been I it would not have happened! never
+would sin have entered the world!'
+
+This is what he said then, and he still said it when he was seventeen;
+his thoughts were full of the Garden of Paradise.
+
+He walked into the wood one day; he was alone, for that was his greatest
+pleasure. Evening came on, the clouds drew up and it rained as if the
+whole heaven had become a sluice from which the water poured in sheets;
+it was as dark as it is otherwise in the deepest well. Now he slipped on
+the wet grass, and then he fell on the bare stones which jutted out of
+the rocky ground. Everything was dripping, and at last the poor Prince
+hadn't got a dry thread on him. He had to climb over huge rocks where
+the water oozed out of the thick moss. He was almost fainting; just then
+he heard a curious murmuring and saw in front of him a big lighted cave.
+A fire was burning in the middle, big enough to roast a stag, which was
+in fact being done; a splendid stag with its huge antlers was stuck on a
+spit, being slowly turned round between the hewn trunks of two fir
+trees. An oldish woman, tall and strong enough to be a man dressed up,
+sat by the fire throwing on logs from time to time.
+
+'Come in, by all means!' she said; 'sit down by the fire so that your
+clothes may dry!'
+
+'There is a shocking draught here,' said the Prince, as he sat down on
+the ground.
+
+'It will be worse than this when my sons come home!' said the woman.
+'You are in the cavern of the winds; my sons are the four winds of the
+world! Do you understand?'
+
+'Who are your sons?' asked the Prince.
+
+'Well that's not so easy to answer when the question is stupidly put,'
+said the woman. 'My sons do as they like; they are playing rounders now
+with the clouds up there in the great hall,' and she pointed up into the
+sky.
+
+'Oh indeed!' said the Prince. 'You seem to speak very harshly, and you
+are not so gentle as the women I generally see about me!'
+
+'Oh, I daresay they have nothing else to do! I have to be harsh if I am
+to keep my boys under control! But I can do it, although they are a
+stiff-necked lot! Do you see those four sacks hanging on the wall? They
+are just as frightened of them as you used to be of the cane behind the
+looking-glass. I can double the boys up, I can tell you, and then they
+have to go into the bag; we don't stand upon ceremony, and there they
+have to stay; they can't get out to play their tricks till it suits me
+to let them. But here we have one of them.' It was the Northwind who
+came in with an icy blast; great hailstones peppered about the floor and
+snow-flakes drifted in. He was dressed in bearskin trousers and jacket,
+and he had a sealskin cap drawn over his ears. Long icicles were
+hanging from his beard, and one hailstone after another dropped down
+from the collar of his jacket.
+
+'Don't go straight to the fire,' said the Prince. 'You might easily get
+chilblains!'
+
+'Chilblains!' said the Northwind with a loud laugh. 'Chilblains! they
+are my greatest delight! What sort of a feeble creature are you? How did
+you get into the cave of the winds?'
+
+'He is my guest,' said the old woman, 'and if you are not pleased with
+that explanation you may go into the bag! Now you know my opinion!'
+
+This had its effect, and the Northwind told them where he came from, and
+where he had been for the last month.
+
+'I come from the Arctic seas,' he said. 'I have been on Behring Island
+with the Russian walrus-hunters. I sat at the helm and slept when they
+sailed from the north cape, and when I woke now and then the stormy
+petrels were flying about my legs. They are queer birds; they give a
+brisk flap with their wings and then keep them stretched out and
+motionless, and even then they have speed enough.'
+
+'Pray don't be too long-winded,' said the mother of the winds. 'So at
+last you got to Behring Island!'
+
+'It's perfectly splendid! There you have a floor to dance upon, as flat
+as a pancake, half-thawed snow, with moss. There were bones of whales
+and Polar bears lying about; they looked like the legs and arms of
+giants covered with green mould. One would think that the sun had never
+shone on them. I gave a little puff to the fog so that one could see the
+shed. It was a house built of wreckage and covered with the skins of
+whales; the flesh side was turned outwards; it was all red and green; a
+living Polar bear sat on the roof growling. I went to the shore and
+looked at the birds' nests, looked at the unfledged young ones screaming
+and gaping; then I blew down thousands of their throats and they learnt
+to shut their mouths. Lower down the walruses were rolling about like
+monster maggots with pigs' heads and teeth a yard long!'
+
+'You're a good story-teller, my boy!' said his mother. 'It makes my
+mouth water to hear you!'
+
+'Then there was a hunt! The harpoons were plunged into the walruses'
+breasts, and the steaming blood spurted out of them like fountains over
+the ice. Then I remembered my part of the game! I blew up and made my
+ships, the mountain-high icebergs, nip the boats; whew! how they
+whistled and how they screamed, but I whistled louder. They were obliged
+to throw the dead walruses, chests and ropes out upon the ice! I shook
+the snow-flakes over them and let them drift southwards to taste the
+salt water. They will never come back to Behring Island!'
+
+'Then you've been doing evil!' said the mother of the winds.
+
+'What good I did, the others may tell you,' said he. 'But here we have
+my brother from the west; I like him best of all; he smells of the sea
+and brings a splendid cool breeze with him!'
+
+'Is that the little Zephyr?' asked the Prince.
+
+'Yes, certainly it is Zephyr, but he is not so little as all that. He
+used to be a pretty boy once, but that's gone by!'
+
+He looked like a wild man of the woods, but he had a padded hat on so as
+not to come to any harm. He carried a mahogany club cut in the American
+mahogany forests. It could not be anything less than that.
+
+'Where do you come from?' asked his mother.
+
+'From the forest wildernesses!' he said, 'where the thorny creepers make
+a fence between every tree, where the water-snake lies in the wet grass,
+and where human beings seem to be superfluous!'
+
+'What did you do there?'
+
+'I looked at the mighty river, saw where it dashed over the rocks in
+dust and flew with the clouds to carry the rainbow. I saw the wild
+buffalo swimming in the river, but the stream carried him away; he
+floated with the wild duck, which soared into the sky at the rapids; but
+the buffalo was carried over with the water. I liked that and blew a
+storm, so that the primaeval trees had to sail too, and they were whirled
+about like shavings.'
+
+'And you have done nothing else?' asked the old woman.
+
+'I have been turning somersaults in the Savannahs, patting the wild
+horse, and shaking down cocoanuts! Oh yes, I have plenty of stories to
+tell! But one need not tell everything. You know that very well, old
+woman!' and then he kissed his mother so heartily that she nearly fell
+backwards; he was indeed a wild boy.
+
+The Southwind appeared now in a turban and a flowing bedouin's cloak.
+
+'It is fearfully cold in here,' he said, throwing wood on the fire; 'it
+is easy to see that the Northwind got here first!'
+
+'It is hot enough here to roast a polar bear,' said the Northwind.
+
+'You are a polar bear yourself!' said the Southwind.
+
+'Do you want to go into the bag?' asked the old woman. 'Sit down on that
+stone and tell us where you have been.'
+
+'In Africa, mother!' he answered. 'I have been chasing the lion with the
+Hottentots in Kaffirland! What grass there is on those plains! as green
+as an olive. The gnu was dancing about, and the ostriches ran races with
+me, but I am still the fastest. I went to the desert with its yellow
+sand. It looks like the bottom of the sea. I met a caravan! They were
+killing their last camel to get water to drink, but it wasn't much they
+got. The sun was blazing above, and the sand burning below. There were
+no limits to the outstretched desert. Then I burrowed into the fine
+loose sand and whirled it up in great columns--that was a dance! You
+should have seen how despondently the dromedaries stood, and the
+merchant drew his caftan over his head. He threw himself down before me
+as if I had been Allah, his god. Now they are buried, and there is a
+pyramid of sand over them all; when I blow it away, sometime the sun
+will bleach their bones, and then travellers will see that people have
+been there before, otherwise you would hardly believe it in the desert!'
+
+'Then you have only been doing harm!' said the mother. 'Into the bag you
+go!' And before he knew where he was she had the Southwind by the waist
+and in the bag; it rolled about on the ground, but she sat down upon it
+and then it had to be quiet.
+
+'Your sons are lively fellows!' said the Prince.
+
+'Yes, indeed,' she said; 'but I can master them! Here comes the fourth.'
+
+It was the Eastwind, and he was dressed like a Chinaman.
+
+'Oh, have you come from that quarter?' said the mother. 'I thought you
+had been in the Garden of Paradise.'
+
+'I am only going there to-morrow!' said the Eastwind. 'It will be a
+hundred years to-morrow since I have been there. I have just come from
+China, where I danced round the porcelain tower till all the bells
+jingled. The officials were flogged in the streets, the bamboo canes
+were broken over their shoulders, and they were all people ranging from
+the first to the ninth rank. They shrieked "Many thanks, Father and
+benefactor," but they didn't mean what they said, and I went on ringing
+the bells and singing "Tsing, tsang, tsu!"'
+
+'You're quite uproarious about it!' said the old woman. 'It's a good
+thing you are going to the Garden of Paradise to-morrow; it always has a
+good effect on your behaviour. Mind you drink deep of the well of
+wisdom, and bring a little bottleful home to me.'
+
+'That I will,' said the Eastwind, 'But why have you put my brother from
+the south into the bag? Out with him. He must tell me about the
+phoenix; the Princess always wants to hear about that bird when I call
+every hundred years. Open the bag! then you'll be my sweetest mother,
+and I'll give you two pockets full of tea as green and fresh as when I
+picked it!'
+
+'Well, for the sake of the tea, and because you are my darling, I will
+open my bag!'
+
+She did open it and the Southwind crept out, but he was quite
+crestfallen because the strange Prince had seen his disgrace.
+
+'Here is a palm leaf for the Princess!' said the Southwind. 'The old
+phoenix, the only one in the world, gave it to me. He has scratched
+his whole history on it with his bill, for the hundred years of his
+life, and she can read it for herself. I saw how the phoenix set fire
+to his nest himself and sat on it while it burnt, like the widow of a
+Hindoo. Oh, how the dry branches crackled, how it smoked, and what a
+smell there was! At last it all burst into flame; the old bird was burnt
+to ashes, but his egg lay glowing in the fire; it broke with a loud bang
+and the young one flew out. Now it rules over all the birds, and it is
+the only phoenix in the world. He bit a hole in the leaf I gave you;
+that is his greeting to the Princess.'
+
+'Let us have something to eat now!' said the mother of the winds; and
+they all sat down to eat the roast stag, and the Prince sat by the side
+of the Eastwind, so they soon became good friends.
+
+'I say,' said the Prince, 'just tell me who is this Princess, and where
+is the Garden of Paradise?'
+
+'Oh ho!' said the Eastwind, 'if that is where you want to go you must
+fly with me to-morrow. But I may as well tell you that no human being
+has been there since Adam and Eve's time. You know all about them I
+suppose from your Bible stories?'
+
+'Of course,' said the Prince.
+
+'When they were driven away the Garden of Eden sank into the ground, but
+it kept its warm sunshine, its mild air, and all its charms. The queen
+of the fairies lives there. The Island of Bliss, where death never
+enters, and where living is a delight, is there. Get on my back
+to-morrow and I will take you with me; I think I can manage it! But you
+mustn't talk now, I want to go to sleep.'
+
+When the Prince woke up in the early morning, he was not a little
+surprised to find that he was already high above the clouds. He was
+sitting on the back of the Eastwind, who was holding him carefully; they
+were so high up that woods and fields, rivers and lakes, looked like a
+large coloured map.
+
+'Good morning,' said the Eastwind. 'You may as well sleep a little
+longer, for there is not much to be seen in this flat country below us,
+unless you want to count the churches. They look like chalk dots on the
+green board.'
+
+He called the fields and meadows 'the green board.'
+
+'It was very rude of me to leave without saying good-bye to your mother
+and brothers,' said the Prince.
+
+'One is excused when one is asleep!' said the Eastwind, and they flew on
+faster than ever. You could mark their flight by the rustling of the
+trees as they passed over the woods; and whenever they crossed a lake,
+or the sea, the waves rose and the great ships dipped low down in the
+water, like floating swans. Towards evening the large towns were amusing
+as it grew dark, with all their lights twinkling now here, now there,
+just as when one burns a piece of paper and sees all the little sparks
+like children coming home from school. The Prince clapped his hands, but
+the Eastwind told him he had better leave off and hold tight, or he
+might fall and find himself hanging on to a church steeple.
+
+The eagle in the great forest flew swiftly, but the Eastwind flew more
+swiftly still. The Kossack on his little horse sped fast over the
+plains, but the Prince sped faster still.
+
+[Illustration: _The eagle in the great forest flew swiftly, but the
+Eastwind flew more swiftly still._]
+
+'Now you can see the Himalayas!' said the Eastwind. 'They are the
+highest mountains in Asia; we shall soon reach the Garden of Paradise.'
+
+They took a more southerly direction, and the air became scented with
+spices and flowers. Figs and pomegranates grew wild, and the wild vines
+were covered with blue and green grapes. They both descended here and
+stretched themselves on the soft grass, where the flowers nodded to the
+wind, as much as to say, 'Welcome back.'
+
+'Are we in the Garden of Paradise now?' asked the Prince.
+
+'No, certainly not!' answered the Eastwind. 'But we shall soon be there.
+Do you see that wall of rock and the great cavern where the wild vine
+hangs like a big curtain? We have to go through there! Wrap yourself up
+in your cloak, the sun is burning here, but a step further on it is icy
+cold. The bird which flies past the cavern has one wing out here in the
+heat of summer, and the other is there in the cold of winter.'
+
+'So that is the way to the Garden of Paradise!' said the Prince.
+
+Now they entered the cavern. Oh, how icily cold it was; but it did not
+last long. The Eastwind spread his wings, and they shone like the
+brightest flame; but what a cave it was! Large blocks of stone, from
+which the water dripped, hung over them in the most extraordinary
+shapes; at one moment it was so low and narrow that they had to crawl
+on hands and knees, the next it was as wide and lofty as if they were in
+the open air. It looked like a chapel of the dead, with mute organ pipes
+and petrified banners.
+
+'We seem to be journeying along Death's road to the Garden of Paradise!'
+said the Prince, but the Eastwind never answered a word, he only pointed
+before them where a beautiful blue light was shining. The blocks of
+stone above them grew dimmer and dimmer, and at last they became as
+transparent as a white cloud in the moonshine. The air was also
+deliciously soft, as fresh as on the mountain-tops and as scented as
+down among the roses in the valley.
+
+A river ran there as clear as the air itself, and the fish in it were
+like gold and silver. Purple eels, which gave out blue sparks with every
+curve, gambolled about in the water; and the broad leaves of the
+water-lilies were tinged with the hues of the rainbow, while the flower
+itself was like a fiery orange flame, nourished by the water, just as
+oil keeps a lamp constantly burning. A firm bridge of marble, as
+delicately and skilfully carved as if it were lace and glass beads, led
+over the water to the Island of Bliss, where the Garden of Paradise
+bloomed.
+
+The Eastwind took the Prince in his arms and bore him over. The flowers
+and leaves there sang all the beautiful old songs of his childhood, but
+sang them more wonderfully than any human voice could sing them.
+
+Were these palm trees or giant water plants growing here? The Prince
+had never seen such rich and mighty trees. The most wonderful climbing
+plants hung in wreaths, such as are only to be found pictured in gold
+and colours on the margins of old books of the Saints or entwined among
+their initial letters. It was the most extraordinary combination of
+birds, flowers and scrolls.
+
+Close by on the grass stood a flock of peacocks with their brilliant
+tails outspread. Yes, indeed, it seemed so, but when the Prince touched
+them he saw that they were not birds but plants. They were big dock
+leaves, which shone like peacocks' tails. Lions and tigers sprang like
+agile cats among the green hedges, which were scented with the blossom
+of the olive, and the lion and the tiger were tame. The wild dove,
+glistening like a pearl, beat the lion's mane with his wings; and the
+antelope, otherwise so shy, stood by nodding, just as if he wanted to
+join the game.
+
+The Fairy of the Garden now advanced to meet them; her garments shone
+like the sun, and her face beamed like that of a happy mother rejoicing
+over her child. She was young and very beautiful, and was surrounded by
+a band of lovely girls, each with a gleaming star in her hair.
+
+When the Eastwind gave her the inscribed leaf from the Phoenix her
+eyes sparkled with delight. She took the Prince's hand and led him into
+her palace, where the walls were the colour of the brightest tulips in
+the sunlight. The ceiling was one great shining flower, and the longer
+one gazed into it the deeper the calyx seemed to be. The Prince went to
+the window, and looking through one of the panes saw the Tree of
+Knowledge, with the Serpent, and Adam and Eve standing by.
+
+'Are they not driven out?' he asked, and the Fairy smiled, and explained
+that Time had burned a picture into each pane, but not of the kind one
+usually sees; they were alive, the leaves on the trees moved, and people
+came and went like the reflections in a mirror.
+
+Then he looked through another pane, and he saw Jacob's dream, with the
+ladder going straight up into heaven, and angels with great wings were
+fluttering up and down. All that had ever happened in this world lived
+and moved on these window panes; only Time could imprint such wonderful
+pictures.
+
+[Illustration: _The Fairy of the Garden now advanced to meet them; her
+garments shone like the sun, and her face beamed like that of a happy
+mother rejoicing over her child._]
+
+The Fairy smiled and led him into a large, lofty room, the walls of
+which were like transparent paintings of faces, one more beautiful than
+the other. These were millions of the Blessed who smiled and sang, and
+all their songs melted into one perfect melody. The highest ones were so
+tiny that they seemed smaller than the very smallest rosebud, no bigger
+than a pinpoint in a drawing. In the middle of the room stood a large
+tree, with handsome drooping branches; golden apples, large and small,
+hung like oranges among its green leaves. It was the Tree of
+Knowledge, of whose fruit Adam and Eve had eaten. From every leaf
+hung a shining red drop of dew; it was as if the tree wept tears of
+blood.
+
+'Now let us get into the boat,' said the Fairy. 'We shall find
+refreshment on the swelling waters. The boat rocks, but it does not move
+from the spot; all the countries of the world will pass before our
+eyes.'
+
+It was a curious sight to see the whole coast move. Here came lofty
+snow-clad Alps, with their clouds and dark fir trees. The horn echoed
+sadly among them, and the shepherd yodelled sweetly in the valleys. Then
+banian trees bent their long drooping branches over the boat, black
+swans floated on the water, and the strangest animals and flowers
+appeared on the shore. This was New Holland, the fifth portion of the
+world, which glided past them with a view of its blue mountains. They
+heard the song of priests, and saw the dances of the savages to the
+sound of drums and pipes of bone. The pyramids of Egypt reaching to the
+clouds, with fallen columns, and Sphynxes half buried in sand, next
+sailed past them. Then came the Aurora Borealis blazing over the peaks
+of the north; they were fireworks which could not be imitated. The
+Prince was so happy, and he saw a hundred times more than we have
+described.
+
+'Can I stay here always?' he asked.
+
+'That depends upon yourself,' answered the Fairy. 'If you do not, like
+Adam, allow yourself to be tempted to do what is forbidden, you can stay
+here always.'
+
+'I will not touch the apples on the Tree of Knowledge,' said the Prince.
+'There are thousands of other fruits here as beautiful.'
+
+'Test yourself, and if you are not strong enough, go back with the
+Eastwind who brought you. He is going away now, and will not come back
+for a hundred years; the time will fly in this place like a hundred
+hours, but that is a long time for temptation and sin. Every evening
+when I leave you I must say, "Come with me," and I must beckon to you,
+but stay behind. Do not come with me, for with every step you take your
+longing will grow stronger. You will reach the hall where grows the Tree
+of Knowledge; I sleep beneath its fragrant drooping branches. You will
+bend over me and I must smile, but if you press a kiss upon my lips
+Paradise will sink deep down into the earth, and it will be lost to you.
+The sharp winds of the wilderness will whistle round you, the cold rain
+will drop from your hair. Sorrow and labour will be your lot.'
+
+'I will remain here!' said the Prince.
+
+And the Eastwind kissed him on the mouth and said: 'Be strong, then we
+shall meet again in a hundred years. Farewell! Farewell!' And the
+Eastwind spread his great wings; they shone like poppies at the harvest
+time, or the Northern Lights in a cold winter.
+
+'Good-bye! good-bye!' whispered the flowers. Storks and pelicans flew
+in a line like waving ribbons, conducting him to the boundaries of the
+Garden.
+
+'Now we begin our dancing!' said the Fairy; 'at the end when I dance
+with you, as the sun goes down you will see me beckon to you and cry,
+"Come with me", but do not come. I have to repeat it every night for a
+hundred years. Every time you resist, you will grow stronger, and at
+last you will not even think of following. To-night is the first time.
+Remember my warning!'
+
+And the Fairy led him into a large hall of white transparent lilies, the
+yellow stamens in each formed a little golden harp which echoed the
+sound of strings and flutes. Lovely girls, slender and lissom, dressed
+in floating gauze, which revealed their exquisite limbs, glided in the
+dance, and sang of the joy of living--that they would never die--and
+that the Garden of Paradise would bloom for ever.
+
+The sun went down and the sky was bathed in golden light which gave the
+lilies the effect of roses; and the Prince drank of the foaming wine
+handed to him by the maidens. He felt such joy as he had never known
+before; he saw the background of the hall opening where the Tree of
+Knowledge stood in a radiancy which blinded him. The song proceeding
+from it was soft and lovely, like his mother's voice, and she seemed to
+say, 'My child, my beloved child!'
+
+Then the Fairy beckoned to him and said so tenderly, 'Come with me,'
+that he rushed towards her, forgetting his promise, forgetting
+everything on the very first evening that she smiled and beckoned to
+him.
+
+The fragrance in the scented air around grew stronger, the harps sounded
+sweeter than ever, and it seemed as if the millions of smiling heads in
+the hall where the Tree grew nodded and sang, 'One must know everything.
+Man is lord of the earth.' They were no longer tears of blood which fell
+from the Tree; it seemed to him that they were red shining stars.
+
+'Come with me, come with me,' spoke those trembling tones, and at every
+step the Prince's cheeks burnt hotter and hotter and his blood coursed
+more rapidly.
+
+'I must go,' he said, 'it is no sin; I must see her asleep; nothing will
+be lost if I do not kiss her, and that I will not do. My will is
+strong.'
+
+The Fairy dropped her shimmering garment, drew back the branches, and a
+moment after was hidden within their depths.
+
+'I have not sinned yet!' said the Prince, 'nor will I'; then he drew
+back the branches. There she lay asleep already, beautiful as only the
+Fairy in the Garden of Paradise can be. She smiled in her dreams; he
+bent over her and saw the tears welling up under her eyelashes.
+
+[Illustration: _The Fairy dropped her shimmering garment, drew back the
+branches, and a moment after was hidden within their depths._]
+
+'Do you weep for me?' he whispered. 'Weep not, beautiful maiden. I
+only now understand the full bliss of Paradise; it surges through my
+blood and through my thoughts. I feel the strength of the angels and of
+everlasting life in my mortal limbs! If it were to be everlasting night
+to me, a moment like this were worth it!' and he kissed away the tears
+from her eyes; his mouth touched hers.
+
+Then came a sound like thunder, louder and more awful than any he had
+ever heard before, and everything around collapsed. The beautiful Fairy,
+the flowery Paradise sank deeper and deeper. The Prince saw it sink into
+the darkness of night; it shone far off like a little tiny twinkling
+star. The chill of death crept over his limbs; he closed his eyes and
+lay long as if dead.
+
+The cold rain fell on his face, and the sharp wind blew around his head,
+and at last his memory came back. 'What have I done?' he sighed. 'I have
+sinned like Adam, sinned so heavily that Paradise has sunk low beneath
+the earth!' And he opened his eyes; he could still see the star, the
+far-away star, which twinkled like Paradise; it was the morning star in
+the sky. He got up and found himself in the wood near the cave of the
+winds, and the mother of the winds sat by his side. She looked angry and
+raised her hand.
+
+'So soon as the first evening!' she said. 'I thought as much; if you
+were my boy, you should go into the bag!'
+
+'Ah, he shall soon go there!' said Death. He was a strong old man, with
+a scythe in his hand and great black wings. 'He shall be laid in a
+coffin, but not now; I only mark him and then leave him for a time to
+wander about on the earth to expiate his sin and to grow better. I will
+come some time. When he least expects me, I shall come back, lay him in
+a black coffin, put it on my head, and fly to the skies. The Garden of
+Paradise blooms there too, and if he is good and holy he shall enter
+into it; but if his thoughts are wicked and his heart still full of sin,
+he will sink deeper in his coffin than Paradise sank, and I shall only
+go once in every thousand years to see if he is to sink deeper or to
+rise to the stars, the twinkling stars up there.'
+
+
+
+
+THE MERMAID
+
+
+Far out at sea the water is as blue as the bluest cornflower, and as
+clear as the clearest crystal; but it is very deep, too deep for any
+cable to fathom, and if many steeples were piled on the top of one
+another they would not reach from the bed of the sea to the surface of
+the water. It is down there that the Mermen live.
+
+Now don't imagine that there are only bare white sands at the bottom; oh
+no! the most wonderful trees and plants grow there, with such flexible
+stalks and leaves, that at the slightest motion of the water they move
+just as if they were alive. All the fish, big and little, glide among
+the branches just as, up here, birds glide through the air. The palace
+of the Merman King lies in the very deepest part; its walls are of coral
+and the long pointed windows of the clearest amber, but the roof is made
+of mussel shells which open and shut with the lapping of the water. This
+has a lovely effect, for there are gleaming pearls in every shell, any
+one of which would be the pride of a queen's crown.
+
+The Merman King had been for many years a widower, but his old mother
+kept house for him; she was a clever woman, but so proud of her noble
+birth that she wore twelve oysters on her tail, while the other grandees
+were only allowed six. Otherwise she was worthy of all praise,
+especially because she was so fond of the little mermaid princesses, her
+grandchildren. They were six beautiful children, but the youngest was
+the prettiest of all; her skin was as soft and delicate as a roseleaf,
+her eyes as blue as the deepest sea, but like all the others she had no
+feet, and instead of legs she had a fish's tail.
+
+All the livelong day they used to play in the palace in the great halls,
+where living flowers grew out of the walls. When the great amber windows
+were thrown open the fish swam in, just as the swallows fly into our
+rooms when we open the windows, but the fish swam right up to the little
+princesses, ate out of their hands, and allowed themselves to be patted.
+
+[Illustration: _The Merman King had been for many years a widower, but
+his old mother kept house for him; she was a clever woman, but so proud
+of her noble birth that she wore twelve oysters on her tail, while the
+other grandees were only allowed six._]
+
+Outside the palace was a large garden, with fiery red and deep blue
+trees, the fruit of which shone like gold, while the flowers glowed like
+fire on their ceaselessly waving stalks. The ground was of the finest
+sand, but it was of a blue phosphorescent tint. Everything was bathed in
+a wondrous blue light down there; you might more readily have supposed
+yourself to be high up in the air, with only the sky above and below
+you, than that you were at the bottom of the ocean. In a dead calm you
+could just catch a glimpse of the sun like a purple flower with a
+stream of light radiating from its calyx.
+
+Each little princess had her own little plot of garden, where she could
+dig and plant just as she liked. One made her flower-bed in the shape of
+a whale; another thought it nice to have hers like a little mermaid; but
+the youngest made hers quite round like the sun, and she would only have
+flowers of a rosy hue like its beams. She was a curious child, quiet and
+thoughtful, and while the other sisters decked out their gardens with
+all kinds of extraordinary objects which they got from wrecks, she would
+have nothing besides the rosy flowers like the sun up above, except a
+statue of a beautiful boy. It was hewn out of the purest white marble
+and had gone to the bottom from some wreck. By the statue she planted a
+rosy red weeping willow which grew splendidly, and the fresh delicate
+branches hung round and over it, till they almost touched the blue sand
+where the shadows showed violet, and were ever moving like the branches.
+It looked as if the leaves and the roots were playfully interchanging
+kisses.
+
+Nothing gave her greater pleasure than to hear about the world of human
+beings up above; she made her old grandmother tell her all that she knew
+about ships and towns, people and animals. But above all it seemed
+strangely beautiful to her that up on the earth the flowers were
+scented, for they were not so at the bottom of the sea; also that the
+woods were green, and that the fish which were to be seen among the
+branches could sing so loudly and sweetly that it was a delight to
+listen to them. You see the grandmother called little birds fish, or the
+mermaids would not have understood her, as they had never seen a bird.
+
+'When you are fifteen,' said the grandmother, 'you will be allowed to
+rise up from the sea and sit on the rocks in the moonlight, and look at
+the big ships sailing by, and you will also see woods and towns.'
+
+One of the sisters would be fifteen in the following year, but the
+others,--well, they were each one year younger than the other, so that
+the youngest had five whole years to wait before she would be allowed to
+come up from the bottom, to see what things were like on earth. But each
+one promised the others to give a full account of all that she had seen,
+and found most wonderful on the first day. Their grandmother could never
+tell them enough, for there were so many things about which they wanted
+information.
+
+None of them was so full of longings as the youngest, the very one who
+had the longest time to wait, and who was so quiet and dreamy. Many a
+night she stood by the open windows and looked up through the dark blue
+water which the fish were lashing with their tails and fins. She could
+see the moon and the stars, it is true; their light was pale, but they
+looked much bigger through the water than they do to our eyes. When she
+saw a dark shadow glide between her and them, she knew that it was
+either a whale swimming above her, or else a ship laden with human
+beings. I am certain they never dreamt that a lovely little mermaid was
+standing down below, stretching up her white hands towards the keel.
+
+The eldest princess had now reached her fifteenth birthday, and was to
+venture above the water. When she came back she had hundreds of things
+to tell them, but the most delightful of all, she said, was to lie in
+the moonlight, on a sandbank in a calm sea, and to gaze at the large
+town close to the shore, where the lights twinkled like hundreds of
+stars; to listen to music and the noise and bustle of carriages and
+people, to see the many church towers and spires, and to hear the bells
+ringing; and just because she could not go on shore she longed for that
+most of all.
+
+Oh, how eagerly the youngest sister listened! and when, later in the
+evening she stood at the open window and looked up through the dark blue
+water, she thought of the big town with all its noise and bustle, and
+fancied that she could even hear the church bells ringing.
+
+The year after, the second sister was allowed to mount up through the
+water and swim about wherever she liked. The sun was just going down
+when she reached the surface, the most beautiful sight, she thought,
+that she had ever seen. The whole sky had looked like gold, she said,
+and as for the clouds! well, their beauty was beyond description; they
+floated in red and violet splendour over her head, and, far faster than
+they went, a flock of wild swans flew like a long white veil over the
+water towards the setting sun; she swam towards it, but it sank and all
+the rosy light on clouds and water faded away.
+
+The year after that the third sister went up, and, being much the most
+venturesome of them all, swam up a broad river which ran into the sea.
+She saw beautiful green, vine-clad hills; palaces and country seats
+peeping through splendid woods. She heard the birds singing, and the sun
+was so hot that she was often obliged to dive, to cool her burning face.
+In a tiny bay she found a troop of little children running about naked
+and paddling in the water; she wanted to play with them, but they were
+frightened and ran away. Then a little black animal came up; it was a
+dog, but she had never seen one before; it barked so furiously at her
+that she was frightened and made for the open sea. She could never
+forget the beautiful woods, the green hills and the lovely children who
+could swim in the water although they had no fishes' tails.
+
+The fourth sister was not so brave; she stayed in the remotest part of
+the ocean, and, according to her account, that was the most beautiful
+spot. You could see for miles and miles around you, and the sky above
+was like a great glass dome. She had seen ships, but only far away, so
+that they looked like sea-gulls. There were grotesque dolphins turning
+somersaults, and gigantic whales squirting water through their nostrils
+like hundreds of fountains on every side.
+
+Now the fifth sister's turn came. Her birthday fell in the winter, so
+that she saw sights that the others had not seen on their first trips.
+The sea looked quite green, and large icebergs were floating about, each
+one of which looked like a pearl, she said, but was much bigger than the
+church towers built by men. They took the most wonderful shapes, and
+sparkled like diamonds. She had seated herself on one of the largest,
+and all the passing ships sheered off in alarm when they saw her sitting
+there with her long hair streaming loose in the wind.
+
+In the evening the sky became overcast with dark clouds; it thundered
+and lightened, and the huge icebergs glittering in the bright lightning,
+were lifted high into the air by the black waves. All the ships
+shortened sail, and there was fear and trembling on every side, but she
+sat quietly on her floating iceberg watching the blue lightning flash in
+zigzags down on to the shining sea.
+
+The first time any of the sisters rose above the water she was delighted
+by the novelties and beauties she saw; but once grown up, and at liberty
+to go where she liked, she became indifferent and longed for her home;
+in the course of a month or so they all said that after all their own
+home in the deep was best, it was so cosy there.
+
+Many an evening the five sisters interlacing their arms would rise above
+the water together. They had lovely voices, much clearer than any
+mortal, and when a storm was rising, and they expected ships to be
+wrecked, they would sing in the most seductive strains of the wonders of
+the deep, bidding the seafarers have no fear of them. But the sailors
+could not understand the words, they thought it was the voice of the
+storm; nor could it be theirs to see this Elysium of the deep, for when
+the ship sank they were drowned, and only reached the Merman's palace in
+death. When the elder sisters rose up in this manner, arm-in-arm, in the
+evening, the youngest remained behind quite alone, looking after them as
+if she must weep; but mermaids have no tears, and so they suffer all the
+more.
+
+'Oh! if I were only fifteen!' she said, 'I know how fond I shall be of
+the world above, and of the mortals who dwell there.'
+
+At last her fifteenth birthday came.
+
+'Now we shall have you off our hands,' said her grandmother, the old
+queen-dowager. 'Come now, let me adorn you like your other sisters!' and
+she put a wreath of white lilies round her hair, but every petal of the
+flowers was half a pearl; then the old queen had eight oysters fixed on
+to the princess's tail to show her high rank.
+
+'But it hurts so!' said the little mermaid.
+
+'You must endure the pain for the sake of the finery!' said her
+grandmother.
+
+But oh! how gladly would she have shaken off all this splendour, and
+laid aside the heavy wreath. Her red flowers in her garden suited her
+much better, but she did not dare to make any alteration. 'Good-bye,'
+she said, and mounted as lightly and airily as a bubble through the
+water.
+
+The sun had just set when her head rose above the water, but the clouds
+were still lighted up with a rosy and golden splendour, and the evening
+star sparkled in the soft pink sky, the air was mild and fresh, and the
+sea as calm as a millpond. A big three-masted ship lay close by with
+only a single sail set, for there was not a breath of wind, and the
+sailors were sitting about the rigging, on the cross-trees, and at the
+mast-heads. There was music and singing on board, and as the evening
+closed in hundreds of gaily coloured lanterns were lighted--they looked
+like the flags of all nations waving in the air. The little mermaid swam
+right up to the cabin windows, and every time she was lifted by the
+swell she could see through the transparent panes crowds of gaily
+dressed people. The handsomest of them all was the young prince with
+large dark eyes; he could not be much more than sixteen, and all these
+festivities were in honour of his birthday. The sailors danced on deck,
+and when the prince appeared among them hundreds of rockets were let off
+making it as light as day, and frightening the little mermaid so much
+that she had to dive under the water. She soon ventured up again, and it
+was just as if all the stars of heaven were falling in showers round
+about her. She had never seen such magic fires. Great suns whirled
+round, gorgeous fire-fish hung in the blue air, and all was reflected
+in the calm and glassy sea. It was so light on board the ship that every
+little rope could be seen, and the people still better. Oh, how handsome
+the prince was! how he laughed and smiled as he greeted his guests,
+while the music rang out in the quiet night.
+
+It got quite late, but the little mermaid could not take her eyes off
+the ship and the beautiful prince. The coloured lanterns were put out,
+no more rockets were sent up, and the cannon had ceased its thunder, but
+deep down in the sea there was a dull murmuring and moaning sound.
+Meanwhile she was rocked up and down on the waves, so that she could
+look into the cabin; but the ship got more and more way on, sail after
+sail was filled by the wind, the waves grew stronger, great clouds
+gathered, and it lightened in the distance. Oh, there was going to be a
+fearful storm! and soon the sailors had to shorten sail. The great ship
+rocked and rolled as she dashed over the angry sea, the black waves rose
+like mountains, high enough to overwhelm her, but she dived like a swan
+through them and rose again and again on their towering crests. The
+little mermaid thought it a most amusing race, but not so the sailors.
+The ship creaked and groaned; the mighty timbers bulged and bent under
+the heavy blows; the water broke over the decks, snapping the main mast
+like a reed; she heeled over on her side, and the water rushed into the
+hold.
+
+Now the little mermaid saw that they were in danger, and she had for
+her own sake to beware of the floating beams and wreckage. One moment it
+was so pitch dark that she could not see at all, but when the lightning
+flashed it became so light that she could see all on board. Every man
+was looking out for his own safety as best he could; but she more
+particularly followed the young prince with her eyes, and when the ship
+went down she saw him sink in the deep sea. At first she was quite
+delighted, for now he was coming to be with her, but then she remembered
+that human beings could not live under water, and that only if he were
+dead could he go to her father's palace. No! he must not die; so she
+swam towards him all among the drifting beams and planks, quite
+forgetting that they might crush her. She dived deep down under the
+water, and came up again through the waves, and at last reached the
+young prince just as he was becoming unable to swim any further in the
+stormy sea. His limbs were numbed, his beautiful eyes were closing, and
+he must have died if the little mermaid had not come to the rescue. She
+held his head above the water and let the waves drive them whithersoever
+they would.
+
+By daybreak all the storm was over, of the ship not a trace was to be
+seen; the sun rose from the water in radiant brilliance, and his rosy
+beams seemed to cast a glow of life into the prince's cheeks, but his
+eyes remained closed. The mermaid kissed his fair and lofty brow, and
+stroked back the dripping hair; it seemed to her that he was like the
+marble statue in her little garden; she kissed him again and longed that
+he might live.
+
+At last she saw dry land before her, high blue mountains on whose
+summits the white snow glistened as if a flock of swans had settled
+there; down by the shore were beautiful green woods, and in the
+foreground a church or temple, she did not quite know which, but it was
+a building of some sort. Lemon and orange trees grew in the garden, and
+lofty palms stood by the gate. At this point the sea formed a little bay
+where the water was quite calm, but very deep, right up to the cliffs;
+at their foot was a strip of fine white sand to which she swam with the
+beautiful prince, and laid him down on it, taking great care that his
+head should rest high up in the warm sunshine.
+
+The bells now began to ring in the great white building, and a number of
+young maidens came into the garden. Then the little mermaid swam further
+off behind some high rocks and covered her hair and breast with foam, so
+that no one should see her little face, and then she watched to see who
+would discover the poor prince.
+
+[Illustration: _His limbs were numbed, his beautiful eyes were closing,
+and he must have died if the little mermaid had not come to the
+rescue._]
+
+It was not long before one of the maidens came up to him. At first she
+seemed quite frightened, but only for a moment, and then she fetched
+several others, and the mermaid saw that the prince was coming to life,
+and that he smiled at all those around him, but he never smiled at her.
+You see he did not know that she had saved him. She felt so sad
+that when he was led away into the great building she dived sorrowfully
+into the water and made her way home to her father's palace.
+
+Always silent and thoughtful, she became more so now than ever. Her
+sisters often asked her what she had seen on her first visit to the
+surface, but she never would tell them anything.
+
+Many an evening and many a morning she would rise to the place where she
+had left the prince. She saw the fruit in the garden ripen, and then
+gathered, she saw the snow melt on the mountain-tops, but she never saw
+the prince, so she always went home still sadder than before. At home
+her only consolation was to sit in her little garden with her arms
+twined round the handsome marble statue which reminded her of the
+prince. It was all in gloomy shade now, as she had ceased to tend her
+flowers, and the garden had become a neglected wilderness of long stalks
+and leaves entangled with the branches of the tree.
+
+At last she could not bear it any longer, so she told one of her
+sisters, and from her it soon spread to the others, but to no one else
+except to one or two other mermaids who only told their dearest friends.
+One of these knew all about the prince; she had also seen the
+festivities on the ship; she knew where he came from and where his
+kingdom was situated.
+
+'Come, little sister!' said the other princesses, and, throwing their
+arms round each other's shoulders, they rose from the water in a long
+line, just in front of the prince's palace.
+
+It was built of light yellow glistening stone, with great marble
+staircases, one of which led into the garden. Magnificent gilded cupolas
+rose above the roof, and the spaces between the columns which encircled
+the building were filled with life-like marble statues. Through the
+clear glass of the lofty windows you could see gorgeous halls adorned
+with costly silken hangings, and the pictures on the walls were a sight
+worth seeing. In the midst of the central hall a large fountain played,
+throwing its jets of spray upwards to a glass dome in the roof, through
+which the sunbeams lighted up the water and the beautiful plants which
+grew in the great basin.
+
+She knew now where he lived, and often used to go there in the evenings
+and by night over the water. She swam much nearer the land than any of
+the others dared; she even ventured right up the narrow channel under
+the splendid marble terrace which threw a long shadow over the water.
+She used to sit here looking at the young prince, who thought he was
+quite alone in the clear moonlight.
+
+She saw him many an evening sailing about in his beautiful boat, with
+flags waving and music playing; she used to peep through the green
+rushes, and if the wind happened to catch her long silvery veil and any
+one saw it, they only thought it was a swan flapping its wings.
+
+Many a night she heard the fishermen, who were fishing by torchlight,
+talking over the good deeds of the young prince; and she was happy to
+think that she had saved his life when he was drifting about on the
+waves, half dead, and she could not forget how closely his head had
+pressed her breast, and how passionately she had kissed him; but he knew
+nothing of all this, and never saw her even in his dreams.
+
+She became fonder and fonder of mankind, and longed more and more to be
+able to live among them; their world seemed so infinitely bigger than
+hers; with their ships they could scour the ocean, they could ascend the
+mountains high above the clouds, and their wooded, grass-grown lands
+extended further than her eye could reach. There was so much that she
+wanted to know, but her sisters could not give an answer to all her
+questions, so she asked her old grandmother, who knew the upper world
+well, and rightly called it the country above the sea.
+
+'If men are not drowned,' asked the little mermaid, 'do they live for
+ever? Do they not die as we do down here in the sea?'
+
+'Yes,' said the old lady, 'they have to die too, and their lifetime is
+even shorter than ours. We may live here for three hundred years, but
+when we cease to exist we become mere foam on the water and do not have
+so much as a grave among our dear ones. We have no immortal souls; we
+have no future life; we are just like the green sea-weed, which, once
+cut down, can never revive again! Men, on the other hand, have a soul
+which lives for ever, lives after the body has become dust; it rises
+through the clear air, up to the shining stars! Just as we rise from the
+water to see the land of mortals, so they rise up to unknown beautiful
+regions which we shall never see.'
+
+'Why have we no immortal souls?' asked the little mermaid sadly. 'I
+would give all my three hundred years to be a human being for one day,
+and afterwards to have a share in the heavenly kingdom.'
+
+'You must not be thinking about that,' said the grandmother; 'we are
+much better off and happier than human beings.'
+
+'Then I shall have to die and to float as foam on the water, and never
+hear the music of the waves or see the beautiful flowers or the red sun!
+Is there nothing I can do to gain an immortal soul?'
+
+'No,' said the grandmother; 'only if a human being so loved you that you
+were more to him than father or mother, if all his thoughts and all his
+love were so centred in you that he would let the priest join your hands
+and would vow to be faithful to you here, and to all eternity; then your
+body would become infused with his soul. Thus, and only thus, could you
+gain a share in the felicity of mankind. He would give you a soul while
+yet keeping his own. But that can never happen! That which is your
+greatest beauty in the sea, your fish's tail, is thought hideous up on
+earth, so little do they understand about it; to be pretty there you
+must have two clumsy supports which they call legs!'
+
+Then the little mermaid sighed and looked sadly at her fish's tail.
+
+'Let us be happy,' said the grandmother; 'we will hop and skip during
+our three hundred years of life; it is surely a long enough time; and
+after it is over we shall rest all the better in our graves. There is to
+be a court ball to-night.'
+
+This was a much more splendid affair than we ever see on earth. The
+walls and the ceiling of the great ballroom were of thick but
+transparent glass. Several hundreds of colossal mussel shells, rose red
+and grass green, were ranged in order round the sides holding blue
+lights, which illuminated the whole room and shone through the walls, so
+that the sea outside was quite lit up. You could see countless fish,
+great and small, swimming towards the glass walls, some with shining
+scales of crimson hue, while others were golden and silvery. In the
+middle of the room was a broad stream of running water, and on this the
+mermaids and mermen danced to their own beautiful singing. No earthly
+beings have such lovely voices. The little mermaid sang more sweetly
+than any of them, and they all applauded her. For a moment she felt glad
+at heart, for she knew that she had the finest voice either in the sea
+or on land. But she soon began to think again about the upper world, she
+could not forget the handsome prince and her sorrow in not possessing,
+like him, an immortal soul. Therefore she stole out of her father's
+palace, and while all within was joy and merriment, she sat sadly in her
+little garden. Suddenly she heard the sound of a horn through the water,
+and she thought, 'Now he is out sailing up there; he whom I love more
+than father or mother, he to whom my thoughts cling and to whose hands I
+am ready to commit the happiness of my life. I will dare anything to win
+him and to gain an immortal soul! While my sisters are dancing in my
+father's palace I will go to the sea-witch, of whom I have always been
+very much afraid; she will perhaps be able to advise and help me!'
+
+Thereupon the little mermaid left the garden and went towards the
+roaring whirlpools at the back of which the witch lived. She had never
+been that way before; no flowers grew there, no seaweed, only the bare
+grey sands, stretched towards the whirlpools, which like rushing
+mill-wheels swirled round, dragging everything that came within reach
+down to the depths. She had to pass between these boiling eddies to
+reach the witch's domain, and for a long way the only path led over warm
+bubbling mud, which the witch called her 'peat bog.' Her house stood
+behind this in the midst of a weird forest. All the trees and bushes
+were polyps, half animal and half plant; they looked like hundred-headed
+snakes growing out of the sand, the branches were long slimy arms, with
+tentacles like wriggling worms, every joint of which, from the root to
+the outermost tip, was in constant motion. They wound themselves tightly
+round whatever they could lay hold of and never let it escape. The
+little mermaid standing outside was quite frightened, her heart beat
+fast with terror and she nearly turned back, but then she remembered the
+prince and the immortal soul of mankind and took courage. She bound her
+long flowing hair tightly round her head, so that the polyps should not
+seize her by it, folded her hands over her breast, and darted like a
+fish through the water, in between the hideous polyps, which stretched
+out their sensitive arms and tentacles towards her. She could see that
+every one of them had something or other, which they had grasped with
+their hundred arms, and which they held as if in iron bands. The
+bleached bones of men who had perished at sea and sunk below peeped
+forth from the arms of some, while others clutched rudders and
+sea-chests, or the skeleton of some land animal; and most horrible of
+all, a little mermaid whom they had caught and suffocated. Then she came
+to a large opening in the wood where the ground was all slimy, and where
+some huge fat water snakes were gambolling about. In the middle of this
+opening was a house built of the bones of the wrecked; there sat the
+witch, letting a toad eat out of her mouth, just as mortals let a little
+canary eat sugar. She called the hideous water snakes her little
+chickens, and allowed them to crawl about on her unsightly bosom.
+
+'I know very well what you have come here for,' said the witch. 'It is
+very foolish of you! all the same you shall have your way, because it
+will lead you into misfortune, my fine princess. You want to get rid of
+your fish's tail, and instead to have two stumps to walk about upon like
+human beings, so that the young prince may fall in love with you, and
+that you may win him and an immortal soul.' Saying this, she gave such a
+loud hideous laugh that the toad and the snakes fell to the ground and
+wriggled about there.
+
+'You are just in the nick of time,' said the witch; 'after sunrise
+to-morrow I should not be able to help you until another year had run
+its course. I will make you a potion, and before sunrise you must swim
+ashore with it, seat yourself on the beach and drink it; then your tail
+will divide and shrivel up to what men call beautiful legs. But it
+hurts; it is as if a sharp sword were running through you. All who see
+you will say that you are the most beautiful child of man they have ever
+seen. You will keep your gliding gait, no dancer will rival you, but
+every step you take will be as if you were treading upon sharp knives,
+so sharp as to draw blood. If you are willing to suffer all this I am
+ready to help you!'
+
+'Yes!' said the little princess with a trembling voice, thinking of the
+prince and of winning an undying soul.
+
+'But remember,' said the witch, 'when once you have received a human
+form, you can never be a mermaid again; you will never again be able to
+dive down through the water to your sisters and to your father's palace.
+And if you do not succeed in winning the prince's love, so that for your
+sake he will forget father and mother, cleave to you with his whole
+heart, let the priest join your hands and make you man and wife, you
+will gain no immortal soul! The first morning after his marriage with
+another your heart will break, and you will turn into foam of the sea.'
+
+'I will do it,' said the little mermaid as pale as death.
+
+'But you will have to pay me, too,' said the witch, 'and it is no trifle
+that I demand. You have the most beautiful voice of any at the bottom of
+the sea, and I daresay that you think you will fascinate him with it;
+but you must give me that voice; I will have the best you possess in
+return for my precious potion! I have to mingle my own blood with it so
+as to make it as sharp as a two-edged sword.'
+
+'But if you take my voice,' said the little mermaid, 'what have I left?'
+
+'Your beautiful form,' said the witch, 'your gliding gait, and your
+speaking eyes; with these you ought surely to be able to bewitch a human
+heart. Well! have you lost courage? Put out your little tongue, and I
+will cut it off in payment for the powerful draught.'
+
+'Let it be done,' said the little mermaid, and the witch put on her
+caldron to brew the magic potion. 'There is nothing like cleanliness,'
+said she, as she scoured the pot with a bundle of snakes; then she
+punctured her breast and let the black blood drop into the caldron, and
+the steam took the most weird shapes, enough to frighten any one. Every
+moment the witch threw new ingredients into the pot, and when it boiled
+the bubbling was like the sound of crocodiles weeping. At last the
+potion was ready and it looked like the clearest water.
+
+'There it is,' said the witch, and thereupon she cut off the tongue of
+the little mermaid, who was dumb now and could neither sing nor speak.
+
+'If the polyps should seize you, when you go back through my wood,' said
+the witch, 'just drop a single drop of this liquid on them, and their
+arms and fingers will burst into a thousand pieces.' But the little
+mermaid had no need to do this, for at the mere sight of the bright
+liquid, which sparkled in her hand like a shining star, they drew back
+in terror. So she soon got past the wood, the bog, and the eddying
+whirlpools.
+
+She saw her father's palace; the lights were all out in the great
+ballroom, and no doubt all the household was asleep, but she did not
+dare to go in now that she was dumb and about to leave her home for
+ever. She felt as if her heart would break with grief. She stole into
+the garden and plucked a flower from each of her sisters' plots, wafted
+with her hand countless kisses towards the palace, and then rose up
+through the dark blue water.
+
+[Illustration: _But the little mermaid had no need to do this, for at
+the mere sight of the bright liquid which sparkled in her hand like a
+shining star, they drew back in terror._]
+
+The sun had not risen when she came in sight of the prince's palace
+and landed at the beautiful marble steps. The moon was shining bright
+and clear. The little mermaid drank the burning, stinging draught, and
+it was like a sharp, two-edged sword running through her tender frame;
+she fainted away and lay as if she were dead. When the sun rose on the
+sea she woke up and became conscious of a sharp pang, but just in front
+of her stood the handsome young prince, fixing his coal black eyes on
+her; she cast hers down and saw that her fish's tail was gone, and that
+she had the prettiest little white legs any maiden could desire; but she
+was quite naked, so she wrapped her long thick hair around her. The
+prince asked who she was and how she came there. She looked at him
+tenderly and with a sad expression in her dark blue eyes, but could not
+speak. Then he took her by the hand and led her into the palace. Every
+step she took was, as the witch had warned her beforehand, as if she
+were treading on sharp knives and spikes, but she bore it gladly; led by
+the prince, she moved as lightly as a bubble, and he and every one else
+marvelled at her graceful gliding gait.
+
+Clothed in the costliest silks and muslins she was the greatest beauty
+in the palace, but she was dumb, and could neither sing nor speak.
+Beautiful slaves clad in silks and gold came forward and sang to the
+prince and his royal parents; one of them sang better than all the
+others, and the prince clapped his hands and smiled at her; that made
+the little mermaid very sad, for she knew that she used to sing far
+better herself. She thought, 'Oh! if he only knew that for the sake of
+being with him I had given up my voice for ever!' Now the slaves began
+to dance, graceful undulating dances to enchanting music; thereupon the
+little mermaid, lifting her beautiful white arms and raising herself on
+tiptoe, glided on the floor with a grace which none of the other dancers
+had yet attained. With every motion her grace and beauty became more
+apparent, and her eyes appealed more deeply to the heart than the songs
+of the slaves. Every one was delighted with it, especially the prince,
+who called her his little foundling; and she danced on and on,
+notwithstanding that every time her foot touched the ground it was like
+treading on sharp knives. The prince said that she should always be near
+him, and she was allowed to sleep outside his door on a velvet cushion.
+
+He had a man's dress made for her, so that she could ride about with
+him. They used to ride through scented woods, where the green branches
+brushed her shoulders, and little birds sang among the fresh leaves. She
+climbed up the highest mountains with the prince, and although her
+delicate feet bled so that others saw it, she only laughed and followed
+him until they saw the clouds sailing below them like a flock of birds,
+taking flight to distant lands.
+
+[Illustration: _The prince asked who she was and how she came there; she
+looked at him tenderly and with a sad expression in her dark blue eyes,
+but could not speak._]
+
+At home in the prince's palace, when at night the others were
+asleep, she used to go out on to the marble steps; it cooled her
+burning feet to stand in the cold sea-water, and at such times she used
+to think of those she had left in the deep.
+
+One night her sisters came arm in arm; they sang so sorrowfully as they
+swam on the water that she beckoned to them, and they recognised her,
+and told her how she had grieved them all. After that they visited her
+every night, and one night she saw, a long way out, her old grandmother
+(who for many years had not been above the water), and the Merman King
+with his crown on his head; they stretched out their hands towards her,
+but did not venture so close to land as her sisters.
+
+Day by day she became dearer to the prince; he loved her as one loves a
+good sweet child, but it never entered his head to make her his queen;
+yet unless she became his wife she would never win an everlasting soul,
+but on his wedding morning would turn to sea-foam.
+
+'Am I not dearer to you than any of them?' the little mermaid's eyes
+seemed to say when he took her in his arms and kissed her beautiful
+brow.
+
+'Yes, you are the dearest one to me,' said the prince, 'for you have the
+best heart of them all, and you are fondest of me; you are also like a
+young girl I once saw, but whom I never expect to see again. I was on
+board a ship which was wrecked; I was driven on shore by the waves close
+to a holy Temple where several young girls were ministering at a
+service; the youngest of them found me on the beach and saved my life; I
+saw her but twice. She was the only person I could love in this world,
+but you are like her, you almost drive her image out of my heart. She
+belongs to the holy Temple, and therefore by good fortune you have been
+sent to me; we will never part!'
+
+'Alas! he does not know that it was I who saved his life,' thought the
+little mermaid. 'I bore him over the sea to the wood where the Temple
+stands. I sat behind the foam and watched to see if any one would come.
+I saw the pretty girl he loves better than me.' And the mermaid heaved a
+bitter sigh, for she could not weep.
+
+'The girl belongs to the holy Temple, he has said; she will never return
+to the world, they will never meet again. I am here with him; I see him
+every day. Yes! I will tend him, love him, and give up my life to him.'
+
+But now the rumour ran that the prince was to be married to the
+beautiful daughter of a neighbouring king, and for that reason was
+fitting out a splendid ship. It was given out that the prince was going
+on a voyage to see the adjoining countries, but it was without doubt to
+see the king's daughter; he was to have a great suite with him. But the
+little mermaid shook her head and laughed; she knew the prince's
+intentions much better than any of the others. 'I must take this
+voyage,' he had said to her; 'I must go and see the beautiful princess;
+my parents demand that, but they will never force me to bring her home
+as my bride; I can never love her! She will not be like the lovely girl
+in the Temple whom you resemble. If ever I had to choose a bride it
+would sooner be you with your speaking eyes, my sweet, dumb foundling!'
+And he kissed her rosy mouth, played with her long hair, and laid his
+head upon her heart, which already dreamt of human joys and an immortal
+soul.
+
+'You are not frightened of the sea, I suppose, my dumb child?' he said,
+as they stood on the proud ship which was to carry them to the country
+of the neighbouring king; and he told her about storms and calms, about
+curious fish in the deep, and the marvels seen by divers; and she smiled
+at his tales, for she knew all about the bottom of the sea much better
+than any one else.
+
+At night, in the moonlight, when all were asleep, except the steersman
+who stood at the helm, she sat at the side of the ship trying to pierce
+the clear water with her eyes, and fancied she saw her father's palace,
+and above it her old grandmother with her silver crown on her head,
+looking up through the cross currents towards the keel of the ship. Then
+her sisters rose above the water; they gazed sadly at her, wringing
+their white hands. She beckoned to them, smiled, and was about to tell
+them that all was going well and happily with her, when the cabin-boy
+approached, and the sisters dived down, but he supposed that the white
+objects he had seen were nothing but flakes of foam.
+
+The next morning the ship entered the harbour of the neighbouring king's
+magnificent city. The church bells rang and trumpets were sounded from
+every lofty tower, while the soldiers paraded with flags flying and
+glittering bayonets. There was a _fete_ every day, there was a
+succession of balls, and receptions followed one after the other, but
+the princess was not yet present; she was being brought up a long way
+off, in a holy Temple they said, and was learning all the royal virtues.
+At last she came. The little mermaid stood eager to see her beauty, and
+she was obliged to confess that a lovelier creature she had never
+beheld. Her complexion was exquisitely pure and delicate, and her
+trustful eyes of the deepest blue shone through their dark lashes.
+
+'It is you,' said the prince, 'you who saved me when I lay almost
+lifeless on the beach?' and he clasped his blushing bride to his heart.
+'Oh! I am too happy!' he exclaimed to the little mermaid.
+
+'A greater joy than I had dared to hope for has come to pass. You will
+rejoice at my joy, for you love me better than any one.' Then the little
+mermaid kissed his hand, and felt as if her heart were broken already.
+
+His wedding morn would bring death to her and change her to foam.
+
+All the church bells pealed and heralds rode through the town
+proclaiming the nuptials. Upon every altar throughout the land fragrant
+oil was burnt in costly silver lamps. Amidst the swinging of censers by
+the priests the bride and bridegroom joined hands and received the
+bishop's blessing. The little mermaid dressed in silk and gold stood
+holding the bride's train, but her ears were deaf to the festal strains,
+her eyes saw nothing of the sacred ceremony; she was thinking of her
+coming death and of all that she had lost in this world.
+
+That same evening the bride and bridegroom embarked, amidst the roar of
+cannon and the waving of banners. A royal tent of purple and gold softly
+cushioned was raised amidships where the bridal pair were to repose
+during the calm cool night.
+
+The sails swelled in the wind and the ship skimmed lightly and almost
+without motion over the transparent sea.
+
+At dusk lanterns of many colours were lighted and the sailors danced
+merrily on deck. The little mermaid could not help thinking of the first
+time she came up from the sea and saw the same splendour and gaiety; and
+she now threw herself among the dancers, whirling, as a swallow skims
+through the air when pursued. The onlookers cheered her in amazement,
+never had she danced so divinely; her delicate feet pained her as if
+they were cut with knives, but she did not feel it, for the pain at her
+heart was much sharper. She knew that it was the last night that she
+would breathe the same air as he, and would look upon the mighty deep,
+and the blue starry heavens; an endless night without thought and
+without dreams awaited her, who neither had a soul, nor could win one.
+The joy and revelry on board lasted till long past midnight; she went on
+laughing and dancing with the thought of death all the time in her
+heart. The prince caressed his lovely bride and she played with his
+raven locks, and with their arms entwined they retired to the gorgeous
+tent. All became hushed and still on board the ship, only the steersman
+stood at the helm; the little mermaid laid her white arms on the gunwale
+and looked eastwards for the pink-tinted dawn; the first sunbeam, she
+knew, would be her death. Then she saw her sisters rise from the water;
+they were as pale as she was; their beautiful long hair no longer
+floated on the breeze, for it had been cut off.
+
+[Illustration: _Once more she looked at the prince, with her eyes
+already dimmed by death, then dashed overboard and fell, her body
+dissolving into foam._]
+
+'We have given it to the witch to obtain her help, so that you may not
+die to-night! She has given us a knife; here it is, look how sharp it
+is! Before the sun rises, you must plunge it into the prince's heart,
+and when his warm blood sprinkles your feet they will join together and
+grow into a tail, and you will once more be a mermaid; you will be able
+to come down into the water to us, and to live out your three hundred
+years before you are turned into dead, salt sea-foam. Make haste! you or
+he must die before sunrise! Our old grandmother is so full of grief that
+her white hair has fallen off as ours fell under the witch's scissors.
+Slay the prince and come back to us! Quick! Quick! do you not see
+the rosy streak in the sky? In a few minutes the sun will rise and then
+you must die!' saying this they heaved a wondrous deep sigh and sank
+among the waves.
+
+The little mermaid drew aside the purple curtain from the tent and
+looked at the beautiful bride asleep with her head on the prince's
+breast. She bent over him and kissed his fair brow, looked at the sky
+where the dawn was spreading fast, looked at the sharp knife, and again
+fixed her eyes on the prince, who, in his dream called his bride by
+name. Yes! she alone was in his thoughts! For a moment the knife
+quivered in her grasp, then she threw it far out among the waves, now
+rosy in the morning light, and where it fell the water bubbled up like
+drops of blood.
+
+Once more she looked at the prince, with her eyes already dimmed by
+death, then dashed overboard and fell, her body dissolving into foam.
+
+Now the sun rose from the sea and with its kindly beams warmed the
+deadly cold foam, so that the little mermaid did not feel the chill of
+death. She saw the bright sun, and above her floated hundreds of
+beauteous ethereal beings, through which she could see the white ship
+and the rosy heavens; their voices were melodious, but so spirit-like
+that no human ear could hear them, any more than earthly eye could see
+their forms. Light as bubbles they floated through the air without the
+aid of wings. The little mermaid perceived that she had a form like
+theirs; it gradually took shape out of the foam. 'To whom am I coming?'
+said she, and her voice sounded like that of the other beings, so
+unearthly in its beauty that no music of ours could reproduce it.
+
+'To the daughters of the air!' answered the others; 'a mermaid has no
+undying soul, and can never gain one without winning the love of a human
+being. Her eternal life must depend upon an unknown power. Nor have the
+daughters of the air an everlasting soul, but by their own good deeds
+they may create one for themselves. We fly to the tropics where mankind
+is the victim of hot and pestilent winds; there we bring cooling
+breezes. We diffuse the scent of flowers all around, and bring
+refreshment and healing in our train. When, for three hundred years, we
+have laboured to do all the good in our power, we gain an undying soul
+and take a part in the everlasting joys of mankind. You, poor little
+mermaid, have with your whole heart struggled for the same thing as we
+have struggled for. You have suffered and endured, raised yourself to
+the spirit-world of the air, and now, by your own good deeds you may, in
+the course of three hundred years, work out for yourself an undying
+soul.'
+
+Then the little mermaid lifted her transparent arms towards God's sun,
+and for the first time shed tears.
+
+On board ship all was again life and bustle. She saw the prince with his
+lovely bride searching for her; they looked sadly at the bubbling foam,
+as if they knew that she had thrown herself into the waves. Unseen she
+kissed the bride on her brow, smiled at the prince, and rose aloft with
+the other spirits of the air to the rosy clouds which sailed above.
+
+'In three hundred years we shall thus float into Paradise.'
+
+'We might reach it sooner,' whispered one. 'Unseen we flit into those
+homes of men where there are children, and for every day that we find a
+good child who gives pleasure to its parents and deserves their love God
+shortens our time of probation. The child does not know when we fly
+through the room, and when we smile with pleasure at it one year of our
+three hundred is taken away. But if we see a naughty or badly disposed
+child, we cannot help shedding tears of sorrow, and every tear adds a
+day to the time of our probation.'
+
+
+
+
+THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES
+
+
+Many years ago there was an Emperor, who was so excessively fond of new
+clothes that he spent all his money on them. He cared nothing about his
+soldiers, nor for the theatre, nor for driving in the woods except for
+the sake of showing off his new clothes. He had a costume for every hour
+in the day, and instead of saying, as one does about any other king or
+emperor, 'He is in his council chamber,' here one always said, 'The
+Emperor is in his dressing-room.'
+
+Life was very gay in the great town where he lived; hosts of strangers
+came to visit it every day, and among them one day two swindlers. They
+gave themselves out as weavers, and said that they knew how to weave the
+most beautiful stuffs imaginable. Not only were the colours and patterns
+unusually fine, but the clothes that were made of the stuffs had the
+peculiar quality of becoming invisible to every person who was not fit
+for the office he held, or if he was impossibly dull.
+
+'Those must be splendid clothes,' thought the Emperor. 'By wearing them
+I should be able to discover which men in my kingdom are unfitted for
+their posts. I shall distinguish the wise men from the fools. Yes, I
+certainly must order some of that stuff to be woven for me.'
+
+He paid the two swindlers a lot of money in advance so that they might
+begin their work at once.
+
+They did put up two looms and pretended to weave, but they had nothing
+whatever upon their shuttles. At the outset they asked for a quantity of
+the finest silk and the purest gold thread, all of which they put into
+their own bags, while they worked away at the empty looms far into the
+night.
+
+'I should like to know how those weavers are getting on with the stuff,'
+thought the Emperor; but he felt a little queer when he reflected that
+any one who was stupid or unfit for his post would not be able to see
+it. He certainly thought that he need have no fears for himself, but
+still he thought he would send somebody else first to see how it was
+getting on. Everybody in the town knew what wonderful power the stuff
+possessed, and every one was anxious to see how stupid his neighbour
+was.
+
+'I will send my faithful old minister to the weavers,' thought the
+Emperor. 'He will be best able to see how the stuff looks, for he is a
+clever man, and no one fulfils his duties better than he does!'
+
+So the good old minister went into the room where the two swindlers sat
+working at the empty loom.
+
+'Heaven preserve us!' thought the old minister, opening his eyes very
+wide. 'Why, I can't see a thing!' But he took care not to say so.
+
+Both the swindlers begged him to be good enough to step a little nearer,
+and asked if he did not think it a good pattern and beautiful colouring.
+They pointed to the empty loom, and the poor old minister stared as hard
+as he could, but he could not see anything, for of course there was
+nothing to see.
+
+'Good heavens!' thought he, 'is it possible that I am a fool. I have
+never thought so, and nobody must know it. Am I not fit for my post? It
+will never do to say that I cannot see the stuffs.'
+
+'Well, sir, you don't say anything about the stuff,' said the one who
+was pretending to weave.
+
+'Oh, it is beautiful! quite charming!' said the old minister, looking
+through his spectacles; 'this pattern and these colours! I will
+certainly tell the Emperor that the stuff pleases me very much.'
+
+'We are delighted to hear you say so,' said the swindlers, and then they
+named all the colours and described the peculiar pattern. The old
+minister paid great attention to what they said, so as to be able to
+repeat it when he got home to the Emperor.
+
+[Illustration: _They pointed to the empty loom, and the poor old
+minister stared as hard as he could, but he could not see anything, for
+of course there was nothing to see._]
+
+Then the swindlers went on to demand more money, more silk, and
+more gold, to be able to proceed with the weaving; but they put it all
+into their own pockets--not a single strand was ever put into the loom,
+but they went on as before weaving at the empty loom.
+
+The Emperor soon sent another faithful official to see how the stuff was
+getting on, and if it would soon be ready. The same thing happened to
+him as to the minister; he looked and looked, but as there was only the
+empty loom, he could see nothing at all.
+
+'Is not this a beautiful piece of stuff?' said both the swindlers,
+showing and explaining the beautiful pattern and colours which were not
+there to be seen.
+
+'I know I am not a fool!' thought the man, 'so it must be that I am
+unfit for my good post! It is very strange, though! However, one must
+not let it appear!' So he praised the stuff he did not see, and assured
+them of his delight in the beautiful colours and the originality of the
+design. 'It is absolutely charming!' he said to the Emperor. Everybody
+in the town was talking about this splendid stuff.
+
+Now the Emperor thought he would like to see it while it was still on
+the loom. So, accompanied by a number of selected courtiers, among whom
+were the two faithful officials who had already seen the imaginary
+stuff, he went to visit the crafty impostors, who were working away as
+hard as ever they could at the empty loom.
+
+'It is magnificent!' said both the honest officials. 'Only see, your
+Majesty, what a design! What colours!' And they pointed to the empty
+loom, for they thought no doubt the others could see the stuff.
+
+'What!' thought the Emperor; 'I see nothing at all! This is terrible! Am
+I a fool? Am I not fit to be Emperor? Why, nothing worse could happen to
+me!'
+
+'Oh, it is beautiful!' said the Emperor. 'It has my highest approval!'
+and he nodded his satisfaction as he gazed at the empty loom. Nothing
+would induce him to say that he could not see anything.
+
+The whole suite gazed and gazed, but saw nothing more than all the
+others. However, they all exclaimed with his Majesty, 'It is very
+beautiful!' and they advised him to wear a suit made of this wonderful
+cloth on the occasion of a great procession which was just about to take
+place. 'It is magnificent! gorgeous! excellent!' went from mouth to
+mouth; they were all equally delighted with it. The Emperor gave each of
+the rogues an order of knighthood to be worn in their buttonholes and
+the title of 'Gentlemen weavers.'
+
+[Illustration: _Then the emperor walked along in the procession under
+the gorgeous canopy, and everybody in the streets and at the windows
+exclaimed, 'How beautiful the Emperor's new clothes are!'_]
+
+The swindlers sat up the whole night, before the day on which the
+procession was to take place, burning sixteen candles; so that people
+might see how anxious they were to get the Emperor's new clothes ready.
+They pretended to take the stuff off the loom. They cut it out in the
+air with a huge pair of scissors, and they stitched away with
+needles without any thread in them. At last they said: 'Now the
+Emperor's new clothes are ready!'
+
+The Emperor, with his grandest courtiers, went to them himself, and both
+the swindlers raised one arm in the air, as if they were holding
+something, and said: 'See, these are the trousers, this is the coat,
+here is the mantle!' and so on. 'It is as light as a spider's web. One
+might think one had nothing on, but that is the very beauty of it!'
+
+'Yes!' said all the courtiers, but they could not see anything, for
+there was nothing to see.
+
+'Will your imperial majesty be graciously pleased to take off your
+clothes,' said, the impostors, 'so that we may put on the new ones,
+along here before the great mirror?'
+
+The Emperor took off all his clothes, and the impostors pretended to
+give him one article of dress after the other of the new ones which they
+had pretended to make. They pretended to fasten something round his
+waist and to tie on something; this was the train, and the Emperor
+turned round and round in front of the mirror.
+
+'How well his majesty looks in the new clothes! How becoming they are!'
+cried all the people round. 'What a design, and what colours! They are
+most gorgeous robes!'
+
+'The canopy is waiting outside which is to be carried over your majesty
+in the procession,' said the master of the ceremonies.
+
+'Well, I am quite ready,' said the Emperor. 'Don't the clothes fit
+well?' and then he turned round again in front of the mirror, so that he
+should seem to be looking at his grand things.
+
+The chamberlains who were to carry the train stooped and pretended to
+lift it from the ground with both hands, and they walked along with
+their hands in the air. They dared not let it appear that they could not
+see anything.
+
+Then the Emperor walked along in the procession under the gorgeous
+canopy, and everybody in the streets and at the windows exclaimed, 'How
+beautiful the Emperor's new clothes are! What a splendid train! And they
+fit to perfection!' Nobody would let it appear that he could see
+nothing, for then he would not be fit for his post, or else he was a
+fool.
+
+None of the Emperor's clothes had been so successful before.
+
+'But he has got nothing on,' said a little child.
+
+'Oh, listen to the innocent,' said its father; and one person whispered
+to the other what the child had said. 'He has nothing on; a child says
+he has nothing on!'
+
+'But he has nothing on!' at last cried all the people.
+
+The Emperor writhed, for he knew it was true, but he thought 'the
+procession must go on now,' so held himself stiffer than ever, and the
+chamberlains held up the invisible train.
+
+
+
+
+THE WIND'S TALE
+
+ABOUT WALDEMAR DAA AND HIS DAUGHTERS
+
+
+When the wind sweeps across a field of grass it makes little ripples in
+it like a lake; in a field of corn it makes great waves like the sea
+itself: this is the wind's frolic. Then listen to the stories it tells;
+it sings them aloud, one kind of song among the trees of the forest, and
+a very different one when it is pent up within walls with all their
+cracks and crannies. Do you see how the wind chases the white fleecy
+clouds as if they were a flock of sheep? Do you hear the wind down
+there, howling in the open doorway like a watchman winding his horn?
+Then, too, how he whistles in the chimneys, making the fire crackle and
+sparkle. How cosy it is to sit in the warm glow of the fire listening to
+the tales it has to tell! Let the wind tell its own story! It can tell
+you more adventures than all of us put together. Listen now:--
+
+'Whew!--Whew!--Fare away!' That was the refrain of his song.
+
+'Close to the Great Belt stands an old mansion with thick red walls,'
+says the wind. 'I know every stone of it; I knew them before when they
+formed part of Marsk Stig's Castle on the Ness. It had to come down. The
+stones were used again, and made a new wall of a new castle in another
+place--Borreby Hall as it now stands.
+
+'I have watched the highborn men and women of all the various races who
+have lived there, and now I am going to tell you about Waldemar Daa and
+his daughters!
+
+'He held his head very high, for he came of a royal stock! He knew more
+than the mere chasing of a stag, or the emptying of a flagon; he knew
+how to manage his affairs, he said himself.
+
+'His lady wife walked proudly across the brightly polished floors, in
+her gold brocaded kirtle; the tapestries in the rooms were gorgeous, and
+the furniture of costly carved woods. She had brought much gold and
+silver plate into the house with her, and the cellars were full of
+German ale, when there was anything there at all. Fiery black horses
+neighed in the stables; Borreby Hall was a very rich place when wealth
+came there.
+
+'Then there were the children, three dainty maidens, Ida, Johanna and
+Anna Dorothea. I remember their names well.
+
+'They were rich and aristocratic people, and they were born and bred in
+wealth! Whew!--whew!--fare away!' roared the wind, then he went on with
+his story.
+
+'I did not see here, as in other old noble castles the highborn lady
+sitting among her maidens in the great hall turning the spinning-wheel.
+No, she played upon the ringing lute, and sang to its tones. Her songs
+were not always the old Danish ditties, however, but songs in foreign
+tongues. All was life and hospitality; noble guests came from far and
+wide; there were sounds of music and the clanging of flagons, so loud
+that I could not drown them!' said the wind. 'Here were arrogance and
+ostentation enough and to spare; plenty of lords, but the Lord had no
+place there.
+
+'Then came the evening of May-day!' said the wind. 'I came from the
+west; I had been watching ships being wrecked and broken up on the west
+coast of Jutland. I tore over the heaths and the green wooded coasts,
+across the island of Funen and over the Great Belt puffing and blowing.
+I settled down to rest on the coast of Zealand close to Borreby Hall,
+where the splendid forest of oaks still stood. The young bachelors of
+the neighbourhood came out and collected faggots and branches, the
+longest and driest they could find. These they took to the town, piled
+them up in a heap, and set fire to them; then the men and maidens danced
+and sang round the bonfire. I lay still,' said the wind, 'but I softly
+moved a branch, the one laid by the handsomest young man, and his billet
+blazed up highest of all. He was the chosen one, he had the name of
+honour, he became 'Buck of the Street!' and he chose from among the
+girls his little May-lamb. All was life and merriment, greater far than
+within rich Borreby Hall.
+
+'The great lady came driving towards the Hall, in her gilded chariot
+drawn by six horses. She had her three dainty daughters with her; they
+were indeed three lovely flowers. A rose, a lily and a pale hyacinth.
+The mother herself was a gorgeous tulip; she took no notice whatever of
+the crowd, who all stopped in their game to drop their curtsies and make
+their bows; one might have thought that, like a tulip, she was rather
+frail in the stalk and feared to bend her back. The rose, the lily, and
+the pale hyacinth--yes, I saw them all three. Whose May-lambs were they
+one day to become, thought I; their mates would be proud
+knights--perhaps even princes!
+
+'Whew!--whew!--fare away! Yes, the chariot bore them away, and the
+peasants whirled on in their dance. They played at "Riding the Summer
+into the village," to Borreby village, Tareby village, and many others.
+
+'But that night when I rose,' said the wind, 'the noble lady laid
+herself down to rise no more; that came to her which comes to every
+one--there was nothing new about it. Waldemar Daa stood grave and silent
+for a time; "The proudest tree may bend, but it does not break," said
+something within him. The daughters wept, and every one else at the
+Castle was wiping their eyes; but Madam Daa had fared away, and I fared
+away too! Whew!--whew!' said the wind.
+
+[Illustration: _She played upon the ringing lute, and sang to its
+tones._]
+
+'I came back again; I often came back across the island of Funen and
+the waters of the Belt, and took up my place on Borreby shore close to
+the great forest of oaks. The ospreys and the wood pigeons used to build
+in it, the blue raven and even the black stork! It was early in the
+year; some of the nests were full of eggs, while in others the young
+ones were just hatched. What a flying and screaming was there! Then came
+the sound of the axe, blow upon blow; the forest was to be felled.
+Waldemar Daa was about to build a costly ship, a three-decked
+man-of-war, which it was expected the king would buy. So the wood fell,
+the ancient landmark of the seaman, the home of the birds. The shrike
+was frightened away; its nest was torn down; the osprey and all the
+other birds lost their nests too, and they flew about distractedly,
+shrieking in their terror and anger. The crows and the jackdaws screamed
+in mockery, Caw! caw! Waldemar Daa and his three daughters stood in the
+middle of the wood among the workmen. They all laughed at the wild cries
+of the birds, except Anna Dorothea, who was touched by their distress,
+and when they were about to fell a tree which was half-dead, and on
+whose naked branches a black stork had built its nest, out of which the
+young ones were sticking their heads, she begged them with tears in her
+eyes to spare it. So the tree with the black stork's nest was allowed to
+stand. It was only a little thing.
+
+'The chopping and the sawing went on--the three-decker was built. The
+master builder was a man of humble origin, but of noble loyalty; great
+power lay in his eyes and on his forehead, and Waldemar Daa liked to
+listen to him, and little Ida liked to listen too, the eldest
+fifteen-year-old daughter. But whilst he built the ship for her father,
+he built a castle in the air for himself, in which he and little Ida sat
+side by side as man and wife. This might also have happened if his
+castle had been built of solid stone, with moat and ramparts, wood and
+gardens. But with all his wisdom the shipbuilder was only a poor bird,
+and what business has a sparrow in a crane's nest? Whew! whew! I rushed
+away, and he rushed away, for he dared not stay, and little Ida got over
+it, as get over it she must.
+
+'The fiery black horses stood neighing in the stables; they were worth
+looking at, and they were looked at to some purpose too. An admiral was
+sent from the King to look at the new man-of-war, with a view to
+purchasing it. The admiral was loud in his admiration of the horses. I
+heard all he said,' added the wind. 'I went through the open door with
+the gentlemen and scattered the straw like gold before their feet.
+Waldemar Daa wanted gold; the admiral wanted the black horses, and so he
+praised them as he did; but his hints were not taken, therefore the ship
+remained unsold. There it stood by the shore covered up with boards,
+like a Noah's Ark which never reached the water. Whew! whew! get along!
+get along! It was a miserable business. In the winter, when the fields
+were covered with snow and the Belt was full of ice-floes which I drove
+up on to the coast,' said the wind, 'the ravens and crows came in
+flocks, the one blacker than the other, and perched upon the desolate,
+dead ship by the shore. They screamed themselves hoarse about the forest
+which had disappeared, and the many precious birds' nests which had been
+devastated, leaving old and young homeless; and all for the sake of this
+old piece of lumber, the proud ship which was never to touch the water!
+I whirled the snow about till it lay in great heaps round the ship. I
+let it hear my voice, and all that a storm has to say, I know that I did
+my best to give it an idea of the sea. Whew! whew!'
+
+'The winter passed by; winter and summer passed away! They come and go
+just as I do. The snow-flakes, the apple blossom, and the leaves fall,
+each in their turn. Whew! whew! they pass away, as men pass too!
+
+'The daughters were still young. Little Ida, the rose, as lovely to look
+at as when the shipbuilder turned his gaze upon her. I often took hold
+of her long brown hair when she stood lost in thought by the apple-tree
+in the garden. She never noticed that I showered apple-blossom over her
+loosened hair; she only gazed at the red sunset against the golden
+background of the sky, and the dark trees and bushes of the garden. Her
+sister Johanna was like a tall, stately lily; she held herself as
+stiffly erect as her mother, and seemed to have the same dread of
+bending her stem. She liked to walk in the long gallery where the family
+portraits hung. The ladies were painted in velvet and silk, with tiny
+pearl embroidered caps on their braided tresses. Their husbands were all
+clad in steel, or in costly cloaks lined with squirrel skins and stiff
+blue ruffs; their swords hung loosely by their sides. Where would
+Johanna's portrait one day hang on these walls? What would her noble
+husband look like? These were her thoughts, and she even spoke them
+aloud; I heard her as I swept through the long corridor into the
+gallery, where I veered round again.
+
+'Anna Dorothea, the pale hyacinth, was only a child of fourteen, quiet
+and thoughtful. Her large blue eyes, as clear as water, were very
+solemn, but childhood's smile still played upon her lips; I could not
+blow it away, nor did I wish to do so. I used to meet her in the garden,
+the ravine, and in the manor fields. She was always picking flowers and
+herbs, those she knew her father could use for healing drinks and
+potions. Waldemar Daa was proud and conceited, but he was also learned,
+and he knew a great deal about many things. One could see that, and many
+whispers went about as to his learning. The fire blazed in his stove
+even in summer, and his chamber door was locked. This went on for days
+and nights, but he did not talk much about it. One must deal silently
+with the forces of nature. He would soon discover the best of
+everything, the red, red gold!
+
+'This was why his chimney flamed and smoked and sparkled. Yes, I was
+there, too,' said the wind.
+
+[Illustration: _I used to meet her in the garden, the ravine, and in
+the manor fields. She was always picking flowers and herbs, those she
+knew her father could use for healing drinks and potions._]
+
+'Away with you, away! I sang in the back of the chimney. Smoke smoke,
+embers and ashes, that is all it will come to! You will burn yourself up
+in it. Whew! whew! away with it! But Waldemar Daa could not let it go.
+
+'The fiery steeds in the stable, where were they? The old gold and
+silver plate in cupboard and chest, where was that? The cattle, the
+land, the castle itself? Yes, they could all be melted down in the
+crucible, but yet no gold would come.
+
+'Barn and larder got emptier and emptier. Fewer servants; more mice. One
+pane of glass got broken and another followed it. There was no need for
+me to go in by the doors,' said the wind. 'A smoking chimney means a
+cooking meal, but the only chimney which smoked here swallowed up all
+the meals, all for the sake of the red gold.
+
+'I blew through the castle gate like a watchman blowing his horn, but
+there was no watchman,' said the wind. 'I twisted round the weather-cock
+on the tower and it creaked as if the watchman up there was snoring,
+only there was no watchman. Rats and mice were the only inhabitants.
+Poverty laid the table; poverty lurked in wardrobe and larder. The doors
+fell off their hinges, cracks and crannies appeared everywhere; I went
+in and out,' said the wind, 'so I know all about it.
+
+'The hair and the beard of Waldemar Daa grew grey, in the sorrow of his
+sleepless nights, amid smoke and ashes. His skin grew grimy and yellow,
+and his eyes greedy for gold, the long expected gold.
+
+'I whistled through the broken panes and fissures; I blew into the
+daughters' chests where their clothes lay faded and threadbare; they had
+to last for ever. A song like this had never been sung over the cradles
+of these children. A lordly life became a woeful life! I was the only
+one to sing in the castle now,' said the wind. 'I snowed them up, for
+they said it gave warmth. They had no firewood, for the forest was cut
+down where they should have got it. There was a biting frost. Even I had
+to keep rushing through the crannies and passages to keep myself lively.
+They stayed in bed to keep themselves warm, those noble ladies. Their
+father crept about under a fur rug. Nothing to bite, and nothing to
+burn! a lordly life indeed! Whew! whew! let it go! But this was what
+Waldemar Daa could not do.
+
+'"After winter comes the spring," said he; "a good time will come after
+a time of need; but they make us wait their pleasure, wait! The castle
+is mortgaged, we are in extremities--and yet the gold will come--at
+Easter!"
+
+'I heard him murmur to the spider's web.--"You clever little weaver! You
+teach me to persevere! If your web is broken, you begin at the beginning
+again and complete it! Broken again--and cheerfully you begin it over
+again. That is what one must do, and one will be rewarded!"
+
+'It was Easter morning, the bells were ringing, and the sun was at play
+in the heavens. Waldemar Daa had watched through the night with his
+blood at fever pitch; boiling and cooling, mixing and distilling. I
+heard him sigh like a despairing soul; I heard him pray, and I felt that
+he held his breath. The lamp had gone out, but he never noticed it; I
+blew up the embers and they shone upon his ashen face, which took a
+tinge of colour from their light; his eyes started in their sockets,
+they grew larger and larger, as if they would leap out.
+
+'Look at the alchemist's glass! something twinkles in it; it is glowing,
+pure and heavy. He lifted it with a trembling hand and shouted with a
+trembling voice: "Gold! gold!" He reeled, and I could easily have blown
+him over,' said the wind, 'but I only blew upon the embers, and followed
+him to the room where his daughters sat shivering. His coat was powdered
+with ash, as well as his beard and his matted hair. He drew himself up
+to his full height and held up his precious treasure, in the fragile
+glass: "Found! won! gold!" he cried, stretching up his hand with the
+glass which glittered in the sunbeams: his hand shook, and the
+alchemist's glass fell to the ground shivered into a thousand atoms. The
+last bubble of his welfare was shattered too. Whew! whew! fare away! and
+away I rushed from the goldmaker's home.
+
+[Illustration: _He lifted it with a trembling hand and shouted with a
+trembling voice: 'Gold! gold!'_]
+
+'Late in the year, when the days were short and dark up here, and the
+fog envelops the red berries and bare branches with its cold moisture,
+I came along in a lively mood clearing the sky and snapping off the dead
+boughs. This is no great labour, it is true, yet it has to be done.
+Borreby Hall, the home of Waldemar Daa, was having a clean sweep of a
+different sort. The family enemy, Ove Ramel from Basness, appeared,
+holding the mortgage of the Hall and all its contents. I drummed upon
+the cracked window panes, beat against the decaying doors, and whistled
+through all the cracks and crannies, whew! I did my best to prevent Herr
+Ove taking a fancy to stay there. Ida and Anna Dorothea faced it
+bravely, although they shed some tears; Johanna stood pale and erect and
+bit her finger till it bled! Much that would help her! Ove Ramel offered
+to let them stay on at the Castle for Waldemar Daa's lifetime, but he
+got no thanks for his offer; I was listening. I saw the ruined gentleman
+stiffen his neck and hold his head higher than ever. I beat against the
+walls and the old linden trees with such force that the thickest branch
+broke, although it was not a bit rotten. It fell across the gate like a
+broom, as if some one was about to sweep; and a sweeping there was
+indeed to be. I quite expected it. It was a grievous day and a hard time
+for them, but their wills were as stubborn as their necks were stiff.
+They had not a possession in the world but the clothes on their backs;
+yes, one thing--an alchemist's glass which had been bought and filled
+with the fragments scraped up from the floor. The treasure which
+promised much and fulfilled nothing. Waldemar Daa hid it in his
+bosom, took his staff in his hand, and, with his three daughters, the
+once wealthy gentleman walked out of Borreby Hall for the last time. I
+blew a cold blast upon his burning cheeks, I fluttered his grey beard
+and his long white hair; I sang such a tune as only I could sing. Whew!
+whew! away with them! away with them! This was the end of all their
+grandeur.
+
+'Ida and Ana Dorothea walked one on each side of him: Johanna turned
+round in the gateway, but what was the good of that? nothing could make
+their luck turn. She looked at the red stones of what had once been
+Marsk Stig's Castle. Was she thinking of his daughters?
+
+    '"The elder took the younger by the hand,
+    And out they roamed to a far-off land."
+
+Was she thinking of that song? Here there were three and their father
+was with them. They walked along the road where once they used to ride
+in their chariot. They trod it now as vagrants, on their way to a
+plastered cottage on Smidstrup Heath, which was rented at ten marks
+yearly. This was their new country seat with its empty walls and its
+empty vessels. The crows and the magpies wheeled screaming over their
+heads with their mocking "Caw, caw! Out of the nest, Caw, caw!" just as
+they screamed in Borreby Forest when the trees were felled.
+
+'Herr Daa and his daughters must have noticed it. I blew into their
+ears to try and deaden the cries, which after all were not worth
+listening to.
+
+'So they took up their abode in the plastered cottage on Smidstrup
+Heath, and I tore off over marshes and meadows, through naked hedges and
+bare woods, to the open seas and other lands. Whew! whew! away, away!
+and that for many years.'
+
+What happened to Waldemar Daa? What happened to his daughters? This is
+what the wind relates.
+
+'The last of them I saw, yes, for the last time, was Anna Dorothea, the
+pale hyacinth. She was old and bent now; it was half a century later.
+She lived the longest, she had gone through everything.
+
+'Across the heath, near the town of Viborg, stood the Dean's new,
+handsome mansion, built of red stone with toothed gables. The smoke
+curled thickly out of the chimneys. The gentle lady and her fair
+daughters sat in the bay window looking into the garden at the drooping
+thorns and out to the brown heath beyond. What were they looking at
+there? They were looking at a stork's nest on a tumble-down cottage; the
+roof was covered, as far as there was any roof to cover, with moss and
+house-leek; but the stork's nest made the best covering. It was the only
+part to which anything was done, for the stork kept it in repair.
+
+[Illustration: _Waldemar Daa hid it in his bosom, took his staff in his
+hand, and, with his three daughters, the once wealthy gentleman walked
+out of Borreby Hall for the last time._]
+
+'This house was only fit to be looked at, not to be touched. I had to
+mind what I was about,' said the wind. 'The cottage was allowed to
+stand for the sake of the stork's nest; in itself it was only a
+scarecrow on the heath, but the dean did not want to frighten away the
+stork, so the hovel was allowed to stand. The poor soul inside was
+allowed to live in it; she had the Egyptian bird to thank for that; or
+was it payment for once having pleaded for the nest of his wild black
+brother in the Borreby Forest? Then, poor thing, she was a child, a
+delicate, pale hyacinth in a noble flower-garden. Poor Anna Dorothea;
+she remembered it all! Ah, human beings can sigh as well as the wind
+when it soughs through the rushes and reeds.
+
+'Oh dear! oh dear! No bells rang over the grave of Waldemar Daa. No
+schoolboys sang when the former lord of Borreby Castle was laid in his
+grave. Well, everything must have an end, even misery! Sister Ida became
+the wife of a peasant, and this was her father's sorest trial. His
+daughter's husband a miserable serf, who might at any moment be ordered
+the punishment of the wooden horse by his lord. It is well that the sod
+covers him now, and you too, Ida! Ah yes! ah yes! Poor me! poor me! I
+still linger on. In Thy mercy release me, O Christ!'
+
+'This was the prayer of Anna Dorothea, as she lay in the miserable hovel
+which was only left standing for the sake of the stork.
+
+'I took charge of the boldest of the sisters,' said the wind. 'She had
+clothes made to suit her manly disposition, and took a place as a lad
+with a skipper. Her words were few and looks stubborn, but she was
+willing enough at her work. But with all her will she could not climb
+the rigging; so I blew her overboard before any one discovered that she
+was a woman, and I fancy that was not a bad deed of mine!' said the
+wind.
+
+'On such an Easter morning as that on which Waldemar Daa thought he had
+found the red gold, I heard from beneath the stork's nest a psalm
+echoing through the miserable walls. It was Anna Dorothea's last song.
+There was no window; only a hole in the wall. The sun rose in splendour
+and poured in upon her; her eyes were glazed and her heart broken! This
+would have been so this morning whether the sun had shone upon her or
+not. The stork kept a roof over her head till her death! I sang at her
+grave,' said the wind, 'and I sang at her father's grave. I know where
+it is, and hers too, which is more than any one else knows.
+
+'The old order changeth, giving place to the new. The old high-road now
+only leads to cultivated fields, while peaceful graves are covered by
+busy traffic on the new road. Soon comes Steam with its row of waggons
+behind it, rushing over the graves, forgotten, like the names upon them.
+Whew! whew! Let us be gone! This is the story of Waldemar Daa and his
+daughters. Tell it better yourselves, if you can,' said the wind, as it
+veered round. Then it was gone.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Printed in Great Britain
+
+Text printed by T. and A. Constable, Printers to His Majesty, Edinburgh
+
+Illustrations by Henry Stone and Son, Ltd., Banbury
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Stories from Hans Andersen, by
+Hans Christian Andersen
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STORIES FROM HANS ANDERSEN ***
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