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diff --git a/27200-h/27200-h.htm b/27200-h/27200-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b783797 --- /dev/null +++ b/27200-h/27200-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,48271 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<HTML> +<HEAD> + +<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> + +<TITLE> +The Project Gutenberg E-text of Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen, +by Hans Christian Andersen +</TITLE> + +<STYLE TYPE="text/css"> +BODY { color: Black; + background: White; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +P {text-indent: 4% } + +P.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +P.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: small } + +P.footnote {font-size: smaller ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.finis { text-align: center ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +</STYLE> + +</HEAD> + +<BODY> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Fairy Tales of Hans Christian 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: Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen + +Author: Hans Christian Andersen + +Release Date: November 8, 2008 [EBook #27200] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FAIRY TALES OF HANS ANDERSEN *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + +</pre> + + +<BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN +</H1> + +<BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CONTENTS +</H2> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#a_story">A Story</A><BR> +<A HREF="#almshous">By the Almshouse Window</A><BR> +<A HREF="#angel">The Angel</A><BR> +<A HREF="#anne_lis">Anne Lisbeth</A><BR> +<A HREF="#apple_br">The Conceited Apple-branch</A><BR> +</H4> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#beauty">Beauty of Form and Beauty of Mind</A><BR> +<A HREF="#beetle">The Beetle who went on his Travels</A><BR> +<A HREF="#bell">The Bell</A><BR> +<A HREF="#belldeep">The Bell-deep</A><BR> +<A HREF="#bird_song">The Bird of Popular Song</A><BR> +<A HREF="#bishop_b">The Bishop of Borglum and his Warriors</A><BR> +<A HREF="#bottle_n">The Bottle Neck</A><BR> +<A HREF="#buckwhet">The Buckwheat</A><BR> +<A HREF="#butterfl">The Butterfly</A><BR> +</H4> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#cheerful">A Cheerful Temper</A><BR> +<A HREF="#child_in">The Child in the Grave</A><BR> +<A HREF="#child_prattle">Children's Prattle</A><BR> +<A HREF="#cock">The Farm-yard Cock and the Weather-cock</A><BR> +</H4> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#daisy">The Daisy</A><BR> +<A HREF="#darning">The Darning-Needle</A><BR> +<A HREF="#delaying">Delaying is not Forgetting</A><BR> +<A HREF="#drop_wat">The Drop of Water</A><BR> +<A HREF="#dryad">The Dryad</A><BR> +<A HREF="#dullard">Jack the Dullard</A><BR> +<A HREF="#dumbbook">The Dumb Book</A><BR> +</H4> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#elf_rose">The Elf of the Rose</A><BR> +<A HREF="#elfin_hi">The Elfin Hill</A><BR> +<A HREF="#emperor">The Emperor's New Suit</A><BR> +</H4> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#fir_tree">The Fir Tree</A><BR> +<A HREF="#flax">The Flax</A><BR> +<A HREF="#flying_t">The Flying Trunk</A><BR> +<A HREF="#friendsh">The Shepherd's Story of the Bond of Friendship</A><BR> +</H4> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#girl_who">The Girl Who Trod on the Loaf</A><BR> +<A HREF="#goblin">The Goblin and the Huckster</A><BR> +<A HREF="#golden">The Golden Treasure</A><BR> +<A HREF="#goloshes">The Goloshes of Fortune</A><BR> +<A HREF="#good_for">She was Good for Nothing</A><BR> +<A HREF="#grandmot">Grandmother</A><BR> +<A HREF="#great_gr">A Great Grief</A><BR> +</H4> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#happy_fa">The Happy Family</A><BR> +<A HREF="#heaven">A Leaf from Heaven</A><BR> +<A HREF="#holger_d">Holger Danske</A><BR> +</H4> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#ib_and_l">Ib and Little Christina</A><BR> +<A HREF="#ice_maid">The Ice Maiden</A><BR> +</H4> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#jewish_m">The Jewish Maiden</A><BR> +<A HREF="#jumper">The Jumper</A><BR> +</H4> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#last_dre">The Last Dream of the Old Oak</A><BR> +<A HREF="#last_pea">The Last Pearl</A><BR> +<A HREF="#li_claus">Little Claus and Big Claus</A><BR> +<A HREF="#li_elder">The Little Elder-tree Mother</A><BR> +<A HREF="#li_ida_f">Little Ida's Flowers</A><BR> +<A HREF="#li_match">The Little Match-seller</A><BR> +<A HREF="#li_merma">The Little Mermaid</A><BR> +<A HREF="#li_tiny">Little Tiny or Thumbelina</A><BR> +<A HREF="#li_tuk">Little Tuk</A><BR> +<A HREF="#lovelies">The Loveliest Rose in the World</A><BR> +</H4> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#mailcoac">The Mail-coach Passengers</A><BR> +<A HREF="#marsh_ki">The Marsh King's Daughter</A><BR> +<A HREF="#metal_pi">The Metal Pig</A><BR> +<A HREF="#moneybox">The Money-box</A><BR> +<A HREF="#moon_saw">What the Moon Saw</A><BR> +</H4> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#neighbor">The Neighbouring Families</A><BR> +<A HREF="#nighting">The Nightingale</A><BR> +<A HREF="#no_doubt">There is no Doubt about it</A><BR> +<A HREF="#nursery">In the Nursery</A><BR> +</H4> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#old_bach">The Old Bachelor's Nightcap</A><BR> +<A HREF="#old_chur">The Old Church Bell</A><BR> +<A HREF="#old_grav">The Old Grave-stone</A><BR> +<A HREF="#old_hous">The Old House</A><BR> +<A HREF="#old_man">What the Old Man Does is Always Right</A><BR> +<A HREF="#old_stre">The Old Street Lamp</A><BR> +<A HREF="#ole_luk">Ole-Luk-Oie, the Dream God</A><BR> +<A HREF="#ole_tower">Ole the Tower-keeper</A><BR> +<A HREF="#our_aunt">Our Aunt</A><BR> +</H4> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#paradise">The Garden of Paradise</A><BR> +<A HREF="#pea_blos">The Pea Blossom</A><BR> +<A HREF="#pen_ink">The Pen and the Inkstand</A><BR> +<A HREF="#ph_stone">The Philosopher's Stone</A><BR> +<A HREF="#phoenix">The Phoenix Bird</A><BR> +<A HREF="#por_duck">The Portuguese Duck</A><BR> +<A HREF="#porters">The Porter's Son</A><BR> +<A HREF="#poultry">Poultry Meg's Family</A><BR> +<A HREF="#princess">The Princess and the Pea</A><BR> +<A HREF="#psyche">The Psyche</A><BR> +<A HREF="#puppet_s">The Puppet-show Man</A><BR> +</H4> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#races">The Races</A><BR> +<A HREF="#red_shoe">The Red Shoes</A><BR> +<A HREF="#right_pl">Everything in the Right Place</A><BR> +<A HREF="#rose_frm">A Rose from Homer's Grave</A><BR> +<A HREF="#rosetree">The Snail and the Rose-tree</A><BR> +</H4> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#sandhill">A Story from the Sand-hills</A><BR> +<A HREF="#saucy_bo">The Saucy Boy</A><BR> +<A HREF="#shadow">The Shadow</A><BR> +<A HREF="#shepherd">The Shepherdess and the Sheep</A><BR> +<A HREF="#shilling">The Silver Shilling</A><BR> +<A HREF="#shirtcol">The Shirt-collar</A><BR> +<A HREF="#snow_man">The Snow Man</A><BR> +<A HREF="#snow_que">The Snow Queen</A><BR> +<A HREF="#snowdrop">The Snowdrop</A><BR> +<A HREF="#somethin">Something</A><BR> +<A HREF="#soup_fro">Soup from a Sausage Skewer</A><BR> +<A HREF="#storks">The Storks</A><BR> +<A HREF="#storm_sh">The Storm Shakes the Shield</A><BR> +<A HREF="#story_mother">The Story of a Mother</A><BR> +<A HREF="#sunbeam">The Sunbeam and the Captive</A><BR> +<A HREF="#swans_ne">The Swan's Nest</A><BR> +<A HREF="#swineher">The Swineherd</A><BR> +</H4> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#thistles">The Thistle's Experiences</A><BR> +<A HREF="#thorny_r">The Thorny Road of Honor</A><BR> +<A HREF="#thousand">In a Thousand Years</A><BR> +<A HREF="#tin_sold">The Brave Tin Soldier</A><BR> +<A HREF="#tinderbx">The Tinder-box</A><BR> +<A HREF="#toad">The Toad</A><BR> +<A HREF="#top_ball">The Top and Ball</A><BR> +<A HREF="#travelng">The Travelling Companion</A><BR> +<A HREF="#two_bro">Two Brothers</A><BR> +<A HREF="#two_maid">Two Maidens</A><BR> +</H4> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#ugly_duc">The Ugly Duckling</A><BR> +<A HREF="#under_wi">Under the Willow Tree</A><BR> +<A HREF="#uttermst">In the Uttermost Parts of the Sea</A><BR> +</H4> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#what_one">What One Can Invent</A><BR> +<A HREF="#wicked_p">The Wicked Prince</A><BR> +<A HREF="#wild_swa">The Wild Swans</A><BR> +<A HREF="#will_o_t">The Will-o-the-Wisp in the Town, Says the Wild Woman</A><BR> +<A HREF="#wind">The Story of the Wind</A><BR> +<A HREF="#windmill">The Windmill</A><BR> +</H4> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#year">The Story of the Year</A><BR> +</H4> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="a_story"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A STORY +</H3> + +<P> +In the garden all the apple-trees were in blossom. They had +hastened to bring forth flowers before they got green leaves, and in +the yard all the ducklings walked up and down, and the cat too: it +basked in the sun and licked the sunshine from its own paws. And +when one looked at the fields, how beautifully the corn stood and +how green it shone, without comparison! and there was a twittering and +a fluttering of all the little birds, as if the day were a great +festival; and so it was, for it was Sunday. All the bells were +ringing, and all the people went to church, looking cheerful, and +dressed in their best clothes. There was a look of cheerfulness on +everything. The day was so warm and beautiful that one might well have +said: "God's kindness to us men is beyond all limits." But inside +the church the pastor stood in the pulpit, and spoke very loudly and +angrily. He said that all men were wicked, and God would punish them +for their sins, and that the wicked, when they died, would be cast +into hell, to burn for ever and ever. He spoke very excitedly, +saying that their evil propensities would not be destroyed, nor +would the fire be extinguished, and they should never find rest. +That was terrible to hear, and he said it in such a tone of +conviction; he described hell to them as a miserable hole where all +the refuse of the world gathers. There was no air beside the hot +burning sulphur flame, and there was no ground under their feet; they, +the wicked ones, sank deeper and deeper, while eternal silence +surrounded them! It was dreadful to hear all that, for the preacher +spoke from his heart, and all the people in the church were terrified. +Meanwhile, the birds sang merrily outside, and the sun was shining +so beautifully warm, it seemed as though every little flower said: +"God, Thy kindness towards us all is without limits." Indeed, +outside it was not at all like the pastor's sermon. +</P> + +<P> +The same evening, upon going to bed, the pastor noticed his wife +sitting there quiet and pensive. +</P> + +<P> +"What is the matter with you?" he asked her. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, the matter with me is," she said, "that I cannot collect my +thoughts, and am unable to grasp the meaning of what you said to-day +in church—that there are so many wicked people, and that they +should burn eternally. Alas! eternally—how long! I am only a woman +and a sinner before God, but I should not have the heart to let even +the worst sinner burn for ever, and how could our Lord to do so, who +is so infinitely good, and who knows how the wickedness comes from +without and within? No, I am unable to imagine that, although you +say so." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +It was autumn; the trees dropped their leaves, the earnest and +severe pastor sat at the bedside of a dying person. A pious, +faithful soul closed her eyes for ever; she was the pastor's wife. +</P> + +<P> +..."If any one shall find rest in the grave and mercy before our +Lord you shall certainly do so," said the pastor. He folded her +hands and read a psalm over the dead woman. +</P> + +<P> +She was buried; two large tears rolled over the cheeks of the +earnest man, and in the parsonage it was empty and still, for its +sun had set for ever. She had gone home. +</P> + +<P> +It was night. A cold wind swept over the pastor's head; he +opened his eyes, and it seemed to him as if the moon was shining +into his room. It was not so, however; there was a being standing +before his bed, and looking like the ghost of his deceased wife. She +fixed her eyes upon him with such a kind and sad expression, just as +if she wished to say something to him. The pastor raised himself in +bed and stretched his arms towards her, saying, "Not even you can find +eternal rest! You suffer, you best and most pious woman?" +</P> + +<P> +The dead woman nodded her head as if to say "Yes," and put her +hand on her breast. +</P> + +<P> +"And can I not obtain rest in the grave for you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," was the answer. +</P> + +<P> +"And how?" +</P> + +<P> +"Give me one hair—only one single hair—from the head of the +sinner for whom the fire shall never be extinguished, of the sinner +whom God will condemn to eternal punishment in hell." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, one ought to be able to redeem you so easily, you pure, +pious woman," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"Follow me," said the dead woman. "It is thus granted to us. By my +side you will be able to fly wherever your thoughts wish to go. +Invisible to men, we shall penetrate into their most secret +chambers; but with sure hand you must find out him who is destined +to eternal torture, and before the cock crows he must be found!" As +quickly as if carried by the winged thoughts they were in the great +city, and from the walls the names of the deadly sins shone in flaming +letters: pride, avarice, drunkenness, wantonness—in short, the +whole seven-coloured bow of sin. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, therein, as I believed, as I knew it," said the pastor, "are +living those who are abandoned to the eternal fire." And they were +standing before the magnificently illuminated gate; the broad steps +were adorned with carpets and flowers, and dance music was sounding +through the festive halls. A footman dressed in silk and velvet +stood with a large silver-mounted rod near the entrance. +</P> + +<P> +"Our ball can compare favourably with the king's," he said, and +turned with contempt towards the gazing crowd in the street. What he +thought was sufficiently expressed in his features and movements: +"Miserable beggars, who are looking in, you are nothing in +comparison to me." +</P> + +<P> +"Pride," said the dead woman; "do you see him?" +</P> + +<P> +"The footman?" asked the pastor. "He is but a poor fool, and not +doomed to be tortured eternally by fire!" +</P> + +<P> +"Only a fool!" It sounded through the whole house of pride: they +were all fools there. +</P> + +<P> +Then they flew within the four naked walls of the miser. Lean as a +skeleton, trembling with cold, and hunger, the old man was clinging +with all his thoughts to his money. They saw him jump up feverishly +from his miserable couch and take a loose stone out of the wall; there +lay gold coins in an old stocking. They saw him anxiously feeling over +an old ragged coat in which pieces of gold were sewn, and his clammy +fingers trembled. +</P> + +<P> +"He is ill! That is madness—a joyless madness—besieged by fear +and dreadful dreams!" +</P> + +<P> +They quickly went away and came before the beds of the +criminals; these unfortunate people slept side by side, in long +rows. Like a ferocious animal, one of them rose out of his sleep and +uttered a horrible cry, and gave his comrade a violent dig in the ribs +with his pointed elbow, and this one turned round in his sleep: +</P> + +<P> +"Be quiet, monster—sleep! This happens every night!" +</P> + +<P> +"Every night!" repeated the other. "Yes, every night he comes +and tortures me! In my violence I have done this and that. I was +born with an evil mind, which has brought me hither for the second +time; but if I have done wrong I suffer punishment for it. One +thing, however, I have not yet confessed. When I came out a little +while ago, and passed by the yard of my former master, evil thoughts +rose within me when I remembered this and that. I struck a match a +little bit on the wall; probably it came a little too close to the +thatched roof. All burnt down—a great heat rose, such as sometimes +overcomes me. I myself helped to rescue cattle and things, nothing +alive burnt, except a flight of pigeons, which flew into the fire, and +the yard dog, of which I had not thought; one could hear him howl +out of the fire, and this howling I still hear when I wish to sleep; +and when I have fallen asleep, the great rough dog comes and places +himself upon me, and howls, presses, and tortures me. Now listen to +what I tell you! You can snore; you are snoring the whole night, and I +hardly a quarter of an hour!" And the blood rose to the head of the +excited criminal; he threw himself upon his comrade, and beat him with +his clenched fist in the face. +</P> + +<P> +"Wicked Matz has become mad again!" they said amongst +themselves. The other criminals seized him, wrestled with him, and +bent him double, so that his head rested between his knees, and they +tied him, so that the blood almost came out of his eyes and out of all +his pores. +</P> + +<P> +"You are killing the unfortunate man," said the pastor, and as +he stretched out his hand to protect him who already suffered too +much, the scene changed. They flew through rich halls and wretched +hovels; wantonness and envy, all the deadly sins, passed before +them. An angel of justice read their crimes and their defence; the +latter was not a brilliant one, but it was read before God, Who +reads the heart, Who knows everything, the wickedness that comes +from within and from without, Who is mercy and love personified. The +pastor's hand trembled; he dared not stretch it out, he did not +venture to pull a hair out of the sinner's head. And tears gushed from +his eyes like a stream of mercy and love, the cooling waters of +which extinguished the eternal fire of hell. +</P> + +<P> +Just then the cock crowed. +</P> + +<P> +"Father of all mercy, grant Thou to her the peace that I was +unable to procure for her!" +</P> + +<P> +"I have it now!" said the dead woman. "It was your hard words, +your despair of mankind, your gloomy belief in God and His creation, +which drove me to you. Learn to know mankind! Even in the wicked one +lives a part of God—and this extinguishes and conquers the flame of +hell!" +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The pastor felt a kiss on his lips; a gleam of light surrounded +him—God's bright sun shone into the room, and his wife, alive, +sweet and full of love, awoke him from a dream which God had sent him! +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="almshous"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BY THE ALMSHOUSE WINDOW +</H3> + +<P> +Near the grass-covered rampart which encircles Copenhagen lies a +great red house. Balsams and other flowers greet us from the long rows +of windows in the house, whose interior is sufficiently +poverty-stricken; and poor and old are the people who inhabit it. +The building is the Warton Almshouse. +</P> + +<P> +Look! at the window there leans an old maid. She plucks the +withered leaf from the balsam, and looks at the grass-covered rampart, +on which many children are playing. What is the old maid thinking +of? A whole life drama is unfolding itself before her inward gaze. +</P> + +<P> +"The poor little children, how happy they are—how merrily they +play and romp together! What red cheeks and what angels' eyes! but +they have no shoes nor stockings. They dance on the green rampart, +just on the place where, according to the old story, the ground always +sank in, and where a sportive, frolicsome child had been lured by +means of flowers, toys and sweetmeats into an open grave ready dug for +it, and which was afterwards closed over the child; and from that +moment, the old story says, the ground gave way no longer, the mound +remained firm and fast, and was quickly covered with the green turf. +The little people who now play on that spot know nothing of the old +tale, else would they fancy they heard a child crying deep below the +earth, and the dewdrops on each blade of grass would be to them +tears of woe. Nor do they know anything of the Danish King who here, +in the face of the coming foe, took an oath before all his trembling +courtiers that he would hold out with the citizens of his capital, and +die here in his nest; they know nothing of the men who have fought +here, or of the women who from here have drenched with boiling water +the enemy, clad in white, and 'biding in the snow to surprise the +city. +</P> + +<P> +"No! the poor little ones are playing with light, childish +spirits. Play on, play on, thou little maiden! Soon the years will +come—yes, those glorious years. The priestly hands have been laid +on the candidates for confirmation; hand in hand they walk on the +green rampart. Thou hast a white frock on; it has cost thy mother much +labor, and yet it is only cut down for thee out of an old larger +dress! You will also wear a red shawl; and what if it hang too far +down? People will only see how large, how very large it is. You are +thinking of your dress, and of the Giver of all good—so glorious is +it to wander on the green rampart! +</P> + +<P> +"And the years roll by; they have no lack of dark days, but you +have your cheerful young spirit, and you have gained a friend—you +know not how. You met, oh, how often! You walk together on the rampart +in the fresh spring, on the high days and holidays, when all the world +come out to walk upon the ramparts, and all the bells of the church +steeples seem to be singing a song of praise for the coming spring. +</P> + +<P> +"Scarcely have the violets come forth, but there on the rampart, +just opposite the beautiful Castle of Rosenberg, there is a tree +bright with the first green buds. Every year this tree sends forth +fresh green shoots. Alas! It is not so with the human heart! Dark +mists, more in number than those that cover the northern skies, +cloud the human heart. Poor child! thy friend's bridal chamber is a +black coffin, and thou becomest an old maid. From the almshouse +window, behind the balsams, thou shalt look on the merry children at +play, and shalt see thine own history renewed." +</P> + +<P> +And that is the life drama that passes before the old maid while +she looks out upon the rampart, the green, sunny rampart, where the +children, with their red cheeks and bare shoeless feet, are +rejoicing merrily, like the other free little birds. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="angel"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE ANGEL +</H3> + +<P> +"Whenever a good child dies, an angel of God comes down from +heaven, takes the dead child in his arms, spreads out his great +white wings, and flies with him over all the places which the child +had loved during his life. Then he gathers a large handful of flowers, +which he carries up to the Almighty, that they may bloom more brightly +in heaven than they do on earth. And the Almighty presses the +flowers to His heart, but He kisses the flower that pleases Him +best, and it receives a voice, and is able to join the song of the +chorus of bliss." +</P> + +<P> +These words were spoken by an angel of God, as he carried a dead +child up to heaven, and the child listened as if in a dream. Then they +passed over well-known spots, where the little one had often played, +and through beautiful gardens full of lovely flowers. +</P> + +<P> +"Which of these shall we take with us to heaven to be transplanted +there?" asked the angel. +</P> + +<P> +Close by grew a slender, beautiful, rose-bush, but some wicked +hand had broken the stem, and the half-opened rosebuds hung faded +and withered on the trailing branches. +</P> + +<P> +"Poor rose-bush!" said the child, "let us take it with us to +heaven, that it may bloom above in God's garden." +</P> + +<P> +The angel took up the rose-bush; then he kissed the child, and the +little one half opened his eyes. The angel gathered also some +beautiful flowers, as well as a few humble buttercups and +heart's-ease. +</P> + +<P> +"Now we have flowers enough," said the child; but the angel only +nodded, he did not fly upward to heaven. +</P> + +<P> +It was night, and quite still in the great town. Here they +remained, and the angel hovered over a small, narrow street, in +which lay a large heap of straw, ashes, and sweepings from the +houses of people who had removed. There lay fragments of plates, +pieces of plaster, rags, old hats, and other rubbish not pleasant to +see. Amidst all this confusion, the angel pointed to the pieces of a +broken flower-pot, and to a lump of earth which had fallen out of +it. The earth had been kept from falling to pieces by the roots of a +withered field-flower, which had been thrown amongst the rubbish. +</P> + +<P> +"We will take this with us," said the angel, "I will tell you +why as we fly along." +</P> + +<P> +And as they flew the angel related the history. +</P> + +<P> +"Down in that narrow lane, in a low cellar, lived a poor sick boy; +he had been afflicted from his childhood, and even in his best days he +could just manage to walk up and down the room on crutches once or +twice, but no more. During some days in summer, the sunbeams would lie +on the floor of the cellar for about half an hour. In this spot the +poor sick boy would sit warming himself in the sunshine, and +watching the red blood through his delicate fingers as he held them +before his face. Then he would say he had been out, yet he knew +nothing of the green forest in its spring verdure, till a neighbor's +son brought him a green bough from a beech-tree. This he would place +over his head, and fancy that he was in the beech-wood while the sun +shone, and the birds carolled gayly. One spring day the neighbor's boy +brought him some field-flowers, and among them was one to which the +root still adhered. This he carefully planted in a flower-pot, and +placed in a window-seat near his bed. And the flower had been +planted by a fortunate hand, for it grew, put forth fresh shoots, +and blossomed every year. It became a splendid flower-garden to the +sick boy, and his little treasure upon earth. He watered it, and +cherished it, and took care it should have the benefit of every +sunbeam that found its way into the cellar, from the earliest +morning ray to the evening sunset. The flower entwined itself even +in his dreams—for him it bloomed, for him spread its perfume. And +it gladdened his eyes, and to the flower he turned, even in death, +when the Lord called him. He has been one year with God. During that +time the flower has stood in the window, withered and forgotten, +till at length cast out among the sweepings into the street, on the +day of the lodgers' removal. And this poor flower, withered and +faded as it is, we have added to our nosegay, because it gave more +real joy than the most beautiful flower in the garden of a queen." +</P> + +<P> +"But how do you know all this?" asked the child whom the angel was +carrying to heaven. +</P> + +<P> +"I know it," said the angel, "because I myself was the poor sick +boy who walked upon crutches, and I know my own flower well." +</P> + +<P> +Then the child opened his eyes and looked into the glorious +happy face of the angel, and at the same moment they found +themselves in that heavenly home where all is happiness and joy. And +God pressed the dead child to His heart, and wings were given him so +that he could fly with the angel, hand in hand. Then the Almighty +pressed all the flowers to His heart; but He kissed the withered +field-flower, and it received a voice. Then it joined in the song of +the angels, who surrounded the throne, some near, and others in a +distant circle, but all equally happy. They all joined in the chorus +of praise, both great and small,—the good, happy child, and the +poor field-flower, that once lay withered and cast away on a heap of +rubbish in a narrow, dark street. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="anne_lis"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +ANNE LISBETH +</H3> + +<P> +Anne Lisbeth was a beautiful young woman, with a red and white +complexion, glittering white teeth, and clear soft eyes; and her +footstep was light in the dance, but her mind was lighter still. She +had a little child, not at all pretty; so he was put out to be +nursed by a laborer's wife, and his mother went to the count's castle. +She sat in splendid rooms, richly decorated with silk and velvet; +not a breath of air was allowed to blow upon her, and no one was +allowed to speak to her harshly, for she was nurse to the count's +child. He was fair and delicate as a prince, and beautiful as an +angel; and how she loved this child! Her own boy was provided for by +being at the laborer's where the mouth watered more frequently than +the pot boiled, and where in general no one was at home to take care +of the child. Then he would cry, but what nobody knows nobody cares +for; so he would cry till he was tired, and then fall asleep; and +while we are asleep we can feel neither hunger nor thirst. Ah, yes; +sleep is a capital invention. +</P> + +<P> +As years went on, Anne Lisbeth's child grew apace like weeds, +although they said his growth had been stunted. He had become quite +a member of the family in which he dwelt; they received money to +keep him, so that his mother got rid of him altogether. She had become +quite a lady; she had a comfortable home of her own in the town; and +out of doors, when she went for a walk, she wore a bonnet; but she +never walked out to see the laborer: that was too far from the town, +and, indeed, she had nothing to go for, the boy now belonged to +these laboring people. He had food, and he could also do something +towards earning his living; he took care of Mary's red cow, for he +knew how to tend cattle and make himself useful. +</P> + +<P> +The great dog by the yard gate of a nobleman's mansion sits +proudly on the top of his kennel when the sun shines, and barks at +every one that passes; but if it rains, he creeps into his house, +and there he is warm and dry. Anne Lisbeth's boy also sat in the +sunshine on the top of the fence, cutting out a little toy. If it +was spring-time, he knew of three strawberry-plants in blossom, +which would certainly bear fruit. This was his most hopeful thought, +though it often came to nothing. And he had to sit out in the rain +in the worst weather, and get wet to the skin, and let the cold wind +dry the clothes on his back afterwards. If he went near the farmyard +belonging to the count, he was pushed and knocked about, for the men +and the maids said he was so horrible ugly; but he was used to all +this, for nobody loved him. This was how the world treated Anne +Lisbeth's boy, and how could it be otherwise. It was his fate to be +beloved by no one. Hitherto he had been a land crab; the land at +last cast him adrift. He went to sea in a wretched vessel, and sat +at the helm, while the skipper sat over the grog-can. He was dirty and +ugly, half-frozen and half-starved; he always looked as if he never +had enough to eat, which was really the case. +</P> + +<P> +Late in the autumn, when the weather was rough, windy, and wet, +and the cold penetrated through the thickest clothing, especially at +sea, a wretched boat went out to sea with only two men on board, or, +more correctly, a man and a half, for it was the skipper and his +boy. There had only been a kind of twilight all day, and it soon +grew quite dark, and so bitterly cold, that the skipper took a dram to +warm him. The bottle was old, and the glass too. It was perfect in the +upper part, but the foot was broken off, and it had therefore been +fixed upon a little carved block of wood, painted blue. A dram is a +great comfort, and two are better still, thought the skipper, while +the boy sat at the helm, which he held fast in his hard seamed +hands. He was ugly, and his hair was matted, and he looked crippled +and stunted; they called him the field-laborer's boy, though in the +church register he was entered as Anne Lisbeth's son. The wind cut +through the rigging, and the boat cut through the sea. The sails, +filled by the wind, swelled out and carried them along in wild career. +It was wet and rough above and below, and might still be worse. +Hold! what is that? What has struck the boat? Was it a waterspout, +or a heavy sea rolling suddenly upon them? +</P> + +<P> +"Heaven help us!" cried the boy at the helm, as the boat heeled +over and lay on its beam ends. It had struck on a rock, which rose +from the depths of the sea, and sank at once, like an old shoe in a +puddle. "It sank at once with mouse and man," as the saying is. +There might have been mice on board, but only one man and a half, +the skipper and the laborer's boy. No one saw it but the skimming +sea-gulls and the fishes beneath the water; and even they did not +see it properly, for they darted back with terror as the boat filled +with water and sank. There it lay, scarcely a fathom below the +surface, and those two were provided for, buried, and forgotten. The +glass with the foot of blue wood was the only thing that did not sink, +for the wood floated and the glass drifted away to be cast upon the +shore and broken; where and when, is indeed of no consequence. It +had served its purpose, and it had been loved, which Anne Lisbeth's +boy had not been. But in heaven no soul will be able to say, "Never +loved." +</P> + +<P> +Anne Lisbeth had now lived in the town many years; she was +called "Madame," and felt dignified in consequence; she remembered the +old, noble days, in which she had driven in the carriage, and had +associated with countess and baroness. Her beautiful, noble child +had been a dear angel, and possessed the kindest heart; he had loved +her so much, and she had loved him in return; they had kissed and +loved each other, and the boy had been her joy, her second life. Now +he was fourteen years of age, tall, handsome, and clever. She had +not seen him since she carried him in her arms; neither had she been +for years to the count's palace; it was quite a journey thither from +the town. +</P> + +<P> +"I must make one effort to go," said Anne Lisbeth, "to see my +darling, the count's sweet child, and press him to my heart. Certainly +he must long to see me, too, the young count; no doubt he thinks of me +and loves me, as in those days when he would fling his angel-arms +round my neck, and lisp 'Anne Liz.' It was music to my ears. Yes, I +must make an effort to see him again." She drove across the country in +a grazier's cart, and then got out, and continued her journey on foot, +and thus reached the count's castle. It was as great and magnificent +as it had always been, and the garden looked the same as ever; all the +servants were strangers to her, not one of them knew Anne Lisbeth, nor +of what consequence she had once been there; but she felt sure the +countess would soon let them know it, and her darling boy, too: how +she longed to see him! +</P> + +<P> +Now that Anne Lisbeth was at her journey's end, she was kept +waiting a long time; and for those who wait, time passes slowly. But +before the great people went in to dinner, she was called in and +spoken to very graciously. She was to go in again after dinner, and +then she would see her sweet boy once more. How tall, and slender, and +thin he had grown; but the eyes and the sweet angel mouth were still +beautiful. He looked at her, but he did not speak, he certainly did +not know who she was. He turned round and was going away, but she +seized his hand and pressed it to her lips. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, well," he said; and with that he walked out of the room. He +who filled her every thought! he whom she loved best, and who was +her whole earthly pride! +</P> + +<P> +Anne Lisbeth went forth from the castle into the public road, +feeling mournful and sad; he whom she had nursed day and night, and +even now carried about in her dreams, had been cold and strange, and +had not a word or thought respecting her. A great black raven darted +down in front of her on the high road, and croaked dismally. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah," said she, "what bird of ill omen art thou?" Presently she +passed the laborer's hut; his wife stood at the door, and the two +women spoke to each other. +</P> + +<P> +"You look well," said the woman; "you're fat and plump; you are +well off." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh yes," answered Anne Lisbeth. +</P> + +<P> +"The boat went down with them," continued the woman; "Hans the +skipper and the boy were both drowned; so there's an end of them. I +always thought the boy would be able to help me with a few dollars. +He'll never cost you anything more, Anne Lisbeth." +</P> + +<P> +"So they were drowned," repeated Anne Lisbeth; but she said no +more, and the subject was dropped. She felt very low-spirited, because +her count-child had shown no inclination to speak to her who loved him +so well, and who had travelled so far to see him. The journey had cost +money too, and she had derived no great pleasure from it. Still she +said not a word of all this; she could not relieve her heart by +telling the laborer's wife, lest the latter should think she did not +enjoy her former position at the castle. Then the raven flew over her, +screaming again as he flew. +</P> + +<P> +"The black wretch!" said Anne Lisbeth, "he will end by frightening +me today." She had brought coffee and chicory with her, for she +thought it would be a charity to the poor woman to give them to her to +boil a cup of coffee, and then she would take a cup herself. +</P> + +<P> +The woman prepared the coffee, and in the meantime Anne Lisbeth +seated her in a chair and fell asleep. Then she dreamed of something +which she had never dreamed before; singularly enough she dreamed of +her own child, who had wept and hungered in the laborer's hut, and had +been knocked about in heat and in cold, and who was now lying in the +depths of the sea, in a spot only known by God. She fancied she was +still sitting in the hut, where the woman was busy preparing the +coffee, for she could smell the coffee-berries roasting. But +suddenly it seemed to her that there stood on the threshold a +beautiful young form, as beautiful as the count's child, and this +apparition said to her, "The world is passing away; hold fast to me, +for you are my mother after all; you have an angel in heaven, hold +me fast;" and the child-angel stretched out his hand and seized her. +Then there was a terrible crash, as of a world crumbling to pieces, +and the angel-child was rising from the earth, and holding her by +the sleeve so tightly that she felt herself lifted from the ground; +but, on the other hand, something heavy hung to her feet and dragged +her down, and it seemed as if hundreds of women were clinging to +her, and crying, "If thou art to be saved, we must be saved too. +Hold fast, hold fast." And then they all hung on her, but there were +too many; and as they clung the sleeve was torn, and Anne Lisbeth fell +down in horror, and awoke. Indeed she was on the point of falling over +in reality with the chair on which she sat; but she was so startled +and alarmed that she could not remember what she had dreamed, only +that it was something very dreadful. +</P> + +<P> +They drank their coffee and had a chat together, and then Anne +Lisbeth went away towards the little town where she was to meet the +carrier, who was to drive her back to her own home. But when she +came to him she found that he would not be ready to start till the +evening of the next day. Then she began to think of the expense, and +what the distance would be to walk. She remembered that the route by +the sea-shore was two miles shorter than by the high road; and as +the weather was clear, and there would be moonlight, she determined to +make her way on foot, and to start at once, that she might reach +home the next day. +</P> + +<P> +The sun had set, and the evening bells sounded through the air +from the tower of the village church, but to her it was not the bells, +but the cry of the frogs in the marshes. Then they ceased, and all +around became still; not a bird could be heard, they were all at rest, +even the owl had not left her hiding place; deep silence reigned on +the margin of the wood by the sea-shore. As Anne Lisbeth walked on she +could hear her own footsteps in the sands; even the waves of the sea +were at rest, and all in the deep waters had sunk into silence. +There was quiet among the dead and the living in the deep sea. Anne +Lisbeth walked on, thinking of nothing at all, as people say, or +rather her thoughts wandered, but not away from her, for thought is +never absent from us, it only slumbers. Many thoughts that have lain +dormant are roused at the proper time, and begin to stir in the mind +and the heart, and seem even to come upon us from above. It is +written, that a good deed bears a blessing for its fruit; and it is +also written, that the wages of sin is death. Much has been said and +much written which we pass over or know nothing of. A light arises +within us, and then forgotten things make themselves remembered; and +thus it was with Anne Lisbeth. The germ of every vice and every virtue +lies in our heart, in yours and in mine; they lie like little grains +of seed, till a ray of sunshine, or the touch of an evil hand, or +you turn the corner to the right or to the left, and the decision is +made. The little seed is stirred, it swells and shoots up, and pours +its sap into your blood, directing your course either for good or +evil. Troublesome thoughts often exist in the mind, fermenting +there, which are not realized by us while the senses are as it were +slumbering; but still they are there. Anne Lisbeth walked on thus with +her senses half asleep, but the thoughts were fermenting within her. +</P> + +<P> +From one Shrove Tuesday to another, much may occur to weigh down +the heart; it is the reckoning of a whole year; much may be forgotten, +sins against heaven in word and thought, sins against our neighbor, +and against our own conscience. We are scarcely aware of their +existence; and Anne Lisbeth did not think of any of her errors. She +had committed no crime against the law of the land; she was an +honorable person, in a good position—that she knew. +</P> + +<P> +She continued her walk along by the margin of the sea. What was it +she saw lying there? An old hat; a man's hat. Now when might that have +been washed overboard? She drew nearer, she stopped to look at the +hat; "Ha! what was lying yonder?" She shuddered; yet it was nothing +save a heap of grass and tangled seaweed flung across a long stone, +but it looked like a corpse. Only tangled grass, and yet she was +frightened at it. As she turned to walk away, much came into her +mind that she had heard in her childhood: old superstitions of +spectres by the sea-shore; of the ghosts of drowned but unburied +people, whose corpses had been washed up on the desolate beach. The +body, she knew, could do no harm to any one, but the spirit could +pursue the lonely wanderer, attach itself to him, and demand to be +carried to the churchyard, that it might rest in consecrated ground. +"Hold fast! hold fast!" the spectre would cry; and as Anne Lisbeth +murmured these words to herself, the whole of her dream was suddenly +recalled to her memory, when the mother had clung to her, and +uttered these words, when, amid the crashing of worlds, her sleeve had +been torn, and she had slipped from the grasp of her child, who wanted +to hold her up in that terrible hour. Her child, her own child, +which she had never loved, lay now buried in the sea, and might rise +up, like a spectre, from the waters, and cry, "Hold fast; carry me +to consecrated ground!" +</P> + +<P> +As these thoughts passed through her mind, fear gave speed to +her feet, so that she walked faster and faster. Fear came upon her +as if a cold, clammy hand had been laid upon her heart, so that she +almost fainted. As she looked across the sea, all there grew darker; a +heavy mist came rolling onwards, and clung to bush and tree, +distorting them into fantastic shapes. She turned and glanced at the +moon, which had risen behind her. It looked like a pale, rayless +surface, and a deadly weight seemed to hang upon her limbs. "Hold," +thought she; and then she turned round a second time to look at the +moon. A white face appeared quite close to her, with a mist, hanging +like a garment from its shoulders. "Stop! carry me to consecrated +earth," sounded in her ears, in strange, hollow tones. The sound did +not come from frogs or ravens; she saw no sign of such creatures. "A +grave! dig me a grave!" was repeated quite loud. Yes, it was indeed +the spectre of her child. The child that lay beneath the ocean, and +whose spirit could have no rest until it was carried to the +churchyard, and until a grave had been dug for it in consecrated +ground. She would go there at once, and there she would dig. She +turned in the direction of the church, and the weight on her heart +seemed to grow lighter, and even to vanish altogether; but when she +turned to go home by the shortest way, it returned. "Stop! stop!" +and the words came quite clear, though they were like the croak of a +frog, or the wail of a bird. "A grave! dig me a grave!" +</P> + +<P> +The mist was cold and damp, her hands and face were moist and +clammy with horror, a heavy weight again seized her and clung to +her, her mind became clear for thoughts that had never before been +there. +</P> + +<P> +In these northern regions, a beech-wood often buds in a single +night and appears in the morning sunlight in its full glory of +youthful green. So, in a single instant, can the consciousness of +the sin that has been committed in thoughts, words, and actions of our +past life, be unfolded to us. When once the conscience is awakened, it +springs up in the heart spontaneously, and God awakens the +conscience when we least expect it. Then we can find no excuse for +ourselves; the deed is there and bears witness against us. The +thoughts seem to become words, and to sound far out into the world. We +are horrified at the thought of what we have carried within us, and at +the consciousness that we have not overcome the evil which has its +origin in thoughtlessness and pride. The heart conceals within +itself the vices as well as the virtues, and they grow in the +shallowest ground. Anne Lisbeth now experienced in thought what we +have clothed in words. She was overpowered by them, and sank down +and crept along for some distance on the ground. "A grave! dig me a +grave!" sounded again in her ears, and she would have gladly buried +herself, if in the grave she could have found forgetfulness of her +actions. +</P> + +<P> +It was the first hour of her awakening, full of anguish and +horror. Superstition made her alternately shudder with cold or burn +with the heat of fever. Many things, of which she had feared even to +speak, came into her mind. Silently, as the cloud-shadows in the +moonshine, a spectral apparition flitted by her; she had heard of it +before. Close by her galloped four snorting steeds, with fire flashing +from their eyes and nostrils. They dragged a burning coach, and within +it sat the wicked lord of the manor, who had ruled there a hundred +years before. The legend says that every night, at twelve o'clock, +he drove into his castleyard and out again. He was not as pale as dead +men are, but black as a coal. He nodded, and pointed to Anne +Lisbeth, crying out, "Hold fast! hold fast! and then you may ride +again in a nobleman's carriage, and forget your child." +</P> + +<P> +She gathered herself up, and hastened to the churchyard; but black +crosses and black ravens danced before her eyes, and she could not +distinguish one from the other. The ravens croaked as the raven had +done which she saw in the daytime, but now she understood what they +said. "I am the raven-mother; I am the raven-mother," each raven +croaked, and Anne Lisbeth felt that the name also applied to her; +and she fancied she should be transformed into a black bird, and +have to cry as they cried, if she did not dig the grave. And she threw +herself upon the earth, and with her hands dug a grave in the hard +ground, so that the blood ran from her fingers. "A grave! dig me a +grave!" still sounded in her ears; she was fearful that the cock might +crow, and the first red streak appear in the east, before she had +finished her work; and then she would be lost. And the cock crowed, +and the day dawned in the east, and the grave was only half dug. An +icy hand passed over her head and face, and down towards her heart. +"Only half a grave," a voice wailed, and fled away. Yes, it fled +away over the sea; it was the ocean spectre; and, exhausted and +overpowered, Anne Lisbeth sunk to the ground, and her senses left her. +</P> + +<P> +It was a bright day when she came to herself, and two men were +raising her up; but she was not lying in the churchyard, but on the +sea-shore, where she had dug a deep hole in the sand, and cut her hand +with a piece of broken glass, whose sharp stern was stuck in a +little block of painted wood. Anne Lisbeth was in a fever. +Conscience had roused the memories of superstitions, and had so +acted upon her mind, that she fancied she had only half a soul, and +that her child had taken the other half down into the sea. Never would +she be able to cling to the mercy of Heaven till she had recovered +this other half which was now held fast in the deep water. +</P> + +<P> +Anne Lisbeth returned to her home, but she was no longer the woman +she had been. Her thoughts were like a confused, tangled skein; only +one thread, only one thought was clear to her, namely that she must +carry the spectre of the sea-shore to the churchyard, and dig a +grave for him there; that by so doing she might win back her soul. +Many a night she was missed from her home, and was always found on the +sea-shore waiting for the spectre. +</P> + +<P> +In this way a whole year passed; and then one night she vanished +again, and was not to be found. The whole of the next day was spent in +a useless search after her. +</P> + +<P> +Towards evening, when the clerk entered the church to toll the +vesper bell, he saw by the altar Anne Lisbeth, who had spent the whole +day there. Her powers of body were almost exhausted, but her eyes +flashed brightly, and on her cheeks was a rosy flush. The last rays of +the setting sun shone upon her, and gleamed over the altar upon the +shining clasps of the Bible, which lay open at the words of the +prophet Joel, "Rend your hearts and not your garments, and turn unto +the Lord." +</P> + +<P> +"That was just a chance," people said; but do things happen by +chance? In the face of Anne Lisbeth, lighted up by the evening sun, +could be seen peace and rest. She said she was happy now, for she +had conquered. The spectre of the shore, her own child, had come to +her the night before, and had said to her, "Thou hast dug me only half +a grave: but thou hast now, for a year and a day, buried me altogether +in thy heart, and it is there a mother can best hide her child!" And +then he gave her back her lost soul, and brought her into the +church. "Now I am in the house of God," she said, "and in that house +we are happy." +</P> + +<P> +When the sun set, Anne Lisbeth's soul had risen to that region +where there is no more pain; and Anne Lisbeth's troubles were at an +end. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="apple_br"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE CONCEITED APPLE-BRANCH +</H3> + +<P> +It was the month of May. The wind still blew cold; but from bush +and tree, field and flower, came the welcome sound, "Spring is +come." Wild-flowers in profusion covered the hedges. Under the +little apple-tree, Spring seemed busy, and told his tale from one of +the branches which hung fresh and blooming, and covered with +delicate pink blossoms that were just ready to open. The branch well +knew how beautiful it was; this knowledge exists as much in the leaf +as in the blood; I was therefore not surprised when a nobleman's +carriage, in which sat the young countess, stopped in the road just +by. She said that an apple-branch was a most lovely object, and an +emblem of spring in its most charming aspect. Then the branch was +broken off for her, and she held it in her delicate hand, and +sheltered it with her silk parasol. Then they drove to the castle, +in which were lofty halls and splendid drawing-rooms. Pure white +curtains fluttered before the open windows, and beautiful flowers +stood in shining, transparent vases; and in one of them, which +looked as if it had been cut out of newly fallen snow, the +apple-branch was placed, among some fresh, light twigs of beech. It +was a charming sight. Then the branch became proud, which was very +much like human nature. +</P> + +<P> +People of every description entered the room, and, according to +their position in society, so dared they to express their +admiration. Some few said nothing, others expressed too much, and +the apple-branch very soon got to understand that there was as much +difference in the characters of human beings as in those of plants and +flowers. Some are all for pomp and parade, others have a great deal to +do to maintain their own importance, while the rest might be spared +without much loss to society. So thought the apple-branch, as he stood +before the open window, from which he could see out over gardens and +fields, where there were flowers and plants enough for him to think +and reflect upon; some rich and beautiful, some poor and humble +indeed. +</P> + +<P> +"Poor, despised herbs," said the apple-branch; "there is really +a difference between them and such as I am. How unhappy they must +be, if they can feel as those in my position do! There is a difference +indeed, and so there ought to be, or we should all be equals." +</P> + +<P> +And the apple-branch looked with a sort of pity upon them, +especially on a certain little flower that is found in fields and in +ditches. No one bound these flowers together in a nosegay; they were +too common; they were even known to grow between the paving-stones, +shooting up everywhere, like bad weeds; and they bore the very ugly +name of "dog-flowers" or "dandelions." +</P> + +<P> +"Poor, despised plants," said the apple-bough, "it is not your +fault that you are so ugly, and that you have such an ugly name; but +it is with plants as with men,—there must be a difference." +</P> + +<P> +"A difference!" cried the sunbeam, as he kissed the blooming +apple-branch, and then kissed the yellow dandelion out in the +fields. All were brothers, and the sunbeam kissed them—the poor +flowers as well as the rich. +</P> + +<P> +The apple-bough had never thought of the boundless love of God, +which extends over all the works of creation, over everything which +lives, and moves, and has its being in Him; he had never thought of +the good and beautiful which are so often hidden, but can never remain +forgotten by Him,—not only among the lower creation, but also among +men. The sunbeam, the ray of light, knew better. +</P> + +<P> +"You do not see very far, nor very clearly," he said to the +apple-branch. "Which is the despised plant you so specially pity?" +</P> + +<P> +"The dandelion," he replied. "No one ever places it in a +nosegay; it is often trodden under foot, there are so many of them; +and when they run to seed, they have flowers like wool, which fly away +in little pieces over the roads, and cling to the dresses of the +people. They are only weeds; but of course there must be weeds. O, I +am really very thankful that I was not made like one of these +flowers." +</P> + +<P> +There came presently across the fields a whole group of +children, the youngest of whom was so small that it had to be +carried by the others; and when he was seated on the grass, among +the yellow flowers, he laughed aloud with joy, kicked out his little +legs, rolled about, plucked the yellow flowers, and kissed them in +childlike innocence. The elder children broke off the flowers with +long stems, bent the stalks one round the other, to form links, and +made first a chain for the neck, then one to go across the +shoulders, and hang down to the waist, and at last a wreath to wear +round the head, so that they looked quite splendid in their garlands +of green stems and golden flowers. But the eldest among them +gathered carefully the faded flowers, on the stem of which was grouped +together the seed, in the form of a white feathery coronal. These +loose, airy wool-flowers are very beautiful, and look like fine +snowy feathers or down. The children held them to their mouths, and +tried to blow away the whole coronal with one puff of the breath. They +had been told by their grandmothers that who ever did so would be sure +to have new clothes before the end of the year. The despised flower +was by this raised to the position of a prophet or foreteller of +events. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you see," said the sunbeam, "do you see the beauty of these +flowers? do you see their powers of giving pleasure?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, to children," said the apple-bough. +</P> + +<P> +By-and-by an old woman came into the field, and, with a blunt +knife without a handle, began to dig round the roots of some of the +dandelion-plants, and pull them up. With some of these she intended to +make tea for herself; but the rest she was going to sell to the +chemist, and obtain some money. +</P> + +<P> +"But beauty is of higher value than all this," said the apple-tree +branch; "only the chosen ones can be admitted into the realms of the +beautiful. There is a difference between plants, just as there is a +difference between men." +</P> + +<P> +Then the sunbeam spoke of the boundless love of God, as seen in +creation, and over all that lives, and of the equal distribution of +His gifts, both in time and in eternity. +</P> + +<P> +"That is your opinion," said the apple-bough. +</P> + +<P> +Then some people came into the room, and, among them, the young +countess,—the lady who had placed the apple-bough in the +transparent vase, so pleasantly beneath the rays of the sunlight. +She carried in her hand something that seemed like a flower. The +object was hidden by two or three great leaves, which covered it +like a shield, so that no draught or gust of wind could injure it, and +it was carried more carefully than the apple-branch had ever been. +Very cautiously the large leaves were removed, and there appeared +the feathery seed-crown of the despised dandelion. This was what the +lady had so carefully plucked, and carried home so safely covered, +so that not one of the delicate feathery arrows of which its mist-like +shape was so lightly formed, should flutter away. She now drew it +forth quite uninjured, and wondered at its beautiful form, and airy +lightness, and singular construction, so soon to be blown away by +the wind. +</P> + +<P> +"See," she exclaimed, "how wonderfully God has made this little +flower. I will paint it with the apple-branch together. Every one +admires the beauty of the apple-bough; but this humble flower has been +endowed by Heaven with another kind of loveliness; and although they +differ in appearance, both are the children of the realms of beauty." +</P> + +<P> +Then the sunbeam kissed the lowly flower, and he kissed the +blooming apple-branch, upon whose leaves appeared a rosy blush. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="beauty"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BEAUTY OF FORM AND BEAUTY OF MIND +</H3> + +<P> +There was once a sculptor, named Alfred, who having won the +large gold medal and obtained a travelling scholarship, went to Italy, +and then came back to his native land. He was young at that +time—indeed, he is young still, although he is ten years older than he +was then. On his return, he went to visit one of the little towns in +the island of Zealand. The whole town knew who the stranger was; and +one of the richest men in the place gave a party in his honor, and all +who were of any consequence, or who possessed some property, were +invited. It was quite an event, and all the town knew of it, so that +it was not necessary to announce it by beat of drum. +Apprentice-boys, children of the poor, and even the poor people +themselves, stood before the house, watching the lighted windows; +and the watchman might easily fancy he was giving a party also, +there were so many people in the streets. There was quite an air of +festivity about it, and the house was full of it; for Mr. Alfred, +the sculptor, was there. He talked and told anecdotes, and every one +listened to him with pleasure, not unmingled with awe; but none felt +so much respect for him as did the elderly widow of a naval officer. +She seemed, so far as Mr. Alfred was concerned, to be like a piece +of fresh blotting-paper that absorbed all he said and asked for +more. She was very appreciative, and incredibly ignorant—a kind of +female Gaspar Hauser. +</P> + +<P> +"I should like to see Rome," she said; "it must be a lovely +city, or so many foreigners would not be constantly arriving there. +Now, do give me a description of Rome. How does the city look when you +enter in at the gate?" +</P> + +<P> +"I cannot very well describe it," said the sculptor; "but you +enter on a large open space, in the centre of which stands an obelisk, +which is a thousand years old." +</P> + +<P> +"An organist!" exclaimed the lady, who had never heard the word +'obelisk.' Several of the guests could scarcely forbear laughing, +and the sculptor would have had some difficulty in keeping his +countenance, but the smile on his lips faded away; for he caught sight +of a pair of dark-blue eyes close by the side of the inquisitive lady. +They belonged to her daughter; and surely no one who had such a +daughter could be silly. The mother was like a fountain of +questions; and the daughter, who listened but never spoke, might +have passed for the beautiful maid of the fountain. How charming she +was! She was a study for the sculptor to contemplate, but not to +converse with; for she did not speak, or, at least, very seldom. +</P> + +<P> +"Has the pope a great family?" inquired the lady. +</P> + +<P> +The young man answered considerately, as if the question had +been a different one, "No; he does not come from a great family." +</P> + +<P> +"That is not what I asked," persisted the widow; "I mean, has he a +wife and children?" +</P> + +<P> +"The pope is not allowed to marry," replied the gentleman. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't like that," was the lady's remark. +</P> + +<P> +She certainly might have asked more sensible questions; but if she +had not been allowed to say just what she liked, would her daughter +have been there, leaning so gracefully on her shoulder, and looking +straight before her, with a smile that was almost mournful on her +face? +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Alfred again spoke of Italy, and of the glorious colors in +Italian scenery; the purple hills, the deep blue of the Mediterranean, +the azure of southern skies, whose brightness and glory could only +be surpassed in the north by the deep-blue eyes of a maiden; and he +said this with a peculiar intonation; but she who should have +understood his meaning looked quite unconscious of it, which also +was charming. +</P> + +<P> +"Beautiful Italy!" sighed some of the guests. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, to travel there!" exclaimed others. +</P> + +<P> +"Charming! Charming!" echoed from every voice. +</P> + +<P> +"I may perhaps win a hundred thousand dollars in the lottery," +said the naval officer's widow; "and if I do, we will travel—I and my +daughter; and you, Mr. Alfred, must be our guide. We can all three +travel together, with one or two more of our good friends." And she +nodded in such a friendly way at the company, that each imagined +himself to be the favored person who was to accompany them to Italy. +"Yes, we must go," she continued; "but not to those parts where +there are robbers. We will keep to Rome. In the public roads one is +always safe." +</P> + +<P> +The daughter sighed very gently; and how much there may be in a +sigh, or attributed to it! The young man attributed a great deal of +meaning to this sigh. Those deep-blue eyes, which had been lit up this +evening in honor of him, must conceal treasures, treasures of heart +and mind, richer than all the glories of Rome; and so when he left the +party that night, he had lost it completely to the young lady. The +house of the naval officer's widow was the one most constantly visited +by Mr. Alfred, the sculptor. It was soon understood that his visits +were not intended for that lady, though they were the persons who kept +up the conversation. He came for the sake of the daughter. They called +her Kaela. Her name was really Karen Malena, and these two names had +been contracted into the one name Kaela. She was really beautiful; but +some said she was rather dull, and slept late of a morning. +</P> + +<P> +"She has been accustomed to that," her mother said. "She is a +beauty, and they are always easily tired. She does sleep rather +late; but that makes her eyes so clear." +</P> + +<P> +What power seemed to lie in the depths of those dark eyes! The +young man felt the truth of the proverb, "Still waters run deep:" +and his heart had sunk into their depths. He often talked of his +adventures, and the mamma was as simple and eager in her questions +as on the first evening they met. It was a pleasure to hear Alfred +describe anything. He showed them colored plates of Naples, and +spoke of excursions to Mount Vesuvius, and the eruptions of fire +from it. The naval officer's widow had never heard of them before. +</P> + +<P> +"Good heavens!" she exclaimed. "So that is a burning mountain; but +is it not very dangerous to the people who live near it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Whole cities have been destroyed," he replied; "for instance, +Herculaneum and Pompeii." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, the poor people! And you saw all that with your own eyes?" +</P> + +<P> +"No; I did not see any of the eruptions which are represented in +those pictures; but I will show you a sketch of my own, which +represents an eruption I once saw." +</P> + +<P> +He placed a pencil sketch on the table; and mamma, who had been +over-powered with the appearance of the colored plates, threw a glance +at the pale drawing and cried in astonishment, "What, did you see it +throw up white fire?" +</P> + +<P> +For a moment, Alfred's respect for Kaela's mamma underwent a +sudden shock, and lessened considerably; but, dazzled by the light +which surrounded Kaela, he soon found it quite natural that the old +lady should have no eye for color. After all, it was of very little +consequence; for Kaela's mamma had the best of all possessions; +namely, Kaela herself. +</P> + +<P> +Alfred and Kaela were betrothed, which was a very natural +result; and the betrothal was announced in the newspaper of the little +town. Mama purchased thirty copies of the paper, that she might cut +out the paragraph and send it to friends and acquaintances. The +betrothed pair were very happy, and the mother was happy too. She said +it seemed like connecting herself with Thorwalsden. +</P> + +<P> +"You are a true successor of Thorwalsden," she said to Alfred; and +it seemed to him as if, in this instance, mamma had said a clever +thing. Kaela was silent; but her eyes shone, her lips smiled, every +movement was graceful,—in fact, she was beautiful; that cannot be +repeated too often. Alfred decided to take a bust of Kaela as well +as of her mother. They sat to him accordingly, and saw how he +moulded and formed the soft clay with his fingers. +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose it is only on our account that you perform this +common-place work yourself, instead of leaving it to your servant to +do all that sticking together." +</P> + +<P> +"It is really necessary that I should mould the clay myself," he +replied. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, yes, you are always so polite," said mamma, with a smile; and +Kaela silently pressed his hand, all soiled as it was with the clay. +</P> + +<P> +Then he unfolded to them both the beauties of Nature, in all her +works; he pointed out to them how, in the scale of creation, inanimate +matter was inferior to animate nature; the plant above the mineral, +the animal above the plant, and man above them all. He strove to +show them how the beauty of the mind could be displayed in the outward +form, and that it was the sculptor's task to seize upon that beauty of +expression, and produce it in his works. Kaela stood silent, but +nodded in approbation of what he said, while mamma-in-law made the +following confession:— +</P> + +<P> +"It is difficult to follow you; but I go hobbling along after +you with my thoughts, though what you say makes my head whirl round +and round. Still I contrive to lay hold on some of it." +</P> + +<P> +Kaela's beauty had a firm hold on Alfred; it filled his soul, +and held a mastery over him. Beauty beamed from Kaela's every feature, +glittered in her eyes, lurked in the corners of her mouth, and +pervaded every movement of her agile fingers. Alfred, the sculptor, +saw this. He spoke only to her, thought only of her, and the two +became one; and so it may be said she spoke much, for he was always +talking to her; and he and she were one. Such was the betrothal, and +then came the wedding, with bride's-maids and wedding presents, all +duly mentioned in the wedding speech. Mamma-in-law had set up +Thorwalsden's bust at the end of the table, attired in a +dressing-gown; it was her fancy that he should be a guest. Songs +were sung, and cheers given; for it was a gay wedding, and they were a +handsome pair. "Pygmalion loved his Galatea," said one of the songs. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, that is some of your mythologies," said mamma-in-law. +</P> + +<P> +Next day the youthful pair started for Copenhagen, where they were +to live; mamma-in-law accompanied them, to attend to the "coarse +work," as she always called the domestic arrangements. Kaela looked +like a doll in a doll's house, for everything was bright and new, +and so fine. There they sat, all three; and as for Alfred, a proverb +may describe his position—he looked like a swan amongst the geese. +The magic of form had enchanted him; he had looked at the casket +without caring to inquire what it contained, and that omission often +brings the greatest unhappiness into married life. The casket may be +injured, the gilding may fall off, and then the purchaser regrets +his bargain. +</P> + +<P> +In a large party it is very disagreeable to find a button giving +way, with no studs at hand to fall back upon; but it is worse still in +a large company to be conscious that your wife and mother-in-law are +talking nonsense, and that you cannot depend upon yourself to +produce a little ready wit to carry off the stupidity of the whole +affair. +</P> + +<P> +The young married pair often sat together hand in hand; he would +talk, but she could only now and then let fall a word in the same +melodious voice, the same bell-like tones. It was a mental relief when +Sophy, one of her friends, came to pay them a visit. Sophy was not, +pretty. She was, however, quite free from any physical deformity, +although Kaela used to say she was a little crooked; but no eye, +save an intimate acquaintance, would have noticed it. She was a very +sensible girl, yet it never occurred to her that she might be a +dangerous person in such a house. Her appearance created a new +atmosphere in the doll's house, and air was really required, they +all owned that. They felt the want of a change of air, and +consequently the young couple and their mother travelled to Italy. +</P> + +<P> +"Thank heaven we are at home again within our own four walls," +said mamma-in-law and daughter both, on their return after a year's +absence. +</P> + +<P> +"There is no real pleasure in travelling," said mamma; "to tell +the truth, it's very wearisome; I beg pardon for saying so. I was soon +very tired of it, although I had my children with me; and, besides, +it's very expensive work travelling, very expensive. And all those +galleries one is expected to see, and the quantity of things you are +obliged to run after! It must be done, for very shame; you are sure to +be asked when you come back if you have seen everything, and will most +likely be told that you've omitted to see what was best worth seeing +of all. I got tired at last of those endless Madonnas; I began to +think I was turning into a Madonna myself." +</P> + +<P> +"And then the living, mamma," said Kaela. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, indeed," she replied, "no such a thing as a respectable meat +soup—their cookery is miserable stuff." +</P> + +<P> +The journey had also tired Kaela; but she was always fatigued, +that was the worst of it. So they sent for Sophy, and she was taken +into the house to reside with them, and her presence there was a great +advantage. Mamma-in-law acknowledged that Sophy was not only a +clever housewife, but well-informed and accomplished, though that +could hardly be expected in a person of her limited means. She was +also a generous-hearted, faithful girl; she showed that thoroughly +while Kaela lay sick, fading away. When the casket is everything, +the casket should be strong, or else all is over. And all was over +with the casket, for Kaela died. +</P> + +<P> +"She was beautiful," said her mother; "she was quite different +from the beauties they call 'antiques,' for they are so damaged. A +beauty ought to be perfect, and Kaela was a perfect beauty." +</P> + +<P> +Alfred wept, and mamma wept, and they both wore mourning. The +black dress suited mamma very well, and she wore mourning the longest. +She had also to experience another grief in seeing Alfred marry again, +marry Sophy, who was nothing at all to look at. "He's gone to the very +extreme," said mamma-in-law; "he has gone from the most beautiful to +the ugliest, and he has forgotten his first wife. Men have no +constancy. My husband was a very different man,—but then he died +before me." +</P> + +<P> +"'Pygmalion loved his Galatea,' was in the song they sung at my +first wedding," said Alfred; "I once fell in love with a beautiful +statue, which awoke to life in my arms; but the kindred soul, which is +a gift from heaven, the angel who can feel and sympathize with and +elevate us, I have not found and won till now. You came, Sophy, not in +the glory of outward beauty, though you are even fairer than is +necessary. The chief thing still remains. You came to teach the +sculptor that his work is but dust and clay only, an outward form made +of a material that decays, and that what we should seek to obtain is +the ethereal essence of mind and spirit. Poor Kaela! our life was +but as a meeting by the way-side; in yonder world, where we shall know +each other from a union of mind, we shall be but mere acquaintances." +</P> + +<P> +"That was not a loving speech," said Sophy, "nor spoken like a +Christian. In a future state, where there is neither marrying nor +giving in marriage, but where, as you say, souls are attracted to each +other by sympathy; there everything beautiful develops itself, and +is raised to a higher state of existence: her soul will acquire such +completeness that it may harmonize with yours, even more than mine, +and you will then once more utter your first rapturous exclamation +of your love, 'Beautiful, most beautiful!'" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="beetle"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE BEETLE WHO WENT ON HIS TRAVELS +</H3> + +<P> +There was once an Emperor who had a horse shod with gold. He had a +golden shoe on each foot, and why was this? He was a beautiful +creature, with slender legs, bright, intelligent eyes, and a mane that +hung down over his neck like a veil. He had carried his master through +fire and smoke in the battle-field, with the bullets whistling round +him; he had kicked and bitten, and taken part in the fight, when the +enemy advanced; and, with his master on his back, he had dashed over +the fallen foe, and saved the golden crown and the Emperor's life, +which was of more value than the brightest gold. This is the reason of +the Emperor's horse wearing golden shoes. +</P> + +<P> +A beetle came creeping forth from the stable, where the farrier +had been shoeing the horse. "Great ones, first, of course," said he, +"and then the little ones; but size is not always a proof of +greatness." He stretched out his thin leg as he spoke. +</P> + +<P> +"And pray what do you want?" asked the farrier. +</P> + +<P> +"Golden shoes," replied the beetle. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, you must be out of your senses," cried the farrier. +"Golden shoes for you, indeed!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, certainly; golden shoes," replied the beetle. "Am I not just +as good as that great creature yonder, who is waited upon and brushed, +and has food and drink placed before him? And don't I belong to the +royal stables?" +</P> + +<P> +"But why does the horse have golden shoes?" asked the farrier; "of +course you understand the reason?" +</P> + +<P> +"Understand! Well, I understand that it is a personal slight to +me," cried the beetle. "It is done to annoy me, so I intend to go +out into the world and seek my fortune." +</P> + +<P> +"Go along with you," said the farrier. +</P> + +<P> +"You're a rude fellow," cried the beetle, as he walked out of +the stable; and then he flew for a short distance, till he found +himself in a beautiful flower-garden, all fragrant with roses and +lavender. The lady-birds, with red and black shells on their backs, +and delicate wings, were flying about, and one of them said, "Is it +not sweet and lovely here? Oh, how beautiful everything is." +</P> + +<P> +"I am accustomed to better things," said the beetle. "Do you +call this beautiful? Why, there is not even a dung-heap." Then he went +on, and under the shadow of a large haystack he found a caterpillar +crawling along. "How beautiful this world is!" said the caterpillar. +"The sun is so warm, I quite enjoy it. And soon I shall go to sleep, +and die as they call it, but I shall wake up with beautiful wings to +fly with, like a butterfly." +</P> + +<P> +"How conceited you are!" exclaimed the beetle. "Fly about as a +butterfly, indeed! what of that. I have come out of the Emperor's +stable, and no one there, not even the Emperor's horse, who, in +fact, wears my cast-off golden shoes, has any idea of flying, +excepting myself. To have wings and fly! why, I can do that +already;" and so saying, he spread his wings and flew away. "I don't +want to be disgusted," he said to himself, "and yet I can't help +it." Soon after, he fell down upon an extensive lawn, and for a time +pretended to sleep, but at last fell asleep in earnest. Suddenly a +heavy shower of rain came falling from the clouds. The beetle woke +up with the noise and would have been glad to creep into the earth for +shelter, but he could not. He was tumbled over and over with the rain, +sometimes swimming on his stomach and sometimes on his back; and as +for flying, that was out of the question. He began to doubt whether he +should escape with his life, so he remained, quietly lying where he +was. After a while the weather cleared up a little, and the beetle was +able to rub the water from his eyes, and look about him. He saw +something gleaming, and he managed to make his way up to it. It was +linen which had been laid to bleach on the grass. He crept into a fold +of the damp linen, which certainly was not so comfortable a place to +lie in as the warm stable, but there was nothing better, so he +remained lying there for a whole day and night, and the rain kept on +all the time. Towards morning he crept out of his hiding-place, +feeling in a very bad temper with the climate. Two frogs were +sitting on the linen, and their bright eyes actually glistened with +pleasure. +</P> + +<P> +"Wonderful weather this," cried one of them, "and so refreshing. +This linen holds the water together so beautifully, that my hind +legs quiver as if I were going to swim." +</P> + +<P> +"I should like to know," said another, "If the swallow who flies +so far in her many journeys to foreign lands, ever met with a better +climate than this. What delicious moisture! It is as pleasant as lying +in a wet ditch. I am sure any one who does not enjoy this has no +love for his fatherland." +</P> + +<P> +"Have you ever been in the Emperor's stable?" asked the beetle. +"There the moisture is warm and refreshing; that's the climate for me, +but I could not take it with me on my travels. Is there not even a +dunghill here in this garden, where a person of rank, like myself, +could take up his abode and feel at home?" But the frogs either did +not or would not understand him. +</P> + +<P> +"I never ask a question twice," said the beetle, after he had +asked this one three times, and received no answer. Then he went on +a little farther and stumbled against a piece of broken crockery-ware, +which certainly ought not to have been lying there. But as it was +there, it formed a good shelter against wind and weather to several +families of earwigs who dwelt in it. Their requirements were not many, +they were very sociable, and full of affection for their children, +so much so that each mother considered her own child the most +beautiful and clever of them all. +</P> + +<P> +"Our dear son has engaged himself," said one mother, "dear +innocent boy; his greatest ambition is that he may one day creep +into a clergyman's ear. That is a very artless and loveable wish; +and being engaged will keep him steady. What happiness for a mother!" +</P> + +<P> +"Our son," said another, "had scarcely crept out of the egg, +when he was off on his travels. He is all life and spirits, I expect +he will wear out his horns with running. How charming this is for a +mother, is it not Mr. Beetle?" for she knew the stranger by his +horny coat. +</P> + +<P> +"You are both quite right," said he; so they begged him to walk +in, that is to come as far as he could under the broken piece of +earthenware. +</P> + +<P> +"Now you shall also see my little earwigs," said a third and a +fourth mother, "they are lovely little things, and highly amusing. +They are never ill-behaved, except when they are uncomfortable in +their inside, which unfortunately often happens at their age." +</P> + +<P> +Thus each mother spoke of her baby, and their babies talked +after their own fashion, and made use of the little nippers they +have in their tails to nip the beard of the beetle. +</P> + +<P> +"They are always busy about something, the little rogues," said +the mother, beaming with maternal pride; but the beetle felt it a +bore, and he therefore inquired the way to the nearest dung-heap. +</P> + +<P> +"That is quite out in the great world, on the other side of the +ditch," answered an earwig, "I hope none of my children will ever go +so far, it would be the death of me." +</P> + +<P> +"But I shall try to get so far," said the beetle, and he walked +off without taking any formal leave, which is considered a polite +thing to do. +</P> + +<P> +When he arrived at the ditch, he met several friends, all them +beetles; "We live here," they said, "and we are very comfortable. +May we ask you to step down into this rich mud, you must be fatigued +after your journey." +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly," said the beetle, "I shall be most happy; I have +been exposed to the rain, and have had to lie upon linen, and +cleanliness is a thing that greatly exhausts me; I have also pains +in one of my wings from standing in the draught under a piece of +broken crockery. It is really quite refreshing to be with one's own +kindred again." +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps you came from a dung-heap," observed the oldest of them. +</P> + +<P> +"No, indeed, I came from a much grander place," replied the +beetle; "I came from the emperor's stable, where I was born, with +golden shoes on my feet. I am travelling on a secret embassy, but +you must not ask me any questions, for I cannot betray my secret." +</P> + +<P> +Then the beetle stepped down into the rich mud, where sat three +young-lady beetles, who tittered, because they did not know what to +say. +</P> + +<P> +"None of them are engaged yet," said their mother, and the +beetle maidens tittered again, this time quite in confusion. +</P> + +<P> +"I have never seen greater beauties, even in the royal stables," +exclaimed the beetle, who was now resting himself. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't spoil my girls," said the mother; "and don't talk to +them, pray, unless you have serious intentions." +</P> + +<P> +But of course the beetle's intentions were serious, and after a +while our friend was engaged. The mother gave them her blessing, and +all the other beetles cried "hurrah." +</P> + +<P> +Immediately after the betrothal came the marriage, for there was +no reason to delay. The following day passed very pleasantly, and +the next was tolerably comfortable; but on the third it became +necessary for him to think of getting food for his wife, and, perhaps, +for children. +</P> + +<P> +"I have allowed myself to be taken in," said our beetle to +himself, "and now there's nothing to be done but to take them in, in +return." +</P> + +<P> +No sooner said than done. Away he went, and stayed away all day +and all night, and his wife remained behind a forsaken widow. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh," said the other beetles, "this fellow that we have received +into our family is nothing but a complete vagabond. He has gone away +and left his wife a burden upon our hands." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, she can be unmarried again, and remain here with my other +daughters," said the mother. "Fie on the villain that forsook her!" +</P> + +<P> +In the mean time the beetle, who had sailed across the ditch on +a cabbage leaf, had been journeying on the other side. In the +morning two persons came up to the ditch. When they saw him they +took him up and turned him over and over, looking very learned all the +time, especially one, who was a boy. "Allah sees the black beetle in +the black stone, and the black rock. Is not that written in the +Koran?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +Then he translated the beetle's name into Latin, and said a +great deal upon the creature's nature and history. The second +person, who was older and a scholar, proposed to carry the beetle +home, as they wanted just such good specimens as this. Our beetle +considered this speech a great insult, so he flew suddenly out of +the speaker's hand. His wings were dry now, so they carried him to a +great distance, till at last he reached a hothouse, where a sash of +the glass roof was partly open, so he quietly slipped in and buried +himself in the warm earth. "It is very comfortable here," he said to +himself, and soon after fell asleep. Then he dreamed that the +emperor's horse was dying, and had left him his golden shoes, and also +promised that he should have two more. All this was very delightful, +and when the beetle woke up he crept forth and looked around him. What +a splendid place the hothouse was! At the back, large palm-trees +were growing; and the sunlight made the leaves—look quite glossy; and +beneath them what a profusion of luxuriant green, and of flowers red +like flame, yellow as amber, or white as new-fallen snow! "What a +wonderful quantity of plants," cried the beetle; "how good they will +taste when they are decayed! This is a capital store-room. There +must certainly be some relations of mine living here; I will just +see if I can find any one with whom I can associate. I'm proud, +certainly; but I'm also proud of being so." Then he prowled about in +the earth, and thought what a pleasant dream that was about the +dying horse, and the golden shoes he had inherited. Suddenly a hand +seized the beetle, and squeezed him, and turned him round and round. +The gardener's little son and his playfellow had come into the +hothouse, and, seeing the beetle, wanted to have some fun with him. +First, he was wrapped, in a vine-leaf, and put into a warm trousers' +pocket. He twisted and turned about with all his might, but he got a +good squeeze from the boy's hand, as a hint for him to keep quiet. +Then the boy went quickly towards a lake that lay at the end of the +garden. Here the beetle was put into an old broken wooden shoe, in +which a little stick had been fastened upright for a mast, and to this +mast the beetle was bound with a piece of worsted. Now he was a +sailor, and had to sail away. The lake was not very large, but to +the beetle it seemed an ocean, and he was so astonished at its size +that he fell over on his back, and kicked out his legs. Then the +little ship sailed away; sometimes the current of the water seized it, +but whenever it went too far from the shore one of the boys turned +up his trousers, and went in after it, and brought it back to land. +But at last, just as it went merrily out again, the two boys were +called, and so angrily, that they hastened to obey, and ran away as +fast as they could from the pond, so that the little ship was left +to its fate. It was carried away farther and farther from the shore, +till it reached the open sea. This was a terrible prospect for the +beetle, for he could not escape in consequence of being bound to the +mast. Then a fly came and paid him a visit. "What beautiful +weather," said the fly; "I shall rest here and sun myself. You must +have a pleasant time of it." +</P> + +<P> +"You speak without knowing the facts," replied the beetle; +"don't you see that I am a prisoner?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, but I'm not a prisoner," remarked the fly, and away he flew. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, now I know the world," said the beetle to himself; "it's an +abominable world; I'm the only respectable person in it. First, they +refuse me my golden shoes; then I have to lie on damp linen, and to +stand in a draught; and to crown all, they fasten a wife upon me. +Then, when I have made a step forward in the world, and found out a +comfortable position, just as I could wish it to be, one of these +human boys comes and ties me up, and leaves me to the mercy of the +wild waves, while the emperor's favorite horse goes prancing about +proudly on his golden shoes. This vexes me more than anything. But +it is useless to look for sympathy in this world. My career has been +very interesting, but what's the use of that if nobody knows +anything about it? The world does not deserve to be made acquainted +with my adventures, for it ought to have given me golden shoes when +the emperor's horse was shod, and I stretched out my feet to be +shod, too. If I had received golden shoes I should have been an +ornament to the stable; now I am lost to the stable and to the +world. It is all over with me." +</P> + +<P> +But all was not yet over. A boat, in which were a few young girls, +came rowing up. "Look, yonder is an old wooden shoe sailing along," +said one of the younger girls. +</P> + +<P> +"And there's a poor little creature bound fast in it," said +another. +</P> + +<P> +The boat now came close to our beetle's ship, and the young +girls fished it out of the water. One of them drew a small pair of +scissors from her pocket, and cut the worsted without hurting the +beetle, and when she stepped on shore she placed him on the grass. +"There," she said, "creep away, or fly, if thou canst. It is a +splendid thing to have thy liberty." Away flew the beetle, straight +through the open window of a large building; there he sank down, tired +and exhausted, exactly on the mane of the emperor's favorite horse, +who was standing in his stable; and the beetle found himself at home +again. For some time he clung to the mane, that he might recover +himself. "Well," he said, "here I am, seated on the emperor's favorite +horse,—sitting upon him as if I were the emperor himself. But what +was it the farrier asked me? Ah, I remember now,—that's a good +thought,—he asked me why the golden shoes were given to the horse. +The answer is quite clear to me, now. They were given to the horse +on my account." And this reflection put the beetle into a good temper. +The sun's rays also came streaming into the stable, and shone upon +him, and made the place lively and bright. "Travelling expands the +mind very much," said the beetle. "The world is not so bad after +all, if you know how to take things as they come." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="bell"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE BELL +</H3> + +<P> +In the narrow streets of a large town people often heard in the +evening, when the sun was setting, and his last rays gave a golden +tint to the chimney-pots, a strange noise which resembled the sound of +a church bell; it only lasted an instant, for it was lost in the +continual roar of traffic and hum of voices which rose from the +town. "The evening bell is ringing," people used to say; "the sun is +setting!" Those who walked outside the town, where the houses were +less crowded and interspersed by gardens and little fields, saw the +evening sky much better, and heard the sound of the bell much more +clearly. It seemed as though the sound came from a church, deep in the +calm, fragrant wood, and thither people looked with devout feelings. +</P> + +<P> +A considerable time elapsed: one said to the other, "I really +wonder if there is a church out in the wood. The bell has indeed a +strange sweet sound! Shall we go there and see what the cause of it +is?" The rich drove, the poor walked, but the way seemed to them +extraordinarily long, and when they arrived at a number of willow +trees on the border of the wood they sat down, looked up into the +great branches and thought they were now really in the wood. A +confectioner from the town also came out and put up a stall there; +then came another confectioner who hung a bell over his stall, which +was covered with pitch to protect it from the rain, but the clapper +was wanting. +</P> + +<P> +When people came home they used to say that it had been very +romantic, and that really means something else than merely taking tea. +Three persons declared that they had gone as far as the end of the +wood; they had always heard the strange sound, but there it seemed +to them as if it came from the town. One of them wrote verses about +the bell, and said that it was like the voice of a mother speaking +to an intelligent and beloved child; no tune, he said, was sweeter +than the sound of the bell. +</P> + +<P> +The emperor of the country heard of it, and declared that he who +would really find out where the sound came from should receive the +title of "Bellringer to the World," even if there was no bell at all. +</P> + +<P> +Now many went out into the wood for the sake of this splendid +berth; but only one of them came back with some sort of explanation. +None of them had gone far enough, nor had he, and yet he said that the +sound of the bell came from a large owl in a hollow tree. It was a +wisdom owl, which continually knocked its head against the tree, but +he was unable to say with certainty whether its head or the hollow +trunk of the tree was the cause of the noise. +</P> + +<P> +He was appointed "Bellringer to the World," and wrote every year a +short dissertation on the owl, but by this means people did not become +any wiser than they had been before. +</P> + +<P> +It was just confirmation-day. The clergyman had delivered a +beautiful and touching sermon, the candidates were deeply moved by it; +it was indeed a very important day for them; they were all at once +transformed from mere children to grown-up people; the childish soul +was to fly over, as it were, into a more reasonable being. +</P> + +<P> +The sun shone most brightly; and the sound of the great unknown +bell was heard more distinctly than ever. They had a mind to go +thither, all except three. One of them wished to go home and try on +her ball dress, for this very dress and the ball were the cause of her +being confirmed this time, otherwise she would not have been allowed +to go. The second, a poor boy, had borrowed a coat and a pair of boots +from the son of his landlord to be confirmed in, and he had to +return them at a certain time. The third said that he never went +into strange places if his parents were not with him; he had always +been a good child, and wished to remain so, even after being +confirmed, and they ought not to tease him for this; they, however, +did it all the same. These three, therefore did not go; the others +went on. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the +confirmed children sang too, holding each other by the hand, for +they had no position yet, and they were all equal in the eyes of +God. Two of the smallest soon became tired and returned to the town; +two little girls sat down and made garlands of flowers, they, +therefore, did not go on. When the others arrived at the willow trees, +where the confectioner had put up his stall, they said: "Now we are +out here; the bell does not in reality exist—it is only something +that people imagine!" +</P> + +<P> +Then suddenly the sound of the bell was heard so beautifully and +solemnly from the wood that four or five made up their minds to go +still further on. The wood was very thickly grown. It was difficult to +advance: wood lilies and anemones grew almost too high; flowering +convolvuli and brambles were hanging like garlands from tree to +tree; while the nightingales were singing and the sunbeams played. +That was very beautiful! But the way was unfit for the girls; they +would have torn their dresses. Large rocks, covered with moss of +various hues, were lying about; the fresh spring water rippled forth +with a peculiar sound. "I don't think that can be the bell," said +one of the confirmed children, and then he lay down and listened. +"We must try to find out if it is!" And there he remained, and let the +others walk on. +</P> + +<P> +They came to a hut built of the bark of trees and branches; a +large crab-apple tree spread its branches over it, as if it intended +to pour all its fruit on the roof, upon which roses were blooming; the +long boughs covered the gable, where a little bell was hanging. Was +this the one they had heard? All agreed that it must be so, except one +who said that the bell was too small and too thin to be heard at +such a distance, and that it had quite a different sound to that which +had so touched men's hearts. +</P> + +<P> +He who spoke was a king's son, and therefore the others said +that such a one always wishes to be cleverer than other people. +</P> + +<P> +Therefore they let him go alone; and as he walked on, the solitude +of the wood produced a feeling of reverence in his breast; but still +he heard the little bell about which the others rejoiced, and +sometimes, when the wind blew in that direction, he could hear the +sounds from the confectioner's stall, where the others were singing at +tea. But the deep sounds of the bell were much stronger; soon it +seemed to him as if an organ played an accompaniment—the sound came +from the left, from the side where the heart is. Now something rustled +among the bushes, and a little boy stood before the king's son, in +wooden shoes and such a short jacket that the sleeves did not reach to +his wrists. They knew each other: the boy was the one who had not been +able to go with them because he had to take the coat and boots back to +his landlord's son. That he had done, and had started again in his +wooden shoes and old clothes, for the sound of the bell was too +enticing—he felt he must go on. +</P> + +<P> +"We might go together," said the king's son. But the poor boy with +the wooden shoes was quite ashamed; he pulled at the short sleeves +of his jacket, and said that he was afraid he could not walk so +fast; besides, he was of opinion that the bell ought to be sought at +the right, for there was all that was grand and magnificent. +</P> + +<P> +"Then we shall not meet," said the king's son, nodding to the poor +boy, who went into the deepest part of the wood, where the thorns tore +his shabby clothes and scratched his hands, face, and feet until +they bled. The king's son also received several good scratches, but +the sun was shining on his way, and it is he whom we will now +follow, for he was a quick fellow. "I will and must find the bell," he +said, "if I have to go to the end of the world." +</P> + +<P> +Ugly monkeys sat high in the branches and clenched their teeth. +"Shall we beat him?" they said. "Shall we thrash him? He is a king's +son!" +</P> + +<P> +But he walked on undaunted, deeper and deeper into the wood, where +the most wonderful flowers were growing; there were standing white +star lilies with blood-red stamens, sky-blue tulips shining when the +wind moved them; apple-trees covered with apples like large glittering +soap bubbles: only think how resplendent these trees were in the +sunshine! All around were beautiful green meadows, where hart and hind +played in the grass. There grew magnificent oaks and beech-trees; +and if the bark was split of any of them, long blades of grass grew +out of the clefts; there were also large smooth lakes in the wood, +on which the swans were swimming about and flapping their wings. The +king's son often stood still and listened; sometimes he thought that +the sound of the bell rose up to him out of one of these deep lakes, +but soon he found that this was a mistake, and that the bell was +ringing still farther in the wood. Then the sun set, the clouds were +as red as fire; it became quiet in the wood; he sank down on his +knees, sang an evening hymn and said: "I shall never find what I am +looking for! Now the sun is setting, and the night, the dark night, is +approaching. Yet I may perhaps see the round sun once more before he +disappears beneath the horizon. I will climb up these rocks, they +are as high as the highest trees!" And then, taking hold of the +creepers and roots, he climbed up on the wet stones, where +water-snakes were wriggling and the toads, as it were, barked at +him: he reached the top before the sun, seen from such a height, had +quite set. "Oh, what a splendour!" The sea, the great majestic sea, +which was rolling its long waves against the shore, stretched out +before him, and the sun was standing like a large bright altar and +there where sea and heaven met—all melted together in the most +glowing colours; the wood was singing, and his heart too. The whole of +nature was one large holy church, in which the trees and hovering +clouds formed the pillars, the flowers and grass the woven velvet +carpet, and heaven itself was the great cupola; up there the flame +colour vanished as soon as the sun disappeared, but millions of +stars were lighted; diamond lamps were shining, and the king's son +stretched his arms out towards heaven, towards the sea, and towards +the wood. Then suddenly the poor boy with the short-sleeved jacket and +the wooden shoes appeared; he had arrived just as quickly on the +road he had chosen. And they ran towards each other and took one +another's hand, in the great cathedral of nature and poesy, and +above them sounded the invisible holy bell; happy spirits surrounded +them, singing hallelujahs and rejoicing. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="belldeep"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE BELL-DEEP +</H3> + +<P> +"Ding-dong! ding-dong!" It sounds up from the "bell-deep" in the +Odense-Au. Every child in the old town of Odense, on the island of +Funen, knows the Au, which washes the gardens round about the town, +and flows on under the wooden bridges from the dam to the +water-mill. In the Au grow the yellow water-lilies and brown +feathery reeds; the dark velvety flag grows there, high and thick; old +and decayed willows, slanting and tottering, hang far out over the +stream beside the monk's meadow and by the bleaching ground; but +opposite there are gardens upon gardens, each different from the rest, +some with pretty flowers and bowers like little dolls' pleasure +grounds, often displaying cabbage and other kitchen plants; and here +and there the gardens cannot be seen at all, for the great elder trees +that spread themselves out by the bank, and hang far out over the +streaming waters, which are deeper here and there than an oar can +fathom. Opposite the old nunnery is the deepest place, which is called +the "bell-deep," and there dwells the old water spirit, the "Au-mann." +This spirit sleeps through the day while the sun shines down upon +the water; but in starry and moonlit nights he shows himself. He is +very old. Grandmother says that she has heard her own grandmother tell +of him; he is said to lead a solitary life, and to have nobody with +whom he can converse save the great old church Bell. Once the Bell +hung in the church tower; but now there is no trace left of the +tower or of the church, which was called St. Alban's. +</P> + +<P> +"Ding-dong! ding-dong!" sounded the Bell, when the tower still +stood there; and one evening, while the sun was setting, and the +Bell was swinging away bravely, it broke loose and came flying down +through the air, the brilliant metal shining in the ruddy beam. +</P> + +<P> +"Ding-dong! ding-dong! Now I'll retire to rest!" sang the Bell, +and flew down into the Odense-Au, where it is deepest; and that is why +the place is called the "bell-deep." +</P> + +<P> +But the Bell got neither rest nor sleep. Down in the Au-mann's +haunt it sounds and rings, so that the tones sometimes pierce upward +through the waters; and many people maintain that its strains forebode +the death of some one; but that is not true, for the Bell is only +talking with the Au-mann, who is now no longer alone. +</P> + +<P> +And what is the Bell telling? It is old, very old, as we have +already observed; it was there long before grandmother's grandmother +was born; and yet it is but a child in comparison with the Au-mann, +who is quite an old quiet personage, an oddity, with his hose of +eel-skin, and his scaly Jacket with the yellow lilies for buttons, and +a wreath of reed in his hair and seaweed in his beard; but he looks +very pretty for all that. +</P> + +<P> +What the Bell tells? To repeat it all would require years and +days; for year by year it is telling the old stories, sometimes +short ones, sometimes long ones, according to its whim; it tells of +old times, of the dark hard times, thus: +</P> + +<P> +"In the church of St. Alban, the monk had mounted up into the +tower. He was young and handsome, but thoughtful exceedingly. He +looked through the loophole out upon the Odense-Au, when the bed of +the water was yet broad, and the monks' meadow was still a lake. He +looked out over it, and over the rampart, and over the nuns' hill +opposite, where the convent lay, and the light gleamed forth from +the nun's cell. He had known the nun right well, and he thought of +her, and his heart beat quicker as he thought. Ding-dong! ding-dong!" +</P> + +<P> +Yes, this was the story the Bell told. +</P> + +<P> +"Into the tower came also the dapper man-servant of the bishop; +and when I, the Bell, who am made of metal, rang hard and loud, and +swung to and fro, I might have beaten out his brains. He sat down +close under me, and played with two little sticks as if they had +been a stringed instrument; and he sang to it. 'Now I may sing it +out aloud, though at other times I may not whisper it. I may sing of +everything that is kept concealed behind lock and bars. Yonder it is +cold and wet. The rats are eating her up alive! Nobody knows of it! +Nobody hears of it! Not even now, for the bell is ringing and +singing its loud Ding-dong, ding-dong!' +</P> + +<P> +"There was a King in those days. They called him Canute. He +bowed himself before bishop and monk; but when he offended the free +peasants with heavy taxes and hard words, they seized their weapons +and put him to flight like a wild beast. He sought shelter in the +church, and shut gate and door behind him. The violent band surrounded +the church; I heard tell of it. The crows, ravens and magpies +started up in terror at the yelling and shouting that sounded +around. They flew into the tower and out again, they looked down +upon the throng below, and they also looked into the windows of the +church, and screamed out aloud what they saw there. King Canute +knelt before the altar in prayer; his brothers Eric and Benedict stood +by him as a guard with drawn swords; but the King's servant, the +treacherous Blake, betrayed his master. The throng in front of the +church knew where they could hit the King, and one of them flung a +stone through a pane of glass, and the King lay there dead! The +cries and screams of the savage horde and of the birds sounded through +the air, and I joined in it also; for I sang 'Ding-dong! ding-dong!' +</P> + +<P> +"The church bell hangs high, and looks far around, and sees the +birds around it, and understands their language. The wind roars in +upon it through windows and loopholes; and the wind knows +everything, for he gets it from the air, which encircles all things, +and the church bell understands his tongue, and rings it out into +the world, 'Ding-dong! ding-dong!' +</P> + +<P> +"But it was too much for me to hear and to know; I was not able +any longer to ring it out. I became so tired, so heavy, that the +beam broke, and I flew out into the gleaming Au, where the water is +deepest, and where the Au-mann lives, solitary and alone; and year +by year I tell him what I have heard and what I know. Ding-dong! +ding-dong!" +</P> + +<P> +Thus it sounds complainingly out of the bell-deep in the +Odense-Au. That is what grandmother told us. +</P> + +<P> +But the schoolmaster says that there was not any bell that rung +down there, for that it could not do so; and that no Au-mann dwelt +yonder, for there was no Au-mann at all! And when all the other church +bells are sounding sweetly, he says that it is not really the bells +that are sounding, but that it is the air itself which sends forth the +notes; and grandmother said to us that the Bell itself said it was the +air who told it to him, consequently they are agreed on that point, +and this much is sure. +</P> + +<P> +"Be cautious, cautious, and take good heed to thyself," they +both say. +</P> + +<P> +The air knows everything. It is around us, it is in us, it talks +of our thoughts and of our deeds, and it speaks longer of them than +does the Bell down in the depths of the Odense-Au where the Au-mann +dwells. It rings it out in the vault of heaven, far, far out, +forever and ever, till the heaven bells sound "Ding-dong! ding-dong!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="bird_song"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE BIRD OF POPULAR SONG +</H3> + +<P> +In is winter-time. The earth wears a snowy garment, and looks like +marble hewn out of the rock; the air is bright and clear; the wind +is sharp as a well-tempered sword, and the trees stand like branches +of white coral or blooming almond twigs, and here it is keen as on the +lofty Alps. +</P> + +<P> +The night is splendid in the gleam of the Northern Lights, and +in the glitter of innumerable twinkling stars. +</P> + +<P> +But we sit in the warm room, by the hot stove, and talk about +the old times. And we listen to this story: +</P> + +<P> +By the open sea was a giant's grave; and on the grave-mound sat at +midnight the spirit of the buried hero, who had been a king. The +golden circlet gleamed on his brow, his hair fluttered in the wind, +and he was clad in steel and iron. He bent his head mournfully, and +sighed in deep sorrow, as an unquiet spirit might sigh. +</P> + +<P> +And a ship came sailing by. Presently the sailors lowered the +anchor and landed. Among them was a singer, and he approached the +royal spirit, and said, +</P> + +<P> +"Why mournest thou, and wherefore dost thou suffer thus?" +</P> + +<P> +And the dead man answered, +</P> + +<P> +"No one has sung the deeds of my life; they are dead and +forgotten. Song doth not carry them forth over the lands, nor into the +hearts of men; therefore I have no rest and no peace." +</P> + +<P> +And he spoke of his works, and of his warlike deeds, which his +contemporaries had known, but which had not been sung, because there +was no singer among his companions. +</P> + +<P> +Then the old bard struck the strings of his harp, and sang of +the youthful courage of the hero, of the strength of the man, and of +the greatness of his good deeds. Then the face of the dead one gleamed +like the margin of the cloud in the moonlight. Gladly and of good +courage, the form arose in splendor and in majesty, and vanished +like the glancing of the northern light. Nought was to be seen but the +green turfy mound, with the stones on which no Runic record has been +graven; but at the last sound of the harp there soared over the +hill, as though he had fluttered from the harp, a little bird, a +charming singing-bird, with ringing voice of the thrush, with the +moving voice pathos of the human heart, with a voice that told of +home, like the voice that is heard by the bird of passage. The +singing-bird soared away, over mountain and valley, over field and +wood—he was the Bird of Popular Song, who never dies. +</P> + +<P> +We hear his song—we hear it now in the room while the white +bees are swarming without, and the storm clutches the windows. The +bird sings not alone the requiem of heroes; he sings also sweet gentle +songs of love, so many and so warm, of Northern fidelity and truth. He +has stories in words and in tones; he has proverbs and snatches of +proverbs; songs which, like Runes laid under a dead man's tongue, +force him to speak; and thus Popular Song tells of the land of his +birth. +</P> + +<P> +In the old heathen days, in the times of the Vikings, the +popular speech was enshrined in the harp of the bard. +</P> + +<P> +In the days of knightly castles, when the strongest fist held +the scales of justice, when only might was right, and a peasant and +a dog were of equal importance, where did the Bird of Song find +shelter and protection? Neither violence nor stupidity gave him a +thought. +</P> + +<P> +But in the gabled window of the knightly castle, the lady of the +castle sat with the parchment roll before her, and wrote down the +old recollections in song and legend, while near her stood the old +woman from the wood, and the travelling peddler who went wandering +through the country. As these told their tales, there fluttered around +them, with twittering and song, the Bird of Popular Song, who never +dies so long as the earth has a hill upon which his foot may rest. +</P> + +<P> +And now he looks in upon us and sings. Without are the night and +the snow-storm. He lays the Runes beneath our tongues, and we know the +land of our home. Heaven speaks to us in our native tongue, in the +voice of the Bird of Popular Song. The old remembrances awake, the +faded colors glow with a fresh lustre, and story and song pour us a +blessed draught which lifts up our minds and our thoughts, so that the +evening becomes as a Christmas festival. +</P> + +<P> +The snow-flakes chase each other, the ice cracks, the storm +rules without, for he has the might, he is lord—but not the LORD OF +ALL. +</P> + +<P> +It is winter time. The wind is sharp as a two-edged sword, the +snow-flakes chase each other; it seems as though it had been snowing +for days and weeks, and the snow lies like a great mountain over the +whole town, like a heavy dream of the winter night. Everything on +the earth is hidden away, only the golden cross of the church, the +symbol of faith, arises over the snow grave, and gleams in the blue +air and in the bright sunshine. +</P> + +<P> +And over the buried town fly the birds of heaven, the small and +the great; they twitter and they sing as best they may, each bird with +his beak. +</P> + +<P> +First comes the band of sparrows: they pipe at every trifle in the +streets and lanes, in the nests and the houses; they have stories to +tell about the front buildings and the back buildings. +</P> + +<P> +"We know the buried town," they say; "everything living in it is +piep! piep! piep!" +</P> + +<P> +The black ravens and crows flew on over the white snow. +</P> + +<P> +"Grub, grub!" they cried. "There's something to be got down there; +something to swallow, and that's most important. That's the opinion of +most of them down there, and the opinion is goo-goo-good!" +</P> + +<P> +The wild swans come flying on whirring pinions, and sing of the +noble and the great, that will still sprout in the hearts of men, down +in the town which is resting beneath its snowy veil. +</P> + +<P> +No death is there—life reigns yonder; we hear it on the notes +that swell onward like the tones of the church organ, which seize us +like sounds from the elf-hill, like the songs of Ossian, like the +rushing swoop of the wandering spirits' wings. What harmony! That +harmony speaks to our hearts, and lifts up our souls! It is the Bird +of Popular Song whom we hear. +</P> + +<P> +And at this moment the warm breath of heaven blows down from the +sky. There are gaps in the snowy mountains, the sun shines into the +clefts; spring is coming, the birds are returning, and new races are +coming with the same home sounds in their hearts. +</P> + +<P> +Hear the story of the year: "The night of the snow-storm, the +heavy dream of the winter night, all shall be dissolved, all shall +rise again in the beauteous notes of the Bird of Popular Song, who +never dies!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="bishop_b"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE BISHOP OF BORGLUM AND HIS WARRIORS +</H3> + +<P> +Our scene is laid in Northern Jutland, in the so-called "wild +moor." We hear what is called the "Wester-wow-wow"—the peculiar +roar of the North Sea as it breaks against the western coast of +Jutland. It rolls and thunders with a sound that penetrates for +miles into the land; and we are quite near the roaring. Before us +rises a great mound of sand—a mountain we have long seen, and towards +which we are wending our way, driving slowly along through the deep +sand. On this mountain of sand is a lofty old building—the convent of +Borglum. In one of its wings (the larger one) there is still a church. +And at this convent we now arrive in the late evening hour; but the +weather is clear in the bright June night around us, and the eye can +range far, far over field and moor to the Bay of Aalborg, over heath +and meadow, and far across the deep blue sea. +</P> + +<P> +Now we are there, and roll past between barns and other farm +buildings; and at the left of the gate we turn aside to the Old Castle +Farm, where the lime trees stand in lines along the walls, and, +sheltered from the wind and weather, grow so luxuriantly that their +twigs and leaves almost conceal the windows. +</P> + +<P> +We mount the winding staircase of stone, and march through the +long passages under the heavy roof-beams. The wind moans very +strangely here, both within and without. It is hardly known how, but +the people say—yes, people say a great many things when they are +frightened or want to frighten others—they say that the old dead +choir-men glide silently past us into the church, where mass is +sung. They can be heard in the rushing of the storm, and their singing +brings up strange thoughts in the hearers—thoughts of the old times +into which we are carried back. +</P> + +<P> +On the coast a ship is stranded; and the bishop's warriors are +there, and spare not those whom the sea has spared. The sea washes +away the blood that has flowed from the cloven skulls. The stranded +goods belong to the bishop, and there is a store of goods here. The +sea casts up tubs and barrels filled with costly wine for the +convent cellar, and in the convent is already good store of beer and +mead. There is plenty in the kitchen—dead game and poultry, hams +and sausages; and fat fish swim in the ponds without. +</P> + +<P> +The Bishop of Borglum is a mighty lord. He has great +possessions, but still he longs for more—everything must bow before +the mighty Olaf Glob. His rich cousin at Thyland is dead, and his +widow is to have the rich inheritance. But how comes it that one +relation is always harder towards another than even strangers would +be? The widow's husband had possessed all Thyland, with the +exception of the church property. Her son was not at home. In his +boyhood he had already started on a journey, for his desire was to see +foreign lands and strange people. For years there had been no news +of him. Perhaps he had been long laid in the grave, and would never +come back to his home, to rule where his mother then ruled. +</P> + +<P> +"What has a woman to do with rule?" said the bishop. +</P> + +<P> +He summoned the widow before a law court; but what did he gain +thereby? The widow had never been disobedient to the law, and was +strong in her just rights. +</P> + +<P> +Bishop Olaf of Borglum, what dost thou purpose? What writest +thou on yonder smooth parchment, sealing it with thy seal, and +intrusting it to the horsemen and servants, who ride away, far away, +to the city of the Pope? +</P> + +<P> +It is the time of falling leaves and of stranded ships, and soon +icy winter will come. +</P> + +<P> +Twice had icy winter returned before the bishop welcomed the +horsemen and servants back to their home. They came from Rome with a +papal decree—a ban, or bull, against the widow who had dared to +offend the pious bishop. "Cursed be she and all that belongs to her. +Let her be expelled from the congregation and the Church. Let no man +stretch forth a helping hand to her, and let friends and relations +avoid her as a plague and a pestilence!" +</P> + +<P> +"What will not bend must break," said the Bishop of Borglum +</P> + +<P> +And all forsake the widow; but she holds fast to her God. He is +her helper and defender. +</P> + +<P> +One servant only—an old maid—remained faithful to her; and +with the old servant, the widow herself followed the plough; and the +crop grew, although the land had been cursed by the Pope and by the +bishop. +</P> + +<P> +"Thou child of perdition, I will yet carry out my purpose!" +cried the Bishop of Borglum. "Now will I lay the hand of the Pope upon +thee, to summon thee before the tribunal that shall condemn thee!" +</P> + +<P> +Then did the widow yoke the last two oxen that remained to her +to a wagon, and mounted up on the wagon, with her old servant, and +travelled away across the heath out of the Danish land. As a +stranger she came into a foreign country, where a strange tongue was +spoken and where new customs prevailed. Farther and farther she +journeyed, to where green hills rise into mountains, and the vine +clothes their sides. Strange merchants drive by her, and they look +anxiously after their wagons laden with merchandise. They fear an +attack from the armed followers of the robber-knights. The two poor +women, in their humble vehicle drawn by two black oxen, travel +fearlessly through the dangerous sunken road and through the +darksome forest. And now they were in Franconia. And there met them +a stalwart knight, with a train of twelve armed followers. He +paused, gazed at the strange vehicle, and questioned the women as to +the goal of their journey and the place whence they came. Then one +of them mentioned Thyland in Denmark, and spoke of her sorrows, of her +woes, which were soon to cease, for so Divine Providence had willed +it. For the stranger knight is the widow's son! He seized her hand, he +embraced her, and the mother wept. For years she had not been able +to weep, but had only bitten her lips till the blood started. +</P> + +<P> +</P> + +<P> +It is the time of falling leaves and of stranded ships, and soon +will icy winter come. +</P> + +<P> +The sea rolled wine-tubs to the shore for the bishop's cellar. +In the kitchen the deer roasted on the spit before the fire. At +Borglum it was warm and cheerful in the heated rooms, while cold +winter raged without, when a piece of news was brought to the +bishop. "Jens Glob, of Thyland, has come back, and his mother with +him." Jens Glob laid a complaint against the bishop, and summoned +him before the temporal and the spiritual court. +</P> + +<P> +"That will avail him little," said the bishop. "Best leave off thy +efforts, knight Jens." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Again it is the time of falling leaves and stranded ships. Icy +winter comes again, and the "white bees" are swarming, and sting the +traveller's face till they melt. +</P> + +<P> +"Keen weather to-day!" say the people, as they step in. +</P> + +<P> +Jens Glob stands so deeply wrapped in thought, that he singes +the skirt of his wide garment. +</P> + +<P> +"Thou Borglum bishop," he exclaims, "I shall subdue thee after +all! Under the shield of the Pope, the law cannot reach thee; but Jens +Glob shall reach thee!" +</P> + +<P> +Then he writes a letter to his brother-in-law, Olaf Hase, in +Sallingland, and prays that knight to meet him on Christmas eve, at +mass, in the church at Widberg. The bishop himself is to read the +mass, and consequently will journey from Borglum to Thyland; and +this is known to Jens Glob. +</P> + +<P> +Moorland and meadow are covered with ice and snow. The marsh +will bear horse and rider, the bishop with his priests and armed +men. They ride the shortest way, through the waving reeds, where the +wind moans sadly. +</P> + +<P> +Blow thy brazen trumpet, thou trumpeter clad in fox-skin! it +sounds merrily in the clear air. So they ride on over heath and +moorland—over what is the garden of Fata Morgana in the hot summer, +though now icy, like all the country—towards the church of Widberg. +</P> + +<P> +The wind is blowing his trumpet too—blowing it harder and harder. +He blows up a storm—a terrible storm—that increases more and more. +Towards the church they ride, as fast as they may through the storm. +The church stands firm, but the storm careers on over field and +moorland, over land and sea. +</P> + +<P> +Borglum's bishop reaches the church; but Olaf Hase will scarce +do so, however hard he may ride. He journeys with his warriors on +the farther side of the bay, in order that he may help Jens Glob, +now that the bishop is to be summoned before the judgment seat of +the Highest. +</P> + +<P> +The church is the judgment hall; the altar is the council table. +The lights burn clear in the heavy brass candelabra. The storm reads +out the accusation and the sentence, roaming in the air over moor +and heath, and over the rolling waters. No ferry-boat can sail over +the bay in such weather as this. +</P> + +<P> +Olaf Hase makes halt at Ottesworde. There he dismisses his +warriors, presents them with their horses and harness, and gives +them leave to ride home and greet his wife. He intends to risk his +life alone in the roaring waters; but they are to bear witness for him +that it is not his fault if Jens Glob stands without reinforcement +in the church at Widberg. The faithful warriors will not leave him, +but follow him out into the deep waters. Ten of them are carried away; +but Olaf Hase and two of the youngest men reach the farther side. They +have still four miles to ride. +</P> + +<P> +It is past midnight. It is Christmas. The wind has abated. The +church is lighted up; the gleaming radiance shines through the +window-frames, and pours out over meadow and heath. The mass has +long been finished, silence reigns in the church, and the wax is heard +dropping from the candles to the stone pavement. And now Olaf Hase +arrives. +</P> + +<P> +In the forecourt Jens Glob greets him kindly, and says, +</P> + +<P> +"I have just made an agreement with the bishop." +</P> + +<P> +"Sayest thou so?" replied Olaf Hase. "Then neither thou nor the +bishop shall quit this church alive." +</P> + +<P> +And the sword leaps from the scabbard, and Olaf Hase deals a +blow that makes the panel of the church door, which Jens Glob +hastily closes between them, fly in fragments. +</P> + +<P> +"Hold, brother! First hear what the agreement was that I made. I +have slain the bishop and his warriors and priests. They will have +no word more to say in the matter, nor will I speak again of all the +wrong that my mother has endured." +</P> + +<P> +The long wicks of the altar lights glimmer red; but there is a +redder gleam upon the pavement, where the bishop lies with cloven +skull, and his dead warriors around him, in the quiet of the holy +Christmas night. +</P> + +<P> +And four days afterwards the bells toll for a funeral in the +convent of Borglum. The murdered bishop and the slain warriors and +priests are displayed under a black canopy, surrounded by candelabra +decked with crape. There lies the dead man, in the black cloak wrought +with silver; the crozier in the powerless hand that was once so +mighty. The incense rises in clouds, and the monks chant the funeral +hymn. It sounds like a wail—it sounds like a sentence of wrath and +condemnation, that must be heard far over the land, carried by the +wind—sung by the wind—the wail that sometimes is silent, but never +dies; for ever again it rises in song, singing even into our own +time this legend of the Bishop of Borglum and his hard nephew. It is +heard in the dark night by the frightened husbandman, driving by in +the heavy sandy road past the convent of Borglum. It is heard by the +sleepless listener in the thickly-walled rooms at Borglum. And not +only to the ear of superstition is the sighing and the tread of +hurrying feet audible in the long echoing passages leading to the +convent door that has long been locked. The door still seems to +open, and the lights seem to flame in the brazen candlesticks; the +fragrance of incense arises; the church gleams in its ancient +splendor; and the monks sing and say the mass over the slain bishop, +who lies there in the black silver-embroidered mantle, with the +crozier in his powerless hand; and on his pale proud forehead gleams +the red wound like fire, and there burn the worldly mind and the +wicked thoughts. +</P> + +<P> +Sink down into his grave—into oblivion—ye terrible shapes of the +times of old! +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Hark to the raging of the angry wind, sounding above the rolling +sea! A storm approaches without, calling aloud for human lives. The +sea has not put on a new mind with the new time. This night it is a +horrible pit to devour up lives, and to-morrow, perhaps, it may be a +glassy mirror—even as in the old time that we have buried. Sleep +sweetly, if thou canst sleep! +</P> + +<P> +Now it is morning. +</P> + +<P> +The new time flings sunshine into the room. The wind still keeps +up mightily. A wreck is announced—as in the old time. +</P> + +<P> +During the night, down yonder by Lokken, the little fishing +village with the red-tiled roofs—we can see it up here from the +window—a ship has come ashore. It has struck, and is fast embedded in +the sand; but the rocket apparatus has thrown a rope on board, and +formed a bridge from the wreck to the mainland; and all on board are +saved, and reach the land, and are wrapped in warm blankets; and +to-day they are invited to the farm at the convent of Borglum. In +comfortable rooms they encounter hospitality and friendly faces. +They are addressed in the language of their country, and the piano +sounds for them with melodies of their native land; and before these +have died away, the chord has been struck, the wire of thought that +reaches to the land of the sufferers announces that they are +rescued. Then their anxieties are dispelled; and at even they join +in the dance at the feast given in the great hall at Borglum. +Waltzes and Styrian dances are given, and Danish popular songs, and +melodies of foreign lands in these modern times. +</P> + +<P> +Blessed be thou, new time! Speak thou of summer and of purer +gales! Send thy sunbeams gleaming into our hearts and thoughts! On thy +glowing canvas let them be painted—the dark legends of the rough hard +times that are past! +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="bottle_n"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE BOTTLE NECK +</H3> + +<P> +Close to the corner of a street, among other abodes of poverty, +stood an exceedingly tall, narrow house, which had been so knocked +about by time that it seemed out of joint in every direction. This +house was inhabited by poor people, but the deepest poverty was +apparent in the garret lodging in the gable. In front of the little +window, an old bent bird-cage hung in the sunshine, which had not even +a proper water-glass, but instead of it the broken neck of a bottle, +turned upside down, and a cork stuck in to make it hold the water with +which it was filled. An old maid stood at the window; she had hung +chickweed over the cage, and the little linnet which it contained +hopped from perch to perch and sang and twittered merrily. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, it's all very well for you to sing," said the bottle neck: +that is, he did not really speak the words as we do, for the neck of a +bottle cannot speak; but he thought them to himself in his own mind, +just as people sometimes talk quietly to themselves. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, you may sing very well, you have all your limbs uninjured; +you should feel what it is like to lose your body, and only have a +neck and a mouth left, with a cork stuck in it, as I have: you +wouldn't sing then, I know. After all, it is just as well that there +are some who can be happy. I have no reason to sing, nor could I +sing now if I were ever so happy; but when I was a whole bottle, and +they rubbed me with a cork, didn't I sing then? I used to be called +a complete lark. I remember when I went out to a picnic with the +furrier's family, on the day his daughter was betrothed,—it seems +as if it only happened yesterday. I have gone through a great deal +in my time, when I come to recollect: I have been in the fire and in +the water, I have been deep in the earth, and have mounted higher in +the air than most other people, and now I am swinging here, outside +a bird-cage, in the air and the sunshine. Oh, indeed, it would be +worth while to hear my history; but I do not speak it aloud, for a +good reason—because I cannot." +</P> + +<P> +Then the bottle neck related his history, which was really +rather remarkable; he, in fact, related it to himself, or, at least, +thought it in his own mind. The little bird sang his own song merrily; +in the street below there was driving and running to and fro, every +one thought of his own affairs, or perhaps of nothing at all; but +the bottle neck thought deeply. He thought of the blazing furnace in +the factory, where he had been blown into life; he remembered how +hot it felt when he was placed in the heated oven, the home from which +he sprang, and that he had a strong inclination to leap out again +directly; but after a while it became cooler, and he found himself +very comfortable. He had been placed in a row, with a whole regiment +of his brothers and sisters all brought out of the same furnace; +some of them had certainly been blown into champagne bottles, and +others into beer bottles, which made a little difference between them. +In the world it often happens that a beer bottle may contain the +most precious wine, and a champagne bottle be filled with blacking, +but even in decay it may always be seen whether a man has been well +born. Nobility remains noble, as a champagne bottle remains the +same, even with blacking in its interior. When the bottles were packed +our bottle was packed amongst them; it little expected then to +finish its career as a bottle neck, or to be used as a water-glass +to a bird's-cage, which is, after all, a place of honor, for it is +to be of some use in the world. The bottle did not behold the light of +day again, until it was unpacked with the rest in the wine +merchant's cellar, and, for the first time, rinsed with water, which +caused some very curious sensations. There it lay empty, and without a +cork, and it had a peculiar feeling, as if it wanted something it knew +not what. At last it was filled with rich and costly wine, a cork +was placed in it, and sealed down. Then it was labelled "first +quality," as if it had carried off the first prize at an +examination; besides, the wine and the bottle were both good, and +while we are young is the time for poetry. There were sounds of song +within the bottle, of things it could not understand, of green sunny +mountains, where the vines grow and where the merry vine-dressers +laugh, sing, and are merry. "Ah, how beautiful is life." All these +tones of joy and song in the bottle were like the working of a young +poet's brain, who often knows not the meaning of the tones which are +sounding within him. One morning the bottle found a purchaser in the +furrier's apprentice, who was told to bring one of the best bottles of +wine. It was placed in the provision basket with ham and cheese and +sausages. The sweetest fresh butter and the finest bread were put into +the basket by the furrier's daughter herself, for she packed it. She +was young and pretty; her brown eyes laughed, and a smile lingered +round her mouth as sweet as that in her eyes. She had delicate +hands, beautifully white, and her neck was whiter still. It could +easily be seen that she was a very lovely girl, and as yet she was not +engaged. The provision basket lay in the lap of the young girl as +the family drove out to the forest, and the neck of the bottle +peeped out from between the folds of the white napkin. There was the +red wax on the cork, and the bottle looked straight at the young +girl's face, and also at the face of the young sailor who sat near +her. He was a young friend, the son of a portrait painter. He had +lately passed his examination with honor, as mate, and the next +morning he was to sail in his ship to a distant coast. There had +been a great deal of talk on this subject while the basket was being +packed, and during this conversation the eyes and the mouth of the +furrier's daughter did not wear a very joyful expression. The young +people wandered away into the green wood, and talked together. What +did they talk about? The bottle could not say, for he was in the +provision basket. It remained there a long time; but when at last it +was brought forth it appeared as if something pleasant had happened, +for every one was laughing; the furrier's daughter laughed too, but +she said very little, and her cheeks were like two roses. Then her +father took the bottle and the cork-screw into his hands. What a +strange sensation it was to have the cork drawn for the first time! +The bottle could never after that forget the performance of that +moment; indeed there was quite a convulsion within him as the cork +flew out, and a gurgling sound as the wine was poured forth into the +glasses. +</P> + +<P> +"Long life to the betrothed," cried the papa, and every glass +was emptied to the dregs, while the young sailor kissed his +beautiful bride. +</P> + +<P> +"Happiness and blessing to you both," said the old people-father +and mother, and the young man filled the glasses again. +</P> + +<P> +"Safe return, and a wedding this day next year," he cried; and +when the glasses were empty he took the bottle, raised it on high, and +said, "Thou hast been present here on the happiest day of my life; +thou shalt never be used by others!" So saying, he hurled it high in +the air. +</P> + +<P> +The furrier's daughter thought she should never see it again, +but she was mistaken. It fell among the rushes on the borders of a +little woodland lake. The bottle neck remembered well how long it +lay there unseen. "I gave them wine, and they gave me muddy water," he +had said to himself, "but I suppose it was all well meant." He could +no longer see the betrothed couple, nor the cheerful old people; but +for a long time he could hear them rejoicing and singing. At length +there came by two peasant boys, who peeped in among the reeds and +spied out the bottle. Then they took it up and carried it home with +them, so that once more it was provided for. At home in their wooden +cottage these boys had an elder brother, a sailor, who was about to +start on a long voyage. He had been there the day before to say +farewell, and his mother was now very busy packing up various things +for him to take with him on his voyage. In the evening his father +was going to carry the parcel to the town to see his son once more, +and take him a farewell greeting from his mother. A small bottle had +already been filled with herb tea, mixed with brandy, and wrapped in a +parcel; but when the boys came in they brought with them a larger +and stronger bottle, which they had found. This bottle would hold so +much more than the little one, and they all said the brandy would be +so good for complaints of the stomach, especially as it was mixed with +medical herbs. The liquid which they now poured into the bottle was +not like the red wine with which it had once been filled; these were +bitter drops, but they are of great use sometimes-for the stomach. The +new large bottle was to go, not the little one: so the bottle once +more started on its travels. It was taken on board (for Peter Jensen +was one of the crew) the very same ship in which the young mate was to +sail. But the mate did not see the bottle: indeed, if he had he +would not have known it, or supposed it was the one out of which +they had drunk to the felicity of the betrothed and to the prospect of +a marriage on his own happy return. Certainly the bottle no longer +poured forth wine, but it contained something quite as good; and so it +happened that whenever Peter Jensen brought it out, his messmates gave +it the name of "the apothecary," for it contained the best medicine to +cure the stomach, and he gave it out quite willingly as long as a drop +remained. Those were happy days, and the bottle would sing when rubbed +with a cork, and it was called a great lark, "Peter Jensen's lark." +</P> + +<P> +Long days and months rolled by, during which the bottle stood +empty in a corner, when a storm arose—whether on the passage out or +home it could not tell, for it had never been ashore. It was a +terrible storm, great waves arose, darkly heaving and tossing the +vessel to and fro. The main mast was split asunder, the ship sprang +a leak, and the pumps became useless, while all around was black as +night. At the last moment, when the ship was sinking, the young mate +wrote on a piece of paper, "We are going down: God's will be done." +Then he wrote the name of his betrothed, his own name, and that of the +ship. Then he put the leaf in an empty bottle that happened to be at +hand, corked it down tightly, and threw it into the foaming sea. He +knew not that it was the very same bottle from which the goblet of joy +and hope had once been filled for him, and now it was tossing on the +waves with his last greeting, and a message from the dead. The ship +sank, and the crew sank with her; but the bottle flew on like a +bird, for it bore within it a loving letter from a loving heart. And +as the sun rose and set, the bottle felt as at the time of its first +existence, when in the heated glowing stove it had a longing to fly +away. It outlived the storms and the calm, it struck against no rocks, +was not devoured by sharks, but drifted on for more than a year, +sometimes towards the north, sometimes towards the south, just as +the current carried it. It was in all other ways its own master, but +even of that one may get tired. The written leaf, the last farewell of +the bridegroom to his bride, would only bring sorrow when once it +reached her hands; but where were those hands, so soft and delicate, +which had once spread the table-cloth on the fresh grass in the +green wood, on the day of her betrothal? Ah, yes! where was the +furrier's daughter? and where was the land which might lie nearest +to her home? +</P> + +<P> +The bottle knew not, it travelled onward and onward, and at last +all this wandering about became wearisome; at all events it was not +its usual occupation. But it had to travel, till at length it +reached land—a foreign country. Not a word spoken in this country +could the bottle understand; it was a language it had never before +heard, and it is a great loss not to be able to understand a language. +The bottle was fished out of the water, and examined on all sides. The +little letter contained within it was discovered, taken out, and +turned and twisted in every direction; but the people could not +understand what was written upon it. They could be quite sure that the +bottle had been thrown overboard from a vessel, and that something +about it was written on this paper: but what was written? that was the +question,—so the paper was put back into the bottle, and then both +were put away in a large cupboard of one of the great houses of the +town. Whenever any strangers arrived, the paper was taken out and +turned over and over, so that the address, which was only written in +pencil, became almost illegible, and at last no one could +distinguish any letters on it at all. For a whole year the bottle +remained standing in the cupboard, and then it was taken up to the +loft, where it soon became covered with dust and cobwebs. Ah! how +often then it thought of those better days—of the times when in the +fresh, green wood, it had poured forth rich wine; or, while rocked +by the swelling waves, it had carried in its bosom a secret, a letter, +a last parting sigh. For full twenty years it stood in the loft, and +it might have stayed there longer but that the house was going to be +rebuilt. The bottle was discovered when the roof was taken off; they +talked about it, but the bottle did not understand what they said—a +language is not to be learnt by living in a loft, even for twenty +years. "If I had been down stairs in the room," thought the bottle, "I +might have learnt it." It was now washed and rinsed, which process was +really quite necessary, and afterwards it looked clean and +transparent, and felt young again in its old age; but the paper +which it had carried so faithfully was destroyed in the washing. +They filled the bottle with seeds, though it scarcely knew what had +been placed in it. Then they corked it down tightly, and carefully +wrapped it up. There not even the light of a torch or lantern could +reach it, much less the brightness of the sun or moon. "And yet," +thought the bottle, "men go on a journey that they may see as much +as possible, and I can see nothing." However, it did something quite +as important; it travelled to the place of its destination, and was +unpacked. +</P> + +<P> +"What trouble they have taken with that bottle over yonder!" +said one, "and very likely it is broken after all." But the bottle +was not broken, and, better still, it understood every word that was +said: this language it had heard at the furnaces and at the wine +merchant's; in the forest and on the ship,—it was the only good old +language it could understand. It had returned home, and the language +was as a welcome greeting. For very joy, it felt ready to jump out +of people's hands, and scarcely noticed that its cork had been +drawn, and its contents emptied out, till it found itself carried to a +cellar, to be left there and forgotten. "There's no place like home, +even if it's a cellar." It never occurred to him to think that he +might lie there for years, he felt so comfortable. For many long years +he remained in the cellar, till at last some people came to carry away +the bottles, and ours amongst the number. +</P> + +<P> +Out in the garden there was a great festival. Brilliant lamps hung +in festoons from tree to tree; and paper lanterns, through which the +light shone till they looked like transparent tulips. It was a +beautiful evening, and the weather mild and clear. The stars twinkled; +and the new moon, in the form of a crescent, was surrounded by the +shadowy disc of the whole moon, and looked like a gray globe with a +golden rim: it was a beautiful sight for those who had good eyes. +The illumination extended even to the most retired of the garden +walks, at least not so retired that any one need lose himself there. +In the borders were placed bottles, each containing a light, and among +them the bottle with which we are acquainted, and whose fate it was, +one day, to be only a bottle neck, and to serve as a water-glass to +a bird's-cage. Everything here appeared lovely to our bottle, for it +was again in the green wood, amid joy and feasting; again it heard +music and song, and the noise and murmur of a crowd, especially in +that part of the garden where the lamps blazed, and the paper lanterns +displayed their brilliant colors. It stood in a distant walk +certainly, but a place pleasant for contemplation; and it carried a +light; and was at once useful and ornamental. In such an hour it is +easy to forget that one has spent twenty years in a loft, and a good +thing it is to be able to do so. Close before the bottle passed a +single pair, like the bridal pair—the mate and the furrier's +daughter—who had so long ago wandered in the wood. It seemed to the +bottle as if he were living that time over again. Not only the +guests but other people were walking in the garden, who were allowed +to witness the splendor and the festivities. Among the latter came +an old maid, who seemed to be quite alone in the world. She was +thinking, like the bottle, of the green wood, and of a young betrothed +pair, who were closely connected with herself; she was thinking of +that hour, the happiest of her life, in which she had taken part, when +she had herself been one of that betrothed pair; such hours are +never to be forgotten, let a maiden be as old as she may. But she +did not recognize the bottle, neither did the bottle notice the old +maid. And so we often pass each other in the world when we meet, as +did these two, even while together in the same town. +</P> + +<P> +The bottle was taken from the garden, and again sent to a wine +merchant, where it was once more filled with wine, and sold to an +aeronaut, who was to make an ascent in his balloon on the following +Sunday. A great crowd assembled to witness the sight; military music +had been engaged, and many other preparations made. The bottle saw +it all from the basket in which he lay close to a live rabbit. The +rabbit was quite excited because he knew that he was to be taken up, +and let down again in a parachute. The bottle, however, knew nothing +of the "up," or the "down;" he saw only that the balloon was +swelling larger and larger till it could swell no more, and began to +rise and be restless. Then the ropes which held it were cut through, +and the aerial ship rose in the air with the aeronaut and the basket +containing the bottle and the rabbit, while the music sounded and +all the people shouted "Hurrah." +</P> + +<P> +"This is a wonderful journey up into the air," thought the bottle; +"it is a new way of sailing, and here, at least, there is no fear of +striking against anything." +</P> + +<P> +Thousands of people gazed at the balloon, and the old maid who was +in the garden saw it also; for she stood at the open window of the +garret, by which hung the cage containing the linnet, who then had +no water-glass, but was obliged to be contented with an old cup. In +the window-sill stood a myrtle in a pot, and this had been pushed a +little on one side, that it might not fall out; for the old maid was +leaning out of the window, that she might see. And she did see +distinctly the aeronaut in the balloon, and how he let down the rabbit +in the parachute, and then drank to the health of all the spectators +in the wine from the bottle. After doing this, he hurled it high +into the air. How little she thought that this was the very same +bottle which her friend had thrown aloft in her honor, on that happy +day of rejoicing, in the green wood, in her youthful days. The +bottle had no time to think, when raised so suddenly; and before it +was aware, it reached the highest point it had ever attained in its +life. Steeples and roofs lay far, far beneath it, and the people +looked as tiny as possible. Then it began to descend much more rapidly +than the rabbit had done, made somersaults in the air, and felt itself +quite young and unfettered, although it was half full of wine. But +this did not last long. What a journey it was! All the people could +see the bottle; for the sun shone upon it. The balloon was already far +away, and very soon the bottle was far away also; for it fell upon a +roof, and broke in pieces. But the pieces had got such an impetus in +them, that they could not stop themselves. They went jumping and +rolling about, till at last they fell into the court-yard, and were +broken into still smaller pieces; only the neck of the bottle +managed to keep whole, and it was broken off as clean as if it had +been cut with a diamond. +</P> + +<P> +"That would make a capital bird's glass," said one of the +cellar-men; but none of them had either a bird or a cage, and it was +not to be expected they would provide one just because they had +found a bottle neck that could be used as a glass. But the old maid +who lived in the garret had a bird, and it really might be useful to +her; so the bottle neck was provided with a cork, and taken up to her; +and, as it often happens in life, the part that had been uppermost was +now turned downwards, and it was filled with fresh water. Then they +hung it in the cage of the little bird, who sang and twittered more +merrily than ever. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, you have good reason to sing," said the bottle neck, which +was looked upon as something very remarkable, because it had been in a +balloon; nothing further was known of its history. As it hung there in +the bird's-cage, it could hear the noise and murmur of the people in +the street below, as well as the conversation of the old maid in the +room within. An old friend had just come to visit her, and they +talked, not about the bottle neck, but of the myrtle in the window. +</P> + +<P> +"No, you must not spend a dollar for your daughter's bridal +bouquet," said the old maid; "you shall have a beautiful little +bunch for a nosegay, full of blossoms. Do you see how splendidly the +tree has grown? It has been raised from only a little sprig of +myrtle that you gave me on the day after my betrothal, and from +which I was to make my own bridal bouquet when a year had passed: +but that day never came; the eyes were closed which were to have +been my light and joy through life. In the depths of the sea my +beloved sleeps sweetly; the myrtle has become an old tree, and I am +a still older woman. Before the sprig you gave me faded, I took a +spray, and planted it in the earth; and now, as you see, it has become +a large tree, and a bunch of the blossoms shall at last appear at a +wedding festival, in the bouquet of your daughter." +</P> + +<P> +There were tears in the eyes of the old maid, as she spoke of +the beloved of her youth, and of their betrothal in the wood. Many +thoughts came into her mind; but the thought never came, that quite +close to her, in that very window, was a remembrance of those olden +times,—the neck of the bottle which had, as it were shouted for joy +when the cork flew out with a bang on the betrothal day. But the +bottle neck did not recognize the old maid; he had not been +listening to what she had related, perhaps because he was thinking +so much about her. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="buckwhet"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE BUCKWHEAT +</H3> + +<P> +Very often, after a violent thunder-storm, a field of buckwheat +appears blackened and singed, as if a flame of fire had passed over +it. The country people say that this appearance is caused by +lightning; but I will tell you what the sparrow says, and the +sparrow heard it from an old willow-tree which grew near a field of +buckwheat, and is there still. It is a large venerable tree, though +a little crippled by age. The trunk has been split, and out of the +crevice grass and brambles grow. The tree bends for-ward slightly, and +the branches hang quite down to the ground just like green hair. +Corn grows in the surrounding fields, not only rye and barley, but +oats,-pretty oats that, when ripe, look like a number of little golden +canary-birds sitting on a bough. The corn has a smiling look and the +heaviest and richest ears bend their heads low as if in pious +humility. Once there was also a field of buckwheat, and this field was +exactly opposite to old willow-tree. The buckwheat did not bend like +the other grain, but erected its head proudly and stiffly on the stem. +"I am as valuable as any other corn," said he, "and I am much +handsomer; my flowers are as beautiful as the bloom of the apple +blossom, and it is a pleasure to look at us. Do you know of anything +prettier than we are, you old willow-tree?" +</P> + +<P> +And the willow-tree nodded his head, as if he would say, "Indeed I +do." +</P> + +<P> +But the buckwheat spread itself out with pride, and said, +"Stupid tree; he is so old that grass grows out of his body." +</P> + +<P> +There arose a very terrible storm. All the field-flowers folded +their leaves together, or bowed their little heads, while the storm +passed over them, but the buckwheat stood erect in its pride. "Bend +your head as we do," said the flowers. +</P> + +<P> +"I have no occasion to do so," replied the buckwheat. +</P> + +<P> +"Bend your head as we do," cried the ears of corn; "the angel of +the storm is coming; his wings spread from the sky above to the +earth beneath. He will strike you down before you can cry for mercy." +</P> + +<P> +"But I will not bend my head," said the buckwheat. +</P> + +<P> +"Close your flowers and bend your leaves," said the old +willow-tree. "Do not look at the lightning when the cloud bursts; even +men cannot do that. In a flash of lightning heaven opens, and we can +look in; but the sight will strike even human beings blind. What +then must happen to us, who only grow out of the earth, and are so +inferior to them, if we venture to do so?" +</P> + +<P> +"Inferior, indeed!" said the buckwheat. "Now I intend to have a +peep into heaven." Proudly and boldly he looked up, while the +lightning flashed across the sky as if the whole world were in flames. +</P> + +<P> +When the dreadful storm had passed, the flowers and the corn +raised their drooping heads in the pure still air, refreshed by the +rain, but the buckwheat lay like a weed in the field, burnt to +blackness by the lightning. The branches of the old willow-tree +rustled in the wind, and large water-drops fell from his green leaves +as if the old willow were weeping. Then the sparrows asked why he was +weeping, when all around him seemed so cheerful. "See," they said, +"how the sun shines, and the clouds float in the blue sky. Do you not +smell the sweet perfume from flower and bush? Wherefore do you weep, +old willow-tree?" Then the willow told them of the haughty pride of +the buckwheat, and of the punishment which followed in consequence. +</P> + +<P> +This is the story told me by the sparrows one evening when I +begged them to relate some tale to me. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="butterfl"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE BUTTERFLY +</H3> + +<P> +There was once a butterfly who wished for a bride, and, as may +be supposed, he wanted to choose a very pretty one from among the +flowers. He glanced, with a very critical eye, at all the flower-beds, +and found that the flowers were seated quietly and demurely on their +stalks, just as maidens should sit before they are engaged; but +there was a great number of them, and it appeared as if his search +would become very wearisome. The butterfly did not like to take too +much trouble, so he flew off on a visit to the daisies. The French +call this flower "Marguerite," and they say that the little daisy +can prophesy. Lovers pluck off the leaves, and as they pluck each +leaf, they ask a question about their lovers; thus: "Does he or she +love me?—Ardently? Distractedly? Very much? A little? Not at all?" +and so on. Every one speaks these words in his own language. The +butterfly came also to Marguerite to inquire, but he did not pluck off +her leaves; he pressed a kiss on each of them, for he thought there +was always more to be done by kindness. +</P> + +<P> +"Darling Marguerite daisy," he said to her, "you are the wisest +woman of all the flowers. Pray tell me which of the flowers I shall +choose for my wife. Which will be my bride? When I know, I will fly +directly to her, and propose." +</P> + +<P> +But Marguerite did not answer him; she was offended that he should +call her a woman when she was only a girl; and there is a great +difference. He asked her a second time, and then a third; but she +remained dumb, and answered not a word. Then he would wait no +longer, but flew away, to commence his wooing at once. It was in the +early spring, when the crocus and the snowdrop were in full bloom. +</P> + +<P> +"They are very pretty," thought the butterfly; "charming little +lasses; but they are rather formal." +</P> + +<P> +Then, as the young lads often do, he looked out for the elder +girls. He next flew to the anemones; these were rather sour to his +taste. The violet, a little too sentimental. The lime-blossoms, too +small, and besides, there was such a large family of them. The +apple-blossoms, though they looked like roses, bloomed to-day, but +might fall off to-morrow, with the first wind that blew; and he +thought that a marriage with one of them might last too short a +time. The pea-blossom pleased him most of all; she was white and +red, graceful and slender, and belonged to those domestic maidens +who have a pretty appearance, and can yet be useful in the kitchen. He +was just about to make her an offer, when, close by the maiden, he saw +a pod, with a withered flower hanging at the end. +</P> + +<P> +"Who is that?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"That is my sister," replied the pea-blossom. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, indeed; and you will be like her some day," said he; and he +flew away directly, for he felt quite shocked. +</P> + +<P> +A honeysuckle hung forth from the hedge, in full bloom; but +there were so many girls like her, with long faces and sallow +complexions. No; he did not like her. But which one did he like? +</P> + +<P> +Spring went by, and summer drew towards its close; autumn came; +but he had not decided. The flowers now appeared in their most +gorgeous robes, but all in vain; they had not the fresh, fragrant +air of youth. For the heart asks for fragrance, even when it is no +longer young; and there is very little of that to be found in the +dahlias or the dry chrysanthemums; therefore the butterfly turned to +the mint on the ground. You know, this plant has no blossom; but it is +sweetness all over,—full of fragrance from head to foot, with the +scent of a flower in every leaf. +</P> + +<P> +"I will take her," said the butterfly; and he made her an offer. +But the mint stood silent and stiff, as she listened to him. At last +she said,— +</P> + +<P> +"Friendship, if you please; nothing more. I am old, and you are +old, but we may live for each other just the same; as to marrying—no; +don't let us appear ridiculous at our age." +</P> + +<P> +And so it happened that the butterfly got no wife at all. He had +been too long choosing, which is always a bad plan. And the +butterfly became what is called an old bachelor. +</P> + +<P> +It was late in the autumn, with rainy and cloudy weather. The cold +wind blew over the bowed backs of the willows, so that they creaked +again. It was not the weather for flying about in summer clothes; +but fortunately the butterfly was not out in it. He had got a +shelter by chance. It was in a room heated by a stove, and as warm +as summer. He could exist here, he said, well enough. +</P> + +<P> +"But it is not enough merely to exist," said he, "I need +freedom, sunshine, and a little flower for a companion." +</P> + +<P> +Then he flew against the window-pane, and was seen and admired +by those in the room, who caught him, and stuck him on a pin, in a box +of curiosities. They could not do more for him. +</P> + +<P> +"Now I am perched on a stalk, like the flowers," said the +butterfly. "It is not very pleasant, certainly; I should imagine it is +something like being married; for here I am stuck fast." And with this +thought he consoled himself a little. +</P> + +<P> +"That seems very poor consolation," said one of the plants in +the room, that grew in a pot. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah," thought the butterfly, "one can't very well trust these +plants in pots; they have too much to do with mankind." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="cheerful"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A CHEERFUL TEMPER +</H3> + +<P> +From my father I received the best inheritance, namely a "good +temper." "And who was my father?" That has nothing to do with the good +temper; but I will say he was lively, good-looking round, and fat; +he was both in appearance and character a complete contradiction to +his profession. "And pray what was his profession and his standing +in respectable society?" Well, perhaps, if in the beginning of a +book these were written and printed, many, when they read it, would +lay the book down and say, "It seems to me a very miserable title, I +don't like things of this sort." And yet my father was not a +skin-dresser nor an executioner; on the contrary, his employment +placed him at the head of the grandest people of the town, and it +was his place by right. He had to precede the bishop, and even the +princes of the blood; he always went first,—he was a hearse driver! +There, now, the truth is out. And I will own, that when people saw +my father perched up in front of the omnibus of death, dressed in +his long, wide, black cloak, and his black-edged, three-cornered hat +on his head, and then glanced at his round, jocund face, round as +the sun, they could not think much of sorrow or the grave. That face +said, "It is nothing, it will all end better than people think." So +I have inherited from him, not only my good temper, but a habit of +going often to the churchyard, which is good, when done in a proper +humor; and then also I take in the Intelligencer, just as he used to +do. +</P> + +<P> +I am not very young, I have neither wife nor children, nor a +library, but, as I said, I read the Intelligencer, which is enough for +me; it is to me a delightful paper, and so it was to my father. It +is of great use, for it contains all that a man requires to know; +the names of the preachers at the church, and the new books which +are published; where houses, servants, clothes, and provisions may +be obtained. And then what a number of subscriptions to charities, and +what innocent verses! Persons seeking interviews and engagements, +all so plainly and naturally stated. Certainly, a man who takes in the +Intelligencer may live merrily and be buried contentedly, and by the +end of his life will have such a capital stock of paper that he can +lie on a soft bed of it, unless he prefers wood shavings for his +resting-place. The newspaper and the churchyard were always exciting +objects to me. My walks to the latter were like bathing-places to my +good humor. Every one can read the newspaper for himself, but come +with me to the churchyard while the sun shines and the trees are +green, and let us wander among the graves. Each of them is like a +closed book, with the back uppermost, on which we can read the title +of what the book contains, but nothing more. I had a great deal of +information from my father, and I have noticed a great deal myself. +I keep it in my diary, in which I write for my own use and pleasure +a history of all who lie here, and a few more beside. +</P> + +<P> +Now we are in the churchyard. Here, behind the white iron +railings, once a rose-tree grew; it is gone now, but a little bit of +evergreen, from a neighboring grave, stretches out its green tendrils, +and makes some appearance; there rests a very unhappy man, and yet +while he lived he might be said to occupy a very good position. He had +enough to live upon, and something to spare; but owing to his +refined tastes the least thing in the world annoyed him. If he went to +a theatre of an evening, instead of enjoying himself he would be quite +annoyed if the machinist had put too strong a light into one side of +the moon, or if the representations of the sky hung over the scenes +when they ought to have hung behind them; or if a palm-tree was +introduced into a scene representing the Zoological Gardens of Berlin, +or a cactus in a view of Tyrol, or a beech-tree in the north of +Norway. As if these things were of any consequence! Why did he not +leave them alone? Who would trouble themselves about such trifles? +especially at a comedy, where every one is expected to be amused. Then +sometimes the public applauded too much, or too little, to please him. +"They are like wet wood," he would say, looking round to see what sort +of people were present, "this evening; nothing fires them." Then he +would vex and fret himself because they did not laugh at the right +time, or because they laughed in the wrong places; and so he fretted +and worried himself till at last the unhappy man fretted himself +into the grave. +</P> + +<P> +Here rests a happy man, that is to say, a man of high birth and +position, which was very lucky for him, otherwise he would have been +scarcely worth notice. It is beautiful to observe how wisely nature +orders these things. He walked about in a coat embroidered all over, +and in the drawing-rooms of society looked just like one of those rich +pearl-embroidered bell-pulls, which are only made for show; and behind +them always hangs a good thick cord for use. This man also had a +stout, useful substitute behind him, who did duty for him, and +performed all his dirty work. And there are still, even now, these +serviceable cords behind other embroidered bell-ropes. It is all so +wisely arranged, that a man may well be in a good humor. +</P> + +<P> +Here rests,—ah, it makes one feel mournful to think of him!—but +here rests a man who, during sixty-seven years, was never +remembered to have said a good thing; he lived only in the hope of +having a good idea. At last he felt convinced, in his own mind, that +he really had one, and was so delighted that he positively died of joy +at the thought of having at last caught an idea. Nobody got anything +by it; indeed, no one even heard what the good thing was. Now I can +imagine that this same idea may prevent him from resting quietly in +his grave; for suppose that to produce a good effect, it is +necessary to bring out his new idea at breakfast, and that he can only +make his appearance on earth at midnight, as ghosts are believed +generally to do; why then this good idea would not suit the hour, +and the man would have to carry it down again with him into the +grave—that must be a troubled grave. +</P> + +<P> +The woman who lies here was so remarkably stingy, that during +her life she would get up in the night and mew, that her neighbors +might think she kept a cat. What a miser she was! +</P> + +<P> +Here rests a young lady, of a good family, who would always make +her voice heard in society, and when she sang "Mi manca la voce,"[1] +it was the only true thing she ever said in her life. +</P> + +<P> +Here lies a maiden of another description. She was engaged to be +married,—but, her story is one of every-day life; we will leave her +to rest in the grave. +</P> + +<P> +Here rests a widow, who, with music in her tongue, carried gall in +her heart. She used to go round among the families near, and search +out their faults, upon which she preyed with all the envy and malice +of her nature. This is a family grave. The members of this family held +so firmly together in their opinions, that they would believe in no +other. If the newspapers, or even the whole world, said of a certain +subject, "It is so-and-so;" and a little schoolboy declared he had +learned quite differently, they would take his assertion as the only +true one, because he belonged to the family. And it is well known that +if the yard-cock belonging to this family happened to crow at +midnight, they would declare it was morning, although the watchman and +all the clocks in the town were proclaiming the hour of twelve at +night. +</P> + +<P> +The great poet Goethe concludes his Faust with the words, "may +be continued;" so might our wanderings in the churchyard be continued. +I come here often, and if any of my friends, or those who are not my +friends, are too much for me, I go out and choose a plot of ground +in which to bury him or her. Then I bury them, as it were; there +they lie, dead and powerless, till they come back new and better +characters. Their lives and their deeds, looked at after my own +fashion, I write down in my diary, as every one ought to do. Then, +if any of our friends act absurdly, no one need to be vexed about +it. Let them bury the offenders out of sight, and keep their good +temper. They can also read the Intelligencer, which is a paper written +by the people, with their hands guided. When the time comes for the +history of my life, to be bound by the grave, then they will write +upon it as my epitaph— +</P> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> + "The man with a cheerful temper." +</H4> + +<P> +And this is my story. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[1] "I want a voice," or, "I have no voice." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="child_in"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE CHILD IN THE GRAVE +</H3> + +<P> +It was a very sad day, and every heart in the house felt the +deepest grief; for the youngest child, a boy of four years old, the +joy and hope of his parents, was dead. Two daughters, the elder of +whom was going to be confirmed, still remained: they were both good, +charming girls; but the lost child always seems the dearest; and +when it is youngest, and a son, it makes the trial still more heavy. +The sisters mourned as young hearts can mourn, and were especially +grieved at the sight of their parents' sorrow. The father's heart +was bowed down, but the mother sunk completely under the deep grief. +Day and night she had attended to the sick child, nursing and carrying +it in her bosom, as a part of herself. She could not realize the +fact that the child was dead, and must be laid in a coffin to rest +in the ground. She thought God could not take her darling little one +from her; and when it did happen notwithstanding her hopes and her +belief, and there could be no more doubt on the subject, she said in +her feverish agony, "God does not know it. He has hard-hearted +ministering spirits on earth, who do according to their own will, +and heed not a mother's prayers." Thus in her great grief she fell +away from her faith in God, and dark thoughts arose in her mind +respecting death and a future state. She tried to believe that man was +but dust, and that with his life all existence ended. But these doubts +were no support to her, nothing on which she could rest, and she +sunk into the fathomless depths of despair. In her darkest hours she +ceased to weep, and thought not of the young daughters who were +still left to her. The tears of her husband fell on her forehead, +but she took no notice of him; her thoughts were with her dead +child; her whole existence seemed wrapped up in the remembrances of +the little one and of every innocent word it had uttered. +</P> + +<P> +The day of the little child's funeral came. For nights +previously the mother had not slept, but in the morning twilight of +this day she sunk from weariness into a deep sleep; in the mean time +the coffin was carried into a distant room, and there nailed down, +that she might not hear the blows of the hammer. When she awoke, and +wanted to see her child, the husband, with tears, said, "We have +closed the coffin; it was necessary to do so." +</P> + +<P> +"When God is so hard to me, how can I expect men to be better?" +she said with groans and tears. +</P> + +<P> +The coffin was carried to the grave, and the disconsolate mother +sat with her young daughters. She looked at them, but she saw them +not; for her thoughts were far away from the domestic hearth. She gave +herself up to her grief, and it tossed her to and fro, as the sea +tosses a ship without compass or rudder. So the day of the funeral +passed away, and similar days followed, of dark, wearisome pain. +With tearful eyes and mournful glances, the sorrowing daughters and +the afflicted husband looked upon her who would not hear their words +of comfort; and, indeed, what comforting words could they speak, +when they were themselves so full of grief? It seemed as if she +would never again know sleep, and yet it would have been her best +friend, one who would have strengthened her body and poured peace into +her soul. They at last persuaded her to lie down, and then she would +lie as still as if she slept. +</P> + +<P> +One night, when her husband listened, as he often did, to her +breathing, he quite believed that she had at length found rest and +relief in sleep. He folded his arms and prayed, and soon sunk +himself into healthful sleep; therefore he did not notice that his +wife arose, threw on her clothes, and glided silently from the +house, to go where her thoughts constantly lingered—to the grave of +her child. She passed through the garden, to a path across a field +that led to the churchyard. No one saw her as she walked, nor did +she see any one; for her eyes were fixed upon the one object of her +wanderings. It was a lovely starlight night in the beginning of +September, and the air was mild and still. She entered the +churchyard, and stood by the little grave, which looked like a large +nosegay of fragrant flowers. She sat down, and bent her head low over +the grave, as if she could see her child through the earth that +covered him—her little boy, whose smile was so vividly before her, +and the gentle expression of whose eyes, even on his sick-bed, she +could not forget. How full of meaning that glance had been, as she +leaned over him, holding in hers the pale hand which he had no longer +strength to raise! As she had sat by his little cot, so now she sat +by his grave; and here she could weep freely, and her tears fell upon +it. +</P> + +<P> +"Thou wouldst gladly go down and be with thy child," said a +voice quite close to her,—a voice that sounded so deep and clear, +that it went to her heart. +</P> + +<P> +She looked up, and by her side stood a man wrapped in a black +cloak, with a hood closely drawn over his face; but her keen glance +could distinguish the face under the hood. It was stern, yet +awakened confidence, and the eyes beamed with youthful radiance. +</P> + +<P> +"Down to my child," she repeated; and tones of despair and +entreaty sounded in the words. +</P> + +<P> +"Darest thou to follow me?" asked the form. "I am Death." +</P> + +<P> +She bowed her head in token of assent. Then suddenly it appeared +as if all the stars were shining with the radiance of the full moon on +the many-colored flowers that decked the grave. The earth that covered +it was drawn back like a floating drapery. She sunk down, and the +spectre covered her with a black cloak; night closed around her, the +night of death. She sank deeper than the spade of the sexton could +penetrate, till the churchyard became a roof above her. Then the cloak +was removed, and she found herself in a large hall, of +wide-spreading dimensions, in which there was a subdued light, like +twilight, reigning, and in a moment her child appeared before her, +smiling, and more beautiful than ever; with a silent cry she pressed +him to her heart. A glorious strain of music sounded—now distant, now +near. Never had she listened to such tones as these; they came from +beyond a large dark curtain which separated the regions of death +from the land of eternity. +</P> + +<P> +"My sweet, darling mother," she heard the child say. It was the +well-known, beloved voice; and kiss followed kiss, in boundless +delight. Then the child pointed to the dark curtain. "There is nothing +so beautiful on earth as it is here. Mother, do you not see them +all? Oh, it is happiness indeed." +</P> + +<P> +But the mother saw nothing of what the child pointed out, only the +dark curtain. She looked with earthly eyes, and could not see as the +child saw,—he whom God has called to be with Himself. She could +hear the sounds of music, but she heard not the words, the Word in +which she was to trust. +</P> + +<P> +"I can fly now, mother," said the child; "I can fly with other +happy children into the presence of the Almighty. I would fain fly +away now; but if you weep for me as you are weeping now, you may never +see me again. And yet I would go so gladly. May I not fly away? And +you will come to me soon, will you not, dear mother?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, stay, stay!" implored the mother; "only one moment more; only +once more, that I may look upon thee, and kiss thee, and press thee to +my heart." +</P> + +<P> +Then she kissed and fondled her child. Suddenly her name was +called from above; what could it mean? her name uttered in a plaintive +voice. +</P> + +<P> +"Hearest thou?" said the child. "It is my father who calls +thee." And in a few moments deep sighs were heard, as of children +weeping. "They are my sisters," said the child. "Mother, surely you +have not forgotten them." +</P> + +<P> +And then she remembered those she left behind, and a great +terror came over her. She looked around her at the dark night. Dim +forms flitted by. She seemed to recognize some of them, as they +floated through the regions of death towards the dark curtain, where +they vanished. Would her husband and her daughters flit past? No; +their sighs and lamentations still sounded from above; and she had +nearly forgotten them, for the sake of him who was dead. +</P> + +<P> +"Mother, now the bells of heaven are ringing," said the child; +"mother, the sun is going to rise." +</P> + +<P> +An overpowering light streamed in upon her, the child had +vanished, and she was being borne upwards. All around her became cold; +she lifted her head, and saw that she was lying in the churchyard, +on the grave of her child. The Lord, in a dream, had been a guide to +her feet and a light to her spirit. She bowed her knees, and prayed +for forgiveness. She had wished to keep back a soul from its +immortal flight; she had forgotten her duties towards the living who +were left her. And when she had offered this prayer, her heart felt +lighter. The sun burst forth, over her head a little bird carolled his +song, and the church-bells sounded for the early service. Everything +around her seemed holy, and her heart was chastened. She +acknowledged the goodness of God, she acknowledged the duties she +had to perform, and eagerly she returned home. She bent over her +husband, who still slept; her warm, devoted kiss awakened him, and +words of heartfelt love fell from the lips of both. Now she was gentle +and strong as a wife can be; and from her lips came the words of +faith: "Whatever He doeth is right and best." +</P> + +<P> +Then her husband asked, "From whence hast thou all at once derived +such strength and comforting faith?" +</P> + +<P> +And as she kissed him and her children, she said, "It came from +God, through my child in the grave." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="child_prattle"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHILDREN'S PRATTLE +</H3> + +<P> +At a rich merchant's house there was a children's party, and the +children of rich and great people were there. The merchant was a +learned man, for his father had sent him to college, and he had passed +his examination. His father had been at first only a cattle dealer, +but always honest and industrious, so that he had made money, and +his son, the merchant, had managed to increase his store. Clever as he +was, he had also a heart; but there was less said of his heart than of +his money. All descriptions of people visited at the merchant's house, +well born, as well as intellectual, and some who possessed neither +of these recommendations. +</P> + +<P> +Now it was a children's party, and there was children's prattle, +which always is spoken freely from the heart. Among them was a +beautiful little girl, who was terribly proud; but this had been +taught her by the servants, and not by her parents, who were far too +sensible people. +</P> + +<P> +Her father was groom of the Chambers, which is a high office at +court, and she knew it. "I am a child of the court," she said; now she +might just as well have been a child of the cellar, for no one can +help his birth; and then she told the other children that she was +well-born, and said that no one who was not well-born could rise in +the world. It was no use to read and be industrious, for if a person +was not well-born, he could never achieve anything. "And those whose +names end with 'sen,'" said she, "can never be anything at all. We +must put our arms akimbo, and make the elbow quite pointed, so as to +keep these 'sen' people at a great distance." And then she stuck out +her pretty little arms, and made the elbows quite pointed, to show how +it was to be done; and her little arms were very pretty, for she was a +sweet-looking child. +</P> + +<P> +But the little daughter of the merchant became very angry at +this speech, for her father's name was Petersen, and she knew that the +name ended in "sen," and therefore she said as proudly as she could, +"But my papa can buy a hundred dollars' worth of bonbons, and give +them away to children. Can your papa do that?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; and my papa," said the little daughter of the editor of a +paper, "my papa can put your papa and everybody's papa into the +newspaper. All sorts of people are afraid of him, my mamma says, for +he can do as he likes with the paper." And the little maiden looked +exceedingly proud, as if she had been a real princess, who may be +expected to look proud. +</P> + +<P> +But outside the door, which stood ajar, was a poor boy, peeping +through the crack of the door. He was of such a lowly station that +he had not been allowed even to enter the room. He had been turning +the spit for the cook, and she had given him permission to stand +behind the door and peep in at the well-dressed children, who were +having such a merry time within; and for him that was a great deal. +"Oh, if I could be one of them," thought he, and then he heard what +was said about names, which was quite enough to make him more unhappy. +His parents at home had not even a penny to spare to buy a +newspaper, much less could they write in one; and worse than all, +his father's name, and of course his own, ended in "sen," and +therefore he could never turn out well, which was a very sad +thought. But after all, he had been born into the world, and the +station of life had been chosen for him, therefore he must be content. +</P> + +<P> +And this is what happened on that evening. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Many years passed, and most of the children became grown-up +persons. +</P> + +<P> +There stood a splendid house in the town, filled with all kinds of +beautiful and valuable objects. Everybody wished to see it, and people +even came in from the country round to be permitted to view the +treasures it contained. +</P> + +<P> +Which of the children whose prattle we have described, could +call this house his own? One would suppose it very easy to guess. +No, no; it is not so very easy. The house belonged to the poor +little boy who had stood on that night behind the door. He had +really become something great, although his name ended in "sen,"—for +it was Thorwaldsen. +</P> + +<P> +And the three other children—the children of good birth, of +money, and of intellectual pride,—well, they were respected and +honored in the world, for they had been well provided for by birth and +position, and they had no cause to reproach themselves with what +they had thought and spoken on that evening long ago, for, after +all, it was mere "children's prattle." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="cock"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE FARM-YARD COCK AND THE WEATHER-COCK +</H3> + +<P> +There were two cocks—one on the dung-hill, the other on the roof. +They were both arrogant, but which of the two rendered most service? +Tell us your opinion—we'll keep to ours just the same though. +</P> + +<P> +The poultry yard was divided by some planks from another yard in +which there was a dung-hill, and on the dung-hill lay and grew a large +cucumber which was conscious of being a hot-bed plant. +</P> + +<P> +"One is born to that," said the cucumber to itself. "Not all can +be born cucumbers; there must be other things, too. The hens, the +ducks, and all the animals in the next yard are creatures too. Now I +have a great opinion of the yard cock on the plank; he is certainly of +much more importance than the weather-cock who is placed so high and +can't even creak, much less crow. The latter has neither hens nor +chicks, and only thinks of himself and perspires verdigris. No, the +yard cock is really a cock! His step is a dance! His crowing is music, +and wherever he goes one knows what a trumpeter is like! If he would +only come in here! Even if he ate me up stump, stalk, and all, and I +had to dissolve in his body, it would be a happy death," said the +cucumber. +</P> + +<P> +In the night there was a terrible storm. The hens, chicks, and +even the cock sought shelter; the wind tore down the planks between +the two yards with a crash; the tiles came tumbling down, but the +weather-cock sat firm. He did not even turn round, for he could not; +and yet he was young and freshly cast, but prudent and sedate. He +had been born old, and did not at all resemble the birds flying in the +air—the sparrows, and the swallows; no, he despised them, these +mean little piping birds, these common whistlers. He admitted that the +pigeons, large and white and shining like mother-o'-pearl, looked like +a kind of weather-cock; but they were fat and stupid, and all their +thoughts and endeavours were directed to filling themselves with food, +and besides, they were tiresome things to converse with. The birds +of passage had also paid the weather-cock a visit and told him of +foreign countries, of airy caravans and robber stories that made one's +hair stand on end. All this was new and interesting; that is, for +the first time, but afterwards, as the weather-cock found out, they +repeated themselves and always told the same stories, and that's +very tedious, and there was no one with whom one could associate, +for one and all were stale and small-minded. +</P> + +<P> +"The world is no good!" he said. "Everything in it is so stupid." +</P> + +<P> +The weather-cock was puffed up, and that quality would have made +him interesting in the eyes of the cucumber if it had known it, but it +had eyes only for the yard cock, who was now in the yard with it. +</P> + +<P> +The wind had blown the planks, but the storm was over. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you think of that crowing?" said the yard cock to the +hens and chickens. "It was a little rough—it wanted elegance." +</P> + +<P> +And the hens and chickens came up on the dung-hill, and the cock +strutted about like a lord. +</P> + +<P> +"Garden plant!" he said to the cucumber, and in that one word +his deep learning showed itself, and it forgot that he was pecking +at her and eating it up. "A happy death!" +</P> + +<P> +The hens and the chickens came, for where one runs the others +run too; they clucked, and chirped, and looked at the cock, and were +proud that he was of their kind. +</P> + +<P> +"Cock-a-doodle-doo!" he crowed, "the chickens will grow up into +great hens at once, if I cry it out in the poultry-yard of the world!" +</P> + +<P> +And hens and chicks clucked and chirped, and the cock announced +a great piece of news. +</P> + +<P> +"A cock can lay an egg! And do you know what's in that egg? A +basilisk. No one can stand the sight of such a thing; people know +that, and now you know it too—you know what is in me, and what a +champion of all cocks I am!" +</P> + +<P> +With that the yard cock flapped his wings, made his comb swell up, +and crowed again; and they all shuddered, the hens and the little +chicks—but they were very proud that one of their number was such a +champion of all cocks. They clucked and chirped till the +weather-cock heard; he heard it; but he did not stir. +</P> + +<P> +"Everything is very stupid," the weather-cock said to himself. +"The yard cock lays no eggs, and I am too lazy to do so; if I liked, I +could lay a wind-egg. But the world is not worth even a wind-egg. +Everything is so stupid! I don't want to sit here any longer." +</P> + +<P> +With that the weather-cock broke off; but he did not kill the yard +cock, although the hens said that had been his intention. And what +is the moral? "Better to crow than to be puffed up and break off!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="daisy"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE DAISY +</H3> + +<P> +Now listen! In the country, close by the high road, stood a +farmhouse; perhaps you have passed by and seen it yourself. There +was a little flower garden with painted wooden palings in front of it; +close by was a ditch, on its fresh green bank grew a little daisy; the +sun shone as warmly and brightly upon it as on the magnificent +garden flowers, and therefore it thrived well. One morning it had +quite opened, and its little snow-white petals stood round the +yellow centre, like the rays of the sun. It did not mind that nobody +saw it in the grass, and that it was a poor despised flower; on the +contrary, it was quite happy, and turned towards the sun, looking +upward and listening to the song of the lark high up in the air. +</P> + +<P> +The little daisy was as happy as if the day had been a great +holiday, but it was only Monday. All the children were at school, +and while they were sitting on the forms and learning their lessons, +it sat on its thin green stalk and learnt from the sun and from its +surroundings how kind God is, and it rejoiced that the song of the +little lark expressed so sweetly and distinctly its own feelings. With +a sort of reverence the daisy looked up to the bird that could fly and +sing, but it did not feel envious. "I can see and hear," it thought; +"the sun shines upon me, and the forest kisses me. How rich I am!" +</P> + +<P> +In the garden close by grew many large and magnificent flowers, +and, strange to say, the less fragrance they had the haughtier and +prouder they were. The peonies puffed themselves up in order to be +larger than the roses, but size is not everything! The tulips had +the finest colours, and they knew it well, too, for they were standing +bolt upright like candles, that one might see them the better. In +their pride they did not see the little daisy, which looked over to +them and thought, "How rich and beautiful they are! I am sure the +pretty bird will fly down and call upon them. Thank God, that I +stand so near and can at least see all the splendour." And while the +daisy was still thinking, the lark came flying down, crying "Tweet," +but not to the peonies and tulips—no, into the grass to the poor +daisy. Its joy was so great that it did not know what to think. The +little bird hopped round it and sang, "How beautifully soft the +grass is, and what a lovely little flower with its golden heart and +silver dress is growing here." The yellow centre in the daisy did +indeed look like gold, while the little petals shone as brightly as +silver. +</P> + +<P> +How happy the daisy was! No one has the least idea. The bird +kissed it with its beak, sang to it, and then rose again up to the +blue sky. It was certainly more than a quarter of an hour before the +daisy recovered its senses. Half ashamed, yet glad at heart, it looked +over to the other flowers in the garden; surely they had witnessed its +pleasure and the honour that had been done to it; they understood +its joy. But the tulips stood more stiffly than ever, their faces were +pointed and red, because they were vexed. The peonies were sulky; it +was well that they could not speak, otherwise they would have given +the daisy a good lecture. The little flower could very well see that +they were ill at ease, and pitied them sincerely. +</P> + +<P> +Shortly after this a girl came into the garden, with a large sharp +knife. She went to the tulips and began cutting them off, one after +another. "Ugh!" sighed the daisy, "that is terrible; now they are done +for." +</P> + +<P> +The girl carried the tulips away. The daisy was glad that it was +outside, and only a small flower—it felt very grateful. At sunset +it folded its petals, and fell asleep, and dreamt all night of the sun +and the little bird. +</P> + +<P> +On the following morning, when the flower once more stretched +forth its tender petals, like little arms, towards the air and +light, the daisy recognised the bird's voice, but what it sang sounded +so sad. Indeed the poor bird had good reason to be sad, for it had +been caught and put into a cage close by the open window. It sang of +the happy days when it could merrily fly about, of fresh green corn in +the fields, and of the time when it could soar almost up to the +clouds. The poor lark was most unhappy as a prisoner in a cage. The +little daisy would have liked so much to help it, but what could be +done? Indeed, that was very difficult for such a small flower to +find out. It entirely forgot how beautiful everything around it was, +how warmly the sun was shining, and how splendidly white its own +petals were. It could only think of the poor captive bird, for which +it could do nothing. Then two little boys came out of the garden; +one of them had a large sharp knife, like that with which the girl had +cut the tulips. They came straight towards the little daisy, which +could not understand what they wanted. +</P> + +<P> +"Here is a fine piece of turf for the lark," said one of the boys, +and began to cut out a square round the daisy, so that it remained +in the centre of the grass. +</P> + +<P> +"Pluck the flower off," said the other boy, and the daisy +trembled for fear, for to be pulled off meant death to it; and it +wished so much to live, as it was to go with the square of turf into +the poor captive lark's cage. +</P> + +<P> +"No let it stay," said the other boy, "it looks so pretty." +</P> + +<P> +And so it stayed, and was brought into the lark's cage. The poor +bird was lamenting its lost liberty, and beating its wings against the +wires; and the little daisy could not speak or utter a consoling word, +much as it would have liked to do so. So the forenoon passed. +</P> + +<P> +"I have no water," said the captive lark, "they have all gone out, +and forgotten to give me anything to drink. My throat is dry and +burning. I feel as if I had fire and ice within me, and the air is +so oppressive. Alas! I must die, and part with the warm sunshine, +the fresh green meadows, and all the beauty that God has created." And +it thrust its beak into the piece of grass, to refresh itself a +little. Then it noticed the little daisy, and nodded to it, and kissed +it with its beak and said: "You must also fade in here, poor little +flower. You and the piece of grass are all they have given me in +exchange for the whole world, which I enjoyed outside. Each little +blade of grass shall be a green tree for me, each of your white petals +a fragrant flower. Alas! you only remind me of what I have lost." +</P> + +<P> +"I wish I could console the poor lark," thought the daisy. It +could not move one of its leaves, but the fragrance of its delicate +petals streamed forth, and was much stronger than such flowers usually +have: the bird noticed it, although it was dying with thirst, and in +its pain tore up the green blades of grass, but did not touch the +flower. +</P> + +<P> +The evening came, and nobody appeared to bring the poor bird a +drop of water; it opened its beautiful wings, and fluttered about in +its anguish; a faint and mournful "Tweet, tweet," was all it could +utter, then it bent its little head towards the flower, and its +heart broke for want and longing. The flower could not, as on the +previous evening, fold up its petals and sleep; it dropped +sorrowfully. The boys only came the next morning; when they saw the +dead bird, they began to cry bitterly, dug a nice grave for it, and +adorned it with flowers. The bird's body was placed in a pretty red +box; they wished to bury it with royal honours. While it was alive and +sang they forgot it, and let it suffer want in the cage; now, they +cried over it and covered it with flowers. The piece of turf, with the +little daisy in it, was thrown out on the dusty highway. Nobody +thought of the flower which had felt so much for the bird and had so +greatly desired to comfort it. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="darning"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE DARNING-NEEDLE +</H3> + +<P> +There was once a darning-needle who thought herself so fine that +she fancied she must be fit for embroidery. "Hold me tight," she would +say to the fingers, when they took her up, "don't let me fall; if +you do I shall never be found again, I am so very fine." +</P> + +<P> +"That is your opinion, is it?" said the fingers, as they seized +her round the body. +</P> + +<P> +"See, I am coming with a train," said the darning-needle, +drawing a long thread after her; but there was no knot in the thread. +</P> + +<P> +The fingers then placed the point of the needle against the cook's +slipper. There was a crack in the upper leather, which had to be +sewn together. +</P> + +<P> +"What coarse work!" said the darning-needle, "I shall never get +through. I shall break!—I am breaking!" and sure enough she broke. +"Did I not say so?" said the darning-needle, "I know I am too fine for +such work as that." +</P> + +<P> +"This needle is quite useless for sewing now," said the fingers; +but they still held it fast, and the cook dropped some sealing-wax +on the needle, and fastened her handkerchief with it in front. +</P> + +<P> +"So now I am a breast-pin," said the darning-needle; "I knew +very well I should come to honor some day: merit is sure to rise;" and +she laughed, quietly to herself, for of course no one ever saw a +darning-needle laugh. And there she sat as proudly as if she were in a +state coach, and looked all around her. "May I be allowed to ask if +you are made of gold?" she inquired of her neighbor, a pin; "you +have a very pretty appearance, and a curious head, although you are +rather small. You must take pains to grow, for it is not every one who +has sealing-wax dropped upon him;" and as she spoke, the +darning-needle drew herself up so proudly that she fell out of the +handkerchief right into the sink, which the cook was cleaning. "Now +I am going on a journey," said the needle, as she floated away with +the dirty water, "I do hope I shall not be lost." But she really was +lost in a gutter. "I am too fine for this world," said the +darning-needle, as she lay in the gutter; "but I know who I am, and +that is always some comfort." So the darning-needle kept up her +proud behavior, and did not lose her good humor. Then there floated +over her all sorts of things,—chips and straws, and pieces of old +newspaper. "See how they sail," said the darning-needle; "they do +not know what is under them. I am here, and here I shall stick. See, +there goes a chip, thinking of nothing in the world but himself—only +a chip. There's a straw going by now; how he turns and twists +about! Don't be thinking too much of yourself, or you may chance to +run against a stone. There swims a piece of newspaper; what is written +upon it has been forgotten long ago, and yet it gives itself airs. I +sit here patiently and quietly. I know who I am, so I shall not move." +</P> + +<P> +One day something lying close to the darning-needle glittered so +splendidly that she thought it was a diamond; yet it was only a +piece of broken bottle. The darning-needle spoke to it, because it +sparkled, and represented herself as a breast-pin. "I suppose you +are really a diamond?" she said. +</P> + +<P> +"Why yes, something of the kind," he replied; and so each believed +the other to be very valuable, and then they began to talk about the +world, and the conceited people in it. +</P> + +<P> +"I have been in a lady's work-box," said the darning-needle, +"and this lady was the cook. She had on each hand five fingers, and +anything so conceited as these five fingers I have never seen; and yet +they were only employed to take me out of the box and to put me back +again." +</P> + +<P> +"Were they not high-born?" +</P> + +<P> +"High-born!" said the darning-needle, "no indeed, but so +haughty. They were five brothers, all born fingers; they kept very +proudly together, though they were of different lengths. The one who +stood first in the rank was named the thumb, he was short and thick, +and had only one joint in his back, and could therefore make but one +bow; but he said that if he were cut off from a man's hand, that man +would be unfit for a soldier. Sweet-tooth, his neighbor, dipped +himself into sweet or sour, pointed to the sun and moon, and formed +the letters when the fingers wrote. Longman, the middle finger, looked +over the heads of all the others. Gold-band, the next finger, wore a +golden circle round his waist. And little Playman did nothing at +all, and seemed proud of it. They were boasters, and boasters they +will remain; and therefore I left them." +</P> + +<P> +"And now we sit here and glitter," said the piece of broken +bottle. +</P> + +<P> +At the same moment more water streamed into the gutter, so that it +overflowed, and the piece of bottle was carried away. +</P> + +<P> +"So he is promoted," said the darning-needle, "while I remain +here; I am too fine, but that is my pride, and what do I care?" And so +she sat there in her pride, and had many such thoughts as these,—"I +could almost fancy that I came from a sunbeam, I am so fine. It +seems as if the sunbeams were always looking for me under the water. +Ah! I am so fine that even my mother cannot find me. Had I still my +old eye, which was broken off, I believe I should weep; but no, I +would not do that, it is not genteel to cry." +</P> + +<P> +One day a couple of street boys were paddling in the gutter, for +they sometimes found old nails, farthings, and other treasures. It was +dirty work, but they took great pleasure in it. "Hallo!" cried one, as +he pricked himself with the darning-needle, "here's a fellow for you." +</P> + +<P> +"I am not a fellow, I am a young lady," said the darning-needle; +but no one heard her. +</P> + +<P> +The sealing-wax had come off, and she was quite black; but black +makes a person look slender, so she thought herself even finer than +before. +</P> + +<P> +"Here comes an egg-shell sailing along," said one of the boys; +so they stuck the darning-needle into the egg-shell. +</P> + +<P> +"White walls, and I am black myself," said the darning-needle, +"that looks well; now I can be seen, but I hope I shall not be +sea-sick, or I shall break again." She was not sea-sick, and she did +not break. "It is a good thing against sea-sickness to have a steel +stomach, and not to forget one's own importance. Now my sea-sickness +has past: delicate people can bear a great deal." +</P> + +<P> +Crack went the egg-shell, as a waggon passed over it. "Good +heavens, how it crushes!" said the darning-needle. "I shall be sick +now. I am breaking!" but she did not break, though the waggon went +over her as she lay at full length; and there let her lie. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="delaying"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +DELAYING IS NOT FORGETTING +</H3> + +<P> +There was an old mansion surrounded by a marshy ditch with a +drawbridge which was but seldom let down:—not all guests are good +people. Under the roof were loopholes to shoot through, and to pour +down boiling water or even molten lead on the enemy, should he +approach. Inside the house the rooms were very high and had ceilings +of beams, and that was very useful considering the great deal of smoke +which rose up from the chimney fire where the large, damp logs of wood +smouldered. On the walls hung pictures of knights in armour and +proud ladies in gorgeous dresses; the most stately of all walked about +alive. She was called Meta Mogen; she was the mistress of the house, +to her belonged the castle. +</P> + +<P> +Towards the evening robbers came; they killed three of her +people and also the yard-dog, and attached Mrs. Meta to the kennel +by the chain, while they themselves made good cheer in the hall and +drank the wine and the good ale out of her cellar. Mrs. Meta was now +on the chain, she could not even bark. +</P> + +<P> +But lo! the servant of one of the robbers secretly approached her; +they must not see it, otherwise they would have killed him. +</P> + +<P> +"Mrs. Meta Mogen," said the fellow, "do you still remember how +my father, when your husband was still alive, had to ride on the +wooden horse? You prayed for him, but it was no good, he was to ride +until his limbs were paralysed; but you stole down to him, as I +steal now to you, you yourself put little stones under each of his +feet that he might have support, nobody saw it, or they pretended +not to see it, for you were then the young gracious mistress. My +father has told me this, and I have not forgotten it! Now I will +free you, Mrs. Meta Mogen!" +</P> + +<P> +Then they pulled the horses out of the stable and rode off in rain +and wind to obtain the assistance of friends. +</P> + +<P> +"Thus the small service done to the old man was richly +rewarded!" said Meta Mogen. +</P> + +<P> +"Delaying is not forgetting," said the fellow. +</P> + +<P> +The robbers were hanged. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +There was an old mansion, it is still there; it did not belong +to Mrs. Meta Mogen, it belonged to another old noble family. +</P> + +<P> +We are now in the present time. The sun is shining on the gilt +knob of the tower, little wooded islands lie like bouquets on the +water, and wild swans are swimming round them. In the garden grow +roses; the mistress of the house is herself the finest rose petal, she +beams with joy, the joy of good deeds: however, not done in the wide +world, but in her heart, and what is preserved there is not forgotten. +Delaying is not forgetting! +</P> + +<P> +Now she goes from the mansion to a little peasant hut in the +field. Therein lives a poor paralysed girl; the window of her little +room looks northward, the sun does not enter here. The girl can only +see a small piece of field which is surrounded by a high fence. But +to-day the sun shines here—the warm, beautiful sun of God is within +the little room; it comes from the south through the new window, where +formerly the wall was. +</P> + +<P> +The paralysed girl sits in the warm sunshine and can see the +wood and the lake; the world had become so large, so beautiful, and +only through a single word from the kind mistress of the mansion. +</P> + +<P> +"The word was so easy, the deed so small," she said, "the joy it +afforded me was infinitely great and sweet!" +</P> + +<P> +And therefore she does many a good deed, thinks of all in the +humble cottages and in the rich mansions, where there are also +afflicted ones. It is concealed and hidden, but God does not forget +it. Delayed is not forgotten! +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +An old house stood there; it was in the large town with its busy +traffic. There are rooms and halls in it, but we do not enter them, we +remain in the kitchen, where it is warm and light, clean and tidy; the +copper utensils are shining, the table as if polished with beeswax; +the sink looks like a freshly scoured meatboard. All this a single +servant has done, and yet she has time to spare as if she wished to go +to church; she wears a bow on her cap, a black bow, that signifies +mourning. But she has no one to mourn, neither father nor mother, +neither relations nor sweetheart. She is a poor girl. One day she +was engaged to a poor fellow; they loved each other dearly. +</P> + +<P> +One day he came to her and said: +</P> + +<P> +"We both have nothing! The rich widow over the way in the basement +has made advances to me; she will make me rich, but you are in my +heart; what do you advise me to do?" +</P> + +<P> +"I advise you to do what you think will turn out to your +happiness," said the girl. "Be kind and good to her, but remember +this; from the hour we part we shall never see each other again." +</P> + +<P> +Years passed; then one day she met the old friend and sweetheart +in the street; he looked ill and miserable, and she could not help +asking him, "How are you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Rich and prospering in every respect," he said; "the woman is +brave and good, but you are in my heart. I have fought the battle, +it will soon be ended; we shall not see each other again now until +we meet before God!" +</P> + +<P> +A week has passed; this morning his death was in the newspaper, +that is the reason of the girl's mourning! Her old sweetheart is +dead and has left a wife and three step-children, as the paper says; +it sounds as if there is a crack, but the metal is pure. +</P> + +<P> +The black bow signifies mourning, the girl's face points to the +same in a still higher degree; it is preserved in the heart and will +never be forgotten. Delaying is not forgetting! +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +These are three stories you see, three leaves on the same stalk. +Do you wish for some more trefoil leaves? In the little heartbook +are many more of them. Delaying is not forgetting! +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="drop_wat"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE DROP OF WATER +</H3> + +<P> +Of course you know what is meant by a magnifying glass—one of +those round spectacle-glasses that make everything look a hundred +times bigger than it is? When any one takes one of these and holds +it to his eye, and looks at a drop of water from the pond yonder, he +sees above a thousand wonderful creatures that are otherwise never +discerned in the water. But there they are, and it is no delusion. +It almost looks like a great plateful of spiders jumping about in a +crowd. And how fierce they are! They tear off each other's legs and +arms and bodies, before and behind; and yet they are merry and +joyful in their way. +</P> + +<P> +Now, there once was an old man whom all the people called +Kribble-Krabble, for that was his name. He always wanted the best of +everything, and when he could not manage it otherwise, he did it by +magic. +</P> + +<P> +There he sat one day, and held his magnifying-glass to his eye, +and looked at a drop of water that had been taken out of a puddle by +the ditch. But what a kribbling and krabbling was there! All the +thousands of little creatures hopped and sprang and tugged at one +another, and ate each other up. +</P> + +<P> +"That is horrible!" said old Kribble-Krabble. "Can one not +persuade them to live in peace and quietness, so that each one may +mind his own business?" +</P> + +<P> +And he thought it over and over, but it would not do, and so he +had recourse to magic. +</P> + +<P> +"I must give them color, that they may be seen more plainly," said +he; and he poured something like a little drop of red wine into the +drop of water, but it was witches' blood from the lobes of the ear, +the finest kind, at ninepence a drop. And now the wonderful little +creatures were pink all over. It looked like a whole town of naked +wild men. +</P> + +<P> +"What have you there?" asked another old magician, who had no +name—and that was the best thing about him. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, if you can guess what it is," said Kribble-Krabble, "I'll +make you a present of it." +</P> + +<P> +But it is not so easy to find out if one does not know. +</P> + +<P> +And the magician who had no name looked through the +magnifying-glass. +</P> + +<P> +It looked really like a great town reflected there, in which all +the people were running about without clothes. It was terrible! But it +was still more terrible to see how one beat and pushed the other, +and bit and hacked, and tugged and mauled him. Those at the top were +being pulled down, and those at the bottom were struggling upwards. +</P> + +<P> +"Look! look! his leg is longer than mine! Bah! Away with it! There +is one who has a little bruise. It hurts him, but it shall hurt him +still more." +</P> + +<P> +And they hacked away at him, and they pulled at him, and ate him +up, because of the little bruise. And there was one sitting as still +as any little maiden, and wishing only for peace and quietness. But +now she had to come out, and they tugged at her, and pulled her about, +and ate her up. +</P> + +<P> +"That's funny!" said the magician. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; but what do you think it is?" said Kribble-Krabble. "Can you +find that out?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why, one can see that easily enough," said the other. "That's Paris, +or some other great city, for they're all alike. It's a great city!" +</P> + +<P> +"It's a drop of puddle water!" said Kribble-Krabble. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="dryad"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE DRYAD +</H3> + +<P> +We are travelling to Paris to the Exhibition. +</P> + +<P> +Now we are there. That was a journey, a flight without magic. We +flew on the wings of steam over the sea and across the land. +</P> + +<P> +Yes, our time is the time of fairy tales. +</P> + +<P> +We are in the midst of Paris, in a great hotel. Blooming flowers +ornament the staircases, and soft carpets the floors. +</P> + +<P> +Our room is a very cosy one, and through the open balcony door +we have a view of a great square. Spring lives down there; it has come +to Paris, and arrived at the same time with us. It has come in the +shape of a glorious young chestnut tree, with delicate leaves newly +opened. How the tree gleams, dressed in its spring garb, before all +the other trees in the place! One of these latter had been struck +out of the list of living trees. It lies on the ground with roots +exposed. On the place where it stood, the young chestnut tree is to be +planted, and to flourish. +</P> + +<P> +It still stands towering aloft on the heavy wagon which has +brought it this morning a distance of several miles to Paris. For +years it had stood there, in the protection of a mighty oak tree, +under which the old venerable clergyman had often sat, with children +listening to his stories. +</P> + +<P> +The young chestnut tree had also listened to the stories; for +the Dryad who lived in it was a child also. She remembered the time +when the tree was so little that it only projected a short way above +the grass and ferns around. These were as tall as they would ever +be; but the tree grew every year, and enjoyed the air and the +sunshine, and drank the dew and the rain. Several times it was also, +as it must be, well shaken by the wind and the rain; for that is a +part of education. +</P> + +<P> +The Dryad rejoiced in her life, and rejoiced in the sunshine, +and the singing of the birds; but she was most rejoiced at human +voices; she understood the language of men as well as she understood +that of animals. +</P> + +<P> +Butterflies, cockchafers, dragon-flies, everything that could +fly came to pay a visit. They could all talk. They told of the +village, of the vineyard, of the forest, of the old castle with its +parks and canals and ponds. Down in the water dwelt also living +beings, which, in their way, could fly under the water from one +place to another—beings with knowledge and delineation. They said +nothing at all; they were so clever! +</P> + +<P> +And the swallow, who had dived, told about the pretty little +goldfish, of the thick turbot, the fat brill, and the old carp. The +swallow could describe all that very well, but, "Self is the man," she +said. "One ought to see these things one's self." But how was the +Dryad ever to see such beings? She was obliged to be satisfied with +being able to look over the beautiful country and see the busy +industry of men. +</P> + +<P> +It was glorious; but most glorious of all when the old clergyman +sat under the oak tree and talked of France, and of the great deeds of +her sons and daughters, whose names will be mentioned with +admiration through all time. +</P> + +<P> +Then the Dryad heard of the shepherd girl, Joan of Arc, and of +Charlotte Corday; she heard about Henry the Fourth, and Napoleon the +First; she heard names whose echo sounds in the hearts of the people. +</P> + +<P> +The village children listened attentively, and the Dryad no less +attentively; she became a school-child with the rest. In the clouds +that went sailing by she saw, picture by picture, everything that +she heard talked about. The cloudy sky was her picture-book. +</P> + +<P> +She felt so happy in beautiful France, the fruitful land of +genius, with the crater of freedom. But in her heart the sting +remained that the bird, that every animal that could fly, was much +better off than she. Even the fly could look about more in the +world, far beyond the Dryad's horizon. +</P> + +<P> +France was so great and so glorious, but she could only look +across a little piece of it. The land stretched out, world-wide, +with vineyards, forests and great cities. Of all these Paris was the +most splendid and the mightiest. The birds could get there; but she, +never! +</P> + +<P> +Among the village children was a little ragged, poor girl, but a +pretty one to look at. She was always laughing or singing and +twining red flowers in her black hair. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't go to Paris!" the old clergyman warned her. "Poor child! if +you go there, it will be your ruin." +</P> + +<P> +But she went for all that. +</P> + +<P> +The Dryad often thought of her; for she had the same wish, and +felt the same longing for the great city. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The Dryad's tree was bearing its first chestnut blossoms; the +birds were twittering round them in the most beautiful sunshine. +Then a stately carriage came rolling along that way, and in it sat a +grand lady driving the spirited, light-footed horses. On the back seat +a little smart groom balanced himself. The Dryad knew the lady, and +the old clergyman knew her also. He shook his head gravely when he saw +her, and said: +</P> + +<P> +"So you went there after all, and it was your ruin, poor Mary!" +</P> + +<P> +"That one poor?" thought the Dryad. "No; she wears a dress fit for +a countess" (she had become one in the city of magic changes). "Oh, if +I were only there, amid all the splendor and pomp! They shine up +into the very clouds at night; when I look up, I can tell in what +direction the town lies." +</P> + +<P> +Towards that direction the Dryad looked every evening. She saw +in the dark night the gleaming cloud on the horizon; in the clear +moonlight nights she missed the sailing clouds, which showed her +pictures of the city and pictures from history. +</P> + +<P> +The child grasps at the picture-books, the Dryad grasped at the +cloud-world, her thought-book. A sudden, cloudless sky was for her a +blank leaf; and for several days she had only had such leaves before +her. +</P> + +<P> +It was in the warm summer-time: not a breeze moved through the +glowing hot days. Every leaf, every flower, lay as if it were +torpid, and the people seemed torpid, too. +</P> + +<P> +Then the clouds arose and covered the region round about where the +gleaming mist announced "Here lies Paris." +</P> + +<P> +The clouds piled themselves up like a chain of mountains, +hurried on through the air, and spread themselves abroad over the +whole landscape, as far as the Dryad's eye could reach. +</P> + +<P> +Like enormous blue-black blocks of rock, the clouds lay piled over +one another. Gleams of lightning shot forth from them. +</P> + +<P> +"These also are the servants of the Lord God," the old clergyman +had said. And there came a bluish dazzling flash of lightning, a +lighting up as if of the sun itself, which could burst blocks of +rock asunder. The lightning struck and split to the roots the old +venerable oak. The crown fell asunder. It seemed as if the tree were +stretching forth its arms to clasp the messengers of the light. +</P> + +<P> +No bronze cannon can sound over the land at the birth of a royal +child as the thunder sounded at the death of the old oak. The rain +streamed down; a refreshing wind was blowing; the storm had gone by, +and there was quite a holiday glow on all things. The old clergyman +spoke a few words for honorable remembrance, and a painter made a +drawing, as a lasting record of the tree. +</P> + +<P> +"Everything passes away," said the Dryad, "passes away like a +cloud, and never comes back!" +</P> + +<P> +The old clergyman, too, did not come back. The green roof of his +school was gone, and his teaching-chair had vanished. The children did +not come; but autumn came, and winter came, and then spring also. In +all this change of seasons the Dryad looked toward the region where, +at night, Paris gleamed with its bright mist far on the horizon. +</P> + +<P> +Forth from the town rushed engine after engine, train after train, +whistling and screaming at all hours in the day. In the evening, +towards midnight, at daybreak, and all the day through, came the +trains. Out of each one, and into each one, streamed people from the +country of every king. A new wonder of the world had summoned them +to Paris. +</P> + +<P> +In what form did this wonder exhibit itself? +</P> + +<P> +"A splendid blossom of art and industry," said one, "has +unfolded itself in the Champ de Mars, a gigantic sunflower, from whose +petals one can learn geography and statistics, and can become as +wise as a lord mayor, and raise one's self to the level of art and +poetry, and study the greatness and power of the various lands." +</P> + +<P> +"A fairy tale flower," said another, "a many-colored +lotus-plant, which spreads out its green leaves like a velvet carpet +over the sand. The opening spring has brought it forth, the summer +will see it in all its splendor, the autumn winds will sweep it +away, so that not a leaf, not a fragment of its root shall remain." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +In front of the Military School extends in time of peace the arena +of war—a field without a blade of grass, a piece of sandy steppe, +as if cut out of the Desert of Africa, where Fata Morgana displays her +wondrous airy castles and hanging gardens. In the Champ de Mars, +however, these were to be seen more splendid, more wonderful than in +the East, for human art had converted the airy deceptive scenes into +reality. +</P> + +<P> +"The Aladdin's Palace of the present has been built," it was said. +"Day by day, hour by hour, it unfolds more of its wonderful splendor." +</P> + +<P> +The endless halls shine in marble and many colors. "Master +Bloodless" here moves his limbs of steel and iron in the great +circular hall of machinery. Works of art in metal, in stone, in +Gobelins tapestry, announce the vitality of mind that is stirring in +every land. Halls of paintings, splendor of flowers, everything that +mind and skill can create in the workshop of the artisan, has been +placed here for show. Even the memorials of ancient days, out of old +graves and turf-moors, have appeared at this general meeting. +</P> + +<P> +The overpowering great variegated whole must be divided into small +portions, and pressed together like a plaything, if it is to be +understood and described. +</P> + +<P> +Like a great table on Christmas Eve, the Champ de Mars carried a +wonder-castle of industry and art, and around this knickknacks from +all countries had been ranged, knickknacks on a grand scale, for every +nation found some remembrance of home. +</P> + +<P> +Here stood the royal palace of Egypt, there the caravanserai of +the desert land. The Bedouin had quitted his sunny country, and +hastened by on his camel. Here stood the Russian stables, with the +fiery glorious horses of the steppe. Here stood the simple +straw-thatched dwelling of the Danish peasant, with the Dannebrog +flag, next to Gustavus Vasa's wooden house from Dalarne, with its +wonderful carvings. American huts, English cottages, French pavilions, +kiosks, theatres, churches, all strewn around, and between them the +fresh green turf, the clear springing water, blooming bushes, rare +trees, hothouses, in which one might fancy one's self transported into +the tropical forest; whole gardens brought from Damascus, and blooming +under one roof. What colors, what fragrance! +</P> + +<P> +Artificial grottoes surrounded bodies of fresh or salt water, +and gave a glimpse into the empire of the fishes; the visitor seemed +to wander at the bottom of the sea, among fishes and polypi. +</P> + +<P> +"All this," they said, "the Champ de Mars offers;" and around +the great richly-spread table the crowd of human beings moves like a +busy swarm of ants, on foot or in little carriages, for not all feet +are equal to such a fatiguing journey. +</P> + +<P> +Hither they swarm from morning till late in the evening. Steamer +after steamer, crowded with people, glides down the Seine. The +number of carriages is continually on the increase. The swarm of +people on foot and on horseback grows more and more dense. Carriages +and omnibuses are crowded, stuffed and embroidered with people. All +these tributary streams flow in one direction—towards the Exhibition. +On every entrance the flag of France is displayed; around the +world's bazaar wave the flags of all nations. There is a humming and a +murmuring from the hall of the machines; from the towers the melody of +the chimes is heard; with the tones of the organs in the churches +mingle the hoarse nasal songs from the cafes of the East. It is a +kingdom of Babel, a wonder of the world! +</P> + +<P> +In very truth it was. That's what all the reports said, and who +did not hear them? The Dryad knew everything that is told here of +the new wonder in the city of cities. +</P> + +<P> +"Fly away, ye birds! fly away to see, and then come back and +tell me," said the Dryad. +</P> + +<P> +The wish became an intense desire—became the one thought of a +life. Then, in the quiet silent night, while the full moon was +shining, the Dryad saw a spark fly out of the moon's disc, and fall +like a shooting star. And before the tree, whose leaves waved to and +fro as if they were stirred by a tempest, stood a noble, mighty, and +grand figure. In tones that were at once rich and strong, like the +trumpet of the Last Judgment bidding farewell to life and summoning to +the great account, it said: +</P> + +<P> +"Thou shalt go to the city of magic; thou shalt take root there, +and enjoy the mighty rushing breezes, the air and the sunshine +there. But the time of thy life shall then be shortened; the line of +years that awaited thee here amid the free nature shall shrink to +but a small tale. Poor Dryad! It shall be thy destruction. Thy +yearning and longing will increase, thy desire will grow more +stormy, the tree itself will be as a prison to thee, thou wilt quit +thy cell and give up thy nature to fly out and mingle among men. +Then the years that would have belonged to thee will be contracted +to half the span of the ephemeral fly, that lives but a day: one +night, and thy life-taper shall be blown out—the leaves of the tree +will wither and be blown away, to become green never again!" +</P> + +<P> +Thus the words sounded. And the light vanished away, but not the +longing of the Dryad. She trembled in the wild fever of expectation. +</P> + +<P> +"I shall go there!" she cried, rejoicingly. "Life is beginning and +swells like a cloud; nobody knows whither it is hastening." +</P> + +<P> +When the gray dawn arose and the moon turned pale and the clouds +were tinted red, the wished-for hour struck. The words of promise were +fulfilled. +</P> + +<P> +People appeared with spades and poles; they dug round the roots of +the tree, deeper and deeper, and beneath it. A wagon was brought +out, drawn by many horses, and the tree was lifted up, with its +roots and the lumps of earth that adhered to them; matting was +placed around the roots, as though the tree had its feet in a warm +bag. And now the tree was lifted on the wagon and secured with chains. +The journey began—the journey to Paris. There the tree was to grow as +an ornament to the city of French glory. +</P> + +<P> +The twigs and the leaves of the chestnut tree trembled in the +first moments of its being moved; and the Dryad trembled in the +pleasurable feeling of expectation. +</P> + +<P> +"Away! away!" it sounded in every beat of her pulse. "Away! +away" sounded in words that flew trembling along. The Dryad forgot +to bid farewell to the regions of home; she thought not of the +waving grass and of the innocent daisies, which had looked up to her +as to a great lady, a young Princess playing at being a shepherdess +out in the open air. +</P> + +<P> +The chestnut tree stood upon the wagon, and nodded his branches; +whether this meant "farewell" or "forward," the Dryad knew not; she +dreamed only of the marvellous new things, that seemed yet so +familiar, and that were to unfold themselves before her. No child's +heart rejoicing in innocence—no heart whose blood danced with +passion—had set out on the journey to Paris more full of +expectation than she. +</P> + +<P> +Her "farewell" sounded in the words "Away! away!" +</P> + +<P> +The wheels turned; the distant approached; the present vanished. +The region was changed, even as the clouds change. New vineyards, +forests, villages, villas appeared—came nearer—vanished! +</P> + +<P> +The chestnut tree moved forward, and the Dryad went with it. +Steam-engine after steam-engine rushed past, sending up into the air +vapory clouds, that formed figures which told of Paris, whence they +came, and whither the Dryad was going. +</P> + +<P> +Everything around knew it, and must know whither she was bound. It +seemed to her as if every tree she passed stretched out its leaves +towards her, with the prayer—"Take me with you! take me with you!" +for every tree enclosed a longing Dryad. +</P> + +<P> +What changes during this flight! Houses seemed to be rising out of +the earth—more and more—thicker and thicker. The chimneys rose +like flower-pots ranged side by side, or in rows one above the +other, on the roofs. Great inscriptions in letters a yard long, and +figures in various colors, covering the walls from cornice to +basement, came brightly out. +</P> + +<P> +"Where does Paris begin, and when shall I be there?" asked the +Dryad. +</P> + +<P> +The crowd of people grew; the tumult and the bustle increased; +carriage followed upon carriage; people on foot and people on +horseback were mingled together; all around were shops on shops, music +and song, crying and talking. +</P> + +<P> +The Dryad, in her tree, was now in the midst of Paris. The great +heavy wagon all at once stopped on a little square planted with trees. +The high houses around had all of them balconies to the windows, +from which the inhabitants looked down upon the young fresh chestnut +tree, which was coming to be planted here as a substitute for the dead +tree that lay stretched on the ground. +</P> + +<P> +The passers-by stood still and smiled in admiration of its pure +vernal freshness. The older trees, whose buds were still closed, +whispered with their waving branches, "Welcome! welcome!" The +fountain, throwing its jet of water high up in the air, to let it fall +again in the wide stone basin, told the wind to sprinkle the new-comer +with pearly drops, as if it wished to give him a refreshing draught to +welcome him. +</P> + +<P> +The Dryad felt how her tree was being lifted from the wagon to +be placed in the spot where it was to stand. The roots were covered +with earth, and fresh turf was laid on top. Blooming shrubs and +flowers in pots were ranged around; and thus a little garden arose +in the square. +</P> + +<P> +The tree that had been killed by the fumes of gas, the steam of +kitchens, and the bad air of the city, was put upon the wagon and +driven away. The passers-by looked on. Children and old men sat upon +the bench, and looked at the green tree. And we who are telling this +story stood upon a balcony, and looked down upon the green spring +sight that had been brought in from the fresh country air, and said, +what the old clergyman would have said, "Poor Dryad!" +</P> + +<P> +"I am happy! I am happy!" the Dryad cried, rejoicing; "and yet I +cannot realize, cannot describe what I feel. Everything is as I +fancied it, and yet as I did not fancy it." +</P> + +<P> +The houses stood there, so lofty, so close! The sunlight shone +on only one of the walls, and that one was stuck over with bills and +placards, before which the people stood still; and this made a crowd. +</P> + +<P> +Carriages rushed past, carriages rolled past; light ones and heavy +ones mingled together. Omnibuses, those over-crowded moving houses, +came rattling by; horsemen galloped among them; even carts and +wagons asserted their rights. +</P> + +<P> +The Dryad asked herself if these high-grown houses, which stood so +close around her, would not remove and take other shapes, like the +clouds in the sky, and draw aside, so that she might cast a glance +into Paris, and over it. Notre Dame must show itself, the Vendome +Column, and the wondrous building which had called and was still +calling so many strangers to the city. +</P> + +<P> +But the houses did not stir from their places. It was yet day when +the lamps were lit. The gas-jets gleamed from the shops, and shone +even into the branches of the trees, so that it was like sunlight in +summer. The stars above made their appearance, the same to which the +Dryad had looked up in her home. She thought she felt a clear pure +stream of air which went forth from them. She felt herself lifted up +and strengthened, and felt an increased power of seeing through +every leaf and through every fibre of the root. Amid all the noise and +the turmoil, the colors and the lights, she knew herself watched by +mild eyes. +</P> + +<P> +From the side streets sounded the merry notes of fiddles and +wind instruments. Up! to the dance, to the dance! to jollity and +pleasure! that was their invitation. Such music it was, that horses, +carriages, trees, and houses would have danced, if they had known how. +The charm of intoxicating delight filled the bosom of the Dryad. +</P> + +<P> +"How glorious, how splendid it is!" she cried, rejoicingly. "Now I +am in Paris!" +</P> + +<P> +The next day that dawned, the next night that fell, offered the +same spectacle, similar bustle, similar life; changing, indeed, yet +always the same; and thus it went on through the sequence of days. +</P> + +<P> +"Now I know every tree, every flower on the square here! I know +every house, every balcony, every shop in this narrow cut-off +corner, where I am denied the sight of this great mighty city. Where +are the arches of triumph, the Boulevards, the wondrous building of +the world? I see nothing of all this. As if shut up in a cage, I stand +among the high houses, which I now know by heart, with their +inscriptions, signs, and placards; all the painted confectionery, that +is no longer to my taste. Where are all the things of which I heard, +for which I longed, and for whose sake I wanted to come hither? what +have I seized, found, won? I feel the same longing I felt before; I +feel that there is a life I should wish to grasp and to experience. +I must go out into the ranks of living men, and mingle among them. I +must fly about like a bird. I must see and feel, and become human +altogether. I must enjoy the one half-day, instead of vegetating for +years in every-day sameness and weariness, in which I become ill, +and at last sink and disappear like the dew on the meadows. I will +gleam like the cloud, gleam in the sunshine of life, look out over the +whole like the cloud, and pass away like it, no one knoweth whither." +</P> + +<P> +Thus sighed the Dryad; and she prayed: +</P> + +<P> +"Take from me the years that were destined for me, and give me but +half of the life of the ephemeral fly! Deliver me from my prison! Give +me human life, human happiness, only a short span, only the one night, +if it cannot be otherwise; and then punish me for my wish to live, +my longing for life! Strike me out of thy list. Let my shell, the +fresh young tree, wither, or be hewn down, and burnt to ashes, and +scattered to all the winds!" +</P> + +<P> +A rustling went through the leaves of the tree; there was a +trembling in each of the leaves; it seemed as if fire streamed through +it. A gust of wind shook its green crown, and from the midst of that +crown a female figure came forth. In the same moment she was sitting +beneath the brightly-illuminated leafy branches, young and beautiful +to behold, like poor Mary, to whom the clergyman had said, "The +great city will be thy destruction." +</P> + +<P> +The Dryad sat at the foot of the tree—at her house door, which +she had locked, and whose key had thrown away. So young! so fair! +The stars saw her, and blinked at her. The gas-lamps saw her, and +gleamed and beckoned to her. How delicate she was, and yet how +blooming!—a child, and yet a grown maiden! Her dress was fine as +silk, green as the freshly-opened leaves on the crown of the tree; +in her nut-brown hair clung a half-opened chestnut blossom. She looked +like the Goddess of Spring. +</P> + +<P> +For one short minute she sat motionless; then she sprang up, +and, light as a gazelle, she hurried away. She ran and sprang like the +reflection from the mirror that, carried by the sunshine, is cast, now +here, now there. Could any one have followed her with his eyes, he +would have seen how marvellously her dress and her form changed, +according to the nature of the house or the place whose light happened +to shine upon her. +</P> + +<P> +She reached the Boulevards. Here a sea of light streamed forth +from the gas-flames of the lamps, the shops and the cafes. Here +stood in a row young and slender trees, each of which concealed its +Dryad, and gave shade from the artificial sunlight. The whole vast +pavement was one great festive hall, where covered tables stood +laden with refreshments of all kinds, from champagne and Chartreuse +down to coffee and beer. Here was an exhibition of flowers, statues, +books, and colored stuffs. +</P> + +<P> +From the crowd close by the lofty houses she looked forth over the +terrific stream beyond the rows of trees. Yonder heaved a stream of +rolling carriages, cabriolets, coaches, omnibuses, cabs, and among +them riding gentlemen and marching troops. To cross to the opposite +shore was an undertaking fraught with danger to life and limb. Now +lanterns shed their radiance abroad; now the gas had the upper hand; +suddenly a rocket rises! Whence? Whither? +</P> + +<P> +Here are sounds of soft Italian melodies; yonder, Spanish songs +are sung, accompanied by the rattle of the castanets; but strongest of +all, and predominating over the rest, the street-organ tunes of the +moment, the exciting "Can-Can" music, which Orpheus never knew, and +which was never heard by the "Belle Helene." Even the barrow was +tempted to hop upon one of its wheels. +</P> + +<P> +The Dryad danced, floated, flew, changing her color every +moment, like a humming-bird in the sunshine; each house, with the +world belonging to it, gave her its own reflections. +</P> + +<P> +As the glowing lotus-flower, torn from its stem, is carried away +by the stream, so the Dryad drifted along. Whenever she paused, she +was another being, so that none was able to follow her, to recognize +her, or to look more closely at her. +</P> + +<P> +Like cloud-pictures, all things flew by her. She looked into a +thousand faces, but not one was familiar to her; she saw not a +single form from home. Two bright eyes had remained in her memory. She +thought of Mary, poor Mary, the ragged merry child, who wore the red +flowers in her black hair. Mary was now here, in the world-city, +rich and magnificent as in that day when she drove past the house of +the old clergyman, and past the tree of the Dryad, the old oak. +</P> + +<P> +Here she was certainly living, in the deafening tumult. Perhaps +she had just stepped out of one of the gorgeous carriages in +waiting. Handsome equipages, with coachmen in gold braid and footmen +in silken hose, drove up. The people who alighted from them were all +richly-dressed ladies. They went through the opened gate, and ascended +the broad staircase that led to a building resting on marble +pillars. Was this building, perhaps, the wonder of the world? There +Mary would certainly be found. +</P> + +<P> +"Sancta Maria!" resounded from the interior. Incense floated +through the lofty painted and gilded aisles, where a solemn twilight +reigned. +</P> + +<P> +It was the Church of the Madeleine. +</P> + +<P> +Clad in black garments of the most costly stuffs, fashioned +according to the latest mode, the rich feminine world of Paris +glided across the shining pavement. The crests of the proprietors were +engraved on silver shields on the velvet-bound prayer-books, and +embroidered in the corners of perfumed handkerchiefs bordered with +Brussels lace. A few of the ladies were kneeling in silent prayer +before the altars; others resorted to the confessionals. +</P> + +<P> +Anxiety and fear took possession of the Dryad; she felt as if +she had entered a place where she had no right to be. Here was the +abode of silence, the hall of secrets. Everything was said in +whispers, every word was a mystery. +</P> + +<P> +The Dryad saw herself enveloped in lace and silk, like the women +of wealth and of high birth around her. Had, perhaps, every one of +them a longing in her breast, like the Dryad? +</P> + +<P> +A deep, painful sigh was heard. Did it escape from some +confessional in a distant corner, or from the bosom of the Dryad? +She drew the veil closer around her; she breathed incense, and not the +fresh air. Here was not the abiding-place of her longing. +</P> + +<P> +Away! away—a hastening without rest. The ephemeral fly knows +not repose, for her existence is flight. +</P> + +<P> +She was out again among the gas candelabra, by a magnificent +fountain. +</P> + +<P> +"All its streaming waters are not able to wash out the innocent +blood that was spilt here." +</P> + +<P> +Such were the words spoken. Strangers stood around, carrying on +a lively conversation, such as no one would have dared to carry on +in the gorgeous hall of secrets whence the Dryad came. +</P> + +<P> +A heavy stone slab was turned and then lifted. She did not +understand why. She saw an opening that led into the depths below. The +strangers stepped down, leaving the starlit air and the cheerful +life of the upper world behind them. +</P> + +<P> +"I am afraid," said one of the women who stood around, to her +husband, "I cannot venture to go down, nor do I care for the wonders +down yonder. You had better stay here with me." +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed, and travel home," said the man, "and quit Paris without +having seen the most wonderful thing of all—the real wonder of the +present period, created by the power and resolution of one man!" +</P> + +<P> +"I will not go down for all that," was the reply. +</P> + +<P> +"The wonder of the present time," it had been called. The Dryad +had heard and had understood it. The goal of her ardent longing had +thus been reached, and here was the entrance to it. Down into the +depths below Paris? She had not thought of such a thing; but now she +heard it said, and saw the strangers descending, and went after them. +</P> + +<P> +The staircase was of cast iron, spiral, broad and easy. Below +there burned a lamp, and farther down, another. They stood in a +labyrinth of endless halls and arched passages, all communicating with +each other. All the streets and lanes of Paris were to be seen here +again, as in a dim reflection. The names were painted up; and every +house above had its number down here also, and struck its roots +under the macadamized quays of a broad canal, in which the muddy water +flowed onward. Over it the fresh streaming water was carried on +arches; and quite at the top hung the tangled net of gas-pipes and +telegraph-wires. +</P> + +<P> +In the distance lamps gleamed, like a reflection from the +world-city above. Every now and then a dull rumbling was heard. This +came from the heavy wagons rolling over the entrance bridges. +</P> + +<P> +Whither had the Dryad come? +</P> + +<P> +You have, no doubt, heard of the CATACOMBS? Now they are vanishing +points in that new underground world—that wonder of the present +day—the sewers of Paris. The Dryad was there, and not in the +world's Exhibition in the Champ de Mars. +</P> + +<P> +She heard exclamations of wonder and admiration. +</P> + +<P> +"From here go forth health and life for thousands upon thousands +up yonder! Our time is the time of progress, with its manifold +blessings." +</P> + +<P> +Such was the opinion and the speech of men; but not of those +creatures who had been born here, and who built and dwelt here—of the +rats, namely, who were squeaking to one another in the clefts of a +crumbling wall, quite plainly, and in a way the Dryad understood well. +</P> + +<P> +A big old Father-Rat, with his tail bitten off, was relieving +his feelings in loud squeaks; and his family gave their tribute of +concurrence to every word he said: +</P> + +<P> +"I am disgusted with this man-mewing," he cried—"with these +outbursts of ignorance. A fine magnificence, truly! all made up of gas +and petroleum! I can't eat such stuff as that. Everything here is so +fine and bright now, that one's ashamed of one's self, without exactly +knowing why. Ah, if we only lived in the days of tallow candles! and +it does not lie so very far behind us. That was a romantic time, as +one may say." +</P> + +<P> +"What are you talking of there?" asked the Dryad. "I have never +seen you before. What is it you are talking about?" +</P> + +<P> +"Of the glorious days that are gone," said the Rat—"of the +happy time of our great-grandfathers and great-grandmothers. Then it +was a great thing to get down here. That was a rat's nest quite +different from Paris. Mother Plague used to live here then; she killed +people, but never rats. Robbers and smugglers could breathe freely +here. Here was the meeting-place of the most interesting personages, +whom one now only gets to see in the theatres where they act +melodrama, up above. The time of romance is gone even in our rat's +nest; and here also fresh air and petroleum have broken in." +</P> + +<P> +Thus squeaked the Rat; he squeaked in honor of the old time, +when Mother Plague was still alive. +</P> + +<P> +A carriage stopped, a kind of open omnibus, drawn by swift horses. +The company mounted and drove away along the Boulevard de +Sebastopol, that is to say, the underground boulevard, over which +the well-known crowded street of that name extended. +</P> + +<P> +The carriage disappeared in the twilight; the Dryad disappeared, +lifted to the cheerful freshness above. Here, and not below in the +vaulted passages, filled with heavy air, the wonder work must be found +which she was to seek in her short lifetime. It must gleam brighter +than all the gas-flames, stronger than the moon that was just +gliding past. +</P> + +<P> +Yes, certainly, she saw it yonder in the distance, it gleamed +before her, and twinkled and glittered like the evening star in the +sky. +</P> + +<P> +She saw a glittering portal open, that led to a little garden, +where all was brightness and dance music. Colored lamps surrounded +little lakes, in which were water-plants of colored metal, from +whose flowers jets of water spurted up. Beautiful weeping willows, +real products of spring, hung their fresh branches over these lakes +like a fresh, green, transparent, and yet screening veil. In the +bushes burnt an open fire, throwing a red twilight over the quiet huts +of branches, into which the sounds of music penetrated—an ear +tickling, intoxicating music, that sent the blood coursing through the +veins. +</P> + +<P> +Beautiful girls in festive attire, with pleasant smiles on their +lips, and the light spirit of youth in their hearts—"Marys," with +roses in their hair, but without carriage and postilion—flitted to +and fro in the wild dance. +</P> + +<P> +Where were the heads, where the feet? As if stung by tarantulas, +they sprang, laughed, rejoiced, as if in their ecstacies they were +going to embrace all the world. +</P> + +<P> +The Dryad felt herself torn with them into the whirl of the dance. +Round her delicate foot clung the silken boot, chestnut brown in +color, like the ribbon that floated from her hair down upon her bare +shoulders. The green silk dress waved in large folds, but did not +entirely hide the pretty foot and ankle. +</P> + +<P> +Had she come to the enchanted Garden of Armida? What was the +name of the place? +</P> + +<P> +The name glittered in gas-jets over the entrance. It was +"Mabille." +</P> + +<P> +The soaring upwards of rockets, the splashing of fountains, and +the popping of champagne corks accompanied the wild bacchantic +dance. Over the whole glided the moon through the air, clear, but with +a somewhat crooked face. +</P> + +<P> +A wild joviality seemed to rush through the Dryad, as though she +were intoxicated with opium. Her eyes spoke, her lips spoke, but the +sound of violins and of flutes drowned the sound of her voice. Her +partner whispered words to her which she did not understand, nor do we +understand them. He stretched out his arms to draw her to him, but +he embraced only the empty air. +</P> + +<P> +The Dryad had been carried away, like a rose-leaf on the wind. +Before her she saw a flame in the air, a flashing light high up on a +tower. The beacon light shone from the goal of her longing, shone from +the red lighthouse tower of the Fata Morgana of the Champ de Mars. +Thither she was carried by the wind. She circled round the tower; +the workmen thought it was a butterfly that had come too early, and +that now sank down dying. +</P> + +<P> +The moon shone bright, gas-lamps spread light around, through +the halls, over the all-world's buildings scattered about, over the +rose-hills and the rocks produced by human ingenuity, from which +waterfalls, driven by the power of "Master Bloodless," fell down. +The caverns of the sea, the depths of the lakes, the kingdom of the +fishes were opened here. Men walked as in the depths of the deep pond, +and held converse with the sea, in the diving-bell of glass. The water +pressed against the strong glass walls above and on every side. The +polypi, eel-like living creatures, had fastened themselves to the +bottom, and stretched out arms, fathoms long, for prey. A big turbot +was making himself broad in front, quietly enough, but not without +casting some suspicious glances aside. A crab clambered over him, +looking like a gigantic spider, while the shrimps wandered about in +restless haste, like the butterflies and moths of the sea. +</P> + +<P> +In the fresh water grew water-lilies, nymphaea, and reeds; the +gold-fishes stood up below in rank and file, all turning their heads +one way, that the streaming water might flow into their mouths. Fat +carps stared at the glass wall with stupid eyes. They knew that they +were here to be exhibited, and that they had made the somewhat +toilsome journey hither in tubs filled with water; and they thought +with dismay of the land-sickness from which they had suffered so +cruelly on the railway. +</P> + +<P> +They had come to see the Exhibition, and now contemplated it +from their fresh or salt-water position. They looked attentively at +the crowds of people who passed by them early and late. All the +nations in the world, they thought, had made an exhibition of their +inhabitants, for the edification of the soles and haddocks, pike and +carp, that they might give their opinions upon the different kinds. +</P> + +<P> +"Those are scaly animals" said a little slimy Whiting. "They put +on different scales two or three times a day, and they emit sounds +which they call speaking. We don't put on scales, and we make +ourselves understood in an easier way, simply by twitching the corners +of our mouths and staring with our eyes. We have a great many +advantages over mankind." +</P> + +<P> +"But they have learned swimming of us," remarked a well-educated +Codling. "You must know I come from the great sea outside. In the +hot time of the year the people yonder go into the water; first they +take off their scales, and then they swim. They have learnt from the +frogs to kick out with their hind legs, and row with their fore +paws. But they cannot hold out long. They want to be like us, but they +cannot come up to us. Poor people!" +</P> + +<P> +And the fishes stared. They thought that the whole swarm of people +whom they had seen in the bright daylight were still moving around +them; they were certain they still saw the same forms that had first +caught their attention. +</P> + +<P> +A pretty Barbel, with spotted skin, and an enviably round back, +declared that the "human fry" were still there. +</P> + +<P> +"I can see a well set-up human figure quite well," said the +Barbel. "She was called 'contumacious lady,' or something of that +kind. She had a mouth and staring eyes, like ours, and a great balloon +at the back of her head, and something like a shut-up umbrella in +front; there were a lot of dangling bits of seaweed hanging about her. +She ought to take all the rubbish off, and go as we do; then she would +look something like a respectable barbel, so far as it is possible for +a person to look like one!" +</P> + +<P> +"What's become of that one whom they drew away with the hook? He +sat on a wheel-chair, and had paper, and pen, and ink, and wrote +down everything. They called him a 'writer.'" +</P> + +<P> +"They're going about with him still," said a hoary old maid of a +Carp, who carried her misfortune about with her, so that she was quite +hoarse. In her youth she had once swallowed a hook, and still swam +patiently about with it in her gullet. "A writer? That means, as we +fishes describe it, a kind of cuttle or ink-fish among men." +</P> + +<P> +Thus the fishes gossipped in their own way; but in the +artificial water-grotto the laborers were busy; who were obliged to +take advantage of the hours of night to get their work done by +daybreak. They accompanied with blows of their hammers and with +songs the parting words of the vanishing Dryad. +</P> + +<P> +"So, at any rate, I have seen you, you pretty gold-fishes," she +said. "Yes, I know you;" and she waved her hand to them. "I have known +about you a long time in my home; the swallow told me about you. How +beautiful you are! how delicate and shining! I should like to kiss +every one of you. You others, also. I know you all; but you do not +know me." +</P> + +<P> +The fishes stared out into the twilight. They did not understand a +word of it. +</P> + +<P> +The Dryad was there no longer. She had been a long time in the +open air, where the different countries—the country of black bread, +the codfish coast, the kingdom of Russia leather, and the banks of +eau-de-Cologne, and the gardens of rose oil—exhaled their perfumes +from the world-wonder flower. +</P> + +<P> +When, after a night at a ball, we drive home half asleep and +half awake, the melodies still sound plainly in our ears; we hear +them, and could sing them all from memory. When the eye of the +murdered man closes, the picture of what it saw last clings to it +for a time like a photographic picture. +</P> + +<P> +So it was likewise here. The bustling life of day had not yet +disappeared in the quiet night. The Dryad had seen it; she knew, +thus it will be repeated tomorrow. +</P> + +<P> +The Dryad stood among the fragrant roses, and thought she knew +them, and had seen them in her own home. She also saw red +pomegranate flowers, like those that little Mary had worn in her +dark hair. +</P> + +<P> +Remembrances from the home of her childhood flashed through her +thoughts; her eyes eagerly drank in the prospect around, and +feverish restlessness chased her through the wonder-filled halls. +</P> + +<P> +A weariness that increased continually, took possession of her. +She felt a longing to rest on the soft Oriental carpets within, or +to lean against the weeping willow without by the clear water. But for +the ephemeral fly there was no rest. In a few moments the day had +completed its circle. +</P> + +<P> +Her thoughts trembled, her limbs trembled, she sank down on the +grass by the bubbling water. +</P> + +<P> +"Thou wilt ever spring living from the earth," she said +mournfully. "Moisten my tongue—bring me a refreshing draught." +</P> + +<P> +"I am no living water," was the answer. "I only spring upward when +the machine wills it." +</P> + +<P> +"Give me something of thy freshness, thou green grass," implored +the Dryad; "give me one of thy fragrant flowers." +</P> + +<P> +"We must die if we are torn from our stalks," replied the +Flowers and the Grass. +</P> + +<P> +"Give me a kiss, thou fresh stream of air—only a single +life-kiss." +</P> + +<P> +"Soon the sun will kiss the clouds red," answered the Wind; +"then thou wilt be among the dead—blown away, as all the splendor +here will be blown away before the year shall have ended. Then I can +play again with the light loose sand on the place here, and whirl +the dust over the land and through the air. All is dust!" +</P> + +<P> +The Dryad felt a terror like a woman who has cut asunder her +pulse-artery in the bath, but is filled again with the love of life, +even while she is bleeding to death. She raised herself, tottered +forward a few steps, and sank down again at the entrance to a little +church. The gate stood open, lights were burning upon the altar, and +the organ sounded. +</P> + +<P> +What music! Such notes the Dryad had never yet heard; and yet it +seemed to her as if she recognized a number of well-known voices among +them. They came deep from the heart of all creation. She thought she +heard the stories of the old clergyman, of great deeds, and of the +celebrated names, and of the gifts that the creatures of God must +bestow upon posterity, if they would live on in the world. +</P> + +<P> +The tones of the organ swelled, and in their song there sounded +these words: +</P> + +<P> +"Thy wishing and thy longing have torn thee, with thy roots, +from the place which God appointed for thee. That was thy destruction, +thou poor Dryad!" +</P> + +<P> +The notes became soft and gentle, and seemed to die away in a +wail. +</P> + +<P> +In the sky the clouds showed themselves with a ruddy gleam. The +Wind sighed: +</P> + +<P> +"Pass away, ye dead! now the sun is going to rise!" +</P> + +<P> +The first ray fell on the Dryad. Her form was irradiated in +changing colors, like the soap-bubble when it is bursting and +becomes a drop of water; like a tear that falls and passes away like a +vapor. +</P> + +<P> +Poor Dryad! Only a dew-drop, only a tear, poured upon the earth, +and vanished away! +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="dullard"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +JACK THE DULLARD +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +AN OLD STORY TOLD ANEW +</H3> + +<P> +Far in the interior of the country lay an old baronial hall, and +in it lived an old proprietor, who had two sons, which two young men +thought themselves too clever by half. They wanted to go out and woo +the King's daughter; for the maiden in question had publicly announced +that she would choose for her husband that youth who could arrange his +words best. +</P> + +<P> +So these two geniuses prepared themselves a full week for the +wooing—this was the longest time that could be granted them; but it +was enough, for they had had much preparatory information, and +everybody knows how useful that is. One of them knew the whole Latin +dictionary by heart, and three whole years of the daily paper of the +little town into the bargain, and so well, indeed, that he could +repeat it all either backwards or forwards, just as he chose. The +other was deeply read in the corporation laws, and knew by heart +what every corporation ought to know; and accordingly he thought he +could talk of affairs of state, and put his spoke in the wheel in +the council. And he knew one thing more: he could embroider suspenders +with roses and other flowers, and with arabesques, for he was a tasty, +light-fingered fellow. +</P> + +<P> +"I shall win the Princess!" So cried both of them. Therefore their +old papa gave to each of them a handsome horse. The youth who knew the +dictionary and newspaper by heart had a black horse, and he who knew +all about the corporation laws received a milk-white steed. Then +they rubbed the corners of their mouths with fish-oil, so that they +might become very smooth and glib. All the servants stood below in the +courtyard, and looked on while they mounted their horses; and just +by chance the third son came up. For the proprietor had really three +sons, though nobody counted the third with his brothers, because he +was not so learned as they, and indeed he was generally known as "Jack +the Dullard." +</P> + +<P> +"Hallo!" said Jack the Dullard, "where are you going? I declare +you have put on your Sunday clothes!" +</P> + +<P> +"We're going to the King's court, as suitors to the King's +daughter. Don't you know the announcement that has been made all +through the country?" And they told him all about it. +</P> + +<P> +"My word! I'll be in it too!" cried Jack the Dullard; and his +two brothers burst out laughing at him, and rode away. +</P> + +<P> +"Father, dear," said Jack, "I must have a horse too. I do feel +so desperately inclined to marry! If she accepts me, she accepts me; +and if she won't have me, I'll have her; but she shall be mine!" +</P> + +<P> +"Don't talk nonsense," replied the old gentleman. "You shall +have no horse from me. You don't know how to speak—you can't +arrange your words. Your brothers are very different fellows from +you." +</P> + +<P> +"Well," quoth Jack the Dullard, "If I can't have a horse, I'll +take the Billy-goat, who belongs to me, and he can carry me very +well!" +</P> + +<P> +And so said, so done. He mounted the Billy-goat, pressed his heels +into its sides, and galloped down the high street like a hurricane. +</P> + +<P> +"Hei, houp! that was a ride! Here I come!" shouted Jack the +Dullard, and he sang till his voice echoed far and wide. +</P> + +<P> +But his brothers rode slowly on in advance of him. They spoke +not a word, for they were thinking about the fine extempore speeches +they would have to bring out, and these had to be cleverly prepared +beforehand. +</P> + +<P> +"Hallo!" shouted Jack the Dullard. "Here am I! Look what I have +found on the high road." And he showed them what it was, and it was +a dead crow. +</P> + +<P> +"Dullard!" exclaimed the brothers, "what are you going to do +with that?" +</P> + +<P> +"With the crow? why, I am going to give it to the Princess." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, do so," said they; and they laughed, and rode on. +</P> + +<P> +"Hallo, here I am again! just see what I have found now: you don't +find that on the high road every day!" +</P> + +<P> +And the brothers turned round to see what he could have found now. +</P> + +<P> +"Dullard!" they cried, "that is only an old wooden shoe, and the +upper part is missing into the bargain; are you going to give that +also to the Princess?" +</P> + +<P> +"Most certainly I shall," replied Jack the Dullard; and again +the brothers laughed and rode on, and thus they got far in advance +of him; but— +</P> + +<P> +"Hallo—hop rara!" and there was Jack the Dullard again. "It is +getting better and better," he cried. "Hurrah! it is quite famous." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, what have you found this time?" inquired the brothers. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh," said Jack the Dullard, "I can hardly tell you. How glad +the Princess will be!" +</P> + +<P> +"Bah!" said the brothers; "that is nothing but clay out of the +ditch." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, certainly it is," said Jack the Dullard; "and clay of the +finest sort. See, it is so wet, it runs through one's fingers." And he +filled his pocket with the clay. +</P> + +<P> +But his brothers galloped on till the sparks flew, and +consequently they arrived a full hour earlier at the town gate than +could Jack. Now at the gate each suitor was provided with a number, +and all were placed in rows immediately on their arrival, six in +each row, and so closely packed together that they could not move +their arms; and that was a prudent arrangement, for they would +certainly have come to blows, had they been able, merely because one +of them stood before the other. +</P> + +<P> +All the inhabitants of the country round about stood in great +crowds around the castle, almost under the very windows, to see the +Princess receive the suitors; and as each stepped into the hall, his +power of speech seemed to desert him, like the light of a candle +that is blown out. Then the Princess would say, "He is of no use! Away +with him out of the hall!" +</P> + +<P> +At last the turn came for that brother who knew the dictionary +by heart; but he did not know it now; he had absolutely forgotten it +altogether; and the boards seemed to re-echo with his footsteps, and +the ceiling of the hall was made of looking-glass, so that he saw +himself standing on his head; and at the window stood three clerks and +a head clerk, and every one of them was writing down every single word +that was uttered, so that it might be printed in the newspapers, and +sold for a penny at the street corners. It was a terrible ordeal, +and they had, moreover, made such a fire in the stove, that the room +seemed quite red hot. +</P> + +<P> +"It is dreadfully hot here!" observed the first brother. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," replied the Princess, "my father is going to roast young +pullets today." +</P> + +<P> +"Baa!" there he stood like a baa-lamb. He had not been prepared +for a speech of this kind, and had not a word to say, though he +intended to say something witty. "Baa!" +</P> + +<P> +"He is of no use!" said the Princess. "Away with him!" +</P> + +<P> +And he was obliged to go accordingly. And now the second brother +came in. +</P> + +<P> +"It is terribly warm here!" he observed. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, we're roasting pullets to-day," replied the Princess. +</P> + +<P> +"What—what were you—were you pleased to ob-" stammered he—and +all the clerks wrote down, "pleased to ob-" +</P> + +<P> +"He is of no use!" said the Princess. "Away with him!" +</P> + +<P> +Now came the turn of Jack the Dullard. He rode into the hall on +his goat. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, it's most abominably hot here." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, because I'm roasting young pullets," replied the Princess. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, that's lucky!" exclaimed Jack the Dullard, "for I suppose +you'll let me roast my crow at the same time?" +</P> + +<P> +"With the greatest pleasure," said the Princess. "But have you +anything you can roast it in? for I have neither pot nor pan." +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly I have!" said Jack. "Here's a cooking utensil with a +tin handle." +</P> + +<P> +And he brought out the old wooden shoe, and put the crow into it. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, that is a famous dish!" said the Princess. "But what +shall we do for sauce?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I have that in my pocket," said Jack; "I have so much of it +that I can afford to throw some away;" and he poured some of the +clay out of his pocket. +</P> + +<P> +"I like that!" said the Princess. "You can give an answer, and you +have something to say for yourself, and so you shall be my husband. +But are you aware that every word we speak is being taken down, and +will be published in the paper to-morrow? Look yonder, and you will +see in every window three clerks and a head clerk; and the old head +clerk is the worst of all, for he can't understand anything." +</P> + +<P> +But she only said this to frighten Jack the Dullard; and the +clerks gave a great crow of delight, and each one spurted a blot out +of his pen on to the floor. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, those are the gentlemen, are they?" said Jack; "then I will +give the best I have to the head clerk." And he turned out his +pockets, and flung the wet clay full in the head clerk's face. +</P> + +<P> +"That was very cleverly done," observed the Princess. "I could not +have done that; but I shall learn in time." +</P> + +<P> +And accordingly Jack the Dullard was made a king, and received a +crown and a wife, and sat upon a throne. And this report we have wet +from the press of the head clerk and the corporation of printers—but +they are not to be depended upon in the least. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="dumbbook"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE DUMB BOOK +</H3> + +<P> +In the high-road which led through a wood stood a solitary +farm-house; the road, in fact, ran right through its yard. The sun was +shining and all the windows were open; within the house people were +very busy. In the yard, in an arbour formed by lilac bushes in full +bloom, stood an open coffin; thither they had carried a dead man, +who was to be buried that very afternoon. Nobody shed a tear over him; +his face was covered over with a white cloth, under his head they +had placed a large thick book, the leaves of which consisted of folded +sheets of blotting-paper, and withered flowers lay between them; it +was the herbarium which he had gathered in various places and was to +be buried with him, according to his own wish. Every one of the +flowers in it was connected with some chapter of his life. +</P> + +<P> +"Who is the dead man?" we asked. +</P> + +<P> +"The old student," was the reply. "They say that he was once an +energetic young man, that he studied the dead languages, and sang +and even composed many songs; then something had happened to him, +and in consequence of this he gave himself up to drink, body and mind. +When at last he had ruined his health, they brought him into the +country, where someone paid for his board and residence. He was gentle +as a child as long as the sullen mood did not come over him; but +when it came he was fierce, became as strong as a giant, and ran about +in the wood like a chased deer. But when we succeeded in bringing +him home, and prevailed upon him to open the book with the dried-up +plants in it, he would sometimes sit for a whole day looking at this +or that plant, while frequently the tears rolled over his cheeks. +God knows what was in his mind; but he requested us to put the book +into his coffin, and now he lies there. In a little while the lid will +be placed upon the coffin, and he will have sweet rest in the grave!" +</P> + +<P> +The cloth which covered his face was lifted up; the dead man's +face expressed peace—a sunbeam fell upon it. A swallow flew with +the swiftness of an arrow into the arbour, turning in its flight, +and twittered over the dead man's head. +</P> + +<P> +What a strange feeling it is—surely we all know it—to look +through old letters of our young days; a different life rises up out +of the past, as it were, with all its hopes and sorrows. How many of +the people with whom in those days we used to be on intimate terms +appear to us as if dead, and yet they are still alive—only we have +not thought of them for such a long time, whom we imagined we should +retain in our memories for ever, and share every joy and sorrow with +them. +</P> + +<P> +The withered oak leaf in the book here recalled the friend, the +schoolfellow, who was to be his friend for life. He fixed the leaf +to the student's cap in the green wood, when they vowed eternal +friendship. Where does he dwell now? The leaf is kept, but the +friendship does no longer exist. Here is a foreign hothouse plant, too +tender for the gardens of the North. It is almost as if its leaves +still smelt sweet! She gave it to him out of her own garden—a +nobleman's daughter. +</P> + +<P> +Here is a water-lily that he had plucked himself, and watered with +salt tears—a lily of sweet water. And here is a nettle: what may +its leaves tell us? What might he have thought when he plucked and +kept it? Here is a little snowdrop out of the solitary wood; here is +an evergreen from the flower-pot at the tavern; and here is a simple +blade of grass. +</P> + +<P> +The lilac bends its fresh fragrant flowers over the dead man's +head; the swallow passes again—"twit, twit;" now the men come with +hammer and nails, the lid is placed over the dead man, while his +head rests on the dumb book—so long cherished, now closed for ever! +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="elf_rose"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE ELF OF THE ROSE +</H3> + +<P> +In the midst of a garden grew a rose-tree, in full blossom, and in +the prettiest of all the roses lived an elf. He was such a little +wee thing, that no human eye could see him. Behind each leaf of the +rose he had a sleeping chamber. He was as well formed and as beautiful +as a little child could be, and had wings that reached from his +shoulders to his feet. Oh, what sweet fragrance there was in his +chambers! and how clean and beautiful were the walls! for they were +the blushing leaves of the rose. +</P> + +<P> +During the whole day he enjoyed himself in the warm sunshine, flew +from flower to flower, and danced on the wings of the flying +butterflies. Then he took it into his head to measure how many steps +he would have to go through the roads and cross-roads that are on +the leaf of a linden-tree. What we call the veins on a leaf, he took +for roads; ay, and very long roads they were for him; for before he +had half finished his task, the sun went down: he had commenced his +work too late. It became very cold, the dew fell, and the wind blew; +so he thought the best thing he could do would be to return home. He +hurried himself as much as he could; but he found the roses all closed +up, and he could not get in; not a single rose stood open. The poor +little elf was very much frightened. He had never before been out at +night, but had always slumbered secretly behind the warm +rose-leaves. Oh, this would certainly be his death. At the other end +of the garden, he knew there was an arbor, overgrown with beautiful +honey-suckles. The blossoms looked like large painted horns; and he +thought to himself, he would go and sleep in one of these till the +morning. He flew thither; but "hush!" two people were in the arbor,—a +handsome young man and a beautiful lady. They sat side by side, and +wished that they might never be obliged to part. They loved each other +much more than the best child can love its father and mother. +</P> + +<P> +"But we must part," said the young man; "your brother does not +like our engagement, and therefore he sends me so far away on +business, over mountains and seas. Farewell, my sweet bride; for so +you are to me." +</P> + +<P> +And then they kissed each other, and the girl wept, and gave him a +rose; but before she did so, she pressed a kiss upon it so fervently +that the flower opened. Then the little elf flew in, and leaned his +head on the delicate, fragrant walls. Here he could plainly hear +them say, "Farewell, farewell;" and he felt that the rose had been +placed on the young man's breast. Oh, how his heart did beat! The +little elf could not go to sleep, it thumped so loudly. The young +man took it out as he walked through the dark wood alone, and kissed +the flower so often and so violently, that the little elf was almost +crushed. He could feel through the leaf how hot the lips of the +young man were, and the rose had opened, as if from the heat of the +noonday sun. +</P> + +<P> +There came another man, who looked gloomy and wicked. He was the +wicked brother of the beautiful maiden. He drew out a sharp knife, and +while the other was kissing the rose, the wicked man stabbed him to +death; then he cut off his head, and buried it with the body in the +soft earth under the linden-tree. +</P> + +<P> +"Now he is gone, and will soon be forgotten," thought the wicked +brother; "he will never come back again. He was going on a long +journey over mountains and seas; it is easy for a man to lose his life +in such a journey. My sister will suppose he is dead; for he cannot +come back, and she will not dare to question me about him." +</P> + +<P> +Then he scattered the dry leaves over the light earth with his +foot, and went home through the darkness; but he went not alone, as he +thought,—the little elf accompanied him. He sat in a dry rolled-up +linden-leaf, which had fallen from the tree on to the wicked man's +head, as he was digging the grave. The hat was on the head now, +which made it very dark, and the little elf shuddered with fright +and indignation at the wicked deed. +</P> + +<P> +It was the dawn of morning before the wicked man reached home; +he took off his hat, and went into his sister's room. There lay the +beautiful, blooming girl, dreaming of him whom she loved so, and who +was now, she supposed, travelling far away over mountain and sea. +Her wicked brother stopped over her, and laughed hideously, as +fiends only can laugh. The dry leaf fell out of his hair upon the +counterpane; but he did not notice it, and went to get a little +sleep during the early morning hours. But the elf slipped out of the +withered leaf, placed himself by the ear of the sleeping girl, and +told her, as in a dream, of the horrid murder; described the place +where her brother had slain her lover, and buried his body; and told +her of the linden-tree, in full blossom, that stood close by. +</P> + +<P> +"That you may not think this is only a dream that I have told +you," he said, "you will find on your bed a withered leaf." +</P> + +<P> +Then she awoke, and found it there. Oh, what bitter tears she +shed! and she could not open her heart to any one for relief. +</P> + +<P> +The window stood open the whole day, and the little elf could +easily have reached the roses, or any of the flowers; but he could not +find it in his heart to leave one so afflicted. In the window stood +a bush bearing monthly roses. He seated himself in one of the flowers, +and gazed on the poor girl. Her brother often came into the room, +and would be quite cheerful, in spite of his base conduct; so she dare +not say a word to him of her heart's grief. +</P> + +<P> +As soon as night came on, she slipped out of the house, and went +into the wood, to the spot where the linden-tree stood; and after +removing the leaves from the earth, she turned it up, and there +found him who had been murdered. Oh, how she wept and prayed that +she also might die! Gladly would she have taken the body home with +her; but that was impossible; so she took up the poor head with the +closed eyes, kissed the cold lips, and shook the mould out of the +beautiful hair. +</P> + +<P> +"I will keep this," said she; and as soon as she had covered the +body again with the earth and leaves, she took the head and a little +sprig of jasmine that bloomed in the wood, near the spot where he +was buried, and carried them home with her. As soon as she was in +her room, she took the largest flower-pot she could find, and in +this she placed the head of the dead man, covered it up with earth, +and planted the twig of jasmine in it. +</P> + +<P> +"Farewell, farewell," whispered the little elf. He could not any +longer endure to witness all this agony of grief, he therefore flew +away to his own rose in the garden. But the rose was faded; only a few +dry leaves still clung to the green hedge behind it. +</P> + +<P> +"Alas! how soon all that is good and beautiful passes away," +sighed the elf. +</P> + +<P> +After a while he found another rose, which became his home, for +among its delicate fragrant leaves he could dwell in safety. Every +morning he flew to the window of the poor girl, and always found her +weeping by the flower pot. The bitter tears fell upon the jasmine +twig, and each day, as she became paler and paler, the sprig +appeared to grow greener and fresher. One shoot after another sprouted +forth, and little white buds blossomed, which the poor girl fondly +kissed. But her wicked brother scolded her, and asked her if she was +going mad. He could not imagine why she was weeping over that +flower-pot, and it annoyed him. He did not know whose closed eyes were +there, nor what red lips were fading beneath the earth. And one day +she sat and leaned her head against the flower-pot, and the little elf +of the rose found her asleep. Then he seated himself by her ear, +talked to her of that evening in the arbor, of the sweet perfume of +the rose, and the loves of the elves. Sweetly she dreamed, and while +she dreamt, her life passed away calmly and gently, and her spirit was +with him whom she loved, in heaven. And the jasmine opened its large +white bells, and spread forth its sweet fragrance; it had no other way +of showing its grief for the dead. But the wicked brother considered +the beautiful blooming plant as his own property, left to him by his +sister, and he placed it in his sleeping room, close by his bed, for +it was very lovely in appearance, and the fragrance sweet and +delightful. The little elf of the rose followed it, and flew from +flower to flower, telling each little spirit that dwelt in them the +story of the murdered young man, whose head now formed part of the +earth beneath them, and of the wicked brother and the poor sister. "We +know it," said each little spirit in the flowers, "we know it, for +have we not sprung from the eyes and lips of the murdered one. We know +it, we know it," and the flowers nodded with their heads in a peculiar +manner. The elf of the rose could not understand how they could rest +so quietly in the matter, so he flew to the bees, who were gathering +honey, and told them of the wicked brother. And the bees told it to +their queen, who commanded that the next morning they should go and +kill the murderer. But during the night, the first after the +sister's death, while the brother was sleeping in his bed, close to +where he had placed the fragrant jasmine, every flower cup opened, and +invisibly the little spirits stole out, armed with poisonous spears. +They placed themselves by the ear of the sleeper, told him dreadful +dreams and then flew across his lips, and pricked his tongue with +their poisoned spears. "Now have we revenged the dead," said they, and +flew back into the white bells of the jasmine flowers. When the +morning came, and as soon as the window was opened, the rose elf, with +the queen bee, and the whole swarm of bees, rushed in to kill him. But +he was already dead. People were standing round the bed, and saying +that the scent of the jasmine had killed him. Then the elf of the rose +understood the revenge of the flowers, and explained it to the queen +bee, and she, with the whole swarm, buzzed about the flower-pot. The +bees could not be driven away. Then a man took it up to remove it, and +one of the bees stung him in the hand, so that he let the flower-pot +fall, and it was broken to pieces. Then every one saw the whitened +skull, and they knew the dead man in the bed was a murderer. And the +queen bee hummed in the air, and sang of the revenge of the flowers, +and of the elf of the rose and said that behind the smallest leaf +dwells One, who can discover evil deeds, and punish them also. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="elfin_hi"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE ELFIN HILL +</H3> + +<P> +A few large lizards were running nimbly about in the clefts of +an old tree; they could understand one another very well, for they +spoke the lizard language. +</P> + +<P> +"What a buzzing and a rumbling there is in the elfin hill," said +one of the lizards; "I have not been able to close my eyes for two +nights on account of the noise; I might just as well have had the +toothache, for that always keeps me awake." +</P> + +<P> +"There is something going on within there," said the other lizard; +"they propped up the top of the hill with four red posts, till +cock-crow this morning, so that it is thoroughly aired, and the +elfin girls have learnt new dances; there is something." +</P> + +<P> +"I spoke about it to an earth-worm of my acquaintance," said a +third lizard; "the earth-worm had just come from the elfin hill, where +he has been groping about in the earth day and night. He has heard a +great deal; although he cannot see, poor miserable creature, yet he +understands very well how to wriggle and lurk about. They expect +friends in the elfin hill, grand company, too; but who they are the +earth-worm would not say, or, perhaps, he really did not know. All the +will-o'-the-wisps are ordered to be there to hold a torch dance, as it +is called. The silver and gold which is plentiful in the hill will +be polished and placed out in the moonlight." +</P> + +<P> +"Who can the strangers be?" asked the lizards; "what can the +matter be? Hark, what a buzzing and humming there is!" +</P> + +<P> +Just at this moment the elfin hill opened, and an old elfin +maiden, hollow behind, came tripping out; she was the old elf king's +housekeeper, and a distant relative of the family; therefore she +wore an amber heart on the middle of her forehead. Her feet moved very +fast, "trip, trip;" good gracious, how she could trip right down to +the sea to the night-raven. +</P> + +<P> +"You are invited to the elf hill for this evening," said she; "but +will you do me a great favor and undertake the invitations? you +ought to do something, for you have no housekeeping to attend to as +I have. We are going to have some very grand people, conjurors, who +have always something to say; and therefore the old elf king wishes to +make a great display." +</P> + +<P> +"Who is to be invited?" asked the raven. +</P> + +<P> +"All the world may come to the great ball, even human beings, if +they can only talk in their sleep, or do something after our +fashion. But for the feast the company must be carefully selected; +we can only admit persons of high rank; I have had a dispute myself +with the elf king, as he thought we could not admit ghosts. The merman +and his daughter must be invited first, although it may not be +agreeable to them to remain so long on dry land, but they shall have a +wet stone to sit on, or perhaps something better; so I think they will +not refuse this time. We must have all the old demons of the first +class, with tails, and the hobgoblins and imps; and then I think we +ought not to leave out the death-horse, or the grave-pig, or even +the church dwarf, although they do belong to the clergy, and are not +reckoned among our people; but that is merely their office, they are +nearly related to us, and visit us very frequently." +</P> + +<P> +"Croak," said the night-raven as he flew away with the +invitations. +</P> + +<P> +The elfin maidens we're already dancing on the elf hill, and +they danced in shawls woven from moonshine and mist, which look very +pretty to those who like such things. The large hall within the elf +hill was splendidly decorated; the floor had been washed with +moonshine, and the walls had been rubbed with magic ointment, so +that they glowed like tulip-leaves in the light. In the kitchen were +frogs roasting on the spit, and dishes preparing of snail skins, +with children's fingers in them, salad of mushroom seed, hemlock, +noses and marrow of mice, beer from the marsh woman's brewery, and +sparkling salt-petre wine from the grave cellars. These were all +substantial food. Rusty nails and church-window glass formed the +dessert. The old elf king had his gold crown polished up with powdered +slate-pencil; it was like that used by the first form, and very +difficult for an elf king to obtain. In the bedrooms, curtains were +hung up and fastened with the slime of snails; there was, indeed, a +buzzing and humming everywhere. +</P> + +<P> +"Now we must fumigate the place with burnt horse-hair and pig's +bristles, and then I think I shall have done my part," said the elf +man-servant. +</P> + +<P> +"Father, dear," said the youngest daughter, "may I now hear who +our high-born visitors are?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I suppose I must tell you now," he replied; "two of my +daughters must prepare themselves to be married, for the marriages +certainly will take place. The old goblin from Norway, who lives in +the ancient Dovre mountains, and who possesses many castles built of +rock and freestone, besides a gold mine, which is better than all, +so it is thought, is coming with his two sons, who are both seeking +a wife. The old goblin is a true-hearted, honest, old Norwegian +graybeard; cheerful and straightforward. I knew him formerly, when +we used to drink together to our good fellowship: he came here once to +fetch his wife, she is dead now. She was the daughter of the king of +the chalk-hills at Moen. They say he took his wife from chalk; I shall +be delighted to see him again. It is said that the boys are +ill-bred, forward lads, but perhaps that is not quite correct, and +they will become better as they grow older. Let me see that you know +how to teach them good manners." +</P> + +<P> +"And when are they coming?" asked the daughter. +</P> + +<P> +"That depends upon wind and weather," said the elf king; "they +travel economically. They will come when there is the chance of a +ship. I wanted them to come over to Sweden, but the old man was not +inclined to take my advice. He does not go forward with the times, and +that I do not like." +</P> + +<P> +Two will-o'-the-wisps came jumping in, one quicker than the other, +so of course, one arrived first. "They are coming! they are coming!" +he cried. +</P> + +<P> +"Give me my crown," said the elf king, "and let me stand in the +moonshine." +</P> + +<P> +The daughters drew on their shawls and bowed down to the ground. +There stood the old goblin from the Dovre mountains, with his crown of +hardened ice and polished fir-cones. Besides this, he wore a +bear-skin, and great, warm boots, while his sons went with their +throats bare and wore no braces, for they were strong men. +</P> + +<P> +"Is that a hill?" said the youngest of the boys, pointing to the +elf hill, "we should call it a hole in Norway." +</P> + +<P> +"Boys," said the old man, "a hole goes in, and a hill stands +out; have you no eyes in your heads?" +</P> + +<P> +Another thing they wondered at was, that they were able without +trouble to understand the language. +</P> + +<P> +"Take care," said the old man, "or people will think you have +not been well brought up." +</P> + +<P> +Then they entered the elfin hill, where the select and grand +company were assembled, and so quickly had they appeared that they +seemed to have been blown together. But for each guest the neatest and +pleasantest arrangement had been made. The sea folks sat at table in +great water-tubs, and they said it was just like being at home. All +behaved themselves properly excepting the two young northern goblins; +they put their legs on the table and thought they were all right. +</P> + +<P> +"Feet off the table-cloth!" said the old goblin. They obeyed, +but not immediately. Then they tickled the ladies who waited at table, +with the fir-cones, which they carried in their pockets. They took off +their boots, that they might be more at ease, and gave them to the +ladies to hold. But their father, the old goblin, was very +different; he talked pleasantly about the stately Norwegian rocks, and +told fine tales of the waterfalls which dashed over them with a +clattering noise like thunder or the sound of an organ, spreading +their white foam on every side. He told of the salmon that leaps in +the rushing waters, while the water-god plays on his golden harp. He +spoke of the bright winter nights, when the sledge bells are +ringing, and the boys run with burning torches across the smooth +ice, which is so transparent that they can see the fishes dart forward +beneath their feet. He described everything so clearly, that those who +listened could see it all; they could see the saw-mills going, the +men-servants and the maidens singing songs, and dancing a rattling +dance,—when all at once the old goblin gave the old elfin maiden a +kiss, such a tremendous kiss, and yet they were almost strangers to +each other. +</P> + +<P> +Then the elfin girls had to dance, first in the usual way, and +then with stamping feet, which they performed very well; then followed +the artistic and solo dance. Dear me, how they did throw their legs +about! No one could tell where the dance begun, or where it ended, nor +indeed which were legs and which were arms, for they were all flying +about together, like the shavings in a saw-pit! And then they spun +round so quickly that the death-horse and the grave-pig became sick +and giddy, and were obliged to leave the table. +</P> + +<P> +"Stop!" cried the old goblin, "is that the only house-keeping they +can perform? Can they do anything more than dance and throw about +their legs, and make a whirlwind?" +</P> + +<P> +"You shall soon see what they can do," said the elf king. And then +he called his youngest daughter to him. She was slender and fair as +moonlight, and the most graceful of all the sisters. She took a +white chip in her mouth, and vanished instantly; this was her +accomplishment. But the old goblin said he should not like his wife to +have such an accomplishment, and thought his boys would have the +same objection. Another daughter could make a figure like herself +follow her, as if she had a shadow, which none of the goblin folk ever +had. The third was of quite a different sort; she had learnt in the +brew-house of the moor witch how to lard elfin puddings with +glow-worms. +</P> + +<P> +"She will make a good housewife," said the old goblin, and then +saluted her with his eyes instead of drinking her health; for he did +not drink much. +</P> + +<P> +Now came the fourth daughter, with a large harp to play upon; +and when she struck the first chord, every one lifted up the left +leg (for the goblins are left-legged), and at the second chord they +found they must all do just what she wanted. +</P> + +<P> +"That is a dangerous woman," said the old goblin; and the two sons +walked out of the hill; they had had enough of it. "And what can the +next daughter do?" asked the old goblin. +</P> + +<P> +"I have learnt everything that is Norwegian," said she; "and I +will never marry, unless I can go to Norway." +</P> + +<P> +Then her youngest sister whispered to the old goblin, "That is +only because she has heard, in a Norwegian song, that when the world +shall decay, the cliffs of Norway will remain standing like monuments; +and she wants to get there, that she may be safe; for she is so afraid +of sinking." +</P> + +<P> +"Ho! ho!" said the old goblin, "is that what she means? Well, what +can the seventh and last do?" +</P> + +<P> +"The sixth comes before the seventh," said the elf king, for he +could reckon; but the sixth would not come forward. +</P> + +<P> +"I can only tell people the truth," said she. "No one cares for +me, nor troubles himself about me; and I have enough to do to sew my +grave clothes." +</P> + +<P> +So the seventh and last came; and what could she do? Why, she +could tell stories, as many as you liked, on any subject. +</P> + +<P> +"Here are my five fingers," said the old goblin; "now tell me a +story for each of them." +</P> + +<P> +So she took him by the wrist, and he laughed till he nearly +choked; and when she came to the fourth finger, there was a gold +ring on it, as if it knew there was to be a betrothal. Then the old +goblin said, "Hold fast what you have: this hand is yours; for I +will have you for a wife myself." +</P> + +<P> +Then the elfin girl said that the stories about the ring-finger +and little Peter Playman had not yet been told. +</P> + +<P> +"We will hear them in the winter," said the old goblin, "and +also about the fir and the birch-trees, and the ghost stories, and +of the tingling frost. You shall tell your tales, for no one over +there can do it so well; and we will sit in the stone rooms, where the +pine logs are burning, and drink mead out of the golden +drinking-horn of the old Norwegian kings. The water-god has given me +two; and when we sit there, Nix comes to pay us a visit, and will sing +you all the songs of the mountain shepherdesses. How merry we shall +be! The salmon will be leaping in the waterfalls, and dashing +against the stone walls, but he will not be able to come in. It is +indeed very pleasant to live in old Norway. But where are the lads?" +</P> + +<P> +Where indeed were they? Why, running about the fields, and blowing +out the will-o'-the-wisps, who so good-naturedly came and brought +their torches. +</P> + +<P> +"What tricks have you been playing?" said the old goblin. "I +have taken a mother for you, and now you may take one of your aunts." +</P> + +<P> +But the youngsters said they would rather make a speech and +drink to their good fellowship; they had no wish to marry. Then they +made speeches and drank toasts, and tipped their glasses, to show that +they were empty. Then they took off their coats, and lay down on the +table to sleep; for they made themselves quite at home. But the old +goblin danced about the room with his young bride, and exchanged boots +with her, which is more fashionable than exchanging rings. +</P> + +<P> +"The cock is crowing," said the old elfin maiden who acted as +housekeeper; "now we must close the shutters, that the sun may not +scorch us." +</P> + +<P> +Then the hill closed up. But the lizards continued to run up and +down the riven tree; and one said to the other, "Oh, how much I was +pleased with the old goblin!" +</P> + +<P> +"The boys pleased me better," said the earth-worm. But then the +poor miserable creature could not see. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="emperor"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE EMPEROR'S NEW SUIT +</H3> + +<P> +Many, many years ago lived an emperor, who thought so much of +new clothes that he spent all his money in order to obtain them; his +only ambition was to be always well dressed. He did not care for his +soldiers, and the theatre did not amuse him; the only thing, in +fact, he thought anything of was to drive out and show a new suit of +clothes. He had a coat for every hour of the day; and as one would say +of a king "He is in his cabinet," so one could say of him, "The +emperor is in his dressing-room." +</P> + +<P> +The great city where he resided was very gay; every day many +strangers from all parts of the globe arrived. One day two swindlers +came to this city; they made people believe that they were weavers, +and declared they could manufacture the finest cloth to be imagined. +Their colours and patterns, they said, were not only exceptionally +beautiful, but the clothes made of their material possessed the +wonderful quality of being invisible to any man who was unfit for +his office or unpardonably stupid. +</P> + +<P> +"That must be wonderful cloth," thought the emperor. "If I were to +be dressed in a suit made of this cloth I should be able to find out +which men in my empire were unfit for their places, and I could +distinguish the clever from the stupid. I must have this cloth woven +for me without delay." And he gave a large sum of money to the +swindlers, in advance, that they should set to work without any loss +of time. They set up two looms, and pretended to be very hard at work, +but they did nothing whatever on the looms. They asked for the +finest silk and the most precious gold-cloth; all they got they did +away with, and worked at the empty looms till late at night. +</P> + +<P> +"I should very much like to know how they are getting on with +the cloth," thought the emperor. But he felt rather uneasy when he +remembered that he who was not fit for his office could not see it. +Personally, he was of opinion that he had nothing to fear, yet he +thought it advisable to send somebody else first to see how matters +stood. Everybody in the town knew what a remarkable quality the +stuff possessed, and all were anxious to see how bad or stupid their +neighbours were. +</P> + +<P> +"I shall send my honest old minister to the weavers," thought +the emperor. "He can judge best how the stuff looks, for he is +intelligent, and nobody understands his office better than he." +</P> + +<P> +The good old minister went into the room where the swindlers sat +before the empty looms. "Heaven preserve us!" he thought, and opened +his eyes wide, "I cannot see anything at all," but he did not say +so. Both swindlers requested him to come near, and asked him if he did +not admire the exquisite pattern and the beautiful colours, pointing +to the empty looms. The poor old minister tried his very best, but +he could see nothing, for there was nothing to be seen. "Oh dear," +he thought, "can I be so stupid? I should never have thought so, and +nobody must know it! Is it possible that I am not fit for my office? +No, no, I cannot say that I was unable to see the cloth." +</P> + +<P> +"Now, have you got nothing to say?" said one of the swindlers, +while he pretended to be busily weaving. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, it is very pretty, exceedingly beautiful," replied the old +minister looking through his glasses. "What a beautiful pattern, +what brilliant colours! I shall tell the emperor that I like the cloth +very much." +</P> + +<P> +"We are pleased to hear that," said the two weavers, and described +to him the colours and explained the curious pattern. The old minister +listened attentively, that he might relate to the emperor what they +said; and so he did. +</P> + +<P> +Now the swindlers asked for more money, silk and gold-cloth, which +they required for weaving. They kept everything for themselves, and +not a thread came near the loom, but they continued, as hitherto, to +work at the empty looms. +</P> + +<P> +Soon afterwards the emperor sent another honest courtier to the +weavers to see how they were getting on, and if the cloth was nearly +finished. Like the old minister, he looked and looked but could see +nothing, as there was nothing to be seen. +</P> + +<P> +"Is it not a beautiful piece of cloth?" asked the two swindlers, +showing and explaining the magnificent pattern, which, however, did +not exist. +</P> + +<P> +"I am not stupid," said the man. "It is therefore my good +appointment for which I am not fit. It is very strange, but I must not +let any one know it;" and he praised the cloth, which he did not +see, and expressed his joy at the beautiful colours and the fine +pattern. "It is very excellent," he said to the emperor. +</P> + +<P> +Everybody in the whole town talked about the precious cloth. At +last the emperor wished to see it himself, while it was still on the +loom. With a number of courtiers, including the two who had already +been there, he went to the two clever swindlers, who now worked as +hard as they could, but without using any thread. +</P> + +<P> +"Is it not magnificent?" said the two old statesmen who had been +there before. "Your Majesty must admire the colours and the +pattern." And then they pointed to the empty looms, for they +imagined the others could see the cloth. +</P> + +<P> +"What is this?" thought the emperor, "I do not see anything at +all. That is terrible! Am I stupid? Am I unfit to be emperor? That +would indeed be the most dreadful thing that could happen to me." +</P> + +<P> +"Really," he said, turning to the weavers, "your cloth has our +most gracious approval;" and nodding contentedly he looked at the +empty loom, for he did not like to say that he saw nothing. All his +attendants, who were with him, looked and looked, and although they +could not see anything more than the others, they said, like the +emperor, "It is very beautiful." And all advised him to wear the new +magnificent clothes at a great procession which was soon to take +place. "It is magnificent, beautiful, excellent," one heard them +say; everybody seemed to be delighted, and the emperor appointed the +two swindlers "Imperial Court weavers." +</P> + +<P> +The whole night previous to the day on which the procession was to +take place, the swindlers pretended to work, and burned more than +sixteen candles. People should see that they were busy to finish the +emperor's new suit. They pretended to take the cloth from the loom, +and worked about in the air with big scissors, and sewed with +needles without thread, and said at last: "The emperor's new suit is +ready now." +</P> + +<P> +The emperor and all his barons then came to the hall; the +swindlers held their arms up as if they held something in their +hands and said: "These are the trousers!" "This is the coat!" and +"Here is the cloak!" and so on. "They are all as light as a cobweb, +and one must feel as if one had nothing at all upon the body; but that +is just the beauty of them." +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed!" said all the courtiers; but they could not see anything, +for there was nothing to be seen. +</P> + +<P> +"Does it please your Majesty now to graciously undress," said +the swindlers, "that we may assist your Majesty in putting on the +new suit before the large looking-glass?" +</P> + +<P> +The emperor undressed, and the swindlers pretended to put the +new suit upon him, one piece after another; and the emperor looked +at himself in the glass from every side. +</P> + +<P> +"How well they look! How well they fit!" said all. "What a +beautiful pattern! What fine colours! That is a magnificent suit of +clothes!" +</P> + +<P> +The master of the ceremonies announced that the bearers of the +canopy, which was to be carried in the procession, were ready. +</P> + +<P> +"I am ready," said the emperor. "Does not my suit fit me +marvellously?" Then he turned once more to the looking-glass, that +people should think he admired his garments. +</P> + +<P> +The chamberlains, who were to carry the train, stretched their +hands to the ground as if they lifted up a train, and pretended to +hold something in their hands; they did not like people to know that +they could not see anything. +</P> + +<P> +The emperor marched in the procession under the beautiful +canopy, and all who saw him in the street and out of the windows +exclaimed: "Indeed, the emperor's new suit is incomparable! What a +long train he has! How well it fits him!" Nobody wished to let +others know he saw nothing, for then he would have been unfit for +his office or too stupid. Never emperor's clothes were more admired. +</P> + +<P> +"But he has nothing on at all," said a little child at last. "Good +heavens! listen to the voice of an innocent child," said the father, +and one whispered to the other what the child had said. "But he has +nothing on at all," cried at last the whole people. That made a deep +impression upon the emperor, for it seemed to him that they were +right; but he thought to himself, "Now I must bear up to the end." And +the chamberlains walked with still greater dignity, as if they carried +the train which did not exist. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="fir_tree"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE FIR TREE +</H3> + +<P> +Far down in the forest, where the warm sun and the fresh air +made a sweet resting-place, grew a pretty little fir-tree; and yet +it was not happy, it wished so much to be tall like its companions—the +pines and firs which grew around it. The sun shone, and the soft +air fluttered its leaves, and the little peasant children passed by, +prattling merrily, but the fir-tree heeded them not. Sometimes the +children would bring a large basket of raspberries or strawberries, +wreathed on a straw, and seat themselves near the fir-tree, and say, +"Is it not a pretty little tree?" which made it feel more unhappy than +before. And yet all this while the tree grew a notch or joint taller +every year; for by the number of joints in the stem of a fir-tree we +can discover its age. Still, as it grew, it complained, "Oh! how I +wish I were as tall as the other trees, then I would spread out my +branches on every side, and my top would over-look the wide world. I +should have the birds building their nests on my boughs, and when +the wind blew, I should bow with stately dignity like my tall +companions." The tree was so discontented, that it took no pleasure in +the warm sunshine, the birds, or the rosy clouds that floated over +it morning and evening. Sometimes, in winter, when the snow lay +white and glittering on the ground, a hare would come springing along, +and jump right over the little tree; and then how mortified it would +feel! Two winters passed, and when the third arrived, the tree had +grown so tall that the hare was obliged to run round it. Yet it +remained unsatisfied, and would exclaim, "Oh, if I could but keep on +growing tall and old! There is nothing else worth caring for in the +world!" In the autumn, as usual, the wood-cutters came and cut down +several of the tallest trees, and the young fir-tree, which was now +grown to its full height, shuddered as the noble trees fell to the +earth with a crash. After the branches were lopped off, the trunks +looked so slender and bare, that they could scarcely be recognized. +Then they were placed upon wagons, and drawn by horses out of the +forest. "Where were they going? What would become of them?" The +young fir-tree wished very much to know; so in the spring, when the +swallows and the storks came, it asked, "Do you know where those trees +were taken? Did you meet them?" +</P> + +<P> +The swallows knew nothing, but the stork, after a little +reflection, nodded his head, and said, "Yes, I think I do. I met +several new ships when I flew from Egypt, and they had fine masts that +smelt like fir. I think these must have been the trees; I assure you +they were stately, very stately." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, how I wish I were tall enough to go on the sea," said the +fir-tree. "What is the sea, and what does it look like?" +</P> + +<P> +"It would take too much time to explain," said the stork, flying +quickly away. +</P> + +<P> +"Rejoice in thy youth," said the sunbeam; "rejoice in thy fresh +growth, and the young life that is in thee." +</P> + +<P> +And the wind kissed the tree, and the dew watered it with tears; +but the fir-tree regarded them not. +</P> + +<P> +Christmas-time drew near, and many young trees were cut down, some +even smaller and younger than the fir-tree who enjoyed neither rest +nor peace with longing to leave its forest home. These young trees, +which were chosen for their beauty, kept their branches, and were also +laid on wagons and drawn by horses out of the forest. +</P> + +<P> +"Where are they going?" asked the fir-tree. "They are not taller +than I am: indeed, one is much less; and why are the branches not +cut off? Where are they going?" +</P> + +<P> +"We know, we know," sang the sparrows; "we have looked in at the +windows of the houses in the town, and we know what is done with them. +They are dressed up in the most splendid manner. We have seen them +standing in the middle of a warm room, and adorned with all sorts of +beautiful things,—honey cakes, gilded apples, playthings, and many +hundreds of wax tapers." +</P> + +<P> +"And then," asked the fir-tree, trembling through all its +branches, "and then what happens?" +</P> + +<P> +"We did not see any more," said the sparrows; "but this was enough +for us." +</P> + +<P> +"I wonder whether anything so brilliant will ever happen to me," +thought the fir-tree. "It would be much better than crossing the +sea. I long for it almost with pain. Oh! when will Christmas be +here? I am now as tall and well grown as those which were taken away +last year. Oh! that I were now laid on the wagon, or standing in the +warm room, with all that brightness and splendor around me! +Something better and more beautiful is to come after, or the trees +would not be so decked out. Yes, what follows will be grander and more +splendid. What can it be? I am weary with longing. I scarcely know how +I feel." +</P> + +<P> +"Rejoice with us," said the air and the sunlight. "Enjoy thine own +bright life in the fresh air." +</P> + +<P> +But the tree would not rejoice, though it grew taller every day; +and, winter and summer, its dark-green foliage might be seen in the +forest, while passers by would say, "What a beautiful tree!" +</P> + +<P> +A short time before Christmas, the discontented fir-tree was the +first to fall. As the axe cut through the stem, and divided the +pith, the tree fell with a groan to the earth, conscious of pain and +faintness, and forgetting all its anticipations of happiness, in +sorrow at leaving its home in the forest. It knew that it should never +again see its dear old companions, the trees, nor the little bushes +and many-colored flowers that had grown by its side; perhaps not +even the birds. Neither was the journey at all pleasant. The tree +first recovered itself while being unpacked in the courtyard of a +house, with several other trees; and it heard a man say, "We only want +one, and this is the prettiest." +</P> + +<P> +Then came two servants in grand livery, and carried the fir-tree +into a large and beautiful apartment. On the walls hung pictures, +and near the great stove stood great china vases, with lions on the +lids. There were rocking chairs, silken sofas, large tables, covered +with pictures, books, and playthings, worth a great deal of money,—at +least, the children said so. Then the fir-tree was placed in a large +tub, full of sand; but green baize hung all around it, so that no +one could see it was a tub, and it stood on a very handsome carpet. +How the fir-tree trembled! "What was going to happen to him now?" Some +young ladies came, and the servants helped them to adorn the tree. +On one branch they hung little bags cut out of colored paper, and each +bag was filled with sweetmeats; from other branches hung gilded apples +and walnuts, as if they had grown there; and above, and all round, +were hundreds of red, blue, and white tapers, which were fastened on +the branches. Dolls, exactly like real babies, were placed under the +green leaves,—the tree had never seen such things before,—and at the +very top was fastened a glittering star, made of tinsel. Oh, it was +very beautiful! +</P> + +<P> +"This evening," they all exclaimed, "how bright it will be!" +"Oh, that the evening were come," thought the tree, "and the tapers +lighted! then I shall know what else is going to happen. Will the +trees of the forest come to see me? I wonder if the sparrows will peep +in at the windows as they fly? shall I grow faster here, and keep on +all these ornaments summer and winter?" But guessing was of very +little use; it made his bark ache, and this pain is as bad for a +slender fir-tree, as headache is for us. At last the tapers were +lighted, and then what a glistening blaze of light the tree presented! +It trembled so with joy in all its branches, that one of the candles +fell among the green leaves and burnt some of them. "Help! help!" +exclaimed the young ladies, but there was no danger, for they +quickly extinguished the fire. After this, the tree tried not to +tremble at all, though the fire frightened him; he was so anxious +not to hurt any of the beautiful ornaments, even while their +brilliancy dazzled him. And now the folding doors were thrown open, +and a troop of children rushed in as if they intended to upset the +tree; they were followed more silently by their elders. For a moment +the little ones stood silent with astonishment, and then they +shouted for joy, till the room rang, and they danced merrily round the +tree, while one present after another was taken from it. +</P> + +<P> +"What are they doing? What will happen next?" thought the fir. +At last the candles burnt down to the branches and were put out. +Then the children received permission to plunder the tree. +</P> + +<P> +Oh, how they rushed upon it, till the branches cracked, and had it +not been fastened with the glistening star to the ceiling, it must +have been thrown down. The children then danced about with their +pretty toys, and no one noticed the tree, except the children's maid +who came and peeped among the branches to see if an apple or a fig had +been forgotten. +</P> + +<P> +"A story, a story," cried the children, pulling a little fat man +towards the tree. +</P> + +<P> +"Now we shall be in the green shade," said the man, as he seated +himself under it, "and the tree will have the pleasure of hearing +also, but I shall only relate one story; what shall it be? +Ivede-Avede, or Humpty Dumpty, who fell down stairs, but soon got up +again, and at last married a princess." +</P> + +<P> +"Ivede-Avede," cried some. "Humpty Dumpty," cried others, and +there was a fine shouting and crying out. But the fir-tree remained +quite still, and thought to himself, "Shall I have anything to do with +all this?" but he had already amused them as much as they wished. Then +the old man told them the story of Humpty Dumpty, how he fell down +stairs, and was raised up again, and married a princess. And the +children clapped their hands and cried, "Tell another, tell +another," for they wanted to hear the story of "Ivede-Avede;" but they +only had "Humpty Dumpty." After this the fir-tree became quite +silent and thoughtful; never had the birds in the forest told such +tales as "Humpty Dumpty," who fell down stairs, and yet married a +princess. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah! yes, so it happens in the world," thought the fir-tree; he +believed it all, because it was related by such a nice man. "Ah! +well," he thought, "who knows? perhaps I may fall down too, and +marry a princess;" and he looked forward joyfully to the next evening, +expecting to be again decked out with lights and playthings, gold +and fruit. "To-morrow I will not tremble," thought he; "I will enjoy +all my splendor, and I shall hear the story of Humpty Dumpty again, +and perhaps Ivede-Avede." And the tree remained quiet and thoughtful +all night. In the morning the servants and the housemaid came in. +"Now," thought the fir, "all my splendor is going to begin again." But +they dragged him out of the room and up stairs to the garret, and +threw him on the floor, in a dark corner, where no daylight shone, and +there they left him. "What does this mean?" thought the tree, "what am +I to do here? I can hear nothing in a place like this," and he had +time enough to think, for days and nights passed and no one came +near him, and when at last somebody did come, it was only to put +away large boxes in a corner. So the tree was completely hidden from +sight as if it had never existed. "It is winter now," thought the +tree, "the ground is hard and covered with snow, so that people cannot +plant me. I shall be sheltered here, I dare say, until spring comes. +How thoughtful and kind everybody is to me! Still I wish this place +were not so dark, as well as lonely, with not even a little hare to +look at. How pleasant it was out in the forest while the snow lay on +the ground, when the hare would run by, yes, and jump over me too, +although I did not like it then. Oh! it is terrible lonely here." +</P> + +<P> +"Squeak, squeak," said a little mouse, creeping cautiously towards +the tree; then came another; and they both sniffed at the fir-tree and +crept between the branches. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, it is very cold," said the little mouse, "or else we should +be so comfortable here, shouldn't we, you old fir-tree?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am not old," said the fir-tree, "there are many who are older +than I am." +</P> + +<P> +"Where do you come from? and what do you know?" asked the mice, +who were full of curiosity. "Have you seen the most beautiful places +in the world, and can you tell us all about them? and have you been in +the storeroom, where cheeses lie on the shelf, and hams hang from +the ceiling? One can run about on tallow candles there, and go in thin +and come out fat." +</P> + +<P> +"I know nothing of that place," said the fir-tree, "but I know the +wood where the sun shines and the birds sing." And then the tree +told the little mice all about its youth. They had never heard such an +account in their lives; and after they had listened to it attentively, +they said, "What a number of things you have seen? you must have +been very happy." +</P> + +<P> +"Happy!" exclaimed the fir-tree, and then as he reflected upon +what he had been telling them, he said, "Ah, yes! after all those were +happy days." But when he went on and related all about +Christmas-eve, and how he had been dressed up with cakes and lights, +the mice said, "How happy you must have been, you old fir-tree." +</P> + +<P> +"I am not old at all," replied the tree, "I only came from the +forest this winter, I am now checked in my growth." +</P> + +<P> +"What splendid stories you can relate," said the little mice. +And the next night four other mice came with them to hear what the +tree had to tell. The more he talked the more he remembered, and +then he thought to himself, "Those were happy days, but they may +come again. Humpty Dumpty fell down stairs, and yet he married the +princess; perhaps I may marry a princess too." And the fir-tree +thought of the pretty little birch-tree that grew in the forest, which +was to him a real beautiful princess. +</P> + +<P> +"Who is Humpty Dumpty?" asked the little mice. And then the tree +related the whole story; he could remember every single word, and +the little mice was so delighted with it, that they were ready to jump +to the top of the tree. The next night a great many more mice made +their appearance, and on Sunday two rats came with them; but they +said, it was not a pretty story at all, and the little mice were +very sorry, for it made them also think less of it. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you know only one story?" asked the rats. +</P> + +<P> +"Only one," replied the fir-tree; "I heard it on the happiest +evening of my life; but I did not know I was so happy at the time." +</P> + +<P> +"We think it is a very miserable story," said the rats. "Don't you +know any story about bacon, or tallow in the storeroom." +</P> + +<P> +"No," replied the tree. +</P> + +<P> +"Many thanks to you then," replied the rats, and they marched off. +</P> + +<P> +The little mice also kept away after this, and the tree sighed, +and said, "It was very pleasant when the merry little mice sat round +me and listened while I talked. Now that is all passed too. However, I +shall consider myself happy when some one comes to take me out of this +place." But would this ever happen? Yes; one morning people came to +clear out the garret, the boxes were packed away, and the tree was +pulled out of the corner, and thrown roughly on the garret floor; then +the servant dragged it out upon the staircase where the daylight +shone. "Now life is beginning again," said the tree, rejoicing in +the sunshine and fresh air. Then it was carried down stairs and +taken into the courtyard so quickly, that it forgot to think of +itself, and could only look about, there was so much to be seen. The +court was close to a garden, where everything looked blooming. Fresh +and fragrant roses hung over the little palings. The linden-trees were +in blossom; while the swallows flew here and there, crying, "Twit, +twit, twit, my mate is coming,"—but it was not the fir-tree they +meant. "Now I shall live," cried the tree, joyfully spreading out +its branches; but alas! they were all withered and yellow, and it +lay in a corner amongst weeds and nettles. The star of gold paper +still stuck in the top of the tree and glittered in the sunshine. In +the same courtyard two of the merry children were playing who had +danced round the tree at Christmas, and had been so happy. The +youngest saw the gilded star, and ran and pulled it off the tree. +"Look what is sticking to the ugly old fir-tree," said the child, +treading on the branches till they crackled under his boots. And the +tree saw all the fresh bright flowers in the garden, and then looked +at itself, and wished it had remained in the dark corner of the +garret. It thought of its fresh youth in the forest, of the merry +Christmas evening, and of the little mice who had listened to the +story of "Humpty Dumpty." "Past! past!" said the old tree; "Oh, had +I but enjoyed myself while I could have done so! but now it is too +late." Then a lad came and chopped the tree into small pieces, till +a large bundle lay in a heap on the ground. The pieces were placed +in a fire under the copper, and they quickly blazed up brightly, while +the tree sighed so deeply that each sigh was like a pistol-shot. +Then the children, who were at play, came and seated themselves in +front of the fire, and looked at it and cried, "Pop, pop." But at each +"pop," which was a deep sigh, the tree was thinking of a summer day in +the forest; and of Christmas evening, and of "Humpty Dumpty," the only +story it had ever heard or knew how to relate, till at last it was +consumed. The boys still played in the garden, and the youngest wore +the golden star on his breast, with which the tree had been adorned +during the happiest evening of its existence. Now all was past; the +tree's life was past, and the story also,—for all stories must come +to an end at last. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="flax"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE FLAX +</H3> + +<P> +The flax was in full bloom; it had pretty little blue flowers as +delicate as the wings of a moth, or even more so. The sun shone, and +the showers watered it; and this was just as good for the flax as it +is for little children to be washed and then kissed by their mother. +They look much prettier for it, and so did the flax. +</P> + +<P> +"People say that I look exceedingly well," said the flax, "and +that I am so fine and long that I shall make a beautiful piece of +linen. How fortunate I am; it makes me so happy, it is such a pleasant +thing to know that something can be made of me. How the sunshine +cheers me, and how sweet and refreshing is the rain; my happiness +overpowers me, no one in the world can feel happier than I am." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, yes, no doubt," said the fern, "but you do not know the world +yet as well as I do, for my sticks are knotty;" and then it sung quite +mournfully— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Snip, snap, snurre,<BR> + Basse lurre:<BR> + The song is ended."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"No, it is not ended," said the flax. "To-morrow the sun will +shine, or the rain descend. I feel that I am growing. I feel that I am +in full blossom. I am the happiest of all creatures." +</P> + +<P> +Well, one day some people came, who took hold of the flax, and +pulled it up by the roots; this was painful; then it was laid in water +as if they intended to drown it; and, after that, placed near a fire +as if it were to be roasted; all this was very shocking. "We cannot +expect to be happy always," said the flax; "by experiencing evil as +well as good, we become wise." And certainly there was plenty of +evil in store for the flax. It was steeped, and roasted, and broken, +and combed; indeed, it scarcely knew what was done to it. At last it +was put on the spinning wheel. "Whirr, whirr," went the wheel so +quickly that the flax could not collect its thoughts. "Well, I have +been very happy," he thought in the midst of his pain, "and must be +contented with the past;" and contented he remained till he was put on +the loom, and became a beautiful piece of white linen. All the flax, +even to the last stalk, was used in making this one piece. "Well, this +is quite wonderful; I could not have believed that I should be so +favored by fortune. The fern was not wrong with its song of +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + 'Snip, snap, snurre,<BR> + Basse lurre.'<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +But the song is not ended yet, I am sure; it is only just beginning. +How wonderful it is, that after all I have suffered, I am made +something of at last; I am the luckiest person in the world—so strong +and fine; and how white, and what a length! This is something +different to being a mere plant and bearing flowers. Then I had no +attention, nor any water unless it rained; now, I am watched and taken +care of. Every morning the maid turns me over, and I have a +shower-bath from the watering-pot every evening. Yes, and the +clergyman's wife noticed me, and said I was the best piece of linen in +the whole parish. I cannot be happier than I am now." +</P> + +<P> +After some time, the linen was taken into the house, placed +under the scissors, and cut and torn into pieces, and then pricked +with needles. This certainly was not pleasant; but at last it was made +into twelve garments of that kind which people do not like to name, +and yet everybody should wear one. "See, now, then," said the flax; "I +have become something of importance. This was my destiny; it is +quite a blessing. Now I shall be of some use in the world, as everyone +ought to be; it is the only way to be happy. I am now divided into +twelve pieces, and yet we are all one and the same in the whole dozen. +It is most extraordinary good fortune." +</P> + +<P> +Years passed away, and at last the linen was so worn it could +scarcely hold together. "It must end very soon," said the pieces to +each other; "we would gladly have held together a little longer, but +it is useless to expect impossibilities." And at length they fell into +rags and tatters, and thought it was all over with them, for they were +torn to shreds, and steeped in water, and made into a pulp, and dried, +and they knew not what besides, till all at once they found themselves +beautiful white paper. "Well, now, this is a surprise; a glorious +surprise too," said the paper. "I am now finer than ever, and I +shall be written upon, and who can tell what fine things I may have +written upon me. This is wonderful luck!" And sure enough the most +beautiful stories and poetry were written upon it, and only once was +there a blot, which was very fortunate. Then people heard the +stories and poetry read, and it made them wiser and better; for all +that was written had a good and sensible meaning, and a great blessing +was contained in the words on this paper. +</P> + +<P> +"I never imagined anything like this," said the paper, "when I was +only a little blue flower, growing in the fields. How could I fancy +that I should ever be the means of bringing knowledge and joy to +man? I cannot understand it myself, and yet it is really so. Heaven +knows that I have done nothing myself, but what I was obliged to do +with my weak powers for my own preservation; and yet I have been +promoted from one joy and honor to another. Each time I think that the +song is ended; and then something higher and better begins for me. I +suppose now I shall be sent on my travels about the world, so that +people may read me. It cannot be otherwise; indeed, it is more than +probable; for I have more splendid thoughts written upon me, than I +had pretty flowers in olden times. I am happier than ever." +</P> + +<P> +But the paper did not go on its travels; it was sent to the +printer, and all the words written upon it were set up in type, to +make a book, or rather, many hundreds of books; for so many more +persons could derive pleasure and profit from a printed book, than +from the written paper; and if the paper had been sent around the +world, it would have been worn out before it had got half through +its journey. +</P> + +<P> +"This is certainly the wisest plan," said the written paper; "I +really did not think of that. I shall remain at home, and be held in +honor, like some old grandfather, as I really am to all these new +books. They will do some good. I could not have wandered about as they +do. Yet he who wrote all this has looked at me, as every word flowed +from his pen upon my surface. I am the most honored of all." +</P> + +<P> +Then the paper was tied in a bundle with other papers, and +thrown into a tub that stood in the washhouse. +</P> + +<P> +"After work, it is well to rest," said the paper, "and a very good +opportunity to collect one's thoughts. Now I am able, for the first +time, to think of my real condition; and to know one's self is true +progress. What will be done with me now, I wonder? No doubt I shall +still go forward. I have always progressed hitherto, as I know quite +well." +</P> + +<P> +Now it happened one day that all the paper in the tub was taken +out, and laid on the hearth to be burnt. People said it could not be +sold at the shop, to wrap up butter and sugar, because it had been +written upon. The children in the house stood round the stove; for +they wanted to see the paper burn, because it flamed up so prettily, +and afterwards, among the ashes, so many red sparks could be seen +running one after the other, here and there, as quick as the wind. +They called it seeing the children come out of school, and the last +spark was the schoolmaster. They often thought the last spark had +come; and one would cry, "There goes the schoolmaster;" but the next +moment another spark would appear, shining so beautifully. How they +would like to know where the sparks all went to! Perhaps we shall find +out some day, but we don't know now. +</P> + +<P> +The whole bundle of paper had been placed on the fire, and was +soon alight. "Ugh," cried the paper, as it burst into a bright +flame; "ugh." It was certainly not very pleasant to be burning; but +when the whole was wrapped in flames, the flames mounted up into the +air, higher than the flax had ever been able to raise its little +blue flower, and they glistened as the white linen never could have +glistened. All the written letters became quite red in a moment, and +all the words and thoughts turned to fire. +</P> + +<P> +"Now I am mounting straight up to the sun," said a voice in the +flames; and it was as if a thousand voices echoed the words; and the +flames darted up through the chimney, and went out at the top. Then +a number of tiny beings, as many in number as the flowers on the +flax had been, and invisible to mortal eyes, floated above them. +They were even lighter and more delicate than the flowers from which +they were born; and as the flames were extinguished, and nothing +remained of the paper but black ashes, these little beings danced upon +it; and whenever they touched it, bright red sparks appeared. +</P> + +<P> +"The children are all out of school, and the schoolmaster was +the last of all," said the children. It was good fun, and they sang +over the dead ashes,— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Snip, snap, snurre,<BR> + Basse lure:<BR> + The song is ended."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +But the little invisible beings said, "The song is never ended; +the most beautiful is yet to come." +</P> + +<P> +But the children could neither hear nor understand this, nor +should they; for children must not know everything. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="flying_t"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE FLYING TRUNK +</H3> + +<P> +There was once a merchant who was so rich that he could have paved +the whole street with gold, and would even then have had enough for +a small alley. But he did not do so; he knew the value of money better +than to use it in this way. So clever was he, that every shilling he +put out brought him a crown; and so he continued till he died. His son +inherited his wealth, and he lived a merry life with it; he went to +a masquerade every night, made kites out of five pound notes, and +threw pieces of gold into the sea instead of stones, making ducks +and drakes of them. In this manner he soon lost all his money. At last +he had nothing left but a pair of slippers, an old dressing-gown, +and four shillings. And now all his friends deserted him, they could +not walk with him in the streets; but one of them, who was very +good-natured, sent him an old trunk with this message, "Pack up!" +"Yes," he said, "it is all very well to say 'pack up,'" but he had +nothing left to pack up, therefore he seated himself in the trunk. +It was a very wonderful trunk; no sooner did any one press on the lock +than the trunk could fly. He shut the lid and pressed the lock, when +away flew the trunk up the chimney with the merchant's son in it, +right up into the clouds. Whenever the bottom of the trunk cracked, he +was in a great fright, for if the trunk fell to pieces he would have +made a tremendous somerset over the trees. However, he got safely in +his trunk to the land of Turkey. He hid the trunk in the wood under +some dry leaves, and then went into the town: he could so this very +well, for the Turks always go about dressed in dressing-gowns and +slippers, as he was himself. He happened to meet a nurse with a little +child. "I say, you Turkish nurse," cried he, "what castle is that near +the town, with the windows placed so high?" +</P> + +<P> +"The king's daughter lives there," she replied; "it has been +prophesied that she will be very unhappy about a lover, and +therefore no one is allowed to visit her, unless the king and queen +are present." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you," said the merchant's son. So he went back to the wood, +seated himself in his trunk, flew up to the roof of the castle, and +crept through the window into the princess's room. She lay on the sofa +asleep, and she was so beautiful that the merchant's son could not +help kissing her. Then she awoke, and was very much frightened; but he +told her he was a Turkish angel, who had come down through the air +to see her, which pleased her very much. He sat down by her side and +talked to her: he said her eyes were like beautiful dark lakes, in +which the thoughts swam about like little mermaids, and he told her +that her forehead was a snowy mountain, which contained splendid halls +full of pictures. And then he related to her about the stork who +brings the beautiful children from the rivers. These were delightful +stories; and when he asked the princess if she would marry him, she +consented immediately. +</P> + +<P> +"But you must come on Saturday," she said; "for then the king +and queen will take tea with me. They will be very proud when they +find that I am going to marry a Turkish angel; but you must think of +some very pretty stories to tell them, for my parents like to hear +stories better than anything. My mother prefers one that is deep and +moral; but my father likes something funny, to make him laugh." +</P> + +<P> +"Very well," he replied; "I shall bring you no other marriage +portion than a story," and so they parted. But the princess gave him a +sword which was studded with gold coins, and these he could use. +</P> + +<P> +Then he flew away to the town and bought a new dressing-gown, +and afterwards returned to the wood, where he composed a story, so +as to be ready for Saturday, which was no easy matter. It was ready +however by Saturday, when he went to see the princess. The king, and +queen, and the whole court, were at tea with the princess; and he +was received with great politeness. +</P> + +<P> +"Will you tell us a story?" said the queen,—"one that is +instructive and full of deep learning." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, but with something in it to laugh at," said the king. +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly," he replied, and commenced at once, asking them to +listen attentively. "There was once a bundle of matches that were +exceedingly proud of their high descent. Their genealogical tree, that +is, a large pine-tree from which they had been cut, was at one time +a large, old tree in the wood. The matches now lay between a +tinder-box and an old iron saucepan, and were talking about their +youthful days. 'Ah! then we grew on the green boughs, and were as +green as they; every morning and evening we were fed with diamond +drops of dew. Whenever the sun shone, we felt his warm rays, and the +little birds would relate stories to us as they sung. We knew that +we were rich, for the other trees only wore their green dress in +summer, but our family were able to array themselves in green, +summer and winter. But the wood-cutter came, like a great +revolution, and our family fell under the axe. The head of the house +obtained a situation as mainmast in a very fine ship, and can sail +round the world when he will. The other branches of the family were +taken to different places, and our office now is to kindle a light for +common people. This is how such high-born people as we came to be in a +kitchen.' +</P> + +<P> +"'Mine has been a very different fate,' said the iron pot, which +stood by the matches; 'from my first entrance into the world I have +been used to cooking and scouring. I am the first in this house, +when anything solid or useful is required. My only pleasure is to be +made clean and shining after dinner, and to sit in my place and have a +little sensible conversation with my neighbors. All of us, excepting +the water-bucket, which is sometimes taken into the courtyard, live +here together within these four walls. We get our news from the +market-basket, but he sometimes tells us very unpleasant things +about the people and the government. Yes, and one day an old pot was +so alarmed, that he fell down and was broken to pieces. He was a +liberal, I can tell you.' +</P> + +<P> +"'You are talking too much,' said the tinder-box, and the steel +struck against the flint till some sparks flew out, crying, 'We want a +merry evening, don't we?' +</P> + +<P> +"'Yes, of course,' said the matches, 'let us talk about those +who are the highest born.' +</P> + +<P> +"'No, I don't like to be always talking of what we are,' +remarked the saucepan; 'let us think of some other amusement; I will +begin. We will tell something that has happened to ourselves; that +will be very easy, and interesting as well. On the Baltic Sea, near +the Danish shore'— +</P> + +<P> +"'What a pretty commencement!' said the plates; 'we shall all +like that story, I am sure.' +</P> + +<P> +"'Yes; well in my youth, I lived in a quiet family, where the +furniture was polished, the floors scoured, and clean curtains put +up every fortnight.' +</P> + +<P> +"'What an interesting way you have of relating a story,' said +the carpet-broom; 'it is easy to perceive that you have been a great +deal in women's society, there is something so pure runs through +what you say.' +</P> + +<P> +"'That is quite true,' said the water-bucket; and he made a spring +with joy, and splashed some water on the floor. +</P> + +<P> +"Then the saucepan went on with his story, and the end was as good +as the beginning. +</P> + +<P> +"The plates rattled with pleasure, and the carpet-broom brought +some green parsley out of the dust-hole and crowned the saucepan, +for he knew it would vex the others; and he thought, 'If I crown him +to-day he will crown me to-morrow.' +</P> + +<P> +"'Now, let us have a dance,' said the fire-tongs; and then how +they danced and stuck up one leg in the air. The chair-cushion in +the corner burst with laughter when she saw it. +</P> + +<P> +"'Shall I be crowned now?' asked the fire-tongs; so the broom +found another wreath for the tongs. +</P> + +<P> +"'They were only common people after all,' thought the matches. +The tea-urn was now asked to sing, but she said she had a cold, and +could not sing without boiling heat. They all thought this was +affectation, and because she did not wish to sing excepting in the +parlor, when on the table with the grand people. +</P> + +<P> +"In the window sat an old quill-pen, with which the maid generally +wrote. There was nothing remarkable about the pen, excepting that it +had been dipped too deeply in the ink, but it was proud of that. +</P> + +<P> +"'If the tea-urn won't sing,' said the pen, 'she can leave it +alone; there is a nightingale in a cage who can sing; she has not been +taught much, certainly, but we need not say anything this evening +about that.' +</P> + +<P> +"'I think it highly improper,' said the tea-kettle, who was +kitchen singer, and half-brother to the tea-urn, 'that a rich +foreign bird should be listened to here. Is it patriotic? Let the +market-basket decide what is right.' +</P> + +<P> +"'I certainly am vexed,' said the basket; 'inwardly vexed, more +than any one can imagine. Are we spending the evening properly? +Would it not be more sensible to put the house in order? If each +were in his own place I would lead a game; this would be quite another +thing.' +</P> + +<P> +"'Let us act a play,' said they all. At the same moment the door +opened, and the maid came in. Then not one stirred; they all +remained quite still; yet, at the same time, there was not a single +pot amongst them who had not a high opinion of himself, and of what he +could do if he chose. +</P> + +<P> +"'Yes, if we had chosen,' they each thought, 'we might have +spent a very pleasant evening.' +</P> + +<P> +"The maid took the matches and lighted them; dear me, how they +sputtered and blazed up! +</P> + +<P> +"'Now then,' they thought, 'every one will see that we are the +first. How we shine; what a light we give!' Even while they spoke +their light went out. +</P> + +<P> +"What a capital story," said the queen, "I feel as if I were +really in the kitchen, and could see the matches; yes, you shall marry +our daughter." +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly," said the king, "thou shalt have our daughter." The +king said thou to him because he was going to be one of the family. +The wedding-day was fixed, and, on the evening before, the whole +city was illuminated. Cakes and sweetmeats were thrown among the +people. The street boys stood on tiptoe and shouted "hurrah," and +whistled between their fingers; altogether it was a very splendid +affair. +</P> + +<P> +"I will give them another treat," said the merchant's son. So he +went and bought rockets and crackers, and all sorts of fire-works that +could be thought of, packed them in his trunk, and flew up with it +into the air. What a whizzing and popping they made as they went +off! The Turks, when they saw such a sight in the air, jumped so +high that their slippers flew about their ears. It was easy to believe +after this that the princess was really going to marry a Turkish +angel. +</P> + +<P> +As soon as the merchant's son had come down in his flying trunk to +the wood after the fireworks, he thought, "I will go back into the +town now, and hear what they think of the entertainment." It was +very natural that he should wish to know. And what strange things +people did say, to be sure! every one whom he questioned had a +different tale to tell, though they all thought it very beautiful. +</P> + +<P> +"'I saw the Turkish angel myself," said one; "he had eyes like +glittering stars, and a head like foaming water." +</P> + +<P> +"He flew in a mantle of fire," cried another, "and lovely little +cherubs peeped out from the folds." +</P> + +<P> +He heard many more fine things about himself, and that the next +day he was to be married. After this he went back to the forest to +rest himself in his trunk. It had disappeared! A spark from the +fireworks which remained had set it on fire; it was burnt to ashes! So +the merchant's son could not fly any more, nor go to meet his bride. +She stood all day on the roof waiting for him, and most likely she +is waiting there still; while he wanders through the world telling +fairy tales, but none of them so amusing as the one he related about +the matches. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="friendsh"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE SHEPHERD'S STORY OF THE BOND OF FRIENDSHIP +</H3> + +<P> +The little dwelling in which we lived was of clay, but the +door-posts were columns of fluted marble, found near the spot on which +it stood. The roof sloped nearly to the ground. It was at this time +dark, brown, and ugly, but had originally been formed of blooming +olive and laurel branches, brought from beyond the mountains. The +house was situated in a narrow gorge, whose rocky walls rose to a +perpendicular height, naked and black, while round their summits +clouds often hung, looking like white living figures. Not a singing +bird was ever heard there, neither did men dance to the sound of the +pipe. The spot was one sacred to olden times; even its name recalled a +memory of the days when it was called "Delphi." Then the summits of +the dark, sacred mountains were covered with snow, and the highest, +mount Parnassus, glowed longest in the red evening light. The brook +which rolled from it near our house, was also sacred. How well I can +remember every spot in that deep, sacred solitude! A fire had been +kindled in the midst of the hut, and while the hot ashes lay there red +and glowing, the bread was baked in them. At times the snow would be +piled so high around our hut as almost to hide it, and then my +mother appeared most cheerful. She would hold my head between her +hands, and sing the songs she never sang at other times, for the +Turks, our masters, would not allow it. She sang,— +</P> + +<P> +"On the summit of mount Olympus, in a forest of dwarf firs, lay an +old stag. His eyes were heavy with tears, and glittering with colors +like dewdrops; and there came by a roebuck, and said, 'What ailest +thee, that thou weepest blue and red tears?' And the stag answered, +'The Turk has come to our city; he has wild dogs for the chase, a +goodly pack.' 'I will drive them away across the islands!' cried the +young roebuck; 'I will drive them away across the islands into the +deep sea.' But before evening the roebuck was slain, and before +night the hunted stag was dead." +</P> + +<P> +And when my mother sang thus, her eyes would become moist; and +on the long eyelashes were tears, but she concealed them and watched +the black bread baking in the ashes. Then I would clench my fist, +and cry, "We will kill these Turks!" But she repeated the words of the +song, "I will drive them across the islands to the deep sea; but +before evening came the roebuck was slain, and before the night the +hunted stag was dead." +</P> + +<P> +We had been lonely in our hut for several days and nights when +my father came home. I knew he would bring me some shells from the +gulf of Lepanto, or perhaps a knife with a shining blade. This time he +brought, under his sheep-skin cloak, a little child, a little +half-naked girl. She was wrapped in a fur; but when this was taken +off, and she lay in my mother's lap, three silver coins were found +fastened in her dark hair; they were all her possessions. My father +told us that the child's parents had been killed by the Turks, and +he talked so much about them that I dreamed of Turks all night. He +himself had been wounded, and my mother bound up his arm. It was a +deep wound, and the thick sheep-skin cloak was stiff with congealed +blood. The little maiden was to be my sister. How pretty and bright +she looked: even my mother's eyes were not more gentle than hers. +Anastasia, as she was called, was to be my sister, because her +father had been united to mine by an old custom, which we still +follow. They had sworn brotherhood in their youth, and the most +beautiful and virtuous maiden in the neighborhood was chosen to +perform the act of consecration upon this bond of friendship. So now +this little girl was my sister. She sat in my lap, and I brought her +flowers, and feathers from the birds of the mountain. We drank +together of the waters of Parnassus, and dwelt for many years +beneath the laurel roof of the hut, while, winter after winter, my +mother sang her song of the stag who shed red tears. But as yet I +did not understand that the sorrows of my own countrymen were mirrored +in those tears. +</P> + +<P> +One day there came to our hut Franks, men from a far country, +whose dress was different to ours. They had tents and beds with +them, carried by horses; and they were accompanied by more than twenty +Turks, all armed with swords and muskets. These Franks were friends of +the Pacha, and had letters from him, commanding an escort for them. +They only came to see our mountain, to ascend Parnassus amid the +snow and clouds, and to look at the strange black rocks which raised +their steep sides near our hut. They could not find room in the hut, +nor endure the smoke that rolled along the ceiling till it found its +way out at the low door; so they pitched their tents on a small +space outside our dwelling. Roasted lambs and birds were brought +forth, and strong, sweet wine, of which the Turks are forbidden to +partake. +</P> + +<P> +When they departed, I accompanied them for some distance, carrying +my little sister Anastasia, wrapped in a goat-skin, on my back. One of +the Frankish gentlemen made me stand in front of a rock, and drew us +both as we stood there, so that we looked like one creature. I did not +think of it then, but Anastasia and I were really one. She was +always sitting on my lap, or riding in the goat-skin on my back; and +in my dreams she always appeared to me. +</P> + +<P> +Two nights after this, other men, armed with knives and muskets, +came into our tent. They were Albanians, brave men, my mother told me. +They only stayed a short time. My sister Anastasia sat on the knee +of one of them; and when they were gone, she had not three, but two +silver coins in her hair—one had disappeared. They wrapped tobacco in +strips of paper, and smoked it; and I remember they were uncertain +as to the road they ought to take. But they were obliged to go at +last, and my father went with them. Soon after, we heard the sound +of firing. The noise continued, and presently soldiers rushed into our +hut, and took my mother and myself and Anastasia prisoners. They +declared that we had entertained robbers, and that my father had acted +as their guide, and therefore we must now go with them. The corpses of +the robbers, and my father's corpse, were brought into the hut. I +saw my poor dead father, and cried till I fell asleep. When I awoke, I +found myself in a prison; but the room was not worse than our own in +the hut. They gave me onions and musty wine from a tarred cask; but we +were not accustomed to much better fare at home. How long we were kept +in prison, I do not know; but many days and nights passed by. We +were set free about Easter-time. I carried Anastasia on my back, and +we walked very slowly; for my mother was very weak, and it is a long +way to the sea, to the Gulf of Lepanto. +</P> + +<P> +On our arrival, we entered a church, in which there were beautiful +pictures in golden frames. They were pictures of angels, fair and +bright; and yet our little Anastasia looked equally beautiful, as it +seemed to me. In the centre of the floor stood a coffin filled with +roses. My mother told me it was the Lord Jesus Christ who was +represented by these roses. Then the priest announced, "Christ is +risen," and all the people greeted each other. Each one carried a +burning taper in his hand, and one was given to me, as well as to +little Anastasia. The music sounded, and the people left the church +hand-in-hand, with joy and gladness. Outside, the women were +roasting the paschal lamb. We were invited to partake; and as I sat by +the fire, a boy, older than myself, put his arms round my neck, and +kissed me, and said, "Christ is risen." And thus it was that for the +first time I met Aphtanides. +</P> + +<P> +My mother could make fishermen's nets, for which there was a great +demand here in the bay; and we lived a long time by the side of the +sea, the beautiful sea, that had a taste like tears, and in its colors +reminded me of the stag that wept red tears; for sometimes its +waters were red, and sometimes green or blue. Aphtanides knew how to +manage our boat, and I often sat in it, with my little Anastasia, +while it glided on through the water, swift as a bird flying through +the air. Then, when the sun set, how beautifully, deeply blue, would +be the tint on the mountains, one rising above the other in the far +distance, and the summit of mount Parnassus rising above them all like +a glorious crown. Its top glittered in the evening rays like molten +gold, and it seemed as if the light came from within it; for long +after the sun had sunk beneath the horizon, the mountain-top would +glow in the clear, blue sky. The white aquatic birds skimmed the +surface of the water in their flight, and all was calm and still as +amid the black rocks at Delphi. I lay on my back in the boat, +Anastasia leaned against me, while the stars above us glittered more +brightly than the lamps in our church. They were the same stars, and +in the same position over me as when I used to sit in front of our hut +at Delphi, and I had almost begun to fancy I was still there, when +suddenly there was a splash in the water—Anastasia had fallen in; but +in a moment Aphtanides has sprung in after her, and was now holding +her up to me. We dried her clothes as well as we were able, and +remained on the water till they were dry; for we did not wish it to be +known what a fright we had had, nor the danger which our little +adopted sister had incurred, in whose life Aphtanides had now a part. +</P> + +<P> +The summer came, and the burning heat of the sun tinted the leaves +of the trees with lines of gold. I thought of our cool +mountain-home, and the fresh water that flowed near it; my mother, +too, longed for if, and one evening we wandered towards home. How +peaceful and silent it was as we walked on through the thick, wild +thyme, still fragrant, though the sun had scorched the leaves. Not a +single herdsman did we meet, not a solitary hut did we pass; +everything appeared lonely and deserted—only a shooting star showed +that in the heavens there was yet life. I know not whether the +clear, blue atmosphere gleamed with its own light, or if the +radiance came from the stars; but we could distinguish quite plainly +the outline of the mountains. My mother lighted a fire, and roasted +some roots she had brought with her, and I and my little sister +slept among the bushes, without fear of the ugly smidraki, from +whose throat issues fire, or of the wolf and the jackal; for my mother +sat by us, and I considered her presence sufficient protection. +</P> + +<P> +We reached our old home; but the cottage was in ruins, and we +had to build a new one. With the aid of some neighbors, chiefly women, +the walls were in a few days erected, and very soon covered with a +roof of olive-branches. My mother obtained a living by making +bottle-cases of bark and skins, and I kept the sheep belonging to +the priests, who were sometimes peasants, while I had for my +playfellows Anastasia and the turtles. +</P> + +<P> +Once our beloved Aphtanides paid us a visit. He said he had been +longing to see us so much; and he remained with us two whole happy +days. A month afterwards he came again to wish us good-bye, and +brought with him a large fish for my mother. He told us he was going +in a ship to Corfu and Patras, and could relate a great many +stories, not only about the fishermen who lived near the gulf of +Lepanto, but also of kings and heroes who had once possessed Greece, +just as the Turks possess it now. +</P> + +<P> +I have seen a bud on a rose-bush gradually, in the course of a few +weeks, unfold its leaves till it became a rose in all its beauty; and, +before I was aware of it, I beheld it blooming in rosy loveliness. The +same thing had happened to Anastasia. Unnoticed by me, she had +gradually become a beautiful maiden, and I was now also a stout, +strong youth. The wolf-skins that covered the bed in which my mother +and Anastasia slept, had been taken from wolves which I had myself +shot. +</P> + +<P> +Years had gone by when, one evening, Aphtanides came in. He had +grown tall and slender as a reed, with strong limbs, and a dark, brown +skin. He kissed us all, and had so much to tell of what he had seen of +the great ocean, of the fortifications at Malta, and of the marvellous +sepulchres of Egypt, that I looked up to him with a kind of +veneration. His stories were as strange as the legends of the +priests of olden times. +</P> + +<P> +"How much you know!" I exclaimed, "and what wonders you can +relate?" +</P> + +<P> +"I think what you once told me, the finest of all," he replied; +"you told me of a thing that has never been out of my thoughts—of the +good old custom of 'the bond of friendship,'—a custom I should like +to follow. Brother, let you and I go to church, as your father and +Anastasia's father once did. Your sister Anastasia is the most +beautiful and most innocent of maidens, and she shall consecrate the +deed. No people have such grand old customs as we Greeks." +</P> + +<P> +Anastasia blushed like a young rose, and my mother kissed +Aphtanides. +</P> + +<P> +At about two miles from our cottage, where the earth on the hill +is sheltered by a few scattered trees, stood the little church, with a +silver lamp hanging before the altar. I put on my best clothes, and +the white tunic fell in graceful folds over my hips. The red jacket +fitted tight and close, the tassel on my Fez cap was of silver, and in +my girdle glittered a knife and my pistols. Aphtanides was clad in the +blue dress worn by the Greek sailors; on his breast hung a silver +medal with the figure of the Virgin Mary, and his scarf was as +costly as those worn by rich lords. Every one could see that we were +about to perform a solemn ceremony. When we entered the little, +unpretending church, the evening sunlight streamed through the open +door on the burning lamp, and glittered on the golden picture +frames. We knelt down together on the altar steps, and Anastasia +drew near and stood beside us. A long, white garment fell in +graceful folds over her delicate form, and on her white neck and bosom +hung a chain entwined with old and new coins, forming a kind of +collar. Her black hair was fastened into a knot, and confined by a +headdress formed of gold and silver coins which had been found in an +ancient temple. No Greek girl had more beautiful ornaments than these. +Her countenance glowed, and her eyes were like two stars. We all three +offered a silent prayer, and then she said to us, "Will you be friends +in life and in death?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," we replied. +</P> + +<P> +"Will you each remember to say, whatever may happen, 'My brother +is a part of myself; his secret is my secret, my happiness is his; +self-sacrifice, patience, everything belongs to me as they do to +him?'" +</P> + +<P> +And we again answered, "Yes." Then she joined out hands and kissed +us on the forehead, and we again prayed silently. After this a +priest came through a door near the altar, and blessed us all three. +Then a song was sung by other holy men behind the altar-screen, and +the bond of eternal friendship was confirmed. When we arose, I saw +my mother standing by the church door, weeping. +</P> + +<P> +How cheerful everything seemed now in our little cottage by the +Delphian springs! On the evening before his departure, Aphtanides +sat thoughtfully beside me on the slopes of the mountain. His arm +was flung around me, and mine was round his neck. We spoke of the +sorrows of Greece, and of the men of the country who could be trusted. +Every thought of our souls lay clear before us. Presently I seized his +hand: "Aphtanides," I exclaimed, "there is one thing still that you +must know,—one thing that till now has been a secret between myself +and Heaven. My whole soul is filled with love,—with a love stronger +than the love I bear to my mother and to thee. +</P> + +<P> +"And whom do you love?" asked Aphtanides. And his face and neck +grew red as fire. +</P> + +<P> +"I love Anastasia," I replied. +</P> + +<P> +Then his hand trembled in mine, and he became pale as a corpse. +I saw it, I understood the cause, and I believe my hand trembled +too. I bent towards him, I kissed his forehead, and whispered, "I have +never spoken of this to her, and perhaps she does not love me. +Brother, think of this; I have seen her daily, she has grown up beside +me, and has become a part of my soul." +</P> + +<P> +"And she shall be thine," he exclaimed; "thine! I may not wrong +thee, nor will I do so. I also love her, but tomorrow I depart. In a +year we will see each other again, but then you will be married; shall +it not be so? I have a little gold of my own, it shall be yours. You +must and shall take it." +</P> + +<P> +We wandered silently homeward across the mountains. It was late in +the evening when we reached my mother's door. Anastasia held the +lamp as we entered; my mother was not there. She looked at +Aphtanides with a sweet but mournful expression on her face. +"To-morrow you are going to leave us," she said. "I am very sorry." +</P> + +<P> +"Sorry!" he exclaimed, and his voice was troubled with a grief +as deep as my own. I could not speak; but he seized her hand and said, +"Our brother yonder loves you, and is he not dear to you? His very +silence now proves his affection." +</P> + +<P> +Anastasia trembled, and burst into tears. Then I saw no one, +thought of none, but her. I threw my arms round her, and pressed my +lips to hers. As she flung her arms round my neck, the lamp fell to +the ground, and we were in darkness, dark as the heart of poor +Aphtanides. +</P> + +<P> +Before daybreak he rose, kissed us all, and said "Farewell," and +went away. He had given all his money to my mother for us. Anastasia +was betrothed to me, and in a few days afterwards she became my wife. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="girl_who"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE GIRL WHO TROD ON THE LOAF +</H3> + +<P> +There was once a girl who trod on a loaf to avoid soiling her +shoes, and the misfortunes that happened to her in consequence are +well known. Her name was Inge; she was a poor child, but proud and +presuming, and with a bad and cruel disposition. When quite a little +child she would delight in catching flies, and tearing off their +wings, so as to make creeping things of them. When older, she would +take cockchafers and beetles, and stick pins through them. Then she +pushed a green leaf, or a little scrap of paper towards their feet, +and when the poor creatures would seize it and hold it fast, and +turn over and over in their struggles to get free from the pin, she +would say, "The cockchafer is reading; see how he turns over the +leaf." She grew worse instead of better with years, and, +unfortunately, she was pretty, which caused her to be excused, when +she should have been sharply reproved. +</P> + +<P> +"Your headstrong will requires severity to conquer it," her mother +often said to her. "As a little child you used to trample on my apron, +but one day I fear you will trample on my heart." And, alas! this fear +was realized. +</P> + +<P> +Inge was taken to the house of some rich people, who lived at a +distance, and who treated her as their own child, and dressed her so +fine that her pride and arrogance increased. +</P> + +<P> +When she had been there about a year, her patroness said to her, +"You ought to go, for once, and see your parents, Inge." +</P> + +<P> +So Inge started to go and visit her parents; but she only wanted +to show herself in her native place, that the people might see how +fine she was. She reached the entrance of the village, and saw the +young laboring men and maidens standing together chatting, and her own +mother amongst them. Inge's mother was sitting on a stone to rest, +with a fagot of sticks lying before her, which she had picked up in +the wood. Then Inge turned back; she who was so finely dressed she +felt ashamed of her mother, a poorly clad woman, who picked up wood in +the forest. She did not turn back out of pity for her mother's +poverty, but from pride. +</P> + +<P> +Another half-year went by, and her mistress said, "you ought to go +home again, and visit your parents, Inge, and I will give you a +large wheaten loaf to take to them, they will be glad to see you, I am +sure." +</P> + +<P> +So Inge put on her best clothes, and her new shoes, drew her dress +up around her, and set out, stepping very carefully, that she might be +clean and neat about the feet, and there was nothing wrong in doing +so. But when she came to the place where the footpath led across the +moor, she found small pools of water, and a great deal of mud, so +she threw the loaf into the mud, and trod upon it, that she might pass +without wetting her feet. But as she stood with one foot on the loaf +and the other lifted up to step forward, the loaf began to sink +under her, lower and lower, till she disappeared altogether, and +only a few bubbles on the surface of the muddy pool remained to show +where she had sunk. And this is the story. +</P> + +<P> +But where did Inge go? She sank into the ground, and went down +to the Marsh Woman, who is always brewing there. +</P> + +<P> +The Marsh Woman is related to the elf maidens, who are well-known, +for songs are sung and pictures painted about them. But of the Marsh +Woman nothing is known, excepting that when a mist arises from the +meadows, in summer time, it is because she is brewing beneath them. To +the Marsh Woman's brewery Inge sunk down to a place which no one can +endure for long. A heap of mud is a palace compared with the Marsh +Woman's brewery; and as Inge fell she shuddered in every limb, and +soon became cold and stiff as marble. Her foot was still fastened to +the loaf, which bowed her down as a golden ear of corn bends the stem. +</P> + +<P> +An evil spirit soon took possession of Inge, and carried her to +a still worse place, in which she saw crowds of unhappy people, +waiting in a state of agony for the gates of mercy to be opened to +them, and in every heart was a miserable and eternal feeling of +unrest. It would take too much time to describe the various tortures +these people suffered, but Inge's punishment consisted in standing +there as a statue, with her foot fastened to the loaf. She could +move her eyes about, and see all the misery around her, but she +could not turn her head; and when she saw the people looking at her +she thought they were admiring her pretty face and fine clothes, for +she was still vain and proud. But she had forgotten how soiled her +clothes had become while in the Marsh Woman's brewery, and that they +were covered with mud; a snake had also fastened itself in her hair, +and hung down her back, while from each fold in her dress a great toad +peeped out and croaked like an asthmatic poodle. Worse than all was +the terrible hunger that tormented her, and she could not stoop to +break off a piece of the loaf on which she stood. No; her back was too +stiff, and her whole body like a pillar of stone. And then came +creeping over her face and eyes flies without wings; she winked and +blinked, but they could not fly away, for their wings had been +pulled off; this, added to the hunger she felt, was horrible torture. +</P> + +<P> +"If this lasts much longer," she said, "I shall not be able to +bear it." But it did last, and she had to bear it, without being +able to help herself. +</P> + +<P> +A tear, followed by many scalding tears, fell upon her head, and +rolled over her face and neck, down to the loaf on which she stood. +Who could be weeping for Inge? She had a mother in the world still, +and the tears of sorrow which a mother sheds for her child will always +find their way to the child's heart, but they often increase the +torment instead of being a relief. And Inge could hear all that was +said about her in the world she had left, and every one seemed cruel +to her. The sin she had committed in treading on the loaf was known on +earth, for she had been seen by the cowherd from the hill, when she +was crossing the marsh and had disappeared. +</P> + +<P> +When her mother wept and exclaimed, "Ah, Inge! what grief thou +hast caused thy mother" she would say, "Oh that I had never been born! +My mother's tears are useless now." +</P> + +<P> +And then the words of the kind people who had adopted her came +to her ears, when they said, "Inge was a sinful girl, who did not +value the gifts of God, but trampled them under her feet." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah," thought Inge, "they should have punished me, and driven +all my naughty tempers out of me." +</P> + +<P> +A song was made about "The girl who trod on a loaf to keep her +shoes from being soiled," and this song was sung everywhere. The story +of her sin was also told to the little children, and they called her +"wicked Inge," and said she was so naughty that she ought to be +punished. Inge heard all this, and her heart became hardened and +full of bitterness. +</P> + +<P> +But one day, while hunger and grief were gnawing in her hollow +frame, she heard a little, innocent child, while listening to the tale +of the vain, haughty Inge, burst into tears and exclaim, "But will she +never come up again?" +</P> + +<P> +And she heard the reply, "No, she will never come up again." +</P> + +<P> +"But if she were to say she was sorry, and ask pardon, and promise +never to do so again?" asked the little one. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, then she might come; but she will not beg pardon," was the +answer. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I wish she would!" said the child, who was quite unhappy +about it. "I should be so glad. I would give up my doll and all my +playthings, if she could only come here again. Poor Inge! it is so +dreadful for her." +</P> + +<P> +These pitying words penetrated to Inge's inmost heart, and +seemed to do her good. It was the first time any one had said, "Poor +Inge!" without saying something about her faults. A little innocent +child was weeping, and praying for mercy for her. It made her feel +quite strange, and she would gladly have wept herself, and it added to +her torment to find she could not do so. And while she thus suffered +in a place where nothing changed, years passed away on earth, and +she heard her name less frequently mentioned. But one day a sigh +reached her ear, and the words, "Inge! Inge! what a grief thou hast +been to me! I said it would be so." It was the last sigh of her +dying mother. +</P> + +<P> +After this, Inge heard her kind mistress say, "Ah, poor Inge! +shall I ever see thee again? Perhaps I may, for we know not what may +happen in the future." But Inge knew right well that her mistress +would never come to that dreadful place. +</P> + +<P> +Time-passed—a long bitter time—then Inge heard her name +pronounced once more, and saw what seemed two bright stars shining +above her. They were two gentle eyes closing on earth. Many years +had passed since the little girl had lamented and wept about "poor +Inge." That child was now an old woman, whom God was taking to +Himself. In the last hour of existence the events of a whole life +often appear before us; and this hour the old woman remembered how, +when a child, she had shed tears over the story of Inge, and she +prayed for her now. As the eyes of the old woman closed to earth, +the eyes of the soul opened upon the hidden things of eternity, and +then she, in whose last thoughts Inge had been so vividly present, saw +how deeply the poor girl had sunk. She burst into tears at the +sight, and in heaven, as she had done when a little child on earth, +she wept and prayed for poor Inge. Her tears and her prayers echoed +through the dark void that surrounded the tormented captive soul, +and the unexpected mercy was obtained for it through an angel's tears. +As in thought Inge seemed to act over again every sin she had +committed on earth, she trembled, and tears she had never yet been +able to weep rushed to her eyes. It seemed impossible that the gates +of mercy could ever be opened to her; but while she acknowledged +this in deep penitence, a beam of radiant light shot suddenly into the +depths upon her. More powerful than the sunbeam that dissolves the man +of snow which the children have raised, more quickly than the +snowflake melts and becomes a drop of water on the warm lips of a +child, was the stony form of Inge changed, and as a little bird she +soared, with the speed of lightning, upward to the world of mortals. A +bird that felt timid and shy to all things around it, that seemed to +shrink with shame from meeting any living creature, and hurriedly +sought to conceal itself in a dark corner of an old ruined wall; there +it sat cowering and unable to utter a sound, for it was voiceless. Yet +how quickly the little bird discovered the beauty of everything around +it. The sweet, fresh air; the soft radiance of the moon, as its +light spread over the earth; the fragrance which exhaled from bush and +tree, made it feel happy as it sat there clothed in its fresh, +bright plumage. All creation seemed to speak of beneficence and +love. The bird wanted to give utterance to thoughts that stirred in +his breast, as the cuckoo and the nightingale in the spring, but it +could not. Yet in heaven can be heard the song of praise, even from +a worm; and the notes trembling in the breast of the bird were as +audible to Heaven even as the psalms of David before they had +fashioned themselves into words and song. +</P> + +<P> +Christmas-time drew near, and a peasant who dwelt close by the old +wall stuck up a pole with some ears of corn fastened to the top, +that the birds of heaven might have feast, and rejoice in the happy, +blessed time. And on Christmas morning the sun arose and shone upon +the ears of corn, which were quickly surrounded by a number of +twittering birds. Then, from a hole in the wall, gushed forth in +song the swelling thoughts of the bird as he issued from his hiding +place to perform his first good deed on earth,—and in heaven it was +well known who that bird was. +</P> + +<P> +The winter was very hard; the ponds were covered with ice, and +there was very little food for either the beasts of the field or the +birds of the air. Our little bird flew away into the public roads, and +found here and there, in the ruts of the sledges, a grain of corn, and +at the halting places some crumbs. Of these he ate only a few, but +he called around him the other birds and the hungry sparrows, that +they too might have food. He flew into the towns, and looked about, +and wherever a kind hand had strewed bread on the window-sill for +the birds, he only ate a single crumb himself, and gave all the rest +to the rest of the other birds. In the course of the winter the bird +had in this way collected many crumbs and given them to other birds, +till they equalled the weight of the loaf on which Inge had trod to +keep her shoes clean; and when the last bread-crumb had been found and +given, the gray wings of the bird became white, and spread +themselves out for flight. +</P> + +<P> +"See, yonder is a sea-gull!" cried the children, when they saw the +white bird, as it dived into the sea, and rose again into the clear +sunlight, white and glittering. But no one could tell whither it +went then although some declared it flew straight to the sun. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="goblin"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE GOBLIN AND THE HUCKSTER +</H3> + +<P> +There was once a regular student, who lived in a garret, and had +no possessions. And there was also a regular huckster, to whom the +house belonged, and who occupied the ground floor. A goblin lived with +the huckster, because at Christmas he always had a large dish full +of jam, with a great piece of butter in the middle. The huckster could +afford this; and therefore the goblin remained with the huckster, +which was very cunning of him. +</P> + +<P> +One evening the student came into the shop through the back door +to buy candles and cheese for himself, he had no one to send, and +therefore he came himself; he obtained what he wished, and then the +huckster and his wife nodded good evening to him, and she was a +woman who could do more than merely nod, for she had usually plenty to +say for herself. The student nodded in return as he turned to leave, +then suddenly stopped, and began reading the piece of paper in which +the cheese was wrapped. It was a leaf torn out of an old book, a +book that ought not to have been torn up, for it was full of poetry. +</P> + +<P> +"Yonder lies some more of the same sort," said the huckster: "I +gave an old woman a few coffee berries for it; you shall have the rest +for sixpence, if you will." +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed I will," said the student; "give me the book instead of +the cheese; I can eat my bread and butter without cheese. It would +be a sin to tear up a book like this. You are a clever man; and a +practical man; but you understand no more about poetry than that +cask yonder." +</P> + +<P> +This was a very rude speech, especially against the cask; but +the huckster and the student both laughed, for it was only said in +fun. But the goblin felt very angry that any man should venture to say +such things to a huckster who was a householder and sold the best +butter. As soon as it was night, and the shop closed, and every one in +bed except the student, the goblin stepped softly into the bedroom +where the huckster's wife slept, and took away her tongue, which of +course, she did not then want. Whatever object in the room he placed +his tongue upon immediately received voice and speech, and was able to +express its thoughts and feelings as readily as the lady herself could +do. It could only be used by one object at a time, which was a good +thing, as a number speaking at once would have caused great confusion. +The goblin laid the tongue upon the cask, in which lay a quantity of +old newspapers. +</P> + +<P> +"Is it really true," he asked, "that you do not know what poetry +is?" +</P> + +<P> +"Of course I know," replied the cask: "poetry is something that +always stand in the corner of a newspaper, and is sometimes cut out; +and I may venture to affirm that I have more of it in me than the +student has, and I am only a poor tub of the huckster's." +</P> + +<P> +Then the goblin placed the tongue on the coffee mill; and how it +did go to be sure! Then he put it on the butter tub and the cash +box, and they all expressed the same opinion as the waste-paper tub; +and a majority must always be respected. +</P> + +<P> +"Now I shall go and tell the student," said the goblin; and with +these words he went quietly up the back stairs to the garret where the +student lived. He had a candle burning still, and the goblin peeped +through the keyhole and saw that he was reading in the torn book, +which he had brought out of the shop. But how light the room was! From +the book shot forth a ray of light which grew broad and full, like the +stem of a tree, from which bright rays spread upward and over the +student's head. Each leaf was fresh, and each flower was like a +beautiful female head; some with dark and sparkling eyes, and others +with eyes that were wonderfully blue and clear. The fruit gleamed like +stars, and the room was filled with sounds of beautiful music. The +little goblin had never imagined, much less seen or heard of, any +sight so glorious as this. He stood still on tiptoe, peeping in, +till the light went out in the garret. The student no doubt had +blown out his candle and gone to bed; but the little goblin remained +standing there nevertheless, and listening to the music which still +sounded on, soft and beautiful, a sweet cradle-song for the student, +who had lain down to rest. +</P> + +<P> +"This is a wonderful place," said the goblin; "I never expected +such a thing. I should like to stay here with the student;" and the +little man thought it over, for he was a sensible little spirit. At +last he sighed, "but the student has no jam!" So he went down stairs +again into the huckster's shop, and it was a good thing he got back +when he did, for the cask had almost worn out the lady's tongue; he +had given a description of all that he contained on one side, and +was just about to turn himself over to the other side to describe what +was there, when the goblin entered and restored the tongue to the +lady. But from that time forward, the whole shop, from the cash box +down to the pinewood logs, formed their opinions from that of the +cask; and they all had such confidence in him, and treated him with so +much respect, that when the huckster read the criticisms on +theatricals and art of an evening, they fancied it must all come +from the cask. +</P> + +<P> +But after what he had seen, the goblin could no longer sit and +listen quietly to the wisdom and understanding down stairs; so, as +soon as the evening light glimmered in the garret, he took courage, +for it seemed to him as if the rays of light were strong cables, +drawing him up, and obliging him to go and peep through the keyhole; +and, while there, a feeling of vastness came over him such as we +experience by the ever-moving sea, when the storm breaks forth; and it +brought tears into his eyes. He did not himself know why he wept, +yet a kind of pleasant feeling mingled with his tears. "How +wonderfully glorious it would be to sit with the student under such +a tree;" but that was out of the question, he must be content to +look through the keyhole, and be thankful for even that. +</P> + +<P> +There he stood on the old landing, with the autumn wind blowing +down upon him through the trap-door. It was very cold; but the +little creature did not really feel it, till the light in the garret +went out, and the tones of music died away. Then how he shivered, +and crept down stairs again to his warm corner, where it felt +home-like and comfortable. And when Christmas came again, and +brought the dish of jam and the great lump of butter, he liked the +huckster best of all. +</P> + +<P> +Soon after, in the middle of the night, the goblin was awoke by +a terrible noise and knocking against the window shutters and the +house doors, and by the sound of the watchman's horn; for a great fire +had broken out, and the whole street appeared full of flames. Was it +in their house, or a neighbor's? No one could tell, for terror had +seized upon all. The huckster's wife was so bewildered that she took +her gold ear-rings out of her ears and put them in her pocket, that +she might save something at least. The huckster ran to get his +business papers, and the servant resolved to save her blue silk +mantle, which she had managed to buy. Each wished to keep the best +things they had. The goblin had the same wish; for, with one spring, +he was up stairs and in the student's room, whom he found standing +by the open window, and looking quite calmly at the fire, which was +raging at the house of a neighbor opposite. The goblin caught up the +wonderful book which lay on the table, and popped it into his red cap, +which he held tightly with both hands. The greatest treasure in the +house was saved; and he ran away with it to the roof, and seated +himself on the chimney. The flames of the burning house opposite +illuminated him as he sat, both hands pressed tightly over his cap, in +which the treasure lay; and then he found out what feelings really +reigned in his heart, and knew exactly which way they tended. And yet, +when the fire was extinguished, and the goblin again began to reflect, +he hesitated, and said at last, "I must divide myself between the two; +I cannot quite give up the huckster, because of the jam." +</P> + +<P> +And this is a representation of human nature. We are like the +goblin; we all go to visit the huckster "because of the jam." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="golden"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE GOLDEN TREASURE +</H3> + +<P> +The drummer's wife went into the church. She saw the new altar +with the painted pictures and the carved angels. Those upon the canvas +and in the glory over the altar were just as beautiful as the carved +ones; and they were painted and gilt into the bargain. Their hair +gleamed golden in the sunshine, lovely to behold; but the real +sunshine was more beautiful still. It shone redder, clearer through +the dark trees, when the sun went down. It was lovely thus to look +at the sunshine of heaven. And she looked at the red sun, and she +thought about it so deeply, and thought of the little one whom the +stork was to bring, and the wife of the drummer was very cheerful, and +looked and looked, and wished that the child might have a gleam of +sunshine given to it, so that it might at least become like one of the +shining angels over the altar. +</P> + +<P> +And when she really had the little child in her arms, and held +it up to its father, then it was like one of the angels in the +church to behold, with hair like gold—the gleam of the setting sun +was upon it. +</P> + +<P> +"My golden treasure, my riches, my sunshine!" said the mother; and +she kissed the shining locks, and it sounded like music and song in +the room of the drummer; and there was joy, and life, and movement. +The drummer beat a roll—a roll of joy. And the Drum said—the +Fire-drum, that was beaten when there was a fire in the town: +</P> + +<P> +"Red hair! the little fellow has red hair! Believe the drum, and +not what your mother says! Rub-a dub, rub-a dub!" +</P> + +<P> +And the town repeated what the Fire-drum had said. +</P> + +<P> +The boy was taken to church, the boy was christened. There was +nothing much to be said about his name; he was called Peter. The whole +town, and the Drum too, called him Peter the drummer's boy with the +red hair; but his mother kissed his red hair, and called him her +golden treasure. +</P> + +<P> +In the hollow way in the clayey bank, many had scratched their +names as a remembrance. +</P> + +<P> +"Celebrity is always something!" said the drummer; and so he +scratched his own name there, and his little son's name likewise. +</P> + +<P> +And the swallows came. They had, on their long journey, seen +more durable characters engraven on rocks, and on the walls of the +temples in Hindostan, mighty deeds of great kings, immortal names, +so old that no one now could read or speak them. Remarkable celebrity! +</P> + +<P> +In the clayey bank the martens built their nest. They bored +holes in the deep declivity, and the splashing rain and the thin +mist came and crumbled and washed the names away, and the drummer's +name also, and that of his little son. +</P> + +<P> +"Peter's name will last a full year and a half longer!" said the +father. +</P> + +<P> +"Fool!" thought the Fire-drum; but it only said, "Dub, dub, dub, +rub-a-dub!" +</P> + +<P> +He was a boy full of life and gladness, this drummer's son with +the red hair. He had a lovely voice. He could sing, and he sang like a +bird in the woodland. There was melody, and yet no melody. +</P> + +<P> +"He must become a chorister boy," said his mother. "He shall +sing in the church, and stand among the beautiful gilded angels who +are like him!" +</P> + +<P> +"Fiery cat!" said some of the witty ones of the town. +</P> + +<P> +The Drum heard that from the neighbors' wives. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't go home, Peter," cried the street boys. "If you sleep in +the garret, there'll be a fire in the house, and the fire-drum will +have to be beaten." +</P> + +<P> +"Look out for the drumsticks," replied Peter; and, small as he +was, he ran up boldly, and gave the foremost such a punch in the +body with his fist, that the fellow lost his legs and tumbled over, +and the others took their legs off with themselves very rapidly. +</P> + +<P> +The town musician was very genteel and fine. He was the son of the +royal plate-washer. He was very fond of Peter, and would sometimes +take him to his home; and he gave him a violin, and taught him to play +it. It seemed as if the whole art lay in the boy's fingers; and he +wanted to be more than a drummer—he wanted to become musician to +the town. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll be a soldier," said Peter; for he was still quite a little +lad, and it seemed to him the finest thing in the world to carry a +gun, and to be able to march one, two—one, two, and to wear a uniform +and a sword. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, you learn to long for the drum-skin, drum, dum, dum!" said +the Drum. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, if he could only march his way up to be a general!" observed +his father; "but before he can do that, there must be war." +</P> + +<P> +"Heaven forbid!" said his mother. +</P> + +<P> +"We have nothing to lose," remarked the father. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, we have my boy," she retorted. +</P> + +<P> +"But suppose he came back a general!" said the father. +</P> + +<P> +"Without arms and legs!" cried the mother. "No, I would rather +keep my golden treasure with me." +</P> + +<P> +"Drum, dum, dum!" The Fire-drum and all the other drums were +beating, for war had come. The soldiers all set out, and the son of +the drummer followed them. "Red-head. Golden treasure!" +</P> + +<P> +The mother wept; the father in fancy saw him "famous;" the town +musician was of opinion that he ought not to go to war, but should +stay at home and learn music. +</P> + +<P> +"Red-head," said the soldiers, and little Peter laughed; but +when one of them sometimes said to another, "Foxey," he would bite his +teeth together and look another way—into the wide world. He did not +care for the nickname. +</P> + +<P> +The boy was active, pleasant of speech, and good-humored; that +is the best canteen, said his old comrades. +</P> + +<P> +And many a night he had to sleep under the open sky, wet through +with the driving rain or the falling mist; but his good humor never +forsook him. The drum-sticks sounded, "Rub-a-dub, all up, all up!" +Yes, he was certainly born to be a drummer. +</P> + +<P> +The day of battle dawned. The sun had not yet risen, but the +morning was come. The air was cold, the battle was hot; there was mist +in the air, but still more gunpowder-smoke. The bullets and shells +flew over the soldiers' heads, and into their heads—into their bodies +and limbs; but still they pressed forward. Here or there one or +other of them would sink on his knees, with bleeding temples and a +face as white as chalk. The little drummer still kept his healthy +color; he had suffered no damage; he looked cheerfully at the dog of +the regiment, which was jumping along as merrily as if the whole thing +had been got up for his amusement, and as if the bullets were only +flying about that he might have a game of play with them. +</P> + +<P> +"March! Forward! March!" This, was the word of command for the +drum. The word had not yet been given to fall back, though they +might have done so, and perhaps there would have been much sense in +it; and now at last the word "Retire" was given; but our little +drummer beat "Forward! march!" for he had understood the command thus, +and the soldiers obeyed the sound of the drum. That was a good roll, +and proved the summons to victory for the men, who had already begun +to give way. +</P> + +<P> +Life and limb were lost in the battle. Bombshells tore away the +flesh in red strips; bombshells lit up into a terrible glow the +strawheaps to which the wounded had dragged themselves, to lie +untended for many hours, perhaps for all the hours they had to live. +</P> + +<P> +It's no use thinking of it; and yet one cannot help thinking of +it, even far away in the peaceful town. The drummer and his wife +also thought of it, for Peter was at the war. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, I'm tired of these complaints," said the Fire-drum. +</P> + +<P> +Again the day of battle dawned; the sun had not yet risen, but +it was morning. The drummer and his wife were asleep. They had been +talking about their son, as, indeed, they did almost every night, +for he was out yonder in God's hand. And the father dreamt that the +war was over, that the soldiers had returned home, and that Peter wore +a silver cross on his breast. But the mother dreamt that she had +gone into the church, and had seen the painted pictures and the carved +angels with the gilded hair, and her own dear boy, the golden treasure +of her heart, who was standing among the angels in white robes, +singing so sweetly, as surely only the angels can sing; and that he +had soared up with them into the sunshine, and nodded so kindly at his +mother. +</P> + +<P> +"My golden treasure!" she cried out; and she awoke. "Now the +good God has taken him to Himself!" She folded her hands, and hid +her face in the cotton curtains of the bed, and wept. "Where does he +rest now? among the many in the big grave that they have dug for the +dead? Perhaps he's in the water in the marsh! Nobody knows his +grave; no holy words have been read over it!" And the Lord's Prayer +went inaudibly over her lips; she bowed her head, and was so weary +that she went to sleep. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +And the days went by, in life as in dreams! +</P> + +<P> +It was evening. Over the battle-field a rainbow spread, which +touched the forest and the deep marsh. +</P> + +<P> +It has been said, and is preserved in popular belief, that where +the rainbow touches the earth a treasure lies buried, a golden +treasure; and here there was one. No one but his mother thought of the +little drummer, and therefore she dreamt of him. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +And the days went by, in life as in dreams! +</P> + +<P> +Not a hair of his head had been hurt, not a golden hair. +</P> + +<P> +"Drum-ma-rum! drum-ma-rum! there he is!" the Drum might have said, +and his mother might have sung, if she had seen or dreamt it. +</P> + +<P> +With hurrah and song, adorned with green wreaths of victory, +they came home, as the war was at an end, and peace had been signed. +The dog of the regiment sprang on in front with large bounds, and made +the way three times as long for himself as it really was. +</P> + +<P> +And days and weeks went by, and Peter came into his parents' room. +He was as brown as a wild man, and his eyes were bright, and his +face beamed like sunshine. And his mother held him in her arms; she +kissed his lips, his forehead, and his red hair. She had her boy +back again; he had not a silver cross on his breast, as his father had +dreamt, but he had sound limbs, a thing the mother had not dreamt. And +what a rejoicing was there! They laughed and they wept; and Peter +embraced the old Fire-drum. +</P> + +<P> +"There stands the old skeleton still!" he said. +</P> + +<P> +And the father beat a roll upon it. +</P> + +<P> +"One would think that a great fire had broken out here," said +the Fire-drum. "Bright day! fire in the heart! golden treasure! skrat! +skr-r-at! skr-r-r-r-at!" +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +And what then? What then!—Ask the town musician. +</P> + +<P> +"Peter's far outgrowing the drum," he said. "Peter will be greater +than I." +</P> + +<P> +And yet he was the son of a royal plate-washer; but all that he +had learned in half a lifetime, Peter learned in half a year. +</P> + +<P> +There was something so merry about him, something so truly +kind-hearted. His eyes gleamed, and his hair gleamed too—there was no +denying that! +</P> + +<P> +"He ought to have his hair dyed," said the neighbor's wife. +"That answered capitally with the policeman's daughter, and she got +a husband." +</P> + +<P> +"But her hair turned as green as duckweed, and was always having +to be colored up." +</P> + +<P> +"She knows how to manage for herself," said the neighbors, "and so +can Peter. He comes to the most genteel houses, even to the +burgomaster's where he gives Miss Charlotte piano-forte lessons." +</P> + +<P> +He could play! He could play, fresh out of his heart, the most +charming pieces, that had never been put upon music-paper. He played +in the bright nights, and in the dark nights, too. The neighbors +declared it was unbearable, and the Fire-drum was of the same opinion. +</P> + +<P> +He played until his thoughts soared up, and burst forth in great +plans for the future: +</P> + +<P> +"To be famous!" +</P> + +<P> +And burgomaster's Charlotte sat at the piano. Her delicate fingers +danced over the keys, and made them ring into Peter's heart. It seemed +too much for him to bear; and this happened not once, but many +times; and at last one day he seized the delicate fingers and the +white hand, and kissed it, and looked into her great brown eyes. +Heaven knows what he said; but we may be allowed to guess at it. +Charlotte blushed to guess at it. She reddened from brow to neck, +and answered not a single word; and then strangers came into the room, +and one of them was the state councillor's son. He had a lofty white +forehead, and carried it so high that it seemed to go back into his +neck. And Peter sat by her a long time, and she looked at him with +gentle eyes. +</P> + +<P> +At home that evening he spoke of travel in the wide world, and +of the golden treasure that lay hidden for him in his violin. +</P> + +<P> +"To be famous!" +</P> + +<P> +"Tum-me-lum, tum-me-lum, tum-me-lum!" said the Fire-drum. "Peter +has gone clear out of his wits. I think there must be a fire in the +house." +</P> + +<P> +Next day the mother went to market. +</P> + +<P> +"Shall I tell you news, Peter?" she asked when she came home. "A +capital piece of news. Burgomaster's Charlotte has engaged herself +to the state councillor's son; the betrothal took place yesterday +evening." +</P> + +<P> +"No!" cried Peter, and he sprang up from his chair. But his mother +persisted in saying "Yes." She had heard it from the baker's wife, +whose husband had it from the burgomaster's own mouth. +</P> + +<P> +And Peter became as pale as death, and sat down again. +</P> + +<P> +"Good Heaven! what's the matter with you?" asked his mother. +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing, nothing; only leave me to myself," he answered but the +tears were running down his cheeks. +</P> + +<P> +"My sweet child, my golden treasure!" cried the mother, and she +wept; but the Fire-drum sang, not out loud, but inwardly. +</P> + +<P> +"Charlotte's gone! Charlotte's gone! and now the song is done." +</P> + +<P> +But the song was not done; there were many more verses in it, long +verses, the most beautiful verses, the golden treasures of a life. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"She behaves like a mad woman," said the neighbor's wife. "All the +world is to see the letters she gets from her golden treasure, and +to read the words that are written in the papers about his violin +playing. And he sends her money too, and that's very useful to her +since she has been a widow." +</P> + +<P> +"He plays before emperors and kings," said the town musician. "I +never had that fortune, but he's my pupil, and he does not forget +his old master." +</P> + +<P> +And his mother said, +</P> + +<P> +"His father dreamt that Peter came home from the war with a silver +cross. He did not gain one in the war, but it is still more +difficult to gain one in this way. Now he has the cross of honor. If +his father had only lived to see it!" +</P> + +<P> +"He's grown famous!" said the Fire-drum, and all his native town +said the same thing, for the drummer's son, Peter with the red +hair—Peter whom they had known as a little boy, running about in +wooden shoes, and then as a drummer, playing for the dancers—was +become famous! +</P> + +<P> +"He played at our house before he played in the presence of +kings," said the burgomaster's wife. "At that time he was quite +smitten with Charlotte. He was always of an aspiring turn. At that +time he was saucy and an enthusiast. My husband laughed when he +heard of the foolish affair, and now our Charlotte is a state +councillor's wife." +</P> + +<P> +A golden treasure had been hidden in the heart and soul of the +poor child, who had beaten the roll as a drummer—a roll of victory +for those who had been ready to retreat. There was a golden treasure +in his bosom, the power of sound; it burst forth on his violin as if +the instrument had been a complete organ, and as if all the elves of a +midsummer night were dancing across the strings. In its sounds were +heard the piping of the thrush and the full clear note of the human +voice; therefore the sound brought rapture to every heart, and carried +his name triumphant through the land. That was a great firebrand—the +firebrand of inspiration. +</P> + +<P> +"And then he looks so splendid!" said the young ladies and the old +ladies too; and the oldest of all procured an album for famous locks +of hair, wholly and solely that she might beg a lock of his rich +splendid hair, that treasure, that golden treasure. +</P> + +<P> +And the son came into the poor room of the drummer, elegant as a +prince, happier than a king. His eyes were as clear and his face was +as radiant as sunshine; and he held his mother in his arms, and she +kissed his mouth, and wept as blissfully as any one can weep for +joy; and he nodded at every old piece of furniture in the room, at the +cupboard with the tea-cups, and at the flower-vase. He nodded at the +sleeping-bench, where he had slept as a little boy; but the old +Fire-drum he brought out, and dragged it into the middle of the +room, and said to it and to his mother: +</P> + +<P> +"My father would have beaten a famous roll this evening. Now I +must do it!" +</P> + +<P> +And he beat a thundering roll-call on the instrument, and the Drum +felt so highly honored that the parchment burst with exultation. +</P> + +<P> +"He has a splendid touch!" said the Drum. "I've a remembrance of +him now that will last. I expect that the same thing will happen to +his mother, from pure joy over her golden treasure." +</P> + +<P> +And this is the story of the Golden Treasure. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="goloshes"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE GOLOSHES OF FORTUNE +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A BEGINNING +</H3> + +<P> +In a house in Copenhagen, not far from the king's new market, a +very large party had assembled, the host and his family expecting, +no doubt, to receive invitations in return. One half of the company +were already seated at the card-tables, the other half seemed to be +waiting the result of their hostess's question, "Well, how shall we +amuse ourselves?" +</P> + +<P> +Conversation followed, which, after a while, began to prove very +entertaining. Among other subjects, it turned upon the events of the +middle ages, which some persons maintained were more full of +interest than our own times. Counsellor Knapp defended this opinion so +warmly that the lady of the house immediately went over to his side, +and both exclaimed against Oersted's Essays on Ancient and Modern +Times, in which the preference is given to our own. The counsellor +considered the times of the Danish king, Hans, as the noblest and +happiest. +</P> + +<P> +The conversation on this topic was only interrupted for a moment +by the arrival of a newspaper, which did not, however, contain much +worth reading, and while it is still going on we will pay a visit to +the ante-room, in which cloaks, sticks, and goloshes were carefully +placed. Here sat two maidens, one young, and the other old, as if they +had come and were waiting to accompany their mistresses home; but on +looking at them more closely, it could easily be seen that they were +no common servants. Their shapes were too graceful, their +complexions too delicate, and the cut of their dresses much too +elegant. They were two fairies. The younger was not Fortune herself, +but the chambermaid of one of Fortune's attendants, who carries +about her more trifling gifts. The elder one, who was named Care, +looked rather gloomy; she always goes about to perform her own +business in person; for then she knows it is properly done. They +were telling each other where they had been during the day. The +messenger of Fortune had only transacted a few unimportant matters; +for instance, she had preserved a new bonnet from a shower of rain, +and obtained for an honest man a bow from a titled nobody, and so +on; but she had something extraordinary to relate, after all. +</P> + +<P> +"I must tell you," said she, "that to-day is my birthday; and in +honor of it I have been intrusted with a pair of goloshes, to +introduce amongst mankind. These goloshes have the property of +making every one who puts them on imagine himself in any place he +wishes, or that he exists at any period. Every wish is fulfilled at +the moment it is expressed, so that for once mankind have the chance +of being happy." +</P> + +<P> +"No," replied Care; "you may depend upon it that whoever puts on +those goloshes will be very unhappy, and bless the moment in which +he can get rid of them." +</P> + +<P> +"What are you thinking of?" replied the other. "Now see; I will +place them by the door; some one will take them instead of his own, +and he will be the happy man." +</P> + +<P> +This was the end of their conversation. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +WHAT HAPPENED TO THE COUNSELLOR +</H3> + +<P> +It was late when Counsellor Knapp, lost in thought about the times +of King Hans, desired to return home; and fate so ordered it that he +put on the goloshes of Fortune instead of his own, and walked out into +the East Street. Through the magic power of the goloshes, he was at +once carried back three hundred years, to the times of King Hans, +for which he had been longing when he put them on. Therefore he +immediately set his foot into the mud and mire of the street, which in +those days possessed no pavement. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, this is horrible; how dreadfully dirty it is!" said the +counsellor; "and the whole pavement has vanished, and the lamps are all +out." +</P> + +<P> +The moon had not yet risen high enough to penetrate the thick +foggy air, and all the objects around him were confused together in +the darkness. At the nearest corner, a lamp hung before a picture of +the Madonna; but the light it gave was almost useless, for he only +perceived it when he came quite close and his eyes fell on the painted +figures of the Mother and Child. +</P> + +<P> +"That is most likely a museum of art," thought he, "and they +have forgotten to take down the sign." +</P> + +<P> +Two men, in the dress of olden times, passed by him. +</P> + +<P> +"What odd figures!" thought he; "they must be returning from +some masquerade." +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly he heard the sound of a drum and fifes, and then a +blazing light from torches shone upon him. The counsellor stared +with astonishment as he beheld a most strange procession pass before +him. First came a whole troop of drummers, beating their drums very +cleverly; they were followed by life-guards, with longbows and +crossbows. The principal person in the procession was a +clerical-looking gentleman. The astonished counsellor asked what it +all meant, and who the gentleman might be. +</P> + +<P> +"That is the bishop of Zealand." +</P> + +<P> +"Good gracious!" he exclaimed; "what in the world has happened +to the bishop? what can he be thinking about?" Then he shook his +head and said, "It cannot possibly be the bishop himself." +</P> + +<P> +While musing on this strange affair, and without looking to the +right or left, he walked on through East Street and over Highbridge +Place. The bridge, which he supposed led to Palace Square, was nowhere +to be found; but instead, he saw a bank and some shallow water, and +two people, who sat in a boat. +</P> + +<P> +"Does the gentleman wish to be ferried over the Holm?" asked one. +</P> + +<P> +"To the Holm!" exclaimed the counsellor, not knowing in what age +he was now existing; "I want to go to Christian's Haven, in Little +Turf Street." The men stared at him. "Pray tell me where the bridge +is!" said he. "It is shameful that the lamps are not lighted here, and +it is as muddy as if one were walking in a marsh." But the more he +talked with the boatmen the less they could understand each other. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't understand your outlandish talk," he cried at last, +angrily turning his back upon them. He could not, however, find the +bridge nor any railings. +</P> + +<P> +"What a scandalous condition this place is in," said he; never, +certainly, had he found his own times so miserable as on this evening. +"I think it will be better for me to take a coach; but where are +they?" There was not one to be seen! "I shall be obliged to go back to +the king's new market," said he, "where there are plenty of +carriages standing, or I shall never reach Christian's Haven." Then he +went towards East Street, and had nearly passed through it, when the +moon burst forth from a cloud. +</P> + +<P> +"Dear me, what have they been erecting here?" he cried, as he +caught sight of the East gate, which in olden times used to stand at +the end of East Street. However, he found an opening through which +he passed, and came out upon where he expected to find the new market. +Nothing was to be seen but an open meadow, surrounded by a few bushes, +through which ran a broad canal or stream. A few miserable-looking +wooden booths, for the accommodation of Dutch watermen, stood on the +opposite shore. +</P> + +<P> +"Either I behold a fata morgana, or I must be tipsy," groaned +the counsellor. "What can it be? What is the matter with me?" He +turned back in the full conviction that he must be ill. In walking +through the street this time, he examined the houses more closely; +he found that most of them were built of lath and plaster, and many +had only a thatched roof. +</P> + +<P> +"I am certainly all wrong," said he, with a sigh; "and yet I only +drank one glass of punch. But I cannot bear even that, and it was very +foolish to give us punch and hot salmon; I shall speak about it to our +hostess, the agent's lady. Suppose I were to go back now and say how +ill I feel, I fear it would look so ridiculous, and it is not very +likely that I should find any one up." Then he looked for the house, +but it was not in existence. +</P> + +<P> +"This is really frightful; I cannot even recognize East Street. +Not a shop to be seen; nothing but old, wretched, tumble-down +houses, just as if I were at Roeskilde or Ringstedt. Oh, I really must +be ill! It is no use to stand upon ceremony. But where in the world is +the agent's house. There is a house, but it is not his; and people +still up in it, I can hear. Oh dear! I certainly am very queer." As he +reached the half-open door, he saw a light and went in. It was a +tavern of the olden times, and seemed a kind of beershop. The room had +the appearance of a Dutch interior. A number of people, consisting +of seamen, Copenhagen citizens, and a few scholars, sat in deep +conversation over their mugs, and took very little notice of the new +comer. +</P> + +<P> +"Pardon me," said the counsellor, addressing the landlady, "I do +not feel quite well, and I should be much obliged if you will send for +a fly to take me to Christian's Haven." The woman stared at him and +shook her head. Then she spoke to him in German. The counsellor +supposed from this that she did not understand Danish; he therefore +repeated his request in German. This, as well as his singular dress, +convinced the woman that he was a foreigner. She soon understood, +however, that he did not find himself quite well, and therefore +brought him a mug of water. It had something of the taste of seawater, +certainly, although it had been drawn from the well outside. Then +the counsellor leaned his head on his hand, drew a deep breath, and +pondered over all the strange things that had happened to him. +</P> + +<P> +"Is that to-day's number of the Day?" he asked, quite +mechanically, as he saw the woman putting by a large piece of paper. +She did not understand what he meant, but she handed him the sheet; it +was a woodcut, representing a meteor, which had appeared in the town +of Cologne. +</P> + +<P> +"That is very old," said the counsellor, becoming quite cheerful +at the sight of this antique drawing. "Where did you get this singular +sheet? It is very interesting, although the whole affair is a fable. +Meteors are easily explained in these days; they are northern +lights, which are often seen, and are no doubt caused by electricity." +</P> + +<P> +Those who sat near him, and heard what he said, looked at him in +great astonishment, and one of them rose, took off his hat +respectfully, and said in a very serious manner, "You must certainly +be a very learned man, monsieur." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh no," replied the counsellor; "I can only discourse on topics +which every one should understand." +</P> + +<P> +"Modestia is a beautiful virtue," said the man. "Moreover, I +must add to your speech mihi secus videtur; yet in this case I would +suspend my judicium." +</P> + +<P> +"May I ask to whom I have the pleasure of speaking?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am a Bachelor of Divinity," said the man. This answer satisfied +the counsellor. The title agreed with the dress. +</P> + +<P> +"This is surely," thought he, "an old village schoolmaster, a +perfect original, such as one meets with sometimes even in Jutland." +</P> + +<P> +"This is not certainly a locus docendi," began the man; "still I +must beg you to continue the conversation. You must be well read in +ancient lore." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh yes," replied the counsellor; "I am very fond of reading +useful old books, and modern ones as well, with the exception of +every-day stories, of which we really have more than enough. +</P> + +<P> +"Every-day stories?" asked the bachelor. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I mean the new novels that we have at the present day." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh," replied the man, with a smile; "and yet they are very witty, +and are much read at Court. The king likes especially the romance of +Messeurs Iffven and Gaudian, which describes King Arthur and his +knights of the round table. He has joked about it with the gentlemen +of his Court." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I have certainly not read that," replied the counsellor. "I +suppose it is quite new, and published by Heiberg." +</P> + +<P> +"No," answered the man, "it is not by Heiberg; Godfred von +Gehman brought it out." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, is he the publisher? That is a very old name," said the +counsellor; "was it not the name of the first publisher in Denmark?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; and he is our first printer and publisher now," replied +the scholar. +</P> + +<P> +So far all had passed off very well; but now one of the citizens +began to speak of a terrible pestilence which had been raging a few +years before, meaning the plague of 1484. The counsellor thought he +referred to the cholera, and they could discuss this without finding +out the mistake. The war in 1490 was spoken of as quite recent. The +English pirates had taken some ships in the Channel in 1801, and the +counsellor, supposing they referred to these, agreed with them in +finding fault with the English. The rest of the talk, however, was not +so agreeable; every moment one contradicted the other. The good +bachelor appeared very ignorant, for the simplest remark of the +counsellor seemed to him either too bold or too fantastic. They stared +at each other, and when it became worse the bachelor spoke in Latin, +in the hope of being better understood; but it was all useless. +</P> + +<P> +"How are you now?" asked the landlady, pulling the counsellor's +sleeve. +</P> + +<P> +Then his recollection returned to him. In the course of +conversation he had forgotten all that had happened previously. +</P> + +<P> +"Goodness me! where am I?" said he. It bewildered him as he +thought of it. +</P> + +<P> +"We will have some claret, or mead, or Bremen beer," said one of +the guests; "will you drink with us?" +</P> + +<P> +Two maids came in. One of them had a cap on her head of two +colors. They poured out the wine, bowed their heads, and withdrew. +</P> + +<P> +The counsellor felt a cold shiver run all over him. "What is this? +what does it mean?" said he; but he was obliged to drink with them, +for they overpowered the good man with their politeness. He became +at last desperate; and when one of them said he was tipsy, he did +not doubt the man's word in the least—only begged them to get a +droschky; and then they thought he was speaking the Muscovite +language. Never before had he been in such rough and vulgar company. +"One might believe that the country was going back to heathenism," +he observed. "This is the most terrible moment of my life." +</P> + +<P> +Just then it came into his mind that he would stoop under the +table, and so creep to the door. He tried it; but before he reached +the entry, the rest discovered what he was about, and seized him by +the feet, when, luckily for him, off came the goloshes, and with +them vanished the whole enchantment. The counsellor now saw quite +plainly a lamp, and a large building behind it; everything looked +familiar and beautiful. He was in East Street, as it now appears; he +lay with his legs turned towards a porch, and just by him sat the +watchman asleep. +</P> + +<P> +"Is it possible that I have been lying here in the street +dreaming?" said he. "Yes, this is East Street; how beautifully +bright and gay it looks! It is quite shocking that one glass of +punch should have upset me like this." +</P> + +<P> +Two minutes afterwards he sat in a droschky, which was to drive +him to Christian's Haven. He thought of all the terror and anxiety +which he had undergone, and felt thankful from his heart for the +reality and comfort of modern times, which, with all their errors, +were far better than those in which he so lately found himself. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE WATCHMAN'S ADVENTURES +</H3> + +<P> +"Well, I declare, there lies a pair of goloshes," said the +watchman. "No doubt, they belong to the lieutenant who lives up +stairs. They are lying just by his door." Gladly would the honest +man have rung, and given them in, for a light was still burning, but +he did not wish to disturb the other people in the house; so he let +them lie. "These things must keep the feet very warm," said he; +"they are of such nice soft leather." Then he tried them on, and +they fitted his feet exactly. "Now," said he, "how droll things are in +this world! There's that man can lie down in his warm bed, but he does +not do so. There he goes pacing up and down the room. He ought to be a +happy man. He has neither wife nor children, and he goes out into +company every evening. Oh, I wish I were he; then I should be a +happy man." +</P> + +<P> +As he uttered this wish, the goloshes which he had put on took +effect, and the watchman at once became the lieutenant. There he stood +in his room, holding a little piece of pink paper between his fingers, +on which was a poem,—a poem written by the lieutenant himself. Who +has not had, for once in his life, a moment of poetic inspiration? and +at such a moment, if the thoughts are written down, they flow in +poetry. The following verses were written on the pink paper:— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "OH WERE I RICH!<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Oh were I rich! How oft, in youth's bright hour,<BR> + When youthful pleasures banish every care,<BR> + I longed for riches but to gain a power,<BR> + The sword and plume and uniform to wear!<BR> + The riches and the honor came for me;<BR> + Yet still my greatest wealth was poverty:<BR> + Ah, help and pity me!<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Once in my youthful hours, when gay and free,<BR> + A maiden loved me; and her gentle kiss,<BR> + Rich in its tender love and purity,<BR> + Taught me, alas! too much of earthly bliss.<BR> + Dear child! She only thought of youthful glee;<BR> + She loved no wealth, but fairy tales and me.<BR> + Thou knowest: ah, pity me!<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Oh were I rich! again is all my prayer:<BR> + That child is now a woman, fair and free,<BR> + As good and beautiful as angels are.<BR> + Oh, were I rich in lovers' poetry,<BR> + To tell my fairy tale, love's richest lore!<BR> + But no; I must be silent—I am poor.<BR> + Ah, wilt thou pity me?<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Oh were I rich in truth and peace below,<BR> + I need not then my poverty bewail.<BR> + To thee I dedicate these lines of woe;<BR> + Wilt thou not understand the mournful tale?<BR> + A leaf on which my sorrows I relate—<BR> + Dark story of a darker night of fate.<BR> + Ah, bless and pity me!"<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"Well, yes; people write poems when they are in love, but a wise +man will not print them. A lieutenant in love, and poor. This is a +triangle, or more properly speaking, the half of the broken die of +fortune." The lieutenant felt this very keenly, and therefore leaned +his head against the window-frame, and sighed deeply. "The poor +watchman in the street," said he, "is far happier than I am. He +knows not what I call poverty. He has a home, a wife and children, who +weep at his sorrow and rejoice at his joy. Oh, how much happier I +should be could I change my being and position with him, and pass +through life with his humble expectations and hopes! Yes, he is indeed +happier than I am." +</P> + +<P> +At this moment the watchman again became a watchman; for having, +through the goloshes of Fortune, passed into the existence of the +lieutenant, and found himself less contented than he expected, he +had preferred his former condition, and wished himself again a +watchman. "That was an ugly dream," said he, "but droll enough. It +seemed to me as if I were the lieutenant up yonder, but there was no +happiness for me. I missed my wife and the little ones, who are always +ready to smother me with kisses." He sat down again and nodded, but he +could not get the dream out of his thoughts, and he still had the +goloshes on his feet. A falling star gleamed across the sky. "There +goes one!" cried he. "However, there are quite enough left; I should +very much like to examine these a little nearer, especially the +moon, for that could not slip away under one's hands. The student, for +whom my wife washes, says that when we die we shall fly from one +star to another. If that were true, it would be very delightful, but I +don't believe it. I wish I could make a little spring up there now; +I would willingly let my body lie here on the steps." +</P> + +<P> +There are certain things in the world which should be uttered very +cautiously; doubly so when the speaker has on his feet the goloshes of +Fortune. Now we shall hear what happened to the watchman. +</P> + +<P> +Nearly every one is acquainted with the great power of steam; we +have proved it by the rapidity with which we can travel, both on a +railroad or in a steamship across the sea. But this speed is like +the movements of the sloth, or the crawling march of the snail, when +compared to the swiftness with which light travels; light flies +nineteen million times faster than the fleetest race-horse, and +electricity is more rapid still. Death is an electric shock which we +receive in our hearts, and on the wings of electricity the liberated +soul flies away swiftly, the light from the sun travels to our earth +ninety-five millions of miles in eight minutes and a few seconds; +but on the wings of electricity, the mind requires only a second to +accomplish the same distance. The space between the heavenly bodies +is, to thought, no farther than the distance which we may have to walk +from one friend's house to another in the same town; yet this electric +shock obliges us to use our bodies here below, unless, like the +watchman, we have on the goloshes of Fortune. +</P> + +<P> +In a very few seconds the watchman had travelled more than two +hundred thousand miles to the moon, which is formed of a lighter +material than our earth, and may be said to be as soft as new fallen +snow. He found himself on one of the circular range of mountains which +we see represented in Dr. Madler's large map of the moon. The interior +had the appearance of a large hollow, bowl-shaped, with a depth +about half a mile from the brim. Within this hollow stood a large +town; we may form some idea of its appearance by pouring the white +of an egg into a glass of water. The materials of which it was built +seemed just as soft, and pictured forth cloudy turrets and sail-like +terraces, quite transparent, and floating in the thin air. Our earth +hung over his head like a great dark red ball. Presently he discovered +a number of beings, which might certainly be called men, but were very +different to ourselves. A more fantastical imagination than Herschel's +must have discovered these. Had they been placed in groups, and +painted, it might have been said, "What beautiful foliage!" They had +also a language of their own. No one could have expected the soul of +the watchman to understand it, and yet he did understand it, for our +souls have much greater capabilities then we are inclined to +believe. Do we not, in our dreams, show a wonderful dramatic talent? +each of our acquaintance appears to us then in his own character, +and with his own voice; no man could thus imitate them in his waking +hours. How clearly, too, we are reminded of persons whom we have not +seen for many years; they start up suddenly to the mind's eye with all +their peculiarities as living realities. In fact, this memory of the +soul is a fearful thing; every sin, every sinful thought it can +bring back, and we may well ask how we are to give account of "every +idle word" that may have been whispered in the heart or uttered with +the lips. The spirit of the watchman therefore understood very well +the language of the inhabitants of the moon. They were disputing about +our earth, and doubted whether it could be inhabited. The +atmosphere, they asserted, must be too dense for any inhabitants of +the moon to exist there. They maintained that the moon alone was +inhabited, and was really the heavenly body in which the old world +people lived. They likewise talked politics. +</P> + +<P> +But now we will descend to East Street, and see what happened to +the watchman's body. He sat lifeless on the steps. His staff had +fallen out of his hand, and his eyes stared at the moon, about which +his honest soul was wandering. +</P> + +<P> +"What is it o'clock, watchman?" inquired a passenger. But there +was no answer from the watchman. +</P> + +<P> +The man then pulled his nose gently, which caused him to lose +his balance. The body fell forward, and lay at full length on the +ground as one dead. +</P> + +<P> +All his comrades were very much frightened, for he seemed quite +dead; still they allowed him to remain after they had given notice +of what had happened; and at dawn the body was carried to the +hospital. We might imagine it to be no jesting matter if the soul of +the man should chance to return to him, for most probably it would +seek for the body in East Street without being able to find it. We +might fancy the soul inquiring of the police, or at the address +office, or among the missing parcels, and then at length finding it at +the hospital. But we may comfort ourselves by the certainty that the +soul, when acting upon its own impulses, is wiser than we are; it is +the body that makes it stupid. +</P> + +<P> +As we have said, the watchman's body had been taken to the +hospital, and here it was placed in a room to be washed. Naturally, +the first thing done here was to take off the goloshes, upon which the +soul was instantly obliged to return, and it took the direct road to +the body at once, and in a few seconds the man's life returned to him. +He declared, when he quite recovered himself, that this had been the +most dreadful night he had ever passed; not for a hundred pounds would +he go through such feelings again. However, it was all over now. +</P> + +<P> +The same day he was allowed to leave, but the goloshes remained at +the hospital. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE EVENTFUL MOMENT—A MOST UNUSUAL JOURNEY +</H3> + +<P> +Every inhabitant of Copenhagen knows what the entrance to +Frederick's Hospital is like; but as most probably a few of those +who read this little tale may not reside in Copenhagen, we will give a +short description of it. +</P> + +<P> +The hospital is separated from the street by an iron railing, in +which the bars stand so wide apart that, it is said, some very slim +patients have squeezed through, and gone to pay little visits in the +town. The most difficult part of the body to get through was the head; +and in this case, as it often happens in the world, the small heads +were the most fortunate. This will serve as sufficient introduction to +our tale. One of the young volunteers, of whom, physically speaking, +it might be said that he had a great head, was on guard that evening +at the hospital. The rain was pouring down, yet, in spite of these two +obstacles, he wanted to go out just for a quarter of an hour; it was +not worth while, he thought, to make a confidant of the porter, as +he could easily slip through the iron railings. There lay the +goloshes, which the watchman had forgotten. It never occurred to him +that these could be goloshes of Fortune. They would be very +serviceable to him in this rainy weather, so he drew them on. Now came +the question whether he could squeeze through the palings; he +certainly had never tried, so he stood looking at them. "I wish to +goodness my head was through," said he, and instantly, though it was +so thick and large, it slipped through quite easily. The goloshes +answered that purpose very well, but his body had to follow, and +this was impossible. "I am too fat," he said; "I thought my head would +be the worst, but I cannot get my body through, that is certain." Then +he tried to pull his head back again, but without success; he could +move his neck about easily enough, and that was all. His first feeling +was one of anger, and then his spirits sank below zero. The goloshes +of Fortune had placed him in this terrible position, and unfortunately +it never occurred to him to wish himself free. No, instead of +wishing he kept twisting about, yet did not stir from the spot. The +rain poured, and not a creature could be seen in the street. The +porter's bell he was unable to reach, and however was he to get loose! +He foresaw that he should have to stay there till morning, and then +they must send for a smith to file away the iron bars, and that +would be a work of time. All the charity children would just be +going to school: and all the sailors who inhabited that quarter of the +town would be there to see him standing in the pillory. What a crowd +there would be. "Ha," he cried, "the blood is rushing to my head, +and I shall go mad. I believe I am crazy already; oh, I wish I were +free, then all these sensations would pass off." This is just what +he ought to have said at first. The moment he had expressed the +thought his head was free. He started back, quite bewildered with +the fright which the goloshes of Fortune had caused him. But we must +not suppose it was all over; no, indeed, there was worse to come +yet. The night passed, and the whole of the following day; but no +one sent for the goloshes. In the evening a declamatory performance +was to take place at the amateur theatre in a distant street. The +house was crowded; among the audience was the young volunteer from the +hospital, who seemed to have quite forgotten his adventures of the +previous evening. He had on the goloshes; they had not been sent +for, and as the streets were still very dirty, they were of great +service to him. A new poem, entitled "My Aunt's Spectacles," was being +recited. It described these spectacles as possessing a wonderful +power; if any one put them on in a large assembly the people +appeared like cards, and the future events of ensuing years could be +easily foretold by them. The idea struck him that he should very +much like to have such a pair of spectacles; for, if used rightly, +they would perhaps enable him to see into the hearts of people, +which he thought would be more interesting than to know what was going +to happen next year; for future events would be sure to show +themselves, but the hearts of people never. "I can fancy what I should +see in the whole row of ladies and gentlemen on the first seat, if I +could only look into their hearts; that lady, I imagine, keeps a store +for things of all descriptions; how my eyes would wander about in that +collection; with many ladies I should no doubt find a large +millinery establishment. There is another that is perhaps empty, and +would be all the better for cleaning out. There may be some well +stored with good articles. Ah, yes," he sighed, "I know one, in +which everything is solid, but a servant is there already, and that is +the only thing against it. I dare say from many I should hear the +words, 'Please to walk in.' I only wish I could slip into the hearts +like a little tiny thought." This was the word of command for the +goloshes. The volunteer shrunk up together, and commenced a most +unusual journey through the hearts of the spectators in the first row. +The first heart he entered was that of a lady, but he thought he +must have got into one of the rooms of an orthopedic institution where +plaster casts of deformed limbs were hanging on the walls, with this +difference, that the casts in the institution are formed when the +patient enters, but here they were formed and preserved after the good +people had left. These were casts of the bodily and mental deformities +of the lady's female friends carefully preserved. Quickly he passed +into another heart, which had the appearance of a spacious, holy +church, with the white dove of innocence fluttering over the altar. +Gladly would he have fallen on his knees in such a sacred place; but +he was carried on to another heart, still, however, listening to the +tones of the organ, and feeling himself that he had become another and +a better man. The next heart was also a sanctuary, which he felt +almost unworthy to enter; it represented a mean garret, in which lay a +sick mother; but the warm sunshine streamed through the window, lovely +roses bloomed in a little flowerbox on the roof, two blue birds sang +of childlike joys, and the sick mother prayed for a blessing on her +daughter. Next he crept on his hands and knees through an overfilled +butcher's shop; there was meat, nothing but meat, wherever he stepped; +this was the heart of a rich, respectable man, whose name is doubtless +in the directory. Then he entered the heart of this man's wife; it was +an old, tumble-down pigeon-house; the husband's portrait served as a +weather-cock; it was connected with all the doors, which opened and +shut just as the husband's decision turned. The next heart was a +complete cabinet of mirrors, such as can be seen in the Castle of +Rosenberg. But these mirrors magnified in an astonishing degree; in +the middle of the floor sat, like the Grand Lama, the insignificant +I of the owner, astonished at the contemplation of his own features. +At his next visit he fancied he must have got into a narrow +needlecase, full of sharp needles: "Oh," thought he, "this must be the +heart of an old maid;" but such was not the fact; it belonged to a +young officer, who wore several orders, and was said to be a man of +intellect and heart. +</P> + +<P> +The poor volunteer came out of the last heart in the row quite +bewildered. He could not collect his thoughts, and imagined his +foolish fancies had carried him away. "Good gracious!" he sighed, "I +must have a tendency to softening of the brain, and here it is so +exceedingly hot that the blood is rushing to my head." And then +suddenly recurred to him the strange event of the evening before, when +his head had been fixed between the iron railings in front of the +hospital. "That is the cause of it all!" he exclaimed, "I must do +something in time. A Russian bath would be a very good thing to +begin with. I wish I were lying on one of the highest shelves." Sure +enough, there he lay on an upper shelf of a vapor bath, still in his +evening costume, with his boots and goloshes on, and the hot drops +from the ceiling falling on his face. "Ho!" he cried, jumping down and +rushing towards the plunging bath. The attendant stopped him with a +loud cry, when he saw a man with all his clothes on. The volunteer +had, however, presence of mind enough to whisper, "It is for a wager;" +but the first thing he did, when he reached his own room, was to put a +large blister on his neck, and another on his back, that his crazy fit +might be cured. The next morning his back was very sore, which was all +he gained by the goloshes of Fortune. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE CLERK'S TRANSFORMATION +</H3> + +<P> +The watchman, whom we of course have not forgotten, thought, after +a while, of the goloshes which he had found and taken to the hospital; +so he went and fetched them. But neither the lieutenant nor any one in +the street could recognize them as their own, so he gave them up to +the police. "They look exactly like my own goloshes," said one of +the clerks, examining the unknown articles, as they stood by the +side of his own. "It would require even more than the eye of a +shoemaker to know one pair from the other." +</P> + +<P> +"Master clerk," said a servant who entered with some papers. The +clerk turned and spoke to the man; but when he had done with him, he +turned to look at the goloshes again, and now he was in greater +doubt than ever as to whether the pair on the right or on the left +belonged to him. "Those that are wet must be mine," thought he; but he +thought wrong, it was just the reverse. The goloshes of Fortune were +the wet pair; and, besides, why should not a clerk in a police +office be wrong sometimes? So he drew them on, thrust his papers +into his pocket, placed a few manuscripts under his arm, which he +had to take with him, and to make abstracts from at home. Then, as +it was Sunday morning and the weather very fine, he said to himself, +"A walk to Fredericksburg will do me good:" so away he went. +</P> + +<P> +There could not be a quieter or more steady young man than this +clerk. We will not grudge him this little walk, it was just the +thing to do him good after sitting so much. He went on at first like a +mere automaton, without thought or wish; therefore the goloshes had no +opportunity to display their magic power. In the avenue he met with an +acquaintance, one of our young poets, who told him that he intended to +start on the following day on a summer excursion. "Are you really +going away so soon?" asked the clerk. "What a free, happy man you are. +You can roam about where you will, while such as we are tied by the +foot." +</P> + +<P> +"But it is fastened to the bread-tree," replied the poet. "You +need have no anxiety for the morrow; and when you are old there is a +pension for you." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, yes; but you have the best of it," said the clerk; "it must +be so delightful to sit and write poetry. The whole world makes itself +agreeable to you, and then you are your own master. You should try how +you would like to listen to all the trivial things in a court of +justice." The poet shook his head, so also did the clerk; each +retained his own opinion, and so they parted. "They are strange +people, these poets," thought the clerk. "I should like to try what it +is to have a poetic taste, and to become a poet myself. I am sure I +should not write such mournful verses as they do. This is a splendid +spring day for a poet, the air is so remarkably clear, the clouds +are so beautiful, and the green grass has such a sweet smell. For many +years I have not felt as I do at this moment." +</P> + +<P> +We perceive, by these remarks, that he had already become a +poet. By most poets what he had said would be considered common-place, +or as the Germans call it, "insipid." It is a foolish fancy to look +upon poets as different to other men. There are many who are more +the poets of nature than those who are professed poets. The difference +is this, the poet's intellectual memory is better; he seizes upon an +idea or a sentiment, until he can embody it, clearly and plainly in +words, which the others cannot do. But the transition from a character +of every-day life to one of a more gifted nature is a great +transition; and so the clerk became aware of the change after a +time. "What a delightful perfume," said he; "it reminds me of the +violets at Aunt Lora's. Ah, that was when I was a little boy. Dear me, +how long it seems since I thought of those days! She was a good old +maiden lady! she lived yonder, behind the Exchange. She always had a +sprig or a few blossoms in water, let the winter be ever so severe. +I could smell the violets, even while I was placing warm penny +pieces against the frozen panes to make peep-holes, and a pretty +view it was on which I peeped. Out in the river lay the ships, +icebound, and forsaken by their crews; a screaming crow represented +the only living creature on board. But when the breezes of spring +came, everything started into life. Amidst shouting and cheers the +ships were tarred and rigged, and then they sailed to foreign lands. +</P> + +<P> +"I remain here, and always shall remain, sitting at my post at the +police office, and letting others take passports to distant lands. +Yes, this is my fate," and he sighed deeply. Suddenly he paused. "Good +gracious, what has come over me? I never felt before as I do now; it +must be the air of spring. It is overpowering, and yet it is +delightful." +</P> + +<P> +He felt in his pockets for some of his papers. "These will give me +something else to think of," said he. Casting his eyes on the first +page of one, he read, "'Mistress Sigbirth; an original Tragedy, in +Five Acts.' What is this?—in my own handwriting, too! Have I +written this tragedy?" He read again, "'The Intrigue on the Promenade; +or, the Fast-Day. A Vaudeville.' However did I get all this? Some +one must have put them into my pocket. And here is a letter!" It was +from the manager of a theatre; the pieces were rejected, not at all in +polite terms. +</P> + +<P> +"Hem, hem!" said he, sitting down on a bench; his thoughts were +very elastic, and his heart softened strangely. Involuntarily he +seized one of the nearest flowers; it was a little, simple daisy. +All that botanists can say in many lectures was explained in a +moment by this little flower. It spoke of the glory of its birth; it +told of the strength of the sunlight, which had caused its delicate +leaves to expand, and given to it such sweet perfume. The struggles of +life which arouse sensations in the bosom have their type in the +tiny flowers. Air and light are the lovers of the flowers, but light +is the favored one; towards light it turns, and only when light +vanishes does it fold its leaves together, and sleep in the embraces +of the air." +</P> + +<P> +"It is light that adorns me," said the flower. +</P> + +<P> +"But the air gives you the breath of life," whispered the poet. +</P> + +<P> +Just by him stood a boy, splashing with his stick in a marshy +ditch. The water-drops spurted up among the green twigs, and the clerk +thought of the millions of animalculae which were thrown into the +air with every drop of water, at a height which must be the same to +them as it would be to us if we were hurled beyond the clouds. As +the clerk thought of all these things, and became conscious of the +great change in his own feelings, he smiled, and said to himself, "I +must be asleep and dreaming; and yet, if so, how wonderful for a dream +to be so natural and real, and to know at the same time too that it is +but a dream. I hope I shall be able to remember it all when I wake +tomorrow. My sensations seem most unaccountable. I have a clear +perception of everything as if I were wide awake. I am quite sure if I +recollect all this tomorrow, it will appear utterly ridiculous and +absurd. I have had this happen to me before. It is with the clever +or wonderful things we say or hear in dreams, as with the gold which +comes from under the earth, it is rich and beautiful when we possess +it, but when seen in a true light it is but as stones and withered +leaves." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" he sighed mournfully, as he gazed at the birds singing +merrily, or hopping from branch to branch, "they are much better off +than I. Flying is a glorious power. Happy is he who is born with +wings. Yes, if I could change myself into anything I would be a little +lark." At the same moment his coat-tails and sleeves grew together and +formed wings, his clothes changed to feathers, and his goloshes to +claws. He felt what was taking place, and laughed to himself. "Well, +now it is evident I must be dreaming; but I never had such a wild +dream as this." And then he flew up into the green boughs and sang, +but there was no poetry in the song, for his poetic nature had left +him. The goloshes, like all persons who wish to do a thing thoroughly, +could only attend to one thing at a time. He wished to be a poet, +and he became one. Then he wanted to be a little bird, and in this +change he lost the characteristics of the former one. "Well," +thought he, "this is charming; by day I sit in a police-office, +amongst the dryest law papers, and at night I can dream that I am a +lark, flying about in the gardens of Fredericksburg. Really a complete +comedy could be written about it." Then he flew down into the grass, +turned his head about in every direction, and tapped his beak on the +bending blades of grass, which, in proportion to his size, seemed to +him as long as the palm-leaves in northern Africa. +</P> + +<P> +In another moment all was darkness around him. It seemed as if +something immense had been thrown over him. A sailor boy had flung his +large cap over the bird, and a hand came underneath and caught the +clerk by the back and wings so roughly, that he squeaked, and then +cried out in his alarm, "You impudent rascal, I am a clerk in the +police-office!" but it only sounded to the boy like "tweet, tweet;" so +he tapped the bird on the beak, and walked away with him. In the +avenue he met two school-boys, who appeared to belong to a better +class of society, but whose inferior abilities kept them in the lowest +class at school. These boys bought the bird for eightpence, and so the +clerk returned to Copenhagen. "It is well for me that I am +dreaming," he thought; "otherwise I should become really angry. +First I was a poet, and now I am a lark. It must have been the +poetic nature that changed me into this little creature. It is a +miserable story indeed, especially now I have fallen into the hands of +boys. I wonder what will be the end of it." The boys carried him +into a very elegant room, where a stout, pleasant-looking lady +received them, but she was not at all gratified to find that they +had brought a lark—a common field-bird as she called it. However, she +allowed them for one day to place the bird in an empty cage that +hung near the window. "It will please Polly perhaps," she said, +laughing at a large gray parrot, who was swinging himself proudly on a +ring in a handsome brass cage. "It is Polly's birthday," she added +in a simpering tone, "and the little field-bird has come to offer +his congratulations." +</P> + +<P> +Polly did not answer a single word, he continued to swing +proudly to and fro; but a beautiful canary, who had been brought +from his own warm, fragrant fatherland, the summer previous, began +to sing as loud as he could. +</P> + +<P> +"You screamer!" said the lady, throwing a white handkerchief +over the cage. +</P> + +<P> +"Tweet, tweet," sighed he, "what a dreadful snowstorm!" and then +he became silent. +</P> + +<P> +The clerk, or as the lady called him the field-bird, was placed in +a little cage close to the canary, and not far from the parrot. The +only human speech which Polly could utter, and which she sometimes +chattered forth most comically, was "Now let us be men." All besides +was a scream, quite as unintelligible as the warbling of the +canary-bird, excepting to the clerk, who being now a bird, could +understand his comrades very well. +</P> + +<P> +"I flew beneath green palm-trees, and amidst the blooming +almond-trees," sang the canary. "I flew with my brothers and sisters +over beautiful flowers, and across the clear, bright sea, which +reflected the waving foliage in its glittering depths; and I have seen +many gay parrots, who could relate long and delightful stories. +</P> + +<P> +"They were wild birds," answered the parrot, "and totally +uneducated. Now let us be men. Why do you not laugh? If the lady and +her visitors can laugh at this, surely you can. It is a great +failing not to be able to appreciate what is amusing. Now let us be +men." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you remember," said the canary, "the pretty maidens who used +to dance in the tents that were spread out beneath the sweet blossoms? +Do you remember the delicious fruit and the cooling juice from the +wild herbs?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes," said the parrot; "but here I am much better off. I am +well fed, and treated politely. I know that I have a clever head; +and what more do I want? Let us be men now. You have a soul for +poetry. I have deep knowledge and wit. You have genius, but no +discretion. You raise your naturally high notes so much, that you +get covered over. They never serve me so. Oh, no; I cost them +something more than you. I keep them in order with my beak, and +fling my wit about me. Now let us be men. +</P> + +<P> +"O my warm, blooming fatherland," sang the canary bird, "I will +sing of thy dark-green trees and thy quiet streams, where the +bending branches kiss the clear, smooth water. I will sing of the +joy of my brothers and sisters, as their shining plumage flits among +the dark leaves of the plants which grow wild by the springs." +</P> + +<P> +"Do leave off those dismal strains," said the parrot; "sing +something to make us laugh; laughter is the sign of the highest +order of intellect. Can a dog or a horse laugh? No, they can cry; +but to man alone is the power of laughter given. Ha! ha! ha!" +laughed Polly, and repeated his witty saying, "Now let us be men." +</P> + +<P> +"You little gray Danish bird," said the canary, "you also have +become a prisoner. It is certainly cold in your forests, but still +there is liberty there. Fly out! they have forgotten to close the +cage, and the window is open at the top. Fly, fly!" +</P> + +<P> +Instinctively, the clerk obeyed, and left the cage; at the same +moment the half-opened door leading into the next room creaked on +its hinges, and, stealthily, with green fiery eyes, the cat crept in +and chased the lark round the room. The canary-bird fluttered in his +cage, and the parrot flapped his wings and cried, "Let us be men;" the +poor clerk, in the most deadly terror, flew through the window, over +the houses, and through the streets, till at length he was obliged +to seek a resting-place. A house opposite to him had a look of home. A +window stood open; he flew in, and perched upon the table. It was +his own room. "Let us be men now," said he, involuntarily imitating +the parrot; and at the same moment he became a clerk again, only +that he was sitting on the table. "Heaven preserve us!" said he; +"How did I get up here and fall asleep in this way? It was an uneasy +dream too that I had. The whole affair appears most absurd." +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE BEST THING THE GOLOSHES DID +</H3> + +<P> +Early on the following morning, while the clerk was still in +bed, his neighbor, a young divinity student, who lodged on the same +storey, knocked at his door, and then walked in. "Lend me your +goloshes," said he; "it is so wet in the garden, but the sun is +shining brightly. I should like to go out there and smoke my pipe." He +put on the goloshes, and was soon in the garden, which contained +only one plum-tree and one apple-tree; yet, in a town, even a small +garden like this is a great advantage. +</P> + +<P> +The student wandered up and down the path; it was just six +o'clock, and he could hear the sound of the post-horn in the street. +"Oh, to travel, to travel!" cried he; "there is no greater happiness +in the world: it is the height of my ambition. This restless feeling +would be stilled, if I could take a journey far away from this +country. I should like to see beautiful Switzerland, to travel through +Italy, and,"—It was well for him that the goloshes acted immediately, +otherwise he might have been carried too far for himself as well as +for us. In a moment he found himself in Switzerland, closely packed +with eight others in the diligence. His head ached, his back was +stiff, and the blood had ceased to circulate, so that his feet were +swelled and pinched by his boots. He wavered in a condition between +sleeping and waking. In his right-hand pocket he had a letter of +credit; in his left-hand pocket was his passport; and a few louis +d'ors were sewn into a little leather bag which he carried in his +breast-pocket. Whenever he dozed, he dreamed that he had lost one or +another of these possessions; then he would awake with a start, and +the first movements of his hand formed a triangle from his +right-hand pocket to his breast, and from his breast to his +left-hand pocket, to feel whether they were all safe. Umbrellas, +sticks, and hats swung in the net before him, and almost obstructed +the prospect, which was really very imposing; and as he glanced at it, +his memory recalled the words of one poet at least, who has sung of +Switzerland, and whose poems have not yet been printed:— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "How lovely to my wondering eyes<BR> + Mont Blanc's fair summits gently rise;<BR> + 'Tis sweet to breathe the mountain air,—<BR> + If you have gold enough to spare."<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Grand, dark, and gloomy appeared the landscape around him. The +pine-forests looked like little groups of moss on high rocks, whose +summits were lost in clouds of mist. Presently it began to snow, and +the wind blew keen and cold. "Ah," he sighed, "if I were only on the +other side of the Alps now, it would be summer, and I should be able +to get money on my letter of credit. The anxiety I feel on this matter +prevents me from enjoying myself in Switzerland. Oh, I wish I was on +the other side of the Alps." +</P> + +<P> +And there, in a moment, he found himself, far away in the midst of +Italy, between Florence and Rome, where the lake Thrasymene +glittered in the evening sunlight like a sheet of molten gold +between the dark blue mountains. There, where Hannibal defeated +Flaminius, the grape vines clung to each other with the friendly grasp +of their green tendril fingers; while, by the wayside, lovely +half-naked children were watching a herd of coal-black swine under the +blossoms of fragrant laurel. Could we rightly describe this +picturesque scene, our readers would exclaim, "Delightful Italy!" +</P> + +<P> +But neither the student nor either of his travelling companions +felt the least inclination to think of it in this way. Poisonous flies +and gnats flew into the coach by thousands. In vain they drove them +away with a myrtle branch, the flies stung them notwithstanding. There +was not a man in the coach whose face was not swollen and disfigured +with the stings. The poor horses looked wretched; the flies settled on +their backs in swarms, and they were only relieved when the coachmen +got down and drove the creatures off. +</P> + +<P> +As the sun set, an icy coldness filled all nature, not however +of long duration. It produced the feeling which we experience when +we enter a vault at a funeral, on a summer's day; while the hills +and the clouds put on that singular green hue which we often notice in +old paintings, and look upon as unnatural until we have ourselves seen +nature's coloring in the south. It was a glorious spectacle; but the +stomachs of the travellers were empty, their bodies exhausted with +fatigue, and all the longings of their heart turned towards a +resting-place for the night; but where to find one they knew not. +All the eyes were too eagerly seeking for this resting-place, to +notice the beauties of nature. +</P> + +<P> +The road passed through a grove of olive-trees; it reminded the +student of the willow-trees at home. Here stood a lonely inn, and +close by it a number of crippled beggars had placed themselves; the +brightest among them looked, to quote the words of Marryat, "like +the eldest son of Famine who had just come of age." The others were +either blind, or had withered legs, which obliged them to creep +about on their hands and knees, or they had shrivelled arms and +hands without fingers. It was indeed poverty arrayed in rags. +"Eccellenza, miserabili!" they exclaimed, stretching forth their +diseased limbs. The hostess received the travellers with bare feet, +untidy hair, and a dirty blouse. The doors were fastened together with +string; the floors of the rooms were of brick, broken in many +places; bats flew about under the roof; and as to the odor within— +</P> + +<P> +"Let us have supper laid in the stable," said one of the +travellers; "then we shall know what we are breathing." +</P> + +<P> +The windows were opened to let in a little fresh air, but +quicker than air came in the withered arms and the continual whining +sounds, "Miserabili, eccellenza." On the walls were inscriptions, +half of them against "la bella Italia." +</P> + +<P> +The supper made its appearance at last. It consisted of watery +soup, seasoned with pepper and rancid oil. This last delicacy played a +principal part in the salad. Musty eggs and roasted cocks'-combs +were the best dishes on the table; even the wine had a strange +taste, it was certainly a mixture. At night, all the boxes were placed +against the doors, and one of the travellers watched while the +others slept. The student's turn came to watch. How close the air felt +in that room; the heat overpowered him. The gnats were buzzing about +and stinging, while the miserabili, outside, moaned in their dreams. +</P> + +<P> +"Travelling would be all very well," said the student of +divinity to himself, "if we had no bodies, or if the body could rest +while the soul if flying. Wherever I go I feel a want which +oppresses my heart, for something better presents itself at the +moment; yes, something better, which shall be the best of all; but +where is that to be found? In fact, I know in my heart very well +what I want. I wish to attain the greatest of all happiness." +</P> + +<P> +No sooner were the words spoken than he was at home. Long white +curtains shaded the windows of his room, and in the middle of the +floor stood a black coffin, in which he now lay in the still sleep +of death; his wish was fulfilled, his body was at rest, and his spirit +travelling. +</P> + +<P> +"Esteem no man happy until he is in his grave," were the words +of Solon. Here was a strong fresh proof of their truth. Every corpse +is a sphinx of immortality. The sphinx in this sarcophagus might +unveil its own mystery in the words which the living had himself +written two days before— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Stern death, thy chilling silence waketh dread;<BR> + Yet in thy darkest hour there may be light.<BR> + Earth's garden reaper! from the grave's cold bed<BR> + The soul on Jacob's ladder takes her flight.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + Man's greatest sorrows often are a part<BR> + Of hidden griefs, concealed from human eyes,<BR> + Which press far heavier on the lonely heart<BR> + Than now the earth that on his coffin lies."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Two figures were moving about the room; we know them both. One was +the fairy named Care, the other the messenger of Fortune. They bent +over the dead. +</P> + +<P> +"Look!" said Care; "what happiness have your goloshes brought to +mankind?" +</P> + +<P> +"They have at least brought lasting happiness to him who +slumbers here," she said. +</P> + +<P> +"Not so," said Care, "he went away of himself, he was not +summoned. His mental powers were not strong enough to discern the +treasures which he had been destined to discover. I will do him a +favor now." And she drew the goloshes from his feet. +</P> + +<P> +The sleep of death was ended, and the recovered man raised +himself. Care vanished, and with her the goloshes; doubtless she +looked upon them as her own property. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="good_for"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +SHE WAS GOOD FOR NOTHING +</H3> + +<P> +The mayor stood at the open window. He looked smart, for his +shirt-frill, in which he had stuck a breast-pin, and his ruffles, were +very fine. He had shaved his chin uncommonly smooth, although he had +cut himself slightly, and had stuck a piece of newspaper over the +place. "Hark 'ee, youngster!" cried he. +</P> + +<P> +The boy to whom he spoke was no other than the son of a poor +washer-woman, who was just going past the house. He stopped, and +respectfully took off his cap. The peak of this cap was broken in +the middle, so that he could easily roll it up and put it in his +pocket. He stood before the mayor in his poor but clean and +well-mended clothes, with heavy wooden shoes on his feet, looking as +humble as if it had been the king himself. +</P> + +<P> +"You are a good and civil boy," said the mayor. "I suppose your +mother is busy washing the clothes down by the river, and you are +going to carry that thing to her that you have in your pocket. It is +very bad for your mother. How much have you got in it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Only half a quartern," stammered the boy in a frightened voice. +</P> + +<P> +"And she has had just as much this morning already?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, it was yesterday," replied the boy. +</P> + +<P> +"Two halves make a whole," said the mayor. "She's good for +nothing. What a sad thing it is with these people. Tell your mother +she ought to be ashamed of herself. Don't you become a drunkard, but I +expect you will though. Poor child! there, go now." +</P> + +<P> +The boy went on his way with his cap in his hand, while the wind +fluttered his golden hair till the locks stood up straight. He +turned round the corner of the street into the little lane that led to +the river, where his mother stood in the water by her washing bench, +beating the linen with a heavy wooden bar. The floodgates at the +mill had been drawn up, and as the water rolled rapidly on, the sheets +were dragged along by the stream, and nearly overturned the bench, +so that the washer-woman was obliged to lean against it to keep it +steady. "I have been very nearly carried away," she said; "it is a +good thing that you are come, for I want something to strengthen me. +It is cold in the water, and I have stood here six hours. Have you +brought anything for me?" +</P> + +<P> +The boy drew the bottle from his pocket, and the mother put it +to her lips, and drank a little. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, how much good that does, and how it warms me," she said; +"it is as good as a hot meal, and not so dear. Drink a little, my boy; +you look quite pale; you are shivering in your thin clothes, and +autumn has really come. Oh, how cold the water is! I hope I shall +not be ill. But no, I must not be afraid of that. Give me a little +more, and you may have a sip too, but only a sip; you must not get +used to it, my poor, dear child." She stepped up to the bridge on +which the boy stood as she spoke, and came on shore. The water dripped +from the straw mat which she had bound round her body, and from her +gown. "I work hard and suffer pain with my poor hands," said she, "but +I do it willingly, that I may be able to bring you up honestly and +truthfully, my dear boy." +</P> + +<P> +At the same moment, a woman, rather older than herself, came +towards them. She was a miserable-looking object, lame of one leg, and +with a large false curl hanging down over one of her eyes, which was +blind. This curl was intended to conceal the blind eye, but it made +the defect only more visible. She was a friend of the laundress, and +was called, among the neighbors, "Lame Martha, with the curl." "Oh, +you poor thing; how you do work, standing there in the water!" she +exclaimed. "You really do need something to give you a little +warmth, and yet spiteful people cry out about the few drops you take." +And then Martha repeated to the laundress, in a very few minutes, +all that the mayor had said to her boy, which she had overheard; and +she felt very angry that any man could speak, as he had done, of a +mother to her own child, about the few drops she had taken; and she +was still more angry because, on that very day, the mayor was going to +have a dinner-party, at which there would be wine, strong, rich +wine, drunk by the bottle. "Many will take more than they ought, but +they don't call that drinking! They are all right, you are good for +nothing indeed!" cried Martha indignantly. +</P> + +<P> +"And so he spoke to you in that way, did he, my child?" said the +washer-woman, and her lips trembled as she spoke. "He says you have +a mother who is good for nothing. Well, perhaps he is right, but he +should not have said it to my child. How much has happened to me +from that house!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said Martha; "I remember you were in service there, and +lived in the house when the mayor's parents were alive; how many years +ago that is. Bushels of salt have been eaten since then, and people +may well be thirsty," and Martha smiled. "The mayor's great +dinner-party to-day ought to have been put off, but the news came +too late. The footman told me the dinner was already cooked, when a +letter came to say that the mayor's younger brother in Copenhagen is +dead." +</P> + +<P> +"Dead!" cried the laundress, turning pale as death. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, certainly," replied Martha; "but why do you take it so +much to heart? I suppose you knew him years ago, when you were in +service there?" +</P> + +<P> +"Is he dead?" she exclaimed. "Oh, he was such a kind, good-hearted +man, there are not many like him," and the tears rolled down her +cheeks as she spoke. Then she cried, "Oh, dear me; I feel quite ill: +everything is going round me, I cannot bear it. Is the bottle +empty?" and she leaned against the plank. +</P> + +<P> +"Dear me, you are ill indeed," said the other woman. "Come, +cheer up; perhaps it will pass off. No, indeed, I see you are really +ill; the best thing for me to do is to lead you home." +</P> + +<P> +"But my washing yonder?" +</P> + +<P> +"I will take care of that. Come, give me your arm. The boy can +stay here and take care of the linen, and I'll come back and finish +the washing; it is but a trifle." +</P> + +<P> +The limbs of the laundress shook under her, and she said, "I +have stood too long in the cold water, and I have had nothing to eat +the whole day since the morning. O kind Heaven, help me to get home; I +am in a burning fever. Oh, my poor child," and she burst into tears. +And he, poor boy, wept also, as he sat alone by the river, near to and +watching the damp linen. +</P> + +<P> +The two women walked very slowly. The laundress slipped and +tottered through the lane, and round the corner, into the street where +the mayor lived; and just as she reached the front of his house, she +sank down upon the pavement. Many persons came round her, and Lame +Martha ran into the house for help. The mayor and his guests came to +the window. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, it is the laundress," said he; "she has had a little drop too +much. She is good for nothing. It is a sad thing for her pretty little +son. I like the boy very well; but the mother is good for nothing." +</P> + +<P> +After a while the laundress recovered herself, and they led her to +her poor dwelling, and put her to bed. Kind Martha warmed a mug of +beer for her, with butter and sugar—she considered this the best +medicine—and then hastened to the river, washed and rinsed, badly +enough, to be sure, but she did her best. Then she drew the linen +ashore, wet as it was, and laid it in a basket. Before evening, she +was sitting in the poor little room with the laundress. The mayor's +cook had given her some roasted potatoes and a beautiful piece of +fat for the sick woman. Martha and the boy enjoyed these good things +very much; but the sick woman could only say that the smell was very +nourishing, she thought. By-and-by the boy was put to bed, in the same +bed as the one in which his mother lay; but he slept at her feet, +covered with an old quilt made of blue and white patchwork. The +laundress felt a little better by this time. The warm beer had +strengthened her, and the smell of the good food had been pleasant +to her. +</P> + +<P> +"Many thanks, you good soul," she said to Martha. "Now the boy +is asleep, I will tell you all. He is soon asleep. How gentle and +sweet he looks as he lies there with his eyes closed! He does not know +how his mother has suffered; and Heaven grant he never may know it. +I was in service at the counsellor's, the father of the mayor, and +it happened that the youngest of his sons, the student, came home. I +was a young wild girl then, but honest; that I can declare in the +sight of Heaven. The student was merry and gay, brave and +affectionate; every drop of blood in him was good and honorable; a +better man never lived on earth. He was the son of the house, and I +was only a maid; but he loved me truly and honorably, and he told +his mother of it. She was to him as an angel upon earth; she was so +wise and loving. He went to travel, and before he started he placed +a gold ring on my finger; and as soon as he was out of the house, my +mistress sent for me. Gently and earnestly she drew me to her, and +spake as if an angel were speaking. She showed me clearly, in spirit +and in truth, the difference there was between him and me. 'He is +pleased now,' she said, 'with your pretty face; but good looks do +not last long. You have not been educated like he has. You are not +equals in mind and rank, and therein lies the misfortune. I esteem the +poor,' she added. 'In the sight of God, they may occupy a higher place +than many of the rich; but here upon earth we must beware of +entering upon a false track, lest we are overturned in our plans, like +a carriage that travels by a dangerous road. I know a worthy man, an +artisan, who wishes to marry you. I mean Eric, the glovemaker. He is a +widower, without children, and in a good position. Will you think it +over?' Every word she said pierced my heart like a knife; but I knew +she was right, and the thought pressed heavily upon me. I kissed her +hand, and wept bitter tears, and I wept still more when I went to my +room, and threw myself on the bed. I passed through a dreadful +night; God knows what I suffered, and how I struggled. The following +Sunday I went to the house of God to pray for light to direct my path. +It seemed like a providence that as I stepped out of church Eric +came towards me; and then there remained not a doubt in my mind. We +were suited to each other in rank and circumstances. He was, even +then, a man of good means. I went up to him, and took his hand, and +said, 'Do you still feel the same for me?' 'Yes; ever and always,' +said he. 'Will you, then, marry a maiden who honors and esteems you, +although she cannot offer you her love? but that may come.' 'Yes, it +will come,' said he; and we joined our hands together, and I went home +to my mistress. The gold ring which her son had given me I wore next +to my heart. I could not place it on my finger during the daytime, but +only in the evening, when I went to bed. I kissed the ring till my +lips almost bled, and then I gave it to my mistress, and told her that +the banns were to be put up for me and the glovemaker the following +week. Then my mistress threw her arms round me, and kissed me. She did +not say that I was 'good for nothing;' very likely I was better then +than I am now; but the misfortunes of this world, were unknown to me +then. At Michaelmas we were married, and for the first year everything +went well with us. We had a journeyman and an apprentice, and you were +our servant, Martha." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, yes, and you were a dear, good mistress," said Martha, "I +shall never forget how kind you and your husband were to me." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, those were happy years when you were with us, although we +had no children at first. The student I never met again. Yet I saw him +once, although he did not see me. He came to his mother's funeral. I +saw him, looking pale as death, and deeply troubled, standing at her +grave; for she was his mother. Sometime after, when his father died, +he was in foreign lands, and did not come home. I know that he never +married, I believe he became a lawyer. He had forgotten me, and even +had we met he would not have known me, for I have lost all my good +looks, and perhaps that is all for the best." And then she spoke of +the dark days of trial, when misfortune had fallen upon them. +</P> + +<P> +"We had five hundred dollars," she said, "and there was a house in +the street to be sold for two hundred, so we thought it would be worth +our while to pull it down and build a new one in its place; so it +was bought. The builder and carpenter made an estimate that the new +house would cost ten hundred and twenty dollars to build. Eric had +credit, so he borrowed the money in the chief town. But the captain, +who was bringing it to him, was shipwrecked, and the money lost. +Just about this time, my dear sweet boy, who lies sleeping there, +was born, and my husband was attacked with a severe lingering illness. +For three quarters of a year I was obliged to dress and undress him. +We were backward in our payments, we borrowed more money, and all that +we had was lost and sold, and then my husband died. Since then I +have worked, toiled, and striven for the sake of the child. I have +scrubbed and washed both coarse and fine linen, but I have not been +able to make myself better off; and it was God's will. In His own time +He will take me to Himself, but I know He will never forsake my +boy." Then she fell asleep. In the morning she felt much refreshed, +and strong enough, as she thought, to go on with her work. But as soon +as she stepped into the cold water, a sudden faintness seized her; she +clutched at the air convulsively with her hand, took one step forward, +and fell. Her head rested on dry land, but her feet were in the water; +her wooden shoes, which were only tied on by a wisp of straw, were +carried away by the stream, and thus she was found by Martha when +she came to bring her some coffee. +</P> + +<P> +In the meantime a messenger had been sent to her house by the +mayor, to say that she must come to him immediately, as he had +something to tell her. It was too late; a surgeon had been sent for to +open a vein in her arm, but the poor woman was dead. +</P> + +<P> +"She has drunk herself to death," said the cruel mayor. In the +letter, containing the news of his brother's death, it was stated that +he had left in his will a legacy of six hundred dollars to the +glovemaker's widow, who had been his mother's maid, to be paid with +discretion, in large or small sums to the widow or her child. +</P> + +<P> +"There was something between my brother and her, I remember," said +the mayor; "it is a good thing that she is out of the way, for now the +boy will have the whole. I will place him with honest people to +bring him up, that he may become a respectable working man." And the +blessing of God rested upon these words. The mayor sent for the boy to +come to him, and promised to take care of him, but most cruelly +added that it was a good thing that his mother was dead, for "she +was good for nothing." They carried her to the churchyard, the +churchyard in which the poor were buried. Martha strewed sand on the +grave and planted a rose-tree upon it, and the boy stood by her side. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, my poor mother!" he cried, while the tears rolled down his +cheeks. "Is it true what they say, that she was good for nothing?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, indeed, it is not true," replied the old servant, raising her +eyes to heaven; "she was worth a great deal; I knew it years ago, +and since the last night of her life I am more certain of it than +ever. I say she was a good and worthy woman, and God, who is in +heaven, knows I am speaking the truth, though the world may say, +even now she was good for nothing." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="grandmot"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +GRANDMOTHER +</H3> + +<P> +Grandmother is very old, her face is wrinkled, and her hair is +quite white; but her eyes are like two stars, and they have a mild, +gentle expression in them when they look at you, which does you +good. She wears a dress of heavy, rich silk, with large flowers worked +on it; and it rustles when she moves. And then she can tell the most +wonderful stories. Grandmother knows a great deal, for she was alive +before father and mother—that's quite certain. She has a hymn-book +with large silver clasps, in which she often reads; and in the book, +between the leaves, lies a rose, quite flat and dry; it is not so +pretty as the roses which are standing in the glass, and yet she +smiles at it most pleasantly, and tears even come into her eyes. "I +wonder why grandmother looks at the withered flower in the old book +that way? Do you know?" Why, when grandmother's tears fall upon the +rose, and she is looking at it, the rose revives, and fills the room +with its fragrance; the walls vanish as in a mist, and all around +her is the glorious green wood, where in summer the sunlight streams +through thick foliage; and grandmother, why she is young again, a +charming maiden, fresh as a rose, with round, rosy cheeks, fair, +bright ringlets, and a figure pretty and graceful; but the eyes, those +mild, saintly eyes, are the same,—they have been left to grandmother. +At her side sits a young man, tall and strong; he gives her a rose and +she smiles. Grandmother cannot smile like that now. Yes, she is +smiling at the memory of that day, and many thoughts and recollections +of the past; but the handsome young man is gone, and the rose has +withered in the old book, and grandmother is sitting there, again an +old woman, looking down upon the withered rose in the book. +</P> + +<P> +Grandmother is dead now. She had been sitting in her arm-chair, +telling us a long, beautiful tale; and when it was finished, she +said she was tired, and leaned her head back to sleep awhile. We could +hear her gentle breathing as she slept; gradually it became quieter +and calmer, and on her countenance beamed happiness and peace. It +was as if lighted up with a ray of sunshine. She smiled once more, and +then people said she was dead. She was laid in a black coffin, looking +mild and beautiful in the white folds of the shrouded linen, though +her eyes were closed; but every wrinkle had vanished, her hair +looked white and silvery, and around her mouth lingered a sweet smile. +We did not feel at all afraid to look at the corpse of her who had +been such a dear, good grandmother. The hymn-book, in which the rose +still lay, was placed under her head, for so she had wished it; and +then they buried grandmother. +</P> + +<P> +On the grave, close by the churchyard wall, they planted a +rose-tree; it was soon full of roses, and the nightingale sat among +the flowers, and sang over the grave. From the organ in the church +sounded the music and the words of the beautiful psalms, which were +written in the old book under the head of the dead one. +</P> + +<P> +The moon shone down upon the grave, but the dead was not there; +every child could go safely, even at night, and pluck a rose from +the tree by the churchyard wall. The dead know more than we do who are +living. They know what a terror would come upon us if such a strange +thing were to happen, as the appearance of a dead person among us. +They are better off than we are; the dead return no more. The earth +has been heaped on the coffin, and it is earth only that lies within +it. The leaves of the hymn-book are dust; and the rose, with all its +recollections, has crumbled to dust also. But over the grave fresh +roses bloom, the nightingale sings, and the organ sounds and there +still lives a remembrance of old grandmother, with the loving, +gentle eyes that always looked young. Eyes can never die. Ours will +once again behold dear grandmother, young and beautiful as when, for +the first time, she kissed the fresh, red rose, that is now dust in +the grave. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="great_gr"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A GREAT GRIEF +</H3> + +<P> +This story really consists of two parts. The first part might be +left out, but it gives us a few particulars, and these are useful. +</P> + +<P> +We were staying in the country at a gentleman's seat, where it +happened that the master was absent for a few days. In the meantime, +there arrived from the next town a lady; she had a pug dog with her, +and came, she said, to dispose of shares in her tan-yard. She had +her papers with her, and we advised her to put them in an envelope, +and to write thereon the address of the proprietor of the estate, +"General War-Commissary Knight," &c. +</P> + +<P> +She listened to us attentively, seized the pen, paused, and begged +us to repeat the direction slowly. We complied, and she wrote; but +in the midst of the "General War-" she struck fast, sighed deeply, and +said, "I am only a woman!" Her Puggie had seated itself on the +ground while she wrote, and growled; for the dog had come with her for +amusement and for the sake of its health; and then the bare floor +ought not to be offered to a visitor. His outward appearance was +characterized by a snub nose and a very fat back. +</P> + +<P> +"He doesn't bite," said the lady; "he has no teeth. He is like one +of the family, faithful and grumpy; but the latter is my +grandchildren's fault, for they have teased him; they play at wedding, +and want to give him the part of the bridesmaid, and that's too much +for him, poor old fellow." +</P> + +<P> +And she delivered her papers, and took Puggie upon her arm. And +this is the first part of the story which might have been left out. +</P> + +<P> +PUGGIE DIED!! That's the second part. +</P> + +<P> +It was about a week afterwards we arrived in the town, and put +up at the inn. Our windows looked into the tan-yard, which was divided +into two parts by a partition of planks; in one half were many skins +and hides, raw and tanned. Here was all the apparatus necessary to +carry on a tannery, and it belonged to the widow. Puggie had died in +the morning, and was to be buried in this part of the yard; the +grandchildren of the widow (that is, of the tanner's widow, for Puggie +had never been married) filled up the grave, and it was a beautiful +grave—it must have been quite pleasant to lie there. +</P> + +<P> +The grave was bordered with pieces of flower-pots and strewn +over with sand; quite at the top they had stuck up half a beer bottle, +with the neck upwards, and that was not at all allegorical. +</P> + +<P> +The children danced round the grave, and the eldest of the boys +among them, a practical youngster of seven years, made the proposition +that there should be an exhibition of Puggie's burial-place for all +who lived in the lane; the price of admission was to be a trouser +button, for every boy would be sure to have one, and each might also +give one for a little girl. This proposal was adopted by acclamation. +</P> + +<P> +And all the children out of the lane—yes, even out of the +little lane at the back—flocked to the place, and each gave a button. +Many were noticed to go about on that afternoon with only one +suspender; but then they had seen Puggie's grave, and the sight was +worth much more. +</P> + +<P> +But in front of the tan-yard, close to the entrance, stood a +little girl clothed in rags, very pretty to look at, with curly +hair, and eyes so blue and clear that it was a pleasure to look into +them. The child said not a word, nor did she cry; but each time the +little door was opened she gave a long, long look into the yard. She +had not a button—that she knew right well, and therefore she remained +standing sorrowfully outside, till all the others had seen the grave +and had gone away; then she sat down, held her little brown hands +before her eyes, and burst into tears; this girl alone had not seen +Puggie's grave. It was a grief as great to her as any grown person can +experience. +</P> + +<P> +We saw this from above; and looked at from above, how many a grief +of our own and of others can make us smile! That is the story, and +whoever does not understand it may go and purchase a share in the +tan-yard from the window. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="happy_fa"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE HAPPY FAMILY +</H3> + +<P> +The largest green leaf in this country is certainly the +burdock-leaf. If you hold it in front of you, it is large enough for +an apron; and if you hold it over your head, it is almost as good as +an umbrella, it is so wonderfully large. A burdock never grows +alone; where it grows, there are many more, and it is a splendid +sight; and all this splendor is good for snails. The great white +snails, which grand people in olden times used to have made into +fricassees; and when they had eaten them, they would say, "O, what a +delicious dish!" for these people really thought them good; and +these snails lived on burdock-leaves, and for them the burdock was +planted. +</P> + +<P> +There was once an old estate where no one now lived to require +snails; indeed, the owners had all died out, but the burdock still +flourished; it grew over all the beds and walks of the garden—its +growth had no check—till it became at last quite a forest of +burdocks. Here and there stood an apple or a plum-tree; but for +this, nobody would have thought the place had ever been a garden. It +was burdock from one end to the other; and here lived the last two +surviving snails. They knew not themselves how old they were; but they +could remember the time when there were a great many more of them, and +that they were descended from a family which came from foreign +lands, and that the whole forest had been planted for them and theirs. +They had never been away from the garden; but they knew that another +place once existed in the world, called the Duke's Palace Castle, in +which some of their relations had been boiled till they became +black, and were then laid on a silver dish; but what was done +afterwards they did not know. Besides, they could not imagine +exactly how it felt to be boiled and placed on a silver dish; but no +doubt it was something very fine and highly genteel. Neither the +cockchafer, nor the toad, nor the earth-worm, whom they questioned +about it, would give them the least information; for none of their +relations had ever been cooked or served on a silver dish. The old +white snails were the most aristocratic race in the world,—they +knew that. The forest had been planted for them, and the nobleman's +castle had been built entirely that they might be cooked and laid on +silver dishes. +</P> + +<P> +They lived quite retired and very happily; and as they had no +children of their own, they had adopted a little common snail, which +they brought up as their own child. The little one would not grow, for +he was only a common snail; but the old people, particularly the +mother-snail, declared that she could easily see how he grew; and when +the father said he could not perceive it, she begged him to feel the +little snail's shell, and he did so, and found that the mother was +right. +</P> + +<P> +One day it rained very fast. "Listen, what a drumming there is +on the burdock-leaves; turn, turn, turn; turn, turn, turn," said the +father-snail. +</P> + +<P> +"There come the drops," said the mother; "they are trickling +down the stalks. We shall have it very wet here presently. I am very +glad we have such good houses, and that the little one has one of +his own. There has been really more done for us than for any other +creature; it is quite plain that we are the most noble people in the +world. We have houses from our birth, and the burdock forest has +been planted for us. I should very much like to know how far it +extends, and what lies beyond it." +</P> + +<P> +"There can be nothing better than we have here," said the +father-snail; "I wish for nothing more." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, but I do," said the mother; "I should like to be taken to +the palace, and boiled, and laid upon a silver dish, as was done to +all our ancestors; and you may be sure it must be something very +uncommon." +</P> + +<P> +"The nobleman's castle, perhaps, has fallen to decay," said the +snail-father, "or the burdock wood may have grown out. You need not +be in a hurry; you are always so impatient, and the youngster is +getting just the same. He has been three days creeping to the top of +that stalk. I feel quite giddy when I look at him." +</P> + +<P> +"You must not scold him," said the mother-snail; "he creeps so +very carefully. He will be the joy of our home; and we old folks +have nothing else to live for. But have you ever thought where we +are to get a wife for him? Do you think that farther out in the wood +there may be others of our race?" +</P> + +<P> +"There may be black snails, no doubt," said the old snail; +"black snails without houses; but they are so vulgar and conceited +too. But we can give the ants a commission; they run here and there, +as if they all had so much business to get through. They, most likely, +will know of a wife for our youngster." +</P> + +<P> +"I certainly know a most beautiful bride," said one of the ants; +"but I fear it would not do, for she is a queen." +</P> + +<P> +"That does not matter," said the old snail; "has she a house?" +</P> + +<P> +"She has a palace," replied the ant,—"a most beautiful ant-palace +with seven hundred passages." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank-you," said the mother-snail; "but our boy shall not go to +live in an ant-hill. If you know of nothing better, we will give the +commission to the white gnats; they fly about in rain and sunshine; +they know the burdock wood from one end to the other." +</P> + +<P> +"We have a wife for him," said the gnats; "a hundred man-steps +from here there is a little snail with a house, sitting on a +gooseberry-bush; she is quite alone, and old enough to be married. +It is only a hundred man-steps from here." +</P> + +<P> +"Then let her come to him," said the old people. "He has the whole +burdock forest; she has only a bush." +</P> + +<P> +So they brought the little lady-snail. She took eight days to +perform the journey; but that was just as it ought to be; for it +showed her to be one of the right breeding. And then they had a +wedding. Six glow-worms gave as much light as they could; but in other +respects it was all very quiet; for the old snails could not bear +festivities or a crowd. But a beautiful speech was made by the +mother-snail. The father could not speak; he was too much overcome. +Then they gave the whole burdock forest to the young snails as an +inheritance, and repeated what they had so often said, that it was the +finest place in the world, and that if they led upright and +honorable lives, and their family increased, they and their children +might some day be taken to the nobleman's palace, to be boiled +black, and laid on a silver dish. And when they had finished speaking, +the old couple crept into their houses, and came out no more; for they +slept. +</P> + +<P> +The young snail pair now ruled in the forest, and had a numerous +progeny. But as the young ones were never boiled or laid in silver +dishes, they concluded that the castle had fallen into decay, and that +all the people in the world were dead; and as nobody contradicted +them, they thought they must be right. And the rain fell upon the +burdock-leaves, to play the drum for them, and the sun shone to +paint colors on the burdock forest for them, and they were very happy; +the whole family were entirely and perfectly happy. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="heaven"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A LEAF FROM HEAVEN +</H3> + +<P> +High up in the clear, pure air flew an angel, with a flower +plucked from the garden of heaven. As he was kissing the flower a very +little leaf fell from it and sunk down into the soft earth in the +middle of a wood. It immediately took root, sprouted, and sent out +shoots among the other plants. +</P> + +<P> +"What a ridiculous little shoot!" said one. "No one will recognize +it; not even the thistle nor the stinging-nettle." +</P> + +<P> +"It must be a kind of garden plant," said another; and so they +sneered and despised the plant as a thing from a garden. +</P> + +<P> +"Where are you coming?" said the tall thistles whose leaves were +all armed with thorns. "It is stupid nonsense to allow yourself to +shoot out in this way; we are not here to support you." +</P> + +<P> +Winter came, and the plant was covered with snow, but the snow +glittered over it as if it had sunshine beneath as well as above. +</P> + +<P> +When spring came, the plant appeared in full bloom: a more +beautiful object than any other plant in the forest. And now the +professor of botany presented himself, one who could explain his +knowledge in black and white. He examined and tested the plant, but it +did not belong to his system of botany, nor could he possibly find out +to what class it did belong. "It must be some degenerate species," +said he; "I do not know it, and it is not mentioned in any system." +</P> + +<P> +"Not known in any system!" repeated the thistles and the nettles. +</P> + +<P> +The large trees which grew round it saw the plant and heard the +remarks, but they said not a word either good or bad, which is the +wisest plan for those who are ignorant. +</P> + +<P> +There passed through the forest a poor innocent girl; her heart +was pure, and her understanding increased by her faith. Her chief +inheritance had been an old Bible, which she read and valued. From its +pages she heard the voice of God speaking to her, and telling her to +remember what was said of Joseph's brethren when persons wished to +injure her. "They imagined evil in their hearts, but God turned it +to good." If we suffer wrongfully, if we are misunderstood or +despised, we must think of Him who was pure and holy, and who prayed +for those who nailed Him to the cross, "Father forgive them, for +they know not what they do." +</P> + +<P> +The girl stood still before the wonderful plant, for the green +leaves exhaled a sweet and refreshing fragrance, and the flowers +glittered and sparkled in the sunshine like colored flames, and the +harmony of sweet sounds lingered round them as if each concealed +within itself a deep fount of melody, which thousands of years could +not exhaust. With pious gratitude the girl looked upon this glorious +work of God, and bent down over one of the branches, that she might +examine the flower and inhale the sweet perfume. Then a light broke in +on her mind, and her heart expanded. Gladly would she have plucked a +flower, but she could not overcome her reluctance to break one off. +She knew it would so soon fade; so she took only a single green +leaf, carried it home, and laid it in her Bible, where it remained +ever green, fresh, and unfading. Between the pages of the Bible it +still lay when, a few weeks afterwards, that Bible was laid under +the young girl's head in her coffin. A holy calm rested on her face, +as if the earthly remains bore the impress of the truth that she now +stood in the presence of God. +</P> + +<P> +In the forest the wonderful plant still continued to bloom till it +grew and became almost a tree, and all the birds of passage bowed +themselves before it. +</P> + +<P> +"That plant is a foreigner, no doubt," said the thistles and the +burdocks. "We can never conduct ourselves like that in this +country." And the black forest snails actually spat at the flower. +</P> + +<P> +Then came the swineherd; he was collecting thistles and shrubs +to burn them for the ashes. He pulled up the wonderful plant, roots +and all, and placed it in his bundle. "This will be as useful as any," +he said; so the plant was carried away. +</P> + +<P> +Not long after, the king of the country suffered from the +deepest melancholy. He was diligent and industrious, but employment +did him no good. They read deep and learned books to him, and then the +lightest and most trifling that could be found, but all to no purpose. +Then they applied for advice to one of the wise men of the world, +and he sent them a message to say that there was one remedy which +would relieve and cure him, and that it was a plant of heavenly origin +which grew in the forest in the king's own dominions. The messenger +described the flower so that is appearance could not be mistaken. +</P> + +<P> +Then said the swineherd, "I am afraid I carried this plant away +from the forest in my bundle, and it has been burnt to ashes long ago. +But I did not know any better." +</P> + +<P> +"You did not know, any better! Ignorance upon ignorance indeed!" +</P> + +<P> +The poor swineherd took these words to heart, for they were +addressed to him; he knew not that there were others who were +equally ignorant. Not even a leaf of the plant could be found. There +was one, but it lay in the coffin of the dead; no one knew anything +about it. +</P> + +<P> +Then the king, in his melancholy, wandered out to the spot in +the wood. "Here is where the plant stood," he said; "it is a sacred +place." Then he ordered that the place should be surrounded with a +golden railing, and a sentry stationed near it. +</P> + +<P> +The botanical professor wrote a long treatise about the heavenly +plant, and for this he was loaded with gold, which improved the +position of himself and his family. +</P> + +<P> +And this part is really the most pleasant part of the story. For +the plant had disappeared, and the king remained as melancholy and sad +as ever, but the sentry said he had always been so. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="holger_d"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +HOLGER DANSKE +</H3> + +<P> +In Denmark there stands an old castle named Kronenburg, close by +the Sound of Elsinore, where large ships, both English, Russian, and +Prussian, pass by hundreds every day. And they salute the old castle +with cannons, "Boom, boom," which is as if they said, "Good-day." +And the cannons of the old castle answer "Boom," which means "Many +thanks." In winter no ships sail by, for the whole Sound is covered +with ice as far as the Swedish coast, and has quite the appearance +of a high-road. The Danish and the Swedish flags wave, and Danes and +Swedes say, "Good-day," and "Thank you" to each other, not with +cannons, but with a friendly shake of the hand; and they exchange +white bread and biscuits with each other, because foreign articles +taste the best. +</P> + +<P> +But the most beautiful sight of all is the old castle of +Kronenburg, where Holger Danske sits in the deep, dark cellar, into +which no one goes. He is clad in iron and steel, and rests his head on +his strong arm; his long beard hangs down upon the marble table, +into which it has become firmly rooted; he sleeps and dreams, but in +his dreams he sees everything that happens in Denmark. On each +Christmas-eve an angel comes to him and tells him that all he has +dreamed is true, and that he may go to sleep again in peace, as +Denmark is not yet in any real danger; but should danger ever come, +then Holger Danske will rouse himself, and the table will burst +asunder as he draws out his beard. Then he will come forth in his +strength, and strike a blow that shall sound in all the countries of +the world. +</P> + +<P> +An old grandfather sat and told his little grandson all this about +Holger Danske, and the boy knew that what his grandfather told him +must be true. As the old man related this story, he was carving an +image in wood to represent Holger Danske, to be fastened to the prow +of a ship; for the old grandfather was a carver in wood, that is, +one who carved figures for the heads of ships, according to the +names given to them. And now he had carved Holger Danske, who stood +there erect and proud, with his long beard, holding in one hand his +broad battle-axe, while with the other he leaned on the Danish arms. +The old grandfather told the little boy a great deal about Danish +men and women who had distinguished themselves in olden times, so that +he fancied he knew as much even as Holger Danske himself, who, after +all, could only dream; and when the little fellow went to bed, he +thought so much about it that he actually pressed his chin against the +counterpane, and imagined that he had a long beard which had become +rooted to it. But the old grandfather remained sitting at his work and +carving away at the last part of it, which was the Danish arms. And +when he had finished he looked at the whole figure, and thought of all +he had heard and read, and what he had that evening related to his +little grandson. Then he nodded his head, wiped his spectacles and put +them on, and said, "Ah, yes; Holger Danske will not appear in my +lifetime, but the boy who is in bed there may very likely live to +see him when the event really comes to pass." And the old +grandfather nodded again; and the more he looked at Holger Danske, the +more satisfied he felt that he had carved a good image of him. It +seemed to glow with the color of life; the armor glittered like iron +and steel. The hearts in the Danish arms grew more and more red; while +the lions, with gold crowns on their heads, were leaping up. "That +is the most beautiful coat of arms in the world," said the old man. +"The lions represent strength; and the hearts, gentleness and love." +And as he gazed on the uppermost lion, he thought of King Canute, +who chained great England to Denmark's throne; and he looked at the +second lion, and thought of Waldemar, who untied Denmark and conquered +the Vandals. The third lion reminded him of Margaret, who united +Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. But when he gazed at the red hearts, +their colors glowed more deeply, even as flames, and his memory +followed each in turn. The first led him to a dark, narrow prison, +in which sat a prisoner, a beautiful woman, daughter of Christian +the Fourth, Eleanor Ulfeld, and the flame became a rose on her +bosom, and its blossoms were not more pure than the heart of this +noblest and best of all Danish women. "Ah, yes; that is indeed a noble +heart in the Danish arms," said the grandfather, and his spirit +followed the second flame, which carried him out to sea, where cannons +roared and the ships lay shrouded in smoke, and the flaming heart +attached itself to the breast of Hvitfeldt in the form of the ribbon +of an order, as he blew himself and his ship into the air in order +to save the fleet. And the third flame led him to Greenland's wretched +huts, where the preacher, Hans Egede, ruled with love in every word +and action. The flame was as a star on his breast, and added another +heart to the Danish arms. And as the old grandfather's spirit followed +the next hovering flame, he knew whither it would lead him. In a +peasant woman's humble room stood Frederick the Sixth, writing his +name with chalk on the beam. The flame trembled on his breast and in +his heart, and it was in the peasant's room that his heart became +one for the Danish arms. The old grandfather wiped his eyes, for he +had known King Frederick, with his silvery locks and his honest blue +eyes, and had lived for him, and he folded his hands and remained +for some time silent. Then his daughter came to him and said it was +getting late, that he ought to rest for a while, and that the supper +was on the table. +</P> + +<P> +"What you have been carving is very beautiful, grandfather," +said she. "Holger Danske and the old coat of arms; it seems to me as +if I have seen the face somewhere." +</P> + +<P> +"No, that is impossible," replied the old grandfather; "but I have +seen it, and I have tried to carve it in wood, as I have retained it +in my memory. It was a long time ago, while the English fleet lay in +the roads, on the second of April, when we showed that we were true, +ancient Danes. I was on board the Denmark, in Steene Bille's squadron; +I had a man by my side whom even the cannon balls seemed to fear. He +sung old songs in a merry voice, and fired and fought as if he were +something more than a man. I still remember his face, but from +whence he came, or whither he went, I know not; no one knows. I have +often thought it might have been Holger Danske himself, who had swam +down to us from Kronenburg to help us in the hour of danger. That +was my idea, and there stands his likeness." +</P> + +<P> +The wooden figure threw a gigantic shadow on the wall, and even on +part of the ceiling; it seemed as if the real Holger Danske stood +behind it, for the shadow moved; but this was no doubt caused by the +flame of the lamp not burning steadily. Then the daughter-in-law +kissed the old grandfather, and led him to a large arm-chair by the +table; and she, and her husband, who was the son of the old man and +the father of the little boy who lay in bed, sat down to supper with +him. And the old grandfather talked of the Danish lions and the Danish +hearts, emblems of strength and gentleness, and explained quite +clearly that there is another strength than that which lies in a +sword, and he pointed to a shelf where lay a number of old books, +and amongst them a collection of Holberg's plays, which are much +read and are so clever and amusing that it is easy to fancy we have +known the people of those days, who are described in them. +</P> + +<P> +"He knew how to fight also," said the old man; "for he lashed +the follies and prejudices of people during his whole life." +</P> + +<P> +Then the grandfather nodded to a place above the looking-glass, +where hung an almanac, with a representation of the Round Tower upon +it, and said "Tycho Brahe was another of those who used a sword, but +not one to cut into the flesh and bone, but to make the way of the +stars of heaven clear, and plain to be understood. And then he whose +father belonged to my calling,—yes, he, the son of the old +image-carver, he whom we ourselves have seen, with his silvery locks +and his broad shoulders, whose name is known in all lands;—yes, he +was a sculptor, while I am only a carver. Holger Danske can appear +in marble, so that people in all countries of the world may hear of +the strength of Denmark. Now let us drink the health of Bertel." +</P> + +<P> +But the little boy in bed saw plainly the old castle of +Kronenburg, and the Sound of Elsinore, and Holger Danske, far down +in the cellar, with his beard rooted to the table, and dreaming of +everything that was passing above him. +</P> + +<P> +And Holger Danske did dream of the little humble room in which the +image-carver sat; he heard all that had been said, and he nodded in +his dream, saying, "Ah, yes, remember me, you Danish people, keep me +in your memory, I will come to you in the hour of need." +</P> + +<P> +The bright morning light shone over Kronenburg, and the wind +brought the sound of the hunting-horn across from the neighboring +shores. The ships sailed by and saluted the castle with the boom of +the cannon, and Kronenburg returned the salute, "Boom, boom." But +the roaring cannons did not awake Holger Danske, for they meant only +"Good morning," and "Thank you." They must fire in another fashion +before he awakes; but wake he will, for there is energy yet in +Holger Danske. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="ib_and_l"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +IB AND LITTLE CHRISTINA +</H3> + +<P> +In the forest that extends from the banks of the Gudenau, in North +Jutland, a long way into the country, and not far from the clear +stream, rises a great ridge of land, which stretches through the +wood like a wall. Westward of this ridge, and not far from the +river, stands a farmhouse, surrounded by such poor land that the sandy +soil shows itself between the scanty ears of rye and wheat which +grow in it. Some years have passed since the people who lived here +cultivated these fields; they kept three sheep, a pig, and two oxen; +in fact they maintained themselves very well, they had quite enough to +live upon, as people generally have who are content with their lot. +They even could have afforded to keep two horses, but it was a +saying among the farmers in those parts, "The horse eats himself +up;" that is to say, he eats as much as he earns. Jeppe Jans +cultivated his fields in summer, and in the winter he made wooden +shoes. He also had an assistant, a lad who understood as well as he +himself did how to make wooden shoes strong, but light, and in the +fashion. They carved shoes and spoons, which paid well; therefore no +one could justly call Jeppe Jans and his family poor people. Little +Ib, a boy of seven years old and the only child, would sit by, +watching the workmen, or cutting a stick, and sometimes his finger +instead of the stick. But one day Ib succeeded so well in his +carving that he made two pieces of wood look really like two little +wooden shoes, and he determined to give them as a present to Little +Christina. +</P> + +<P> +"And who was Little Christina?" She was the boatman's daughter, +graceful and delicate as the child of a gentleman; had she been +dressed differently, no one would have believed that she lived in a +hut on the neighboring heath with her father. He was a widower, and +earned his living by carrying firewood in his large boat from the +forest to the eel-pond and eel-weir, on the estate of Silkborg, and +sometimes even to the distant town of Randers. There was no one +under whose care he could leave Little Christina; so she was almost +always with him in his boat, or playing in the wood among the +blossoming heath, or picking the ripe wild berries. Sometimes, when +her father had to go as far as the town, he would take Little +Christina, who was a year younger than Ib, across the heath to the +cottage of Jeppe Jans, and leave her there. Ib and Christina agreed +together in everything; they divided their bread and berries when they +were hungry; they were partners in digging their little gardens; +they ran, and crept, and played about everywhere. Once they wandered a +long way into the forest, and even ventured together to climb the high +ridge. Another time they found a few snipes' eggs in the wood, which +was a great event. Ib had never been on the heath where Christina's +father lived, nor on the river; but at last came an opportunity. +Christina's father invited him to go for a sail in his boat; and the +evening before, he accompanied the boatman across the heath to his +house. The next morning early, the two children were placed on the top +of a high pile of firewood in the boat, and sat eating bread and +wild strawberries, while Christina's father and his man drove the boat +forward with poles. They floated on swiftly, for the tide was in their +favor, passing over lakes, formed by the stream in its course; +sometimes they seemed quite enclosed by reeds and water-plants, yet +there was always room for them to pass out, although the old trees +overhung the water and the old oaks stretched out their bare branches, +as if they had turned up their sleeves and wished to show their +knotty, naked arms. Old alder-trees, whose roots were loosened from +the banks, clung with their fibres to the bottom of the stream, and +the tops of the branches above the water looked like little woody +islands. The water-lilies waved themselves to and fro on the river, +everything made the excursion beautiful, and at last they came to +the great eel-weir, where the water rushed through the flood-gates; +and the children thought this a beautiful sight. In those days there +was no factory nor any town house, nothing but the great farm, with +its scanty-bearing fields, in which could be seen a few herd of +cattle, and one or two farm laborers. The rushing of the water through +the sluices, and the scream of the wild ducks, were almost the only +signs of active life at Silkborg. After the firewood had been +unloaded, Christina's father bought a whole bundle of eels and a +sucking-pig, which were all placed in a basket in the stern of the +boat. Then they returned again up the stream; and as the wind was +favorable, two sails were hoisted, which carried the boat on as well +as if two horses had been harnessed to it. As they sailed on, they +came by chance to the place where the boatman's assistant lived, at +a little distance from the bank of the river. The boat was moored; and +the two men, after desiring the children to sit still, both went on +shore. They obeyed this order for a very short time, and then forgot +it altogether. First they peeped into the basket containing the eels +and the sucking-pig; then they must needs pull out the pig and take it +in their hands, and feel it, and touch it; and as they both wanted +to hold it at the same time, the consequence was that they let it fall +into the water, and the pig sailed away with the stream. +</P> + +<P> +Here was a terrible disaster. Ib jumped ashore, and ran a little +distance from the boat. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, take me with you," cried Christina; and she sprang after him. +In a few minutes they found themselves deep in a thicket, and could no +longer see the boat or the shore. They ran on a little farther, and +then Christina fell down, and began to cry. +</P> + +<P> +Ib helped her up, and said, "Never mind; follow me. Yonder is +the house." But the house was not yonder; and they wandered still +farther, over the dry rustling leaves of the last year, and treading +on fallen branches that crackled under their little feet; then they +heard a loud, piercing cry, and they stood still to listen. +Presently the scream of an eagle sounded through the wood; it was an +ugly cry, and it frightened the children; but before them, in the +thickest part of the forest, grew the most beautiful blackberries, +in wonderful quantities. They looked so inviting that the children +could not help stopping; and they remained there so long eating, +that their mouths and cheeks became quite black with the juice. +</P> + +<P> +Presently they heard the frightful scream again, and Christina +said, "We shall get into trouble about that pig." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, never mind," said Ib; "we will go home to my father's +house. It is here in the wood." So they went on, but the road led them +out of the way; no house could be seen, it grew dark, and the children +were afraid. The solemn stillness that reigned around them was now and +then broken by the shrill cries of the great horned owl and other +birds that they knew nothing of. At last they both lost themselves +in the thicket; Christina began to cry, and then Ib cried too; and, +after weeping and lamenting for some time, they stretched themselves +down on the dry leaves and fell asleep. +</P> + +<P> +The sun was high in the heavens when the two children woke. They +felt cold; but not far from their resting-place, on a hill, the sun +was shining through the trees. They thought if they went there they +should be warm, and Ib fancied he should be able to see his father's +house from such a high spot. But they were far away from home now, +in quite another part of the forest. They clambered to the top of +the rising ground, and found themselves on the edge of a declivity, +which sloped down to a clear transparent lake. Great quantities of +fish could be seen through the clear water, sparkling in the sun's +rays; they were quite surprised when they came so suddenly upon such +an unexpected sight. +</P> + +<P> +Close to where they stood grew a hazel-bush, covered with +beautiful nuts. They soon gathered some, cracked them, and ate the +fine young kernels, which were only just ripe. But there was another +surprise and fright in store for them. Out of the thicket stepped a +tall old woman, her face quite brown, and her hair of a deep shining +black; the whites of her eyes glittered like a Moor's; on her back she +carried a bundle, and in her hand a knotted stick. She was a gypsy. +The children did not at first understand what she said. She drew out +of her pocket three large nuts, in which she told them were hidden the +most beautiful and lovely things in the world, for they were wishing +nuts. Ib looked at her, and as she spoke so kindly, he took courage, +and asked her if she would give him the nuts; and the woman gave +them to him, and then gathered some more from the bushes for +herself, quite a pocket full. Ib and Christina looked at the wishing +nuts with wide open eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Is there in this nut a carriage, with a pair of horses?" asked +Ib. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, there is a golden carriage, with two golden horses," replied +the woman. +</P> + +<P> +"Then give me that nut," said Christina; so Ib gave it to her, and +the strange woman tied up the nut for her in her handkerchief. +</P> + +<P> +Ib held up another nut. "Is there, in this nut, a pretty little +neckerchief like the one Christina has on her neck?" asked Ib. +</P> + +<P> +"There are ten neckerchiefs in it," she replied, "as well as +beautiful dresses, stockings, and a hat and veil." +</P> + +<P> +"Then I will have that one also," said Christina; "and it is a +pretty one too." And then Ib gave her the second nut. +</P> + +<P> +The third was a little black thing. "You may keep that one," +said Christina; "it is quite as pretty." +</P> + +<P> +"What is in it?" asked Ib. +</P> + +<P> +"The best of all things for you," replied the gypsy. So Ib held +the nut very tight. +</P> + +<P> +Then the woman promised to lead the children to the right path, +that they might find their way home: and they went forward certainly +in quite another direction to the one they meant to take; therefore no +one ought to speak against the woman, and say that she wanted to steal +the children. In the wild wood-path they met a forester who knew Ib, +and, by his help, Ib and Christina reached home, where they found +every one had been very anxious about them. They were pardoned and +forgiven, although they really had both done wrong, and deserved to +get into trouble; first, because they had let the sucking-pig fall +into the water; and, secondly, because they had run away. Christina +was taken back to her father's house on the heath, and Ib remained +in the farm-house on the borders of the wood, near the great land +ridge. +</P> + +<P> +The first thing Ib did that evening was to take out of his +pocket the little black nut, in which the best thing of all was said +to be enclosed. He laid it carefully between the door and the +door-post, and then shut the door so that the nut cracked directly. +But there was not much kernel to be seen; it was what we should call +hollow or worm-eaten, and looked as if it had been filled with tobacco +or rich black earth. "It is just what I expected!" exclaimed Ib. +"How should there be room in a little nut like this for the best thing +of all? Christina will find her two nuts just the same; there will +be neither fine clothes or a golden carriage in them." +</P> + +<P> +Winter came; and the new year, and indeed many years passed +away; until Ib was old enough to be confirmed, and, therefore, he went +during a whole winter to the clergyman of the nearest village to be +prepared. +</P> + +<P> +One day, about this time, the boatman paid a visit to Ib's +parents, and told them that Christina was going to service, and that +she had been remarkably fortunate in obtaining a good place, with most +respectable people. "Only think," he said, "She is going to the rich +innkeeper's, at the hotel in Herning, many miles west from here. She +is to assist the landlady in the housekeeping; and, if afterwards +she behaves well and remains to be confirmed, the people will treat +her as their own daughter." +</P> + +<P> +So Ib and Christina took leave of each other. People already +called them "the betrothed," and at parting the girl showed Ib the two +nuts, which she had taken care of ever since the time that they lost +themselves in the wood; and she told him also that the little wooden +shoes he once carved for her when he was a boy, and gave her as a +present, had been carefully kept in a drawer ever since. And so they +parted. +</P> + +<P> +After Ib's confirmation, he remained at home with his mother, +for he had become a clever shoemaker, and in summer managed the farm +for her quite alone. His father had been dead some time, and his +mother kept no farm servants. Sometimes, but very seldom, he heard +of Christina, through a postillion or eel-seller who was passing. +But she was well off with the rich innkeeper; and after being +confirmed she wrote a letter to her father, in which was a kind +message to Ib and his mother. In this letter, she mentioned that her +master and mistress had made her a present of a beautiful new dress, +and some nice under-clothes. This was, of course, pleasant news. +</P> + +<P> +One day, in the following spring, there came a knock at the door +of the house where Ib's old mother lived; and when they opened it, +lo and behold, in stepped the boatman and Christina. She had come to +pay them a visit, and to spend the day. A carriage had to come from +the Herning hotel to the next village, and she had taken the +opportunity to see her friends once more. She looked as elegant as a +real lady, and wore a pretty dress, beautifully made on purpose for +her. There she stood, in full dress, while Ib wore only his working +clothes. He could not utter a word; he could only seize her hand and +hold it fast in his own, but he felt too happy and glad to open his +lips. Christina, however, was quite at her ease; she talked and +talked, and kissed him in the most friendly manner. Even afterwards, +when they were left alone, and she asked, "Did you know me again, Ib?" +he still stood holding her hand, and said at last, "You are become +quite a grand lady, Christina, and I am only a rough working man; +but I have often thought of you and of old times." Then they +wandered up the great ridge, and looked across the stream to the +heath, where the little hills were covered with the flowering broom. +Ib said nothing; but before the time came for them to part, it +became quite clear to him that Christina must be his wife: had they +not even in childhood been called the betrothed? To him it seemed as +if they were really engaged to each other, although not a word had +been spoken on the subject. They had only a few more hours to remain +together, for Christina was obliged to return that evening to the +neighboring village, to be ready for the carriage which was to start +the next morning early for Herning. Ib and her father accompanied +her to the village. It was a fine moonlight evening; and when they +arrived, Ib stood holding Christina's hand in his, as if he could +not let her go. His eyes brightened, and the words he uttered came +with hesitation from his lips, but from the deepest recesses of his +heart: "Christina, if you have not become too grand, and if you can be +contented to live in my mother's house as my wife, we will be +married some day. But we can wait for a while." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh yes," she replied; "Let us wait a little longer, Ib. I can +trust you, for I believe that I do love you. But let me think it +over." Then he kissed her lips; and so they parted. +</P> + +<P> +On the way home, Ib told the boatman that he and Christina were as +good as engaged to each other; and the boatman found out that he had +always expected it would be so, and went home with Ib that evening, +and remained the night in the farmhouse; but nothing further was +said of the engagement. During the next year, two letters passed +between Ib and Christina. They were signed, "Faithful till death;" but +at the end of that time, one day the boatman came over to see Ib, with +a kind greeting from Christina. He had something else to say, which +made him hesitate in a strange manner. At last it came out that +Christina, who had grown a very pretty girl, was more lucky than ever. +She was courted and admired by every one; but her master's son, who +had been home on a visit, was so much pleased with Christina that he +wished to marry her. He had a very good situation in an office at +Copenhagen, and as she had also taken a liking for him, his parents +were not unwilling to consent. But Christina, in her heart, often +thought of Ib, and knew how much he thought of her; so she felt +inclined to refuse this good fortune, added the boatman. At first Ib +said not a word, but he became as white as the wall, and shook his +head gently, and then he spoke,—"Christina must not refuse this +good fortune." +</P> + +<P> +"Then will you write a few words to her?" said the boatman. +</P> + +<P> +Ib sat down to write, but he could not get on at all. The words +were not what he wished to say, so he tore up the page. The +following morning, however, a letter lay ready to be sent to +Christina, and the following is what he wrote:— +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"The letter written by you to your father I have read, and see +from it that you are prosperous in everything, and that still better +fortune is in store for you. Ask your own heart, Christina, and +think over carefully what awaits you if you take me for your +husband, for I possess very little in the world. Do not think of me or +of my position; think only of your own welfare. You are bound to me by +no promises; and if in your heart you have given me one, I release you +from it. May every blessing and happiness be poured out upon you, +Christina. Heaven will give me the heart's consolation." +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"Ever your sincere friend, IB." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +This letter was sent, and Christina received it in due time. In +the course of the following November, her banns were published in +the church on the heath, and also in Copenhagen, where the +bridegroom lived. She was taken to Copenhagen under the protection +of her future mother-in-law, because the bridegroom could not spare +time from his numerous occupations for a journey so far into +Jutland. On the journey, Christina met her father at one of the +villages through which they passed, and here he took leave of her. +Very little was said about the matter to Ib, and he did not refer to +it; his mother, however, noticed that he had grown very silent and +pensive. Thinking as he did of old times, no wonder the three nuts +came into his mind which the gypsy woman had given him when a child, +and of the two which he had given to Christina. These wishing nuts, +after all, had proved true fortune-tellers. One had contained a gilded +carriage and noble horses, and the other beautiful clothes; all of +these Christina would now have in her new home at Copenhagen. Her part +had come true. And for him the nut had contained only black earth. The +gypsy woman had said it was the best for him. Perhaps it was, and this +also would be fulfilled. He understood the gypsy woman's meaning +now. The black earth—the dark grave—was the best thing for him now. +</P> + +<P> +Again years passed away; not many, but they seemed long years to +Ib. The old innkeeper and his wife died one after the other; and the +whole of their property, many thousand dollars, was inherited by their +son. Christina could have the golden carriage now, and plenty of +fine clothes. During the two long years which followed, no letter came +from Christina to her father; and when at last her father received one +from her, it did not speak of prosperity or happiness. Poor Christina! +Neither she nor her husband understood how to economize or save, and +the riches brought no blessing with them, because they had not asked +for it. +</P> + +<P> +Years passed; and for many summers the heath was covered with +bloom; in winter the snow rested upon it, and the rough winds blew +across the ridge under which stood Ib's sheltered home. One spring day +the sun shone brightly, and he was guiding the plough across his +field. The ploughshare struck against something which he fancied was a +firestone, and then he saw glittering in the earth a splinter of +shining metal which the plough had cut from something which gleamed +brightly in the furrow. He searched, and found a large golden armlet +of superior workmanship, and it was evident that the plough had +disturbed a Hun's grave. He searched further, and found more +valuable treasures, which Ib showed to the clergyman, who explained +their value to him. Then he went to the magistrate, who informed the +president of the museum of the discovery, and advised Ib to take the +treasures himself to the president. +</P> + +<P> +"You have found in the earth the best thing you could find," +said the magistrate. +</P> + +<P> +"The best thing," thought Ib; "the very best thing for me,—and +found in the earth! Well, if it really is so, then the gypsy woman was +right in her prophecy." +</P> + +<P> +So Ib went in the ferry-boat from Aarhus to Copenhagen. To him who +had only sailed once or twice on the river near his own home, this +seemed like a voyage on the ocean; and at length he arrived at +Copenhagen. The value of the gold he had found was paid to him; it was +a large sum—six hundred dollars. Then Ib of the heath went out, and +wandered about in the great city. +</P> + +<P> +On the evening before the day he had settled to return with the +captain of the passage-boat, Ib lost himself in the streets, and +took quite a different turning to the one he wished to follow. He +wandered on till he found himself in a poor street of the suburb +called Christian's Haven. Not a creature could be seen. At last a very +little girl came out of one of the wretched-looking houses, and Ib +asked her to tell him the way to the street he wanted; she looked up +timidly at him, and began to cry bitterly. He asked her what was the +matter; but what she said he could not understand. So he went along +the street with her; and as they passed under a lamp, the light fell +on the little girl's face. A strange sensation came over Ib, as he +caught sight of it. The living, breathing embodiment of Little +Christina stood before him, just as he remembered her in the days of +her childhood. He followed the child to the wretched house, and +ascended the narrow, crazy staircase which led to a little garret in +the roof. The air in the room was heavy and stifling, no light was +burning, and from one corner came sounds of moaning and sighing. It +was the mother of the child who lay there on a miserable bed. With the +help of a match, Ib struck a light, and approached her. +</P> + +<P> +"Can I be of any service to you?" he asked. "This little girl +brought me up here; but I am a stranger in this city. Are there no +neighbors or any one whom I can call?" +</P> + +<P> +Then he raised the head of the sick woman, and smoothed her +pillow. He started as he did so. It was Christina of the heath! No one +had mentioned her name to Ib for years; it would have disturbed his +peace of mind, especially as the reports respecting her were not good. +The wealth which her husband had inherited from his parents had made +him proud and arrogant. He had given up his certain appointment, and +travelled for six months in foreign lands, and, on his return, had +lived in great style, and got into terrible debt. For a time he had +trembled on the high pedestal on which he had placed himself, till +at last he toppled over, and ruin came. His numerous merry companions, +and the visitors at his table, said it served him right, for he had +kept house like a madman. One morning his corpse was found in the +canal. The cold hand of death had already touched the heart of +Christina. Her youngest child, looked for in the midst of +prosperity, had sunk into the grave when only a few weeks old; and +at last Christina herself became sick unto death, and lay, forsaken +and dying, in a miserable room, amid poverty she might have borne in +her younger days, but which was now more painful to her from the +luxuries to which she had lately been accustomed. It was her eldest +child, also a Little Christina, whom Ib had followed to her home, +where she suffered hunger and poverty with her mother. +</P> + +<P> +"It makes me unhappy to think that I shall die, and leave this poor +child," sighed she. "Oh, what will become of her?" She could say no +more. +</P> + +<P> +Then Ib brought out another match, and lighted a piece of candle +which he found in the room, and it threw a glimmering light over the +wretched dwelling. Ib looked at the little girl, and thought of +Christina in her young days. For her sake, could he not love this +child, who was a stranger to him? As he thus reflected, the dying +woman opened her eyes, and gazed at him. Did she recognize him? He +never knew; for not another word escaped her lips. +</P> + +<HR ALIGN="center" WIDTH="60%"> + +<P> +In the forest by the river Gudenau, not far from the heath, and +beneath the ridge of land, stood the little farm, newly painted and +whitewashed. The air was heavy and dark; there were no blossoms on the +heath; the autumn winds whirled the yellow leaves towards the +boatman's hut, in which strangers dwelt; but the little farm stood +safely sheltered beneath the tall trees and the high ridge. The turf +blazed brightly on the hearth, and within was sunlight, the +sparkling light from the sunny eyes of a child; the birdlike tones +from the rosy lips ringing like the song of a lark in spring. All +was life and joy. Little Christina sat on Ib's knee. Ib was to her +both father and mother; her own parents had vanished from her +memory, as a dream-picture vanishes alike from childhood and age. Ib's +house was well and prettily furnished; for he was a prosperous man +now, while the mother of the little girl rested in the churchyard at +Copenhagen, where she had died in poverty. Ib had money now—money +which had come to him out of the black earth; and he had Christina for +his own, after all. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="ice_maid"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE ICE MAIDEN +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +I. LITTLE RUDY +</H3> + +<P> +We will pay a visit to Switzerland, and wander through that +country of mountains, whose steep and rocky sides are overgrown with +forest trees. Let us climb to the dazzling snow-fields at their +summits, and descend again to the green meadows beneath, through which +rivers and brooks rush along as if they could not quickly enough reach +the sea and vanish. Fiercely shines the sun over those deep valleys, +as well as upon the heavy masses of snow which lie on the mountains. +</P> + +<P> +During the year these accumulations thaw or fall in the rolling +avalance, or are piled up in shining glaciers. Two of these glaciers +lie in the broad, rocky cliffs, between the Schreckhorn and the +Wetterhorn, near the little town of Grindelwald. They are wonderful to +behold, and therefore in the summer time strangers come here from +all parts of the world to see them. They cross snow-covered mountains, +and travel through the deep valleys, or ascend for hours, higher and +still higher, the valleys appearing to sink lower and lower as they +proceed, and become as small as if seen from an air balloon. Over +the lofty summits of these mountains the clouds often hang like a dark +veil; while beneath in the valley, where many brown, wooden houses are +scattered about, the bright rays of the sun may be shining upon a +little brilliant patch of green, making it appear almost +transparent. The waters foam and dash along in the valleys beneath; +the streams from above trickle and murmur as they fall down the +rocky mountain's side, looking like glittering silver bands. +</P> + +<P> +On both sides of the mountain-path stand these little wooden +houses; and, as within, there are many children and many mouths to +feed, each house has its own little potato garden. These children rush +out in swarms, and surround travellers, whether on foot or in +carriages. They are all clever at making a bargain. They offer for +sale the sweetest little toy-houses, models of the mountain cottages +in Switzerland. Whether it be rain or sunshine, these crowds of +children are always to be seen with their wares. +</P> + +<P> +About twenty years ago, there might be seen occasionally, standing +at a short distance from the other children, a little boy, who was +also anxious to sell his curious wares. He had an earnest, +expressive countenance, and held the box containing his carved toys +tightly with both hands, as if unwilling to part with it. His +earnest look, and being also a very little boy, made him noticed by +the strangers; so that he often sold the most, without knowing why. An +hour's walk farther up the ascent lived his grandfather, who cut and +carved the pretty little toy-houses; and in the old man's room stood a +large press, full of all sorts of carved things—nut-crackers, +knives and forks, boxes with beautifully carved foliage, leaping +chamois. It contained everything that could delight the eyes of a +child. But the boy, who was named Rudy, looked with still greater +pleasure and longing at some old fire-arms which hung upon the +rafters, under the ceiling of the room. His grandfather promised him +that he should have them some day, but that he must first grow big and +strong, and learn how to use them. Small as he was, the goats were +placed in his care, and a good goat-keeper should also be a good +climber, and such Rudy was; he sometimes, indeed, climbed higher +than the goats, for he was fond of seeking for birds'-nests at the top +of high trees; he was bold and daring, but was seldom seen to smile, +excepting when he stood by the roaring cataract, or heard the +descending roll of the avalanche. He never played with the other +children, and was not seen with them, unless his grandfather sent +him down to sell his curious workmanship. Rudy did not much like +trade; he loved to climb the mountains, or to sit by his grandfather +and listen to his tales of olden times, or of the people in Meyringen, +the place of his birth. +</P> + +<P> +"In the early ages of the world," said the old man, "these +people could not be found in Switzerland. They are a colony from the +north, where their ancestors still dwell, and are called Swedes." +</P> + +<P> +This was something for Rudy to know, but he learnt more from other +sources, particularly from the domestic animals who belonged to the +house. One was a large dog, called Ajola, which had belonged to his +father; and the other was a tom-cat. This cat stood very high in +Rudy's favor, for he had taught him to climb. +</P> + +<P> +"Come out on the roof with me," said the cat; and Rudy quite +understood him, for the language of fowls, ducks, cats, and dogs, is +as easily understood by a young child as his own native tongue. But it +must be at the age when grandfather's stick becomes a neighing +horse, with head, legs, and tail. Some children retain these ideas +later than others, and they are considered backwards and childish +for their age. People say so; but is it so? +</P> + +<P> +"Come out on the roof with me, little Rudy," was the first thing +he heard the cat say, and Rudy understood him. "What people say +about falling down is all nonsense," continued the cat; "you will +not fall, unless you are afraid. Come, now, set one foot here and +another there, and feel your way with your fore-feet. Keep your eyes +wide open, and move softly, and if you come to a hole jump over it, +and cling fast as I do." And this was just what Rudy did. He was often +on the sloping roof with the cat, or on the tops of high trees. But, +more frequently, higher still on the ridges of the rocks where puss +never came. +</P> + +<P> +"Higher, higher!" cried the trees and the bushes, "see to what +height we have grown, and how fast we hold, even to the narrow edges +of the rocks." +</P> + +<P> +Rudy often reached the top of the mountain before the sunrise, and +there inhaled his morning draught of the fresh, invigorating +mountain air,—God's own gift, which men call the sweet fragrance of +plant and herb on the mountain-side, and the mint and wild thyme in +the valleys. The overhanging clouds absorb all heaviness from the air, +and the winds convey them away over the pine-tree summits. The +spirit of fragrance, light and fresh, remained behind, and this was +Rudy's morning draught. The sunbeams—those blessing-bringing +daughters of the sun—kissed his cheeks. Vertigo might be lurking on +the watch, but he dared not approach him. The swallows, who had not +less than seven nests in his grandfather's house, flew up to him and +his goats, singing, "We and you, you and we." They brought him +greetings from his grandfather's house, even from two hens, the only +birds of the household; but Rudy was not intimate with them. +</P> + +<P> +Although so young and such a little fellow, Rudy had travelled a +great deal. He was born in the canton of Valais, and brought to his +grandfather over the mountains. He had walked to Staubbach—a little +town that seems to flutter in the air like a silver veil—the +glittering, snow-clad mountain Jungfrau. He had also been to the great +glaciers; but this is connected with a sad story, for here his +mother met her death, and his grandfather used to say that all +Rudy's childish merriment was lost from that time. His mother had +written in a letter, that before he was a year old he had laughed more +than he cried; but after his fall into the snow-covered crevasse, +his disposition had completely changed. The grandfather seldom spoke +of this, but the fact was generally known. Rudy's father had been a +postilion, and the large dog which now lived in his grandfather's +cottage had always followed him on his journeys over the Simplon to +the lake of Geneva. Rudy's relations, on his father's side, lived in +the canton of Valais, in the valley of the Rhone. His uncle was a +chamois hunter, and a well-known guide. Rudy was only a year old +when his father died, and his mother was anxious to return with her +child to her own relations, who lived in the Bernese Oberland. Her +father dwelt at a few hours' distance from Grindelwald; he was a +carver in wood, and gained so much by it that he had plenty to live +upon. She set out homewards in the month of June, carrying her +infant in her arms, and, accompanied by two chamois hunters, crossed +the Gemmi on her way to Grindelwald. They had already left more than +half the journey behind them. They had crossed high ridges, and +traversed snow-fields; they could even see her native valley, with its +familiar wooden cottages. They had only one more glacier to climb. +Some newly fallen snow concealed a cleft which, though it did not +extend to the foaming waters in the depths beneath, was still much +deeper than the height of a man. The young woman, with the child in +her arms, slipped upon it, sank in, and disappeared. Not a shriek, not +a groan was heard; nothing but the whining of a little child. More +than an hour elapsed before her two companions could obtain from the +nearest house ropes and poles to assist in raising them; and it was +with much exertion that they at last succeeded in raising from the +crevasse what appeared to be two dead bodies. Every means was used +to restore them to life. With the child they were successful, but +not with the mother; so the old grandfather received his daughter's +little son into his house an orphan,—a little boy who laughed more +than he cried; but it seemed as if laughter had left him in the cold +ice-world into which he had fallen, where, as the Swiss peasants +say, the souls of the lost are confined till the judgment-day. +</P> + +<P> +The glaciers appear as if a rushing stream had been frozen in +its course, and pressed into blocks of green crystal, which, +balanced one upon another, form a wondrous palace of crystal for the +Ice Maiden—the queen of the glaciers. It is she whose mighty power +can crush the traveller to death, and arrest the flowing river in +its course. She is also a child of the air, and with the swiftness +of the chamois she can reach the snow-covered mountain tops, where the +boldest mountaineer has to cut footsteps in the ice to ascend. She +will sail on a frail pine-twig over the raging torrents beneath, and +spring lightly from one iceberg to another, with her long, +snow-white hair flowing around her, and her dark-green robe glittering +like the waters of the deep Swiss lakes. "Mine is the power to seize +and crush," she cried. "Once a beautiful boy was stolen from me by +man,—a boy whom I had kissed, but had not kissed to death. He is +again among mankind, and tends the goats on the mountains. He is +always climbing higher and higher, far away from all others, but not +from me. He is mine; I will send for him." And she gave Vertigo the +commission. +</P> + +<P> +It was summer, and the Ice Maiden was melting amidst the green +verdure, when Vertigo swung himself up and down. Vertigo has many +brothers, quite a troop of them, and the Ice Maiden chose the +strongest among them. They exercise their power in different ways, and +everywhere. Some sit on the banisters of steep stairs, others on the +outer rails of lofty towers, or spring like squirrels along the ridges +of the mountains. Others tread the air as a swimmer treads the +water, and lure their victims here and there till they fall into the +deep abyss. Vertigo and the Ice Maiden clutch at human beings, as +the polypus seizes upon all that comes within its reach. And now +Vertigo was to seize Rudy. +</P> + +<P> +"Seize him, indeed," cried Vertigo; "I cannot do it. That +monster of a cat has taught him her tricks. That child of the human +race has a power within him which keeps me at a distance; I cannot +possibly reach the boy when he hangs from the branches of trees, +over the precipice; or I would gladly tickle his feet, and send him +heels over head through the air; but I cannot accomplish it." +</P> + +<P> +"We must accomplish it," said the Ice Maiden; "either you or I +must; and I will—I will!" +</P> + +<P> +"No, no!" sounded through the air, like an echo on the mountain +church bells chime. It was an answer in song, in the melting tones +of a chorus from others of nature's spirits—good and loving +spirits, the daughters of the sunbeam. They who place themselves in +a circle every evening on the mountain peaks; there they spread out +their rose-colored wings, which, as the sun sinks, become more flaming +red, until the lofty Alps seem to burn with fire. Men call this the +Alpine glow. After the sun has set, they disappear within the white +snow on the mountain-tops, and slumber there till sunrise, when they +again come forth. They have great love for flowers, for butterflies, +and for mankind; and from among the latter they had chosen little +Rudy. "You shall not catch him; you shall not seize him!" they sang. +</P> + +<P> +"Greater and stronger than he have I seized!" said the Ice Maiden. +</P> + +<P> +Then the daughters of the sun sang a song of the traveller, +whose cloak had been carried away by the wind. "The wind took the +covering, but not the man; it could even seize upon him, but not +hold him fast. The children of strength are more powerful, more +ethereal, even than we are. They can rise higher than our parent, +the sun. They have the magic words that rule the wind and the waves, +and compel them to serve and obey; and they can, at last, cast off the +heavy, oppressive weight of mortality, and soar upwards." Thus sweetly +sounded the bell-like tones of the chorus. +</P> + +<P> +And each morning the sun's rays shone through the one little +window of the grandfather's house upon the quiet child. The +daughters of the sunbeam kissed him; they wished to thaw, and melt, +and obliterate the ice kiss which the queenly maiden of the glaciers +had given him as he lay in the lap of his dead mother, in the deep +crevasse of ice from which he had been so wonderfully rescued. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +II. THE JOURNEY TO THE NEW HOME +</H3> + +<P> +Rudy was just eight years old, when his uncle, who lived on the +other side of the mountain, wished to have the boy, as he thought he +might obtain a better education with him, and learn something more. +His grandfather thought the same, so he consented to let him go. +Rudy had many to say farewell to, as well as his grandfather. First, +there was Ajola, the old dog. +</P> + +<P> +"Your father was the postilion, and I was the postilion's dog," +said Ajola. "We have often travelled the same journey together; I knew +all the dogs and men on this side of the mountain. It is not my +habit to talk much; but now that we have so little time to converse +together, I will say something more than usual. I will relate to you a +story, which I have reflected upon for a long time. I do not +understand it, and very likely you will not, but that is of no +consequence. I have, however, learnt from it that in this world things +are not equally divided, neither for dogs nor for men. All are not +born to lie on the lap and to drink milk: I have never been petted +in this way, but I have seen a little dog seated in the place of a +gentleman or lady, and travelling inside a post-chaise. The lady, +who was his mistress, or of whom he was master, carried a bottle of +milk, of which the little dog now and then drank; she also offered him +pieces of sugar to crunch. He sniffed at them proudly, but would not +eat one, so she ate them herself. I was running along the dirty road +by the side of the carriage as hungry as a dog could be, chewing the +cud of my own thoughts, which were rather in confusion. But many other +things seemed in confusion also. Why was not I lying on a lap and +travelling in a coach? I could not tell; yet I knew I could not +alter my own condition, either by barking or growling." +</P> + +<P> +This was Ajola's farewell speech, and Rudy threw his arms round +the dog's neck and kissed his cold nose. Then he took the cat in his +arms, but he struggled to get free. +</P> + +<P> +"You are getting too strong for me," he said; "but I will not +use my claws against you. Clamber away over the mountains; it was I +who taught you to climb. Do not fancy you are going to fall, and you +will be quite safe." Then the cat jumped down and ran away; he did not +wish Rudy to see that there were tears in his eyes. +</P> + +<P> +The hens were hopping about the floor; one of them had no tail; +a traveller, who fancied himself a sportsman, had shot off her tail, +he had mistaken her for a bird of prey. +</P> + +<P> +"Rudy is going away over the mountains," said one of the hens. +</P> + +<P> +"He is always in such a hurry," said the other; "and I don't +like taking leave," so they both hopped out. +</P> + +<P> +But the goats said farewell; they bleated and wanted to go with +him, they were so very sorry. +</P> + +<P> +Just at this time two clever guides were going to cross the +mountains to the other side of the Gemmi, and Rudy was to go with them +on foot. It was a long walk for such a little boy, but he had plenty +of strength and invincible courage. The swallows flew with him a +little way, singing, "We and you—you and we." The way led across +the rushing Lutschine, which falls in numerous streams from the dark +clefts of the Grindelwald glaciers. Trunks of fallen trees and +blocks of stone form bridges over these streams. After passing a +forest of alders, they began to ascend, passing by some blocks of +ice that had loosened themselves from the side of the mountain and lay +across their path; they had to step over these ice-blocks or walk +round them. Rudy crept here and ran there, his eyes sparkling with +joy, and he stepped so firmly with his iron-tipped mountain shoe, that +he left a mark behind him wherever he placed his foot. +</P> + +<P> +The earth was black where the mountain torrents or the melted +ice had poured upon it, but the bluish green, glassy ice sparkled +and glittered. They had to go round little pools, like lakes, enclosed +between large masses of ice; and, while thus wandering out of their +path, they came near an immense stone, which lay balanced on the +edge of an icy peak. The stone lost its balance just as they reached +it, and rolled over into the abyss beneath, while the noise of its +fall was echoed back from every hollow cliff of the glaciers. +</P> + +<P> +They were always going upwards. The glaciers seemed to spread +above them like a continued chain of masses of ice, piled up in wild +confusion between bare and rugged rocks. Rudy thought for a moment +of what had been told him, that he and his mother had once lain buried +in one of these cold, heart-chilling fissures; but he soon banished +such thoughts, and looked upon the story as fabulous, like many +other stories which had been told him. Once or twice, when the men +thought the way was rather difficult for such a little boy, they +held out their hands to assist him; but he would not accept their +assistance, for he stood on the slippery ice as firmly as if he had +been a chamois. They came at length to rocky ground; sometimes +stepping upon moss-covered stones, sometimes passing beneath stunted +fir-trees, and again through green meadows. The landscape was always +changing, but ever above them towered the lofty snow-clad mountains, +whose names not only Rudy but every other child knew—"The +Jungfrau," "The Monk and the Eiger." +</P> + +<P> +Rudy had never been so far away before; he had never trodden on +the wide-spreading ocean of snow that lay here with its immovable +billows, from which the wind blows off the snowflake now and then, +as it cuts the foam from the waves of the sea. The glaciers stand here +so close together it might almost be said they are hand-in-hand; and +each is a crystal palace for the Ice Maiden, whose power and will it +is to seize and imprison the unwary traveller. +</P> + +<P> +The sun shone warmly, and the snow sparkled as if covered with +glittering diamonds. Numerous insects, especially butterflies and +bees, lay dead in heaps on the snow. They had ventured too high, or +the wind had carried them here and left them to die of cold. +</P> + +<P> +Around the Wetterhorn hung a feathery cloud, like a woolbag, and a +threatening cloud too, for as it sunk lower it increased in size, +and concealed within was a "fohn," fearful in its violence should it +break loose. This journey, with its varied incidents,—the wild paths, +the night passed on the mountain, the steep rocky precipices, the +hollow clefts, in which the rustling waters from time immemorial had +worn away passages for themselves through blocks of stone,—all +these were firmly impressed on Rudy's memory. +</P> + +<P> +In a forsaken stone building, which stood just beyond the seas +of snow, they one night took shelter. Here they found some charcoal +and pine branches, so that they soon made a fire. They arranged +couches to lie on as well as they could, and then the men seated +themselves by the fire, took out their pipes, and began to smoke. They +also prepared a warm, spiced drink, of which they partook and Rudy was +not forgotten—he had his share. Then they began to talk of those +mysterious beings with which the land of the Alps abounds; the hosts +of apparitions which come in the night, and carry off the sleepers +through the air, to the wonderful floating town of Venice; of the wild +herds-man, who drives the black sheep across the meadows. These flocks +are never seen, yet the tinkle of their little bells has often been +heard, as well as their unearthly bleating. Rudy listened eagerly, but +without fear, for he knew not what fear meant; and while he +listened, he fancied he could hear the roaring of the spectral herd. +It seemed to come nearer and roar louder, till the men heard it also +and listened in silence, till, at length, they told Rudy that he +must not dare to sleep. It was a "fohn," that violent storm-wind which +rushes from the mountain to the valley beneath, and in its fury +snaps asunder the trunks of large trees as if they were but slender +reeds, and carries the wooden houses from one side of a river to the +other as easily as we could move the pieces on a chess-board. After an +hour had passed, they told Rudy that it was all over, and he might +go to sleep; and, fatigued with his long walk, he readily slept at the +word of command. +</P> + +<P> +Very early the following morning they again set out. The sun on +this day lighted up for Rudy new mountains, new glaciers, and new +snow-fields. They had entered the Canton Valais, and found +themselves on the ridge of the hills which can be seen from +Grindelwald; but he was still far from his new home. They pointed +out to him other clefts, other meadows, other woods and rocky paths, +and other houses. Strange men made their appearance before him, and +what men! They were misshapen, wretched-looking creatures, with yellow +complexions; and on their necks were dark, ugly lumps of flesh, +hanging down like bags. They were called cretins. They dragged +themselves along painfully, and stared at the strangers with vacant +eyes. The women looked more dreadful than the men. Poor Rudy! were +these the sort of people he should see at his new home? +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +III. THE UNCLE +</H3> + +<P> +Rudy arrived at last at his uncle's house, and was thankful to +find the people like those he had been accustomed to see. There was +only one cretin amongst them, a poor idiot boy, one of those +unfortunate beings who, in their neglected conditions, go from house +to house, and are received and taken care of in different families, +for a month or two at a time. +</P> + +<P> +Poor Saperli had just arrived at his uncle's house when Rudy came. +The uncle was an experienced hunter; he also followed the trade of a +cooper; his wife was a lively little person, with a face like a +bird, eyes like those of an eagle, and a long, hairy throat. +Everything was new to Rudy—the fashion of the dress, the manners, the +employments, and even the language; but the latter his childish ear +would soon learn. He saw also that there was more wealth here, when +compared with his former home at his grandfather's. The rooms were +larger, the walls were adorned with the horns of the chamois, and +brightly polished guns. Over the door hung a painting of the Virgin +Mary, fresh alpine roses and a burning lamp stood near it. Rudy's +uncle was, as we have said, one of the most noted chamois hunters in +the whole district, and also one of the best guides. Rudy soon +became the pet of the house; but there was another pet, an old +hound, blind and lazy, who would never more follow the hunt, well as +he had once done so. But his former good qualities were not forgotten, +and therefore the animal was kept in the family and treated with every +indulgence. Rudy stroked the old hound, but he did not like strangers, +and Rudy was as yet a stranger; he did not, however, long remain so, +he soon endeared himself to every heart, and became like one of the +family. +</P> + +<P> +"We are not very badly off, here in the canton Valais," said his +uncle one day; "we have the chamois, they do not die so fast as the +wild goats, and it is certainly much better here now than in former +times. How highly the old times have been spoken of, but ours is +better. The bag has been opened, and a current of air now blows +through our once confined valley. Something better always makes its +appearance when old, worn-out things fail." +</P> + +<P> +When his uncle became communicative, he would relate stories of +his youthful days, and farther back still of the warlike times in +which his father had lived. Valais was then, as he expressed it, +only a closed-up bag, quite full of sick people, miserable cretins; +but the French soldiers came, and they were capital doctors, they soon +killed the disease and the sick people, too. The French people knew +how to fight in more ways than one, and the girls knew how to +conquer too; and when he said this the uncle nodded at his wife, who +was a French woman by birth, and laughed. The French could also do +battle on the stones. "It was they who cut a road out of the solid +rock over the Simplon—such a road, that I need only say to a child of +three years old, 'Go down to Italy, you have only to keep in the +high road,' and the child will soon arrive in Italy, if he followed my +directions." +</P> + +<P> +Then the uncle sang a French song, and cried, "Hurrah! long live +Napoleon Buonaparte." This was the first time Rudy had ever heard of +France, or of Lyons, that great city on the Rhone where his uncle +had once lived. His uncle said that Rudy, in a very few years, would +become a clever hunter, he had quite a talent for it; he taught the +boy to hold a gun properly, and to load and fire it. In the hunting +season he took him to the hills, and made him drink the warm blood +of the chamois, which is said to prevent the hunter from becoming +giddy; he taught him to know the time when, from the different +mountains, the avalanche is likely to fall, namely, at noontide or +in the evening, from the effects of the sun's rays; he made him +observe the movements of the chamois when he gave a leap, so that he +might fall firmly and lightly on his feet. He told him that when on +the fissures of the rocks he could find no place for his feet, he must +support himself on his elbows, and cling with his legs, and even +lean firmly with his back, for this could be done when necessary. He +told him also that the chamois are very cunning, they place +lookers-out on the watch; but the hunter must be more cunning than +they are, and find them out by the scent. +</P> + +<P> +One day, when Rudy went out hunting with his uncle, he hung a coat +and hat on an alpine staff, and the chamois mistook it for a man, as +they generally do. The mountain path was narrow here; indeed it was +scarcely a path at all, only a kind of shelf, close to the yawning +abyss. The snow that lay upon it was partially thawed, and the +stones crumbled beneath the feet. Every fragment of stone broken off +struck the sides of the rock in its fall, till it rolled into the +depths beneath, and sunk to rest. Upon this shelf Rudy's uncle laid +himself down, and crept forward. At about a hundred paces behind him +stood Rudy, upon the highest point of the rock, watching a great +vulture hovering in the air; with a single stroke of his wing the bird +might easily cast the creeping hunter into the abyss beneath, and make +him his prey. Rudy's uncle had eyes for nothing but the chamois, +who, with its young kid, had just appeared round the edge of the rock. +So Rudy kept his eyes fixed on the bird, he knew well what the great +creature wanted; therefore he stood in readiness to discharge his +gun at the proper moment. Suddenly the chamois made a spring, and +his uncle fired and struck the animal with the deadly bullet; while +the young kid rushed away, as if for a long life he had been +accustomed to danger and practised flight. The large bird, alarmed +at the report of the gun, wheeled off in another direction, and Rudy's +uncle was saved from danger, of which he knew nothing till he was told +of it by the boy. +</P> + +<P> +While they were both in pleasant mood, wending their way +homewards, and the uncle whistling the tune of a song he had learnt in +his young days, they suddenly heard a peculiar sound which seemed to +come from the top of the mountain. They looked up, and saw above them, +on the over-hanging rock, the snow-covering heave and lift itself as a +piece of linen stretched on the ground to dry raises itself when the +wind creeps under it. Smooth as polished marble slabs, the waves of +snow cracked and loosened themselves, and then suddenly, with the +rumbling noise of distant thunder, fell like a foaming cataract into +the abyss. An avalanche had fallen, not upon Rudy and his uncle, but +very near them. Alas, a great deal too near! +</P> + +<P> +"Hold fast, Rudy!" cried his uncle; "hold fast, with all your +might." +</P> + +<P> +Then Rudy clung with his arms to the trunk of the nearest tree, +while his uncle climbed above him, and held fast by the branches. +The avalanche rolled past them at some distance; but the gust of +wind that followed, like the storm-wings of the avalanche, snapped +asunder the trees and bushes over which it swept, as if they had +been but dry rushes, and threw them about in every direction. The tree +to which Rudy clung was thus overthrown, and Rudy dashed to the +ground. The higher branches were snapped off, and carried away to a +great distance; and among these shattered branches lay Rudy's uncle, +with his skull fractured. When they found him, his hand was still +warm; but it would have been impossible to recognize his face. Rudy +stood by, pale and trembling; it was the first shock of his life, +the first time he had ever felt fear. Late in the evening he +returned home with the fatal news,—to that home which was now to be +so full of sorrow. His uncle's wife uttered not a word, nor shed a +tear, till the corpse was brought in; then her agony burst forth. +The poor cretin crept away to his bed, and nothing was seen of him +during the whole of the following day. Towards evening, however, he +came to Rudy, and said, "Will you write a letter for me? Saperli +cannot write; Saperli can only take the letters to the post." +</P> + +<P> +"A letter for you!" said Rudy; "who do you wish to write to?" +</P> + +<P> +"To the Lord Christ," he replied. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you mean?" asked Rudy. +</P> + +<P> +Then the poor idiot, as the cretin was often called, looked at +Rudy with a most touching expression in his eyes, clasped his hands, +and said, solemnly and devoutly, "Saperli wants to send a letter to +Jesus Christ, to pray Him to let Saperli die, and not the master of +the house here." +</P> + +<P> +Rudy pressed his hand, and replied, "A letter would not reach +Him up above; it would not give him back whom we have lost." +</P> + +<P> +It was not, however, easy for Rudy to convince Saperli of the +impossibility of doing what he wished. +</P> + +<P> +"Now you must work for us," said his foster-mother; and Rudy +very soon became the entire support of the house. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +IV. BABETTE +</H3> + +<P> +Who was the best marksman in the canton Valais? The chamois knew +well. "Save yourselves from Rudy," they might well say. And who is the +handsomest marksman? "Oh, it is Rudy," said the maidens; but they +did not say, "Save yourselves from Rudy." Neither did anxious +mothers say so; for he bowed to them as pleasantly as to the young +girls. He was so brave and cheerful. His cheeks were brown, his +teeth white, and his eyes dark and sparkling. He was now a handsome +young man of twenty years. The most icy water could not deter him from +swimming; he could twist and turn like a fish. None could climb like +he, and he clung as firmly to the edges of the rocks as a limpet. He +had strong muscular power, as could be seen when he leapt from rock to +rock. He had learnt this first from the cat, and more lately from +the chamois. Rudy was considered the best guide over the mountains; +every one had great confidence in him. He might have made a great deal +of money as guide. His uncle had also taught him the trade of a +cooper; but he had no inclination for either; his delight was in +chamois-hunting, which also brought him plenty of money. Rudy would be +a very good match, as people said, if he would not look above his +own station. He was also such a famous partner in dancing, that the +girls often dreamt about him, and one and another thought of him +even when awake. +</P> + +<P> +"He kissed me in the dance," said Annette, the schoolmaster's +daughter, to her dearest friend; but she ought not to have told +this, even to her dearest friend. It is not easy to keep such secrets; +they are like sand in a sieve; they slip out. It was therefore soon +known that Rudy, so brave and so good as he was, had kissed some one +while dancing, and yet he had never kissed her who was dearest to him. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, ah," said an old hunter, "he has kissed Annette, has he? he +has begun with A, and I suppose he will kiss through the whole +alphabet." +</P> + +<P> +But a kiss in the dance was all the busy tongues could accuse +him of. He certainly had kissed Annette, but she was not the flower of +his heart. +</P> + +<P> +Down in the valley, near Bex, among the great walnut-trees, by the +side of a little rushing mountain-stream, lived a rich miller. His +dwelling-house was a large building, three storeys high, with little +turrets. The roof was covered with chips, bound together with tin +plates, that glittered in sunshine and in the moonlight. The largest +of the turrets had a weather-cock, representing an apple pierced by +a glittering arrow, in memory of William Tell. The mill was a neat and +well-ordered place, that allowed itself to be sketched and written +about; but the miller's daughter did not permit any to sketch or write +about her. So, at least, Rudy would have said, for her image was +pictured in his heart; her eyes shone in it so brightly, that quite +a flame had been kindled there; and, like all other fires, it had +burst forth so suddenly, that the miller's daughter, the beautiful +Babette, was quite unaware of it. Rudy had never spoken a word to +her on the subject. The miller was rich, and, on that account, Babette +stood very high, and was rather difficult to aspire to. But said +Rudy to himself, "Nothing is too high for a man to reach: he must +climb with confidence in himself, and he will not fail." He had learnt +this lesson in his youthful home. +</P> + +<P> +It happened once that Rudy had some business to settle at Bex. +It was a long journey at that time, for the railway had not been +opened. From the glaciers of the Rhone, at the foot of the Simplon, +between its ever-changing mountain summits, stretches the valley of +the canton Valais. Through it runs the noble river of the Rhone, which +often overflows its banks, covering fields and highways, and +destroying everything in its course. Near the towns of Sion and St. +Maurice, the valley takes a turn, and bends like an elbow, and +behind St. Maurice becomes so narrow that there is only space enough +for the bed of the river and a narrow carriage-road. An old tower +stands here, as if it were guardian to the canton Valais, which ends +at this point; and from it we can look across the stone bridge to +the toll-house on the other side, where the canton Vaud commences. Not +far from this spot stands the town of Bex, and at every step can be +seen an increase of fruitfulness and verdure. It is like entering a +grove of chestnut and walnut-trees. Here and there the cypress and +pomegranate blossoms peep forth; and it is almost as warm as an +Italian climate. Rudy arrived at Bex, and soon finished the business +which had brought him there, and then walked about the town; but not +even the miller's boy could be seen, nor any one belonging to the +mill, not to mention Babette. This did not please him at all. +Evening came on. The air was filled with the perfume of the wild thyme +and the blossoms of the lime-trees, and the green woods on the +mountains seemed to be covered with a shining veil, blue as the sky. +Over everything reigned a stillness, not of sleep or of death, but +as if Nature were holding her breath, that her image might be +photographed on the blue vault of heaven. Here and there, amidst the +trees of the silent valley, stood poles which supported the wires of +the electric telegraph. Against one of these poles leaned an object so +motionless that it might have been mistaken for the trunk of a tree; +but it was Rudy, standing there as still as at that moment was +everything around him. He was not asleep, neither was he dead; but +just as the various events in the world—matters of momentous +importance to individuals—were flying through the telegraph wires, +without the quiver of a wire or the slightest tone, so, through the +mind of Rudy, thoughts of overwhelming importance were passing, +without an outward sign of emotion. The happiness of his future life +depended upon the decision of his present reflections. His eyes were +fixed on one spot in the distance—a light that twinkled through the +foliage from the parlor of the miller's house, where Babette dwelt. +Rudy stood so still, that it might have been supposed he was +watching for a chamois; but he was in reality like a chamois, who will +stand for a moment, looking as if it were chiselled out of the rock, +and then, if only a stone rolled by, would suddenly bound forward with +a spring, far away from the hunter. And so with Rudy: a sudden roll of +his thoughts roused him from his stillness, and made him bound forward +with determination to act. +</P> + +<P> +"Never despair!" cried he. "A visit to the mill, to say good +evening to the miller, and good evening to little Babette, can do no +harm. No one ever fails who has confidence in himself. If I am to be +Babette's husband, I must see her some time or other." +</P> + +<P> +Then Rudy laughed joyously, and took courage to go to the mill. He +knew what he wanted; he wanted to marry Babette. The clear water of +the river rolled over its yellow bed, and willows and lime-trees +were reflected in it, as Rudy stepped along the path to the miller's +house. But, as the children sing— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "There was no one at home in the house,<BR> + Only a kitten at play."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The cat standing on the steps put up its back and cried "mew." But +Rudy had no inclination for this sort of conversation; he passed on, +and knocked at the door. No one heard him, no one opened the door. +"Mew," said the cat again; and had Rudy been still a child, he would +have understood this language, and known that the cat wished to tell +him there was no one at home. So he was obliged to go to the mill +and make inquiries, and there he heard that the miller had gone on a +journey to Interlachen, and taken Babette with him, to the great +shooting festival, which began that morning, and would continue for +eight days, and that people from all the German settlements would be +there. +</P> + +<P> +Poor Rudy! we may well say. It was not a fortunate day for his +visit to Bex. He had just to return the way he came, through St. +Maurice and Sion, to his home in the valley. But he did not despair. +When the sun rose the next morning, his good spirits had returned; +indeed he had never really lost them. "Babette is at Interlachen," +said Rudy to himself, "many days' journey from here. It is certainly a +long way for any one who takes the high-road, but not so far if he +takes a short cut across the mountain, and that just suits a +chamois-hunter. I have been that way before, for it leads to the +home of my childhood, where, as a little boy, I lived with my +grandfather. And there are shooting matches at Interlachen. I will go, +and try to stand first in the match. Babette will be there, and I +shall be able to make her acquaintance." +</P> + +<P> +Carrying his light knapsack, which contained his Sunday clothes, +on his back, and with his musket and his game-bag over his shoulder, +Rudy started to take the shortest way across the mountain. Still it +was a great distance. The shooting matches were to commence on that +day, and to continue for a whole week. He had been told also that +the miller and Babette would remain that time with some relatives at +Interlachen. So over the Gemmi Rudy climbed bravely, and determined to +descend the side of the Grindelwald. Bright and joyous were his +feelings as he stepped lightly onwards, inhaling the invigorating +mountain air. The valley sunk as he ascended, the circle of the +horizon expanded. One snow-capped peak after another rose before +him, till the whole of the glittering Alpine range became visible. +Rudy knew each ice-clad peak, and he continued his course towards +the Schreckhorn, with its white powdered stone finger raised high in +the air. At length he had crossed the highest ridges, and before him +lay the green pasture lands sloping down towards the valley, which was +once his home. The buoyancy of the air made his heart light. Hill +and valley were blooming in luxuriant beauty, and his thoughts were +youthful dreams, in which old age or death were out of the question. +Life, power, and enjoyment were in the future, and he felt free and +light as a bird. And the swallows flew round him, as in the days of +his childhood, singing "We and you—you and we." All was overflowing +with joy. Beneath him lay the meadows, covered with velvety green, +with the murmuring river flowing through them, and dotted here and +there were small wooden houses. He could see the edges of the +glaciers, looking like green glass against the soiled snow, and the +deep chasms beneath the loftiest glacier. The church bells were +ringing, as if to welcome him to his home with their sweet tones. +His heart beat quickly, and for a moment he seemed to have +foregotten Babette, so full were his thoughts of old recollections. He +was, in imagination, once more wandering on the road where, when a +little boy, he, with other children, came to sell their curiously +carved toy houses. Yonder, behind the fir-trees, still stood his +grandfather's house, his mother's father, but strangers dwelt in it +now. Children came running to him, as he had once done, and wished +to sell their wares. One of them offered him an Alpine rose. Rudy took +the rose as a good omen, and thought of Babette. He quickly crossed +the bridge where the two rivers flow into each other. Here he found +a walk over-shadowed with large walnut-trees, and their thick +foliage formed a pleasant shade. Very soon he perceived in the +distance, waving flags, on which glittered a white cross on a red +ground—the standard of the Danes as well as of the Swiss—and +before him lay Interlachen. +</P> + +<P> +"It is really a splendid town, like none other that I have ever +seen," said Rudy to himself. It was indeed a Swiss town in its holiday +dress. Not like the many other towns, crowded with heavy stone houses, +stiff and foreign looking. No; here it seemed as if the wooden +houses on the hills had run into the valley, and placed themselves +in rows and ranks by the side of the clear river, which rushes like an +arrow in its course. The streets were rather irregular, it is true, +but still this added to their picturesque appearance. There was one +street which Rudy thought the prettiest of them all; it had been built +since he had visited the town when a little boy. It seemed to him as +if all the neatest and most curiously carved toy houses which his +grandfather once kept in the large cupboard at home, had been +brought out and placed in this spot, and that they had increased in +size since then, as the old chestnut trees had done. The houses were +called hotels; the woodwork on the windows and balconies was curiously +carved. The roofs were gayly painted, and before each house was a +flower garden, which separated it from the macadamized high-road. +These houses all stood on the same side of the road, so that the +fresh, green meadows, in which were cows grazing, with bells on +their necks, were not hidden. The sound of these bells is often +heard amidst Alpine scenery. These meadows were encircled by lofty +hills, which receded a little in the centre, so that the most +beautifully formed of Swiss mountains—the snow-crowned Jungfrau—could +be distinctly seen glittering in the distance. A number of +elegantly dressed gentlemen and ladies from foreign lands, and +crowds of country people from the neighboring cantons, were +assembled in the town. Each marksman wore the number of hits he had +made twisted in a garland round his hat. Here were music and singing +of all descriptions: hand-organs, trumpets, shouting, and noise. The +houses and bridges were adorned with verses and inscriptions. Flags +and banners were waving. Shot after shot was fired, which was the best +music to Rudy's ears. And amidst all this excitement he quite forgot +Babette, on whose account only he had come. The shooters were +thronging round the target, and Rudy was soon amongst them. But when +he took his turn to fire, he proved himself the best shot, for he +always struck the bull's-eye. +</P> + +<P> +"Who may that young stranger be?" was the inquiry on all sides. +"He speaks French as it is spoken in the Swiss cantons." +</P> + +<P> +"And makes himself understood very well when he speaks German," +said some. +</P> + +<P> +"He lived here, when a child, with his grandfather, in a house +on the road to Grindelwald," remarked one of the sportsmen. +</P> + +<P> +And full of life was this young stranger; his eyes sparkled, his +glance was steady, and his arm sure, therefore he always hit the mark. +Good fortune gives courage, and Rudy was always courageous. He soon +had a circle of friends gathered round him. Every one noticed him, and +did him homage. Babette had quite vanished from his thoughts, when +he was struck on the shoulder by a heavy hand, and a deep voice said +to him in French, "You are from the canton Valais." +</P> + +<P> +Rudy turned round, and beheld a man with a ruddy, pleasant face, +and a stout figure. It was the rich miller from Bex. His broad, portly +person, hid the slender, lovely Babette; but she came forward and +glanced at him with her bright, dark eyes. The rich miller was very +much flattered at the thought that the young man, who was acknowledged +to be the best shot, and was so praised by every one, should be from +his own canton. Now was Rudy really fortunate: he had travelled all +this way to this place, and those he had forgotten were now come to +seek him. When country people go far from home, they often meet with +those they know, and improve their acquaintance. Rudy, by his +shooting, had gained the first place in the shooting-match, just as +the miller at home at Bex stood first, because of his money and his +mill. So the two men shook hands, which they had never done before. +Babette, too, held out her hand to Rudy frankly, and he pressed it +in his, and looked at her so earnestly, that she blushed deeply. The +miller talked of the long journey they had travelled, and of the +many towns they had seen. It was his opinion that he had really made +as great a journey as if he had travelled in a steamship, a railway +carriage, or a post-chaise. +</P> + +<P> +"I came by a much shorter way," said Rudy; "I came over the +mountains. There is no road so high that a man may not venture upon +it." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, yes; and break your neck," said the miller; "and you look +like one who will break his neck some day, you are so daring." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, nothing ever happens to a man if he has confidence in +himself," replied Rudy. +</P> + +<P> +The miller's relations at Interlachen, with whom the miller and +Babette were staying, invited Rudy to visit them, when they found he +came from the same canton as the miller. It was a most pleasant visit. +Good fortune seemed to follow him, as it does those who think and +act for themselves, and who remember the proverb, "Nuts are given to +us, but they are not cracked for us." And Rudy was treated by the +miller's relations almost like one of the family, and glasses of +wine were poured out to drink to the welfare of the best shooter. +Babette clinked glasses with Rudy, and he returned thanks for the +toast. In the evening they all took a delightful walk under the +walnut-trees, in front of the stately hotels; there were so many +people, and such crowding, that Rudy was obliged to offer his arm to +Babette. Then he told her how happy it made him to meet people from +the canton Vaud,—for Vaud and Valais were neighboring cantons. He +spoke of this pleasure so heartily that Babette could not resist +giving his arm a slight squeeze; and so they walked on together, and +talked and chatted like old acquaintances. Rudy felt inclined to laugh +sometimes at the absurd dress and walk of the foreign ladies; but +Babette did not wish to make fun of them, for she knew there must be +some good, excellent people amongst them; she, herself, had a +godmother, who was a high-born English lady. Eighteen years before, +when Babette was christened, this lady was staying at Bex, and she +stood godmother for her, and gave her the valuable brooch she now wore +in her bosom. +</P> + +<P> +Her godmother had twice written to her, and this year she was +expected to visit Interlachen with her two daughters; "but they are +old-maids," added Babette, who was only eighteen: "they are nearly +thirty." Her sweet little mouth was never still a moment, and all that +she said sounded in Rudy's ears as matters of the greatest importance, +and at last he told her what he was longing to tell. How often he +had been at Bex, how well he knew the mill, and how often he had +seen Babette, when most likely she had not noticed him; and lastly, +that full of many thoughts which he could not tell her, he had been to +the mill on the evening when she and her father has started on their +long journey, but not too far for him to find a way to overtake +them. He told her all this, and a great deal more; he told her how +much he could endure for her; and that it was to see her, and not +the shooting-match, which had brought him to Interlachen. Babette +became quite silent after hearing all this; it was almost too much, +and it troubled her. +</P> + +<P> +And while they thus wandered on, the sun sunk behind the lofty +mountains. The Jungfrau stood out in brightness and splendor, as a +back-ground to the green woods of the surrounding hills. Every one +stood still to look at the beautiful sight, Rudy and Babette among +them. +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing can be more beautiful than this," said Babette. +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing!" replied Rudy, looking at Babette. +</P> + +<P> +"To-morrow I must return home," remarked Rudy a few minutes +afterwards. +</P> + +<P> +"Come and visit us at Bex," whispered Babette; "my father will +be pleased to see you." +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +V. ON THE WAY HOME +</H3> + +<P> +Oh, what a number of things Rudy had to carry over the +mountains, when he set out to return home! He had three silver cups, +two handsome pistols, and a silver coffee-pot. This latter would be +useful when he began housekeeping. But all these were not the heaviest +weight he had to bear; something mightier and more important he +carried with him in his heart, over the high mountains, as he +journeyed homeward. +</P> + +<P> +The weather was dismally dark, and inclined to rain; the clouds +hung low, like a mourning veil on the tops of the mountains, and +shrouded their glittering peaks. In the woods could be heard the sound +of the axe and the heavy fall of the trunks of the trees, as they +rolled down the slopes of the mountains. When seen from the heights, +the trunks of these trees looked like slender stems; but on a nearer +inspection they were found to be large and strong enough for the masts +of a ship. The river murmured monotonously, the wind whistled, and the +clouds sailed along hurriedly. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly there appeared, close by Rudy's side, a young maiden; +he had not noticed her till she came quite near to him. She was also +going to ascend the mountain. The maiden's eyes shone with an +unearthly power, which obliged you to look into them; they were +strange eyes,—clear, deep, and unfathomable. +</P> + +<P> +"Hast thou a lover?" asked Rudy; all his thoughts were naturally +on love just then. +</P> + +<P> +"I have none," answered the maiden, with a laugh; it was as if she +had not spoken the truth. +</P> + +<P> +"Do not let us go such a long way round," said she. "We must +keep to the left; it is much shorter." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, yes," he replied; "and fall into some crevasse. Do you +pretend to be a guide, and not know the road better than that?" +</P> + +<P> +"I know every step of the way," said she; "and my thoughts are +collected, while yours are down in the valley yonder. We should +think of the Ice Maiden while we are up here; men say she is not +kind to their race." +</P> + +<P> +"I fear her not," said Rudy. "She could not keep me when I was a +child; I will not give myself up to her now I am a man." +</P> + +<P> +Darkness came on, the rain fell, and then it began to snow, and +the whiteness dazzled the eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Give me your hand," said the maiden; "I will help you to +mount." And he felt the touch of her icy fingers. +</P> + +<P> +"You help me," cried Rudy; "I do not yet require a woman to help +me to climb." And he stepped quickly forwards away from her. +</P> + +<P> +The drifting snow-shower fell like a veil between them, the wind +whistled, and behind him he could hear the maiden laughing and +singing, and the sound was most strange to hear. +</P> + +<P> +"It certainly must be a spectre or a servant of the Ice Maiden," +thought Rudy, who had heard such things talked about when he was a +little boy, and had stayed all night on the mountain with the guides. +</P> + +<P> +The snow fell thicker than ever, the clouds lay beneath him; he +looked back, there was no one to be seen, but he heard sounds of +mocking laughter, which were not those of a human voice. +</P> + +<P> +When Rudy at length reached the highest part of the mountain, +where the path led down to the valley of the Rhone, the snow had +ceased, and in the clear heavens he saw two bright stars twinkling. +They reminded him of Babette and of himself, and of his future +happiness, and his heart glowed at the thought. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +VI. THE VISIT TO THE MILL +</H3> + +<P> +"What beautiful things you have brought home!" said his old +foster-mother; and her strange-looking eagle-eyes sparkled, while +she wriggled and twisted her skinny neck more quickly and strangely +than ever. "You have brought good luck with you, Rudy. I must give you +a kiss, my dear boy." +</P> + +<P> +Rudy allowed himself to be kissed; but it could be seen by his +countenance that he only endured the infliction as a homely duty. +</P> + +<P> +"How handsome you are, Rudy!" said the old woman. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't flatter," said Rudy, with a laugh; but still he was +pleased. +</P> + +<P> +"I must say once more," said the old woman, "that you are very +lucky." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, in that I believe you are right," said he, as he thought of +Babette. Never had he felt such a longing for that deep valley as he +now had. "They must have returned home by this time," said he to +himself, "it is already two days over the time which they fixed +upon. I must go to Bex." +</P> + +<P> +So Rudy set out to go to Bex; and when he arrived there, he +found the miller and his daughter at home. They received him kindly, +and brought him many greetings from their friends at Interlachen. +Babette did not say much. She seemed to have become quite silent; +but her eyes spoke, and that was quite enough for Rudy. The miller had +generally a great deal to talk about, and seemed to expect that +every one should listen to his jokes, and laugh at them; for was not +he the rich miller? But now he was more inclined to hear Rudy's +adventures while hunting and travelling, and to listen to his +descriptions of the difficulties the chamois-hunter has to overcome on +the mountain-tops, or of the dangerous snow-drifts which the wind +and weather cause to cling to the edges of the rocks, or to lie in the +form of a frail bridge over the abyss beneath. The eyes of the brave +Rudy sparkled as he described the life of a hunter, or spoke of the +cunning of the chamois and their wonderful leaps; also of the powerful +fohn and the rolling avalanche. He noticed that the more he described, +the more interested the miller became, especially when he spoke of the +fierce vulture and of the royal eagle. Not far from Bex, in the canton +Valais, was an eagle's nest, more curiously built under a high, +over-hanging rock. In this nest was a young eagle; but who would +venture to take it? A young Englishman had offered Rudy a whole +handful of gold, if he would bring him the young eagle alive. +</P> + +<P> +"There is a limit to everything," was Rudy's reply. "The eagle +could not be taken; it would be folly to attempt it." +</P> + +<P> +The wine was passed round freely, and the conversation kept up +pleasantly; but the evening seemed too short for Rudy, although it was +midnight when he left the miller's house, after this his first visit. +</P> + +<P> +While the lights in the windows of the miller's house still +twinkled through the green foliage, out through the open skylight came +the parlor-cat on to the roof, and along the water-pipe walked the +kitchen-cat to meet her. +</P> + +<P> +"What is the news at the mill?" asked the parlor-cat. "Here in the +house there is secret love-making going on, which the father knows +nothing about. Rudy and Babette have been treading on each other's +paws, under the table, all the evening. They trod on my tail twice, +but I did not mew; that would have attracted notice." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I should have mewed," said the kitchen-cat. +</P> + +<P> +"What might suit the kitchen would not suit the parlor," said +the other. "I am quite curious to know what the miller will say when +he finds out this engagement." +</P> + +<P> +Yes, indeed; what would the miller say? Rudy himself was anxious +to know that; but to wait till the miller heard of it from others +was out of the question. Therefore, not many days after this visit, he +was riding in the omnibus that runs between the two cantons, Valais +and Vaud. These cantons are separated by the Rhone, over which is a +bridge that unites them. Rudy, as usual, had plenty of courage, and +indulged in pleasant thoughts of the favorable answer he should +receive that evening. And when the omnibus returned, Rudy was again +seated in it, going homewards; and at the same time the parlor-cat +at the miller's house ran out quickly, crying,— +</P> + +<P> +"Here, you from the kitchen, what do you think? The miller knows +all now. Everything has come to a delightful end. Rudy came here +this evening, and he and Babette had much whispering and secret +conversation together. They stood in the path near the miller's +room. I lay at their feet; but they had no eyes or thoughts for me. +</P> + +<P> +"'I will go to your father at once,' said he; 'it is the most +honorable way.' +</P> + +<P> +"'Shall I go with you?' asked Babette; 'it will give you courage.' +</P> + +<P> +"'I have plenty of courage,' said Rudy; 'but if you are with me, +he must be friendly, whether he says Yes or No.' +</P> + +<P> +"So they turned to go in, and Rudy trod heavily on my tail; he +certainly is very clumsy. I mewed; but neither he nor Babette had +any ears for me. They opened the door, and entered together. I was +before them, and jumped on the back of a chair. I hardly know what +Rudy said; but the miller flew into a rage, and threatened to kick him +out of the house. He told him he might go to the mountains, and look +after the chamois, but not after our little Babette." +</P> + +<P> +"And what did they say? Did they speak?" asked the kitchen-cat. +</P> + +<P> +"What did they say! why, all that people generally do say when +they go a-wooing—'I love her, and she loves me; and when there is +milk in the can for one, there is milk in the can for two.' +</P> + +<P> +"'But she is so far above you,' said the miller; 'she has heaps of +gold, as you know. You should not attempt to reach her.' +</P> + +<P> +"'There is nothing so high that a man cannot reach, if he will,' +answered Rudy; for he is a brave youth. +</P> + +<P> +"'Yet you could not reach the young eagle,' said the miller, +laughing. 'Babette is higher than the eagle's nest.' +</P> + +<P> +"'I will have them both,' said Rudy. +</P> + +<P> +"'Very well; I will give her to you when you bring me the young +eaglet alive,' said the miller; and he laughed till the tears stood in +his eyes. 'But now I thank you for this visit, Rudy; and if you come +to-morrow, you will find nobody at home. Good-bye, Rudy.' +</P> + +<P> +"Babette also wished him farewell; but her voice sounded as +mournful as the mew of a little kitten that has lost its mother. +</P> + +<P> +"'A promise is a promise between man and man,' said Rudy. 'Do +not weep, Babette; I shall bring the young eagle.' +</P> + +<P> +"'You will break your neck, I hope,' said the miller, 'and we +shall be relieved from your company.' +</P> + +<P> +"I call that kicking him out of the house," said the parlor-cat. +"And now Rudy is gone, and Babette sits and weeps, while the miller +sings German songs that he learnt on his journey; but I do not trouble +myself on the matter,—it would be of no use." +</P> + +<P> +"Yet, for all that, it is a very strange affair," said the +kitchen-cat. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +VII. THE EAGLE'S NEST +</H3> + +<P> +From the mountain-path came a joyous sound of some person +whistling, and it betokened good humor and undaunted courage. It was +Rudy, going to meet his friend Vesinaud. "You must come and help," +said he. "I want to carry off the young eaglet from the top of the +rock. We will take young Ragli with us." +</P> + +<P> +"Had you not better first try to take down the moon? That would be +quite as easy a task," said Vesinaud. "You seem to be in good +spirits." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, indeed I am. I am thinking of my wedding. But to be serious, +I will tell you all about it, and how I am situated." +</P> + +<P> +Then he explained to Vesinaud and Ragli what he wished to do, +and why. +</P> + +<P> +"You are a daring fellow," said they; "but it is no use; you +will break your neck." +</P> + +<P> +"No one falls, unless he is afraid," said Rudy. +</P> + +<P> +So at midnight they set out, carrying with them poles, ladders, +and ropes. The road lay amidst brushwood and underwood, over rolling +stones, always upwards higher and higher in the dark night. Waters +roared beneath them, or fell in cascades from above. Humid clouds were +driving through the air as the hunters reached the precipitous ledge +of the rock. It was even darker here, for the sides of the rocks +almost met, and the light penetrated only through a small opening at +the top. At a little distance from the edge could be heard the sound +of the roaring, foaming waters in the yawning abyss beneath them. +The three seated themselves on a stone, to await in stillness the dawn +of day, when the parent eagle would fly out, as it would be +necessary to shoot the old bird before they could think of gaining +possession of the young one. Rudy sat motionless, as if he had been +part of the stone on which he sat. He held his gun ready to fire, with +his eyes fixed steadily on the highest point of the cliff, where the +eagle's nest lay concealed beneath the overhanging rock. +</P> + +<P> +The three hunters had a long time to wait. At last they heard a +rustling, whirring sound above them, and a large hovering object +darkened the air. Two guns were ready to aim at the dark body of the +eagle as it rose from the nest. Then a shot was fired; for an +instant the bird fluttered its wide-spreading wings, and seemed as +if it would fill up the whole of the chasm, and drag down the +hunters in its fall. But it was not so; the eagle sunk gradually +into the abyss beneath, and the branches of trees and bushes were +broken by its weight. Then the hunters roused themselves: three of the +longest ladders were brought and bound together; the topmost ring of +these ladders would just reach the edge of the rock which hung over +the abyss, but no farther. The point beneath which the eagle's nest +lay sheltered was much higher, and the sides of the rock were as +smooth as a wall. After consulting together, they determined to bind +together two more ladders, and to hoist them over the cavity, and so +form a communication with the three beneath them, by binding the upper +ones to the lower. With great difficulty they contrived to drag the +two ladders over the rock, and there they hung for some moments, +swaying over the abyss; but no sooner had they fastened them together, +than Rudy placed his foot on the lowest step. +</P> + +<P> +It was a bitterly cold morning; clouds of mist were rising from +beneath, and Rudy stood on the lower step of the ladder as a fly rests +on a piece of swinging straw, which a bird may have dropped from the +edge of the nest it was building on some tall factory chimney; but the +fly could fly away if the straw were shaken, Rudy could only break his +neck. The wind whistled around him, and beneath him the waters of +the abyss, swelled by the thawing of the glaciers, those palaces of +the Ice Maiden, foamed and roared in their rapid course. When Rudy +began to ascend, the ladder trembled like the web of the spider, +when it draws out the long, delicate threads; but as soon as he +reached the fourth of the ladders, which had been bound together, he +felt more confidence,—he knew that they had been fastened securely by +skilful hands. The fifth ladder, that appeared to reach the nest, +was supported by the sides of the rock, yet it swung to and fro, and +flapped about like a slender reed, and as if it had been bound by +fishing lines. It seemed a most dangerous undertaking to ascend it, +but Rudy knew how to climb; he had learnt that from the cat, and he +had no fear. He did not observe Vertigo, who stood in the air behind +him, trying to lay hold of him with his outstretched polypous arms. +</P> + +<P> +When at length he stood on the topmost step of the ladder, he +found that he was still some distance below the nest, and not even +able to see into it. Only by using his hands and climbing could he +possibly reach it. He tried the strength of the stunted trees, and the +thick underwood upon which the nest rested, and of which it was +formed, and finding they would support his weight, he grasped them +firmly, and swung himself up from the ladder till his head and +breast were above the nest, and then what an overpowering stench +came from it, for in it lay the putrid remains of lambs, chamois, +and birds. Vertigo, although he could not reach him, blew the +poisonous vapor in his face, to make him giddy and faint; and beneath, +in the dark, yawning deep, on the rushing waters, sat the Ice +Maiden, with her long, pale, green hair falling around her, and her +death-like eyes fixed upon him, like the two barrels of a gun. "I have +thee now," she cried. +</P> + +<P> +In a corner of the eagle's nest sat the young eaglet, a large +and powerful bird, though still unable to fly. Rudy fixed his eyes +upon it, held on by one hand with all his strength, and with the other +threw a noose round the young eagle. The string slipped to its legs. +Rudy tightened it, and thus secured the bird alive. Then flinging +the sling over his shoulder, so that the creature hung a good way down +behind him, he prepared to descend with the help of a rope, and his +foot soon touched safely the highest step of the ladder. Then Rudy, +remembering his early lesson in climbing, "Hold fast, and do not +fear," descended carefully down the ladders, and at last stood +safely on the ground with the young living eaglet, where he was +received with loud shouts of joy and congratulations. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +VIII. WHAT FRESH NEWS THE PARLOR-CAT HAD TO TELL +</H3> + +<P> +"There is what you asked for," said Rudy, as he entered the +miller's house at Bex, and placed on the floor a large basket. He +removed the lid as he spoke, and a pair of yellow eyes, encircled by a +black ring, stared forth with a wild, fiery glance, that seemed +ready to burn and destroy all that came in its way. Its short, +strong beak was open, ready to bite, and on its red throat were +short feathers, like stubble. +</P> + +<P> +"The young eaglet!" cried the miller. +</P> + +<P> +Babette screamed, and started back, while her eyes wandered from +Rudy to the bird in astonishment. +</P> + +<P> +"You are not to be discouraged by difficulties, I see," said the +miller. +</P> + +<P> +"And you will keep your word," replied Rudy. "Each has his own +characteristic, whether it is honor or courage." +</P> + +<P> +"But how is it you did not break your neck?" asked the miller. +</P> + +<P> +"Because I held fast," answered Rudy; "and I mean to hold fast +to Babette." +</P> + +<P> +"You must get her first," said the miller, laughing; and Babette +thought this a very good sign. +</P> + +<P> +"We must take the bird out of the basket," said she. "It is +getting into a rage; how its eyes glare. How did you manage to conquer +it?" +</P> + +<P> +Then Rudy had to describe his adventure, and the miller's eyes +opened wide as he listened. +</P> + +<P> +"With your courage and your good fortune you might win three +wives," said the miller. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, thank you," cried Rudy. +</P> + +<P> +"But you have not won Babette yet," said the miller, slapping +the young Alpine hunter on the shoulder playfully. +</P> + +<P> +"Have you heard the fresh news at the mill?" asked the +parlor-cat of the kitchen-cat. "Rudy has brought us the young eagle, +and he is to take Babette in exchange. They kissed each other in the +presence of the old man, which is as good as an engagement. He was +quite civil about it; drew in his claws, and took his afternoon nap, +so that the two were left to sit and wag their tails as much as they +pleased. They have so much to talk about that it will not be +finished till Christmas." Neither was it finished till Christmas. +</P> + +<P> +The wind whirled the faded, fallen leaves; the snow drifted in the +valleys, as well as upon the mountains, and the Ice Maiden sat in +the stately palace which, in winter time, she generally occupied. +The perpendicular rocks were covered with slippery ice, and where in +summer the stream from the rocks had left a watery veil, icicles large +and heavy hung from the trees, while the snow-powdered fir-trees +were decorated with fantastic garlands of crystal. The Ice Maiden rode +on the howling wind across the deep valleys, the country, as far as +Bex, was covered with a carpet of snow, so that the Ice Maiden could +follow Rudy, and see him, when he visited the mill; and while in the +room at the miller's house, where he was accustomed to spend so much +of his time with Babette. The wedding was to take place in the +following summer, and they heard enough of it, for so many of their +friends spoke of the matter. +</P> + +<P> +Then came sunshine to the mill. The beautiful Alpine roses +bloomed, and joyous, laughing Babette, was like the early spring, +which makes all the birds sing of summer time and bridal days. +</P> + +<P> +"How those two do sit and chatter together," said the +parlor-cat; "I have had enough of their mewing." +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +IX. THE ICE MAIDEN +</H3> + +<P> +The walnut and chestnut trees, which extend from the bridge of St. +Maurice, by the river Rhone, to the shores of the lake of Geneva, were +already covered with the delicate green garlands of early spring, just +bursting into bloom, while the Rhone rushed wildly from its source +among the green glaciers which form the ice palace of the Ice +Maiden. She sometimes allows herself to be carried by the keen wind to +the lofty snow-fields, where she stretches herself in the sunshine +on the soft snowy-cushions. From thence she throws her far-seeing +glance into the deep valley beneath, where human beings are busily +moving about like ants on a stone in the sun. "Spirits of strength, as +the children of the sun call you," cried the Ice Maiden, "ye are but +worms! Let but a snow-ball roll, and you and your houses and your +towns are crushed and swept away." And she raised her proud head, +and looked around her with eyes that flashed death from their +glance. From the valley came a rumbling sound; men were busily at work +blasting the rocks to form tunnels, and laying down roads for the +railway. "They are playing at work underground, like moles," said she. +"They are digging passages beneath the earth, and the noise is like +the reports of cannons. I shall throw down my palaces, for the +clamor is louder than the roar of thunder." Then there ascended from +the valley a thick vapor, which waved itself in the air like a +fluttering veil. It rose, as a plume of feathers, from a steam engine, +to which, on the lately-opened railway, a string of carriages was +linked, carriage to carriage, looking like a winding serpent. The +train shot past with the speed of an arrow. "They play at being +masters down there, those spirits of strength!" exclaimed the Ice +Maiden; "but the powers of nature are still the rulers." And she +laughed and sang till her voice sounded through the valley, and people +said it was the rolling of an avalanche. But the children of the sun +sang in louder strains in praise of the mind of man, which can span +the sea as with a yoke, can level mountains, and fill up valleys. It +is the power of thought which gives man the mastery over nature. +</P> + +<P> +Just at this moment there came across the snow-field, where the +Ice Maiden sat, a party of travellers. They had bound themselves +fast to each other, so that they looked like one large body on the +slippery plains of ice encircling the deep abyss. +</P> + +<P> +"Worms!" exclaimed the Ice Maiden. "You, the lords of the powers +of nature!" And she turned away and looked maliciously at the deep +valley where the railway train was rushing by. "There they sit, +these thoughts!" she exclaimed. "There they sit in their power over +nature's strength. I see them all. One sits proudly apart, like a +king; others sit together in a group; yonder, half of them are asleep; +and when the steam dragon stops, they will get out and go their way. +The thoughts go forth into the world," and she laughed. +</P> + +<P> +"There goes another avalanche," said those in the valley beneath. +</P> + +<P> +"It will not reach us," said two who sat together behind the steam +dragon. "Two hearts and one beat," as people say. They were Rudy and +Babette, and the miller was with them. "I am like the luggage," said +he; "I am here as a necessary appendage." +</P> + +<P> +"There sit those two," said the Ice Maiden. "Many a chamois have I +crushed. Millions of Alpine roses have I snapped and broken off; not a +root have I spared. I know them all, and their thoughts, those spirits +of strength!" and again she laughed. +</P> + +<P> +"There rolls another avalanche," said those in the valley. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +X. THE GODMOTHER +</H3> + +<P> +At Montreux, one of the towns which encircle the northeast part of +the lake of Geneva, lived Babette's godmother, the noble English lady, +with her daughters and a young relative. They had only lately arrived, +yet the miller had paid them a visit, and informed them of Babette's +engagement to Rudy. The whole story of their meeting at Interlachen, +and his brave adventure with the eaglet, were related to them, and +they were all very much interested, and as pleased about Rudy and +Babette as the miller himself. The three were invited to come to +Montreux; it was but right for Babette to become acquainted with her +godmother, who wished to see her very much. A steam-boat started +from the town of Villeneuve, at one end of the lake of Geneva, and +arrived at Bernex, a little town beyond Montreux, in about half an +hour. And in this boat, the miller, with his daughter and Rudy, set +out to visit her godmother. They passed the coast which has been so +celebrated in song. Here, under the walnut-trees, by the deep blue +lake, sat Byron, and wrote his melodious verses about the prisoner +confined in the gloomy castle of Chillon. Here, where Clarens, with +its weeping-willows, is reflected in the clear water, wandered +Rousseau, dreaming of Heloise. The river Rhone glides gently by +beneath the lofty snow-capped hills of Savoy, and not far from its +mouth lies a little island in the lake, so small that, seen from the +shore, it looks like a ship. The surface of the island is rocky; and +about a hundred years ago, a lady caused the ground to be covered with +earth, in which three acacia-trees were planted, and the whole +enclosed with stone walls. The acacia-trees now overshadow every +part of the island. Babette was enchanted with the spot; it seemed +to her the most beautiful object in the whole voyage, and she +thought how much she should like to land there. But the steam-ship +passed it by, and did not stop till it reached Bernex. The little +party walked slowly from this place to Montreux, passing the sun-lit +walls with which the vineyards of the little mountain town of Montreux +are surrounded, and peasants' houses, overshadowed by fig-trees, +with gardens in which grow the laurel and the cypress. +</P> + +<P> +Halfway up the hill stood the boarding-house in which Babette's +godmother resided. She was received most cordially; her godmother +was a very friendly woman, with a round, smiling countenance. When a +child, her head must have resembled one of Raphael's cherubs; it was +still an angelic face, with its white locks of silvery hair. The +daughters were tall, elegant, slender maidens. +</P> + +<P> +The young cousin, whom they had brought with them, was dressed +in white from head to foot; he had golden hair and golden whiskers, +large enough to be divided amongst three gentlemen; and he began +immediately to pay the greatest attention to Babette. +</P> + +<P> +Richly bound books, note-paper, and drawings, lay on the large +table. The balcony window stood open, and from it could be seen the +beautiful wide extended lake, the water so clear and still, that the +mountains of Savoy, with their villages, woods, and snow-crowned +peaks, were clearly reflected in it. +</P> + +<P> +Rudy, who was usually so lively and brave, did not in the least +feel himself at home; he acted as if he were walking on peas, over a +slippery floor. How long and wearisome the time appeared; it was +like being in a treadmill. And then they went out for a walk, which +was very slow and tedious. Two steps forward and one backwards had +Rudy to take to keep pace with the others. They walked down to +Chillon, and went over the old castle on the rocky island. They saw +the implements of torture, the deadly dungeons, the rusty fetters in +the rocky walls, the stone benches for those condemned to death, the +trap-doors through which the unhappy creatures were hurled upon iron +spikes, and impaled alive. They called looking at all these a +pleasure. It certainly was the right place to visit. Byron's poetry +had made it celebrated in the world. Rudy could only feel that it +was a place of execution. He leaned against the stone framework of the +window, and gazed down into the deep, blue water, and over to the +little island with the three acacias, and wished himself there, away +and free from the whole chattering party. But Babette was most +unusually lively and good-tempered. +</P> + +<P> +"I have been so amused," she said. +</P> + +<P> +The cousin had found her quite perfect. +</P> + +<P> +"He is a perfect fop," said Rudy; and this was the first time Rudy +had said anything that did not please Babette. +</P> + +<P> +The Englishman had made her a present of a little book, in +remembrance of their visit to Chillon. It was Byron's poem, "The +Prisoner of Chillon," translated into French, so that Babette could +read it. +</P> + +<P> +"The book may be very good," said Rudy; "but that finely combed +fellow who gave it to you is not worth much." +</P> + +<P> +"He looks something like a flour-sack without any flour," said the +miller, laughing at his own wit. Rudy laughed, too, for so had he +appeared to him. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XI. THE COUSIN +</H3> + +<P> +When Rudy went a few days after to pay a visit to the mill, he +found the young Englishman there. Babette was just thinking of +preparing some trout to set before him. She understood well how to +garnish the dish with parsley, and make it look quite tempting. Rudy +thought all this quite unnecessary. What did the Englishman want +there? What was he about? Why should he be entertained, and waited +upon by Babette? Rudy was jealous, and that made Babette happy. It +amused her to discover all the feelings of his heart; the strong +points and weak ones. Love was to her as yet only a pastime, and she +played with Rudy's whole heart. At the same time it must be +acknowledged that her fortune, her whole life, her inmost thoughts, +her best and most noble feelings in this world were all for him. Still +the more gloomy he looked, the more her eyes laughed. She could almost +have kissed the fair Englishman, with the golden whiskers, if by so +doing she could have put Rudy in a rage, and made him run out of the +house. That would have proved how much he loved her. All this was +not right in Babette, but she was only nineteen years of age, and +she did not reflect on what she did, neither did she think that her +conduct would appear to the young Englishman as light, and not even +becoming the modest and much-loved daughter of the miller. +</P> + +<P> +The mill at Bex stood in the highway, which passed under the +snow-clad mountains, and not far from a rapid mountain-stream, whose +waters seemed to have been lashed into a foam like soap-suds. This +stream, however, did not pass near enough to the mill, and therefore +the mill-wheel was turned by a smaller stream which tumbled down the +rocks on the opposite side, where it was opposed by a stone +mill-dam, and obtained greater strength and speed, till it fell into a +large basin, and from thence through a channel to the mill-wheel. This +channel sometimes overflowed, and made the path so slippery that any +one passing that way might easily fall in, and be carried towards +the mill wheel with frightful rapidity. Such a catastrophe nearly +happened to the young Englishman. He had dressed himself in white +clothes, like a miller's man, and was climbing the path to the +miller's house, but he had never been taught to climb, and therefore +slipped, and nearly went in head-foremost. He managed, however, to +scramble out with wet sleeves and bespattered trousers. Still, wet and +splashed with mud, he contrived to reach Babette's window, to which he +had been guided by the light that shone from it. Here he climbed the +old linden-tree that stood near it, and began to imitate the voice +of an owl, the only bird he could venture to mimic. Babette heard +the noise, and glanced through the thin window curtain; but when she +saw the man in white, and guessed who he was, her little heart beat +with terror as well as anger. She quickly put out the light, felt if +the fastening of the window was secure, and then left him to howl as +long as he liked. How dreadful it would be, thought Babette, if Rudy +were here in the house. But Rudy was not in the house. No, it was much +worse, he was outside, standing just under the linden-tree. He was +speaking loud, angry words. He could fight, and there might be murder! +Babette opened the window in alarm, and called Rudy's name; she told +him to go away, she did not wish him to remain there. +</P> + +<P> +"You do not wish me to stay," cried he; "then this is an +appointment you expected—this good friend whom you prefer to me. +Shame on you, Babette!" +</P> + +<P> +"You are detestable!" exclaimed Babette, bursting into tears. +"Go away. I hate you." +</P> + +<P> +"I have not deserved this," said Rudy, as he turned away, his +cheeks burning, and his heart like fire. +</P> + +<P> +Babette threw herself on the bed, and wept bitterly. "So much as I +loved thee, Rudy, and yet thou canst think ill of me." +</P> + +<P> +Thus her anger broke forth; it relieved her, however: otherwise +she would have been more deeply grieved; but now she could sleep +soundly, as youth only can sleep. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XII. EVIL POWERS +</H3> + +<P> +Rudy left Bex, and took his way home along the mountain path. +The air was fresh, but cold; for here amidst the deep snow, the Ice +Maiden reigned. He was so high up that the large trees beneath him, +with their thick foliage, appeared like garden plants, and the pines +and bushes even less. The Alpine roses grew near the snow, which lay +in detached stripes, and looked like linen laid out to bleach. A +blue gentian grew in his path, and he crushed it with the butt end +of his gun. A little higher up, he espied two chamois. Rudy's eyes +glistened, and his thoughts flew at once in a different direction; but +he was not near enough to take a sure aim. He ascended still higher, +to a spot where a few rough blades of grass grew between the blocks of +stone and the chamois passed quietly on over the snow-fields. Rudy +walked hurriedly, while the clouds of mist gathered round him. +Suddenly he found himself on the brink of a precipitous rock. The rain +was falling in torrents. He felt a burning thirst, his head was hot, +and his limbs trembled with cold. He seized his hunting-flask, but +it was empty; he had not thought of filling it before ascending the +mountain. He had never been ill in his life, nor ever experienced such +sensations as those he now felt. He was so tired that he could +scarcely resist lying down at his full length to sleep, although the +ground was flooded with the rain. Yet when he tried to rouse himself a +little, every object around him danced and trembled before his eyes. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly he observed in the doorway of a hut newly built under the +rock, a young maiden. He did not remember having seen this hut before, +yet there it stood; and he thought, at first, that the young maiden +was Annette, the schoolmaster's daughter, whom he had once kissed in +the dance. The maiden was not Annette; yet it seemed as if he had seen +her somewhere before, perhaps near Grindelwald, on the evening of +his return home from Interlachen, after the shooting-match. +</P> + +<P> +"How did you come here?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"I am at home," she replied; "I am watching my flocks." +</P> + +<P> +"Your flocks!" he exclaimed; "where do they find pasture? There is +nothing here but snow and rocks." +</P> + +<P> +"Much you know of what grows here," she replied, laughing. "Not +far beneath us there is beautiful pasture-land. My goats go there. I +tend them carefully; I never miss one. What is once mine remains +mine." +</P> + +<P> +"You are bold," said Rudy. +</P> + +<P> +"And so are you," she answered. +</P> + +<P> +"Have you any milk in the house?" he asked; "if so, give me some +to drink; my thirst is intolerable." +</P> + +<P> +"I have something better than milk," she replied, "which I will +give you. Some travellers who were here yesterday with their guide +left behind them a half a flask of wine, such as you have never +tasted. They will not come back to fetch it, I know, and I shall not +drink it; so you shall have it." +</P> + +<P> +Then the maiden went to fetch the wine, poured some into a +wooden cup, and offered it to Rudy. +</P> + +<P> +"How good it is!" said he; "I have never before tasted such +warm, invigorating wine." And his eyes sparkled with new life; a +glow diffused itself over his frame; it seemed as if every sorrow, +every oppression were banished from his mind, and a fresh, free nature +were stirring within him. "You are surely Annette, the +schoolmaster's daughter," cried he; "will you give me a kiss?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, if you will give me that beautiful ring which you wear on +your finger." +</P> + +<P> +"My betrothal ring?" he replied. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, just so," said the maiden, as she poured out some more wine, +and held it to his lips. Again he drank, and a living joy streamed +through every vein. +</P> + +<P> +"The whole world is mine, why therefore should I grieve?" +thought he. "Everything is created for our enjoyment and happiness. +The stream of life is a stream of happiness; let us flow on with it to +joy and felicity." +</P> + +<P> +Rudy gazed on the young maiden; it was Annette, and yet it was not +Annette; still less did he suppose it was the spectral phantom, whom +he had met near Grindelwald. The maiden up here on the mountain was +fresh as the new fallen snow, blooming as an Alpine rose, and as +nimble-footed as a young kid. Still, she was one of Adam's race, +like Rudy. He flung his arms round the beautiful being, and gazed into +her wonderfully clear eyes,—only for a moment; but in that moment +words cannot express the effect of his gaze. Was it the spirit of life +or of death that overpowered him? Was he rising higher, or sinking +lower and lower into the deep, deadly abyss? He knew not; but the +walls of ice shone like blue-green glass; innumerable clefts yawned +around him, and the water-drops tinkled like the chiming of church +bells, and shone clearly as pearls in the light of a pale-blue +flame. The Ice Maiden, for she it was, kissed him, and her kiss sent a +chill as of ice through his whole frame. A cry of agony escaped from +him; he struggled to get free, and tottered from her. For a moment all +was dark before his eyes, but when he opened them again it was +light, and the Alpine maiden had vanished. The powers of evil had +played their game; the sheltering hut was no more to be seen. The +water trickled down the naked sides of the rocks, and snow lay thickly +all around. Rudy shivered with cold; he was wet through to the skin; +and his ring was gone,—the betrothal ring that Babette had given him. +His gun lay near him in the snow; he took it up and tried to discharge +it, but it missed fire. Heavy clouds lay on the mountain clefts, +like firm masses of snow. Upon one of these Vertigo sat, lurking after +his powerless prey, and from beneath came a sound as if a piece of +rock had fallen from the cleft, and was crushing everything that stood +in its way or opposed its course. +</P> + +<P> +But, at the miller's, Babette sat alone and wept. Rudy had not +been to see her for six days. He who was in the wrong, and who ought +to ask her forgiveness; for did she not love him with her whole heart? +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XIII. AT THE MILL +</H3> + +<P> +"What strange creatures human beings are," said the parlor-cat +to the kitchen-cat; "Babette and Rudy have fallen out with each other. +She sits and cries, and he thinks no more about her." +</P> + +<P> +"That does not please me to hear," said the kitchen-cat. +</P> + +<P> +"Nor me either," replied the parlor-cat; "but I do not take it +to heart. Babette may fall in love with the red whiskers, if she +likes, but he has not been here since he tried to get on the roof." +</P> + +<P> +The powers of evil carry on their game both around us and within +us. Rudy knew this, and thought a great deal about it. What was it +that had happened to him on the mountain? Was it really a ghostly +apparition, or a fever dream? Rudy knew nothing of fever, or any other +ailment. But, while he judged Babette, he began to examine his own +conduct. He had allowed wild thoughts to chase each other in his +heart, and a fierce tornado to break loose. Could he confess to +Babette, indeed, every thought which in the hour of temptation might +have led him to wrong doing? He had lost her ring, and that very +loss had won him back to her. Could she expect him to confess? He felt +as if his heart would break while he thought of it, and while so +many memories lingered on his mind. He saw her again, as she once +stood before him, a laughing, spirited child; many loving words, which +she had spoken to him out of the fulness of her love, came like a +ray of sunshine into his heart, and soon it was all sunshine as he +thought of Babette. But she must also confess she was wrong; that +she should do. +</P> + +<P> +He went to the mill—he went to confession. It began with a +kiss, and ended with Rudy being considered the offender. It was such a +great fault to doubt Babette's truth—it was most abominable of him. +Such mistrust, such violence, would cause them both great unhappiness. +This certainly was very true, she knew that; and therefore Babette +preached him a little sermon, with which she was herself much +amused, and during the preaching of which she looked quite lovely. She +acknowledged, however, that on one point Rudy was right. Her +godmother's nephew was a fop: she intended to burn the book which he +had given her, so that not the slightest thing should remain to remind +her of him. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, that quarrel is all over," said the kitchen-cat. "Rudy is +come back, and they are friends again, which they say is the +greatest of all pleasures." +</P> + +<P> +"I heard the rats say one night," said the kitchen-cat, "that +the greatest pleasure in the world was to eat tallow candles and to +feast on rancid bacon. Which are we to believe, the rats or the +lovers?" +</P> + +<P> +"Neither of them," said the parlor-cat; "it is always the safest +plan to believe nothing you hear." +</P> + +<P> +The greatest happiness was coming for Rudy and Babette. The +happy day, as it is called, that is, their wedding-day, was near at +hand. They were not to be married at the church at Bex, nor at the +miller's house; Babette's godmother wished the nuptials to be +solemnized at Montreux, in the pretty little church in that town. +The miller was very anxious that this arrangement should be agreed to. +He alone knew what the newly-married couple would receive from +Babette's godmother, and he knew also that it was a wedding present +well worth a concession. The day was fixed, and they were to travel as +far as Villeneuve the evening before, to be in time for the steamer +which sailed in the morning for Montreux, and the godmother's +daughters were to dress and adorn the bride. +</P> + +<P> +"Here in this house there ought to be a wedding-day kept," said +the parlor-cat, "or else I would not give a mew for the whole affair." +</P> + +<P> +"There is going to be great feasting," replied the kitchen-cat. +"Ducks and pigeons have been killed, and a whole roebuck hangs on +the wall. It makes me lick my lips when I think of it." +</P> + +<P> +"To-morrow morning they will begin the journey." +</P> + +<P> +Yes, to-morrow! And this evening, for the last time, Rudy and +Babette sat in the miller's house as an engaged couple. Outside, the +Alps glowed in the evening sunset, the evening bells chimed, and the +children of the sunbeam sang, "Whatever happens is best." +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XIV. NIGHT VISIONS +</H3> + +<P> +The sun had gone down, and the clouds lay low on the valley of the +Rhone. The wind blew from the south across the mountains; it was an +African wind, a wind which scattered the clouds for a moment, and then +suddenly fell. The broken clouds hung in fantastic forms upon the +wood-covered hills by the rapid Rhone. They assumed the shapes of +antediluvian animals, of eagles hovering in the air, of frogs +leaping over a marsh, and then sunk down upon the rushing stream and +appeared to sail upon it, although floating in the air. An uprooted +fir-tree was being carried away by the current, and marking out its +path by eddying circles on the water. Vertigo and his sisters were +dancing upon it, and raising these circles on the foaming river. The +moon lighted up the snow on the mountain-tops, shone on the dark +woods, and on the drifting clouds those fantastic forms which at night +might be taken for spirits of the powers of nature. The +mountain-dweller saw them through the panes of his little window. They +sailed in hosts before the Ice Maiden as she came out of her palace of +ice. Then she seated herself on the trunk of the fir-tree as on a +broken skiff, and the water from the glaciers carried her down the +river to the open lake. +</P> + +<P> +"The wedding guests are coming," sounded from air and sea. These +were the sights and sounds without; within there were visions, for +Babette had a wonderful dream. She dreamt that she had been married to +Rudy for many years, and that, one day when he was out chamois +hunting, and she alone in their dwelling at home, the young Englishman +with the golden whiskers sat with her. His eyes were quite eloquent, +and his words possessed a magic power; he offered her his hand, and +she was obliged to follow him. They went out of the house and +stepped downwards, always downwards, and it seemed to Babette as if +she had a weight on her heart which continually grew heavier. She felt +she was committing a sin against Rudy, a sin against God. Suddenly she +found herself forsaken, her clothes torn by the thorns, and her hair +gray; she looked upwards in her agony, and there, on the edge of the +rock, she espied Rudy. She stretched out her arms to him, but she +did not venture to call him or to pray; and had she called him, it +would have been useless, for it was not Rudy, only his hunting coat +and hat hanging on an alpenstock, as the hunters sometimes arrange +them to deceive the chamois. "Oh!" she exclaimed in her agony; "oh, +that I had died on the happiest day of my life, my wedding-day. O my +God, it would have been a mercy and a blessing had Rudy travelled +far away from me, and I had never known him. None know what will +happen in the future." And then, in ungodly despair, she cast +herself down into the deep rocky gulf. The spell was broken; a cry +of terror escaped her, and she awoke. +</P> + +<P> +The dream was over; it had vanished. But she knew she had dreamt +something frightful about the young Englishman, yet months had +passed since she had seen him or even thought of him. Was he still +at Montreux, and should she meet him there on her wedding day? A +slight shadow passed over her pretty mouth as she thought of this, and +she knit her brows; but the smile soon returned to her lip, and joy +sparkled in her eyes, for this was the morning of the day on which she +and Rudy were to be married, and the sun was shining brightly. Rudy +was already in the parlor when she entered it, and they very soon +started for Villeneuve. Both of them were overflowing with +happiness, and the miller was in the best of tempers, laughing and +merry; he was a good, honest soul, and a kind father. +</P> + +<P> +"Now we are masters of the house," said the parlor-cat. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XV. THE CONCLUSION +</H3> + +<P> +It was early in the afternoon, and just at dinner-time, when the +three joyous travellers reached Villeneuve. After dinner, the miller +placed himself in the arm-chair, smoked his pipe, and had a little +nap. The bridal pair went arm-in-arm out through the town and along +the high road, at the foot of the wood-covered rocks, and by the deep, +blue lake. +</P> + +<P> +The gray walls, and the heavy clumsy-looking towers of the +gloomy castle of Chillon, were reflected in the clear flood. The +little island, on which grew the three acacias, lay at a short +distance, looking like a bouquet rising from the lake. "How delightful +it must be to live there," said Babette, who again felt the greatest +wish to visit the island; and an opportunity offered to gratify her +wish at once, for on the shore lay a boat, and the rope by which it +was moored could be very easily loosened. They saw no one near, so +they took possession of it without asking permission of any one, and +Rudy could row very well. The oars divided the pliant water like the +fins of a fish—that water which, with all its yielding softness, is +so strong to bear and to carry, so mild and smiling when at rest, +and yet so terrible in its destroying power. A white streak of foam +followed in the wake of the boat, which, in a few minutes, carried +them both to the little island, where they went on shore; but there +was only just room enough for two to dance. Rudy swung Babette round +two or three times; and then, hand-in-hand, they sat down on a +little bench under the drooping acacia-tree, and looked into each +other's eyes, while everything around them glowed in the rays of the +setting sun. +</P> + +<P> +The fir-tree forests on the mountains were covered with a purple +hue like the heather bloom; and where the woods terminated, and the +rocks became prominent, they looked almost transparent in the rich +crimson glow of the evening sky. The surface of the lake was like a +bed of pink rose-leaves. +</P> + +<P> +As the evening advanced, the shadows fell upon the snow-capped +mountains of Savoy painting them in colors of deep blue, while their +topmost peaks glowed like red lava; and for a moment this light was +reflected on the cultivated parts of the mountains, making them appear +as if newly risen from the lap of earth, and giving to the +snow-crested peak of the Dent du Midi the appearance of the full +moon as it rises above the horizon. +</P> + +<P> +Rudy and Babette felt that they had never seen the Alpine glow +in such perfection before. "How very beautiful it is, and what +happiness to be here!" exclaimed Babette. +</P> + +<P> +"Earth has nothing more to bestow upon me," said Rudy; "an evening +like this is worth a whole life. Often have I realized my good +fortune, but never more than in this moment. I feel that if my +existence were to end now, I should still have lived a happy life. +What a glorious world this is; one day ends, and another begins even +more beautiful than the last. How infinitely good God is, Babette!" +</P> + +<P> +"I have such complete happiness in my heart," said she. +</P> + +<P> +"Earth has no more to bestow," answered Rudy. And then came the +sound of the evening bells, borne upon the breeze over the mountains +of Switzerland and Savoy, while still, in the golden splendor of the +west, stood the dark blue mountains of Jura. +</P> + +<P> +"God grant you all that is brightest and best!" exclaimed Babette. +</P> + +<P> +"He will," said Rudy. "He will to-morrow. To-morrow you will be +wholly mine, my own sweet wife." +</P> + +<P> +"The boat!" cried Babette, suddenly. The boat in which they were +to return had broken loose, and was floating away from the island. +</P> + +<P> +"I will fetch it back," said Rudy; throwing off his coat and +boots, he sprang into the lake, and swam with strong efforts towards +it. +</P> + +<P> +The dark-blue water, from the glaciers of the mountains, was icy +cold and very deep. Rudy gave but one glance into the water beneath; +but in that one glance he saw a gold ring rolling, glittering, and +sparkling before him. His engaged ring came into his mind; but this +was larger, and spread into a glittering circle, in which appeared a +clear glacier. Deep chasms yawned around it, the water-drops glittered +as if lighted with blue flame, and tinkled like the chiming of +church bells. In one moment he saw what would require many words to +describe. Young hunters, and young maidens—men and women who had sunk +in the deep chasms of the glaciers—stood before him here in +lifelike forms, with eyes open and smiles on their lips; and far +beneath them could be heard the chiming of the church bells of +buried villages, where the villagers knelt beneath the vaulted +arches of churches in which ice-blocks formed the organ pipes, and the +mountain stream the music. +</P> + +<P> +On the clear, transparent ground sat the Ice Maiden. She raised +herself towards Rudy, and kissed his feet; and instantly a cold, +deathly chill, like an electric shock, passed through his limbs. Ice +or fire! It was impossible to tell, the shock was so instantaneous. +</P> + +<P> +"Mine! mine!" sounded around him, and within him; "I kissed thee +when thou wert a little child. I once kissed thee on the mouth, and +now I have kissed thee from heel to toe; thou art wholly mine." And +then he disappeared in the clear, blue water. +</P> + +<P> +All was still. The church bells were silent; the last tone floated +away with the last red glimmer on the evening clouds. "Thou art mine," +sounded from the depths below: but from the heights above, from the +eternal world, also sounded the words, "Thou art mine!" Happy was he +thus to pass from life to life, from earth to heaven. A chord was +loosened, and tones of sorrow burst forth. The icy kiss of death had +overcome the perishable body; it was but the prelude before life's +real drama could begin, the discord which was quickly lost in harmony. +Do you think this a sad story? Poor Babette! for her it was +unspeakable anguish. +</P> + +<P> +The boat drifted farther and farther away. No one on the +opposite shore knew that the betrothed pair had gone over to the +little island. The clouds sunk as the evening drew on, and it became +dark. Alone, in despair, she waited and trembled. The weather became +fearful; flash after flash lighted up the mountains of Jura, Savoy, +and Switzerland, while peals of thunder, that lasted for many minutes, +rolled over her head. The lightning was so vivid that every single +vine stem could be seen for a moment as distinctly as in the +sunlight at noon-day; and then all was veiled in darkness. It +flashed across the lake in winding, zigzag lines, lighting it up on +all sides; while the echoes of the thunder grew louder and stronger. +On land, the boats were all carefully drawn up on the beach, every +living thing sought shelter, and at length the rain poured down in +torrents. +</P> + +<P> +"Where can Rudy and Babette be in this awful weather?" said the +miller. +</P> + +<P> +Poor Babette sat with her hands clasped, and her head bowed +down, dumb with grief; she had ceased to weep and cry for help. +</P> + +<P> +"In the deep water!" she said to herself; "far down he lies, as if +beneath a glacier." +</P> + +<P> +Deep in her heart rested the memory of what Rudy had told her of +the death of his mother, and of his own recovery, even after he had +been taken up as dead from the cleft in the glacier. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah," she thought, "the Ice Maiden has him at last." +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly there came a flash of lightning, as dazzling as the +rays of the sun on the white snow. The lake rose for a moment like a +shining glacier; and before Babette stood the pallid, glittering, +majestic form of the Ice Maiden, and at her feet lay Rudy's corpse. +</P> + +<P> +"Mine!" she cried, and again all was darkness around the heaving +water. +</P> + +<P> +"How cruel," murmured Babette; "why should he die just as the +day of happiness drew near? Merciful God, enlighten my +understanding, shed light upon my heart; for I cannot comprehend the +arrangements of Thy providence, even while I bow to the decree of +Thy almighty wisdom and power." And God did enlighten her heart. +</P> + +<P> +A sudden flash of thought, like a ray of mercy, recalled her dream +of the preceding night; all was vividly represented before her. She +remembered the words and wishes she had then expressed, that what +was best for her and for Rudy she might piously submit to. +</P> + +<P> +"Woe is me," she said; "was the germ of sin really in my heart? +was my dream a glimpse into the course of my future life, whose thread +must be violently broken to rescue me from sin? Oh, miserable creature +that I am!" +</P> + +<P> +Thus she sat lamenting in the dark night, while through the deep +stillness the last words of Rudy seemed to ring in her ears. "This +earth has nothing more to bestow." Words, uttered in the fulness of +joy, were again heard amid the depths of sorrow. +</P> + +<P> +Years have passed since this sad event happened. The shores of the +peaceful lake still smile in beauty. The vines are full of luscious +grapes. Steamboats, with waving flags, pass swiftly by. +Pleasure-boats, with their swelling sails, skim lightly over the +watery mirror, like white butterflies. The railway is opened beyond +Chillon, and goes far into the deep valley of the Rhone. At every +station strangers alight with red-bound guide-books in their hands, in +which they read of every place worth seeing. They visit Chillon, and +observe on the lake the little island with the three acacias, and then +read in their guide-book the story of the bridal pair who, in the year +1856, rowed over to it. They read that the two were missing till the +next morning, when some people on the shore heard the despairing cries +of the bride, and went to her assistance, and by her were told of +the bridegroom's fate. +</P> + +<P> +But the guide-book does not speak of Babette's quiet life +afterwards with her father, not at the mill—strangers dwell there +now—but in a pretty house in a row near the station. On many an +evening she sits at her window, and looks out over the +chestnut-trees to the snow-capped mountains on which Rudy once roamed. +She looks at the Alpine glow in the evening sky, which is caused by +the children of the sun retiring to rest on the mountain-tops; and +again they breathe their song of the traveller whom the whirlwind +could deprive of his cloak but not of his life. There is a rosy tint +on the mountain snow, and there are rosy gleams in each heart in which +dwells the thought, "God permits nothing to happen, which is not the +best for us." But this is not often revealed to all, as it was +revealed to Babette in her wonderful dream. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="jewish_m"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE JEWISH MAIDEN +</H3> + +<P> +In a charity school, among the children, sat a little Jewish girl. +She was a good, intelligent child, and very quick at her lessons; +but the Scripture-lesson class she was not allowed to join, for this +was a Christian school. During the hour of this lesson, the Jewish +girl was allowed to learn her geography, or to work her sum for the +next day; and when her geography lesson was perfect, the book remained +open before her, but she read not another word, for she sat silently +listening to the words of the Christian teacher. He soon became +aware that the little one was paying more attention to what he said +than most of the other children. "Read your book, Sarah," he said to +her gently. +</P> + +<P> +But again and again he saw her dark, beaming eyes fixed upon +him; and once, when he asked her a question, she could answer him even +better than the other children. She had not only heard, but understood +his words, and pondered them in her heart. Her father, a poor but +honest man, had placed his daughter at the school on the conditions +that she should not be instructed in the Christian faith. But it might +have caused confusion, or raised discontent in the minds of the +other children if she had been sent out of the room, so she +remained; and now it was evident this could not go on. The teacher +went to her father, and advised him to remove his daughter from the +school, or to allow her to become a Christian. "I cannot any longer be +an idle spectator of those beaming eyes, which express such a deep and +earnest longing for the words of the gospel," said he. +</P> + +<P> +Then the father burst into tears. "I know very little of the law +of my fathers," said he; "but Sarah's mother was firm in her belief as +a daughter of Israel, and I vowed to her on her deathbed that our +child should never be baptized. I must keep my vow: it is to me even +as a covenant with God Himself." And so the little Jewish girl left +the Christian school. +</P> + +<P> +Years rolled by. In one of the smallest provincial towns, in a +humble household, lived a poor maiden of the Jewish faith, as a +servant. Her hair was black as ebony, her eye dark as night, yet +full of light and brilliancy so peculiar to the daughters of the east. +It was Sarah. The expression in the face of the grown-up maiden was +still the same as when, a child, she sat on the schoolroom form +listening with thoughtful eyes to the words of the Christian +teacher. Every Sunday there sounded forth from a church close by the +tones of an organ and the singing of the congregation. The Jewish girl +heard them in the house where, industrious and faithful in all things, +she performed her household duties. "Thou shalt keep the Sabbath +holy," said the voice of the law in her heart; but her Sabbath was a +working day among the Christians, which was a great trouble to her. +And then as the thought arose in her mind, "Does God reckon by days +and hours?" her conscience felt satisfied on this question, and she +found it a comfort to her, that on the Christian Sabbath she could +have an hour for her own prayers undisturbed. The music and singing of +the congregation sounded in her ears while at work in her kitchen, +till the place itself became sacred to her. Then she would read in the +Old Testament, that treasure and comfort to her people, and it was +indeed the only Scriptures she could read. Faithfully in her inmost +thoughts had she kept the words of her father to her teacher when +she left the school, and the vow he had made to her dying mother +that she should never receive Christian baptism. The New Testament +must remain to her a sealed book, and yet she knew a great deal of its +teaching, and the sound of the gospel truths still lingered among +the recollections of her childhood. +</P> + +<P> +One evening she was sitting in a corner of the dining-room, +while her master read aloud. It was not the gospel he read, but an old +story-book; therefore she might stay and listen to him. The story +related that a Hungarian knight, who had been taken prisoner by a +Turkish pasha, was most cruelly treated by him. He caused him to be +yoked with his oxen to the plough, and driven with blows from the whip +till the blood flowed, and he almost sunk with exhaustion and pain. +The faithful wife of the knight at home gave up all her jewels, +mortgaged her castle and land, and his friends raised large sums to +make up the ransom demanded for his release, which was most enormously +high. It was collected at last, and the knight released from slavery +and misery. Sick and exhausted, he reached home. +</P> + +<P> +Ere long came another summons to a struggle with the foes of +Christianity. The still living knight heard the sound; he could endure +no more, he had neither peace nor rest. He caused himself to be lifted +on his war-horse; the color came into his cheeks, and his strength +returned to him again as he went forth to battle and to victory. The +very same pasha who had yoked him to the plough, became his +prisoner, and was dragged to a dungeon in the castle. But an hour +had scarcely passed, when the knight stood before the captive pasha, +and inquired, "What do you suppose awaiteth thee?" +</P> + +<P> +"I know," replied the pasha; "retribution." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, the retribution of a Christian," replied the knight. "The +teaching of Christ, the Teacher, commands us to forgive our enemies, +to love our neighbors; for God is love. Depart in peace: return to thy +home. I give thee back to thy loved ones. But in future be mild and +humane to all who are in trouble." +</P> + +<P> +Then the prisoner burst into tears, and exclaimed, "Oh how could I +imagine such mercy and forgiveness! I expected pain and torment. It +seemed to me so sure that I took poison, which I secretly carried +about me; and in a few hours its effects will destroy me. I must +die! Nothing can save me! But before I die, explain to me the teaching +which is so full of love and mercy, so great and God-like. Oh, that +I may hear his teaching, and die a Christian!" And his prayer was +granted. +</P> + +<P> +This was the legend which the master read out of the old +story-book. Every one in the house who was present listened, and +shared the pleasure; but Sarah, the Jewish girl, sitting so still in a +corner, felt her heart burn with excitement. Great tears came into her +shining dark eyes; and with the same gentle piety with which she had +once listened to the gospel while sitting on the form at school, she +felt its grandeur now, and the tears rolled down her cheeks. Then +the last words of her dying mother rose before her, "Let not my +child become a Christian;" and with them sounded in her heart the +words of the law, "Honor thy father and thy mother." +</P> + +<P> +"I am not admitted among the Christians," she said; "they mock +me as a Jewish girl; the neighbors' boys did so last Sunday when I +stood looking in through the open church door at the candles burning +on the altar, and listening to the singing. Ever since I sat on the +school-bench I have felt the power of Christianity; a power which, +like a sunbeam, streams into my heart, however closely I may close +my eyes against it. But I will not grieve thee, my mother, in thy +grave. I will not be unfaithful to my father's vow. I will not read +the Bible of the Christian. I have the God of my fathers, and in Him I +will trust." +</P> + +<P> +And again years passed by. Sarah's master died, and his widow +found herself in such reduced circumstances that she wished to dismiss +her servant maid; but Sarah refused to leave the house, and she became +a true support in time of trouble, and kept the household together +by working till late at night, with her busy hands, to earn their +daily bread. Not a relative came forward to assist them, and the widow +was confined to a sick bed for months and grew weaker from day to day. +Sarah worked hard, but contrived to spare time to amuse her and +watch by the sick bed. She was gentle and pious, an angel of +blessing in that house of poverty. +</P> + +<P> +"My Bible lies on the table yonder," said the sick woman one day +to Sarah. "Read me something from it; the night appears so long, and +my spirit thirsts to hear the word of God." +</P> + +<P> +And Sarah bowed her head. She took the book, and folded her hand +over the Bible of the Christians, and at last opened it, and read to +the sick woman. Tears stood in her eyes as she read, and they shone +with brightness, for in her heart it was light. +</P> + +<P> +"Mother," she murmured, "thy child may not receive Christian +baptism, nor be admitted into the congregation of Christian people. +Thou hast so willed it, and I will respect thy command. We are +therefore still united here on earth; but in the next world there will +be a higher union, even with God Himself, who leads and guides His +people till death. He came down from heaven to earth to suffer for us, +that we should bring forth the fruits of repentance. I understand it +now. I know not how I learnt this truth, unless it is through the name +of Christ." Yet she trembled as she pronounced the holy name. She +struggled against these convictions of the truth of Christianity for +some days, till one evening while watching her mistress she was +suddenly taken very ill; her limbs tottered under her, and she sank +fainting by the bedside of the sick woman. +</P> + +<P> +"Poor Sarah," said the neighbors; "she is overcome with hard +work and night watching." And then they carried her to the hospital +for the sick poor. There she died; and they bore her to her +resting-place in the earth, but not to the churchyard of the +Christians. There was no place for the Jewish girl; but they dug a +grave for her outside the wall. And God's sun, which shines upon the +graves of the churchyard of the Christians, also throws its beams on +the grave of the Jewish maiden beyond the wall. And when the psalms of +the Christians sound across the churchyard, their echo reaches her +lonely resting-place; and she who sleeps there will be counted +worthy at the resurrection, through the name of Christ the Lord, who +said to His disciples, "John baptized you with water, but I will +baptize you with the Holy Ghost." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="jumper"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE JUMPER +</H3> + +<P> +The Flea, the Grasshopper, and the Skipjack once wanted to see +which of them could jump highest; and they invited the whole world, +and whoever else would come, to see the grand sight. And there the +three famous jumpers were met together in the room. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I'll give my daughter to him who jumps highest," said the +King, "for it would be mean to let these people jump for nothing." +</P> + +<P> +The Flea stepped out first. He had very pretty manners, and +bowed in all directions, for he had young ladies' blood in his +veins, and was accustomed to consort only with human beings; and +that was of great consequence. +</P> + +<P> +Then came the Grasshopper: he was certainly much heavier, but he +had a good figure, and wore the green uniform that was born with +him. This person, moreover, maintained that he belonged to a very +old family in the land of Egypt, and that he was highly esteemed +there. He had just come from the field, he said, and had been put into +a card house three stories high, and all made of picture cards with +the figures turned inwards. There were doors and windows in the house, +cut in the body of the Queen of Hearts. +</P> + +<P> +"I sing so," he said, "that sixteen native crickets who have +chirped from their youth up, and have never yet had a card house of +their own, would become thinner than they are with envy if they were +to hear me." +</P> + +<P> +Both of them, the Flea and the Grasshopper, took care to +announce who they were, and that they considered themselves entitled +to marry a Princess. +</P> + +<P> +The Skipjack said nothing, but it was said of him that he +thought all the more; and directly the Yard Dog had smelt at him he +was ready to assert that the Skipjack was of good family, and formed +from the breastbone of an undoubted goose. The old councillor, who had +received three medals for holding his tongue, declared that the +Skipjack possessed the gift of prophecy; one could tell by his bones +whether there would be a severe winter or a mild one; and that's +more than one can always tell from the breastbone of the man who +writes the almanac. +</P> + +<P> +"I shall not say anything more," said the old King. "I only go +on quietly, and always think the best." +</P> + +<P> +Now they were to take their jump. The Flea sprang so high that +no one could see him; and then they asserted that he had not jumped at +all. That was very mean. The Grasshopper only sprang half as high, but +he sprang straight into the King's face, and the King declared that +was horribly rude. The Skipjack stood a long time considering; at last +people thought that he could not jump at all. +</P> + +<P> +"I only hope he's not become unwell," said the Yard Dog, and +then he smelt at him again. +</P> + +<P> +"Tap!" he sprang with a little crooked jump just into the lap of +the Princess, who sat on a low golden stool. +</P> + +<P> +Then the King said, "The highest leap was taken by him who +jumped up to my daughter; for therein lies the point; but it +requires head to achieve that, and the Skipjack has shown that he +has a head." +</P> + +<P> +And so he had the Princess. +</P> + +<P> +"I jumped highest, after all," said the Flea. "But it's all the +same. Let her have the goose-bone with its lump of wax and bit of +stick. I jumped to the highest; but in this world a body is required +if one wishes to be seen." +</P> + +<P> +And the Flea went into foreign military service, where it is +said he was killed. +</P> + +<P> +The Grasshopper seated himself out in the ditch, and thought and +considered how things happened in the world. And he too said, "Body is +required! body is required!" And then he sang his own melancholy song, +and from that we have gathered this story, which they say is not true, +though it's in print. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="last_dre"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE LAST DREAM OF THE OLD OAK +</H3> + +<P> +In the forest, high up on the steep shore, and not far from the +open seacoast, stood a very old oak-tree. It was just three hundred +and sixty-five years old, but that long time was to the tree as the +same number of days might be to us; we wake by day and sleep by night, +and then we have our dreams. It is different with the tree; it is +obliged to keep awake through three seasons of the year, and does +not get any sleep till winter comes. Winter is its time for rest; +its night after the long day of spring, summer, and autumn. On many +a warm summer, the Ephemera, the flies that exist for only a day, +had fluttered about the old oak, enjoyed life and felt happy and if, +for a moment, one of the tiny creatures rested on one of his large +fresh leaves, the tree would always say, "Poor little creature! your +whole life consists only of a single day. How very short. It must be +quite melancholy." +</P> + +<P> +"Melancholy! what do you mean?" the little creature would always +reply. "Everything around me is so wonderfully bright and warm, and +beautiful, that it makes me joyous." +</P> + +<P> +"But only for one day, and then it is all over." +</P> + +<P> +"Over!" repeated the fly; "what is the meaning of all over? Are +you all over too?" +</P> + +<P> +"No; I shall very likely live for thousands of your days, and my +day is whole seasons long; indeed it is so long that you could never +reckon it out." +</P> + +<P> +"No? then I don't understand you. You may have thousands of my +days, but I have thousands of moments in which I can be merry and +happy. Does all the beauty of the world cease when you die?" +</P> + +<P> +"No," replied the tree; "it will certainly last much longer,—infinitely +longer than I can even think of." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, then," said the little fly, "we have the same time to live; +only we reckon differently." And the little creature danced and floated +in the air, rejoicing in her delicate wings of gauze and velvet, +rejoicing in the balmy breezes, laden with the fragrance of +clover-fields and wild roses, elder-blossoms and honeysuckle, from the +garden hedges, wild thyme, primroses, and mint, and the scent of all +these was so strong that the perfume almost intoxicated the little fly. +The long and beautiful day had been so full of joy and sweet delights, +that when the sun sank low it felt tired of all its happiness and +enjoyment. Its wings could sustain it no longer, and gently and slowly +it glided down upon the soft waving blades of grass, nodded its little +head as well as it could nod, and slept peacefully and sweetly. The +fly was dead. +</P> + +<P> +"Poor little Ephemera!" said the oak; "what a terribly short +life!" And so, on every summer day the dance was repeated, the same +questions asked, and the same answers given. The same thing was +continued through many generations of Ephemera; all of them felt +equally merry and equally happy. +</P> + +<P> +The oak remained awake through the morning of spring, the noon +of summer, and the evening of autumn; its time of rest, its night drew +nigh—winter was coming. Already the storms were singing, "Good-night, +good-night." Here fell a leaf and there fell a leaf. "We will rock you +and lull you. Go to sleep, go to sleep. We will sing you to sleep, and +shake you to sleep, and it will do your old twigs good; they will even +crackle with pleasure. Sleep sweetly, sleep sweetly, it is your +three-hundred-and-sixty-fifth night. Correctly speaking, you are but a +youngster in the world. Sleep sweetly, the clouds will drop snow +upon you, which will be quite a cover-lid, warm and sheltering to your +feet. Sweet sleep to you, and pleasant dreams." And there stood the +oak, stripped of all its leaves, left to rest during the whole of a +long winter, and to dream many dreams of events that had happened in +its life, as in the dreams of men. The great tree had once been small; +indeed, in its cradle it had been an acorn. According to human +computation, it was now in the fourth century of its existence. It was +the largest and best tree in the forest. Its summit towered above +all the other trees, and could be seen far out at sea, so that it +served as a landmark to the sailors. It had no idea how many eyes +looked eagerly for it. In its topmost branches the wood-pigeon built +her nest, and the cuckoo carried out his usual vocal performances, and +his well-known notes echoed amid the boughs; and in autumn, when the +leaves looked like beaten copper plates, the birds of passage would +come and rest upon the branches before taking their flight across +the sea. But now it was winter, the tree stood leafless, so that every +one could see how crooked and bent were the branches that sprang forth +from the trunk. Crows and rooks came by turns and sat on them, and +talked of the hard times which were beginning, and how difficult it +was in winter to obtain food. +</P> + +<P> +It was just about holy Christmas time that the tree dreamed a +dream. The tree had, doubtless, a kind of feeling that the festive +time had arrived, and in his dream fancied he heard the bells +ringing from all the churches round, and yet it seemed to him to be +a beautiful summer's day, mild and warm. His mighty summits was +crowned with spreading fresh green foliage; the sunbeams played +among the leaves and branches, and the air was full of fragrance +from herb and blossom; painted butterflies chased each other; the +summer flies danced around him, as if the world had been created +merely for them to dance and be merry in. All that had happened to the +tree during every year of his life seemed to pass before him, as in +a festive procession. He saw the knights of olden times and noble +ladies ride by through the wood on their gallant steeds, with plumes +waving in their hats, and falcons on their wrists. The hunting horn +sounded, and the dogs barked. He saw hostile warriors, in colored +dresses and glittering armor, with spear and halberd, pitching their +tents, and anon striking them. The watchfires again blazed, and men +sang and slept under the hospitable shelter of the tree. He saw lovers +meet in quiet happiness near him in the moonshine, and carve the +initials of their names in the grayish-green bark on his trunk. +Once, but long years had intervened since then, guitars and Eolian +harps had been hung on his boughs by merry travellers; now they seemed +to hang there again, and he could hear their marvellous tones. The +wood-pigeons cooed as if to explain the feelings of the tree, and +the cuckoo called out to tell him how many summer days he had yet to +live. Then it seemed as if new life was thrilling through every +fibre of root and stem and leaf, rising even to the highest +branches. The tree felt itself stretching and spreading out, while +through the root beneath the earth ran the warm vigor of life. As he +grew higher and still higher, with increased strength, his topmost +boughs became broader and fuller; and in proportion to his growth, +so was his self-satisfaction increased, and with it arose a joyous +longing to grow higher and higher, to reach even to the warm, bright +sun itself. Already had his topmost branches pierced the clouds, which +floated beneath them like troops of birds of passage, or large white +swans; every leaf seemed gifted with sight, as if it possessed eyes to +see. The stars became visible in broad daylight, large and +sparkling, like clear and gentle eyes. They recalled to the memory the +well-known look in the eyes of a child, or in the eyes of lovers who +had once met beneath the branches of the old oak. These were wonderful +and happy moments for the old tree, full of peace and joy; and yet, +amidst all this happiness, the tree felt a yearning, longing desire +that all the other trees, bushes, herbs, and flowers beneath him, +might be able also to rise higher, as he had done, and to see all this +splendor, and experience the same happiness. The grand, majestic oak +could not be quite happy in the midst of his enjoyment, while all +the rest, both great and small, were not with him. And this feeling of +yearning trembled through every branch, through every leaf, as +warmly and fervently as if they had been the fibres of a human +heart. The summit of the tree waved to and fro, and bent downwards +as if in his silent longing he sought for something. Then there came +to him the fragrance of thyme, followed by the more powerful scent +of honeysuckle and violets; and he fancied he heard the note of the +cuckoo. At length his longing was satisfied. Up through the clouds +came the green summits of the forest trees, and beneath him, the oak +saw them rising, and growing higher and higher. Bush and herb shot +upward, and some even tore themselves up by the roots to rise more +quickly. The birch-tree was the quickest of all. Like a lightning +flash the slender stem shot upwards in a zigzag line, the branches +spreading around it like green gauze and banners. Every native of +the wood, even to the brown and feathery rushes, grew with the rest, +while the birds ascended with the melody of song. On a blade of grass, +that fluttered in the air like a long, green ribbon, sat a +grasshopper, cleaning his wings with his legs. May beetles hummed, the +bees murmured, the birds sang, each in his own way; the air was filled +with the sounds of song and gladness. +</P> + +<P> +"But where is the little blue flower that grows by the water?" +asked the oak, "and the purple bell-flower, and the daisy?" You see +the oak wanted to have them all with him. +</P> + +<P> +"Here we are, we are here," sounded in voice and song. +</P> + +<P> +"But the beautiful thyme of last summer, where is that? and the +lilies-of-the-valley, which last year covered the earth with their +bloom? and the wild apple-tree with its lovely blossoms, and all the +glory of the wood, which has flourished year after year? even what may +have but now sprouted forth could be with us here." +</P> + +<P> +"We are here, we are here," sounded voices higher in the air, as +if they had flown there beforehand. +</P> + +<P> +"Why this is beautiful, too beautiful to be believed," said the +oak in a joyful tone. "I have them all here, both great and small; not +one has been forgotten. Can such happiness be imagined?" It seemed +almost impossible. +</P> + +<P> +"In heaven with the Eternal God, it can be imagined, and it is +possible," sounded the reply through the air. +</P> + +<P> +And the old tree, as it still grew upwards and onwards, felt +that his roots were loosening themselves from the earth. +</P> + +<P> +"It is right so, it is best," said the tree, "no fetters hold me +now. I can fly up to the very highest point in light and glory. And +all I love are with me, both small and great. All—all are here." +</P> + +<P> +Such was the dream of the old oak: and while he dreamed, a +mighty storm came rushing over land and sea, at the holy Christmas +time. The sea rolled in great billows towards the shore. There was a +cracking and crushing heard in the tree. The root was torn from the +ground just at the moment when in his dream he fancied it was being +loosened from the earth. He fell—his three hundred and sixty-five +years were passed as the single day of the Ephemera. On the morning of +Christmas-day, when the sun rose, the storm had ceased. From all the +churches sounded the festive bells, and from every hearth, even of the +smallest hut, rose the smoke into the blue sky, like the smoke from +the festive thank-offerings on the Druids' altars. The sea gradually +became calm, and on board a great ship that had withstood the +tempest during the night, all the flags were displayed, as a token +of joy and festivity. "The tree is down! The old oak,—our landmark on +the coast!" exclaimed the sailors. "It must have fallen in the storm +of last night. Who can replace it? Alas! no one." This was a funeral +oration over the old tree; short, but well-meant. There it lay +stretched on the snow-covered shore, and over it sounded the notes +of a song from the ship—a song of Christmas joy, and of the +redemption of the soul of man, and of eternal life through Christ's +atoning blood. +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Sing aloud on the happy morn,<BR> + All is fulfilled, for Christ is born;<BR> + With songs of joy let us loudly sing,<BR> + 'Hallelujahs to Christ our King.'"<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Thus sounded the old Christmas carol, and every one on board the +ship felt his thoughts elevated, through the song and the prayer, even +as the old tree had felt lifted up in its last, its beautiful dream on +that Christmas morn. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="last_pea"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE LAST PEARL +</H3> + +<P> +We are in a rich, happy house, where the master, the servants, the +friends of the family are full of joy and felicity. For on this day +a son and heir has been born, and mother and child are doing well. The +lamp in the bed-chamber had been partly shaded, and the windows were +covered with heavy curtains of some costly silken material. The carpet +was thick and soft, like a covering of moss. Everything invited to +slumber, everything had a charming look of repose; and so the nurse +had discovered, for she slept; and well she might sleep, while +everything around her told of happiness and blessing. The guardian +angel of the house leaned against the head of the bed; while over +the child was spread, as it were, a net of shining stars, and each +star was a pearl of happiness. All the good stars of life had +brought their gifts to the newly born; here sparkled health, wealth, +fortune, and love; in short, there seemed to be everything for which +man could wish on earth. +</P> + +<P> +"Everything has been bestowed here," said the guardian angel. +</P> + +<P> +"No, not everything," said a voice near him—the voice of the good +angel of the child; "one fairy has not yet brought her gift, but she +will, even if years should elapse, she will bring her gift; it is +the last pearl that is wanting." +</P> + +<P> +"Wanting!" cried the guardian angel; "nothing must be wanting +here; and if it is so, let us fetch it; let us seek the powerful +fairy; let us go to her." +</P> + +<P> +"She will come, she will come some day unsought!" +</P> + +<P> +"Her pearl must not be missing; it must be there, that the +crown, when worn, may be complete. Where is she to be found? Where +does she dwell?" said the guardian angel. "Tell me, and I will procure +the pearl." +</P> + +<P> +"Will you do that?" replied the good angel of the child. "Then I +will lead you to her directly, wherever she may be. She has no abiding +place; she rules in the palace of the emperor, sometimes she enters +the peasant's humble cot; she passes no one without leaving a trace of +her presence. She brings her gift with her, whether it is a world or a +bauble. To this child she must come. You think that to wait for this +time would be long and useless. Well, then, let us go for this +pearl—the only one lacking amidst all this wealth." +</P> + +<P> +Then hand-in-hand they floated away to the spot where the fairy +was now lingering. It was in a large house with dark windows and empty +rooms, in which a peculiar stillness reigned. A whole row of windows +stood open, so that the rude wind could enter at its pleasure, and the +long white curtains waved to and fro in the current of air. In the +centre of one of the rooms stood an open coffin, in which lay the body +of a woman, still in the bloom of youth and very beautiful. Fresh +roses were scattered over her. The delicate folded hands and the noble +face glorified in death by the solemn, earnest look, which spoke of an +entrance into a better world, were alone visible. Around the coffin +stood the husband and children, a whole troop, the youngest in the +father's arms. They were come to take a last farewell look of their +mother. The husband kissed her hand, which now lay like a withered +leaf, but which a short time before had been diligently employed in +deeds of love for them all. Tears of sorrow rolled down their +cheeks, and fell in heavy drops on the floor, but not a word was +spoken. The silence which reigned here expressed a world of grief. +With silent steps, still sobbing, they left the room. A burning +light remained in the room, and a long, red wick rose far above the +flame, which fluttered in the draught of air. Strange men came in +and placed the lid of the coffin over the dead, and drove the nails +firmly in; while the blows of the hammer resounded through the +house, and echoed in the hearts that were bleeding. +</P> + +<P> +"Whither art thou leading me?" asked the guardian angel. "Here +dwells no fairy whose pearl could be counted amongst the best gifts of +life." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, she is here; here in this sacred hour," replied the angel, +pointing to a corner of the room; and there,—where in her +life-time, the mother had taken her seat amidst flowers and +pictures: in that spot, where she, like the blessed fairy of the +house, had welcomed husband, children, and friends, and, like a +sunbeam, had spread joy and cheerfulness around her, the centre and +heart of them all,—there, in that very spot, sat a strange woman, +clothed in long, flowing garments, and occupying the place of the dead +wife and mother. It was the fairy, and her name was "Sorrow." A hot +tear rolled into her lap, and formed itself into a pearl, glowing with +all the colors of the rainbow. The angel seized it: the pearl +glittered like a star with seven-fold radiance. The pearl of Sorrow, +the last, which must not be wanting, increases the lustre, and +explains the meaning of all the other pearls. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you see the shimmer of the rainbow, which unites earth to +heaven?" So has there been a bridge built between this world and the +next. Through the night of the grave we gaze upwards beyond the +stars to the end of all things. Then we glance at the pearl of Sorrow, +in which are concealed the wings which shall carry us away to +eternal happiness. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="li_claus"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +LITTLE CLAUS AND BIG CLAUS +</H3> + +<P> +In a village there once lived two men who had the same name. +They were both called Claus. One of them had four horses, but the +other had only one; so to distinguish them, people called the owner of +the four horses, "Great Claus," and he who had only one, "Little +Claus." Now we shall hear what happened to them, for this is a true +story. +</P> + +<P> +Through the whole week, Little Claus was obliged to plough for +Great Claus, and lend him his one horse; and once a week, on a Sunday, +Great Claus lent him all his four horses. Then how Little Claus +would smack his whip over all five horses, they were as good as his +own on that one day. The sun shone brightly, and the church bells were +ringing merrily as the people passed by, dressed in their best +clothes, with their prayer-books under their arms. They were going +to hear the clergyman preach. They looked at Little Claus ploughing +with his five horses, and he was so proud that he smacked his whip, +and said, "Gee-up, my five horses." +</P> + +<P> +"You must not say that," said Big Claus; "for only one of them +belongs to you." But Little Claus soon forgot what he ought to say, +and when any one passed he would call out, "Gee-up, my five horses!" +</P> + +<P> +"Now I must beg you not to say that again," said Big Claus; "for +if you do, I shall hit your horse on the head, so that he will drop +dead on the spot, and there will be an end of him." +</P> + +<P> +"I promise you I will not say it any more," said the other; but as +soon as people came by, nodding to him, and wishing him "Good day," he +became so pleased, and thought how grand it looked to have five horses +ploughing in his field, that he cried out again, "Gee-up, all my +horses!" +</P> + +<P> +"I'll gee-up your horses for you," said Big Claus; and seizing a +hammer, he struck the one horse of Little Claus on the head, and he +fell dead instantly. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, now I have no horse at all," said Little Claus, weeping. But +after a while he took off the dead horse's skin, and hung the hide +to dry in the wind. Then he put the dry skin into a bag, and, +placing it over his shoulder, went out into the next town to sell +the horse's skin. He had a very long way to go, and had to pass +through a dark, gloomy forest. Presently a storm arose, and he lost +his way, and before he discovered the right path, evening came on, and +it was still a long way to the town, and too far to return home before +night. Near the road stood a large farmhouse. The shutters outside the +windows were closed, but lights shone through the crevices at the top. +"I might get permission to stay here for the night," thought Little +Claus; so he went up to the door and knocked. The farmer's wife opened +the door; but when she heard what he wanted, she told him to go +away, as her husband would not allow her to admit strangers. "Then I +shall be obliged to lie out here," said Little Claus to himself, as +the farmer's wife shut the door in his face. Near to the farmhouse +stood a large haystack, and between it and the house was a small shed, +with a thatched roof. "I can lie up there," said Little Claus, as he +saw the roof; "it will make a famous bed, but I hope the stork will +not fly down and bite my legs;" for on it stood a living stork, +whose nest was in the roof. So Little Claus climbed to the roof of the +shed, and while he turned himself to get comfortable, he discovered +that the wooden shutters, which were closed, did not reach to the tops +of the windows of the farmhouse, so that he could see into a room, +in which a large table was laid out with wine, roast meat, and a +splendid fish. The farmer's wife and the sexton were sitting at the +table together; and she filled his glass, and helped him plenteously +to fish, which appeared to be his favorite dish. "If I could only +get some, too," thought Little Claus; and then, as he stretched his +neck towards the window he spied a large, beautiful pie,—indeed +they had a glorious feast before them. +</P> + +<P> +At this moment he heard some one riding down the road, towards the +farmhouse. It was the farmer returning home. He was a good man, but +still he had a very strange prejudice,—he could not bear the sight of +a sexton. If one appeared before him, he would put himself in a +terrible rage. In consequence of this dislike, the sexton had gone +to visit the farmer's wife during her husband's absence from home, and +the good woman had placed before him the best she had in the house +to eat. When she heard the farmer coming she was frightened, and +begged the sexton to hide himself in a large empty chest that stood in +the room. He did so, for he knew her husband could not endure the +sight of a sexton. The woman then quickly put away the wine, and hid +all the rest of the nice things in the oven; for if her husband had +seen them he would have asked what they were brought out for. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, dear," sighed Little Claus from the top of the shed, as he +saw all the good things disappear. +</P> + +<P> +"Is any one up there?" asked the farmer, looking up and +discovering Little Claus. "Why are you lying up there? Come down, +and come into the house with me." So Little Claus came down and told +the farmer how he had lost his way and begged for a night's lodging. +</P> + +<P> +"All right," said the farmer; "but we must have something to eat +first." +</P> + +<P> +The woman received them both very kindly, laid the cloth on a +large table, and placed before them a dish of porridge. The farmer was +very hungry, and ate his porridge with a good appetite, but Little +Claus could not help thinking of the nice roast meat, fish and pies, +which he knew were in the oven. Under the table, at his feet, lay +the sack containing the horse's skin, which he intended to sell at the +next town. Now Little Claus did not relish the porridge at all, so +he trod with his foot on the sack under the table, and the dry skin +squeaked quite loud. "Hush!" said Little Claus to his sack, at the +same time treading upon it again, till it squeaked louder than before. +</P> + +<P> +"Hallo! what have you got in your sack!" asked the farmer. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, it is a conjuror," said Little Claus; "and he says we need +not eat porridge, for he has conjured the oven full of roast meat, +fish, and pie." +</P> + +<P> +"Wonderful!" cried the farmer, starting up and opening the oven +door; and there lay all the nice things hidden by the farmer's wife, +but which he supposed had been conjured there by the wizard under +the table. The woman dared not say anything; so she placed the +things before them, and they both ate of the fish, the meat, and the +pastry. +</P> + +<P> +Then Little Claus trod again upon his sack, and it squeaked as +before. "What does he say now?" asked the farmer. +</P> + +<P> +"He says," replied Little Claus, "that there are three bottles +of wine for us, standing in the corner, by the oven." +</P> + +<P> +So the woman was obliged to bring out the wine also, which she had +hidden, and the farmer drank it till he became quite merry. He would +have liked such a conjuror as Little Claus carried in his sack. "Could +he conjure up the evil one?" asked the farmer. "I should like to see +him now, while I am so merry." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes!" replied Little Claus, "my conjuror can do anything I +ask him,—can you not?" he asked, treading at the same time on the +sack till it squeaked. "Do you hear? he answers 'Yes,' but he fears +that we shall not like to look at him." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I am not afraid. What will he be like?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, he is very much like a sexton." +</P> + +<P> +"Ha!" said the farmer, "then he must be ugly. Do you know I cannot +endure the sight of a sexton. However, that doesn't matter, I shall +know who it is; so I shall not mind. Now then, I have got up my +courage, but don't let him come too near me." +</P> + +<P> +"Stop, I must ask the conjuror," said Little Claus; so he trod +on the bag, and stooped his ear down to listen. +</P> + +<P> +"What does he say?" +</P> + +<P> +"He says that you must go and open that large chest which stands +in the corner, and you will see the evil one crouching down inside; +but you must hold the lid firmly, that he may not slip out." +</P> + +<P> +"Will you come and help me hold it?" said the farmer, going +towards the chest in which his wife had hidden the sexton, who now lay +inside, very much frightened. The farmer opened the lid a very +little way, and peeped in. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh," cried he, springing backwards, "I saw him, and he is exactly +like our sexton. How dreadful it is!" So after that he was obliged +to drink again, and they sat and drank till far into the night. +</P> + +<P> +"You must sell your conjuror to me," said the farmer; "ask as much +as you like, I will pay it; indeed I would give you directly a whole +bushel of gold." +</P> + +<P> +"No, indeed, I cannot," said Little Claus; "only think how much +profit I could make out of this conjuror." +</P> + +<P> +"But I should like to have him," said the fanner, still continuing +his entreaties. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," said Little Claus at length, "you have been so good as +to give me a night's lodging, I will not refuse you; you shall have +the conjuror for a bushel of money, but I will have quite full +measure." +</P> + +<P> +"So you shall," said the farmer; "but you must take away the chest +as well. I would not have it in the house another hour; there is no +knowing if he may not be still there." +</P> + +<P> +So Little Claus gave the farmer the sack containing the dried +horse's skin, and received in exchange a bushel of money—full +measure. The farmer also gave him a wheelbarrow on which to carry away +the chest and the gold. +</P> + +<P> +"Farewell," said Little Claus, as he went off with his money and +the great chest, in which the sexton lay still concealed. On one +side of the forest was a broad, deep river, the water flowed so +rapidly that very few were able to swim against the stream. A new +bridge had lately been built across it, and in the middle of this +bridge Little Claus stopped, and said, loud enough to be heard by +the sexton, "Now what shall I do with this stupid chest; it is as +heavy as if it were full of stones: I shall be tired if I roll it +any farther, so I may as well throw it in the river; if it swims after +me to my house, well and good, and if not, it will not much matter." +</P> + +<P> +So he seized the chest in his hand and lifted it up a little, as +if he were going to throw it into the water. +</P> + +<P> +"No, leave it alone," cried the sexton from within the chest; "let +me out first." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh," exclaimed Little Claus, pretending to be frightened, "he +is in there still, is he? I must throw him into the river, that he may +be drowned." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, no; oh, no," cried the sexton; "I will give you a whole +bushel full of money if you will let me go. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, that is another matter," said Little Claus, opening the +chest. The sexton crept out, pushed the empty chest into the water, +and went to his house, then he measured out a whole bushel full of +gold for Little Claus, who had already received one from the farmer, +so that now he had a barrow full. +</P> + +<P> +"I have been well paid for my horse," said he to himself when he +reached home, entered his own room, and emptied all his money into a +heap on the floor. "How vexed Great Claus will be when he finds out +how rich I have become all through my one horse; but I shall not +tell him exactly how it all happened." Then he sent a boy to Great +Claus to borrow a bushel measure. +</P> + +<P> +"What can he want it for?" thought Great Claus; so he smeared +the bottom of the measure with tar, that some of whatever was put into +it might stick there and remain. And so it happened; for when the +measure returned, three new silver florins were sticking to it. +</P> + +<P> +"What does this mean?" said Great Claus; so he ran off directly to +Little Claus, and asked, "Where did you get so much money?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, for my horse's skin, I sold it yesterday." +</P> + +<P> +"It was certainly well paid for then," said Great Claus; and he +ran home to his house, seized a hatchet, and knocked all his four +horses on the head, flayed off their skins, and took them to the +town to sell. "Skins, skins, who'll buy skins?" he cried, as he went +through the streets. All the shoemakers and tanners came running, +and asked how much he wanted for them. +</P> + +<P> +"A bushel of money, for each," replied Great Claus. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you mad?" they all cried; "do you think we have money to +spend by the bushel?" +</P> + +<P> +"Skins, skins," he cried again, "who'll buy skins?" but to all who +inquired the price, his answer was, "a bushel of money." +</P> + +<P> +"He is making fools of us," said they all; then the shoemakers +took their straps, and the tanners their leather aprons, and began +to beat Great Claus. +</P> + +<P> +"Skins, skins!" they cried, mocking him; "yes, we'll mark your +skin for you, till it is black and blue." +</P> + +<P> +"Out of the town with him," said they. And Great Claus was obliged +to run as fast as he could, he had never before been so thoroughly +beaten. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah," said he, as he came to his house; "Little Claus shall pay me +for this; I will beat him to death." +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile the old grandmother of Little Claus died. She had been +cross, unkind, and really spiteful to him; but he was very sorry, +and took the dead woman and laid her in his warm bed to see if he +could bring her to life again. There he determined that she should lie +the whole night, while he seated himself in a chair in a corner of the +room as he had often done before. During the night, as he sat there, +the door opened, and in came Great Claus with a hatchet. He knew +well where Little Claus's bed stood; so he went right up to it, and +struck the old grandmother on the head, thinking it must be Little +Claus. +</P> + +<P> +"There," cried he, "now you cannot make a fool of me again;" and +then he went home. +</P> + +<P> +"That is a very wicked man," thought Little Claus; "he meant to +kill me. It is a good thing for my old grandmother that she was +already dead, or he would have taken her life." Then he dressed his +old grandmother in her best clothes, borrowed a horse of his neighbor, +and harnessed it to a cart. Then he placed the old woman on the back +seat, so that she might not fall out as he drove, and rode away +through the wood. By sunrise they reached a large inn, where Little +Claus stopped and went to get something to eat. The landlord was a +rich man, and a good man too; but as passionate as if he had been made +of pepper and snuff. +</P> + +<P> +"Good morning," said he to Little Claus; "you are come betimes +to-day." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said Little Claus; "I am going to the town with my old +grandmother; she is sitting at the back of the wagon, but I cannot +bring her into the room. Will you take her a glass of mead? but you +must speak very loud, for she cannot hear well." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, certainly I will," replied the landlord; and, pouring out +a glass of mead, he carried it out to the dead grandmother, who sat +upright in the cart. "Here is a glass of mead from your grandson," +said the landlord. The dead woman did not answer a word, but sat quite +still. "Do you not hear?" cried the landlord as loud as he could; +"here is a glass of mead from your grandson." +</P> + +<P> +Again and again he bawled it out, but as she did not stir he +flew into a passion, and threw the glass of mead in her face; it +struck her on the nose, and she fell backwards out of the cart, for +she was only seated there, not tied in. +</P> + +<P> +"Hallo!" cried Little Claus, rushing out of the door, and seizing +hold of the landlord by the throat; "you have killed my grandmother; +see, here is a great hole in her forehead." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, how unfortunate," said the landlord, wringing his hands. +"This all comes of my fiery temper. Dear Little Claus, I will give you +a bushel of money; I will bury your grandmother as if she were my own; +only keep silent, or else they will cut off my head, and that would be +disagreeable." +</P> + +<P> +So it happened that Little Claus received another bushel of money, +and the landlord buried his old grandmother as if she had been his +own. When Little Claus reached home again, he immediately sent a boy +to Great Claus, requesting him to lend him a bushel measure. "How is +this?" thought Great Claus; "did I not kill him? I must go and see for +myself." So he went to Little Claus, and took the bushel measure +with him. "How did you get all this money?" asked Great Claus, staring +with wide open eyes at his neighbor's treasures. +</P> + +<P> +"You killed my grandmother instead of me," said Little Claus; +"so I have sold her for a bushel of money." +</P> + +<P> +"That is a good price at all events," said Great Claus. So he went +home, took a hatchet, and killed his old grandmother with one blow. +Then he placed her on a cart, and drove into the town to the +apothecary, and asked him if he would buy a dead body. +</P> + +<P> +"Whose is it, and where did you get it?" asked the apothecary. +</P> + +<P> +"It is my grandmother," he replied; "I killed her with a blow, +that I might get a bushel of money for her." +</P> + +<P> +"Heaven preserve us!" cried the apothecary, "you are out of your +mind. Don't say such things, or you will lose your head." And then +he talked to him seriously about the wicked deed he had done, and told +him that such a wicked man would surely be punished. Great Claus got +so frightened that he rushed out of the surgery, jumped into the cart, +whipped up his horses, and drove home quickly. The apothecary and +all the people thought him mad, and let him drive where he liked. +</P> + +<P> +"You shall pay for this," said Great Claus, as soon as he got into +the highroad, "that you shall, Little Claus." So as soon as he reached +home he took the largest sack he could find and went over to Little +Claus. "You have played me another trick," said he. "First, I killed +all my horses, and then my old grandmother, and it is all your +fault; but you shall not make a fool of me any more." So he laid +hold of Little Claus round the body, and pushed him into the sack, +which he took on his shoulders, saying, "Now I'm going to drown you in +the river." +</P> + +<P> +He had a long way to go before he reached the river, and Little +Claus was not a very light weight to carry. The road led by the +church, and as they passed he could hear the organ playing and the +people singing beautifully. Great Claus put down the sack close to the +church-door, and thought he might as well go in and hear a psalm +before he went any farther. Little Claus could not possibly get out of +the sack, and all the people were in church; so in he went. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh dear, oh dear," sighed Little Claus in the sack, as he +turned and twisted about; but he found he could not loosen the +string with which it was tied. Presently an old cattle driver, with +snowy hair, passed by, carrying a large staff in his hand, with +which he drove a large herd of cows and oxen before him. They stumbled +against the sack in which lay Little Claus, and turned it over. "Oh +dear," sighed Little Claus, "I am very young, yet I am soon going to +heaven." +</P> + +<P> +"And I, poor fellow," said the drover, "I who am so old already, +cannot get there." +</P> + +<P> +"Open the sack," cried Little Claus; "creep into it instead of me, +and you will soon be there." +</P> + +<P> +"With all my heart," replied the drover, opening the sack, from +which sprung Little Claus as quickly as possible. "Will you take +care of my cattle?" said the old man, as he crept into the bag. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said Little Claus, and he tied up the sack, and then walked +off with all the cows and oxen. +</P> + +<P> +When Great Claus came out of church, he took up the sack, and +placed it on his shoulders. It appeared to have become lighter, for +the old drover was not half so heavy as Little Claus. +</P> + +<P> +"How light he seems now," said he. "Ah, it is because I have +been to a church." So he walked on to the river, which was deep and +broad, and threw the sack containing the old drover into the water, +believing it to be Little Claus. "There you may lie!" he exclaimed; +"you will play me no more tricks now." Then he turned to go home, +but when he came to a place where two roads crossed, there was +Little Claus driving the cattle. "How is this?" said Great Claus. "Did +I not drown you just now?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said Little Claus; "you threw me into the river about +half an hour ago." +</P> + +<P> +"But wherever did you get all these fine beasts?" asked Great +Claus. +</P> + +<P> +"These beasts are sea-cattle," replied Little Claus. "I'll tell +you the whole story, and thank you for drowning me; I am above you +now, I am really very rich. I was frightened, to be sure, while I +lay tied up in the sack, and the wind whistled in my ears when you +threw me into the river from the bridge, and I sank to the bottom +immediately; but I did not hurt myself, for I fell upon beautifully +soft grass which grows down there; and in a moment, the sack opened, +and the sweetest little maiden came towards me. She had snow-white +robes, and a wreath of green leaves on her wet hair. She took me by +the hand, and said, 'So you are come, Little Claus, and here are +some cattle for you to begin with. About a mile farther on the road, +there is another herd for you.' Then I saw that the river formed a +great highway for the people who live in the sea. They were walking +and driving here and there from the sea to the land at the, spot where +the river terminates. The bed of the river was covered with the +loveliest flowers and sweet fresh grass. The fish swam past me as +rapidly as the birds do here in the air. How handsome all the people +were, and what fine cattle were grazing on the hills and in the +valleys!" +</P> + +<P> +"But why did you come up again," said Great Claus, "if it was +all so beautiful down there? I should not have done so?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well," said Little Claus, "it was good policy on my part; you +heard me say just now that I was told by the sea-maiden to go a mile +farther on the road, and I should find a whole herd of cattle. By +the road she meant the river, for she could not travel any other +way; but I knew the winding of the river, and how it bends, +sometimes to the right and sometimes to the left, and it seemed a long +way, so I chose a shorter one; and, by coming up to the land, and then +driving across the fields back again to the river, I shall save half a +mile, and get all my cattle more quickly." +</P> + +<P> +"What a lucky fellow you are!" exclaimed Great Claus. "Do you +think I should get any sea-cattle if I went down to the bottom of +the river?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I think so," said Little Claus; "but I cannot carry you +there in a sack, you are too heavy. However if you will go there +first, and then creep into a sack, I will throw you in with the +greatest pleasure." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you," said Great Claus; "but remember, if I do not get +any sea-cattle down there I shall come up again and give you a good +thrashing." +</P> + +<P> +"No, now, don't be too fierce about it!" said Little Claus, as +they walked on towards the river. When they approached it, the cattle, +who were very thirsty, saw the stream, and ran down to drink. +</P> + +<P> +"See what a hurry they are in," said Little Claus, "they are +longing to get down again." +</P> + +<P> +"Come, help me, make haste," said Great Claus; "or you'll get +beaten." So he crept into a large sack, which had been lying across +the back of one of the oxen. +</P> + +<P> +"Put in a stone," said Great Claus, "or I may not sink." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, there's not much fear of that," he replied; still he put a +large stone into the bag, and then tied it tightly, and gave it a +push. +</P> + +<P> +"Plump!" In went Great Claus, and immediately sank to the bottom +of the river. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm afraid he will not find any cattle," said Little Claus, and +then he drove his own beasts homewards. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="li_elder"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE LITTLE ELDER-TREE MOTHER +</H3> + +<P> +There was once a little boy who had caught cold; he had gone out +and got wet feet. Nobody had the least idea how it had happened; the +weather was quite dry. His mother undressed him, put him to bed, and +ordered the teapot to be brought in, that she might make him a good +cup of tea from the elder-tree blossoms, which is so warming. At the +same time, the kind-hearted old man who lived by himself in the +upper storey of the house came in; he led a lonely life, for he had no +wife and children; but he loved the children of others very much, +and he could tell so many fairy tales and stories, that it was a +pleasure to hear him. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, drink your tea," said the mother; "perhaps you will hear a +story." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, if I only knew a fresh one," said the old man, and nodded +smilingly. "But how did the little fellow get his wet feet?" he then +asked. +</P> + +<P> +"That," replied the mother, "nobody can understand." +</P> + +<P> +"Will you tell me a story?" asked the boy. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, if you can tell me as nearly as possible how deep is the +gutter in the little street where you go to school." +</P> + +<P> +"Just half as high as my top-boots," replied the boy; "but then +I must stand in the deepest holes." +</P> + +<P> +"There, now we know where you got your wet feet," said the old +man. "I ought to tell you a story, but the worst of it is, I do not +know any more." +</P> + +<P> +"You can make one up," said the little boy. "Mother says you can +tell a fairy tale about anything you look at or touch." +</P> + +<P> +"That is all very well, but such tales or stories are worth +nothing! No, the right ones come by themselves and knock at my +forehead saying: 'Here I am.'" +</P> + +<P> +"Will not one knock soon?" asked the boy; and the mother smiled +while she put elder-tree blossoms into the teapot and poured boiling +water over them. "Pray, tell me a story." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, if stories came by themselves; they are so proud, they +only come when they please.—But wait," he said suddenly, "there is +one. Look at the teapot; there is a story in it now." +</P> + +<P> +And the little boy looked at the teapot; the lid rose up +gradually, the elder-tree blossoms sprang forth one by one, fresh +and white; long boughs came forth; even out of the spout they grew +up in all directions, and formed a bush—nay, a large elder tree, +which stretched its branches up to the bed and pushed the curtains +aside; and there were so many blossoms and such a sweet fragrance! +In the midst of the tree sat a kindly-looking old woman with a strange +dress; it was as green as the leaves, and trimmed with large white +blossoms, so that it was difficult to say whether it was real cloth, +or the leaves and blossoms of the elder-tree. +</P> + +<P> +"What is this woman's name?" asked the little boy. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, the Romans and Greeks used to call her a Dryad," said the +old man; "but we do not understand that. Out in the sailors' quarter +they give her a better name; there she is called elder-tree mother. +Now, you must attentively listen to her and look at the beautiful +elder-tree. +</P> + +<P> +"Just such a large tree, covered with flowers, stands out there; +it grew in the corner of an humble little yard; under this tree sat +two old people one afternoon in the beautiful sunshine. He was an old, +old sailor, and she his old wife; they had already +great-grandchildren, and were soon to celebrate their golden +wedding, but they could not remember the date, and the elder-tree +mother was sitting in the tree and looked as pleased as this one here. +'I know very well when the golden wedding is to take place,' she said; +but they did not hear it—they were talking of bygone days. +</P> + +<P> +"'Well, do you remember?' said the old sailor, 'when we were quite +small and used to run about and play—it was in the very same yard +where we now are—we used to put little branches into the ground and +make a garden.' +</P> + +<P> +"'Yes,' said the old woman, 'I remember it very well; we used to +water the branches, and one of them, an elder-tree branch, took +root, and grew and became the large tree under which we are now +sitting as old people.' +</P> + +<P> +"'Certainly, you are right,' he said; 'and in yonder corner +stood a large water-tub; there I used to sail my boat, which I had cut +out myself—it sailed so well; but soon I had to sail somewhere else.' +</P> + +<P> +"'But first we went to school to learn something,' she said, +'and then we were confirmed; we both wept on that day, but in the +afternoon we went out hand in hand, and ascended the high round +tower and looked out into the wide world right over Copenhagen and the +sea; then we walked to Fredericksburg, where the king and the queen +were sailing about in their magnificent boat on the canals.' +</P> + +<P> +"'But soon I had to sail about somewhere else, and for many +years I was travelling about far away from home.' +</P> + +<P> +"'And I often cried about you, for I was afraid lest you were +drowned and lying at the bottom of the sea. Many a time I got up in +the night and looked if the weathercock had turned; it turned often, +but you did not return. I remember one day distinctly: the rain was +pouring down in torrents; the dust-man had come to the house where I +was in service; I went down with the dust-bin and stood for a moment +in the doorway, and looked at the dreadful weather. Then the postman +gave me a letter; it was from you. Heavens! how that letter had +travelled about. I tore it open and read it; I cried and laughed at +the same time, and was so happy! Therein was written that you were +staying in the hot countries, where the coffee grows. These must be +marvellous countries. You said a great deal about them, and I read all +while the rain was pouring down and I was standing there with the +dust-bin. Then suddenly some one put his arm round my waist-' +</P> + +<P> +"'Yes, and you gave him a hearty smack on the cheek,' said the old +man. +</P> + +<P> +"'I did not know that it was you—you had come as quickly as +your letter; and you looked so handsome, and so you do still. You +had a large yellow silk handkerchief in your pocket and a shining +hat on. You looked so well, and the weather in the street was +horrible!' +</P> + +<P> +"'Then we married,' he said. 'Do you remember how we got our first +boy, and then Mary, Niels, Peter, John, and Christian?' +</P> + +<P> +"'Oh yes; and now they have all grown up, and have become useful +members of society, whom everybody cares for.' +</P> + +<P> +"'And their children have had children again,' said the old +sailor. 'Yes, these are children's children, and they are strong and +healthy. If I am not mistaken, our wedding took place at this season +of the year.' +</P> + +<P> +"'Yes, to-day is your golden wedding-day,' said the little +elder-tree mother, stretching her head down between the two old +people, who thought that she was their neighbour who was nodding to +them; they looked at each other and clasped hands. Soon afterwards the +children and grandchildren came, for they knew very well that it was +the golden wedding-day; they had already wished them joy and happiness +in the morning, but the old people had forgotten it, although they +remembered things so well that had passed many, many years ago. The +elder-tree smelt strongly, and the setting sun illuminated the faces +of the two old people, so that they looked quite rosy; the youngest of +the grandchildren danced round them, and cried merrily that there +would be a feast in the evening, for they were to have hot potatoes; +and the elder mother nodded in the tree and cried 'Hooray' with the +others." +</P> + +<P> +"But that was no fairy tale," said the little boy who had listened +to it. +</P> + +<P> +"You will presently understand it," said the old man who told +the story. "Let us ask little elder-tree mother about it." +</P> + +<P> +"That was no fairy tale," said the little elder-tree mother; +"but now it comes! Real life furnishes us with subjects for the most +wonderful fairy tales; for otherwise my beautiful elder-bush could not +have grown forth out of the teapot." +</P> + +<P> +And then she took the little boy out of bed and placed him on +her bosom; the elder branches, full of blossoms, closed over them; +it was as if they sat in a thick leafy bower which flew with them +through the air; it was beautiful beyond all description. The little +elder-tree mother had suddenly become a charming young girl, but her +dress was still of the same green material, covered with white +blossoms, as the elder-tree mother had worn; she had a real elder +blossom on her bosom, and a wreath of the same flowers was wound round +her curly golden hair; her eyes were so large and so blue that it +was wonderful to look at them. She and the boy kissed each other, +and then they were of the same age and felt the same joys. They walked +hand in hand out of the bower, and now stood at home in a beautiful +flower garden. Near the green lawn the father's walking-stick was tied +to a post. There was life in this stick for the little ones, for as +soon as they seated themselves upon it the polished knob turned into a +neighing horse's head, a long black mane was fluttering in the wind, +and four strong slender legs grew out. The animal was fiery and +spirited; they galloped round the lawn. "Hooray! now we shall ride far +away, many miles!" said the boy; "we shall ride to the nobleman's +estate where we were last year." And they rode round the lawn again, +and the little girl, who, as we know, was no other than the little +elder-tree mother, continually cried, "Now we are in the country! Do +you see the farmhouse there, with the large baking stove, which +projects like a gigantic egg out of the wall into the road? The +elder-tree spreads its branches over it, and the cock struts about and +scratches for the hens. Look how proud he is! Now we are near the +church; it stands on a high hill, under the spreading oak trees; one +of them is half dead! Now we are at the smithy, where the fire roars +and the half-naked men beat with their hammers so that the sparks +fly far and wide. Let's be off to the beautiful farm!" And they passed +by everything the little girl, who was sitting behind on the stick, +described, and the boy saw it, and yet they only went round the +lawn. Then they played in a side-walk, and marked out a little +garden on the ground; she took elder-blossoms out of her hair and +planted them, and they grew exactly like those the old people +planted when they were children, as we have heard before. They +walked about hand in hand, just as the old couple had done when they +were little, but they did not go to the round tower nor to the +Fredericksburg garden. No; the little girl seized the boy round the +waist, and then they flew far into the country. It was spring and it +became summer, it was autumn and it became winter, and thousands of +pictures reflected themselves in the boy's eyes and heart, and the +little girl always sang again, "You will never forget that!" And +during their whole flight the elder-tree smelt so sweetly; he +noticed the roses and the fresh beeches, but the elder-tree smelt much +stronger, for the flowers were fixed on the little girl's bosom, +against which the boy often rested his head during the flight. +</P> + +<P> +"It is beautiful here in spring," said the little girl, and they +were again in the green beechwood, where the thyme breathed forth +sweet fragrance at their feet, and the pink anemones looked lovely +in the green moss. "Oh! that it were always spring in the fragrant +beechwood!" +</P> + +<P> +"Here it is splendid in summer!" she said, and they passed by +old castles of the age of chivalry. The high walls and indented +battlements were reflected in the water of the ditches, on which swans +were swimming and peering into the old shady avenues. The corn waved +in the field like a yellow sea. Red and yellow flowers grew in the +ditches, wild hops and convolvuli in full bloom in the hedges. In +the evening the moon rose, large and round, and the hayricks in the +meadows smelt sweetly. "One can never forget it!" +</P> + +<P> +"Here it is beautiful in autumn!" said the little girl, and the +atmosphere seemed twice as high and blue, while the wood shone with +crimson, green, and gold. The hounds were running off, flocks of +wild fowl flew screaming over the barrows, while the bramble bushes +twined round the old stones. The dark-blue sea was covered with +white-sailed ships, and in the barns sat old women, girls, and +children picking hops into a large tub; the young ones sang songs, and +the old people told fairy tales about goblins and sorcerers. It +could not be more pleasant anywhere. +</P> + +<P> +"Here it's agreeable in winter!" said the little girl, and all the +trees were covered with hoar-frost, so that they looked like white +coral. The snow creaked under one's feet, as if one had new boots +on. One shooting star after another traversed the sky. In the room the +Christmas tree was lit, and there were song and merriment. In the +peasant's cottage the violin sounded, and games were played for +apple quarters; even the poorest child said, "It is beautiful in +winter!" +</P> + +<P> +And indeed it was beautiful! And the little girl showed everything +to the boy, and the elder-tree continued to breathe forth sweet +perfume, while the red flag with the white cross was streaming in +the wind; it was the flag under which the old sailor had served. The +boy became a youth; he was to go out into the wide world, far away +to the countries where the coffee grows. But at parting the little +girl took an elder-blossom from her breast and gave it to him as a +keepsake. He placed it in his prayer-book, and when he opened it in +distant lands it was always at the place where the flower of +remembrance was lying; and the more he looked at it the fresher it +became, so that he could almost smell the fragrance of the woods at +home. He distinctly saw the little girl, with her bright blue eyes, +peeping out from behind the petals, and heard her whispering, "Here it +is beautiful in spring, in summer, in autumn, and in winter," and +hundreds of pictures passed through his mind. +</P> + +<P> +Thus many years rolled by. He had now become an old man, and was +sitting, with his old wife, under an elder-tree in full bloom. They +held each other by the hand exactly as the great-grandfather and the +great-grandmother had done outside, and, like them, they talked +about bygone days and of their golden wedding. The little girl with +the blue eyes and elder-blossoms in her hair was sitting high up in +the tree, and nodded to them, saying, "To-day is the golden +wedding!" And then she took two flowers out of her wreath and kissed +them. They glittered at first like silver, then like gold, and when +she placed them on the heads of the old people each flower became a +golden crown. There they both sat like a king and queen under the +sweet-smelling tree, which looked exactly like an elder-tree, and he +told his wife the story of the elder-tree mother as it had been told +him when he was a little boy. They were both of opinion that the story +contained many points like their own, and these similarities they +liked best. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, so it is," said the little girl in the tree. "Some call me +Little Elder-tree Mother; others a Dryad; but my real name is +'Remembrance.' It is I who sit in the tree which grows and grows. I +can remember things and tell stories! But let's see if you have +still got your flower." +</P> + +<P> +And the old man opened his prayer-book; the elder-blossom was +still in it, and as fresh as if it had only just been put in. +Remembrance nodded, and the two old people, with the golden crowns +on their heads, sat in the glowing evening sun. They closed their eyes +and—and— +</P> + +<P> +Well, now the story is ended! The little boy in bed did not know +whether he had dreamt it or heard it told; the teapot stood on the +table, but no elder-tree was growing out of it, and the old man who +had told the story was on the point of leaving the room, and he did go +out. +</P> + +<P> +"How beautiful it was!" said the little boy. "Mother, I have +been to warm countries!" +</P> + +<P> +"I believe you," said the mother; "if one takes two cups of hot +elder-tea it is quite natural that one gets into warm countries!" +And she covered him up well, so that he might not take cold. "You have +slept soundly while I was arguing with the old man whether it was a +story or a fairy tale!" +</P> + +<P> +"And what has become of the little elder-tree mother?" asked the +boy. +</P> + +<P> +"She is in the teapot," said the mother; "and there she may +remain." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="li_ida_f"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +LITTLE IDA'S FLOWERS +</H3> + +<P> +"My poor flowers are quite dead," said little Ida, "they were so +pretty yesterday evening, and now all the leaves are hanging down +quite withered. What do they do that for," she asked, of the student +who sat on the sofa; she liked him very much, he could tell the most +amusing stories, and cut out the prettiest pictures; hearts, and +ladies dancing, castles with doors that opened, as well as flowers; he +was a delightful student. "Why do the flowers look so faded to-day?" +she asked again, and pointed to her nosegay, which was quite withered. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't you know what is the matter with them?" said the student. +"The flowers were at a ball last night, and therefore, it is no wonder +they hang their heads." +</P> + +<P> +"But flowers cannot dance?" cried little Ida. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes indeed, they can," replied the student. "When it grows +dark, and everybody is asleep, they jump about quite merrily. They +have a ball almost every night." +</P> + +<P> +"Can children go to these balls?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said the student, "little daisies and lilies of the +valley." +</P> + +<P> +"Where do the beautiful flowers dance?" asked little Ida. +</P> + +<P> +"Have you not often seen the large castle outside the gates of the +town, where the king lives in summer, and where the beautiful garden +is full of flowers? And have you not fed the swans with bread when +they swam towards you? Well, the flowers have capital balls there, +believe me." +</P> + +<P> +"I was in the garden out there yesterday with my mother," said +Ida, "but all the leaves were off the trees, and there was not a +single flower left. Where are they? I used to see so many in the +summer." +</P> + +<P> +"They are in the castle," replied the student. "You must know that +as soon as the king and all the court are gone into the town, the +flowers run out of the garden into the castle, and you should see +how merry they are. The two most beautiful roses seat themselves on +the throne, and are called the king and queen, then all the red +cockscombs range themselves on each side, and bow, these are the +lords-in-waiting. After that the pretty flowers come in, and there +is a grand ball. The blue violets represent little naval cadets, and +dance with hyacinths and crocuses which they call young ladies. The +tulips and tiger-lilies are the old ladies who sit and watch the +dancing, so that everything may be conducted with order and +propriety." +</P> + +<P> +"But," said little Ida, "is there no one there to hurt the flowers +for dancing in the king's castle?" +</P> + +<P> +"No one knows anything about it," said the student. "The old +steward of the castle, who has to watch there at night, sometimes +comes in; but he carries a great bunch of keys, and as soon as the +flowers hear the keys rattle, they run and hide themselves behind +the long curtains, and stand quite still, just peeping their heads +out. Then the old steward says, 'I smell flowers here,' but he +cannot see them." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh how capital," said little Ida, clapping her hands. "Should I +be able to see these flowers?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said the student, "mind you think of it the next time you +go out, no doubt you will see them, if you peep through the window. +I did so to-day, and I saw a long yellow lily lying stretched out on +the sofa. She was a court lady." +</P> + +<P> +"Can the flowers from the Botanical Gardens go to these balls?" +asked Ida. "It is such a distance!" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh yes," said the student, "whenever they like, for they can +fly. Have you not seen those beautiful red, white, and yellow +butterflies, that look like flowers? They were flowers once. They have +flown off their stalks into the air, and flap their leaves as if +they were little wings to make them fly. Then, if they behave well, +they obtain permission to fly about during the day, instead of being +obliged to sit still on their stems at home, and so in time their +leaves become real wings. It may be, however, that the flowers in +the Botanical Gardens have never been to the king's palace, and, +therefore, they know nothing of the merry doings at night, which +take place there. I will tell you what to do, and the botanical +professor, who lives close by here, will be so surprised. You know him +very well, do you not? Well, next time you go into his garden, you +must tell one of the flowers that there is going to be a grand ball at +the castle, then that flower will tell all the others, and they will +fly away to the castle as soon as possible. And when the professor +walks into his garden, there will not be a single flower left. How +he will wonder what has become of them!" +</P> + +<P> +"But how can one flower tell another? Flowers cannot speak?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, certainly not," replied the student; "but they can make +signs. Have you not often seen that when the wind blows they nod at +one another, and rustle all their green leaves?" +</P> + +<P> +"Can the professor understand the signs?" asked Ida. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, to be sure he can. He went one morning into his garden, +and saw a stinging nettle making signs with its leaves to a +beautiful red carnation. It was saying, 'You are so pretty, I like you +very much.' But the professor did not approve of such nonsense, so +he clapped his hands on the nettle to stop it. Then the leaves, +which are its fingers, stung him so sharply that he has never ventured +to touch a nettle since." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh how funny!" said Ida, and she laughed. +</P> + +<P> +"How can anyone put such notions into a child's head?" said a +tiresome lawyer, who had come to pay a visit, and sat on the sofa. +He did not like the student, and would grumble when he saw him cutting +out droll or amusing pictures. Sometimes it would be a man hanging +on a gibbet and holding a heart in his hand as if he had been stealing +hearts. Sometimes it was an old witch riding through the air on a +broom and carrying her husband on her nose. But the lawyer did not +like such jokes, and he would say as he had just said, "How can anyone +put such nonsense into a child's head! what absurd fancies there are!" +</P> + +<P> +But to little Ida, all these stories which the student told her +about the flowers, seemed very droll, and she thought over them a +great deal. The flowers did hang their heads, because they had been +dancing all night, and were very tired, and most likely they were ill. +Then she took them into the room where a number of toys lay on a +pretty little table, and the whole of the table drawer besides was +full of beautiful things. Her doll Sophy lay in the doll's bed asleep, +and little Ida said to her, "You must really get up Sophy, and be +content to lie in the drawer to-night; the poor flowers are ill, and +they must lie in your bed, then perhaps they will get well again." +So she took the doll out, who looked quite cross, and said not a +single word, for she was angry at being turned out of her bed. Ida +placed the flowers in the doll's bed, and drew the quilt over them. +Then she told them to lie quite still and be good, while she made some +tea for them, so that they might be quite well and able to get up +the next morning. And she drew the curtains close round the little +bed, so that the sun might not shine in their eyes. During the whole +evening she could not help thinking of what the student had told +her. And before she went to bed herself, she was obliged to peep +behind the curtains into the garden where all her mother's beautiful +flowers grew, hyacinths and tulips, and many others. Then she +whispered to them quite softly, "I know you are going to a ball +to-night." But the flowers appeared as if they did not understand, and +not a leaf moved; still Ida felt quite sure she knew all about it. She +lay awake a long time after she was in bed, thinking how pretty it +must be to see all the beautiful flowers dancing in the king's garden. +"I wonder if my flowers have really been there," she said to +herself, and then she fell asleep. In the night she awoke; she had +been dreaming of the flowers and of the student, as well as of the +tiresome lawyer who found fault with him. It was quite still in +Ida's bedroom; the night-lamp burnt on the table, and her father and +mother were asleep. "I wonder if my flowers are still lying in Sophy's +bed," she thought to herself; "how much I should like to know." She +raised herself a little, and glanced at the door of the room where all +her flowers and playthings lay; it was partly open, and as she +listened, it seemed as if some one in the room was playing the +piano, but softly and more prettily than she had ever before heard it. +"Now all the flowers are certainly dancing in there," she thought, "oh +how much I should like to see them," but she did not dare move for +fear of disturbing her father and mother. "If they would only come +in here," she thought; but they did not come, and the music +continued to play so beautifully, and was so pretty, that she could +resist no longer. She crept out of her little bed, went softly to +the door and looked into the room. Oh what a splendid sight there +was to be sure! There was no night-lamp burning, but the room appeared +quite light, for the moon shone through the window upon the floor, and +made it almost like day. All the hyacinths and tulips stood in two +long rows down the room, not a single flower remained in the window, +and the flower-pots were all empty. The flowers were dancing +gracefully on the floor, making turns and holding each other by +their long green leaves as they swung round. At the piano sat a +large yellow lily which little Ida was sure she had seen in the +summer, for she remembered the student saying she was very much like +Miss Lina, one of Ida's friends. They all laughed at him then, but now +it seemed to little Ida as if the tall, yellow flower was really +like the young lady. She had just the same manners while playing, +bending her long yellow face from side to side, and nodding in time to +the beautiful music. Then she saw a large purple crocus jump into +the middle of the table where the playthings stood, go up to the +doll's bedstead and draw back the curtains; there lay the sick +flowers, but they got up directly, and nodded to the others as a +sign that they wished to dance with them. The old rough doll, with the +broken mouth, stood up and bowed to the pretty flowers. They did not +look ill at all now, but jumped about and were very merry, yet none of +them noticed little Ida. Presently it seemed as if something fell from +the table. Ida looked that way, and saw a slight carnival rod +jumping down among the flowers as if it belonged to them; it was, +however, very smooth and neat, and a little wax doll with a broad +brimmed hat on her head, like the one worn by the lawyer, sat upon it. +The carnival rod hopped about among the flowers on its three red +stilted feet, and stamped quite loud when it danced the Mazurka; the +flowers could not perform this dance, they were too light to stamp +in that manner. All at once the wax doll which rode on the carnival +rod seemed to grow larger and taller, and it turned round and said +to the paper flowers, "How can you put such things in a child's +head? they are all foolish fancies;" and then the doll was exactly +like the lawyer with the broad brimmed hat, and looked as yellow and +as cross as he did; but the paper dolls struck him on his thin legs, +and he shrunk up again and became quite a little wax doll. This was +very amusing, and Ida could not help laughing. The carnival rod went +on dancing, and the lawyer was obliged to dance also. It was no use, +he might make himself great and tall, or remain a little wax doll with +a large black hat; still he must dance. Then at last the other flowers +interceded for him, especially those who had lain in the doll's bed, +and the carnival rod gave up his dancing. At the same moment a loud +knocking was heard in the drawer, where Ida's doll Sophy lay with many +other toys. Then the rough doll ran to the end of the table, laid +himself flat down upon it, and began to pull the drawer out a little +way. +</P> + +<P> +Then Sophy raised himself, and looked round quite astonished, +"There must be a ball here to-night," said Sophy. "Why did not +somebody tell me?" +</P> + +<P> +"Will you dance with me?" said the rough doll. +</P> + +<P> +"You are the right sort to dance with, certainly," said she, +turning her back upon him. +</P> + +<P> +Then she seated herself on the edge of the drawer, and thought +that perhaps one of the flowers would ask her to dance; but none of +them came. Then she coughed, "Hem, hem, a-hem;" but for all that not +one came. The shabby doll now danced quite alone, and not very +badly, after all. As none of the flowers seemed to notice Sophy, she +let herself down from the drawer to the floor, so as to make a very +great noise. All the flowers came round her directly, and asked if she +had hurt herself, especially those who had lain in her bed. But she +was not hurt at all, and Ida's flowers thanked her for the use of +the nice bed, and were very kind to her. They led her into the +middle of the room, where the moon shone, and danced with her, while +all the other flowers formed a circle round them. Then Sophy was +very happy, and said they might keep her bed; she did not mind lying +in the drawer at all. But the flowers thanked her very much, and +said,— +</P> + +<P> +"We cannot live long. To-morrow morning we shall be quite dead; +and you must tell little Ida to bury us in the garden, near to the +grave of the canary; then, in the summer we shall wake up and be +more beautiful than ever." +</P> + +<P> +"No, you must not die," said Sophy, as she kissed the flowers. +</P> + +<P> +Then the door of the room opened, and a number of beautiful +flowers danced in. Ida could not imagine where they could come from, +unless they were the flowers from the king's garden. First came two +lovely roses, with little golden crowns on their heads; these were the +king and queen. Beautiful stocks and carnations followed, bowing to +every one present. They had also music with them. Large poppies and +peonies had pea-shells for instruments, and blew into them till they +were quite red in the face. The bunches of blue hyacinths and the +little white snowdrops jingled their bell-like flowers, as if they +were real bells. Then came many more flowers: blue violets, purple +heart's-ease, daisies, and lilies of the valley, and they all danced +together, and kissed each other. It was very beautiful to behold. +</P> + +<P> +At last the flowers wished each other good-night. Then little +Ida crept back into her bed again, and dreamt of all she had seen. +When she arose the next morning, she went quickly to the little table, +to see if the flowers were still there. She drew aside the curtains of +the little bed. There they all lay, but quite faded; much more so than +the day before. Sophy was lying in the drawer where Ida had placed +her; but she looked very sleepy. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you remember what the flowers told you to say to me?" said +little Ida. But Sophy looked quite stupid, and said not a single word. +</P> + +<P> +"You are not kind at all," said Ida; "and yet they all danced with +you." +</P> + +<P> +Then she took a little paper box, on which were painted +beautiful birds, and laid the dead flowers in it. +</P> + +<P> +"This shall be your pretty coffin," she said; "and by and by, when +my cousins come to visit me, they shall help me to bury you out in the +garden; so that next summer you may grow up again more beautiful +than ever." +</P> + +<P> +Her cousins were two good-tempered boys, whose names were James +and Adolphus. Their father had given them each a bow and arrow, and +they had brought them to show Ida. She told them about the poor +flowers which were dead; and as soon as they obtained permission, they +went with her to bury them. The two boys walked first, with their +crossbows on their shoulders, and little Ida followed, carrying the +pretty box containing the dead flowers. They dug a little grave in the +garden. Ida kissed her flowers and then laid them, with the box, in +the earth. James and Adolphus then fired their crossbows over the +grave, as they had neither guns nor cannons. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="li_match"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE LITTLE MATCH-SELLER +</H3> + +<P> +It was terribly cold and nearly dark on the last evening of the +old year, and the snow was falling fast. In the cold and the darkness, +a poor little girl, with bare head and naked feet, roamed through +the streets. It is true she had on a pair of slippers when she left +home, but they were not of much use. They were very large, so large, +indeed, that they had belonged to her mother, and the poor little +creature had lost them in running across the street to avoid two +carriages that were rolling along at a terrible rate. One of the +slippers she could not find, and a boy seized upon the other and ran +away with it, saying that he could use it as a cradle, when he had +children of his own. So the little girl went on with her little +naked feet, which were quite red and blue with the cold. In an old +apron she carried a number of matches, and had a bundle of them in her +hands. No one had bought anything of her the whole day, nor had any +one given here even a penny. Shivering with cold and hunger, she crept +along; poor little child, she looked the picture of misery. The +snowflakes fell on her long, fair hair, which hung in curls on her +shoulders, but she regarded them not. +</P> + +<P> +Lights were shining from every window, and there was a savory +smell of roast goose, for it was New-year's eve—yes, she remembered +that. In a corner, between two houses, one of which projected beyond +the other, she sank down and huddled herself together. She had drawn +her little feet under her, but she could not keep off the cold; and +she dared not go home, for she had sold no matches, and could not take +home even a penny of money. Her father would certainly beat her; +besides, it was almost as cold at home as here, for they had only +the roof to cover them, through which the wind howled, although the +largest holes had been stopped up with straw and rags. Her little +hands were almost frozen with the cold. Ah! perhaps a burning match +might be some good, if she could draw it from the bundle and strike it +against the wall, just to warm her fingers. She drew one +out-"scratch!" how it sputtered as it burnt! It gave a warm, bright +light, like a little candle, as she held her hand over it. It was +really a wonderful light. It seemed to the little girl that she was +sitting by a large iron stove, with polished brass feet and a brass +ornament. How the fire burned! and seemed so beautifully warm that the +child stretched out her feet as if to warm them, when, lo! the flame +of the match went out, the stove vanished, and she had only the +remains of the half-burnt match in her hand. +</P> + +<P> +She rubbed another match on the wall. It burst into a flame, and +where its light fell upon the wall it became as transparent as a veil, +and she could see into the room. The table was covered with a snowy +white table-cloth, on which stood a splendid dinner service, and a +steaming roast goose, stuffed with apples and dried plums. And what +was still more wonderful, the goose jumped down from the dish and +waddled across the floor, with a knife and fork in its breast, to +the little girl. Then the match went out, and there remained nothing +but the thick, damp, cold wall before her. +</P> + +<P> +She lighted another match, and then she found herself sitting +under a beautiful Christmas-tree. It was larger and more beautifully +decorated than the one which she had seen through the glass door at +the rich merchant's. Thousands of tapers were burning upon the green +branches, and colored pictures, like those she had seen in the +show-windows, looked down upon it all. The little one stretched out +her hand towards them, and the match went out. +</P> + +<P> +The Christmas lights rose higher and higher, till they looked to +her like the stars in the sky. Then she saw a star fall, leaving +behind it a bright streak of fire. "Some one is dying," thought the +little girl, for her old grandmother, the only one who had ever +loved her, and who was now dead, had told her that when a star +falls, a soul was going up to God. +</P> + +<P> +She again rubbed a match on the wall, and the light shone round +her; in the brightness stood her old grandmother, clear and shining, +yet mild and loving in her appearance. "Grandmother," cried the little +one, "O take me with you; I know you will go away when the match burns +out; you will vanish like the warm stove, the roast goose, and the +large, glorious Christmas-tree." And she made haste to light the whole +bundle of matches, for she wished to keep her grandmother there. And +the matches glowed with a light that was brighter than the noon-day, +and her grandmother had never appeared so large or so beautiful. She +took the little girl in her arms, and they both flew upwards in +brightness and joy far above the earth, where there was neither cold +nor hunger nor pain, for they were with God. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +In the dawn of morning there lay the poor little one, with pale +cheeks and smiling mouth, leaning against the wall; she had been +frozen to death on the last evening of the year; and the New-year's +sun rose and shone upon a little corpse! The child still sat, in the +stiffness of death, holding the matches in her hand, one bundle of +which was burnt. "She tried to warm herself," said some. No one +imagined what beautiful things she had seen, nor into what glory she +had entered with her grandmother, on New-year's day. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="li_merma"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE LITTLE MERMAID +</H3> + +<P> +Far out in the ocean, where the water is as blue as the +prettiest cornflower, and as clear as crystal, it is very, very +deep; so deep, indeed, that no cable could fathom it: many church +steeples, piled one upon another, would not reach from the ground +beneath to the surface of the water above. There dwell the Sea King +and his subjects. We must not imagine that there is nothing at the +bottom of the sea but bare yellow sand. No, indeed; the most +singular flowers and plants grow there; the leaves and stems of +which are so pliant, that the slightest agitation of the water +causes them to stir as if they had life. Fishes, both large and small, +glide between the branches, as birds fly among the trees here upon +land. In the deepest spot of all, stands the castle of the Sea King. +Its walls are built of coral, and the long, gothic windows are of +the clearest amber. The roof is formed of shells, that open and +close as the water flows over them. Their appearance is very +beautiful, for in each lies a glittering pearl, which would be fit for +the diadem of a queen. +</P> + +<P> +The Sea King had been a widower for many years, and his aged +mother kept house for him. She was a very wise woman, and +exceedingly proud of her high birth; on that account she wore twelve +oysters on her tail; while others, also of high rank, were only +allowed to wear six. She was, however, deserving of very great praise, +especially for her care of the little sea-princesses, her +grand-daughters. They were six beautiful children; but the youngest +was the prettiest of them all; her skin was as clear and delicate as a +rose-leaf, and her eyes as blue as the deepest sea; but, like all +the others, she had no feet, and her body ended in a fish's tail. +All day long they played in the great halls of the castle, or among +the living flowers that grew out of the walls. The large amber windows +were open, and the fish swam in, just as the swallows fly into our +houses when we open the windows, excepting that the fishes swam up +to the princesses, ate out of their hands, and allowed themselves to +be stroked. Outside the castle there was a beautiful garden, in +which grew bright red and dark blue flowers, and blossoms like +flames of fire; the fruit glittered like gold, and the leaves and +stems waved to and fro continually. The earth itself was the finest +sand, but blue as the flame of burning sulphur. Over everything lay +a peculiar blue radiance, as if it were surrounded by the air from +above, through which the blue sky shone, instead of the dark depths of +the sea. In calm weather the sun could be seen, looking like a +purple flower, with the light streaming from the calyx. Each of the +young princesses had a little plot of ground in the garden, where +she might dig and plant as she pleased. One arranged her flower-bed +into the form of a whale; another thought it better to make hers +like the figure of a little mermaid; but that of the youngest was +round like the sun, and contained flowers as red as his rays at +sunset. She was a strange child, quiet and thoughtful; and while her +sisters would be delighted with the wonderful things which they +obtained from the wrecks of vessels, she cared for nothing but her +pretty red flowers, like the sun, excepting a beautiful marble statue. +It was the representation of a handsome boy, carved out of pure +white stone, which had fallen to the bottom of the sea from a wreck. +She planted by the statue a rose-colored weeping willow. It grew +splendidly, and very soon hung its fresh branches over the statue, +almost down to the blue sands. The shadow had a violet tint, and waved +to and fro like the branches; it seemed as if the crown of the tree +and the root were at play, and trying to kiss each other. Nothing gave +her so much pleasure as to hear about the world above the sea. She +made her old grandmother tell her all she knew of the ships and of the +towns, the people and the animals. To her it seemed most wonderful and +beautiful to hear that the flowers of the land should have +fragrance, and not those below the sea; that the trees of the forest +should be green; and that the fishes among the trees could sing so +sweetly, that it was quite a pleasure to hear them. Her grandmother +called the little birds fishes, or she would not have understood +her; for she had never seen birds. +</P> + +<P> +"When you have reached your fifteenth year," said the +grand-mother, "you will have permission to rise up out of the sea, +to sit on the rocks in the moonlight, while the great ships are +sailing by; and then you will see both forests and towns." +</P> + +<P> +In the following year, one of the sisters would be fifteen: but as +each was a year younger than the other, the youngest would have to +wait five years before her turn came to rise up from the bottom of the +ocean, and see the earth as we do. However, each promised to tell +the others what she saw on her first visit, and what she thought the +most beautiful; for their grandmother could not tell them enough; +there were so many things on which they wanted information. None of +them longed so much for her turn to come as the youngest, she who +had the longest time to wait, and who was so quiet and thoughtful. +Many nights she stood by the open window, looking up through the +dark blue water, and watching the fish as they splashed about with +their fins and tails. She could see the moon and stars shining +faintly; but through the water they looked larger than they do to +our eyes. When something like a black cloud passed between her and +them, she knew that it was either a whale swimming over her head, or a +ship full of human beings, who never imagined that a pretty little +mermaid was standing beneath them, holding out her white hands towards +the keel of their ship. +</P> + +<P> +As soon as the eldest was fifteen, she was allowed to rise to +the surface of the ocean. When she came back, she had hundreds of +things to talk about; but the most beautiful, she said, was to lie +in the moonlight, on a sandbank, in the quiet sea, near the coast, and +to gaze on a large town nearby, where the lights were twinkling like +hundreds of stars; to listen to the sounds of the music, the noise +of carriages, and the voices of human beings, and then to hear the +merry bells peal out from the church steeples; and because she could +not go near to all those wonderful things, she longed for them more +than ever. Oh, did not the youngest sister listen eagerly to all these +descriptions? and afterwards, when she stood at the open window +looking up through the dark blue water, she thought of the great city, +with all its bustle and noise, and even fancied she could hear the +sound of the church bells, down in the depths of the sea. +</P> + +<P> +In another year the second sister received permission to rise to +the surface of the water, and to swim about where she pleased. She +rose just as the sun was setting, and this, she said, was the most +beautiful sight of all. The whole sky looked like gold, while violet +and rose-colored clouds, which she could not describe, floated over +her; and, still more rapidly than the clouds, flew a large flock of +wild swans towards the setting sun, looking like a long white veil +across the sea. She also swam towards the sun; but it sunk into the +waves, and the rosy tints faded from the clouds and from the sea. +</P> + +<P> +The third sister's turn followed; she was the boldest of them all, +and she swam up a broad river that emptied itself into the sea. On the +banks she saw green hills covered with beautiful vines; palaces and +castles peeped out from amid the proud trees of the forest; she +heard the birds singing, and the rays of the sun were so powerful that +she was obliged often to dive down under the water to cool her burning +face. In a narrow creek she found a whole troop of little human +children, quite naked, and sporting about in the water; she wanted +to play with them, but they fled in a great fright; and then a +little black animal came to the water; it was a dog, but she did not +know that, for she had never before seen one. This animal barked at +her so terribly that she became frightened, and rushed back to the +open sea. But she said she should never forget the beautiful forest, +the green hills, and the pretty little children who could swim in +the water, although they had not fish's tails. +</P> + +<P> +The fourth sister was more timid; she remained in the midst of the +sea, but she said it was quite as beautiful there as nearer the +land. She could see for so many miles around her, and the sky above +looked like a bell of glass. She had seen the ships, but at such a +great distance that they looked like sea-gulls. The dolphins sported +in the waves, and the great whales spouted water from their nostrils +till it seemed as if a hundred fountains were playing in every +direction. +</P> + +<P> +The fifth sister's birthday occurred in the winter; so when her +turn came, she saw what the others had not seen the first time they +went up. The sea looked quite green, and large icebergs were +floating about, each like a pearl, she said, but larger and loftier +than the churches built by men. They were of the most singular shapes, +and glittered like diamonds. She had seated herself upon one of the +largest, and let the wind play with her long hair, and she remarked +that all the ships sailed by rapidly, and steered as far away as +they could from the iceberg, as if they were afraid of it. Towards +evening, as the sun went down, dark clouds covered the sky, the +thunder rolled and the lightning flashed, and the red light glowed +on the icebergs as they rocked and tossed on the heaving sea. On all +the ships the sails were reefed with fear and trembling, while she sat +calmly on the floating iceberg, watching the blue lightning, as it +darted its forked flashes into the sea. +</P> + +<P> +When first the sisters had permission to rise to the surface, they +were each delighted with the new and beautiful sights they saw; but +now, as grown-up girls, they could go when they pleased, and they +had become indifferent about it. They wished themselves back again +in the water, and after a month had passed they said it was much +more beautiful down below, and pleasanter to be at home. Yet often, in +the evening hours, the five sisters would twine their arms round +each other, and rise to the surface, in a row. They had more beautiful +voices than any human being could have; and before the approach of a +storm, and when they expected a ship would be lost, they swam before +the vessel, and sang sweetly of the delights to be found in the depths +of the sea, and begging the sailors not to fear if they sank to the +bottom. But the sailors could not understand the song, they took it +for the howling of the storm. And these things were never to be +beautiful for them; for if the ship sank, the men were drowned, and +their dead bodies alone reached the palace of the Sea King. +</P> + +<P> +When the sisters rose, arm-in-arm, through the water in this +way, their youngest sister would stand quite alone, looking after +them, ready to cry, only that the mermaids have no tears, and +therefore they suffer more. "Oh, were I but fifteen years old," said +she: "I know that I shall love the world up there, and all the +people who live in it." +</P> + +<P> +At last she reached her fifteenth year. "Well, now, you are +grown up," said the old dowager, her grandmother; "so you must let +me adorn you like your other sisters;" and she placed a wreath of +white lilies in her hair, and every flower leaf was half a pearl. Then +the old lady ordered eight great oysters to attach themselves to the +tail of the princess to show her high rank. +</P> + +<P> +"But they hurt me so," said the little mermaid. +</P> + +<P> +"Pride must suffer pain," replied the old lady. Oh, how gladly she +would have shaken off all this grandeur, and laid aside the heavy +wreath! The red flowers in her own garden would have suited her much +better, but she could not help herself: so she said, "Farewell," and +rose as lightly as a bubble to the surface of the water. The sun had +just set as she raised her head above the waves; but the clouds were +tinted with crimson and gold, and through the glimmering twilight +beamed the evening star in all its beauty. The sea was calm, and the +air mild and fresh. A large ship, with three masts, lay becalmed on +the water, with only one sail set; for not a breeze stiffed, and the +sailors sat idle on deck or amongst the rigging. There was music and +song on board; and, as darkness came on, a hundred colored lanterns +were lighted, as if the flags of all nations waved in the air. The +little mermaid swam close to the cabin windows; and now and then, as +the waves lifted her up, she could look in through clear glass +window-panes, and see a number of well-dressed people within. Among +them was a young prince, the most beautiful of all, with large black +eyes; he was sixteen years of age, and his birthday was being kept +with much rejoicing. The sailors were dancing on deck, but when the +prince came out of the cabin, more than a hundred rockets rose in +the air, making it as bright as day. The little mermaid was so +startled that she dived under water; and when she again stretched +out her head, it appeared as if all the stars of heaven were falling +around her, she had never seen such fireworks before. Great suns +spurted fire about, splendid fireflies flew into the blue air, and +everything was reflected in the clear, calm sea beneath. The ship +itself was so brightly illuminated that all the people, and even the +smallest rope, could be distinctly and plainly seen. And how +handsome the young prince looked, as he pressed the hands of all +present and smiled at them, while the music resounded through the +clear night air. +</P> + +<P> +It was very late; yet the little mermaid could not take her eyes +from the ship, or from the beautiful prince. The colored lanterns +had been extinguished, no more rockets rose in the air, and the cannon +had ceased firing; but the sea became restless, and a moaning, +grumbling sound could be heard beneath the waves: still the little +mermaid remained by the cabin window, rocking up and down on the +water, which enabled her to look in. After a while, the sails were +quickly unfurled, and the noble ship continued her passage; but soon +the waves rose higher, heavy clouds darkened the sky, and lightning +appeared in the distance. A dreadful storm was approaching; once +more the sails were reefed, and the great ship pursued her flying +course over the raging sea. The waves rose mountains high, as if +they would have overtopped the mast; but the ship dived like a swan +between them, and then rose again on their lofty, foaming crests. To +the little mermaid this appeared pleasant sport; not so to the +sailors. At length the ship groaned and creaked; the thick planks gave +way under the lashing of the sea as it broke over the deck; the +mainmast snapped asunder like a reed; the ship lay over on her side; +and the water rushed in. The little mermaid now perceived that the +crew were in danger; even she herself was obliged to be careful to +avoid the beams and planks of the wreck which lay scattered on the +water. At one moment it was so pitch dark that she could not see a +single object, but a flash of lightning revealed the whole scene; +she could see every one who had been on board excepting the prince; +when the ship parted, she had seen him sink into the deep waves, and +she was glad, for she thought he would now be with her; and then she +remembered that human beings could not live in the water, so that when +he got down to her father's palace he would be quite dead. But he must +not die. So she swam about among the beams and planks which strewed +the surface of the sea, forgetting that they could crush her to +pieces. Then she dived deeply under the dark waters, rising and +falling with the waves, till at length she managed to reach the +young prince, who was fast losing the power of swimming in that stormy +sea. His limbs were failing him, his beautiful eyes were closed, and +he would have died had not the little mermaid come to his +assistance. She held his head above the water, and let the waves drift +them where they would. +</P> + +<P> +In the morning the storm had ceased; but of the ship not a +single fragment could be seen. The sun rose up red and glowing from +the water, and its beams brought back the hue of health to the +prince's cheeks; but his eyes remained closed. The mermaid kissed +his high, smooth forehead, and stroked back his wet hair; he seemed to +her like the marble statue in her little garden, and she kissed him +again, and wished that he might live. Presently they came in sight +of land; she saw lofty blue mountains, on which the white snow +rested as if a flock of swans were lying upon them. Near the coast +were beautiful green forests, and close by stood a large building, +whether a church or a convent she could not tell. Orange and citron +trees grew in the garden, and before the door stood lofty palms. The +sea here formed a little bay, in which the water was quite still, +but very deep; so she swam with the handsome prince to the beach, +which was covered with fine, white sand, and there she laid him in the +warm sunshine, taking care to raise his head higher than his body. +Then bells sounded in the large white building, and a number of +young girls came into the garden. The little mermaid swam out +farther from the shore and placed herself between some high rocks that +rose out of the water; then she covered her head and neck with the +foam of the sea so that her little face might not be seen, and watched +to see what would become of the poor prince. She did not wait long +before she saw a young girl approach the spot where he lay. She seemed +frightened at first, but only for a moment; then she fetched a +number of people, and the mermaid saw that the prince came to life +again, and smiled upon those who stood round him. But to her he sent +no smile; he knew not that she had saved him. This made her very +unhappy, and when he was led away into the great building, she dived +down sorrowfully into the water, and returned to her father's +castle. She had always been silent and thoughtful, and now she was +more so than ever. Her sisters asked her what she had seen during +her first visit to the surface of the water; but she would tell them +nothing. Many an evening and morning did she rise to the place where +she had left the prince. She saw the fruits in the garden ripen till +they were gathered, the snow on the tops of the mountains melt away; +but she never saw the prince, and therefore she returned home, +always more sorrowful than before. It was her only comfort to sit in +her own little garden, and fling her arm round the beautiful marble +statue which was like the prince; but she gave up tending her flowers, +and they grew in wild confusion over the paths, twining their long +leaves and stems round the branches of the trees, so that the whole +place became dark and gloomy. At length she could bear it no longer, +and told one of her sisters all about it. Then the others heard the +secret, and very soon it became known to two mermaids whose intimate +friend happened to know who the prince was. She had also seen the +festival on board ship, and she told them where the prince came +from, and where his palace stood. +</P> + +<P> +"Come, little sister," said the other princesses; then they +entwined their arms and rose up in a long row to the surface of the +water, close by the spot where they knew the prince's palace stood. It +was built of bright yellow shining stone, with long flights of +marble steps, one of which reached quite down to the sea. Splendid +gilded cupolas rose over the roof, and between the pillars that +surrounded the whole building stood life-like statues of marble. +Through the clear crystal of the lofty windows could be seen noble +rooms, with costly silk curtains and hangings of tapestry; while the +walls were covered with beautiful paintings which were a pleasure to +look at. In the centre of the largest saloon a fountain threw its +sparkling jets high up into the glass cupola of the ceiling, through +which the sun shone down upon the water and upon the beautiful +plants growing round the basin of the fountain. Now that she knew +where he lived, she spent many an evening and many a night on the +water near the palace. She would swim much nearer the shore than any +of the others ventured to do; indeed once she went quite up the narrow +channel under the marble balcony, which threw a broad shadow on the +water. Here she would sit and watch the young prince, who thought +himself quite alone in the bright moonlight. She saw him many times of +an evening sailing in a pleasant boat, with music playing and flags +waving. She peeped out from among the green rushes, and if the wind +caught her long silvery-white veil, those who saw it believed it to be +a swan, spreading out its wings. On many a night, too, when the +fishermen, with their torches, were out at sea, she heard them +relate so many good things about the doings of the young prince, +that she was glad she had saved his life when he had been tossed about +half-dead on the waves. And she remembered that his head had rested on +her bosom, and how heartily she had kissed him; but he knew nothing of +all this, and could not even dream of her. She grew more and more fond +of human beings, and wished more and more to be able to wander about +with those whose world seemed to be so much larger than her own. +They could fly over the sea in ships, and mount the high hills which +were far above the clouds; and the lands they possessed, their woods +and their fields, stretched far away beyond the reach of her sight. +There was so much that she wished to know, and her sisters were unable +to answer all her questions. Then she applied to her old +grandmother, who knew all about the upper world, which she very +rightly called the lands above the sea. +</P> + +<P> +"If human beings are not drowned," asked the little mermaid, +"can they live forever? do they never die as we do here in the sea?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," replied the old lady, "they must also die, and their term +of life is even shorter than ours. We sometimes live to three +hundred years, but when we cease to exist here we only become the foam +on the surface of the water, and we have not even a grave down here of +those we love. We have not immortal souls, we shall never live +again; but, like the green sea-weed, when once it has been cut off, we +can never flourish more. Human beings, on the contrary, have a soul +which lives forever, lives after the body has been turned to dust. +It rises up through the clear, pure air beyond the glittering stars. +As we rise out of the water, and behold all the land of the earth, +so do they rise to unknown and glorious regions which we shall never +see." +</P> + +<P> +"Why have not we an immortal soul?" asked the little mermaid +mournfully; "I would give gladly all the hundreds of years that I have +to live, to be a human being only for one day, and to have the hope of +knowing the happiness of that glorious world above the stars." +</P> + +<P> +"You must not think of that," said the old woman; "we feel +ourselves to be much happier and much better off than human beings." +</P> + +<P> +"So I shall die," said the little mermaid, "and as the foam of the +sea I shall be driven about never again to hear the music of the +waves, or to see the pretty flowers nor the red sun. Is there anything +I can do to win an immortal soul?" +</P> + +<P> +"No," said the old woman, "unless a man were to love you so much +that you were more to him than his father or mother; and if all his +thoughts and all his love were fixed upon you, and the priest placed +his right hand in yours, and he promised to be true to you here and +hereafter, then his soul would glide into your body and you would +obtain a share in the future happiness of mankind. He would give a +soul to you and retain his own as well; but this can never happen. +Your fish's tail, which amongst us is considered so beautiful, is +thought on earth to be quite ugly; they do not know any better, and +they think it necessary to have two stout props, which they call legs, +in order to be handsome." +</P> + +<P> +Then the little mermaid sighed, and looked sorrowfully at her +fish's tail. "Let us be happy," said the old lady, "and dart and +spring about during the three hundred years that we have to live, +which is really quite long enough; after that we can rest ourselves +all the better. This evening we are going to have a court ball." +</P> + +<P> +It is one of those splendid sights which we can never see on +earth. The walls and the ceiling of the large ball-room were of thick, +but transparent crystal. May hundreds of colossal shells, some of a +deep red, others of a grass green, stood on each side in rows, with +blue fire in them, which lighted up the whole saloon, and shone +through the walls, so that the sea was also illuminated. Innumerable +fishes, great and small, swam past the crystal walls; on some of +them the scales glowed with a purple brilliancy, and on others they +shone like silver and gold. Through the halls flowed a broad stream, +and in it danced the mermen and the mermaids to the music of their own +sweet singing. No one on earth has such a lovely voice as theirs. +The little mermaid sang more sweetly than them all. The whole court +applauded her with hands and tails; and for a moment her heart felt +quite gay, for she knew she had the loveliest voice of any on earth or +in the sea. But she soon thought again of the world above her, for she +could not forget the charming prince, nor her sorrow that she had +not an immortal soul like his; therefore she crept away silently out +of her father's palace, and while everything within was gladness and +song, she sat in her own little garden sorrowful and alone. Then she +heard the bugle sounding through the water, and thought—"He is +certainly sailing above, he on whom my wishes depend, and in whose +hands I should like to place the happiness of my life. I will +venture all for him, and to win 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 so much afraid, but she can give me counsel and +help." +</P> + +<P> +And then the little mermaid went out from her garden, and took the +road to the foaming whirlpools, behind which the sorceress lived. +She had never been that way before: neither flowers nor grass grew +there; nothing but bare, gray, sandy ground stretched out to the +whirlpool, where the water, like foaming mill-wheels, whirled round +everything that it seized, and cast it into the fathomless deep. +Through the midst of these crushing whirlpools the little mermaid +was obliged to pass, to reach the dominions of the sea witch; and also +for a long distance the only road lay right across a quantity of warm, +bubbling mire, called by the witch her turfmoor. Beyond this stood her +house, in the centre of a strange forest, in which all the trees and +flowers were polypi, half animals and half plants; they looked like +serpents with a hundred heads growing out of the ground. The +branches were long slimy arms, with fingers like flexible worms, +moving limb after limb from the root to the top. All that could be +reached in the sea they seized upon, and held fast, so that it never +escaped from their clutches. The little mermaid was so alarmed at what +she saw, that she stood still, and her heart beat with fear, and she +was very nearly turning back; but she thought of the prince, and of +the human soul for which she longed, and her courage returned. She +fastened her long flowing hair round her head, so that the polypi +might not seize hold of it. She laid her hands together across her +bosom, and then she darted forward as a fish shoots through the water, +between the supple arms and fingers of the ugly polypi, which were +stretched out on each side of her. She saw that each held in its grasp +something it had seized with its numerous little arms, as if they were +iron bands. The white skeletons of human beings who had perished at +sea, and had sunk down into the deep waters, skeletons of land +animals, oars, rudders, and chests of ships were lying tightly grasped +by their clinging arms; even a little mermaid, whom they had caught +and strangled; and this seemed the most shocking of all to the +little princess. +</P> + +<P> +She now came to a space of marshy ground in the wood, where large, +fat water-snakes were rolling in the mire, and showing their ugly, +drab-colored bodies. In the midst of this spot stood a house, built +with the bones of shipwrecked human beings. There sat the sea witch, +allowing a toad to eat from her mouth, just as people sometimes feed a +canary with a piece of sugar. She called the ugly water-snakes her +little chickens, and allowed them to crawl all over her bosom. +</P> + +<P> +"I know what you want," said the sea witch; "it is very stupid +of you, but you shall have your way, and it will bring you to +sorrow, my pretty princess. You want to get rid of your fish's tail, +and to have two supports instead of it, like human beings on earth, so +that the young prince may fall in love with you, and that you may have +an immortal soul." And then the witch laughed so loud and +disgustingly, that the toad and the snakes fell to the ground, and lay +there wriggling about. "You are but just in time," said the witch; +"for after sunrise to-morrow I should not be able to help you till the +end of another year. I will prepare a draught for you, with which +you must swim to land tomorrow before sunrise, and sit down on the +shore and drink it. Your tail will then disappear, and shrink up +into what mankind calls legs, and you will feel great pain, as if a +sword were passing through you. But all who see you will say that +you are the prettiest little human being they ever saw. You will still +have the same floating gracefulness of movement, and no dancer will +ever tread so lightly; but at every step you take it will feel as if +you were treading upon sharp knives, and that the blood must flow. +If you will bear all this, I will help you." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I will," said the little princess in a trembling voice, as +she thought of the prince and the immortal soul. +</P> + +<P> +"But think again," said the witch; "for when once your shape has +become like a human being, you can no more be a mermaid. You will +never return through the water to your sisters, or to your father's +palace again; and if you do not win the love of the prince, so that he +is willing to forget his father and mother for your sake, and to +love you with his whole soul, and allow the priest to join your +hands that you may be man and wife, then you will never have an +immortal soul. The first morning after he marries another your heart +will break, and you will become foam on the crest of the waves." +</P> + +<P> +"I will do it," said the little mermaid, and she became pale as +death. +</P> + +<P> +"But I must be paid also," said the witch, "and it is not a trifle +that I ask. You have the sweetest voice of any who dwell here in the +depths of the sea, and you believe that you will be able to charm +the prince with it also, but this voice you must give to me; the +best thing you possess will I have for the price of my draught. My own +blood must be mixed with it, that it may be as sharp as a two-edged +sword." +</P> + +<P> +"But if you take away my voice," said the little mermaid, "what is +left for me?" +</P> + +<P> +"Your beautiful form, your graceful walk, and your expressive +eyes; surely with these you can enchain a man's heart. Well, have +you lost your courage? Put out your little tongue that I may cut it +off as my payment; then you shall have the powerful draught." +</P> + +<P> +"It shall be," said the little mermaid. +</P> + +<P> +Then the witch placed her cauldron on the fire, to prepare the +magic draught. +</P> + +<P> +"Cleanliness is a good thing," said she, scouring the vessel +with snakes, which she had tied together in a large knot; then she +pricked herself in the breast, and let the black blood drop into it. +The steam that rose formed itself into such horrible shapes that no +one could look at them without fear. Every moment the witch threw +something else into the vessel, and when it began to boil, the sound +was like the weeping of a crocodile. When at last the magic draught +was ready, it looked like the clearest water. "There it is for you," +said the witch. Then she cut off the mermaid's tongue, so that she +became dumb, and would never again speak or sing. "If the polypi +should seize hold of you as you return through the wood," said the +witch, "throw over them a few drops of the potion, and their fingers +will be torn into a thousand pieces." But the little mermaid had no +occasion to do this, for the polypi sprang back in terror when they +caught sight of the glittering draught, which shone in her hand like a +twinkling star. +</P> + +<P> +So she passed quickly through the wood and the marsh, and +between the rushing whirlpools. She saw that in her father's palace +the torches in the ballroom were extinguished, and all within +asleep; but she did not venture to go in to them, for now she was dumb +and going to leave them forever, she felt as if her heart would break. +She stole into the garden, took a flower from the flower-beds of +each of her sisters, kissed her hand a thousand times towards the +palace, and then rose up through the dark blue waters. The sun had not +risen when she came in sight of the prince's palace, and approached +the beautiful marble steps, but the moon shone clear and bright. +Then the little mermaid drank the magic draught, and it seemed as if a +two-edged sword went through her delicate body: she fell into a swoon, +and lay like one dead. When the sun arose and shone over the sea, +she recovered, and felt a sharp pain; but just before her stood the +handsome young prince. He fixed his coal-black eyes upon her so +earnestly that she cast down her own, and then became aware that her +fish's tail was gone, and that she had as pretty a pair of white +legs and tiny feet as any little maiden could have; but she had no +clothes, so she wrapped herself in her long, thick hair. The prince +asked her who she was, and where she came from, and she looked at +him mildly and sorrowfully with her deep blue eyes; but she could +not speak. Every step she took was as the witch had said it would +be, she felt as if treading upon the points of needles or sharp +knives; but she bore it willingly, and stepped as lightly by the +prince's side as a soap-bubble, so that he and all who saw her +wondered at her graceful-swaying movements. She was very soon +arrayed in costly robes of silk and muslin, and was the most beautiful +creature in the palace; but she was dumb, and could neither speak +nor sing. +</P> + +<P> +Beautiful female slaves, dressed in silk and gold, stepped forward +and sang before the prince and his royal parents: one sang better than +all the others, and the prince clapped his hands and smiled at her. +This was great sorrow to the little mermaid; she knew how much more +sweetly she herself could sing once, and she thought, "Oh if he +could only know that! I have given away my voice forever, to be with +him." +</P> + +<P> +The slaves next performed some pretty fairy-like dances, to the +sound of beautiful music. Then the little mermaid raised her lovely +white arms, stood on the tips of her toes, and glided over the +floor, and danced as no one yet had been able to dance. At each moment +her beauty became more revealed, and her expressive eyes appealed more +directly to the heart than the songs of the slaves. Every one was +enchanted, especially the prince, who called her his little foundling; +and she danced again quite readily, to please him, though each time +her foot touched the floor it seemed as if she trod on sharp knives. +</P> + +<P> +The prince said she should remain with him always, and she +received permission to sleep at his door, on a velvet cushion. He +had a page's dress made for her, that she might accompany him on +horseback. They rode together through the sweet-scented woods, where +the green boughs touched their shoulders, and the little birds sang +among the fresh leaves. She climbed with the prince to the tops of +high mountains; and although her tender feet bled so that even her +steps were marked, she only laughed, and followed him till they +could see the clouds beneath them looking like a flock of birds +travelling to distant lands. While at the prince's palace, and when +all the household were asleep, she would go and sit on the broad +marble steps; for it eased her burning feet to bathe them in the +cold sea-water; and then she thought of all those below in the deep. +</P> + +<P> +Once during the night her sisters came up arm-in-arm, singing +sorrowfully, as they floated on the water. She beckoned to them, and +then they recognized her, and told her how she had grieved them. After +that, they came to the same place every night; and once she saw in the +distance her old grandmother, who had not been to the surface of the +sea for many years, and the old Sea King, her father, with his crown +on his head. They stretched out their hands towards her, but they +did not venture so near the land as her sisters did. +</P> + +<P> +As the days passed, she loved the prince more fondly, and he loved +her as he would love a little child, but it never came into his head +to make her his wife; yet, unless he married her, she could not +receive an immortal soul; and, on the morning after his marriage +with another, she would dissolve into the foam of the sea. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you not love me the best of them all?" the eyes of the +little mermaid seemed to say, when he took her in his arms, and kissed +her fair forehead. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, you are dear to me," said the prince; "for you have the best +heart, and you are the most devoted to me; you are like a young maiden +whom I once saw, but whom I shall never meet again. I was in a ship +that was wrecked, and the waves cast me ashore near a holy temple, +where several young maidens performed the service. The youngest of +them found me on the shore, and saved my life. I saw her but twice, +and she is the only one in the world whom I could love; but you are +like her, and you have almost driven her image out of my mind. She +belongs to the holy temple, and my good fortune has sent you to me +instead of her; and we will never part." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, he knows not that it was I who saved his life," thought the +little mermaid. "I carried him over the sea to the wood where the +temple stands: I sat beneath the foam, and watched till the human +beings came to help him. I saw the pretty maiden that he loves +better than he loves me;" and the mermaid sighed deeply, but she could +not shed tears. "He says the maiden belongs to the holy temple, +therefore she will never return to the world. They will meet no +more: while I am by his side, and see him every day. I will take +care of him, and love him, and give up my life for his sake." +</P> + +<P> +Very soon it was said that the prince must marry, and that the +beautiful daughter of a neighboring king would be his wife, for a fine +ship was being fitted out. Although the prince gave out that he merely +intended to pay a visit to the king, it was generally supposed that he +really went to see his daughter. A great company were to go with +him. The little mermaid smiled, and shook her head. She knew the +prince's thoughts better than any of the others. +</P> + +<P> +"I must travel," he had said to her; "I must see this beautiful +princess; my parents desire it; but they will not oblige me to bring +her home as my bride. I cannot love her; she is not like the beautiful +maiden in the temple, whom you resemble. If I were forced to choose +a bride, I would rather choose you, my dumb foundling, with those +expressive eyes." And then he kissed her rosy mouth, played with her +long waving hair, and laid his head on her heart, while she dreamed of +human happiness and an immortal soul. "You are not afraid of the +sea, my dumb child," said he, as they stood on the deck of the noble +ship which was to carry them to the country of the neighboring king. +And then he told her of storm and of calm, of strange fishes in the +deep beneath them, and of what the divers had seen there; and she +smiled at his descriptions, for she knew better than any one what +wonders were at the bottom of the sea. +</P> + +<P> +In the moonlight, when all on board were asleep, excepting the man +at the helm, who was steering, she sat on the deck, gazing down +through the clear water. She thought she could distinguish her +father's castle, and upon it her aged grandmother, with the silver +crown on her head, looking through the rushing tide at the keel of the +vessel. Then her sisters came up on the waves, and gazed at her +mournfully, wringing their white hands. She beckoned to them, and +smiled, and wanted to tell them how happy and well off she was; but +the cabin-boy approached, and when her sisters dived down he thought +it was only the foam of the sea which he saw. +</P> + +<P> +The next morning the ship sailed into the harbor of a beautiful +town belonging to the king whom the prince was going to visit. The +church bells were ringing, and from the high towers sounded a flourish +of trumpets; and soldiers, with flying colors and glittering bayonets, +lined the rocks through which they passed. Every day was a festival; +balls and entertainments followed one another. +</P> + +<P> +But the princess had not yet appeared. People said that she was +being brought up and educated in a religious house, where she was +learning every royal virtue. At last she came. Then the little +mermaid, who was very anxious to see whether she was really beautiful, +was obliged to acknowledge that she had never seen a more perfect +vision of beauty. Her skin was delicately fair, and beneath her long +dark eye-lashes her laughing blue eyes shone with truth and purity. +</P> + +<P> +"It was you," said the prince, "who saved my life when I lay +dead on the beach," and he folded his blushing bride in his arms. "Oh, +I am too happy," said he to the little mermaid; "my fondest hopes +are all fulfilled. You will rejoice at my happiness; for your devotion +to me is great and sincere." +</P> + +<P> +The little mermaid kissed his hand, and felt as if her heart +were already broken. His wedding morning would bring death to her, and +she would change into the foam of the sea. All the church bells +rung, and the heralds rode about the town proclaiming the betrothal. +Perfumed oil was burning in costly silver lamps on every altar. The +priests waved the censers, while the bride and bridegroom joined their +hands and received the blessing of the bishop. The little mermaid, +dressed in silk and gold, held up the bride's train; but her ears +heard nothing of the festive music, and her eyes saw not the holy +ceremony; she thought of the night of death which was coming to her, +and of all she had lost in the world. On the same evening the bride +and bridegroom went on board ship; cannons were roaring, flags waving, +and in the centre of the ship a costly tent of purple and gold had +been erected. It contained elegant couches, for the reception of the +bridal pair during the night. The ship, with swelling sails and a +favorable wind, glided away smoothly and lightly over the calm sea. +When it grew dark a number of colored lamps were lit, and the +sailors danced merrily on the deck. The little mermaid could not +help thinking of her first rising out of the sea, when she had seen +similar festivities and joys; and she joined in the dance, poised +herself in the air as a swallow when he pursues his prey, and all +present cheered her with wonder. She had never danced so elegantly +before. Her tender feet felt as if cut with sharp knives, but she +cared not for it; a sharper pang had pierced through her heart. She +knew this was the last evening she should ever see the prince, for +whom she had forsaken her kindred and her home; she had given up her +beautiful voice, and suffered unheard-of pain daily for him, while +he knew nothing of it. This was the last evening that she would +breathe the same air with him, or gaze on the starry sky and the +deep sea; an eternal night, without a thought or a dream, awaited her: +she had no soul and now she could never win one. All was joy and +gayety on board ship till long after midnight; she laughed and +danced with the rest, while the thoughts of death were in her heart. +The prince kissed his beautiful bride, while she played with his raven +hair, till they went arm-in-arm to rest in the splendid tent. Then all +became still on board the ship; the helmsman, alone awake, stood at +the helm. The little mermaid leaned her white arms on the edge of +the vessel, and looked towards the east for the first blush of +morning, for that first ray of dawn that would bring her death. She +saw her sisters rising out of the flood: they were as pale as herself; +but their long beautiful hair waved no more in the wind, and had +been cut off. +</P> + +<P> +"We have given our hair to the witch," said they, "to obtain +help for you, that you may not die to-night. She has given us a knife: +here it is, see it is very sharp. Before the sun rises you must plunge +it into the heart of the prince; when the warm blood falls upon your +feet they will grow together again, and form into a fish's tail, and +you will be once more a mermaid, and return to us to live out your +three hundred years before you die and change into the salt sea +foam. Haste, then; he or you must die before sunrise. Our old +grandmother moans so for you, that her white hair is falling off +from sorrow, as ours fell under the witch's scissors. Kill the +prince and come back; hasten: do you not see the first red streaks +in the sky? In a few minutes the sun will rise, and you must die." And +then they sighed deeply and mournfully, and sank down beneath the +waves. +</P> + +<P> +The little mermaid drew back the crimson curtain of the tent, +and beheld the fair bride with her head resting on the prince's +breast. She bent down and kissed his fair brow, then looked at the sky +on which the rosy dawn grew brighter and brighter; then she glanced at +the sharp knife, and again fixed her eyes on the prince, who whispered +the name of his bride in his dreams. She was in his thoughts, and +the knife trembled in the hand of the little mermaid: then she flung +it far away from her into the waves; the water turned red where it +fell, and the drops that spurted up looked like blood. She cast one +more lingering, half-fainting glance at the prince, and then threw +herself from the ship into the sea, and thought her body was +dissolving into foam. The sun rose above the waves, and his warm +rays fell on the cold foam of the little mermaid, who did not feel +as if she were dying. She saw the bright sun, and all around her +floated hundreds of transparent beautiful beings; she could see +through them the white sails of the ship, and the red clouds in the +sky; their speech was melodious, but too ethereal to be heard by +mortal ears, as they were also unseen by mortal eyes. The little +mermaid perceived that she had a body like theirs, and that she +continued to rise higher and higher out of the foam. "Where am I?" +asked she, and her voice sounded ethereal, as the voice of those who +were with her; no earthly music could imitate it. +</P> + +<P> +"Among the daughters of the air," answered one of them. "A mermaid +has not an immortal soul, nor can she obtain one unless she wins the +love of a human being. On the power of another hangs her eternal +destiny. But the daughters of the air, although they do not possess an +immortal soul, can, by their good deeds, procure one for themselves. +We fly to warm countries, and cool the sultry air that destroys +mankind with the pestilence. We carry the perfume of the flowers to +spread health and restoration. After we have striven for three hundred +years to all the good in our power, we receive an immortal soul and +take part in the happiness of mankind. You, poor little mermaid, +have tried with your whole heart to do as we are doing; you have +suffered and endured and raised yourself to the spirit-world by your +good deeds; and now, by striving for three hundred years in the same +way, you may obtain an immortal soul." +</P> + +<P> +The little mermaid lifted her glorified eyes towards the sun, +and felt them, for the first time, filling with tears. On the ship, in +which she had left the prince, there were life and noise; she saw +him and his beautiful bride searching for her; sorrowfully they +gazed at the pearly foam, as if they knew she had thrown herself +into the waves. Unseen she kissed the forehead of her bride, and +fanned the prince, and then mounted with the other children of the air +to a rosy cloud that floated through the aether. +</P> + +<P> +"After three hundred years, thus shall we float into the kingdom +of heaven," said she. "And we may even get there sooner," whispered +one of her companions. "Unseen we can enter the houses of men, where +there are children, and for every day on which we find a good child, +who is the joy of his parents and deserves their love, our time of +probation is shortened. The child does not know, when we fly through +the room, that we smile with joy at his good conduct, for we can count +one year less of our three hundred years. But when we see a naughty or +a wicked child, we shed tears of sorrow, and for every tear a day is +added to our time of trial!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="li_tiny"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +LITTLE TINY OR THUMBELINA +</H3> + +<P> +There was once a woman who wished very much to have a little +child, but she could not obtain her wish. At last she went to a fairy, +and said, "I should so very much like to have a little child; can +you tell me where I can find one?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, that can be easily managed," said the fairy. "Here is a +barleycorn of a different kind to those which grow in the farmer's +fields, and which the chickens eat; put it into a flower-pot, and +see what will happen." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you," said the woman, and she gave the fairy twelve +shillings, which was the price of the barleycorn. Then she went home +and planted it, and immediately there grew up a large handsome flower, +something like a tulip in appearance, but with its leaves tightly +closed as if it were still a bud. "It is a beautiful flower," said the +woman, and she kissed the red and golden-colored leaves, and while she +did so the flower opened, and she could see that it was a real +tulip. Within the flower, upon the green velvet stamens, sat a very +delicate and graceful little maiden. She was scarcely half as long +as a thumb, and they gave her the name of "Thumbelina," or Tiny, +because she was so small. A walnut-shell, elegantly polished, served +her for a cradle; her bed was formed of blue violet-leaves, with a +rose-leaf for a counterpane. Here she slept at night, but during the +day she amused herself on a table, where the woman had placed a +plateful of water. Round this plate were wreaths of flowers with their +stems in the water, and upon it floated a large tulip-leaf, which +served Tiny for a boat. Here the little maiden sat and rowed herself +from side to side, with two oars made of white horse-hair. It really +was a very pretty sight. Tiny could, also, sing so softly and +sweetly that nothing like her singing had ever before been heard. +One night, while she lay in her pretty bed, a large, ugly, wet toad +crept through a broken pane of glass in the window, and leaped right +upon the table where Tiny lay sleeping under her rose-leaf quilt. +</P> + +<P> +"What a pretty little wife this would make for my son," said the +toad, and she took up the walnut-shell in which little Tiny lay +asleep, and jumped through the window with it into the garden. +</P> + +<P> +In the swampy margin of a broad stream in the garden lived the +toad, with her son. He was uglier even than his mother, and when he +saw the pretty little maiden in her elegant bed, he could only cry, +"Croak, croak, croak." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't speak so loud, or she will wake," said the toad, "and +then she might run away, for she is as light as swan's down. We will +place her on one of the water-lily leaves out in the stream; it will +be like an island to her, she is so light and small, and then she +cannot escape; and, while she is away, we will make haste and +prepare the state-room under the marsh, in which you are to live +when you are married." +</P> + +<P> +Far out in the stream grew a number of water-lilies, with broad +green leaves, which seemed to float on the top of the water. The +largest of these leaves appeared farther off than the rest, and the +old toad swam out to it with the walnut-shell, in which little Tiny +lay still asleep. The tiny little creature woke very early in the +morning, and began to cry bitterly when she found where she was, for +she could see nothing but water on every side of the large green leaf, +and no way of reaching the land. Meanwhile the old toad was very +busy under the marsh, decking her room with rushes and wild yellow +flowers, to make it look pretty for her new daughter-in-law. Then +she swam out with her ugly son to the leaf on which she had placed +poor little Tiny. She wanted to fetch the pretty bed, that she might +put it in the bridal chamber to be ready for her. The old toad bowed +low to her in the water, and said, "Here is my son, he will be your +husband, and you will live happily in the marsh by the stream." +</P> + +<P> +"Croak, croak, croak," was all her son could say for himself; so +the toad took up the elegant little bed, and swam away with it, +leaving Tiny all alone on the green leaf, where she sat and wept. +She could not bear to think of living with the old toad, and having +her ugly son for a husband. The little fishes, who swam about in the +water beneath, had seen the toad, and heard what she said, so they +lifted their heads above the water to look at the little maiden. As +soon as they caught sight of her, they saw she was very pretty, and it +made them very sorry to think that she must go and live with the +ugly toads. "No, it must never be!" so they assembled together in +the water, round the green stalk which held the leaf on which the +little maiden stood, and gnawed it away at the root with their +teeth. Then the leaf floated down the stream, carrying Tiny far away +out of reach of land. +</P> + +<P> +Tiny sailed past many towns, and the little birds in the bushes +saw her, and sang, "What a lovely little creature;" so the leaf swam +away with her farther and farther, till it brought her to other lands. +A graceful little white butterfly constantly fluttered round her, +and at last alighted on the leaf. Tiny pleased him, and she was glad +of it, for now the toad could not possibly reach her, and the +country through which she sailed was beautiful, and the sun shone upon +the water, till it glittered like liquid gold. She took off her girdle +and tied one end of it round the butterfly, and the other end of the +ribbon she fastened to the leaf, which now glided on much faster +than ever, taking little Tiny with it as she stood. Presently a +large cockchafer flew by; the moment he caught sight of her, he seized +her round her delicate waist with his claws, and flew with her into +a tree. The green leaf floated away on the brook, and the butterfly +flew with it, for he was fastened to it, and could not get away. +</P> + +<P> +Oh, how frightened little Tiny felt when the cockchafer flew +with her to the tree! But especially was she sorry for the beautiful +white butterfly which she had fastened to the leaf, for if he could +not free himself he would die of hunger. But the cockchafer did not +trouble himself at all about the matter. He seated himself by her side +on a large green leaf, gave her some honey from the flowers to eat, +and told her she was very pretty, though not in the least like a +cockchafer. After a time, all the cockchafers turned up their feelers, +and said, "She has only two legs! how ugly that looks." "She has no +feelers," said another. "Her waist is quite slim. Pooh! she is like +a human being." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh! she is ugly," said all the lady cockchafers, although Tiny +was very pretty. Then the cockchafer who had run away with her, +believed all the others when they said she was ugly, and would have +nothing more to say to her, and told her she might go where she liked. +Then he flew down with her from the tree, and placed her on a daisy, +and she wept at the thought that she was so ugly that even the +cockchafers would have nothing to say to her. And all the while she +was really the loveliest creature that one could imagine, and as +tender and delicate as a beautiful rose-leaf. During the whole +summer poor little Tiny lived quite alone in the wide forest. She wove +herself a bed with blades of grass, and hung it up under a broad leaf, +to protect herself from the rain. She sucked the honey from the +flowers for food, and drank the dew from their leaves every morning. +So passed away the summer and the autumn, and then came the winter,—the +long, cold winter. All the birds who had sung to her so sweetly +were flown away, and the trees and the flowers had withered. The large +clover leaf under the shelter of which she had lived, was now rolled +together and shrivelled up, nothing remained but a yellow withered +stalk. She felt dreadfully cold, for her clothes were torn, and she +was herself so frail and delicate, that poor little Tiny was nearly +frozen to death. It began to snow too; and the snow-flakes, as they +fell upon her, were like a whole shovelful falling upon one of us, for +we are tall, but she was only an inch high. Then she wrapped herself +up in a dry leaf, but it cracked in the middle and could not keep +her warm, and she shivered with cold. Near the wood in which she had +been living lay a corn-field, but the corn had been cut a long time; +nothing remained but the bare dry stubble standing up out of the +frozen ground. It was to her like struggling through a large wood. Oh! +how she shivered with the cold. She came at last to the door of a +field-mouse, who had a little den under the corn-stubble. There +dwelt the field-mouse in warmth and comfort, with a whole roomful of +corn, a kitchen, and a beautiful dining room. Poor little Tiny stood +before the door just like a little beggar-girl, and begged for a small +piece of barley-corn, for she had been without a morsel to eat for two +days. +</P> + +<P> +"You poor little creature," said the field-mouse, who was really a +good old field-mouse, "come into my warm room and dine with me." She +was very pleased with Tiny, so she said, "You are quite welcome to +stay with me all the winter, if you like; but you must keep my rooms +clean and neat, and tell me stories, for I shall like to hear them +very much." And Tiny did all the field-mouse asked her, and found +herself very comfortable. +</P> + +<P> +"We shall have a visitor soon," said the field-mouse one day; +"my neighbor pays me a visit once a week. He is better off than I +am; he has large rooms, and wears a beautiful black velvet coat. If +you could only have him for a husband, you would be well provided +for indeed. But he is blind, so you must tell him some of your +prettiest stories." +</P> + +<P> +But Tiny did not feel at all interested about this neighbor, for +he was a mole. However, he came and paid his visit dressed in his +black velvet coat. +</P> + +<P> +"He is very rich and learned, and his house is twenty times larger +than mine," said the field-mouse. +</P> + +<P> +He was rich and learned, no doubt, but he always spoke slightingly +of the sun and the pretty flowers, because he had never seen them. +Tiny was obliged to sing to him, "Lady-bird, lady-bird, fly away +home," and many other pretty songs. And the mole fell in love with her +because she had such a sweet voice; but he said nothing yet, for he +was very cautious. A short time before, the mole had dug a long +passage under the earth, which led from the dwelling of the +field-mouse to his own, and here she had permission to walk with +Tiny whenever she liked. But he warned them not to be alarmed at the +sight of a dead bird which lay in the passage. It was a perfect +bird, with a beak and feathers, and could not have been dead long, and +was lying just where the mole had made his passage. The mole took a +piece of phosphorescent wood in his mouth, and it glittered like +fire in the dark; then he went before them to light them through the +long, dark passage. When they came to the spot where lay the dead +bird, the mole pushed his broad nose through the ceiling, the earth +gave way, so that there was a large hole, and the daylight shone +into the passage. In the middle of the floor lay a dead swallow, his +beautiful wings pulled close to his sides, his feet and his head drawn +up under his feathers; the poor bird had evidently died of the cold. +It made little Tiny very sad to see it, she did so love the little +birds; all the summer they had sung and twittered for her so +beautifully. But the mole pushed it aside with his crooked legs, and +said, "He will sing no more now. How miserable it must be to be born a +little bird! I am thankful that none of my children will ever be +birds, for they can do nothing but cry, 'Tweet, tweet,' and always die +of hunger in the winter." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, you may well say that, as a clever man!" exclaimed the +field-mouse, "What is the use of his twittering, for when winter comes +he must either starve or be frozen to death. Still birds are very high +bred." +</P> + +<P> +Tiny said nothing; but when the two others had turned their +backs on the bird, she stooped down and stroked aside the soft +feathers which covered the head, and kissed the closed eyelids. +"Perhaps this was the one who sang to me so sweetly in the summer," +she said; "and how much pleasure it gave me, you dear, pretty bird." +</P> + +<P> +The mole now stopped up the hole through which the daylight shone, +and then accompanied the lady home. But during the night Tiny could +not sleep; so she got out of bed and wove a large, beautiful carpet of +hay; then she carried it to the dead bird, and spread it over him; +with some down from the flowers which she had found in the +field-mouse's room. It was as soft as wool, and she spread some of +it on each side of the bird, so that he might lie warmly in the cold +earth. "Farewell, you pretty little bird," said she, "farewell; +thank you for your delightful singing during the summer, when all +the trees were green, and the warm sun shone upon us." Then she laid +her head on the bird's breast, but she was alarmed immediately, for it +seemed as if something inside the bird went "thump, thump." It was the +bird's heart; he was not really dead, only benumbed with the cold, and +the warmth had restored him to life. In autumn, all the swallows fly +away into warm countries, but if one happens to linger, the cold +seizes it, it becomes frozen, and falls down as if dead; it remains +where it fell, and the cold snow covers it. Tiny trembled very much; +she was quite frightened, for the bird was large, a great deal +larger than herself,—she was only an inch high. But she took courage, +laid the wool more thickly over the poor swallow, and then took a leaf +which she had used for her own counterpane, and laid it over the +head of the poor bird. The next morning she again stole out to see +him. He was alive but very weak; he could only open his eyes for a +moment to look at Tiny, who stood by holding a piece of decayed wood +in her hand, for she had no other lantern. "Thank you, pretty little +maiden," said the sick swallow; "I have been so nicely warmed, that +I shall soon regain my strength, and be able to fly about again in the +warm sunshine." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh," said she, "it is cold out of doors now; it snows and +freezes. Stay in your warm bed; I will take care of you." +</P> + +<P> +Then she brought the swallow some water in a flower-leaf, and +after he had drank, he told her that he had wounded one of his wings +in a thorn-bush, and could not fly as fast as the others, who were +soon far away on their journey to warm countries. Then at last he +had fallen to the earth, and could remember no more, nor how he came +to be where she had found him. The whole winter the swallow remained +underground, and Tiny nursed him with care and love. Neither the +mole nor the field-mouse knew anything about it, for they did not like +swallows. Very soon the spring time came, and the sun warmed the +earth. Then the swallow bade farewell to Tiny, and she opened the hole +in the ceiling which the mole had made. The sun shone in upon them +so beautifully, that the swallow asked her if she would go with him; +she could sit on his back, he said, and he would fly away with her +into the green woods. But Tiny knew it would make the field-mouse very +grieved if she left her in that manner, so she said, "No, I cannot." +</P> + +<P> +"Farewell, then, farewell, you good, pretty little maiden," said +the swallow; and he flew out into the sunshine. +</P> + +<P> +Tiny looked after him, and the tears rose in her eyes. She was +very fond of the poor swallow. +</P> + +<P> +"Tweet, tweet," sang the bird, as he flew out into the green +woods, and Tiny felt very sad. She was not allowed to go out into +the warm sunshine. The corn which had been sown in the field over +the house of the field-mouse had grown up high into the air, and +formed a thick wood to Tiny, who was only an inch in height. +</P> + +<P> +"You are going to be married, Tiny," said the field-mouse. "My +neighbor has asked for you. What good fortune for a poor child like +you. Now we will prepare your wedding clothes. They must be both +woollen and linen. Nothing must be wanting when you are the mole's +wife." +</P> + +<P> +Tiny had to turn the spindle, and the field-mouse hired four +spiders, who were to weave day and night. Every evening the mole +visited her, and was continually speaking of the time when the +summer would be over. Then he would keep his wedding-day with Tiny; +but now the heat of the sun was so great that it burned the earth, and +made it quite hard, like a stone. As soon, as the summer was over, the +wedding should take place. But Tiny was not at all pleased; for she +did not like the tiresome mole. Every morning when the sun rose, and +every evening when it went down, she would creep out at the door, +and as the wind blew aside the ears of corn, so that she could see the +blue sky, she thought how beautiful and bright it seemed out there, +and wished so much to see her dear swallow again. But he never +returned; for by this time he had flown far away into the lovely green +forest. +</P> + +<P> +When autumn arrived, Tiny had her outfit quite ready; and the +field-mouse said to her, "In four weeks the wedding must take place." +</P> + +<P> +Then Tiny wept, and said she would not marry the disagreeable +mole. +</P> + +<P> +"Nonsense," replied the field-mouse. "Now don't be obstinate, or I +shall bite you with my white teeth. He is a very handsome mole; the +queen herself does not wear more beautiful velvets and furs. His +kitchen and cellars are quite full. You ought to be very thankful +for such good fortune." +</P> + +<P> +So the wedding-day was fixed, on which the mole was to fetch +Tiny away to live with him, deep under the earth, and never again to +see the warm sun, because he did not like it. The poor child was +very unhappy at the thought of saying farewell to the beautiful sun, +and as the field-mouse had given her permission to stand at the +door, she went to look at it once more. +</P> + +<P> +"Farewell bright sun," she cried, stretching out her arm towards +it; and then she walked a short distance from the house; for the +corn had been cut, and only the dry stubble remained in the fields. +"Farewell, farewell," she repeated, twining her arm round a little red +flower that grew just by her side. "Greet the little swallow from +me, if you should see him again." +</P> + +<P> +"Tweet, tweet," sounded over her head suddenly. She looked up, and +there was the swallow himself flying close by. As soon as he spied +Tiny, he was delighted; and then she told him how unwilling she felt +to marry the ugly mole, and to live always beneath the earth, and +never to see the bright sun any more. And as she told him she wept. +</P> + +<P> +"Cold winter is coming," said the swallow, "and I am going to +fly away into warmer countries. Will you go with me? You can sit on my +back, and fasten yourself on with your sash. Then we can fly away from +the ugly mole and his gloomy rooms,—far away, over the mountains, +into warmer countries, where the sun shines more brightly—than +here; where it is always summer, and the flowers bloom in greater +beauty. Fly now with me, dear little Tiny; you saved my life when I +lay frozen in that dark passage." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I will go with you," said Tiny; and she seated herself on +the bird's back, with her feet on his outstretched wings, and tied her +girdle to one of his strongest feathers. +</P> + +<P> +Then the swallow rose in the air, and flew over forest and over +sea, high above the highest mountains, covered with eternal snow. Tiny +would have been frozen in the cold air, but she crept under the bird's +warm feathers, keeping her little head uncovered, so that she might +admire the beautiful lands over which they passed. At length they +reached the warm countries, where the sun shines brightly, and the sky +seems so much higher above the earth. Here, on the hedges, and by +the wayside, grew purple, green, and white grapes; lemons and +oranges hung from trees in the woods; and the air was fragrant with +myrtles and orange blossoms. Beautiful children ran along the +country lanes, playing with large gay butterflies; and as the +swallow flew farther and farther, every place appeared still more +lovely. +</P> + +<P> +At last they came to a blue lake, and by the side of it, shaded by +trees of the deepest green, stood a palace of dazzling white marble, +built in the olden times. Vines clustered round its lofty pillars, and +at the top were many swallows' nests, and one of these was the home of +the swallow who carried Tiny. +</P> + +<P> +"This is my house," said the swallow; "but it would not do for you +to live there—you would not be comfortable. You must choose for +yourself one of those lovely flowers, and I will put you down upon it, +and then you shall have everything that you can wish to make you +happy." +</P> + +<P> +"That will be delightful," she said, and clapped her little +hands for joy. +</P> + +<P> +A large marble pillar lay on the ground, which, in falling, had +been broken into three pieces. Between these pieces grew the most +beautiful large white flowers; so the swallow flew down with Tiny, and +placed her on one of the broad leaves. But how surprised she was to +see in the middle of the flower, a tiny little man, as white and +transparent as if he had been made of crystal! He had a gold crown +on his head, and delicate wings at his shoulders, and was not much +larger than Tiny herself. He was the angel of the flower; for a tiny +man and a tiny woman dwell in every flower; and this was the king of +them all. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, how beautiful he is!" whispered Tiny to the swallow. +</P> + +<P> +The little prince was at first quite frightened at the bird, who +was like a giant, compared to such a delicate little creature as +himself; but when he saw Tiny, he was delighted, and thought her the +prettiest little maiden he had ever seen. He took the gold crown +from his head, and placed it on hers, and asked her name, and if she +would be his wife, and queen over all the flowers. +</P> + +<P> +This certainly was a very different sort of husband to the son +of a toad, or the mole, with my black velvet and fur; so she said, +"Yes," to the handsome prince. Then all the flowers opened, and out of +each came a little lady or a tiny lord, all so pretty it was quite a +pleasure to look at them. Each of them brought Tiny a present; but the +best gift was a pair of beautiful wings, which had belonged to a large +white fly and they fastened them to Tiny's shoulders, so that she +might fly from flower to flower. Then there was much rejoicing, and +the little swallow who sat above them, in his nest, was asked to +sing a wedding song, which he did as well as he could; but in his +heart he felt sad for he was very fond of Tiny, and would have liked +never to part from her again. +</P> + +<P> +"You must not be called Tiny any more," said the spirit of the +flowers to her. "It is an ugly name, and you are so very pretty. We +will call you Maia." +</P> + +<P> +"Farewell, farewell," said the swallow, with a heavy heart as he +left the warm countries to fly back into Denmark. There he had a +nest over the window of a house in which dwelt the writer of fairy +tales. The swallow sang, "Tweet, tweet," and from his song came the +whole story. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="li_tuk"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +LITTLE TUK +</H3> + +<P> +Yes, they called him Little Tuk, but it was not his real name; +he had called himself so before he could speak plainly, and he meant +it for Charles. It was all very well for those who knew him, but not +for strangers. +</P> + +<P> +Little Tuk was left at home to take care of his little sister, +Gustava, who was much younger than himself, and he had to learn his +lessons at the same time, and the two things could not very well be +performed together. The poor boy sat there with his sister on his lap, +and sung to her all the songs he knew, and now and then he looked into +his geography lesson that lay open before him. By the next morning +he had to learn by heart all the towns in Zealand, and all that +could be described of them. +</P> + +<P> +His mother came home at last, and took little Gustava in her arms. +Then Tuk ran to the window, and read so eagerly that he nearly read +his eyes out; for it had become darker and darker every minute, and +his mother had no money to buy a light. +</P> + +<P> +"There goes the old washerwoman up the lane," said the mother, +as she looked out of the window; "the poor woman can hardly drag +herself along, and now she had to drag a pail of water from the +well. Be a good boy, Tuk, and run across and help the old woman, won't +you?" +</P> + +<P> +So Tuk ran across quickly, and helped her, but when he came back +into the room it was quite dark, and there was not a word said about a +light, so he was obliged to go to bed on his little truckle +bedstead, and there he lay and thought of his geography lesson, and of +Zealand, and of all the master had told him. He ought really to have +read it over again, but he could not for want of light. So he put +the geography book under his pillow, for he had heard that this was +a great help towards learning a lesson, but not always to be +depended upon. He still lay thinking and thinking, when all at once it +seemed as if some one kissed him on his eyes and mouth. He slept and +yet he did not sleep; and it appeared as if the old washerwoman looked +at him with kind eyes and said, "It would be a great pity if you did +not know your lesson to-morrow morning; you helped me, and now I +will help you, and Providence will always keep those who help +themselves;" and at the same time the book under Tuk's pillow began to +move about. "Cluck, cluck, cluck," cried a hen as she crept towards +him. "I am a hen from Kjoge," and then she told him how many +inhabitants the town contained, and about a battle that had been +fought there, which really was not worth speaking of. +</P> + +<P> +"Crack, crack," down fell something. It was a wooden bird, the +parrot which is used as a target as Prastoe. He said there were as +many inhabitants in that town as he had nails in his body. He was very +proud, and said, "Thorwalsden lived close to me, and here I am now, +quite comfortable." +</P> + +<P> +But now little Tuk was no longer in bed; all in a moment he +found himself on horseback. Gallop, gallop, away he went, seated in +front of a richly-attired knight, with a waving plume, who held him on +the saddle, and so they rode through the wood by the old town of +Wordingburg, which was very large and busy. The king's castle was +surrounded by lofty towers, and radiant light streamed from all the +windows. Within there were songs and dancing; King Waldemar and the +young gayly-dressed ladies of the court were dancing together. Morning +dawned, and as the sun rose, the whole city and the king's castle sank +suddenly down together. One tower after another fell, till at last +only one remained standing on the hill where the castle had formerly +been. +</P> + +<P> +The town now appeared small and poor, and the school-boys read +in their books, which they carried under their arms, that it contained +two thousand inhabitants; but this was a mere boast, for it did not +contain so many. +</P> + +<P> +And again little Tuk lay in his bed, scarcely knowing whether he +was dreaming or not, for some one stood by him. +</P> + +<P> +"Tuk! little Tuk!" said a voice. It was a very little person who +spoke. He was dressed as a sailor, and looked small enough to be a +middy, but he was not one. "I bring you many greetings from Corsor. It +is a rising town, full of life. It has steamships and mail-coaches. In +times past they used to call it ugly, but that is no longer true. I +lie on the sea-shore," said Corsor; "I have high-roads and +pleasure-gardens; I have given birth to a poet who was witty and +entertaining, which they are not all. I once wanted to fit out a +ship to sail round the world, but I did not accomplish it, though most +likely I might have done so. But I am fragrant with perfume, for close +to my gates most lovely roses bloom." +</P> + +<P> +Then before the eyes of little Tuk appeared a confusion of colors, +red and green; but it cleared off, and he could distinguish a cliff +close to the bay, the slopes of which were quite overgrown with +verdure, and on its summit stood a fine old church with pointed +towers. Springs of water flowed out of the cliff in thick waterspouts, +so that there was a continual splashing. Close by sat an old king with +a golden crown on his white head. This was King Hroar of the Springs +and near the springs stood the town of Roeskilde, as it is called. +Then all the kings and queens of Denmark went up the ascent to the old +church, hand in hand, with golden crowns on their heads, while the +organ played and the fountains sent forth jets of water. +</P> + +<P> +Little Tuk saw and heard it all. "Don't forget the names of +these towns," said King Hroar. +</P> + +<P> +All at once everything vanished; but where! It seemed to him +like turning over the leaves of a book. And now there stood before him +an old peasant woman, who had come from Soroe where the grass grows in +the market-place. She had a green linen apron thrown over her head and +shoulders, and it was quite wet, as if it had been raining heavily. +"Yes, that it has," said she, and then, just as she was going to +tell him a great many pretty stories from Holberg's comedies, and +about Waldemar and Absalom, she suddenly shrunk up together, and +wagged her head as if she were a frog about to spring. "Croak," she +cried; "it is always wet, and as quiet as death in Soroe." Then little +Tuk saw she was changed into a frog. "Croak," and again she was an old +woman. "One must dress according to the weather," said she. "It is +wet, and my town is just like a bottle. By the cork we must go in, and +by the cork we must come out again. In olden times I had beautiful +fish, and now I have fresh, rosy-cheeked boys in the bottom of the +bottle, and they learn wisdom, Hebrew and Greek." +</P> + +<P> +"Croak." How it sounded like the cry of the frogs on the moor, +or like the creaking of great boots when some one is marching,—always +the same tone, so monotonous and wearing, that little Tuk at length +fell fast asleep, and then the sound could not annoy him. But even +in this sleep came a dream or something like it. His little sister +Gustava, with her blue eyes, and fair curly hair, had grown up a +beautiful maiden all at once, and without having wings she could +fly. And they flew together over Zealand, over green forests and +blue lakes. +</P> + +<P> +"Hark, so you hear the cock crow, little Tuk. 'Cock-a-doodle-doo.' +The fowls are flying out of Kjoge. You shall have a large farm-yard. +You shall never suffer hunger or want. The bird of good omen shall +be yours, and you shall become a rich and happy man; your house +shall rise up like King Waldemar's towers, and shall be richly adorned +with marble statues, like those at Prastoe. Understand me well; your +name shall travel with fame round the world like the ship that was +to sail from Corsor, and at Roeskilde,—Don't forget the names of +the towns, as King Hroar said,—you shall speak well and clearly +little Tuk, and when at last you lie in your grave you shall sleep +peacefully, as—" +</P> + +<P> +"As if I lay in Soroe," said little Tuk awaking. It was bright +daylight, and he could not remember his dream, but that was not +necessary, for we are not to know what will happen to us in the +future. Then he sprang out of bed quickly, and read over his lesson in +the book, and knew it all at once quite correctly. The old washerwoman +put her head in at the door, and nodded to him quite kindly, and said, +"Many thanks, you good child, for your help yesterday. I hope all your +beautiful dreams will come true." +</P> + +<P> +Little Tuk did not at all know what he had dreamt, but One above +did. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="lovelies"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE LOVELIEST ROSE IN THE WORLD +</H3> + +<P> +There lived once a great queen, in whose garden were found at +all seasons the most splendid flowers, and from every land in the +world. She specially loved roses, and therefore she possessed the most +beautiful varieties of this flower, from the wild hedge-rose, with its +apple-scented leaves, to the splendid Provence rose. They grew near +the shelter of the walls, wound themselves round columns and +window-frames, crept along passages and over the ceilings of the +halls. They were of every fragrance and color. +</P> + +<P> +But care and sorrow dwelt within these halls; the queen lay upon a +sick bed, and the doctors declared that she must die. "There is +still one thing that could save her," said one of the wisest among +them. "Bring her the loveliest rose in the world; one which exhibits +the purest and brightest love, and if it is brought to her before +her eyes close, she will not die." +</P> + +<P> +Then from all parts came those who brought roses that bloomed in +every garden, but they were not the right sort. The flower must be one +from the garden of love; but which of the roses there showed forth the +highest and purest love? The poets sang of this rose, the loveliest in +the world, and each named one which he considered worthy of that +title; and intelligence of what was required was sent far and wide +to every heart that beat with love; to every class, age, and +condition. +</P> + +<P> +"No one has yet named the flower," said the wise man. "No one +has pointed out the spot where it blooms in all its splendor. It is +not a rose from the coffin of Romeo and Juliet, or from the grave of +Walburg, though these roses will live in everlasting song. It is not +one of the roses which sprouted forth from the blood-stained fame of +Winkelreid. The blood which flows from the breast of a hero who dies +for his country is sacred, and his memory is sweet, and no rose can be +redder than the blood which flows from his veins. Neither is it the +magic flower of Science, to obtain which wondrous flower a man devotes +many an hour of his fresh young life in sleepless nights, in a +lonely chamber." +</P> + +<P> +"I know where it blooms," said a happy mother, who came with her +lovely child to the bedside of the queen. "I know where the +loveliest rose in the world is. It is seen on the blooming cheeks of +my sweet child, when it expresses the pure and holy love of infancy; +when refreshed by sleep it opens its eyes, and smiles upon me with +childlike affection." +</P> + +<P> +"This is a lovely rose," said the wise man; "but there is one +still more lovely." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, one far more lovely," said one of the women. "I have seen +it, and a loftier and purer rose does not bloom. But it was white, +like the leaves of a blush-rose. I saw it on the cheeks of the +queen. She had taken off her golden crown, and through the long, +dreary night, she carried her sick child in her arms. She wept over +it, kissed it, and prayed for it as only a mother can pray in that +hour of her anguish." +</P> + +<P> +"Holy and wonderful in its might is the white rose of grief, but +it is not the one we seek." +</P> + +<P> +"No; the loveliest rose in the world I saw at the Lord's table," +said the good old bishop. "I saw it shine as if an angel's face had +appeared. A young maiden knelt at the altar, and renewed the vows made +at her baptism; and there were white roses and red roses on the +blushing cheeks of that young girl. She looked up to heaven with all +the purity and love of her young spirit, in all the expression of +the highest and purest love." +</P> + +<P> +"May she be blessed!" said the wise man: "but no one has yet named +the loveliest rose in the world." +</P> + +<P> +Then there came into the room a child—the queen's little son. +Tears stood in his eyes, and glistened on his cheeks; he carried a +great book and the binding was of velvet, with silver clasps. +"Mother," cried the little boy; "only hear what I have read." And +the child seated himself by the bedside, and read from the book of Him +who suffered death on the cross to save all men, even who are yet +unborn. He read, "Greater love hath no man than this," and as he +read a roseate hue spread over the cheeks of the queen, and her eyes +became so enlightened and clear, that she saw from the leaves of the +book a lovely rose spring forth, a type of Him who shed His blood on +the cross. +</P> + +<P> +"I see it," she said. "He who beholds this, the loveliest rose +on earth, shall never die." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="mailcoac"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE MAIL-COACH PASSENGERS +</H3> + +<P> +It was bitterly cold, the sky glittered with stars, and not a +breeze stirred. "Bump"—an old pot was thrown at a neighbor's door; +and "bang, bang," went the guns; for they were greeting the New +Year. It was New Year's Eve, and the church clock was striking twelve. +"Tan-ta-ra-ra, tan-ta-ra-ra," sounded the horn, and the mail-coach +came lumbering up. The clumsy vehicle stopped at the gate of the town; +all the places had been taken, for there were twelve passengers in the +coach. +</P> + +<P> +"Hurrah! hurrah!" cried the people in the town; for in every house +the New Year was being welcomed; and as the clock struck, they stood +up, the full glasses in their hands, to drink success to the new +comer. "A happy New Year," was the cry; "a pretty wife, plenty of +money, and no sorrow or care." +</P> + +<P> +The wish passed round, and the glasses clashed together till +they rang again; while before the town-gate the mail coach stopped +with the twelve strange passengers. And who were these strangers? Each +of them had his passport and his luggage with him; they even brought +presents for me, and for you, and for all the people in the town. "Who +were they? what did they want? and what did they bring with them?" +</P> + +<P> +"Good-morning," they cried to the sentry at the town-gate. +</P> + +<P> +"Good-morning," replied the sentry; for the clock had struck +twelve. "Your name and profession?" asked the sentry of the one who +alighted first from the carriage. +</P> + +<P> +"See for yourself in the passport," he replied. "I am myself;" and +a famous fellow he looked, arrayed in bear-skin and fur boots. "I am +the man on whom many persons fix their hopes. Come to me to-morrow, +and I'll give you a New Year's present. I throw shillings and pence +among the people; I give balls, no less than thirty-one; indeed, +that is the highest number I can spare for balls. My ships are often +frozen in, but in my offices it is warm and comfortable. My name is +JANUARY. I'm a merchant, and I generally bring my accounts with me." +</P> + +<P> +Then the second alighted. He seemed a merry fellow. He was a +director of a theatre, a manager of masked balls, and a leader of +all the amusements we can imagine. His luggage consisted of a great +cask. +</P> + +<P> +"We'll dance the bung out of the cask at carnival time," said +he; "I'll prepare a merry tune for you and for myself too. +Unfortunately I have not long to live—the shortest time, in fact, +of my whole family—only twenty-eight days. Sometimes they pop me in a +day extra; but I trouble myself very little about that. Hurrah!" +</P> + +<P> +"You must not shout so," said the sentry. +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly I may shout," retorted the man; "I'm Prince Carnival, +travelling under the name of FEBRUARY." +</P> + +<P> +The third now got out. He looked a personification of fasting; but +he carried his nose very high, for he was related to the "forty +(k)nights," and was a weather prophet. But that is not a very +lucrative office, and therefore he praised fasting. In his button-hole +he carried a little bunch of violets, but they were very small. +</P> + +<P> +"MARCH, March," the fourth called after him, slapping him on the +shoulder, "don't you smell something? Make haste into the guard +room; they're drinking punch there; that's your favorite drink. I +can smell it out here already. Forward, Master March." But it was +not true; the speaker only wanted to remind him of his name, and to +make an APRIL fool of him; for with that fun the fourth generally +began his career. He looked very jovial, did little work, and had +the more holidays. "If the world were only a little more settled," +said he: "but sometimes I'm obliged to be in a good humor, and +sometimes a bad one, according to circumstances; now rain, now +sunshine. I'm kind of a house agent, also a manager of funerals. I can +laugh or cry, according to circumstances. I have my summer wardrobe in +this box here, but it would be very foolish to put it on now. Here I +am. On Sundays I go out walking in shoes and white silk stockings, and +a muff." +</P> + +<P> +After him, a lady stepped out of the coach. She called herself +Miss MAY. She wore a summer dress and overshoes; her dress was a light +green, and she wore anemones in her hair. She was so scented with +wild-thyme, that it made the sentry sneeze. +</P> + +<P> +"Your health, and God bless you," was her salutation to him. +</P> + +<P> +How pretty she was! and such a singer! not a theatre singer, nor a +ballad singer; no, but a singer of the woods; for she wandered through +the gay green forest, and had a concert there for her own amusement. +</P> + +<P> +"Now comes the young lady," said those in the carriage; and out +stepped a young dame, delicate, proud, and pretty. It was Mistress +JUNE, in whose service people become lazy and fond of sleeping for +hours. She gives a feast on the longest day of the year, that there +may be time for her guests to partake of the numerous dishes at her +table. Indeed, she keeps her own carriage; but still she travelled +by the mail, with the rest, because she wished to show that she was +not high-minded. But she was not without a protector; her younger +brother, JULY, was with her. He was a plump young fellow, clad in +summer garments and wearing a straw hat. He had but very little +luggage with him, because it was so cumbersome in the great heat; he +had, however, swimming-trousers with him, which are nothing to +carry. Then came the mother herself, in crinoline, Madame AUGUST, a +wholesale dealer in fruit, proprietress of a large number of fish +ponds and a land cultivator. She was fat and heated, yet she could use +her hands well, and would herself carry out beer to the laborers in +the field. "In the sweat of the face shalt thou eat bread," said +she; "it is written in the Bible." After work, came the recreations, +dancing and playing in the greenwood, and the "harvest homes." She was +a thorough housewife. +</P> + +<P> +After her a man came out of the coach, who is a painter; he is the +great master of colors, and is named SEPTEMBER. The forest, on his +arrival, had to change its colors when he wished it; and how beautiful +are the colors he chooses! The woods glow with hues of red and gold +and brown. This great master painter could whistle like a blackbird. +He was quick in his work, and soon entwined the tendrils of the hop +plant around his beer jug. This was an ornament to the jug, and he has +a great love for ornament. There he stood with his color pot in his +hand, and that was the whole of his luggage. A land-owner followed, +who in the month for sowing seed attended to the ploughing and was +fond of field sports. Squire OCTOBER brought his dog and his gun +with him, and had nuts in his game bag. "Crack, crack." He had a great +deal of luggage, even an English plough. He spoke of farming, but what +he said could scarcely be heard for the coughing and gasping of his +neighbor. It was NOVEMBER, who coughed violently as he got out. He had +a cold, which caused him to use his pocket-handkerchief continually; +and yet he said he was obliged to accompany servant girls to their new +places, and initiate them into their winter service. He said he +thought his cold would never leave him when he went out woodcutting, +for he was a master sawyer, and had to supply wood to the whole +parish. He spent his evenings preparing wooden soles for skates, for +he knew, he said, that in a few weeks these shoes would be wanted +for the amusement of skating. At length the last passenger made her +appearance,—old Mother DECEMBER, with her fire-stool. The dame was +very old, but her eyes glistened like two stars. She carried on her +arm a flower-pot, in which a little fir-tree was growing. "This tree I +shall guard and cherish," she said, "that it may grow large by +Christmas Eve, and reach from the ground to the ceiling, to be covered +and adorned with flaming candles, golden apples, and little figures. +The fire-stool will be as warm as a stove, and I shall then bring a +story book out of my pocket, and read aloud till all the children in +the room are quite quiet. Then the little figures on the tree will +become lively, and the little waxen angel at the top spread out his +wings of gold-leaf, and fly down from his green perch. He will kiss +every one in the room, great and small; yes, even the poor children +who stand in the passage, or out in the street singing a carol about +the 'Star of Bethlehem.'" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, now the coach may drive away," said the sentry; "we have +the whole twelve. Let the horses be put up." +</P> + +<P> +"First, let all the twelve come to me," said the captain on +duty, "one after another. The passports I will keep here. Each of them +is available for one month; when that has passed, I shall write the +behavior of each on his passport. Mr. JANUARY, have the goodness to +come here." And Mr. January stepped forward. +</P> + +<P> +When a year has passed, I think I shall be able to tell you what +the twelve passengers have brought to you, to me, and to all of us. +Now I do not know, and probably even they don't know themselves, for +we live in strange times. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="marsh_ki"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE MARSH KING'S DAUGHTER +</H3> + +<P> +The storks relate to their little ones a great many stories, and +they are all about moors and reed banks, and suited to their age and +capacity. The youngest of them are quite satisfied with "kribble, +krabble," or such nonsense, and think it very grand; but the elder +ones want something with a deeper meaning, or at least something about +their own family. +</P> + +<P> +We are only acquainted with one of the two longest and oldest +stories which the storks relate—it is about Moses, who was exposed by +his mother on the banks of the Nile, and was found by the king's +daughter, who gave him a good education, and he afterwards became a +great man; but where he was buried is still unknown. +</P> + +<P> +Every one knows this story, but not the second; very likely +because it is quite an inland story. It has been repeated from mouth +to mouth, from one stork-mamma to another, for thousands of years; and +each has told it better than the last; and now we mean to tell it +better than all. +</P> + +<P> +The first stork pair who related it lived at the time it happened, +and had their summer residence on the rafters of the Viking's house, +which stood near the wild moorlands of Wendsyssell; that is, to +speak more correctly, the great moorheath, high up in the north of +Jutland, by the Skjagen peak. This wilderness is still an immense wild +heath of marshy ground, about which we can read in the "Official +Directory." It is said that in olden times the place was a lake, the +ground of which had heaved up from beneath, and now the moorland +extends for miles in every direction, and is surrounded by damp +meadows, trembling, undulating swamps, and marshy ground covered +with turf, on which grow bilberry bushes and stunted trees. Mists +are almost always hovering over this region, which, seventy years ago, +was overrun with wolves. It may well be called the Wild Moor; and +one can easily imagine, with such a wild expanse of marsh and lake, +how lonely and dreary it must have been a thousand years ago. Many +things may be noticed now that existed then. The reeds grow to the +same height, and bear the same kind of long, purple-brown leaves, with +their feathery tips. There still stands the birch, with its white bark +and its delicate, loosely hanging leaves; and with regard to the +living beings who frequented this spot, the fly still wears a gauzy +dress of the same cut, and the favorite colors of the stork are white, +with black and red for stockings. The people, certainly, in those +days, wore very different dresses to those they now wear, but if any +of them, be he huntsman or squire, master or servant, ventured on +the wavering, undulating, marshy ground of the moor, they met with the +same fate a thousand years ago as they would now. The wanderer sank, +and went down to the Marsh King, as he is named, who rules in the +great moorland empire beneath. They also called him "Gunkel King," but +we like the name of "Marsh King" better, and we will give him that +name as the storks do. Very little is known of the Marsh King's +rule, but that, perhaps, is a good thing. +</P> + +<P> +In the neighborhood of the moorlands, and not far from the great +arm of the North Sea and the Cattegat which is called the +Lumfjorden, lay the castle of the Viking, with its water-tight stone +cellars, its tower, and its three projecting storeys. On the ridge +of the roof the stork had built his nest, and there the stork-mamma +sat on her eggs and felt sure her hatching would come to something. +</P> + +<P> +One evening, stork-papa stayed out rather late, and when he came +home he seemed quite busy, bustling, and important. "I have +something very dreadful to tell you," said he to the stork-mamma. +</P> + +<P> +"Keep it to yourself then," she replied. "Remember that I am +hatching eggs; it may agitate me, and will affect them." +</P> + +<P> +"You must know it at once," said he. "The daughter of our host +in Egypt has arrived here. She has ventured to take this journey, +and now she is lost." +</P> + +<P> +"She who sprung from the race of the fairies, is it?" cried the +mother stork. "Oh, tell me all about it; you know I cannot bear to +be kept waiting at a time when I am hatching eggs." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, you see, mother," he replied, "she believed what the +doctors said, and what I have heard you state also, that the +moor-flowers which grow about here would heal her sick father; and she +has flown to the north in swan's plumage, in company with some other +swan-princesses, who come to these parts every year to renew their +youth. She came, and where is she now!" +</P> + +<P> +"You enter into particulars too much," said the mamma stork, +"and the eggs may take cold; I cannot bear such suspense as this." +</P> + +<P> +"Well," said he, "I have kept watch; and this evening I went among +the rushes where I thought the marshy ground would bear me, and +while I was there three swans came. Something in their manner of +flying seemed to say to me, 'Look carefully now; there is one not +all swan, only swan's feathers.' You know, mother, you have the same +intuitive feeling that I have; you know whether a thing is right or +not immediately." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, of course," said she; "but tell me about the princess; I +am tired of hearing about the swan's feathers." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, you know that in the middle of the moor there is +something like a lake," said the stork-papa. "You can see the edge +of it if you raise yourself a little. Just there, by the reeds and the +green banks, lay the trunk of an elder-tree; upon this the three swans +stood flapping their wings, and looking about them; one of them +threw off her plumage, and I immediately recognized her as one of +the princesses of our home in Egypt. There she sat, without any +covering but her long, black hair. I heard her tell the two others +to take great care of the swan's plumage, while she dipped down into +the water to pluck the flowers which she fancied she saw there. The +others nodded, and picked up the feather dress, and took possession of +it. I wonder what will become of it? thought I, and she most likely +asked herself the same question. If so, she received an answer, a very +practical one; for the two swans rose up and flew away with her swan's +plumage. 'Dive down now!' they cried; 'thou shalt never more fly in +the swan's plumage, thou shalt never again see Egypt; here, on the +moor, thou wilt remain.' So saying, they tore the swan's plumage +into a thousand pieces, the feathers drifted about like a snow-shower, +and then the two deceitful princesses flew away." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, that is terrible," said the stork-mamma; "I feel as if I +could hardly bear to hear any more, but you must tell me what happened +next." +</P> + +<P> +"The princess wept and lamented aloud; her tears moistened the +elder stump, which was really not an elder stump but the Marsh King +himself, he who in marshy ground lives and rules. I saw myself how the +stump of the tree turned round, and was a tree no more, while long, +clammy branches like arms, were extended from it. Then the poor +child was terribly frightened, and started up to run away. She +hastened to cross the green, slimy ground; but it will not bear any +weight, much less hers. She quickly sank, and the elder stump dived +immediately after her; in fact, it was he who drew her down. Great +black bubbles rose up out of the moor-slime, and with these every +trace of the two vanished. And now the princess is buried in the +wild marsh, she will never now carry flowers to Egypt to cure her +father. It would have broken your heart, mother, had you seen it." +</P> + +<P> +"You ought not to have told me," said she, "at such a time as +this; the eggs might suffer. But I think the princess will soon find +help; some one will rise up to help her. Ah! if it had been you or +I, or one of our people, it would have been all over with us." +</P> + +<P> +"I mean to go every day," said he, "to see if anything comes to +pass;" and so he did. +</P> + +<P> +A long time went by, but at last he saw a green stalk shooting +up out of the deep, marshy ground. As it reached the surface of the +marsh, a leaf spread out, and unfolded itself broader and broader, and +close to it came forth a bud. +</P> + +<P> +One morning, when the stork-papa was flying over the stem, he +saw that the power of the sun's rays had caused the bud to open, and +in the cup of the flower lay a charming child—a little maiden, +looking as if she had just come out of a bath. The little one was so +like the Egyptian princess, that the stork, at the first moment, +thought it must be the princess herself, but after a little reflection +he decided that it was much more likely to be the daughter of the +princess and the Marsh King; and this explained also her being +placed in the cup of a water-lily. "But she cannot be left to lie +here," thought the stork, "and in my nest there are already so many. +But stay, I have thought of something: the wife of the Viking has no +children, and how often she has wished for a little one. People always +say the stork brings the little ones; I will do so in earnest this +time. I shall fly with the child to the Viking's wife; what +rejoicing there will be!" +</P> + +<P> +And then the stork lifted the little girl out of the flower-cup, +flew to the castle, picked a hole with his beak in the +bladder-covered window, and laid the beautiful child in the bosom +of the Viking's wife. Then he flew back quickly to the stork-mamma and +told her what he had seen and done; and the little storks listened +to it all, for they were then quite old enough to do so. "So you see," +he continued, "that the princess is not dead, for she must have sent +her little one up here; and now I have found a home for her." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, I said it would be so from the first," replied the +stork-mamma; "but now think a little of your own family. Our +travelling time draws near, and I sometimes feel a little irritation +already under the wings. The cuckoos and the nightingale are already +gone, and I heard the quails say they should go too as soon as the +wind was favorable. Our youngsters will go through all the +manoeuvres at the review very well, or I am much mistaken in them." +</P> + +<P> +The Viking's wife was above measure delighted when she awoke the +next morning and found the beautiful little child lying in her +bosom. She kissed it and caressed it; but it cried terribly, and +struck out with its arms and legs, and did not seem to be pleased at +all. At last it cried itself to sleep; and as it lay there so still +and quiet, it was a most beautiful sight to see. The Viking's wife was +so delighted, that body and soul were full of joy. Her heart felt so +light within her, that it seemed as if her husband and his soldiers, +who were absent, must come home as suddenly and unexpectedly as the +little child had done. She and her whole household therefore busied +themselves in preparing everything for the reception of her lord. +The long, colored tapestry, on which she and her maidens had worked +pictures of their idols, Odin, Thor, and Friga, was hung up. The +slaves polished the old shields that served as ornaments; cushions +were placed on the seats, and dry wood laid on the fireplaces in the +centre of the hall, so that the flames might be fanned up at a +moment's notice. The Viking's wife herself assisted in the work, so +that at night she felt very tired, and quickly fell into a sound +sleep. When she awoke, just before morning, she was terribly alarmed +to find that the infant had vanished. She sprang from her couch, +lighted a pine-chip, and searched all round the room, when, at last, +in that part of the bed where her feet had been, lay, not the child, +but a great, ugly frog. She was quite disgusted at this sight, and +seized a heavy stick to kill the frog; but the creature looked at +her with such strange, mournful eyes, that she was unable to strike +the blow. Once more she searched round the room; then she started at +hearing the frog utter a low, painful croak. She sprang from the couch +and opened the window hastily; at the same moment the sun rose, and +threw its beams through the window, till it rested on the couch +where the great frog lay. Suddenly it appeared as if the frog's +broad mouth contracted, and became small and red. The limbs moved +and stretched out and extended themselves till they took a beautiful +shape; and behold there was the pretty child lying before her, and the +ugly frog was gone. "How is this?" she cried, "have I had a wicked +dream? Is it not my own lovely cherub that lies there." Then she +kissed it and fondled it; but the child struggled and fought, and +bit as if she had been a little wild cat. +</P> + +<P> +The Viking did not return on that day, nor the next; he was, +however, on the way home; but the wind, so favorable to the storks, +was against him; for it blew towards the south. A wind in favor of one +is often against another. +</P> + +<P> +After two or three days had passed, it became clear to the +Viking's wife how matters stood with the child; it was under the +influence of a powerful sorcerer. By day it was charming in appearance +as an angel of light, but with a temper wicked and wild; while at +night, in the form of an ugly frog, it was quiet and mournful, with +eyes full of sorrow. Here were two natures, changing inwardly and +outwardly with the absence and return of sunlight. And so it +happened that by day the child, with the actual form of its mother, +possessed the fierce disposition of its father; at night, on the +contrary, its outward appearance plainly showed its descent on the +father's side, while inwardly it had the heart and mind of its mother. +Who would be able to loosen this wicked charm which the sorcerer had +worked upon it? The wife of the Viking lived in constant pain and +sorrow about it. Her heart clung to the little creature, but she could +not explain to her husband the circumstances in which it was placed. +He was expected to return shortly; and were she to tell him, he +would very likely, as was the custom at that time, expose the poor +child in the public highway, and let any one take it away who would. +The good wife of the Viking could not let that happen, and she +therefore resolved that the Viking should never see the child +excepting by daylight. +</P> + +<P> +One morning there sounded a rushing of storks' wings over the +roof. More than a hundred pair of storks had rested there during the +night, to recover themselves after their excursion; and now they +soared aloft, and prepared for the journey southward. +</P> + +<P> +"All the husbands are here, and ready!" they cried; "wives and +children also!" +</P> + +<P> +"How light we are!" screamed the young storks in chorus. +"Something pleasant seems creeping over us, even down to our toes, +as if we were full of live frogs. Ah, how delightful it is to travel +into foreign lands!" +</P> + +<P> +"Hold yourselves properly in the line with us," cried papa and +mamma. "Do not use your beaks so much; it tries the lungs." And then +the storks flew away. +</P> + +<P> +About the same time sounded the clang of the warriors' trumpets +across the heath. The Viking had landed with his men. They were +returning home, richly laden with spoil from the Gallic coast, where +the people, as did also the inhabitants of Britain, often cried in +alarm, "Deliver us from the wild northmen." +</P> + +<P> +Life and noisy pleasure came with them into the castle of the +Viking on the moorland. A great cask of mead was drawn into the +hall, piles of wood blazed, cattle were slain and served up, that they +might feast in reality, The priest who offered the sacrifice sprinkled +the devoted parishioners with the warm blood; the fire crackled, and +the smoke rolled along beneath the roof; the soot fell upon them +from the beams; but they were used to all these things. Guests were +invited, and received handsome presents. All wrongs and unfaithfulness +were forgotten. They drank deeply, and threw in each other's faces the +bones that were left, which was looked upon as a sign of good +feeling amongst them. A bard, who was a kind of musician as well as +warrior, and who had been with the Viking in his expedition, and +knew what to sing about, gave them one of his best songs, in which +they heard all their warlike deeds praised, and every wonderful action +brought forward with honor. Every verse ended with this refrain,— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Gold and possessions will flee away,<BR> + Friends and foes must die one day;<BR> + Every man on earth must die,<BR> + But a famous name will never die."<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +And with that they beat upon their shields, and hammered upon the +table with knives and bones, in a most outrageous manner. +</P> + +<P> +The Viking's wife sat upon a raised cross seat in the open hall. +She wore a silk dress, golden bracelets, and large amber beads. She +was in costly attire, and the bard named her in his song, and spoke of +the rich treasure of gold which she had brought to her husband. Her +husband had already seen the wonderfully beautiful child in the +daytime, and was delighted with her beauty; even her wild ways pleased +him. He said the little maiden would grow up to be a heroine, with the +strong will and determination of a man. She would never wink her eyes, +even if, in joke, an expert hand should attempt to cut off her +eye-brows with a sharp sword. +</P> + +<P> +The full cask of mead soon became empty, and a fresh one was +brought in; for these were people who liked plenty to eat and drink. +The old proverb, which every one knows, says that "the cattle know +when to leave their pasture, but a foolish man knows not the measure +of his own appetite." Yes, they all knew this; but men may know what +is right, and yet often do wrong. They also knew "that even the +welcome guest becomes wearisome when he sits too long in the house." +But there they remained; for pork and mead are good things. And so +at the Viking's house they stayed, and enjoyed themselves; and at +night the bondmen slept in the ashes, and dipped their fingers in +the fat, and licked them. Oh, it was a delightful time! +</P> + +<P> +Once more in the same year the Viking went forth, though the +storms of autumn had already commenced to roar. He went with his +warriors to the coast of Britain; he said that it was but an excursion +of pleasure across the water, so his wife remained at home with the +little girl. After a while, it is quite certain the foster-mother +began to love the poor frog, with its gentle eyes and its deep +sighs, even better than the little beauty who bit and fought with +all around her. +</P> + +<P> +The heavy, damp mists of autumn, which destroy the leaves of the +wood, had already fallen upon forest and heath. Feathers of plucked +birds, as they call the snow, flew about in thick showers, and +winter was coming. The sparrows took possession of the stork's nest, +and conversed about the absent owners in their own fashion; and +they, the stork pair and all their young ones, where were they staying +now? The storks might have been found in the land of Egypt, where +the sun's rays shone forth bright and warm, as it does here at +midsummer. Tamarinds and acacias were in full bloom all over the +country, the crescent of Mahomet glittered brightly from the cupolas +of the mosques, and on the slender pinnacles sat many of the storks, +resting after their long journey. Swarms of them took divided +possession of the nests—nests which lay close to each other between +the venerable columns, and crowded the arches of temples in +forgotten cities. The date and the palm lifted themselves as a +screen or as a sun-shade over them. The gray pyramids looked like +broken shadows in the clear air and the far-off desert, where the +ostrich wheels his rapid flight, and the lion, with his subtle eyes, +gazes at the marble sphinx which lies half buried in sand. The +waters of the Nile had retreated, and the whole bed of the river was +covered with frogs, which was a most acceptable prospect for the stork +families. The young storks thought their eyes deceived them, +everything around appeared so beautiful. +</P> + +<P> +"It is always like this here, and this is how we live in our +warm country," said the stork-mamma; and the thought made the young +ones almost beside themselves with pleasure. +</P> + +<P> +"Is there anything more to see?" they asked; "are we going farther +into the country?" +</P> + +<P> +"There is nothing further for us to see," answered the +stork-mamma. "Beyond this delightful region there are immense forests, +where the branches of the trees entwine round each other, while +prickly, creeping plants cover the paths, and only an elephant could +force a passage for himself with his great feet. The snakes are too +large, and the lizards too lively for us to catch. Then there is the +desert; if you went there, your eyes would soon be full of sand with +the lightest breeze, and if it should blow great guns, you would +most likely find yourself in a sand-drift. Here is the best place +for you, where there are frogs and locusts; here I shall remain, and +so must you." And so they stayed. +</P> + +<P> +The parents sat in the nest on the slender minaret, and rested, +yet still were busily employed in cleaning and smoothing their +feathers, and in sharpening their beaks against their red stockings; +then they would stretch out their necks, salute each other, and +gravely raise their heads with the high-polished forehead, and soft, +smooth feathers, while their brown eyes shone with intelligence. The +female young ones strutted about amid the moist rushes, glancing at +the other young storks and making acquaintances, and swallowing a frog +at every third step, or tossing a little snake about with their beaks, +in a way they considered very becoming, and besides it tasted very +good. The young male storks soon began to quarrel; they struck at each +other with their wings, and pecked with their beaks till the blood +came. And in this manner many of the young ladies and gentlemen were +betrothed to each other: it was, of course, what they wanted, and +indeed what they lived for. Then they returned to a nest, and there +the quarrelling began afresh; for in hot countries people are almost +all violent and passionate. But for all that it was pleasant, +especially for the old people, who watched them with great joy: all +that their young ones did suited them. Every day here there was +sunshine, plenty to eat, and nothing to think of but pleasure. But +in the rich castle of their Egyptian host, as they called him, +pleasure was not to be found. The rich and mighty lord of the castle +lay on his couch, in the midst of the great hall, with its many +colored walls looking like the centre of a great tulip; but he was +stiff and powerless in all his limbs, and lay stretched out like a +mummy. His family and servants stood round him; he was not dead, +although he could scarcely be said to live. The healing moor-flower +from the north, which was to have been found and brought to him by her +who loved him so well, had not arrived. His young and beautiful +daughter who, in swan's plumage, had flown over land and seas to the +distant north, had never returned. She is dead, so the two +swan-maidens had said when they came home; and they made up quite a +story about her, and this is what they told,— +</P> + +<P> +"We three flew away together through the air," said they: "a +hunter caught sight of us, and shot at us with an arrow. The arrow +struck our young friend and sister, and slowly singing her farewell +song she sank down, a dying swan, into the forest lake. On the +shores of the lake, under a spreading birch-tree, we laid her in the +cold earth. We had our revenge; we bound fire under the wings of a +swallow, who had a nest on the thatched roof of the huntsman. The +house took fire, and burst into flames; the hunter was burnt with +the house, and the light was reflected over the sea as far as the +spreading birch, beneath which we laid her sleeping dust. She will +never return to the land of Egypt." And then they both wept. And +stork-papa, who heard the story, snapped with his beak so that it +might be heard a long way off. +</P> + +<P> +"Deceit and lies!" cried he; "I should like to run my beak deep +into their chests." +</P> + +<P> +"And perhaps break it off," said the mamma stork, "then what a +sight you would be. Think first of yourself, and then of your +family; all others are nothing to us." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I know," said the stork-papa; "but to-morrow I can easily +place myself on the edge of the open cupola, when the learned and wise +men assemble to consult on the state of the sick man; perhaps they may +come a little nearer to the truth." And the learned and wise men +assembled together, and talked a great deal on every point; but the +stork could make no sense out of anything they said; neither were +there any good results from their consultations, either for the sick +man, or for his daughter in the marshy heath. When we listen to what +people say in this world, we shall hear a great deal; but it is an +advantage to know what has been said and done before, when we listen +to a conversation. The stork did, and we know at least as much as +he, the stork. +</P> + +<P> +"Love is a life-giver. The highest love produces the highest life. +Only through love can the sick man be cured." This had been said by +many, and even the learned men acknowledged that it was a wise saying. +</P> + +<P> +"What a beautiful thought!" exclaimed the papa stork immediately. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't quite understand it," said the mamma stork, when her +husband repeated it; "however, it is not my fault, but the fault of +the thought; whatever it may be, I have something else to think of." +</P> + +<P> +Now the learned men had spoken also of love between this one and +that one; of the difference of the love which we have for our +neighbor, to the love that exists between parents and children; of the +love of the plant for the light, and how the germ springs forth when +the sunbeam kisses the ground. All these things were so elaborately +and learnedly explained, that it was impossible for stork-papa to +follow it, much less to talk about it. His thoughts on the subject +quite weighed him down; he stood the whole of the following day on one +leg, with half-shut eyes, thinking deeply. So much learning was +quite a heavy weight for him to carry. One thing, however, the papa +stork could understand. Every one, high and low, had from their inmost +hearts expressed their opinion that it was a great misfortune for so +many thousands of people—the whole country indeed—to have this man +so sick, with no hopes of his recovery. And what joy and blessing it +would spread around if he could by any means be cured! But where +bloomed the flower that could bring him health? They had searched +for it everywhere; in learned writings, in the shining stars, in the +weather and wind. Inquiries had been made in every by-way that could +be thought of, until at last the wise and learned men has asserted, as +we have been already told, that "love, the life-giver, could alone +give new life to a father;" and in saying this, they had overdone +it, and said more than they understood themselves. They repeated it, +and wrote it down as a recipe, "Love is a life-giver." But how could +such a recipe be prepared—that was a difficulty they could not +overcome. At last it was decided that help could only come from the +princess herself, whose whole soul was wrapped up in her father, +especially as a plan had been adopted by her to enable her to obtain a +remedy. +</P> + +<P> +More than a year had passed since the princess had set out at +night, when the light of the young moon was soon lost beneath the +horizon. She had gone to the marble sphinx in the desert, shaking +the sand from her sandals, and then passed through the long passage, +which leads to the centre of one of the great pyramids, where the +mighty kings of antiquity, surrounded with pomp and splendor, lie +veiled in the form of mummies. She had been told by the wise men, that +if she laid her head on the breast of one of them, from the head she +would learn where to find life and recovery for her father. She had +performed all this, and in a dream had learnt that she must bring home +to her father the lotus flower, which grows in the deep sea, near +the moors and heath in the Danish land. The very place and situation +had been pointed out to her, and she was told that the flower would +restore her father to health and strength. And, therefore, she had +gone forth from the land of Egypt, flying over to the open marsh and +the wild moor in the plumage of a swan. +</P> + +<P> +The papa and mamma storks knew all this, and we also know it +now. We know, too, that the Marsh King has drawn her down to +himself, and that to the loved ones at home she is forever dead. One +of the wisest of them said, as the stork-mamma also said, "That in +some way she would, after all, manage to succeed;" and so at last they +comforted themselves with this hope, and would wait patiently; in +fact, they could do nothing better. +</P> + +<P> +"I should like to get away the swan's feathers from those two +treacherous princesses," said the papa stork; "then, at least, they +would not be able to fly over again to the wild moor, and do more +wickedness. I can hide the two suits of feathers over yonder, till +we find some use for them." +</P> + +<P> +"But where will you put them?" asked the mamma stork. +</P> + +<P> +"In our nest on the moor. I and the young ones will carry them +by turns during our flight across; and as we return, should they prove +too heavy for us, we shall be sure to find plenty of places on the way +in which we can conceal them till our next journey. Certainly one suit +of swan's feathers would be enough for the princess, but two are +always better. In those northern countries no one can have too many +travelling wrappers." +</P> + +<P> +"No one will thank you for it," said stork-mamma; "but you are +master; and, excepting at breeding time, I have nothing to say." +</P> + +<P> +In the Viking's castle on the wild moor, to which the storks +directed their flight in the following spring, the little maiden still +remained. They had named her Helga, which was rather too soft a name +for a child with a temper like hers, although her form was still +beautiful. Every month this temper showed itself in sharper +outlines; and in the course of years, while the storks still made +the same journeys in autumn to the hill, and in spring to the moors, +the child grew to be almost a woman, and before any one seemed aware +of it, she was a wonderfully beautiful maiden of sixteen. The casket +was splendid, but the contents were worthless. She was, indeed, wild +and savage even in those hard, uncultivated times. It was a pleasure +to her to splash about with her white hands in the warm blood of the +horse which had been slain for sacrifice. In one of her wild moods she +bit off the head of the black cock, which the priest was about to slay +for the sacrifice. To her foster-father she said one day, "If thine +enemy were to pull down thine house about thy ears, and thou shouldest +be sleeping in unconscious security, I would not wake thee; even if +I had the power I would never do it, for my ears still tingle with the +blow that thou gavest me years ago. I have never forgotten it." But +the Viking treated her words as a joke; he was, like every one else, +bewitched with her beauty, and knew nothing of the change in the +form and temper of Helga at night. Without a saddle, she would sit +on a horse as if she were a part of it, while it rushed along at +full speed; nor would she spring from its back, even when it +quarrelled with other horses and bit them. She would often leap from +the high shore into the sea with all her clothes on, and swim to +meet the Viking, when his boat was steering home towards the shore. +She once cut off a long lock of her beautiful hair, and twisted it +into a string for her bow. "If a thing is to be done well," said +she, "I must do it myself." +</P> + +<P> +The Viking's wife was, for the time in which she lived, a woman of +strong character and will; but, compared to her daughter, she was a +gentle, timid woman, and she knew that a wicked sorcerer had the +terrible child in his power. It was sometimes as if Helga acted from +sheer wickedness; for often when her mother stood on the threshold +of the door, or stepped into the yard, she would seat herself on the +brink of the well, wave her arms and legs in the air, and suddenly +fall right in. Here she was able, from her frog nature, to dip and +dive about in the water of the deep well, until at last she would +climb forth like a cat, and come back into the hall dripping with +water, so that the green leaves that were strewed on the floor were +whirled round, and carried away by the streams that flowed from her. +</P> + +<P> +But there was one time of the day which placed a check upon Helga. +It was the evening twilight; when this hour arrived she became quiet +and thoughtful, and allowed herself to be advised and led; then also a +secret feeling seemed to draw her towards her mother. And as usual, +when the sun set, and the transformation took place, both in body +and mind, inwards and outwards, she would remain quiet and mournful, +with her form shrunk together in the shape of a frog. Her body was +much larger than those animals ever are, and on this account it was +much more hideous in appearance; for she looked like a wretched dwarf, +with a frog's head, and webbed fingers. Her eyes had a most piteous +expression; she was without a voice, excepting a hollow, croaking +sound, like the smothered sobs of a dreaming child. +</P> + +<P> +Then the Viking's wife took her on her lap, and forgot the ugly +form, as she looked into the mournful eyes, and often said, "I could +wish that thou wouldst always remain my dumb frog child, for thou +art too terrible when thou art clothed in a form of beauty." And the +Viking woman wrote Runic characters against sorcery and spells of +sickness, and threw them over the wretched child; but they did no +good. +</P> + +<P> +"One can scarcely believe that she was ever small enough to lie in +the cup of the water-lily," said the papa stork; "and now she is grown +up, and the image of her Egyptian mother, especially about the eyes. +Ah, we shall never see her again; perhaps she has not discovered how +to help herself, as you and the wise men said she would. Year after +year have I flown across and across the moor, but there was no sign of +her being still alive. Yes, and I may as well tell you that you that +each year, when I arrived a few days before you to repair the nest, +and put everything in its place, I have spent a whole night flying +here and there over the marshy lake, as if I had been an owl or a bat, +but all to no purpose. The two suit of swan's plumage, which I and the +young ones dragged over here from the land of the Nile, are of no use; +trouble enough it was to us to bring them here in three journeys, +and now they are lying at the bottom of the nest; and if a fire should +happen to break out, and the wooden house be burnt down, they would be +destroyed." +</P> + +<P> +"And our good nest would be destroyed, too," said the mamma stork; +"but you think less of that than of your plumage stuff and your +moor-princess. Go and stay with her in the marsh if you like. You +are a bad father to your own children, as I have told you already, +when I hatched my first brood. I only hope neither we nor our children +may have an arrow sent through our wings, owing to that wild girl. +Helga does not know in the least what she is about. We have lived in +this house longer than she has, she should think of that, and we +have never forgotten our duty. We have paid every year our toll of a +feather, an egg, and a young one, as it is only right we should do. +You don't suppose I can wander about the court-yard, or go +everywhere as I used to do in old times. I can do it in Egypt, where I +can be a companion of the people, without forgetting myself. But +here I cannot go and peep into the pots and kettles as I do there. No, +I can only sit up here and feel angry with that girl, the little +wretch; and I am angry with you, too; you should have left her lying +in the water lily, then no one would have known anything about her." +</P> + +<P> +"You are far better than your conversation," said the papa +stork; "I know you better than you know yourself." And with that he +gave a hop, and flapped his wings twice, proudly; then he stretched +his neck and flew, or rather soared away, without moving his outspread +wings. He went on for some distance, and then he gave a great flap +with his wings and flew on his course at a rapid rate, his head and +neck bending proudly before him, while the sun's rays fell on his +glossy plumage. +</P> + +<P> +"He is the handsomest of them all," said the mamma stork, as she +watched him; "but I won't tell him so." +</P> + +<P> +Early in the autumn, the Viking again returned home laden with +spoil, and bringing prisoners with him. Among them was a young +Christian priest, one of those who contemned the gods of the north. +Often lately there had been, both in hall and chamber, a talk of the +new faith which was spreading far and wide in the south, and which, +through the means of the holy Ansgarius, had already reached as far as +Hedeby on the Schlei. Even Helga had heard of this belief in the +teachings of One who was named Christ, and who for the love of +mankind, and for their redemption, had given up His life. But to her +all this had, as it were, gone in one ear and out the other. It seemed +that she only understood the meaning of the word "love," when in the +form of a miserable frog she crouched together in the corner of the +sleeping chamber; but the Viking's wife had listened to the +wonderful story, and had felt herself strangely moved by it. +</P> + +<P> +On their return, after this voyage, the men spoke of the beautiful +temples built of polished stone, which had been raised for the +public worship of this holy love. Some vessels, curiously formed of +massive gold, had been brought home among the booty. There was a +peculiar fragrance about them all, for they were incense vessels, +which had been swung before the altars in the temples by the Christian +priests. In the deep stony cellars of the castle, the young +Christian priest was immured, and his hands and feet tied together +with strips of bark. The Viking's wife considered him as beautiful +as Baldur, and his distress raised her pity; but Helga said he ought +to have ropes fastened to his heels, and be tied to the tails of +wild animals. +</P> + +<P> +"I would let the dogs loose after him" she said; "over the moor +and across the heath. Hurrah! that would be a spectacle for the +gods, and better still to follow in its course." +</P> + +<P> +But the Viking would not allow him to die such a death as that, +especially as he was the disowned and despiser of the high gods. In +a few days, he had decided to have him offered as a sacrifice on the +blood-stone in the grove. For the first time, a man was to be +sacrificed here. Helga begged to be allowed to sprinkle the +assembled people with the blood of the priest. She sharpened her +glittering knife; and when one of the great, savage dogs, who were +running about the Viking's castle in great numbers, sprang towards +her, she thrust the knife into his side, merely, as she said, to prove +its sharpness. +</P> + +<P> +The Viking's wife looked at the wild, badly disposed girl, with +great sorrow; and when night came on, and her daughter's beautiful +form and disposition were changed, she spoke in eloquent words to +Helga of the sorrow and deep grief that was in her heart. The ugly +frog, in its monstrous shape, stood before her, and raised its brown +mournful eyes to her face, listening to her words, and seeming to +understand them with the intelligence of a human being. +</P> + +<P> +"Never once to my lord and husband has a word passed my lips of +what I have to suffer through you; my heart is full of grief about +you," said the Viking's wife. "The love of a mother is greater and +more powerful than I ever imagined. But love never entered thy +heart; it is cold and clammy, like the plants on the moor." +</P> + +<P> +Then the miserable form trembled; it was as if these words had +touched an invisible bond between body and soul, for great tears stood +in the eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"A bitter time will come for thee at last," continued the Viking's +wife; "and it will be terrible for me too. It had been better for thee +if thou hadst been left on the high-road, with the cold night wind +to lull thee to sleep." And the Viking's wife shed bitter tears, and +went away in anger and sorrow, passing under the partition of furs, +which hung loose over the beam and divided the hall. +</P> + +<P> +The shrivelled frog still sat in the corner alone. Deep silence +reigned around. At intervals, a half-stifled sigh was heard from its +inmost soul; it was the soul of Helga. It seemed in pain, as if a +new life were arising in her heart. Then she took a step forward and +listened; then stepped again forward, and seized with her clumsy hands +the heavy bar which was laid across the door. Gently, and with much +trouble, she pushed back the bar, as silently lifted the latch, and +then took up the glimmering lamp which stood in the ante-chamber of +the hall. It seemed as if a stronger will than her own gave her +strength. She removed the iron bolt from the closed cellar-door, and +slipped in to the prisoner. He was slumbering. She touched him with +her cold, moist hand, and as he awoke and caught sight of the +hideous form, he shuddered as if he beheld a wicked apparition. She +drew her knife, cut through the bonds which confined his hands and +feet, and beckoned to him to follow her. He uttered some holy names +and made the sign of the cross, while the form remained motionless +by his side. +</P> + +<P> +"Who art thou?" he asked, "whose outward appearance is that of +an animal, while thou willingly performest acts of mercy?" +</P> + +<P> +The frog-figure beckoned to him to follow her, and led him through +a long gallery concealed by hanging drapery to the stables, and then +pointed to a horse. He mounted upon it, and she sprang up also +before him, and held tightly by the animal's mane. The prisoner +understood her, and they rode on at a rapid trot, by a road which he +would never have found by himself, across the open heath. He forgot +her ugly form, and only thought how the mercy and loving-kindness of +the Almighty was acting through this hideous apparition. As he offered +pious prayers and sang holy songs of praise, she trembled. Was it +the effect of prayer and praise that caused this? or, was she +shuddering in the cold morning air at the thought of approaching +twilight? What were her feelings? She raised herself up, and wanted to +stop the horse and spring off, but the Christian priest held her +back with all his might, and then sang a pious song, as if this +could loosen the wicked charm that had changed her into the +semblance of a frog. +</P> + +<P> +And the horse galloped on more wildly than before. The sky painted +itself red, the first sunbeam pierced through the clouds, and in the +clear flood of sunlight the frog became changed. It was Helga again, +young and beautiful, but with a wicked demoniac spirit. He held now +a beautiful young woman in his arms, and he was horrified at the +sight. He stopped the horse, and sprang from its back. He imagined +that some new sorcery was at work. But Helga also leaped from the +horse and stood on the ground. The child's short garment reached +only to her knee. She snatched the sharp knife from her girdle, and +rushed like lightning at the astonished priest. "Let me get at +thee!" she cried; "let me get at thee, that I may plunge this knife +into thy body. Thou art pale as ashes, thou beardless slave." She +pressed in upon him. They struggled with each other in heavy combat, +but it was as if an invisible power had been given to the Christian in +the struggle. He held her fast, and the old oak under which they stood +seemed to help him, for the loosened roots on the ground became +entangled in the maiden's feet, and held them fast. Close by rose a +bubbling spring, and he sprinkled Helga's face and neck with the +water, commanded the unclean spirit to come forth, and pronounced upon +her a Christian blessing. But the water of faith has no power unless +the well-spring of faith flows within. And yet even here its power was +shown; something more than the mere strength of a man opposed +itself, through his means, against the evil which struggled within +her. His holy action seemed to overpower her. She dropped her arms, +glanced at him with pale cheeks and looks of amazement. He appeared to +her a mighty magician skilled in secret arts; his language was the +darkest magic to her, and the movements of his hands in the air were +as the secret signs of a magician's wand. She would not have blinked +had he waved over her head a sharp knife or a glittering axe; but +she shrunk from him as he signed her with the sign of the cross on her +forehead and breast, and sat before him like a tame bird, with her +head bowed down. Then he spoke to her, in gentle words, of the deed of +love she had performed for him during the night, when she had come +to him in the form of an ugly frog, to loosen his bonds, and to lead +him forth to life and light; and he told her that she was bound in +closer fetters than he had been, and that she could recover also +life and light by his means. He would take her to Hedeby to St. +Ansgarius, and there, in that Christian town, the spell of the +sorcerer would be removed. But he would not let her sit before him +on the horse, though of her own free will she wished to do so. "Thou +must sit behind me, not before me," said he. "Thy magic beauty has a +magic power which comes from an evil origin, and I fear it; still I am +sure to overcome through my faith in Christ." Then he knelt down, +and prayed with pious fervor. It was as if the quiet woodland were a +holy church consecrated by his worship. The birds sang as if they were +also of this new congregation; and the fragrance of the wild flowers +was as the ambrosial perfume of incense; while, above all, sounded the +words of Scripture, "A light to them that sit in darkness and in the +shadow of death, to guide their feet into the way of peace." And he +spoke these words with the deep longing of his whole nature. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile, the horse that had carried them in wild career stood +quietly by, plucking at the tall bramble-bushes, till the ripe young +berries fell down upon Helga's hands, as if inviting her to eat. +Patiently she allowed herself to be lifted on the horse, and sat there +like a somnambulist—as one who walked in his sleep. The Christian +bound two branches together with bark, in the form of a cross, and +held it on high as they rode through the forest. The way gradually +grew thicker of brushwood, as they rode along, till at last it +became a trackless wilderness. Bushes of the wild sloe here and +there blocked up the path, so that they had to ride over them. The +bubbling spring formed not a stream, but a marsh, round which also +they were obliged to guide the horse; still there were strength and +refreshment in the cool forest breeze, and no trifling power in the +gentle words spoken in faith and Christian love by the young priest, +whose inmost heart yearned to lead this poor lost one into the way +of light and life. It is said that rain-drops can make a hollow in the +hardest stone, and the waves of the sea can smooth and round the rough +edges of the rocks; so did the dew of mercy fall upon Helga, softening +what was hard, and smoothing what was rough in her character. These +effects did not yet appear; she was not herself aware of them; neither +does the seed in the lap of earth know, when the refreshing dew and +the warm sunbeams fall upon it, that it contains within itself power +by which it will flourish and bloom. The song of the mother sinks into +the heart of the child, and the little one prattles the words after +her, without understanding their meaning; but after a time the +thoughts expand, and what has been heard in childhood seems to the +mind clear and bright. So now the "Word," which is all-powerful to +create, was working in the heart of Helga. +</P> + +<P> +They rode forth from the thick forest, crossed the heath, and +again entered a pathless wood. Here, towards evening, they met with +robbers. +</P> + +<P> +"Where hast thou stolen that beauteous maiden?" cried the robbers, +seizing the horse by the bridle, and dragging the two riders from +its back. +</P> + +<P> +The priest had nothing to defend himself with, but the knife he +had taken from Helga, and with this he struck out right and left. +One of the robbers raised his axe against him; but the young priest +sprang on one side, and avoided the blow, which fell with great +force on the horse's neck, so that the blood gushed forth, and the +animal sunk to the ground. Then Helga seemed suddenly to awake from +her long, deep reverie; she threw herself hastily upon the dying +animal. The priest placed himself before her, to defend and shelter +her; but one of the robbers swung his iron axe against the Christian's +head with such force that it was dashed to pieces, the blood and +brains were scattered about, and he fell dead upon the ground. Then +the robbers seized beautiful Helga by her white arms and slender +waist; but at that moment the sun went down, and as its last ray +disappeared, she was changed into the form of a frog. A greenish white +mouth spread half over her face; her arms became thin and slimy; while +broad hands, with webbed fingers, spread themselves out like fans. +Then the robbers, in terror, let her go, and she stood among them, a +hideous monster; and as is the nature of frogs to do, she hopped up as +high as her own size, and disappeared in the thicket. Then the robbers +knew that this must be the work of an evil spirit or some secret +sorcery, and, in a terrible fright, they ran hastily from the spot. +</P> + +<P> +The full moon had already risen, and was shining in all her +radiant splendor over the earth, when from the thicket, in the form of +a frog, crept poor Helga. She stood still by the corpse of the +Christian priest, and the carcase of the dead horse. She looked at +them with eyes that seemed to weep, and from the frog's head came +forth a croaking sound, as when a child bursts into tears. She threw +herself first upon one, and then upon the other; brought water in +her hand, which, from being webbed, was large and hollow, and poured +it over them; but they were dead, and dead they would remain. She +understood that at last. Soon wild animals would come and tear their +dead bodies; but no, that must not happen. Then she dug up the +earth, as deep as she was able, that she might prepare a grave for +them. She had nothing but a branch of a tree and her two hands, +between the fingers of which the webbed skin stretched, and they +were torn by the work, while the blood ran down her hands. She saw +at last that her work would be useless, more than she could +accomplish; so she fetched more water, and washed the face of the +dead, and then covered it with fresh green leaves; she also brought +large boughs and spread over him, and scattered dried leaves between +the branches. Then she brought the heaviest stones that she could +carry, and laid them over the dead body, filling up the crevices +with moss, till she thought she had fenced in his resting-place +strongly enough. The difficult task had employed her the whole +night; and as the sun broke forth, there stood the beautiful Helga +in all her loveliness, with her bleeding hands, and, for the first +time, with tears on her maiden cheeks. It was, in this transformation, +as if two natures were striving together within her; her whole frame +trembled, and she looked around her as if she had just awoke from a +painful dream. She leaned for support against the trunk of a slender +tree, and at last climbed to the topmost branches, like a cat, and +seated herself firmly upon them. She remained there the whole day, +sitting alone, like a frightened squirrel, in the silent solitude of +the wood, where the rest and stillness is as the calm of death. +</P> + +<P> +Butterflies fluttered around her, and close by were several +ant-hills, each with its hundreds of busy little creatures moving +quickly to and fro. In the air, danced myriads of gnats, swarm upon +swarm, troops of buzzing flies, ladybirds, dragon-flies with golden +wings, and other little winged creatures. The worm crawled forth +from the moist ground, and the moles crept out; but, excepting +these, all around had the stillness of death: but when people say +this, they do not quite understand themselves what they mean. None +noticed Helga but a flock of magpies, which flew chattering round +the top of the tree on which she sat. These birds hopped close to +her on the branches with bold curiosity. A glance from her eyes was +a signal to frighten them away, and they were not clever enough to +find out who she was; indeed she hardly knew herself. +</P> + +<P> +When the sun was near setting, and the evening's twilight about to +commence, the approaching transformation aroused her to fresh +exertion. She let herself down gently from the tree, and, as the +last sunbeam vanished, she stood again in the wrinkled form of a frog, +with the torn, webbed skin on her hands, but her eyes now gleamed with +more radiant beauty than they had ever possessed in her most beautiful +form of loveliness; they were now pure, mild maidenly eyes that +shone forth in the face of a frog. They showed the existence of deep +feeling and a human heart, and the beauteous eyes overflowed with +tears, weeping precious drops that lightened the heart. +</P> + +<P> +On the raised mound which she had made as a grave for the dead +priest, she found the cross made of the branches of a tree, the last +work of him who now lay dead and cold beneath it. A sudden thought +came to Helga, and she lifted up the cross and planted it upon the +grave, between the stones that covered him and the dead horse. The sad +recollection brought the tears to her eyes, and in this gentle +spirit she traced the same sign in the sand round the grave; and as +she formed, with both her hands, the sign of the cross, the web skin +fell from them like a torn glove. She washed her hands in the water of +the spring, and gazed with astonishment at their delicate whiteness. +Again she made the holy sign in the air, between herself and the +dead man; her lips trembled, her tongue moved, and the name which +she in her ride through the forest had so often heard spoken, rose +to her lips, and she uttered the words, "Jesus Christ." Then the +frog skin fell from her; she was once more a lovely maiden. Her head +bent wearily, her tired limbs required rest, and then she slept. +</P> + +<P> +Her sleep, however, was short. Towards midnight, she awoke; before +her stood the dead horse, prancing and full of life, which shone forth +from his eyes and from his wounded neck. Close by his side appeared +the murdered Christian priest, more beautiful than Baldur, as the +Viking's wife had said; but now he came as if in a flame of fire. Such +gravity, such stern justice, such a piercing glance shone from his +large, gentle eyes, that it seemed to penetrate into every corner of +her heart. Beautiful Helga trembled at the look, and her memory +returned with a power as if it had been the day of judgment. Every +good deed that had been done for her, every loving word that had +been said, were vividly before her mind. She understood now that +love had kept her here during the day of her trial; while the creature +formed of dust and clay, soul and spirit, had wrestled and struggled +with evil. She acknowledged that she had only followed the impulses of +an evil disposition, that she had done nothing to cure herself; +everything had been given her, and all had happened as it were by +the ordination of Providence. She bowed herself humbly, confessed +her great imperfections in the sight of Him who can read every fault +of the heart, and then the priest spoke. "Daughter of the moorland, +thou hast come from the swamp and the marshy earth, but from this thou +shalt arise. The sunlight shining into thy inmost soul proves the +origin from which thou hast really sprung, and has restored the body +to its natural form. I am come to thee from the land of the dead, +and thou also must pass through the valley to reach the holy mountains +where mercy and perfection dwell. I cannot lead thee to Hedeby that +thou mayst receive Christian baptism, for first thou must remove the +thick veil with which the waters of the moorland are shrouded, and +bring forth from its depths the living author of thy being and thy +life. Till this is done, thou canst not receive consecration." +</P> + +<P> +Then he lifted her on the horse and gave her a golden censer, +similar to those she had already seen at the Viking's house. A sweet +perfume arose from it, while the open wound in the forehead of the +slain priest, shone with the rays of a diamond. He took the cross from +the grave, and held it aloft, and now they rode through the air over +the rustling trees, over the hills where warriors lay buried each by +his dead war-horse; and the brazen monumental figures rose up and +galloped forth, and stationed themselves on the summits of the +hills. The golden crescent on their foreheads, fastened with golden +knots, glittered in the moonlight, and their mantles floated in the +wind. The dragon, that guards buried treasure, lifted his head and +gazed after them. The goblins and the satyrs peeped out from beneath +the hills, and flitted to and fro in the fields, waving blue, red, and +green torches, like the glowing sparks in burning paper. Over woodland +and heath, flood and fen, they flew on, till they reached the wild +moor, over which they hovered in broad circles. The Christian priest +held the cross aloft, and it glittered like gold, while from his +lips sounded pious prayers. Beautiful Helga's voice joined with his in +the hymns he sung, as a child joins in her mother's song. She swung +the censer, and a wonderful fragrance of incense arose from it; so +powerful, that the reeds and rushes of the moor burst forth into +blossom. Each germ came forth from the deep ground: all that had +life raised itself. Blooming water-lilies spread themselves forth like +a carpet of wrought flowers, and upon them lay a slumbering woman, +young and beautiful. Helga fancied that it was her own image she saw +reflected in the still water. But it was her mother she beheld, the +wife of the Marsh King, the princess from the land of the Nile. +</P> + +<P> +The dead Christian priest desired that the sleeping woman should +be lifted on the horse, but the horse sank beneath the load, as if +he had been a funeral pall fluttering in the wind. But the sign of the +cross made the airy phantom strong, and then the three rode away +from the marsh to firm ground. +</P> + +<P> +At the same moment the cock crew in the Viking's castle, and the +dream figures dissolved and floated away in the air, but mother and +daughter stood opposite to each other. +</P> + +<P> +"Am I looking at my own image in the deep water?" said the mother. +</P> + +<P> +"Is it myself that I see represented on a white shield?" cried the +daughter. +</P> + +<P> +Then they came nearer to each other in a fond embrace. The +mother's heart beat quickly, and she understood the quickened +pulses. "My child!" she exclaimed, "the flower of my heart—my lotus +flower of the deep water!" and she embraced her child again and +wept, and the tears were as a baptism of new life and love for +Helga. "In swan's plumage I came here," said the mother, "and here I +threw off my feather dress. Then I sank down through the wavering +ground, deep into the marsh beneath, which closed like a wall around +me; I found myself after a while in fresher water; still a power +drew me down deeper and deeper. I felt the weight of sleep upon my +eyelids. Then I slept, and dreams hovered round me. It seemed to me as +if I were again in the pyramids of Egypt, and yet the waving elder +trunk that had frightened me on the moor stood ever before me. I +observed the clefts and wrinkles in the stem; they shone forth in +strange colors, and took the form of hieroglyphics. It was the mummy +case on which I gazed. At last it burst, and forth stepped the +thousand years' old king, the mummy form, black as pitch, black as the +shining wood-snail, or the slimy mud of the swamp. Whether it was +really the mummy or the Marsh King I know not. He seized me in his +arms, and I felt as if I must die. When I recovered myself, I found in +my bosom a little bird, flapping its wings, twittering and fluttering. +The bird flew away from my bosom, upwards towards the dark, heavy +canopy above me, but a long, green band kept it fastened to me. I +heard and understood the tenor of its longings. Freedom! sunlight! +to my father! Then I thought of my father, and the sunny land of my +birth, my life, and my love. Then I loosened the band, and let the +bird fly away to its home—to a father. Since that hour I have +ceased to dream; my sleep has been long and heavy, till in this very +hour, harmony and fragrance awoke me, and set me free." +</P> + +<P> +The green band which fastened the wings of the bird to the +mother's heart, where did it flutter now? whither had it been +wafted? The stork only had seen it. The band was the green stalk, +the cup of the flower the cradle in which lay the child, that now in +blooming beauty had been folded to the mother's heart. +</P> + +<P> +And while the two were resting in each other's arms, the old stork +flew round and round them in narrowing circles, till at length he flew +away swiftly to his nest, and fetched away the two suits of swan's +feathers, which he had preserved there for many years. Then he +returned to the mother and daughter, and threw the swan's plumage over +them; the feathers immediately closed around them, and they rose up +from the earth in the form of two white swans. +</P> + +<P> +"And now we can converse with pleasure," said the stork-papa; +"we can understand one another, although the beaks of birds are so +different in shape. It is very fortunate that you came to-night. +To-morrow we should have been gone. The mother, myself and the +little ones, we're about to fly to the south. Look at me now: I am +an old friend from the Nile, and a mother's heart contains more than +her beak. She always said that the princess would know how to help +herself. I and the young ones carried the swan's feathers over here, +and I am glad of it now, and how lucky it is that I am here still. +When the day dawns we shall start with a great company of other +storks. We'll fly first, and you can follow in our track, so that +you cannot miss your way. I and the young ones will have an eye upon +you." +</P> + +<P> +"And the lotus-flower which I was to take with me," said the +Egyptian princess, "is flying here by my side, clothed in swan's +feathers. The flower of my heart will travel with me; and so the +riddle is solved. Now for home! now for home!" +</P> + +<P> +But Helga said she could not leave the Danish land without once +more seeing her foster-mother, the loving wife of the Viking. Each +pleasing recollection, each kind word, every tear from the heart which +her foster-mother had wept for her, rose in her mind, and at that +moment she felt as if she loved this mother the best. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, we must go to the Viking's castle," said the stork; +"mother and the young ones are waiting for me there. How they will +open their eyes and flap their wings! My wife, you see, does not say +much; she is short and abrupt in her manner; but she means well, for +all that. I will flap my wings at once, that they may hear us coming." +Then stork-papa flapped his wings in first-rate style, and he and +the swans flew away to the Viking's castle. +</P> + +<P> +In the castle, every one was in a deep sleep. It had been late +in the evening before the Viking's wife retired to rest. She was +anxious about Helga, who, three days before, had vanished with the +Christian priest. Helga must have helped him in his flight, for it was +her horse that was missed from the stable; but by what power had all +this been accomplished? The Viking's wife thought of it with wonder, +thought on the miracles which they said could be performed by those +who believed in the Christian faith, and followed its teachings. These +passing thoughts formed themselves into a vivid dream, and it seemed +to her that she was still lying awake on her couch, while without +darkness reigned. A storm arose; she heard the lake dashing and +rolling from east and west, like the waves of the North Sea or the +Cattegat. The monstrous snake which, it is said, surrounds the earth +in the depths of the ocean, was trembling in spasmodic convulsions. +The night of the fall of the gods was come, "Ragnorock," as the +heathens call the judgment-day, when everything shall pass away, +even the high gods themselves. The war trumpet sounded; riding upon +the rainbow, came the gods, clad in steel, to fight their last +battle on the last battle-field. Before them flew the winged vampires, +and the dead warriors closed up the train. The whole firmament was +ablaze with the northern lights, and yet the darkness triumphed. It +was a terrible hour. And, close to the terrified woman, Helga seemed +to be seated on the floor, in the hideous form of a frog, yet +trembling, and clinging to her foster-mother, who took her on her lap, +and lovingly caressed her, hideous and frog-like as she was. The air +was filled with the clashing of arms and the hissing of arrows, as +if a storm of hail was descending upon the earth. It seemed to her the +hour when earth and sky would burst asunder, and all things be +swallowed up in Saturn's fiery lake; but she knew that a new heaven +and a new earth would arise, and that corn-fields would wave where now +the lake rolled over desolate sands, and the ineffable God reign. Then +she saw rising from the region of the dead, Baldur the gentle, the +loving, and as the Viking's wife gazed upon him, she recognized his +countenance. It was the captive Christian priest. "White Christian!" +she exclaimed aloud, and with the words, she pressed a kiss on the +forehead of the hideous frog-child. Then the frog-skin fell off, and +Helga stood before her in all her beauty, more lovely and +gentle-looking, and with eyes beaming with love. She kissed the +hands of her foster-mother, blessed her for all her fostering love and +care during the days of her trial and misery, for the thoughts she had +suggested and awoke in her heart, and for naming the Name which she +now repeated. Then beautiful Helga rose as a mighty swan, and spread +her wings with the rushing sound of troops of birds of passage +flying through the air. +</P> + +<P> +Then the Viking's wife awoke, but she still heard the rushing +sound without. She knew it was the time for the storks to depart, +and that it must be their wings which she heard. She felt she should +like to see them once more, and bid them farewell. She rose from her +couch, stepped out on the threshold, and beheld, on the ridge of the +roof, a party of storks ranged side by side. Troops of the birds +were flying in circles over the castle and the highest trees; but just +before her, as she stood on the threshold and close to the well +where Helga had so often sat and alarmed her with her wildness, now +stood two swans, gazing at her with intelligent eyes. Then she +remembered her dream, which still appeared to her as a reality. She +thought of Helga in the form of a swan. She thought of a Christian +priest, and suddenly a wonderful joy arose in her heart. The swans +flapped their wings and arched their necks as if to offer her a +greeting, and the Viking's wife spread out her arms towards them, as +if she accepted it, and smiled through her tears. She was roused +from deep thought by a rustling of wings and snapping of beaks; all +the storks arose, and started on their journey towards the south. +</P> + +<P> +"We will not wait for the swans," said the mamma stork; "if they +want to go with us, let them come now; we can't sit here till the +plovers start. It is a fine thing after all to travel in families, not +like the finches and the partridges. There the male and the female +birds fly in separate flocks, which, to speak candidly, I consider +very unbecoming." +</P> + +<P> +"What are those swans flapping their wings for?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, every one flies in his own fashion," said the papa stork. +"The swans fly in an oblique line; the cranes, in the form of a +triangle; and the plovers, in a curved line like a snake." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't talk about snakes while we are flying up here," said +stork-mamma. "It puts ideas into the children's heads that can not +be realized." +</P> + +<P> +"Are those the high mountains I have heard spoken of?" asked +Helga, in the swan's plumage. +</P> + +<P> +"They are storm-clouds driving along beneath us," replied her +mother. +</P> + +<P> +"What are yonder white clouds that rise so high?" again inquired +Helga. +</P> + +<P> +"Those are mountains covered with perpetual snows, that you see +yonder," said her mother. And then they flew across the Alps towards +the blue Mediterranean. +</P> + +<P> +"Africa's land! Egyptia's strand!" sang the daughter of the +Nile, in her swan's plumage, as from the upper air she caught sight of +her native land, a narrow, golden, wavy strip on the shores of the +Nile; the other birds espied it also and hastened their flight. +</P> + +<P> +"I can smell the Nile mud and the wet frogs," said the +stork-mamma, "and I begin to feel quite hungry. Yes, now you shall +taste something nice, and you will see the marabout bird, and the +ibis, and the crane. They all belong to our family, but they are not +nearly so handsome as we are. They give themselves great airs, +especially the ibis. The Egyptians have spoilt him. They make a +mummy of him, and stuff him with spices. I would rather be stuffed +with live frogs, and so would you, and so you shall. Better have +something in your inside while you are alive, than to be made a parade +of after you are dead. That is my opinion, and I am always right." +</P> + +<P> +"The storks are come," was said in the great house on the banks of +the Nile, where the lord lay in the hall on his downy cushions, +covered with a leopard skin, scarcely alive, yet not dead, waiting and +hoping for the lotus-flower from the deep moorland in the far north. +Relatives and servants were standing by his couch, when the two +beautiful swans who had come with the storks flew into the hall. +They threw off their soft white plumage, and two lovely female forms +approached the pale, sick old man, and threw back their long hair, and +when Helga bent over her grandfather, redness came back to his cheeks, +his eyes brightened, and life returned to his benumbed limbs. The +old man rose up with health and energy renewed; daughter and +grandchild welcomed him as joyfully as if with a morning greeting +after a long and troubled dream. +</P> + +<P> +Joy reigned through the whole house, as well as in the stork's +nest; although there the chief cause was really the good food, +especially the quantities of frogs, which seemed to spring out of +the ground in swarms. +</P> + +<P> +Then the learned men hastened to note down, in flying +characters, the story of the two princesses, and spoke of the +arrival of the health-giving flower as a mighty event, which had +been a blessing to the house and the land. Meanwhile, the stork-papa +told the story to his family in his own way; but not till they had +eaten and were satisfied; otherwise they would have had something else +to do than to listen to stories. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," said the stork-mamma, when she had heard it, "you will +be made something of at last; I suppose they can do nothing less." +</P> + +<P> +"What could I be made?" said stork-papa; "what have I done?—just +nothing." +</P> + +<P> +"You have done more than all the rest," she replied. "But for +you and the youngsters the two young princesses would never have +seen Egypt again, and the recovery of the old man would not have +been effected. You will become something. They must certainly give you +a doctor's hood, and our young ones will inherit it, and their +children after them, and so on. You already look like an Egyptian +doctor, at least in my eyes." +</P> + +<P> +"I cannot quite remember the words I heard when I listened on +the roof," said stork-papa, while relating the story to his family; +"all I know is, that what the wise men said was so complicated and +so learned, that they received not only rank, but presents; even the +head cook at the great house was honored with a mark of distinction, +most likely for the soup." +</P> + +<P> +"And what did you receive?" said the stork-mamma. "They +certainly ought not to forget the most important person in the affair, +as you really are. The learned men have done nothing at all but use +their tongues. Surely they will not overlook you." +</P> + +<P> +Late in the night, while the gentle sleep of peace rested on the +now happy house, there was still one watcher. It was not stork-papa, +who, although he stood on guard on one leg, could sleep soundly. Helga +alone was awake. She leaned over the balcony, gazing at the +sparkling stars that shone clearer and brighter in the pure air than +they had done in the north, and yet they were the same stars. She +thought of the Viking's wife in the wild moorland, of the gentle +eyes of her foster-mother, and of the tears she had shed over the poor +frog-child that now lived in splendor and starry beauty by the +waters of the Nile, with air balmy and sweet as spring. She thought of +the love that dwelt in the breast of the heathen woman, love that +had been shown to a wretched creature, hateful as a human being, and +hideous when in the form of an animal. She looked at the glittering +stars, and thought of the radiance that had shone forth on the +forehead of the dead man, as she had fled with him over the woodland +and moor. Tones were awakened in her memory; words which she had heard +him speak as they rode onward, when she was carried, wondering and +trembling, through the air; words from the great Fountain of love, the +highest love that embraces all the human race. What had not been won +and achieved by this love? +</P> + +<P> +Day and night beautiful Helga was absorbed in the contemplation of +the great amount of her happiness, and lost herself in the +contemplation, like a child who turns hurriedly from the giver to +examine the beautiful gifts. She was over-powered with her good +fortune, which seemed always increasing, and therefore what might it +become in the future? Had she not been brought by a wonderful +miracle to all this joy and happiness? And in these thoughts she +indulged, until at last she thought no more of the Giver. It was the +over-abundance of youthful spirits unfolding its wings for a daring +flight. Her eyes sparkled with energy, when suddenly arose a loud +noise in the court below, and the daring thought vanished. She +looked down, and saw two large ostriches running round quickly in +narrow circles; she had never seen these creatures before,—great, +coarse, clumsy-looking birds with curious wings that looked as if they +had been clipped, and the birds themselves had the appearance of +having been roughly used. She inquired about them, and for the first +time heard the legend which the Egyptians relate respecting the +ostrich. +</P> + +<P> +Once, say they, the ostriches were a beautiful and glorious race +of birds, with large, strong wings. One evening the other large +birds of the forest said to the ostrich, "Brother, shall we fly to the +river to-morrow morning to drink, God willing?" and the ostrich +answered, "I will." +</P> + +<P> +With the break of day, therefore, they commenced their flight; +first rising high in the air, towards the sun, which is the eye of +God; still higher and higher the ostrich flew, far above the other +birds, proudly approaching the light, trusting in its own strength, +and thinking not of the Giver, or saying, "if God will." When suddenly +the avenging angel drew back the veil from the flaming ocean of +sunlight, and in a moment the wings of the proud bird were scorched +and shrivelled, and they sunk miserably to the earth. Since that +time the ostrich and his race have never been able to rise in the air; +they can only fly terror-stricken along the ground, or run round and +round in narrow circles. It is a warning to mankind, that in all our +thoughts and schemes, and in every action we undertake, we should say, +"if God will." +</P> + +<P> +Then Helga bowed her head thoughtfully and seriously, and looked +at the circling ostrich, as with timid fear and simple pleasure it +glanced at its own great shadow on the sunlit walls. And the story +of the ostrich sunk deeply into the heart and mind of Helga: a life of +happiness, both in the present and in the future, seemed secure for +her, and what was yet to come might be the best of all, God willing. +</P> + +<P> +Early in the spring, when the storks were again about to journey +northward, beautiful Helga took off her golden bracelets, scratched +her name on them, and beckoned to the stork-father. He came to her, +and she placed the golden circlet round his neck, and begged him to +deliver it safely to the Viking's wife, so that she might know that +her foster-daughter still lived, was happy, and had not forgotten her. +</P> + +<P> +"It is rather heavy to carry," thought stork-papa, when he had +it on his neck; "but gold and honor are not to be flung into the +street. The stork brings good fortune—they'll be obliged to +acknowledge that at last." +</P> + +<P> +"You lay gold, and I lay eggs," said stork-mamma; "with you it +is only once in a way, I lay eggs every year But no one appreciates +what we do; I call it very mortifying." +</P> + +<P> +"But then we have a consciousness of our own worth, mother," +replied stork-papa. +</P> + +<P> +"What good will that do you?" retorted stork-mamma; "it will +neither bring you a fair wind, nor a good meal." +</P> + +<P> +"The little nightingale, who is singing yonder in the tamarind +grove, will soon be going north, too." Helga said she had often +heard her singing on the wild moor, so she determined to send a +message by her. While flying in the swan's plumage she had learnt +the bird language; she had often conversed with the stork and the +swallow, and she knew that the nightingale would understand. So she +begged the nightingale to fly to the beechwood, on the peninsula of +Jutland, where a mound of stone and twigs had been raised to form +the grave, and she begged the nightingale to persuade all the other +little birds to build their nests round the place, so that evermore +should resound over that grave music and song. And the nightingale +flew away, and time flew away also. +</P> + +<P> +In the autumn, an eagle, standing upon a pyramid, saw a stately +train of richly laden camels, and men attired in armor on foaming +Arabian steeds, whose glossy skins shone like silver, their nostrils +were pink, and their thick, flowing manes hung almost to their slender +legs. A royal prince of Arabia, handsome as a prince should be, and +accompanied by distinguished guests, was on his way to the stately +house, on the roof of which the storks' empty nests might be seen. +They were away now in the far north, but expected to return very soon. +And, indeed, they returned on a day that was rich in joy and gladness. +</P> + +<P> +A marriage was being celebrated, in which the beautiful Helga, +glittering in silk and jewels, was the bride, and the bridegroom the +young Arab prince. Bride and bridegroom sat at the upper end of the +table, between the bride's mother and grandfather. But her gaze was +not on the bridegroom, with his manly, sunburnt face, round which +curled a black beard, and whose dark fiery eyes were fixed upon her; +but away from him, at a twinkling star, that shone down upon her +from the sky. Then was heard the sound of rushing wings beating the +air. The storks were coming home; and the old stork pair, although +tired with the journey and requiring rest, did not fail to fly down at +once to the balustrades of the verandah, for they knew already what +feast was being celebrated. They had heard of it on the borders of the +land, and also that Helga had caused their figures to be represented +on the walls, for they belonged to her history. +</P> + +<P> +"I call that very sensible and pretty," said stork-papa. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, but it is very little," said mamma stork; "they could not +possibly have done less." +</P> + +<P> +But, when Helga saw them, she rose and went out into the +verandah to stroke the backs of the storks. The old stork pair bowed +their heads, and curved their necks, and even the youngest among the +young ones felt honored by this reception. +</P> + +<P> +Helga continued to gaze upon the glittering star, which seemed +to glow brighter and purer in its light; then between herself and +the star floated a form, purer than the air, and visible through it. +It floated quite near to her, and she saw that it was the dead +Christian priest, who also was coming to her wedding feast—coming +from the heavenly kingdom. +</P> + +<P> +"The glory and brightness, yonder, outshines all that is known +on earth," said he. +</P> + +<P> +Then Helga the fair prayed more gently, and more earnestly, than +she had ever prayed in her life before, that she might be permitted to +gaze, if only for a single moment, at the glory and brightness of +the heavenly kingdom. Then she felt herself lifted up, as it were, +above the earth, through a sea of sound and thought; not only around +her, but within her, was there light and song, such as words cannot +express. +</P> + +<P> +"Now we must return;" he said; "you will be missed." +</P> + +<P> +"Only one more look," she begged; "but one short moment more." +</P> + +<P> +"We must return to earth; the guests will have all departed. +Only one more look!—the last!" +</P> + +<P> +Then Helga stood again in the verandah. But the marriage lamps +in the festive hall had been all extinguished, and the torches outside +had vanished. The storks were gone; not a guest could be seen; no +bridegroom—all in those few short moments seemed to have died. Then a +great dread fell upon her. She stepped from the verandah through the +empty hall into the next chamber, where slept strange warriors. She +opened a side door, which once led into her own apartment, but now, as +she passed through, she found herself suddenly in a garden which she +had never before seen here, the sky blushed red, it was the dawn of +morning. Three minutes only in heaven, and a whole night on earth +had passed away! Then she saw the storks, and called to them in +their own language. +</P> + +<P> +Then stork-papa turned his head towards here, listened to her +words, and drew near. "You speak our language," said he, "what do +you wish? Why do you appear,—you—a strange woman?" +</P> + +<P> +"It is I—it is Helga! Dost thou not know me? Three minutes ago we +were speaking together yonder in the verandah." +</P> + +<P> +"That is a mistake," said the stork, "you must have dreamed all +this." +</P> + +<P> +"No, no," she exclaimed. Then she reminded him of the Viking's +castle, of the great lake, and of the journey across the ocean. +</P> + +<P> +Then stork-papa winked his eyes, and said, "Why that's an old +story which happened in the time of my grandfather. There certainly +was a princess of that kind here in Egypt once, who came from the +Danish land, but she vanished on the evening of her wedding day, +many hundred years ago, and never came back. You may read about it +yourself yonder, on a monument in the garden. There you will find +swans and storks sculptured, and on the top is a figure of the +princess Helga, in marble." +</P> + +<P> +And so it was; Helga understood it all now, and sank on her knees. +The sun burst forth in all its glory, and, as in olden times, the form +of the frog vanished in his beams, and the beautiful form stood +forth in all its loveliness; so now, bathed in light, rose a beautiful +form, purer, clearer than air—a ray of brightness—from the Source of +light Himself. The body crumbled into dust, and a faded lotus-flower +lay on the spot on which Helga had stood. +</P> + +<P> +"Now that is a new ending to the story," said stork-papa; "I +really never expected it would end in this way, but it seems a very +good ending." +</P> + +<P> +"And what will the young ones say to it, I wonder?" said +stork-mamma. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, that is a very important question," replied the stork. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="metal_pi"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE METAL PIG +</H3> + +<P> +In the city of Florence, not far from the Piazza del Granduca, +runs a little street called Porta Rosa. In this street, just in +front of the market-place where vegetables are sold, stands a pig, +made of brass and curiously formed. The bright color has been +changed by age to dark green; but clear, fresh water pours from the +snout, which shines as if it had been polished, and so indeed it +has, for hundreds of poor people and children seize it in their +hands as they place their mouths close to the mouth of the animal, +to drink. It is quite a picture to see a half-naked boy clasping the +well-formed creature by the head, as he presses his rosy lips +against its jaws. Every one who visits Florence can very quickly +find the place; he has only to ask the first beggar he meets for the +Metal Pig, and he will be told where it is. +</P> + +<P> +It was late on a winter evening; the mountains were covered with +snow, but the moon shone brightly, and moonlight in Italy is like a +dull winter's day in the north; indeed it is better, for clear air +seems to raise us above the earth, while in the north a cold, gray, +leaden sky appears to press us down to earth, even as the cold damp +earth shall one day press on us in the grave. In the garden of the +grand duke's palace, under the roof of one of the wings, where a +thousand roses bloom in winter, a little ragged boy had been sitting +the whole day long; a boy, who might serve as a type of Italy, +lovely and smiling, and yet still suffering. He was hungry and +thirsty, yet no one gave him anything; and when it became dark, and +they were about to close the gardens, the porter turned him out. He +stood a long time musing on the bridge which crosses the Arno, and +looking at the glittering stars, reflected in the water which flowed +between him and the elegant marble bridge Della Trinita. He then +walked away towards the Metal Pig, half knelt down, clasped it with +his arms, and then put his mouth to the shining snout and drank deep +draughts of the fresh water. Close by, lay a few salad-leaves and +two chestnuts, which were to serve for his supper. No one was in the +street but himself; it belonged only to him, so he boldly seated +himself on the pig's back, leaned forward so that his curly head could +rest on the head of the animal, and, before he was aware, he fell +asleep. +</P> + +<P> +It was midnight. The Metal Pig raised himself gently, and the +boy heard him say quite distinctly, "Hold tight, little boy, for I +am going to run;" and away he started for a most wonderful ride. +First, they arrived at the Piazza del Granduca, and the metal horse +which bears the duke's statue, neighed aloud. The painted +coats-of-arms on the old council-house shone like transparent +pictures, and Michael Angelo's David tossed his sling; it was as if +everything had life. The metallic groups of figures, among which +were Perseus and the Rape of the Sabines, looked like living +persons, and cries of terror sounded from them all across the noble +square. By the Palazzo degli Uffizi, in the arcade, where the nobility +assemble for the carnival, the Metal Pig stopped. "Hold fast," said +the animal; "hold fast, for I am going up stairs." +</P> + +<P> +The little boy said not a word; he was half pleased and half +afraid. They entered a long gallery, where the boy had been before. +The walls were resplendent with paintings; here stood statues and +busts, all in a clear light as if it were day. But the grandest +appeared when the door of a side room opened; the little boy could +remember what beautiful things he had seen there, but to-night +everything shone in its brightest colors. Here stood the figure of a +beautiful woman, as beautifully sculptured as possible by one of the +great masters. Her graceful limbs appeared to move; dolphins sprang at +her feet, and immortality shone from her eyes. The world called her +the Venus de' Medici. By her side were statues, in which the spirit of +life breathed in stone; figures of men, one of whom whetted his sword, +and was named the Grinder; wrestling gladiators formed another +group, the sword had been sharpened for them, and they strove for +the goddess of beauty. The boy was dazzled by so much glitter; for the +walls were gleaming with bright colors, all appeared living reality. +</P> + +<P> +As they passed from hall to hall, beauty everywhere showed itself; +and as the Metal Pig went step by step from one picture to the +other, the little boy could see it all plainly. One glory eclipsed +another; yet there was one picture that fixed itself on the little +boy's memory, more especially because of the happy children it +represented, for these the little boy had seen in daylight. Many +pass this picture by with indifference, and yet it contains a treasure +of poetic feeling; it represents Christ descending into Hades. They +are not the lost whom the spectator sees, but the heathen of olden +times. The Florentine, Angiolo Bronzino, painted this picture; most +beautiful is the expression on the face of the two children, who +appear to have full confidence that they shall reach heaven at last. +They are embracing each other, and one little one stretches out his +hand towards another who stands below him, and points to himself, as +if he were saying, "I am going to heaven." The older people stand as +if uncertain, yet hopeful, and they bow in humble adoration to the +Lord Jesus. On this picture the boy's eyes rested longer than on any +other: the Metal Pig stood still before it. A low sigh was heard. +Did it come from the picture or from the animal? The boy raised his +hands towards the smiling children, and then the Pig ran off with +him through the open vestibule. +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you, thank you, you beautiful animal," said the little boy, +caressing the Metal Pig as it ran down the steps. +</P> + +<P> +"Thanks to yourself also," replied the Metal Pig; "I have helped +you and you have helped me, for it is only when I have an innocent +child on my back that I receive the power to run. Yes; as you see, I +can even venture under the rays of the lamp, in front of the picture +of the Madonna, but I may not enter the church; still from without, +and while you are upon my back, I may look in through the open door. +Do not get down yet, for if you do, then I shall be lifeless, as you +have seen me in the Porta Rosa." +</P> + +<P> +"I will stay with you, my dear creature," said the little boy. +So then they went on at a rapid pace through the streets of +Florence, till they came to the square before the church of Santa +Croce. The folding-doors flew open, and light streamed from the +altar through the church into the deserted square. A wonderful blaze +of light streamed from one of the monuments in the left-side aisle, +and a thousand moving stars seemed to form a glory round it; even +the coat-of-arms on the tomb-stone shone, and a red ladder on a blue +field gleamed like fire. It was the grave of Galileo. The monument +is unadorned, but the red ladder is an emblem of art, signifying +that the way to glory leads up a shining ladder, on which the prophets +of mind rise to heaven, like Elias of old. In the right aisle of the +church every statue on the richly carved sarcophagi seemed endowed +with life. Here stood Michael Angelo; there Dante, with the laurel +wreath round his brow; Alfieri and Machiavelli; for here side by +side rest the great men—the pride of Italy. The church itself is very +beautiful, even more beautiful than the marble cathedral at +Florence, though not so large. It seemed as if the carved vestments +stirred, and as if the marble figures they covered raised their +heads higher, to gaze upon the brightly colored glowing altar where +the white-robed boys swung the golden censers, amid music and song, +while the strong fragrance of incense filled the church, and +streamed forth into the square. The boy stretched forth his hands +towards the light, and at the same moment the Metal Pig started +again so rapidly that he was obliged to cling tightly to him. The wind +whistled in his ears, he heard the church door creak on its hinges +as it closed, and it seemed to him as if he had lost his senses—then +a cold shudder passed over him, and he awoke. +</P> + +<P> +It was morning; the Metal Pig stood in its old place on the +Porta Rosa, and the boy found he had slipped nearly off its back. Fear +and trembling came upon him as he thought of his mother; she had +sent him out the day before to get some money, he had not done so, and +now he was hungry and thirsty. Once more he clasped the neck of his +metal horse, kissed its nose, and nodded farewell to it. Then he +wandered away into one of the narrowest streets, where there was +scarcely room for a loaded donkey to pass. A great iron-bound door +stood ajar; he passed through, and climbed up a brick staircase, +with dirty walls and a rope for a balustrade, till he came to an +open gallery hung with rags. From here a flight of steps led down to a +court, where from a well water was drawn up by iron rollers to the +different stories of the house, and where the water-buckets hung +side by side. Sometimes the roller and the bucket danced in the air, +splashing the water all over the court. Another broken-down +staircase led from the gallery, and two Russian sailors running down +it almost upset the poor boy. They were coming from their nightly +carousal. A woman not very young, with an unpleasant face and a +quantity of black hair, followed them. "What have you brought home?" +she asked, when she saw the boy. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't be angry," he pleaded; "I received nothing, I have +nothing at all;" and he seized his mother's dress and would have +kissed it. Then they went into a little room. I need not describe +it, but only say that there stood in it an earthen pot with handles, +made for holding fire, which in Italy is called a marito. This pot she +took in her lap, warmed her fingers, and pushed the boy with her +elbow. +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly you must have some money," she said. The boy began to +cry, and then she struck him with her foot till he cried out louder. +</P> + +<P> +"Will you be quiet? or I'll break your screaming head;" and she +swung about the fire-pot which she held in her hand, while the boy +crouched to the earth and screamed. +</P> + +<P> +Then a neighbor came in, and she had also a marito under her +arm. "Felicita," she said, "what are you doing to the child?" +</P> + +<P> +"The child is mine," she answered; "I can murder him if I like, +and you too, Giannina." And then she swung about the fire-pot. The +other woman lifted up hers to defend herself, and the two pots clashed +together so violently that they were dashed to pieces, and fire and +ashes flew about the room. The boy rushed out at the sight, sped +across the courtyard, and fled from the house. The poor child ran till +he was quite out of breath; at last he stopped at the church, the +doors of which were opened to him the night before, and went in. +Here everything was bright, and the boy knelt down by the first tomb +on his right, the grave of Michael Angelo, and sobbed as if his +heart would break. People came and went, mass was performed, but no +one noticed the boy, excepting an elderly citizen, who stood still and +looked at him for a moment, and then went away like the rest. Hunger +and thirst overpowered the child, and he became quite faint and ill. +At last he crept into a corner behind the marble monuments, and went +to sleep. Towards evening he was awakened by a pull at his sleeve; +he started up, and the same old citizen stood before him. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you ill? where do you live? have you been here all day?" were +some of the questions asked by the old man. After hearing his answers, +the old man took him home to a small house close by, in a back street. +They entered a glovemaker's shop, where a woman sat sewing busily. A +little white poodle, so closely shaven that his pink skin could +plainly be seen, frisked about the room, and gambolled upon the boy. +</P> + +<P> +"Innocent souls are soon intimate," said the woman, as she +caressed both the boy and the dog. These good people gave the child +food and drink, and said he should stay with them all night, and +that the next day the old man, who was called Giuseppe, would go and +speak to his mother. A little homely bed was prepared for him, but +to him who had so often slept on the hard stones it was a royal couch, +and he slept sweetly and dreamed of the splendid pictures and of the +Metal Pig. Giuseppe went out the next morning, and the poor child +was not glad to see him go, for he knew that the old man was gone to +his mother, and that, perhaps, he would have to go back. He wept at +the thought, and then he played with the little, lively dog, and +kissed it, while the old woman looked kindly at him to encourage +him. And what news did Giuseppe bring back? At first the boy could not +hear, for he talked a great deal to his wife, and she nodded and +stroked the boy's cheek. +</P> + +<P> +Then she said, "He is a good lad, he shall stay with us, he may +become a clever glovemaker, like you. Look what delicate fingers he +has got; Madonna intended him for a glovemaker." So the boy stayed +with them, and the woman herself taught him to sew; and he ate well, +and slept well, and became very merry. But at last he began to tease +Bellissima, as the little dog was called. This made the woman angry, +and she scolded him and threatened him, which made him very unhappy, +and he went and sat in his own room full of sad thoughts. This chamber +looked upon the street, in which hung skins to dry, and there were +thick iron bars across his window. That night he lay awake, thinking +of the Metal Pig; indeed, it was always in his thoughts. Suddenly he +fancied he heard feet outside going pit-a-pat. He sprung out of bed +and went to the window. Could it be the Metal Pig? But there was +nothing to be seen; whatever he had heard had passed already. Next +morning, their neighbor, the artist, passed by, carrying a paint-box +and a large roll of canvas. +</P> + +<P> +"Help the gentleman to carry his box of colors," said the woman to +the boy; and he obeyed instantly, took the box, and followed the +painter. They walked on till they reached the picture gallery, and +mounted the same staircase up which he had ridden that night on the +Metal Pig. He remembered all the statues and pictures, the beautiful +marble Venus, and again he looked at the Madonna with the Saviour +and St. John. They stopped before the picture by Bronzino, in which +Christ is represented as standing in the lower world, with the +children smiling before Him, in the sweet expectation of entering +heaven; and the poor boy smiled, too, for here was his heaven. +</P> + +<P> +"You may go home now," said the painter, while the boy stood +watching him, till he had set up his easel. +</P> + +<P> +"May I see you paint?" asked the boy; "may I see you put the +picture on this white canvas?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am not going to paint yet," replied the artist; then he brought +out a piece of chalk. His hand moved quickly, and his eye measured the +great picture; and though nothing appeared but a faint line, the +figure of the Saviour was as clearly visible as in the colored +picture. +</P> + +<P> +"Why don't you go?" said the painter. Then the boy wandered home +silently, and seated himself on the table, and learned to sew +gloves. But all day long his thoughts were in the picture gallery; and +so he pricked his fingers and was awkward. But he did not tease +Bellissima. When evening came, and the house door stood open, he +slipped out. It was a bright, beautiful, starlight evening, but rather +cold. Away he went through the already-deserted streets, and soon came +to the Metal Pig; he stooped down and kissed its shining nose, and +then seated himself on its back. +</P> + +<P> +"You happy creature," he said; "how I have longed for you! we must +take a ride to-night." +</P> + +<P> +But the Metal Pig lay motionless, while the fresh stream gushed +forth from its mouth. The little boy still sat astride on its back, +when he felt something pulling at his clothes. He looked down, and +there was Bellissima, little smooth-shaven Bellissima, barking as if +she would have said, "Here I am too; why are you sitting there?" +</P> + +<P> +A fiery dragon could not have frightened the little boy so much as +did the little dog in this place. "Bellissima in the street, and not +dressed!" as the old lady called it; "what would be the end of this?" +</P> + +<P> +The dog never went out in winter, unless she was attired in a +little lambskin coat which had been made for her; it was fastened +round the little dog's neck and body with red ribbons, and was +decorated with rosettes and little bells. The dog looked almost like a +little kid when she was allowed to go out in winter, and trot after +her mistress. And now here she was in the cold, and not dressed. Oh, +how would it end? All his fancies were quickly put to flight; yet he +kissed the Metal Pig once more, and then took Bellissima in his +arms. The poor little thing trembled so with cold, that the boy ran +homeward as fast as he could. +</P> + +<P> +"What are you running away with there?" asked two of the police +whom he met, and at whom the dog barked. "Where have you stolen that +pretty dog?" they asked; and they took it away from him. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I have not stolen it; do give it to me back again," cried the +boy, despairingly. +</P> + +<P> +"If you have not stolen it, you may say at home that they can send +to the watch-house for the dog." Then they told him where the +watch-house was, and went away with Bellissima. +</P> + +<P> +Here was a dreadful trouble. The boy did not know whether he had +better jump into the Arno, or go home and confess everything. They +would certainly kill him, he thought. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I would gladly be killed," he reasoned; "for then I shall +die, and go to heaven:" and so he went home, almost hoping for death. +</P> + +<P> +The door was locked, and he could not reach the knocker. No one +was in the street; so he took up a stone, and with it made a +tremendous noise at the door. +</P> + +<P> +"Who is there?" asked somebody from within. +</P> + +<P> +"It is I," said he. "Bellissima is gone. Open the door, and then +kill me." +</P> + +<P> +Then indeed there was a great panic. Madame was so very fond of +Bellissima. She immediately looked at the wall where the dog's dress +usually hung; and there was the little lambskin. +</P> + +<P> +"Bellissima in the watch-house!" she cried. "You bad boy! how +did you entice her out? Poor little delicate thing, with those rough +policemen! and she'll be frozen with cold." +</P> + +<P> +Giuseppe went off at once, while his wife lamented, and the boy +wept. Several of the neighbors came in, and amongst them the +painter. He took the boy between his knees, and questioned him; and, +in broken sentences, he soon heard the whole story, and also about the +Metal Pig, and the wonderful ride to the picture-gallery, which was +certainly rather incomprehensible. The painter, however, consoled +the little fellow, and tried to soften the lady's anger; but she would +not be pacified till her husband returned with Bellissima, who had +been with the police. Then there was great rejoicing, and the +painter caressed the boy, and gave him a number of pictures. Oh, +what beautiful pictures these were!—figures with funny heads; and, +above all, the Metal Pig was there too. Oh, nothing could be more +delightful. By means of a few strokes, it was made to appear on the +paper; and even the house that stood behind it had been sketched in. +Oh, if he could only draw and paint! He who could do this could +conjure all the world before him. The first leisure moment during +the next day, the boy got a pencil, and on the back of one of the +other drawings he attempted to copy the drawing of the Metal Pig, +and he succeeded. Certainly it was rather crooked, rather up and down, +one leg thick, and another thin; still it was like the copy, and he +was overjoyed at what he had done. The pencil would not go quite as it +ought,—he had found that out; but the next day he tried again. A +second pig was drawn by the side of the first, and this looked a +hundred times better; and the third attempt was so good, that +everybody might know what it was meant to represent. +</P> + +<P> +And now the glovemaking went on but slowly. The orders given by +the shops in the town were not finished quickly; for the Metal Pig had +taught the boy that all objects may be drawn upon paper; and +Florence is a picture-book in itself for any one who chooses to turn +over its pages. On the Piazza dell Trinita stands a slender pillar, +and upon it is the goddess of Justice, blindfolded, with her scales in +her hand. She was soon represented on paper, and it was the +glovemaker's boy who placed her there. His collection of pictures +increased; but as yet they were only copies of lifeless objects, +when one day Bellissima came gambolling before him: "Stand still," +cried he, "and I will draw you beautifully, to put amongst my +collection." +</P> + +<P> +But Bellissima would not stand still, so she must be bound fast in +one position. He tied her head and tail; but she barked and jumped, +and so pulled and tightened the string, that she was nearly strangled; +and just then her mistress walked in. +</P> + +<P> +"You wicked boy! the poor little creature!" was all she could +utter. +</P> + +<P> +She pushed the boy from her, thrust him away with her foot, called +him a most ungrateful, good-for-nothing, wicked boy, and forbade him +to enter the house again. Then she wept, and kissed her little +half-strangled Bellissima. At this moment the painter entered the +room. +</P> + +<HR ALIGN="center" WIDTH="60%"> + +<P> +In the year 1834 there was an exhibition in the Academy of Arts at +Florence. Two pictures, placed side by side, attracted a large +number of spectators. The smaller of the two represented a little +boy sitting at a table, drawing; before him was a little white poodle, +curiously shaven; but as the animal would not stand still, it had been +fastened with a string to its head and tail, to keep it in one +position. The truthfulness and life in this picture interested every +one. The painter was said to be a young Florentine, who had been found +in the streets, when a child, by an old glovemaker, who had brought +him up. The boy had taught himself to draw: it was also said that a +young artist, now famous, had discovered talent in the child just as +he was about to be sent away for having tied up madame's favorite +little dog, and using it as a model. The glovemaker's boy had also +become a great painter, as the picture proved; but the larger +picture by its side was a still greater proof of his talent. It +represented a handsome boy, clothed in rags, lying asleep, and leaning +against the Metal Pig in the street of the Porta Rosa. All the +spectators knew the spot well. The child's arms were round the neck of +the Pig, and he was in a deep sleep. The lamp before the picture of +the Madonna threw a strong, effective light on the pale, delicate face +of the child. It was a beautiful picture. A large gilt frame +surrounded it, and on one corner of the frame a laurel wreath had been +hung; but a black band, twined unseen among the green leaves, and a +streamer of crape, hung down from it; for within the last few days the +young artist had—died. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="moneybox"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE MONEY-BOX +</H3> + +<P> +In a nursery where a number of toys lay scattered about, a +money-box stood on the top of a very high wardrobe. It was made of +clay in the shape of a pig, and had been bought of the potter. In +the back of the pig was a slit, and this slit had been enlarged with a +knife, so that dollars, or crown pieces, might slip through; and, +indeed there were two in the box, besides a number of pence. The +money-pig was stuffed so full that it could no longer rattle, which is +the highest state of perfection to which a money-pig can attain. There +he stood upon the cupboard, high and lofty, looking down upon +everything else in the room. He knew very well that he had enough +inside him to buy up all the other toys, and this gave him a very good +opinion of his own value. The rest thought of this fact also, although +they did not express it, for there were so many other things to talk +about. A large doll, still handsome, though rather old, for her neck +had been mended, lay inside one of the drawers which was partly +open. She called out to the others, "Let us have a game at being men +and women, that is something worth playing at." +</P> + +<P> +Upon this there was a great uproar; even the engravings, which +hung in frames on the wall, turned round in their excitement, and +showed that they had a wrong side to them, although they had not the +least intention to expose themselves in this way, or to object to +the game. It was late at night, but as the moon shone through the +windows, they had light at a cheap rate. And as the game was now to +begin, all were invited to take part in it, even the children's wagon, +which certainly belonged to the coarser playthings. "Each has its +own value," said the wagon; "we cannot all be noblemen; there must +be some to do the work." +</P> + +<P> +The money-pig was the only one who received a written +invitation. He stood so high that they were afraid he would not accept +a verbal message. But in his reply, he said, if he had to take a part, +he must enjoy the sport from his own home; they were to arrange for +him to do so; and so they did. The little toy theatre was therefore +put up in such a way that the money-pig could look directly into it. +Some wanted to begin with a comedy, and afterwards to have a tea party +and a discussion for mental improvement, but they commenced with the +latter first. The rocking-horse spoke of training and races; the wagon +of railways and steam power, for these subjects belonged to each of +their professions, and it was right they should talk of them. The +clock talked politics—"tick, tick;" he professed to know what was the +time of day, but there was a whisper that he did not go correctly. The +bamboo cane stood by, looking stiff and proud: he was vain of his +brass ferrule and silver top, and on the sofa lay two worked cushions, +pretty but stupid. When the play at the little theatre began, the rest +sat and looked on; they were requested to applaud and stamp, or crack, +when they felt gratified with what they saw. But the riding-whip +said he never cracked for old people, only for the young who were +not yet married. "I crack for everybody," said the cracker. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, and a fine noise you make," thought the audience, as the +play went on. +</P> + +<P> +It was not worth much, but it was very well played, and all the +characters turned their painted sides to the audience, for they were +made only to be seen on one side. The acting was wonderful, +excepting that sometimes they came out beyond the lamps, because the +wires were a little too long. The doll, whose neck had been darned, +was so excited that the place in her neck burst, and the money-pig +declared he must do something for one of the players, as they had +all pleased him so much. So he made up his mind to remember one of +them in his will, as the one to be buried with him in the family +vault, whenever that event should happen. They all enjoyed the +comedy so much, that they gave up all thoughts of the tea party, and +only carried out their idea of intellectual amusement, which they +called playing at men and women; and there was nothing wrong about it, +for it was only play. All the while, each one thought most of himself, +or of what the money-pig could be thinking. His thoughts were on, as +he supposed, a very distant time—of making his will, and of his +burial, and of when it might all come to pass. Certainly sooner than +he expected—for all at once down he came from the top of the press, +fell on the ground, and was broken to pieces. Then the pennies +hopped and danced about in the most amusing manner. The little ones +twirled round like tops, and the large ones rolled away as far as they +could, especially the one great silver crown piece who had often to go +out into the world, and now he had his wish as well as all the rest of +the money. The pieces of the money-pig were thrown into the +dust-bin, and the next day there stood a new money-pig on the +cupboard, but it had not a farthing in its inside yet, and +therefore, like the old one, it could not rattle. This was the +beginning with him, and we will make it the end of our story. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="moon_saw"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +WHAT THE MOON SAW +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +INTRODUCTION +</H3> + +<P> +It is a strange thing, when I feel most fervently and most deeply, +my hands and my tongue seem alike tied, so that I cannot rightly +describe or accurately portray the thoughts that are rising within me; +and yet I am a painter; my eye tells me as much as that, and all my +friends who have seen my sketches and fancies say the same. +</P> + +<P> +I am a poor lad, and live in one of the narrowest of lanes; but +I do not want for light, as my room is high up in the house, with an +extensive prospect over the neighbouring roofs. During the first few +days I went to live in the town, I felt low-spirited and solitary +enough. Instead of the forest and the green hills of former days, I +had here only a forest of chimney-pots to look out upon. And then I +had not a single friend; not one familiar face greeted me. +</P> + +<P> +So one evening I sat at the window, in a desponding mood; and +presently I opened the casement and looked out. Oh, how my heart +leaped up with joy! Here was a well-known face at last—a round, +friendly countenance, the face of a good friend I had known at home. +In, fact, it was the MOON that looked in upon me. He was quite +unchanged, the dear old Moon, and had the same face exactly that he +used to show when he peered down upon me through the willow trees on +the moor. I kissed my hand to him over and over again, as he shone far +into my little room; and he, for his part, promised me that every +evening, when he came abroad, he would look in upon me for a few +moments. This promise he has faithfully kept. It is a pity that he can +only stay such a short time when he comes. Whenever he appears, he +tells me of one thing or another that he has seen on the previous +night, or on that same evening. "Just paint the scenes I describe to +you"—this is what he said to me—"and you will have a very pretty +picture-book." I have followed his injunction for many evenings. I +could make up a new "Thousand and One Nights," in my own way, out of +these pictures, but the number might be too great, after all. The +pictures I have here given have not been chosen at random, but +follow in their proper order, just as they were described to me. +Some great gifted painter, or some poet or musician, may make +something more of them if he likes; what I have given here are only +hasty sketches, hurriedly put upon the paper, with some of my own +thoughts, interspersed; for the Moon did not come to me every +evening—a cloud sometimes hid his face from me. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +FIRST EVENING +</H3> + +<P> +"Last night"—I am quoting the Moon's own words—"last night I was +gliding through the cloudless Indian sky. My face was mirrored in +the waters of the Ganges, and my beams strove to pierce through the +thick intertwining boughs of the bananas, arching beneath me like +the tortoise's shell. Forth from the thicket tripped a Hindoo maid, +light as a gazelle, beautiful as Eve. Airy and etherial as a vision, +and yet sharply defined amid the surrounding shadows, stood this +daughter of Hindostan: I could read on her delicate brow the thought +that had brought her hither. The thorny creeping plants tore her +sandals, but for all that she came rapidly forward. The deer that +had come down to the river to quench her thirst, sprang by with a +startled bound, for in her hand the maiden bore a lighted lamp. I +could see the blood in her delicate finger tips, as she spread them +for a screen before the dancing flame. She came down to the stream, +and set the lamp upon the water, and let it float away. The flame +flickered to and fro, and seemed ready to expire; but still the lamp +burned on, and the girl's black sparkling eyes, half veiled behind +their long silken lashes, followed it with a gaze of earnest +intensity. She knew that if the lamp continued to burn so long as +she could keep it in sight, her betrothed was still alive; but if +the lamp was suddenly extinguished, he was dead. And the lamp burned +bravely on, and she fell on her knees, and prayed. Near her in the +grass lay a speckled snake, but she heeded it not—she thought only of +Bramah and of her betrothed. 'He lives!' she shouted joyfully, 'he +lives!' And from the mountains the echo came back upon her, 'he +lives!" +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +SECOND EVENING +</H3> + +<P> +"Yesterday," said the Moon to me, "I looked down upon a small +courtyard surrounded on all sides by houses. In the courtyard sat a +clucking hen with eleven chickens; and a pretty little girl was +running and jumping around them. The hen was frightened, and screamed, +and spread out her wings over the little brood. Then the girl's father +came out and scolded her; and I glided away and thought no more of the +matter. +</P> + +<P> +"But this evening, only a few minutes ago, I looked down into +the same courtyard. Everything was quiet. But presently the little +girl came forth again, crept quietly to the hen-house, pushed back the +bolt, and slipped into the apartment of the hen and chickens. They +cried out loudly, and came fluttering down from their perches, and ran +about in dismay, and the little girl ran after them. I saw it quite +plainly, for I looked through a hole in the hen-house wall. I was +angry with the willful child, and felt glad when her father came out +and scolded her more violently than yesterday, holding her roughly +by the arm; she held down her head, and her blue eyes were full of +large tears. 'What are you about here?' he asked. She wept and said, +'I wanted to kiss the hen and beg her pardon for frightening her +yesterday; but I was afraid to tell you.' +</P> + +<P> +"And the father kissed the innocent child's forehead, and I kissed +her on the mouth and eyes." +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THIRD EVENING +</H3> + +<P> +"In the narrow street round the corner yonder—it is so narrow +that my beams can only glide for a minute along the walls of the +house, but in that minute I see enough to learn what the world is made +of—in that narrow street I saw a woman. Sixteen years ago that +woman was a child, playing in the garden of the old parsonage, in +the country. The hedges of rose-bush were old, and the flowers were +faded. They straggled wild over the paths, and the ragged branches +grew up among the boughs of the apple trees; here and there were a few +roses still in bloom—not so fair as the queen of flowers generally +appears, but still they had colour and scent too. The clergyman's +little daughter appeared to me a far lovelier rose, as she sat on +her stool under the straggling hedge, hugging and caressing her doll +with the battered pasteboard cheeks. +</P> + +<P> +"Ten years afterwards I saw her again. I beheld her in a +splendid ballroom: she was the beautiful bride of a rich merchant. I +rejoiced at her happiness, and sought her on calm quiet evenings—ah, +nobody thinks of my clear eye and my silent glance! Alas! my +rose ran wild, like the rose bushes in the garden of the parsonage. +There are tragedies in every-day life, and tonight I saw the last +act of one. +</P> + +<P> +"She was lying in bed in a house in that narrow street: she was +sick unto death, and the cruel landlord came up, and tore away the +thin coverlet, her only protection against the cold. 'Get up!' said +he; 'your face is enough to frighten one. Get up and dress yourself, +give me money, or I'll turn you out into the street! Quick—get up!' +She answered, 'Alas! death is gnawing at my heart. Let me rest.' But +he forced her to get up and bathe her face, and put a wreath of +roses in her hair; and he placed her in a chair at the window, with +a candle burning beside her, and went away. +</P> + +<P> +"I looked at her, and she was sitting motionless, with her hands +in her lap. The wind caught the open window and shut it with a +crash, so that a pane came clattering down in fragments; but still she +never moved. The curtain caught fire, and the flames played about +her face; and I saw that she was dead. There at the open window sat +the dead woman, preaching a sermon against sin—my poor faded rose out +of the parsonage garden!" +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +FOURTH EVENING +</H3> + +<P> +"This evening I saw a German play acted," said the Moon. "It was +in a little town. A stable had been turned into a theatre; that is +to say, the stable had been left standing, and had been turned into +private boxes, and all the timber work had been covered with +coloured paper. A little iron chandelier hung beneath the ceiling, and +that it might be made to disappear into the ceiling, as it does in +great theatres, when the ting-ting of the prompter's bell is heard, +a great inverted tub has been placed just above it. +</P> + +<P> +"'Ting-ting!' and the little iron chandelier suddenly rose at +least half a yard and disappeared in the tub; and that was the sign +that the play was going to begin. A young nobleman and his lady, who +happened to be passing through the little town, were present at the +performance, and consequently the house was crowded. But under the +chandelier was a vacant space like a little crater: not a single +soul sat there, for the tallow was dropping, drip, drip! I saw +everything, for it was so warm in there that every loophole had been +opened. The male and female servants stood outside, peeping through +the chinks, although a real policeman was inside, threatening them +with a stick. Close by the orchestra could be seen the noble young +couple in two old arm-chairs, which were usually occupied by his +worship the mayor and his lady; but these latter were to-day obliged +to content themselves with wooden forms, just as if they had been +ordinary citizens; and the lady observed quietly to herself, 'One +sees, now, that there is rank above rank;' and this incident gave an +air of extra festivity to the whole proceedings. The chandelier gave +little leaps, the crowd got their knuckles rapped, and I, the Moon, +was present at the performance from beginning to end." +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +FIFTH EVENING +</H3> + +<P> +"Yesterday," began the Moon, "I looked down upon the turmoil of +Paris. My eye penetrated into an apartment of the Louvre. An old +grandmother, poorly clad—she belonged to the working class—was +following one of the under-servants into the great empty +throne-room, for this was the apartment she wanted to see—that she +was resolved to see; it had cost her many a little sacrifice, and many +a coaxing word, to penetrate thus far. She folded her thin hands, +and looked round with an air of reverence, as if she had been in a +church. +</P> + +<P> +"'Here it was!' she said, 'here!' and she approached the throne, +from which hung the rich velvet fringed with gold lace. 'There,' she +exclaimed, 'there!' and she knelt and kissed the purple carpet. I +think she was actually weeping. +</P> + +<P> +"'But it was not this very velvet!' observed the footman, and a +smile played about his mouth. 'True, but it was this very place,' +replied the woman, 'and it must have looked just like this. 'It looked +so, and yet it did not,' observed the man: 'the windows were beaten +in, and the doors were off their hinges, and there was blood upon +the floor.' 'But for all that you can say, my grandson died upon the +throne of France. Died!' mournfully repeated the old woman. I do not +think another word was spoken, and they soon quitted the hall. The +evening twilight faded and my light shone doubly vivid upon the rich +velvet that covered the throne of France. +</P> + +<P> +"Now who do you think this poor woman was? Listen, I will tell you +a story. +</P> + +<P> +"It happened, in the Revolution of July, on the evening of the +most brilliantly victorious day, when every house was a fortress, +every window a breastwork. The people stormed the Tuileries. Even +women and children were to be found among the combatants. They +penetrated into the apartments and halls of the palace. A poor +half-grown boy in a ragged blouse fought among the older insurgents. +Mortally wounded with several bayonet thrusts, he sank down. This +happened in the throne-room. They laid the bleeding youth upon the +throne of France, wrapped the velvet around his wounds, and his +blood streamed forth upon the imperial purple. There was a picture! +The splendid hall, the fighting groups! A torn flag upon the ground, +the tricolor was waving above the bayonets, and on the throne lay +the poor lad with the pale glorified countenance, his eyes turned +towards the sky, his limbs writhing in the death agony, his breast +bare, and his poor tattered clothing half hidden by the rich velvet +embroidered with silver lilies. At the boy's cradle a prophecy had +been spoken: 'He will die on the throne of France!' The mother's heart +dreamt of a second Napoleon. +</P> + +<P> +"My beams have kissed the wreath of immortelles on his grave, +and this night they kissed the forehead of the old grandame, while +in a dream the picture floated before her which thou mayest draw—the +poor boy on the throne of France." +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +SIXTH EVENING +</H3> + +<P> +"I've been in Upsala," said the Moon: "I looked down upon the +great plain covered with coarse grass, and upon the barren fields. I +mirrored my face in the Tyris river, while the steamboat drove the +fish into the rushes. Beneath me floated the waves, throwing long +shadows on the so-called graves of Odin, Thor, and Friga. In the +scanty turf that covers the hill-side names have been cut. There is no +monument here, no memorial on which the traveller can have his name +carved, no rocky wall on whose surface he can get it painted; so +visitors have the turf cut away for that purpose. The naked earth +peers through in the form of great letters and names; these form a +network over the whole hill. Here is an immortality, which lasts +till the fresh turf grows! +</P> + +<P> +"Up on the hill stood a man, a poet. He emptied the mead horn with +the broad silver rim, and murmured a name. He begged the winds not +to betray him, but I heard the name. I knew it. A count's coronet +sparkles above it, and therefore he did not speak it out. I smiled, +for I knew that a poet's crown adorns his own name. The nobility of +Eleanora d'Este is attached to the name of Tasso. And I also know +where the Rose of Beauty blooms!" +</P> + +<P> +Thus spake the Moon, and a cloud came between us. May no cloud +separate the poet from the rose! +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +SEVENTH EVENING +</H3> + +<P> +"Along the margin of the shore stretches a forest of firs and +beeches, and fresh and fragrant is this wood; hundreds of nightingales +visit it every spring. Close beside it is the sea, the ever-changing +sea, and between the two is placed the broad high-road. One carriage +after another rolls over it; but I did not follow them, for my eye +loves best to rest upon one point. A Hun's Grave lies there, and the +sloe and blackthorn grow luxuriantly among the stones. Here is true +poetry in nature. +</P> + +<P> +"And how do you think men appreciate this poetry? I will tell +you what I heard there last evening and during the night. +</P> + +<P> +"First, two rich landed proprietors came driving by. 'Those are +glorious trees!' said the first. 'Certainly; there are ten loads of +firewood in each,' observed the other: 'it will be a hard winter, +and last year we got fourteen dollars a load'—and they were gone. +'The road here is wretched,' observed another man who drove past. +'That's the fault of those horrible trees,' replied his neighbour; +'there is no free current of air; the wind can only come from the +sea'—and they were gone. The stage coach went rattling past. All +the passengers were asleep at this beautiful spot. The postillion blew +his horn, but he only thought, 'I can play capitally. It sounds well +here. I wonder if those in there like it?'—and the stage coach +vanished. Then two young fellows came gallopping up on horseback. +There's youth and spirit in the blood here! thought I; and, indeed, +they looked with a smile at the moss-grown hill and thick forest. 'I +should not dislike a walk here with the miller's Christine,' said +one—and they flew past. +</P> + +<P> +"The flowers scented the air; every breath of air was hushed; it +seemed as if the sea were a part of the sky that stretched above the +deep valley. A carriage rolled by. Six people were sitting in it. Four +of them were asleep; the fifth was thinking of his new summer coat, +which would suit him admirably; the sixth turned to the coachman and +asked him if there were anything remarkable connected with yonder heap +of stones. 'No,' replied the coachman, 'it's only a heap of stones; +but the trees are remarkable.' 'How so?' 'Why I'll tell you how they +are very remarkable. You see, in winter, when the snow lies very deep, +and has hidden the whole road so that nothing is to be seen, those +trees serve me for a landmark. I steer by them, so as not to drive +into the sea; and you see that is why the trees are remarkable.' +</P> + +<P> +"Now came a painter. He spoke not a word, but his eyes sparkled. +He began to whistle. At this the nightingales sang louder than ever. +'Hold your tongues!' he cried testily; and he made accurate notes of +all the colours and transitions—blue, and lilac, and dark brown. +'That will make a beautiful picture,' he said. He took it in just as a +mirror takes in a view; and as he worked he whistled a march of +Rossini. And last of all came a poor girl. She laid aside the burden +she carried, and sat down to rest upon the Hun's Grave. Her pale +handsome face was bent in a listening attitude towards the forest. Her +eyes brightened, she gazed earnestly at the sea and the sky, her hands +were folded, and I think she prayed, 'Our Father.' She herself could +not understand the feeling that swept through her, but I know that +this minute, and the beautiful natural scene, will live within her +memory for years, far more vividly and more truly than the painter +could portray it with his colours on paper. My rays followed her +till the morning dawn kissed her brow." +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +EIGHTH EVENING +</H3> + +<P> +Heavy clouds obscured the sky, and the Moon did not make his +appearance at all. I stood in my little room, more lonely than ever, +and looked up at the sky where he ought to have shown himself. My +thoughts flew far away, up to my great friend, who every evening +told me such pretty tales, and showed me pictures. Yes, he has had +an experience indeed. He glided over the waters of the Deluge, and +smiled on Noah's ark just as he lately glanced down upon me, and +brought comfort and promise of a new world that was to spring forth +from the old. When the Children of Israel sat weeping by the waters of +Babylon, he glanced mournfully upon the willows where hung the +silent harps. When Romeo climbed the balcony, and the promise of +true love fluttered like a cherub toward heaven, the round Moon +hung, half hidden among the dark cypresses, in the lucid air. He saw +the captive giant at St. Helena, looking from the lonely rock across +the wide ocean, while great thoughts swept through his soul. Ah! +what tales the Moon can tell. Human life is like a story to him. +To-night I shall not see thee again, old friend. Tonight I can draw no +picture of the memories of thy visit. And, as I looked dreamily +towards the clouds, the sky became bright. There was a glancing light, +and a beam from the Moon fell upon me. It vanished again, and dark +clouds flew past: but still it was a greeting, a friendly good-night +offered to me by the Moon. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +NINTH EVENING +</H3> + +<P> +The air was clear again. Several evenings had passed, and the Moon +was in the first quarter. Again he gave me an outline for a sketch. +Listen to what he told me. +</P> + +<P> +"I have followed the polar bird and the swimming whale to the +eastern coast of Greenland. Gaunt ice-covered rocks and dark clouds +hung over a valley, where dwarf willows and barberry bushes stood +clothed in green. The blooming lychnis exhaled sweet odours. My +light was faint, my face pale as the water lily that, torn from its +stem, has been drifting for weeks with the tide. The crown-shaped +Northern Light burned fiercely in the sky. Its ring was broad, and +from its circumference the rays shot like whirling shafts of fire +across the whole sky, flashing in changing radiance from green to red. +The inhabitants of that icy region were assembling for dance and +festivity; but, accustomed to this glorious spectacle, they scarcely +deigned to glance at it. 'Let us leave the soul of the dead to their +ball-play with the heads of the walruses,' they thought in their +superstition, and they turned their whole attention to the song and +dance. In the midst of the circle, and divested of his furry cloak, +stood a Greenlander, with a small pipe, and he played and sang a +song about catching the seal, and the chorus around chimed in with, +'Eia, Eia, Ah.' And in their white furs they danced about in the +circle, till you might fancy it was a polar bear's ball. +</P> + +<P> +"And now a Court of Judgment was opened. Those Greenlanders who +had quarrelled stepped forward, and the offended person chanted +forth the faults of his adversary in an extempore song, turning them +sharply into ridicule, to the sound of the pipe and the measure of the +dance. The defendant replied with satire as keen, while the audience +laughed, and gave their verdict. The rocks heaved, the glaciers +melted, and great masses of ice and snow came crashing down, shivering +to fragments as they fall; it was a glorious Greenland summer night. A +hundred paces away, under the open tent of hides, lay a sick man. Life +still flowed through his warm blood, but still he was to die—he +himself felt it, and all who stood round him knew it also; therefore +his wife was already sewing round him the shroud of furs, that she +might not afterwards be obliged to touch the dead body. And she asked, +'Wilt thou be buried on the rock, in the firm snow? I will deck the +spot with thy kayak, and thy arrows, and the angekokk shall dance over +it. Or wouldst thou rather be buried in the sea?' 'In the sea,' he +whispered, and nodded with a mournful smile. 'Yes, it is a pleasant +summer tent, the sea,' observed the wife. 'Thousands of seals sport +there, the walrus shall lie at thy feet, and the hunt will be safe and +merry!' And the yelling children tore the outspread hide from the +window-hole, that the dead man might be carried to the ocean, the +billowy ocean, that had given him food in life, and that now, in +death, was to afford him a place of rest. For his monument, he had the +floating, ever-changing icebergs, whereon the seal sleeps, while the +storm bird flies round their gleaming summits!" +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +TENTH EVENING +</H3> + +<P> +"I knew an old maid," said the Moon. "Every winter she wore a +wrapper of yellow satin, and it always remained new, and was the +only fashion she followed. In summer she always wore the same straw +hat, and I verily believe the very same gray-blue dress. +</P> + +<P> +"She never went out, except across the street to an old female +friend; and in later years she did not even take this walk, for the +old friend was dead. In her solitude my old maid was always busy at +the window, which was adorned in summer with pretty flowers, and in +winter with cress, grown upon felt. During the last months I saw her +no more at the window, but she was still alive. I knew that, for I had +not yet seen her begin the 'long journey,' of which she often spoke +with her friend. 'Yes, yes,' she was in the habit of saying, when I +come to die I shall take a longer journey than I have made my whole +life long. Our family vault is six miles from here. I shall be carried +there, and shall sleep there among my family and relatives.' Last +night a van stopped at the house. A coffin was carried out, and then I +knew that she was dead. They placed straw round the coffin, and the +van drove away. There slept the quiet old lady, who had not gone out +of her house once for the last year. The van rolled out through the +town-gate as briskly as if it were going for a pleasant excursion. +On the high-road the pace was quicker yet. The coachman looked +nervously round every now and then—I fancy he half expected to see +her sitting on the coffin, in her yellow satin wrapper. And because he +was startled, he foolishly lashed his horses, while he held the +reins so tightly that the poor beasts were in a foam: they were +young and fiery. A hare jumped across the road and startled them, +and they fairly ran away. The old sober maiden, who had for years +and years moved quietly round and round in a dull circle, was now, +in death, rattled over stock and stone on the public highway. The +coffin in its covering of straw tumbled out of the van, and was left +on the high-road, while horses, coachman, and carriage flew past in +wild career. The lark rose up carolling from the field, twittering her +morning lay over the coffin, and presently perched upon it, picking +with her beak at the straw covering, as though she would tear it up. +The lark rose up again, singing gaily, and I withdrew behind the red +morning clouds." +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +ELEVENTH EVENING +</H3> + +<P> +"I will give you a picture of Pompeii," said the Moon. "I was in +the suburb in the Street of Tombs, as they call it, where the fair +monuments stand, in the spot where, ages ago, the merry youths, +their temples bound with rosy wreaths, danced with the fair sisters of +Lais. Now, the stillness of death reigned around. German +mercenaries, in the Neapolitan service, kept guard, played cards, +and diced; and a troop of strangers from beyond the mountains came +into the town, accompanied by a sentry. They wanted to see the city +that had risen from the grave illumined by my beams; and I showed them +the wheel-ruts in the streets paved with broad lava slabs; I showed +them the names on the doors, and the signs that hung there yet: they +saw in the little courtyard the basins of the fountains, ornamented +with shells; but no jet of water gushed upwards, no songs sounded +forth from the richly-painted chambers, where the bronze dog kept +the door. +</P> + +<P> +"It was the City of the Dead; only Vesuvius thundered forth his +everlasting hymn, each separate verse of which is called by men an +eruption. We went to the temple of Venus, built of snow-white +marble, with its high altar in front of the broad steps, and the +weeping willows sprouting freshly forth among the pillars. The air was +transparent and blue, and black Vesuvius formed the background, with +fire ever shooting forth from it, like the stem of the pine tree. +Above it stretched the smoky cloud in the silence of the night, like +the crown of the pine, but in a blood-red illumination. Among the +company was a lady singer, a real and great singer. I have witnessed +the homage paid to her in the greatest cities of Europe. When they +came to the tragic theatre, they all sat down on the amphitheatre +steps, and thus a small part of the house was occupied by an audience, +as it had been many centuries ago. The stage still stood unchanged, +with its walled side-scenes, and the two arches in the background, +through which the beholders saw the same scene that had been exhibited +in the old times—a scene painted by nature herself, namely, the +mountains between Sorento and Amalfi. The singer gaily mounted the +ancient stage, and sang. The place inspired her, and she reminded me +of a wild Arab horse, that rushes headlong on with snorting nostrils +and flying mane—her song was so light and yet so firm. Anon I thought +of the mourning mother beneath the cross at Golgotha, so deep was +the expression of pain. And, just as it had done thousands of years +ago, the sound of applause and delight now filled the theatre. 'Happy, +gifted creature!' all the hearers exclaimed. Five minutes more, and +the stage was empty, the company had vanished, and not a sound more +was heard—all were gone. But the ruins stood unchanged, as they +will stand when centuries shall have gone by, and when none shall know +of the momentary applause and of the triumph of the fair songstress; +when all will be forgotten and gone, and even for me this hour will be +but a dream of the past." +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +TWELFTH EVENING +</H3> + +<P> +"I looked through the windows of an editor's house," said the +Moon. "It was somewhere in Germany. I saw handsome furniture, many +books, and a chaos of newspapers. Several young men were present: +the editor himself stood at his desk, and two little books, both by +young authors, were to be noticed. 'This one has been sent to me,' +said he. 'I have not read it yet; what think you of the contents?' +'Oh,' said the person addressed—he was a poet himself—'it is good +enough; a little broad, certainly; but, you see, the author is still +young. The verses might be better, to be sure; the thoughts are sound, +though there is certainly a good deal of common-place among them. +But what will you have? You can't be always getting something new. +That he'll turn out anything great I don't believe, but you may safely +praise him. He is well read, a remarkable Oriental scholar, and has +a good judgment. It was he who wrote that nice review of my +'Reflections on Domestic Life.' We must be lenient towards the young +man." +</P> + +<P> +"'But he is a complete hack!' objected another of the gentlemen. +'Nothing worse in poetry than mediocrity, and he certainly does not go +beyond this.' +</P> + +<P> +"'Poor fellow,' observed a third, 'and his aunt is so happy +about him. It was she, Mr. Editor, who got together so many +subscribers for your last translation.' +</P> + +<P> +"'Ah, the good woman! Well, I have noticed the book briefly. +Undoubted talent—a welcome offering—a flower in the garden of +poetry—prettily brought out—and so on. But this other book—I +suppose the author expects me to purchase it? I hear it is praised. He +has genius, certainly: don't you think so?' +</P> + +<P> +"'Yes, all the world declares as much,' replied the poet, 'but +it has turned out rather wildly. The punctuation of the book, in +particular, is very eccentric.' +</P> + +<P> +"'It will be good for him if we pull him to pieces, and anger +him a little, otherwise he will get too good an opinion of himself.' +</P> + +<P> +"'But that would be unfair,' objected the fourth. 'Let us not carp +at little faults, but rejoice over the real and abundant good that +we find here: he surpasses all the rest.' +</P> + +<P> +"'Not so. If he is a true genius, he can bear the sharp voice of +censure. There are people enough to praise him. Don't let us quite +turn his head.' +</P> + +<P> +"'Decided talent,' wrote the editor, 'with the usual carelessness. +that he can write incorrect verses may be seen in page 25, where there +are two false quantities. We recommend him to study the ancients, +etc.' +</P> + +<P> +"I went away," continued the Moon, "and looked through the windows +in the aunt's house. There sat the be-praised poet, the tame one; +all the guests paid homage to him, and he was happy. +</P> + +<P> +"I sought the other poet out, the wild one; him also I found in +a great assembly at his patron's, where the tame poet's book was being +discussed. +</P> + +<P> +"'I shall read yours also,' said Maecenas; 'but to speak honestly—you +know I never hide my opinion from you—I don't expect much from +it, for you are much too wild, too fantastic. But it must be allowed +that, as a man, you are highly respectable.' +</P> + +<P> +"A young girl sat in a corner; and she read in a book these words: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "'In the dust lies genius and glory,<BR> + But ev'ry-day talent will pay.<BR> + It's only the old, old story,<BR> + But the piece is repeated each day.'"<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THIRTEENTH EVENING +</H3> + +<P> +The Moon said, "Beside the woodland path there are two small +farm-houses. The doors are low, and some of the windows are placed +quite high, and others close to the ground; and whitethorn and +barberry bushes grow around them. The roof of each house is +overgrown with moss and with yellow flowers and houseleek. Cabbage and +potatoes are the only plants cultivated in the gardens, but out of the +hedge there grows a willow tree, and under this willow tree sat a +little girl, and she sat with her eyes fixed upon the old oak tree +between the two huts. +</P> + +<P> +"It was an old withered stem. It had been sawn off at the top, and +a stork had built his nest upon it; and he stood in this nest clapping +with his beak. A little boy came and stood by the girl's side: they +were brother and sister. +</P> + +<P> +"'What are you looking at?' he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"'I'm watching the stork,' she replied: 'our neighbors told me +that he would bring us a little brother or sister to-day; let us watch +to see it come!' +</P> + +<P> +"'The stork brings no such things,' the boy declared, 'you may +be sure of that. Our neighbor told me the same thing, but she +laughed when she said it, and so I asked her if she could say 'On my +honor,' and she could not; and I know by that the story about the +storks is not true, and that they only tell it to us children for +fun.' +</P> + +<P> + "'But where do babies come from, then?' asked the girl.<BR> +</P> + +<P> +"'Why, an angel from heaven brings them under his cloak, but no +man can see him; and that's why we never know when he brings them.' +</P> + +<P> +"At that moment there was a rustling in the branches of the willow +tree, and the children folded their hands and looked at one another: +it was certainly the angel coming with the baby. They took each +other's hand, and at that moment the door of one of the houses opened, +and the neighbour appeared. +</P> + +<P> +"'Come in, you two,' she said. 'See what the stork has brought. It +is a little brother.' +</P> + +<P> +"And the children nodded gravely at one another, for they had felt +quite sure already that the baby was come." +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +FOURTEENTH EVENING +</H3> + +<P> +"I was gliding over the Luneburg Heath," the Moon said. "A +lonely hut stood by the wayside, a few scanty bushes grew near it, and +a nightingale who had lost his way sang sweetly. He died in the +coldness of the night: it was his farewell song that I heard. +</P> + +<P> +"The morning dawn came glimmering red. I saw a caravan of emigrant +peasant families who were bound to Hamburgh, there to take ship for +America, where fancied prosperity would bloom for them. The mothers +carried their little children at their backs, the elder ones +tottered by their sides, and a poor starved horse tugged at a cart +that bore their scanty effects. The cold wind whistled, and +therefore the little girl nestled closer to the mother, who, looking +up at my decreasing disc, thought of the bitter want at home, and +spoke of the heavy taxes they had not been able to raise. The whole +caravan thought of the same thing; therefore, the rising dawn seemed +to them a message from the sun, of fortune that was to gleam +brightly upon them. They heard the dying nightingale sing; it was no +false prophet, but a harbinger of fortune. The wind whistled, +therefore they did not understand that the nightingale sung, 'Fare +away over the sea! Thou hast paid the long passage with all that was +thine, and poor and helpless shalt thou enter Canaan. Thou must sell +thyself, thy wife, and thy children. But your griefs shall not last +long. Behind the broad fragrant leaves lurks the goddess of Death, and +her welcome kiss shall breathe fever into thy blood. Fare away, fare +away, over the heaving billows.' And the caravan listened well pleased +to the song of the nightingale, which seemed to promise good +fortune. Day broke through the light clouds; country people went +across the heath to church; the black-gowned women with their white +head-dresses looked like ghosts that had stepped forth from the church +pictures. All around lay a wide dead plain, covered with faded brown +heath, and black charred spaces between the white sand hills. The +women carried hymn books, and walked into the church. Oh, pray, pray +for those who are wandering to find graves beyond the foaming +billows." +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +FIFTEENTH EVENING +</H3> + +<P> +"I know a Pulcinella," the Moon told me. "The public applaud +vociferously directly they see him. Every one of his movements is +comic, and is sure to throw the house into convulsions of laughter; +and yet there is no art in it all—it is complete nature. When he +was yet a little boy, playing about with other boys, he was already +Punch. Nature had intended him for it, and had provided him with a +hump on his back, and another on his breast; but his inward man, his +mind, on the contrary, was richly furnished. No one could surpass +him in depth of feeling or in readiness of intellect. The theatre +was his ideal world. If he had possessed a slender well-shaped figure, +he might have been the first tragedian on any stage; the heroic, the +great, filled his soul; and yet he had to become a Pulcinella. His +very sorrow and melancholy did but increase the comic dryness of his +sharply-cut features, and increased the laughter of the audience, +who showered plaudits on their favourite. The lovely Columbine was +indeed kind and cordial to him; but she preferred to marry the +Harlequin. It would have been too ridiculous if beauty and ugliness +had in reality paired together. +</P> + +<P> +"When Pulcinella was in very bad spirits, she was the only one who +could force a hearty burst of laughter, or even a smile from him: +first she would be melancholy with him, then quieter, and at last +quite cheerful and happy. 'I know very well what is the matter with +you,' she said; 'yes, you're in love!' And he could not help laughing. +'I and Love," he cried, "that would have an absurd look. How the +public would shout!' 'Certainly, you are in love,' she continued; +and added with a comic pathos, 'and I am the person you are in love +with.' You see, such a thing may be said when it is quite out of the +question—and, indeed, Pulcinella burst out laughing, and gave a +leap into the air, and his melancholy was forgotten. +</P> + +<P> +"And yet she had only spoken the truth. He did love her, love +her adoringly, as he loved what was great and lofty in art. At her +wedding he was the merriest among the guests, but in the stillness +of night he wept: if the public had seen his distorted face then, they +would have applauded rapturously. +</P> + +<P> +"And a few days ago, Columbine died. On the day of the funeral, +Harlequin was not required to show himself on the boards, for he was a +disconsolate widower. The director had to give a very merry piece, +that the public might not too painfully miss the pretty Columbine +and the agile Harlequin. Therefore Pulcinella had to be more +boisterous and extravagant than ever; and he danced and capered, +with despair in his heart; and the audience yelled, and shouted +'bravo, bravissimo!' Pulcinella was actually called before the +curtain. He was pronounced inimitable. +</P> + +<P> +"But last night the hideous little fellow went out of the town, +quite alone, to the deserted churchyard. The wreath of flowers on +Columbine's grave was already faded, and he sat down there. It was a +study for a painter. As he sat with his chin on his hands, his eyes +turned up towards me, he looked like a grotesque monument—a Punch +on a grave—peculiar and whimsical! If the people could have seen +their favourite, they would have cried as usual, 'Bravo, Pulcinella; +bravo, bravissimo!'" +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +SIXTEENTH EVENING +</H3> + +<P> +Hear what the Moon told me. "I have seen the cadet who had just +been made an officer put on his handsome uniform for the first time; I +have seen the young bride in her wedding dress, and the princess +girl-wife happy in her gorgeous robes; but never have I seen a +felicity equal to that of a little girl of four years old, whom I +watched this evening. She had received a new blue dress, and a new +pink hat, the splendid attire had just been put on, and all were +calling for a candle, for my rays, shining in through the windows of +the room, were not bright enough for the occasion, and further +illumination was required. There stood the little maid, stiff and +upright as a doll, her arms stretched painfully straight out away from +the dress, and her fingers apart; and oh, what happiness beamed from +her eyes, and from her whole countenance! 'To-morrow you shall go +out in your new clothes,' said her mother; and the little one looked +up at her hat, and down at her frock, and smiled brightly. 'Mother,' +she cried, 'what will the little dogs think, when they see me in these +splendid new things?'" +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +SEVENTEENTH EVENING +</H3> + +<P> +"I have spoken to you of Pompeii," said the Moon; "that corpse +of a city, exposed in the view of living towns: I know another sight +still more strange, and this is not the corpse, but the spectre of a +city. Whenever the jetty fountains splash into the marble basins, they +seem to me to be telling the story of the floating city. Yes, the +spouting water may tell of her, the waves of the sea may sing of her +fame! On the surface of the ocean a mist often rests, and that is +her widow's veil. The bridegroom of the sea is dead, his palace and +his city are his mausoleum! Dost thou know this city? She has never +heard the rolling of wheels or the hoof-tread of horses in her +streets, through which the fish swim, while the black gondola glides +spectrally over the green water. I will show you the place," continued +the Moon, "the largest square in it, and you will fancy yourself +transported into the city of a fairy tale. The grass grows rank +among the broad flagstones, and in the morning twilight thousands of +tame pigeons flutter around the solitary lofty tower. On three sides +you find yourself surrounded by cloistered walks. In these the +silent Turk sits smoking his long pipe, the handsome Greek leans +against the pillar and gazes at the upraised trophies and lofty masts, +memorials of power that is gone. The flags hang down like mourning +scarves. A girl rests there: she has put down her heavy pails filled +with water, the yoke with which she has carried them rests on one of +her shoulders, and she leans against the mast of victory. That is +not a fairy palace you see before you yonder, but a church: the gilded +domes and shining orbs flash back my beams; the glorious bronze horses +up yonder have made journeys, like the bronze horse in the fairy tale: +they have come hither, and gone hence, and have returned again. Do you +notice the variegated splendour of the walls and windows? It looks +as if Genius had followed the caprices of a child, in the adornment of +these singular temples. Do you see the winged lion on the pillar? +The gold glitters still, but his wings are tied—the lion is dead, for +the king of the sea is dead; the great halls stand desolate, and where +gorgeous paintings hung of yore, the naked wall now peers through. The +lazzarone sleeps under the arcade, whose pavement in old times was +to be trodden only by the feet of high nobility. From the deep +wells, and perhaps from the prisons by the Bridge of Sighs, rise the +accents of woe, as at the time when the tambourine was heard in the +gay gondolas, and the golden ring was cast from the Bucentaur to +Adria, the queen of the seas. Adria! shroud thyself in mists; let +the veil of thy widowhood shroud thy form, and clothe in the weeds +of woe the mausoleum of thy bridegroom—the marble, spectral Venice." +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +EIGHTEENTH EVENING +</H3> + +<P> +"I looked down upon a great theatre," said the Moon. "The house +was crowded, for a new actor was to make his first appearance that +night. My rays glided over a little window in the wall, and I saw a +painted face with the forehead pressed against the panes. It was the +hero of the evening. The knighly beard curled crisply about the +chin; but there were tears in the man's eyes, for he had been hissed +off, and indeed with reason. The poor Incapable! But Incapables cannot +be admitted into the empire of Art. He had deep feeling, and loved his +art enthusiastically, but the art loved not him. The prompter's bell +sounded; 'the hero enters with a determined air,' so ran the stage +direction in his part, and he had to appear before an audience who +turned him into ridicule. When the piece was over, I saw a form +wrapped in a mantle, creeping down the steps: it was the vanquished +knight of the evening. The scene-shifters whispered to one another, +and I followed the poor fellow home to his room. To hang one's self is +to die a mean death, and poison is not always at hand, I know; but +he thought of both. I saw how he looked at his pale face in the glass, +with eyes half closed, to see if he should look well as a corpse. A +man may be very unhappy, and yet exceedingly affected. He thought of +death, of suicide; I believe he pitied himself, for he wept +bitterly, and when a man has had his cry out he doesn't kill himself. +</P> + +<P> +"Since that time a year had rolled by. Again a play was to be +acted, but in a little theatre, and by a poor strolling company. Again +I saw the well-remembered face, with the painted cheeks and the +crisp beard. He looked up at me and smiled; and yet he had been hissed +off only a minute before—hissed off from a wretched theatre, by a +miserable audience. And tonight a shabby hearse rolled out of the +town-gate. It was a suicide—our painted, despised hero. The driver of +the hearse was the only person present, for no one followed except +my beams. In a corner of the churchyard the corpse of the suicide +was shovelled into the earth, and nettles will soon be growing +rankly over his grave, and the sexton will throw thorns and weeds from +the other graves upon it." +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +NINETEENTH EVENING +</H3> + +<P> +"I come from Rome," said the Moon. "In the midst of the city, upon +one of the seven hills, lie the ruins of the imperial palace. The wild +fig tree grows in the clefts of the wall, and covers the nakedness +thereof with its broad grey-green leaves; trampling among heaps of +rubbish, the ass treads upon green laurels, and rejoices over the rank +thistles. From this spot, whence the eagles of Rome once flew +abroad, whence they 'came, saw, and conquered,' our door leads into +a little mean house, built of clay between two pillars; the wild +vine hangs like a mourning garland over the crooked window. An old +woman and her little granddaughter live there: they rule now in the +palace of the Caesars, and show to strangers the remains of its past +glories. Of the splendid throne-hall only a naked wall yet stands, and +a black cypress throws its dark shadow on the spot where the throne +once stood. The dust lies several feet deep on the broken pavement; +and the little maiden, now the daughter of the imperial palace, +often sits there on her stool when the evening bells ring. The keyhole +of the door close by she calls her turret window; through this she can +see half Rome, as far as the mighty cupola of St. Peter's. +</P> + +<P> +"On this evening, as usual, stillness reigned around; and in the +full beam of my light came the little granddaughter. On her head she +carried an earthen pitcher of antique shape filled with water. Her +feet were bare, her short frock and her white sleeves were torn. I +kissed her pretty round shoulders, her dark eyes, and black shining +hair. She mounted the stairs; they were steep, having been made up +of rough blocks of broken marble and the capital of a fallen pillar. +The coloured lizards slipped away, startled, from before her feet, but +she was not frightened at them. Already she lifted her hand to pull +the door-bell—a hare's foot fastened to a string formed the +bell-handle of the imperial palace. She paused for a moment—of what +might she be thinking? Perhaps of the beautiful Christ-child, +dressed in gold and silver, which was down below in the chapel, +where the silver candlesticks gleamed so bright, and where her +little friends sung the hymns in which she also could join? I know +not. Presently she moved again—she stumbled: the earthen vessel +fell from her head, and broke on the marble steps. She burst into +tears. The beautiful daughter of the imperial palace wept over the +worthless broken pitcher; with her bare feet she stood there +weeping; and dared not pull the string, the bell-rope of the +imperial palace!" +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +TWENTIETH EVENING +</H3> + +<P> +It was more than a fortnight since the Moon had shone. Now he +stood once more, round and bright, above the clouds, moving slowly +onward. Hear what the Moon told me. +</P> + +<P> +"From a town in Fezzan I followed a caravan. On the margin of +the sandy desert, in a salt plain, that shone like a frozen lake, +and was only covered in spots with light drifting sand, a halt was +made. The eldest of the company—the water gourd hung at his girdle, +and on his head was a little bag of unleavened bread—drew a square in +the sand with his staff, and wrote in it a few words out of the Koran, +and then the whole caravan passed over the consecrated spot. A young +merchant, a child of the East, as I could tell by his eye and his +figure, rode pensively forward on his white snorting steed. Was he +thinking, perchance, of his fair young wife? It was only two days +ago that the camel, adorned with furs and with costly shawls, had +carried her, the beauteous bride, round the walls of the city, while +drums and cymbals had sounded, the women sang, and festive shots, of +which the bridegroom fired the greatest number, resounded round the +camel; and now he was journeying with the caravan across the desert. +</P> + +<P> +"For many nights I followed the train. I saw them rest by the +wellside among the stunted palms; they thrust the knife into the +breast of the camel that had fallen, and roasted its flesh by the +fire. My beams cooled the glowing sands, and showed them the black +rocks, dead islands in the immense ocean of sand. No hostile tribes +met them in their pathless route, no storms arose, no columns of +sand whirled destruction over the journeying caravan. At home the +beautiful wife prayed for her husband and her father. 'Are they dead?' +she asked of my golden crescent; 'Are they dead?' she cried to my full +disc. Now the desert lies behind them. This evening they sit beneath +the lofty palm trees, where the crane flutters round them with its +long wings, and the pelican watches them from the branches of the +mimosa. The luxuriant herbage is trampled down, crushed by the feet of +elephants. A troop of negroes are returning from a market in the +interior of the land: the women, with copper buttons in their black +hair, and decked out in clothes dyed with indigo, drive the +heavily-laden oxen, on whose backs slumber the naked black children. A +negro leads a young lion which he has brought, by a string. They +approach the caravan; the young merchant sits pensive and +motionless, thinking of his beautiful wife, dreaming, in the land of +the blacks, of his white lily beyond the desert. He raises his head, +and—" But at this moment a cloud passed before the Moon, and then +another. I heard nothing more from him this evening. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +TWENTY-FIRST EVENING +</H3> + +<P> +"I saw a little girl weeping," said the Moon; "she was weeping +over the depravity of the world. She had received a most beautiful +doll as a present. Oh, that was a glorious doll, so fair and delicate! +She did not seem created for the sorrows of this world. But the +brothers of the little girl, those great naughty boys, had set the +doll high up in the branches of a tree and had run away. +</P> + +<P> +"The little girl could not reach up to the doll, and could not +help her down, and that is why she was crying. The doll must certainly +have been crying too, for she stretched out her arms among the green +branches, and looked quite mournful. Yes, these are the troubles of +life of which the little girl had often heard tell. Alas, poor doll! +it began to grow dark already; and suppose night were to come on +completely! Was she to be left sitting on the bough all night long? +No, the little maid could not make up her mind to that. 'I'll stay +with you,' she said, although she felt anything but happy in her mind. +She could almost fancy she distinctly saw little gnomes, with their +high-crowned hats, sitting in the bushes; and further back in the long +walk, tall spectres appeared to be dancing. They came nearer and +nearer, and stretched out their hands towards the tree on which the +doll sat; they laughed scornfully, and pointed at her with their +fingers. Oh, how frightened the little maid was! 'But if one has not +done anything wrong,' she thought, 'nothing evil can harm one. I +wonder if I have done anything wrong?' And she considered. 'Oh, yes! I +laughed at the poor duck with the red rag on her leg; she limped along +so funnily, I could not help laughing; but it's a sin to laugh at +animals.' And she looked up at the doll. 'Did you laugh at the duck +too?' she asked; and it seemed as if the doll shook her head." +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +TWENTY-SECOND EVENING +</H3> + +<P> +"I looked down upon Tyrol," said the Moon, "and my beams caused +the dark pines to throw long shadows upon the rocks. I looked at the +pictures of St. Christopher carrying the Infant Jesus that are painted +there upon the walls of the houses, colossal figures reaching from the +ground to the roof. St. Florian was represented pouring water on the +burning house, and the Lord hung bleeding on the great cross by the +wayside. To the present generation these are old pictures, but I saw +when they were put up, and marked how one followed the other. On the +brow of the mountain yonder is perched, like a swallow's nest, a +lonely convent of nuns. Two of the sisters stood up in the tower +tolling the bell; they were both young, and therefore their glances +flew over the mountain out into the world. A travelling coach passed +by below, the postillion wound his horn, and the poor nuns looked +after the carriage for a moment with a mournful glance, and a tear +gleamed in the eyes of the younger one. And the horn sounded faint and +more faintly, and the convent bell drowned its expiring echoes." +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +TWENTY-THIRD EVENING +</H3> + +<P> +Hear what the Moon told me. "Some years ago, here in Copenhagen, I +looked through the window of a mean little room. The father and mother +slept, but the little son was not asleep. I saw the flowered cotton +curtains of the bed move, and the child peep forth. At first I thought +he was looking at the great clock, which was gaily painted in red +and green. At the top sat a cuckoo, below hung the heavy leaden +weights, and the pendulum with the polished disc of metal went to +and fro, and said 'tick, tick.' But no, he was not looking at the +clock, but at his mother's spinning wheel, that stood just +underneath it. That was the boy's favourite piece of furniture, but he +dared not touch it, for if he meddled with it he got a rap on the +knuckles. For hours together, when his mother was spinning, he would +sit quietly by her side, watching the murmuring spindle and the +revolving wheel, and as he sat he thought of many things. Oh, if he +might only turn the wheel himself! Father and mother were asleep; he +looked at them, and looked at the spinning wheel, and presently a +little naked foot peered out of the bed, and then a second foot, and +then two little white legs. There he stood. He looked round once more, +to see if father and mother were still asleep—yes, they slept; and +now he crept softly, softly, in his short little nightgown, to the +spinning wheel, and began to spin. The thread flew from the wheel, and +the wheel whirled faster and faster. I kissed his fair hair and his +blue eyes, it was such a pretty picture. +</P> + +<P> +"At that moment the mother awoke. The curtain shook, she looked +forth, and fancied she saw a gnome or some other kind of little +spectre. 'In Heaven's name!' she cried, and aroused her husband in a +frightened way. He opened his eyes, rubbed them with his hands, and +looked at the brisk little lad. 'Why, that is Bertel,' said he. And my +eye quitted the poor room, for I have so much to see. At the same +moment I looked at the halls of the Vatican, where the marble gods are +enthroned. I shone upon the group of the Laocoon; the stone seemed +to sigh. I pressed a silent kiss on the lips of the Muses, and they +seemed to stir and move. But my rays lingered longest about the Nile +group with the colossal god. Leaning against the Sphinx, he lies there +thoughtful and meditative, as if he were thinking on the rolling +centuries; and little love-gods sport with him and with the +crocodiles. In the horn of plenty sat with folded arms a little tiny +love-god, contemplating the great solemn river-god, a true picture +of the boy at the spinning wheel—the features were exactly the +same. Charming and life-like stood the little marble form, and yet the +wheel of the year has turned more than a thousand times since the time +when it sprang forth from the stone. Just as often as the boy in the +little room turned the spinning wheel had the great wheel murmured, +before the age could again call forth marble gods equal to those he +afterwards formed. +</P> + +<P> +"Years have passed since all this happened," the Moon went on to +say. "Yesterday I looked upon a bay on the eastern coast of Denmark. +Glorious woods are there, and high trees, an old knightly castle +with red walls, swans floating in the ponds, and in the background +appears, among orchards, a little town with a church. Many boats, +the crews all furnished with torches, glided over the silent +expanse—but these fires had not been kindled for catching fish, for +everything had a festive look. Music sounded, a song was sung, and +in one of the boats the man stood erect to whom homage was paid by the +rest, a tall sturdy man, wrapped in a cloak. He had blue eyes and long +white hair. I knew him, and thought of the Vatican, and of the group +of the Nile, and the old marble gods. I thought of the simple little +room where little Bertel sat in his night-shirt by the spinning wheel. +The wheel of time has turned, and new gods have come forth from the +stone. From the boats there arose a shout: 'Hurrah, hurrah for +Bertel Thorwaldsen!'" +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +TWENTY-FOURTH EVENING +</H3> + +<P> +"I will now give you a picture from Frankfort," said the Moon. +"I especially noticed one building there. It was not the house in +which Goethe was born, nor the old Council House, through whose grated +windows peered the horns of the oxen that were roasted and given to +the people when the emperors were crowned. No, it was a private house, +plain in appearance, and painted green. It stood near the old Jews' +Street. It was Rothschild's house. +</P> + +<P> +"I looked through the open door. The staircase was brilliantly +lighted: servants carrying wax candles in massive silver +candlesticks stood there, and bowed low before an old woman, who was +being brought downstairs in a litter. The proprietor of the house +stood bare-headed, and respectfully imprinted a kiss on the hand of +the old woman. She was his mother. She nodded in a friendly manner +to him and to the servants, and they carried her into the dark +narrow street, into a little house, that was her dwelling. Here her +children had been born, from hence the fortune of the family had +arisen. If she deserted the despised street and the little house, +fortune would also desert her children. That was her firm belief." +</P> + +<P> +The Moon told me no more; his visit this evening was far too +short. But I thought of the old woman in the narrow despised street. +It would have cost her but a word, and a brilliant house would have +arisen for her on the banks of the Thames—a word, and a villa would +have been prepared in the Bay of Naples. +</P> + +<P> +"If I deserted the lowly house, where the fortunes of my sons +first began to bloom, fortune would desert them!" It was a +superstition, but a superstition of such a class, that he who knows +the story and has seen this picture, need have only two words placed +under the picture to make him understand it; and these two words +are: "A mother." +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +TWENTY-FIFTH EVENING +</H3> + +<P> +"It was yesterday, in the morning twilight"—these are the words +the Moon told me—"in the great city no chimney was yet smoking—and +it was just at the chimneys that I was looking. Suddenly a little head +emerged from one of them, and then half a body, the arms resting on +the rim of the chimney-pot. 'Ya-hip! ya-hip!' cried a voice. It was +the little chimney-sweeper, who had for the first time in his life +crept through a chimney, and stuck out his head at the top. 'Ya-hip! +ya-hip' Yes, certainly that was a very different thing to creeping +about in the dark narrow chimneys! the air blew so fresh, and he could +look over the whole city towards the green wood. The sun was just +rising. It shone round and great, just in his face, that beamed with +triumph, though it was very prettily blacked with soot. +</P> + +<P> +"'The whole town can see me now,' he exclaimed, 'and the moon +can see me now, and the sun too. Ya-hip! ya-hip!' And he flourished +his broom in triumph." +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +TWENTY-SIXTH EVENING +</H3> + +<P> +"Last night I looked down upon a town in China," said the Moon. +"My beams irradiated the naked walls that form the streets there. +Now and then, certainly, a door is seen; but it is locked, for what +does the Chinaman care about the outer world? Close wooden shutters +covered the windows behind the walls of the houses; but through the +windows of the temple a faint light glimmered. I looked in, and saw +the quaint decorations within. From the floor to the ceiling +pictures are painted, in the most glaring colours, and richly +gilt—pictures representing the deeds of the gods here on earth. In each +niche statues are placed, but they are almost entirely hidden by the +coloured drapery and the banners that hang down. Before each idol (and +they are all made of tin) stood a little altar of holy water, with +flowers and burning wax lights on it. Above all the rest stood Fo, the +chief deity, clad in a garment of yellow silk, for yellow is here +the sacred colour. At the foot of the altar sat a living being, a +young priest. He appeared to be praying, but in the midst of his +prayer he seemed to fall into deep thought, and this must have been +wrong, for his cheeks glowed and he held down his head. Poor +Soui-Hong! Was he, perhaps, dreaming of working in the little flower +garden behind the high street wall? And did that occupation seem +more agreeable to him than watching the wax lights in the temple? Or +did he wish to sit at the rich feast, wiping his mouth with silver +paper between each course? Or was his sin so great that, if he dared +utter it, the Celestial Empire would punish it with death? Had his +thoughts ventured to fly with the ships of the barbarians, to their +homes in far distant England? No, his thoughts did not fly so far, and +yet they were sinful, sinful as thoughts born of young hearts, +sinful here in the temple, in the presence of Fo and the other holy +gods. +</P> + +<P> +"I know whither his thoughts had strayed. At the farther end of +the city, on the flat roof paved with porcelain, on which stood the +handsome vases covered with painted flowers, sat the beauteous Pu, +of the little roguish eyes, of the full lips, and of the tiny feet. +The tight shoe pained her, but her heart pained her still more. She +lifted her graceful round arm, and her satin dress rustled. Before her +stood a glass bowl containing four gold-fish. She stirred the bowl +carefully with a slender lacquered stick, very slowly, for she, too, +was lost in thought. Was she thinking, perchance, how the fishes +were richly clothed in gold, how they lived calmly and peacefully in +their crystal world, how they were regularly fed, and yet how much +happier they might be if they were free? Yes, that she could well +understand, the beautiful Pu. Her thoughts wandered away from her +home, wandered to the temple, but not for the sake of holy things. +Poor Pu! Poor Soui-hong! +</P> + +<P> +"Their earthly thoughts met, but my cold beam lay between the two, +like the sword of the cherub." +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +TWENTY-SEVENTH EVENING +</H3> + +<P> +"The air was calm," said the Moon; "the water was transparent as +the purest ether through which I was gliding, and deep below the +surface I could see the strange plants that stretched up their long +arms towards me like the gigantic trees of the forest. The fishes swam +to and fro above their tops. High in the air a flight of wild swans +were winging their way, one of which sank lower and lower, with +wearied pinions, his eyes following the airy caravan, that melted +farther and farther into the distance. With outspread wings he sank +slowly, as a soap bubble sinks in the still air, till he touched the +water. At length his head lay back between his wings, and silently +he lay there, like a white lotus flower upon the quiet lake. And a +gentle wind arose, and crisped the quiet surface, which gleamed like +the clouds that poured along in great broad waves; and the swan raised +his head, and the glowing water splashed like blue fire over his +breast and back. The morning dawn illuminated the red clouds, the swan +rose strengthened, and flew towards the rising sun, towards the bluish +coast whither the caravan had gone; but he flew alone, with a +longing in his breast. Lonely he flew over the blue swelling billows." +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +TWENTY-EIGHTH EVENING +</H3> + +<P> +"I will give you another picture of Sweden," said the Moon. "Among +dark pine woods, near the melancholy banks of the Stoxen, lies the old +convent church of Wreta. My rays glided through the grating into the +roomy vaults, where kings sleep tranquilly in great stone coffins. +On the wall, above the grave of each, is placed the emblem of +earthly grandeur, a kingly crown; but it is made only of wood, painted +and gilt, and is hung on a wooden peg driven into the wall. The +worms have gnawed the gilded wood, the spider has spun her web from +the crown down to the sand, like a mourning banner, frail and +transient as the grief of mortals. How quietly they sleep! I can +remember them quite plainly. I still see the bold smile on their lips, +that so strongly and plainly expressed joy or grief. When the +steamboat winds along like a magic snail over the lakes, a stranger +often comes to the church, and visits the burial vault; he asks the +names of the kings, and they have a dead and forgotten sound. He +glances with a smile at the worm-eaten crowns, and if he happens to be +a pious, thoughtful man, something of melancholy mingles with the +smile. Slumber on, ye dead ones! The Moon thinks of you, the Moon at +night sends down his rays into your silent kingdom, over which hangs +the crown of pine wood." +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +TWENTY-NINTH EVENING +</H3> + +<P> +"Close by the high-road," said the Moon, "is an inn, and +opposite to it is a great waggon-shed, whose straw roof was just being +re-thatched. I looked down between the bare rafters and through the +open loft into the comfortless space below. The turkey-cock slept on +the beam, and the saddle rested in the empty crib. In the middle of +the shed stood a travelling carriage; the proprietor was inside, +fast asleep, while the horses were being watered. The coachman +stretched himself, though I am very sure that he had been most +comfortably asleep half the last stage. The door of the servants' room +stood open, and the bed looked as if it had been turned over and over; +the candle stood on the floor, and had burnt deep down into the +socket. The wind blew cold through the shed: it was nearer to the dawn +than to midnight. In the wooden frame on the ground slept a wandering +family of musicians. The father and mother seemed to be dreaming of +the burning liquor that remained in the bottle. The little pale +daughter was dreaming too, for her eyes were wet with tears. The harp +stood at their heads, and the dog lay stretched at their feet." +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THIRTIETH EVENING +</H3> + +<P> +"It was in a little provincial town," the Moon said; "it certainly +happened last year, but that has nothing to do with the matter. I +saw it quite plainly. To-day I read about it in the papers, but +there it was not half so clearly expressed. In the taproom of the +little inn sat the bear leader, eating his supper; the bear was tied +up outside, behind the wood pile—poor Bruin, who did nobody any harm, +though he looked grim enough. Up in the garret three little children +were playing by the light of my beams; the eldest was perhaps six +years old, the youngest certainly not more than two. 'Tramp, +tramp'—somebody was coming upstairs: who might it be? The door was +thrust open—it was Bruin, the great, shaggy Bruin! He had got tired of +waiting down in the courtyard, and had found his way to the stairs. +I saw it all," said the Moon. "The children were very much +frightened at first at the great shaggy animal; each of them crept +into a corner, but he found them all out, and smelt at them, but did +them no harm. 'This must be a great dog,' they said, and began to +stroke him. He lay down upon the ground, the youngest boy clambered on +his back, and bending down a little head of golden curls, played at +hiding in the beast's shaggy skin. Presently the eldest boy took his +drum, and beat upon it till it rattled again; the bear rose upon his +hind legs, and began to dance. It was a charming sight to behold. Each +boy now took his gun, and the bear was obliged to have one too, and he +held it up quite properly. Here was a capital playmate they had found; +and they began marching—one, two; one, two. +</P> + +<P> +"Suddenly some one came to the door, which opened, and the +mother of the children appeared. You should have seen her in her +dumb terror, with her face as white as chalk, her mouth half open, and +her eyes fixed in a horrified stare. But the youngest boy nodded to +her in great glee, and called out in his infantile prattle, 'We're +playing at soldiers.' And then the bear leader came running up." +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THIRTY-FIRST EVENING +</H3> + +<P> +The wind blew stormy and cold, the clouds flew hurriedly past; +only for a moment now and then did the Moon become visible. He said, +"I looked down from the silent sky upon the driving clouds, and saw +the great shadows chasing each other across the earth. I looked upon a +prison. A closed carriage stood before it; a prisoner was to be +carried away. My rays pierced through the grated window towards the +wall; the prisoner was scratching a few lines upon it, as a parting +token; but he did not write words, but a melody, the outpouring of his +heart. The door was opened, and he was led forth, and fixed his eyes +upon my round disc. Clouds passed between us, as if he were not to see +his face, nor I his. He stepped into the carriage, the door was +closed, the whip cracked, and the horses gallopped off into the +thick forest, whither my rays were not able to follow him; but as I +glanced through the grated window, my rays glided over the notes, +his last farewell engraved on the prison wall—where words fail, +sounds can often speak. My rays could only light up isolated notes, so +the greater part of what was written there will ever remain dark to +me. Was it the death-hymn he wrote there? Were these the glad notes of +joy? Did he drive away to meet death, or hasten to the embraces of his +beloved? The rays of the Moon do not read all that is written by +mortals." +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THIRTY-SECOND EVENING +</H3> + +<P> +"I love the children," said the Moon, "especially the quite little +ones—they are so droll. Sometimes I peep into the room, between the +curtain and the window frame, when they are not thinking of me. It +gives me pleasure to see them dressing and undressing. First, the +little round naked shoulder comes creeping out of the frock, then +the arm; or I see how the stocking is drawn off, and a plump little +white leg makes its appearance, and a white little foot that is fit to +be kissed, and I kiss it too. +</P> + +<P> +"But about what I was going to tell you. This evening I looked +through a window, before which no curtain was drawn, for nobody +lives opposite. I saw a whole troop of little ones, all of one family, +and among them was a little sister. She is only four years old, but +can say her prayers as well as any of the rest. The mother sits by her +bed every evening, and hears her say her prayers; and then she has a +kiss, and the mother sits by the bed till the little one has gone to +sleep, which generally happens as soon as ever she can close her eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"This evening the two elder children were a little boisterous. One +of them hopped about on one leg in his long white nightgown, and the +other stood on a chair surrounded by the clothes of all the +children, and declared he was acting Grecian statues. The third and +fourth laid the clean linen carefully in the box, for that is a +thing that has to be done; and the mother sat by the bed of the +youngest, and announced to all the rest that they were to be quiet, +for little sister was going to say her prayers. +</P> + +<P> +"I looked in, over the lamp, into the little maiden's bed, where +she lay under the neat white coverlet, her hands folded demurely and +her little face quite grave and serious. She was praying the Lord's +prayer aloud. But her mother interrupted her in the middle of her +prayer. 'How is it,' she asked, 'that when you have prayed for daily +bread, you always add something I cannot understand? You must tell +me what that is.' The little one lay silent, and looked at her +mother in embarrassment. 'What is it you say after our daily bread?' +'Dear mother, don't be angry: I only said, and plenty of butter on +it.'" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="neighbor"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE NEIGHBOURING FAMILIES +</H3> + +<P> +One would have thought that something important was going on in +the duck-pond, but it was nothing after all. All the ducks lying +quietly on the water or standing on their heads in it—for they +could do that—at once swarm to the sides; the traces of their feet +were seen in the wet earth, and their cackling was heard far and wide. +The water, which a few moments before had been as clear and smooth +as a mirror, became very troubled. Before, every tree, every +neighbouring bush, the old farmhouse with the holes in the roof and +the swallows' nest, and especially the great rose-bush full of +flowers, had been reflected in it. The rose-bush covered the wall +and hung out over the water, in which everything was seen as if in a +picture, except that it all stood on its head; but when the water +was troubled everything got mixed up, and the picture was gone. Two +feathers which the fluttering ducks had lost floated up and down; +suddenly they took a rush as if the wind were coming, but as it did +not come they had to lie still, and the water once more became quiet +and smooth. The roses were again reflected; they were very +beautiful, but they did not know it, for no one had told them. The sun +shone among the delicate leaves; everything breathed forth the +loveliest fragrance, and all felt as we do when we are filled with joy +at the thought of our happiness. +</P> + +<P> +"How beautiful existence is!" said each rose. "The only thing that +I wish for is to be able to kiss the sun, because it is so warm and +bright. I should also like to kiss those roses down in the water, +which are so much like us, and the pretty little birds down in the +nest. There are some up above too; they put out their heads and pipe +softly; they have no feathers like their father and mother. We have +good neighbours, both below and above. How beautiful existence is!" +</P> + +<P> +The young ones above and below—those below were really only +shadows in the water—were sparrows; their parents were sparrows +too, and had taken possession of the empty swallows' nest of last +year, and now lived in it as if it were their own property. +</P> + +<P> +"Are those the duck's children swimming here?" asked the young +sparrows when they saw the feathers on the water. +</P> + +<P> +"If you must ask questions, ask sensible ones," said their mother. +"Don't you see that they are feathers, such as I wear and you will +wear too? But ours are finer. Still, I should like to have them up +in the nest, for they keep one warm. I am very curious to know what +the ducks were so startled about; not about us, certainly, although +I did say 'peep' to you pretty loudly. The thick-headed roses ought to +know why, but they know nothing at all; they only look at themselves +and smell. I am heartily tired of such neighbours." +</P> + +<P> +"Listen to the dear little birds up there," said the roses; +"they begin to want to sing too, but are not able to manage it yet. +But it will soon come. What a pleasure that must be! It is fine to +have such cheerful neighbours." +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly two horses came galloping up to be watered. A peasant boy +rode on one, and he had taken off all his clothes except his large +broad black hat. The boy whistled like a bird, and rode into the +pond where it was deepest, and as he passed the rose-bush he plucked a +rose and stuck it in his hat. Now he looked dressed, and rode on. +The other roses looked after their sister, and asked each other, +"Where can she be going to?" But none of them knew. +</P> + +<P> +"I should like to go out into the world for once," said one; +"but here at home among our green leaves it is beautiful too. The +whole day long the sun shines bright and warm, and in the night the +sky shines more beautifully still; we can see that through all the +little holes in it." +</P> + +<P> +They meant the stars, but they knew no better. +</P> + +<P> +"We make it lively about the house," said the sparrow-mother; "and +people say that a swallows' nest brings luck; so they are glad of +us. But such neighbours as ours! A rose-bush on the wall like that +causes damp. I daresay it will be taken away; then we shall, +perhaps, have some corn growing here. The roses are good for nothing +but to be looked at and to be smelt, or at most to be stuck in a +hat. Every year, as I have been told by my mother, they fall off. +The farmer's wife preserves them and strews salt among them; then they +get a French name which I neither can pronounce nor care to, and are +put into the fire to make a nice smell. You see, that's their life; +they exist only for the eye and the nose. Now you know." +</P> + +<P> +In the evening, when the gnats were playing about in the warm +air and in the red clouds, the nightingale came and sang to the +roses that the beautiful was like sunshine to the world, and that +the beautiful lived for ever. The roses thought that the nightingale +was singing about itself, and that one might easily have believed; +they had no idea that the song was about them. But they were very +pleased with it, and wondered whether all the little sparrows could +become nightingales. +</P> + +<P> +"I understand the song of that bird very well," said the young +sparrows. "There was only one word that was not clear to me. What does +'the beautiful' mean?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing at all," answered their mother; "that's only something +external. Up at the Hall, where the pigeons have their own house, +and corn and peas are strewn before them every day—I have dined +with them myself, and that you shall do in time, too; for tell me what +company you keep and I'll tell you who you are—up at the Hall they +have two birds with green necks and a crest upon their heads; they can +spread out their tails like a great wheel, and these are so bright +with various colours that it makes one's eyes ache. These birds are +called peacocks, and that is 'the beautiful.' If they were only +plucked a little they would look no better than the rest of us. I +would have plucked them already if they had not been so big." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll pluck them," piped the young sparrow, who had no feathers +yet. +</P> + +<P> +In the farmhouse lived a young married couple; they loved each +other dearly, were industrious and active, and everything in their +home looked very nice. On Sundays the young wife came down early, +plucked a handful of the most beautiful roses, and put them into a +glass of water, which she placed upon the cupboard. +</P> + +<P> +"Now I see that it is Sunday," said the husband, kissing his +little wife. They sat down, read their hymn-book, and held each +other by the hand, while the sun shone down upon the fresh roses and +upon them. +</P> + +<P> +"This sight is really too tedious," said the sparrow-mother, who +could see into the room from her nest; and she flew away. +</P> + +<P> +The same thing happened on the following Sunday, for every +Sunday fresh roses were put into the glass; but the rose-bush +bloomed as beautifully as ever. The young sparrows now had feathers, +and wanted very much to fly with their mother; but she would not allow +it, and so they had to stay at home. In one of her flights, however it +may have happened, she was caught, before she was aware of it, in a +horse-hair net which some boys had attached to a tree. The +horse-hair was drawn tightly round her leg—as tightly as if the +latter were to be cut off; she was in great pain and terror. The +boys came running up and seized her, and in no gentle way either. +</P> + +<P> +"It's only a sparrow," they said; they did not, however, let her +go, but took her home with them, and every time she cried they hit her +on the beak. +</P> + +<P> +In the farmhouse was an old man who understood making soap into +cakes and balls, both for shaving and washing. He was a merry old man, +always wandering about. On seeing the sparrow which the boys had +brought, and which they said they did not want, he asked, "Shall we +make it look very pretty?" +</P> + +<P> +At these words an icy shudder ran through the sparrow-mother. +</P> + +<P> +Out of his box, in which were the most beautiful colours, the +old man took a quantity of shining leaf-gold, while the boys had to go +and fetch some white of egg, with which the sparrow was to be +smeared all over; the gold was stuck on to this, and the +sparrow-mother was now gilded all over. But she, trembling in every +limb, did not think of the adornment. Then the soap-man tore off a +small piece from the red lining of his old jacket, and cutting it so +as to make it look like a cock's comb, he stuck it to the bird's head. +</P> + +<P> +"Now you will see the gold-jacket fly," said the old man, +letting the sparrow go, which flew away in deadly fear, with the sun +shining upon her. How she glittered! All the sparrows, and even a +crow—and an old boy he was too—were startled at the sight; but still +they flew after her to learn what kind of strange bird she was. +</P> + +<P> +Driven by fear and horror, she flew homeward; she was almost +sinking fainting to the earth, while the flock of pursuing birds +increased, some even attempting to peck at her. +</P> + +<P> +"Look at her! Look at her!" they all cried. +</P> + +<P> +"Look at her! Look at her" cried her little ones, as she +approached the nest. "That is certainly a young peacock, for it +glitters in all colours; it makes one's eyes ache, as mother told +us. Peep! that's 'the beautiful'." And then they pecked at the bird +with their little beaks so that it was impossible for her to get +into the nest; she was so exhausted that she couldn't even say "Peep!" +much less "I am your own mother!" The other birds, too, now fell +upon the sparrow and plucked off feather after feather until she +fell bleeding into the rose-bush. +</P> + +<P> +"Poor creature!" said all the roses; "only be still, and we will +hide you. Lean your little head against us." +</P> + +<P> +The sparrow spread out her wings once more, then drew them closely +to her, and lay dead near the neighbouring family, the beautiful fresh +roses. +</P> + +<P> +"Peep!" sounded from the nest. "Where can mother be so long? +It's more than I can understand. It cannot be a trick of hers, and +mean that we are now to take care of ourselves. She has left us the +house as an inheritance; but to which of us is it to belong when we +have families of our own?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, it won't do for you to stay with me when I increase my +household with a wife and children,"' said the smallest. +</P> + +<P> +"I daresay I shall have more wives and children than you," said +the second. +</P> + +<P> +"But I am the eldest!" exclaimed the third. Then they all got +excited; they hit out with their wings, pecked with their beaks, and +flop! one after another was thrown out of the nest. There they lay +with their anger, holding their heads on one side and blinking the eye +that was turned upwards. That was their way of looking foolish. +</P> + +<P> +They could fly a little; by practice they learned to improve, +and at last they agreed upon a sign by which to recognise each other +if they should meet in the world later on. It was to be one "Peep!" +and three scratches on the ground with the left foot. +</P> + +<P> +The young one who had remained behind in the nest made himself +as broad as he could, for he was the proprietor. But this greatness +did not last long. In the night the red flames burst through the +window and seized the roof, the dry straw blazed up high, and the +whole house, together with the young sparrow, was burned. The two +others, who wanted to marry, thus saved their lives by a stroke of +luck. +</P> + +<P> +When the sun rose again and everything looked as refreshed as if +it had had a quiet sleep, there only remained of the farmhouse a few +black charred beams leaning against the chimney, which was now its own +master. Thick smoke still rose from the ruins, but the rose-bush stood +yonder, fresh, blooming, and untouched, every flower and every twig +being reflected in the clear water. +</P> + +<P> +"How beautifully the roses bloom before the ruined house," +exclaimed a passer-by. "A pleasanter picture cannot be imagined. I +must have that." And the man took out of his portfolio a little book +with white leaves: he was a painter, and with his pencil he drew the +smoking house, the charred beams and the overhanging chimney, which +bent more and more; in the foreground he put the large, blooming +rose-bush, which presented a charming view. For its sake alone the +whole picture had been drawn. +</P> + +<P> +Later in the day the two sparrows who had been born there came by. +"Where is the house?" they asked. "Where is the nest? Peep! All is +burned and our strong brother too. That's what he has now for +keeping the nest. The roses got off very well; there they still +stand with their red cheeks. They certainly do not mourn at their +neighbours' misfortunes. I don't want to talk to them, and it looks +miserable here—that's my opinion." And away they went. +</P> + +<P> +On a beautiful sunny autumn day—one could almost have believed it +was still the middle of summer—there hopped about in the dry +clean-swept courtyard before the principal entrance of the Hall a +number of black, white, and gaily-coloured pigeons, all shining in the +sunlight. The pigeon-mothers said to their young ones: "Stand in +groups, stand in groups! for that looks much better." +</P> + +<P> +"What kind of creatures are those little grey ones that run +about behind us?" asked an old pigeon, with red and green in her eyes. +"Little grey ones! Little grey ones!" she cried. +</P> + +<P> +"They are sparrows, and good creatures. We have always had the +reputation of being pious, so we will allow them to pick up the corn +with us; they don't interrupt our talk, and they scrape so prettily +when they bow." +</P> + +<P> +Indeed they were continually making three foot-scrapings with +the left foot and also said "Peep!" By this means they recognised each +other, for they were the sparrows from the nest on the burned house. +</P> + +<P> +"Here is excellent fare!" said the sparrow. The pigeons strutted +round one another, puffed out their chests mightily, and had their own +private views and opinions. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you see that pouter pigeon?" said one to the other. "Do you +see how she swallows the peas? She eats too many, and the best ones +too. Curoo! Curoo! How she lifts her crest, the ugly, spiteful +creature! Curoo! Curoo!" And the eyes of all sparkled with malice. +"Stand in groups! Stand in groups! Little grey ones, little grey ones! +Curoo, curoo, curoo!" +</P> + +<P> +So their chatter ran on, and so it will run on for thousands of +years. The sparrows ate lustily; they listened attentively, and even +stood in the ranks with the others, but it did not suit them at all. +They were full, and so they left the pigeons, exchanging opinions +about them, slipped in under the garden palings, and when they found +the door leading into the house open, one of them, who was more than +full, and therefore felt brave, hopped on to the threshold. "Peep!" +said he; "I may venture that." +</P> + +<P> +"Peep!" said the other; "so may I, and something more too!" and he +hopped into the room. No one was there; the third sparrow, seeing +this, flew still farther into the room, exclaiming, "All or nothing! +It is a curious man's nest all the same; and what have they put up +here? What is it?" +</P> + +<P> +Close to the sparrows the roses were blooming; they were reflected +in the water, and the charred beams leaned against the overhanging +chimney. "Do tell me what this is. How comes this in a room at the +Hall?" And all three sparrows wanted to fly over the roses and the +chimney, but flew against a flat wall. It was all a picture, a great +splendid picture, which the artist had painted from a sketch. +</P> + +<P> +"Peep!" said the sparrows, "it's nothing. It only looks like +something. Peep! that is 'the beautiful.' Do you understand it? I +don't." +</P> + +<P> +And they flew away, for some people came into the room. +</P> + +<P> +Days and years went by. The pigeons had often cooed, not to say +growled—the spiteful creatures; the sparrows had been frozen in +winter and had lived merrily in summer: they were all betrothed, or +married, or whatever you like to call it. They had little ones, and of +course each one thought his own the handsomest and cleverest; one flew +this way, another that, and when they met they recognised each other +by their "Peep!" and the three scrapes with the left foot. The +eldest had remained an old maid and had no nest nor young ones. It was +her pet idea to see a great city, so she flew to Copenhagen. +</P> + +<P> +There was a large house painted in many gay colours standing close +to the castle and the canal, upon which latter were to be seen many +ships laden with apples and pottery. The windows of the house were +broader at the bottom than at the top, and when the sparrows looked +through them, every room appeared to them like a tulip with the +brightest colours and shades. But in the middle of the tulip stood +white men, made of marble; a few were of plaster; still, looked at +with sparrows' eyes, that comes to the same thing. Up on the roof +stood a metal chariot drawn by metal horses, and the goddess of +Victory, also of metal, was driving. It was Thorwaldsen's Museum. +</P> + +<P> +"How it shines! how it shines!" said the maiden sparrow. "I +suppose that is 'the beautiful.' Peep! But here it is larger than a +peacock." She still remembered what in her childhood's days her mother +had looked upon as the greatest among the beautiful. She flew down +into the courtyard: there everything was extremely fine. Palms and +branches were painted on the walls, and in the middle of the court +stood a great blooming rose-tree spreading out its fresh boughs, +covered with roses, over a grave. Thither flew the maiden sparrow, for +she saw several of her own kind there. A "peep" and three +foot-scrapings—in this way she had often greeted throughout the year, +and no one here had responded, for those who are once parted do not +meet every day; and so this greeting had become a habit with her. +But to-day two old sparrows and a young one answered with a "peep" and +the thrice-repeated scrape with the left foot. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah! Good-day! good-day!" They were two old ones from the nest and +a little one of the family. "Do we meet here? It's a grand place, +but there's not much to eat. This is 'the beautiful.' Peep!" +</P> + +<P> +Many people came out of the side rooms where the beautiful +marble statues stood and approached the grave where lay the great +master who had created these works of art. All stood with enraptured +faces round Thorwaldsen's grave, and a few picked up the fallen +rose-leaves and preserved them. They had come from afar: one from +mighty England, others from Germany and France. The fairest of the +ladies plucked one of the roses and hid it in her bosom. Then the +sparrows thought that the roses reigned here, and that the house had +been built for their sake. That appeared to them to be really too +much, but since all the people showed their love for the roses, they +did not wish to be behindhand. "Peep!" they said sweeping the ground +with their tails, and blinking with one eye at the roses, they had not +looked at them long before they were convinced that they were their +old neighbours. And so they really were. The painter who had drawn the +rose-bush near the ruined house, had afterwards obtained permission to +dig it up, and had given it to the architect, for finer roses had +never been seen. The architect had planted it upon Thorwaldsen's +grave, where it bloomed as an emblem of 'the beautiful' and yielded +fragrant red rose-leaves to be carried as mementoes to distant lands. +</P> + +<P> +"Have you obtained an appointment here in the city?" asked the +sparrows. The roses nodded; they recognized their grey neighbours +and were pleased to see them again. "How glorious it is to live and to +bloom, to see old friends again, and happy faces every day. It is as +if every day were a festival." "Peep!" said the sparrows. "Yes, they +are really our old neighbours; we remember their origin near the pond. +Peep! how they have got on. Yes, some succeed while they are asleep. +Ah! there's a faded leaf; I can see that quite plainly." And they +pecked at it till it fell off. But the tree stood there fresher and +greener than ever; the roses bloomed in the sunshine on +Thorwaldsen's grave and became associated with his immortal name. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="nighting"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE NIGHTINGALE +</H3> + +<P> +In China, you know, the emperor is a Chinese, and all those +about him are Chinamen also. The story I am going to tell you happened +a great many years ago, so it is well to hear it now before it is +forgotten. The emperor's palace was the most beautiful in the world. +It was built entirely of porcelain, and very costly, but so delicate +and brittle that whoever touched it was obliged to be careful. In +the garden could be seen the most singular flowers, with pretty silver +bells tied to them, which tinkled so that every one who passed could +not help noticing the flowers. Indeed, everything in the emperor's +garden was remarkable, and it extended so far that the gardener +himself did not know where it ended. Those who travelled beyond its +limits knew that there was a noble forest, with lofty trees, sloping +down to the deep blue sea, and the great ships sailed under the shadow +of its branches. In one of these trees lived a nightingale, who sang +so beautifully that even the poor fishermen, who had so many other +things to do, would stop and listen. Sometimes, when they went at +night to spread their nets, they would hear her sing, and say, "Oh, is +not that beautiful?" But when they returned to their fishing, they +forgot the bird until the next night. Then they would hear it again, +and exclaim "Oh, how beautiful is the nightingale's song!" +</P> + +<P> +Travellers from every country in the world came to the city of the +emperor, which they admired very much, as well as the palace and +gardens; but when they heard the nightingale, they all declared it +to be the best of all. And the travellers, on their return home, +related what they had seen; and learned men wrote books, containing +descriptions of the town, the palace, and the gardens; but they did +not forget the nightingale, which was really the greatest wonder. +And those who could write poetry composed beautiful verses about the +nightingale, who lived in a forest near the deep sea. The books +travelled all over the world, and some of them came into the hands +of the emperor; and he sat in his golden chair, and, as he read, he +nodded his approval every moment, for it pleased him to find such a +beautiful description of his city, his palace, and his gardens. But +when he came to the words, "the nightingale is the most beautiful of +all," he exclaimed, "What is this? I know nothing of any +nightingale. Is there such a bird in my empire? and even in my garden? +I have never heard of it. Something, it appears, may be learnt from +books." +</P> + +<P> +Then he called one of his lords-in-waiting, who was so +high-bred, that when any in an inferior rank to himself spoke to +him, or asked him a question, he would answer, "Pooh," which means +nothing. +</P> + +<P> +"There is a very wonderful bird mentioned here, called a +nightingale," said the emperor; "they say it is the best thing in my +large kingdom. Why have I not been told of it?" +</P> + +<P> +"I have never heard the name," replied the cavalier; "she has +not been presented at court." +</P> + +<P> +"It is my pleasure that she shall appear this evening." said the +emperor; "the whole world knows what I possess better than I do +myself." +</P> + +<P> +"I have never heard of her," said the cavalier; "yet I will +endeavor to find her." +</P> + +<P> +But where was the nightingale to be found? The nobleman went up +stairs and down, through halls and passages; yet none of those whom he +met had heard of the bird. So he returned to the emperor, and said +that it must be a fable, invented by those who had written the book. +"Your imperial majesty," said he, "cannot believe everything contained +in books; sometimes they are only fiction, or what is called the black +art." +</P> + +<P> +"But the book in which I have read this account," said the +emperor, "was sent to me by the great and mighty emperor of Japan, and +therefore it cannot contain a falsehood. I will hear the +nightingale, she must be here this evening; she has my highest +favor; and if she does not come, the whole court shall be trampled +upon after supper is ended." +</P> + +<P> +"Tsing-pe!" cried the lord-in-waiting, and again he ran up and +down stairs, through all the halls and corridors; and half the court +ran with him, for they did not like the idea of being trampled upon. +There was a great inquiry about this wonderful nightingale, whom all +the world knew, but who was unknown to the court. +</P> + +<P> +At last they met with a poor little girl in the kitchen, who said, +"Oh, yes, I know the nightingale quite well; indeed, she can sing. +Every evening I have permission to take home to my poor sick mother +the scraps from the table; she lives down by the sea-shore, and as I +come back I feel tired, and I sit down in the wood to rest, and listen +to the nightingale's song. Then the tears come into my eyes, and it is +just as if my mother kissed me." +</P> + +<P> +"Little maiden," said the lord-in-waiting, "I will obtain for +you constant employment in the kitchen, and you shall have +permission to see the emperor dine, if you will lead us to the +nightingale; for she is invited for this evening to the palace." So +she went into the wood where the nightingale sang, and half the +court followed her. As they went along, a cow began lowing. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh," said a young courtier, "now we have found her; what +wonderful power for such a small creature; I have certainly heard it +before." +</P> + +<P> +"No, that is only a cow lowing," said the little girl; "we are a +long way from the place yet." +</P> + +<P> +Then some frogs began to croak in the marsh. +</P> + +<P> +"Beautiful," said the young courtier again. "Now I hear it, +tinkling like little church bells." +</P> + +<P> +"No, those are frogs," said the little maiden; "but I think we +shall soon hear her now:" and presently the nightingale began to sing. +</P> + +<P> +"Hark, hark! there she is," said the girl, "and there she sits," +she added, pointing to a little gray bird who was perched on a bough. +</P> + +<P> +"Is it possible?" said the lord-in-waiting, "I never imagined it +would be a little, plain, simple thing like that. She has certainly +changed color at seeing so many grand people around her." +</P> + +<P> +"Little nightingale," cried the girl, raising her voice, "our most +gracious emperor wishes you to sing before him." +</P> + +<P> +"With the greatest pleasure," said the nightingale, and began to +sing most delightfully. +</P> + +<P> +"It sounds like tiny glass bells," said the lord-in-waiting, +"and see how her little throat works. It is surprising that we have +never heard this before; she will be a great success at court." +</P> + +<P> +"Shall I sing once more before the emperor?" asked the +nightingale, who thought he was present. +</P> + +<P> +"My excellent little nightingale," said the courtier, "I have +the great pleasure of inviting you to a court festival this evening, +where you will gain imperial favor by your charming song." +</P> + +<P> +"My song sounds best in the green wood," said the bird; but +still she came willingly when she heard the emperor's wish. +</P> + +<P> +The palace was elegantly decorated for the occasion. The walls and +floors of porcelain glittered in the light of a thousand lamps. +Beautiful flowers, round which little bells were tied, stood in the +corridors: what with the running to and fro and the draught, these +bells tinkled so loudly that no one could speak to be heard. In the +centre of the great hall, a golden perch had been fixed for the +nightingale to sit on. The whole court was present, and the little +kitchen-maid had received permission to stand by the door. She was not +installed as a real court cook. All were in full dress, and every +eye was turned to the little gray bird when the emperor nodded to +her to begin. The nightingale sang so sweetly that the tears came into +the emperor's eyes, and then rolled down his cheeks, as her song +became still more touching and went to every one's heart. The +emperor was so delighted that he declared the nightingale should +have his gold slipper to wear round her neck, but she declined the +honor with thanks: she had been sufficiently rewarded already. "I have +seen tears in an emperor's eyes," she said, "that is my richest +reward. An emperor's tears have wonderful power, and are quite +sufficient honor for me;" and then she sang again more enchantingly +than ever. +</P> + +<P> +"That singing is a lovely gift;" said the ladies of the court to +each other; and then they took water in their mouths to make them +utter the gurgling sounds of the nightingale when they spoke to any +one, so that they might fancy themselves nightingales. And the footmen +and chambermaids also expressed their satisfaction, which is saying +a great deal, for they are very difficult to please. In fact the +nightingale's visit was most successful. She was now to remain at +court, to have her own cage, with liberty to go out twice a day, and +once during the night. Twelve servants were appointed to attend her on +these occasions, who each held her by a silken string fastened to +her leg. There was certainly not much pleasure in this kind of flying. +</P> + +<P> +The whole city spoke of the wonderful bird, and when two people +met, one said "nightin," and the other said "gale," and they +understood what was meant, for nothing else was talked of. Eleven +peddlers' children were named after her, but not of them could sing +a note. +</P> + +<P> +One day the emperor received a large packet on which was written +"The Nightingale." "Here is no doubt a new book about our celebrated +bird," said the emperor. But instead of a book, it was a work of art +contained in a casket, an artificial nightingale made to look like a +living one, and covered all over with diamonds, rubies, and sapphires. +As soon as the artificial bird was wound up, it could sing like the +real one, and could move its tail up and down, which sparkled with +silver and gold. Round its neck hung a piece of ribbon, on which was +written "The Emperor of China's nightingale is poor compared with that +of the Emperor of Japan's." +</P> + +<P> +"This is very beautiful," exclaimed all who saw it, and he who had +brought the artificial bird received the title of "Imperial +nightingale-bringer-in-chief." +</P> + +<P> +"Now they must sing together," said the court, "and what a duet it +will be." But they did not get on well, for the real nightingale +sang in its own natural way, but the artificial bird sang only +waltzes. +</P> + +<P> +"That is not a fault," said the music-master, "it is quite perfect +to my taste," so then it had to sing alone, and was as successful as +the real bird; besides, it was so much prettier to look at, for it +sparkled like bracelets and breast-pins. Three and thirty times did it +sing the same tunes without being tired; the people would gladly +have heard it again, but the emperor said the living nightingale ought +to sing something. But where was she? No one had noticed her when +she flew out at the open window, back to her own green woods. +</P> + +<P> +"What strange conduct," said the emperor, when her flight had been +discovered; and all the courtiers blamed her, and said she was a +very ungrateful creature. +</P> + +<P> +"But we have the best bird after all," said one, and then they +would have the bird sing again, although it was the thirty-fourth time +they had listened to the same piece, and even then they had not learnt +it, for it was rather difficult. But the music-master praised the bird +in the highest degree, and even asserted that it was better than a +real nightingale, not only in its dress and the beautiful diamonds, +but also in its musical power. "For you must perceive, my chief lord +and emperor, that with a real nightingale we can never tell what is +going to be sung, but with this bird everything is settled. It can +be opened and explained, so that people may understand how the waltzes +are formed, and why one note follows upon another." +</P> + +<P> +"This is exactly what we think," they all replied, and then the +music-master received permission to exhibit the bird to the people +on the following Sunday, and the emperor commanded that they should be +present to hear it sing. When they heard it they were like people +intoxicated; however it must have been with drinking tea, which is +quite a Chinese custom. They all said "Oh!" and held up their +forefingers and nodded, but a poor fisherman, who had heard the real +nightingale, said, "it sounds prettily enough, and the melodies are +all alike; yet there seems something wanting, I cannot exactly tell +what." +</P> + +<P> +And after this the real nightingale was banished from the +empire, and the artificial bird placed on a silk cushion close to +the emperor's bed. The presents of gold and precious stones which +had been received with it were round the bird, and it was now advanced +to the title of "Little Imperial Toilet Singer," and to the rank of +No. 1 on the left hand; for the emperor considered the left side, on +which the heart lies, as the most noble, and the heart of an emperor +is in the same place as that of other people. +</P> + +<P> +The music-master wrote a work, in twenty-five volumes, about the +artificial bird, which was very learned and very long, and full of the +most difficult Chinese words; yet all the people said they had read +it, and understood it, for fear of being thought stupid and having +their bodies trampled upon. +</P> + +<P> +So a year passed, and the emperor, the court, and all the other +Chinese knew every little turn in the artificial bird's song; and +for that same reason it pleased them better. They could sing with +the bird, which they often did. The street-boys sang, "Zi-zi-zi, +cluck, cluck, cluck," and the emperor himself could sing it also. It +was really most amusing. +</P> + +<P> +One evening, when the artificial bird was singing its best, and +the emperor lay in bed listening to it, something inside the bird +sounded "whizz." Then a spring cracked. "Whir-r-r-r" went all the +wheels, running round, and then the music stopped. The emperor +immediately sprang out of bed, and called for his physician; but +what could he do? Then they sent for a watchmaker; and, after a +great deal of talking and examination, the bird was put into something +like order; but he said that it must be used very carefully, as the +barrels were worn, and it would be impossible to put in new ones +without injuring the music. Now there was great sorrow, as the bird +could only be allowed to play once a year; and even that was dangerous +for the works inside it. Then the music-master made a little speech, +full of hard words, and declared that the bird was as good as ever; +and, of course no one contradicted him. +</P> + +<P> +Five years passed, and then a real grief came upon the land. The +Chinese really were fond of their emperor, and he now lay so ill +that he was not expected to live. Already a new emperor had been +chosen and the people who stood in the street asked the +lord-in-waiting how the old emperor was; but he only said, "Pooh!" and +shook his head. +</P> + +<P> +Cold and pale lay the emperor in his royal bed; the whole court +thought he was dead, and every one ran away to pay homage to his +successor. The chamberlains went out to have a talk on the matter, and +the ladies'-maids invited company to take coffee. Cloth had been +laid down on the halls and passages, so that not a footstep should +be heard, and all was silent and still. But the emperor was not yet +dead, although he lay white and stiff on his gorgeous bed, with the +long velvet curtains and heavy gold tassels. A window stood open, +and the moon shone in upon the emperor and the artificial bird. The +poor emperor, finding he could scarcely breathe with a strange +weight on his chest, opened his eyes, and saw Death sitting there. +He had put on the emperor's golden crown, and held in one hand his +sword of state, and in the other his beautiful banner. All around +the bed and peeping through the long velvet curtains, were a number of +strange heads, some very ugly, and others lovely and gentle-looking. +These were the emperor's good and bad deeds, which stared him in the +face now Death sat at his heart. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you remember this?" "Do you recollect that?" they asked one +after another, thus bringing to his remembrance circumstances that +made the perspiration stand on his brow. +</P> + +<P> +"I know nothing about it," said the emperor. "Music! music!" he +cried; "the large Chinese drum! that I may not hear what they say." +But they still went on, and Death nodded like a Chinaman to all they +said. "Music! music!" shouted the emperor. "You little precious golden +bird, sing, pray sing! I have given you gold and costly presents; I +have even hung my golden slipper round your neck. Sing! sing!" But the +bird remained silent. There was no one to wind it up, and therefore it +could not sing a note. +</P> + +<P> +Death continued to stare at the emperor with his cold, hollow +eyes, and the room was fearfully still. Suddenly there came through +the open window the sound of sweet music. Outside, on the bough of a +tree, sat the living nightingale. She had heard of the emperor's +illness, and was therefore come to sing to him of hope and trust. +And as she sung, the shadows grew paler and paler; the blood in the +emperor's veins flowed more rapidly, and gave life to his weak +limbs; and even Death himself listened, and said, "Go on, little +nightingale, go on." +</P> + +<P> +"Then will you give me the beautiful golden sword and that rich +banner? and will you give me the emperor's crown?" said the bird. +</P> + +<P> +So Death gave up each of these treasures for a song; and the +nightingale continued her singing. She sung of the quiet churchyard, +where the white roses grow, where the elder-tree wafts its perfume +on the breeze, and the fresh, sweet grass is moistened by the +mourners' tears. Then Death longed to go and see his garden, and +floated out through the window in the form of a cold, white mist. +</P> + +<P> +"Thanks, thanks, you heavenly little bird. I know you well. I +banished you from my kingdom once, and yet you have charmed away the +evil faces from my bed, and banished Death from my heart, with your +sweet song. How can I reward you?" +</P> + +<P> +"You have already rewarded me," said the nightingale. "I shall +never forget that I drew tears from your eyes the first time I sang to +you. These are the jewels that rejoice a singer's heart. But now +sleep, and grow strong and well again. I will sing to you again." +</P> + +<P> +And as she sung, the emperor fell into a sweet sleep; and how mild +and refreshing that slumber was! When he awoke, strengthened and +restored, the sun shone brightly through the window; but not one of +his servants had returned—they all believed he was dead; only the +nightingale still sat beside him, and sang. +</P> + +<P> +"You must always remain with me," said the emperor. "You shall +sing only when it pleases you; and I will break the artificial bird +into a thousand pieces." +</P> + +<P> +"No; do not do that," replied the nightingale; "the bird did +very well as long as it could. Keep it here still. I cannot live in +the palace, and build my nest; but let me come when I like. I will sit +on a bough outside your window, in the evening, and sing to you, so +that you may be happy, and have thoughts full of joy. I will sing to +you of those who are happy, and those who suffer; of the good and +the evil, who are hidden around you. The little singing bird flies far +from you and your court to the home of the fisherman and the peasant's +cot. I love your heart better than your crown; and yet something +holy lingers round that also. I will come, I will sing to you; but you +must promise me one thing." +</P> + +<P> +"Everything," said the emperor, who, having dressed himself in his +imperial robes, stood with the hand that held the heavy golden sword +pressed to his heart. +</P> + +<P> +"I only ask one thing," she replied; "let no one know that you +have a little bird who tells you everything. It will be best to +conceal it." So saying, the nightingale flew away. +</P> + +<P> +The servants now came in to look after the dead emperor; when, lo! +there he stood, and, to their astonishment, said, "Good morning." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="no_doubt"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THERE IS NO DOUBT ABOUT IT +</H3> + +<P> +"That was a terrible affair!" said a hen, and in a quarter of the +town, too, where it had not taken place. "That was a terrible affair +in a hen-roost. I cannot sleep alone to-night. It is a good thing that +many of us sit on the roost together." And then she told a story +that made the feathers on the other hens bristle up, and the cock's +comb fall. There was no doubt about it. +</P> + +<P> +But we will begin at the beginning, and that is to be found in a +hen-roost in another part of the town. The sun was setting, and the +fowls were flying on to their roost; one hen, with white feathers +and short legs, used to lay her eggs according to the regulations, and +was, as a hen, respectable in every way. As she was flying upon the +roost, she plucked herself with her beak, and a little feather came +out. +</P> + +<P> +"There it goes," she said; "the more I pluck, the more beautiful +do I get." She said this merrily, for she was the best of the hens, +and, moreover, as had been said, very respectable. With that she +went to sleep. +</P> + +<P> +It was dark all around, and hen sat close to hen, but the one +who sat nearest to her merry neighbour did not sleep. She had heard +and yet not heard, as we are often obliged to do in this world, in +order to live at peace; but she could not keep it from her neighbour +on the other side any longer. "Did you hear what was said? I mention +no names, but there is a hen here who intends to pluck herself in +order to look well. If I were a cock, I should despise her." +</P> + +<P> +Just over the fowls sat the owl, with father owl and the little +owls. The family has sharp ears, and they all heard every word that +their neighbour had said. They rolled their eyes, and mother owl, +beating her wings, said: "Don't listen to her! But I suppose you heard +what was said? I heard it with my own ears, and one has to hear a +great deal before they fall off. There is one among the fowls who +has so far forgotten what is becoming to a hen that she plucks out all +her feathers and lets the cock see it." +</P> + +<P> +"Prenez garde aux enfants!" said father owl; "children should +not hear such things." +</P> + +<P> +"But I must tell our neighbour owl about it; she is such an +estimable owl to talk to." And with that she flew away. +</P> + +<P> +"Too-whoo! Too-whoo!" they both hooted into the neighbour's +dove-cot to the doves inside. "Have you heard? Have you heard? +Too-whoo! There is a hen who has plucked out all her feathers for +the sake of the cock; she will freeze to death, if she is not frozen +already. Too-whoo!" +</P> + +<P> +"Where? where?" cooed the doves. +</P> + +<P> +"In the neighbour's yard. I have as good as seen it myself. It +is almost unbecoming to tell the story, but there is no doubt about +it." +</P> + +<P> +"Believe every word of what we tell you," said the doves, and +cooed down into their poultry-yard. "There is a hen—nay, some say +that there are two—who have plucked out all their feathers, in +order not to look like the others, and to attract the attention of the +cock. It is a dangerous game, for one can easily catch cold and die +from fever, and both of these are dead already." +</P> + +<P> +"Wake up! wake up!" crowed the cock, and flew upon his board. +Sleep was still in his eyes, but yet he crowed out: "Three hens have +died of their unfortunate love for a cock. They had plucked out all +their feathers. It is a horrible story: I will not keep it to +myself, but let it go farther." +</P> + +<P> +"Let it go farther," shrieked the bats, and the hens clucked and +the cocks crowed, "Let it go farther! Let it go farther!" In this +way the story travelled from poultry-yard to poultry-yard, and at last +came back to the place from which it had really started. +</P> + +<P> +"Five hens," it now ran, "have plucked out all their feathers to +show which of them had grown leanest for love of the cock, and then +they all pecked at each other till the blood ran down and they fell +down dead, to the derision and shame of their family, and to the great +loss of their owner." +</P> + +<P> +The hen who had lost the loose little feather naturally did not +recognise her own story, and being a respectable hen, said: "I despise +those fowls; but there are more of that kind. Such things ought not to +be concealed, and I will do my best to get the story into the +papers, so that it becomes known throughout the land; the hens have +richly deserved it, and their family too." +</P> + +<P> +It got into the papers, it was printed; and there is no doubt +about it, one little feather may easily grow into five hens. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="nursery"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +IN THE NURSERY +</H3> + +<P> +Father, and mother, and brothers, and sisters, were gone to the +play; only little Anna and her grandpapa were left at home. +</P> + +<P> +"We'll have a play too," he said, "and it may begin immediately." +</P> + +<P> +"But we have no theatre," cried little Anna, "and we have no one +to act for us; my old doll cannot, for she is a fright, and my new one +cannot, for she must not rumple her new clothes." +</P> + +<P> +"One can always get actors if one makes use of what one has," +observed grandpapa. +</P> + +<P> +"Now we'll go into the theatre. Here we will put up a book, +there another, and there a third, in a sloping row. Now three on the +other side; so, now we have the side scenes. The old box that lies +yonder may be the back stairs; and we'll lay the flooring on top of +it. The stage represents a room, as every one may see. Now we want the +actors. Let us see what we can find in the plaything-box. First the +personages, and then we will get the play ready. One after the +other; that will be capital! Here's a pipe-head, and yonder an odd +glove; they will do very well for father and daughter." +</P> + +<P> +"But those are only two characters," said little Anna. "Here's +my brother's old waistcoat—could not that play in our piece, too?" +</P> + +<P> +"It's big enough, certainly," replied grandpapa. "It shall be +the lover. There's nothing in the pockets, and that's very +interesting, for that's half of an unfortunate attachment. And here we +have the nut-cracker's boots, with spurs to them. Row, dow, dow! how +they can stamp and strut! They shall represent the unwelcome wooer, +whom the lady does not like. What kind of a play will you have now? +Shall it be a tragedy, or a domestic drama?" +</P> + +<P> +"A domestic drama, please," said little Anna, "for the others +are so fond of that. Do you know one?" +</P> + +<P> +"I know a hundred," said grandpapa. "Those that are most in +favor are from the French, but they are not good for little girls. +In the meantime, we may take one of the prettiest, for inside +they're all very much alike. Now I shake the pen! Cock-a-lorum! So +now, here's the play, brin-bran-span new! Now listen to the +play-bill." +</P> + +<P> +And grandpapa took a newspaper, and read as if he were reading +from it: +</P> + +<PRE> + THE PIPE-HEAD AND THE GOOD HEAD + A Family Drama in One Act + CHARACTERS + + MR. PIPE-HEAD, a father. MR. WAISTCOAT, a lover. + MISS GLOVE, a daughter. MR. DE BOOTS, a suitor. +</PRE> + +<BR> + +<P> +"And now we're going to begin. The curtain rises. We have no +curtain, so it has risen already. All the characters are there, and so +we have them at hand. Now I speak as Papa Pipe-head! He's angry +to-day. One can see that he's a colored meerschaum. +</P> + +<P> +"'Snik, snak, snurre, bassellurre! I'm master of this house! I'm +the father of my daughter! Will you hear what I have to say? Mr. de +Boots is a person in whom one may see one's face; his upper part is of +morocco, and he has spurs into the bargain. Snikke, snakke, snak! He +shall have my daughter!" +</P> + +<P> +"Now listen to what the Waistcoat says, little Anna," said +grandpapa. "Now the Waistcoat's speaking. The Waistcoat has a +laydown collar, and is very modest; but he knows his own value, and +has quite a right to say what he says: +</P> + +<P> +"'I haven't a spot on me! Goodness of material ought to be +appreciated. I am of real silk, and have strings to me.' +</P> + +<P> +"'—On the wedding day, but no longer; you don't keep your color +in the wash.' This is Mr. Pipe-head who is speaking. 'Mr. de Boots +is water-tight, of strong leather, and yet very delicate; he can +creak, and clank with his spurs, and has an Italian physiognomy-'" +</P> + +<P> +"But they ought to speak in verses," said Anna, "for I've heard +that's the most charming way of all." +</P> + +<P> +"They can do that too," replied grandpapa; "and if the public +demands it, they will talk in that way. Just look at little Miss +Glove, how she's pointing her fingers! +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "'Could I but have my love,<BR> + Who then so happy as Glove!<BR> + Ah!<BR> + If I from him must part,<BR> + I'm sure 'twill break my heart!'<BR> + 'Bah!'<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +The last word was spoken by Mr. Pipe-head; and now it's Mr. +Waistcoat's turn: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "'O Glove, my own dear,<BR> + Though it cost thee a tear,<BR> + Thou must be mine,<BR> + For Holger Danske has sworn it!'<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"Mr. de Boots, hearing this, kicks up, jingles his spurs, and +knocks down three of the side-scenes." +</P> + +<P> +"That's exceedingly charming!" cried little Anna. +</P> + +<P> +"Silence! silence!" said grandpapa. "Silent approbation will +show that you are the educated public in the stalls. Now Miss Glove +sings her great song with startling effects: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "'I can't see, heigho!<BR> + And therefore I'll crow!<BR> + Kikkeriki, in the lofty hall!'<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"Now comes the exciting part, little Anna. This is the most +important in all the play. Mr. Waistcoat undoes himself, and addresses +his speech to you, that you may applaud; but leave it alone,—that's +considered more genteel. +</P> + +<P> +"'I am driven to extremities! Take care of yourself! Now comes the +plot! You are the Pipe-head, and I am the good head—snap! there you +go!" +</P> + +<P> +"Do you notice this, little Anna?" asked grandpapa. "That's a most +charming comedy. Mr. Waistcoat seized the old Pipe-head and put him in +his pocket; there he lies, and the Waistcoat says: +</P> + +<P> +"'You are in my pocket; you can't come out till you promise to +unite me to your daughter Glove on the left. I hold out my right +hand.'" +</P> + +<P> +"That's awfully pretty," said little Anna. +</P> + +<P> +"And now the old Pipe-head replies: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "'Though I'm all ear,<BR> + Very stupid I appear:<BR> + Where's my humor? Gone, I fear,<BR> + And I feel my hollow stick's not here,<BR> + Ah! never, my dear,<BR> + Did I feel so queer.<BR> + Oh! pray let me out,<BR> + And like a lamb led to slaughter<BR> + I'll betroth you, no doubt,<BR> + To my daughter.'"<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"Is the play over already?" asked little Anna. +</P> + +<P> +"By no means," replied grandpapa. "It's only all over with Mr. +de Boots. Now the lovers kneel down, and one of them sings: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "'Father!'<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +and the other, +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + 'Come, do as you ought to do,—<BR> + Bless your son and daughter.'<BR> +</P> + +<P> +And they receive his blessing, and celebrate their wedding, and all +the pieces of furniture sing in chorus, +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "'Klink! clanks!<BR> + A thousand thanks;<BR> + And now the play is over!'<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"And now we'll applaud," said grandpapa. "We'll call them all out, +and the pieces of furniture too, for they are of mahogany." +</P> + +<P> +"And is not our play just as good as those which the others have +in the real theatre?" +</P> + +<P> +"Our play is much better," said grandpapa. "It is shorter, the +performers are natural, and it has passed away the interval before +tea-time." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="old_bach"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE OLD BACHELOR'S NIGHTCAP +</H3> + +<P> +There is a street in Copenhagen with a very strange name. It is +called "Hysken" street. Where the name came from, and what it means is +very uncertain. It is said to be German, but that is unjust to the +Germans, for it would then be called "Hauschen," not "Hysken." +"Hauschen," means a little house; and for many years it consisted only +of a few small houses, which were scarcely larger than the wooden +booths we see in the market-places at fair time. They were perhaps a +little higher, and had windows; but the panes consisted of horn or +bladder-skins, for glass was then too dear to have glazed windows in +every house. This was a long time ago, so long indeed that our +grandfathers, and even great-grandfathers, would speak of those days +as "olden times;" indeed, many centuries have passed since then. +</P> + +<P> +The rich merchants in Bremen and Lubeck, who carried on trade in +Copenhagen, did not reside in the town themselves, but sent their +clerks, who dwelt in the wooden booths in the Hauschen street, and +sold beer and spices. The German beer was very good, and there were +many sorts—from Bremen, Prussia, and Brunswick—and quantities of all +sorts of spices, saffron, aniseed, ginger, and especially pepper; +indeed, pepper was almost the chief article sold here; so it +happened at last that the German clerks in Denmark got their +nickname of "pepper gentry." It had been made a condition with these +clerks that they should not marry; so that those who lived to be old +had to take care of themselves, to attend to their own comforts, and +even to light their own fires, when they had any to light. Many of +them were very aged; lonely old boys, with strange thoughts and +eccentric habits. From this, all unmarried men, who have attained a +certain age, are called, in Denmark, "pepper gentry;" and this must be +remembered by all those who wish to understand the story. These +"pepper gentlemen," or, as they are called in England, "old +bachelors," are often made a butt of ridicule; they are told to put on +their nightcaps, draw them over their eyes, and go to sleep. The +boys in Denmark make a song of it, thus:— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Poor old bachelor, cut your wood,<BR> + Such a nightcap was never seen;<BR> + Who would think it was ever clean?<BR> + Go to sleep, it will do you good."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +So they sing about the "pepper gentleman;" so do they make sport +of the poor old bachelor and his nightcap, and all because they really +know nothing of either. It is a cap that no one need wish for, or +laugh at. And why not? Well, we shall hear in the story. +</P> + +<P> +In olden times, Hauschen Street was not paved, and passengers +would stumble out of one hole into another, as they generally do in +unfrequented highways; and the street was so narrow, and the booths +leaning against each other were so close together, that in the +summer time a sail would be stretched across the street from one booth +to another opposite. At these times the odor of the pepper, saffron, +and ginger became more powerful than ever. Behind the counter, as a +rule, there were no young men. The clerks were almost all old boys; +but they did not dress as we are accustomed to see old men +represented, wearing wigs, nightcaps, and knee-breeches, and with coat +and waistcoat buttoned up to the chin. We have seen the portraits of +our great-grandfathers dressed in this way; but the "pepper gentlemen" +had no money to spare to have their portraits taken, though one of +them would have made a very interesting picture for us now, if taken +as he appeared standing behind his counter, or going to church, or +on holidays. On these occasions, they wore high-crowned, broad-brimmed +hats, and sometimes a younger clerk would stick a feather in his. +The woollen shirt was concealed by a broad, linen collar; the close +jacket was buttoned up to the chin, and the cloak hung loosely over +it; the trousers were tucked into the broad, tipped shoes, for the +clerks wore no stockings. They generally stuck a table-knife and spoon +in their girdles, as well as a larger knife, as a protection to +themselves; and such a weapon was often very necessary. +</P> + +<P> +After this fashion was Anthony dressed on holidays and +festivals, excepting that, instead of a high-crowned hat, he wore a +kind of bonnet, and under it a knitted cap, a regular nightcap, to +which he was so accustomed that it was always on his head; he had two, +nightcaps I mean, not heads. Anthony was one of the oldest of the +clerks, and just the subject for a painter. He was as thin as a +lath, wrinkled round the mouth and eyes, had long, bony fingers, +bushy, gray eyebrows, and over his left eye hung a thick tuft of hair, +which did not look handsome, but made his appearance very +remarkable. People knew that he came from Bremen; it was not exactly +his home, although his master resided there. His ancestors were from +Thuringia, and had lived in the town of Eisenach, close by Wartburg. +Old Anthony seldom spoke of this place, but he thought of it all the +more. +</P> + +<P> +The old clerks of Hauschen Street very seldom met together; each +one remained in his own booth, which was closed early enough in the +evening, and then it looked dark and dismal out in the street. Only +a faint glimmer of light struggled through the horn panes in the +little window on the roof, while within sat the old clerk, generally +on his bed, singing his evening hymn in a low voice; or he would be +moving about in his booth till late in the night, busily employed in +many things. It certainly was not a very lively existence. To be a +stranger in a strange land is a bitter lot; no one notices you +unless you happen to stand in their way. Often, when it was dark night +outside, with rain or snow falling, the place looked quite deserted +and gloomy. There were no lamps in the street, excepting a very +small one, which hung at one end of the street, before a picture of +the Virgin, which had been painted on the wall. The dashing of the +water against the bulwarks of a neighboring castle could plainly be +heard. Such evenings are long and dreary, unless people can find +something to do; and so Anthony found it. There were not always things +to be packed or unpacked, nor paper bags to be made, nor the scales to +be polished. So Anthony invented employment; he mended his clothes and +patched his boots, and when he at last went to bed,—his nightcap, +which he had worn from habit, still remained on his head; he had +only to pull it down a little farther over his forehead. Very soon, +however, it would be pushed up again to see if the light was +properly put out; he would touch it, press the wick together, and at +last pull his nightcap over his eyes and lie down again on the other +side. But often there would arise in his mind a doubt as to whether +every coal had been quite put out in the little fire-pan in the shop +below. If even a tiny spark had remained it might set fire to +something, and cause great damage. Then he would rise from his bed, +creep down the ladder—for it could scarcely be called a flight of +stairs—and when he reached the fire-pan not a spark could be seen; so +he had just to go back again to bed. But often, when he had got half +way back, he would fancy the iron shutters of the door were not +properly fastened, and his thin legs would carry him down again. And +when at last he crept into bed, he would be so cold that his teeth +chattered in his head. He would draw the coverlet closer round him, +pull his nightcap over his eyes, and try to turn his thoughts from +trade, and from the labors of the day, to olden times. But this was +scarcely an agreeable entertainment; for thoughts of olden memories +raise the curtains from the past, and sometimes pierce the heart +with painful recollections till the agony brings tears to the waking +eyes. And so it was with Anthony; often the scalding tears, like +pearly drops, would fall from his eyes to the coverlet and roll on the +floor with a sound as if one of his heartstrings had broken. +Sometimes, with a lurid flame, memory would light up a picture of life +which had never faded from his heart. If he dried his eyes with his +nightcap, then the tear and the picture would be crushed; but the +source of the tears remained and welled up again in his heart. The +pictures did not follow one another in order, as the circumstances +they represented had occurred; very often the most painful would +come together, and when those came which were most full of joy, they +had always the deepest shadow thrown upon them. +</P> + +<P> +The beech woods of Denmark are acknowledged by every one to be +very beautiful, but more beautiful still in the eyes of old Anthony +were the beech woods in the neighborhood of Wartburg. More grand and +venerable to him seemed the old oaks around the proud baronial castle, +where the creeping plants hung over the stony summits of the rocks; +sweeter was the perfume there of the apple-blossom than in all the +land of Denmark. How vividly were represented to him, in a +glittering tear that rolled down his cheek, two children at play—a +boy and a girl. The boy had rosy cheeks, golden ringlets, and clear, +blue eyes; he was the son of Anthony, a rich merchant; it was himself. +The little girl had brown eyes and black hair, and was clever and +courageous; she was the mayor's daughter, Molly. The children were +playing with an apple; they shook the apple, and heard the pips +rattling in it. Then they cut it in two, and each of them took half. +They also divided the pips and ate all but one, which the little +girl proposed should be placed in the ground. +</P> + +<P> +"You will see what will come out," she said; "something you +don't expect. A whole apple-tree will come out, but not directly." +Then they got a flower-pot, filled it with earth, and were soon both +very busy and eager about it. The boy made a hole in the earth with +his finger, and the little girl placed the pip in the hole, and then +they both covered it over with earth. +</P> + +<P> +"Now you must not take it out to-morrow to see if it has taken +root," said Molly; "no one ever should do that. I did so with my +flowers, but only twice; I wanted to see if they were growing. I +didn't know any better then, and the flowers all died." +</P> + +<P> +Little Anthony kept the flower-pot, and every morning during the +whole winter he looked at it, but there was nothing to be seen but +black earth. At last, however, the spring came, and the sun shone warm +again, and then two little green leaves sprouted forth in the pot. +</P> + +<P> +"They are Molly and me," said the boy. "How wonderful they are, +and so beautiful!" +</P> + +<P> +Very soon a third leaf made its appearance. +</P> + +<P> +"Who does that stand for?" thought he, and then came another and +another. Day after day, and week after week, till the plant became +quite a tree. And all this about the two children was mirrored to +old Anthony in a single tear, which could soon be wiped away and +disappear, but might come again from its source in the heart of the +old man. +</P> + +<P> +In the neighborhood of Eisenach stretches a ridge of stony +mountains, one of which has a rounded outline, and shows itself +above the rest without tree, bush, or grass on its barren summits. +It is called the "Venus Mountain," and the story goes that the "Lady +Venus," one of the heathen goddesses, keeps house there. She is also +called "Lady Halle," as every child round Eisenach well knows. She +it was who enticed the noble knight, Tannhauser, the minstrel, from +the circle of singers at Wartburg into her mountain. +</P> + +<P> +Little Molly and Anthony often stood by this mountain, and one day +Molly said, "Do you dare to knock and say, 'Lady Halle, Lady Halle, +open the door: Tannhauser is here!'" But Anthony did not dare. +Molly, however, did, though she only said the words, "Lady Halle, Lady +Halle," loudly and distinctly; the rest she muttered so much under her +breath that Anthony felt certain she had really said nothing; and +yet she looked quite bold and saucy, just as she did sometimes when +she was in the garden with a number of other little girls; they +would all stand round him together, and want to kiss him, because he +did not like to be kissed, and pushed them away. Then Molly was the +only one who dared to resist him. "I may kiss him," she would say +proudly, as she threw her arms round his neck; she was vain of her +power over Anthony, for he would submit quietly and think nothing of +it. Molly was very charming, but rather bold; and how she did tease! +</P> + +<P> +They said Lady Halle was beautiful, but her beauty was that of a +tempting fiend. Saint Elizabeth, the tutelar saint of the land, the +pious princess of Thuringia, whose good deeds have been immortalized +in so many places through stories and legends, had greater beauty +and more real grace. Her picture hung in the chapel, surrounded by +silver lamps; but it did not in the least resemble Molly. +</P> + +<P> +The apple-tree, which the two children had planted, grew year +after year, till it became so large that it had to be transplanted +into the garden, where the dew fell and the sun shone warmly. And +there it increased in strength so much as to be able to withstand +the cold of winter; and after passing through the severe weather, it +seemed to put forth its blossoms in spring for very joy that the +cold season had gone. In autumn it produced two apples, one for +Molly and one for Anthony; it could not well do less. The tree after +this grew very rapidly, and Molly grew with the tree. She was as fresh +as an apple-blossom, but Anthony was not to behold this flower for +long. All things change; Molly's father left his old home, and Molly +went with him far away. In our time, it would be only a journey of a +few hours, but then it took more than a day and a night to travel so +far eastward from Eisenbach to a town still called Weimar, on the +borders of Thuringia. And Molly and Anthony both wept, but these tears +all flowed together into one tear which had the rosy shimmer of joy. +Molly had told him that she loved him—loved him more than all the +splendors of Weimar. +</P> + +<P> +One, two, three years went by, and during the whole time he +received only two letters. One came by the carrier, and the other a +traveller brought. The way was very long and difficult, with many +turnings and windings through towns and villages. How often had +Anthony and Molly heard the story of Tristan and Isolda, and Anthony +had thought the story applied to him, although Tristan means born in +sorrow, which Anthony certainly was not; nor was it likely he would +ever say of Molly as Tristan said of Isolda, "She has forgotten me." +But in truth, Isolda had not forgotten him, her faithful friend; and +when both were laid in their graves, one, on each side of the +church, the linden-trees that grew by each grave spread over the roof, +and, bending towards each other, mingled their blossoms together. +Anthony thought it a very beautiful but mournful story; yet he never +feared anything so sad would happen to him and Molly, as he passed the +spot, whistling the air of a song, composed by the minstrel Walter, +called the "Willow bird," beginning— +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> + "Under the linden-trees,<BR> + Out on the heath."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +One stanza pleased him exceedingly— +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> + "Through the forest, and in the vale,<BR> + Sweetly warbles the nightingale.<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +This song was often in his mouth, and he sung or whistled it on +a moonlight night, when he rode on horseback along the deep, hollow +way, on his road to Weimar, to visit Molly. He wished to arrive +unexpectedly, and so indeed he did. He was received with a hearty +welcome, and introduced to plenty of grand and pleasant company, where +overflowing winecups were passed about. A pretty room and a good bed +were provided for him, and yet his reception was not what he had +expected and dreamed it would be. He could not comprehend his own +feelings nor the feelings of others; but it is easily understood how a +person can be admitted into a house or a family without becoming one +of them. We converse in company with those we meet, as we converse +with our fellow-travellers in a stage-coach, on a journey; we know +nothing of them, and perhaps all the while we are incommoding one +another, and each is wishing himself or his neighbor away. Something +of this kind Anthony felt when Molly talked to him of old times. +</P> + +<P> +"I am a straightforward girl," she said, "and I will tell you +myself how it is. There have been great changes since we were children +together; everything is different, both inwardly and outwardly. We +cannot control our wills, nor the feelings of our hearts, by the force +of custom. Anthony, I would not, for the world, make an enemy of you +when I am far away. Believe me, I entertain for you the kindest wishes +in my heart; but to feel for you what I now know can be felt for +another man, can never be. You must try and reconcile yourself to +this. Farewell, Anthony." +</P> + +<P> +Anthony also said, "Farewell." Not a tear came into his eye; he +felt he was no longer Molly's friend. Hot iron and cold iron alike +take the skin from our lips, and we feel the same sensation if we kiss +either; and Anthony's kiss was now the kiss of hatred, as it had +once been the kiss of love. Within four-and-twenty hours Anthony was +back again to Eisenach, though the horse that he rode was entirely +ruined. +</P> + +<P> +"What matters it?" said he; "I am ruined also. I will destroy +everything that can remind me of her, or of Lady Halle, or Lady Venus, +the heathen woman. I will break down the apple-tree, and tear it up by +the roots; never more shall it blossom or bear fruit." +</P> + +<P> +The apple-tree was not broken down; for Anthony himself was struck +with a fever, which caused him to break down, and confined him to +his bed. But something occurred to raise him up again. What was it? +A medicine was offered to him, which he was obliged to take: a +bitter remedy, at which the sick body and the oppressed spirit alike +shuddered. Anthony's father lost all his property, and, from being +known as one of the richest merchants, he became very poor. Dark days, +heavy trials, with poverty at the door, came rolling into the house +upon them like the waves of the sea. Sorrow and suffering deprived +Anthony's father of his strength, so that he had something else to +think of besides nursing his love-sorrows and his anger against Molly. +He had to take his father's place, to give orders, to act with energy, +to help, and, at last, to go out into the world and earn his bread. +Anthony went to Bremen, and there he learnt what poverty and hard +living really were. These things often harden the character, but +sometimes soften the heart, even too much. +</P> + +<P> +How different the world, and the people in it, appeared to Anthony +now, to what he had thought in his childhood! What to him were the +minstrel's songs? An echo of the past, sounds long vanished. At +times he would think in this way; yet again and again the songs +would sound in his soul, and his heart become gentle and pious. +</P> + +<P> +"God's will is the best," he would then say. "It was well that I +was not allowed to keep my power over Molly's heart, and that she +did not remain true to me. How I should have felt it now, when fortune +has deserted me! She left me before she knew of the change in my +circumstances, or had a thought of what was before me. That is a +merciful providence for me. All has happened for the best. She could +not help it, and yet I have been so bitter, and in such enmity against +her." +</P> + +<P> +Years passed by: Anthony's father died, and strangers lived in the +old house. He had seen it once again since then. His rich master +sent him journeys on business, and on one occasion his way led him +to his native town of Eisenach. The old Wartburg castle stood +unchanged on the rock where the monk and the nun were hewn out of +the stone. The great oaks formed an outline to the scene which he so +well remembered in his childhood. The Venus mountain stood out gray +and bare, overshadowing the valley beneath. He would have been glad to +call out "Lady Halle, Lady Halle, unlock the mountain. I would fain +remain here always in my native soil." That was a sinful thought, +and he offered a prayer to drive it away. Then a little bird in the +thicket sang out clearly, and old Anthony thought of the minstrel's +song. How much came back to his remembrance as he looked through the +tears once more on his native town! The old house was still standing +as in olden times, but the garden had been greatly altered; a +pathway led through a portion of the ground, and outside the garden, +and beyond the path, stood the old apple-tree, which he had not broken +down, although he talked of doing so in his trouble. The sun still +threw its rays upon the tree, and the refreshing dew fell upon it as +of old; and it was so overloaded with fruit that the branches bent +towards the earth with the weight. "That flourishes still," said he, +as he gazed. One of the branches of the tree had, however, been +broken: mischievous hands must have done this in passing, for the tree +now stood in a public thoroughfare. "The blossoms are often +plucked," said Anthony; "the fruit is stolen and the branches broken +without a thankful thought of their profusion and beauty. It might +be said of a tree, as it has been said of some men—it was not +predicted at his cradle that he should come to this. How brightly +began the history of this tree, and what is it now? Forsaken and +forgotten, in a garden by a hedge in a field, and close to a public +road. There it stands, unsheltered, plundered, and broken. It +certainly has not yet withered; but in the course of years the +number of blossoms from time to time will grow less, and at last it +was cease altogether to bear fruit; and then its history will be +over." +</P> + +<P> +Such were Anthony's thoughts as he stood under the tree, and +during many a long night as he lay in his lonely chamber in the wooden +house in Hauschen Street, Copenhagen, in the foreign land to which the +rich merchant of Bremen, his employer, had sent him on condition +that he should never marry. "Marry! ha, ha!" and he laughed bitterly +to himself at the thought. +</P> + +<P> +Winter one year set in early, and it was freezing hard. Without, a +snowstorm made every one remain at home who could do so. Thus it +happened that Anthony's neighbors, who lived opposite to him, did +not notice that his house remained unopened for two days, and that +he had not showed himself during that time, for who would go out in +such weather unless he were obliged to do so. They were gray, gloomy +days, and in the house whose windows were not glass, twilight and dark +nights reigned in turns. During these two days old Anthony had not +left his bed, he had not the strength to do so. The bitter weather had +for some time affected his limbs. There lay the old bachelor, forsaken +by all, and unable to help himself. He could scarcely reach the +water jug that he had placed by his bed, and the last drop was gone. +It was not fever, nor sickness, but old age, that had laid him low. In +the little corner, where his bed lay, he was over-shadowed as it +were by perpetual night. A little spider, which he could however not +see, busily and cheerfully spun its web above him, so that there +should be a kind of little banner waving over the old man, when his +eyes closed. The time passed slowly and painfully. He had no tears +to shed, and he felt no pain; no thought of Molly came into his +mind. He felt as if the world was now nothing to him, as if he were +lying beyond it, with no one to think of him. Now and then he felt +slight sensations of hunger and thirst; but no one came to him, no one +tended him. He thought of all those who had once suffered from +starvation, of Saint Elizabeth, who once wandered on the earth, the +saint of his home and his childhood, the noble Duchess of Thuringia, +that highly esteemed lady who visited the poorest villages, bringing +hope and relief to the sick inmates. The recollection of her pious +deeds was as light to the soul of poor Anthony. He thought of her as +she went about speaking words of comfort, binding up the wounds of the +afflicted and feeding the hungry, although often blamed for it by +her stern husband. He remembered a story told of her, that on one +occasion, when she was carrying a basket full of wine and +provisions, her husband, who had watched her footsteps, stepped +forward and asked her angrily what she carried in her basket, +whereupon, with fear and trembling, she answered, "Roses, which I have +plucked from the garden." Then he tore away the cloth which covered +the basket, and what could equal the surprise of the pious woman, to +find that by a miracle, everything in her basket—the wine, the +bread—had all been changed into roses. +</P> + +<P> +In this way the memory of the kind lady dwelt in the calm mind +of Anthony. She was as a living reality in his little dwelling in +the Danish land. He uncovered his face that he might look into her +gentle eyes, while everything around him changed from its look of +poverty and want, to a bright rose tint. The fragrance of roses spread +through the room, mingled with the sweet smell of apples. He saw the +branches of an apple-tree spreading above him. It was the tree which +he and Molly had planted together. The fragrant leaves of the tree +fell upon him and cooled his burning brow; upon his parched lips +they seemed like refreshing bread and wine; and as they rested on +his breast, a peaceful calm stole over him, and he felt inclined to +sleep. "I shall sleep now," he whispered to himself. "Sleep will do me +good. In the morning I shall be upon my feet again, strong and well. +Glorious! wonderful! That apple-tree, planted in love, now appears +before me in heavenly beauty." And he slept. +</P> + +<P> +The following day, the third day during which his house had been +closed, the snow-storm ceased. Then his opposite neighbor stepped over +to the house in which old Anthony lived, for he had not yet showed +himself. There he lay stretched on his bed, dead, with his old +nightcap tightly clasped in his two hands. The nightcap, however, +was not placed on his head in his coffin; he had a clean white one +on then. Where now were the tears he had shed? What had become of +those wonderful pearls? They were in the nightcap still. Such tears as +these cannot be washed out, even when the nightcap is forgotten. The +old thoughts and dreams of a bachelor's nightcap still remain. Never +wish for such a nightcap. It would make your forehead hot, cause +your pulse to beat with agitation, and conjure up dreams which would +appear realities. +</P> + +<P> +The first who wore old Anthony's cap felt the truth of this, +though it was half a century afterwards. That man was the mayor +himself, who had already made a comfortable home for his wife and +eleven children, by his industry. The moment he put the cap on he +dreamed of unfortunate love, of bankruptcy, and of dark days. +"Hallo! how the nightcap burns!" he exclaimed, as he tore it from +his bead. Then a pearl rolled out, and then another, and another, +and they glittered and sounded as they fell. "What can this be? Is +it paralysis, or something dazzling my eyes?" They were the tears +which old Anthony had shed half a century before. +</P> + +<P> +To every one who afterwards put this cap on his head, came visions +and dreams which agitated him not a little. His own history was +changed into that of Anthony till it became quite a story, and many +stories might be made by others, so we will leave them to relate their +own. We have told the first; and our last word is, don't wish for a +"bachelor's nightcap." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="old_chur"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE OLD CHURCH BELL +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +(WRITTEN FOR THE SCHILLER ALBUM) +</H3> + +<P> +In the country of Wurtemburg, in Germany, where the acacias grow +by the public road, where the apple-trees and the pear-trees in autumn +bend to the earth with the weight of the precious fruit, lies the +little town of Marbach. As is often the case with many of these towns, +it is charmingly situated on the banks of the river Neckar, which +rushes rapidly by, passing villages, old knights' castles, and green +vineyards, till its waters mingle with those of the stately Rhine. +It was late in the autumn; the vine-leaves still hung upon the +branches of the vines, but they were already tinted with red and gold; +heavy showers fell on the surrounding country, and the cold autumn +wind blew sharp and strong. It was not at all pleasant weather for the +poor. The days grew shorter and more gloomy, and, dark as it was out +of doors in the open air, it was still darker within the small, +old-fashioned houses of the village. The gable end of one of these +houses faced the street, and with its small, narrow windows, presented +a very mean appearance. The family who dwelt in it were also very poor +and humble, but they treasured the fear of God in their innermost +hearts. And now He was about to send them a child. It was the hour +of the mother's sorrow, when there pealed forth from the church +tower the sound of festive bells. In that solemn hour the sweet and +joyous chiming filled the hearts of those in the humble dwelling +with thankfulness and trust; and when, amidst these joyous sounds, a +little son was born to them, the words of prayer and praise arose from +their overflowing hearts, and their happiness seemed to ring out +over town and country in the liquid tones of the church bells' +chime. The little one, with its bright eyes and golden hair, had +been welcomed joyously on that dark November day. Its parents kissed +it lovingly, and the father wrote these words in the Bible, "On the +tenth of November, 1759, God sent us a son." And a short time after, +when the child had been baptized, the names he had received were +added, "John Christopher Frederick." +</P> + +<P> +And what became of the little lad?—the poor boy of the humble +town of Marbach? Ah, indeed, there was no one who thought or supposed, +not even the old church bell which had been the first to sound and +chime for him, that he would be the first to sing the beautiful song +of "The Bell." The boy grew apace, and the world advanced with him. +</P> + +<P> +While he was yet a child, his parents removed from Marbach, and +went to reside in another town; but their dearest friends remained +behind at Marbach, and therefore sometimes the mother and her son +would start on a fine day to pay a visit to the little town. The boy +was at this time about six years old, and already knew a great many +stories out of the Bible, and several religious psalms. While seated +in the evening on his little cane-chair, he had often heard his father +read from Gellert's fables, and sometimes from Klopstock's grand poem, +"The Messiah." He and his sister, two years older than himself, had +often wept scalding tears over the story of Him who suffered death +on the cross for us all. +</P> + +<P> +On his first visit to Marbach, the town appeared to have changed +but very little, and it was not far enough away to be forgotten. The +house, with its pointed gable, narrow windows, overhanging walls and +stories, projecting one beyond another, looked just the same as in +former times. But in the churchyard there were several new graves; and +there also, in the grass, close by the wall, stood the old church +bell! It had been taken down from its high position, in consequence of +a crack in the metal which prevented it from ever chiming again, and a +new bell now occupied its place. The mother and son were walking in +the churchyard when they discovered the old bell, and they stood still +to look at it. Then the mother reminded her little boy of what a +useful bell this had been for many hundred years. It had chimed for +weddings and for christenings; it had tolled for funerals, and to give +the alarm in case of fire. With every event in the life of man the +bell had made its voice heard. His mother also told him how the +chiming of that old bell had once filled her heart with joy and +confidence, and that in the midst of the sweet tones her child had +been given to her. And the boy gazed on the large, old bell with the +deepest interest. He bowed his head over it and kissed it, old, thrown +away, and cracked as it was, and standing there amidst the grass and +nettles. The boy never forgot what his mother told him, and the +tones of the old bell reverberated in his heart till he reached +manhood. In such sweet remembrance was the old bell cherished by the +boy, who grew up in poverty to be tall and slender, with a freckled +complexion and hair almost red; but his eyes were clear and blue as +the deep sea, and what was his career to be? His career was to be +good, and his future life enviable. We find him taking high honors +at the military school in the division commanded by the member of a +family high in position, and this was an honor, that is to say, good +luck. He wore gaiters, stiff collars, and powdered hair, and by this +he was recognized; and, indeed, he might be known by the word of +command—"March! halt! front!" +</P> + +<P> +The old church bell had long been quite forgotten, and no one +imagined it would ever again be sent to the melting furnace to make it +as it was before. No one could possibly have foretold this. Equally +impossible would it have been to believe that the tones of the old +bell still echoed in the heart of the boy from Marbach; or that one +day they would ring out loud enough and strong enough to be heard +all over the world. They had already been heard in the narrow space +behind the school-wall, even above the deafening sounds of "March! +halt! front!" They had chimed so loudly in the heart of the youngster, +that he had sung them to his companions, and their tones resounded +to the very borders of the country. He was not a free scholar in the +military school, neither was he provided with clothes or food. But +he had his number, and his own peg; for everything here was ordered +like clockwork, which we all know is of the greatest utility—people +get on so much better together when their position and duties are +understood. It is by pressure that a jewel is stamped. The pressure of +regularity and discipline here stamped the jewel, which in the +future the world so well knew. +</P> + +<P> +In the chief town of the province a great festival was being +celebrated. The light streamed forth from thousands of lamps, and +the rockets shot upwards towards the sky, filling the air with showers +of colored fiery sparks. A record of this bright display will live +in the memory of man, for through it the pupil in the military +school was in tears and sorrow. He had dared to attempt to reach +foreign territories unnoticed, and must therefore give up +fatherland, mother, his dearest friends, all, or sink down into the +stream of common life. The old church bell had still some comfort; +it stood in the shelter of the church wall in Marbach, once so +elevated, now quite forgotten. The wind roared around it, and could +have readily related the story of its origin and of its sweet +chimes, and the wind could also tell of him to whom he had brought +fresh air when, in the woods of a neighboring country, he had sunk +down exhausted with fatigue, with no other worldly possessions than +hope for the future, and a written leaf from "Fiesco." The wind +could have told that his only protector was an artist, who, by reading +each leaf to him, made it plain; and that they amused themselves by +playing at nine-pins together. The wind could also describe the pale +fugitive, who, for weeks and months, lay in a wretched little +road-side inn, where the landlord got drunk and raved, and where the +merry-makers had it all their own way. And he, the pale fugitive, sang +of the ideal. +</P> + +<P> +For many heavy days and dark nights the heart must suffer to +enable it to endure trial and temptation; yet, amidst it all, would +the minstrel sing. Dark days and cold nights also passed over the +old bell, and it noticed them not; but the bell in the man's heart +felt it to be a gloomy time. What would become of this young man, +and what would become of the old bell? +</P> + +<P> +The old bell was, after a time, carried away to a greater distance +than any one, even the warder in the bell tower, ever imagined; and +the bell in the breast of the young man was heard in countries where +his feet had never wandered. The tones went forth over the wide +ocean to every part of the round world. +</P> + +<P> +We will now follow the career of the old bell. It was, as we +have said, carried far away from Marbach and sold as old copper; +then sent to Bavaria to be melted down in a furnace. And then what +happened? +</P> + +<P> +In the royal city of Bavaria, many years after the bell had been +removed from the tower and melted down, some metal was required for +a monument in honor of one of the most celebrated characters which a +German people or a German land could produce. And now we see how +wonderfully things are ordered. Strange things sometimes happen in +this world. +</P> + +<P> +In Denmark, in one of those green islands where the foliage of the +beech-woods rustles in the wind, and where many Huns' graves may be +seen, was another poor boy born. He wore wooden shoes, and when his +father worked in a ship-yard, the boy, wrapped up in an old worn-out +shawl, carried his dinner to him every day. This poor child was now +the pride of his country; for the sculptured marble, the work of his +hands, had astonished the world.[1] To him was offered the honor of +forming from the clay, a model of the figure of him whose name, +"John Christopher Frederick," had been written by his father in the +Bible. The bust was cast in bronze, and part of the metal used for +this purpose was the old church bell, whose tones had died away from +the memory of those at home and elsewhere. The metal, glowing with +heat, flowed into the mould, and formed the head and bust of the +statue which was unveiled in the square in front of the old castle. +The statue represented in living, breathing reality, the form of him +who was born in poverty, the boy from Marbach, the pupil of the +military school, the fugitive who struggled against poverty and +oppression, from the outer world; Germany's great and immortal poet, +who sung of Switzerland's deliverer, William Tell, and of the +heaven-inspired Maid of Orleans. +</P> + +<P> +It was a beautiful sunny day; flags were waving from tower and +roof in royal Stuttgart, and the church bells were ringing a joyous +peal. One bell was silent; but it was illuminated by the bright +sunshine which streamed from the head and bust of the renowned figure, +of which it formed a part. On this day, just one hundred years had +passed since the day on which the chiming of the old church bell at +Marbach had filled the mother's heart with trust and joy—the day on +which her child was born in poverty, and in a humble home; the same +who, in after-years, became rich, became the noble woman-hearted poet, +a blessing to the world—the glorious, the sublime, the immortal bard, +John Christoper Frederick Schiller! +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[1] The Danish sculptor Thorwaldsen. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="old_grav"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE OLD GRAVE-STONE +</H3> + +<P> +In a house, with a large courtyard, in a provincial town, at +that time of the year in which people say the evenings are growing +longer, a family circle were gathered together at their old home. A +lamp burned on the table, although the weather was mild and warm, +and the long curtains hung down before the open windows, and without +the moon shone brightly in the dark-blue sky. +</P> + +<P> +But they were not talking of the moon, but of a large, old stone +that lay below in the courtyard not very far from the kitchen door. +The maids often laid the clean copper saucepans and kitchen vessels on +this stone, that they might dry in the sun, and the children were fond +of playing on it. It was, in fact, an old grave-stone. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said the master of the house, "I believe the stone came +from the graveyard of the old church of the convent which was pulled +down, and the pulpit, the monuments, and the grave-stones sold. My +father bought the latter; most of them were cut in two and used for +paving-stones, but that one stone was preserved whole, and laid in the +courtyard." +</P> + +<P> +"Any one can see that it is a grave-stone," said the eldest of the +children; "the representation of an hour-glass and part of the +figure of an angel can still be traced, but the inscription beneath is +quite worn out, excepting the name 'Preben,' and a large 'S' close +by it, and a little farther down the name of 'Martha' can be easily +read. But nothing more, and even that cannot be seen unless it has +been raining, or when we have washed the stone." +</P> + +<P> +"Dear me! how singular. Why that must be the grave-stone of Preben +Schwane and his wife." +</P> + +<P> +The old man who said this looked old enough to be the +grandfather of all present in the room. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," he continued, "these people were among the last who were +buried in the churchyard of the old convent. They were a very worthy +old couple, I can remember them well in the days of my boyhood. +Every one knew them, and they were esteemed by all. They were the +oldest residents in the town, and people said they possessed a ton +of gold, yet they were always very plainly dressed, in the coarsest +stuff, but with linen of the purest whiteness. Preben and Martha +were a fine old couple, and when they both sat on the bench, at the +top of the steep stone steps, in front of their house, with the +branches of the linden-tree waving above them, and nodded in a gentle, +friendly way to passers by, it really made one feel quite happy. +They were very good to the poor; they fed them and clothed them, and +in their benevolence there was judgment as well as true +Christianity. The old woman died first; that day is still quite +vividly before my eyes. I was a little boy, and had accompanied my +father to the old man's house. Martha had fallen into the sleep of +death just as we arrived there. The corpse lay in a bedroom, near to +the one in which we sat, and the old man was in great distress and +weeping like a child. He spoke to my father, and to a few neighbors +who were there, of how lonely he should feel now she was gone, and how +good and true she, his dead wife, had been during the number of +years that they had passed through life together, and how they had +become acquainted, and learnt to love each other. I was, as I have +said, a boy, and only stood by and listened to what the others said; +but it filled me with a strange emotion to listen to the old man, +and to watch how the color rose in his cheeks as he spoke of the +days of their courtship, of how beautiful she was, and how many little +tricks he had been guilty of, that he might meet her. And then he +talked of his wedding-day; and his eyes brightened, and he seemed to +be carried back, by his words, to that joyful time. And yet there +she was, lying in the next room, dead—an old woman, and he was an old +man, speaking of the days of hope, long passed away. Ah, well, so it +is; then I was but a child, and now I am old, as old as Preben Schwane +then was. Time passes away, and all things changed. I can remember +quite well the day on which she was buried, and how Old Preben +walked close behind the coffin. +</P> + +<P> +"A few years before this time the old couple had had their +grave-stone prepared, with an inscription and their names, but not the +date. In the evening the stone was taken to the churchyard, and laid +on the grave. A year later it was taken up, that Old Preben might be +laid by the side of his wife. They did not leave behind them wealth, +they left behind them far less than people had believed they +possessed; what there was went to families distantly related to +them, of whom, till then, no one had ever heard. The old house, with +its balcony of wickerwork, and the bench at the top of the high steps, +under the lime-tree, was considered, by the road-inspectors, too old +and rotten to be left standing. Afterwards, when the same fate +befell the convent church, and the graveyard was destroyed, the +grave-stone of Preben and Martha, like everything else, was sold to +whoever would buy it. And so it happened that this stone was not cut +in two as many others had been, but now lies in the courtyard below, a +scouring block for the maids, and a playground for the children. The +paved street now passes over the resting place of Old Preben and his +wife; no one thinks of them any more now." +</P> + +<P> +And the old man who had spoken of all this shook his head +mournfully, and said, "Forgotten! Ah, yes, everything will be +forgotten!" And then the conversation turned on other matters. +</P> + +<P> +But the youngest child in the room, a boy, with large, earnest +eyes, mounted upon a chair behind the window curtains, and looked +out into the yard, where the moon was pouring a flood of light on +the old gravestone,—the stone that had always appeared to him so dull +and flat, but which lay there now like a great leaf out of a book of +history. All that the boy had heard of Old Preben and his wife +seemed clearly defined on the stone, and as he gazed on it, and +glanced at the clear, bright moon shining in the pure air, it was as +if the light of God's countenance beamed over His beautiful world. +</P> + +<P> +"Forgotten! Everything will be forgotten!" still echoed through +the room, and in the same moment an invisible spirit whispered to +the heart of the boy, "Preserve carefully the seed that has been +entrusted to thee, that it may grow and thrive. Guard it well. Through +thee, my child, shall the obliterated inscription on the old, +weather-beaten grave-stone go forth to future generations in clear, +golden characters. The old pair shall again wander through the streets +arm-in-arm, or sit with their fresh, healthy cheeks on the bench under +the lime-tree, and smile and nod at rich and poor. The seed of this +hour shall ripen in the course of years into a beautiful poem. The +beautiful and the good are never forgotten, they live always in +story or in song." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="old_hous"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE OLD HOUSE +</H3> + +<P> +A very old house stood once in a street with several that were +quite new and clean. The date of its erection had been carved on one +of the beams, and surrounded by scrolls formed of tulips and +hop-tendrils; by this date it could be seen that the old house was +nearly three hundred years old. Verses too were written over the +windows in old-fashioned letters, and grotesque faces, curiously +carved, grinned at you from under the cornices. One story projected +a long way over the other, and under the roof ran a leaden gutter, +with a dragon's head at the end. The rain was intended to pour out +at the dragon's mouth, but it ran out of his body instead, for there +was a hole in the gutter. The other houses in the street were new +and well built, with large window panes and smooth walls. Any one +could see they had nothing to do with the old house. Perhaps they +thought, "How long will that heap of rubbish remain here to be a +disgrace to the whole street. The parapet projects so far forward that +no one can see out of our windows what is going on in that +direction. The stairs are as broad as the staircase of a castle, and +as steep as if they led to a church-tower. The iron railing looks like +the gate of a cemetery, and there are brass knobs upon it. It is +really too ridiculous." +</P> + +<P> +Opposite to the old house were more nice new houses, which had +just the same opinion as their neighbors. +</P> + +<P> +At the window of one of them sat a little boy with fresh rosy +cheeks, and clear sparkling eyes, who was very fond of the old +house, in sunshine or in moonlight. He would sit and look at the +wall from which the plaster had in some places fallen off, and fancy +all sorts of scenes which had been in former times. How the street +must have looked when the houses had all gable roofs, open staircases, +and gutters with dragons at the spout. He could even see soldiers +walking about with halberds. Certainly it was a very good house to +look at for amusement. +</P> + +<P> +An old man lived in it, who wore knee-breeches, a coat with +large brass buttons, and a wig, which any one could see was a real +wig. Every morning an old man came to clean the rooms, and to wait +upon him, otherwise the old man in the knee-breeches would have been +quite alone in the house. Sometimes he came to one of the windows +and looked out; then the little boy nodded to him, and the old man +nodded back again, till they became acquainted, and were friends, +although they had never spoken to each other; but that was of no +consequence. +</P> + +<P> +The little boy one day heard his parents say, "The old man +opposite is very well off, but is terribly lonely." The next Sunday +morning the little boy wrapped something in a piece of paper and +took it to the door of the old house, and said to the attendant who +waited upon the old man, "Will you please give this from me to the +gentleman who lives here; I have two tin soldiers, and this is one +of them, and he shall have it, because I know he is terribly lonely." +</P> + +<P> +And the old attendant nodded and looked very pleased, and then +he carried the tin soldier into the house. +</P> + +<P> +Afterwards he was sent over to ask the little boy if he would +not like to pay a visit himself. His parents gave him permission, +and so it was that he gained admission to the old house. +</P> + +<P> +The brassy knobs on the railings shone more brightly than ever, as +if they had been polished on account of his visit; and on the door +were carved trumpeters standing in tulips, and it seemed as if they +were blowing with all their might, their cheeks were so puffed out. +"Tanta-ra-ra, the little boy is coming; Tanta-ra-ra, the little boy is +coming." +</P> + +<P> +Then the door opened. All round the hall hung old portraits of +knights in armor, and ladies in silk gowns; and the armor rattled, and +the silk dresses rustled. Then came a staircase which went up a long +way, and then came down a little way and led to a balcony, which was +in a very ruinous state. There were large holes and long cracks, out +of which grew grass and leaves, indeed the whole balcony, the +courtyard, and the walls were so overgrown with green that they looked +like a garden. In the balcony stood flower-pots, on which were heads +having asses' ears, but the flowers in them grew just as they pleased. +In one pot pinks were growing all over the sides, at least the green +leaves were shooting forth stalk and stem, and saying as plainly as +they could speak, "The air has fanned me, the sun has kissed me, and I +am promised a little flower for next Sunday—really for next Sunday." +</P> + +<P> +Then they entered a room in which the walls were covered with +leather, and the leather had golden flowers stamped upon it. +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Gilding will fade in damp weather,<BR> + To endure, there is nothing like leather,"<BR> +</P> + +<P> +said the walls. Chairs handsomely carved, with elbows on each side, +and with very high backs, stood in the room, and as they creaked +they seemed to say, "Sit down. Oh dear, how I am creaking. I shall +certainly have the gout like the old cupboard. Gout in my back, ugh." +</P> + +<P> +And then the little boy entered the room where the old man sat. +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you for the tin soldier my little friend," said the old +man, "and thank you also for coming to see me." +</P> + +<P> +"Thanks, thanks," or "Creak, creak," said all the furniture. +</P> + +<P> +There was so much that the pieces of furniture stood in each +other's way to get a sight of the little boy. +</P> + +<P> +On the wall near the centre of the room hung the picture of a +beautiful lady, young and gay, dressed in the fashion of the olden +times, with powdered hair, and a full, stiff skirt. She said neither +"thanks" nor "creak," but she looked down upon the little boy with her +mild eyes; and then he said to the old man, +</P> + +<P> +"Where did you get that picture?" +</P> + +<P> +"From the shop opposite," he replied. "Many portraits hang there +that none seem to trouble themselves about. The persons they represent +have been dead and buried long since. But I knew this lady many +years ago, and she has been dead nearly half a century." +</P> + +<P> +Under a glass beneath the picture hung a nosegay of withered +flowers, which were no doubt half a century old too, at least they +appeared so. +</P> + +<P> +And the pendulum of the old clock went to and fro, and the hands +turned round; and as time passed on, everything in the room grew +older, but no one seemed to notice it. +</P> + +<P> +"They say at home," said the little boy, "that you are very +lonely." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh," replied the old man, "I have pleasant thoughts of all that +has passed, recalled by memory; and now you are come to visit me, +and that is very pleasant." +</P> + +<P> +Then he took from the book-case, a book full of pictures +representing long processions of wonderful coaches, such as are +never seen at the present time. Soldiers like the knave of clubs, +and citizens with waving banners. The tailors had a flag with a pair +of scissors supported by two lions, and on the shoemakers' flag +there were not boots, but an eagle with two heads, for the +shoemakers must have everything arranged so that they can say, "This +is a pair." What a picture-book it was; and then the old man went into +another room to fetch apples and nuts. It was very pleasant, +certainly, to be in that old house. +</P> + +<P> +"I cannot endure it," said the tin soldier, who stood on a +shelf, "it is so lonely and dull here. I have been accustomed to +live in a family, and I cannot get used to this life. I cannot bear +it. The whole day is long enough, but the evening is longer. It is not +here like it was in your house opposite, when your father and mother +talked so cheerfully together, while you and all the dear children +made such a delightful noise. No, it is all lonely in the old man's +house. Do you think he gets any kisses? Do you think he ever has +friendly looks, or a Christmas tree? He will have nothing now but +the grave. Oh, I cannot bear it." +</P> + +<P> +"You must not look only on the sorrowful side," said the little +boy; "I think everything in this house is beautiful, and all the old +pleasant thoughts come back here to pay visits." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, but I never see any, and I don't know them," said the tin +soldier, "and I cannot bear it." +</P> + +<P> +"You must bear it," said the little boy. Then the old man came +back with a pleasant face; and brought with him beautiful preserved +fruits, as well as apples and nuts; and the little boy thought no more +of the tin soldier. How happy and delighted the little boy was; and +after he returned home, and while days and weeks passed, a great +deal of nodding took place from one house to the other, and then the +little boy went to pay another visit. The carved trumpeters blew +"Tanta-ra-ra. There is the little boy. Tanta-ra-ra." The swords and +armor on the old knight's pictures rattled. The silk dresses +rustled, the leather repeated its rhyme, and the old chairs had the +gout in their backs, and cried, "Creak;" it was all exactly like the +first time; for in that house, one day and one hour were just like +another. "I cannot bear it any longer," said the tin soldier; "I +have wept tears of tin, it is so melancholy here. Let me go to the +wars, and lose an arm or a leg, that would be some change; I cannot +bear it. Now I know what it is to have visits from one's old +recollections, and all they bring with them. I have had visits from +mine, and you may believe me it is not altogether pleasant. I was very +nearly jumping from the shelf. I saw you all in your house opposite, +as if you were really present. It was Sunday morning, and you children +stood round the table, singing the hymn that you sing every morning. +You were standing quietly, with your hands folded, and your father and +mother. You were standing quietly, with your hands folded, and your +father and mother were looking just as serious, when the door +opened, and your little sister Maria, who is not two years old, was +brought into the room. You know she always dances when she hears music +and singing of any sort; so she began to dance immediately, although +she ought not to have done so, but she could not get into the right +time because the tune was so slow; so she stood first on one leg and +then on the other, and bent her head very low, but it would not suit +the music. You all stood looking very grave, although it was very +difficult to do so, but I laughed so to myself that I fell down from +the table, and got a bruise, which is there still; I know it was not +right to laugh. So all this, and everything else that I have seen, +keeps running in my head, and these must be the old recollections that +bring so many thoughts with them. Tell me whether you still sing on +Sundays, and tell me about your little sister Maria, and how my old +comrade is, the other tin soldier. Ah, really he must be very happy; I +cannot endure this life." +</P> + +<P> +"You are given away," said the little boy; "you must stay. Don't +you see that?" Then the old man came in, with a box containing many +curious things to show him. Rouge-pots, scent-boxes, and old cards, so +large and so richly gilded, that none are ever seen like them in these +days. And there were smaller boxes to look at, and the piano was +opened, and inside the lid were painted landscapes. But when the old +man played, the piano sounded quite out of tune. Then he looked at the +picture he had bought at the broker's, and his eyes sparkled +brightly as he nodded at it, and said, "Ah, she could sing that tune." +</P> + +<P> +"I will go to the wars! I will go to the wars!" cried the tin +soldier as loud as he could, and threw himself down on the floor. +Where could he have fallen? The old man searched, and the little boy +searched, but he was gone, and could not be found. "I shall find him +again," said the old man, but he did not find him. The boards of the +floor were open and full of holes. The tin soldier had fallen +through a crack between the boards, and lay there now in an open +grave. The day went by, and the little boy returned home; the week +passed, and many more weeks. It was winter, and the windows were quite +frozen, so the little boy was obliged to breathe on the panes, and rub +a hole to peep through at the old house. Snow drifts were lying in all +the scrolls and on the inscriptions, and the steps were covered with +snow as if no one were at home. And indeed nobody was home, for the +old man was dead. In the evening, a hearse stopped at the door, and +the old man in his coffin was placed in it. He was to be taken to +the country to be buried there in his own grave; so they carried him +away; no one followed him, for all his friends were dead; and the +little boy kissed his hand to the coffin as the hearse moved away with +it. A few days after, there was an auction at the old house, and +from his window the little boy saw the people carrying away the +pictures of old knights and ladies, the flower-pots with the long +ears, the old chairs, and the cup-boards. Some were taken one way, +some another. Her portrait, which had been bought at the picture +dealer's, went back again to his shop, and there it remained, for no +one seemed to know her, or to care for the old picture. In the spring; +they began to pull the house itself down; people called it complete +rubbish. From the street could be seen the room in which the walls +were covered with leather, ragged and torn, and the green in the +balcony hung straggling over the beams; they pulled it down quickly, +for it looked ready to fall, and at last it was cleared away +altogether. "What a good riddance," said the neighbors' houses. Very +shortly, a fine new house was built farther back from the road; it had +lofty windows and smooth walls, but in front, on the spot where the +old house really stood, a little garden was planted, and wild vines +grew up over the neighboring walls; in front of the garden were +large iron railings and a great gate, which looked very stately. +People used to stop and peep through the railings. The sparrows +assembled in dozens upon the wild vines, and chattered all together as +loud as they could, but not about the old house; none of them could +remember it, for many years had passed by, so many indeed, that the +little boy was now a man, and a really good man too, and his parents +were very proud of him. He was just married, and had come, with his +young wife, to reside in the new house with the garden in front of it, +and now he stood there by her side while she planted a field flower +that she thought very pretty. She was planting it herself with her +little hands, and pressing down the earth with her fingers. "Oh +dear, what was that?" she exclaimed, as something pricked her. Out +of the soft earth something was sticking up. It was—only think!—it +was really the tin soldier, the very same which had been lost up in +the old man's room, and had been hidden among old wood and rubbish for +a long time, till it sunk into the earth, where it must have been +for many years. And the young wife wiped the soldier, first with a +green leaf, and then with her fine pocket-handkerchief, that smelt +of such beautiful perfume. And the tin soldier felt as if he was +recovering from a fainting fit. "Let me see him," said the young +man, and then he smiled and shook his head, and said, "It can scarcely +be the same, but it reminds me of something that happened to one of my +tin soldiers when I was a little boy." And then he told his wife about +the old house and the old man, and of the tin soldier which he had +sent across, because he thought the old man was lonely; and he related +the story so clearly that tears came into the eyes of the young wife +for the old house and the old man. "It is very likely that this is +really the same soldier," said she, "and I will take care of him, and +always remember what you have told me; but some day you must show me +the old man's grave." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know where it is," he replied; "no one knows. All his +friends are dead; no one took care of him, and I was only a little +boy." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, how dreadfully lonely he must have been," said she. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, terribly lonely," cried the tin soldier; "still it is +delightful not to be forgotten." +</P> + +<P> +"Delightful indeed," cried a voice quite near to them; no one +but the tin soldier saw that it came from a rag of the leather which +hung in tatters; it had lost all its gilding, and looked like wet +earth, but it had an opinion, and it spoke it thus:— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Gilding will fade in damp weather,<BR> + To endure, there is nothing like leather."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +But the tin soldier did not believe any such thing. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="old_man"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +WHAT THE OLD MAN DOES IS ALWAYS RIGHT +</H3> + +<P> +I will tell you a story that was told me when I was a little +boy. Every time I thought of this story, it seemed to me more and more +charming; for it is with stories as it is with many people—they +become better as they grow older. +</P> + +<P> +I have no doubt that you have been in the country, and seen a very +old farmhouse, with a thatched roof, and mosses and small plants +growing wild upon it. There is a stork's nest on the ridge of the +gable, for we cannot do without the stork. The walls of the house +are sloping, and the windows are low, and only one of the latter is +made to open. The baking-oven sticks out of the wall like a great +knob. An elder-tree hangs over the palings; and beneath its +branches, at the foot of the paling, is a pool of water, in which a +few ducks are disporting themselves. There is a yard-dog too, who +barks at all corners. Just such a farmhouse as this stood in a country +lane; and in it dwelt an old couple, a peasant and his wife. Small +as their possessions were, they had one article they could not do +without, and that was a horse, which contrived to live upon the +grass which it found by the side of the high road. The old peasant +rode into the town upon this horse, and his neighbors often borrowed +it of him, and paid for the loan of it by rendering some service to +the old couple. After a time they thought it would be as well to +sell the horse, or exchange it for something which might be more +useful to them. But what might this something be? +</P> + +<P> +"You'll know best, old man," said the wife. "It is fair-day +to-day; so ride into town, and get rid of the horse for money, or make +a good exchange; whichever you do will be right to me, so ride to the +fair." +</P> + +<P> +And she fastened his neckerchief for him; for she could do that +better than he could, and she could also tie it very prettily in a +double bow. She also smoothed his hat round and round with the palm of +her hand, and gave him a kiss. Then he rode away upon the horse that +was to be sold or bartered for something else. Yes, the old man knew +what he was about. The sun shone with great heat, and not a cloud +was to be seen in the sky. The road was very dusty; for a number of +people, all going to the fair, were driving, riding, or walking upon +it. There was no shelter anywhere from the hot sunshine. Among the +rest a man came trudging along, and driving a cow to the fair. The cow +was as beautiful a creature as any cow could be. +</P> + +<P> +"She gives good milk, I am certain," said the peasant to +himself. "That would be a very good exchange: the cow for the horse. +Hallo there! you with the cow," he said. "I tell you what; I dare +say a horse is of more value than a cow; but I don't care for that,—a +cow will be more useful to me; so, if you like, we'll exchange." +</P> + +<P> +"To be sure I will," said the man. +</P> + +<P> +Accordingly the exchange was made; and as the matter was +settled, the peasant might have turned back; for he had done the +business he came to do. But, having made up his mind to go to the +fair, he determined to do so, if only to have a look at it; so on he +went to the town with his cow. Leading the animal, he strode on +sturdily, and, after a short time, overtook a man who was driving a +sheep. It was a good fat sheep, with a fine fleece on its back. +</P> + +<P> +"I should like to have that fellow," said the peasant to +himself. "There is plenty of grass for him by our palings, and in +the winter we could keep him in the room with us. Perhaps it would +be more profitable to have a sheep than a cow. Shall I exchange?" +The man with the sheep was quite ready, and the bargain was +quickly made. And then our peasant continued his way on the +high-road with his sheep. Soon after this, he overtook another man, +who had come into the road from a field, and was carrying a large +goose under his arm. +</P> + +<P> +"What a heavy creature you have there!" said the peasant; "it +has plenty of feathers and plenty of fat, and would look well tied +to a string, or paddling in the water at our place. That would be very +useful to my old woman; she could make all sorts of profits out of it. +How often she has said, 'If now we only had a goose!' Now here is an +opportunity, and, if possible, I will get it for her. Shall we +exchange? I will give you my sheep for your goose, and thanks into the +bargain." +</P> + +<P> +The other had not the least objection, and accordingly the +exchange was made, and our peasant became possessor of the goose. By +this time he had arrived very near the town. The crowd on the high +road had been gradually increasing, and there was quite a rush of +men and cattle. The cattle walked on the path and by the palings, +and at the turnpike-gate they even walked into the toll-keeper's +potato-field, where one fowl was strutting about with a string tied to +its leg, for fear it should take fright at the crowd, and run away and +get lost. The tail-feathers of the fowl were very short, and it winked +with both its eyes, and looked very cunning, as it said "Cluck, +cluck." What were the thoughts of the fowl as it said this I cannot +tell you; but directly our good man saw it, he thought, "Why that's +the finest fowl I ever saw in my life; it's finer than our parson's +brood hen, upon my word. I should like to have that fowl. Fowls can +always pick up a few grains that lie about, and almost keep +themselves. I think it would be a good exchange if I could get it +for my goose. Shall we exchange?" he asked the toll-keeper. +</P> + +<P> +"Exchange," repeated the man; "well, it would not be a bad thing." +</P> + +<P> +And so they made an exchange,—the toll-keeper at the +turnpike-gate kept the goose, and the peasant carried off the fowl. +Now he had really done a great deal of business on his way to the +fair, and he was hot and tired. He wanted something to eat, and a +glass of ale to refresh himself; so he turned his steps to an inn. +He was just about to enter when the ostler came out, and they met at +the door. The ostler was carrying a sack. "What have you in that +sack?" asked the peasant. +</P> + +<P> +"Rotten apples," answered the ostler; "a whole sackful of them. +They will do to feed the pigs with." +</P> + +<P> +"Why that will be terrible waste," he replied; "I should like to +take them home to my old woman. Last year the old apple-tree by the +grass-plot only bore one apple, and we kept it in the cupboard till it +was quite withered and rotten. It was always property, my old woman +said; and here she would see a great deal of property—a whole +sackful; I should like to show them to her." +</P> + +<P> +"What will you give me for the sackful?" asked the ostler. +</P> + +<P> +"What will I give? Well, I will give you my fowl in exchange." +</P> + +<P> +So he gave up the fowl, and received the apples, which he +carried into the inn parlor. He leaned the sack carefully against +the stove, and then went to the table. But the stove was hot, and he +had not thought of that. Many guests were present—horse dealers, +cattle drovers, and two Englishmen. The Englishmen were so rich that +their pockets quite bulged out and seemed ready to burst; and they +could bet too, as you shall hear. "Hiss-s-s, hiss-s-s." What could +that be by the stove? The apples were beginning to roast. "What is +that?" asked one. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, do you know"—said our peasant. And then he told them the +whole story of the horse, which he had exchanged for a cow, and all +the rest of it, down to the apples. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, your old woman will give it you well when you get home," +said one of the Englishmen. "Won't there be a noise?" +</P> + +<P> +"What! Give me what?" said the peasant. "Why, she will kiss me, +and say, 'what the old man does is always right.'" +</P> + +<P> +"Let us lay a wager on it," said the Englishmen. "We'll wager +you a ton of coined gold, a hundred pounds to the hundred-weight." +</P> + +<P> +"No; a bushel will be enough," replied the peasant. "I can only +set a bushel of apples against it, and I'll throw myself and my old +woman into the bargain; that will pile up the measure, I fancy." +</P> + +<P> +"Done! taken!" and so the bet was made. +</P> + +<P> +Then the landlord's coach came to the door, and the two Englishmen +and the peasant got in, and away they drove, and soon arrived and +stopped at the peasant's hut. "Good evening, old woman." "Good +evening, old man." "I've made the exchange." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, well, you understand what you're about," said the woman. Then +she embraced him, and paid no attention to the strangers, nor did +she notice the sack. +</P> + +<P> +"I got a cow in exchange for the horse." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank Heaven," said she. "Now we shall have plenty of milk, and +butter, and cheese on the table. That was a capital exchange." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, but I changed the cow for a sheep." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, better still!" cried the wife. "You always think of +everything; we have just enough pasture for a sheep. Ewe's milk and +cheese, woollen jackets and stockings! The cow could not give all +these, and her hair only falls off. How you think of everything!" +</P> + +<P> +"But I changed away the sheep for a goose." +</P> + +<P> +"Then we shall have roast goose to eat this year. You dear old +man, you are always thinking of something to please me. This is +delightful. We can let the goose walk about with a string tied to +her leg, so she will be fatter still before we roast her." +</P> + +<P> +"But I gave away the goose for a fowl." +</P> + +<P> +"A fowl! Well, that was a good exchange," replied the woman. +"The fowl will lay eggs and hatch them, and we shall have chickens; we +shall soon have a poultry-yard. Oh, this is just what I was wishing +for." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, but I exchanged the fowl for a sack of shrivelled apples." +</P> + +<P> +"What! I really must give you a kiss for that!" exclaimed the +wife. "My dear, good husband, now I'll tell you something. Do you +know, almost as soon as you left me this morning, I began to think +of what I could give you nice for supper this evening, and then I +thought of fried eggs and bacon, with sweet herbs; I had eggs and +bacon, but I wanted the herbs; so I went over to the schoolmaster's: I +knew they had plenty of herbs, but the schoolmistress is very mean, +although she can smile so sweetly. I begged her to lend me a handful +of herbs. 'Lend!' she exclaimed, 'I have nothing to lend; nothing at +all grows in our garden, not even a shrivelled apple; I could not even +lend you a shrivelled apple, my dear woman. But now I can lend her +ten, or a whole sackful, which I'm very glad of; it makes me laugh +to think about it;" and then she gave him a hearty kiss. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I like all this," said both the Englishmen; "always going +down the hill, and yet always merry; it's worth the money to see +it." So they paid a hundred-weight of gold to the peasant, who, +whatever he did, was not scolded but kissed. +</P> + +<P> +Yes, it always pays best when the wife sees and maintains that her +husband knows best, and whatever he does is right. +</P> + +<P> +That is a story which I heard when I was a child; and now you have +heard it too, and know that "What the old man does is always right." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="old_stre"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE OLD STREET LAMP +</H3> + +<P> +Did you ever hear the story of the old street lamp? It is not +remarkably interesting, but for once in a way you may as well listen +to it. It was a most respectable old lamp, which had seen many, many +years of service, and now was to retire with a pension. It was this +evening at its post for the last time, giving light to the street. His +feelings were something like those of an old dancer at the theatre, +who is dancing for the last time, and knows that on the morrow she +will be in her garret, alone and forgotten. The lamp had very great +anxiety about the next day, for he knew that he had to appear for +the first time at the town hall, to be inspected by the mayor and +the council, who were to decide if he were fit for further service +or not;—whether the lamp was good enough to be used to light the +inhabitants of one of the suburbs, or in the country, at some factory; +and if not, it would be sent at once to an iron foundry, to be +melted down. In this latter case it might be turned into anything, and +he wondered very much whether he would then be able to remember that +he had once been a street lamp, and it troubled him exceedingly. +Whatever might happen, one thing seemed certain, that he would be +separated from the watchman and his wife, whose family he looked +upon as his own. The lamp had first been hung up on that very +evening that the watchman, then a robust young man, had entered upon +the duties of his office. Ah, well, it was a very long time since +one became a lamp and the other a watchman. His wife had a little +pride in those days; she seldom condescended to glance at the lamp, +excepting when she passed by in the evening, never in the daytime. But +in later years, when all these,—the watchman, the wife, and the +lamp—had grown old, she had attended to it, cleaned it, and supplied it +with oil. The old people were thoroughly honest, they had never +cheated the lamp of a single drop of the oil provided for it. +</P> + +<P> +This was the lamp's last night in the street, and to-morrow he +must go to the town-hall,—two very dark things to think of. No wonder +he did not burn brightly. Many other thoughts also passed through +his mind. How many persons he had lighted on their way, and how much +he had seen; as much, very likely, as the mayor and corporation +themselves! None of these thoughts were uttered aloud, however; for he +was a good, honorable old lamp, who would not willingly do harm to any +one, especially to those in authority. As many things were recalled to +his mind, the light would flash up with sudden brightness; he had, +at such moments, a conviction that he would be remembered. "There +was a handsome young man once," thought he; "it is certainly a long +while ago, but I remember he had a little note, written on pink +paper with a gold edge; the writing was elegant, evidently a lady's +hand: twice he read it through, and kissed it, and then looked up at +me, with eyes that said quite plainly, 'I am the happiest of men!' +Only he and I know what was written on this his first letter from +his lady-love. Ah, yes, and there was another pair of eyes that I +remember,—it is really wonderful how the thoughts jump from one thing +to another! A funeral passed through the street; a young and beautiful +woman lay on a bier, decked with garlands of flowers, and attended +by torches, which quite overpowered my light. All along the street +stood the people from the houses, in crowds, ready to join the +procession. But when the torches had passed from before me, and I +could look round, I saw one person alone, standing, leaning against my +post, and weeping. Never shall I forget the sorrowful eyes that looked +up at me." These and similar reflections occupied the old street lamp, +on this the last time that his light would shine. The sentry, when +he is relieved from his post, knows at least who will succeed him, and +may whisper a few words to him, but the lamp did not know his +successor, or he could have given him a few hints respecting rain, +or mist, and could have informed him how far the moon's rays would +rest on the pavement, and from which side the wind generally blew, and +so on. +</P> + +<P> +On the bridge over the canal stood three persons, who wished to +recommend themselves to the lamp, for they thought he could give the +office to whomsoever he chose. The first was a herring's head, which +could emit light in the darkness. He remarked that it would be a great +saving of oil if they placed him on the lamp-post. Number two was a +piece of rotten wood, which also shines in the dark. He considered +himself descended from an old stem, once the pride of the forest. +The third was a glow-worm, and how he found his way there the lamp +could not imagine, yet there he was, and could really give light as +well as the others. But the rotten wood and the herring's head +declared most solemnly, by all they held sacred, that the glow-worm +only gave light at certain times, and must not be allowed to compete +with themselves. The old lamp assured them that not one of them +could give sufficient light to fill the position of a street lamp; but +they would believe nothing he said. And when they discovered that he +had not the power of naming his successor, they said they were very +glad to hear it, for the lamp was too old and worn-out to make a +proper choice. +</P> + +<P> +At this moment the wind came rushing round the corner of the +street, and through the air-holes of the old lamp. "What is this I +hear?" said he; "that you are going away to-morrow? Is this evening +the last time we shall meet? Then I must present you with a farewell +gift. I will blow into your brain, so that in future you shall not +only be able to remember all that you have seen or heard in the +past, but your light within shall be so bright, that you shall be able +to understand all that is said or done in your presence." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, that is really a very, very great gift," said the old lamp; +"I thank you most heartily. I only hope I shall not be melted down." +</P> + +<P> +"That is not likely to happen yet," said the wind; "and I will +also blow a memory into you, so that should you receive other +similar presents your old age will pass very pleasantly." +</P> + +<P> +"That is if I am not melted down," said the lamp. "But should I in +that case still retain my memory?" +</P> + +<P> +"Do be reasonable, old lamp," said the wind, puffing away. +</P> + +<P> +At this moment the moon burst forth from the clouds. "What will +you give the old lamp?" asked the wind. +</P> + +<P> +"I can give nothing," she replied; "I am on the wane, and no lamps +have ever given me light while I have frequently shone upon them." And +with these words the moon hid herself again behind the clouds, that +she might be saved from further importunities. Just then a drop fell +upon the lamp, from the roof of the house, but the drop explained that +he was a gift from those gray clouds, and perhaps the best of all +gifts. "I shall penetrate you so thoroughly," he said, "that you +will have the power of becoming rusty, and, if you wish it, to crumble +into dust in one night." +</P> + +<P> +But this seemed to the lamp a very shabby present, and the wind +thought so too. "Does no one give any more? Will no one give any +more?" shouted the breath of the wind, as loud as it could. Then a +bright falling star came down, leaving a broad, luminous streak behind +it. +</P> + +<P> +"What was that?" cried the herring's head. "Did not a star fall? I +really believe it went into the lamp. Certainly, when such high-born +personages try for the office, we may as well say 'Good-night,' and go +home." +</P> + +<P> +And so they did, all three, while the old lamp threw a wonderfully +strong light all around him. +</P> + +<P> +"This is a glorious gift," said he; "the bright stars have +always been a joy to me, and have always shone more brilliantly than I +ever could shine, though I have tried with my whole might; and now +they have noticed me, a poor old lamp, and have sent me a gift that +will enable me to see clearly everything that I remember, as if it +still stood before me, and to be seen by all those who love me. And +herein lies the truest pleasure, for joy which we cannot share with +others is only half enjoyed." +</P> + +<P> +"That sentiment does you honor," said the wind; "but for this +purpose wax lights will be necessary. If these are not lighted in you, +your particular faculties will not benefit others in the least. The +stars have not thought of this; they suppose that you and every +other light must be a wax taper: but I must go down now." So he laid +himself to rest. +</P> + +<P> +"Wax tapers, indeed!" said the lamp, "I have never yet had +these, nor is it likely I ever shall. If I could only be sure of not +being melted down!" +</P> + +<P> +The next day. Well, perhaps we had better pass over the next +day. The evening had come, and the lamp was resting in a grandfather's +chair, and guess where! Why, at the old watchman's house. He had +begged, as a favor, that the mayor and corporation would allow him +to keep the street lamp, in consideration of his long and faithful +service, as he had himself hung it up and lit it on the day he first +commenced his duties, four-and-twenty years ago. He looked upon it +almost as his own child; he had no children, so the lamp was given +to him. There it lay in the great arm-chair near to the warm stove. It +seemed almost as if it had grown larger, for it appeared quite to fill +the chair. The old people sat at their supper, casting friendly +glances at the old lamp, whom they would willingly have admitted to +a place at the table. It is quite true that they dwelt in a cellar, +two yards deep in the earth, and they had to cross a stone passage +to get to their room, but within it was warm and comfortable and +strips of list had been nailed round the door. The bed and the +little window had curtains, and everything looked clean and neat. On +the window seat stood two curious flower-pots which a sailor, named +Christian, had brought over from the East or West Indies. They were of +clay, and in the form of two elephants, with open backs; they were +hollow and filled with earth, and through the open space flowers +bloomed. In one grew some very fine chives or leeks; this was the +kitchen garden. The other elephant, which contained a beautiful +geranium, they called their flower garden. On the wall hung a large +colored print, representing the congress of Vienna, and all the +kings and emperors at once. A clock, with heavy weights, hung on the +wall and went "tick, tick," steadily enough; yet it was always +rather too fast, which, however, the old people said was better than +being too slow. They were now eating their supper, while the old +street lamp, as we have heard, lay in the grandfather's arm-chair near +the stove. It seemed to the lamp as if the whole world had turned +round; but after a while the old watchman looked at the lamp, and +spoke of what they had both gone through together,—in rain and in +fog; during the short bright nights of summer, or in the long winter +nights, through the drifting snow-storms, when he longed to be at home +in the cellar. Then the lamp felt it was all right again. He saw +everything that had happened quite clearly, as if it were passing +before him. Surely the wind had given him an excellent gift. The old +people were very active and industrious, they were never idle for even +a single hour. On Sunday afternoons they would bring out some books, +generally a book of travels which they were very fond of. The old +man would read aloud about Africa, with its great forests and the wild +elephants, while his wife would listen attentively, stealing a +glance now and then at the clay elephants, which served as +flower-pots. +</P> + +<P> +"I can almost imagine I am seeing it all," she said; and then +how the lamp wished for a wax taper to be lighted in him, for then the +old woman would have seen the smallest detail as clearly as he did +himself. The lofty trees, with their thickly entwined branches, the +naked negroes on horseback, and whole herds of elephants treading down +bamboo thickets with their broad, heavy feet. +</P> + +<P> +"What is the use of all my capabilities," sighed the old lamp, +"when I cannot obtain any wax lights; they have only oil and tallow +here, and these will not do." One day a great heap of wax-candle +ends found their way into the cellar. The larger pieces were burnt, +and the smaller ones the old woman kept for waxing her thread. So +there were now candles enough, but it never occurred to any one to put +a little piece in the lamp. +</P> + +<P> +"Here I am now with my rare powers," thought the lamp, "I have +faculties within me, but I cannot share them; they do not know that +I could cover these white walls with beautiful tapestry, or change +them into noble forests, or, indeed, to anything else they might +wish for." The lamp, however, was always kept clean and shining in a +corner where it attracted all eyes. Strangers looked upon it as +lumber, but the old people did not care for that; they loved the lamp. +One day—it was the watchman's birthday—the old woman approached +the lamp, smiling to herself, and said, "I will have an illumination +to-day in honor of my old man." And the lamp rattled in his metal +frame, for he thought, "Now at last I shall have a light within me," +but after all no wax light was placed in the lamp, but oil as usual. +The lamp burned through the whole evening, and began to perceive too +clearly that the gift of the stars would remain a hidden treasure +all his life. Then he had a dream; for, to one with his faculties, +dreaming was no difficulty. It appeared to him that the old people +were dead, and that he had been taken to the iron foundry to be melted +down. It caused him quite as much anxiety as on the day when he had +been called upon to appear before the mayor and the council at the +town-hall. But though he had been endowed with the power of falling +into decay from rust when he pleased, he did not make use of it. He +was therefore put into the melting-furnace and changed into as elegant +an iron candlestick as you could wish to see, one intended to hold a +wax taper. The candlestick was in the form of an angel holding a +nosegay, in the centre of which the wax taper was to be placed. It was +to stand on a green writing table, in a very pleasant room; many books +were scattered about, and splendid paintings hung on the walls. The +owner of the room was a poet, and a man of intellect; everything he +thought or wrote was pictured around him. Nature showed herself to him +sometimes in the dark forests, at others in cheerful meadows where the +storks were strutting about, or on the deck of a ship sailing across +the foaming sea with the clear, blue sky above, or at night the +glittering stars. "What powers I possess!" said the lamp, awaking from +his dream; "I could almost wish to be melted down; but no, that must +not be while the old people live. They love me for myself alone, +they keep me bright, and supply me with oil. I am as well off as the +picture of the congress, in which they take so much pleasure." And +from that time he felt at rest in himself, and not more so than such +an honorable old lamp really deserved to be. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="ole_luk"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +OLE-LUK-OIE, THE DREAM-GOD +</H3> + +<P> +There is nobody in the world who knows so many stories as +Ole-Luk-Oie, or who can relate them so nicely. In the evening, while +the children are seated at the table or in their little chairs, he +comes up the stairs very softly, for he walks in his socks, then he +opens the doors without the slightest noise, and throws a small +quantity of very fine dust in their eyes, just enough to prevent +them from keeping them open, and so they do not see him. Then he +creeps behind them, and blows softly upon their necks, till their +heads begin to droop. But Ole-Luk-Oie does not wish to hurt them, +for he is very fond of children, and only wants them to be quiet +that he may relate to them pretty stories, and they never are quiet +until they are in bed and asleep. As soon as they are asleep, +Ole-Luk-Oie seats himself upon the bed. He is nicely dressed; his coat +is made of silken stuff; it is impossible to say of what color, for it +changes from green to red, and from red to blue as he turns from +side to side. Under each arm he carries an umbrella; one of them, with +pictures on the inside, he spreads over the good children, and then +they dream the most beautiful stories the whole night. But the other +umbrella has no pictures, and this he holds over the naughty +children so that they sleep heavily, and wake in the morning without +having dreamed at all. +</P> + +<P> +Now we shall hear how Ole-Luk-Oie came every night during a +whole week to the little boy named Hjalmar, and what he told him. +There were seven stories, as there are seven days in the week. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +MONDAY +</H3> + +<P> +"Now pay attention," said Ole-Luk-Oie, in the evening, when +Hjalmar was in bed, "and I will decorate the room." +</P> + +<P> +Immediately all the flowers in the flower-pots became large trees, +with long branches reaching to the ceiling, and stretching along the +walls, so that the whole room was like a greenhouse. All the +branches were loaded with flowers, each flower as beautiful and as +fragrant as a rose; and, had any one tasted them, he would have +found them sweeter even than jam. The fruit glittered like gold, and +there were cakes so full of plums that they were nearly bursting. It +was incomparably beautiful. At the same time sounded dismal moans from +the table-drawer in which lay Hjalmar's school books. +</P> + +<P> +"What can that be now?" said Ole-Luk-Oie, going to the table and +pulling out the drawer. +</P> + +<P> +It was a slate, in such distress because of a false number in +the sum, that it had almost broken itself to pieces. The pencil pulled +and tugged at its string as if it were a little dog that wanted to +help, but could not. +</P> + +<P> +And then came a moan from Hjalmar's copy-book. Oh, it was quite +terrible to hear! On each leaf stood a row of capital letters, every +one having a small letter by its side. This formed a copy; under these +were other letters, which Hjalmar had written: they fancied they +looked like the copy, but they were mistaken; for they were leaning on +one side as if they intended to fall over the pencil-lines. +</P> + +<P> +"See, this is the way you should hold yourselves," said the +copy. "Look here, you should slope thus, with a graceful curve." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, we are very willing to do so, but we cannot," said +Hjalmar's letters; "we are so wretchedly made." +</P> + +<P> +"You must be scratched out, then," said Ole-Luk-Oie. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, no!" they cried, and then they stood up so gracefully it +was quite a pleasure to look at them. +</P> + +<P> +"Now we must give up our stories, and exercise these letters," +said Ole-Luk-Oie; "One, two—one, two—" So he drilled them till +they stood up gracefully, and looked as beautiful as a copy could +look. But after Ole-Luk-Oie was gone, and Hjalmar looked at them in +the morning, they were as wretched and as awkward as ever. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +TUESDAY +</H3> + +<P> +As soon as Hjalmar was in bed, Ole-Luk-Oie touched, with his +little magic wand, all the furniture in the room, which immediately +began to chatter, and each article only talked of itself. +</P> + +<P> +Over the chest of drawers hung a large picture in a gilt frame, +representing a landscape, with fine old trees, flowers in the grass, +and a broad stream, which flowed through the wood, past several +castles, far out into the wild ocean. Ole-Luk-Oie touched the +picture with his magic wand, and immediately the birds commenced +singing, the branches of the trees rustled, and the clouds moved +across the sky, casting their shadows on the landscape beneath them. +Then Ole-Luk-Oie lifted little Hjalmar up to the frame, and placed his +feet in the picture, just on the high grass, and there he stood with +the sun shining down upon him through the branches of the trees. He +ran to the water, and seated himself in a little boat which lay there, +and which was painted red and white. The sails glittered like +silver, and six swans, each with a golden circlet round its neck, +and a bright blue star on its forehead, drew the boat past the green +wood, where the trees talked of robbers and witches, and the flowers +of beautiful little elves and fairies, whose histories the butterflies +had related to them. Brilliant fish, with scales like silver and gold, +swam after the boat, sometimes making a spring and splashing the water +round them, while birds, red and blue, small and great, flew after him +in two long lines. The gnats danced round them, and the cockchafers +cried "Buz, buz." They all wanted to follow Hjalmar, and all had +some story to tell him. It was a most pleasant sail. Sometimes the +forests were thick and dark, sometimes like a beautiful garden, gay +with sunshine and flowers; then he passed great palaces of glass and +of marble, and on the balconies stood princesses, whose faces were +those of little girls whom Hjalmar knew well, and had often played +with. One of them held out her hand, in which was a heart made of +sugar, more beautiful than any confectioner ever sold. As Hjalmar +sailed by, he caught hold of one side of the sugar heart, and held +it fast, and the princess held fast also, so that it broke in two +pieces. Hjalmar had one piece, and the princess the other, but +Hjalmar's was the largest. At each castle stood little princes +acting as sentinels. They presented arms, and had golden swords, and +made it rain plums and tin soldiers, so that they must have been +real princes. +</P> + +<P> +Hjalmar continued to sail, sometimes through woods, sometimes as +it were through large halls, and then by large cities. At last he came +to the town where his nurse lived, who had carried him in her arms +when he was a very little boy, and had always been kind to him. She +nodded and beckoned to him, and then sang the little verses she had +herself composed and set to him,— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "How oft my memory turns to thee,<BR> + My own Hjalmar, ever dear!<BR> + When I could watch thy infant glee,<BR> + Or kiss away a pearly tear.<BR> + 'Twas in my arms thy lisping tongue<BR> + First spoke the half-remembered word,<BR> + While o'er thy tottering steps I hung,<BR> + My fond protection to afford.<BR> + Farewell! I pray the Heavenly Power<BR> + To keep thee till thy dying hour."<BR> +</P> + +<P> +And all the birds sang the same tune, the flowers danced on their +stems, and the old trees nodded as if Ole-Luk-Oie had been telling +them stories as well. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +WEDNESDAY +</H3> + +<P> +How the rain did pour down! Hjalmar could hear it in his sleep; +and when Ole-Luk-Oie opened the window, the water flowed quite up to +the window-sill. It had the appearance of a large lake outside, and +a beautiful ship lay close to the house. +</P> + +<P> +"Wilt thou sail with me to-night, little Hjalmar?" said +Ole-Luk-Oie; "then we shall see foreign countries, and thou shalt +return here in the morning." +</P> + +<P> +All in a moment, there stood Hjalmar, in his best clothes, on +the deck of the noble ship; and immediately the weather became fine. +They sailed through the streets, round by the church, and on every +side rolled the wide, great sea. They sailed till the land +disappeared, and then they saw a flock of storks, who had left their +own country, and were travelling to warmer climates. The storks flew +one behind the other, and had already been a long, long time on the +wing. One of them seemed so tired that his wings could scarcely +carry him. He was the last of the row, and was soon left very far +behind. At length he sunk lower and lower, with outstretched wings, +flapping them in vain, till his feet touched the rigging of the +ship, and he slided from the sails to the deck, and stood before them. +Then a sailor-boy caught him, and put him in the hen-house, with the +fowls, the ducks, and the turkeys, while the poor stork stood quite +bewildered amongst them. +</P> + +<P> +"Just look at that fellow," said the chickens. +</P> + +<P> +Then the turkey-cock puffed himself out as large as he could, +and inquired who he was; and the ducks waddled backwards, crying, +"Quack, quack." +</P> + +<P> +Then the stork told them all about warm Africa, of the pyramids, +and of the ostrich, which, like a wild horse, runs across the +desert. But the ducks did not understand what he said, and quacked +amongst themselves, "We are all of the same opinion; namely, that he +is stupid." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, to be sure, he is stupid," said the turkey-cock; and +gobbled. +</P> + +<P> +Then the stork remained quite silent, and thought of his home in +Africa. +</P> + +<P> +"Those are handsome thin legs of yours," said the turkey-cock. +"What do they cost a yard?" +</P> + +<P> +"Quack, quack, quack," grinned the ducks; but, the stork pretended +not to hear. +</P> + +<P> +"You may as well laugh," said the turkey; "for that remark was +rather witty, or perhaps it was above you. Ah, ah, is he not clever? +He will be a great amusement to us while he remains here." And then he +gobbled, and the ducks quacked, "Gobble, gobble; Quack, quack." +</P> + +<P> +What a terrible uproar they made, while they were having such +fun among themselves! +</P> + +<P> +Then Hjalmar went to the hen-house; and, opening the door, +called to the stork. Then he hopped out on the deck. He had rested +himself now, and he looked happy, and seemed as if he nodded to +Hjalmar, as if to thank him. Then he spread his wings, and flew away +to warmer countries, while the hens clucked, the ducks quacked, and +the turkey-cock turned quite scarlet in the head. +</P> + +<P> +"To-morrow you shall be made into soup," said Hjalmar to the +fowls; and then he awoke, and found himself lying in his little bed. +</P> + +<P> +It was a wonderful journey which Ole-Luk-Oie had made him take +this night. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THURSDAY +</H3> + +<P> +"What do you think I have got here?" said Ole-Luk-Oie, "Do not +be frightened, and you shall see a little mouse." And then he held out +his hand to him, in which lay a lovely little creature. "It has come +to invite you to a wedding. Two little mice are going to enter into +the marriage state tonight. They reside under the floor of your +mother's store-room, and that must be a fine dwelling-place." +</P> + +<P> +"But how can I get through the little mouse-hole in the floor?" +asked Hjalmar. +</P> + +<P> +"Leave me to manage that," said Ole-Luk-Oie. "I will soon make you +small enough." And then he touched Hjalmar with his magic wand, +whereupon he became less and less, until at last he was not longer +than a little finger. "Now you can borrow the dress of the tin +soldier. I think it will just fit you. It looks well to wear a uniform +when you go into company." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, certainly," said Hjalmar; and in a moment he was dressed +as neatly as the neatest of all tin soldiers. +</P> + +<P> +"Will you be so good as to seat yourself in your mamma's thimble," +said the little mouse, "that I may have the pleasure of drawing you to +the wedding." +</P> + +<P> +"Will you really take so much trouble, young lady?" said +Hjalmar. And so in this way he rode to the mouse's wedding. +</P> + +<P> +First they went under the floor, and then passed through a long +passage, which was scarcely high enough to allow the thimble to +drive under, and the whole passage was lit up with the +phosphorescent light of rotten wood. +</P> + +<P> +"Does it not smell delicious?" asked the mouse, as she drew him +along. "The wall and the floor have been smeared with bacon-rind; +nothing can be nicer." +</P> + +<P> +Very soon they arrived at the bridal hall. On the right stood +all the little lady-mice, whispering and giggling, as if they were +making game of each other. To the left were the gentlemen-mice, +stroking their whiskers with their fore-paws; and in the centre of the +hall could be seen the bridal pair, standing side by side, in a hollow +cheese-rind, and kissing each other, while all eyes were upon them; +for they had already been betrothed, and were soon to be married. More +and more friends kept arriving, till the mice were nearly treading +each other to death; for the bridal pair now stood in the doorway, and +none could pass in or out. +</P> + +<P> +The room had been rubbed over with bacon-rind, like the passage, +which was all the refreshment offered to the guests. But for dessert +they produced a pea, on which a mouse belonging to the bridal pair had +bitten the first letters of their names. This was something quite +uncommon. All the mice said it was a very beautiful wedding, and +that they had been very agreeably entertained. +</P> + +<P> +After this, Hjalmar returned home. He had certainly been in +grand society; but he had been obliged to creep under a room, and to +make himself small enough to wear the uniform of a tin soldier. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +FRIDAY +</H3> + +<P> +"It is incredible how many old people there are who would be +glad to have me at night," said Ole-Luk-Oie, "especially those who +have done something wrong. 'Good little Ole,' say they to me, 'we +cannot close our eyes, and we lie awake the whole night and see all +our evil deeds sitting on our beds like little imps, and sprinkling us +with hot water. Will you come and drive them away, that we may have +a good night's rest?' and then they sigh so deeply and say, 'We +would gladly pay you for it. Good-night, Ole-Luk, the money lies on +the window.' But I never do anything for gold." "What shall we do +to-night?" asked Hjalmar. "I do not know whether you would care to +go to another wedding," he replied, "although it is quite a +different affair to the one we saw last night. Your sister's large +doll, that is dressed like a man, and is called Herman, intends to +marry the doll Bertha. It is also the dolls' birthday, and they will +receive many presents." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I know that already," said Hjalmar, "my sister always allows +her dolls to keep their birthdays or to have a wedding when they +require new clothes; that has happened already a hundred times, I am +quite sure." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, so it may; but to-night is the hundred and first wedding, +and when that has taken place it must be the last, therefore this is +to be extremely beautiful. Only look." +</P> + +<P> +Hjalmar looked at the table, and there stood the little card-board +doll's house, with lights in all the windows, and drawn up before it +were the tin soldiers presenting arms. The bridal pair were seated +on the floor, leaning against the leg of the table, looking very +thoughtful, and with good reason. Then Ole-Luk-Oie dressed up in +grandmother's black gown married them. +</P> + +<P> +As soon as the ceremony was concluded, all the furniture in the +room joined in singing a beautiful song, which had been composed by +the lead pencil, and which went to the melody of a military tattoo. +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "What merry sounds are on the wind,<BR> + As marriage rites together bind<BR> + A quiet and a loving pair,<BR> + Though formed of kid, yet smooth and fair!<BR> + Hurrah! If they are deaf and blind,<BR> + We'll sing, though weather prove unkind."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +And now came the present; but the bridal pair had nothing to +eat, for love was to be their food. +</P> + +<P> +"Shall we go to a country house, or travel?" asked the bridegroom. +</P> + +<P> +Then they consulted the swallow who had travelled so far, and +the old hen in the yard, who had brought up five broods of chickens. +</P> + +<P> +And the swallow talked to them of warm countries, where the grapes +hang in large clusters on the vines, and the air is soft and mild, and +about the mountains glowing with colors more beautiful than we can +think of. +</P> + +<P> +"But they have no red cabbage like we have," said the hen, "I +was once in the country with my chickens for a whole summer, there was +a large sand-pit, in which we could walk about and scratch as we +liked. Then we got into a garden in which grew red cabbage; oh, how +nice it was, I cannot think of anything more delicious." +</P> + +<P> +"But one cabbage stalk is exactly like another," said the swallow; +"and here we have often bad weather." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, but we are accustomed to it," said the hen. +</P> + +<P> +"But it is so cold here, and freezes sometimes." +</P> + +<P> +"Cold weather is good for cabbages," said the hen; "besides we +do have it warm here sometimes. Four years ago, we had a summer that +lasted more than five weeks, and it was so hot one could scarcely +breathe. And then in this country we have no poisonous animals, and we +are free from robbers. He must be wicked who does not consider our +country the finest of all lands. He ought not to be allowed to live +here." And then the hen wept very much and said, "I have also +travelled. I once went twelve miles in a coop, and it was not pleasant +travelling at all." +</P> + +<P> +"The hen is a sensible woman," said the doll Bertha. "I don't care +for travelling over mountains, just to go up and come down again. +No, let us go to the sand-pit in front of the gate, and then take a +walk in the cabbage garden." +</P> + +<P> +And so they settled it. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +SATURDAY +</H3> + +<P> +"Am I to hear any more stories?" asked little Hjalmar, as soon +as Ole-Luk-Oie had sent him to sleep. +</P> + +<P> +"We shall have no time this evening," said he, spreading out his +prettiest umbrella over the child. "Look at these Chinese," and then +the whole umbrella appeared like a large china bowl, with blue trees +and pointed bridges, upon which stood little Chinamen nodding their +heads. "We must make all the world beautiful for to-morrow morning," +said Ole-Luk-Oie, "for it will be a holiday, it is Sunday. I must +now go to the church steeple and see if the little sprites who live +there have polished the bells, so that they may sound sweetly. Then +I must go into the fields and see if the wind has blown the dust +from the grass and the leaves, and the most difficult task of all +which I have to do, is to take down all the stars and brighten them +up. I have to number them first before I put them in my apron, and +also to number the places from which I take them, so that they may +go back into the right holes, or else they would not remain, and we +should have a number of falling stars, for they would all tumble +down one after the other." +</P> + +<P> +"Hark ye! Mr. Luk-Oie," said an old portrait which hung on the +wall of Hjalmar's bedroom. "Do you know me? I am Hjalmar's +great-grandfather. I thank you for telling the boy stories, but you +must not confuse his ideas. The stars cannot be taken down from the +sky and polished; they are spheres like our earth, which is a good +thing for them." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you, old great-grandfather," said Ole-Luk-Oie. "I thank +you; you may be the head of the family, as no doubt you are, but I +am older than you. I am an ancient heathen. The old Romans and +Greeks named me the Dream-god. I have visited the noblest houses, +and continue to do so; still I know how to conduct myself both to high +and low, and now you may tell the stories yourself:" and so +Ole-Luk-Oie walked off, taking his umbrellas with him. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, well, one is never to give an opinion, I suppose," grumbled +the portrait. And it woke Hjalmar. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +SUNDAY +</H3> + +<P> +"Good evening," said Ole-Luk-Oie. +</P> + +<P> +Hjalmar nodded, and then sprang out of bed, and turned his +great-grandfather's portrait to the wall, so that it might not +interrupt them as it had done yesterday. "Now," said he, "you must +tell me some stories about five green peas that lived in one pod; or +of the chickseed that courted the chickweed; or of the darning needle, +who acted so proudly because she fancied herself an embroidery +needle." +</P> + +<P> +"You may have too much of a good thing," said Ole-Luk-Oie. "You +know that I like best to show you something, so I will show you my +brother. He is also called Ole-Luk-Oie but he never visits any one but +once, and when he does come, he takes him away on his horse, and tells +him stories as they ride along. He knows only two stories. One of +these is so wonderfully beautiful, that no one in the world can +imagine anything at all like it; but the other is just as ugly and +frightful, so that it would be impossible to describe it." Then +Ole-Luk-Oie lifted Hjalmar up to the window. "There now, you can see +my brother, the other Ole-Luk-Oie; he is also called Death. You +perceive he is not so bad as they represent him in picture books; +there he is a skeleton, but now his coat is embroidered with silver, +and he wears the splendid uniform of a hussar, and a mantle of black +velvet flies behind him, over the horse. Look, how he gallops +along." Hjalmar saw that as this Ole-Luk-Oie rode on, he lifted up old +and young, and carried them away on his horse. Some he seated in front +of him, and some behind, but always inquired first, "How stands the +mark-book?" +</P> + +<P> +"Good," they all answered. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, but let me see for myself," he replied; and they were +obliged to give him the books. Then all those who had "Very good," +or "Exceedingly good," came in front of the horse, and heard the +beautiful story; while those who had "Middling," or "Tolerably +good," in their books, were obliged to sit behind, and listen to the +frightful tale. They trembled and cried, and wanted to jump down +from the horse, but they could not get free, for they seemed +fastened to the seat. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, Death is a most splendid Luk-Oie," said Hjalmar. "I am not +in the least afraid of him." +</P> + +<P> +"You need have no fear of him," said Ole-Luk-Oie, "if you take +care and keep a good conduct book." +</P> + +<P> +"Now I call that very instructive," murmured the +great-grandfather's portrait. "It is useful sometimes to express an +opinion;" so he was quite satisfied. +</P> + +<P> +These are some of the doings and sayings of Ole-Luk-Oie. I hope he +may visit you himself this evening, and relate some more. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="ole_tower"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +OLE THE TOWER-KEEPER +</H3> + +<P> +"In the world it's always going up and down; and now I can't go up +any higher!" So said Ole the tower-keeper. "Most people have to try +both the ups and the downs; and, rightly considered, we all get to +be watchmen at last, and look down upon life from a height." +</P> + +<P> +Such was the speech of Ole, my friend, the old tower-keeper, a +strange, talkative old fellow, who seemed to speak out everything that +came into his head, and who for all that had many a serious thought +deep in his heart. Yes, he was the child of respectable people, and +there were even some who said that he was the son of a privy +councillor, or that he might have been. He had studied, too, and had +been assistant teacher and deputy clerk; but of what service was all +that to him? In those days he lived in the clerk's house, and was to +have everything in the house—to be at free quarters, as the saying +is; but he was still, so to speak, a fine young gentleman. He wanted +to have his boots cleaned with patent blacking, and the clerk could +only afford ordinary grease; and upon that point they split. One spoke +of stinginess, the other of vanity, and the blacking became the +black cause of enmity between them, and at last they parted. +</P> + +<P> +This is what he demanded of the world in general, namely, patent +blacking, and he got nothing but grease. Accordingly, he at last +drew back from all men, and became a hermit; but the church tower is +the only place in a great city where hermitage, office and bread can +be found together. So he betook himself up thither, and smoked his +pipe as he made his solitary rounds. He looked upward and downward, +and had his own thoughts, and told in his own way of what he read in +books and in himself. I often lent him books—good books; and you +may know by the company he keeps. He loved neither the English +governess novels nor the French ones, which he called a mixture of +empty wind and raisin-stalks: he wanted biographies, and +descriptions of the wonders of, the world. I visited him at least once +a year, generally directly after New Year's day, and then he always +spoke of this and that which the change of the year had put into his +head. +</P> + +<P> +I will tell the story of three of these visits, and will reproduce +his own words whenever I can remember them. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +FIRST VISIT +</H3> + +<P> +Among the books which I had lately lent Ole, was one which had +greatly rejoiced and occupied him. It was a geological book, +containing an account of the boulders. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, they're rare old fellows, those boulders!" he said; "and +to think that we should pass them without noticing them! And over +the street pavement, the paving stones, those fragments of the +oldest remains of antiquity, one walks without ever thinking about +them. I have done the very thing myself. But now I look respectfully +at every paving-stone. Many thanks for the book! It has filled me with +thought, and has made me long to read more on the subject. The romance +of the earth is, after all, the most wonderful of all romances. It's a +pity one can't read the first volume of it, because it is written in a +language that we don't understand. One must read in the different +strata, in the pebble-stones, for each separate period. Yes, it is a +romance, a very wonderful romance, and we all have our place in it. We +grope and ferret about, and yet remain where we are; but the ball +keeps turning, without emptying the ocean over us; the clod on which +we move about, holds, and does not let us through. And then it's a +story that has been acting for thousands upon thousands of years and +is still going on. My best thanks for the book about the boulders. +Those are fellows indeed! They could tell us something worth +hearing, if they only knew how to talk. It's really a pleasure now and +then to become a mere nothing, especially when a man is as highly +placed as I am. And then to think that we all, even with patent +lacquer, are nothing more than insects of a moment on that ant-hill +the earth, though we may be insects with stars and garters, places and +offices! One feels quite a novice beside these venerable +million-year-old boulders. On last New Year's eve I was reading the +book, and had lost myself in it so completely, that I forgot my +usual New Year's diversion, namely, the wild hunt to Amack. Ah, you +don't know what that is! +</P> + +<P> +"The journey of the witches on broomsticks is well enough known—that +journey is taken on St. John's eve, to the Brocken; but we have a +wild journey, also which is national and modern, and that is the +journey to Amack on the night of the New Year. All indifferent poets +and poetesses, musicians, newspaper writers, and artistic +notabilities,—I mean those who are no good,—ride in the New Year's +night through the air to Amack. They sit backwards on their painting +brushes or quill pens, for steel pens won't bear them—they're too +stiff. As I told you, I see that every New Year's night, and could +mention the majority of the riders by name, but I should not like to +draw their enmity upon myself, for they don't like people to talk +about their ride to Amack on quill pens. I've a kind of niece, who +is a fishwife, and who, as she tells me, supplies three respectable +newspapers with the terms of abuse and vituperation they use, and +she has herself been at Amack as an invited guest; but she was carried +out thither, for she does not own a quill pen, nor can she ride. She +has told me all about it. Half of what she said is not true, but the +other half gives us information enough. When she was out there, the +festivities began with a song; each of the guests had written his +own song, and each one sang his own song, for he thought that the +best, and it was all one, all the same melody. Then those came +marching up, in little bands, who are only busy with their mouths. +There were ringing bells that rang alternately; and then came the +little drummers that beat their tattoo in the family circle; and +acquaintance was made with those who write without putting their +names, which here means as much as using grease instead of patent +blacking; and then there was the beadle with his boy, and the boy +was worst off, for in general he gets no notice taken of him; then, +too, there was the good street sweeper with his cart, who turns over +the dust-bin, and calls it 'good, very good, remarkably good.' And +in the midst of the pleasure that was afforded by the mere meeting +of these folks, there shot up out of the great dirt-heap at Amack a +stem, a tree, an immense flower, a great mushroom, a perfect roof, +which formed a sort of warehouse for the worthy company, for in it +hung everything they had given to the world during the Old Year. Out +of the tree poured sparks like flames of fire; these were the ideas +and thoughts, borrowed from others, which they had used, and which now +got free and rushed away like so many fireworks. They played at 'the +stick burns,' and the young poets played at 'heart-burns,' and the +witlings played off their jests, and the jests rolled away with a +thundering sound, as if empty pots were being shattered against doors. +'It was very amusing!' my niece said; in fact, she said many things +that were very malicious but very amusing, but I won't mention them, +for a man must be good-natured, and not a carping critic. But you will +easily perceive that when a man once knows the rights of the journey +to Amack, as I know them, it's quite natural that on the New Year's +night one should look out to see the wild chase go by. If in the New +Year I miss certain persons who used to be there, I am sure to +notice others who are new arrivals; but this year I omitted taking +my look at the guests, I bowled away on the boulders, rolled back +through millions of years, and saw the stones break loose high up in +the north, saw them drifting about on icebergs, long before Noah's ark +was constructed, saw them sink down to the bottom of the sea, and +re-appear with a sand-bank, with that one that peered forth from the +flood and said, 'This shall be Zealand!' I saw them become the +dwelling-place of birds that are unknown to us, and then become the +seat of wild chiefs of whom we know nothing, until with their axes +they cut their Runic signs into a few of these stones, which then came +into the calendar of time. But as for me, I had gone quite beyond +all lapse of time, and had become a cipher and a nothing. Then three +or four beautiful falling stars came down, which cleared the air, +and gave my thoughts another direction. You know what a falling star +is, do you not? The learned men are not at all clear about it. I +have my own ideas about shooting stars, as the common people in many +parts call them, and my idea is this: How often are silent +thanksgivings offered up for one who has done a good and noble action! +The thanks are often speechless, but they are not lost for all that. I +think these thanks are caught up, and the sunbeams bring the silent, +hidden thankfulness over the head of the benefactor; and if it be a +whole people that has been expressing its gratitude through a long +lapse of time, the thankfulness appears as a nosegay of flowers, and +at length falls in the form of a shooting star over the good man's +grave. I am always very much pleased when I see a shooting star, +especially in the New Year's night, and then find out for whom the +gift of gratitude was intended. Lately a gleaming star fell in the +southwest, as a tribute of thanksgiving to many—many! 'For whom was +that star intended?' thought I. It fell, no doubt, on the hill by +the Bay of Plensberg, where the Danebrog waves over the graves of +Schleppegrell, Lasloes, and their comrades. One star also fell in +the midst of the land, fell upon Soro, a flower on the grave of +Holberg, the thanks of the year from a great many—thanks for his +charming plays! +</P> + +<P> +"It is a great and pleasant thought to know that a shooting star +falls upon our graves. On mine certainly none will fall—no sunbeam +brings thanks to me, for here there is nothing worthy of thanks. I +shall not get the patent lacquer," said Ole, "for my fate on earth +is only grease, after all." +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +SECOND VISIT +</H3> + +<P> +It was New Year's day, and I went up on the tower. Ole spoke of +the toasts that were drunk on the transition from the Old Year into +the New—from one grave into the other, as he said. And he told me a +story about the glasses, and this story had a very deep meaning. It +was this: +</P> + +<P> +"When on the New Year's night the clock strikes twelve, the people +at the table rise up with full glasses in their hands, and drain these +glasses, and drink success to the New Year. They begin the year with +the glass in their hands; that is a good beginning for drunkards. They +begin the New Year by going to bed, and that's a good beginning for +drones. Sleep is sure to play a great part in the New Year, and the +glass likewise. Do you know what dwells in the glass?" asked Ole. "I +will tell you. There dwell in the glass, first, health, and then +pleasure, then the most complete sensual delight; and misfortune and +the bitterest woe dwell in the glass also. Now, suppose we count the +glasses—of course I count the different degrees in the glasses for +different people. +</P> + +<P> +"You see, the first glass, that's the glass of health, and in that +the herb of health is found growing. Put it up on the beam in the +ceiling, and at the end of the year you may be sitting in the arbor of +health. +</P> + +<P> +"If you take the second glass—from this a little bird soars +upward, twittering in guileless cheerfulness, so that a man may listen +to his song, and perhaps join in 'Fair is life! no downcast looks! +Take courage, and march onward!' +</P> + +<P> +"Out of the third glass rises a little winged urchin, who cannot +certainly be called an angel child, for there is goblin blood in his +veins, and he has the spirit of a goblin—not wishing to hurt or +harm you, indeed, but very ready to play off tricks upon you. He'll +sit at your ear and whisper merry thoughts to you; he'll creep into +your heart and warm you, so that you grow very merry, and become a +wit, so far as the wits of the others can judge. +</P> + +<P> +"In the fourth glass is neither herb, bird, nor urchin. In that +glass is the pause drawn by reason, and one may never go beyond that +sign. +</P> + +<P> +"Take the fifth glass, and you will weep at yourself, you will +feel such a deep emotion; or it will affect you in a different way. +Out of the glass there will spring with a bang Prince Carnival, nine +times and extravagantly merry. He'll draw you away with him; you'll +forget your dignity, if you have any, and you'll forget more than +you should or ought to forget. All is dance, song and sound: the masks +will carry you away with them, and the daughters of vanity, clad in +silk and satin, will come with loose hair and alluring charms; but +tear yourself away if you can! +</P> + +<P> +"The sixth glass! Yes, in that glass sits a demon, in the form +of a little, well dressed, attractive and very fascinating man, who +thoroughly understands you, agrees with you in everything, and becomes +quite a second self to you. He has a lantern with him, to give you +light as he accompanies you home. There is an old legend about a saint +who was allowed to choose one of the seven deadly sins, and who +accordingly chose drunkenness, which appeared to him the least, but +which led him to commit all the other six. The man's blood is +mingled with that of the demon. It is the sixth glass, and with that +the germ of all evil shoots up within us; and each one grows up with a +strength like that of the grains of mustard-seed, and shoots up into a +tree, and spreads over the whole world: and most people have no choice +but to go into the oven, to be re-cast in a new form. +</P> + +<P> +"That's the history of the glasses," said the tower-keeper Ole, +"and it can be told with lacquer or only with grease; but I give it +you with both!" +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THIRD VISIT +</H3> + +<P> +On this occasion I chose the general "moving-day" for my visit +to Ole, for on that day it is anything but agreeable down in the +streets in the town; for they are full of sweepings, shreds, and +remnants of all sorts, to say nothing of the cast-off rubbish in which +one has to wade about. But this time I happened to see two children +playing in this wilderness of sweepings. They were playing at "going +to bed," for the occasion seemed especially favorable for this +sport. They crept under the straw, and drew an old bit of ragged +curtain over themselves by way of coverlet. "It was splendid!" they +said; but it was a little too strong for me, and besides, I was +obliged to mount up on my visit to Ole. +</P> + +<P> +"It's moving-day to day," he said; "streets and houses are like +a dust-bin—a large dust-bin; but I'm content with a cartload. I may +get something good out of that, and I really did get something good +out of it once. Shortly after Christmas I was going up the street; +it was rough weather, wet and dirty—the right kind of weather to +catch cold in. The dustman was there with his cart, which was full, +and looked like a sample of streets on moving-day. At the back of +the cart stood a fir tree, quite green still, and with tinsel on its +twigs; it had been used on Christmas eve, and now it was thrown out +into the street, and the dustman had stood it up at the back of his +cart. It was droll to look at, or you may say it was mournful—all +depends on what you think of when you see it; and I thought about +it, and thought this and that of many things that were in the cart: or +I might have done so, and that comes to the same thing. There was an +old lady's glove, too: I wonder what that was thinking of? Shall I +tell you? The glove was lying there, pointing with its little finger +at the tree. 'I'm sorry for the tree,' it thought; 'and I was also +at the feast, where the chandeliers glittered. My life was, so to +speak, a ball night—a pressure of the hand, and I burst! My memory +keeps dwelling upon that, and I have really nothing else to live for!' +This is what the glove thought, or what it might have thought. 'That's +a stupid affair with yonder fir tree,' said the potsherds. You see, +potsherds think everything is stupid. 'When one is in the +dust-cart,' they said, 'one ought not to give one's self airs and wear +tinsel. I know that I have been useful in the world—far more useful +than such a green stick.' This was a view that might be taken, and I +don't think it quite a peculiar one; but for all that, the fir tree +looked very well: it was like a little poetry in the dust-heap; and +truly there is dust enough in the streets on moving-day. The way is +difficult and troublesome then, and I feel obliged to run away out +of the confusion; or, if I am on the tower, I stay there and look +down, and it is amusing enough. +</P> + +<P> +"There are the good people below, playing at 'changing houses.' +They toil and tug away with their goods and chattels, and the +household goblin sits in an old tub and moves with them. All the +little griefs of the lodging and the family, and the real cares and +sorrows, move with them out of the old dwelling into the new; and what +gain is there for them or for us in the whole affair? Yes, there was +written long ago the good old maxim: 'Think on the great moving-day of +death!' That is a serious thought. I hope it is not disagreeable to +you that I should have touched upon it? Death is the most certain +messenger, after all, in spite of his various occupations. Yes, +Death is the omnibus conductor, and he is the passport writer, and +he countersigns our service-book, and he is director of the savings +bank of life. Do you understand me? All the deeds of our life, the +great and the little alike, we put into this savings bank; and when +Death calls with his omnibus, and we have to step in, and drive with +him into the land of eternity, then on the frontier he gives us our +service-book as a pass. As a provision for the journey, he takes +this or that good deed we have done, and lets it accompany us; and +this may be very pleasant or very terrific. Nobody has ever escaped +the omnibus journey. There is certainly a talk about one who was not +allowed to go—they call him the Wandering Jew: he has to ride +behind the omnibus. If he had been allowed to get in, he would have +escaped the clutches of the poets. +</P> + +<P> +"Just cast your mind's eye into that great omnibus. The society is +mixed, for king and beggar, genius and idiot, sit side by side. They +must go without their property and money; they have only the +service-book and the gift out of the savings bank with them. But which +of our deeds is selected and given to us? Perhaps quite a little +one, one that we have forgotten, but which has been recorded—small as +a pea, but the pea can send out a blooming shoot. The poor bumpkin who +sat on a low stool in the corner, and was jeered at and flouted, +will perhaps have his worn-out stool given him as a provision; and the +stool may become a litter in the land of eternity, and rise up then as +a throne, gleaming like gold and blooming as an arbor. He who always +lounged about, and drank the spiced draught of pleasure, that he might +forget the wild things he had done here, will have his barrel given to +him on the journey, and will have to drink from it as they go on; +and the drink is bright and clear, so that the thoughts remain pure, +and all good and noble feelings are awakened, and he sees and feels +what in life he could not or would not see; and then he has within him +the punishment, the gnawing worm, which will not die through time +incalculable. If on the glasses there stood written 'oblivion,' on the +barrel 'remembrance' is inscribed. +</P> + +<P> +"When I read a good book, an historical work, I always think at +last of the poetry of what I am reading, and of the omnibus of +death, and wonder, which of the hero's deeds Death took out of the +savings bank for him, and what provisions he got on the journey into +eternity. There was once a French king—I have forgotten his name, for +the names of good people are sometimes forgotten, even by me, but it +will come back some day;—there was a king who, during a famine, +became the benefactor of his people; and the people raised up to his +memory a monument of snow, with the inscription, 'Quicker than this +melts didst thou bring help!' I fancy that Death, looking back upon +the monument, gave him a single snow-flake as provision, a +snow-flake that never melts, and this flake floated over his royal +head, like a white butterfly, into the land of eternity. Thus, too, +there was Louis XI. I have remembered his name, for one remembers what +is bad—a trait of him often comes into my thoughts, and I wish one +could say the story is not true. He had his lord high constable +executed, and he could execute him, right or wrong; but he had the +innocent children of the constable, one seven and the other eight +years old, placed under the scaffold so that the warm blood of their +father spurted over them, and then he had them sent to the Bastille, +and shut up in iron cages, where not even a coverlet was given them to +protect them from the cold. And King Louis sent the executioner to +them every week, and had a tooth pulled out of the head of each, +that they might not be too comfortable; and the elder of the boys +said, 'My mother would die of grief if she knew that my younger +brother had to suffer so cruelly; therefore pull out two of my +teeth, and spare him.' The tears came into the hangman's eyes, but the +king's will was stronger than the tears; and every week two little +teeth were brought to him on a silver plate; he had demanded them, and +he had them. I fancy that Death took these two teeth out of the +savings bank of life, and gave them to Louis XI, to carry with him +on the great journey into the land of immortality; they fly before him +like two flames of fire; they shine and burn, and they bite him, the +innocent children's teeth. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, that's a serious journey, the omnibus ride on the great +moving-day! And when is it to be undertaken? That's just the serious +part of it. Any day, any hour, any minute, the omnibus may draw up. +Which of our deeds will Death take out of the savings bank, and give +to us as provision? Let us think of the moving-day that is not +marked in the calendar." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="our_aunt"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +OUR AUNT +</H3> + +<P> +You ought to have known our aunt; she was charming! That is to +say, she was not charming at all as the word is usually understood; +but she was good and kind, amusing in her way, and was just as any one +ought to be whom people are to talk about and to laugh at. She might +have been put into a play, and wholly and solely on account of the +fact that she only lived for the theatre and for what was done +there. She was an honorable matron; but Agent Fabs, whom she used to +call "Flabs," declared that our aunt was stage-struck. +</P> + +<P> +"The theatre is my school," said she, "the source of my knowledge. +From thence I have resuscitated Biblical history. Now, 'Moses' and +'Joseph in Egypt'—there are operas for you! I get my universal +history from the theatre, my geography, and my knowledge of men. Out +of the French pieces I get to know life in Paris—slippery, but +exceedingly interesting. How I have cried over 'La Famille +Roquebourg'—that the man must drink himself to death, so that she may +marry the young fellow! Yes, how many tears I have wept in the fifty +years I have subscribed to the theatre!" +</P> + +<P> +Our aunt knew every acting play, every bit of scenery, every +character, every one who appeared or had appeared. She seemed really +only to live during the nine months the theatre was open. Summertime +without a summer theatre seemed to be only a time that made her old; +while, on the other hand, a theatrical evening that lasted till +midnight was a lengthening of her life. She did not say, as other +people do, "Now we shall have spring, the stork is here," or, "They've +advertised the first strawberries in the papers." She, on the +contrary, used to announce the coming of autumn, with "Have you +heard they're selling boxes for the theatre? now the performances will +begin." +</P> + +<P> +She used to value a lodging entirely according to its proximity to +the theatre. It was a real sorrow to her when she had to leave the +little lane behind the playhouse, and move into the great street +that lay a little farther off, and live there in a house where she had +no opposite neighbors. +</P> + +<P> +"At home," said she, "my windows must be my opera-box. One +cannot sit and look into one's self till one's tired; one must see +people. But now I live just as if I'd go into the country. If I want +to see human beings, I must go into my kitchen, and sit down on the +sink, for there only I have opposite neighbors. No; when I lived in my +dear little lane, I could look straight down into the ironmonger's +shop, and had only three hundred paces to the theatre; and now I've +three thousand paces to go, military measurement." +</P> + +<P> +Our aunt was sometimes ill, but however unwell she might feel, she +never missed the play. The doctor prescribed one day that she should +put her feet in a bran bath, and she followed his advice; but she +drove to the theatre all the same, and sat with her feet in bran +there. If she had died there, she would have been very glad. +Thorwaldsen died in the theatre, and she called that a happy death. +</P> + +<P> +She could not imagine but that in heaven there must be a theatre +too. It had not, indeed, been promised us, but we might very well +imagine it. The many distinguished actors and actresses who had passed +away must surely have a field for their talent. +</P> + +<P> +Our aunt had an electric wire from the theatre to her room. A +telegram used to be dispatched to her at coffee-time, and it used to +consist of the words, "Herr Sivertsen is at the machinery;" for it was +he who gave the signal for drawing the curtain up and down and for +changing the scenes. +</P> + +<P> +From him she used to receive a short and concise description of +every piece. His opinion of Shakspeare's "Tempest," was, "Mad +nonsense! There's so much to put up, and the first scene begins with +'Water to the front of the wings.'" That is to say, the water had to +come forward so far. But when, on the other hand, the same interior +scene remained through five acts, he used to pronounce it a +sensible, well-written play, a resting play, which performed itself, +without putting up scenes. +</P> + +<P> +In earlier times, by which name our aunt used to designate +thirty years ago, she and the before-mentioned Herr Sivertsen had been +younger. At that time he had already been connected with the +machinery, and was, as she said, her benefactor. It used to be the +custom in those days that in the evening performances in the only +theatre the town possessed, spectators were admitted to the part +called the "flies," over the stage, and every machinist had one or two +places to give away. Often the flies were quite full of good +company; it was said that generals' wives and privy councillors' wives +had been up there. It was quite interesting to look down behind the +scenes, and to see how the people walked to and fro on the stage +when the curtain was down. +</P> + +<P> +Our aunt had been there several times, as well when there was a +tragedy as when there was a ballet; for the pieces in which there were +the greatest number of characters on the stage were the most +interesting to see from the flies. One sat pretty much in the dark +up there, and most people took their supper up with them. Once three +apples and a great piece of bread and butter and sausage fell down +right into the dungeon of Ugolino, where that unhappy man was to be +starved to death; and there was great laughter among the audience. The +sausage was one of the weightiest reasons why the worthy management +refused in future to have any spectators up in the flies. +</P> + +<P> +"But I was there seven-and-thirty times," said our aunt, "and I +shall always remember Mr. Sivertsen for that." +</P> + +<P> +On the very last evening when the flies were still open to the +public, the "Judgment of Solomon" was performed, as our aunt +remembered very well. She had, through the influence of her +benefactor, Herr Sivertsen, procured a free admission for the Agent +Fabs, although he did not deserve it in the least, for he was always +cutting his jokes about the theatre and teasing our aunt; but she +had procured him a free admission to the flies, for all that. He +wanted to look at this player-stuff from the other side. +</P> + +<P> +"Those were his own words, and they were just like him," said +our aunt. +</P> + +<P> +He looked down from above on the 'Judgment of Solomon,' and fell +asleep over it. One would have thought that he had come from a +dinner where many toasts had been given. He went to sleep, and was +locked in. And there he sat through the dark night in the flies, and +when he woke, he told a story, but our aunt would not believe it. +</P> + +<P> +"The 'Judgment of Solomon' was over," he said, "and all the people +had gone away, up stairs and down stairs; but now the real play began, +the after-piece, which was the best of all," said the agent. "Then +life came into the affair. It was not the 'Judgment of Solomon' that +was performed; no, a real court of judgment was held upon the +stage." And Agent Fabs had the impudence to try and make our aunt +believe all this. That was the thanks she got for having got him a +place in the flies. +</P> + +<P> +What did the agent say? Why, it was curious enough to hear, but +there was malice and satire in it. +</P> + +<P> +"It looked dark enough up there," said the agent; "but then the +magic business began—a great performance, 'The Judgment in the +Theatre.' The box-keepers were at their posts, and every spectator had +to show his ghostly pass-book, that it might be decided if he was to +be admitted with hands loose or bound, and with or without a muzzle. +Grand people who came too late, when the performance had begun, and +young people, who could not always watch the time, were tied up +outside, and had list slippers put on their feet, with which they were +allowed to go in before the beginning of the next act, and they had +muzzles too. And then the 'Judgment on the Stage' began." +</P> + +<P> +"All malice, and not a bit of truth in it," said our aunt. +</P> + +<P> +The painter, who wanted to get to Paradise, had to go up a +staircase which he had himself painted, but which no man could +mount. That was to expiate his sins against perspective. All the +plants and buildings, which the property-man had placed, with infinite +pains, in countries to which they did not belong, the poor fellow +was obliged to put in their right places before cockcrow, if he wanted +to get into Paradise. Let Herr Fabs see how he would get in himself; +but what he said of the performers, tragedians and comedians, +singers and dancers, that was the most rascally of all. Mr. Fabs, +indeed!—Flabs! He did not deserve to be admitted at all, and our aunt +would not soil her lips with what he said. And he said, did Flabs, +that the whole was written down, and it should be printed when he +was dead and buried, but not before, for he would not risk having +his arms and legs broken. +</P> + +<P> +Once our aunt had been in fear and trembling in her temple of +happiness, the theatre. It was on a winter day, one of those days in +which one has a couple of hours of daylight, with a gray sky. It was +terribly cold and snowy, but aunt must go to the theatre. A little +opera and a great ballet were performed, and a prologue and an +epilogue into the bargain; and that would last till late at night. Our +aunt must needs go; so she borrowed a pair of fur boots of her +lodger—boots with fur inside and out, and which reached far up +her legs. +</P> + +<P> +She got to the theatre, and to her box; the boots were warm, and +she kept them on. Suddenly there was a cry of "Fire!" Smoke was coming +from one of the side scenes, and streamed down from the flies, and +there was a terrible panic. The people came rushing out, and our +aunt was the last in the box, "on the second tier, left-hand side, for +from there the scenery looks best," she used to say. "The scenes are +always arranged that they look best from the King's side." Aunt wanted +to come out, but the people before her, in their fright and +heedlessness, slammed the door of the box; and there sat our aunt, and +couldn't get out, and couldn't get in; that is to say, she couldn't +get into the next box, for the partition was too high for her. She +called out, and no one heard her; she looked down into the tier of +boxes below her, and it was empty, and low, and looked quite near, and +aunt in her terror felt quite young and light. She thought of +jumping down, and had got one leg over the partition, the other +resting on the bench. There she sat astride, as if on horseback, +well wrapped up in her flowered cloak with one leg hanging out—a +leg in a tremendous fur boot. That was a sight to behold; and when +it was beheld, our aunt was heard too, and was saved from burning, for +the theatre was not burned down. +</P> + +<P> +That was the most memorable evening of her life, and she was +glad that she could not see herself, for she would have died with +confusion. +</P> + +<P> +Her benefactor in the machinery department, Herr Sivertsen, +visited her every Sunday, but it was a long time from Sunday to +Sunday. In the latter time, therefore, she used to have in a little +child "for the scraps;" that is to say, to eat up the remains of the +dinner. It was a child employed in the ballet, one that certainly +wanted feeding. The little one used to appear, sometimes as an elf, +sometimes as a page; the most difficult part she had to play was the +lion's hind leg in the "Magic Flute;" but as she grew larger she could +represent the fore-feet of the lion. She certainly only got half a +guilder for that, whereas the hind legs were paid for with a whole +guilder; but then she had to walk bent, and to do without fresh air. +"That was all very interesting to hear," said our aunt. +</P> + +<P> +She deserved to live as long as the theatre stood, but she could +not last so long; and she did not die in the theatre, but +respectably in her bed. Her last words were, moreover, not without +meaning. She asked, +</P> + +<P> +"What will the play be to-morrow?" +</P> + +<P> +At her death she left about five hundred dollars. We presume +this from the interest, which came to twenty dollars. This our aunt +had destined as a legacy for a worthy old spinster who had no friends; +it was to be devoted to a yearly subscription for a place in the +second tier, on the left side, for the Saturday evening, "for on +that evening two pieces were always given," it said in the will; and +the only condition laid upon the person who enjoyed the legacy was, +that she should think, every Saturday evening, of our aunt, who was +lying in her grave. +</P> + +<P> +This was our aunt's religion. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="paradise"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE GARDEN OF PARADISE +</H3> + +<P> +There was once a king's son who had a larger and more beautiful +collection of books than any one else in the world, and full of +splendid copper-plate engravings. He could read and obtain information +respecting every people of every land; but not a word could he find to +explain the situation of the garden of paradise, and this was just +what he most wished to know. His grandmother had told him when he +was quite a little boy, just old enough to go to school, that each +flower in the garden of paradise was a sweet cake, that the pistils +were full of rich wine, that on one flower history was written, on +another geography or tables; so those who wished to learn their +lessons had only to eat some of the cakes, and the more they ate, +the more history, geography, or tables they knew. He believed it all +then; but as he grew older, and learnt more and more, he became wise +enough to understand that the splendor of the garden of paradise +must be very different to all this. "Oh, why did Eve pluck the fruit +from the tree of knowledge? why did Adam eat the forbidden fruit?" +thought the king's son: "if I had been there it would never have +happened, and there would have been no sin in the world." The garden +of paradise occupied all his thoughts till he reached his +seventeenth year. +</P> + +<P> +One day he was walking alone in the wood, which was his greatest +pleasure, when evening came on. The clouds gathered, and the rain +poured down as if the sky had been a waterspout; and it was as dark as +the bottom of a well at midnight; sometimes he slipped over the smooth +grass, or fell over stones that projected out of the rocky ground. +Every thing was dripping with moisture, and the poor prince had not +a dry thread about him. He was obliged at last to climb over great +blocks of stone, with water spurting from the thick moss. He began +to feel quite faint, when he heard a most singular rushing noise, +and saw before him a large cave, from which came a blaze of light. +In the middle of the cave an immense fire was burning, and a noble +stag, with its branching horns, was placed on a spit between the +trunks of two pine-trees. It was turning slowly before the fire, and +an elderly woman, as large and strong as if she had been a man in +disguise, sat by, throwing one piece of wood after another into the +flames. +</P> + +<P> +"Come in," she said to the prince; "sit down by the fire and dry +yourself." +</P> + +<P> +"There is a great draught here," said the prince, as he seated +himself on the ground. +</P> + +<P> +"It will be worse when my sons come home," replied the woman; "you +are now in the cavern of the Winds, and my sons are the four Winds +of heaven: can you understand that?" +</P> + +<P> +"Where are your sons?" asked the prince. +</P> + +<P> +"It is difficult to answer stupid questions," said the woman. +"My sons have plenty of business on hand; they are playing at +shuttlecock with the clouds up yonder in the king's hall," and she +pointed upwards. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, indeed," said the prince; "but you speak more roughly and +harshly and are not so gentle as the women I am used to." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, that is because they have nothing else to do; but I am +obliged to be harsh, to keep my boys in order, and I can do it, +although they are so head-strong. Do you see those four sacks +hanging on the wall? Well, they are just as much afraid of those +sacks, as you used to be of the rat behind the looking-glass. I can +bend the boys together, and put them in the sacks without any +resistance on their parts, I can tell you. There they stay, and dare +not attempt to come out until I allow them to do so. And here comes +one of them." +</P> + +<P> +It was the North Wind who came in, bringing with him a cold, +piercing blast; large hailstones rattled on the floor, and +snowflakes were scattered around in all directions. He wore a bearskin +dress and cloak. His sealskin cap was drawn over his ears, long +icicles hung from his beard, and one hailstone after another rolled +from the collar of his jacket. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't go too near the fire," said the prince, "or your hands +and face will be frost-bitten." +</P> + +<P> +"Frost-bitten!" said the North Wind, with a loud laugh; "why frost +is my greatest delight. What sort of a little snip are you, and how +did you find your way to the cavern of the Winds?" +</P> + +<P> +"He is my guest," said the old woman, "and if you are not +satisfied with that explanation you can go into the sack. Do you +understand me?" +</P> + +<P> +That settled the matter. So the North Wind began to relate his +adventures, whence he came, and where he had been for a whole month. +"I come from the polar seas," he said; "I have been on the Bear's +Island with the Russian walrus-hunters. I sat and slept at the helm of +their ship, as they sailed away from North Cape. Sometimes when I +woke, the storm-birds would fly about my legs. They are curious birds; +they give one flap with their wings, and then on their outstretched +pinions soar far away. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't make such a long story of it," said the mother of the +winds; "what sort of a place is Bear's Island?" +</P> + +<P> +"A very beautiful place, with a floor for dancing as smooth and +flat as a plate. Half-melted snow, partly covered with moss, sharp +stones, and skeletons of walruses and polar-bears, lie all about, +their gigantic limbs in a state of green decay. It would seem as if +the sun never shone there. I blew gently, to clear away the mist, +and then I saw a little hut, which had been built from the wood of a +wreck, and was covered with the skins of the walrus, the fleshy side +outwards; it looked green and red, and on the roof sat a growling +bear. Then I went to the sea shore, to look after birds' nests, and +saw the unfledged nestlings opening their mouths and screaming for +food. I blew into the thousand little throats, and quickly stopped +their screaming. Farther on were the walruses with pig's heads, and +teeth a yard long, rolling about like great worms. +</P> + +<P> +"You relate your adventures very well, my son," said the mother, +"it makes my mouth water to hear you. +</P> + +<P> +"After that," continued the North Wind, "the hunting commenced. +The harpoon was flung into the breast of the walrus, so that a smoking +stream of blood spurted forth like a fountain, and besprinkled the +ice. Then I thought of my own game; I began to blow, and set my own +ships, the great icebergs sailing, so that they might crush the boats. +Oh, how the sailors howled and cried out! but I howled louder than +they. They were obliged to unload their cargo, and throw their +chests and the dead walruses on the ice. Then I sprinkled snow over +them, and left them in their crushed boats to drift southward, and +to taste salt water. They will never return to Bear's Island." +</P> + +<P> +"So you have done mischief," said the mother of the Winds. +</P> + +<P> +"I shall leave others to tell the good I have done," he replied. +"But here comes my brother from the West; I like him best of all, +for he has the smell of the sea about him, and brings in a cold, fresh +air as he enters." +</P> + +<P> +"Is that the little Zephyr?" asked the prince. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, it is the little Zephyr," said the old woman; "but he is not +little now. In years gone by he was a beautiful boy; now that is all +past." +</P> + +<P> +He came in, looking like a wild man, and he wore a slouched hat to +protect his head from injury. In his hand he carried a club, cut +from a mahogany tree in the American forests, not a trifle to carry. +</P> + +<P> +"Whence do you come?" asked the mother. +</P> + +<P> +"I come from the wilds of the forests, where the thorny brambles +form thick hedges between the trees; where the water-snake lies in the +wet grass, and mankind seem to be unknown." +</P> + +<P> +"What were you doing there?" +</P> + +<P> +"I looked into the deep river, and saw it rushing down from the +rocks. The water drops mounted to the clouds and glittered in the +rainbow. I saw the wild buffalo swimming in the river, but the +strong tide carried him away amidst a flock of wild ducks, which +flew into the air as the waters dashed onwards, leaving the buffalo to +be hurled over the waterfall. This pleased me; so I raised a storm, +which rooted up old trees, and sent them floating down the river." +</P> + +<P> +"And what else have you done?" asked the old woman. +</P> + +<P> +"I have rushed wildly across the savannahs; I have stroked the +wild horses, and shaken the cocoa-nuts from the trees. Yes, I have +many stories to relate; but I need not tell everything I know. You +know it all very well, don't you, old lady?" And he kissed his +mother so roughly, that she nearly fell backwards. Oh, he was, indeed, +a wild fellow. +</P> + +<P> +Now in came the South Wind, with a turban and a flowing Bedouin +cloak. +</P> + +<P> +"How cold it is here!" said he, throwing more wood on the fire. +"It is easy to feel that the North Wind has arrived here before me." +</P> + +<P> +"Why it is hot enough here to roast a bear," said the North Wind. +</P> + +<P> +"You are a bear yourself," said the other. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you want to be put in the sack, both of you?" said the old +woman. "Sit down, now, on that stone, yonder, and tell me where you +have been." +</P> + +<P> +"In Africa, mother. I went out with the Hottentots, who were +lion-hunting in the Kaffir land, where the plains are covered with +grass the color of a green olive; and here I ran races with the +ostrich, but I soon outstripped him in swiftness. At last I came to +the desert, in which lie the golden sands, looking like the bottom +of the sea. Here I met a caravan, and the travellers had just killed +their last camel, to obtain water; there was very little for them, and +they continued their painful journey beneath the burning sun, and over +the hot sands, which stretched before them a vast, boundless desert. +Then I rolled myself in the loose sand, and whirled it in burning +columns over their heads. The dromedarys stood still in terror, +while the merchants drew their caftans over their heads, and threw +themselves on the ground before me, as they do before Allah, their +god. Then I buried them beneath a pyramid of sand, which covers them +all. When I blow that away on my next visit, the sun will bleach their +bones, and travellers will see that others have been there before +them; otherwise, in such a wild desert, they might not believe it +possible." +</P> + +<P> +"So you have done nothing but evil," said the mother. "Into the +sack with you;" and, before he was aware, she had seized the South +Wind round the body, and popped him into the bag. He rolled about on +the floor, till she sat herself upon him to keep him still. +</P> + +<P> +"These boys of yours are very lively," said the prince. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," she replied, "but I know how to correct them, when +necessary; and here comes the fourth." In came the East Wind, +dressed like a Chinese. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, you come from that quarter, do you?" said she; "I thought you +had been to the garden of paradise." +</P> + +<P> +"I am going there to-morrow," he replied; "I have not been there +for a hundred years. I have just come from China, where I danced round +the porcelain tower till all the bells jingled again. In the streets +an official flogging was taking place, and bamboo canes were being +broken on the shoulders of men of every high position, from the +first to the ninth grade. They cried, 'Many thanks, my fatherly +benefactor;' but I am sure the words did not come from their hearts, +so I rang the bells till they sounded, 'ding, ding-dong.'" +</P> + +<P> +"You are a wild boy," said the old woman; "it is well for you that +you are going to-morrow to the garden of paradise; you always get +improved in your education there. Drink deeply from the fountain of +wisdom while you are there, and bring home a bottleful for me." +</P> + +<P> +"That I will," said the East Wind; "but why have you put my +brother South in a bag? Let him out; for I want him to tell me about +the phoenix-bird. The princess always wants to hear of this bird +when I pay her my visit every hundred years. If you will open the +sack, sweetest mother, I will give you two pocketfuls of tea, green +and fresh as when I gathered it from the spot where it grew." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, for the sake of the tea, and because you are my own boy, +I will open the bag." +</P> + +<P> +She did so, and the South Wind crept out, looking quite cast down, +because the prince had seen his disgrace. +</P> + +<P> +"There is a palm-leaf for the princess," he said. "The old +phoenix, the only one in the world, gave it to me himself. He has +scratched on it with his beak the whole of his history during the +hundred years he has lived. She can there read how the old phoenix set +fire to his own nest, and sat upon it while it was burning, like a +Hindoo widow. The dry twigs around the nest crackled and smoked till +the flames burst forth and consumed the phoenix to ashes. Amidst the +fire lay an egg, red hot, which presently burst with a loud report, +and out flew a young bird. He is the only phoenix in the world, and +the king over all the other birds. He has bitten a hole in the leaf +which I give you, and that is his greeting to the princess." +</P> + +<P> +"Now let us have something to eat," said the mother of the +Winds. So they all sat down to feast on the roasted stag; and as the +prince sat by the side of the East Wind, they soon became good +friends. +</P> + +<P> +"Pray tell me," said the prince, "who is that princess of whom you +have been talking! and where lies the garden of paradise?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ho! ho!" said the East Wind, "would you like to go there? Well, +you can fly off with me to-morrow; but I must tell you one thing—no +human being has been there since the time of Adam and Eve. I suppose +you have read of them in your Bible." +</P> + +<P> +"Of course I have," said the prince. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," continued the East Wind, "when they were driven out of the +garden of paradise, it sunk into the earth; but it retained its warm +sunshine, its balmy air, and all its splendor. The fairy queen lives +there, in the island of happiness, where death never comes, and all is +beautiful. I can manage to take you there to-morrow, if you will sit +on my back. But now don't talk any more, for I want to go to sleep;" +and then they all slept. +</P> + +<P> +When the prince awoke in the early morning, he was not a little +surprised at finding himself high up above the clouds. He was seated +on the back of the East Wind, who held him faithfully; and they were +so high in the air that woods and fields, rivers and lakes, as they +lay beneath them, looked like a painted map. +</P> + +<P> +"Good morning," said the East Wind. "You might have slept on a +while; for there is very little to see in the flat country over +which we are passing unless you like to count the churches; they +look like spots of chalk on a green board." The green board was the +name he gave to the green fields and meadows. +</P> + +<P> +"It was very rude of me not to say good-bye to your mother and +your brothers," said the prince. +</P> + +<P> +"They will excuse you, as you were asleep," said the East Wind; +and then they flew on faster than ever. +</P> + +<P> +The leaves and branches of the trees rustled as they passed. +When they flew over seas and lakes, the waves rose higher, and the +large ships dipped into the water like diving swans. As darkness +came on, towards evening, the great towns looked charming; lights were +sparkling, now seen now hidden, just as the sparks go out one after +another on a piece of burnt paper. The prince clapped his hands with +pleasure; but the East Wind advised him not to express his +admiration in that manner, or he might fall down, and find himself +hanging on a church steeple. The eagle in the dark forests flies +swiftly; but faster than he flew the East Wind. The Cossack, on his +small horse, rides lightly o'er the plains; but lighter still passed +the prince on the winds of the wind. +</P> + +<P> +"There are the Himalayas, the highest mountains in Asia," said the +East Wind. "We shall soon reach the garden of paradise now." +</P> + +<P> +Then, they turned southward, and the air became fragrant with +the perfume of spices and flowers. Here figs and pomegranates grew +wild, and the vines were covered with clusters of blue and purple +grapes. Here they both descended to the earth, and stretched +themselves on the soft grass, while the flowers bowed to the breath of +the wind as if to welcome it. "Are we now in the garden of +paradise?" asked the prince. +</P> + +<P> +"No, indeed," replied the East Wind; "but we shall be there very +soon. Do you see that wall of rocks, and the cavern beneath it, over +which the grape vines hang like a green curtain? Through that cavern +we must pass. Wrap your cloak round you; for while the sun scorches +you here, a few steps farther it will be icy cold. The bird flying +past the entrance to the cavern feels as if one wing were in the +region of summer, and the other in the depths of winter." +</P> + +<P> +"So this then is the way to the garden of paradise?" asked the +prince, as they entered the cavern. It was indeed cold; but the cold +soon passed, for the East Wind spread his wings, and they gleamed like +the brightest fire. As they passed on through this wonderful cave, the +prince could see great blocks of stone, from which water trickled, +hanging over their heads in fantastic shapes. Sometimes it was so +narrow that they had to creep on their hands and knees, while at other +times it was lofty and wide, like the free air. It had the +appearance of a chapel for the dead, with petrified organs and +silent pipes. "We seem to be passing through the valley of death to +the garden of paradise," said the prince. +</P> + +<P> +But the East Wind answered not a word, only pointed forwards to +a lovely blue light which gleamed in the distance. The blocks of stone +assumed a misty appearance, till at last they looked like white clouds +in moonlight. The air was fresh and balmy, like a breeze from the +mountains perfumed with flowers from a valley of roses. A river, clear +as the air itself, sparkled at their feet, while in its clear depths +could be seen gold and silver fish sporting in the bright water, and +purple eels emitting sparks of fire at every moment, while the broad +leaves of the water-lilies, that floated on its surface, flickered +with all the colors of the rainbow. The flower in its color of flame +seemed to receive its nourishment from the water, as a lamp is +sustained by oil. A marble bridge, of such exquisite workmanship +that it appeared as if formed of lace and pearls, led to the island of +happiness, in which bloomed the garden of paradise. The East Wind took +the prince in his arms, and carried him over, while the flowers and +the leaves sang the sweet songs of his childhood in tones so full +and soft that no human voice could venture to imitate. Within the +garden grew large trees, full of sap; but whether they were palm-trees +or gigantic water-plants, the prince knew not. The climbing plants +hung in garlands of green and gold, like the illuminations on the +margins of old missals or twined among the initial letters. Birds, +flowers, and festoons appeared intermingled in seeming confusion. +Close by, on the grass, stood a group of peacocks, with radiant +tails outspread to the sun. The prince touched them, and found, to his +surprise, that they were not really birds, but the leaves of the +burdock tree, which shone with the colors of a peacock's tail. The +lion and the tiger, gentle and tame, were springing about like playful +cats among the green bushes, whose perfume was like the fragrant +blossom of the olive. The plumage of the wood-pigeon glistened like +pearls as it struck the lion's mane with its wings; while the +antelope, usually so shy, stood near, nodding its head as if it wished +to join in the frolic. The fairy of paradise next made her appearance. +Her raiment shone like the sun, and her serene countenance beamed with +happiness like that of a mother rejoicing over her child. She was +young and beautiful, and a train of lovely maidens followed her, +each wearing a bright star in her hair. The East Wind gave her the +palm-leaf, on which was written the history of the phoenix; and her +eyes sparkled with joy. She then took the prince by the hand, and +led him into her palace, the walls of which were richly colored, +like a tulip-leaf when it is turned to the sun. The roof had the +appearance of an inverted flower, and the colors grew deeper and +brighter to the gazer. The prince walked to a window, and saw what +appeared to be the tree of knowledge of good and evil, with Adam and +Eve standing by, and the serpent near them. "I thought they were +banished from paradise," he said. +</P> + +<P> +The princess smiled, and told him that time had engraved each +event on a window-pane in the form of a picture; but, unlike other +pictures, all that it represented lived and moved,—the leaves +rustled, and the persons went and came, as in a looking-glass. He +looked through another pane, and saw the ladder in Jacob's dream, on +which the angels were ascending and descending with outspread wings. +All that had ever happened in the world here lived and moved on the +panes of glass, in pictures such as time alone could produce. The +fairy now led the prince into a large, lofty room with transparent +walls, through which the light shone. Here were portraits, each one +appearing more beautiful than the other—millions of happy beings, +whose laughter and song mingled in one sweet melody: some of these +were in such an elevated position that they appeared smaller than +the smallest rosebud, or like pencil dots on paper. In the centre of +the hall stood a tree, with drooping branches, from which hung +golden apples, both great and small, looking like oranges amid the +green leaves. It was the tree of knowledge of good and evil, from +which Adam and Eve had plucked and eaten the forbidden fruit, and from +each leaf trickled a bright red dewdrop, as if the tree were weeping +tears of blood for their sin. "Let us now take the boat," said the +fairy: "a sail on the cool waters will refresh us. But we shall not +move from the spot, although the boat may rock on the swelling +water; the countries of the world will glide before us, but we shall +remain still." +</P> + +<P> +It was indeed wonderful to behold. First came the lofty Alps, +snow-clad, and covered with clouds and dark pines. The horn resounded, +and the shepherds sang merrily in the valleys. The banana-trees bent +their drooping branches over the boat, black swans floated on the +water, and singular animals and flowers appeared on the distant shore. +New Holland, the fifth division of the world, now glided by, with +mountains in the background, looking blue in the distance. They +heard the song of the priests, and saw the wild dance of the savage to +the sound of the drums and trumpets of bone; the pyramids of Egypt +rising to the clouds; columns and sphinxes, overthrown and buried in +the sand, followed in their turn; while the northern lights flashed +out over the extinguished volcanoes of the north, in fireworks none +could imitate. +</P> + +<P> +The prince was delighted, and yet he saw hundreds of other +wonderful things more than can be described. "Can I stay here +forever?" asked he. +</P> + +<P> +"That depends upon yourself," replied the fairy. "If you do not, +like Adam, long for what is forbidden, you can remain here always." +</P> + +<P> +"I should not touch the fruit on the tree of knowledge," said +the prince; "there is abundance of fruit equally beautiful." +</P> + +<P> +"Examine your own heart," said the princess, "and if you do not +feel sure of its strength, return with the East Wind who brought +you. He is about to fly back, and will not return here for a hundred +years. The time will not seem to you more than a hundred hours, yet +even that is a long time for temptation and resistance. Every evening, +when I leave you, I shall be obliged to say, 'Come with me,' and to +beckon to you with my hand. But you must not listen, nor move from +your place to follow me; for with every step you will find your +power to resist weaker. If once you attempted to follow me, you +would soon find yourself in the hall, where grows the tree of +knowledge, for I sleep beneath its perfumed branches. If you stooped +over me, I should be forced to smile. If you then kissed my lips, +the garden of paradise would sink into the earth, and to you it +would be lost. A keen wind from the desert would howl around you; cold +rain fall on your head, and sorrow and woe be your future lot." +</P> + +<P> +"I will remain," said the prince. +</P> + +<P> +So the East Wind kissed him on the forehead, and said, "Be firm; +then shall we meet again when a hundred years have passed. Farewell, +farewell." Then the East Wind spread his broad pinions, which shone +like the lightning in harvest, or as the northern lights in a cold +winter. +</P> + +<P> +"Farewell, farewell," echoed the trees and the flowers. +</P> + +<P> +Storks and pelicans flew after him in feathery bands, to accompany +him to the boundaries of the garden. +</P> + +<P> +"Now we will commence dancing," said the fairy; "and when it is +nearly over at sunset, while I am dancing with you, I shall make a +sign, and ask you to follow me: but do not obey. I shall be obliged to +repeat the same thing for a hundred years; and each time, when the +trial is past, if you resist, you will gain strength, till +resistance becomes easy, and at last the temptation will be quite +overcome. This evening, as it will be the first time, I have warned +you." +</P> + +<P> +After this the fairy led him into a large hall, filled with +transparent lilies. The yellow stamina of each flower formed a tiny +golden harp, from which came forth strains of music like the mingled +tones of flute and lyre. Beautiful maidens, slender and graceful in +form, and robed in transparent gauze, floated through the dance, and +sang of the happy life in the garden of paradise, where death never +entered, and where all would bloom forever in immortal youth. As the +sun went down, the whole heavens became crimson and gold, and tinted +the lilies with the hue of roses. Then the beautiful maidens offered +to the prince sparkling wine; and when he had drank, he felt happiness +greater than he had ever known before. Presently the background of the +hall opened and the tree of knowledge appeared, surrounded by a halo +of glory that almost blinded him. Voices, soft and lovely as his +mother's sounded in his ears, as if she were singing to him, "My +child, my beloved child." Then the fairy beckoned to him, and said +in sweet accents, "Come with me, come with me." Forgetting his +promise, forgetting it even on the very first evening, he rushed +towards her, while she continued to beckon to him and to smile. The +fragrance around him overpowered his senses, the music from the +harps sounded more entrancing, while around the tree appeared millions +of smiling faces, nodding and singing. "Man should know everything; +man is the lord of the earth." The tree of knowledge no longer wept +tears of blood, for the dewdrops shone like glittering stars. +</P> + +<P> +"Come, come," continued that thrilling voice, and the prince +followed the call. At every step his cheeks glowed, and the blood +rushed wildly through his veins. "I must follow," he cried; "it is not +a sin, it cannot be, to follow beauty and joy. I only want to see +her sleep, and nothing will happen unless I kiss her, and that I +will not do, for I have strength to resist, and a determined will." +</P> + +<P> +The fairy threw off her dazzling attire, bent back the boughs, and +in another moment was hidden among them. +</P> + +<P> +"I have not sinned yet," said the prince, "and I will not;" and +then he pushed aside the boughs to follow the princess. She was +lying already asleep, beautiful as only a fairy in the garden of +paradise could be. She smiled as he bent over her, and he saw tears +trembling out of her beautiful eyelashes. "Do you weep for me?" he +whispered. "Oh weep not, thou loveliest of women. Now do I begin to +understand the happiness of paradise; I feel it to my inmost soul, +in every thought. A new life is born within me. One moment of such +happiness is worth an eternity of darkness and woe." He stooped and +kissed the tears from her eyes, and touched her lips with his. +</P> + +<P> +A clap of thunder, loud and awful, resounded through the trembling +air. All around him fell into ruin. The lovely fairy, the beautiful +garden, sunk deeper and deeper. The prince saw it sinking down in +the dark night till it shone only like a star in the distance +beneath him. Then he felt a coldness, like death, creeping over him; +his eyes closed, and he became insensible. +</P> + +<P> +When he recovered, a chilling rain was beating upon him, and a +sharp wind blew on his head. "Alas! what have I done?" he sighed; "I +have sinned like Adam, and the garden of paradise has sunk into the +earth." He opened his eyes, and saw the star in the distance, but it +was the morning star in heaven which glittered in the darkness. +</P> + +<P> +Presently he stood up and found himself in the depths of the +forest, close to the cavern of the Winds, and the mother of the +Winds sat by his side. She looked angry, and raised her arm in the air +as she spoke. "The very first evening!" she said. "Well, I expected +it! If you were my son, you should go into the sack." +</P> + +<P> +"And there he will have to go at last," said a strong old man, +with large black wings, and a scythe in his hand, whose name was +Death. "He shall be laid in his coffin, but not yet. I will allow +him to wander about the world for a while, to atone for his sin, and +to give him time to become better. But I shall return when he least +expects me. I shall lay him in a black coffin, place it on my head, +and fly away with it beyond the stars. There also blooms a garden of +paradise, and if he is good and pious he will be admitted; but if +his thoughts are bad, and his heart is full of sin, he will sink +with his coffin deeper than the garden of paradise has sunk. Once in +every thousand years I shall go and fetch him, when he will either +be condemned to sink still deeper, or be raised to a happier life in +the world beyond the stars." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="pea_blos"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE PEA BLOSSOM +</H3> + +<P> +There were once five peas in one shell, they were green, the shell +was green, and so they believed that the whole world must be green +also, which was a very natural conclusion. The shell grew, and the +peas grew, they accommodated themselves to their position, and sat all +in a row. The sun shone without and warmed the shell, and the rain +made it clear and transparent; it was mild and agreeable in broad +daylight, and dark at night, as it generally is; and the peas as +they sat there grew bigger and bigger, and more thoughtful as they +mused, for they felt there must be something else for them to do. +</P> + +<P> +"Are we to sit here forever?" asked one; "shall we not become hard +by sitting so long? It seems to me there must be something outside, +and I feel sure of it." +</P> + +<P> +And as weeks passed by, the peas became yellow, and the shell +became yellow. +</P> + +<P> +"All the world is turning yellow, I suppose," said they,—and +perhaps they were right. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly they felt a pull at the shell; it was torn off, and +held in human hands, then slipped into the pocket of a jacket in +company with other full pods. +</P> + +<P> +"Now we shall soon be opened," said one,—just what they all +wanted. +</P> + +<P> +"I should like to know which of us will travel furthest," said the +smallest of the five; "we shall soon see now." +</P> + +<P> +"What is to happen will happen," said the largest pea. +</P> + +<P> +"Crack" went the shell as it burst, and the five peas rolled out +into the bright sunshine. There they lay in a child's hand. A little +boy was holding them tightly, and said they were fine peas for his +pea-shooter. And immediately he put one in and shot it out. +</P> + +<P> +"Now I am flying out into the wide world," said he; "catch me if +you can;" and he was gone in a moment. +</P> + +<P> +"I," said the second, "intend to fly straight to the sun, that +is a shell that lets itself be seen, and it will suit me exactly;" and +away he went. +</P> + +<P> +"We will go to sleep wherever we find ourselves," said the two +next, "we shall still be rolling onwards;" and they did certainly fall +on the floor, and roll about before they got into the pea-shooter; but +they were put in for all that. "We shall go farther than the +others," said they. +</P> + +<P> +"What is to happen will happen," exclaimed the last, as he was +shot out of the pea-shooter; and as he spoke he flew up against an old +board under a garret-window, and fell into a little crevice, which was +almost filled up with moss and soft earth. The moss closed itself +round him, and there he lay, a captive indeed, but not unnoticed by +God. +</P> + +<P> +"What is to happen will happen," said he to himself. +</P> + +<P> +Within the little garret lived a poor woman, who went out to clean +stoves, chop wood into small pieces and perform such-like hard work, +for she was strong and industrious. Yet she remained always poor, +and at home in the garret lay her only daughter, not quite grown up, +and very delicate and weak. For a whole year she had kept her bed, and +it seemed as if she could neither live nor die. +</P> + +<P> +"She is going to her little sister," said the woman; "I had but +the two children, and it was not an easy thing to support both of +them; but the good God helped me in my work, and took one of them to +Himself and provided for her. Now I would gladly keep the other that +was left to me, but I suppose they are not to be separated, and my +sick girl will very soon go to her sister above." But the sick girl +still remained where she was, quietly and patiently she lay all the +day long, while her mother was away from home at her work. +</P> + +<P> +Spring came, and one morning early the sun shone brightly +through the little window, and threw its rays over the floor of the +room. Just as the mother was going to her work, the sick girl fixed +her gaze on the lowest pane of the window—"Mother," she exclaimed, +"what can that little green thing be that peeps in at the window? It +is moving in the wind." +</P> + +<P> +The mother stepped to the window and half opened it. "Oh!" she +said, "there is actually a little pea which has taken root and is +putting out its green leaves. How could it have got into this crack? +Well now, here is a little garden for you to amuse yourself with." +So the bed of the sick girl was drawn nearer to the window, that she +might see the budding plant; and the mother went out to her work. +</P> + +<P> +"Mother, I believe I shall get well," said the sick child in the +evening, "the sun has shone in here so brightly and warmly to-day, and +the little pea is thriving so well: I shall get on better, too, and go +out into the warm sunshine again." +</P> + +<P> +"God grant it!" said the mother, but she did not believe it +would be so. But she propped up with the little stick the green +plant which had given her child such pleasant hopes of life, so that +it might not be broken by the winds; she tied the piece of string to +the window-sill and to the upper part of the frame, so that the +pea-tendrils might twine round it when it shot up. And it did shoot +up, indeed it might almost be seen to grow from day to day. +</P> + +<P> +"Now really here is a flower coming," said the old woman one +morning, and now at last she began to encourage the hope that her sick +daughter might really recover. She remembered that for some time the +child had spoken more cheerfully, and during the last few days had +raised herself in bed in the morning to look with sparkling eyes at +her little garden which contained only a single pea-plant. A week +after, the invalid sat up for the first time a whole hour, feeling +quite happy by the open window in the warm sunshine, while outside +grew the little plant, and on it a pink pea-blossom in full bloom. The +little maiden bent down and gently kissed the delicate leaves. This +day was to her like a festival. +</P> + +<P> +"Our heavenly Father Himself has planted that pea, and made it +grow and flourish, to bring joy to you and hope to me, my blessed +child," said the happy mother, and she smiled at the flower, as if +it had been an angel from God. +</P> + +<P> +But what became of the other peas? Why the one who flew out into +the wide world, and said, "Catch me if you can," fell into a gutter +on the roof of a house, and ended his travels in the crop of a +pigeon. The two lazy ones were carried quite as far, for they also +were eaten by pigeons, so they were at least of some use; but the +fourth, who wanted to reach the sun, fell into a sink and lay there +in the dirty water for days and weeks, till he had swelled to a great +size. +</P> + +<P> +"I am getting beautifully fat," said the pea, "I expect I shall +burst at last; no pea could do more that that, I think; I am the +most remarkable of all the five which were in the shell." And the sink +confirmed the opinion. +</P> + +<P> +But the young maiden stood at the open garret window, with +sparkling eyes and the rosy hue of health on her cheeks, she folded +her thin hands over the pea-blossom, and thanked God for what He had +done. +</P> + +<P> +"I," said the sink, "shall stand up for my pea." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="pen_ink"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE PEN AND THE INKSTAND +</H3> + +<P> +In a poet's room, where his inkstand stood on the table, the +remark was once made, "It is wonderful what can be brought out of an +inkstand. What will come next? It is indeed wonderful." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, certainly," said the inkstand to the pen, and to the other +articles that stood on the table; "that's what I always say. It is +wonderful and extraordinary what a number of things come out of me. +It's quite incredible, and I really don't know what is coming next +when that man dips his pen into me. One drop out of me is enough for +half a page of paper, and what cannot half a page contain? From me, +all the works of a poet are produced; all those imaginary characters +whom people fancy they have known or met. All the deep feeling, the +humor, and the vivid pictures of nature. I myself don't understand how +it is, for I am not acquainted with nature, but it is certainly in me. +From me have gone forth to the world those wonderful descriptions of +troops of charming maidens, and of brave knights on prancing steeds; +of the halt and the blind, and I know not what more, for I assure +you I never think of these things." +</P> + +<P> +"There you are right," said the pen, "for you don't think at +all; if you did, you would see that you can only provide the means. +You give the fluid that I may place upon the paper what dwells in +me, and what I wish to bring to light. It is the pen that writes: no +man doubts that; and, indeed, most people understand as much about +poetry as an old inkstand." +</P> + +<P> +"You have had very little experience," replied the inkstand. +"You have hardly been in service a week, and are already half worn +out. Do you imagine you are a poet? You are only a servant, and before +you came I had many like you, some of the goose family, and others +of English manufacture. I know a quill pen as well as I know a steel +one. I have had both sorts in my service, and I shall have many more +when he comes—the man who performs the mechanical part—and writes +down what he obtains from me. I should like to know what will be the +next thing he gets out of me." +</P> + +<P> +"Inkpot!" exclaimed the pen contemptuously. +</P> + +<P> +Late in the evening the poet came home. He had been to a +concert, and had been quite enchanted with the admirable performance +of a famous violin player whom he had heard there. The performer had +produced from his instrument a richness of tone that sometimes sounded +like tinkling waterdrops or rolling pearls; sometimes like the birds +twittering in chorus, and then rising and swelling in sound like the +wind through the fir-trees. The poet felt as if his own heart were +weeping, but in tones of melody like the sound of a woman's voice. +It seemed not only the strings, but every part of the instrument +from which these sounds were produced. It was a wonderful +performance and a difficult piece, and yet the bow seemed to glide +across the strings so easily that it was as if any one could do it who +tried. Even the violin and the bow appeared to perform independently +of their master who guided them; it was as if soul and spirit had been +breathed into the instrument, so the audience forgot the performer +in the beautiful sounds he produced. Not so the poet; he remembered +him, and named him, and wrote down his thoughts on the subject. "How +foolish it would be for the violin and the bow to boast of their +performance, and yet we men often commit that folly. The poet, the +artist, the man of science in his laboratory, the general,—we all +do it; and yet we are only the instruments which the Almighty uses; to +Him alone the honor is due. We have nothing of ourselves of which we +should be proud." Yes, this is what the poet wrote down. He wrote it +in the form of a parable, and called it "The Master and the +Instruments." +</P> + +<P> +"That is what you have got, madam," said the pen to the +inkstand, when the two were alone again. "Did you hear him read +aloud what I had written down?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, what I gave you to write," retorted the inkstand. "That +was a cut at you because of your conceit. To think that you could +not understand that you were being quizzed. I gave you a cut from +within me. Surely I must know my own satire." +</P> + +<P> +"Ink-pitcher!" cried the pen. +</P> + +<P> +"Writing-stick!" retorted the inkstand. And each of them felt +satisfied that he had given a good answer. It is pleasing to be +convinced that you have settled a matter by your reply; it is +something to make you sleep well, and they both slept well upon it. +But the poet did not sleep. Thoughts rose up within him like the +tones of the violin, falling like pearls, or rushing like the strong +wind through the forest. He understood his own heart in these +thoughts; they were as a ray from the mind of the Great Master of all +minds. +</P> + +<P> +"To Him be all the honor." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="ph_stone"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE +</H3> + +<P> +Far away towards the east, in India, which seemed in those days +the world's end, stood the Tree of the Sun; a noble tree, such as we +have never seen, and perhaps never may see. +</P> + +<P> +The summit of this tree spread itself for miles like an entire +forest, each of its smaller branches forming a complete tree. Palms, +beech-trees, pines, plane-trees, and various other kinds, which are +found in all parts of the world, were here like small branches, +shooting forth from the great tree; while the larger boughs, with +their knots and curves, formed valleys and hills, clothed with velvety +green and covered with flowers. Everywhere it was like a blooming +meadow or a lovely garden. Here were birds from all quarters of the +world assembled together; birds from the primeval forests of +America, from the rose gardens of Damascus, and from the deserts of +Africa, in which the elephant and the lion may boast of being the only +rulers. Birds from the Polar regions came flying here, and of course +the stork and the swallow were not absent. But the birds were not +the only living creatures. There were stags, squirrels, antelopes, and +hundreds of other beautiful and light-footed animals here found a +home. +</P> + +<P> +The summit of the tree was a wide-spreading garden, and in the +midst of it, where the green boughs formed a kind of hill, stood a +castle of crystal, with a view from it towards every quarter of +heaven. Each tower was erected in the form of a lily, and within the +stern was a winding staircase, through which one could ascend to the +top and step out upon the leaves as upon balconies. The calyx of the +flower itself formed a most beautiful, glittering, circular hall, +above which no other roof arose than the blue firmament and the sun +and stars. +</P> + +<P> +Just as much splendor, but of another kind, appeared below, in the +wide halls of the castle. Here, on the walls, were reflected +pictures of the world, which represented numerous and varied scenes of +everything that took place daily, so that it was useless to read the +newspapers, and indeed there were none to be obtained in this spot. +All was to be seen in living pictures by those who wished it, but +all would have been too much for even the wisest man, and this man +dwelt here. His name is very difficult; you would not be able to +pronounce it, so it may be omitted. He knew everything that a man on +earth can know or imagine. Every invention already in existence or yet +to be, was known to him, and much more; still everything on earth +has a limit. The wise king Solomon was not half so wise as this man. +He could govern the powers of nature and held sway over potent +spirits; even Death itself was obliged to give him every morning a +list of those who were to die during the day. And King Solomon himself +had to die at last, and this fact it was which so often occupied the +thoughts of this great man in the castle on the Tree of the Sun. He +knew that he also, however high he might tower above other men in +wisdom, must one day die. He knew that his children would fade away +like the leaves of the forest and become dust. He saw the human race +wither and fall like leaves from the tree; he saw new men come to fill +their places, but the leaves that fell off never sprouted forth again; +they crumbled to dust or were absorbed into other plants. +</P> + +<P> +"What happens to man," asked the wise man of himself, "when +touched by the angel of death? What can death be? The body decays, and +the soul. Yes; what is the soul, and whither does it go?" +</P> + +<P> +"To eternal life," says the comforting voice of religion. +</P> + +<P> +"But what is this change? Where and how shall we exist?" +</P> + +<P> +"Above; in heaven," answers the pious man; "it is there we hope to +go." +</P> + +<P> +"Above!" repeated the wise man, fixing his eyes upon the moon +and stars above him. He saw that to this earthly sphere above and +below were constantly changing places, and that the position varied +according to the spot on which a man found himself. He knew, also, +that even if he ascended to the top of the highest mountain which +rears its lofty summit on this earth, the air, which to us seems clear +and transparent, would there be dark and cloudy; the sun would have +a coppery glow and send forth no rays, and our earth would lie beneath +him wrapped in an orange-colored mist. How narrow are the limits which +confine the bodily sight, and how little can be seen by the eye of the +soul. How little do the wisest among us know of that which is so +important to us all. +</P> + +<P> +In the most secret chamber of the castle lay the greatest treasure +on earth—the Book of Truth. The wise man had read it through page +after page. Every man may read in this book, but only in fragments. To +many eyes the characters seem so mixed in confusion that the words +cannot be distinguished. On certain pages the writing often appears so +pale or so blurred that the page becomes a blank. The wiser a man +becomes, the more he will read, and those who are wisest read most. +</P> + +<P> +The wise man knew how to unite the sunlight and the moonlight with +the light of reason and the hidden powers of nature; and through +this stronger light, many things in the pages were made clear to +him. But in the portion of the book entitled "Life after Death" not +a single point could he see distinctly. This pained him. Should he +never be able here on earth to obtain a light by which everything +written in the Book of Truth should become clear to him? Like the wise +King Solomon, he understood the language of animals, and could +interpret their talk into song; but that made him none the wiser. He +found out the nature of plants and metals, and their power in curing +diseases and arresting death, but none to destroy death itself. In all +created things within his reach he sought the light that should +shine upon the certainty of an eternal life, but he found it not. +The Book of Truth lay open before him, but, its pages were to him as +blank paper. Christianity placed before him in the Bible a promise +of eternal life, but he wanted to read it in his book, in which +nothing on the subject appeared to be written. +</P> + +<P> +He had five children; four sons, educated as the children of +such a wise father should be, and a daughter, fair, gentle, and +intelligent, but she was blind; yet this deprivation appeared as +nothing to her; her father and brothers were outward eyes to her, +and a vivid imagination made everything clear to her mental sight. The +sons had never gone farther from the castle than the branches of the +trees extended, and the sister had scarcely ever left home. They +were happy children in that home of their childhood, the beautiful and +fragrant Tree of the Sun. Like all children, they loved to hear +stories related to them, and their father told them many things +which other children would not have understood; but these were as +clever as most grownup people are among us. He explained to them +what they saw in the pictures of life on the castle walls—the +doings of man, and the progress of events in all the lands of the +earth; and the sons often expressed a wish that they could be present, +and take a part in these great deeds. Then their father told them that +in the world there was nothing but toil and difficulty: that it was +not quite what it appeared to them, as they looked upon it in their +beautiful home. He spoke to them of the true, the beautiful, and the +good, and told them that these three held together in the world, and +by that union they became crystallized into a precious jewel, +clearer than a diamond of the first water—a jewel, whose splendor had +a value even in the sight of God, in whose brightness all things are +dim. This jewel was called the philosopher's stone. He told them that, +by searching, man could attain to a knowledge of the existence of God, +and that it was in the power of every man to discover the certainty +that such a jewel as the philosopher's stone really existed. This +information would have been beyond the perception of other children; +but these children understood, and others will learn to comprehend its +meaning after a time. They questioned their father about the true, the +beautiful, and the good, and he explained it to them in many ways. +He told them that God, when He made man out of the dust of the +earth, touched His work five times, leaving five intense feelings, +which we call the five senses. Through these, the true, the beautiful, +and the good are seen, understood, and perceived, and through these +they are valued, protected, and encouraged. Five senses have been +given mentally and corporeally, inwardly and outwardly, to body and +soul. +</P> + +<P> +The children thought deeply on all these things, and meditated +upon them day and night. Then the eldest of the brothers dreamt a +splendid dream. Strange to say, not only the second brother but also +the third and fourth brothers all dreamt exactly the same thing; +namely, that each went out into the world to find the philosopher's +stone. Each dreamt that he found it, and that, as he rode back on +his swift horse, in the morning dawn, over the velvety green +meadows, to his home in the castle of his father, that the stone +gleamed from his forehead like a beaming light; and threw such a +bright radiance upon the pages of the Book of Truth that every word +was illuminated which spoke of the life beyond the grave. But the +sister had no dream of going out into the wide world; it never entered +her mind. Her world was her father's house. +</P> + +<P> +"I shall ride forth into the wide world," said the eldest brother. +"I must try what life is like there, as I mix with men. I will +practise only the good and true; with these I will protect the +beautiful. Much shall be changed for the better while I am there." +</P> + +<P> +Now these thoughts were great and daring, as our thoughts +generally are at home, before we have gone out into the world, and +encountered its storms and tempests, its thorns and its thistles. In +him, and in all his brothers, the five senses were highly +cultivated, inwardly and outwardly; but each of them had one sense +which in keenness and development surpassed the other four. In the +case of the eldest, this pre-eminent sense was sight, which he hoped +would be of special service. He had eyes for all times and all people; +eyes that could discover in the depths of the earth hidden +treasures, and look into the hearts of men, as through a pane of +glass; he could read more than is often seen on the cheek that blushes +or grows pale, in the eye that droops or smiles. Stags and antelopes +accompanied him to the western boundary of his home, and there he +found the wild swans. These he followed, and found himself far away in +the north, far from the land of his father, which extended eastward to +the ends of the earth. How he opened his eyes with astonishment! How +many things were to be seen here! and so different to the mere +representation of pictures such as those in his father's house. At +first he nearly lost his eyes in astonishment at the rubbish and +mockery brought forward to represent the beautiful; but he kept his +eyes, and soon found full employment for them. He wished to go +thoroughly and honestly to work in his endeavor to understand the +true, the beautiful, and the good. But how were they represented in +the world? He observed that the wreath which rightly belonged to the +beautiful was often given the hideous; that the good was often +passed by unnoticed, while mediocrity was applauded, when it should +have been hissed. People look at the dress, not at the wearer; thought +more of a name than of doing their duty; and trusted more to +reputation than to real service. It was everywhere the same. +</P> + +<P> +"I see I must make a regular attack on these things," said he; and +he accordingly did not spare them. But while looking for the truth, +came the evil one, the father of lies, to intercept him. Gladly +would the fiend have plucked out the eyes of this Seer, but that would +have been a too straightforward path for him; he works more cunningly. +He allowed the young man to seek for, and discover, the beautiful +and the good; but while he was contemplating them, the evil spirit +blew one mote after another into each of his eyes; and such a +proceeding would injure the strongest sight. Then he blew upon the +motes, and they became beams, so that the clearness of his sight was +gone, and the Seer was like a blind man in the world, and had no +longer any faith in it. He had lost his good opinion of the world, +as well as of himself; and when a man gives up the world, and +himself too, it is all over with him. +</P> + +<P> +"All over," said the wild swan, who flew across the sea to the +east. +</P> + +<P> +"All over," twittered the swallows, who were also flying +eastward towards the Tree of the Sun. It was no good news which they +carried home. +</P> + +<P> +"I think the Seer has been badly served," said the second brother, +"but the Hearer may be more successful." +</P> + +<P> +This one possessed the sense of hearing to a very high degree: +so acute was this sense, that it was said he could hear the grass +grow. He took a fond leave of all at home, and rode away, provided +with good abilities and good intentions. The swallows escorted him, +and he followed the swans till he found himself out in the world, +and far away from home. But he soon discovered that one may have too +much of a good thing. His hearing was too fine. He not only heard +the grass grow, but could hear every man's heart beat, whether in +sorrow or in joy. The whole world was to him like a clockmaker's great +workshop, in which all the clocks were going "tick, tick," and all the +turret clocks striking "ding, dong." It was unbearable. For a long +time his ears endured it, but at last all the noise and tumult +became too much for one man to bear. +</P> + +<P> +There were rascally boys of sixty years old—for years do not +alone make a man—who raised a tumult, which might have made the +Hearer laugh, but for the applause which followed, echoing through +every street and house, and was even heard in country roads. Falsehood +thrust itself forward and played the hypocrite; the bells on the +fool's cap jingled, and declared they were church-bells, and the noise +became so bad for the Hearer that he thrust his fingers into his ears. +Still, he could hear false notes and bad singing, gossip and idle +words, scandal and slander, groaning and moaning, without and +within. "Heaven help us!" He thrust his fingers farther and farther +into his ears, till at last the drums burst. And now he could hear +nothing more of the true, the beautiful, and the good; for his hearing +was to have been the means by which he hoped to acquire his knowledge. +He became silent and suspicious, and at last trusted no one, not +even himself, and no longer hoping to find and bring home the costly +jewel, he gave it up, and gave himself up too, which was worse than +all. +</P> + +<P> +The birds in their flight towards the east, carried the tidings, +and the news reached the castle in the Tree of the Sun. +</P> + +<P> +"I will try now," said the third brother; "I have a keen nose." +Now that was not a very elegant expression, but it was his way, and we +must take him as he was. He had a cheerful temper, and was, besides, a +real poet; he could make many things appear poetical, by the way in +which he spoke of them, and ideas struck him long before they occurred +to the minds of others. "I can smell," he would say; and he attributed +to the sense of smelling, which he possessed in a high degree, a great +power in the region of the beautiful. "I can smell," he would say, +"and many places are fragrant or beautiful according to the taste of +the frequenters. One man feels at home in the atmosphere of the +tavern, among the flaring tallow candles, and when the smell of +spirits mingles with the fumes of bad tobacco. Another prefers sitting +amidst the overpowering scent of jasmine, or perfuming himself with +scented olive oil. This man seeks the fresh sea breeze, while that one +climbs the lofty mountain-top, to look down upon the busy life in +miniature beneath him." +</P> + +<P> +As he spoke in this way, it seemed as if he had already been out +in the world, as if he had already known and associated with man. +But this experience was intuitive—it was the poetry within him, a +gift from Heaven bestowed on him in his cradle. He bade farewell to +his parental roof in the Tree of the Sun, and departed on foot, from +the pleasant scenes that surrounded his home. Arrived at its confines, +he mounted on the back of an ostrich, which runs faster than a +horse, and afterwards, when he fell in with the wild swans, he swung +himself on the strongest of them, for he loved change, and away he +flew over the sea to distant lands, where there were great forests, +deep lakes, lofty mountains, and proud cities. Wherever he came it +seemed as if sunshine travelled with him across the fields, for +every flower, every bush, exhaled a renewed fragrance, as if conscious +that a friend and protector was near; one who understood them, and +knew their value. The stunted rose-bush shot forth twigs, unfolded its +leaves, and bore the most beautiful roses; every one could see it, and +even the black, slimy wood-snail noticed its beauty. "I will give my +seal to the flower," said the snail, "I have trailed my slime upon it, +I can do no more. +</P> + +<P> +"Thus it always fares with the beautiful in this world," said +the poet. And he made a song upon it, and sung it after his own +fashion, but nobody listened. Then he gave a drummer twopence and a +peacock's feather, and composed a song for the drum, and the drummer +beat it through the streets of the town, and when the people heard +it they said, "That is a capital tune." The poet wrote many songs +about the true, the beautiful, and the good. His songs were listened +to in the tavern, where the tallow candles flared, in the fresh clover +field, in the forest, and on the high-seas; and it appeared as if this +brother was to be more fortunate than the other two. +</P> + +<P> +But the evil spirit was angry at this, so he set to work with soot +and incense, which he can mix so artfully as to confuse an angel, +and how much more easily a poor poet. The evil one knew how to +manage such people. He so completely surrounded the poet with +incense that the man lost his head, forgot his mission and his home, +and at last lost himself and vanished in smoke. +</P> + +<P> +But when the little birds heard of it, they mourned, and for three +days they sang not one song. The black wood-snail became blacker +still; not for grief, but for envy. "They should have offered me +incense," he said, "for it was I who gave him the idea of the most +famous of his songs—the drum song of 'The Way of the World;' and it +was I who spat at the rose; I can bring a witness to that fact." +</P> + +<P> +But no tidings of all this reached the poet's home in India. The +birds had all been silent for three days, and when the time of +mourning was over, so deep had been their grief, that they had +forgotten for whom they wept. Such is the way of the world. +</P> + +<P> +"Now I must go out into the world, and disappear like the rest," +said the fourth brother. He was as good-tempered as the third, but +no poet, though he could be witty. +</P> + +<P> +The two eldest had filled the castle with joyfulness, and now +the last brightness was going away. Sight and hearing have always been +considered two of the chief senses among men, and those which they +wish to keep bright; the other senses are looked upon as of less +importance. +</P> + +<P> +But the younger son had a different opinion; he had cultivated his +taste in every way, and taste is very powerful. It rules over what +goes into the mouth, as well as over all which is presented to the +mind; and, consequently, this brother took upon himself to taste +everything stored up in bottles or jars; this he called the rough part +of his work. Every man's mind was to him as a vessel in which +something was concocting; every land a kind of mental kitchen. +"There are no delicacies here," he said; so he wished to go out into +the world to find something delicate to suit his taste. "Perhaps +fortune may be more favorable to me than it was to my brothers. I +shall start on my travels, but what conveyance shall I choose? Are air +balloons invented yet?" he asked of his father, who knew of all +inventions that had been made, or would be made. +</P> + +<P> +Air balloons had not then been invented, nor steam-ships, nor +railways. +</P> + +<P> +"Good," said he; "then I shall choose an air balloon; my father +knows how they are to be made and guided. Nobody has invented one yet, +and the people will believe that it is an aerial phantom. When I +have done with the balloon I shall burn it, and for this purpose, +you must give me a few pieces of another invention, which will come +next; I mean a few chemical matches." +</P> + +<P> +He obtained what he wanted, and flew away. The birds accompanied +him farther than they had the other brothers. They were curious to +know how this flight would end. Many more of them came swooping +down; they thought it must be some new bird, and he soon had a +goodly company of followers. They came in clouds till the air became +darkened with birds as it was with the cloud of locusts over the +land of Egypt. +</P> + +<P> +And now he was out in the wide world. The balloon descended over +one of the greatest cities, and the aeronaut took up his station at +the highest point, on the church steeple. The balloon rose again +into the air, which it ought not to have done; what became of it is +not known, neither is it of any consequence, for balloons had not then +been invented. +</P> + +<P> +There he sat on the church steeple. The birds no longer hovered +over him; they had got tired of him, and he was tired of them. All the +chimneys in the town were smoking. +</P> + +<P> +"There are altars erected to my honor," said the wind, who +wished to say something agreeable to him as he sat there boldly +looking down upon the people in the street. There was one stepping +along, proud of his purse; another, of the key he carried behind +him, though he had nothing to lock up; another took a pride in his +moth-eaten coat; and another, in his mortified body. "Vanity, all +vanity!" he exclaimed. "I must go down there by-and-by, and touch +and taste; but I shall sit here a little while longer, for the wind +blows pleasantly at my back. I shall remain here as long as the wind +blows, and enjoy a little rest. It is comfortable to sleep late in the +morning when one had a great deal to do," said the sluggard; "so I +shall stop here as long as the wind blows, for it pleases me." +</P> + +<P> +And there he stayed. But as he was sitting on the weather-cock +of the steeple, which kept turning round and round with him, he was +under the false impression that the same wind still blew, and that +he could stay where he was without expense. +</P> + +<P> +But in India, in the castle on the Tree of the Sun, all was +solitary and still, since the brothers had gone away one after the +other. +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing goes well with them," said the father; "they will never +bring the glittering jewel home, it is not made for me; they are all +dead and gone." Then he bent down over the Book of Truth, and gazed on +the page on which he should have read of the life after death, but for +him there was nothing to be read or learned upon it. +</P> + +<P> +His blind daughter was his consolation and joy; she clung to him +with sincere affection, and for the sake of his happiness and peace +she wished the costly jewel could be found and brought home. +</P> + +<P> +With longing tenderness she thought of her brothers. Where were +they? Where did they live? How she wished she might dream of them; but +it was strange that not even in dreams could she be brought near to +them. But at last one night she dreamt that she heard the voices of +her brothers calling to her from the distant world, and she could +not refrain herself, but went out to them, and yet it seemed in her +dream that she still remained in her father's house. She did not see +her brothers, but she felt as it were a fire burning in her hand, +which, however, did not hurt her, for it was the jewel she was +bringing to her father. When she awoke she thought for a moment that +she still held the stone, but she only grasped the knob of her +distaff. +</P> + +<P> +During the long evenings she had spun constantly, and round the +distaff were woven threads finer than the web of a spider; human +eyes could never have distinguished these threads when separated +from each other. But she had wetted them with her tears, and the twist +was as strong as a cable. She rose with the impression that her +dream must be a reality, and her resolution was taken. +</P> + +<P> +It was still night, and her father slept; she pressed a kiss +upon his hand, and then took her distaff and fastened the end of the +thread to her father's house. But for this, blind as she was, she +would never have found her way home again; to this thread she must +hold fast, and trust not to others or even to herself. From the Tree +of the Sun she broke four leaves; which she gave up to the wind and +the weather, that they might be carried to her brothers as letters and +a greeting, in case she did not meet them in the wide world. Poor +blind child, what would become of her in those distant regions? But +she had the invisible thread, to which she could hold fast; and she +possessed a gift which all the others lacked. This was a determination +to throw herself entirely into whatever she undertook, and it made her +feel as if she had eyes even at the tips of her fingers, and could +hear down into her very heart. Quietly she went forth into the +noisy, bustling, wonderful world, and wherever she went the skies grew +bright, and she felt the warm sunbeam, and a rainbow above in the blue +heavens seemed to span the dark world. She heard the song of the +birds, and smelt the scent of the orange groves and apple orchards +so strongly that she seemed to taste it. Soft tones and charming songs +reached her ear, as well as harsh sounds and rough words—thoughts and +opinions in strange contradiction to each other. Into the deepest +recesses of her heart penetrated the echoes of human thoughts and +feelings. Now she heard the following words sadly sung,— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Life is a shadow that flits away<BR> + In a night of darkness and woe."<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +But then would follow brighter thoughts: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Life has the rose's sweet perfume<BR> + With sunshine, light, and joy."<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +And if one stanza sounded painfully— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Each mortal thinks of himself alone,<BR> + Is a truth, alas, too clearly known;"<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Then, on the other hand, came the answer— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Love, like a mighty flowing stream,<BR> + Fills every heart with its radiant gleam."<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +She heard, indeed, such words as these— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "In the pretty turmoil here below,<BR> + All is a vain and paltry show.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Then came also words of comfort— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Great and good are the actions done<BR> + By many whose worth is never known."<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +And if sometimes the mocking strain reached her— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Why not join in the jesting cry<BR> + That contemns all gifts from the throne on high?"<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +In the blind girl's heart a stronger voice repeated— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "To trust in thyself and God is best,<BR> + In His holy will forever to rest."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +But the evil spirit could not see this and remain contented. He +has more cleverness than ten thousand men, and he found means to +compass his end. He betook himself to the marsh, and collected a few +little bubbles of stagnant water. Then he uttered over them the echoes +of lying words that they might become strong. He mixed up together +songs of praise with lying epitaphs, as many as he could find, +boiled them in tears shed by envy; put upon them rouge, which he had +scraped from faded cheeks, and from these he produced a maiden, in +form and appearance like the blind girl, the angel of completeness, as +men called her. The evil one's plot was successful. The world knew not +which was the true, and indeed how should the world know? +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "To trust in thyself and God is best,<BR> + In his Holy will forever to rest."<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +So sung the blind girl in full faith. She had entrusted the four green +leaves from the Tree of the Sun to the winds, as letters of greeting +to her brothers, and she had full confidence that the leaves would +reach them. She fully believed that the jewel which outshines all +the glories of the world would yet be found, and that upon the +forehead of humanity it would glitter even in the castle of her +father. "Even in my father's house," she repeated. "Yes, the place +in which this jewel is to be found is earth, and I shall bring more +than the promise of it with me. I feel it glow and swell more and more +in my closed hand. Every grain of truth which the keen wind carried up +and whirled towards me I caught and treasured. I allowed it to be +penetrated with the fragrance of the beautiful, of which there is so +much in the world, even for the blind. I took the beatings of a +heart engaged in a good action, and added them to my treasure. All +that I can bring is but dust; still, it is a part of the jewel we +seek, and there is plenty, my hand is quite full of it." +</P> + +<P> +She soon found herself again at home; carried thither in a +flight of thought, never having loosened her hold of the invisible +thread fastened to her father's house. As she stretched out her hand +to her father, the powers of evil dashed with the fury of a +hurricane over the Tree of the Sun; a blast of wind rushed through the +open doors, and into the sanctuary, where lay the Book of Truth. +</P> + +<P> +"It will be blown to dust by the wind," said the father, as he +seized the open hand she held towards him. +</P> + +<P> +"No," she replied, with quiet confidence, "it is indestructible. I +feel its beam warming my very soul." +</P> + +<P> +Then her father observed that a dazzling flame gleamed from the +white page on which the shining dust had passed from her hand. It +was there to prove the certainty of eternal life, and on the book +glowed one shining word, and only one, the word BELIEVE. And soon +the four brothers were again with the father and daughter. When the +green leaf from home fell on the bosom of each, a longing had seized +them to return. They had arrived, accompanied by the birds of passage, +the stag, the antelope, and all the creatures of the forest who wished +to take part in their joy. +</P> + +<P> +We have often seen, when a sunbeam burst through a crack in the +door into a dusty room, how a whirling column of dust seems to +circle round. But this was not poor, insignificant, common dust, which +the blind girl had brought; even the rainbow's colors are dim when +compared with the beauty which shone from the page on which it had +fallen. The beaming word BELIEVE, from every grain of truth, had the +brightness of the beautiful and the good, more bright than the +mighty pillar of flame that led Moses and the children of Israel to +the land of Canaan, and from the word BELIEVE arose the bridge of +hope, reaching even to the unmeasurable Love in the realms of the +infinite. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="phoenix"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE PHOENIX BIRD +</H3> + +<P> +In the Garden of Paradise, beneath the Tree of Knowledge, +bloomed a rose bush. Here, in the first rose, a bird was born. His +flight was like the flashing of light, his plumage was beauteous, +and his song ravishing. But when Eve plucked the fruit of the tree +of knowledge of good and evil, when she and Adam were driven from +Paradise, there fell from the flaming sword of the cherub a spark into +the nest of the bird, which blazed up forthwith. The bird perished +in the flames; but from the red egg in the nest there fluttered +aloft a new one—the one solitary Phoenix bird. The fable tells that +he dwells in Arabia, and that every hundred years, he burns himself to +death in his nest; but each time a new Phoenix, the only one in the +world, rises up from the red egg. +</P> + +<P> +The bird flutters round us, swift as light, beauteous in color, +charming in song. When a mother sits by her infant's cradle, he stands +on the pillow, and, with his wings, forms a glory around the +infant's head. He flies through the chamber of content, and brings +sunshine into it, and the violets on the humble table smell doubly +sweet. +</P> + +<P> +But the Phoenix is not the bird of Arabia alone. He wings his +way in the glimmer of the Northern Lights over the plains of +Lapland, and hops among the yellow flowers in the short Greenland +summer. Beneath the copper mountains of Fablun, and England's coal +mines, he flies, in the shape of a dusty moth, over the hymnbook +that rests on the knees of the pious miner. On a lotus leaf he +floats down the sacred waters of the Ganges, and the eye of the Hindoo +maid gleams bright when she beholds him. +</P> + +<P> +The Phoenix bird, dost thou not know him? The Bird of Paradise, +the holy swan of song! On the car of Thespis he sat in the guise of +a chattering raven, and flapped his black wings, smeared with the lees +of wine; over the sounding harp of Iceland swept the swan's red +beak; on Shakspeare's shoulder he sat in the guise of Odin's raven, +and whispered in the poet's ear "Immortality!" and at the minstrels' +feast he fluttered through the halls of the Wartburg. +</P> + +<P> +The Phoenix bird, dost thou not know him? He sang to thee the +Marseillaise, and thou kissedst the pen that fell from his wing; he +came in the radiance of Paradise, and perchance thou didst turn away +from him towards the sparrow who sat with tinsel on his wings. +</P> + +<P> +The Bird of Paradise—renewed each century—born in flame, +ending in flame! Thy picture, in a golden frame, hangs in the halls of +the rich, but thou thyself often fliest around, lonely and +disregarded, a myth—"The Phoenix of Arabia." +</P> + +<P> +In Paradise, when thou wert born in the first rose, beneath the +Tree of Knowledge, thou receivedst a kiss, and thy right name was +given thee—thy name, Poetry. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="por_duck"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE PORTUGUESE DUCK +</H3> + +<P> +A duck once arrived from Portugal, but there were some who said +she came from Spain, which is almost the same thing. At all events, +she was called the "Portuguese," and she laid eggs, was killed, and +cooked, and there was an end of her. But the ducklings which crept +forth from the eggs were also called "Portuguese," and about that +there may be some question. But of all the family one only remained in +the duckyard, which may be called a farmyard, as the chickens were +admitted, and the cock strutted about in a very hostile manner. "He +annoys me with his loud crowing," said the Portuguese duck; "but, +still, he's a handsome bird, there's no denying that, although he's +not a drake. He ought to moderate his voice, like those little birds +who are singing in the lime-trees over there in our neighbor's garden, +but that is an art only acquired in polite society. How sweetly they +sing there; it is quite a pleasure to listen to them! I call it +Portuguese singing. If I had only such a little singing-bird, I'd be +kind and good as a mother to him, for it's in my nature, in my +Portuguese blood." +</P> + +<P> +While she was speaking, one of the little singing-birds came +tumbling head over heels from the roof into the yard. The cat was +after him, but he had escaped from her with a broken wing, and so came +tumbling into the yard. "That's just like the cat, she's a villain," +said the Portuguese duck. "I remember her ways when I had children +of my own. How can such a creature be allowed to live, and wander +about upon the roofs. I don't think they allow such things in +Portugal." She pitied the little singing-bird, and so did all the +other ducks who were not Portuguese. +</P> + +<P> +"Poor little creature!" they said, one after another, as they came +up. "We can't sing, certainly; but we have a sounding-board, or +something of the kind, within us; we can feel that, though we don't +talk about it." +</P> + +<P> +"But I can talk," said the Portuguese duck; "and I'll do something +for the little fellow; it's my duty;" and she stepped into the +water-trough, and beat her wings upon the water so strongly that the +bird was nearly drowned by a shower-bath; but the duck meant it +kindly. "That is a good deed," she said; "I hope the others will +take example by it." +</P> + +<P> +"Tweet, tweet!" said the little bird, for one of his wings being +broken, he found it difficult to shake himself; but he quite +understood that the bath was meant kindly, and he said, "You are +very kind-hearted, madam;" but he did not wish for a second bath. +</P> + +<P> +"I have never thought about my heart," replied the Portuguese +duck, "but I know that I love all my fellow-creatures, except the cat, +and nobody can expect me to love her, for she ate up two of my +ducklings. But pray make yourself at home; it is easy to make one's +self comfortable. I am myself from a foreign country, as you may see +by my feathery dress. My drake is a native of these parts; he's not of +my race; but I am not proud on that account. If any one here can +understand you, I may say positively I am that person." +</P> + +<P> +"She's quite full of 'Portulak,'" said a little common duck, who +was witty. All the common ducks considered the word "Portulak" a +good joke, for it sounded like Portugal. They nudged each other, and +said, "Quack! that was witty!" +</P> + +<P> +Then the other ducks began to notice the little bird. "The +Portuguese had certainly a great flow of language," they said to the +little bird. "For our part we don't care to fill our beaks with such +long words, but we sympathize with you quite as much. If we don't do +anything else, we can walk about with you everywhere, and we think +that is the best thing we can do." +</P> + +<P> +"You have a lovely voice," said one of the eldest ducks; "it +must be great satisfaction to you to be able to give so much +pleasure as you do. I am certainly no judge of your singing so I +keep my beak shut, which is better than talking nonsense, as others +do." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't plague him so," interposed the Portuguese duck; "he requires +rest and nursing. My little singing-bird do you wish me to prepare +another bath for you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, no! no! pray let me dry," implored the little bird. +</P> + +<P> +"The water-cure is the only remedy for me, when I am not well," +said the Portuguese. "Amusement, too, is very beneficial. The fowls +from the neighborhood will soon be here to pay you a visit. There +are two Cochin Chinese amongst them; they wear feathers on their legs, +and are well educated. They have been brought from a great distance, +and consequently I treat them with greater respect than I do the +others." +</P> + +<P> +Then the fowls arrived, and the cock was polite enough to-day to +keep from being rude. "You are a real songster," he said, "you do as +much with your little voice as it is possible to do; but there +requires more noise and shrillness in any one who wishes it to be +known who he is." +</P> + +<P> +The two Chinese were quite enchanted with the appearance of the +singing-bird. His feathers had been much ruffled by his bath, so +that he seemed to them quite like a tiny Chinese fowl. "He's +charming," they said to each other, and began a conversation with +him in whispers, using the most aristocratic Chinese dialect: "We +are of the same race as yourself," they said. "The ducks, even the +Portuguese, are all aquatic birds, as you must have noticed. You do +not know us yet,—very few know us, or give themselves the trouble +to make our acquaintance, not even any of the fowls, though we are +born to occupy a higher grade in society than most of them. But that +does not disturb us, we quietly go on in our own way among the rest, +whose ideas are certainly not ours; for we look at the bright side +of things, and only speak what is good, although that is sometimes +very difficult to find where none exists. Except ourselves and the +cock there is not one in the yard who can be called talented or +polite. It cannot even be said of the ducks, and we warn you, little +bird, not to trust that one yonder, with the short tail feathers, +for she is cunning; that curiously marked one, with the crooked +stripes on her wings, is a mischief-maker, and never lets any one have +the last word, though she is always in the wrong. That fat duck yonder +speaks evil of every one, and that is against our principles. If we +have nothing good to tell, we close our beaks. The Portuguese is the +only one who has had any education, and with whom we can associate, +but she is passionate, and talks too much about 'Portugal.'" +</P> + +<P> +"I wonder what those two Chinese are whispering about," +whispered one duck to another; "they are always doing it, and it +annoys me. We never speak to them." +</P> + +<P> +Now the drake came up, and he thought the little singing-bird +was a sparrow. "Well, I don't understand the difference," he said; "it +appears to me all the same. He's only a plaything, and if people +will have playthings, why let them, I say." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't take any notice of what he says," whispered the Portuguese; +"he's very well in matters of business, and with him business is +placed before everything. But now I shall lie down and have a little +rest. It is a duty we owe to ourselves that we may be nice and fat +when we come to be embalmed with sage and onions and apples." So she +laid herself down in the sun and winked with one eye; she had a very +comfortable place, and felt so comfortable that she fell asleep. The +little singing-bird busied himself for some time with his broken wing, +and at last he lay down, too, quite close to his protectress. The +sun shone warm and bright, and he found out that it was a very good +place. But the fowls of the neighborhood were all awake, and, to +tell the truth, they had paid a visit to the duckyard, simply and +solely to find food for themselves. The Chinese were the first to +leave, and the other fowls soon followed them. +</P> + +<P> +The witty little duck said of the Portuguese, that the old lady +was getting quite a "doting ducky," All the other ducks laughed at +this. "Doting ducky," they whispered. "Oh, that's too 'witty!'" And +then they repeated the former joke about "Portulak," and declared it +was most amusing. Then they all lay down to have a nap. +</P> + +<P> +They had been lying asleep for some time, when suddenly +something was thrown into the yard for them to eat. It came down +with such a bang, that the whole company started up and clapped +their wings. The Portuguese awoke too, and rushed over to the other +side: in so doing she trod upon the little singing-bird. +</P> + +<P> +"Tweet," he cried; "you trod very hard upon me, madam." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, then, why do you lie in my way?" she retorted, "you must +not be so touchy. I have nerves of my own, but I do not cry 'tweet.'" +</P> + +<P> +"Don't be angry," said the little bird; "the 'tweet' slipped out +of my beak unawares." +</P> + +<P> +The Portuguese did not listen to him, but began eating as fast +as she could, and made a good meal. When she had finished, she lay +down again, and the little bird, who wished to be amiable, began to +sing,— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Chirp and twitter,<BR> + The dew-drops glitter,<BR> + In the hours of sunny spring,<BR> + I'll sing my best,<BR> + Till I go to rest,<BR> + With my head behind my wing."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"Now I want rest after my dinner," said the Portuguese; "you +must conform to the rules of the house while you are here. I want to +sleep now." +</P> + +<P> +The little bird was quite taken aback, for he meant it kindly. +When madam awoke afterwards, there he stood before her with a little +corn he had found, and laid it at her feet; but as she had not slept +well, she was naturally in a bad temper. "Give that to a chicken," she +said, "and don't be always standing in my way." +</P> + +<P> +"Why are you angry with me?" replied the little singing-bird, +"what have I done?" +</P> + +<P> +"Done!" repeated the Portuguese duck, "your mode of expressing +yourself is not very polite. I must call your attention to that fact." +</P> + +<P> +"It was sunshine here yesterday," said the little bird, "but +to-day it is cloudy and the air is close." +</P> + +<P> +"You know very little about the weather, I fancy," she retorted, +"the day is not over yet. Don't stand there, looking so stupid." +</P> + +<P> +"But you are looking at me just as the wicked eyes looked when I +fell into the yard yesterday." +</P> + +<P> +"Impertinent creature!" exclaimed the Portuguese duck: "would +you compare me with the cat—that beast of prey? There's not a drop of +malicious blood in me. I've taken your part, and now I'll teach you +better manners." So saying, she made a bite at the little +singing-bird's head, and he fell dead on the ground. "Now whatever +is the meaning of this?" she said; "could he not bear even such a +little peck as I gave him? Then certainly he was not made for this +world. I've been like a mother to him, I know that, for I've a good +heart." +</P> + +<P> +Then the cock from the neighboring yard stuck his head in, and +crowed with steam-engine power. +</P> + +<P> +"You'll kill me with your crowing," she cried, "it's all your +fault. He's lost his life, and I'm very near losing mine." +</P> + +<P> +"There's not much of him lying there," observed the cock. +</P> + +<P> +"Speak of him with respect," said the Portuguese duck, "for he had +manners and education, and he could sing. He was affectionate and +gentle, and that is as rare a quality in animals as in those who +call themselves human beings." +</P> + +<P> +Then all the ducks came crowding round the little dead bird. Ducks +have strong passions, whether they feel envy or pity. There was +nothing to envy here, so they all showed a great deal of pity, even +the two Chinese. "We shall never have another singing-bird again +amongst us; he was almost a Chinese," they whispered, and then they +wept with such a noisy, clucking sound, that all the other fowls +clucked too, but the ducks went about with redder eyes afterwards. "We +have hearts of our own," they said, "nobody can deny that." +</P> + +<P> +"Hearts!" repeated the Portuguese, "indeed you have, almost as +tender as the ducks in Portugal." +</P> + +<P> +"Let us think of getting something to satisfy our hunger," said +the drake, "that's the most important business. If one of our toys is +broken, why we have plenty more." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="porters"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE PORTER'S SON +</H3> + +<P> +The General lived in the grand first floor, and the porter lived +in the cellar. There was a great distance between the two families—the +whole of the ground floor, and the difference in rank; but they +lived in the same house, and both had a view of the street, and of the +courtyard. In the courtyard was a grass-plot, on which grew a blooming +acacia tree (when it was in bloom), and under this tree sat +occasionally the finely-dressed nurse, with the still more +finely-dressed child of the General—little Emily. Before them +danced about barefoot the little son of the porter, with his great +brown eyes and dark hair; and the little girl smiled at him, and +stretched out her hands towards him; and when the General saw that +from the window, he would nod his head and cry, "Charming!" The +General's lady (who was so young that she might very well have been +her husband's daughter from an early marriage) never came to the +window that looked upon the courtyard. She had given orders, though, +that the boy might play his antics to amuse her child, but must +never touch it. The nurse punctually obeyed the gracious lady's +orders. +</P> + +<P> +The sun shone in upon the people in the grand first floor, and +upon the people in the cellar; the acacia tree was covered with +blossoms, and they fell off, and next year new ones came. The tree +bloomed, and the porter's little son bloomed too, and looked like a +fresh tulip. +</P> + +<P> +The General's little daughter became delicate and pale, like the +leaf of the acacia blossom. She seldom came down to the tree now, +for she took the air in a carriage. She drove out with her mamma, +and then she would always nod at the porter's George; yes, she used +even to kiss her hand to him, till her mamma said she was too old to +do that now. +</P> + +<P> +One morning George was sent up to carry the General the letters +and newspapers that had been delivered at the porter's room in the +morning. As he was running up stairs, just as he passed the door of +the sand-box, he heard a faint piping. He thought it was some young +chicken that had strayed there, and was raising cries of distress; but +it was the General's little daughter, decked out in lace and finery. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't tell papa and mamma," she whimpered; "they would be angry." +</P> + +<P> +"What's the matter, little missie?" asked George. +</P> + +<P> +"It's all on fire!" she answered. "It's burning with a bright +flame!" George hurried up stairs to the General's apartments; he +opened the door of the nursery. The window curtain was almost entirely +burnt, and the wooden curtain-pole was one mass of flame. George +sprang upon a chair he brought in haste, and pulled down the burning +articles; he then alarmed the people. But for him, the house would +have been burned down. +</P> + +<P> +The General and his lady cross-questioned little Emily. +</P> + +<P> +"I only took just one lucifer-match," she said, "and it was +burning directly, and the curtain was burning too. I spat at it, to +put it out; I spat at it as much as ever I could, but I could not +put it out; so I ran away and hid myself, for papa and mamma would +be angry." +</P> + +<P> +"I spat!" cried the General's lady; "what an expression! Did you +ever hear your papa and mamma talk about spitting? You must have got +that from down stairs!" +</P> + +<P> +And George had a penny given him. But this penny did not go to the +baker's shop, but into the savings-box; and soon there were so many +pennies in the savings-box that he could buy a paint-box and color the +drawings he made, and he had a great number of drawings. They seemed +to shoot out of his pencil and out of his fingers' ends. His first +colored pictures he presented to Emily. +</P> + +<P> +"Charming!" said the General, and even the General's lady +acknowledged that it was easy to see what the boy had meant to draw. +"He has genius." Those were the words that were carried down into +the cellar. +</P> + +<P> +The General and his gracious lady were grand people. They had +two coats of arms on their carriage, a coat of arms for each of +them, and the gracious lady had had this coat of arms embroidered on +both sides of every bit of linen she had, and even on her nightcap and +her dressing-bag. One of the coats of arms, the one that belonged to +her, was a very dear one; it had been bought for hard cash by her +father, for he had not been born with it, nor had she; she had come +into the world too early, seven years before the coat of arms, and +most people remembered this circumstance, but the family did not +remember it. A man might well have a bee in his bonnet, when he had +such a coat of arms to carry as that, let alone having to carry two; +and the General's wife had a bee in hers when she drove to the court +ball, as stiff and as proud as you please. +</P> + +<P> +The General was old and gray, but he had a good seat on horseback, +and he knew it, and he rode out every day, with a groom behind him +at a proper distance. When he came to a party, he looked somehow as if +he were riding into the room upon his high horse; and he had orders, +too, such a number that no one would have believed it; but that was +not his fault. As a young man he had taken part in the great autumn +reviews which were held in those days. He had an anecdote that he told +about those days, the only one he knew. A subaltern under his orders +had cut off one of the princes, and taken him prisoner, and the Prince +had been obliged to ride through the town with a little band of +captured soldiers, himself a prisoner behind the General. This was +an ever-memorable event, and was always told over and over again every +year by the General, who, moreover, always repeated the remarkable +words he had used when he returned his sword to the Prince; those +words were, "Only my subaltern could have taken your Highness +prisoner; I could never have done it!" And the Prince had replied, +"You are incomparable." In a real war the General had never taken +part. When war came into the country, he had gone on a diplomatic +career to foreign courts. He spoke the French language so fluently +that he had almost forgotten his own; he could dance well, he could +ride well, and orders grew on his coat in an astounding way. The +sentries presented arms to him, one of the most beautiful girls +presented arms to him, and became the General's lady, and in time they +had a pretty, charming child, that seemed as if it had dropped from +heaven, it was so pretty; and the porter's son danced before it in the +courtyard, as soon as it could understand it, and gave her all his +colored pictures, and little Emily looked at them, and was pleased, +and tore them to pieces. She was pretty and delicate indeed. +</P> + +<P> +"My little Roseleaf!" cried the General's lady, "thou art born +to wed a prince." +</P> + +<P> +The prince was already at the door, but they knew nothing of it; +people don't see far beyond the threshold. +</P> + +<P> +"The day before yesterday our boy divided his bread and butter +with her!" said the porter's wife. There was neither cheese nor +meat upon it, but she liked it as well as if it had been roast beef. +There would have been a fine noise if the General and his wife had +seen the feast, but they did not see it. +</P> + +<P> +George had divided his bread and butter with little Emily, and +he would have divided his heart with her, if it would have pleased +her. He was a good boy, brisk and clever, and he went to the night +school in the Academy now, to learn to draw properly. Little Emily was +getting on with her education too, for she spoke French with her +"bonne," and had a dancing master. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"George will be confirmed at Easter," said the porter's wife; +for George had got so far as this. +</P> + +<P> +"It would be the best thing, now, to make an apprentice of him," +said his father. "It must be to some good calling—and then he would +be out of the house." +</P> + +<P> +"He would have to sleep out of the house," said George's mother. +"It is not easy to find a master who has room for him at night, and we +shall have to provide him with clothes too. The little bit of eating +that he wants can be managed for him, for he's quite happy with a +few boiled potatoes; and he gets taught for nothing. Let the boy go +his own way. You will say that he will be our joy some day, and the +Professor says so too." +</P> + +<P> +The confirmation suit was ready. The mother had worked it herself; +but the tailor who did repairs had cut them out, and a capital +cutter-out he was. +</P> + +<P> +"If he had had a better position, and been able to keep a workshop +and journeymen," the porter's wife said, "he might have been a court +tailor." +</P> + +<P> +The clothes were ready, and the candidate for confirmation was +ready. On his confirmation day, George received a great pinchbeck +watch from his godfather, the old iron monger's shopman, the richest +of his godfathers. The watch was an old and tried servant. It always +went too fast, but that is better than to be lagging behind. That +was a costly present. And from the General's apartment there arrived a +hymn-book bound in morocco, sent by the little lady to whom George had +given pictures. At the beginning of the book his name was written, and +her name, as "his gracious patroness." These words had been written at +the dictation of the General's lady, and the General had read the +inscription, and pronounced it "Charming!" +</P> + +<P> +"That is really a great attention from a family of such position," +said the porter's wife; and George was sent up stairs to show +himself in his confirmation clothes, with the hymn-book in his hand. +</P> + +<P> +The General's lady was sitting very much wrapped up, and had the +bad headache she always had when time hung heavy upon her hands. She +looked at George very pleasantly, and wished him all prosperity, and +that he might never have her headache. The General was walking about +in his dressing-gown. He had a cap with a long tassel on his head, and +Russian boots with red tops on his feet. He walked three times up +and down the room, absorbed in his own thoughts and recollections, and +then stopped and said: +</P> + +<P> +"So little George is a confirmed Christian now. Be a good man, and +honor those in authority over you. Some day, when you are an old +man, you can say that the General gave you this precept." +</P> + +<P> +That was a longer speech than the General was accustomed to +make, and then he went back to his ruminations, and looked very +aristocratic. But of all that George heard and saw up there, little +Miss Emily remained most clear in his thoughts. How graceful she +was, how gentle, and fluttering, and pretty she looked. If she were to +be drawn, it ought to be on a soap-bubble. About her dress, about +her yellow curled hair, there was a fragrance as of a fresh-blown +rose; and to think that he had once divided his bread and butter +with her, and that she had eaten it with enormous appetite, and nodded +to him at every second mouthful! Did she remember anything about it? +Yes, certainly, for she had given him the beautiful hymn-book in +remembrance of this; and when the first new moon in the first new year +after this event came round, he took a piece of bread, a penny, and +his hymn-book, and went out into the open air, and opened the book +to see what psalm he should turn up. It was a psalm of praise and +thanksgiving. Then he opened the book again to see what would turn +up for little Emily. He took great pains not to open the book in the +place where the funeral hymns were, and yet he got one that referred +to the grave and death. But then he thought this was not a thing in +which one must believe; for all that he was startled when soon +afterwards the pretty little girl had to lie in bed, and the +doctor's carriage stopped at the gate every day. +</P> + +<P> +"They will not keep her with them," said the porter's wife. "The +good God knows whom He will summon to Himself." +</P> + +<P> +But they kept her after all; and George drew pictures and sent +them to her. He drew the Czar's palace; the old Kremlin at Moscow, +just as it stood, with towers and cupolas; and these cupolas looked +like gigantic green and gold cucumbers, at least in George's +drawing. Little Emily was highly pleased, and consequently, when a +week had elapsed, George sent her a few more pictures, all with +buildings in them; for, you see, she could imagine all sorts of things +inside the windows and doors. +</P> + +<P> +He drew a Chinese house, with bells hanging from every one of +sixteen stories. He drew two Grecian temples with slender marble +pillars, and with steps all round them. He drew a Norwegian church. It +was easy to see that this church had been built entirely of wood, hewn +out and wonderfully put together; every story looked as if it had +rockers, like a cradle. But the most beautiful of all was the +castle, drawn on one of the leaves, and which he called "Emily's +Castle." This was the kind of place in which she must live. That is +what George had thought, and consequently he had put into this +building whatever he thought most beautiful in all the others. It +had carved wood-work, like the Norwegian church; marble pillars, +like the Grecian temple; bells in every story; and was crowned with +cupolas, green and gilded, like those of the Kremlin of the Czar. It +was a real child's castle, and under every window was written what the +hall or the room inside was intended to be; for instance: "Here +Emily sleeps;" "Here Emily dances;" "Here Emily plays at receiving +visitors." It was a real pleasure to look at the castle, and right +well was the castle looked at accordingly. +</P> + +<P> +"Charming!" said the General. +</P> + +<P> +But the old Count—for there was an old Count there, who was still +grander than the General, and had a castle of his own—said nothing at +all; he heard that it had been designed and drawn by the porter's +little son. Not that he was so very little, either, for he had already +been confirmed. The old Count looked at the pictures, and had his +own thoughts as he did so. +</P> + +<P> +One day, when it was very gloomy, gray, wet weather, the brightest +of days dawned for George; for the Professor at the Academy called him +into his room. +</P> + +<P> +"Listen to me, my friend," said the Professor; "I want to speak to +you. The Lord has been good to you in giving you abilities, and He has +also been good in placing you among kind people. The old Count at +the corner yonder has been speaking to me about you. I have also +seen your sketches; but we will not say any more about those, for +there is a good deal to correct in them. But from this time forward +you may come twice a-week to my drawing-class, and then you will +soon learn how to do them better. I think there's more of the +architect than of the painter in you. You will have time to think that +over; but go across to the old Count this very day, and thank God +for having sent you such a friend." +</P> + +<P> +It was a great house—the house of the old Count at the corner. +Round the windows elephants and dromedaries were carved, all from +the old times; but the old Count loved the new time best, and what +it brought, whether it came from the first floor, or from the +cellar, or from the attic. +</P> + +<P> +"I think," said, the porter's wife, "the grander people are, the +fewer airs do they give themselves. How kind and straightforward the +old count is! and he talks exactly like you and me. Now, the General +and his lady can't do that. And George was fairly wild with delight +yesterday at the good reception he met with at the Count's, and so +am I to-day, after speaking to the great man. Wasn't it a good thing +that we didn't bind George apprentice to a handicraftsman? for he +has abilities of his own." +</P> + +<P> +"But they must be helped on by others," said the father. +</P> + +<P> +"That help he has got now," rejoined the mother; "for the Count +spoke out quite clearly and distinctly." +</P> + +<P> +"But I fancy it began with the General," said the father, "and +we must thank them too." +</P> + +<P> +"Let us do so with all my heart," cried the mother, "though I +fancy we have not much to thank them for. I will thank the good God; +and I will thank Him, too, for letting little Emily get well." +</P> + +<P> +Emily was getting on bravely, and George got on bravely too. In +the course of the year he won the little silver prize medal of the +Academy, and afterwards he gained the great one too. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"It would have been better, after all, if he had been +apprenticed to a handicraftsman," said the porter's wife, weeping; +"for then we could have kept him with us. What is he to do in Rome? +I shall never get a sight of him again, not even if he comes back; but +that he won't do, the dear boy." +</P> + +<P> +"It is fortune and fame for him," said the father. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, thank you, my friend," said the mother; "you are saying what +you do not mean. You are just as sorrowful as I am." +</P> + +<P> +And it was all true about the sorrow and the journey. But +everybody said it was a great piece of good fortune for the young +fellow. And he had to take leave, and of the General too. The +General's lady did not show herself, for she had her bad headache. +On this occasion the General told his only anecdote, about what he had +said to the Prince, and how the Prince had said to him, "You are +incomparable." And he held out a languid hand to George. +</P> + +<P> +Emily gave George her hand too, and looked almost sorry; and +George was the most sorry of all. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Time goes by when one has something to do; and it goes by, too, +when one has nothing to do. The time is equally long, but not +equally useful. It was useful to George, and did not seem long at all, +except when he happened to be thinking of his home. How might the good +folks be getting on, up stairs and down stairs? Yes, there was writing +about that, and many things can be put into a letter—bright +sunshine and dark, heavy days. Both of these were in the letter +which brought the news that his father was dead, and that his mother +was alone now. She wrote that Emily had come down to see her, and +had been to her like an angel of comfort; and concerning herself, +she added that she had been allowed to keep her situation as +porteress. +</P> + +<P> +The General's lady kept a diary, and in this diary was recorded +every ball she attended and every visit she received. The diary was +illustrated by the insertion of the visiting cards of the diplomatic +circle and of the most noble families; and the General's lady was +proud of it. The diary kept growing through a long time, and amid many +severe headaches, and through a long course of half-nights, that is to +say, of court balls. Emily had now been to a court ball for the +first time. Her mother had worn a bright red dress, with black lace, +in the Spanish style; the daughter had been attired in white, fair and +delicate; green silk ribbons fluttered like flag-leaves among her +yellow locks, and on her head she wore a wreath of water-lillies. +Her eyes were so blue and clear, her mouth was so delicate and red, +she looked like a little water spirit, as beautiful as such a spirit +can be imagined. The Princes danced with her, one after another of +course; and the General's lady had not a headache for a week +afterwards. +</P> + +<P> +But the first ball was not the last, and Emily could not stand it; +it was a good thing, therefore, that summer brought with it rest, +and exercise in the open air. The family had been invited by the old +Count to visit him at him castle. That was a castle with a garden +which was worth seeing. Part of this garden was laid out quite in +the style of the old days, with stiff green hedges; you walked as if +between green walls with peep-holes in them. Box trees and yew trees +stood there trimmed into the form of stars and pyramids, and water +sprang from fountains in large grottoes lined with shells. All +around stood figures of the most beautiful stone—that could be seen +in their clothes as well as in their faces; every flower-bed had a +different shape, and represented a fish, or a coat of arms, or a +monogram. That was the French part of the garden; and from this part +the visitor came into what appeared like the green, fresh forest, +where the trees might grow as they chose, and accordingly they were +great and glorious. The grass was green, and beautiful to walk on, and +it was regularly cut, and rolled, and swept, and tended. That was +the English part of the garden. +</P> + +<P> +"Old time and new time," said the Count, "here they run well +into one another. In two years the building itself will put on a +proper appearance, there will be a complete metamorphosis in beauty +and improvement. I shall show you the drawings, and I shall show you +the architect, for he is to dine here to-day." +</P> + +<P> +"Charming!" said the General. +</P> + +<P> +"'Tis like Paradise here," said the General's lady, "and yonder +you have a knight's castle!" +</P> + +<P> +"That's my poultry-house," observed the Count. "The pigeons live +in the tower, the turkeys in the first floor, but old Elsie rules in +the ground floor. She has apartments on all sides of her. The +sitting hens have their own room, and the hens with chickens have +theirs; and the ducks have their own particular door leading to the +water." +</P> + +<P> +"Charming!" repeated the General. +</P> + +<P> +And all sailed forth to see these wonderful things. Old Elsie +stood in the room on the ground floor, and by her side stood Architect +George. He and Emily now met for the first time after several years, +and they met in the poultry-house. +</P> + +<P> +Yes, there he stood, and was handsome enough to be looked at. +His face was frank and energetic; he had black shining hair, and a +smile about his mouth, which said, "I have a brownie that sits in my +ear, and knows every one of you, inside and out." Old Elsie had pulled +off her wooden shoes, and stood there in her stockings, to do honor to +the noble guests. The hens clucked, and the cocks crowed, and the +ducks waddled to and fro, and said, "Quack, quack!" But the fair, pale +girl, the friend of his childhood, the daughter of the General, +stood there with a rosy blush on her usually pale cheeks, and her eyes +opened wide, and her mouth seemed to speak without uttering a word, +and the greeting he received from her was the most beautiful +greeting a young man can desire from a young lady, if they are not +related, or have not danced many times together, and she and the +architect had never danced together. +</P> + +<P> +The Count shook hands with him, and introduced him. +</P> + +<P> +"He is not altogether a stranger, our young friend George." +</P> + +<P> +The General's lady bowed to him, and the General's daughter was +very nearly giving him her hand; but she did not give it to him. +</P> + +<P> +"Our little Master George!" said the General. "Old friends! +Charming!" +</P> + +<P> +"You have become quite an Italian," said the General's lady, +"and I presume you speak the language like a native?" +</P> + +<P> +"My wife sings the language, but she does not speak it," +observed the General. +</P> + +<P> +At dinner, George sat at the right hand of Emily, whom the General +had taken down, while the Count led in the General's lady. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. George talked and told of his travels; and he could talk well, +and was the life and soul of the table, though the old Count could +have been it too. Emily sat silent, but she listened, and her eyes +gleamed, but she said nothing. +</P> + +<P> +In the verandah, among the flowers, she and George stood together; +the rose-bushes concealed them. And George was speaking again, for +he took the lead now. +</P> + +<P> +"Many thanks for the kind consideration you showed my old mother," +he said. "I know that you went down to her on the night when my father +died, and you stayed with her till his eyes were closed. My +heartiest thanks!" +</P> + +<P> +He took Emily's hand and kissed it—he might do so on such an +occasion. She blushed deeply, but pressed his hand, and looked at +him with her dear blue eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Your mother was a dear soul!" she said. "How fond she was of +her son! And she let me read all your letters, so that I almost +believe I know you. How kind you were to me when I was little girl! +You used to give me pictures." +</P> + +<P> +"Which you tore in two," said George. +</P> + +<P> +"No, I have still your drawing of the castle." +</P> + +<P> +"I must build the castle in reality now," said George; and he +became quite warm at his own words. +</P> + +<P> +The General and the General's lady talked to each other in their +room about the porter's son—how he knew how to behave, and to express +himself with the greatest propriety. +</P> + +<P> +"He might be a tutor," said the General. +</P> + +<P> +"Intellect!" said the General's lady; but she did not say anything +more. +</P> + +<P> +During the beautiful summer-time Mr. George several times +visited the Count at his castle; and he was missed when he did not +come. +</P> + +<P> +"How much the good God has given you that he has not given to us +poor mortals," said Emily to him. "Are you sure you are very +grateful for it?" +</P> + +<P> +It flattered George that the lovely young girl should look up to +him, and he thought then that Emily had unusually good abilities. +And the General felt more and more convinced that George was no +cellar-child. +</P> + +<P> +"His mother was a very good woman," he observed. "It is only right +I should do her that justice now she is in her grave." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The summer passed away, and the winter came; again there was +talk about Mr. George. He was highly respected, and was received in +the first circles. The General had met him at a court ball. +</P> + +<P> +And now there was a ball to be given in the General's house for +Emily, and could Mr. George be invited to it? +</P> + +<P> +"He whom the King invites can be invited by the General also," +said the General, and drew himself up till he stood quite an inch +higher than before. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. George was invited, and he came; princes and counts came, +and they danced, one better than the other. But Emily could only dance +one dance—the first; for she made a false step—nothing of +consequence; but her foot hurt her, so that she had to be careful, and +leave off dancing, and look at the others. So she sat and looked on, +and the architect stood by her side. +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose you are giving her the whole history of St. Peter's," +said the General, as he passed by; and smiled, like the +personification of patronage. +</P> + +<P> +With the same patronizing smile he received Mr. George a few +days afterwards. The young man came, no doubt, to return thanks for +the invitation to the ball. What else could it be? But indeed there +was something else, something very astonishing and startling. He spoke +words of sheer lunacy, so that the General could hardly believe his +own ears. It was "the height of rhodomontade," an offer, quite an +inconceivable offer—Mr. George came to ask the hand of Emily in +marriage! +</P> + +<P> +"Man!" cried the General, and his brain seemed to be boiling. "I +don't understand you at all. What is it you say? What is it you +want? I don't know you. Sir! Man! What possesses you to break into +my house? And am I to stand here and listen to you?" He stepped +backwards into his bed-room, locked the door behind him, and left +Mr. George standing alone. George stood still for a few minutes, and +then turned round and left the room. Emily was standing in the +corridor. +</P> + +<P> +"My father has answered?" she said, and her voice trembled. +</P> + +<P> +George pressed her hand. +</P> + +<P> +"He has escaped me," he replied; "but a better time will come." +</P> + +<P> +There were tears in Emily's eyes, but in the young man's eyes +shone courage and confidence; and the sun shone through the window, +and cast his beams on the pair, and gave them his blessing. +</P> + +<P> +The General sat in his room, bursting hot. Yes, he was still +boiling, until he boiled over in the exclamation, "Lunacy! porter! +madness!" +</P> + +<P> +Not an hour was over before the General's lady knew it out of +the General's own mouth. She called Emily, and remained alone with +her. +</P> + +<P> +"You poor child," she said; "to insult you so! to insult us so! +There are tears in your eyes, too, but they become you well. You +look beautiful in tears. You look as I looked on my wedding-day. +Weep on, my sweet Emily." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, that I must," said Emily, "if you and my father do not say +'yes.'" +</P> + +<P> +"Child!" screamed the General's lady; "you are ill! You are +talking wildly, and I shall have a most terrible headache! Oh, what +a misfortune is coming upon our house! Don't make your mother die, +Emily, or you will have no mother." +</P> + +<P> +And the eyes of the General's lady were wet, for she could not +bear to think of her own death. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +In the newspapers there was an announcement. "Mr. George has +been elected Professor of the Fifth Class, number Eight." +</P> + +<P> +"It's a pity that his parents are dead and cannot read it," said +the new porter people, who now lived in the cellar under the General's +apartments. They knew that the Professor had been born and grown up +within their four walls. +</P> + +<P> +"Now he'll get a salary," said the man. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, that's not much for a poor child," said the woman. +</P> + +<P> +"Eighteen dollars a year," said the man. "Why, it's a good deal of +money." +</P> + +<P> +"No, I mean the honor of it," replied the wife. "Do you think he +cares for the money? Those few dollars he can earn a hundred times +over, and most likely he'll get a rich wife into the bargain. If we +had children of our own, husband, our child should be an architect and +a professor too." +</P> + +<P> +George was spoken well of in the cellar, and he was spoken well of +in the first floor. The old Count took upon himself to do that. +</P> + +<P> +The pictures he had drawn in his childhood gave occasion for it. +But how did the conversation come to turn on these pictures? Why, they +had been talking of Russia and of Moscow, and thus mention was made of +the Kremlin, which little George had once drawn for Miss Emily. He had +drawn many pictures, but the Count especially remembered one, "Emily's +Castle," where she was to sleep, and to dance, and to play at +receiving guests. +</P> + +<P> +"The Professor was a true man," said the Count, "and would be a +privy councillor before he died, it was not at all unlikely; and he +might build a real castle for the young lady before that time came: +why not?" +</P> + +<P> +"That was a strange jest," remarked the General's lady, when the +Count had gone away. The General shook his head thoughtfully, and went +out for a ride, with his groom behind him at a proper distance, and he +sat more stiffly than ever on his high horse. +</P> + +<P> +It was Emily's birthday. Flowers, books, letters, and visiting +cards came pouring in. The General's lady kissed her on the mouth, and +the General kissed her on the forehead; they were affectionate +parents, and they and Emily had to receive grand visitors, two of +the Princes. They talked of balls and theatres, of diplomatic +missions, of the government of empires and nations; and then they +spoke of talent, native talent; and so the discourse turned upon the +young architect. +</P> + +<P> +"He is building up an immortality for himself," said one, "and +he will certainly build his way into one of our first families." +</P> + +<P> +"One of our first families!" repeated the General and afterwards +the General's lady; "what is meant by one of our first families?" +</P> + +<P> +"I know for whom it was intended," said the General's lady, "but I +shall not say it. I don't think it. Heaven disposes, but I shall be +astonished." +</P> + +<P> +"I am astonished also!" said the General. "I haven't an idea in my +head!" And he fell into a reverie, waiting for ideas. +</P> + +<P> +There is a power, a nameless power, in the possession of favor +from above, the favor of Providence, and this favor little George had. +But we are forgetting the birthday. +</P> + +<P> +Emily's room was fragrant with flowers, sent by male and female +friends; on the table lay beautiful presents for greeting and +remembrance, but none could come from George—none could come from +him; but it was not necessary, for the whole house was full of +remembrances of him. Even out of the ash-bin the blossom of memory +peeped forth, for Emily had sat whimpering there on the day when the +window-curtain caught fire, and George arrived in the character of +fire engine. A glance out of the window, and the acacia tree +reminded of the days of childhood. Flowers and leaves had fallen, +but there stood the tree covered with hoar frost, looking like a +single huge branch of coral, and the moon shone clear and large +among the twigs, unchanged in its changings, as it was when George +divided his bread and butter with little Emily. +</P> + +<P> +Out of a box the girl took the drawings of the Czar's palace and +of her own castle—remembrances of George. The drawings were looked +at, and many thoughts came. She remembered the day when, unobserved by +her father and mother, she had gone down to the porter's wife who +lay dying. Once again she seemed to sit beside her, holding the +dying woman's hand in hers, hearing the dying woman's last words: +"Blessing George!" The mother was thinking of her son, and now Emily +gave her own interpretation to those words. Yes, George was +certainly with her on her birthday. +</P> + +<P> +It happened that the next day was another birthday in that +house, the General's birthday. He had been born the day after his +daughter, but before her of course—many years before her. Many +presents arrived, and among them came a saddle of exquisite +workmanship, a comfortable and costly saddle—one of the Princes had +just such another. Now, from whom might this saddle come? The +General was delighted. There was a little note with the saddle. Now if +the words on the note had been "many thanks for yesterday's +reception," we might easily have guessed from whom it came. But the +words were "From somebody whom the General does not know." +</P> + +<P> +"Whom in the world do I not know?" exclaimed the General. "I +know everybody;" and his thoughts wandered all through society, for he +knew everybody there. "That saddle comes from my wife!" he said at +last. "She is teasing me—charming!" +</P> + +<P> +But she was not teasing him; those times were past. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Again there was a feast, but it was not in the General's house, it +was a fancy ball at the Prince's, and masks were allowed too. +</P> + +<P> +The General went as Rubens, in a Spanish costume, with a little +ruff round his neck, a sword by his side, and a stately manner. The +General's lady was Madame Rubens, in black velvet made high round +the neck, exceedingly warm, and with a mill-stone round her neck in +the shape of a great ruff—accurately dressed after a Dutch picture in +the possession of the General, in which the hands were especially +admired. They were just like the hands of the General's lady. +</P> + +<P> +Emily was Psyche. In white crape and lace she was like a +floating swan. She did not want wings at all. She only wore them as +emblematic of Psyche. +</P> + +<P> +Brightness, splendor, light and flowers, wealth and taste appeared +at the ball; there was so much to see, that the beautiful hands of +Madame Rubens made no sensation at all. +</P> + +<P> +A black domino, with an acacia blossom in his cap, danced with +Psyche. +</P> + +<P> +"Who is that?" asked the General's lady. +</P> + +<P> +"His Royal Highness," replied the General. "I am quite sure of it. +I knew him directly by the pressure of his hand." +</P> + +<P> +The General's lady doubted it. +</P> + +<P> +General Rubens had no doubts about it. He went up to the black +domino and wrote the royal letters in the mask's hand. These were +denied, but the mask gave him a hint. +</P> + +<P> +The words that came with the saddle: "One whom you do not know, +General." +</P> + +<P> +"But I do know you," said the General. "It was you who sent me the +saddle." +</P> + +<P> +The domino raised his hand, and disappeared among the other +guests. +</P> + +<P> +"Who is that black domino with whom you were dancing, Emily?" +asked the General's lady. +</P> + +<P> +"I did not ask his name," she replied, "because you knew it. It is +the Professor. Your protege is here, Count!" she continued, turning to +that nobleman, who stood close by. "A black domino with acacia +blossoms in his cap." +</P> + +<P> +"Very likely, my dear lady," replied the Count. "But one of the +Princes wears just the same costume." +</P> + +<P> +"I knew the pressure of the hand," said the General. "The saddle +came from the Prince. I am so certain of it that I could invite that +domino to dinner." +</P> + +<P> +"Do so. If it be the Prince he will certainly come," replied the +Count. +</P> + +<P> +"And if it is the other he will not come," said the General, and +approached the black domino, who was just speaking with the King. +The General gave a very respectful invitation "that they might make +each other's acquaintance," and he smiled in his certainty +concerning the person he was inviting. He spoke loud and distinctly. +</P> + +<P> +The domino raised his mask, and it was George. "Do you repeat your +invitation, General?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +The General certainly seemed to grow an inch taller, assumed a +more stately demeanor, and took two steps backward and one step +forward, as if he were dancing a minuet, and then came as much gravity +and expression into the face of the General as the General could +contrive to infuse into it; but he replied, +</P> + +<P> +"I never retract my words! You are invited, Professor!" and he +bowed with a glance at the King, who must have heard the whole +dialogue. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Now, there was a company to dinner at the General's, but only +the old Count and his protege were invited. +</P> + +<P> +"I have my foot under his table," thought George. "That's laying +the foundation stone." +</P> + +<P> +And the foundation stone was really laid, with great ceremony, +at the house of the General and of the General's lady. +</P> + +<P> +The man had come, and had spoken quite like a person in good +society, and had made himself very agreeable, so that the General +had often to repeat his "Charming!" The General talked of this dinner, +talked of it even to a court lady; and this lady, one of the most +intellectual persons about the court, asked to be invited to meet +the Professor the next time he should come. So he had to be invited +again; and he was invited, and came, and was charming again; he +could even play chess. +</P> + +<P> +"He's not out of the cellar," said the General; "he's quite a +distinguished person. There are many distinguished persons of that +kind, and it's no fault of his." +</P> + +<P> +The Professor, who was received in the King's palace, might very +well be received by the General; but that he could ever belong to +the house was out of the question, only the whole town was talking +of it. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +He grew and grew. The dew of favor fell from above, so no one +was surprised after all that he should become a Privy Councillor, +and Emily a Privy Councillor's lady. +</P> + +<P> +"Life is either a tragedy or a comedy," said the General. "In +tragedies they die, in comedies they marry one another." +</P> + +<P> +In this case they married. And they had three clever boys—but not +all at once. +</P> + +<P> +The sweet children rode on their hobby-horses through all the +rooms when they came to see the grandparents. And the General also +rode on his stick; he rode behind them in the character of groom to +the little Privy Councillors. +</P> + +<P> +And the General's lady sat on her sofa and smiled at them, even +when she had her severest headache. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +So far did George get, and much further; else it had not been +worth while to tell the story of THE PORTER'S SON. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="poultry"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +POULTRY MEG'S FAMILY +</H3> + +<P> +Poultry Meg was the only person who lived in the new stately +dwelling that had been built for the fowls and ducks belonging to +the manor house. It stood there where once the old knightly building +had stood with its tower, its pointed gables, its moat, and its +drawbridge. Close by it was a wilderness of trees and thicket; here +the garden had been, and had stretched out to a great lake, which +was now moorland. Crows and choughs flew screaming over the old trees, +and there were crowds of birds; they did not seem to get fewer when +any one shot among them, but seemed rather to increase. One heard +the screaming into the poultry-house, where Poultry Meg sat with the +ducklings running to and fro over her wooden shoes. She knew every +fowl and every duck from the moment it crept out of the shell; and she +was fond of her fowls and her ducks, and proud of the stately house +that had been built for them. Her own little room in the house was +clean and neat, for that was the wish of the gracious lady to whom the +house belonged. She often came in the company of grand noble guests, +to whom she showed "the hens' and ducks' barracks," as she called +the little house. +</P> + +<P> +Here were a clothes cupboard, and an arm-chair, and even a +chest of drawers; and on these drawers a polished metal plate had been +placed, whereon was engraved the word "Grubbe," and this was the +name of the noble family that had lived in the house of old. The brass +plate had been found when they were digging the foundation; and the +clerk has said it had no value except in being an old relic. The clerk +knew all about the place, and about the old times, for he had his +knowledge from books, and many a memorandum had been written and put +in his table-drawer. But the oldest of the crows perhaps knew more +than he, and screamed it out in her own language; but that was the +crow's language, and the clerk did not understand that, clever as he +was. +</P> + +<P> +After the hot summer days the mist sometimes hung over the +moorland as if a whole lake were behind the old trees, among which the +crows and the daws were fluttering; and thus it had looked when the +good Knight Grubbe had lived here—when the old manor house stood with +its thick red walls. The dog-chain used to reach in those days quite +over the gateway; through the tower one went into a paved passage +which led to the rooms; the windows were narrow, and the panes were +small, even in the great hall where the dancing used to be; but in the +time of the last Grubbe, there had been no dancing in the hall +within the memory of man, although an old drum still lay there that +had served as part of the music. Here stood a quaintly carved +cupboard, in which rare flower-roots were kept, for my Lady Grubbe was +fond of plants and cultivated trees and shrubs. Her husband +preferred riding out to shoot wolves and boars; and his little +daughter Marie always went with him part of the way. When she was only +five years old, she would sit proudly on her horse, and look saucily +round with her great black eyes. It was a great amusement to her to +hit out among the hunting-dogs with her whip; but her father would +rather have seen her hit among the peasant boys, who came running up +to stare at their lord. +</P> + +<P> +The peasant in the clay hut close by the knightly house had a +son named Soren, of the same age as the gracious little lady. The +boy could climb well, and had always to bring her down the bird's +nests. The birds screamed as loud as they could, and one of the +greatest of them hacked him with its beak over the eye so that the +blood ran down, and it was at first thought the eye had been +destroyed; but it had not been injured after all. Marie Grubbe used to +call him her Soren, and that was a great favor, and was an advantage +to Soren's father—poor Jon, who had one day committed a fault, and +was to be punished by riding on the wooden horse. This same horse +stood in the courtyard, and had four poles for legs, and a single +narrow plant for a back; on this Jon had to ride astride, and some +heavy bricks were fastened to his feet into the bargain, that he might +not sit too comfortably. He made horrible grimaces, and Soren wept and +implored little Marie to interfere. She immediately ordered that +Soren's father should be taken down, and when they did not obey her, +she stamped on the floor, and pulled at her father's sleeve till it +was torn to pieces. She would have her way, and she got her way, and +Soren's father was taken down. +</P> + +<P> +Lady Grubbe, who now came up, parted her little daughter's hair +from the child's brow, and looked at her affectionately; but Marie did +not understand why. +</P> + +<P> +She wanted to go to the hounds, and not to her mother, who went +down into the garden, to the lake where the water-lily bloomed, and +the heads of bulrushes nodded amid the reeds; and she looked at all +this beauty and freshness. "How pleasant!" she said. In the garden +stood at that time a rare tree, which she herself had planted. It +was called the blood-beech—a kind of negro growing among the other +trees, so dark brown were the leaves. This tree required much +sunshine, for in continual shade it would become bright green like the +other trees, and thus lose its distinctive character. In the lofty +chestnut trees were many birds' nests, and also in the thickets and in +the grassy meadows. It seemed as though the birds knew that they +were protected here, and that no one must fire a gun at them. +</P> + +<P> +Little Marie came here with Soren. He knew how to climb, as we +have already said, and eggs and fluffy-feathered young birds were +brought down. The birds, great and small, flew about in terror and +tribulation; the peewit from the fields, and the crows and daws from +the high trees, screamed and screamed; it was just such din as the +family will raise to the present day. +</P> + +<P> +"What are you doing, you children?" cried the gentle lady; "that +is sinful!" +</P> + +<P> +Soren stood abashed, and even the little gracious lady looked down +a little; but then he said, quite short and pretty, +</P> + +<P> +"My father lets me do it!" +</P> + +<P> +"Craw-craw! away-away from here!" cried the great black birds, and +they flew away; but on the following day they came back, for they were +at home here. +</P> + +<P> +The quiet gentle lady did not remain long at home here on earth, +for the good God called her away; and, indeed, her home was rather +with Him than in the knightly house; and the church bells tolled +solemnly when her corpse was carried to the church, and the eyes of +the poor people were wet with tears, for she had been good to them. +</P> + +<P> +When she was gone, no one attended to her plantations, and the +garden ran to waste. Grubbe the knight was a hard man, they said; +but his daughter, young as she was, knew how to manage him. He used to +laugh and let her have her way. She was now twelve years old, and +strongly built. She looked the people through and through with her +black eyes, rode her horse as bravely as a man, and could fire off her +gun like a practiced hunter. +</P> + +<P> +One day there were great visitors in the neighborhood, the +grandest visitors who could come. The young King, and his half-brother +and comrade, the Lord Ulric Frederick Gyldenlowe. They wanted to +hunt the wild boar, and to pass a few days at the castle of Grubbe. +</P> + +<P> +Gyldenlowe sat at table next to Marie Grubbe, and he took her by +the hand and gave her a kiss, as if she had been a relation; but she +gave him a box on the ear, and told him she could not bear him, at +which there was great laughter, as if that had been a very amusing +thing. +</P> + +<P> +And perhaps it was very amusing, for, five years afterwards, +when Marie had fulfilled her seventeenth year, a messenger arrived +with a letter, in which Lord Gyldenlowe proposed for the hand of the +noble young lady. There was a thing for you! +</P> + +<P> +"He is the grandest and most gallant gentleman in the whole +country," said Grubbe the knight; "that is not a thing to despise." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't care so very much about him," said Marie Grubbe; but +she did not despise the grandest man of all the country, who sat by +the king's side. +</P> + +<P> +Silver plate, and fine linen and woollen, went off to Copenhagen +in a ship, while the bride made the journey by land in ten days. But +the outfit met with contrary winds, or with no winds at all, for +four months passed before it arrived; and when it came, my Lady +Gyldenlowe was gone. +</P> + +<P> +"I'd rather lie on coarse sacking than lie in his silken beds," +she declared. "I'd rather walk barefoot than drive with him in a +coach!" +</P> + +<P> +Late one evening in November two women came riding into the town +of Aarhuus. They were the gracious Lady Gyldenlowe (Marie Grubbe) +and her maid. They came from the town of Weile, whither they had +come in a ship from Copenhagen. They stopped at Lord Grubbe's stone +mansion in Aarhuus. Grubbe was not well pleased with this visit. Marie +was accosted in hard words; but she had a bedroom given her, and got +her beer soup of a morning; but the evil part of her father's nature +was aroused against her, and she was not used to that. She was not +of a gentle temper, and we often answer as we are addressed. She +answered openly, and spoke with bitterness and hatred of her +husband, with whom she declared she would not live; she was too +honorable for that. +</P> + +<P> +A year went by, but it did not go by pleasantly. There were evil +words between the father and the daughter, and that ought never to be. +Bad words bear bad fruit. What could be the end of such a state of +things? +</P> + +<P> +"We two cannot live under the same roof," said the father one day. +"Go away from here to our old manor house; but you had better bite +your tongue off than spread any lies among the people." +</P> + +<P> +And so the two parted. She went with her maid to the old castle +where she had been born, and near which the gentle, pious lady, her +mother, was lying in the church vault. An old cowherd lived in the +courtyard, and was the only other inhabitant of the place. In the +rooms heavy black cobwebs hung down, covered with dust; in the +garden everything grew just as it would; hops and climbing plants +ran like a net between the trees and bushes, and the hemlock and +nettle grew larger and stronger. The blood-beech had been outgrown +by other trees, and now stood in the shade; and its leaves were +green like those of the common trees, and its glory had departed. +Crows and choughs, in great close masses, flew past over the tall +chestnut trees, and chattered and screamed as if they had something +very important to tell one another—as if they were saying, "Now she's +come back again, the little girl who had their eggs and their young +ones stolen from them; and as for the thief who had got them down, +he had to climb up a leafless tree, for he sat on a tall ship's +mast, and was beaten with a rope's end if he did not behave himself." +</P> + +<P> +The clerk told all this in our own times; he had collected it +and looked it up in books and memoranda. It was to be found, with many +other writings, locked up in his table-drawer. +</P> + +<P> +"Upward and downward is the course of the world," said he. "It +is strange to hear." +</P> + +<P> +And we will hear how it went with Marie Grubbe. We need not for +that forget Poultry Meg, who is sitting in her capital hen-house, in +our own time. Marie Grubbe sat down in her times, but not with the +same spirit that old Poultry Meg showed. +</P> + +<P> +The winter passed away, and the spring and the summer passed away, +and the autumn came again, with the damp, cold sea-fog. It was a +lonely, desolate life in the old manor house. Marie Grubbe took her +gun in her hand and went out to the heath, and shot hares and foxes, +and whatever birds she could hit. More than once she met the noble Sir +Palle Dyre, of Norrebak, who was also wandering about with his gun and +his dogs. He was tall and strong, and boasted of this when they talked +together. He could have measured himself against the deceased Mr. +Brockenhuus, of Egeskov, of whom the people still talked. Palle Dyre +had, after the example of Brockenhuus, caused an iron chain with a +hunting-horn to be hung in his gateway; and when he came riding +home, he used to seize the chain, and lift himself and his horse +from the ground, and blow the horn. +</P> + +<P> +"Come yourself, and see me do that, Dame Marie," he said. 'One can +breathe fresh and free at Norrebak. +</P> + +<P> +When she went to his castle is not known, but on the altar +candlestick in the church of Norrebak it was inscribed that they +were the gift of Palle Dyre and Marie Grubbe, of Norrebak Castle. +</P> + +<P> +A great stout man was Palle Dyre. He drank like a sponge. He was +like a tub that could never get full; he snored like a whole sty of +pigs, and he looked red and bloated. +</P> + +<P> +"He is treacherous and malicious," said Dame Pally Dyre, +Grubbe's daughter. Soon she was weary of her life with him, but that +did not make it better. +</P> + +<P> +One day the table was spread, and the dishes grew cold. Palle Dyre +was out hunting foxes, and the gracious lady was nowhere to be +found. Towards midnight Palle Dyre came home, but Dame Dyre came +neither at midnight, nor next morning. She had turned her back upon +Norrebak, and had ridden away without saying good-bye. +</P> + +<P> +It was gray, wet weather; the wind grew cold, and a flight of +black screaming birds flew over her head. They were not so homeless as +she. +</P> + +<P> +First she journeyed southward, quite down into the German land. +A couple of golden rings with costly stones were turned into money; +and then she turned to the east, and then she turned again and went +towards the west. She had no food before her eyes, and murmured +against everything, even against the good God himself, so wretched was +her soul. Soon her body became wretched too, and she was scarcely able +to move a foot. The peewit flew up as she stumbled over the mound of +earth where it had built its nest. The bird cried, as it always cried, +"You thief! you thief!" She had never stolen her neighbor's goods; but +as a little girl she had caused eggs and young birds to be taken +from the trees, and she thought of that now. +</P> + +<P> +From where she lay she could see the sand-dunes. By the seashore +lived fishermen; but she could not get so far, she was so ill. The +great white sea-mews flew over her head, and screamed as the crows and +daws screamed at home in the garden of the manor house. The birds flew +quite close to her, and at last it seemed to her as if they became +black as crows, and then all was night before her eyes. +</P> + +<P> +When she opened her eyes again, she was being lifted and +carried. A great strong man had taken her up in his arms, and she +was looking straight into his bearded face. He had a scar over one +eye, which seemed to divide the eyebrow into two parts. Weak as she +was, he carried her to the ship, where he got a rating for it from the +captain. +</P> + +<P> +The next day the ship sailed away. Madame Grubbe had not been +put ashore, so she sailed away with it. But she will return, will +she not? Yes, but where, and when? +</P> + +<P> +The clerk could tell about this too, and it was not a story +which he patched together himself. He had the whole strange history +out of an old authentic book, which we ourselves can take out and +read. The Danish historian, Ludwig Holberg, who has written so many +useful books and merry comedies, from which we can get such a good +idea of his times and their people, tells in his letters of Marie +Grubbe, where and how he met her. It is well worth hearing; but for +all that, we don't at all forget Poultry Meg, who is sitting +cheerful and comfortable in the charming fowl-house. +</P> + +<P> +The ship sailed away with Marie Grubbe. That's where we left off. +</P> + +<P> +Long years went by. +</P> + +<P> +The plague was raging at Copenhagen; it was in the year 1711. +The Queen of Denmark went away to her German home, the King quitted +the capital, and everybody who could do so hurried away. The students, +even those who had board and lodging gratis, left the city. One of +these students, the last who had remained in the free college, at last +went away too. It was two o'clock in the morning. He was carrying +his knapsack, which was better stacked with books and writings than +with clothes. A damp mist hung over the town; not a person was to be +seen in the streets; the street-doors around were marked with crosses, +as a sign that the plague was within, or that all the inmates were +dead. A great wagon rattled past him; the coachman brandished his +whip, and the horses flew by at a gallop. The wagon was filled with +corpses. The young student kept his hand before his face, and smelt at +some strong spirits that he had with him on a sponge in a little brass +scent-case. Out of a small tavern in one of the streets there were +sounds of singing and of unhallowed laughter, from people who drank +the night through to forget that the plague was at their doors, and +that they might be put into the wagon as the others had been. The +student turned his steps towards the canal at the castle bridge, where +a couple of small ships were lying; one of these was weighing +anchor, to get away from the plague-stricken city. +</P> + +<P> +"If God spares our lives and grants us a fair wind, we are going +to Gronmud, near Falster," said the captain; and he asked the name +of the student who wished to go with him. +</P> + +<P> +"Ludwig Holberg," answered the student; and the name sounded +like any other. But now there sounds in it one of the proudest names +of Denmark; then it was the name of a young, unknown student. +</P> + +<P> +The ship glided past the castle. It was not yet bright day when it +was in the open sea. A light wind filled the sails, and the young +student sat down with his face turned towards the fresh wind, and went +to sleep, which was not exactly the most prudent thing he could have +done. +</P> + +<P> +Already on the third day the ship lay by the island of Falster. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you know any one here with whom I could lodge cheaply?" +Holberg asked the captain. +</P> + +<P> +"I should think you would do well to go to the ferry-woman in +Borrehaus," answered the captain. "If you want to be very civil to +her, her name is Mother Soren Sorensen Muller. But it may happen +that she may fly into a fury if you are too polite to her. The man +is in custody for a crime, and that's why she manages the ferry-boat +herself—she has fists of her own." +</P> + +<P> +The student took his knapsack and betook himself to the +ferry-house. The house door was not locked—it opened, and he went +into a room with a brick floor, where a bench, with a great coverlet +of leather, formed the chief article of furniture. A white hen, who +had a brood of chickens, was fastened to the bench, and had overturned +the pipkin of water, so that the wet ran across the floor. There +were no people either here or in the adjoining room; only a cradle +stood there, in which was a child. The ferry-boat came back with +only one person in it. Whether that person was a man or a woman was +not an easy matter to determine. The person in question was wrapped in +a great cloak, and wore a kind of hood. Presently the boat lay to. +</P> + +<P> +It was a woman who got out of it and came into the room. She +looked very stately when she straightened her back; two proud eyes +looked forth from beneath her black eyebrows. It was Mother Soren, the +ferry-wife. The crows and daws might have called out another name +for her, which we know better. +</P> + +<P> +She looked morose, and did not seem to care to talk; but this much +was settled, that the student should board in her house for an +indefinite time, while things looked so bad in Copenhagen. +</P> + +<P> +This or that honest citizen would often come to the ferry-house +from the neighboring little town. There came Frank the cutler, and +Sivert the exciseman. They drank a mug of beer in the ferry-house, and +used to converse with the student, for he was a clever young man, +who knew his "Practica," as they called it; he could read Greek and +Latin, and was well up in learned subjects. +</P> + +<P> +"The less one knows, the less it presses upon one," said Mother +Soren. +</P> + +<P> +"You have to work hard," said Holberg one day, when she was +dipping clothes in the strong soapy water, and was obliged herself +to split the logs for the fire. +</P> + +<P> +"That's my affair," she replied. +</P> + +<P> +"Have you been obliged to toil in this way from your childhood?" +</P> + +<P> +"You can read that from my hands," she replied, and held out her +hands, that were small indeed, but hard and strong, with bitten nails. +"You are learned, and can read." +</P> + +<P> +At Christmas-time it began to snow heavily. The cold came on, +the wind blue sharp, as if there were vitriol in it to wash the +people's faces. Mother Soren did not let that disturb her; she threw +her cloak around her, and drew her hood over her head. Early in the +afternoon—it was already dark in the house—she laid wood and turf on +the hearth, and then she sat down to darn her stockings, for there was +no one to do it for her. Towards evening she spoke more words to the +student than it was customary with her to use; she spoke of her +husband. +</P> + +<P> +"He killed a sailor of Dragor by mischance, and for that he has to +work for three years in irons. He's only a common sailor, and +therefore the law must take its course." +</P> + +<P> +"The law is there for people of high rank, too," said Holberg. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you think so?" said Mother Soren; then she looked into the +fire for a while; but after a time she began to speak again. "Have you +heard of Kai Lykke, who caused a church to be pulled down, and when +the clergyman, Master Martin, thundered from the pulpit about it, he +had him put in irons, and sat in judgment upon him, and condemned +him to death? Yes, and the clergyman was obliged to bow his head to +the stroke. And yet Kai Lykke went scot-free." +</P> + +<P> +"He had a right to do as he did in those times," said Holberg; +"but now we have left those times behind us." +</P> + +<P> +"You may get a fool to believe that," cried Mother Soren; and +she got up and went into the room where the child lay. She lifted up +the child, and laid it down more comfortably. Then she arranged the +bed-place of the student. He had the green coverlet, for he felt the +cold more than she, though he was born in Norway. +</P> + +<P> +On New Year's morning it was a bright sunshiny day. The frost +had been so strong, and was still so strong, that the fallen snow +had become a hard mass, and one could walk upon it. The bells of the +little town were tolling for church. Student Holberg wrapped himself +up in his woollen cloak, and wanted to go to the town. +</P> + +<P> +Over the ferry-house the crows and daws were flying with loud +cries; one could hardly hear the church bells for their screaming. +Mother Soren stood in front of the house, filling a brass pot with +snow, which she was going to put on the fire to get drinking water. +She looked up to the crowd of birds, and thought her own thoughts. +</P> + +<P> +Student Holberg went to church. On his way there and on his return +he passed by the house of tax-collector Sivert, by the town-gate. Here +he was invited to take a mug of brown beer with treacle and sugar. The +discourse fell upon Mother Soren, but the tax collector did not know +much about her, and, indeed, few knew much about her. She did not +belong to the island of Falster, he said; she had a little property of +her own at one time. Her husband was a common sailor, a fellow of a +very hot temper, and had killed a sailor of Dragor; and he beat his +wife, and yet she defended him. +</P> + +<P> +"I should not endure such treatment," said the tax-collector's +wife. "I am come of more respectable people. My father was +stocking-weaver to the Court." +</P> + +<P> +"And consequently you have married a governmental official," +said Holberg, and made a bow to her and to the collector. +</P> + +<P> +It was on Twelfth Night, the evening of the festival of the +Three Kings, Mother Soren lit up for Holberg a three-king candle, that +is, a tallow candle with three wicks, which she had herself prepared. +</P> + +<P> +"A light for each man," said Holberg. +</P> + +<P> +"For each man?" repeated the woman, looking sharply at him. +</P> + +<P> +"For each of the wise men from the East," said Holberg. +</P> + +<P> +"You mean it that way," said she, and then she was silent for a +long time. But on this evening he learned more about her than he had +yet known. +</P> + +<P> +"You speak very affectionately of your husband," observed Holberg, +"and yet the people say that he ill-uses you every day." +</P> + +<P> +"That's no one's business but mine," she replied. "The blows might +have done me good when I was a child; now, I suppose, I get them for +my sins. But I know what good he has done me," and she rose up. +"When I lay sick upon the desolate heath, and no one would have pity +on me, and no one would have anything to do with me, except the +crows and daws, which came to peck me to bits, he carried me in his +arms, and had to bear hard words because of the burden he brought on +board ship. It's not in my nature to be sick, and so I got well. Every +man has his own way, and Soren has his; but the horse must not be +judged by the halter. Taking one thing with another, I have lived more +agreeably with him than with the man whom they called the most noble +and gallant of the King's subjects. I have had the Stadtholder +Gyldenlowe, the King's half-brother, for my husband; and afterwards +I took Palle Dyre. One is as good as another, each in his own way, and +I in mine. That was a long gossip, but now you know all about me." +</P> + +<P> +And with those words she left the room. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +It was Marie Grubbe! so strangely had fate played with her. She +did not live to see many anniversaries of the festival of the Three +Kings; Holberg has recorded that she died in June, 1716; but he has +not written down, for he did not know, that a number of great black +birds circled over the ferry-house, when Mother Soren, as she was +called, was lying there a corpse. They did not scream, as if they knew +that at a burial silence should be observed. So soon as she lay in the +earth, the birds disappeared; but on the same evening in Jutland, at +the old manor house, an enormous number of crows and choughs were +seen; they all cried as loud as they could, as if they had some +announcement to make. Perhaps they talked of him who, as a little boy, +had taken away their eggs and their young; of the peasant's son, who +had to wear an iron garter, and of the noble young lady, who ended +by being a ferryman's wife. +</P> + +<P> +"Brave! brave!" they cried. +</P> + +<P> +And the whole family cried, "Brave! brave!" when the old house was +pulled down. +</P> + +<P> +"They are still crying, and yet there's nothing to cry about," +said the clerk, when he told the story. "The family is extinct, the +house has been pulled down, and where it stood is now the stately +poultry-house, with gilded weathercocks, and the old Poultry Meg. +She rejoices greatly in her beautiful dwelling. If she had not come +here," the old clerk added, "she would have had to go into the +work-house." +</P> + +<P> +The pigeons cooed over her, the turkey-cocks gobbled, and the +ducks quacked. +</P> + +<P> +"Nobody knew her," they said; "she belongs to no family. It's pure +charity that she is here at all. She has neither a drake father nor +a hen mother, and has no descendants." +</P> + +<P> +She came of a great family, for all that; but she did not know it, +and the old clerk did not know it, though he had so much written down; +but one of the old crows knew about it, and told about it. She had +heard from her own mother and grandmother about Poultry Meg's mother +and grandmother. And we know the grandmother too. We saw her ride, +as child, over the bridge, looking proudly around her, as if the whole +world belonged to her, and all the birds' nests in it; and we saw +her on the heath, by the sand-dunes; and, last of all, in the +ferry-house. The granddaughter, the last of her race, had come back to +the old home, where the old castle had stood, where the black wild +birds were screaming; but she sat among the tame birds, and these knew +her and were fond of her. Poultry Meg had nothing left to wish for; +she looked forward with pleasure to her death, and she was old +enough to die. +</P> + +<P> +"Grave, grave!" cried the crows. +</P> + +<P> +And Poultry Meg has a good grave, which nobody knew except the old +crow, if the old crow is not dead already. +</P> + +<P> +And now we know the story of the old manor house, of its old +proprietors, and of all Poultry Meg's family. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="princess"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE PRINCESS AND THE PEA +</H3> + +<P> +Once upon a time there was a prince who wanted to marry a +princess; but she would have to be a real princess. He travelled all +over the world to find one, but nowhere could he get what he wanted. +There were princesses enough, but it was difficult to find out whether +they were real ones. There was always something about them that was +not as it should be. So he came home again and was sad, for he would +have liked very much to have a real princess. +</P> + +<P> +One evening a terrible storm came on; there was thunder and +lightning, and the rain poured down in torrents. Suddenly a knocking +was heard at the city gate, and the old king went to open it. +</P> + +<P> +It was a princess standing out there in front of the gate. But, +good gracious! what a sight the rain and the wind had made her look. +The water ran down from her hair and clothes; it ran down into the +toes of her shoes and out again at the heels. And yet she said that +she was a real princess. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, we'll soon find that out," thought the old queen. But she +said nothing, went into the bed-room, took all the bedding off the +bedstead, and laid a pea on the bottom; then she took twenty +mattresses and laid them on the pea, and then twenty eider-down beds +on top of the mattresses. +</P> + +<P> +On this the princess had to lie all night. In the morning she +was asked how she had slept. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, very badly!" said she. "I have scarcely closed my eyes all +night. Heaven only knows what was in the bed, but I was lying on +something hard, so that I am black and blue all over my body. It's +horrible!" +</P> + +<P> +Now they knew that she was a real princess because she had felt +the pea right through the twenty mattresses and the twenty +eider-down beds. +</P> + +<P> +Nobody but a real princess could be as sensitive as that. +</P> + +<P> +So the prince took her for his wife, for now he knew that he had a +real princess; and the pea was put in the museum, where it may still +be seen, if no one has stolen it. +</P> + +<P> +There, that is a true story. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="psyche"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE PSYCHE +</H3> + +<P> +In the fresh morning dawn, in the rosy air gleams a great Star, +the brightest Star of the morning. His rays tremble on the white wall, +as if he wished to write down on it what he can tell, what he has seen +there and elsewhere during thousands of years in our rolling world. +Let us hear one of his stories. +</P> + +<P> +"A short time ago"—the Star's "short time ago" is called among +men "centuries ago"—"my rays followed a young artist. It was in the +city of the Popes, in the world-city, Rome. Much has been changed +there in the course of time, but the changes have not come so +quickly as the change from youth to old age. Then already the palace +of the Caesars was a ruin, as it is now; fig trees and laurels grew +among the fallen marble columns, and in the desolate bathing-halls, +where the gilding still clings to the wall; the Coliseum was a +gigantic ruin; the church bells sounded, the incense sent up its +fragrant cloud, and through the streets marched processions with +flaming tapers and glowing canopies. Holy Church was there, and art +was held as a high and holy thing. In Rome lived the greatest +painter in the world, Raphael; there also dwelt the first of +sculptors, Michael Angelo. Even the Pope paid homage to these two, and +honored them with a visit. Art was recognized and honored, and was +rewarded also. But, for all that, everything great and splendid was +not seen and known. +</P> + +<P> +"In a narrow lane stood an old house. Once it had been a temple; a +young sculptor now dwelt there. He was young and quite unknown. He +certainly had friends, young artists, like himself, young in spirit, +young in hopes and thoughts; they told him he was rich in talent, +and an artist, but that he was foolish for having no faith in his +own power; for he always broke what he had fashioned out of clay, +and never completed anything; and a work must be completed if it is to +be seen and to bring money. +</P> + +<P> +"'You are a dreamer,' they went on to say to him, 'and that's your +misfortune. But the reason of this is, that you have never lived, +you have never tasted life, you have never enjoyed it in great +wholesome draughts, as it ought to be enjoyed. In youth one must +mingle one's own personality with life, that they may become one. Look +at the great master Raphael, whom the Pope honors and the world +admires. He's no despiser of wine and bread.' +</P> + +<P> +"'And he even appreciates the baker's daughter, the pretty +Fornarina,' added Angelo, one of the merriest of the young friends. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, they said a good many things of the kind, according to their +age and their reason. They wanted to draw the young artist out with +them into the merry wild life, the mad life as it might also be +called; and at certain times he felt an inclination for it. He had +warm blood, a strong imagination, and could take part in the merry +chat, and laugh aloud with the rest; but what they called 'Raphael's +merry life' disappeared before him like a vapor when he saw the divine +radiance that beamed forth from the pictures of the great master; +and when he stood in the Vatican, before the forms of beauty which the +masters had hewn out of marble thousands of years since, his breast +swelled, and he felt within himself something high, something holy, +something elevating, great and good, and he wished that he could +produce similar forms from the blocks of marble. He wished to make a +picture of that which was within him, stirring upward from his heart +to the realms of the Infinite; but how, and in what form? The soft +clay was fashioned under his fingers into forms of beauty, but the +next day he broke what he had fashioned, according to his wont. +</P> + +<P> +"One day he walked past one of those rich palaces of which Rome +has many to show. He stopped before the great open portal, and +beheld a garden surrounded by cloistered walks. The garden bloomed +with a goodly show of the fairest roses. Great white lilies with green +juicy leaves shot upward from the marble basin in which the clear +water was splashing; and a form glided past, the daughter of the +princely house, graceful, delicate, and wonderfully fair. Such a +form of female loveliness he had never before beheld—yet stay: he had +seen it, painted by Raphael, painted as a Psyche, in one of the +Roman palaces. Yes, there it had been painted; but here it passed by +him in living reality. +</P> + +<P> +"The remembrance lived in his thoughts, in his heart. He went home +to his humble room, and modelled a Psyche of clay. It was the rich +young Roman girl, the noble maiden; and for the first time he looked +at his work with satisfaction. It had a meaning for him, for it was +she. And the friends who saw his work shouted aloud for joy; they +declared that this work was a manifestation of his artistic power, +of which they had long been aware, and that now the world should be +made aware of it too. +</P> + +<P> +"The clay figure was lifelike and beautiful, but it had not the +whiteness or the durability of marble. So they declared that the +Psyche must henceforth live in marble. He already possessed a costly +block of that stone. It had been lying for years, the property of +his parents, in the courtyard. Fragments of glass, climbing weeds, and +remains of artichokes had gathered about it and sullied its purity; +but under the surface the block was as white as the mountain snow; and +from this block the Psyche was to arise." +</P> + +<P> +Now, it happened one morning—the bright Star tells nothing +about this, but we know it occurred—that a noble Roman company came +into the narrow lane. The carriage stopped at the top of the lane, and +the company proceeded on foot towards the house, to inspect the +young sculptor's work, for they had heard him spoken of by chance. And +who were these distinguished guests? Poor young man! or fortunate +young man he might be called. The noble young lady stood in the room +and smiled radiantly when her father said to her, "It is your living +image." That smile could not be copied, any more than the look could +be reproduced, the wonderful look which she cast upon the young +artist. It was a fiery look, that seemed at once to elevate and to +crush him. +</P> + +<P> +"The Psyche must be executed in marble," said the wealthy +patrician. And those were words of life for the dead clay and the +heavy block of marble, and words of life likewise for the deeply-moved +artist. "When the work is finished I will purchase it," continued +the rich noble. +</P> + +<P> +A new era seemed to have arisen in the poor studio. Life and +cheerfulness gleamed there, and busy industry plied its work. The +beaming Morning Star beheld how the work progressed. The clay itself +seemed inspired since she had been there, and moulded itself, in +heightened beauty, to a likeness of the well-known features. +</P> + +<P> +"Now I know what life is," cried the artist rejoicingly; "it is +Love! It is the lofty abandonment of self for the dawning of the +beautiful in the soul! What my friends call life and enjoyment is a +passing shadow; it is like bubbles among seething dregs, not the +pure heavenly wine that consecrates us to life." +</P> + +<P> +The marble block was reared in its place. The chisel struck +great fragments from it; the measurements were taken, points and lines +were made, the mechanical part was executed, till gradually the +stone assumed a human female form, a shape of beauty, and became +converted into the Psyche, fair and glorious—a divine being in +human shape. The heavy stone appeared as a gliding, dancing, airy +Psyche, with the heavenly innocent smile—the smile that had +mirrored itself in the soul of the young artist. +</P> + +<P> +The Star of the roseate dawn beheld and understood what was +stirring within the young man, and could read the meaning of the +changing color of his cheek, of the light that flashed from his eye, +as he stood busily working, reproducing what had been put into his +soul from above. +</P> + +<P> +"Thou art a master like those masters among the ancient Greeks," +exclaimed his delighted friends; "soon shall the whole world admire +thy Psyche." +</P> + +<P> +"My Psyche!" he repeated. "Yes, mine. She must be mine. I, too, am +an artist, like those great men who are gone. Providence has granted +me the boon, and has made me the equal of that lady of noble birth." +</P> + +<P> +And he knelt down and breathed a prayer of thankfulnesss to +Heaven, and then he forgot Heaven for her sake—for the sake of her +picture in stone—for her Psyche which stood there as if formed of +snow, blushing in the morning dawn. +</P> + +<P> +He was to see her in reality, the living, graceful Psyche, whose +words sounded like music in his ears. He could now carry the news into +the rich palace that the marble Psyche was finished. He betook himself +thither, strode through the open courtyard where the waters ran +splashing from the dolphin's jaws into the marble basins, where the +snowy lilies and the fresh roses bloomed in abundance. He stepped into +the great lofty hall, whose walls and ceilings shone with gilding +and bright colors and heraldic devices. Gayly-dressed serving-men, +adorned with trappings like sleigh horses, walked to and fro, and some +reclined at their ease upon the carved oak seats, as if they were +the masters of the house. He told them what had brought him to the +palace, and was conducted up the shining marble staircase, covered +with soft carpets and adorned with many a statue. Then he went on +through richly-furnished chambers, over mosaic floors, amid gorgeous +pictures. All this pomp and luxury seemed to weary him; but soon he +felt relieved, for the princely old master of the house received him +most graciously, almost heartily; and when he took his leave he was +requested to step into the Signora's apartment, for she, too, wished +to see him. The servants led him through more luxurious halls and +chambers into her room, where she appeared the chief and leading +ornament. +</P> + +<P> +She spoke to him. No hymn of supplication, no holy chant, could +melt his soul like the sound of her voice. He took her hand and lifted +it to his lips. No rose was softer, but a fire thrilled through him +from this rose—a feeling of power came upon him, and words poured +from his tongue—he knew not what he said. Does the crater of the +volcano know that the glowing lava is pouring from it? He confessed +what he felt for her. She stood before him astonished, offended, +proud, with contempt in her face, an expression of disgust, as if +she had suddenly touched a cold unclean reptile. Her cheeks +reddened, her lips grew white, and her eyes flashed fire, though +they were dark as the blackness of night. +</P> + +<P> +"Madman!" she cried, "away! begone!" +</P> + +<P> +And she turned her back upon him. Her beautiful face wore an +expression like that of the stony countenance with the snaky locks. +</P> + +<P> +Like a stricken, fainting man, he tottered down the staircase +and out into the street. Like a man walking in his sleep, he found his +way back to his dwelling. Then he woke up to madness and agony, and +seized his hammer, swung it high in the air, and rushed forward to +shatter the beautiful marble image. But, in his pain, he had not +noticed that his friend Angelo stood beside him; and Angelo held +back his arm with a strong grasp, crying, +</P> + +<P> +"Are you mad? What are you about?" +</P> + +<P> +They struggled together. Angelo was the stronger; and, with a deep +sigh of exhaustion, the young artist threw himself into a chair. +</P> + +<P> +"What has happened?" asked Angelo. "Command yourself. Speak!" +</P> + +<P> +But what could he say? How could he explain? And as Angelo could +make no sense of his friend's incoherent words, he forbore to question +him further, and merely said, +</P> + +<P> +"Your blood grows thick from your eternal dreaming. Be a man, as +all others are, and don't go on living in ideals, for that is what +drives men crazy. A jovial feast will make you sleep quietly and +happily. Believe me, the time will come when you will be old, and your +sinews will shrink, and then, on some fine sunshiny day, when +everything is laughing and rejoicing, you will lie there a faded +plant, that will grow no more. I do not live in dreams, but in +reality. Come with me. Be a man!" +</P> + +<P> +And he drew the artist away with him. At this moment he was able +to do so, for a fire ran in the blood of the young sculptor; a +change had taken place in his soul; he felt a longing to tear from the +old, the accustomed—to forget, if possible, his own individuality; +and therefore it was that he followed Angelo. +</P> + +<P> +In an out-of-the-way suburb of Rome lay a tavern much visited by +artists. It was built on the ruins of some ancient baths. The great +yellow citrons hung down among the dark shining leaves, and covered +a part of the old reddish-yellow walls. The tavern consisted of a +vaulted chamber, almost like a cavern, in the ruins. A lamp burned +there before the picture of the Madonna. A great fire gleamed on the +hearth, and roasting and boiling was going on there; without, under +the citron trees and laurels, stood a few covered tables. +</P> + +<P> +The two artists were received by their friends with shouts of +welcome. Little was eaten, but much was drunk, and the spirits of +the company rose. Songs were sung and ditties were played on the +guitar; presently the Salterello sounded, and the merry dance began. +Two young Roman girls, who sat as models to the artists, took part +in the dance and in the festivity. Two charming Bacchantes were +they; certainly not Psyches—not delicate, beautiful roses, but fresh, +hearty, glowing carnations. +</P> + +<P> +How hot it was on that day! Even after sundown it was hot. There +was fire in the blood, fire in every glance, fire everywhere. The +air gleamed with gold and roses, and life seemed like gold and roses. +</P> + +<P> +"At last you have joined us, for once," said his friends. "Now let +yourself be carried by the waves within and around you." +</P> + +<P> +"Never yet have I felt so well, so merry!" cried the young artist. +"You are right—you are all of you right. I was a fool—a dreamer. Man +belongs to reality, and not to fancy." +</P> + +<P> +With songs and with sounding guitars the young people returned +that evening from the tavern, through the narrow streets; the two +glowing carnations, daughters of the Campagna, went with them. +</P> + +<P> +In Angelo's room, among a litter of colored sketches (studies) and +glowing pictures, the voices sounded mellower, but not less merrily. +On the ground lay many a sketch that resembled the daughters of the +Campagna, in their fresh, hearty comeliness, but the two originals +were far handsomer than their portraits. All the burners of the +six-armed lamp flared and flamed; and the human flamed up from within, +and appeared in the glare as if it were divine. +</P> + +<P> +"Apollo! Jupiter! I feel myself raised to our heaven—to your +glory! I feel as if the blossom of life were unfolding itself in my +veins at this moment!" +</P> + +<P> +Yes, the blossom unfolded itself, and then burst and fell, and +an evil vapor arose from it, blinding the sight, leading astray the +fancy; the firework of the senses went out, and it became dark. +</P> + +<P> +He was again in his own room. There he sat down on his bed and +collected his thoughts. +</P> + +<P> +"Fie on thee!" these were the words that sounded out of his +mouth from the depths of his heart. "Wretched man, go, begone!" And +a deep painful sigh burst from his bosom. +</P> + +<P> +"Away! begone!" These, her words, the words of the living +Psyche, echoed through his heart, escaped from his lips. He buried his +head in the pillows, his thoughts grew confused, and he fell asleep. +</P> + +<P> +In the morning dawn he started up, and collected his thoughts +anew. What had happened? Had all the past been a dream? The visit to +her, the feast at the tavern, the evening with the purple carnations +of the Campagna? No, it was all real—a reality he had never before +experienced. +</P> + +<P> +In the purple air gleamed the bright Star, and its beams fell upon +him and upon the marble Psyche. He trembled as he looked at that +picture of immortality, and his glance seemed impure to him. He +threw the cloth over the statue, and then touched it once more to +unveil the form—but he was not able to look again at his own work. +</P> + +<P> +Gloomy, quiet, absorbed in his own thoughts, he sat there +through the long day; he heard nothing of what was going on around +him, and no man guessed what was passing in this human soul. +</P> + +<P> +And days and weeks went by, but the nights passed more slowly than +the days. The flashing Star beheld him one morning as he rose, pale +and trembling with fever, from his sad couch; then he stepped +towards the statue, threw back the covering, took one long, +sorrowful gaze at his work, and then, almost sinking beneath the +burden, he dragged the statue out into the garden. In that place was +an old dry well, now nothing but a hole. Into this he cast the Psyche, +threw earth in above her, and covered up the spot with twigs and +nettles. +</P> + +<P> +"Away! begone!" Such was the short epitaph he spoke. +</P> + +<P> +The Star beheld all this from the pink morning sky, and its beam +trembled upon two great tears upon the pale feverish cheeks of the +young man; and soon it was said that he was sick unto death, and he +lay stretched upon a bed of pain. +</P> + +<P> +The convent Brother Ignatius visited him as a physician and a +friend, and brought him words of comfort, of religion, and spoke to +him of the peace and happiness of the church, of the sinfulness of +man, of rest and mercy to be found in heaven. +</P> + +<P> +And the words fell like warm sunbeams upon a teeming soil. The +soil smoked and sent up clouds of mist, fantastic pictures, pictures +in which there was reality; and from these floating islands he +looked across at human life. He found it vanity and delusion—and +vanity and delusion it had been to him. They told him that art was a +sorcerer, betraying us to vanity and to earthly lusts; that we are +false to ourselves, unfaithful to our friends, unfaithful towards +Heaven; and that the serpent was always repeating within us, "Eat, and +thou shalt become as God." +</P> + +<P> +And it appeared to him as if now, for the first time, he knew +himself, and had found the way that leads to truth and to peace. In +the church was the light and the brightness of God—in the monk's cell +he should find the rest through which the tree of human life might +grow on into eternity. +</P> + +<P> +Brother Ignatius strengthened his longings, and the +determination became firm within him. A child of the world became a +servant of the church—the young artist renounced the world, and +retired into the cloister. +</P> + +<P> +The brothers came forward affectionately to welcome him, and his +inauguration was as a Sunday feast. Heaven seemed to him to dwell in +the sunshine of the church, and to beam upon him from the holy +pictures and from the cross. And when, in the evening, at the sunset +hour, he stood in his little cell, and, opening the window, looked out +upon old Rome, upon the desolated temples, and the great dead +Coliseum—when he saw all this in its spring garb, when the acacias +bloomed, and the ivy was fresh, and roses burst forth everywhere, +and the citron and orange were in the height of their beauty, and +the palm trees waved their branches—then he felt a deeper emotion +than had ever yet thrilled through him. The quiet open Campagna spread +itself forth towards the blue snow-covered mountains, which seemed +to be painted in the air; all the outlines melting into each other, +breathing peace and beauty, floating, dreaming—and all appearing like +a dream! +</P> + +<P> +Yes, this world was a dream, and the dream lasts for hours, and +may return for hours; but convent life is a life of years—long years, +and many years. +</P> + +<P> +From within comes much that renders men sinful and impure. He +fully realized the truth of this. What flames arose up in him at +times! What a source of evil, of that which we would not, welled up +continually! He mortified his body, but the evil came from within. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +One day, after the lapse of many years, he met Angelo, who +recognized him. +</P> + +<P> +"Man!" exclaimed Angelo. "Yes, it is thou! Art thou happy now? +Thou hast sinned against God, and cast away His boon from thee—hast +neglected thy mission in this world! Read the parable of the intrusted +talent! The MASTER, who spoke that parable, spoke the truth! What hast +thou gained? What hast thou found? Dost thou not fashion for thyself a +religion and a dreamy life after thine own idea, as almost all do? +Suppose all this is a dream, a fair delusion!" +</P> + +<P> +"Get thee away from me, Satan!" said the monk; and he quitted +Angelo. +</P> + +<P> +"There is a devil, a personal devil! This day I have seen him!" +said the monk to himself. "Once I extended a finger to him, and he +took my whole hand. But now," he sighed, "the evil is within me, and +it is in yonder man; but it does not bow him down; he goes abroad with +head erect, and enjoys his comfort; and I grasped at comfort in the +consolations of religion. If it were nothing but a consolation? +Supposing everything here were, like the world I have quitted, only +a beautiful fancy, a delusion like the beauty of the evening clouds, +like the misty blue of the distant hills!—when you approach them, +they are very different! O eternity! Thou actest like the great calm +ocean, that beckons us, and fills us with expectation—and when we +embark upon thee, we sink, disappear, and cease to be. Delusion! +away with it! begone!" +</P> + +<P> +And tearless, but sunk in bitter reflection, he sat upon his +hard couch, and then knelt down—before whom? Before the stone cross +fastened to the wall? No, it was only habit that made him take this +position. +</P> + +<P> +The more deeply he looked into his own heart, the blacker did +the darkness seem. "Nothing within, nothing without—this life +squandered and cast away!" And this thought rolled and grew like a +snowball, until it seemed to crush him. +</P> + +<P> +"I can confide my griefs to none. I may speak to none of the +gnawing worm within. My secret is my prisoner; if I let the captive +escape, I shall be his!" +</P> + +<P> +And the godlike power that dwelt within him suffered and strove. +</P> + +<P> +"O Lord, my Lord!" he cried, in his despair, "be merciful and +grant me faith. I threw away the gift thou hadst vouchsafed to me, I +left my mission unfulfilled. I lacked strength, and strength thou +didst not give me. Immortality—the Psyche in my breast—away with +it!—it shall be buried like that Psyche, the best gleam of my life; +never will it arise out of its grave!" +</P> + +<P> +The Star glowed in the roseate air, the Star that shall surely +be extinguished and pass away while the soul still lives on; its +trembling beam fell upon the white wall, but it wrote nothing there +upon being made perfect in God, nothing of the hope of mercy, of the +reliance on the divine love that thrills through the heart of the +believer. +</P> + +<P> +"The Psyche within can never die. Shall it live in +consciousness? Can the incomprehensible happen? Yes, yes. My being +is incomprehensible. Thou art unfathomable, O Lord. Thy whole world is +incomprehensible—a wonder-work of power, of glory and of love." +</P> + +<P> +His eyes gleamed, and then closed in death. The tolling of the +church bell was the last sound that echoed above him, above the dead +man; and they buried him, covering him with earth that had been +brought from Jerusalem, and in which was mingled the dust of many of +the pious dead. +</P> + +<P> +When years had gone by his skeleton was dug up, as the skeletons +of the monks who had died before him had been; it was clad in a +brown frock, a rosary was put into the bony hand, and the form was +placed among the ranks of other skeletons in the cloisters of the +convent. And the sun shone without, while within the censers were +waved and the Mass was celebrated. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +And years rolled by. +</P> + +<P> +The bones fell asunder and became mingled with others. Skulls were +piled up till they formed an outer wall around the church; and there +lay also his head in the burning sun, for many dead were there, and no +one knew their names, and his name was forgotten also. And see, +something was moving in the sunshine, in the sightless cavernous eyes! +What might that be? A sparkling lizard moved about in the skull, +gliding in and out through the sightless holes. The lizard now +represented all the life left in that head, in which once great +thoughts, bright dreams, the love of art and of the glorious, had +arisen, whence hot tears had rolled down, where hope and immortality +had had their being. The lizard sprang away and disappeared, and the +skull itself crumbled to pieces and became dust among dust. +</P> + +<P> +Centuries passed away. The bright Star gleamed unaltered, +radiant and large, as it had gleamed for thousands of years, and the +air glowed red with tints fresh as roses, crimson like blood. +</P> + +<P> +There, where once had stood the narrow lane containing the ruins +of the temple, a nunnery was now built. A grave was being dug in the +convent garden for a young nun who had died, and was to be laid in the +earth this morning. The spade struck against a hard substance; it +was a stone, that shone dazzling white. A block of marble soon +appeared, a rounded shoulder was laid bare; and now the spade was +plied with a more careful hand, and presently a female head was +seen, and butterflies' wings. Out of the grave in which the young +nun was to be laid they lifted, in the rosy morning, a wonderful +statue of a Psyche carved in white marble. +</P> + +<P> +"How beautiful, how perfect it is!" cried the spectators. "A relic +of the best period of art." +</P> + +<P> +And who could the sculptor have been? No one knew; no one +remembered him, except the bright star that had gleamed for +thousands of years. The star had seen the course of that life on +earth, and knew of the man's trials, of his weakness—in fact, that he +had been but human. The man's life had passed away, his dust had +been scattered abroad as dust is destined to be; but the result of his +noblest striving, the glorious work that gave token of the divine +element within him—the Psyche that never dies, that lives beyond +posterity—the brightness even of this earthly Psyche remained here +after him, and was seen and acknowledged and appreciated. +</P> + +<P> +The bright Morning Star in the roseate air threw its glancing +ray downward upon the Psyche, and upon the radiant countenances of the +admiring spectators, who here beheld the image of the soul portrayed +in marble. +</P> + +<P> +What is earthly will pass away and be forgotten, and the Star in +the vast firmament knows it. What is heavenly will shine brightly +through posterity; and when the ages of posterity are past, the +Psyche—the soul—will still live on! +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="puppet_s"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE PUPPET-SHOW MAN +</H3> + +<P> +On board a steamer I once met an elderly man, with such a merry +face that, if it was really an index of his mind, he must have been +the happiest fellow in creation; and indeed he considered himself +so, for I heard it from his own mouth. He was a Dane, the owner of a +travelling theatre. He had all his company with him in a large box, +for he was the proprietor of a puppet-show. His inborn cheerfulness, +he said, had been tested by a member of the Polytechnic Institution, +and the experiment had made him completely happy. I did not at first +understand all this, but afterwards he explained the whole story to +me; and here it is:— +</P> + +<P> +"I was giving a representation," he said, "in the hall of the +posting-house in the little town of Slagelse; there was a splendid +audience, entirely juvenile excepting two respectable matrons. All +at once, a person in black, of student-like appearance, entered the +room, and sat down; he laughed aloud at the telling points, and +applauded quite at the proper time. This was a very unusual +spectator for me, and I felt anxious to know who he was. I heard +that he was a member of the Polytechnic Institution in Copenhagen, who +had been sent out to lecture to the people in the provinces. +Punctually at eight o'clock my performance closed, for children must +go early to bed, and a manager must also consult the convenience of +the public. +</P> + +<P> +"At nine o'clock the lecturer commenced his lecture and his +experiments, and then I formed a part of his audience. It was +wonderful both to hear and to see. The greater part of it was beyond +my comprehension, but it led me to think that if we men can acquire so +much, we must surely be intended to last longer than the little span +which extends only to the time when we are hidden away under the +earth. His experiments were quite miracles on a small scale, and yet +the explanations flowed as naturally as water from his lips. At the +time of Moses and the prophets, such a man would have been placed +among the sages of the land; in the middle ages they would have +burnt him at the stake. +</P> + +<P> +"All night long I could not sleep; and the next evening when I +gave another performance and the lecturer was present, I was in one of +my best moods. +</P> + +<P> +"I once heard of an actor, who, when he had to act the part of a +lover, always thought of one particular lady in the audience; he +only played for her, and forgot all the rest of the house, and now the +Polytechnic lecturer was my she, my only auditor, for whom alone I +played. +</P> + +<P> +"When the performance was over, and the puppets removed behind the +curtain, the Polytechnic lecturer invited me into his room to take a +glass of wine. He talked of my comedies, and I of his science, and I +believe we were both equally pleased. But I had the best of it, for +there was much in what he did that he could not always explain to +me. For instance, why a piece of iron which is rubbed on a cylinder, +should become magnetic. How does this happen? The magnetic sparks come +to it,—but how? It is the same with people in the world; they are +rubbed about on this spherical globe till the electric spark comes +upon them, and then we have a Napoleon, or a Luther, or some one of +the kind. +</P> + +<P> +"'The whole world is but a series of miracles,' said the lecturer, +'but we are so accustomed to them that we call them everyday matters.' +And he went on explaining things to me till my skull seemed lifted +from my brain, and I declared that were I not such an old fellow, I +would at once become a member of the Polytechnic Institution, that I +might learn to look at the bright side of everything, although I was +one of the happiest of men. +</P> + +<P> +"'One of the happiest!' said the lecturer, as if the idea +pleased him; 'are you really happy?' +</P> + +<P> +"'Yes,' I replied; 'for I am welcomed in every town, when I arrive +with my company; but I certainly have one wish which sometimes +weighs upon my cheerful temper like a mountain of lead. I should +like to become the manager of a real theatre, and the director of a +real troupe of men and women.' +</P> + +<P> +"'I understand,' he said; 'you would like to have life breathed +into your puppets, so that they might be living actors, and you +their director. And would you then be quite happy?' +</P> + +<P> +"I said I believed so. But he did not; and we talked it over in +all manner of ways, yet could not agree on the subject. However, the +wine was excellent, and we clanked our glasses together as we drank. +There must have been magic in it, or I should most certainly become +tipsy; but that did not happen, for my mind seemed quite clear; and, +indeed, a kind of sunshine filled the room, and beamed from the eyes +of the Polytechnic lecturer. It made me think of the old stories +when the gods, in their immortal youth, wandered upon this earth, +and paid visits to mankind. I said so to him, and he smiled; and I +could have sworn that he was one of these ancient deities in disguise, +or, at all events, that he belonged to the race of the gods. The +result seemed to prove I was right in my suspicions; for it was +arranged that my highest wish should be granted, that my puppets +were to be gifted with life, and that I was to be the manager of a +real company. We drank to my success, and clanked our glasses. Then he +packed all my dolls into the box, and fastened it on my back, and I +felt as if I were spinning round in a circle, and presently found +myself lying on the floor. I remember that quite well. And then the +whole company sprang from the box. The spirit had come upon us all; +the puppets had become distinguished actors—at least, so they said +themselves—and I was their director. +</P> + +<P> +"When all was ready for the first representation, the whole +company requested permission to speak to me before appearing in +public. The dancing lady said the house could not be supported +unless she stood on one leg; for she was a great genius, and begged to +be treated as such. The lady who acted the part of the queen +expected to be treated as a queen off the stage, as well as on it, +or else she said she should get out of practice. The man whose duty it +was to deliver a letter gave himself as many airs as he who took the +part of first lover in the piece; he declared that the inferior +parts were as important as the great ones, and deserving equal +consideration, as parts of an artistic whole. The hero of the piece +would only play in a part containing points likely to bring down the +applause of the house. The 'prima donna' would only act when the +lights were red, for she declared that a blue light did not suit her +complexion. It was like a company of flies in a bottle, and I was in +the bottle with them; for I was their director. My breath was taken +away, my head whirled, and I was as miserable as a man could be. It +was quite a novel, strange set of beings among whom I now found +myself. I only wished I had them all in my box again, and that I had +never been their director. So I told them roundly that, after all, +they were nothing but puppets; and then they killed me. After a +while I found myself lying on my bed in my room; but how I got +there, or how I got away at all from the Polytechnic professor, he may +perhaps know, I don't. The moon shone upon the floor, the box lay +open, and the dolls were all scattered about in great confusion; but I +was not idle. I jumped off the bed, and into the box they all had to +go, some on their heads, some on their feet. Then I shut down the lid, +and seated myself upon the box. 'Now you'll have to stay,' said I, +'and I shall be cautious how I wish you flesh and blood again.' +</P> + +<P> +"I felt quite light, my cheerfulness had returned, and I was the +happiest of mortals. The Polytechnic professor had fully cured me. I +was as happy as a king, and went to sleep on the box. Next +morning—correctly speaking, it was noon, for I slept remarkably late +that day—I found myself still sitting there, in happy consciousness that +my former wish had been a foolish one. I inquired for the Polytechnic +professor; but he had disappeared like the Greek and Roman gods; +from that time I have been the happiest man in the world. I am a happy +director; for none of my company ever grumble, nor the public +either, for I always make them merry. I can arrange my pieces just +as I please. I choose out of every comedy what I like best, and no one +is offended. Plays that are neglected now-a-days by the great public +were ran after thirty years ago, and listened to till the tears ran +down the cheeks of the audience. These are the pieces I bring forward. +I place them before the little ones, who cry over them as papa and +mamma used to cry thirty years ago. But I make them shorter, for the +youngsters don't like long speeches; and if they have anything +mournful, they like it to be over quickly." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="races"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE RACES +</H3> + +<P> +A prize, or rather two prizes, a great one and a small one, had +been awarded for the greatest swiftness in running,—not in a single +race, but for the whole year. +</P> + +<P> +"I obtained the first prize," said the hare. "Justice must still +be carried out, even when one has relations and good friends among the +prize committee; but that the snail should have received the second +prize, I consider almost an insult to myself." +</P> + +<P> +"No," said the fence-rail, who had been a witness at the +distribution of prizes; "there should be some consideration for +industry and perseverance. I have heard many respectable people say +so, and I can quite understand it. The snail certainly took half a +year to get over the threshold of the door; but he injured himself, +and broke his collar-bone by the haste he made. He gave himself up +entirely to the race, and ran with his house on his back, which was +all, of course, very praiseworthy; and therefore he obtained the +second prize." +</P> + +<P> +"I think I ought to have had some consideration too," said the +swallow. "I should imagine no one can be swifter in soaring and flight +than I am; and how far I have been! far, far away." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, that is your misfortune," said the fence-rail; "you are so +fickle, so unsettled; you must always be travelling about into foreign +lands when the cold commences here. You have no love of fatherland +in you. There can be no consideration for you." +</P> + +<P> +"But now, if I have been lying the whole winter in the moor," said +the swallow, "and suppose I slept the whole time, would that be +taken into account?" +</P> + +<P> +"Bring a certificate from the old moor-hen," said he, "that you +have slept away half your time in fatherland; then you will be treated +with some consideration." +</P> + +<P> +"I deserved the first prize, and not the second," said the +snail. "I know so much, at least, that the hare only ran from +cowardice, and because he thought there was danger in delay. I, on the +other hand, made running the business of my life, and have become a +cripple in the service. If any one had a first prize, it ought to have +been myself. But I do not understand chattering and boasting; on the +contrary, I despise it." And the snail spat at them with contempt. +</P> + +<P> +"I am able to affirm with word of oath, that each prize—at least, +those for which I voted—was given with just and proper +consideration," said the old boundary post in the wood, who was a +member of the committee of judges. "I always act with due order, +consideration, and calculation. Seven times have I already had the +honor to be present at the distribution of the prizes, and to vote; +but to-day is the first time I have been able to carry out my will. +I always reckon the first prize by going through the alphabet from the +beginning, and the second by going through from the end. Be so kind as +to give me your attention, and I will explain to you how I reckon from +the beginning. The eighth letter from A is H, and there we have H +for hare; therefore I awarded to the hare the first prize. The +eighth letter from the end of the alphabet is S, and therefore the +snail received the second prize. Next year, the letter I will have its +turn for the first prize, and the letter R for the second." +</P> + +<P> +"I should really have voted for myself," said the mule, "if I +had not been one of the judges on the committee. Not only the rapidity +with which advance is made, but every other quality should have due +consideration; as, for instance, how much weight a candidate is able +to draw; but I have not brought this quality forward now, nor the +sagacity of the hare in his flight, nor the cunning with which he +suddenly springs aside and doubles, to lead people on a false track, +thinking he has concealed himself. No; there is something else on +which more stress should be laid, and which ought not be left +unnoticed. I mean that which mankind call the beautiful. It is on +the beautiful that I particularly fix my eyes. I observed the +well-grown ears of the hare; it is a pleasure to me to observe how +long they are. It seemed as if I saw myself again in the days of my +childhood; and so I voted for the hare." +</P> + +<P> +"Buz," said the fly; "there, I'm not going to make a long +speech; but I wish to say something about hares. I have really +overtaken more than one hare, when I have been seated on the engine in +front of a railway train. I often do so. One can then so easily +judge of one's own swiftness. Not long ago, I crushed the hind legs of +a young hare. He had been running a long time before the engine; he +had no idea that I was travelling there. At last he had to stop in his +career, and the engine ran over his hind legs, and crushed them; for I +set upon it. I left him lying there, and rode on farther. I call +that conquering him; but I do not want the prize." +</P> + +<P> +"It really seems to me," thought the wild rose, though she did not +express her opinion aloud—it is not in her nature to do so,—though +it would have been quite as well if she had; "it certainly seems to me +that the sunbeam ought to have had the honor of receiving the first +prize. The sunbeam flies in a few minutes along the immeasurable +path from the sun to us. It arrives in such strength, that all +nature awakes to loveliness and beauty; we roses blush and exhale +fragrance in its presence. Our worshipful judges don't appear to +have noticed this at all. Were I the sunbeam, I would give each one of +them a sun stroke; but that would only make them mad, and they are mad +enough already. I only hope," continued the rose, "that peace may +reign in the wood. It is glorious to bloom, to be fragrant, and to +live; to live in story and in song. The sunbeam will outlive us all." +</P> + +<P> +"What is the first prize?" asked the earthworm, who had +overslept the time, and only now came up. +</P> + +<P> +"It contains a free admission to a cabbage-garden," replied the +mule. "I proposed that as one of the prizes. The hare most decidedly +must have it; and I, as an active and thoughtful member of the +committee, took especial care that the prize should be one of +advantage to him; so now he is provided for. The snail can now sit +on the fence, and lick up moss and sunshine. He has also been +appointed one of the first judges of swiftness in racing. It is +worth much to know that one of the numbers is a man of talent in the +thing men call a 'committee.' I must say I expect much in the +future; we have already made such a good beginning." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="red_shoe"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE RED SHOES +</H3> + +<P> +Once upon a time there was little girl, pretty and dainty. But +in summer time she was obliged to go barefooted because she was +poor, and in winter she had to wear large wooden shoes, so that her +little instep grew quite red. +</P> + +<P> +In the middle of the village lived an old shoemaker's wife; she +sat down and made, as well as she could, a pair of little shoes out of +some old pieces of red cloth. They were clumsy, but she meant well, +for they were intended for the little girl, whose name was Karen. +</P> + +<P> +Karen received the shoes and wore them for the first time on the +day of her mother's funeral. They were certainly not suitable for +mourning; but she had no others, and so she put her bare feet into +them and walked behind the humble coffin. +</P> + +<P> +Just then a large old carriage came by, and in it sat an old lady; +she looked at the little girl, and taking pity on her, said to the +clergyman, "Look here, if you will give me the little girl, I will +take care of her." +</P> + +<P> +Karen believed that this was all on account of the red shoes, +but the old lady thought them hideous, and so they were burnt. Karen +herself was dressed very neatly and cleanly; she was taught to read +and to sew, and people said that she was pretty. But the mirror told +her, "You are more than pretty—you are beautiful." +</P> + +<P> +One day the Queen was travelling through that part of the country, +and had her little daughter, who was a princess, with her. All the +people, amongst them Karen too, streamed towards the castle, where the +little princess, in fine white clothes, stood before the window and +allowed herself to be stared at. She wore neither a train nor a golden +crown, but beautiful red morocco shoes; they were indeed much finer +than those which the shoemaker's wife had sewn for little Karen. There +is really nothing in the world that can be compared to red shoes! +</P> + +<P> +Karen was now old enough to be confirmed; she received some new +clothes, and she was also to have some new shoes. The rich shoemaker +in the town took the measure of her little foot in his own room, in +which there stood great glass cases full of pretty shoes and white +slippers. It all looked very lovely, but the old lady could not see +very well, and therefore did not get much pleasure out of it. +Amongst the shoes stood a pair of red ones, like those which the +princess had worn. How beautiful they were! and the shoemaker said +that they had been made for a count's daughter, but that they had +not fitted her. +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose they are of shiny leather?" asked the old lady. "They +shine so." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, they do shine," said Karen. They fitted her, and were +bought. But the old lady knew nothing of their being red, for she +would never have allowed Karen to be confirmed in red shoes, as she +was now to be. +</P> + +<P> +Everybody looked at her feet, and the whole of the way from the +church door to the choir it seemed to her as if even the ancient +figures on the monuments, in their stiff collars and long black robes, +had their eyes fixed on her red shoes. It was only of these that she +thought when the clergyman laid his hand upon her head and spoke of +the holy baptism, of the covenant with God, and told her that she +was now to be a grown-up Christian. The organ pealed forth solemnly, +and the sweet children's voices mingled with that of their old leader; +but Karen thought only of her red shoes. In the afternoon the old lady +heard from everybody that Karen had worn red shoes. She said that it +was a shocking thing to do, that it was very improper, and that +Karen was always to go to church in future in black shoes, even if +they were old. +</P> + +<P> +On the following Sunday there was Communion. Karen looked first at +the black shoes, then at the red ones—looked at the red ones again, +and put them on. +</P> + +<P> +The sun was shining gloriously, so Karen and the old lady went +along the footpath through the corn, where it was rather dusty. +</P> + +<P> +At the church door stood an old crippled soldier leaning on a +crutch; he had a wonderfully long beard, more red than white, and he +bowed down to the ground and asked the old lady whether he might +wipe her shoes. Then Karen put out her little foot too. "Dear me, what +pretty dancing-shoes!" said the soldier. "Sit fast, when you dance," +said he, addressing the shoes, and slapping the soles with his hand. +</P> + +<P> +The old lady gave the soldier some money and then went with +Karen into the church. +</P> + +<P> +And all the people inside looked at Karen's red shoes, and all the +figures gazed at them; when Karen knelt before the altar and put the +golden goblet to her mouth, she thought only of the red shoes. It +seemed to her as though they were swimming about in the goblet, and +she forgot to sing the psalm, forgot to say the "Lord's Prayer." +</P> + +<P> +Now every one came out of church, and the old lady stepped into +her carriage. But just as Karen was lifting up her foot to get in too, +the old soldier said: "Dear me, what pretty dancing shoes!" and +Karen could not help it, she was obliged to dance a few steps; and +when she had once begun, her legs continued to dance. It seemed as +if the shoes had got power over them. She danced round the church +corner, for she could not stop; the coachman had to run after her +and seize her. He lifted her into the carriage, but her feet continued +to dance, so that she kicked the good old lady violently. At last they +took off her shoes, and her legs were at rest. +</P> + +<P> +At home the shoes were put into the cupboard, but Karen could +not help looking at them. +</P> + +<P> +Now the old lady fell ill, and it was said that she would not rise +from her bed again. She had to be nursed and waited upon, and this was +no one's duty more than Karen's. But there was a grand ball in the +town, and Karen was invited. She looked at the red shoes, saying to +herself that there was no sin in doing that; she put the red shoes on, +thinking there was no harm in that either; and then she went to the +ball; and commenced to dance. +</P> + +<P> +But when she wanted to go to the right, the shoes danced to the +left, and when she wanted to dance up the room, the shoes danced +down the room, down the stairs through the street, and out through the +gates of the town. She danced, and was obliged to dance, far out +into the dark wood. Suddenly something shone up among the trees, and +she believed it was the moon, for it was a face. But it was the old +soldier with the red beard; he sat there nodding his head and said: +"Dear me, what pretty dancing shoes!" +</P> + +<P> +She was frightened, and wanted to throw the red shoes away; but +they stuck fast. She tore off her stockings, but the shoes had grown +fast to her feet. She danced and was obliged to go on dancing over +field and meadow, in rain and sunshine, by night and by day—but by +night it was most horrible. +</P> + +<P> +She danced out into the open churchyard; but the dead there did +not dance. They had something better to do than that. She wanted to +sit down on the pauper's grave where the bitter fern grows; but for +her there was neither peace nor rest. And as she danced past the +open church door she saw an angel there in long white robes, with +wings reaching from his shoulders down to the earth; his face was +stern and grave, and in his hand he held a broad shining sword. +</P> + +<P> +"Dance you shall," said he, "dance in your red shoes till you +are pale and cold, till your skin shrivels up and you are a +skeleton! Dance you shall, from door to door, and where proud and +wicked children live you shall knock, so that they may hear you and +fear you! Dance you shall, dance—!" +</P> + +<P> +"Mercy!" cried Karen. But she did not hear what the angel +answered, for the shoes carried her through the gate into the +fields, along highways and byways, and unceasingly she had to dance. +</P> + +<P> +One morning she danced past a door that she knew well; they were +singing a psalm inside, and a coffin was being carried out covered +with flowers. Then she knew that she was forsaken by every one and +damned by the angel of God. +</P> + +<P> +She danced, and was obliged to go on dancing through the dark +night. The shoes bore her away over thorns and stumps till she was all +torn and bleeding; she danced away over the heath to a lonely little +house. Here, she knew, lived the executioner; and she tapped with +her finger at the window and said: +</P> + +<P> +"Come out, come out! I cannot come in, for I must dance." +</P> + +<P> +And the executioner said: "I don't suppose you know who I am. I +strike off the heads of the wicked, and I notice that my axe is +tingling to do so." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't cut off my head!" said Karen, "for then I could not +repent of my sin. But cut off my feet with the red shoes." +</P> + +<P> +And then she confessed all her sin, and the executioner struck off +her feet with the red shoes; but the shoes danced away with the little +feet across the field into the deep forest. +</P> + +<P> +And he carved her a pair of wooden feet and some crutches, and +taught her a psalm which is always sung by sinners; she kissed the +hand that guided the axe, and went away over the heath. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, I have suffered enough for the red shoes," she said; "I will +go to church, so that people can see me." And she went quickly up to +the church-door; but when she came there, the red shoes were dancing +before her, and she was frightened, and turned back. +</P> + +<P> +During the whole week she was sad and wept many bitter tears, +but when Sunday came again she said: "Now I have suffered and +striven enough. I believe I am quite as good as many of those who +sit in church and give themselves airs." And so she went boldly on; +but she had not got farther than the churchyard gate when she saw +the red shoes dancing along before her. Then she became terrified, and +turned back and repented right heartily of her sin. +</P> + +<P> +She went to the parsonage, and begged that she might be taken into +service there. She would be industrious, she said, and do everything +that she could; she did not mind about the wages as long as she had +a roof over her, and was with good people. The pastor's wife had +pity on her, and took her into service. And she was industrious and +thoughtful. She sat quiet and listened when the pastor read aloud from +the Bible in the evening. All the children liked her very much, but +when they spoke about dress and grandeur and beauty she would shake +her head. +</P> + +<P> +On the following Sunday they all went to church, and she was asked +whether she wished to go too; but, with tears in her eyes, she +looked sadly at her crutches. And then the others went to hear God's +Word, but she went alone into her little room; this was only large +enough to hold the bed and a chair. Here she sat down with her +hymn-book, and as she was reading it with a pious mind, the wind +carried the notes of the organ over to her from the church, and in +tears she lifted up her face and said: "O God! help me!" +</P> + +<P> +Then the sun shone so brightly, and right before her stood an +angel of God in white robes; it was the same one whom she had seen +that night at the church-door. He no longer carried the sharp sword, +but a beautiful green branch, full of roses; with this he touched +the ceiling, which rose up very high, and where he had touched it +there shone a golden star. He touched the walls, which opened wide +apart, and she saw the organ which was pealing forth; she saw the +pictures of the old pastors and their wives, and the congregation +sitting in the polished chairs and singing from their hymn-books. +The church itself had come to the poor girl in her narrow room, or the +room had gone to the church. She sat in the pew with the rest of the +pastor's household, and when they had finished the hymn and looked up, +they nodded and said, "It was right of you to come, Karen." +</P> + +<P> +"It was mercy," said she. +</P> + +<P> +The organ played and the children's voices in the choir sounded +soft and lovely. The bright warm sunshine streamed through the +window into the pew where Karen sat, and her heart became so filled +with it, so filled with peace and joy, that it broke. Her soul flew on +the sunbeams to Heaven, and no one was there who asked after the Red +Shoes. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="right_pl"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +EVERYTHING IN THE RIGHT PLACE +</H3> + +<P> +It is more than a hundred years ago! At the border of the wood, +near a large lake, stood the old mansion: deep ditches surrounded it +on every side, in which reeds and bulrushes grew. Close by the +drawbridge, near the gate, there was an old willow tree, which bent +over the reeds. +</P> + +<P> +From the narrow pass came the sound of bugles and the trampling of +horses' feet; therefore a little girl who was watching the geese +hastened to drive them away from the bridge, before the whole +hunting party came galloping up; they came, however, so quickly, +that the girl, in order to avoid being run over, placed herself on one +of the high corner-stones of the bridge. She was still half a child +and very delicately built; she had bright blue eyes, and a gentle, +sweet expression. But such things the baron did not notice; while he +was riding past the little goose-girl, he reversed his hunting crop, +and in rough play gave her such a push with it that she fell +backward into the ditch. +</P> + +<P> +"Everything in the right place!" he cried. "Into the ditch with +you." +</P> + +<P> +Then he burst out laughing, for that he called fun; the others +joined in—the whole party shouted and cried, while the hounds barked. +</P> + +<P> +While the poor girl was falling she happily caught one of the +branches of the willow tree, by the help of which she held herself +over the water, and as soon as the baron with his company and the dogs +had disappeared through the gate, the girl endeavoured to scramble up, +but the branch broke off, and she would have fallen backward among the +rushes, had not a strong hand from above seized her at this moment. It +was the hand of a pedlar; he had witnessed what had happened from a +short distance, and now hastened to assist her. +</P> + +<P> +"Everything in the right place," he said, imitating the noble +baron, and pulling the little maid up to the dry ground. He wished +to put the branch back in the place it had been broken off, but it +is not possible to put everything in the right place; therefore he +stuck the branch into the soft ground. +</P> + +<P> +"Grow and thrive if you can, and produce a good flute for them +yonder at the mansion," he said; it would have given him great +pleasure to see the noble baron and his companions well thrashed. Then +he entered the castle—but not the banqueting hall; he was too +humble for that. No; he went to the servants' hall. The men-servants +and maids looked over his stock of articles and bargained with him; +loud crying and screaming were heard from the master's table above: +they called it singing—indeed, they did their best. Laughter and +the howls of dogs were heard through the open windows: there they were +feasting and revelling; wine and strong old ale were foaming in the +glasses and jugs; the favourite dogs ate with their masters; now and +then the squires kissed one of these animals, after having wiped its +mouth first with the tablecloth. They ordered the pedlar to come up, +but only to make fun of him. The wine had got into their heads, and +reason had left them. They poured beer into a stocking that he could +drink with them, but quick. That's what they called fun, and it made +them laugh. Then meadows, peasants, and farmyards were staked on one +card and lost. +</P> + +<P> +"Everything in the right place!" the pedlar said when he had at +last safely got out of Sodom and Gomorrah, as he called it. "The +open high road is my right place; up there I did not feel at ease." +</P> + +<P> +The little maid, who was still watching the geese, nodded kindly +to him as he passed through the gate. +</P> + +<P> +Days and weeks passed, and it was seen that the broken +willow-branch which the peddlar had stuck into the ground near the +ditch remained fresh and green—nay, it even put forth fresh twigs; +the little goose-girl saw that the branch had taken root, and was very +pleased; the tree, so she said, was now her tree. While the tree was +advancing, everything else at the castle was going backward, through +feasting and gambling, for these are two rollers upon which nobody +stands safely. Less than six years afterwards the baron passed out +of his castle-gate a poor beggar, while the baronial seat had been +bought by a rich tradesman. He was the very pedlar they had made fun +of and poured beer into a stocking for him to drink; but honesty and +industry bring one forward, and now the pedlar was the possessor of +the baronial estate. From that time forward no card-playing was +permitted there. +</P> + +<P> +"That's a bad pastime," he said; "when the devil saw the Bible for +the first time he wanted to produce a caricature in opposition to +it, and invented card-playing." +</P> + +<P> +The new proprietor of the estate took a wife, and whom did he +take?—The little goose-girl, who had always remained good and kind, +and who looked as beautiful in her new clothes as if she had been a +lady of high birth. And how did all this come about? That would be too +long a tale to tell in our busy time, but it really happened, and +the most important events have yet to be told. +</P> + +<P> +It was pleasant and cheerful to live in the old place now: the +mother superintended the household, and the father looked after things +out-of-doors, and they were indeed very prosperous. +</P> + +<P> +Where honesty leads the way, prosperity is sure to follow. The old +mansion was repaired and painted, the ditches were cleaned and +fruit-trees planted; all was homely and pleasant, and the floors +were as white and shining as a pasteboard. In the long winter evenings +the mistress and her maids sat at the spinning-wheel in the large +hall; every Sunday the counsellor—this title the pedlar had obtained, +although only in his old days—read aloud a portion from the Bible. +The children (for they had children) all received the best +education, but they were not all equally clever, as is the case in all +families. +</P> + +<P> +In the meantime the willow tree near the drawbridge had grown up +into a splendid tree, and stood there, free, and was never clipped. +"It is our genealogical tree," said the old people to their +children, "and therefore it must be honoured." +</P> + +<P> +A hundred years had elapsed. It was in our own days; the lake +had been transformed into marsh land; the whole baronial seat had, +as it were, disappeared. A pool of water near some ruined walls was +the only remainder of the deep ditches; and here stood a magnificent +old tree with overhanging branches—that was the genealogical tree. +Here it stood, and showed how beautiful a willow can look if one +does not interfere with it. The trunk, it is true, was cleft in the +middle from the root to the crown; the storms had bent it a little, +but it still stood there, and out of every crevice and cleft, in which +wind and weather had carried mould, blades of grass and flowers sprang +forth. Especially above, where the large boughs parted, there was +quite a hanging garden, in which wild raspberries and hart's-tongue +ferns throve, and even a little mistletoe had taken root, and grew +gracefully in the old willow branches, which were reflected in the +dark water beneath when the wind blew the chickweed into the corner of +the pool. A footpath which led across the fields passed close by the +old tree. High up, on the woody hillside, stood the new mansion. It +had a splendid view, and was large and magnificent; its window panes +were so clear that one might have thought there were none there at +all. The large flight of steps which led to the entrance looked like a +bower covered with roses and broad-leaved plants. The lawn was as +green as if each blade of grass was cleaned separately morning and +evening. Inside, in the hall, valuable oil paintings were hanging on +the walls. Here stood chairs and sofas covered with silk and velvet, +which could be easily rolled about on castors; there were tables +with polished marble tops, and books bound in morocco with gilt edges. +Indeed, well-to-do and distinguished people lived here; it was the +dwelling of the baron and his family. Each article was in keeping with +its surroundings. "Everything in the right place" was the motto +according to which they also acted here, and therefore all the +paintings which had once been the honour and glory of the old +mansion were now hung up in the passage which led to the servants' +rooms. It was all old lumber, especially two portraits—one +representing a man in a scarlet coat with a wig, and the other a +lady with powdered and curled hair holding a rose in her hand, each of +them being surrounded by a large wreath of willow branches. Both +portraits had many holes in them, because the baron's sons used the +two old people as targets for their crossbows. They represented the +counsellor and his wife, from whom the whole family descended. "But +they did not properly belong to our family," said one of the boys; "he +was a pedlar and she kept the geese. They were not like papa and +mamma." The portraits were old lumber, and "everything in its right +place." That was why the great-grandparents had been hung up in the +passage leading to the servants' rooms. +</P> + +<P> +The son of the village pastor was tutor at the mansion. One day he +went for a walk across the fields with his young pupils and their +elder sister, who had lately been confirmed. They walked along the +road which passed by the old willow tree, and while they were on the +road she picked a bunch of field-flowers. "Everything in the right +place," and indeed the bunch looked very beautiful. At the same time +she listened to all that was said, and she very much liked to hear the +pastor's son speak about the elements and of the great men and women +in history. She had a healthy mind, noble in thought and deed, and +with a heart full of love for everything that God had created. They +stopped at the old willow tree, as the youngest of the baron's sons +wished very much to have a flute from it, such as had been cut for him +from other willow trees; the pastor's son broke a branch off. "Oh, +pray do not do it!" said the young lady; but it was already done. +"That is our famous old tree. I love it very much. They often laugh at +me at home about it, but that does not matter. There is a story +attached to this tree." And now she told him all that we already +know about the tree—the old mansion, the pedlar and the goose-girl +who had met there for the first time, and had become the ancestors +of the noble family to which the young lady belonged. +</P> + +<P> +"They did not like to be knighted, the good old people," she said; +"their motto was 'everything in the right place,' and it would not +be right, they thought, to purchase a title for money. My grandfather, +the first baron, was their son. They say he was a very learned man, +a great favourite with the princes and princesses, and was invited +to all court festivities. The others at home love him best; but, I +do not know why, there seemed to me to be something about the old +couple that attracts my heart! How homely, how patriarchal, it must +have been in the old mansion, where the mistress sat at the +spinning-wheel with her maids, while her husband read aloud out of the +Bible!" +</P> + +<P> +"They must have been excellent, sensible people," said the +pastor's son. And with this the conversation turned naturally to +noblemen and commoners; from the manner in which the tutor spoke about +the significance of being noble, it seemed almost as if he did not +belong to a commoner's family. +</P> + +<P> +"It is good fortune to be of a family who have distinguished +themselves, and to possess as it were a spur in oneself to advance +to all that is good. It is a splendid thing to belong to a noble +family, whose name serves as a card of admission to the highest +circles. Nobility is a distinction; it is a gold coin that bears the +stamp of its own value. It is the fallacy of the time, and many +poets express it, to say that all that is noble is bad and stupid, and +that, on the contrary, the lower one goes among the poor, the more +brilliant virtues one finds. I do not share this opinion, for it is +wrong. In the upper classes one sees many touchingly beautiful traits; +my own mother has told me of such, and I could mention several. One +day she was visiting a nobleman's house in town; my grandmother, I +believe, had been the lady's nurse when she was a child. My mother and +the nobleman were alone in the room, when he suddenly noticed an old +woman on crutches come limping into the courtyard; she came every +Sunday to carry a gift away with her. +</P> + +<P> +"'There is the poor old woman,' said the nobleman; 'it is so +difficult for her to walk.' +</P> + +<P> +"My mother had hardly understood what he said before he +disappeared from the room, and went downstairs, in order to save her +the troublesome walk for the gift she came to fetch. Of course this is +only a little incident, but it has its good sound like the poor +widow's two mites in the Bible, the sound which echoes in the depth of +every human heart; and this is what the poet ought to show and point +out—more especially in our own time he ought to sing of this; it does +good, it mitigates and reconciles! But when a man, simply because he +is of noble birth and possesses a genealogy, stands on his hind legs +and neighs in the street like an Arabian horse, and says when a +commoner has been in a room: 'Some people from the street have been +here,' there nobility is decaying; it has become a mask of the kind +that Thespis created, and it is amusing when such a person is +exposed in satire." +</P> + +<P> +Such was the tutor's speech; it was a little long, but while he +delivered it he had finished cutting the flute. +</P> + +<P> +There was a large party at the mansion; many guests from the +neighbourhood and from the capital had arrived. There were ladies with +tasteful and with tasteless dresses; the big hall was quite crowded +with people. The clergymen stood humbly together in a corner, and +looked as if they were preparing for a funeral, but it was a +festival—only the amusement had not yet begun. A great concert was to +take place, and that is why the baron's young son had brought his willow +flute with him; but he could not make it sound, nor could his +father, and therefore the flute was good for nothing. +</P> + +<P> +There was music and songs of the kind which delight most those +that perform them; otherwise quite charming! +</P> + +<P> +"Are you an artist?" said a cavalier, the son of his father; +"you play on the flute, you have made it yourself; it is genius that +rules—the place of honour is due to you." +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly not! I only advance with the time, and that of course +one can't help." +</P> + +<P> +"I hope you will delight us all with the little instrument—will +you not?" Thus saying he handed to the tutor the flute which had +been cut from the willow tree by the pool; and then announced in a +loud voice that the tutor wished to perform a solo on the flute. +They wished to tease him—that was evident, and therefore the tutor +declined to play, although he could do so very well. They urged and +requested him, however, so long, that at last he took up the flute and +placed it to his lips. +</P> + +<P> +That was a marvellous flute! Its sound was as thrilling as the +whistle of a steam engine; in fact it was much stronger, for it +sounded and was heard in the yard, in the garden, in the wood, and +many miles round in the country; at the same time a storm rose and +roared; "Everything in the right place." And with this the baron, as +if carried by the wind, flew out of the hall straight into the +shepherd's cottage, and the shepherd flew—not into the hall, +thither he could not come—but into the servants' hall, among the +smart footmen who were striding about in silk stockings; these haughty +menials looked horror-struck that such a person ventured to sit at +table with them. But in the hall the baron's daughter flew to the +place of honour at the end of the table—she was worthy to sit +there; the pastor's son had the seat next to her; the two sat there as +if they were a bridal pair. An old Count, belonging to one of the +oldest families of the country, remained untouched in his place of +honour; the flute was just, and it is one's duty to be so. The +sharp-tongued cavalier who had caused the flute to be played, and +who was the child of his parents, flew headlong into the fowl-house, +but not he alone. +</P> + +<P> +The flute was heard at the distance of a mile, and strange +events took place. A rich banker's family, who were driving in a coach +and four, were blown out of it, and could not even find room behind it +with their footmen. Two rich farmers who had in our days shot up +higher than their own corn-fields, were flung into the ditch; it was a +dangerous flute. Fortunately it burst at the first sound, and that was +a good thing, for then it was put back into its owner's pocket—"its +right place." +</P> + +<P> +The next day, nobody spoke a word about what had taken place; thus +originated the phrase, "to pocket the flute." Everything was again +in its usual order, except that the two old pictures of the peddlar +and the goose-girl were hanging in the banqueting-hall. There they +were on the wall as if blown up there; and as a real expert said +that they were painted by a master's hand, they remained there and +were restored. "Everything in the right place," and to this it will +come. Eternity is long, much longer indeed than this story. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="rose_frm"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A ROSE FROM HOMER'S GRAVE +</H3> + +<P> +Al the songs of the east speak of the love of the nightingale for +the rose in the silent starlight night. The winged songster +serenades the fragrant flowers. +</P> + +<P> +Not far from Smyrna, where the merchant drives his loaded +camels, proudly arching their long necks as they journey beneath the +lofty pines over holy ground, I saw a hedge of roses. The +turtle-dove flew among the branches of the tall trees, and as the +sunbeams fell upon her wings, they glistened as if they were +mother-of-pearl. On the rose-bush grew a flower, more beautiful than +them all, and to her the nightingale sung of his woes; but the rose +remained silent, not even a dewdrop lay like a tear of sympathy on her +leaves. At last she bowed her head over a heap of stones, and said, +"Here rests the greatest singer in the world; over his tomb will I +spread my fragrance, and on it I will let my leaves fall when the +storm scatters them. He who sung of Troy became earth, and from that +earth I have sprung. I, a rose from the grave of Homer, am too lofty +to bloom for a nightingale." Then the nightingale sung himself to +death. A camel-driver came by, with his loaded camels and his black +slaves; his little son found the dead bird, and buried the lovely +songster in the grave of the great Homer, while the rose trembled in +the wind. +</P> + +<P> +The evening came, and the rose wrapped her leaves more closely +round her, and dreamed: and this was her dream. +</P> + +<P> +It was a fair sunshiny day; a crowd of strangers drew near who had +undertaken a pilgrimage to the grave of Homer. Among the strangers was +a minstrel from the north, the home of the clouds and the brilliant +lights of the aurora borealis. He plucked the rose and placed it in +a book, and carried it away into a distant part of the world, his +fatherland. The rose faded with grief, and lay between the leaves of +the book, which he opened in his own home, saying, "Here is a rose +from the grave of Homer." +</P> + +<P> +Then the flower awoke from her dream, and trembled in the wind. +A drop of dew fell from the leaves upon the singer's grave. The sun +rose, and the flower bloomed more beautiful than ever. The day was +hot, and she was still in her own warm Asia. Then footsteps +approached, strangers, such as the rose had seen in her dream, came +by, and among them was a poet from the north; he plucked the rose, +pressed a kiss upon her fresh mouth, and carried her away to the +home of the clouds and the northern lights. Like a mummy, the flower +now rests in his "Iliad," and, as in her dream, she hears him say, +as he opens the book, "Here is a rose from the grave of Homer." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="rosetree"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE SNAIL AND THE ROSE-TREE +</H3> + +<P> +Round about the garden ran a hedge of hazel-bushes; beyond the +hedge were fields and meadows with cows and sheep; but in the middle +of the garden stood a Rose-tree in bloom, under which sat a Snail, +whose shell contained a great deal—that is, himself. +</P> + +<P> +"Only wait till my time comes," he said; "I shall do more than +grow roses, bear nuts, or give milk, like the hazel-bush, the cows and +the sheep." +</P> + +<P> +"I expect a great deal from you," said the rose-tree. "May I ask +when it will appear?" +</P> + +<P> +"I take my time," said the snail. "You're always in such a +hurry. That does not excite expectation." +</P> + +<P> +The following year the snail lay in almost the same spot, in the +sunshine under the rose-tree, which was again budding and bearing +roses as fresh and beautiful as ever. The snail crept half out of +his shell, stretched out his horns, and drew them in again. +</P> + +<P> +"Everything is just as it was last year! No progress at all; the +rose-tree sticks to its roses and gets no farther." +</P> + +<P> +The summer and the autumn passed; the rose-tree bore roses and +buds till the snow fell and the weather became raw and wet; then it +bent down its head, and the snail crept into the ground. +</P> + +<P> +A new year began; the roses made their appearance, and the snail +made his too. +</P> + +<P> +"You are an old rose-tree now," said the snail. "You must make +haste and die. You have given the world all that you had in you; +whether it was of much importance is a question that I have not had +time to think about. But this much is clear and plain, that you have +not done the least for your inner development, or you would have +produced something else. Have you anything to say in defence? You will +now soon be nothing but a stick. Do you understand what I say?" +</P> + +<P> +"You frighten me," said the rose—tree. "I have never thought of +that." +</P> + +<P> +"No, you have never taken the trouble to think at all. Have you +ever given yourself an account why you bloomed, and how your +blooming comes about—why just in that way and in no other?" +</P> + +<P> +"No," said the rose-tree. "I bloom in gladness, because I cannot +do otherwise. The sun shone and warmed me, and the air refreshed me; I +drank the clear dew and the invigorating rain. I breathed and I lived! +Out of the earth there arose a power within me, whilst from above I +also received strength; I felt an ever-renewed and ever-increasing +happiness, and therefore I was obliged to go on blooming. That was +my life; I could not do otherwise." +</P> + +<P> +"You have led a very easy life," remarked the snail. +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly. Everything was given me," said the rose-tree. "But +still more was given to you. Yours is one of those deep-thinking +natures, one of those highly gifted minds that astonishes the world." +</P> + +<P> +"I have not the slightest intention of doing so," said the +snail. "The world is nothing to me. What have I to do with the +world? I have enough to do with myself, and enough in myself." +</P> + +<P> +"But must we not all here on earth give up our best parts to +others, and offer as much as lies in our power? It is true, I have +only given roses. But you—you who are so richly endowed—what have +you given to the world? What will you give it?" +</P> + +<P> +"What have I given? What am I going to give? I spit at it; it's +good for nothing, and does not concern me. For my part, you may go +on bearing roses; you cannot do anything else. Let the hazel bush bear +nuts, and the cows and sheep give milk; they have each their public. I +have mine in myself. I retire within myself and there I stop. The +world is nothing to me." +</P> + +<P> +With this the snail withdrew into his house and blocked up the +entrance. +</P> + +<P> +"That's very sad," said the rose tree. "I cannot creep into +myself, however much I might wish to do so; I have to go on bearing +roses. Then they drop their leaves, which are blown away by the +wind. But I once saw how a rose was laid in the mistress's +hymn-book, and how one of my roses found a place in the bosom of a +young beautiful girl, and how another was kissed by the lips of a +child in the glad joy of life. That did me good; it was a real +blessing. Those are my recollections, my life." +</P> + +<P> +And the rose tree went on blooming in innocence, while the snail +lay idling in his house—the world was nothing to him. +</P> + +<P> +Years passed by. +</P> + +<P> +The snail had turned to earth in the earth, and the rose tree too. +Even the souvenir rose in the hymn-book was faded, but in the garden +there were other rose trees and other snails. The latter crept into +their houses and spat at the world, for it did not concern them. +</P> + +<P> +Shall we read the story all over again? It will be just the same. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="sandhill"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A STORY FROM THE SAND-HILLS +</H3> + +<P> +This story is from the sand-dunes or sand-hills of Jutland, but it +does not begin there in the North, but far away in the South, in +Spain. The wide sea is the highroad from nation to nation; journey +in thought; then, to sunny Spain. It is warm and beautiful there; +the fiery pomegranate flowers peep from among dark laurels; a cool +refreshing breeze from the mountains blows over the orange gardens, +over the Moorish halls with their golden cupolas and coloured walls. +Children go through the streets in procession with candles and +waving banners, and the sky, lofty and clear with its glittering +stars, rises above them. Sounds of singing and castanets can be heard, +and youths and maidens dance upon the flowering acacia trees, while +even the beggar sits upon a block of marble, refreshing himself with a +juicy melon, and dreamily enjoying life. It all seems like a beautiful +dream. +</P> + +<P> +Here dwelt a newly married couple who completely gave themselves +up to the charm of life; indeed they possessed every good thing they +could desire—health and happiness, riches and honour. +</P> + +<P> +"We are as happy as human beings can be," said the young couple +from the depths of their hearts. They had indeed only one step +higher to mount on the ladder of happiness—they hoped that God +would give them a child, a son like them in form and spirit. The happy +little one was to be welcomed with rejoicing, to be cared for with +love and tenderness, and enjoy every advantage of wealth and luxury +that a rich and influential family can give. So the days went by +like a joyous festival. +</P> + +<P> +"Life is a gracious gift from God, almost too great a gift for +us to appreciate!" said the young wife. "Yet they say that fulness +of joy for ever and ever can only be found in the future life. I +cannot realise it!" +</P> + +<P> +"The thought arises, perhaps, from the arrogance of men," said the +husband. "It seems a great pride to believe that we shall live for +ever, that we shall be as gods! Were not these the words of the +serpent, the father of lies?" +</P> + +<P> +"Surely you do not doubt the existence of a future life?" +exclaimed the young wife. It seemed as if one of the first shadows +passed over her sunny thoughts. +</P> + +<P> +"Faith realises it, and the priests tell us so," replied her +husband; "but amid all my happiness I feel that it is arrogant to +demand a continuation of it—another life after this. Has not so +much been given us in this world that we ought to be, we must be, +contented with it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, it has been given to us," said the young wife, "but this +life is nothing more than one long scene of trial and hardship to many +thousands. How many have been cast into this world only to endure +poverty, shame, illness, and misfortune? If there were no future life, +everything here would be too unequally divided, and God would not be +the personification of justice." +</P> + +<P> +"The beggar there," said her husband, "has joys of his own which +seem to him great, and cause him as much pleasure as a king would find +in the magnificence of his palace. And then do you not think that +the beast of burden, which suffers blows and hunger, and works +itself to death, suffers just as much from its miserable fate? The +dumb creature might demand a future life also, and declare the law +unjust that excludes it from the advantages of the higher creation." +</P> + +<P> +"Christ said: 'In my father's house are many mansions,'" she +answered. "Heaven is as boundless as the love of our Creator; the dumb +animal is also His creature, and I firmly believe that no life will be +lost, but each will receive as much happiness as he can enjoy, which +will be sufficient for him." +</P> + +<P> +"This world is sufficient for me," said the husband, throwing +his arm round his beautiful, sweet-tempered wife. He sat by her side +on the open balcony, smoking a cigarette in the cool air, which was +loaded with the sweet scent of carnations and orange blossoms. +Sounds of music and the clatter of castanets came from the road +beneath, the stars shone above then, and two eyes full of +affection—those of his wife—looked upon him with the expression of +undying love. "Such a moment," he said, "makes it worth while to be +born, to die, and to be annihilated!" He smiled—the young wife raised +her hand in gentle reproof, and the shadow passed away from her mind, +and they were happy—quite happy. +</P> + +<P> +Everything seemed to work together for their good. They advanced +in honour, in prosperity, and in happiness. A change came certainly, +but it was only a change of place and not of circumstances. +</P> + +<P> +The young man was sent by his Sovereign as ambassador to the +Russian Court. This was an office of high dignity, but his birth and +his acquirements entitled him to the honour. He possessed a large +fortune, and his wife had brought him wealth equal to his own, for she +was the daughter of a rich and respected merchant. One of this +merchant's largest and finest ships was to be sent that year to +Stockholm, and it was arranged that the dear young couple, the +daughter and the son-in-law, should travel in it to St. Petersburg. +All the arrangements on board were princely and silk and luxury on +every side. +</P> + +<P> +In an old war song, called "The King of England's Son," it says: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Farewell, he said, and sailed away.<BR> + And many recollect that day.<BR> + The ropes were of silk, the anchor of gold,<BR> + And everywhere riches and wealth untold."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +These words would aptly describe the vessel from Spain, for here +was the same luxury, and the same parting thought naturally arose: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "God grant that we once more may meet<BR> + In sweet unclouded peace and joy."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +There was a favourable wind blowing as they left the Spanish +coast, and it would be but a short journey, for they hoped to reach +their destination in a few weeks; but when they came out upon the wide +ocean the wind dropped, the sea became smooth and shining, and the +stars shone brightly. Many festive evenings were spent on board. At +last the travellers began to wish for wind, for a favourable breeze; +but their wish was useless—not a breath of air stirred, or if it +did arise it was contrary. Weeks passed by in this way, two whole +months, and then at length a fair wind blew from the south-west. The +ship sailed on the high seas between Scotland and Jutland; then the +wind increased, just as it did in the old song of "The King of +England's Son." +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "'Mid storm and wind, and pelting hail,<BR> + Their efforts were of no avail.<BR> + The golden anchor forth they threw;<BR> + Towards Denmark the west wind blew."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +This all happened a long time ago; King Christian VII, who sat +on the Danish throne, was still a young man. Much has happened since +then, much has altered or been changed. Sea and moorland have been +turned into green meadows, stretches of heather have become arable +land, and in the shelter of the peasant's cottages, apple-trees and +rose-bushes grow, though they certainly require much care, as the +sharp west wind blows upon them. In West Jutland one may go back in +thought to old times, farther back than the days when Christian VII +ruled. The purple heather still extends for miles, with its barrows +and aerial spectacles, intersected with sandy uneven roads, just as it +did then; towards the west, where broad streams run into the bays, are +marshes and meadows encircled by lofty, sandy hills, which, like a +chain of Alps, raise their pointed summits near the sea; they are only +broken by high ridges of clay, from which the sea, year by year, bites +out great mouthfuls, so that the overhanging banks fall down as if +by the shock of an earthquake. Thus it is there today and thus it +was long ago, when the happy pair were sailing in the beautiful ship. +</P> + +<P> +It was a Sunday, towards the end of September; the sun was +shining, and the chiming of the church bells in the Bay of Nissum +was carried along by the breeze like a chain of sounds. The churches +there are almost entirely built of hewn blocks of stone, each like a +piece of rock. The North Sea might foam over them and they would not +be disturbed. Nearly all of them are without steeples, and the bells +are hung outside between two beams. The service was over, and the +congregation passed out into the churchyard, where not a tree or +bush was to be seen; no flowers were planted there, and they had not +placed a single wreath upon any of the graves. It is just the same +now. Rough mounds show where the dead have been buried, and rank +grass, tossed by the wind, grows thickly over the whole churchyard; +here and there a grave has a sort of monument, a block of half-decayed +wood, rudely cut in the shape of a coffin; the blocks are brought from +the forest of West Jutland, but the forest is the sea itself, and +the inhabitants find beams, and planks, and fragments which the +waves have cast upon the beach. One of these blocks had been placed by +loving hands on a child's grave, and one of the women who had come out +of the church walked up to it; she stood there, her eyes resting on +the weather-beaten memorial, and a few moments afterwards her +husband joined her. They were both silent, but he took her hand, and +they walked together across the purple heath, over moor and meadow +towards the sandhills. For a long time they went on without speaking. +</P> + +<P> +"It was a good sermon to-day," the man said at last. "If we had +not God to trust in, we should have nothing." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," replied the woman, "He sends joy and sorrow, and He has a +right to send them. To-morrow our little son would have been five +years old if we had been permitted to keep him." +</P> + +<P> +"It is no use fretting, wife," said the man. "The boy is well +provided for. He is where we hope and pray to go to." +</P> + +<P> +They said nothing more, but went out towards their houses among +the sand-hills. All at once, in front of one of the houses where the +sea grass did not keep the sand down with its twining roots, what +seemed to be a column of smoke rose up. A gust of wind rushed +between the hills, hurling the particles of sand high into the air; +another gust, and the strings of fish hung up to dry flapped and +beat violently against the walls of the cottage; then everything was +quiet once more, and the sun shone with renewed heat. +</P> + +<P> +The man and his wife went into the cottage. They had soon taken +off their Sunday clothes and come out again, hurrying over the dunes +which stood there like great waves of sand suddenly arrested in +their course, while the sandweeds and dune grass with its bluish +stalks spread a changing colour over them. A few neighbours also +came out, and helped each other to draw the boats higher up on the +beach. The wind now blew more keenly, it was chilly and cold, and when +they went back over the sand-hills, sand and little sharp stones +blew into their faces. The waves rose high, crested with white foam, +and the wind cut off their crests, scattering the foam far and wide. +</P> + +<P> +Evening came; there was a swelling roar in the air, a wailing or +moaning like the voices of despairing spirits, that sounded above +the thunder of the waves. The fisherman's little cottage was on the +very margin, and the sand rattled against the window panes; every +now and then a violent gust of wind shook the house to its foundation. +It was dark, but about midnight the moon would rise. Later on the +air became clearer, but the storm swept over the perturbed sea with +undiminished fury; the fisher folks had long since gone to bed, but in +such weather there was no chance of closing an eye. Presently there +was a tapping at the window; the door was opened, and a voice said: +</P> + +<P> +"There's a large ship stranded on the farthest reef." +</P> + +<P> +In a moment the fisher people sprung from their beds and hastily +dressed themselves. The moon had risen, and it was light enough to +make the surrounding objects visible to those who could open their +eyes in the blinding clouds of sand; the violence of the wind was +terrible, and it was only possible to pass among the sand-hills if one +crept forward between the gusts; the salt spray flew up from the sea +like down, and the ocean foamed like a roaring cataract towards the +beach. Only a practised eye could discern the vessel out in the +offing; she was a fine brig, and the waves now lifted her over the +reef, three or four cables' length out of the usual channel. She drove +towards the shore, struck on the second reef, and remained fixed. +</P> + +<P> +It was impossible to render assistance; the sea rushed in upon the +vessel, making a clean breach over her. Those on shore thought they +heard cries for help from those on board, and could plainly +distinguish the busy but useless efforts made by the stranded sailors. +Now a wave came rolling onward. It fell with enormous force on the +bowsprit, tearing it from the vessel, and the stern was lifted high +above the water. Two people were seen to embrace and plunge together +into the sea, and the next moment one of the largest waves that rolled +towards the sand-hills threw a body on the beach. It was a woman; +the sailors said that she was quite dead, but the women thought they +saw signs of life in her, so the stranger was carried across the +sand-hills to the fisherman's cottage. How beautiful and fair she was! +She must be a great lady, they said. +</P> + +<P> +They laid her upon the humble bed; there was not a yard of linen +on it, only a woollen coverlet to keep the occupant warm. +</P> + +<P> +Life returned to her, but she was delirious, and knew nothing of +what had happened or where she was; and it was better so, for +everything she loved and valued lay buried in the sea. The same +thing happened to her ship as to the one spoken of in the song about +"The King of England's Son." +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Alas! how terrible to see<BR> + The gallant bark sink rapidly."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Fragments of the wreck and pieces of wood were washed ashore; they +were all that remained of the vessel. The wind still blew violently on +the coast. +</P> + +<P> +For a few moments the strange lady seemed to rest; but she awoke +in pain, and uttered cries of anguish and fear. She opened her +wonderfully beautiful eyes, and spoke a few words, but nobody +understood her.—And lo! as a reward for the sorrow and suffering +she had undergone, she held in her arms a new-born babe. The child +that was to have rested upon a magnificent couch, draped with silken +curtains, in a luxurious home; it was to have been welcomed with joy +to a life rich in all the good things of this world; and now Heaven +had ordained that it should be born in this humble retreat, that it +should not even receive a kiss from its mother, for when the +fisherman's wife laid the child upon the mother's bosom, it rested +on a heart that beat no more—she was dead. +</P> + +<P> +The child that was to have been reared amid wealth and luxury +was cast into the world, washed by the sea among the sand-hills to +share the fate and hardships of the poor. +</P> + +<P> +Here we are reminded again of the song about "The King of +England's Son," for in it mention is made of the custom prevalent at +the time, when knights and squires plundered those who had been +saved from shipwreck. The ship had stranded some distance south of +Nissum Bay, and the cruel, inhuman days, when, as we have just said, +the inhabitants of Jutland treated the shipwrecked people so crudely +were past, long ago. Affectionate sympathy and self-sacrifice for +the unfortunate existed then, just as it does in our own time in +many a bright example. The dying mother and the unfortunate child +would have found kindness and help wherever they had been cast by +the winds, but nowhere would it have been more sincere than in the +cottage of the poor fisherman's wife, who had stood, only the day +before, beside her child's grave, who would have been five years old +that day if God had spared it to her. +</P> + +<P> +No one knew who the dead stranger was, they could not even form +a conjecture; the fragments of wreckage gave no clue to the matter. +</P> + +<P> +No tidings reached Spain of the fate of the daughter and +son-in-law. They did not arrive at their destination, and violent +storms had raged during the past weeks. At last the verdict was given: +"Foundered at sea—all lost." But in the fisherman's cottage among the +sand-hills near Hunsby, there lived a little scion of the rich Spanish +family. +</P> + +<P> +Where Heaven sends food for two, a third can manage to find a +meal, and in the depth of the sea there is many a dish of fish for the +hungry. +</P> + +<P> +They called the boy Jurgen. +</P> + +<P> +"It must certainly be a Jewish child, its skin is so dark," the +people said. +</P> + +<P> +"It might be an Italian or a Spaniard," remarked the clergyman. +</P> + +<P> +But to the fisherman's wife these nations seemed all the same, and +she consoled herself with the thought that the child was baptized as a +Christian. +</P> + +<P> +The boy throve; the noble blood in his veins was warm, and he +became strong on his homely fare. He grew apace in the humble cottage, +and the Danish dialect spoken by the West Jutes became his language. +The pomegranate seed from Spain became a hardy plant on the coast of +West Jutland. Thus may circumstances alter the course of a man's life! +To this home he clung with deep-rooted affection; he was to experience +cold and hunger, and the misfortunes and hardships that surround the +poor; but he also tasted of their joys. +</P> + +<P> +Childhood has bright days for every one, and the memory of them +shines through the whole after-life. The boy had many sources of +pleasure and enjoyment; the coast for miles and miles was full of +playthings, for it was a mosaic of pebbles, some red as coral or +yellow as amber, and others again white and rounded like birds' eggs +and smoothed and prepared by the sea. Even the bleached fishes' +skeletons, the water plants dried by the wind, and seaweed, white +and shining long linen-like bands waving between the stones—all these +seemed made to give pleasure and occupation for the boy's thoughts, +and he had an intelligent mind; many great talents lay dormant in him. +How readily he remembered stories and songs that he heard, and how +dexterous he was with his fingers! With stones and mussel-shells he +could put together pictures and ships with which one could decorate +the room; and he could make wonderful things from a stick, his +foster-mother said, although he was still so young and little. He +had a sweet voice, and every melody seemed to flow naturally from +his lips. And in his heart were hidden chords, which might have +sounded far out into the world if he had been placed anywhere else +than in the fisherman's hut by the North Sea. +</P> + +<P> +One day another ship was wrecked on the coast, and among other +things a chest filled with valuable flower bulbs was washed ashore. +Some were put into saucepans and cooked, for they were thought to be +fit to eat, and others lay and shrivelled in the sand—they did not +accomplish their purpose, or unfold their magnificent colours. Would +Jurgen fare better? The flower bulbs had soon played their part, but +he had years of apprenticeship before him. Neither he nor his +friends noticed in what a monotonous, uniform way one day followed +another, for there was always plenty to do and see. The ocean itself +was a great lesson-book, and it unfolded a new leaf each day of calm +or storm—the crested wave or the smooth surface. +</P> + +<P> +The visits to the church were festive occasions, but among the +fisherman's house one was especially looked forward to; this was, in +fact, the visit of the brother of Jurgen's foster-mother, the +eel-breeder from Fjaltring, near Bovbjerg. He came twice a year in a +cart, painted red with blue and white tulips upon it, and full of +eels; it was covered and locked like a box, two dun oxen drew it, +and Jurgen was allowed to guide them. +</P> + +<P> +The eel-breeder was a witty fellow, a merry guest, and brought a +measure of brandy with him. They all received a small glassful or a +cupful if there were not enough glasses; even Jurgen had about a +thimbleful, that he might digest the fat eel, as the eel-breeder said; +he always told one story over and over again, and if his hearers +laughed he would immediately repeat it to them. Jurgen while still a +boy, and also when he was older, used phrases from the eel-breeder's +story on various occasions, so it will be as well for us to listen +to it. It runs thus: +</P> + +<P> +"The eels went into the bay, and the young ones begged leave to go +a little farther out. 'Don't go too far,' said their mother; 'the ugly +eel-spearer might come and snap you all up.' But they went too far, +and of eight daughters only three came back to the mother, and these +wept and said, 'We only went a little way out, and the ugly +eel-spearer came immediately and stabbed five of our sisters to +death.' 'They'll come back again,' said the mother eel. 'Oh, no,' +exclaimed the daughters, 'for he skinned them, cut them in two, and +fried them.' 'Oh, they'll come back again,' the mother eel +persisted. 'No,' replied the daughters, 'for he ate them up.' 'They'll +come back again,' repeated the mother eel. 'But he drank brandy +after them,' said the daughters. 'Ah, then they'll never come back,' +said the mother, and she burst out crying, 'it's the brandy that +buries the eels.'" +</P> + +<P> +"And therefore," said the eel-breeder in conclusion, "it is always +the proper thing to drink brandy after eating eels." +</P> + +<P> +This story was the tinsel thread, the most humorous recollection +of Jurgen's life. He also wanted to go a little way farther out and up +the bay—that is to say, out into the world in a ship—but his +mother said, like the eel-breeder, "There are so many bad people—eel +spearers!" He wished to go a little way past the sand-hills, out +into the dunes, and at last he did: four happy days, the brightest +of his childhood, fell to his lot, and the whole beauty and +splendour of Jutland, all the happiness and sunshine of his home, were +concentrated in these. He went to a festival, but it was a burial +feast. +</P> + +<P> +A rich relation of the fisherman's family had died; the farm was +situated far eastward in the country and a little towards the north. +Jurgen's foster parents went there, and he also went with them from +the dunes, over heath and moor, where the Skjaerumaa takes its +course through green meadows and contains many eels; mother eels +live there with their daughters, who are caught and eaten up by wicked +people. But do not men sometimes act quite as cruelly towards their +own fellow-men? Was not the knight Sir Bugge murdered by wicked +people? And though he was well spoken of, did he not also wish to kill +the architect who built the castle for him, with its thick walls and +tower, at the point where the Skjaerumaa falls into the bay? Jurgen +and his parents now stood there; the wall and the ramparts still +remained, and red crumbling fragments lay scattered around. Here it +was that Sir Bugge, after the architect had left him, said to one of +his men, "Go after him and say, 'Master, the tower shakes.' If he +turns round, kill him and take away the money I paid him, but if he +does not turn round let him go in peace." The man did as he was +told; the architect did not turn round, but called back "The tower +does not shake in the least, but one day a man will come from the west +in a blue cloak—he will cause it to shake!" And so indeed it happened +a hundred years later, for the North Sea broke in and cast down the +tower; but Predbjorn Gyldenstjerne, the man who then possessed the +castle, built a new castle higher up at the end of the meadow, and +that one is standing to this day, and is called Norre-Vosborg. +</P> + +<P> +Jurgen and his foster parents went past this castle. They had told +him its story during the long winter evenings, and now he saw the +stately edifice, with its double moat, and trees and bushes; the wall, +covered with ferns, rose within the moat, but the lofty lime-trees +were the most beautiful of all; they grew up to the highest windows, +and the air was full of their sweet fragrance. In a north-west +corner of the garden stood a great bush full of blossom, like winter +snow amid the summer's green; it was a juniper bush, the first that +Jurgen had ever seen in bloom. He never forgot it, nor the lime-trees; +the child's soul treasured up these memories of beauty and fragrance +to gladden the old man. +</P> + +<P> +From Norre-Vosborg, where the juniper blossomed, the journey +became more pleasant, for they met some other people who were also +going to the funeral and were riding in waggons. Our travellers had to +sit all together on a little box at the back of the waggon, but even +this, they thought, was better than walking. So they continued their +journey across the rugged heath. The oxen which drew the waggon +stopped every now and then, where a patch of fresh grass appeared amid +the heather. The sun shone with considerable heat, and it was +wonderful to behold how in the far distance something like smoke +seemed to be rising; yet this smoke was clearer than the air; it was +transparent, and looked like rays of light rolling and dancing afar +over the heath. +</P> + +<P> +"That is Lokeman driving his sheep," said some one. +</P> + +<P> +And this was enough to excite Jurgen's imagination. He felt as +if they were now about to enter fairyland, though everything was still +real. How quiet it was! The heath stretched far and wide around them +like a beautiful carpet. The heather was in blossom, and the +juniper-bushes and fresh oak saplings rose like bouquets from the +earth. An inviting place for a frolic, if it had not been for the +number of poisonous adders of which the travellers spoke; they also +mentioned that the place had formerly been infested with wolves, and +that the district was still called Wolfsborg for this reason. The +old man who was driving the oxen told them that in the lifetime of his +father the horses had many a hard battle with the wild beasts that +were now exterminated. One morning, when he himself had gone out to +bring in the horses, he found one of them standing with its forefeet +on a wolf it had killed, but the savage animal had torn and +lacerated the brave horse's legs. +</P> + +<P> +The journey over the heath and the deep sand was only too +quickly at an end. They stopped before the house of mourning, where +they found plenty of guests within and without. Waggon after waggon +stood side by side, while the horses and oxen had been turned out to +graze on the scanty pasture. Great sand-hills like those at home by +the North Sea rose behind the house and extended far and wide. How had +they come here, so many miles inland? They were as large and high as +those on the coast, and the wind had carried them there; there was +also a legend attached to them. +</P> + +<P> +Psalms were sung, and a few of the old people shed tears; with +this exception, the guests were cheerful enough, it seemed to +Jurgen, and there was plenty to eat and drink. There were eels of +the fattest, requiring brandy to bury them, as the eel-breeder said; +and certainly they did not forget to carry out his maxim here. +</P> + +<P> +Jurgen went in and out the house; and on the third day he felt +as much at home as he did in the fisherman's cottage among the +sand-hills, where he had passed his early days. Here on the heath were +riches unknown to him until now; for flowers, blackberries, and +bilberries were to be found in profusion, so large and sweet that when +they were crushed beneath the tread of passers-by the heather was +stained with their red juice. Here was a barrow and yonder another. +Then columns of smoke rose into the still air; it was a heath fire, +they told him—how brightly it blazed in the dark evening! +</P> + +<P> +The fourth day came, and the funeral festivities were at an end; +they were to go back from the land-dunes to the sand-dunes. +</P> + +<P> +"Ours are better," said the old fisherman, Jurgen's foster-father; +"these have no strength." +</P> + +<P> +And they spoke of the way in which the sand-dunes had come inland, +and it seemed very easy to understand. This is how they explained it: +</P> + +<P> +A dead body had been found on the coast, and the peasants buried +it in the churchyard. From that time the sand began to fly about and +the sea broke in with violence. A wise man in the district advised +them to open the grave and see if the buried man was not lying sucking +his thumb, for if so he must be a sailor, and the sea would not rest +until it had got him back. The grave was opened, and he really was +found with his thumb in his mouth. So they laid him upon a cart, and +harnessed two oxen to it; and the oxen ran off with the sailor over +heath and moor to the ocean, as if they had been stung by an adder. +Then the sand ceased to fly inland, but the hills that had been +piled up still remained. +</P> + +<P> +All this Jurgen listened to and treasured up in his memory of +the happiest days of his childhood—the days of the burial feast. +</P> + +<P> +How delightful it was to see fresh places and to mix with +strangers! And he was to go still farther, for he was not yet fourteen +years old when he went out in a ship to see the world. He +encountered bad weather, heavy seas, unkindness, and hard men—such +were his experiences, for he became ship-boy. Cold nights, bad living, +and blows had to be endured; then he felt his noble Spanish blood boil +within him, and bitter, angry, words rose to his lips, but he gulped +them down; it was better, although he felt as the eel must feel when +it is skinned, cut up, and put into the frying-pan. +</P> + +<P> +"I shall get over it," said a voice within him. +</P> + +<P> +He saw the Spanish coast, the native land of his parents. He +even saw the town where they had lived in joy and prosperity, but he +knew nothing of his home or his relations, and his relations knew just +as little about him. +</P> + +<P> +The poor ship boy was not permitted to land, but on the last day +of their stay he managed to get ashore. There were several purchases +to be made, and he was sent to carry them on board. +</P> + +<P> +Jurgen stood there in his shabby clothes which looked as if they +had been washed in the ditch and dried in the chimney; he, who had +always dwelt among the sand-hills, now saw a great city for the +first time. How lofty the houses seemed, and what a number of people +there were in the streets! some pushing this way, some that—a perfect +maelstrom of citizens and peasants, monks and soldiers—the jingling +of bells on the trappings of asses and mules, the chiming of church +bells, calling, shouting, hammering and knocking—all going on at +once. Every trade was located in the basement of the houses or in +the side thoroughfares; and the sun shone with such heat, and the +air was so close, that one seemed to be in an oven full of beetles, +cockchafers, bees and flies, all humming and buzzing together. +Jurgen scarcely knew where he was or which way he went. Then he saw +just in front of him the great doorway of a cathedral; the lights were +gleaming in the dark aisles, and the fragrance of incense was wafted +towards him. Even the poorest beggar ventured up the steps into the +sanctuary. Jurgen followed the sailor he was with into the church, and +stood in the sacred edifice. Coloured pictures gleamed from their +golden background, and on the altar stood the figure of the Virgin +with the child Jesus, surrounded by lights and flowers; priests in +festive robes were chanting, and choir boys in dazzling attire swung +silver censers. What splendour and magnificence he saw there! It +streamed in upon his soul and overpowered him: the church and the +faith of his parents surrounded him, and touched a chord in his +heart that caused his eyes to overflow with tears. +</P> + +<P> +They went from the church to the market-place. Here a quantity +of provisions were given him to carry. The way to the harbour was +long; and weary and overcome with various emotions, he rested for a +few moments before a splendid house, with marble pillars, statues, and +broad steps. Here he rested his burden against the wall. Then a porter +in livery came out, lifted up a silver-headed cane, and drove him +away—him, the grandson of that house. But no one knew that, and he +just as little as any one. Then he went on board again, and once +more encountered rough words and blows, much work and little +sleep—such was his experience of life. They say it is good to suffer +in one's young days, if age brings something to make up for it. +</P> + +<P> +His period of service on board the ship came to an end, and the +vessel lay once more at Ringkjobing in Jutland. He came ashore, and +went home to the sand-dunes near Hunsby; but his foster-mother had +died during his absence. +</P> + +<P> +A hard winter followed this summer. Snow-storms swept over land +and sea, and there was difficulty in getting from one place to +another. How unequally things are distributed in this world! Here +there was bitter cold and snow-storms, while in Spain there was +burning sunshine and oppressive heat. Yet, when a clear frosty day +came, and Jurgen saw the swans flying in numbers from the sea +towards the land, across to Norre-Vosborg, it seemed to him that +people could breathe more freely here; the summer also in this part of +the world was splendid. In imagination he saw the heath blossom and +become purple with rich juicy berries, and the elder-bushes and +lime-trees at Norre Vosborg in flower. He made up his mind to go there +again. +</P> + +<P> +Spring came, and the fishing began. Jurgen was now an active +helper in this, for he had grown during the last year, and was quick +at work. He was full of life, and knew how to swim, to tread water, +and to turn over and tumble in the strong tide. They often warned +him to beware of the sharks, which seize the best swimmer, draw him +down, and devour him; but such was not to be Jurgen's fate. +</P> + +<P> +At a neighbour's house in the dunes there was a boy named +Martin, with whom Jurgen was on very friendly terms, and they both +took service in the same ship to Norway, and also went together to +Holland. They never had a quarrel, but a person can be easily +excited to quarrel when he is naturally hot tempered, for he often +shows it in many ways; and this is just what Jurgen did one day when +they fell out about the merest trifle. They were sitting behind the +cabin door, eating from a delft plate, which they had placed between +them. Jurgen held his pocket-knife in his hand and raised it towards +Martin, and at the same time became ashy pale, and his eyes had an +ugly look. Martin only said, "Ah! ah! you are one of that sort, are +you? Fond of using the knife!" +</P> + +<P> +The words were scarcely spoken, when Jurgen's hand sank down. He +did not answer a syllable, but went on eating, and afterwards returned +to his work. When they were resting again he walked up to Martin and +said: +</P> + +<P> +"Hit me in the face! I deserve it. But sometimes I feel as if I +had a pot in me that boils over." +</P> + +<P> +"There, let the thing rest," replied Martin. +</P> + +<P> +And after that they were almost better friends than ever; when +afterwards they returned to the dunes and began telling their +adventures, this was told among the rest. Martin said that Jurgen +was certainly passionate, but a good fellow after all. +</P> + +<P> +They were both young and healthy, well-grown and strong; but +Jurgen was the cleverer of the two. +</P> + +<P> +In Norway the peasants go into the mountains and take the cattle +there to find pasture. On the west coast of Jutland huts have been +erected among the sand-hills; they are built of pieces of wreck, and +thatched with turf and heather; there are sleeping places round the +walls, and here the fishermen live and sleep during the early +spring. Every fisherman has a female helper, or manager as she is +called, who baits his hooks, prepares warm beer for him when he +comes ashore, and gets the dinner cooked and ready for him by the time +he comes back to the hut tired and hungry. Besides this the managers +bring up the fish from the boats, cut them open, prepare them, and +have generally a great deal to do. +</P> + +<P> +Jurgen, his father, and several other fishermen and their managers +inhabited the same hut; Martin lived in the next one. +</P> + +<P> +One of the girls, whose name was Else, had known Jurgen from +childhood; they were glad to see each other, and were of the same +opinion on many points, but in appearance they were entirely opposite; +for he was dark, and she was pale, and fair, and had flaxen hair, +and eyes as blue as the sea in sunshine. +</P> + +<P> +As they were walking together one day, Jurgen held her hand very +firmly in his, and she said to him: +</P> + +<P> +"Jurgen, I have something I want to say to you; let me be your +manager, for you are like a brother to me; but Martin, whose +housekeeper I am—he is my lover—but you need not tell this to the +others." +</P> + +<P> +It seemed to Jurgen as if the loose sand was giving way under +his feet. He did not speak a word, but nodded his head, and that meant +"yes." It was all that was necessary; but he suddenly felt in his +heart that he hated Martin, and the more he thought the more he felt +convinced that Martin had stolen away from him the only being he +ever loved, and that this was Else: he had never thought of Else in +this way before, but now it all became plain to him. +</P> + +<P> +When the sea is rather rough, and the fishermen are coming home in +their great boats, it is wonderful to see how they cross the reefs. +One of them stands upright in the bow of the boat, and the others +watch him sitting with the oars in their hands. Outside the reef it +looks as if the boat was not approaching land but going back to sea; +then the man who is standing up gives them the signal that the great +wave is coming which is to float them across the reef. The boat is +lifted high into the air, so that the keel is seen from the shore; the +next moment nothing can be seen, mast, keel, and people are all +hidden—it seems as though the sea had devoured them; but in a few +moments they emerge like a great sea animal climbing up the waves, and +the oars move as if the creature had legs. The second and third reef +are passed in the same manner; then the fishermen jump into the +water and push the boat towards the shore—every wave helps them—and +at length they have it drawn up, beyond the reach of the breakers. +</P> + +<P> +A wrong order given in front of the reef—the slightest +hesitation—and the boat would be lost. +</P> + +<P> +"Then it would be all over with me and Martin too!" +</P> + +<P> +This thought passed through Jurgen's mind one day while they +were out at sea, where his foster-father had been taken suddenly +ill. The fever had seized him. They were only a few oars' strokes from +the reef, and Jurgen sprang from his seat and stood up in the bow. +</P> + +<P> +"Father-let me come!" he said, and he glanced at Martin and across +the waves; every oar bent with the exertions of the rowers as the +great wave came towards them, and he saw his father's pale face, and +dared not obey the evil impulse that had shot through his brain. The +boat came safely across the reef to land; but the evil thought +remained in his heart, and roused up every little fibre of +bitterness which he remembered between himself and Martin since they +had known each other. But he could not weave the fibres together, +nor did he endeavour to do so. He felt that Martin had robbed him, and +this was enough to make him hate his former friend. Several of the +fishermen saw this, but Martin did not—he remained as obliging and +talkative as ever, in fact he talked rather too much. +</P> + +<P> +Jurgen's foster-father took to his bed, and it became his +death-bed, for he died a week afterwards; and now Jurgen was heir to +the little house behind the sand-hills. It was small, certainly, but +still it was something, and Martin had nothing of the kind. +</P> + +<P> +"You will not go to sea again, Jurgen, I suppose," observed one of +the old fishermen. "You will always stay with us now." +</P> + +<P> +But this was not Jurgen's intention; he wanted to see something of +the world. The eel-breeder of Fjaltring had an uncle at Old Skjagen, +who was a fisherman, but also a prosperous merchant with ships upon +the sea; he was said to be a good old man, and it would not be a bad +thing to enter his service. Old Skjagen lies in the extreme north of +Jutland, as far away from the Hunsby dunes as one can travel in that +country; and this is just what pleased Jurgen, for he did not want +to remain till the wedding of Martin and Else, which would take +place in a week or two. +</P> + +<P> +The old fisherman said it was foolish to go away, for now that +Jurgen had a home Else would very likely be inclined to take him +instead of Martin. +</P> + +<P> +Jurgen gave such a vague answer that it was not easy to make out +what he meant—the old man brought Else to him, and she said: +</P> + +<P> +"You have a home now; you ought to think of that." +</P> + +<P> +And Jurgen thought of many things. +</P> + +<P> +The sea has heavy waves, but there are heavier waves in the +human heart. Many thoughts, strong and weak, rushed through Jurgen's +brain, and he said to Else: +</P> + +<P> +"If Martin had a house like mine, which of us would you rather +have?" +</P> + +<P> +"But Martin has no house and cannot get one." +</P> + +<P> +"Suppose he had one?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, then I would certainly take Martin, for that is what my +heart tells me; but one cannot live upon love." +</P> + +<P> +Jurgen turned these things over in his mind all night. Something +was working within him, he hardly knew what it was, but it was even +stronger than his love for Else; and so he went to Martin's, and +what he said and did there was well considered. He let the house to +Martin on most liberal terms, saying that he wished to go to sea +again, because he loved it. And Else kissed him when she heard of +it, for she loved Martin best. +</P> + +<P> +Jurgen proposed to start early in the morning, and on the +evening before his departure, when it was already getting rather late, +he felt a wish to visit Martin once more. He started, and among the +dunes met the old fisherman, who was angry at his leaving the place. +The old man made jokes about Martin, and declared there must be some +magic about that fellow, of whom the girls were so fond. +</P> + +<P> +Jurgen did not pay any attention to his remarks, but said good-bye +to the old man and went on towards the house where Martin dwelt. He +heard loud talking inside; Martin was not alone, and this made +Jurgen waver in his determination, for he did not wish to see Else +again. On second thoughts, he decided that it was better not to hear +any more thanks from Martin, and so he turned back. +</P> + +<P> +On the following morning, before the sun rose, he fastened his +knapsack on his back, took his wooden provision box in his hand, and +went away among the sand-hills towards the coast path. This way was +more pleasant than the heavy sand road, and besides it was shorter; +and he intended to go first to Fjaltring, near Bovbjerg, where the +eel-breeder lived, to whom he had promised a visit. +</P> + +<P> +The sea lay before him, clear and blue, and the mussel shells +and pebbles, the playthings of his childhood, crunched over his +feet. While he thus walked on his nose suddenly began to bleed; it was +a trifling occurrence, but trifles sometimes are of great +importance. A few large drops of blood fell upon one of his sleeves. +He wiped them off and stopped the bleeding, and it seemed to him as if +this had cleared and lightened his brain. The sea-cale bloomed here +and there in the sand as he passed. He broke off a spray and stuck +it in his hat; he determined to be merry and light-hearted, for he was +going out into the wide world—"a little way out, beyond the bay," +as the young eels had said. "Beware of bad people who will catch +you, and skin you, and put you in the frying-pan!" he repeated in +his mind, and smiled, for he thought he should find his way through +the world—good courage is a strong weapon! +</P> + +<P> +The sun was high in the heavens when he approached the narrow +entrance to Nissum Bay. He looked back and saw a couple of horsemen +galloping a long distance behind him, and there were other people with +them. But this did not concern him. +</P> + +<P> +The ferry-boat was on the opposite side of the bay. Jurgen +called to the ferry-man, and the latter came over with his boat. +Jurgen stepped in; but before he had got half-way across, the men whom +he had seen riding so hastily, came up, hailed the ferry-man, and +commanded him to return in the name of the law. Jurgen did not +understand the reason of this, but he thought it would be best to turn +back, and therefore he himself took an oar and returned. As soon as +the boat touched the shore, the men sprang on board, and before he was +aware of it, they had bound his hands with a rope. +</P> + +<P> +"This wicked deed will cost you your life," they said. "It is a +good thing we have caught you." +</P> + +<P> +He was accused of nothing less than murder. Martin had been +found dead, with his throat cut. One of the fishermen, late on the +previous evening, had met Jurgen going towards Martin's house; this +was not the first time Jurgen had raised his knife against Martin, +so they felt sure that he was the murderer. The prison was in a town +at a great distance, and the wind was contrary for going there by sea; +but it would not take half an hour to get across the bay, and +another quarter of an hour would bring them to Norre-Vosborg, the +great castle with ramparts and moat. One of Jurgen's captors was a +fisherman, a brother of the keeper of the castle, and he said it might +be managed that Jurgen should be placed for the present in the dungeon +at Vosborg, where Long Martha the gipsy had been shut up till her +execution. They paid no attention to Jurgen's defence; the few drops +of blood on his shirt-sleeve bore heavy witness against him. But he +was conscious of his innocence, and as there was no chance of clearing +himself at present he submitted to his fate. +</P> + +<P> +The party landed just at the place where Sir Bugge's castle had +stood, and where Jurgen had walked with his foster-parents after the +burial feast, during the four happiest days of his childhood. He +was led by the well-known path, over the meadow to Vosborg; once +more the elders were in bloom and the lofty lime-trees gave forth +sweet fragrance, and it seemed as if it were but yesterday that he had +last seen the spot. In each of the two wings of the castle there was a +staircase which led to a place below the entrance, from whence there +is access to a low, vaulted cellar. In this dungeon Long Martha had +been imprisoned, and from here she was led away to the scaffold. She +had eaten the hearts of five children, and had imagined that if she +could obtain two more she would be able to fly and make herself +invisible. In the middle of the roof of the cellar there was a +little narrow air-hole, but no window. The flowering lime trees +could not breathe refreshing fragrance into that abode, where +everything was dark and mouldy. There was only a rough bench in the +cell; but a good conscience is a soft pillow, and therefore Jurgen +could sleep well. +</P> + +<P> +The thick oaken door was locked, and secured on the outside by +an iron bar; but the goblin of superstition can creep through a +keyhole into a baron's castle just as easily as it can into a +fisherman's cottage, and why should he not creep in here, where Jurgen +sat thinking of Long Martha and her wicked deeds? Her last thoughts on +the night before her execution had filled this place, and the magic +that tradition asserted to have been practised here, in Sir +Svanwedel's time, came into Jurgen's mind, and made him shudder; but a +sunbeam, a refreshing thought from without, penetrated his heart +even here—it was the remembrance of the flowering elder and the sweet +smelling lime-trees. +</P> + +<P> +He was not left there long. They took him away to the town of +Ringkjobing, where he was imprisoned with equal severity. +</P> + +<P> +Those times were not like ours. The common people were treated +harshly; and it was just after the days when farms were converted into +knights' estates, when coachmen and servants were often made +magistrates, and had power to sentence a poor man, for a small +offence, to lose his property and to corporeal punishment. Judges of +this kind were still to be found; and in Jutland, so far from the +capital, and from the enlightened, well-meaning, head of the +Government, the law was still very loosely administered sometimes—the +smallest grievance Jurgen could expect was that his case should be +delayed. +</P> + +<P> +His dwelling was cold and comfortless; and how long would he be +obliged to bear all this? It seemed his fate to suffer misfortune +and sorrow innocently. He now had plenty of time to reflect on the +difference of fortune on earth, and to wonder why this fate had been +allotted to him; yet he felt sure that all would be made clear in +the next life, the existence that awaits us when this life is over. +His faith had grown strong in the poor fisherman's cottage; the +light which had never shone into his father's mind, in all the +richness and sunshine of Spain, was sent to him to be his comfort in +poverty and distress, a sign of that mercy of God which never fails. +</P> + +<P> +The spring storms began to blow. The rolling and moaning of the +North Sea could be heard for miles inland when the wind was blowing, +and then it sounded like the rushing of a thousand waggons over a hard +road with a mine underneath. Jurgen heard these sounds in his +prison, and it was a relief to him. No music could have touched his +heart as did these sounds of the sea—the rolling sea, the boundless +sea, on which a man can be borne across the world before the wind, +carrying his own house with him wherever he goes, just as the snail +carries its home even into a strange country. +</P> + +<P> +He listened eagerly to its deep murmur and then the thought +arose—"Free! free! How happy to be free, even barefooted and in ragged +clothes!" Sometimes, when such thoughts crossed his mind, the fiery +nature rose within him, and he beat the wall with his clenched fists. +</P> + +<P> +Weeks, months, a whole year had gone by, when Niels the thief, +called also a horse-dealer, was arrested; and now better times came, +and it was seen that Jurgen had been wrongly accused. +</P> + +<P> +On the afternoon before Jurgen's departure from home, and before +the murder, Niels the thief, had met Martin at a beer-house in the +neighbourhood of Ringkjobing. A few glasses were drank, not enough +to cloud the brain, but enough to loosen Martin's tongue. He began +to boast and to say that he had obtained a house and intended to +marry, and when Niels asked him where he was going to get the money, +he slapped his pocket proudly and said: +</P> + +<P> +"The money is here, where it ought to be." +</P> + +<P> +This boast cost him his life; for when he went home Niels followed +him, and cut his throat, intending to rob the murdered man of the +gold, which did not exist. +</P> + +<P> +All this was circumstantially explained; but it is enough for us +to know that Jurgen was set free. But what compensation did he get for +having been imprisoned a whole year, and shut out from all +communication with his fellow creatures? They told him he was +fortunate in being proved innocent, and that he might go. The +burgomaster gave him two dollars for travelling expenses, and many +citizens offered him provisions and beer—there were still good +people; they were not all hard and pitiless. But the best thing of all +was that the merchant Bronne, of Skjagen, into whose service Jurgen +had proposed entering the year before, was just at that time on +business in the town of Ringkjobing. Bronne heard the whole story; +he was kind-hearted, and understood what Jurgen must have felt and +suffered. Therefore he made up his mind to make it up to the poor lad, +and convince him that there were still kind folks in the world. +</P> + +<P> +So Jurgen went forth from prison as if to paradise, to find +freedom, affection, and trust. He was to travel this path now, for +no goblet of life is all bitterness; no good man would pour out such a +draught for his fellow-man, and how should He do it, Who is love +personified? +</P> + +<P> +"Let everything be buried and forgotten," said Bronne, the +merchant. "Let us draw a thick line through last year: we will even +burn the almanack. In two days we will start for dear, friendly, +peaceful Skjagen. People call it an out-of-the-way corner; but it is a +good warm chimney-corner, and its windows open toward every part of +the world." +</P> + +<P> +What a journey that was: It was like taking fresh breath out of +the cold dungeon air into the warm sunshine. The heather bloomed in +pride and beauty, and the shepherd-boy sat on a barrow and blew his +pipe, which he had carved for himself out of a sheep bone. Fata +Morgana, the beautiful aerial phenomenon of the wilderness, appeared +with hanging gardens and waving forests, and the wonderful cloud +called "Lokeman driving his sheep" also was seen. +</P> + +<P> +Up towards Skjagen they went, through the land of the Wendels, +whence the men with long beards (the Longobardi or Lombards) had +emigrated in the reign of King Snio, when all the children and old +people were to have been killed, till the noble Dame Gambaruk proposed +that the young people should emigrate. Jurgen knew all this, he had +some little knowledge; and although he did not know the land of the +Lombards beyond the lofty Alps, he had an idea that it must be +there, for in his boyhood he had been in the south, in Spain. He +thought of the plenteousness of the southern fruit, of the red +pomegranate flowers, of the humming, buzzing, and toiling in the great +beehive of a city he had seen; but home is the best place after all, +and Jurgen's home was Denmark. +</P> + +<P> +At last they arrived at "Vendilskaga," as Skjagen is called in old +Norwegian and Icelandic writings. At that time Old Skjagen, with the +eastern and western town, extended for miles, with sand hills and +arable land as far as the lighthouse near "Grenen." Then, as now, +the houses were strewn among the wind-raised sand-hills—a +wilderness in which the wind sports with the sand, and where the voice +of the sea-gull and wild swan strikes harshly on the ear. +</P> + +<P> +In the south-west, a mile from "Grenen," lies Old Skjagen; +merchant Bronne dwelt here, and this was also to be Jurgen's home +for the future. The dwelling-house was tarred, and all the small +out-buildings had been put together from pieces of wreck. There was no +fence, for indeed there was nothing to fence in except the long rows +of fishes which were hung upon lines, one above the other, to dry in +the wind. The entire coast was strewn with spoiled herrings, for there +were so many of these fish that a net was scarcely thrown into the sea +before it was filled. They were caught by carloads, and many of them +were either thrown back into the sea or left to lie on the beach. +</P> + +<P> +The old man's wife and daughter and his servants also came to meet +him with great rejoicing. There was a great squeezing of hands, and +talking and questioning. And the daughter, what a sweet face and +bright eyes she had! +</P> + +<P> +The inside of the house was comfortable and roomy. Fritters, +that a king would have looked upon as a dainty dish, were placed on +the table, and there was wine from the Skjagen vineyard—that is, +the sea; for there the grapes come ashore ready pressed and prepared +in barrels and in bottles. +</P> + +<P> +When the mother and daughter heard who Jurgen was, and how +innocently he had suffered, they looked at him in a still more +friendly way; and pretty Clara's eyes had a look of especial +interest as she listened to his story. Jurgen found a happy home in +Old Skjagen. It did his heart good, for it had been sorely tried. He +had drunk the bitter goblet of love which softens or hardens the +heart, according to circumstances. Jurgen's heart was still soft—it +was young, and therefore it was a good thing that Miss Clara was going +in three weeks' time to Christiansand in Norway, in her father's ship, +to visit an aunt and to stay there the whole winter. +</P> + +<P> +On the Sunday before she went away they all went to church, to the +Holy Communion. The church was large and handsome, and had been +built centuries before by Scotchmen and Dutchmen; it stood some little +way out of the town. It was rather ruinous certainly, and the road +to it was heavy, through deep sand, but the people gladly surmounted +these difficulties to get to the house of God, to sing psalms and to +hear the sermon. The sand had heaped itself up round the walls of +the church, but the graves were kept free from it. +</P> + +<P> +It was the largest church north of the Limfjorden. The Virgin +Mary, with a golden crown on her head and the child Jesus in her arms, +stood lifelike on the altar; the holy Apostles had been carved in +the choir, and on the walls there were portraits of the old +burgomasters and councillors of Skjagen; the pulpit was of carved +work. The sun shone brightly into the church, and its radiance fell on +the polished brass chandelier and on the little ship that hung from +the vaulted roof. +</P> + +<P> +Jurgen felt overcome by a holy, childlike feeling, like that which +possessed him, when, as a boy, he stood in the splendid Spanish +cathedral. But here the feeling was different, for he felt conscious +of being one of the congregation. +</P> + +<P> +After the sermon followed Holy Communion. He partook of the +bread and wine, and it so happened that he knelt by the side of Miss +Clara; but his thoughts were so fixed upon heaven and the Holy +Sacrament that he did not notice his neighbour until he rose from +his knees, and then he saw tears rolling down her cheeks. +</P> + +<P> +She left Skjagen and went to Norway two days later. He remained +behind, and made himself useful on the farm and at the fishery. He +went out fishing, and in those days fish were more plentiful and +larger than they are now. The shoals of the mackerel glittered in +the dark nights, and indicated where they were swimming; the +gurnards snarled, and the crabs gave forth pitiful yells when they +were chased, for fish are not so mute as people say. +</P> + +<P> +Every Sunday Jurgen went to church; and when his eyes rested on +the picture of the Virgin Mary over the altar as he sat there, they +often glided away to the spot where they had knelt side by side. +</P> + +<P> +Autumn came, and brought rain and snow with it; the water rose +up right into the town of Skjagen, the sand could not suck it all +in, one had to wade through it or go by boat. The storms threw +vessel after vessel on the fatal reefs; there were snow-storm and +sand-storms; the sand flew up to the houses, blocking the entrances, +so that people had to creep up through the chimneys; that was +nothing at all remarkable here. It was pleasant and cheerful +indoors, where peat fuel and fragments of wood from the wrecks +blazed and crackled upon the hearth. Merchant Bronne read aloud, +from an old chronicle, about Prince Hamlet of Denmark, who had come +over from England, landed near Bovbjerg, and fought a battle; close by +Ramme was his grave, only a few miles from the place where the +eel-breeder lived; hundreds of barrow rose there from the heath, +forming as it were an enormous churchyard. Merchant Bronne had +himself been at Hamlet's grave; they spoke about old times, and about +their neighbours, the English and the Scotch, and Jurgen sang the air +of "The King of England's Son," and of his splendid ship and its +outfit. +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "In the hour of peril when most men fear,<BR> + He clasped the bride that he held so dear,<BR> + And proved himself the son of a King;<BR> + Of his courage and valour let us sing."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +This verse Jurgen sang with so much feeling that his eyes +beamed, and they were black and sparkling since his infancy. +</P> + +<P> +There was wealth, comfort, and happiness even among the domestic +animals, for they were all well cared for, and well kept. The +kitchen looked bright with its copper and tin utensils, and white +plates, and from the rafters hung hams, beef, and winter stores in +plenty. This can still be seen in many rich farms on the west coast of +Jutland: plenty to eat and drink, clean, prettily decorated rooms, +active minds, cheerful tempers, and hospitality can be found there, as +in an Arab's tent. +</P> + +<P> +Jurgen had never spent such a happy time since the famous burial +feast, and yet Miss Clara was absent, except in the thoughts and +memory of all. +</P> + +<P> +In April a ship was to start for Norway, and Jurgen was to sail in +it. He was full of life and spirits, and looked so sturdy and well +that Dame Bronne said it did her good to see him. +</P> + +<P> +"And it does one good to look at you also, old wife," said the +merchant. "Jurgen has brought fresh life into our winter evenings, and +into you too, mother. You look younger than ever this year, and seem +well and cheerful. But then you were once the prettiest girl in +Viborg, and that is saying a great deal, for I have always found the +Viborg girls the prettiest of any." +</P> + +<P> +Jurgen said nothing, but he thought of a certain maiden of +Skjagen, whom he was soon to visit. The ship set sail for +Christiansand in Norway, and as the wind was favourable it soon +arrived there. +</P> + +<P> +One morning merchant Bronne went out to the lighthouse, which +stands a little way out of Old Skjagen, not far from "Grenen." The +light was out, and the sun was already high in the heavens, when he +mounted the tower. The sand-banks extend a whole mile from the +shore, beneath the water, outside these banks; many ships could be +seen that day, and with the aid of his telescope the old man thought +he descried his own ship, the Karen Bronne. Yes! certainly, there +she was, sailing homewards with Clara and Jurgen on board. +</P> + +<P> +Clara sat on deck, and saw the sand-hills gradually appearing in +the distance; the church and lighthouse looked like a heron and a swan +rising from the blue waters. If the wind held good they might reach +home in about an hour. So near they were to home and all its joys—so +near to death and all its terrors! A plank in the ship gave way, +and the water rushed in; the crew flew to the pumps, and did their +best to stop the leak. A signal of distress was hoisted, but they were +still fully a mile from the shore. Some fishing boats were in sight, +but they were too far off to be of any use. The wind blew towards +the land, the tide was in their favour, but it was all useless; the +ship could not be saved. +</P> + +<P> +Jurgen threw his right arm round Clara, and pressed her to him. +With what a look she gazed up into his face, as with a prayer to God +for help he breasted the waves, which rushed over the sinking ship! +She uttered a cry, but she felt safe and certain that he would not +leave her to sink. And in this hour of terror and danger Jurgen felt +as the king's son did, as told in the old song: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "In the hour of peril when most men fear,<BR> + He clasped the bride that he held so dear."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +How glad he felt that he was a good swimmer! He worked his way +onward with his feet and one arm, while he held the young girl up +firmly with the other. He rested on the waves, he trod the water—in +fact, did everything he could think of, in order not to fatigue +himself, and to reserve strength enough to reach land. He heard +Clara sigh, and felt her shudder convulsively, and he pressed her more +closely to him. Now and then a wave rolled over them, the current +lifted them; the water, although deep, was so clear that for a +moment he imagined he saw the shoals of mackerel glittering, or +Leviathan himself ready to swallow them. Now the clouds cast a +shadow over the water, then again came the playing sunbeams; flocks of +loudly screaming birds passed over him, and the plump and lazy wild +ducks which allow themselves to be drifted by the waves rose up +terrified at the sight of the swimmer. He began to feel his strength +decreasing, but he was only a few cable lengths' distance from the +shore, and help was coming, for a boat was approaching him. At this +moment he distinctly saw a white staring figure under the water—a +wave lifted him up, and he came nearer to the figure—he felt a +violent shock, and everything became dark around him. +</P> + +<P> +On the sand reef lay the wreck of a ship, which was covered with +water at high tide; the white figure head rested against the anchor, +the sharp iron edge of which rose just above the surface. Jurgen had +come in contact with this; the tide had driven him against it with +great force. He sank down stunned with the blow, but the next wave +lifted him and the young girl up again. Some fishermen, coming with +a boat, seized them and dragged them into it. The blood streamed +down over Jurgen's face; he seemed dead, but still held the young girl +so tightly that they were obliged to take her from him by force. She +was pale and lifeless; they laid her in the boat, and rowed as quickly +as possible to the shore. They tried every means to restore Clara to +life, but it was all of no avail. Jurgen had been swimming for some +distance with a corpse in his arms, and had exhausted his strength for +one who was dead. +</P> + +<P> +Jurgen still breathed, so the fishermen carried him to the nearest +house upon the sand-hills, where a smith and general dealer lived +who knew something of surgery, and bound up Jurgen's wounds in a +temporary way until a surgeon could be obtained from the nearest +town the next day. The injured man's brain was affected, and in his +delirium he uttered wild cries; but on the third day he lay quiet +and weak upon his bed; his life seemed to hang by a thread, and the +physician said it would be better for him if this thread broke. "Let +us pray that God may take him," he said, "for he will never be the +same man again." +</P> + +<P> +But life did not depart from him—the thread would not break, +but the thread of memory was severed; the thread of his mind had +been cut through, and what was still more grievous, a body remained—a +living healthy body that wandered about like a troubled spirit. +</P> + +<P> +Jurgen remained in merchant Bronne's house. "He was hurt while +endeavouring to save our child," said the old man, "and now he is +our son." People called Jurgen insane, but that was not exactly the +correct term. He was like an instrument in which the strings are loose +and will give no sound; only occasionally they regained their power +for a few minutes, and then they sounded as they used to do. He +would sing snatches of songs or old melodies, pictures of the past +would rise before him, and then disappear in the mist, as it were, but +as a general rule he sat staring into vacancy, without a thought. We +may conjecture that he did not suffer, but his dark eyes lost their +brightness, and looked like clouded glass. +</P> + +<P> +"Poor mad Jurgen," said the people. And this was the end of a life +whose infancy was to have been surrounded with wealth and splendour +had his parents lived! All his great mental abilities had been lost, +nothing but hardship, sorrow, and disappointment had been his fate. He +was like a rare plant, torn from its native soil, and tossed upon +the beach to wither there. And was this one of God's creatures, +fashioned in His own likeness, to have no better fate? Was he to be +only the plaything of fortune? No! the all-loving Creator would +certainly repay him in the life to come for what he had suffered and +lost here. "The Lord is good to all; and His mercy is over all His +works." The pious old wife of the merchant repeated these words from +the Psalms of David in patience and hope, and the prayer of her +heart was that Jurgen might soon be called away to enter into +eternal life. +</P> + +<P> +In the churchyard where the walls were surrounded with sand +Clara lay buried. Jurgen did not seem to know this; it did not enter +his mind, which could only retain fragments of the past. Every +Sunday he went to church with the old people, and sat there +silently, staring vacantly before him. One day, when the Psalms were +being sung, he sighed deeply, and his eyes became bright; they were +fixed upon a place near the altar where he had knelt with his friend +who was dead. He murmured her name, and became deadly pale, and +tears rolled down his cheeks. They led him out of church; he told +those standing round him that he was well, and had never been ill; he, +who had been so grievously afflicted, the outcast, thrown upon the +world, could not remember his sufferings. The Lord our Creator is wise +and full of loving kindness—who can doubt it? +</P> + +<P> +In Spain, where balmy breezes blow over the Moorish cupolas and +gently stir the orange and myrtle groves, where singing and the +sound of the castanets are always heard, the richest merchant in the +place, a childless old man, sat in a luxurious house, while children +marched in procession through the streets with waving flags and +lighted tapers. If he had been able to press his children to his +heart, his daughter, or her child, that had, perhaps never seen the +light of day, far less the kingdom of heaven, how much of his wealth +would he not have given! "Poor child!" Yes, poor child—a child still, +yet more than thirty years old, for Jurgen had arrived at this age +in Old Skjagen. +</P> + +<P> +The shifting sands had covered the graves in the courtyard, +quite up to the church walls, but still, the dead must be buried among +their relatives and the dear ones who had gone before them. Merchant +Bronne and his wife now rested with their children under the white +sand. +</P> + +<P> +It was in the spring—the season of storms. The sand from the +dunes was whirled up in clouds; the sea was rough, and flocks of birds +flew like clouds in the storm, screaming across the sand-hills. +Shipwreck followed upon shipwreck on the reefs between Old Skagen +and the Hunsby dunes. +</P> + +<P> +One evening Jurgen sat in his room alone: all at once his mind +seemed to become clearer, and a restless feeling came over him, such +as had often, in his younger days, driven him out to wander over the +sand-hills or on the heath. "Home, home!" he cried. No one heard +him. He went out and walked towards the dunes. Sand and stones blew +into his face, and whirled round him; he went in the direction of +the church. The sand was banked up the walls, half covering the +windows, but it had been cleared away in front of the door, and the +entrance was free and easy to open, so Jurgen went into the church. +</P> + +<P> +The storm raged over the town of Skjagen; there had not been +such a terrible tempest within the memory of the inhabitants, nor such +a rough sea. But Jurgen was in the temple of God, and while the +darkness of night reigned outside, a light arose in his soul that +was never to depart from it; the heavy weight that pressed on his +brain burst asunder. He fancied he heard the organ, but it was only +the storm and the moaning of the sea. He sat down on one of the seats, +and lo! the candies were lighted one by one, and there was +brightness and grandeur such as he had only seen in the Spanish +cathedral. The portraits of the old citizens became alive, stepped +down from the walls against which they had hung for centuries, and +took seats near the church door. The gates flew open, and all the dead +people from the churchyard came in, and filled the church, while +beautiful music sounded. Then the melody of the psalm burst forth, +like the sound of the waters, and Jurgen saw that his foster parents +from the Hunsby dunes were there, also old merchant Bronne with his +wife and their daughter Clara, who gave him her hand. They both went +up to the altar where they had knelt before, and the priest joined +their hands and united them for life. Then music was heard again; it +was wonderfully sweet, like a child's voice, full of joy and +expectation, swelling to the powerful tones of a full organ, sometimes +soft and sweet, then like the sounds of a tempest, delightful and +elevating to hear, yet strong enough to burst the stone tombs of the +dead. Then the little ship that hung from the roof of the choir was +let down and looked wonderfully large and beautiful with its silken +sails and rigging: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "The ropes were of silk, the anchor of gold,<BR> + And everywhere riches and pomp untold,"<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +as the old song says. +</P> + +<P> +The young couple went on board, accompanied by the whole +congregation, for there was room and enjoyment for them all. Then +the walls and arches of the church were covered with flowering +junipers and lime trees breathing forth fragrance; the branches waved, +creating a pleasant coolness; they bent and parted, and the ship +sailed between them through the air and over the sea. Every candle +in the church became a star, and the wind sang a hymn in which they +all joined. "Through love to glory, no life is lost, the future is +full of blessings and happiness. Hallelujah!" These were the last +words Jurgen uttered in this world, for the thread that bound his +immortal soul was severed, and nothing but the dead body lay in the +dark church, while the storm raged outside, covering it with loose +sand. +</P> + +<P> +The next day was Sunday, and the congregation and their pastor +went to the church. The road had always been heavy, but now it was +almost unfit for use, and when they at last arrived at the church, a +great heap of sand lay piled up in front of them. The whole church was +completely buried in sand. The clergyman offered a short prayer, and +said that God had closed the door of His house here, and that the +congregation must go and build a new one for Him somewhere else. So +they sung a hymn in the open air, and went home again. +</P> + +<P> +Jurgen could not be found anywhere in the town of Skjagen, nor +on the dunes, though they searched for him everywhere. They came to +the conclusion that one of the great waves, which had rolled far up +on the beach, had carried him away; but his body lay buried in a +great sepulchre—the church itself. The Lord had thrown down a +covering for his grave during the storm, and the heavy mound of sand +lies upon it to this day. The drifting sand had covered the vaulted +roof of the church, the arched cloisters, and the stone aisles. The +white thorn and the dog rose now blossom above the place where the +church lies buried, but the spire, like an enormous monument over a +grave, can be seen for miles round. No king has a more splendid +memorial. Nothing disturbs the peaceful sleep of the dead. I was the +first to hear this story, for the storm sung it to me among the +sand-hills. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="saucy_bo"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE SAUCY BOY +</H3> + +<P> +Once upon a time there was an old poet, one of those right good +old poets. +</P> + +<P> +One evening, as he was sitting at home, there was a terrible storm +going on outside; the rain was pouring down, but the old poet sat +comfortably in his chimney-corner, where the fire was burning and +the apples were roasting. +</P> + +<P> +"There will not be a dry thread left on the poor people who are +out in this weather," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, open the door! I am so cold and wet through," called a little +child outside. It was crying and knocking at the door, whilst the rain +was pouring down and the wind was rattling all the windows. +</P> + +<P> +"Poor creature!" said the poet, and got up and opened the door. +Before him stood a little boy; he was naked, and the water flowed from +his long fair locks. He was shivering with cold; if he had not been +let in, he would certainly have perished in the storm. +</P> + +<P> +"Poor little thing!" said the poet, and took him by the hand. +"Come to me; I will soon warm you. You shall have some wine and an +apple, for you are such a pretty boy." +</P> + +<P> +And he was, too. His eyes sparkled like two bright stars, and +although the water flowed down from his fair locks, they still +curled quite beautifully. +</P> + +<P> +He looked like a little angel, but was pale with cold, and +trembling all over. In his hand he held a splendid bow, but it had +been entirely spoilt by the rain, and the colours of the pretty arrows +had run into one another by getting wet. +</P> + +<P> +The old man sat down by the fire, and taking the little boy on his +knee, wrung the water out of his locks and warmed his hands in his +own. +</P> + +<P> +He then made him some hot spiced wine, which quickly revived +him; so that with reddening cheeks, he sprang upon the floor and +danced around the old man. +</P> + +<P> +"You are a merry boy," said the latter. "What is your name?" +</P> + +<P> +"My name is Cupid," he answered. "Don't you know me? There lies my +bow. I shoot with that, you know. Look, the weather is getting fine +again—the moon is shining." +</P> + +<P> +"But your bow is spoilt," said the old poet. +</P> + +<P> +"That would be unfortunate," said the little boy, taking it up and +looking at it. "Oh, it's quite dry and isn't damaged at all. The +string is quite tight; I'll try it." So, drawing it back, he took an +arrow, aimed, and shot the good old poet right in the heart. "Do you +see now that my bow was not spoilt?" he said, and, loudly laughing, +ran away. What a naughty boy to shoot the old poet like that, who +had taken him into his warm room, had been so good to him, and had +given him the nicest wine and the best apple! +</P> + +<P> +The good old man lay upon the floor crying; he was really shot +in the heart. "Oh!" he cried, "what a naughty boy this Cupid is! I +shall tell all the good children about this, so that they take care +never to play with him, lest he hurt them." +</P> + +<P> +And all good children, both girls and boys, whom he told about +this, were on their guard against wicked Cupid; but he deceives them +all the same, for he is very deep. When the students come out of +class, he walks beside them with a book under his arm, and wearing a +black coat. They cannot recognize him. And then, if they take him by +the arm, believing him to be a student too, he sticks an arrow into +their chest. And when the girls go to church to be confirmed, he is +amongst them too. In fact, he is always after people. He sits in the +large chandelier in the theatre and blazes away, so that people +think it is a lamp; but they soon find out their mistake. He walks +about in the castle garden and on the promenades. Yes, once he shot +your father and your mother in the heart too. Just ask them, and you +will hear what they say. Oh! he is a bad boy, this Cupid, and you must +never have anything to do with him, for he is after every one. Just +think, he even shot an arrow at old grandmother; but that was a long +time ago. The wound has long been healed, but such things are never +forgotten. +</P> + +<P> +Now you know what a bad boy this wicked Cupid is. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="shadow"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE SHADOW +</H3> + +<P> +In very hot climates, where the heat of the sun has great power, +people are usually as brown as mahogany; and in the hottest +countries they are negroes, with black skins. A learned man once +travelled into one of these warm climates, from the cold regions of +the north, and thought he would roam about as he did at home; but he +soon had to change his opinion. He found that, like all sensible +people, he must remain in the house during the whole day, with every +window and door closed, so that it looked as if all in the house +were asleep or absent. The houses of the narrow street in which he +lived were so lofty that the sun shone upon them from morning till +evening, and it became quite unbearable. This learned man from the +cold regions was young as well as clever; but it seemed to him as if +he were sitting in an oven, and he became quite exhausted and weak, +and grew so thin that his shadow shrivelled up, and became much +smaller than it had been at home. The sun took away even what was left +of it, and he saw nothing of it till the evening, after sunset. It was +really a pleasure, as soon as the lights were brought into the room, +to see the shadow stretch itself against the wall, even to the +ceiling, so tall was it; and it really wanted a good stretch to +recover its strength. The learned man would sometimes go out into +the balcony to stretch himself also; and as soon as the stars came +forth in the clear, beautiful sky, he felt revived. People at this +hour began to make their appearance in all the balconies in the +street; for in warm climates every window has a balcony, in which they +can breathe the fresh evening air, which is very necessary, even to +those who are used to a heat that makes them as brown as mahogany; +so that the street presented a very lively appearance. Here were +shoemakers, and tailors, and all sorts of people sitting. In the +street beneath, they brought out tables and chairs, lighted candles by +hundreds, talked and sang, and were very merry. There were people +walking, carriages driving, and mules trotting along, with their bells +on the harness, "tingle, tingle," as they went. Then the dead were +carried to the grave with the sound of solemn music, and the tolling +of the church bells. It was indeed a scene of varied life in the +street. One house only, which was just opposite to the one in which +the foreign learned man lived, formed a contrast to all this, for it +was quite still; and yet somebody dwelt there, for flowers stood in +the balcony, blooming beautifully in the hot sun; and this could not +have been unless they had been watered carefully. Therefore some one +must be in the house to do this. The doors leading to the balcony were +half opened in the evening; and although in the front room all was +dark, music could be heard from the interior of the house. The foreign +learned man considered this music very delightful; but perhaps he +fancied it; for everything in these warm countries pleased him, +excepting the heat of the sun. The foreign landlord said he did not +know who had taken the opposite house—nobody was to be seen there; +and as to the music, he thought it seemed very tedious, to him most +uncommonly so. +</P> + +<P> +"It is just as if some one was practising a piece that he could +not manage; it is always the same piece. He thinks, I suppose, that he +will be able to manage it at last; but I do not think so, however long +he may play it." +</P> + +<P> +Once the foreigner woke in the night. He slept with the door +open which led to the balcony; the wind had raised the curtain +before it, and there appeared a wonderful brightness over all in the +balcony of the opposite house. The flowers seemed like flames of the +most gorgeous colors, and among the flowers stood a beautiful +slender maiden. It was to him as if light streamed from her, and +dazzled his eyes; but then he had only just opened them, as he awoke +from his sleep. With one spring he was out of bed, and crept softly +behind the curtain. But she was gone—the brightness had +disappeared; the flowers no longer appeared like flames, although +still as beautiful as ever. The door stood ajar, and from an inner +room sounded music so sweet and so lovely, that it produced the most +enchanting thoughts, and acted on the senses with magic power. Who +could live there? Where was the real entrance? for, both in the street +and in the lane at the side, the whole ground floor was a continuation +of shops; and people could not always be passing through them. +</P> + +<P> +One evening the foreigner sat in the balcony. A light was +burning in his own room, just behind him. It was quite natural, +therefore, that his shadow should fall on the wall of the opposite +house; so that, as he sat amongst the flowers on his balcony, when +he moved, his shadow moved also. +</P> + +<P> +"I think my shadow is the only living thing to be seen +opposite," said the learned man; "see how pleasantly it sits among the +flowers. The door is only ajar; the shadow ought to be clever enough +to step in and look about him, and then to come back and tell me +what he has seen. You could make yourself useful in this way," said +he, jokingly; "be so good as to step in now, will you?" and then he +nodded to the shadow, and the shadow nodded in return. "Now go, but +don't stay away altogether." +</P> + +<P> +Then the foreigner stood up, and the shadow on the opposite +balcony stood up also; the foreigner turned round, the shadow +turned; and if any one had observed, they might have seen it go +straight into the half-opened door of the opposite balcony, as the +learned man re-entered his own room, and let the curtain fall. The +next morning he went out to take his coffee and read the newspapers. +</P> + +<P> +"How is this?" he exclaimed, as he stood in the sunshine. "I +have lost my shadow. So it really did go away yesterday evening, and +it has not returned. This is very annoying." +</P> + +<P> +And it certainly did vex him, not so much because the shadow was +gone, but because he knew there was a story of a man without a shadow. +All the people at home, in his country, knew this story; and when he +returned, and related his own adventures, they would say it was only +an imitation; and he had no desire for such things to be said of +him. So he decided not to speak of it at all, which was a very +sensible determination. +</P> + +<P> +In the evening he went out again on his balcony, taking care to +place the light behind him; for he knew that a shadow always wants his +master for a screen; but he could not entice him out. He made +himself little, and he made himself tall; but there was no shadow, and +no shadow came. He said, "Hem, a-hem;" but it was all useless. That +was very vexatious; but in warm countries everything grows very +quickly; and, after a week had passed, he saw, to his great joy, +that a new shadow was growing from his feet, when he walked in the +sunshine; so that the root must have remained. After three weeks, he +had quite a respectable shadow, which, during his return journey to +northern lands, continued to grow, and became at last so large that he +might very well have spared half of it. When this learned man +arrived at home, he wrote books about the true, the good, and the +beautiful, which are to be found in this world; and so days and +years passed—many, many years. +</P> + +<P> +One evening, as he sat in his study, a very gentle tap was heard +at the door. "Come in," said he; but no one came. He opened the +door, and there stood before him a man so remarkably thin that he felt +seriously troubled at his appearance. He was, however, very well +dressed, and looked like a gentleman. "To whom have I the honor of +speaking?" said he. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, I hoped you would recognize me," said the elegant stranger; +"I have gained so much that I have a body of flesh, and clothes to +wear. You never expected to see me in such a condition. Do you not +recognize your old shadow? Ah, you never expected that I should return +to you again. All has been prosperous with me since I was with you +last; I have become rich in every way, and, were I inclined to +purchase my freedom from service, I could easily do so." And as he +spoke he rattled between his fingers a number of costly trinkets which +hung to a thick gold watch-chain he wore round his neck. Diamond rings +sparkled on his fingers, and it was all real. +</P> + +<P> +"I cannot recover from my astonishment," said the learned man. +"What does all this mean?" +</P> + +<P> +"Something rather unusual," said the shadow; "but you are yourself +an uncommon man, and you know very well that I have followed in your +footsteps ever since your childhood. As soon as you found that I +have travelled enough to be trusted alone, I went my own way, and I am +now in the most brilliant circumstances. But I felt a kind of +longing to see you once more before you die, and I wanted to see +this place again, for there is always a clinging to the land of +one's birth. I know that you have now another shadow; do I owe you +anything? If so, have the goodness to say what it is." +</P> + +<P> +"No! Is it really you?" said the learned man. "Well, this is +most remarkable; I never supposed it possible that a man's old +shadow could become a human being." +</P> + +<P> +"Just tell me what I owe you," said the shadow, "for I do not like +to be in debt to any man." +</P> + +<P> +"How can you talk in that manner?" said the learned man. "What +question of debt can there be between us? You are as free as any +one. I rejoice exceedingly to hear of your good fortune. Sit down, old +friend, and tell me a little of how it happened, and what you saw in +the house opposite to me while we were in those hot climates." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I will tell you all about it," said the shadow, sitting +down; "but then you must promise me never to tell in this city, +wherever you may meet me, that I have been your shadow. I am +thinking of being married, for I have more than sufficient to +support a family." +</P> + +<P> +"Make yourself quite easy," said the learned man; "I will tell +no one who you really are. Here is my hand,—I promise, and a word +is sufficient between man and man." +</P> + +<P> +"Between man and a shadow," said the shadow; for he could not help +saying so. +</P> + +<P> +It was really most remarkable how very much he had become a man in +appearance. He was dressed in a suit of the very finest black cloth, +polished boots, and an opera crush hat, which could be folded together +so that nothing could be seen but the crown and the rim, besides the +trinkets, the gold chain, and the diamond rings already spoken of. The +shadow was, in fact, very well dressed, and this made a man of him. +"Now I will relate to you what you wish to know," said the shadow, +placing his foot with the polished leather boot as firmly as +possible on the arm of the new shadow of the learned man, which lay at +his feet like a poodle dog. This was done, it might be from pride, +or perhaps that the new shadow might cling to him, but the prostrate +shadow remained quite quiet and at rest, in order that it might +listen, for it wanted to know how a shadow could be sent away by its +master, and become a man itself. "Do you know," said the shadow, "that +in the house opposite to you lived the most glorious creature in the +world? It was poetry. I remained there three weeks, and it was more +like three thousand years, for I read all that has ever been written +in poetry or prose; and I may say, in truth, that I saw and learnt +everything." +</P> + +<P> +"Poetry!" exclaimed the learned man. "Yes, she lives as a hermit +in great cities. Poetry! Well, I saw her once for a very short moment, +while sleep weighed down my eyelids. She flashed upon me from the +balcony like the radiant aurora borealis, surrounded with flowers like +flames of fire. Tell me, you were on the balcony that evening; you +went through the door, and what did you see?" +</P> + +<P> +"I found myself in an ante-room," said the shadow. "You still +sat opposite to me, looking into the room. There was no light, or at +least it seemed in partial darkness, for the door of a whole suite +of rooms stood open, and they were brilliantly lighted. The blaze of +light would have killed me, had I approached too near the maiden +myself, but I was cautious, and took time, which is what every one +ought to do." +</P> + +<P> +"And what didst thou see?" asked the learned man. +</P> + +<P> +"I saw everything, as you shall hear. But—it really is not +pride on my part, as a free man and possessing the knowledge that I +do, besides my position, not to speak of my wealth—I wish you would +say you to me instead of thou." +</P> + +<P> +"I beg your pardon," said the learned man; "it is an old habit, +which it is difficult to break. You are quite right; I will try to +think of it. But now tell me everything that you saw." +</P> + +<P> +"Everything," said the shadow; "for I saw and know everything." +</P> + +<P> +"What was the appearance of the inner rooms?" asked the scholar. +"Was it there like a cool grove, or like a holy temple? Were the +chambers like a starry sky seen from the top of a high mountain?" +</P> + +<P> +"It was all that you describe," said the shadow; "but I did not go +quite in—I remained in the twilight of the ante-room—but I was in +a very good position,—I could see and hear all that was going on in +the court of poetry." +</P> + +<P> +"But what did you see? Did the gods of ancient times pass +through the rooms? Did old heroes fight their battles over again? Were +there lovely children at play, who related their dreams?" +</P> + +<P> +"I tell you I have been there, and therefore you may be sure +that I saw everything that was to be seen. If you had gone there, +you would not have remained a human being, whereas I became one; and +at the same moment I became aware of my inner being, my inborn +affinity to the nature of poetry. It is true I did not think much +about it while I was with you, but you will remember that I was always +much larger at sunrise and sunset, and in the moonlight even more +visible than yourself, but I did not then understand my inner +existence. In the ante-room it was revealed to me. I became a man; I +came out in full maturity. But you had left the warm countries. As a +man, I felt ashamed to go about without boots or clothes, and that +exterior finish by which man is known. So I went my own way; I can +tell you, for you will not put it in a book. I hid myself under the +cloak of a cake woman, but she little thought who she concealed. It +was not till evening that I ventured out. I ran about the streets in +the moonlight. I drew myself up to my full height upon the walls, +which tickled my back very pleasantly. I ran here and there, looked +through the highest windows into the rooms, and over the roofs. I +looked in, and saw what nobody else could see, or indeed ought to see; +in fact, it is a bad world, and I would not care to be a man, but that +men are of some importance. I saw the most miserable things going on +between husbands and wives, parents and children,—sweet, incomparable +children. I have seen what no human being has the power of knowing, +although they would all be very glad to know—the evil conduct of +their neighbors. Had I written a newspaper, how eagerly it would +have been read! Instead of which, I wrote directly to the persons +themselves, and great alarm arose in all the town I visited. They +had so much fear of me, and yet how dearly they loved me. The +professor made me a professor. The tailor gave me new clothes; I am +well provided for in that way. The overseer of the mint struck coins +for me. The women declared that I was handsome, and so I became the +man you now see me. And now I must say adieu. Here is my card. I +live on the sunny side of the street, and always stay at home in rainy +weather." And the shadow departed. +</P> + +<P> +"This is all very remarkable," said the learned man. +</P> + +<P> +Years passed, days and years went by, and the shadow came again. +"How are you going on now?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" said the learned man; "I am writing about the true, the +beautiful, and the good; but no one cares to hear anything about it. I +am quite in despair, for I take it to heart very much." +</P> + +<P> +"That is what I never do," said the shadow; "I am growing quite +fat and stout, which every one ought to be. You do not understand +the world; you will make yourself ill about it; you ought to travel; I +am going on a journey in the summer, will you go with me? I should +like a travelling companion; will you travel with me as my shadow? +It would give me great pleasure, and I will pay all expenses." +</P> + +<P> +"Are you going to travel far?" asked the learned man. +</P> + +<P> +"That is a matter of opinion," replied the shadow. "At all events, +a journey will do you good, and if you will be my shadow, then all +your journey shall be paid." +</P> + +<P> +"It appears to me very absurd," said the learned man. +</P> + +<P> +"But it is the way of the world," replied the shadow, "and +always will be." Then he went away. +</P> + +<P> +Everything went wrong with the learned man. Sorrow and trouble +pursued him, and what he said about the good, the beautiful, and the +true, was of as much value to most people as a nutmeg would be to a +cow. At length he fell ill. "You really look like a shadow," people +said to him, and then a cold shudder would pass over him, for he had +his own thoughts on the subject. +</P> + +<P> +"You really ought to go to some watering-place," said the shadow +on his next visit. "There is no other chance for you. I will take +you with me, for the sake of old acquaintance. I will pay the expenses +of your journey, and you shall write a description of it to amuse us +by the way. I should like to go to a watering-place; my beard does not +grow as it ought, which is from weakness, and I must have a beard. Now +do be sensible and accept my proposal; we shall travel as intimate +friends." +</P> + +<P> +And at last they started together. The shadow was master now, +and the master became the shadow. They drove together, and rode and +walked in company with each other, side by side, or one in front and +the other behind, according to the position of the sun. The shadow +always knew when to take the place of honor, but the learned man +took no notice of it, for he had a good heart, and was exceedingly +mild and friendly. +</P> + +<P> +One day the master said to the shadow, "We have grown up +together from our childhood, and now that we have become travelling +companions, shall we not drink to our good fellowship, and say thee +and thou to each other?" +</P> + +<P> +"What you say is very straightforward and kindly meant," said +the shadow, who was now really master. "I will be equally kind and +straightforward. You are a learned man, and know how wonderful human +nature is. There are some men who cannot endure the smell of brown +paper; it makes them ill. Others will feel a shuddering sensation to +their very marrow, if a nail is scratched on a pane of glass. I myself +have a similar kind of feeling when I hear any one say thou to me. I +feel crushed by it, as I used to feel in my former position with +you. You will perceive that this is a matter of feeling, not pride. +I cannot allow you to say thou to me; I will gladly say it to you, and +therefore your wish will be half fulfilled." Then the shadow addressed +his former master as thou. +</P> + +<P> +"It is going rather too far," said the latter, "that I am to say +you when I speak to him, and he is to say thou to me." However, he was +obliged to submit. +</P> + +<P> +They arrived at length at the baths, where there were many +strangers, and among them a beautiful princess, whose real disease +consisted in being too sharp-sighted, which made every one very +uneasy. She saw at once that the new comer was very different to every +one else. "They say he is here to make his beard grow," she thought; +"but I know the real cause, he is unable to cast a shadow." Then she +became very curious on the matter, and one day, while on the +promenade, she entered into conversation with the strange gentleman. +Being a princess, she was not obliged to stand upon much ceremony, +so she said to him without hesitation, "Your illness consists in not +being able to cast a shadow." +</P> + +<P> +"Your royal highness must be on the high road to recovery from +your illness," said he. "I know your complaint arose from being too +sharp-sighted, and in this case it has entirely failed. I happen to +have a most unusual shadow. Have you not seen a person who is always +at my side? Persons often give their servants finer cloth for their +liveries than for their own clothes, and so I have dressed out my +shadow like a man; nay, you may observe that I have even given him a +shadow of his own; it is rather expensive, but I like to have things +about me that are peculiar." +</P> + +<P> +"How is this?" thought the princess; "am I really cured? This must +be the best watering-place in existence. Water in our times has +certainly wonderful power. But I will not leave this place yet, just +as it begins to be amusing. This foreign prince—for he must be a +prince—pleases me above all things. I only hope his beard won't grow, +or he will leave at once." +</P> + +<P> +In the evening, the princess and the shadow danced together in the +large assembly rooms. She was light, but he was lighter still; she had +never seen such a dancer before. She told him from what country she +had come, and found he knew it and had been there, but not while she +was at home. He had looked into the windows of her father's palace, +both the upper and the lower windows; he had seen many things, and +could therefore answer the princess, and make allusions which quite +astonished her. She thought he must be the cleverest man in all the +world, and felt the greatest respect for his knowledge. When she +danced with him again she fell in love with him, which the shadow +quickly discovered, for she had with her eyes looked him through and +through. They danced once more, and she was nearly telling him, but +she had some discretion; she thought of her country, her kingdom, +and the number of people over whom she would one day have to rule. "He +is a clever man," she thought to herself, "which is a good thing, +and he dances admirably, which is also good. But has he +well-grounded knowledge? that is an important question, and I must try +him." Then she asked him a most difficult question, she herself +could not have answered it, and the shadow made a most unaccountable +grimace. +</P> + +<P> +"You cannot answer that," said the princess. +</P> + +<P> +"I learnt something about it in my childhood," he replied; "and +believe that even my very shadow, standing over there by the door, +could answer it." +</P> + +<P> +"Your shadow," said the princess; "indeed that would be very +remarkable." +</P> + +<P> +"I do not say so positively," observed the shadow; "but I am +inclined to believe that he can do so. He has followed me for so +many years, and has heard so much from me, that I think it is very +likely. But your royal highness must allow me to observe, that he is +very proud of being considered a man, and to put him in a good +humor, so that he may answer correctly, he must be treated as a man." +</P> + +<P> +"I shall be very pleased to do so," said the princess. So she +walked up to the learned man, who stood in the doorway, and spoke to +him of the sun, and the moon, of the green forests, and of people near +home and far off; and the learned man conversed with her pleasantly +and sensibly. +</P> + +<P> +"What a wonderful man he must be, to have such a clever shadow!" +thought she. "If I were to choose him it would be a real blessing to +my country and my subjects, and I will do it." So the princess and the +shadow were soon engaged to each other, but no one was to be told a +word about it, till she returned to her kingdom. +</P> + +<P> +"No one shall know," said the shadow; "not even my own shadow;" +and he had very particular reasons for saying so. +</P> + +<P> +After a time, the princess returned to the land over which she +reigned, and the shadow accompanied her. +</P> + +<P> +"Listen my friend," said the shadow to the learned man; "now +that I am as fortunate and as powerful as any man can be, I will do +something unusually good for you. You shall live in my palace, drive +with me in the royal carriage, and have a hundred thousand dollars a +year; but you must allow every one to call you a shadow, and never +venture to say that you have been a man. And once a year, when I sit +in my balcony in the sunshine, you must lie at my feet as becomes a +shadow to do; for I must tell you I am going to marry the princess, +and our wedding will take place this evening." +</P> + +<P> +"Now, really, this is too ridiculous," said the learned man. "I +cannot, and will not, submit to such folly. It would be cheating the +whole country, and the princess also. I will disclose everything, +and say that I am the man, and that you are only a shadow dressed up +in men's clothes." +</P> + +<P> +"No one would believe you," said the shadow; "be reasonable, +now, or I will call the guards." +</P> + +<P> +"I will go straight to the princess," said the learned man. +</P> + +<P> +"But I shall be there first," replied the shadow, "and you will be +sent to prison." And so it turned out, for the guards readily obeyed +him, as they knew he was going to marry the king's daughter. +</P> + +<P> +"You tremble," said the princess, when the shadow appeared +before her. "Has anything happened? You must not be ill to-day, for +this evening our wedding will take place." +</P> + +<P> +"I have gone through the most terrible affair that could +possibly happen," said the shadow; "only imagine, my shadow has gone +mad; I suppose such a poor, shallow brain, could not bear much; he +fancies that he has become a real man, and that I am his shadow." +</P> + +<P> +"How very terrible," cried the princess; "is he locked up?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh yes, certainly; for I fear he will never recover." +</P> + +<P> +"Poor shadow!" said the princess; "it is very unfortunate for him; +it would really be a good deed to free him from his frail existence; +and, indeed, when I think how often people take the part of the +lower class against the higher, in these days, it would be policy to +put him out of the way quietly." +</P> + +<P> +"It is certainly rather hard upon him, for he was a faithful +servant," said the shadow; and he pretended to sigh. +</P> + +<P> +"Yours is a noble character," said the princess, and bowed herself +before him. +</P> + +<P> +In the evening the whole town was illuminated, and cannons fired +"boom," and the soldiers presented arms. It was indeed a grand +wedding. The princess and the shadow stepped out on the balcony to +show themselves, and to receive one cheer more. But the learned man +heard nothing of all these festivities, for he had already been +executed. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="shepherd"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE SHEPHERDESS AND THE SHEEP +</H3> + +<P> +Have you ever seen an old wooden cupboard quite black with age, +and ornamented with carved foliage and curious figures? Well, just +such a cupboard stood in a parlor, and had been left to the family +as a legacy by the great-grandmother. It was covered from top to +bottom with carved roses and tulips; the most curious scrolls were +drawn upon it, and out of them peeped little stags' heads, with +antlers. In the middle of the cupboard door was the carved figure of a +man most ridiculous to look at. He grinned at you, for no one could +call it laughing. He had goat's legs, little horns on his head, and +a long beard; the children in the room always called him, "Major +general-field-sergeant-commander Billy-goat's-legs." It was +certainly a very difficult name to pronounce, and there are very few +who ever receive such a title, but then it seemed wonderful how he +came to be carved at all; yet there he was, always looking at the +table under the looking-glass, where stood a very pretty little +shepherdess made of china. Her shoes were gilt, and her dress had a +red rose or an ornament. She wore a hat, and carried a crook, that +were both gilded, and looked very bright and pretty. Close by her side +stood a little chimney-sweep, as black as coal, and also made of +china. He was, however, quite as clean and neat as any other china +figure; he only represented a black chimney-sweep, and the china +workers might just as well have made him a prince, had they felt +inclined to do so. He stood holding his ladder quite handily, and +his face was as fair and rosy as a girl's; indeed, that was rather a +mistake, it should have had some black marks on it. He and the +shepherdess had been placed close together, side by side; and, being +so placed, they became engaged to each other, for they were very +well suited, being both made of the same sort of china, and being +equally fragile. Close to them stood another figure, three times as +large as they were, and also made of china. He was an old Chinaman, +who could nod his head, and used to pretend that he was the +grandfather of the shepherdess, although he could not prove it. He +however assumed authority over her, and therefore when +"Major-general-field-sergeant-commander Billy-goat's-legs" asked for +the little shepherdess to be his wife, he nodded his head to show that +he consented. "You will have a husband," said the old Chinaman to her, +"who I really believe is made of mahogany. He will make you a lady +of Major-general-field-sergeant-commander Billy-goat's-legs. He has +the whole cupboard full of silver plate, which he keeps locked up in +secret drawers." +</P> + +<P> +"I won't go into the dark cupboard," said the little +shepherdess. "I have heard that he has eleven china wives there +already." +</P> + +<P> +"Then you shall be the twelfth," said the old Chinaman. +"To-night as soon as you hear a rattling in the old cupboard, you +shall be married, as true as I am a Chinaman;" and then he nodded +his head and fell asleep. +</P> + +<P> +Then the little shepherdess cried, and looked at her sweetheart, +the china chimney-sweep. "I must entreat you," said she, "to go out +with me into the wide world, for we cannot stay here." +</P> + +<P> +"I will do whatever you wish," said the little chimney-sweep; "let +us go immediately: I think I shall be able to maintain you with my +profession." +</P> + +<P> +"If we were but safely down from the table!" said she; "I shall +not be happy till we are really out in the world." +</P> + +<P> +Then he comforted her, and showed her how to place her little foot +on the carved edge and gilt-leaf ornaments of the table. He brought +his little ladder to help her, and so they contrived to reach the +floor. But when they looked at the old cupboard, they saw it was all +in an uproar. The carved stags pushed out their heads, raised their +antlers, and twisted their necks. The major-general sprung up in the +air; and cried out to the old Chinaman, "They are running away! they +are running away!" The two were rather frightened at this, so they +jumped into the drawer of the window-seat. Here were three or four +packs of cards not quite complete, and a doll's theatre, which had +been built up very neatly. A comedy was being performed in it, and all +the queens of diamonds, clubs, and hearts, and spades, sat in the +first row fanning themselves with tulips, and behind them stood all +the knaves, showing that they had heads above and below as playing +cards generally have. The play was about two lovers, who were not +allowed to marry, and the shepherdess wept because it was so like +her own story. "I cannot bear it," said she, "I must get out of the +drawer;" but when they reached the floor, and cast their eyes on the +table, there was the old Chinaman awake and shaking his whole body, +till all at once down he came on the floor, "plump." "The old Chinaman +is coming," cried the little shepherdess in a fright, and down she +fell on one knee. +</P> + +<P> +"I have thought of something," said the chimney-sweep; "let us get +into the great pot-pourri jar which stands in the corner; there we can +lie on rose-leaves and lavender, and throw salt in his eyes if he +comes near us." +</P> + +<P> +"No, that will never do," said she, "because I know that the +Chinaman and the pot-pourri jar were lovers once, and there always +remains behind a feeling of good-will between those who have been so +intimate as that. No, there is nothing left for us but to go out +into the wide world." +</P> + +<P> +"Have you really courage enough to go out into the wide world with +me?" said the chimney-sweep; "have you thought how large it is, and +that we can never come back here again?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I have," she replied. +</P> + +<P> +When the chimney-sweep saw that she was quite firm, he said, "My +way is through the stove and up the chimney. Have you courage to creep +with me through the fire-box, and the iron pipe? When we get to the +chimney I shall know how to manage very well. We shall soon climb +too high for any one to reach us, and we shall come through a hole +in the top out into the wide world." So he led her to the door of +the stove. +</P> + +<P> +"It looks very dark," said she; still she went in with him through +the stove and through the pipe, where it was as dark as pitch. +</P> + +<P> +"Now we are in the chimney," said he; "and look, there is a +beautiful star shining above it." It was a real star shining down upon +them as if it would show them the way. So they clambered, and crept +on, and a frightful steep place it was; but the chimney-sweep helped +her and supported her, till they got higher and higher. He showed +her the best places on which to set her little china foot, so at +last they reached the top of the chimney, and sat themselves down, for +they were very tired, as may be supposed. The sky, with all its stars, +was over their heads, and below were the roofs of the town. They could +see for a very long distance out into the wide world, and the poor +little shepherdess leaned her head on her chimney-sweep's shoulder, +and wept till she washed the gilt off her sash; the world was so +different to what she expected. "This is too much," she said; "I +cannot bear it, the world is too large. Oh, I wish I were safe back on +the table again, under the looking glass; I shall never be happy till +I am safe back again. Now I have followed you out into the wide world, +you will take me back, if you love me." +</P> + +<P> +Then the chimney-sweep tried to reason with her, and spoke of +the old Chinaman, and of the Major-general-field-sergeant-commander +Billy-goat's legs; but she sobbed so bitterly, and kissed her little +chimney-sweep till he was obliged to do all she asked, foolish as it +was. And so, with a great deal of trouble, they climbed down the +chimney, and then crept through the pipe and stove, which were +certainly not very pleasant places. Then they stood in the dark +fire-box, and listened behind the door, to hear what was going on in +the room. As it was all quiet, they peeped out. Alas! there lay the +old Chinaman on the floor; he had fallen down from the table as he +attempted to run after them, and was broken into three pieces; his +back had separated entirely, and his head had rolled into a corner +of the room. The major-general stood in his old place, and appeared +lost in thought. +</P> + +<P> +"This is terrible," said the little shepherdess. "My poor old +grandfather is broken to pieces, and it is our fault. I shall never +live after this;" and she wrung her little hands. +</P> + +<P> +"He can be riveted," said the chimney-sweep; "he can be riveted. +Do not be so hasty. If they cement his back, and put a good rivet in +it, he will be as good as new, and be able to say as many disagreeable +things to us as ever." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you think so?" said she; and then they climbed up to the +table, and stood in their old places. +</P> + +<P> +"As we have done no good," said the chimney-sweep, "we might as +well have remained here, instead of taking so much trouble." +</P> + +<P> +"I wish grandfather was riveted," said the shepherdess. "Will it +cost much, I wonder?" +</P> + +<P> +And she had her wish. The family had the Chinaman's back mended, +and a strong rivet put through his neck; he looked as good as new, but +he could no longer nod his head. +</P> + +<P> +"You have become proud since your fall broke you to pieces," +said Major-general-field-sergeant-commander Billy-goat's-legs. "You +have no reason to give yourself such airs. Am I to have her or not?" +</P> + +<P> +The chimney-sweep and the little shepherdess looked piteously at +the old Chinaman, for they were afraid he might nod; but he was not +able: besides, it was so tiresome to be always telling strangers he +had a rivet in the back of his neck. +</P> + +<P> +And so the little china people remained together, and were glad of +the grandfather's rivet, and continued to love each other till they +were broken to pieces. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="shilling"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE SILVER SHILLING +</H3> + +<P> +There was once a shilling, which came forth from the mint +springing and shouting, "Hurrah! now I am going out into the wide +world." And truly it did go out into the wide world. The children held +it with warm hands, the miser with a cold and convulsive grasp, and +the old people turned it about, goodness knows how many times, while +the young people soon allowed it to roll away from them. The +shilling was made of silver, it contained very little copper, and +considered itself quite out in the world when it had been circulated +for a year in the country in which it had been coined. One day, it +really did go out into the world, for it belonged to a gentleman who +was about to travel in foreign lands. This gentleman was not aware +that the shilling lay at the bottom of his purse when he started, till +he one day found it between his fingers. "Why," cried he, "here is a +shilling from home; well, it must go on its travels with me now!" +and the shilling jumped and rattled for joy, when it was put back +again into the purse. +</P> + +<P> +Here it lay among a number of foreign companions, who were +always coming and going, one taking the place of another, but the +shilling from home was always put back, and had to remain in the +purse, which was certainly a mark of distinction. Many weeks passed, +during which the shilling had travelled a long distance in the +purse, without in the least knowing where he was. He had found out +that the other coins were French and Italian; and one coin said they +were in this town, and another said they were in that, but the +shilling was unable to make out or imagine what they meant. A man +certainly cannot see much of the world if he is tied up in a bag, +and this was really the shilling's fate. But one day, as he was +lying in the purse, he noticed that it was not quite closed, and so he +slipped near to the opening to have a little peep into society. He +certainly had not the least idea of what would follow, but he was +curious, and curiosity often brings its own punishment. In his +eagerness, he came so near the edge of the purse that he slipped out +into the pocket of the trousers; and when, in the evening, the purse +was taken out, the shilling was left behind in the corner to which +it had fallen. As the clothes were being carried into the hall, the +shilling fell out on the floor, unheard and unnoticed by any one. +The next morning the clothes were taken back to the room, the +gentleman put them on, and started on his journey again; but the +shilling remained behind on the floor. After a time it was found, +and being considered a good coin, was placed with three other coins. +"Ah," thought the shilling, "this is pleasant; I shall now see the +world, become acquainted with other people, and learn other customs." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you call that a shilling?" said some one the next moment. +"That is not a genuine coin of the country,—it is false; it is good +for nothing." +</P> + +<P> +Now begins the story as it was afterwards related by the +shilling himself. +</P> + +<P> +"'False! good for nothing!' said he. That remark went through +and through me like a dagger. I knew that I had a true ring, and +that mine was a genuine stamp. These people must at all events be +wrong, or they could not mean me. But yes, I was the one they called +'false, and good for nothing.' +</P> + +<P> +"'Then I must pay it away in the dark,' said the man who had +received me. So I was to be got rid of in the darkness, and be again +insulted in broad daylight. +</P> + +<P> +"'False! good for nothing!' Oh, I must contrive to get lost, +thought I. And I trembled between the fingers of the people every time +they tried to pass me off slyly as a coin of the country. Ah! +unhappy shilling that I was! Of what use were my silver, my stamp, and +my real value here, where all these qualities were worthless. In the +eyes of the world, a man is valued just according to the opinion +formed of him. It must be a shocking thing to have a guilty +conscience, and to be sneaking about on account of wicked deeds. As +for me, innocent as I was, I could not help shuddering before their +eyes whenever they brought me out, for I knew I should be thrown +back again up the table as a false pretender. At length I was paid +away to a poor old woman, who received me as wages for a hard day's +work. But she could not again get rid of me; no one would take me. I +was to the woman a most unlucky shilling. 'I am positively obliged +to pass this shilling to somebody,' said she; 'I cannot, with the best +intentions, lay by a bad shilling. The rich baker shall have it,—he +can bear the loss better than I can. But, after all, it is not a right +thing to do.' +</P> + +<P> +"'Ah!' sighed I to myself, 'am I also to be a burden on the +conscience of this poor woman? Am I then in my old days so +completely changed?' The woman offered me to the rich baker, but he +knew the current money too well, and as soon as he received me he +threw me almost in the woman's face. She could get no bread for me, +and I felt quite grieved to the heart that I should be cause of so +much trouble to another, and be treated as a cast-off coin. I who, +in my young days, felt so joyful in the certainty of my own value, and +knew so well that I bore a genuine stamp. I was as sorrowful now as +a poor shilling can be when nobody will have him. The woman took me +home again with her, and looking at me very earnestly, she said, +'No, I will not try to deceive any one with thee again. I will bore +a hole through thee, that everyone may know that thou art a false +and worthless thing; and yet, why should I do that? Very likely thou +art a lucky shilling. A thought has just struck me that it is so, +and I believe it. Yes, I will make a hole in the shilling,' said +she, 'and run a string through it, and then give it to my neighbor's +little one to hang round her neck, as a lucky shilling.' So she +drilled a hole through me. +</P> + +<P> +"It is really not at all pleasant to have a hole bored through +one, but we can submit to a great deal when it is done with a good +intention. A string was drawn through the hole, and I became a kind of +medal. They hung me round the neck of a little child, and the child +laughed at me and kissed me, and I rested for one whole night on the +warm, innocent breast of a child. +</P> + +<P> +"In the morning the child's mother took me between her fingers, +and had certain thoughts about me, which I very soon found out. First, +she looked for a pair of scissors, and cut the string. +</P> + +<P> +"'Lucky shilling!' said she, 'certainly this is what I mean to +try.' Then she laid me in vinegar till I became quite green, and after +that she filled up the hole with cement, rubbed me a little to +brighten me up, and went out in the twilight hour to the lottery +collector, to buy herself a ticket, with a shilling that should +bring luck. How everything seemed to cause me trouble. The lottery +collector pressed me so hard that I thought I should crack. I had been +called false, I had been thrown away,—that I knew; and there were +many shillings and coins with inscriptions and stamps of all kinds +lying about. I well knew how proud they were, so I avoided them from +very shame. With the collector were several men who seemed to have a +great deal to do, so I fell unnoticed into a chest, among several +other coins. +</P> + +<P> +"Whether the lottery ticket gained a prize, I know not; but this I +know, that in a very few days after, I was recognized as a bad +shilling, and laid aside. Everything that happened seemed always to +add to my sorrow. Even if a man has a good character, it is of no +use for him to deny what is said of him, for he is not considered an +impartial judge of himself. +</P> + +<P> +"A year passed, and in this way I had been changed from hand to +hand; always abused, always looked at with displeasure, and trusted by +no one; but I trusted in myself, and had no confidence in the world. +Yes, that was a very dark time. +</P> + +<P> +"At length one day I was passed to a traveller, a foreigner, the +very same who had brought me away from home; and he was simple and +true-hearted enough to take me for current coin. But would he also +attempt to pass me? and should I again hear the outcry, 'False! +good-for-nothing!' The traveller examined me attentively, 'I took thee +for good coin,' said he; then suddenly a smile spread all over his +face. I have never seen such a smile on any other face as on his. 'Now +this is singular,' said he, 'it is a coin from my own country; a good, +true, shilling from home. Some one has bored a hole through it, and +people have no doubt called it false. How curious that it should +come into my hands. I will take it home with me to my own house.' +</P> + +<P> +"Joy thrilled through me when I heard this. I had been once more +called a good, honest shilling, and I was to go back to my own home, +where each and all would recognize me, and know that I was made of +good silver, and bore a true, genuine stamp. I should have been glad +in my joy to throw out sparks of fire, but it has never at any time +been my nature to sparkle. Steel can do so, but not silver. I was +wrapped up in fine, white paper, that I might not mix with the other +coins and be lost; and on special occasions, when people from my own +country happened to be present, I was brought forward and spoken of +very kindly. They said I was very interesting, and it was really quite +worth while to notice that those who are interesting have often not +a single word to say for themselves. +</P> + +<P> +"At length I reached home. All my cares were at an end. Joy +again overwhelmed me; for was I not good silver, and had I not a +genuine stamp? I had no more insults or disappointments to endure; +although, indeed, there was a hole through me, as if I were false; but +suspicions are nothing when a man is really true, and every one should +persevere in acting honestly, for an will be made right in time. +That is my firm belief," said the shilling. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="shirtcol"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE SHIRT-COLLAR +</H3> + +<P> +There was once a fine gentleman who possessed among other things a +boot-jack and a hair-brush; but he had also the finest shirt-collar in +the world, and of this collar we are about to hear a story. The collar +had become so old that he began to think about getting married; and +one day he happened to find himself in the same washing-tub as a +garter. "Upon my word," said the shirt-collar, "I have never seen +anything so slim and delicate, so neat and soft before. May I +venture to ask your name?" +</P> + +<P> +"I shall not tell you," replied the garter. +</P> + +<P> +"Where do you reside when you are at home?" asked the +shirt-collar. But the garter was naturally shy, and did not know how +to answer such a question. +</P> + +<P> +"I presume you are a girdle," said the shirt-collar, "a sort of +under girdle. I see that you are useful, as well as ornamental, my +little lady." +</P> + +<P> +"You must not speak to me," said the garter; "I do not think I +have given you any encouragement to do so." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, when any one is as beautiful as you are," said the +shirt-collar, "is not that encouragement enough?" +</P> + +<P> +"Get away; don't come so near me," said the garter, "you appear to +me quite like a man." +</P> + +<P> +"I am a fine gentleman certainly," said the shirt-collar, "I +possess a boot-jack and a hair-brush." This was not true, for these +things belonged to his master; but he was a boaster. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't come so near me," said the garter; "I am not accustomed +to it." +</P> + +<P> +"Affectation!" said the shirt-collar. +</P> + +<P> +Then they were taken out of the wash-tub, starched, and hung +over a chair in the sunshine, and then laid on the ironing-board. +And now came the glowing iron. "Mistress widow," said the +shirt-collar, "little mistress widow, I feel quite warm. I am +changing, I am losing all my creases. You are burning a hole in me. +Ugh! I propose to you." +</P> + +<P> +"You old rag," said the flat-iron, driving proudly over the +collar, for she fancied herself a steam-engine, which rolls over the +railway and draws carriages. "You old rag!" said she. +</P> + +<P> +The edges of the shirt-collar were a little frayed, so the +scissors were brought to cut them smooth. "Oh!" exclaimed the +shirt-collar, "what a first-rate dancer you would make; you can +stretch out your leg so well. I never saw anything so charming; I am +sure no human being could do the same." +</P> + +<P> +"I should think not," replied the scissors. +</P> + +<P> +"You ought to be a countess," said the shirt collar; "but all I +possess consists of a fine gentleman, a boot-jack, and a comb. I +wish I had an estate for your sake." +</P> + +<P> +"What! is he going to propose to me?" said the scissors, and she +became so angry that she cut too sharply into the shirt collar, and it +was obliged to be thrown by as useless. +</P> + +<P> +"I shall be obliged to propose to the hair-brush," thought the +shirt collar; so he remarked one day, "It is wonderful what +beautiful hair you have, my little lady. Have you never thought of +being engaged?" +</P> + +<P> +"You might know I should think of it," answered the hair brush; "I +am engaged to the boot-jack." +</P> + +<P> +"Engaged!" cried the shirt collar, "now there is no one left to +propose to;" and then he pretended to despise all love-making. +</P> + +<P> +A long time passed, and the shirt collar was taken in a bag to the +paper-mill. Here was a large company of rags, the fine ones lying by +themselves, separated from the coarser, as it ought to be. They had +all many things to relate, especially the shirt collar, who was a +terrible boaster. "I have had an immense number of love affairs," said +the shirt collar, "no one left me any peace. It is true I was a very +fine gentleman; quite stuck up. I had a boot-jack and a brush that I +never used. You should have seen me then, when I was turned down. I +shall never forget my first love; she was a girdle, so charming, and +fine, and soft, and she threw herself into a washing tub for my +sake. There was a widow too, who was warmly in love with me, but I +left her alone, and she became quite black. The next was a +first-rate dancer; she gave me the wound from which I still suffer, +she was so passionate. Even my own hair-brush was in love with me, and +lost all her hair through neglected love. Yes, I have had great +experience of this kind, but my greatest grief was for the garter—the +girdle I meant to say—that jumped into the wash-tub. I have a great +deal on my conscience, and it is really time I should be turned into +white paper." +</P> + +<P> +And the shirt collar came to this at last. All the rags were +made into white paper, and the shirt collar became the very +identical piece of paper which we now see, and on which this story +is printed. It happened as a punishment to him, for having boasted +so shockingly of things which were not true. And this is a warning +to us, to be careful how we act, for we may some day find ourselves in +the rag-bag, to be turned into white paper, on which our whole history +may be written, even its most secret actions. And it would not be +pleasant to have to run about the world in the form of a piece of +paper, telling everything we have done, like the boasting shirt +collar. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="snow_man"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE SNOW MAN +</H3> + +<P> +"It is so delightfully cold," said the Snow Man, "that it makes my +whole body crackle. This is just the kind of wind to blow life into +one. How that great red thing up there is staring at me!" He meant the +sun, who was just setting. "It shall not make me wink. I shall +manage to keep the pieces." +</P> + +<P> +He had two triangular pieces of tile in his head, instead of eyes; +his mouth was made of an old broken rake, and was, of course, +furnished with teeth. He had been brought into existence amidst the +joyous shouts of boys, the jingling of sleigh-bells, and the +slashing of whips. The sun went down, and the full moon rose, large, +round, and clear, shining in the deep blue. +</P> + +<P> +"There it comes again, from the other side," said the Snow Man, +who supposed the sun was showing himself once more. "Ah, I have +cured him of staring, though; now he may hang up there, and shine, +that I may see myself. If I only knew how to manage to move away +from this place,—I should so like to move. If I could, I would +slide along yonder on the ice, as I have seen the boys do; but I don't +understand how; I don't even know how to run." +</P> + +<P> +"Away, away," barked the old yard-dog. He was quite hoarse, and +could not pronounce "Bow wow" properly. He had once been an indoor +dog, and lay by the fire, and he had been hoarse ever since. "The +sun will make you run some day. I saw him, last winter, make your +predecessor run, and his predecessor before him. Away, away, they +all have to go." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't understand you, comrade," said the Snow Man. "Is that +thing up yonder to teach me to run? I saw it running itself a little +while ago, and now it has come creeping up from the other side. +</P> + +<P> +"You know nothing at all," replied the yard-dog; "but then, you've +only lately been patched up. What you see yonder is the moon, and +the one before it was the sun. It will come again to-morrow, and +most likely teach you to run down into the ditch by the well; for I +think the weather is going to change. I can feel such pricks and stabs +in my left leg; I am sure there is going to be a change." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't understand him," said the Snow Man to himself; "but I +have a feeling that he is talking of something very disagreeable. +The one who stared so just now, and whom he calls the sun, is not my +friend; I can feel that too." +</P> + +<P> +"Away, away," barked the yard-dog, and then he turned round +three times, and crept into his kennel to sleep. +</P> + +<P> +There was really a change in the weather. Towards morning, a thick +fog covered the whole country round, and a keen wind arose, so that +the cold seemed to freeze one's bones; but when the sun rose, the +sight was splendid. Trees and bushes were covered with hoar frost, and +looked like a forest of white coral; while on every twig glittered +frozen dew-drops. The many delicate forms concealed in summer by +luxuriant foliage, were now clearly defined, and looked like +glittering lace-work. From every twig glistened a white radiance. +The birch, waving in the wind, looked full of life, like trees in +summer; and its appearance was wondrously beautiful. And where the sun +shone, how everything glittered and sparkled, as if diamond dust had +been strewn about; while the snowy carpet of the earth appeared as +if covered with diamonds, from which countless lights gleamed, +whiter than even the snow itself. +</P> + +<P> +"This is really beautiful," said a young girl, who had come into +the garden with a young man; and they both stood still near the Snow +Man, and contemplated the glittering scene. "Summer cannot show a more +beautiful sight," she exclaimed, while her eyes sparkled. +</P> + +<P> +"And we can't have such a fellow as this in the summer time," +replied the young man, pointing to the Snow Man; "he is capital." +</P> + +<P> +The girl laughed, and nodded at the Snow Man, and then tripped +away over the snow with her friend. The snow creaked and crackled +beneath her feet, as if she had been treading on starch. +</P> + +<P> +"Who are these two?" asked the Snow Man of the yard-dog. "You have +been here longer than I have; do you know them?" +</P> + +<P> +"Of course I know them," replied the yard-dog; "she has stroked my +back many times, and he has given me a bone of meat. I never bite +those two." +</P> + +<P> +"But what are they?" asked the Snow Man. +</P> + +<P> +"They are lovers," he replied; "they will go and live in the +same kennel by-and-by, and gnaw at the same bone. Away, away!" +</P> + +<P> +"Are they the same kind of beings as you and I?" asked the Snow +Man. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, they belong to the same master," retorted the yard-dog. +"Certainly people who were only born yesterday know very little. I can +see that in you. I have age and experience. I know every one here in +the house, and I know there was once a time when I did not lie out +here in the cold, fastened to a chain. Away, away!" +</P> + +<P> +"The cold is delightful," said the Snow Man; "but do tell me +tell me; only you must not clank your chain so; for it jars all +through me when you do that." +</P> + +<P> +"Away, away!" barked the yard-dog; "I'll tell you; they said I was +a pretty little fellow once; then I used to lie in a velvet-covered +chair, up at the master's house, and sit in the mistress's lap. They +used to kiss my nose, and wipe my paws with an embroidered +handkerchief, and I was called 'Ami, dear Ami, sweet Ami.' But after a +while I grew too big for them, and they sent me away to the +housekeeper's room; so I came to live on the lower story. You can look +into the room from where you stand, and see where I was master once; +for I was indeed master to the housekeeper. It was certainly a smaller +room than those up stairs; but I was more comfortable; for I was not +being continually taken hold of and pulled about by the children as +I had been. I received quite as good food, or even better. I had my +own cushion, and there was a stove—it is the finest thing in the +world at this season of the year. I used to go under the stove, and +lie down quite beneath it. Ah, I still dream of that stove. Away, +away!" +</P> + +<P> +"Does a stove look beautiful?" asked the Snow Man, "is it at all +like me?" +</P> + +<P> +"It is just the reverse of you," said the dog; "it's as black as a +crow, and has a long neck and a brass knob; it eats firewood, so +that fire spurts out of its mouth. We should keep on one side, or +under it, to be comfortable. You can see it through the window, from +where you stand." +</P> + +<P> +Then the Snow Man looked, and saw a bright polished thing with a +brazen knob, and fire gleaming from the lower part of it. The Snow Man +felt quite a strange sensation come over him; it was very odd, he knew +not what it meant, and he could not account for it. But there are +people who are not men of snow, who understand what it is. "'And why +did you leave her?" asked the Snow Man, for it seemed to him that +the stove must be of the female sex. "How could you give up such a +comfortable place?" +</P> + +<P> +"I was obliged," replied the yard-dog. "They turned me out of +doors, and chained me up here. I had bitten the youngest of my +master's sons in the leg, because he kicked away the bone I was +gnawing. 'Bone for bone,' I thought; but they were so angry, and +from that time I have been fastened with a chain, and lost my bone. +Don't you hear how hoarse I am. Away, away! I can't talk any more like +other dogs. Away, away, that is the end of it all." +</P> + +<P> +But the Snow Man was no longer listening. He was looking into +the housekeeper's room on the lower storey; where the stove stood on +its four iron legs, looking about the same size as the Snow Man +himself. "What a strange crackling I feel within me," he said. +"Shall I ever get in there? It is an innocent wish, and innocent +wishes are sure to be fulfilled. I must go in there and lean against +her, even if I have to break the window." +</P> + +<P> +"You must never go in there," said the yard-dog, "for if you +approach the stove, you'll melt away, away." +</P> + +<P> +"I might as well go," said the Snow Man, "for I think I am +breaking up as it is." +</P> + +<P> +During the whole day the Snow Man stood looking in through the +window, and in the twilight hour the room became still more +inviting, for from the stove came a gentle glow, not like the sun or +the moon; no, only the bright light which gleams from a stove when +it has been well fed. When the door of the stove was opened, the +flames darted out of its mouth; this is customary with all stoves. The +light of the flames fell directly on the face and breast of the Snow +Man with a ruddy gleam. "I can endure it no longer," said he; "how +beautiful it looks when it stretches out its tongue?" +</P> + +<P> +The night was long, but did not appear so to the Snow Man, who +stood there enjoying his own reflections, and crackling with the cold. +In the morning, the window-panes of the housekeeper's room were +covered with ice. They were the most beautiful ice-flowers any Snow +Man could desire, but they concealed the stove. These window-panes +would not thaw, and he could see nothing of the stove, which he +pictured to himself, as if it had been a lovely human being. The +snow crackled and the wind whistled around him; it was just the kind +of frosty weather a Snow Man might thoroughly enjoy. But he did not +enjoy it; how, indeed, could he enjoy anything when he was "stove +sick?" +</P> + +<P> +"That is terrible disease for a Snow Man," said the yard-dog; "I +have suffered from it myself, but I got over it. Away, away," he +barked and then he added, "the weather is going to change." And the +weather did change; it began to thaw. As the warmth increased, the +Snow Man decreased. He said nothing and made no complaint, which is +a sure sign. One morning he broke, and sunk down altogether; and, +behold, where he had stood, something like a broomstick remained +sticking up in the ground. It was the pole round which the boys had +built him up. "Ah, now I understand why he had such a great longing +for the stove," said the yard-dog. "Why, there's the shovel that is +used for cleaning out the stove, fastened to the pole." The Snow Man +had a stove scraper in his body; that was what moved him so. "But it's +all over now. Away, away." And soon the winter passed. "Away, away," +barked the hoarse yard-dog. But the girls in the house sang, +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Come from your fragrant home, green thyme;<BR> + Stretch your soft branches, willow-tree;<BR> + The months are bringing the sweet spring-time,<BR> + When the lark in the sky sings joyfully.<BR> + Come gentle sun, while the cuckoo sings,<BR> + And I'll mock his note in my wanderings."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +And nobody thought any more of the Snow Man. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="snow_que"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE SNOW QUEEN +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +IN SEVEN STORIES +</H3> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +STORY THE FIRST +</H3> + +<P> +Which describes a looking-glass and the broken fragments. +</P> + +<P> +You must attend to the commencement of this story, for when we get +to the end we shall know more than we do now about a very wicked +hobgoblin; he was one of the very worst, for he was a real demon. +One day, when he was in a merry mood, he made a looking-glass which +had the power of making everything good or beautiful that was +reflected in it almost shrink to nothing, while everything that was +worthless and bad looked increased in size and worse than ever. The +most lovely landscapes appeared like boiled spinach, and the people +became hideous, and looked as if they stood on their heads and had +no bodies. Their countenances were so distorted that no one could +recognize them, and even one freckle on the face appeared to spread +over the whole of the nose and mouth. The demon said this was very +amusing. When a good or pious thought passed through the mind of any +one it was misrepresented in the glass; and then how the demon laughed +at his cunning invention. All who went to the demon's school—for he +kept a school—talked everywhere of the wonders they had seen, and +declared that people could now, for the first time, see what the world +and mankind were really like. They carried the glass about everywhere, +till at last there was not a land nor a people who had not been looked +at through this distorted mirror. They wanted even to fly with it up +to heaven to see the angels, but the higher they flew the more +slippery the glass became, and they could scarcely hold it, till at +last it slipped from their hands, fell to the earth, and was broken +into millions of pieces. But now the looking-glass caused more +unhappiness than ever, for some of the fragments were not so large +as a grain of sand, and they flew about the world into every +country. When one of these tiny atoms flew into a person's eye, it +stuck there unknown to him, and from that moment he saw everything +through a distorted medium, or could see only the worst side of what +he looked at, for even the smallest fragment retained the same power +which had belonged to the whole mirror. Some few persons even got a +fragment of the looking-glass in their hearts, and this was very +terrible, for their hearts became cold like a lump of ice. A few of +the pieces were so large that they could be used as window-panes; it +would have been a sad thing to look at our friends through them. Other +pieces were made into spectacles; this was dreadful for those who wore +them, for they could see nothing either rightly or justly. At all this +the wicked demon laughed till his sides shook—it tickled him so to +see the mischief he had done. There were still a number of these +little fragments of glass floating about in the air, and now you shall +hear what happened with one of them. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +SECOND STORY +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A LITTLE BOY AND A LITTLE GIRL +</H3> + +<P> +In a large town, full of houses and people, there is not room +for everybody to have even a little garden, therefore they are obliged +to be satisfied with a few flowers in flower-pots. In one of these +large towns lived two poor children who had a garden something +larger and better than a few flower-pots. They were not brother and +sister, but they loved each other almost as much as if they had +been. Their parents lived opposite to each other in two garrets, where +the roofs of neighboring houses projected out towards each other and +the water-pipe ran between them. In each house was a little window, so +that any one could step across the gutter from one window to the +other. The parents of these children had each a large wooden box in +which they cultivated kitchen herbs for their own use, and a little +rose-bush in each box, which grew splendidly. Now after a while the +parents decided to place these two boxes across the water-pipe, so +that they reached from one window to the other and looked like two +banks of flowers. Sweet-peas drooped over the boxes, and the +rose-bushes shot forth long branches, which were trained round the +windows and clustered together almost like a triumphal arch of +leaves and flowers. The boxes were very high, and the children knew +they must not climb upon them, without permission, but they were +often, however, allowed to step out together and sit upon their little +stools under the rose-bushes, or play quietly. In winter all this +pleasure came to an end, for the windows were sometimes quite frozen +over. But then they would warm copper pennies on the stove, and hold +the warm pennies against the frozen pane; there would be very soon a +little round hole through which they could peep, and the soft bright +eyes of the little boy and girl would beam through the hole at each +window as they looked at each other. Their names were Kay and Gerda. +In summer they could be together with one jump from the window, but in +winter they had to go up and down the long staircase, and out +through the snow before they could meet. +</P> + +<P> +"See there are the white bees swarming," said Kay's old +grandmother one day when it was snowing. +</P> + +<P> +"Have they a queen bee?" asked the little boy, for he knew that +the real bees had a queen. +</P> + +<P> +"To be sure they have," said the grandmother. "She is flying there +where the swarm is thickest. She is the largest of them all, and never +remains on the earth, but flies up to the dark clouds. Often at +midnight she flies through the streets of the town, and looks in at +the windows, then the ice freezes on the panes into wonderful +shapes, that look like flowers and castles." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I have seen them," said both the children, and they knew +it must be true. +</P> + +<P> +"Can the Snow Queen come in here?" asked the little girl. +</P> + +<P> +"Only let her come," said the boy, "I'll set her on the stove +and then she'll melt." +</P> + +<P> +Then the grandmother smoothed his hair and told him some more +tales. One evening, when little Kay was at home, half undressed, he +climbed on a chair by the window and peeped out through the little +hole. A few flakes of snow were falling, and one of them, rather +larger than the rest, alighted on the edge of one of the flower boxes. +This snow-flake grew larger and larger, till at last it became the +figure of a woman, dressed in garments of white gauze, which looked +like millions of starry snow-flakes linked together. She was fair +and beautiful, but made of ice—shining and glittering ice. Still +she was alive and her eyes sparkled like bright stars, but there was +neither peace nor rest in their glance. She nodded towards the +window and waved her hand. The little boy was frightened and sprang +from the chair; at the same moment it seemed as if a large bird flew +by the window. On the following day there was a clear frost, and +very soon came the spring. The sun shone; the young green leaves burst +forth; the swallows built their nests; windows were opened, and the +children sat once more in the garden on the roof, high above all the +other rooms. How beautiful the roses blossomed this summer. The little +girl had learnt a hymn in which roses were spoken of, and then she +thought of their own roses, and she sang the hymn to the little boy, +and he sang too:— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Roses bloom and cease to be,<BR> + But we shall the Christ-child see."<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +Then the little ones held each other by the hand, and kissed the +roses, and looked at the bright sunshine, and spoke to it as if the +Christ-child were there. Those were splendid summer days. How +beautiful and fresh it was out among the rose-bushes, which seemed +as if they would never leave off blooming. One day Kay and Gerda sat +looking at a book full of pictures of animals and birds, and then just +as the clock in the church tower struck twelve, Kay said, "Oh, +something has struck my heart!" and soon after, "There is something in +my eye." +</P> + +<P> +The little girl put her arm round his neck, and looked into his +eye, but she could see nothing. +</P> + +<P> +"I think it is gone," he said. But it was not gone; it was one +of those bits of the looking-glass—that magic mirror, of which we +have spoken—the ugly glass which made everything great and good +appear small and ugly, while all that was wicked and bad became more +visible, and every little fault could be plainly seen. Poor little Kay +had also received a small grain in his heart, which very quickly +turned to a lump of ice. He felt no more pain, but the glass was there +still. "Why do you cry?" said he at last; "it makes you look ugly. +There is nothing the matter with me now. Oh, see!" he cried +suddenly, "that rose is worm-eaten, and this one is quite crooked. +After all they are ugly roses, just like the box in which they stand," +and then he kicked the boxes with his foot, and pulled off the two +roses. +</P> + +<P> +"Kay, what are you doing?" cried the little girl; and then, when +he saw how frightened she was, he tore off another rose, and jumped +through his own window away from little Gerda. +</P> + +<P> +When she afterwards brought out the picture book, he said, "It was +only fit for babies in long clothes," and when grandmother told any +stories, he would interrupt her with "but;" or, when he could manage +it, he would get behind her chair, put on a pair of spectacles, and +imitate her very cleverly, to make people laugh. By-and-by he began to +mimic the speech and gait of persons in the street. All that was +peculiar or disagreeable in a person he would imitate directly, and +people said, "That boy will be very clever; he has a remarkable +genius." But it was the piece of glass in his eye, and the coldness in +his heart, that made him act like this. He would even tease little +Gerda, who loved him with all her heart. His games, too, were quite +different; they were not so childish. One winter's day, when it +snowed, he brought out a burning-glass, then he held out the tail of +his blue coat, and let the snow-flakes fall upon it. "Look in this +glass, Gerda," said he; and she saw how every flake of snow was +magnified, and looked like a beautiful flower or a glittering star. +"Is it not clever?" said Kay, "and much more interesting than +looking at real flowers. There is not a single fault in it, and the +snow-flakes are quite perfect till they begin to melt." +</P> + +<P> +Soon after Kay made his appearance in large thick gloves, and with +his sledge at his back. He called up stairs to Gerda, "I've got to +leave to go into the great square, where the other boys play and +ride." And away he went. +</P> + +<P> +In the great square, the boldest among the boys would often tie +their sledges to the country people's carts, and go with them a good +way. This was capital. But while they were all amusing themselves, and +Kay with them, a great sledge came by; it was painted white, and in it +sat some one wrapped in a rough white fur, and wearing a white cap. +The sledge drove twice round the square, and Kay fastened his own +little sledge to it, so that when it went away, he followed with it. +It went faster and faster right through the next street, and then +the person who drove turned round and nodded pleasantly to Kay, just +as if they were acquainted with each other, but whenever Kay wished to +loosen his little sledge the driver nodded again, so Kay sat still, +and they drove out through the town gate. Then the snow began to +fall so heavily that the little boy could not see a hand's breadth +before him, but still they drove on; then he suddenly loosened the +cord so that the large sled might go on without him, but it was of +no use, his little carriage held fast, and away they went like the +wind. Then he called out loudly, but nobody heard him, while the +snow beat upon him, and the sledge flew onwards. Every now and then it +gave a jump as if it were going over hedges and ditches. The boy was +frightened, and tried to say a prayer, but he could remember nothing +but the multiplication table. +</P> + +<P> +The snow-flakes became larger and larger, till they appeared +like great white chickens. All at once they sprang on one side, the +great sledge stopped, and the person who had driven it rose up. The +fur and the cap, which were made entirely of snow, fell off, and he +saw a lady, tall and white, it was the Snow Queen. +</P> + +<P> +"We have driven well," said she, "but why do you tremble? here, +creep into my warm fur." Then she seated him beside her in the sledge, +and as she wrapped the fur round him he felt as if he were sinking +into a snow drift. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you still cold," she asked, as she kissed him on the +forehead. The kiss was colder than ice; it went quite through to his +heart, which was already almost a lump of ice; he felt as if he were +going to die, but only for a moment; he soon seemed quite well +again, and did not notice the cold around him. +</P> + +<P> +"My sledge! don't forget my sledge," was his first thought, and +then he looked and saw that it was bound fast to one of the white +chickens, which flew behind him with the sledge at its back. The +Snow Queen kissed little Kay again, and by this time he had +forgotten little Gerda, his grandmother, and all at home. +</P> + +<P> +"Now you must have no more kisses," she said, "or I should kiss +you to death." +</P> + +<P> +Kay looked at her, and saw that she was so beautiful, he could not +imagine a more lovely and intelligent face; she did not now seem to be +made of ice, as when he had seen her through his window, and she had +nodded to him. In his eyes she was perfect, and she did not feel at +all afraid. He told her he could do mental arithmetic, as far as +fractions, and that he knew the number of square miles and the +number of inhabitants in the country. And she always smiled so that he +thought he did not know enough yet, and she looked round the vast +expanse as she flew higher and higher with him upon a black cloud, +while the storm blew and howled as if it were singing old songs. +They flew over woods and lakes, over sea and land; below them roared +the wild wind; the wolves howled and the snow crackled; over them flew +the black screaming crows, and above all shone the moon, clear and +bright,—and so Kay passed through the long winter's night, and by day +he slept at the feet of the Snow Queen. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THIRD STORY +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE FLOWER GARDEN OF THE WOMAN WHO COULD CONJURE +</H3> + +<P> +But how fared little Gerda during Kay's absence? What had become +of him, no one knew, nor could any one give the slightest information, +excepting the boys, who said that he had tied his sledge to another +very large one, which had driven through the street, and out at the +town gate. Nobody knew where it went; many tears were shed for him, +and little Gerda wept bitterly for a long time. She said she knew he +must be dead; that he was drowned in the river which flowed close by +the school. Oh, indeed those long winter days were very dreary. But at +last spring came, with warm sunshine. "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 sparrows. +</P> + +<P> +"We don't believe it," they replied; and at last little Gerda +began to doubt it herself. "I will put on my new red shoes," she +said one morning, "those that Kay has never seen, and then I will go +down to the river, and ask for him." It was quite early when she +kissed her old grandmother, who was still asleep; then she put on +her red shoes, and went quite alone out of the town gates toward the +river. "Is it true that you have taken my little playmate away from +me?" said she to the river. "I will give you my red shoes if you +will give him back to me." And it seemed as if the waves nodded to her +in a strange manner. Then she took off her red shoes, which she +liked better than anything else, and threw them both into the river, +but they fell near the bank, and the little waves carried them back to +the land, just as if the river would not take from her what she +loved best, because they could not give her back little Kay. But she +thought the shoes had not been thrown out far enough. Then she crept +into a boat that lay among the reeds, and threw the shoes again from +the farther end of the boat into the water, but it was not fastened. +And her movement sent it gliding away from the land. When she saw this +she hastened to reach the end of the boat, but before she could so +it was more than a yard from the bank, and drifting away faster than +ever. Then little Gerda was very much frightened, and began to cry, +but no one heard her except the sparrows, and they could not carry her +to land, but they flew along by the shore, and sang, as if to +comfort her, "Here we are! Here we are!" The boat floated with the +stream; little Gerda sat quite still with only her stockings on her +feet; the red shoes floated after her, but she could not reach them +because the boat kept so much in advance. The banks on each side of +the river were very pretty. There were beautiful flowers, old trees, +sloping fields, in which cows and sheep were grazing, but not a man to +be seen. Perhaps the river will carry me to little Kay, thought Gerda, +and then she became more cheerful, and raised her head, and looked +at the beautiful green banks; and so the boat sailed on for hours. +At length she came to a large cherry orchard, in which stood a small +red house with strange red and blue windows. It had also a thatched +roof, and outside were two wooden soldiers, that presented arms to her +as she sailed past. Gerda called out to them, for she thought they +were alive, but of course they did not answer; and as the boat drifted +nearer to the shore, she saw what they really were. Then Gerda +called still louder, and there came a very old woman out of the house, +leaning on a crutch. She wore a large hat to shade her from the sun, +and on it were painted all sorts of pretty flowers. "You poor little +child," said the old woman, "how did you manage to come all this +distance into the wide world on such a rapid rolling stream?" And then +the old woman walked in the water, seized the boat with her crutch, +drew it to land, and lifted Gerda out. And Gerda was glad to feel +herself on dry ground, although she was rather afraid of the strange +old woman. "Come and tell me who you are," said she, "and how came you +here." +</P> + +<P> +Then Gerda told her everything, while the old woman shook her +head, and said, "Hem-hem;" and when she had finished, Gerda asked if +she had not seen little Kay, and the old woman told her he had not +passed by that way, but he very likely would come. So she told Gerda +not to be sorrowful, but to taste the cherries and look at the +flowers; they were better than any picture-book, for each of them +could tell a story. Then she took Gerda by the hand and led her into +the little house, and the old woman closed the door. The windows +were very high, and as the panes were red, blue, and yellow, the +daylight shone through them in all sorts of singular colors. On the +table stood beautiful cherries, and Gerda had permission to eat as +many as she would. While she was eating them the old woman combed +out her long flaxen ringlets with a golden comb, and the glossy +curls hung down on each side of the little round pleasant face, +which looked fresh and blooming as a rose. "I have long been wishing +for a dear little maiden like you," said the old woman, "and now you +must stay with me, and see how happily we shall live together." And +while she went on combing little Gerda's hair, she thought less and +less about her adopted brother Kay, for the old woman could conjure, +although she was not a wicked witch; she conjured only a little for +her own amusement, and now, because she wanted to keep Gerda. +Therefore she went into the garden, and stretched out her crutch +towards all the rose-trees, beautiful though they were; and they +immediately sunk into the dark earth, so that no one could tell +where they had once stood. The old woman was afraid that if little +Gerda saw roses she would think of those at home, and then remember +little Kay, and run away. Then she took Gerda into the +flower-garden. How fragrant and beautiful it was! Every flower that +could be thought of for every season of the year was here in full +bloom; no picture-book could have more beautiful colors. Gerda +jumped for joy, and played till the sun went down behind the tall +cherry-trees; then she slept in an elegant bed with red silk +pillows, embroidered with colored violets; and then she dreamed as +pleasantly as a queen on her wedding day. The next day, and for many +days after, Gerda played with the flowers in the warm sunshine. She +knew every flower, and yet, although there were so many of them, it +seemed as if one were missing, but which it was she could not tell. +One day, however, as she sat looking at the old woman's hat with the +painted flowers on it, she saw that the prettiest of them all was a +rose. The old woman had forgotten to take it from her hat when she +made all the roses sink into the earth. But it is difficult to keep +the thoughts together in everything; one little mistake upsets all our +arrangements. +</P> + +<P> +"What, are there no roses here?" cried Gerda; and she ran out into +the garden, and examined all the beds, and searched and searched. +There was not one to be found. Then she sat down and wept, and her +tears fell just on the place where one of the rose-trees had sunk +down. The warm tears moistened the earth, and the rose-tree sprouted +up at once, as blooming as when it had sunk; and Gerda embraced it and +kissed the roses, and thought of the beautiful roses at home, and, +with them, of little Kay. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, how I have been detained!" said the little maiden, "I +wanted to seek for little Kay. Do you know where he is?" she asked the +roses; "do you think he is dead?" +</P> + +<P> +And the roses answered, "No, he is not dead. We have been in the +ground where all the dead lie; but Kay is not there." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you," said little Gerda, and then she went to the other +flowers, and looked into their little cups, and asked, "Do you know +where little Kay is?" But each flower, as it stood in the sunshine, +dreamed only of its own little fairy tale of history. Not one knew +anything of Kay. Gerda heard many stories from the flowers, as she +asked them one after another about him. +</P> + +<P> +And what, said the tiger-lily? "Hark, do you hear the drum?—'turn, +turn,'—there are only two notes, always, 'turn, turn.' Listen +to the women's song of mourning! Hear the cry of the priest! In +her long red robe stands the Hindoo widow by the funeral pile. The +flames rise around her as she places herself on the dead body of her +husband; but the Hindoo woman is thinking of the living one in that +circle; of him, her son, who lighted those flames. Those shining +eyes trouble her heart more painfully than the flames which will +soon consume her body to ashes. Can the fire of the heart be +extinguished in the flames of the funeral pile?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't understand that at all," said little Gerda. +</P> + +<P> +"That is my story," said the tiger-lily. +</P> + +<P> +What, says the convolvulus? "Near yonder narrow road stands an old +knight's castle; thick ivy creeps over the old ruined walls, leaf over +leaf, even to the balcony, in which stands a beautiful maiden. She +bends over the balustrades, and looks up the road. No rose on its stem +is fresher than she; no apple-blossom, wafted by the wind, floats more +lightly than she moves. Her rich silk rustles as she bends over and +exclaims, 'Will he not come?' +</P> + +<P> +"Is it Kay you mean?" asked Gerda. +</P> + +<P> +"I am only speaking of a story of my dream," replied the flower. +</P> + +<P> +What, said the little snow-drop? "Between two trees a rope is +hanging; there is a piece of board upon it; it is a swing. Two +pretty little girls, in dresses white as snow, and with long green +ribbons fluttering from their hats, are sitting upon it swinging. +Their brother who is taller than they are, stands in the swing; he has +one arm round the rope, to steady himself; in one hand he holds a +little bowl, and in the other a clay pipe; he is blowing bubbles. As +the swing goes on, the bubbles fly upward, reflecting the most +beautiful varying colors. The last still hangs from the bowl of the +pipe, and sways in the wind. On goes the swing; and then a little +black dog comes running up. He is almost as light as the bubble, and +he raises himself on his hind legs, and wants to be taken into the +swing; but it does not stop, and the dog falls; then he barks and gets +angry. The children stoop towards him, and the bubble bursts. A +swinging plank, a light sparkling foam picture,—that is my story." +</P> + +<P> +"It may be all very pretty what you are telling me," said little +Gerda, "but you speak so mournfully, and you do not mention little Kay +at all." +</P> + +<P> +What do the hyacinths say? "There were three beautiful sisters, +fair and delicate. The dress of one was red, of the second blue, and +of the third pure white. Hand in hand they danced in the bright +moonlight, by the calm lake; but they were human beings, not fairy +elves. The sweet fragrance attracted them, and they disappeared in the +wood; here the fragrance became stronger. Three coffins, in which +lay the three beautiful maidens, glided from the thickest part of +the forest across the lake. The fire-flies flew lightly over them, +like little floating torches. Do the 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 sorrowful," said little Gerda; "your perfume is +so strong, you make me think of the dead maidens. Ah! is little Kay +really dead then? The roses have been in the earth, and they say no." +</P> + +<P> +"Cling, clang," tolled the hyacinth bells. "We are not tolling for +little Kay; we do not know him. We sing our song, the only one we +know." +</P> + +<P> +Then Gerda went to the buttercups that were glittering amongst the +bright green leaves. +</P> + +<P> +"You are little bright suns," said Gerda; "tell me if you know +where I can find my play-fellow." +</P> + +<P> +And the buttercups sparkled gayly, and looked again at Gerda. What +song could the buttercups sing? It was not about Kay. +</P> + +<P> +"The bright warm sun shone on a little court, on the first warm +day of spring. His bright beams rested on the white walls of the +neighboring house; and close by bloomed the first yellow flower of the +season, glittering like gold in the sun's warm ray. An old woman sat +in her arm chair at the house door, and her granddaughter, a poor +and pretty servant-maid came to see her for a short visit. When she +kissed her grandmother there was gold everywhere: the gold of the +heart in that holy kiss; it was a golden morning; there was gold in +the beaming sunlight, gold in the leaves of the lowly flower, and on +the lips of the maiden. There, that is my story," said the buttercup. +</P> + +<P> +"My poor old grandmother!" sighed Gerda; "she is longing to see +me, and grieving for me as she did for little Kay; but I shall soon go +home now, and take little Kay with me. It is no use asking the +flowers; they know only their own songs, and can give me no +information." +</P> + +<P> +And then she tucked up her little dress, that she might run +faster, but the narcissus caught her by the leg as she was jumping +over it; so she stopped and looked at the tall yellow flower, and +said, "Perhaps you may know something." +</P> + +<P> +Then she stooped down quite close to the flower, and listened; and +what did he say? +</P> + +<P> +"I can see myself, I can see myself," said the narcissus. "Oh, how +sweet is my perfume! Up in a little room with a bow window, stands a +little dancing girl, half undressed; she stands sometimes on one +leg, and sometimes on both, and looks as if she would tread the +whole world under her feet. She is nothing but a delusion. She is +pouring water out of a tea-pot on a piece of stuff which she holds +in her hand; it is her bodice. 'Cleanliness is a good thing,' she +says. Her white dress hangs on a peg; it has also been washed in the +tea-pot, and dried on the roof. She puts it on, and ties a +saffron-colored handkerchief round her neck, which makes the dress +look whiter. See how she stretches out her legs, as if she were +showing off on a stem. I can see myself, I can see myself." +</P> + +<P> +"What do I care for all that," said Gerda, "you need not tell me +such stuff." And then she ran to the other end of the garden. The door +was fastened, but she pressed against 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 no one seemed to +be following her. At last she could run no longer, so she sat down +to rest on a great stone, and when she looked round she saw that the +summer was over, and autumn very far advanced. She had known nothing +of this in the beautiful garden, where the sun shone and the flowers +grew all the year round. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, how I have wasted my time?" said little Gerda; "it is autumn. +I must not rest any longer," and she rose up to go on. But her +little feet were wounded and sore, and everything around her looked so +cold and bleak. The long willow-leaves were quite yellow. The +dew-drops fell like water, leaf after leaf dropped from the trees, the +sloe-thorn alone still bore fruit, but the sloes were sour, and set +the teeth on edge. Oh, how dark and weary the whole world appeared! +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +FOURTH STORY +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE PRINCE AND PRINCESS +</H3> + +<BR> + +<P> +Gerda was obliged to rest again, and just opposite the place where +she sat, she saw a great crow come hopping across the snow toward her. +He stood looking at her for some time, and then he wagged his head and +said, "Caw, caw; good-day, good-day." He pronounced the words as +plainly as he could, because he meant to be kind to the little girl; +and then he asked her where she was going all alone in the wide world. +</P> + +<P> +The word alone Gerda understood very well, and knew how much it +expressed. So then she told the crow the whole story of her life and +adventures, and asked him if he had seen little Kay. +</P> + +<P> +The crow nodded his head very gravely, and said, "Perhaps I +have—it may be." +</P> + +<P> +"No! Do you think you have?" cried little Gerda, and she kissed +the crow, and hugged him almost to death with joy. +</P> + +<P> +"Gently, gently," said the crow. "I believe I know. I think it may +be little Kay; but he has certainly forgotten you by this time for the +princess." +</P> + +<P> +"Does he live with a princess?" asked Gerda. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, listen," replied the crow, "but it is so difficult to +speak your language. If you understand the crows' language then I +can explain it better. Do you?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, I have never learnt it," said Gerda, "but my grandmother +understands it, and used to speak it to me. I wish I had learnt it." +</P> + +<P> +"It does not matter," answered the crow; "I will explain as well +as I can, although it will be very badly done;" and he told her what +he had heard. "In this kingdom where we now are," said he, "there +lives a princess, who is so wonderfully clever that she has read all +the newspapers in the world, and forgotten them too, although she is +so clever. A short time ago, as she was sitting on her throne, which +people say is not such an agreeable seat as is often supposed, she +began to sing a song which commences in these words: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + 'Why should I not be married?'<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +'Why not indeed?' said she, and so she determined to marry if she +could find a husband who knew what to say when he was spoken to, and +not one who could only look grand, for that was so tiresome. Then +she assembled all her court ladies together at the beat of the drum, +and when they heard of her intentions they were very much pleased. 'We +are so glad to hear it,' said they, we were talking about it ourselves +the other day.' You may believe that every word I tell you is true," +said the crow, "for I have a tame sweetheart who goes freely about the +palace, and she told me all this." +</P> + +<P> +Of course his sweetheart was a crow, for "birds of a feather flock +together," and one crow always chooses another crow. +</P> + +<P> +"Newspapers were published immediately, with a border of hearts, +and the initials of the princess among them. They gave notice that +every young man who was handsome was free to visit the castle and +speak with the princess; and those who could reply loud enough to be +heard when spoken to, were to make themselves quite at home at the +palace; but the one who spoke best would be chosen as a husband for +the princess. Yes, yes, you may believe me, it is all as true as I sit +here," said the crow. "The people came in crowds. There was a great +deal of crushing and running about, but no one succeeded either on the +first or second day. They could all speak very well while they were +outside in the streets, but when they entered the palace gates, and +saw the guards in silver uniforms, and the footmen in their golden +livery on the staircase, and the great halls lighted up, they became +quite confused. And when they stood before the throne on which the +princess sat, they could do nothing but repeat the last words she +had said; and she had no particular wish to hear her own words over +again. It was just as if they had all taken something to make them +sleepy while they were in the palace, for they did not recover +themselves nor speak till they got back again into the street. There +was quite a long line of them reaching from the town-gate to the +palace. I went myself to see them," said the crow. "They were hungry +and thirsty, for at the palace they did not get even a glass of water. +Some of the wisest had taken a few slices of bread and butter with +them, but they did not share it with their neighbors; they thought +if they went in to the princess looking hungry, there would be a +better chance for themselves." +</P> + +<P> +"But Kay! tell me about little Kay!" said Gerda, "was he amongst +the crowd?" +</P> + +<P> +"Stop a bit, we are just coming to him. It was on the third day, +there came marching cheerfully along to the palace a little personage, +without horses or carriage, his eyes sparkling like yours; he had +beautiful long hair, but his clothes were very poor." +</P> + +<P> +"That was Kay!" said Gerda joyfully. "Oh, then I have found +him;" and she clapped her hands. +</P> + +<P> +"He had a little knapsack on his back," added the crow. +</P> + +<P> +"No, it must have been his sledge," said Gerda; "for he went +away with it." +</P> + +<P> +"It may have been so," said the crow; "I did not look at it very +closely. But I know from my tame sweetheart that he passed through the +palace gates, saw the guards in their silver uniform, and the servants +in their liveries of gold on the stairs, but he was not in the least +embarrassed. 'It must be very tiresome to stand on the stairs,' he +said. 'I prefer to go in.' The rooms were blazing with light. +Councillors and ambassadors walked about with bare feet, carrying +golden vessels; it was enough to make any one feel serious. His +boots creaked loudly as he walked, and yet he was not at all uneasy." +</P> + +<P> +"It must be Kay," said Gerda, "I know he had new boots on, I +have heard them creak in grandmother's room." +</P> + +<P> +"They really did creak," said the crow, "yet he went boldly up +to the princess herself, who was sitting on a pearl as large as a +spinning wheel, and all the ladies of the court were present with +their maids, and all the cavaliers with their servants; and each of +the maids had another maid to wait upon her, and the cavaliers' +servants had their own servants, as well as a page each. They all +stood in circles round the princess, and the nearer they stood to +the door, the prouder they looked. The servants' pages, who always +wore slippers, could hardly be looked at, they held themselves up so +proudly by the door." +</P> + +<P> +"It must be quite awful," said little Gerda, "but did Kay win +the princess?" +</P> + +<P> +"If I had not been a crow," said he, "I would have married her +myself, although I am engaged. He spoke just as well as I do, when I +speak the crows' language, so I heard from my tame sweetheart. He +was quite free and agreeable and said he had not come to woo the +princess, but to hear her wisdom; and he was as pleased with her as +she was with him." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, certainly that was Kay," said Gerda, "he was so clever; he +could work mental arithmetic and fractions. Oh, will you take me to +the palace?" +</P> + +<P> +"It is very easy to ask that," replied the crow, "but how are we +to manage it? However, I will speak about it to my tame sweetheart, +and ask her advice; for I must tell you it will be very difficult to +gain permission for a little girl like you to enter the palace." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes; but I shall gain permission easily," said Gerda, "for +when Kay hears that I am here, he will come out and fetch me in +immediately." +</P> + +<P> +"Wait for me here by the palings," said the crow, wagging his head +as he flew away. +</P> + +<P> +It was late in the evening before the crow returned. "Caw, caw," +he said, "she sends you greeting, and here is a little roll which she +took from the kitchen for you; there is plenty of bread there, and she +thinks you must be hungry. It is not possible for you to enter the +palace by the front entrance. The guards in silver uniform and the +servants in gold livery would not allow it. But do not cry, we will +manage to get you in; my sweetheart knows a little back-staircase that +leads to the sleeping apartments, and she knows where to find the +key." +</P> + +<P> +Then they went into the garden through the great avenue, where the +leaves were falling one after another, and they could see the light in +the palace being put out in the same manner. And the crow led little +Gerda to the back door, which stood ajar. Oh! how little Gerda's heart +beat with anxiety and longing; it was just as if she were going to +do something wrong, and yet she only wanted to know where little Kay +was. "It must be he," she thought, "with those clear eyes, and that +long hair." She could fancy she saw him smiling at her, as he used +to at home, when they sat among the roses. He would certainly be +glad to see her, and to hear what a long distance she had come for his +sake, and to know how sorry they had been at home because he did not +come back. Oh what joy and yet fear she felt! They were now on the +stairs, and in a small closet at the top a lamp was burning. In the +middle of the floor stood the tame crow, turning her head from side to +side, and gazing at Gerda, who curtseyed as her grandmother had taught +her to do. +</P> + +<P> +"My betrothed has spoken so very highly of you, my little lady," +said the tame crow, "your life-history, Vita, as it may be called, +is very touching. If you will take the lamp I will walk before you. We +will go straight along this way, then we shall meet no one." +</P> + +<P> +"It seems to me as if somebody were behind us," said Gerda, as +something rushed by her like a shadow on the wall, and then horses +with flying manes and thin legs, hunters, ladies and gentlemen on +horseback, glided by her, like shadows on the wall. +</P> + +<P> +"They are only dreams," said the crow, "they are coming to fetch +the thoughts of the great people out hunting." +</P> + +<P> +"All the better, for we shall be able to look at them in their +beds more safely. I hope that when you rise to honor and favor, you +will show a grateful heart." +</P> + +<P> +"You may be quite sure of that," said the crow from the forest. +</P> + +<P> +They now came into the first hall, the walls of which were hung +with rose-colored satin, embroidered with artificial flowers. Here the +dreams again flitted by them but so quickly that Gerda could not +distinguish the royal persons. Each hall appeared more splendid than +the last, it was enought to bewilder any one. At length they reached a +bedroom. The ceiling was like a great palm-tree, with glass leaves +of the most costly crystal, and over the centre of the floor two beds, +each resembling a lily, hung from a stem of gold. One, in which the +princess lay, was white, the other was red; and in this Gerda had to +seek for little Kay. She pushed one of the red leaves aside, and saw a +little brown neck. Oh, that must be Kay! She called his name out quite +loud, and held the lamp over him. The dreams rushed back into the room +on horseback. He woke, and turned his head round, it was not little +Kay! The prince was only like him in the neck, still he was young +and pretty. Then the princess peeped out of her white-lily bed, and +asked what was the matter. Then little Gerda wept and told her +story, and all that the crows had done to help her. +</P> + +<P> +"You poor child," said the prince and princess; then they +praised the crows, and said they were not angry for what they had +done, but that it must not happen again, and this time they should +be rewarded. +</P> + +<P> +"Would you like to have your freedom?" asked the princess, "or +would you prefer to be raised to the position of court crows, with all +that is left in the kitchen for yourselves?" +</P> + +<P> +Then both the crows bowed, and begged to have a fixed appointment, +for they thought of their old age, and said it would be so comfortable +to feel that they had provision for their old days, as they called it. +And then the prince got out of his bed, and gave it up to Gerda,—he +could do no more; and she lay down. She folded her little hands, and +thought, "How good everyone is to me, men and animals too;" then she +closed her eyes and fell into a sweet sleep. All the dreams came +flying back again to her, and they looked like angels, and one of them +drew a little sledge, on which sat Kay, and nodded to her. But all +this was only a dream, and vanished as soon as she awoke. +</P> + +<P> +The following day she was dressed from head to foot in silk and +velvet, and they invited her to stay at the palace for a few days, and +enjoy herself, but she only begged for a pair of boots, and a little +carriage, and a horse to draw it, so that she might go into the wide +world to seek for Kay. And she obtained, not only boots, but also a +muff, and she was neatly dressed; and when she was ready to go, there, +at the door, she found a coach made of pure gold, with the +coat-of-arms of the prince and princess shining upon it like a star, +and the coachman, footman, and outriders all wearing golden crowns +on their heads. The prince and princess themselves helped her into the +coach, and wished her success. The forest crow, who was now married, +accompanied her for the first three miles; he sat by Gerda's side, +as he could not bear riding backwards. The tame crow stood in the +door-way flapping her wings. She could not go with them, because she +had been suffering from headache ever since the new appointment, no +doubt from eating too much. The coach was well stored with sweet +cakes, and under the seat were fruit and gingerbread nuts. +"Farewell, farewell," cried the prince and princess, and little +Gerda wept, and the crow wept; and then, after a few miles, the crow +also said "Farewell," and this was the saddest parting. However, he +flew to a tree, and stood flapping his black wings as long as he could +see the coach, which glittered in the bright sunshine. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +FIFTH STORY +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +LITTLE ROBBER-GIRL +</H3> + +<P> +The coach drove on through a thick forest, where it lighted up the +way like a torch, and dazzled the eyes of some robbers, who could +not bear to let it pass them unmolested. +</P> + +<P> +"It is gold! it is gold!" cried they, rushing forward, and seizing +the horses. Then they struck the little jockeys, the coachman, and the +footman dead, and pulled little Gerda out of the carriage. +</P> + +<P> +"She is fat and pretty, and she has been fed with the kernels of +nuts," said the old robber-woman, who had a long beard and eyebrows +that hung over her eyes. "She is as good as a little lamb; how nice +she will taste!" and as she said this, she drew forth a shining knife, +that glittered horribly. "Oh!" screamed the old woman the same moment; +for her own daughter, who held her back, had bitten her in the ear. +She was a wild and naughty girl, and the mother called her an ugly +thing, and had not time to kill Gerda. +</P> + +<P> +"She shall play with me," said the little robber-girl; "she +shall give me her muff and her pretty dress, and sleep with me in my +bed." And then she bit her mother again, and made her spring in the +air, and jump about; and all the robbers laughed, and said, "See how +she is dancing with her young cub." +</P> + +<P> +"I will have a ride in the coach," said the little robber-girl; +and she would have her own way; for she was so self-willed and +obstinate. +</P> + +<P> +She and Gerda seated themselves in the coach, and drove away, over +stumps and stones, into the depths of the forest. The little +robber-girl was about the same size as Gerda, but stronger; she had +broader shoulders and a darker skin; her eyes were quite black, and +she had a mournful look. She clasped little Gerda round the waist, and +said,— +</P> + +<P> +"They shall not kill you as long as you don't make us vexed with +you. I suppose you are a princess." +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Gerda; and then she told her all her history, and how +fond she was of little Kay. +</P> + +<P> +The robber-girl looked earnestly at her, nodded her head slightly, +and said, "They sha'nt kill you, even if I do get angry with you; +for I will do it myself." And then she wiped Gerda's eyes, and stuck +her own hands in the beautiful muff which was so soft and warm. +</P> + +<P> +The coach stopped 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 the holes and crevices, while great bulldogs, either of which +looked as if it could swallow a man, were jumping about; but they were +not allowed to bark. In the large and smoky hall a bright fire was +burning on the stone floor. There was no chimney; so the smoke went up +to the ceiling, and found a way out for itself. Soup was boiling in +a large cauldron, and hares and rabbits were roasting on the spit. +</P> + +<P> +"You shall sleep with me and all my little animals to-night," said +the robber-girl, after they had had something to eat and drink. So she +took Gerda to a corner of the hall, where some straw and carpets +were laid down. Above them, on laths and perches, were more than a +hundred pigeons, who all seemed to be asleep, although they moved +slightly when the two little girls came near them. "These all belong +to me," said the robber-girl; and she seized the nearest to her, +held it by the feet, and shook it till it flapped its wings. "Kiss +it," cried she, flapping it in Gerda's face. "There sit the +wood-pigeons," continued she, pointing to a number of laths and a cage +which had been fixed into the walls, near one of the openings. "Both +rascals would fly away directly, if they were not closely locked up. +And here is my old sweetheart 'Ba;'" and she dragged out a reindeer +by the horn; he wore a bright copper ring round his neck, and was tied +up. "We are obliged to hold him tight too, or else he would run away +from us also. I tickle his neck every evening with my sharp knife, +which frightens him very much." And then the robber-girl drew a long +knife from a chink in the wall, and let it slide gently over the +reindeer's neck. The poor animal began to kick, and the little +robber-girl laughed, and pulled down Gerda into bed with her. +</P> + +<P> +"Will you have that knife with you while you are asleep?" asked +Gerda, looking at it in great fright. +</P> + +<P> +"I always sleep with the knife by me," said the robber-girl. "No +one knows what may happen. But now tell me again all about little Kay, +and why you went out into the world." +</P> + +<P> +Then Gerda repeated her story over again, while the wood-pigeons +in the cage over her cooed, and the other pigeons slept. The little +robber-girl put one arm across Gerda's neck, and held the knife in the +other, and was soon fast asleep and snoring. But Gerda could not close +her eyes at all; she knew not whether she was to live or die. The +robbers sat round the fire, singing and drinking, and the old woman +stumbled about. It was a terrible sight for a little girl to witness. +</P> + +<P> +Then the wood-pigeons said, "Coo, coo; we have seen little Kay. +A white fowl carried his sledge, and he sat in the carriage of the +Snow Queen, which drove through the wood while we were lying in our +nest. She blew upon us, and all the young ones died excepting us +two. Coo, coo." +</P> + +<P> +"What are you saying up there?" cried Gerda. "Where was the Snow +Queen going? Do you know anything about it?" +</P> + +<P> +"She was most likely travelling to Lapland, where there is +always snow and ice. Ask the reindeer that is fastened up there with a +rope." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, there is always snow and ice," said the reindeer; "and it is +a glorious place; you can leap and run about freely on the sparkling +ice plains. The Snow Queen has her summer tent there, but her strong +castle is at the North Pole, on an island called Spitzbergen." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Kay, little Kay!" sighed Gerda. +</P> + +<P> +"Lie still," said the robber-girl, "or I shall run my knife into +your body." +</P> + +<P> +In the morning Gerda told her all that the wood-pigeons had +said; and the little robber-girl looked quite serious, and nodded +her head, and said, "That is all talk, that is all talk. Do you know +where Lapland is?" she asked the reindeer. +</P> + +<P> +"Who should know better than I do?" said the animal, while his +eyes sparkled. "I was born and brought up there, and used to run about +the snow-covered plains." +</P> + +<P> +"Now listen," said the robber-girl; "all our men are gone away,—only +mother is here, and here she will stay; but at noon she always +drinks out of a great bottle, and afterwards sleeps for a little +while; and then, I'll do something for you." Then she jumped out of +bed, clasped her mother round the neck, and pulled her by the beard, +crying, "My own little nanny goat, good morning." Then her mother +filliped her nose till it was quite red; yet she did it all for love. +</P> + +<P> +When the mother had drunk out of the bottle, and was gone to +sleep, the little robber-maiden went to the reindeer, and said, "I +should like very much to tickle your neck a few times more with my +knife, for it makes you look so funny; but never mind,—I will untie +your cord, and set you free, so that you may run away to Lapland; +but you must make good use of your legs, and carry this little +maiden to the castle of the Snow Queen, where her play-fellow is. +You have heard what she told me, for she spoke loud enough, and you +were listening." +</P> + +<P> +Then the reindeer jumped for joy; and the little robber-girl +lifted Gerda on his back, and had the forethought to tie her on, and +even to give her her own little cushion to sit on. +</P> + +<P> +"Here are your fur boots for you," said she; "for it will be +very cold; but I must keep the muff; it is so pretty. However, you +shall not be frozen for the want of it; here are my mother's large +warm mittens; they will reach up to your elbows. Let me put them on. +There, now your hands look just like my mother's." +</P> + +<P> +But Gerda wept for joy. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't like to see you fret," said the little robber-girl; +"you ought to look quite happy now; and here are two loaves and a ham, +so that you need not starve." These were fastened on the reindeer, and +then the little robber-maiden opened the door, coaxed in all the great +dogs, and then cut the string with which the reindeer was fastened, +with her sharp knife, and said, "Now run, but mind you take good +care of the little girl." And then Gerda stretched out her hand, +with the great mitten on it, towards the little robber-girl, and said, +"Farewell," and away flew the reindeer, over stumps and stones, +through the great forest, over marshes and plains, as quickly as he +could. The wolves howled, and the ravens screamed; while up in the sky +quivered red lights like flames of fire. "There are my old northern +lights," said the reindeer; "see how they flash." And he ran on day +and night still faster and faster, but the loaves and the ham were all +eaten by the time they reached Lapland. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +SIXTH STORY +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE LAPLAND WOMAN AND THE FINLAND WOMAN +</H3> + +<P> +They stopped at a little hut; it was very mean looking; the roof +sloped nearly down to the ground, and the door was so low that the +family had to creep in on their hands and knees, when they went in and +out. There was no one at home but an old Lapland woman, who was +cooking fish by the light of a train-oil lamp. The reindeer told her +all about Gerda's story, after having first told his own, which seemed +to him the most important, but Gerda was so pinched with the cold that +she could not speak. "Oh, you poor things," said the Lapland woman, +"you have a long way to go yet. You must travel more than a hundred +miles farther, to Finland. The Snow Queen lives there now, and she +burns Bengal lights every evening. I will write a few words on a dried +stock-fish, for I have no paper, and you can take it from me to the +Finland woman who lives there; she can give you better information +than I can." So when Gerda was warmed, and had taken something to +eat and drink, the woman wrote a few words on the dried fish, and told +Gerda to take great care of it. Then she tied her again on the +reindeer, and he set off at full speed. Flash, flash, went the +beautiful blue northern lights in the air the whole night long. And at +length they reached Finland, and knocked at the chimney of the Finland +woman's hut, for it had no door above the ground. They crept in, but +it was so terribly hot inside that that woman wore scarcely any +clothes; she was small and very dirty looking. She loosened little +Gerda's dress, and took off the fur boots and the mittens, or Gerda +would have been unable to bear the heat; and then she placed a piece +of ice on the reindeer's head, and read what was written on the +dried fish. After she had read it three times, she knew it by heart, +so she popped the fish into the soup saucepan, as she knew it was good +to eat, and she never wasted anything. The reindeer told his own story +first, and then little Gerda's, and the Finlander twinkled with her +clever eyes, but she said nothing. "You are so clever," said the +reindeer; "I know you can tie all the winds of the world with a +piece of twine. If a sailor unties one knot, he has a fair wind; +when he unties the second, it blows hard; but if the third and +fourth are loosened, then comes a storm, which will root up whole +forests. Cannot you give this little maiden something which will +make her as strong as twelve men, to overcome the Snow Queen?" +</P> + +<P> +"The Power of twelve men!" said the Finland woman; "that would +be of very little use." But she went to a shelf and took down and +unrolled a large skin, on which were inscribed wonderful characters, +and she read till the perspiration ran down from her forehead. But the +reindeer begged so hard for little Gerda, and Gerda looked at the +Finland woman with such beseeching tearful eyes, that her own eyes +began to twinkle again; so she drew the reindeer into a corner, and +whispered to him while she laid a fresh piece of ice on his head, +"Little Kay is really with the Snow Queen, but he finds everything +there so much to his taste and his liking, that he believes it is +the finest place in the world; but this is because he has a piece of +broken glass in his heart, and a little piece of glass in his eye. +These must be taken out, or he will never be a human being again, +and the Snow Queen will retain her power over him." +</P> + +<P> +"But can you not give little Gerda something to help her to +conquer this power?" +</P> + +<P> +"I can give her no greater power than she has already," said the +woman; "don't you see how strong that is? How men and animals are +obliged to serve her, and how well she has got through the world, +barefooted as she is. She cannot receive any power from me greater +than she now has, which consists in her own purity and innocence of +heart. If she cannot herself obtain access to the Snow Queen, and +remove the glass fragments from little Kay, we can do nothing to +help her. Two miles from here the Snow Queen's garden begins; you +can carry the little girl so far, and set her down by the large bush +which stands in the snow, covered with red berries. Do not stay +gossiping, but come back here as quickly as you can." Then the Finland +woman lifted little Gerda upon the reindeer, and he ran away with +her as quickly as he could. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I have forgotten my boots and my mittens," cried little +Gerda, as soon as she felt the cutting cold, but the reindeer dared +not stop, so he ran on till he reached the bush with the red +berries; here he set Gerda down, and he kissed her, and the great +bright tears trickled over the animal's cheeks; then he left her and +ran back as fast as he could. +</P> + +<P> +There stood poor Gerda, without shoes, without gloves, in the +midst of cold, dreary, ice-bound Finland. She ran forwards as +quickly as she could, when a whole regiment of snow-flakes came +round her; they did not, however, fall from the sky, which was quite +clear and glittering with the northern lights. The snow-flakes ran +along the ground, and the nearer they came to her, the larger they +appeared. Gerda remembered how large and beautiful they looked through +the burning-glass. But these were really larger, and much more +terrible, for they were alive, and were the guards of the Snow +Queen, and had the strangest shapes. Some were like great +porcupines, others like twisted serpents with their heads stretching +out, and some few were like little fat bears with their hair bristled; +but all were dazzlingly white, and all were living snow-flakes. Then +little Gerda repeated the Lord's Prayer, and the cold was so great +that she could see her own breath come out of her mouth like steam +as she uttered the words. The steam appeared to increase, as she +continued her prayer, till it took the shape of little angels who grew +larger the moment they touched the earth. They all wore helmets on +their heads, and carried spears and shields. Their number continued to +increase more and more; and by the time Gerda had finished her +prayers, a whole legion stood round her. They thrust their spears into +the terrible snow-flakes, so that they shivered into a hundred pieces, +and little Gerda could go forward with courage and safety. The +angels stroked her hands and feet, so that she felt the cold less, and +she hastened on to the Snow Queen's castle. +</P> + +<P> +But now we must see what Kay is doing. In truth he thought not +of little Gerda, and never supposed she could be standing in the front +of the palace. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +SEVENTH STORY +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +OF THE PALACE OF THE SNOW QUEEN AND WHAT HAPPENED THERE AT LAST +</H3> + +<P> +The walls of the palace were formed of drifted snow, and the +windows and doors of the cutting winds. There were more than a hundred +rooms in it, all as if they had been formed with snow blown +together. The largest of them extended for several miles; they were +all lighted up by the vivid light of the aurora, and they were so +large and empty, so icy cold and glittering! There were no +amusements here, not even a little bear's ball, when the storm might +have been the music, and the bears could have danced on their hind +legs, and shown their good manners. There were no pleasant games of +snap-dragon, or touch, or even a gossip over the tea-table, for the +young-lady foxes. Empty, vast, and cold were the halls of the Snow +Queen. The flickering flame of the northern lights could be plainly +seen, whether they rose high or low in the heavens, from every part of +the castle. In the midst of its empty, endless hall of snow was a +frozen lake, broken on its surface into a thousand forms; each piece +resembled another, from being in itself perfect as a work of art, +and in the centre of this lake sat the Snow Queen, when she was at +home. She called the lake "The Mirror of Reason," and said that it was +the best, and indeed the only one in the world. +</P> + +<P> +Little Kay was quite blue with cold, indeed almost black, but he +did not feel it; for the Snow Queen had kissed away the icy +shiverings, and his heart was already a lump of ice. He dragged some +sharp, flat pieces of ice to and fro, and placed them together in +all kinds of positions, as if he wished to make something out of them; +just as we try to form various figures with little tablets of wood +which we call "a Chinese puzzle." Kay's fingers were very artistic; it +was the icy game of reason at which he played, and in his eyes the +figures were very remarkable, and of the highest importance; this +opinion was owing to the piece of glass still sticking in his eye. +He composed many complete figures, forming different words, but +there was one word he never could manage to form, although he wished +it very much. It was the word "Eternity." The Snow Queen had said to +him, "When you can find out this, you shall be your own master, and +I will give you the whole world and a new pair of skates." But he +could not accomplish it. +</P> + +<P> +"Now I must hasten away to warmer countries," said the Snow Queen. +"I will go and look into the black craters of the tops of the +burning mountains, Etna and Vesuvius, as they are called,—I shall +make them look white, which will be good for them, and for the +lemons and the grapes." And away flew the Snow Queen, leaving little +Kay quite alone in the great hall which was so many miles in length; +so he sat and looked at his pieces of ice, and was thinking so deeply, +and sat so still, that any one might have supposed he was frozen. +</P> + +<P> +Just at this moment it happened that little Gerda came through the +great door of the castle. Cutting winds were raging around her, but +she offered up a prayer and the winds sank down as if they were +going to sleep; and she went on till she came to the large empty hall, +and caught sight of Kay; she knew him directly; she flew to him and +threw her arms round his neck, and held him fast, while she exclaimed, +"Kay, dear little Kay, I have found you at last." +</P> + +<P> +But he sat quite still, stiff and cold. +</P> + +<P> +Then little Gerda wept hot tears, which fell on his breast, and +penetrated into his heart, and thawed the lump of ice, and washed away +the little piece of glass which had stuck there. Then he looked at +her, and she sang— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Roses bloom and cease to be,<BR> + But we shall the Christ-child see."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Then Kay burst into tears, and he wept so that the splinter of +glass swam out of his eye. Then he recognized Gerda, and said, +joyfully, "Gerda, dear little Gerda, where have you been all this +time, and where have I been?" And he looked all around him, and +said, "How cold it is, and how large and empty it all looks," and he +clung to Gerda, and she laughed and wept for joy. It was so pleasing +to see them that the pieces of ice even danced about; and when they +were tired and went to lie down, they formed themselves into the +letters of the word which the Snow Queen had said he must find out +before he could be his own master, and have the whole world and a pair +of new skates. Then Gerda kissed his cheeks, and they became blooming; +and she kissed his eyes, and they shone like her own; she kissed his +hands and his feet, and then he became quite healthy and cheerful. The +Snow Queen might come home now when she pleased, for there stood his +certainty of freedom, in the word she wanted, written in shining +letters of ice. +</P> + +<P> +Then they took each other by the hand, and went forth from the +great palace of ice. They spoke of the grandmother, and of the roses +on the roof, and as they went on the winds were at rest, and the sun +burst forth. When they arrived at the bush with red berries, there +stood the reindeer waiting for them, and he had brought another +young reindeer with him, whose udders were full, and the children +drank her warm milk and kissed her on the mouth. Then they carried Kay +and Gerda first to the Finland woman, where they warmed themselves +thoroughly in the hot room, and she gave them directions about their +journey home. Next they went to the Lapland woman, who had made some +new clothes for them, and put their sleighs in order. Both the +reindeer ran by their side, and followed them as far as the boundaries +of the country, where the first green leaves were budding. And here +they took leave of the two reindeer and the Lapland woman, and all +said—Farewell. Then the birds began to twitter, and the forest too +was full of green young leaves; and out of it came a beautiful +horse, which Gerda remembered, for it was one which had drawn the +golden coach. A young girl was riding upon it, with a shining red +cap on her head, and pistols in her belt. It was the little +robber-maiden, who had got tired of staying at home; she was going +first to the north, and if that did not suit her, she meant to try +some other part of the world. She knew Gerda directly, and Gerda +remembered her: it was a joyful meeting. +</P> + +<P> +"You are a fine fellow to go gadding about in this way," said +she to little Kay, "I should like to know whether you deserve that any +one should go to the end of the world to find you." +</P> + +<P> +But Gerda patted her cheeks, and asked after the prince and +princess. +</P> + +<P> +"They are gone to foreign countries," said the robber-girl. +</P> + +<P> +"And the crow?" asked Gerda. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, the crow is dead," she replied; "his tame sweetheart is now a +widow, and wears a bit of black worsted round her leg. She mourns very +pitifully, but it is all stuff. But now tell me how you managed to get +him back." +</P> + +<P> +Then Gerda and Kay told her all about it. +</P> + +<P> +"Snip, snap, snare! it's all right at last," said the robber-girl. +</P> + +<P> +Then she took both their hands, and promised that if ever she +should pass through the town, she would call and pay them a visit. And +then she rode away into the wide world. But Gerda and Kay went +hand-in-hand towards home; and as they advanced, spring appeared +more lovely with its green verdure and its beautiful flowers. Very +soon they recognized the large town where they lived, and the tall +steeples of the churches, in which the sweet bells were ringing a +merry peal as they entered it, and found their way to their +grandmother's door. They went upstairs into the little room, where all +looked just as it used to do. The old clock was going "tick, tick," +and the hands pointed to the time of day, but as they passed through +the door into the room they perceived that they were both grown up, +and become a man and woman. The roses out on the roof were in full +bloom, and peeped in at the window; and there stood the little chairs, +on which they had sat when children; and Kay and Gerda seated +themselves each on their own chair, and held each other by the hand, +while the cold empty grandeur of the Snow Queen's palace vanished from +their memories like a painful dream. The grandmother sat in God's +bright sunshine, and she read aloud from the Bible, "Except ye +become as little children, ye shall in no wise enter into the +kingdom of God." And Kay and Gerda looked into each other's eyes, +and all at once understood the words of the old song, +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Roses bloom and cease to be,<BR> + But we shall the Christ-child see."<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +And they both sat there, grown up, yet children at heart; and it was +summer,—warm, beautiful summer. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="snowdrop"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE SNOWDROP +</H3> + +<P> +It was winter-time; the air was cold, the wind was sharp, but +within the closed doors it was warm and comfortable, and within the +closed door lay the flower; it lay in the bulb under the +snow-covered earth. +</P> + +<P> +One day rain fell. The drops penetrated through the snowy covering +down into the earth, and touched the flower-bulb, and talked of the +bright world above. Soon the Sunbeam pierced its way through the +snow to the root, and within the root there was a stirring. +</P> + +<P> +"Come in," said the flower. +</P> + +<P> +"I cannot," said the Sunbeam. "I am not strong enough to unlock +the door! When the summer comes I shall be strong!" +</P> + +<P> +"When will it be summer?" asked the Flower, and she repeated +this question each time a new sunbeam made its way down to her. But +the summer was yet far distant. The snow still lay upon the ground, +and there was a coat of ice on the water every night. +</P> + +<P> +"What a long time it takes! what a long time it takes!" said the +Flower. "I feel a stirring and striving within me; I must stretch +myself, I must unlock the door, I must get out, and must nod a good +morning to the summer, and what a happy time that will be!" +</P> + +<P> +And the Flower stirred and stretched itself within the thin rind +which the water had softened from without, and the snow and the +earth had warmed, and the Sunbeam had knocked at; and it shot forth +under the snow with a greenish-white blossom on a green stalk, with +narrow thick leaves, which seemed to want to protect it. The snow +was cold, but was pierced by the Sunbeam, therefore it was easy to get +through it, and now the Sunbeam came with greater strength than +before. +</P> + +<P> +"Welcome, welcome!" sang and sounded every ray, and the Flower +lifted itself up over the snow into the brighter world. The Sunbeams +caressed and kissed it, so that it opened altogether, white as snow, +and ornamented with green stripes. It bent its head in joy and +humility. +</P> + +<P> +"Beautiful Flower!" said the Sunbeams, "how graceful and +delicate you are! You are the first, you are the only one! You are our +love! You are the bell that rings out for summer, beautiful summer, +over country and town. All the snow will melt; the cold winds will +be driven away; we shall rule; all will become green, and then you +will have companions, syringas, laburnums, and roses; but you are +the first, so graceful, so delicate!" +</P> + +<P> +That was a great pleasure. It seemed as if the air were singing +and sounding, as if rays of light were piercing through the leaves and +the stalks of the Flower. There it stood, so delicate and so easily +broken, and yet so strong in its young beauty; it stood there in its +white dress with the green stripes, and made a summer. But there was a +long time yet to the summer-time. Clouds hid the sun, and bleak +winds were blowing. +</P> + +<P> +"You have come too early," said Wind and Weather. "We have still +the power, and you shall feel it, and give it up to us. You should +have stayed quietly at home and not have run out to make a display +of yourself. Your time is not come yet!" +</P> + +<P> +It was a cutting cold! The days which now come brought not a +single sunbeam. It was weather that might break such a little Flower +in two with cold. But the Flower had more strength than she herself +knew of. She was strong in joy and in faith in the summer, which would +be sure to come, which had been announced by her deep longing and +confirmed by the warm sunlight; and so she remained standing in +confidence in the snow in her white garment, bending her head even +while the snow-flakes fell thick and heavy, and the icy winds swept +over her. +</P> + +<P> +"You'll break!" they said, "and fade, and fade! What did you +want out here? Why did you let yourself be tempted? The Sunbeam only +made game of you. Now you have what you deserve, you summer gauk." +</P> + +<P> +"Summer gauk!" she repeated in the cold morning hour. +</P> + +<P> +"O summer gauk!" cried some children rejoicingly; "yonder stands +one—how beautiful, how beautiful! The first one, the only one!" +</P> + +<P> +These words did the Flower so much good, they seemed to her like +warm sunbeams. In her joy the Flower did not even feel when it was +broken off. It lay in a child's hand, and was kissed by a child's +mouth, and carried into a warm room, and looked on by gentle eyes, and +put into water. How strengthening, how invigorating! The Flower +thought she had suddenly come upon the summer. +</P> + +<P> +The daughter of the house, a beautiful little girl, was confirmed, +and she had a friend who was confirmed, too. He was studying for an +examination for an appointment. "He shall be my summer gauk," she +said; and she took the delicate Flower and laid it in a piece of +scented paper, on which verses were written, beginning with summer +gauk and ending with summer gauk. "My friend, be a winter gauk." She +had twitted him with the summer. Yes, all this was in the verses, +and the paper was folded up like a letter, and the Flower was folded +in the letter, too. It was dark around her, dark as in those days when +she lay hidden in the bulb. The Flower went forth on her journey, +and lay in the post-bag, and was pressed and crushed, which was not at +all pleasant; but that soon came to an end. +</P> + +<P> +The journey was over; the letter was opened, and read by the +dear friend. How pleased he was! He kissed the letter, and it was +laid, with its enclosure of verses, in a box, in which there were many +beautiful verses, but all of them without flowers; she was the +first, the only one, as the Sunbeams had called her; and it was a +pleasant thing to think of that. +</P> + +<P> +She had time enough, moreover, to think about it; she thought of +it while the summer passed away, and the long winter went by, and +the summer came again, before she appeared once more. But now the +young man was not pleased at all. He took hold of the letter very +roughly, and threw the verses away, so that the Flower fell on the +ground. Flat and faded she certainly was, but why should she be thrown +on the ground? Still, it was better to be here than in the fire, where +the verses and the paper were being burnt to ashes. What had happened? +What happens so often:—the Flower had made a gauk of him, that was +a jest; the girl had made a fool of him, that was no jest, she had, +during the summer, chosen another friend. +</P> + +<P> +Next morning the sun shone in upon the little flattened +Snowdrop, that looked as if it had been painted upon the floor. The +servant girl, who was sweeping out the room, picked it up, and laid it +in one of the books which were upon the table, in the belief that it +must have fallen out while the room was being arranged. Again the +flower lay among verses—printed verses—and they are better than +written ones—at least, more money has been spent upon them. +</P> + +<P> +And after this years went by. The book stood upon the +book-shelf, and then it was taken up and somebody read out of it. It +was a good book; verses and songs by the old Danish poet, Ambrosius +Stub, which are well worth reading. The man who was now reading the +book turned over a page. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, there's a flower!" he said; "a snowdrop, a summer gauk, a +poet gauk! That flower must have been put in there with a meaning! +Poor Ambrosius Stub! he was a summer fool too, a poet fool; he came +too early, before his time, and therefore he had to taste the sharp +winds, and wander about as a guest from one noble landed proprietor to +another, like a flower in a glass of water, a flower in rhymed verses! +Summer fool, winter fool, fun and folly—but the first, the only, +the fresh young Danish poet of those days. Yes, thou shalt remain as a +token in the book, thou little snowdrop: thou hast been put there with +a meaning." +</P> + +<P> +And so the Snowdrop was put back into the book, and felt equally +honored and pleased to know that it was a token in the glorious book +of songs, and that he who was the first to sing and to write had +been also a snowdrop, had been a summer gauk, and had been looked upon +in the winter-time as a fool. The Flower understood this, in her +way, as we interpret everything in our way. +</P> + +<P> +That is the story of the Snowdrop. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="somethin"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +SOMETHING +</H3> + +<P> +"I mean to be somebody, and do something useful in the world," +said the eldest of five brothers. "I don't care how humble my position +is, so that I can only do some good, which will be something. I intend +to be a brickmaker; bricks are always wanted, and I shall be really +doing something." +</P> + +<P> +"Your 'something' is not enough for me," said the second +brother; "what you talk of doing is nothing at all, it is journeyman's +work, or might even be done by a machine. No! I should prefer to be +a builder at once, there is something real in that. A man gains a +position, he becomes a citizen, has his own sign, his own house of +call for his workmen: so I shall be a builder. If all goes well, in +time I shall become a master, and have my own journeymen, and my +wife will be treated as a master's wife. This is what I call +something." +</P> + +<P> +"I call it all nothing," said the third; "not in reality any +position. There are many in a town far above a master builder in +position. You may be an upright man, but even as a master you will +only be ranked among common men. I know better what to do than that. I +will be an architect, which will place me among those who possess +riches and intellect, and who speculate in art. I shall certainly have +to rise by my own endeavors from a bricklayer's laborer, or as a +carpenter's apprentice—a lad wearing a paper cap, although I now wear +a silk hat. I shall have to fetch beer and spirits for the journeymen, +and they will call me 'thou,' which will be an insult. I shall +endure it, however, for I shall look upon it all as a mere +representation, a masquerade, a mummery, which to-morrow, that is, +when I myself as a journeyman, shall have served my time, will vanish, +and I shall go my way, and all that has passed will be nothing to +me. Then I shall enter the academy, and get instructed in drawing, and +be called an architect. I may even attain to rank, and have +something placed before or after my name, and I shall build as +others have done before me. By this there will be always 'something' +to make me remembered, and is not that worth living for?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not in my opinion," said the fourth; "I will never follow the +lead of others, and only imitate what they have done. I will be a +genius, and become greater than all of you together. I will create a +new style of building, and introduce a plan for erecting houses +suitable to the climate, with material easily obtained in the country, +and thus suit national feeling and the developments of the age, +besides building a storey for my own genius." +</P> + +<P> +"But supposing the climate and the material are not good for +much," said the fifth brother, "that would be very unfortunate for +you, and have an influence over your experiments. Nationality may +assert itself until it becomes affectation, and the developments of +a century may run wild, as youth often does. I see clearly that none +of you will ever really be anything worth notice, however you may +now fancy it. But do as you like, I shall not imitate you. I mean to +keep clear of all these things, and criticize what you do. In every +action something imperfect may be discovered, something not right, +which I shall make it my business to find out and expose; that will be +something, I fancy." And he kept his word, and became a critic. +</P> + +<P> +People said of this fifth brother, "There is something very +precise about him; he has a good head-piece, but he does nothing." And +on that very account they thought he must be something. +</P> + +<P> +Now, you see, this is a little history which will never end; as +long as the world exists, there will always be men like these five +brothers. And what became of them? Were they each nothing or +something? You shall hear; it is quite a history. +</P> + +<P> +The eldest brother, he who fabricated bricks, soon discovered that +each brick, when finished, brought him in a small coin, if only a +copper one; and many copper pieces, if placed one upon another, can be +changed into a shining shilling; and at whatever door a person knocks, +who has a number of these in his hands, whether it be the baker's, the +butcher's, or the tailor's, the door flies open, and he can get all he +wants. So you see the value of bricks. Some of the bricks, however, +crumbled to pieces, or were broken, but the elder brother found a +use for even these. +</P> + +<P> +On the high bank of earth, which formed a dyke on the sea-coast, a +poor woman named Margaret wished to build herself a house, so all +the imperfect bricks were given to her, and a few whole ones with +them; for the eldest brother was a kind-hearted man, although he never +achieved anything higher than making bricks. The poor woman built +herself a little house—it was small and narrow, and the window was +quite crooked, the door too low, and the straw roof might have been +better thatched. But still it was a shelter, and from within you could +look far over the sea, which dashed wildly against the sea-wall on +which the little house was built. The salt waves sprinkled their white +foam over it, but it stood firm, and remained long after he who had +given the bricks to build it was dead and buried. +</P> + +<P> +The second brother of course knew better how to build than poor +Margaret, for he served an apprenticeship to learn it. When his time +was up, he packed up his knapsack, and went on his travels, singing +the journeyman's song,— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "While young, I can wander without a care,<BR> + And build new houses everywhere;<BR> + Fair and bright are my dreams of home,<BR> + Always thought of wherever I roam.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + Hurrah for a workman's life of glee!<BR> + There's a loved one at home who thinks of me;<BR> + Home and friends I can ne'er forget,<BR> + And I mean to be a master yet."<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +And that is what he did. On his return home, he became a master +builder,—built one house after another in the town, till they +formed quite a street, which, when finished, became really an ornament +to the town. These houses built a house for him in return, which was +to be his own. But how can houses build a house? If the houses were +asked, they could not answer; but the people would understand, and +say, "Certainly the street built his house for him." It was not very +large, and the floor was of lime; but when he danced with his bride on +the lime-covered floor, it was to him white and shining, and from +every stone in the wall flowers seemed to spring forth and decorate +the room as with the richest tapestry. It was really a pretty house, +and in it were a happy pair. The flag of the corporation fluttered +before it, and the journeymen and apprentices shouted "Hurrah." He had +gained his position, he had made himself something, and at last he +died, which was "something" too. +</P> + +<P> +Now we come to the architect, the third brother, who had been +first a carpenter's apprentice, had worn a cap, and served as an +errand boy, but afterwards went to the academy, and risen to be an +architect, a high and noble gentleman. Ah yes, the houses of the new +street, which the brother who was a master builder erected, may have +built his house for him, but the street received its name from the +architect, and the handsomest house in the street became his property. +That was something, and he was "something," for he had a list of +titles before and after his name. His children were called "wellborn," +and when he died, his widow was treated as a lady of position, and +that was "something." His name remained always written at the corner +of the street, and lived in every one's mouth as its name. Yes, this +also was "something." +</P> + +<P> +And what about the genius of the family—the fourth brother—who +wanted to invent something new and original? He tried to build a lofty +storey himself, but it fell to pieces, and he fell with it and broke +his neck. However, he had a splendid funeral, with the city flags +and music in the procession; flowers were strewn on the pavement, +and three orations were spoken over his grave, each one longer than +the other. He would have liked this very much during his life, as well +as the poems about him in the papers, for he liked nothing so well +as to be talked of. A monument was also erected over his grave. It was +only another storey over him, but that was "something," Now he was +dead, like the three other brothers. +</P> + +<P> +The youngest—the critic—outlived them all, which was quite right +for him. It gave him the opportunity of having the last word, which to +him was of great importance. People always said he had a good +head-piece. At last his hour came, and he died, and arrived at the +gates of heaven. Souls always enter these gates in pairs; so he +found himself standing and waiting for admission with another; and who +should it be but old dame Margaret, from the house on the dyke! "It is +evidently for the sake of contrast that I and this wretched soul +should arrive here exactly at the same time," said the critic. "Pray +who are you, my good woman?" said he; "do you want to get in here +too?" +</P> + +<P> +And the old woman curtsied as well as she could; she thought it +must be St. Peter himself who spoke to her. "I am a poor old woman," +she said, "without my family. I am old Margaret, that lived in the +house on the dyke." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, and what have you done—what great deed have you +performed down below?" +</P> + +<P> +"I have done nothing at all in the world that could give me a +claim to have these doors open for me," she said. "It would be only +through mercy that I can be allowed to slip in through the gate." +</P> + +<P> +"In what manner did you leave the world?" he asked, just for the +sake of saying something; for it made him feel very weary to stand +there and wait. +</P> + +<P> +"How I left the world?" she replied; "why, I can scarcely tell +you. During the last years of my life I was sick and miserable, and +I was unable to bear creeping out of bed suddenly into the frost and +cold. Last winter was a hard winter, but I have got over it all now. +There were a few mild days, as your honor, no doubt, knows. The ice +lay thickly on the lake, as far one could see. The people came from +the town, and walked upon it, and they say there were dancing and +skating upon it, I believe, and a great feasting. The sound of +beautiful music came into my poor little room where I lay. Towards +evening, when the moon rose beautifully, though not yet in her full +splendor, I glanced from my bed over the wide sea; and there, just +where the sea and sky met, rose a curious white cloud. I lay looking +at the cloud till I observed a little black spot in the middle of +it, which gradually grew larger and larger, and then I knew what it +meant—I am old and experienced; and although this token is not +often seen, I knew it, and a shuddering seized me. Twice in my life +had I seen this same thing, and I knew that there would be an awful +storm, with a spring tide, which would overwhelm the poor people who +were now out on the ice, drinking, dancing, and making merry. Young +and old, the whole city, were there; who was to warn them, if no one +noticed the sign, or knew what it meant as I did? I was so alarmed, +that I felt more strength and life than I had done for some time. I +got out of bed, and reached the window; I could not crawl any +farther from weakness and exhaustion; but I managed to open the +window. I saw the people outside running and jumping about on the ice; +I saw the beautiful flags waving in the wind; I heard the boys +shouting, 'Hurrah!' and the lads and lasses singing, and everything +full of merriment and joy. But there was the white cloud with the +black spot hanging over them. I cried out as loudly as I could, but no +one heard me; I was too far off from the people. Soon would the +storm burst, the ice break, and all who were on it be irretrievably +lost. They could not hear me, and to go to them was quite out of my +power. Oh, if I could only get them safe on land! Then came the +thought, as if from heaven, that I would rather set fire to my bed, +and let the house be burnt down, than that so many people should +perish miserably. I got a light, and in a few moments the red flames +leaped up as a beacon to them. I escaped fortunately as far as the +threshold of the door; but there I fell down and remained: I could +go no farther. The flames rushed out towards me, flickered on the +window, and rose high above the roof. The people on the ice became +aware of the fire, and ran as fast as possible to help a poor sick +woman, who, as they thought, was being burnt to death. There was not +one who did not run. I heard them coming, and I also at the same +time was conscious of a rush of air and a sound like the roar of heavy +artillery. The spring flood was lifting the ice covering, which +brake into a thousand pieces. But the people had reached the sea-wall, +where the sparks were flying round. I had saved them all; but I +suppose I could not survive the cold and fright; so I came up here +to the gates of paradise. I am told they are open to poor creatures +such as I am, and I have now no house left on earth; but I do not +think that will give me a claim to be admitted here." +</P> + +<P> +Then the gates were opened, and an angel led the old woman in. She +had dropped one little straw out of her straw bed, when she set it +on fire to save the lives of so many. It had been changed into the +purest gold—into gold that constantly grew and expanded into +flowers and fruit of immortal beauty. +</P> + +<P> +"See," said the angel, pointing to the wonderful straw, "this is +what the poor woman has brought. What dost thou bring? I know thou +hast accomplished nothing, not even made a single brick. Even if +thou couldst return, and at least produce so much, very likely, when +made, the brick would be useless, unless done with a good will, +which is always something. But thou canst not return to earth, and I +can do nothing for thee." +</P> + +<P> +Then the poor soul, the old mother who had lived in the house on +the dyke, pleaded for him. She said, "His brother made all the stone +and bricks, and sent them to me to build my poor little dwelling, +which was a great deal to do for a poor woman like me. Could not all +these bricks and pieces be as a wall of stone to prevail for him? It +is an act of mercy; he is wanting it now; and here is the very +fountain of mercy." +</P> + +<P> +"Then," said the angel, "thy brother, he who has been looked +upon as the meanest of you all, he whose honest deeds to thee appeared +so humble,—it is he who has sent you this heavenly gift. Thou shalt +not be turned away. Thou shalt have permission to stand without the +gate and reflect, and repent of thy life on earth; but thou shalt +not be admitted here until thou hast performed one good deed of +repentance, which will indeed for thee be something." +</P> + +<P> +"I could have expressed that better," thought the critic; but he +did not say it aloud, which for him was SOMETHING, after all. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="soup_fro"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +SOUP FROM A SAUSAGE SKEWER +</H3> + +<P> +"We had such an excellent dinner yesterday," said an old mouse +of the female sex to another who had not been present at the feast. "I +sat number twenty-one below the mouse-king, which was not a bad place. +Shall I tell you what we had? Everything was first rate. Mouldy bread, +tallow candle, and sausage. And then, when we had finished that +course, the same came on all over again; it was as good as two feasts. +We were very sociable, and there was as much joking and fun as if we +had been all of one family circle. Nothing was left but the sausage +skewers, and this formed a subject of conversation, till at last it +turned to the proverb, 'Soup from sausage skins;' or, as the people in +the neighboring country call it, 'Soup from a sausage skewer.' Every +one had heard the proverb, but no one had ever tasted the soup, much +less prepared it. A capital toast was drunk to the inventor of the +soup, and some one said he ought to be made a relieving officer to the +poor. Was not that witty? Then the old mouse-king rose and promised +that the young lady-mouse who should learn how best to prepare this +much-admired and savory soup should be his queen, and a year and a day +should be allowed for the purpose." +</P> + +<P> +"That was not at all a bad proposal," said the other mouse; "but +how is the soup made?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, that is more than I can tell you. All the young lady mice +were asking the same question. They wished very much to be queen, +but they did not want to take the trouble of going out into the +world to learn how to make soup, which was absolutely necessary to +be done first. But it is not every one who would care to leave her +family, or her happy corner by the fire-side at home, even to be +made queen. It is not always easy to find bacon and cheese-rind in +foreign lands every day, and it is not pleasant to have to endure +hunger, and be perhaps, after all, eaten up alive by the cat." +</P> + +<P> +Most probably some such thoughts as these discouraged the +majority from going out into the world to collect the required +information. Only four mice gave notice that they were ready to set +out on the journey. They were young and lively, but poor. Each of them +wished to visit one of the four divisions of the world, so that it +might be seen which was the most favored by fortune. Every one took +a sausage skewer as a traveller's staff, and to remind them of the +object of their journey. They left home early in May, and none of them +returned till the first of May in the following year, and then only +three of them. Nothing was seen or heard of the fourth, although the +day of decision was close at hand. "Ah, yes, there is always some +trouble mixed up with the greatest pleasure," said the mouse-king; but +he gave orders that all the mice within a circle of many miles +should be invited at once. They were to assemble in the kitchen, and +the three travelled mice were to stand in a row before them, while a +sausage skewer, covered with crape, was to be stuck up instead of +the missing mouse. No one dared to express an opinion until the king +spoke, and desired one of them to go on with her story. And now we +shall hear what she said. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +WHAT THE FIRST LITTLE MOUSE SAW AND HEARD ON HER TRAVELS +</H3> + +<P> +"When I first went out into the world," said the little mouse, +"I fancied, as so many of my age do, that I already knew everything, +but it was not so. It takes years to acquire great knowledge. I went +at once to sea in a ship bound for the north. I had been told that the +ship's cook must know how to prepare every dish at sea, and it is easy +enough to do that with plenty of sides of bacon, and large tubs of +salt meat and mouldy flour. There I found plenty of delicate food, but +no opportunity for learning how to make soup from a sausage skewer. We +sailed on for many days and nights; the ship rocked fearfully, and +we did not escape without a wetting. As soon as we arrived at the port +to which the ship was bound, I left it, and went on shore at a place +far towards the north. It is a wonderful thing to leave your own +little corner at home, to hide yourself in a ship where there are sure +to be some nice snug corners for shelter, then suddenly to find +yourself thousands of miles away in a foreign land. I saw large +pathless forests of pine and birch trees, which smelt so strong that I +sneezed and thought of sausage. There were great lakes also which +looked as black as ink at a distance, but were quite clear when I came +close to them. Large swans were floating upon them, and I thought at +first they were only foam, they lay so still; but when I saw them walk +and fly, I knew what they were directly. They belong to the goose +species, one can see that by their walk. No one can attempt to +disguise family descent. I kept with my own kind, and associated +with the forest and field mice, who, however, knew very little, +especially about what I wanted to know, and which had actually made me +travel abroad. The idea that soup could be made from a sausage +skewer was to them such an out-of-the-way, unlikely thought, that it +was repeated from one to another through the whole forest. They +declared that the problem would never be solved, that the thing was an +impossibility. How little I thought that in this place, on the very +first night, I should be initiated into the manner of its preparation. +</P> + +<P> +"It was the height of summer, which the mice told me was the +reason that the forest smelt so strong, and that the herbs were so +fragrant, and the lakes with the white swimming swans so dark, and yet +so clear. On the margin of the wood, near to three or four houses, a +pole, as large as the mainmast of a ship, had been erected, and from +the summit hung wreaths of flowers and fluttering ribbons; it was +the Maypole. Lads and lasses danced round the pole, and tried to outdo +the violins of the musicians with their singing. They were as merry as +ever at sunset and in the moonlight, but I took no part in the +merry-making. What has a little mouse to do with a Maypole dance? I +sat in the soft moss, and held my sausage skewer tight. The moon threw +its beams particularly on one spot where stood a tree covered with +exceedingly fine moss. I may almost venture to say that it was as fine +and soft as the fur of the mouse-king, but it was green, which is a +color very agreeable to the eye. All at once I saw the most charming +little people marching towards me. They did not reach higher than my +knee; they looked like human beings, but were better proportioned, and +they called themselves elves. Their clothes were very delicate and +fine, for they were made of the leaves of flowers, trimmed with the +wings of flies and gnats, which had not a bad effect. By their manner, +it appeared as if they were seeking for something. I knew not what, +till at last one of them espied me and came towards me, and the +foremost pointed to my sausage skewer, and said, 'There, that is +just what we want; see, it is pointed at the top; is it not +capital?' and the longer he looked at my pilgrim's staff, the more +delighted he became. 'I will lend it to you,' said I, 'but not to +keep.' +</P> + +<P> +"'Oh no, we won't keep it!' they all cried; and then they seized +the skewer, which I gave up to them, and danced with it to the spot +where the delicate moss grew, and set it up in the middle of the +green. They wanted a maypole, and the one they now had seemed cut +out on purpose for them. Then they decorated it so beautifully that it +was quite dazzling to look at. Little spiders spun golden threads +around it, and then it was hung with fluttering veils and flags so +delicately white that they glittered like snow in the moonshine. After +that they took colors from the butterfly's wing, and sprinkled them +over the white drapery which gleamed as if covered with flowers and +diamonds, so that I could not recognize my sausage skewer at all. Such +a maypole had never been seen in all the world as this. Then came a +great company of real elves. Nothing could be finer than their +clothes, and they invited me to be present at the feast; but I was +to keep at a certain distance, because I was too large for them. +Then commenced such music that it sounded like a thousand glass bells, +and was so full and strong that I thought it must be the song of the +swans. I fancied also that I heard the voices of the cuckoo and the +black-bird, and it seemed at last as if the whole forest sent forth +glorious melodies—the voices of children, the tinkling of bells, +and the songs of the birds; and all this wonderful melody came from +the elfin maypole. My sausage peg was a complete peal of bells. I +could scarcely believe that so much could have been produced from +it, till I remembered into what hands it had fallen. I was so much +affected that I wept tears such as a little mouse can weep, but they +were tears of joy. The night was far too short for me; there are no +long nights there in summer, as we often have in this part of the +world. When the morning dawned, and the gentle breeze rippled the +glassy mirror of the forest lake, all the delicate veils and flags +fluttered away into thin air; the waving garlands of the spider's web, +the hanging bridges and galleries, or whatever else they may be +called, vanished away as if they had never been. Six elves brought +me back my sausage skewer, and at the same time asked me to make any +request, which they would grant if in their power; so I begged them, +if they could, to tell me how to make soup from a sausage skewer. +</P> + +<P> +"'How do we make it?' said the chief of the elves with a smile. +'Why you have just seen it; you scarcely knew your sausage skewer +again, I am sure.' +</P> + +<P> +"They think themselves very wise, thought I to myself. Then I told +them all about it, and why I had travelled so far, and also what +promise had been made at home to the one who should discover the +method of preparing this soup. 'What use will it be,' I asked, 'to the +mouse-king or to our whole mighty kingdom that I have seen all these +beautiful things? I cannot shake the sausage peg and say, Look, here +is the skewer, and now the soup will come. That would only produce a +dish to be served when people were keeping a fast.' +</P> + +<P> +"Then the elf dipped his finger into the cup of a violet, and said +to me, 'Look here, I will anoint your pilgrim's staff, so that when +you return to your own home and enter the king's castle, you have only +to touch the king with your staff, and violets will spring forth and +cover the whole of it, even in the coldest winter time; so I think I +have given you really something to carry home, and a little more +than something.'" +</P> + +<P> +But before the little mouse explained what this something more +was, she stretched her staff out to the king, and as it touched him +the most beautiful bunch of violets sprang forth and filled the +place with perfume. The smell was so powerful that the mouse-king +ordered the mice who stood nearest the chimney to thrust their tails +into the fire, that there might be a smell of burning, for the perfume +of the violets was overpowering, and not the sort of scent that +every one liked. +</P> + +<P> +"But what was the something more of which you spoke just now?" +asked the mouse-king. +</P> + +<P> +"Why," answered the little mouse, "I think it is what they call +'effect;'" and thereupon she turned the staff round, and behold not +a single flower was to be seen upon it! She now only held the naked +skewer, and lifted it up as a conductor lifts his baton at a +concert. "Violets, the elf told me," continued the mouse, "are for the +sight, the smell, and the touch; so we have only now to produce the +effect of hearing and tasting;" and then, as the little mouse beat +time with her staff, there came sounds of music, not such music as was +heard in the forest, at the elfin feast, but such as is often heard in +the kitchen—the sounds of boiling and roasting. It came quite +suddenly, like wind rushing through the chimneys, and seemed as if +every pot and kettle were boiling over. The fire-shovel clattered down +on the brass fender; and then, quite as suddenly, all was still,—nothing +could be heard but the light, vapory song of the tea-kettle, +which was quite wonderful to hear, for no one could rightly +distinguish whether the kettle was just beginning to boil or going +to stop. And the little pot steamed, and the great pot simmered, but +without any regard for each; indeed there seemed no sense in the +pots at all. And as the little mouse waved her baton still more +wildly, the pots foamed and threw up bubbles, and boiled over; while +again the wind roared and whistled through the chimney, and at last +there was such a terrible hubbub, that the little mouse let her +stick fall. +</P> + +<P> +"That is a strange sort of soup," said the mouse-king; "shall we +not now hear about the preparation?" +</P> + +<P> +"That is all," answered the little mouse, with a bow. +</P> + +<P> +"That all!" said the mouse-king; "then we shall be glad to hear +what information the next may have to give us." +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +WHAT THE SECOND MOUSE HAD TO TELL +</H3> + +<P> +"I was born in the library, at a castle," said the second mouse. +"Very few members of our family ever had the good fortune to get +into the dining-room, much less the store-room. On my journey, and +here to-day, are the only times I have ever seen a kitchen. We were +often obliged to suffer hunger in the library, but then we gained a +great deal of knowledge. The rumor reached us of the royal prize +offered to those who should be able to make soup from a sausage +skewer. Then my old grandmother sought out a manuscript which, +however, she could not read, but had heard it read, and in it was +written, 'Those who are poets can make soup of sausage skewers.' She +then asked me if I was a poet. I felt myself quite innocent of any +such pretensions. Then she said I must go out and make myself a +poet. I asked again what I should be required to do, for it seemed +to me quite as difficult as to find out how to make soup of a +sausage skewer. My grandmother had heard a great deal of reading in +her day, and she told me three principal qualifications were +necessary—understanding, imagination, and feeling. 'If you can manage +to acquire these three, you will be a poet, and the sausage-skewer +soup will be quite easy to you.' +</P> + +<P> +"So I went forth into the world, and turned my steps towards the +west, that I might become a poet. Understanding is the most +important matter in everything. I knew that, for the two other +qualifications are not thought much of; so I went first to seek for +understanding. Where was I to find it? 'Go to the ant and learn +wisdom,' said the great Jewish king. I knew that from living in a +library. So I went straight on till I came to the first great +ant-hill, and then I set myself to watch, that I might become wise. +The ants are a very respectable people, they are wisdom itself. All +they do is like the working of a sum in arithmetic, which comes right. +'To work and to lay eggs,' say they, and to provide for posterity, +is to live out your time properly;' and that they truly do. They are +divided into the clean and the dirty ants, their rank is pointed out +by a number, and the ant-queen is number ONE; and her opinion is the +only correct one on everything; she seems to have the whole wisdom +of the world in her, which was just the important matter I wished to +acquire. She said a great deal which was no doubt very clever; yet +to me it sounded like nonsense. She said the ant-hill was the loftiest +thing in the world, and yet close to the mound stood a tall tree, +which no one could deny was loftier, much loftier, but no mention +was made of the tree. One evening an ant lost herself on this tree; +she had crept up the stem, not nearly to the top, but higher than +any ant had ever ventured; and when at last she returned home she said +that she had found something in her travels much higher than the +ant-hill. The rest of the ants considered this an insult to the +whole community; so she was condemned to wear a muzzle and to live +in perpetual solitude. A short time afterwards another ant got on +the tree, and made the same journey and the same discovery, but she +spoke of it cautiously and indefinitely, and as she was one of the +superior ants and very much respected, they believed her, and when she +died they erected an eggshell as a monument to her memory, for they +cultivated a great respect for science. I saw," said the little mouse, +"that the ants were always running to and fro with her burdens on +their backs. Once I saw one of them drop her load; she gave herself +a great deal of trouble in trying to raise it again, but she could not +succeed. Then two others came up and tried with all their strength +to help her, till they nearly dropped their own burdens in doing so; +then they were obliged to stop for a moment in their help, for every +one must think of himself first. And the ant-queen remarked that their +conduct that day showed that they possessed kind hearts and good +understanding. 'These two qualities,' she continued, 'place us ants in +the highest degree above all other reasonable beings. Understanding +must therefore be seen among us in the most prominent manner, and my +wisdom is greater than all.' And so saying she raised herself on her +two hind legs, that no one else might be mistaken for her. I could not +therefore make an error, so I ate her up. We are to go to the ants +to learn wisdom, and I had got the queen. +</P> + +<P> +"I now turned and went nearer to the lofty tree already mentioned, +which was an oak. It had a tall trunk with a wide-spreading top, and +was very old. I knew that a living being dwelt here, a dryad as she is +called, who is born with the tree and dies with it. I had heard this +in the library, and here was just such a tree, and in it an +oak-maiden. She uttered a terrible scream when she caught sight of +me so near to her; like many women, she was very much afraid of +mice. And she had more real cause for fear than they have, for I might +have gnawed through the tree on which her life depended. I spoke to +her in a kind and friendly manner, and begged her to take courage. +At last she took me up in her delicate hand, and then I told her +what had brought me out into the world, and she promised me that +perhaps on that very evening she should be able to obtain for me one +of the two treasures for which I was seeking. She told me that +Phantaesus was her very dear friend, that he was as beautiful as the +god of love, that he remained often for many hours with her under +the leafy boughs of the tree which then rustled and waved more than +ever over them both. He called her his dryad, she said, and the tree +his tree; for the grand old oak, with its gnarled trunk, was just to +his taste. The root, spreading deep into the earth, the top rising +high in the fresh air, knew the value of the drifted snow, the keen +wind, and the warm sunshine, as it ought to be known. 'Yes,' continued +the dryad, 'the birds sing up above in the branches, and talk to +each other about the beautiful fields they have visited in foreign +lands; and on one of the withered boughs a stork has built his +nest,—it is beautifully arranged, and besides it is pleasant to +hear a little about the land of the pyramids. All this pleases +Phantaesus, but it is not enough for him; I am obliged to relate to +him of my life in the woods; and to go back to my childhood, when I +was little, and the tree so small and delicate that a +stinging-nettle could overshadow it, and I have to tell everything +that has happened since then till now that the tree is so large and +strong. Sit you down now under the green bindwood and pay attention, +when Phantaesus comes I will find an opportunity to lay hold of his +wing and to pull out one of the little feathers. That feather you +shall have; a better was never given to any poet, it will be quite +enough for you.' +</P> + +<P> +"And when Phantaesus came the feather was plucked, and," said +the little mouse, "I seized and put it in water, and kept it there +till it was quite soft. It was very heavy and indigestible, but I +managed to nibble it up at last. It is not so easy to nibble one's +self into a poet, there are so many things to get through. Now, +however, I had two of them, understanding and imagination; and through +these I knew that the third was to be found in the library. A great +man has said and written that there are novels whose sole and only use +appeared to be that they might relieve mankind of overflowing tears—a +kind of sponge, in fact, for sucking up feelings and emotions. I +remembered a few of these books, they had always appeared tempting +to the appetite; they had been much read, and were so greasy, that +they must have absorbed no end of emotions in themselves. I retraced +my steps to the library, and literally devoured a whole novel, that +is, properly speaking, the interior or soft part of it; the crust, +or binding, I left. When I had digested not only this, but a second, I +felt a stirring within me; then I ate a small piece of a third +romance, and felt myself a poet. I said it to myself, and told +others the same. I had head-ache and back-ache, and I cannot tell what +aches besides. I thought over all the stories that may be said to be +connected with sausage pegs, and all that has ever been written +about skewers, and sticks, and staves, and splinters came to my +thoughts; the ant-queen must have had a wonderfully clear +understanding. I remembered the man who placed a white stick in his +mouth by which he could make himself and the stick invisible. I +thought of sticks as hobby-horses, staves of music or rhyme, of +breaking a stick over a man's back, and heaven knows how many more +phrases of the same sort relating to sticks, staves, and skewers. +All my thoughts rein on skewers, sticks of wood, and staves; and as +I am, at last, a poet, and I have worked terribly hard to make +myself one, I can of course make poetry on anything. I shall therefore +be able to wait upon you every day in the week with a poetical history +of a skewer. And that is my soup." +</P> + +<P> +"In that case," said the mouse-king, "we will hear what the +third mouse has to say." +</P> + +<P> +"Squeak, squeak," cried a little mouse at the kitchen door; it was +the fourth, and not the third, of the four who were contending for the +prize, one whom the rest supposed to be dead. She shot in like an +arrow, and overturned the sausage peg that had been covered with +crape. She had been running day and night. She had watched an +opportunity to get into a goods train, and had travelled by the +railway; and yet she had arrived almost too late. She pressed forward, +looking very much ruffled. She had lost her sausage skewer, but not +her voice; for she began to speak at once as if they only waited for +her, and would hear her only, and as if nothing else in the world +was of the least consequence. She spoke out so clearly and plainly, +and she had come in so suddenly, that no one had time to stop her or +to say a word while she was speaking. And now let us hear what she +said. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +WHAT THE FOURTH MOUSE, WHO SPOKE BEFORE THE THIRD, HAD TO TELL +</H3> + +<P> +"I started off at once to the largest town," said she, "but the +name of it has escaped me. I have a very bad memory for names. I was +carried from the railway, with some forfeited goods, to the jail, +and on arriving I made my escape, and ran into the house of the +turnkey. The turnkey was speaking of his prisoners, especially of +one who had uttered thoughtless words. These words had given rise to +other words, and at length they were written down and registered: 'The +whole affair is like making soup of sausage skewers,' said he, 'but +the soup may cost him his neck.' +</P> + +<P> +"Now this raised in me an interest for the prisoner," continued +the little mouse, "and I watched my opportunity, and slipped into +his apartment, for there is a mouse-hole to be found behind every +closed door. The prisoner looked pale; he had a great beard and large, +sparkling eyes. There was a lamp burning, but the walls were so +black that they only looked the blacker for it. The prisoner scratched +pictures and verses with white chalk on the black walls, but I did not +read the verses. I think he found his confinement wearisome, so that I +was a welcome guest. He enticed me with bread-crumbs, with +whistling, and with gentle words, and seemed so friendly towards me, +that by degrees I gained confidence in him, and we became friends; +he divided his bread and water with me, gave me cheese and sausage, +and I really began to love him. Altogether, I must own that it was a +very pleasant intimacy. He let me run about on his hand, and on his +arm, and into his sleeve; and I even crept into his beard, and he +called me his little friend. I forgot what I had come out into the +world for; forgot my sausage skewer which I had laid in a crack in the +floor—it is lying there still. I wished to stay with him always where +I was, for I knew that if I went away the poor prisoner would have +no one to be his friend, which is a sad thing. I stayed, but he did +not. He spoke to me so mournfully for the last time, gave me double as +much bread and cheese as usual, and kissed his hand to me. Then he +went away, and never came back. I know nothing more of his history. +</P> + +<P> +"The jailer took possession of me now. He said something about +soup from a sausage skewer, but I could not trust him. He took me in +his hand certainly, but it was to place me in a cage like a +tread-mill. Oh how dreadful it was! I had to run round and round +without getting any farther in advance, and only to make everybody +laugh. The jailer's grand-daughter was a charming little thing. She +had curly hair like the brightest gold, merry eyes, and such a smiling +mouth. +</P> + +<P> +"'You poor little mouse,' said she, one day as she peeped into +my cage, 'I will set you free.' She then drew forth the iron +fastening, and I sprang out on the window-sill, and from thence to the +roof. Free! free! that was all I could think of; not of the object +of my journey. It grew dark, and as night was coming on I found a +lodging in an old tower, where dwelt a watchman and an owl. I had no +confidence in either of them, least of all in the owl, which is like a +cat, and has a great failing, for she eats mice. One may however be +mistaken sometimes; and so was I, for this was a respectable and +well-educated old owl, who knew more than the watchman, and even as +much as I did myself. The young owls made a great fuss about +everything, but the only rough words she would say to them were, +'You had better go and make some soup from sausage skewers.' She was +very indulgent and loving to her children. Her conduct gave me such +confidence in her, that from the crack where I sat I called out +'squeak.' This confidence of mine pleased her so much that she assured +me she would take me under her own protection, and that not a creature +should do me harm. The fact was, she wickedly meant to keep me in +reserve for her own eating in winter, when food would be scarce. Yet +she was a very clever lady-owl; she explained to me that the +watchman could only hoot with the horn that hung loose at his side; +and then she said he is so terribly proud of it, that he imagines +himself an owl in the tower;—wants to do great things, but only +succeeds in small; all soup on a sausage skewer. Then I begged the owl +to give me the recipe for this soup. 'Soup from a sausage skewer,' +said she, 'is only a proverb amongst mankind, and may be understood in +many ways. Each believes his own way the best, and after all, the +proverb signifies nothing.' 'Nothing!' I exclaimed. I was quite +struck. Truth is not always agreeable, but truth is above everything +else, as the old owl said. I thought over all this, and saw quite +plainly that if truth was really so far above everything else, it must +be much more valuable than soup from a sausage skewer. So I hastened +to get away, that I might be home in time, and bring what was +highest and best, and above everything—namely, the truth. The mice +are an enlightened people, and the mouse-king is above them all. He is +therefore capable of making me queen for the sake of truth." +</P> + +<P> +"Your truth is a falsehood," said the mouse who had not yet +spoken; "I can prepare the soup, and I mean to do so." +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> + HOW IT WAS PREPARED +</H3> + +<P> +"I did not travel," said the third mouse; "I stayed in this +country: that was the right way. One gains nothing by +travelling—everything can be acquired here quite as easily; so I stayed +at home. I have not obtained what I know from supernatural beings. I +have neither swallowed it, nor learnt it from conversing with owls. I +have got it all from my reflections and thoughts. Will you now set the +kettle on the fire—so? Now pour the water in—quite full—up to the +brim; place it on the fire; make up a good blaze; keep it burning, +that the water may boil; it must boil over and over. There, now I +throw in the skewer. Will the mouse-king be pleased now to dip his +tail into the boiling water, and stir it round with the tail. The +longer the king stirs it, the stronger the soup will become. Nothing +more is necessary, only to stir it." +</P> + +<P> +"Can no one else do this?" asked the king. +</P> + +<P> +"No," said the mouse; "only in the tail of the mouse-king is +this power contained." +</P> + +<P> +And the water boiled and bubbled, as the mouse-king stood close +beside the kettle. It seemed rather a dangerous performance; but he +turned round, and put out his tail, as mice do in a dairy, when they +wish to skim the cream from a pan of milk with their tails and +afterwards lick it off. But the mouse-king's tail had only just +touched the hot steam, when he sprang away from the chimney in a great +hurry, exclaiming, "Oh, certainly, by all means, you must be my queen; +and we will let the soup question rest till our golden wedding, +fifty years hence; so that the poor in my kingdom, who are then to +have plenty of food, will have something to look forward to for a long +time, with great joy." +</P> + +<P> +And very soon the wedding took place. But many of the mice, as +they were returning home, said that the soup could not be properly +called "soup from a sausage skewer," but "soup from a mouse's tail." +They acknowledged also that some of the stories were very well told; +but that the whole could have been managed differently. "I should have +told it so—and so—and so." These were the critics who are always +so clever afterwards. +</P> + +<P> +When this story was circulated all over the world, the opinions +upon it were divided; but the story remained the same. And, after all, +the best way in everything you undertake, great as well as small, is +to expect no thanks for anything you may do, even when it refers to +"soup from a sausage skewer." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="storks"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE STORKS +</H3> + +<P> +On the last house in a little village the storks had built a nest, +and the mother stork sat in it with her four young ones, who stretched +out their necks and pointed their black beaks, which had not yet +turned red like those of the parent birds. A little way off, on the +edge of the roof, stood the father stork, quite upright and stiff; not +liking to be quite idle, he drew up one leg, and stood on the other, +so still that it seemed almost as if he were carved in wood. "It +must look very grand," thought he, "for my wife to have a sentry +guarding her nest. They do not know that I am her husband; they will +think I have been commanded to stand here, which is quite +aristocratic;" and so he continued standing on one leg. +</P> + +<P> +In the street below were a number of children at play, and when +they caught sight of the storks, one of the boldest amongst the boys +began to sing a song about them, and very soon he was joined by the +rest. These are the words of the song, but each only sang what he +could remember of them in his own way. +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Stork, stork, fly away,<BR> + Stand not on one leg, I pray,<BR> + See your wife is in her nest,<BR> + With her little ones at rest.<BR> + They will hang one,<BR> + And fry another;<BR> + They will shoot a third,<BR> + And roast his brother."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"Just hear what those boys are singing," said the young storks; +"they say we shall be hanged and roasted." +</P> + +<P> +"Never mind what they say; you need not listen," said the +mother. "They can do no harm." +</P> + +<P> +But the boys went on singing and pointing at the storks, and +mocking at them, excepting one of the boys whose name was Peter; he +said it was a shame to make fun of animals, and would not join with +them at all. The mother stork comforted her young ones, and told +them not to mind. "See," she said, "How quiet your father stands, +although he is only on one leg." +</P> + +<P> +"But we are very much frightened," said the young storks, and they +drew back their heads into the nests. +</P> + +<P> +The next day when the children were playing together, and saw +the storks, they sang the song again— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "They will hang one,<BR> + And roast another."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"Shall we be hanged and roasted?" asked the young storks. +</P> + +<P> +"No, certainly not," said the mother. "I will teach you to fly, +and when you have learnt, we will fly into the meadows, and pay a +visit to the frogs, who will bow themselves to us in the water, and +cry 'Croak, croak,' and then we shall eat them up; that will be fun." +</P> + +<P> +"And what next?" asked the young storks. +</P> + +<P> +"Then," replied the mother, "all the storks in the country will +assemble together, and go through their autumn manoeuvres, so that +it is very important for every one to know how to fly properly. If +they do not, the general will thrust them through with his beak, and +kill them. Therefore you must take pains and learn, so as to be +ready when the drilling begins." +</P> + +<P> +"Then we may be killed after all, as the boys say; and hark! +they are singing again." +</P> + +<P> +"Listen to me, and not to them," said the mother stork. "After the +great review is over, we shall fly away to warm countries far from +hence, where there are mountains and forests. To Egypt, where we shall +see three-cornered houses built of stone, with pointed tops that reach +nearly to the clouds. They are called Pyramids, and are older than a +stork could imagine; and in that country, there is a river that +overflows its banks, and then goes back, leaving nothing but mire; +there we can walk about, and eat frogs in abundance." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, o—h!" cried the young storks. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, it is a delightful place; there is nothing to do all day +long but eat, and while we are so well off out there, in this +country there will not be a single green leaf on the trees, and the +weather will be so cold that the clouds will freeze, and fall on the +earth in little white rags." The stork meant snow, but she could not +explain it in any other way. +</P> + +<P> +"Will the naughty boys freeze and fall in pieces?" asked the young +storks. +</P> + +<P> +"No, they will not freeze and fall into pieces," said the +mother, "but they will be very cold, and be obliged to sit all day +in a dark, gloomy room, while we shall be flying about in foreign +lands, where there are blooming flowers and warm sunshine." +</P> + +<P> +Time passed on, and the young storks grew so large that they could +stand upright in the nest and look about them. The father brought +them, every day, beautiful frogs, little snakes, and all kinds of +stork-dainties that he could find. And then, how funny it was to see +the tricks he would perform to amuse them. He would lay his head quite +round over his tail, and clatter with his beak, as if it had been a +rattle; and then he would tell them stories all about the marshes +and fens. +</P> + +<P> +"Come," said the mother one day, "Now you must learn to fly." +And all the four young ones were obliged to come out on the top of the +roof. Oh, how they tottered at first, and were obliged to balance +themselves with their wings, or they would have fallen to the ground +below. +</P> + +<P> +"Look at me," said the mother, "you must hold your heads in this +way, and place your feet so. Once, twice, once, twice—that is it. Now +you will be able to take care of yourselves in the world." +</P> + +<P> +Then she flew a little distance from them, and the young ones made +a spring to follow her; but down they fell plump, for their bodies +were still too heavy. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't want to fly," said one of the young storks, creeping back +into the nest. "I don't care about going to warm countries." +</P> + +<P> +"Would you like to stay here and freeze when the winter comes?" +said the mother, "or till the boys comes to hang you, or to roast +you?—Well then, I'll call them." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh no, no," said the young stork, jumping out on the roof with +the others; and now they were all attentive, and by the third day +could fly a little. Then they began to fancy they could soar, so +they tried to do so, resting on their wings, but they soon found +themselves falling, and had to flap their wings as quickly as +possible. The boys came again in the street singing their song:— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Stork, stork, fly away."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"Shall we fly down, and pick their eyes out?" asked the young +storks. +</P> + +<P> +"No; leave them alone," said the mother. "Listen to me; that is +much more important. Now then. One-two-three. Now to the right. +One-two-three. Now to the left, round the chimney. There now, that was +very good. That last flap of the wings was so easy and graceful, +that I shall give you permission to fly with me to-morrow to the +marshes. There will be a number of very superior storks there with +their families, and I expect you to show them that my children are the +best brought up of any who may be present. You must strut about +proudly—it will look well and make you respected." +</P> + +<P> +"But may we not punish those naughty boys?" asked the young +storks. +</P> + +<P> +"No; let them scream away as much as they like. You can fly from +them now up high amid the clouds, and will be in the land of the +pyramids when they are freezing, and have not a green leaf on the +trees or an apple to eat." +</P> + +<P> +"We will revenge ourselves," whispered the young storks to each +other, as they again joined the exercising. +</P> + +<P> +Of all the boys in the street who sang the mocking song about +the storks, not one was so determined to go on with it as he who first +began it. Yet he was a little fellow not more than six years old. To +the young storks he appeared at least a hundred, for he was so much +bigger than their father and mother. To be sure, storks cannot be +expected to know how old children and grown-up people are. So they +determined to have their revenge on this boy, because he began the +song first and would keep on with it. The young storks were very +angry, and grew worse as they grew older; so at last their mother +was obliged to promise that they should be revenged, but not until the +day of their departure. +</P> + +<P> +"We must see first, how you acquit yourselves at the grand +review," said she. "If you get on badly there, the general will thrust +his beak through you, and you will be killed, as the boys said, though +not exactly in the same manner. So we must wait and see." +</P> + +<P> +"You shall see," said the young birds, and then they took such +pains and practised so well every day, that at last it was quite a +pleasure to see them fly so lightly and prettily. As soon as the +autumn arrived, all the storks began to assemble together before +taking their departure for warm countries during the winter. Then +the review commenced. They flew over forests and villages to show what +they could do, for they had a long journey before them. The young +storks performed their part so well that they received a mark of +honor, with frogs and snakes as a present. These presents were the +best part of the affair, for they could eat the frogs and snakes, +which they very quickly did. +</P> + +<P> +"Now let us have our revenge," they cried. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, certainly," cried the mother stork. "I have thought upon the +best way to be revenged. I know the pond in which all the little +children lie, waiting till the storks come to take them to their +parents. The prettiest little babies lie there dreaming more sweetly +than they will ever dream in the time to come. All parents are glad to +have a little child, and children are so pleased with a little brother +or sister. Now we will fly to the pond and fetch a little baby for +each of the children who did not sing that naughty song to make game +of the storks." +</P> + +<P> +"But the naughty boy, who began the song first, what shall we do +to him?" cried the young storks. +</P> + +<P> +"There lies in the pond a little dead baby who has dreamed +itself to death," said the mother. "We will take it to the naughty +boy, and he will cry because we have brought him a little dead +brother. But you have not forgotten the good boy who said it was a +shame to laugh at animals: we will take him a little brother and +sister too, because he was good. He is called Peter, and you shall all +be called Peter in future." +</P> + +<P> +So they all did what their mother had arranged, and from that day, +even till now, all the storks have been called Peter. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="storm_sh"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE STORM SHAKES THE SHIELD +</H3> + +<P> +In the old days, when grandpapa was quite a little boy, and ran +about in little red breeches and a red coat, and a feather in his +cap—for that's the costume the little boys wore in his time when they were +dressed in their best—many things were very different from what +they are now. There was often a good deal of show in the streets—show +that we don't see nowadays, because it has been abolished as too +old-fashioned. Still, it is very interesting to hear grandfather +tell about it. +</P> + +<P> +It must really have been a gorgeous sight to behold, in those +days, when the shoemaker brought over the shield, when the court-house +was changed. The silken flag waved to and fro, on the shield itself +a double eagle was displayed, and a big boot; the youngest lads +carried the "welcome," and the chest of the workmen's guild, and their +shirt-sleeves were adorned with red and white ribbons; the elder +ones carried drawn swords, each with a lemon stuck on its point. There +was a full band of music, and the most splendid of all the instruments +was the "bird," as grandfather called the big stick with the +crescent on the top, and all manner of dingle-dangles hanging to it—a +perfect Turkish clatter of music. The stick was lifted high in the +air, and swung up and down till it jingled again, and quite dazzled +one's eyes when the sun shone on all its glory of gold, and silver, +and brass. +</P> + +<P> +In front of the procession ran the Harlequin, dressed in clothes +made of all kinds of colored patches artfully sewn together, with a +black face, and bells on his head like a sledge horse. He beat the +people with his bat, which made a great clattering without hurting +them, and the people would crowd together and fall back, only to +advance again the next moment. Little boys and girls fell over their +own toes into the gutter, old women dispensed digs with their +elbows, and looked sour, and took snuff. One laughed, another chatted; +the people thronged the windows and door-steps, and even all the +roofs. The sun shone; and although they had a little rain too, that +was good for the farmer; and when they got wetted thoroughly, they +only thought what a blessing it was for the country. +</P> + +<P> +And what stories grandpapa could tell! As a little boy he had seen +all these fine doings in their greatest pomp. The oldest of the +policemen used to make a speech from the platform on which the +shield was hung up, and the speech was in verse, as if it had been +made by a poet, as, indeed it had; for three people had concocted it +together, and they had first drunk a good bowl of punch, so that the +speech might turn out well. +</P> + +<P> +And the people gave a cheer for the speech, but they shouted +much louder for the Harlequin, when he appeared in front of the +platform, and made a grimace at them. +</P> + +<P> +The fools played the fool most admirably, and drank mead out of +spirit-glasses, which they then flung among the crowd, by whom they +were caught up. Grandfather was the possessor of one of these glasses, +which had been given him by a working mason, who had managed to +catch it. Such a scene was really very pleasant; and the shield on the +new court-house was hung with flowers and green wreaths. +</P> + +<P> +"One never forgets a feast like that, however old one may grow," +said grandfather. Nor did he forget it, though he saw many other grand +spectacles in his time, and could tell about them too; but it was most +pleasant of all to hear him tell about the shield that was brought +in the town from the old to the new court-house. +</P> + +<P> +Once, when he was a little boy, grandpapa had gone with his +parents to see this festivity. He had never yet been in the metropolis +of the country. There were so many people in the streets, that he +thought that the shield was being carried. There were many shields +to be seen; a hundred rooms might have been filled with pictures, if +they had been hung up inside and outside. At the tailor's were +pictures of all kinds of clothing, to show that he could stitch up +people from the coarsest to the finest; at the tobacco +manufacturer's were pictures of the most charming little boys, smoking +cigars, just as they do in reality; there were signs with painted +butter, and herring, clerical collars, and coffins, and inscriptions +and announcements into the bargain. A person could walk up and down +for a whole day through the streets, and tire himself out with looking +at the pictures; and then he would know all about what people lived in +the houses, for they had hung out their shields or signs; and, as +grandfather said, it was a very instructive thing, in a great town, to +know at once who the inhabitants were. +</P> + +<P> +And this is what happened with these shields, when grandpapa +came to the town. He told it me himself, and he hadn't "a rogue on his +back," as mother used to tell me he had when he wanted to make me +believe something outrageous, for now he looked quite trustworthy. +</P> + +<P> +The first night after he came to the town had been signalized by +the most terrible gale ever recorded in the newspapers—a gale such as +none of the inhabitants had ever before experienced. The air was +dark with flying tiles; old wood-work crashed and fell; and a +wheelbarrow ran up the streets all alone, only to get out of the +way. There was a groaning in the air, and a howling and a shrieking, +and altogether it was a terrible storm. The water in the canal rose +over the banks, for it did not know where to run. The storm swept over +the town, carrying plenty of chimneys with it, and more than one proud +weathercock on a church tower had to bow, and has never got over it +from that time. +</P> + +<P> +There was a kind of sentry-house, where dwelt the venerable old +superintendent of the fire brigade, who always arrived with the last +engine. The storm would not leave this little sentry-house alone, +but must needs tear it from its fastenings, and roll it down the +street; and, wonderfully enough, it stopped opposite to the door of +the dirty journeyman plasterer, who had saved three lives at the +last fire, but the sentry-house thought nothing of that. +</P> + +<P> +The barber's shield, the great brazen dish, was carried away, +and hurled straight into the embrasure of the councillor of justice; +and the whole neighborhood said this looked almost like malice, +inasmuch as they, and nearly all the friends of the councillor's wife, +used to call that lady "the Razor" for she was so sharp that she +knew more about other people's business than they knew about it +themselves. +</P> + +<P> +A shield with a dried salt fish painted on it flew exactly in +front of the door of a house where dwelt a man who wrote a +newspaper. That was a very poor joke perpetrated by the gale, which +seemed to have forgotten that a man who writes in a paper is not the +kind of person to understand any liberty taken with him; for he is a +king in his own newspaper, and likewise in his own opinion. +</P> + +<P> +The weathercock flew to the opposite house, where he perched, +looking the picture of malice—so the neighbors said. +</P> + +<P> +The cooper's tub stuck itself up under the head of "ladies' +costumes." +</P> + +<P> +The eating-house keeper's bill of fare, which had hung at his door +in a heavy frame, was posted by the storm over the entrance to the +theatre, where nobody went. "It was a ridiculous list—horse-radish, +soup, and stuffed cabbage." And now people came in plenty. +</P> + +<P> +The fox's skin, the honorable sign of the furrier, was found +fastened to the bell-pull of a young man who always went to early +lecture, and looked like a furled umbrella. He said he was striving +after truth, and was considered by his aunt "a model and an example." +</P> + +<P> +The inscription "Institution for Superior Education" was found +near the billiard club, which place of resort was further adorned with +the words, "Children brought up by hand." Now, this was not at all +witty; but, you see, the storm had done it, and no one has any control +over that. +</P> + +<P> +It was a terrible night, and in the morning—only think!—nearly +all the shields had changed places. In some places the inscriptions +were so malicious, that grandfather would not speak of them at all; +but I saw that he was chuckling secretly, and there may have been some +inaccuracy in his description, after all. +</P> + +<P> +The poor people in the town, and still more the strangers, were +continually making mistakes in the people they wanted to see; nor +was this to be avoided, when they went according to the shields that +were hung up. Thus, for instance, some who wanted to go to a very +grave assembly of elderly men, where important affairs were to be +discussed, found themselves in a noisy boys' school, where all the +company were leaping over the chairs and tables. +</P> + +<P> +There were also people who made a mistake between the church and +the theatre, and that was terrible indeed! +</P> + +<P> +Such a storm we have never witnessed in our day; for that only +happened in grandpapa's time, when he was quite a little boy. +Perhaps we shall never experience a storm of the kind, but our +grandchildren may; and we can only hope and pray that all may stay +at home while the storm is moving the shields. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="story_mother"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE STORY OF A MOTHER +</H3> + +<P> +A mother sat by her little child; she was very sad, for she feared +it would die. It was quite pale, and its little eyes were closed, +and sometimes it drew a heavy deep breath, almost like a sigh; and +then the mother gazed more sadly than ever on the poor little +creature. Some one knocked at the door, and a poor old man walked +in. He was wrapped in something that looked like a great +horse-cloth; and he required it truly to keep him warm, for it was +cold winter; the country everywhere lay covered with snow and ice, and +the wind blew so sharply that it cut one's face. The little child +had dozed off to sleep for a moment, and the mother, seeing that the +old man shivered with the cold, rose and placed a small mug of beer on +the stove to warm for him. The old man sat and rocked the cradle; +and the mother seated herself on a chair near him, and looked at her +sick child who still breathed heavily, and took hold of its little +hand. +</P> + +<P> +"You think I shall keep him, do you not?" she said. "Our all-merciful +God will surely not take him away from me." +</P> + +<P> +The old man, who was indeed Death himself, nodded his head in a +peculiar manner, which might have signified either Yes, or No; and the +mother cast down her eyes, while the tears rolled down her cheeks. +Then her head became heavy, for she had not closed her eyes for +three days and nights, and she slept, but only for a moment. Shivering +with cold, she started up and looked round the room. The old man was +gone, and her child—it was gone too!—the old man had taken it with +him. In the corner of the room the old clock began to strike; +"whirr" went the chains, the heavy weight sank to the ground, and +the clock stopped; and the poor mother rushed out of the house calling +for her child. Out in the snow sat a woman in long black garments, and +she said to the mother, "Death has been with you in your room. I saw +him hastening away with your little child; he strides faster than +the wind, and never brings back what he has taken away." +</P> + +<P> +"Only tell me which way he has gone," said the mother; "tell me the +way, I will find him." +</P> + +<P> +"I know the way," said the woman in the black garments; "but +before I tell you, you must sing to me all the songs that you have +sung to your child; I love these songs, I have heard them before. I am +Night, and I saw your tears flow as you sang." +</P> + +<P> +"I will sing them all to you," said the mother; "but do not detain +me now. I must overtake him, and find my child." +</P> + +<P> +But Night sat silent and still. Then the mother wept and sang, and +wrung her hands. And there were many songs, and yet even more tears; +till at length Night said, "Go to the right, into the dark forest of +fir-trees; for I saw Death take that road with your little child." +</P> + +<P> +Within the wood the mother came to cross roads, and she knew not +which to take. Just by stood a thorn-bush; it had neither leaf nor +flower, for it was the cold winter time, and icicles hung on the +branches. "Have you not seen Death go by, with my little child?" she +asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," replied the thorn-bush; "but I will not tell you which +way he has taken until you have warmed me in your bosom. I am freezing +to death here, and turning to ice." +</P> + +<P> +Then she pressed the bramble to her bosom quite close, so that +it might be thawed, and the thorns pierced her flesh, and great +drops of blood flowed; but the bramble shot forth fresh green +leaves, and they became flowers on the cold winter's night, so warm is +the heart of a sorrowing mother. Then the bramble-bush told her the +path she must take. She came at length to a great lake, on which there +was neither ship nor boat to be seen. The lake was not frozen +sufficiently for her to pass over on the ice, nor was it open enough +for her to wade through; and yet she must cross it, if she wished to +find her child. Then she laid herself down to drink up the water of +the lake, which was of course impossible for any human being to do; +but the bereaved mother thought that perhaps a miracle might take +place to help her. "You will never succeed in this," said the lake; +"let us make an agreement together which will be better. I love to +collect pearls, and your eyes are the purest I have ever seen. If +you will weep those eyes away in tears into my waters, then I will +take you to the large hothouse where Death dwells and rears flowers +and trees, every one of which is a human life." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, what would I not give to reach my child!" said the weeping +mother; and as she still continued to weep, her eyes fell into the +depths of the lake, and became two costly pearls. +</P> + +<P> +Then the lake lifted her up, and wafted her across to the opposite +shore as if she were on a swing, where stood a wonderful building many +miles in length. No one could tell whether it was a mountain covered +with forests and full of caves, or whether it had been built. But +the poor mother could not see, for she had wept her eyes into the +lake. "Where shall I find Death, who went away with my little +child?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +"He has not arrived here yet," said an old gray-haired woman, +who was walking about, and watering Death's hothouse. "How have you +found your way here? and who helped you?" +</P> + +<P> +"God has helped me," she replied. "He is merciful; will you not be +merciful too? Where shall I find my little child?" +</P> + +<P> +"I did not know the child," said the old woman; "and you are +blind. Many flowers and trees have faded to-night, and Death will soon +come to transplant them. You know already that every human being has a +life-tree or a life-flower, just as may be ordained for him. They look +like other plants; but they have hearts that beat. Children's hearts +also beat: from that you may perhaps be able to recognize your +child. But what will you give me, if I tell you what more you will +have to do? +</P> + +<P> +"I have nothing to give," said the afflicted mother; "but I +would go to the ends of the earth for you." +</P> + +<P> +"I can give you nothing to do for me there," said the old woman; +"but you can give me your long black hair. You know yourself that it +is beautiful, and it pleases me. You can take my white hair in +exchange, which will be something in return." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you ask nothing more than that?" said she. "I will give it +to you with pleasure." +</P> + +<P> +And she gave up her beautiful hair, and received in return the +white locks of the old woman. Then they went into Death's vast +hothouse, where flowers and trees grew together in wonderful +profusion. Blooming hyacinths, under glass bells, and peonies, like +strong trees. There grew water-plants, some quite fresh, and others +looking sickly, which had water-snakes twining round them, and black +crabs clinging to their stems. There stood noble palm-trees, oaks, and +plantains, and beneath them bloomed thyme and parsley. Each tree and +flower had a name; each represented a human life, and belonged to +men still living, some in China, others in Greenland, and in all parts +of the world. Some large trees had been planted in little pots, so +that they were cramped for room, and seemed about to burst the pot +to pieces; while many weak little flowers were growing in rich soil, +with moss all around them, carefully tended and cared for. The +sorrowing mother bent over the little plants, and heard the human +heart beating in each, and recognized the beatings of her child's +heart among millions of others. +</P> + +<P> +"That is it," she cried, stretching out her hand towards a +little crocus-flower which hung down its sickly head. +</P> + +<P> +"Do not touch the flower," exclaimed the old woman; "but place +yourself here; and when Death comes—I expect him every minute—do not +let him pull up that plant, but threaten him that if he does you +will serve the other flowers in the same manner. This will make him +afraid; for he must account to God for each of them. None can be +uprooted, unless he receives permission to do so." +</P> + +<P> +There rushed through the hothouse a chill of icy coldness, and the +blind mother felt that Death had arrived. +</P> + +<P> +"How did you find your way hither?" asked he; "how could you +come here faster than I have?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am a mother," she answered. +</P> + +<P> +And Death stretched out his hand towards the delicate little +flower; but she held her hands tightly round it, and held it fast at +same time, with the most anxious care, lest she should touch one of +the leaves. Then Death breathed upon her hands, and she felt his +breath colder than the icy wind, and her hands sank down powerless. +</P> + +<P> +"You cannot prevail against me," said Death. +</P> + +<P> +"But a God of mercy can," said she. +</P> + +<P> +"I only do His will," replied Death. "I am his gardener. I take +all His flowers and trees, and transplant them into the gardens of +Paradise in an unknown land. How they flourish there, and what that +garden resembles, I may not tell you." +</P> + +<P> +"Give me back my child," said the mother, weeping and imploring; +and she seized two beautiful flowers in her hands, and cried to Death, +"I will tear up all your flowers, for I am in despair." +</P> + +<P> +"Do not touch them," said Death. "You say you are unhappy; and +would you make another mother as unhappy as yourself?" +</P> + +<P> +"Another mother!" cried the poor woman, setting the flowers free +from her hands. +</P> + +<P> +"There are your eyes," said Death. "I fished them up out of the +lake for you. They were shining brightly; but I knew not they were +yours. Take them back—they are clearer now than before—and then look +into the deep well which is close by here. I will tell you the names +of the two flowers which you wished to pull up; and you will see the +whole future of the human beings they represent, and what you were +about to frustrate and destroy." +</P> + +<P> +Then she looked into the well; and it was a glorious sight to +behold how one of them became a blessing to the world, and how much +happiness and joy it spread around. But she saw that the life of the +other was full of care and poverty, misery and woe. +</P> + +<P> +"Both are the will of God," said Death. +</P> + +<P> +"Which is the unhappy flower, and which is the blessed one?" she +said. +</P> + +<P> +"That I may not tell you," said Death; "but thus far you may +learn, that one of the two flowers represents your own child. It was +the fate of your child that you saw,—the future of your own child." +</P> + +<P> +Then the mother screamed aloud with terror, "Which of them belongs +to my child? Tell me that. Deliver the unhappy child. Release it +from so much misery. Rather take it away. Take it to the kingdom of +God. Forget my tears and my entreaties; forget all that I have said or +done." +</P> + +<P> +"I do not understand you," said Death. "Will you have your child +back? or shall I carry him away to a place that you do not know?" +</P> + +<P> +Then the mother wrung her hands, fell on her knees, and prayed +to God, "Grant not my prayers, when they are contrary to Thy will, +which at all times must be the best. Oh, hear them not;" and her +head sank on her bosom. +</P> + +<P> +Then Death carried away her child to the unknown land. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="sunbeam"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE SUNBEAM AND THE CAPTIVE +</H3> + +<P> +It is autumn. We stand on the ramparts, and look out over the sea. +We look at the numerous ships, and at the Swedish coast on the +opposite side of the sound, rising far above the surface of the waters +which mirror the glow of the evening sky. Behind us the wood is +sharply defined; mighty trees surround us, and the yellow leaves +flutter down from the branches. Below, at the foot of the wall, stands +a gloomy looking building enclosed in palisades. The space between +is dark and narrow, but still more dismal must it be behind the iron +gratings in the wall which cover the narrow loopholes or windows, +for in these dungeons the most depraved of the criminals are confined. +A ray of the setting sun shoots into the bare cells of one of the +captives, for God's sun shines upon the evil and the good. The +hardened criminal casts an impatient look at the bright ray. Then a +little bird flies towards the grating, for birds twitter to the just +as well as to the unjust. He only cries, "Tweet, tweet," and then +perches himself near the grating, flutters his wings, pecks a +feather from one of them, puffs himself out, and sets his feathers +on end round his breast and throat. The bad, chained man looks at him, +and a more gentle expression comes into his hard face. In his breast +there rises a thought which he himself cannot rightly analyze, but the +thought has some connection with the sunbeam, with the bird, and +with the scent of violets, which grow luxuriantly in spring at the +foot of the wall. Then there comes the sound of the hunter's horn, +merry and full. The little bird starts, and flies away, the sunbeam +gradually vanishes, and again there is darkness in the room and in the +heart of that bad man. Still the sun has shone into that heart, and +the twittering of the bird has touched it. +</P> + +<P> +Sound on, ye glorious strains of the hunter's horn; continue +your stirring tones, for the evening is mild, and the surface of the +sea, heaving slowly and calmly, is smooth as a mirror. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="swans_ne"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE SWAN'S NEST +</H3> + +<P> +Between the Baltic and the North Sea there lies an old swan's +nest, wherein swans are born and have been born that shall never die. +</P> + +<P> +In olden times a flock of swans flew over the Alps to the green +plains around Milan, where it was delightful to dwell. This flight +of swans men called the Lombards. +</P> + +<P> +Another flock, with shining plumage and honest eyes, soared +southward to Byzantium; the swans established themselves there close +by the Emperor's throne, and spread their wings over him as shields to +protect him. They received the name of Varangians. +</P> + +<P> +On the coast of France there sounded a cry of fear, for the +blood-stained swans that came from the North with fire under their +wings; and the people prayed, "Heaven deliver us from the wild +Northmen." +</P> + +<P> +On the fresh sward of England stood the Danish swan by the open +seashore, with the crown of three kingdoms on his head; and he +stretched out his golden sceptre over the land. The heathens on the +Pomerian coast bent the knee, and the Danish swans came with the +banner of the Cross and with the drawn sword. +</P> + +<P> +"That was in the very old times," you say. +</P> + +<P> +In later days two mighty swans have been seen to fly from the +nest. A light shone far through the air, far over the lands of the +earth; the swan, with the strong beating of his wings, scattered the +twilight mists, and the starry sky was seen, and it was as if it +came nearer to the earth. That was the swan Tycho Brahe. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, then," you say; "but in our own days?" +</P> + +<P> +We have seen swan after swan soar by in glorious flight. One let +his pinions glide over the strings of the golden harp, and it +resounded through the North. Norway's mountains seemed to rise +higher in the sunlight of former days; there was a rustling among +the pine trees and the birches; the gods of the North, the heroes, and +the noble women, showed themselves in the dark forest depths. +</P> + +<P> +We have seen a swan beat with his wings upon the marble crag, so +that it burst, and the forms of beauty imprisoned in the stone stepped +out to the sunny day, and men in the lands round about lifted up their +heads to behold these mighty forms. +</P> + +<P> +We have seen a third swan spinning the thread of thought that is +fastened from country to country round the world, so that the word may +fly with lightning speed from land to land. +</P> + +<P> +And our Lord loves the old swan's nest between the Baltic and +the North Sea. And when the mighty birds come soaring through the +air to destroy it, even the callow young stand round in a circle on +the margin of the nest, and though their breasts may be struck so that +their blood flows, they bear it, and strike with their wings and their +claws. +</P> + +<P> +Centuries will pass by, swans will fly forth from the nest, men +will see them and hear them in the world, before it shall be said in +spirit and in truth, "This is the last swan—the last song from the +swan's nest." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="swineher"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE SWINEHERD +</H3> + +<P> +Once upon a time lived a poor prince; his kingdom was very +small, but it was large enough to enable him to marry, and marry he +would. It was rather bold of him that he went and asked the +emperor's daughter: "Will you marry me?" but he ventured to do so, for +his name was known far and wide, and there were hundreds of princesses +who would have gladly accepted him, but would she do so? Now we +shall see. +</P> + +<P> +On the grave of the prince's father grew a rose-tree, the most +beautiful of its kind. It bloomed only once in five years, and then it +had only one single rose upon it, but what a rose! It had such a sweet +scent that one instantly forgot all sorrow and grief when one smelt +it. He had also a nightingale, which could sing as if every sweet +melody was in its throat. This rose and the nightingale he wished to +give to the princess; and therefore both were put into big silver +cases and sent to her. +</P> + +<P> +The emperor ordered them to be carried into the great hall where +the princess was just playing "Visitors are coming" with her +ladies-in-waiting; when she saw the large cases with the presents +therein, she clapped her hands for joy. +</P> + +<P> +"I wish it were a little pussy cat," she said. But then the +rose-tree with the beautiful rose was unpacked. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, how nicely it is made," exclaimed the ladies. +</P> + +<P> +"It is more than nice," said the emperor, "it is charming." +</P> + +<P> +The princess touched it and nearly began to cry. +</P> + +<P> +"For shame, pa," she said, "it is not artificial, it is natural!" +</P> + +<P> +"For shame, it is natural," repeated all her ladies. +</P> + +<P> +"Let us first see what the other case contains before we are +angry," said the emperor; then the nightingale was taken out, and it +sang so beautifully that no one could possibly say anything unkind +about it. +</P> + +<P> +"Superbe, charmant," said the ladies of the court, for they all +prattled French, one worse than the other. +</P> + +<P> +"How much the bird reminds me of the musical box of the late +lamented empress," said an old courtier, "it has exactly the same +tone, the same execution." +</P> + +<P> +"You are right," said the emperor, and began to cry like a +little child. +</P> + +<P> +"I hope it is not natural," said the princess. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, certainly it is natural," replied those who had brought +the presents. +</P> + +<P> +"Then let it fly," said the princess, and refused to see the +prince. +</P> + +<P> +But the prince was not discouraged. He painted his face, put on +common clothes, pulled his cap over his forehead, and came back. +</P> + +<P> +"Good day, emperor," he said, "could you not give me some +employment at the court?" +</P> + +<P> +"There are so many," replied the emperor, "who apply for places, +that for the present I have no vacancy, but I will remember you. But +wait a moment; it just comes into my mind, I require somebody to +look after my pigs, for I have a great many." +</P> + +<P> +Thus the prince was appointed imperial swineherd, and as such he +lived in a wretchedly small room near the pigsty; there he worked +all day long, and when it was night he had made a pretty little pot. +There were little bells round the rim, and when the water began to +boil in it, the bells began to play the old tune: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "A jolly old sow once lived in a sty,<BR> + Three little piggies had she," &c.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +But what was more wonderful was that, when one put a finger into the +steam rising from the pot, one could at once smell what meals they +were preparing on every fire in the whole town. That was indeed much +more remarkable than the rose. When the princess with her ladies +passed by and heard the tune, she stopped and looked quite pleased, +for she also could play it—in fact, it was the only tune she could +play, and she played it with one finger. +</P> + +<P> +"That is the tune I know," she exclaimed. "He must be a +well-educated swineherd. Go and ask him how much the instrument is." +</P> + +<P> +One of the ladies had to go and ask; but she put on pattens. +</P> + +<P> +"What will you take for your pot?" asked the lady. +</P> + +<P> +"I will have ten kisses from the princess," said the swineherd. +</P> + +<P> +"God forbid," said the lady. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I cannot sell it for less," replied the swineherd. +</P> + +<P> +"What did he say?" said the princess. +</P> + +<P> +"I really cannot tell you," replied the lady. +</P> + +<P> +"You can whisper it into my ear." +</P> + +<P> +"It is very naughty," said the princess, and walked off. +</P> + +<P> +But when she had gone a little distance, the bells rang again so +sweetly: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "A jolly old sow once lived in a sty,<BR> + Three little piggies had she," &c.<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"Ask him," said the princess, "if he will be satisfied with ten +kisses from one of my ladies." +</P> + +<P> +"No, thank you," said the swineherd: "ten kisses from the +princess, or I keep my pot." +</P> + +<P> +"That is tiresome," said the princess. "But you must stand +before me, so that nobody can see it." +</P> + +<P> +The ladies placed themselves in front of her and spread out +their dresses, and she gave the swineherd ten kisses and received +the pot. +</P> + +<P> +That was a pleasure! Day and night the water in the pot was +boiling; there was not a single fire in the whole town of which they +did not know what was preparing on it, the chamberlain's as well as +the shoemaker's. The ladies danced and clapped their hands for joy. +</P> + +<P> +"We know who will eat soup and pancakes; we know who will eat +porridge and cutlets; oh, how interesting!" +</P> + +<P> +"Very interesting, indeed," said the mistress of the household. +"But you must not betray me, for I am the emperor's daughter." +</P> + +<P> +"Of course not," they all said. +</P> + +<P> +The swineherd—that is to say, the prince—but they did not know +otherwise than that he was a real swineherd—did not waste a single +day without doing something; he made a rattle, which, when turned +quickly round, played all the waltzes, galops, and polkas known +since the creation of the world. +</P> + +<P> +"But that is superbe," said the princess passing by. "I have never +heard a more beautiful composition. Go down and ask him what the +instrument costs; but I shall not kiss him again." +</P> + +<P> +"He will have a hundred kisses from the princess," said the +lady, who had gone down to ask him. +</P> + +<P> +"I believe he is mad," said the princess, and walked off, but soon +she stopped. "One must encourage art," she said. "I am the emperor's +daughter! Tell him I will give him ten kisses, as I did the other day; +the remainder one of my ladies can give him. +</P> + +<P> +"But we do not like to kiss him," said the ladies. +</P> + +<P> +"That is nonsense," said the princess; "if I can kiss him, you can +also do it. Remember that I give you food and employment." And the +lady had to go down once more. +</P> + +<P> +"A hundred kisses from the princess," said the swineherd, "or +everybody keeps his own." +</P> + +<P> +"Place yourselves before me," said the princess then. They did +as they were bidden, and the princess kissed him. +</P> + +<P> +"I wonder what that crowd near the pigsty means!" said the +emperor, who had just come out on his balcony. He rubbed his eyes +and put his spectacles on. +</P> + +<P> +"The ladies of the court are up to some mischief, I think. I shall +have to go down and see." He pulled up his shoes, for they were down +at the heels, and he was very quick about it. When he had come down +into the courtyard he walked quite softly, and the ladies were so +busily engaged in counting the kisses, that all should be fair, that +they did not notice the emperor. He raised himself on tiptoe. +</P> + +<P> +"What does this mean?" he said, when he saw that his daughter +was kissing the swineherd, and then hit their heads with his shoe just +as the swineherd received the sixty-eighth kiss. +</P> + +<P> +"Go out of my sight," said the emperor, for he was very angry; and +both the princess and the swineherd were banished from the empire. +There she stood and cried, the swineherd scolded her, and the rain +came down in torrents. +</P> + +<P> +"Alas, unfortunate creature that I am!" said the princess, "I wish +I had accepted the prince. Oh, how wretched I am!" +</P> + +<P> +The swineherd went behind a tree, wiped his face, threw off his +poor attire and stepped forth in his princely garments; he looked so +beautiful that the princess could not help bowing to him. +</P> + +<P> +"I have now learnt to despise you," he said. "You refused an +honest prince; you did not appreciate the rose and the nightingale; +but you did not mind kissing a swineherd for his toys; you have no one +but yourself to blame!" +</P> + +<P> +And then he returned into his kingdom and left her behind. She +could now sing at her leisure: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "A jolly old sow once lived in a sty,<BR> + Three little piggies has she," &c.<BR> +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="thistles"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE THISTLE'S EXPERIENCES +</H3> + +<P> +Belonging to the lordly manor-house was beautiful, well-kept +garden, with rare trees and flowers; the guests of the proprietor +declared their admiration of it; the people of the neighborhood, +from town and country, came on Sundays and holidays, and asked +permission to see the garden; indeed, whole schools used to pay visits +to it. +</P> + +<P> +Outside the garden, by the palings at the road-side, stood a great +mighty Thistle, which spread out in many directions from the root, +so that it might have been called a thistle bush. Nobody looked at it, +except the old Ass which drew the milk-maid's cart. This Ass used to +stretch out his neck towards the Thistle, and say, "You are beautiful; +I should like to eat you!" But his halter was not long enough to let +him reach it and eat it. +</P> + +<P> +There was great company at the manor-house—some very noble people +from the capital; young pretty girls, and among them a young lady +who came from a long distance. She had come from Scotland, and was +of high birth, and was rich in land and in gold—a bride worth +winning, said more than one of the young gentlemen; and their lady +mothers said the same thing. +</P> + +<P> +The young people amused themselves on the lawn, and played at +ball; they wandered among the flowers, and each of the young girls +broke off a flower, and fastened it in a young gentleman's buttonhole. +But the young Scotch lady looked round, for a long time, in an +undecided way. None of the flowers seemed to suit her taste. Then +her eye glanced across the paling—outside stood the great thistle +bush, with the reddish-blue, sturdy flowers; she saw them, she smiled, +and asked the son of the house to pluck one for her. +</P> + +<P> +"It is the flower of Scotland," she said. "It blooms in the +scutcheon of my country. Give me yonder flower." +</P> + +<P> +And he brought the fairest blossom, and pricked his fingers as +completely as if it had grown on the sharpest rose bush. +</P> + +<P> +She placed the thistle-flower in the buttonhole of the young +man, and he felt himself highly honored. Each of the other young +gentlemen would willingly have given his own beautiful flower to +have worn this one, presented by the fair hand of the Scottish maiden. +And if the son of the house felt himself honored, what were the +feelings of the Thistle bush? It seemed to him as if dew and +sunshine were streaming through him. +</P> + +<P> +"I am something more than I knew of," said the Thistle to +itself. "I suppose my right place is really inside the palings, and +not outside. One is often strangely placed in this world; but now I +have at least managed to get one of my people within the pale, and +indeed into a buttonhole!" +</P> + +<P> +The Thistle told this event to every blossom that unfolded itself, +and not many days had gone by before the Thistle heard, not from +men, not from the twittering of the birds, but from the air itself, +which stores up the sounds, and carries them far around—out of the +most retired walks of the garden, and out of the rooms of the house, +in which doors and windows stood open, that the young gentleman who +had received the thistle-flower from the hand of the fair Scottish +maiden had also now received the heart and hand of the lady in +question. They were a handsome pair—it was a good match. +</P> + +<P> +"That match I made up!" said the Thistle; and he thought of the +flower he had given for the buttonhole. Every flower that opened heard +of this occurrence. +</P> + +<P> +"I shall certainly be transplanted into the garden," thought the +Thistle, "and perhaps put into a pot, which crowds one in. That is said +to be the greatest of all honors." +</P> + +<P> +And the Thistle pictured this to himself in such a lively +manner, that at last he said, with full conviction, "I am to be +transplanted into a pot." +</P> + +<P> +Then he promised every little thistle flower which unfolded itself +that it also should be put into a pot, and perhaps into a +buttonhole, the highest honor that could be attained. But not one of +them was put into a pot, much less into a buttonhole. They drank in +the sunlight and the air; lived on the sunlight by day, and on the dew +by night; bloomed—were visited by bees and hornets, who looked +after the honey, the dowry of the flower, and they took the honey, and +left the flower where it was. +</P> + +<P> +"The thievish rabble!" said the Thistle. "If I could only stab +every one of them! But I cannot." +</P> + +<P> +The flowers hung their heads and faded; but after a time new +ones came. +</P> + +<P> +"You come in good time," said the Thistle. "I am expecting every +moment to get across the fence." +</P> + +<P> +A few innocent daisies, and a long thin dandelion, stood and +listened in deep admiration, and believed everything they heard. +</P> + +<P> +The old Ass of the milk-cart stood at the edge of the +field-road, and glanced across at the blooming thistle bush; but his +halter was too short, and he could not reach it. +</P> + +<P> +And the Thistle thought so long of the thistle of Scotland, to +whose family he said he belonged, that he fancied at last that he +had come from Scotland, and that his parents had been put into the +national escutcheon. That was a great thought; but, you see, a great +thistle has a right to a great thought. +</P> + +<P> +"One is often of so grand a family, that one may not know it," +said the Nettle, who grew close by. He had a kind of idea that he +might be made into cambric if he were rightly treated. +</P> + +<P> +And the summer went by, and the autumn went by. The leaves fell +from the trees, and the few flowers left had deeper colors and less +scent. The gardener's boy sang in the garden, across the palings: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Up the hill, down the dale we wend,<BR> + That is life, from beginning to end."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The young fir trees in the forest began to long for Christmas, but +it was a long time to Christmas yet. +</P> + +<P> +"Here I am standing yet!" said the Thistle. "It is as if nobody +thought of me, and yet I managed the match. They were betrothed, and +they have had their wedding; it is now a week ago. I won't take a +single step-because I can't." +</P> + +<P> +A few more weeks went by. The Thistle stood there with his last +single flower large and full. This flower had shot up from near the +roots; the wind blew cold over it, and the colors vanished, and the +flower grew in size, and looked like a silvered sunflower. +</P> + +<P> +One day the young pair, now man and wife, came into the garden. +They went along by the paling, and the young wife looked across it. +</P> + +<P> +"There's the great thistle still growing," she said. "It has no +flowers now." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes, the ghost of the last one is there still," said he. +And he pointed to the silvery remains of the flower, which looked like +a flower themselves. +</P> + +<P> +"It is pretty, certainly," she said. "Such an one must be carved +on the frame of our picture." +</P> + +<P> +And the young man had to climb across the palings again, and to +break off the calyx of the thistle. It pricked his fingers, but then +he had called it a ghost. And this thistle-calyx came into the garden, +and into the house, and into the drawing-room. There stood a +picture—"Young Couple." A thistle-flower was painted in the +buttonhole of the bridegroom. They spoke about this, and also about +the thistle-flower they brought, the last thistle-flower, now gleaming +like silver, whose picture was carved on the frame. +</P> + +<P> +And the breeze carried what was spoken away, far away. +</P> + +<P> +"What one can experience!" said the Thistle Bush. "My first born +was put into a buttonhole, and my youngest has been put in a frame. +Where shall I go?" +</P> + +<P> +And the Ass stood by the road-side, and looked across at the +Thistle. +</P> + +<P> +"Come to me, my nibble darling!" said he. "I can't get across to +you." +</P> + +<P> +But the Thistle did not answer. He became more and more +thoughtful—kept on thinking and thinking till near Christmas, and +then a flower of thought came forth. +</P> + +<P> +"If the children are only good, the parents do not mind standing +outside the garden pale." +</P> + +<P> +"That's an honorable thought," said the Sunbeam. "You shall also +have a good place." +</P> + +<P> +"In a pot or in a frame?" asked the Thistle. +</P> + +<P> +"In a story," replied the Sunbeam. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="thorny_r"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE THORNY ROAD OF HONOR +</H3> + +<P> +An old story yet lives of the "Thorny Road of Honor," of a +marksman, who indeed attained to rank and office, but only after a +lifelong and weary strife against difficulties. Who has not, in +reading this story, thought of his own strife, and of his own numerous +"difficulties?" The story is very closely akin to reality; but still +it has its harmonious explanation here on earth, while reality often +points beyond the confines of life to the regions of eternity. The +history of the world is like a magic lantern that displays to us, in +light pictures upon the dark ground of the present, how the +benefactors of mankind, the martyrs of genius, wandered along the +thorny road of honor. +</P> + +<P> +From all periods, and from every country, these shining pictures +display themselves to us. Each only appears for a few moments, but +each represents a whole life, sometimes a whole age, with its +conflicts and victories. Let us contemplate here and there one of +the company of martyrs—the company which will receive new members +until the world itself shall pass away. +</P> + +<P> +We look down upon a crowded amphitheatre. Out of the "Clouds" of +Aristophanes, satire and humor are pouring down in streams upon the +audience; on the stage Socrates, the most remarkable man in Athens, he +who had been the shield and defence of the people against the thirty +tyrants, is held up mentally and bodily to ridicule—Socrates, who +saved Alcibiades and Xenophon in the turmoil of battle, and whose +genius soared far above the gods of the ancients. He himself is +present; he has risen from the spectator's bench, and has stepped +forward, that the laughing Athenians may well appreciate the +likeness between himself and the caricature on the stage. There he +stands before them, towering high above them all. +</P> + +<P> +Thou juicy, green, poisonous hemlock, throw thy shadow over +Athens—not thou, olive tree of fame! +</P> + +<P> +Seven cities contended for the honor of giving birth to Homer—that +is to say, they contended after his death! Let us look at him +as he was in his lifetime. He wanders on foot through the cities, +and recites his verses for a livelihood; the thought for the morrow +turns his hair gray! He, the great seer, is blind, and painfully +pursues his way—the sharp thorn tears the mantle of the king of +poets. His song yet lives, and through that alone live all the +heroes and gods of antiquity. +</P> + +<P> +One picture after another springs up from the east, from the west, +far removed from each other in time and place, and yet each one +forming a portion of the thorny road of honor, on which the thistle +indeed displays a flower, but only to adorn the grave. +</P> + +<P> +The camels pass along under the palm trees; they are richly +laden with indigo and other treasures of value, sent by the ruler of +the land to him whose songs are the delight of the people, the fame of +the country. He whom envy and falsehood have driven into exile has +been found, and the caravan approaches the little town in which he has +taken refuge. A poor corpse is carried out of the town gate, and the +funeral procession causes the caravan to halt. The dead man is he whom +they have been sent to seek—Firdusi—who has wandered the Thorny road +of honor even to the end. +</P> + +<P> +The African, with blunt features, thick lips, and woolly hair, +sits on the marble steps of the palace in the capital of Portugal, and +begs. He is the submissive slave of Camoens, and but for him, and +for the copper coins thrown to him by the passers-by, his master, +the poet of the "Lusiad," would die of hunger. Now, a costly +monument marks the grave of Camoens. +</P> + +<P> +There is a new picture. +</P> + +<P> +Behind the iron grating a man appears, pale as death, with long +unkempt beard. +</P> + +<P> +"I have made a discovery," he says, "the greatest that has been +made for centuries; and they have kept me locked up here for more than +twenty years!" +</P> + +<P> +Who is the man? +</P> + +<P> +"A madman," replies the keeper of the madhouse. "What whimsical +ideas these lunatics have! He imagines that one can propel things by +means of steam." +</P> + +<P> +It is Solomon de Cares, the discoverer of the power of steam, +whose theory, expressed in dark words, is not understood by Richelieu; +and he dies in the madhouse. +</P> + +<P> +Here stands Columbus, whom the street boys used once to follow and +jeer, because he wanted to discover a new world; and he has discovered +it. Shouts of joy greet him from the breasts of all, and the clash +of bells sounds to celebrate his triumphant return; but the clash of +the bells of envy soon drowns the others. The discoverer of a world—he +who lifted the American gold land from the sea, and gave it to +his king—he is rewarded with iron chains. He wishes that these chains +may be placed in his coffin, for they witness to the world of the +way in which a man's contemporaries reward good service. +</P> + +<P> +One picture after another comes crowding on; the thorny path of +honor and of fame is over-filled. +</P> + +<P> +Here in dark night sits the man who measured the mountains in +the moon; he who forced his way out into the endless space, among +stars and planets; he, the mighty man who understood the spirit of +nature, and felt the earth moving beneath his feet—Galileo. Blind and +deaf he sits—an old man thrust through with the spear of suffering, +and amid the torments of neglect, scarcely able to lift his foot—that +foot with which, in the anguish of his soul, when men denied the +truth, he stamped upon the ground, with the exclamation, "Yet it +moves!" +</P> + +<P> +Here stands a woman of childlike mind, yet full of faith and +inspiration. She carries the banner in front of the combating army, +and brings victory and salvation to her fatherland. The sound of +shouting arises, and the pile flames up. They are burning the witch, +Joan of Arc. Yes, and a future century jeers at the White Lily. +Voltaire, the satyr of human intellect, writes "La Pucelle." +</P> + +<P> +At the Thing or Assembly at Viborg, the Danish nobles burn the +laws of the king. They flame up high, illuminating the period and +the lawgiver, and throw a glory into the dark prison tower, where an +old man is growing gray and bent. With his finger he marks out a +groove in the stone table. It is the popular king who sits there, once +the ruler of three kingdoms, the friend of the citizen and the +peasant. It is Christian the Second. Enemies wrote his history. Let us +remember his improvements of seven and twenty years, if we cannot +forget his crime. +</P> + +<P> +A ship sails away, quitting the Danish shores. A man leans against +the mast, casting a last glance towards the Island Hueen. It is +Tycho Brahe. He raised the name of Denmark to the stars, and was +rewarded with injury, loss and sorrow. He is going to a strange +country. +</P> + +<P> +"The vault of heaven is above me everywhere," he says, "and what +do I want more?" +</P> + +<P> +And away sails the famous Dane, the astronomer, to live honored +and free in a strange land. +</P> + +<P> +"Ay, free, if only from the unbearable sufferings of the body!" +comes in a sigh through time, and strikes upon our ear. What a +picture! Griffenfeldt, a Danish Prometheus, bound to the rocky +island of Munkholm. +</P> + +<P> +We are in America, on the margin of one of the largest rivers; +an innumerable crowd has gathered, for it is said that a ship is to +sail against the wind and weather, bidding defiance to the elements. +The man who thinks he can solve the problem is named Robert Fulton. +The ship begins its passage, but suddenly it stops. The crowd begins +to laugh and whistle and hiss—the very father of the man whistles +with the rest. +</P> + +<P> +"Conceit! Foolery!" is the cry. "It has happened just as he +deserved. Put the crack-brain under lock and key!" +</P> + +<P> +Then suddenly a little nail breaks, which had stopped the +machine for a few moments; and now the wheels turn again, the floats +break the force of the waters, and the ship continues its course; +and the beam of the steam engine shortens the distance between far +lands from hours into minutes. +</P> + +<P> +O human race, canst thou grasp the happiness of such a minute of +consciousness, this penetration of the soul by its mission, the moment +in which all dejection, and every wound—even those caused by one's +own fault—is changed into health and strength and clearness—when +discord is converted to harmony—the minute in which men seem to +recognize the manifestation of the heavenly grace in one man, and feel +how this one imparts it to all? +</P> + +<P> +Thus the thorny path of honor shows itself as a glory, surrounding +the earth with its beams. Thrice happy he who is chosen to be a +wanderer there, and, without merit of his own, to be placed between +the builder of the bridge and the earth—between Providence and the +human race. +</P> + +<P> +On mighty wings the spirit of history floats through the ages, and +shows—giving courage and comfort, and awakening gentle thoughts—on +the dark nightly background, but in gleaming pictures, the thorny path +of honor, which does not, like a fairy tale, end in brilliancy and joy +here on earth, but stretches out beyond all time, even into eternity! +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="thousand"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +IN A THOUSAND YEARS +</H3> + +<P> +Yes, in a thousand years people will fly on the wings of steam +through the air, over the ocean! The young inhabitants of America will +become visitors of old Europe. They will come over to see the +monuments and the great cities, which will then be in ruins, just as +we in our time make pilgrimages to the tottering splendors of Southern +Asia. In a thousand years they will come! +</P> + +<P> +The Thames, the Danube, and the Rhine still roll their course, +Mont Blanc stands firm with its snow-capped summit, and the Northern +Lights gleam over the land of the North; but generation after +generation has become dust, whole rows of the mighty of the moment are +forgotten, like those who already slumber under the hill on which +the rich trader, whose ground it is, has built a bench, on which he +can sit and look out across his waving corn fields. +</P> + +<P> +"To Europe!" cry the young sons of America; "to the land of our +ancestors, the glorious land of monuments and fancy—to Europe!" +</P> + +<P> +The ship of the air comes. It is crowded with passengers, for +the transit is quicker than by sea. The electro-magnetic wire under +the ocean has already telegraphed the number of the aerial caravan. +Europe is in sight. It is the coast of Ireland that they see, but +the passengers are still asleep; they will not be called till they are +exactly over England. There they will first step on European shore, in +the land of Shakespeare, as the educated call it; in the land of +politics, the land of machines, as it is called by others. +</P> + +<P> +Here they stay a whole day. That is all the time the busy race can +devote to the whole of England and Scotland. Then the journey is +continued through the tunnel under the English Channel, to France, the +land of Charlemagne and Napoleon. Moliere is named, the learned men +talk of the classic school of remote antiquity. There is rejoicing and +shouting for the names of heroes, poets, and men of science, whom +our time does not know, but who will be born after our time in +Paris, the centre of Europe, and elsewhere. +</P> + +<P> +The air steamboat flies over the country whence Columbus went +forth, where Cortez was born, and where Calderon sang dramas in +sounding verse. Beautiful black-eyed women live still in the +blooming valleys, and the oldest songs speak of the Cid and the +Alhambra. +</P> + +<P> +Then through the air, over the sea, to Italy, where once lay +old, everlasting Rome. It has vanished! The Campagna lies desert. A +single ruined wall is shown as the remains of St. Peter's, but there +is a doubt if this ruin be genuine. +</P> + +<P> +Next to Greece, to sleep a night in the grand hotel at the top +of Mount Olympus, to say that they have been there; and the journey is +continued to the Bosphorus, to rest there a few hours, and see the +place where Byzantium lay; and where the legend tells that the harem +stood in the time of the Turks, poor fishermen are now spreading their +nets. +</P> + +<P> +Over the remains of mighty cities on the broad Danube, cities +which we in our time know not, the travellers pass; but here and +there, on the rich sites of those that time shall bring forth, the +caravan sometimes descends, and departs thence again. +</P> + +<P> +Down below lies Germany, that was once covered with a close net of +railway and canals, the region where Luther spoke, where Goethe +sang, and Mozart once held the sceptre of harmony. Great names shine +there, in science and in art, names that are unknown to us. One day +devoted to seeing Germany, and one for the North, the country of +Oersted and Linnaeus, and for Norway, the land of the old heroes and +the young Normans. Iceland is visited on the journey home. The geysers +burn no more, Hecla is an extinct volcano, but the rocky island is +still fixed in the midst of the foaming sea, a continual monument of +legend and poetry. +</P> + +<P> +"There is really a great deal to be seen in Europe," says the +young American, "and we have seen it in a week, according to the +directions of the great traveller" (and here he mentions the name of +one of his contemporaries) "in his celebrated work, 'How to See All +Europe in a Week.'" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="tin_sold"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE BRAVE TIN SOLDIER +</H3> + +<P> +There were once five-and-twenty tin soldiers, who were all +brothers, for they had been made out of the same old tin spoon. They +shouldered arms and looked straight before them, and wore a splendid +uniform, red and blue. The first thing in the world they ever heard +were the words, "Tin soldiers!" uttered by a little boy, who clapped +his hands with delight when the lid of the box, in which they lay, was +taken off. They were given him for a birthday present, and he stood at +the table to set them up. The soldiers were all exactly alike, +excepting one, who had only one leg; he had been left to the last, and +then there was not enough of the melted tin to finish him, so they +made him to stand firmly on one leg, and this caused him to be very +remarkable. +</P> + +<P> +The table on which the tin soldiers stood, was covered with +other playthings, but the most attractive to the eye was a pretty +little paper castle. Through the small windows the rooms could be +seen. In front of the castle a number of little trees surrounded a +piece of looking-glass, which was intended to represent a +transparent lake. Swans, made of wax, swam on the lake, and were +reflected in it. All this was very pretty, but the prettiest of all +was a tiny little lady, who stood at the open door of the castle; she, +also, was made of paper, and she wore a dress of clear muslin, with +a narrow blue ribbon over her shoulders just like a scarf. In front of +these was fixed a glittering tinsel rose, as large as her whole +face. The little lady was a dancer, and she stretched out both her +arms, and raised one of her legs so high, that the tin soldier could +not see it at all, and he thought that she, like himself, had only one +leg. "That is the wife for me," he thought; "but she is too grand, and +lives in a castle, while I have only a box to live in, five-and-twenty +of us altogether, that is no place for her. Still I must try and +make her acquaintance." Then he laid himself at full length on the +table behind a snuff-box that stood upon it, so that he could peep +at the little delicate lady, who continued to stand on one leg without +losing her balance. When evening came, the other tin soldiers were all +placed in the box, and the people of the house went to bed. Then the +playthings began to have their own games together, to pay visits, to +have sham fights, and to give balls. The tin soldiers rattled in their +box; they wanted to get out and join the amusements, but they could +not open the lid. The nut-crackers played at leap-frog, and the pencil +jumped about the table. There was such a noise that the canary woke up +and began to talk, and in poetry too. Only the tin soldier and the +dancer remained in their places. She stood on tiptoe, with her legs +stretched out, as firmly as he did on his one leg. He never took his +eyes from her for even a moment. The clock struck twelve, and, with +a bounce, up sprang the lid of the snuff-box; but, instead of snuff, +there jumped up a little black goblin; for the snuff-box was a toy +puzzle. +</P> + +<P> +"Tin soldier," said the goblin, "don't wish for what does not +belong to you." +</P> + +<P> +But the tin soldier pretended not to hear. +</P> + +<P> +"Very well; wait till to-morrow, then," said the goblin. +</P> + +<P> +When the children came in the next morning, they placed the tin +soldier in the window. Now, whether it was the goblin who did it, or +the draught, is not known, but the window flew open, and out fell +the tin soldier, heels over head, from the third story, into the +street beneath. It was a terrible fall; for he came head downwards, +his helmet and his bayonet stuck in between the flagstones, and his +one leg up in the air. The servant maid and the little boy went down +stairs directly to look for him; but he was nowhere to be seen, +although once they nearly trod upon him. If he had called out, "Here I +am," it would have been all right, but he was too proud to cry out for +help while he wore a uniform. +</P> + +<P> +Presently it began to rain, and the drops fell faster and +faster, till there was a heavy shower. When it was over, two boys +happened to pass by, and one of them said, "Look, there is a tin +soldier. He ought to have a boat to sail in." +</P> + +<P> +So they made a boat out of a newspaper, and placed the tin soldier +in it, and sent him sailing down the gutter, while the two boys ran by +the side of it, and clapped their hands. Good gracious, what large +waves arose in that gutter! and how fast the stream rolled on! for the +rain had been very heavy. The paper boat rocked up and down, and +turned itself round sometimes so quickly that the tin soldier +trembled; yet he remained firm; his countenance did not change; he +looked straight before him, and shouldered his musket. Suddenly the +boat shot under a bridge which formed a part of a drain, and then it +was as dark as the tin soldier's box. +</P> + +<P> +"Where am I going now?" thought he. "This is the black goblin's +fault, I am sure. Ah, well, if the little lady were only here with +me in the boat, I should not care for any darkness." +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly there appeared a great water-rat, who lived in the drain. +</P> + +<P> +"Have you a passport?" asked the rat, "give it to me at once." But +the tin soldier remained silent and held his musket tighter than ever. +The boat sailed on and the rat followed it. How he did gnash his teeth +and cry out to the bits of wood and straw, "Stop him, stop him; he has +not paid toll, and has not shown his pass." But the stream rushed on +stronger and stronger. The tin soldier could already see daylight +shining where the arch ended. Then he heard a roaring sound quite +terrible enough to frighten the bravest man. At the end of the +tunnel the drain fell into a large canal over a steep place, which +made it as dangerous for him as a waterfall would be to us. He was too +close to it to stop, so the boat rushed on, and the poor tin soldier +could only hold himself as stiffly as possible, without moving an +eyelid, to show that he was not afraid. The boat whirled round three +or four times, and then filled with water to the very edge; nothing +could save it from sinking. He now stood up to his neck in water, +while deeper and deeper sank the boat, and the paper became soft and +loose with the wet, till at last the water closed over the soldier's +head. He thought of the elegant little dancer whom he should never see +again, and the words of the song sounded in his ears— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Farewell, warrior! ever brave,<BR> + Drifting onward to thy grave."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Then the paper boat fell to pieces, and the soldier sank into +the water and immediately afterwards was swallowed up by a great fish. +Oh how dark it was inside the fish! A great deal darker than in the +tunnel, and narrower too, but the tin soldier continued firm, and +lay at full length shouldering his musket. The fish swam to and fro, +making the most wonderful movements, but at last he became quite +still. After a while, a flash of lightning seemed to pass through him, +and then the daylight approached, and a voice cried out, "I declare +here is the tin soldier." The fish had been caught, taken to the +market and sold to the cook, who took him into the kitchen and cut him +open with a large knife. She picked up the soldier and held him by the +waist between her finger and thumb, and carried him into the room. +They were all anxious to see this wonderful soldier who had +travelled about inside a fish; but he was not at all proud. They +placed him on the table, and—how many curious things do happen in the +world!—there he was in the very same room from the window of which he +had fallen, there were the same children, the same playthings, +standing on the table, and the pretty castle with the elegant little +dancer at the door; she still balanced herself on one leg, and held up +the other, so she was as firm as himself. It touched the tin soldier +so much to see her that he almost wept tin tears, but he kept them +back. He only looked at her and they both remained silent. Presently +one of the little boys took up the tin soldier, and threw him into the +stove. He had no reason for doing so, therefore it must have been +the fault of the black goblin who lived in the snuff-box. The flames +lighted up the tin soldier, as he stood, the heat was very terrible, +but whether it proceeded from the real fire or from the fire of love +he could not tell. Then he could see that the bright colors were faded +from his uniform, but whether they had been washed off during his +journey or from the effects of his sorrow, no one could say. He looked +at the little lady, and she looked at him. He felt himself melting +away, but he still remained firm with his gun on his shoulder. +Suddenly the door of the room flew open and the draught of air +caught up the little dancer, she fluttered like a sylph right into the +stove by the side of the tin soldier, and was instantly in flames +and was gone. The tin soldier melted down into a lump, and the next +morning, when the maid servant took the ashes out of the stove, she +found him in the shape of a little tin heart. But of the little dancer +nothing remained but the tinsel rose, which was burnt black as a +cinder. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="tinderbx"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE TINDER-BOX +</H3> + +<P> +A soldier came marching along the high road: "Left, right—left, +right." He had his knapsack on his back, and a sword at his side; he +had been to the wars, and was now returning home. +</P> + +<P> +As he walked on, he met a very frightful-looking old witch in +the road. Her under-lip hung quite down on her breast, and she stopped +and said, "Good evening, soldier; you have a very fine sword, and a +large knapsack, and you are a real soldier; so you shall have as +much money as ever you like." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you, old witch," said the soldier. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you see that large tree," said the witch, pointing to a tree +which stood beside them. "Well, it is quite hollow inside, and you +must climb to the top, when you will see a hole, through which you can +let yourself down into the tree to a great depth. I will tie a rope +round your body, so that I can pull you up again when you call out +to me." +</P> + +<P> +"But what am I to do, down there in the tree?" asked the soldier. +</P> + +<P> +"Get money," she replied; "for you must know that when you reach +the ground under the tree, you will find yourself in a large hall, +lighted up by three hundred lamps; you will then see three doors, +which can be easily opened, for the keys are in all the locks. On +entering the first of the chambers, to which these doors lead, you +will see a large chest, standing in the middle of the floor, and +upon it a dog seated, with a pair of eyes as large as teacups. But you +need not be at all afraid of him; I will give you my blue checked +apron, which you must spread upon the floor, and then boldly seize +hold of the dog, and place him upon it. You can then open the chest, +and take from it as many pence as you please, they are only copper +pence; but if you would rather have silver money, you must go into the +second chamber. Here you will find another dog, with eyes as big as +mill-wheels; but do not let that trouble you. Place him upon my apron, +and then take what money you please. If, however, you like gold +best, enter the third chamber, where there is another chest full of +it. The dog who sits on this chest is very dreadful; his eyes are as +big as a tower, but do not mind him. If he also is placed upon my +apron, he cannot hurt you, and you may take from the chest what gold +you will." +</P> + +<P> +"This is not a bad story," said the soldier; "but what am I to +give you, you old witch? for, of course, you do not mean to tell me +all this for nothing." +</P> + +<P> +"No," said the witch; "but I do not ask for a single penny. Only +promise to bring me an old tinder-box, which my grandmother left +behind the last time she went down there." +</P> + +<P> +"Very well; I promise. Now tie the rope round my body." +</P> + +<P> +"Here it is," replied the witch; "and here is my blue checked +apron." +</P> + +<P> +As soon as the rope was tied, the soldier climbed up the tree, and +let himself down through the hollow to the ground beneath; and here he +found, as the witch had told him, a large hall, in which many +hundred lamps were all burning. Then he opened the first door. "Ah!" +there sat the dog, with the eyes as large as teacups, staring at him. +</P> + +<P> +"You're a pretty fellow," said the soldier, seizing him, and +placing him on the witch's apron, while he filled his pockets from the +chest with as many pieces as they would hold. Then he closed the +lid, seated the dog upon it again, and walked into another chamber, +And, sure enough, there sat the dog with eyes as big as mill-wheels. +</P> + +<P> +"You had better not look at me in that way," said the soldier; +"you will make your eyes water;" and then he seated him also upon +the apron, and opened the chest. But when he saw what a quantity of +silver money it contained, he very quickly threw away all the +coppers he had taken, and filled his pockets and his knapsack with +nothing but silver. +</P> + +<P> +Then he went into the third room, and there the dog was really +hideous; his eyes were, truly, as big as towers, and they turned round +and round in his head like wheels. +</P> + +<P> +"Good morning," said the soldier, touching his cap, for he had +never seen such a dog in his life. But after looking at him more +closely, he thought he had been civil enough, so he placed him on +the floor, and opened the chest. Good gracious, what a quantity of +gold there was! enough to buy all the sugar-sticks of the +sweet-stuff women; all the tin soldiers, whips, and rocking-horses +in the world, or even the whole town itself There was, indeed, an +immense quantity. So the soldier now threw away all the silver money +he had taken, and filled his pockets and his knapsack with gold +instead; and not only his pockets and his knapsack, but even his cap +and boots, so that he could scarcely walk. +</P> + +<P> +He was really rich now; so he replaced the dog on the chest, +closed the door, and called up through the tree, "Now pull me out, you +old witch." +</P> + +<P> +"Have you got the tinder-box?" asked the witch. +</P> + +<P> +"No; I declare I quite forgot it." So he went back and fetched the +tinderbox, and then the witch drew him up out of the tree, and he +stood again in the high road, with his pockets, his knapsack, his cap, +and his boots full of gold. +</P> + +<P> +"What are you going to do with the tinder-box?" asked the soldier. +</P> + +<P> +"That is nothing to you," replied the witch; "you have the +money, now give me the tinder-box." +</P> + +<P> +"I tell you what," said the soldier, "if you don't tell me what +you are going to do with it, I will draw my sword and cut off your +head." +</P> + +<P> +"No," said the witch. +</P> + +<P> +The soldier immediately cut off her head, and there she lay on the +ground. Then he tied up all his money in her apron, and slung it on +his back like a bundle, put the tinderbox in his pocket, and walked +off to the nearest town. It was a very nice town, and he put up at the +best inn, and ordered a dinner of all his favorite dishes, for now +he was rich and had plenty of money. +</P> + +<P> +The servant, who cleaned his boots, thought they certainly were +a shabby pair to be worn by such a rich gentleman, for he had not +yet bought any new ones. The next day, however, he procured some +good clothes and proper boots, so that our soldier soon became known +as a fine gentleman, and the people visited him, and told him all +the wonders that were to be seen in the town, and of the king's +beautiful daughter, the princess. +</P> + +<P> +"Where can I see her?" asked the soldier. +</P> + +<P> +"She is not to be seen at all," they said; "she lives in a large +copper castle, surrounded by walls and towers. No one but the king +himself can pass in or out, for there has been a prophecy that she +will marry a common soldier, and the king cannot bear to think of such +a marriage." +</P> + +<P> +"I should like very much to see her," thought the soldier; but +he could not obtain permission to do so. However, he passed a very +pleasant time; went to the theatre, drove in the king's garden, and +gave a great deal of money to the poor, which was very good of him; he +remembered what it had been in olden times to be without a shilling. +Now he was rich, had fine clothes, and many friends, who all +declared he was a fine fellow and a real gentleman, and all this +gratified him exceedingly. But his money would not last forever; and +as he spent and gave away a great deal daily, and received none, he +found himself at last with only two shillings left. So he was +obliged to leave his elegant rooms, and live in a little garret +under the roof, where he had to clean his own boots, and even mend +them with a large needle. None of his friends came to see him, there +were too many stairs to mount up. One dark evening, he had not even +a penny to buy a candle; then all at once he remembered that there was +a piece of candle stuck in the tinder-box, which he had brought from +the old tree, into which the witch had helped him. +</P> + +<P> +He found the tinder-box, but no sooner had he struck a few +sparks from the flint and steel, than the door flew open and the dog +with eyes as big as teacups, whom he had seen while down in the +tree, stood before him, and said, "What orders, master?" +</P> + +<P> +"Hallo," said the soldier; "well this is a pleasant tinderbox, +if it brings me all I wish for." +</P> + +<P> +"Bring me some money," said he to the dog. +</P> + +<P> +He was gone in a moment, and presently returned, carrying a +large bag of coppers in his month. The soldier very soon discovered +after this the value of the tinder-box. If he struck the flint once, +the dog who sat on the chest of copper money made his appearance; if +twice, the dog came from the chest of silver; and if three times, +the dog with eyes like towers, who watched over the gold. The +soldier had now plenty of money; he returned to his elegant rooms, and +reappeared in his fine clothes, so that his friends knew him again +directly, and made as much of him as before. +</P> + +<P> +After a while he began to think it was very strange that no one +could get a look at the princess. "Every one says she is very +beautiful," thought he to himself; "but what is the use of that if she +is to be shut up in a copper castle surrounded by so many towers. +Can I by any means get to see her. Stop! where is my tinder-box?" Then +he struck a light, and in a moment the dog, with eyes as big as +teacups, stood before him. +</P> + +<P> +"It is midnight," said the soldier, "yet I should very much like +to see the princess, if only for a moment." +</P> + +<P> +The dog disappeared instantly, and before the soldier could even +look round, he returned with the princess. She was lying on the +dog's back asleep, and looked so lovely, that every one who saw her +would know she was a real princess. The soldier could not help kissing +her, true soldier as he was. Then the dog ran back with the +princess; but in the morning, while at breakfast with the king and +queen, she told them what a singular dream she had had during the +night, of a dog and a soldier, that she had ridden on the dog's +back, and been kissed by the soldier. +</P> + +<P> +"That is a very pretty story, indeed," said the queen. So the next +night one of the old ladies of the court was set to watch by the +princess's bed, to discover whether it really was a dream, or what +else it might be. +</P> + +<P> +The soldier longed very much to see the princess once more, so +he sent for the dog again in the night to fetch her, and to run with +her as fast as ever he could. But the old lady put on water boots, and +ran after him as quickly as he did, and found that he carried the +princess into a large house. She thought it would help her to remember +the place if she made a large cross on the door with a piece of chalk. +Then she went home to bed, and the dog presently returned with the +princess. But when he saw that a cross had been made on the door of +the house, where the soldier lived, he took another piece of chalk and +made crosses on all the doors in the town, so that the lady-in-waiting +might not be able to find out the right door. +</P> + +<P> +Early the next morning the king and queen accompanied the lady and +all the officers of the household, to see where the princess had been. +</P> + +<P> +"Here it is," said the king, when they came to the first door with +a cross on it. +</P> + +<P> +"No, my dear husband, it must be that one," said the queen, pointing +to a second door having a cross also. +</P> + +<P> +"And here is one, and there is another!" they all exclaimed; for +there were crosses on all the doors in every direction. +</P> + +<P> +So they felt it would be useless to search any farther. But the +queen was a very clever woman; she could do a great deal more than +merely ride in a carriage. She took her large gold scissors, cut a +piece of silk into squares, and made a neat little bag. This bag she +filled with buckwheat flour, and tied it round the princess's neck; +and then she cut a small hole in the bag, so that the flour might be +scattered on the ground as the princess went along. During the +night, the dog came again and carried the princess on his back, and +ran with her to the soldier, who loved her very much, and wished +that he had been a prince, so that he might have her for a wife. The +dog did not observe how the flour ran out of the bag all the way +from the castle wall to the soldier's house, and even up to the +window, where he had climbed with the princess. Therefore in the +morning the king and queen found out where their daughter had been, +and the soldier was taken up and put in prison. Oh, how dark and +disagreeable it was as he sat there, and the people said to him, +"To-morrow you will be hanged." It was not very pleasant news, and +besides, he had left the tinder-box at the inn. In the morning he +could see through the iron grating of the little window how the people +were hastening out of the town to see him hanged; he heard the drums +beating, and saw the soldiers marching. Every one ran out to look at +them, and a shoemaker's boy, with a leather apron and slippers on, +galloped by so fast, that one of his slippers flew off and struck +against the wall where the soldier sat looking through the iron +grating. "Hallo, you shoemaker's boy, you need not be in such a +hurry," cried the soldier to him. "There will be nothing to see till I +come; but if you will run to the house where I have been living, and +bring me my tinder-box, you shall have four shillings, but you must +put your best foot foremost." +</P> + +<P> +The shoemaker's boy liked the idea of getting the four +shillings, so he ran very fast and fetched the tinder-box, and gave it +to the soldier. And now we shall see what happened. Outside the town a +large gibbet had been erected, round which stood the soldiers and +several thousands of people. The king and the queen sat on splendid +thrones opposite to the judges and the whole council. The soldier +already stood on the ladder; but as they were about to place the +rope around his neck, he said that an innocent request was often +granted to a poor criminal before he suffered death. He wished very +much to smoke a pipe, as it would be the last pipe he should ever +smoke in the world. The king could not refuse this request, so the +soldier took his tinder-box, and struck fire, once, twice, thrice,—and +there in a moment stood all the dogs;—the one with eyes as big as +teacups, the one with eyes as large as mill-wheels, and the third, +whose eyes were like towers. "Help me now, that I may not be +hanged," cried the soldier. +</P> + +<P> +And the dogs fell upon the judges and all the councillors; +seized one by the legs, and another by the nose, and tossed them +many feet high in the air, so that they fell down and were dashed to +pieces. +</P> + +<P> +"I will not be touched," said the king. But the largest dog seized +him, as well as the queen, and threw them after the others. Then the +soldiers and all the people were afraid, and cried, "Good soldier, you +shall be our king, and you shall marry the beautiful princess." +</P> + +<P> +So they placed the soldier in the king's carriage, and the three +dogs ran on in front and cried "Hurrah!" and the little boys +whistled through their fingers, and the soldiers presented arms. The +princess came out of the copper castle, and became queen, which was +very pleasing to her. The wedding festivities lasted a whole week, and +the dogs sat at the table, and stared with all their eyes. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="toad"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE TOAD +</H3> + +<P> +The well was deep, and therefore the rope had to be a long one; it +was heavy work turning the handle when any one had to raise a +bucketful of water over the edge of the well. Though the water was +clear, the sun never looked down far enough into the well to mirror +itself in the waters; but as far as its beams could reach, green +things grew forth between the stones in the sides of the well. +</P> + +<P> +Down below dwelt a family of the Toad race. They had, in fact, +come head-over-heels down the well, in the person of the old +Mother-Toad, who was still alive. The green Frogs, who had been +established there a long time, and swam about in the water, called +them "well-guests." But the new-comers seemed determined to stay where +they were, for they found it very agreeable living "in a dry place," +as they called the wet stones. +</P> + +<P> +The Mother-Frog had once been a traveller. She happened to be in +the water-bucket when it was drawn up, but the light became too strong +for her, and she got a pain in her eyes. Fortunately she scrambled out +of the bucket; but she fell into the water with a terrible flop, and +had to lie sick for three days with pains in her back. She certainly +had not much to tell of the things up above, but she knew this, and +all the Frogs knew it, that the well was not all the world. The +Mother-Toad might have told this and that, if she had chosen, but +she never answered when they asked her anything, and so they left +off asking. +</P> + +<P> +"She's thick, and fat and ugly," said the young green Frogs; +"and her children will be just as ugly as she is." +</P> + +<P> +"That may be," retorted the mother-Toad, "but one of them has a +jewel in his head, or else I have the jewel." +</P> + +<P> +The young frogs listened and stared; and as these words did not +please them, they made grimaces and dived down under the water. But +the little Toads kicked up their hind legs from mere pride, for each +of them thought that he must have the jewel; and then they sat and +held their heads quite still. But at length they asked what it was +that made them so proud, and what kind of a thing a jewel might be. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, it is such a splendid and precious thing, that I cannot +describe it," said the Mother-Toad. "It's something which one +carries about for one's own pleasure, and that makes other people +angry. But don't ask me any questions, for I shan't answer you." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I haven't got the jewel," said the smallest of the Toads; +she was as ugly as a toad can be. "Why should I have such a precious +thing? And if it makes others angry, it can't give me any pleasure. +No, I only wish I could get to the edge of the well, and look out; +it must be beautiful up there." +</P> + +<P> +"You'd better stay where you are," said the old Mother-Toad, +"for you know everything here, and you can tell what you have. Take +care of the bucket, for it will crush you to death; and even if you +get into it safely, you may fall out. And it's not every one who falls +so cleverly as I did, and gets away with whole legs and whole bones. +</P> + +<P> +"Quack!" said the little Toad; and that's just as if one of us +were to say, "Aha!" +</P> + +<P> +She had an immense desire to get to the edge of the well, and to +look over; she felt such a longing for the green, up there; and the +next morning, when it chanced that the bucket was being drawn up, +filled with water, and stopped for a moment just in front of the stone +on which the Toad sat, the little creature's heart moved within it, +and our Toad jumped into the filled bucket, which presently was +drawn to the top, and emptied out. +</P> + +<P> +"Ugh, you beast!" said the farm laborer who emptied the bucket, +when he saw the toad. "You're the ugliest thing I've seen for one +while." And he made a kick with his wooden shoe at the toad, which +just escaped being crushed by managing to scramble into the nettles +which grew high by the well's brink. Here she saw stem by stem, but +she looked up also; the sun shone through the leaves, which were quite +transparent; and she felt as a person would feel who steps suddenly +into a great forest, where the sun looks in between the branches and +leaves. +</P> + +<P> +"It's much nicer here than down in the well! I should like to stay +here my whole life long!" said the little Toad. So she lay there for +an hour, yes, for two hours. "I wonder what is to be found up here? As +I have come so far, I must try to go still farther." And so she +crawled on as fast as she could crawl, and got out upon the highway, +where the sun shone upon her, and the dust powdered her all over as +she marched across the way. +</P> + +<P> +"I've got to a dry place now, and no mistake," said the Toad. +"It's almost too much of a good thing here; it tickles one so." +</P> + +<P> +She came to the ditch; and forget-me-nots were growing there, +and meadow-sweet; and a very little way off was a hedge of whitethorn, +and elder bushes grew there, too, and bindweed with white flowers. Gay +colors were to be seen here, and a butterfly, too, was flitting by. +The Toad thought it was a flower which had broken loose that it +might look about better in the world, which was quite a natural +thing to do. +</P> + +<P> +"If one could only make such a journey as that!" said the Toad. +"Croak! how capital that would be." +</P> + +<P> +Eight days and eight nights she stayed by the well, and +experienced no want of provisions. On the ninth day she thought, +"Forward! onward!" But what could she find more charming and +beautiful? Perhaps a little toad or a few green frogs. During the last +night there had been a sound borne on the breeze, as if there were +cousins in the neighborhood. +</P> + +<P> +"It's a glorious thing to live! glorious to get out of the well, +and to lie among the stinging-nettles, and to crawl along the dusty +road. But onward, onward! that we may find frogs or a little toad. +We can't do without that; nature alone is not enough for one." And +so she went forward on her journey. +</P> + +<P> +She came out into the open field, to a great pond, round about +which grew reeds; and she walked into it. +</P> + +<P> +"It will be too damp for you here," said the Frogs; "but you are +very welcome! Are you a he or a she? But it doesn't matter; you are +equally welcome." +</P> + +<P> +And she was invited to the concert in the evening—the family +concert; great enthusiasm and thin voices; we know the sort of +thing. No refreshments were given, only there was plenty to drink, for +the whole pond was free. +</P> + +<P> +"Now I shall resume my journey," said the little Toad; for she +always felt a longing for something better. +</P> + +<P> +She saw the stars shining, so large and so bright, and she saw the +moon gleaming; and then she saw the sun rise, and mount higher and +higher. +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps after all, I am still in a well, only in a larger well. I +must get higher yet; I feel a great restlessness and longing." And +when the moon became round and full, the poor creature thought, "I +wonder if that is the bucket which will be let down, and into which +I must step to get higher up? Or is the sun the great bucket? How +great it is! how bright it is! It can take up all. I must look out, +that I may not miss the opportunity. Oh, how it seems to shine in my +head! I don't think the jewel can shine brighter. But I haven't the +jewel; not that I cry about that—no, I must go higher up, into +splendor and joy! I feel so confident, and yet I am afraid. It's a +difficult step to take, and yet it must be taken. Onward, therefore, +straight onward!" +</P> + +<P> +She took a few steps, such as a crawling animal may take, and soon +found herself on a road beside which people dwelt; but there were +flower gardens as well as kitchen gardens. And she sat down to rest by +a kitchen garden. +</P> + +<P> +"What a number of different creatures there are that I never knew! +and how beautiful and great the world is! But one must look round in +it, and not stay in one spot." And then she hopped into the kitchen +garden. "How green it is here! how beautiful it is here!" +</P> + +<P> +"I know that," said the Caterpillar, on the leaf, "my leaf is +the largest here. It hides half the world from me, but I don't care +for the world." +</P> + +<P> +"Cluck, cluck!" And some fowls came. They tripped about in the +cabbage garden. The Fowl who marched at the head of them had a long +sight, and she spied the Caterpillar on the green leaf, and pecked +at it, so that the Caterpillar fell on the ground, where it twisted +and writhed. +</P> + +<P> +The Fowl looked at it first with one eye and then with the +other, for she did not know what the end of this writhing would be. +</P> + +<P> +"It doesn't do that with a good will," thought the Fowl, and +lifted up her head to peck at the Caterpillar. +</P> + +<P> +The Toad was so horrified at this, that she came crawling straight +up towards the Fowl. +</P> + +<P> +"Aha, it has allies," quoth the Fowl. "Just look at the crawling +thing!" And then the Fowl turned away. "I don't care for the little +green morsel; it would only tickle my throat." The other fowls took +the same view of it, and they all turned away together. +</P> + +<P> +"I writhed myself free," said the Caterpillar. "What a good +thing it is when one has presence of mind! But the hardest thing +remains to be done, and that is to get on my leaf again. Where is it?" +</P> + +<P> +And the little Toad came up and expressed her sympathy. She was +glad that in her ugliness she had frightened the fowls. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you mean by that?" cried the Caterpillar. "I wriggled +myself free from the Fowl. You are very disagreeable to look at. +Cannot I be left in peace on my own property? Now I smell cabbage; now +I am near my leaf. Nothing is so beautiful as property. But I must +go higher up." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, higher up," said the little Toad; "higher-up! She feels just +as I do; but she's not in a good humor to-day. That's because of the +fright. We all want to go higher up." And she looked up as high as +ever she could. +</P> + +<P> +The stork sat in his nest on the roof of the farm-house. He +clapped with his beak, and the Mother-stork clapped with hers. +</P> + +<P> +"How high up they live!" thought the Toad. "If one could only +get as high as that!" +</P> + +<P> +In the farm-house lived two young students; the one was a poet and +the other a scientific searcher into the secrets of nature. The one +sang and wrote joyously of everything that God had created, and how it +was mirrored in his heart. He sang it out clearly, sweetly, richly, in +well-sounding verses; while the other investigated created matter +itself, and even cut it open where need was. He looked upon God's +creation as a great sum in arithmetic—subtracted, multiplied, and +tried to know it within and without, and to talk with understanding +concerning it; and that was a very sensible thing; and he spoke +joyously and cleverly of it. They were good, joyful men, those two. +</P> + +<P> +"There sits a good specimen of a toad," said the naturalist. "I +must have that fellow in a bottle of spirits." +</P> + +<P> +"You have two of them already," replied the poet. "Let the thing +sit there and enjoy its life." +</P> + +<P> +"But it's so wonderfully ugly," persisted the first. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, if we could find the jewel in its head," said the poet, "I +too should be for cutting it open.' +</P> + +<P> +"A jewel!" cried the naturalist. "You seem to know a great deal +about natural history." +</P> + +<P> +"But is there not something beautiful in the popular belief that +just as the toad is the ugliest of animals, it should often carry +the most precious jewel in its head? Is it not just the same thing +with men? What a jewel that was that Aesop had, and still more, +Socrates!" +</P> + +<P> +The Toad did not hear any more, nor did she understand half of +what she had heard. The two friends walked on, and thus she escaped +the fate of being bottled up in spirits. +</P> + +<P> +"Those two also were speaking of the jewel," said the Toad to +herself. "What a good thing that I have not got it! I might have +been in a very disagreeable position." +</P> + +<P> +Now there was a clapping on the roof of the farm-house. +Father-Stork was making a speech to his family, and his family was +glancing down at the two young men in the kitchen garden. +</P> + +<P> +"Man is the most conceited creature!" said the Stork. "Listen +how their jaws are wagging; and for all that they can't clap properly. +They boast of their gifts of eloquence and their language! Yes, a fine +language truly! Why, it changes in every day's journey we make. One of +them doesn't understand another. Now, we can speak our language over +the whole earth—up in the North and in Egypt. And then men are not +able to fly, moreover. They rush along by means of an invention they +call 'railway;' but they often break their necks over it. It makes +my beak turn cold when I think of it. The world could get on without +men. We could do without them very well, so long as we only keep frogs +and earth-worms." +</P> + +<P> +"That was a powerful speech," thought the little Toad. "What a +great man that is yonder! and how high he sits! Higher than ever I saw +any one sit yet; and how he can swim!" she cried, as the Stork +soared away through the air with outspread pinions. +</P> + +<P> +And the Mother-Stork began talking in the nest, and told about +Egypt and the waters of the Nile, and the incomparable mud that was to +be found in that strange land; and all this sounded new and very +charming to the little Toad. +</P> + +<P> +"I must go to Egypt!" said she. "If the Stork or one of his +young ones would only take me! I would oblige him in return. Yes, I +shall get to Egypt, for I feel so happy! All the longing and all the +pleasure that I feel is much better than having a jewel in one's +head." +</P> + +<P> +And it was just she who had the jewel. That jewel was the +continual striving and desire to go upward—ever upward. It gleamed in +her head, gleamed in joy, beamed brightly in her longing. +</P> + +<P> +Then, suddenly, up came the Stork. He had seen the Toad in the +grass, and stooped down and seized the little creature anything but +gently. The Stork's beak pinched her, and the wind whistled; it was +not exactly agreeable, but she was going upward—upward towards +Egypt—and she knew it; and that was why her eyes gleamed, and a spark +seemed to fly out of them. +</P> + +<P> +"Quunk!—ah!" +</P> + +<P> +The body was dead—the Toad was killed! But the spark that had +shot forth from her eyes; what became of that? +</P> + +<P> +The sunbeam took it up; the sunbeam carried the jewel from the +head of the toad. Whither? +</P> + +<P> +Ask not the naturalist; rather ask the poet. He will tell it +thee under the guise of a fairy tale; and the Caterpillar on the +cabbage, and the Stork family belong to the story. Think! the +Caterpillar is changed, and turns into a beautiful butterfly; the +Stork family flies over mountains and seas, to the distant Africa, and +yet finds the shortest way home to the same country—to the same roof. +Nay, that is almost too improbable; and yet it is true. You may ask +the naturalist, he will confess it is so; and you know it yourself, +for you have seen it. +</P> + +<P> +But the jewel in the head of the toad? +</P> + +<P> +Seek it in the sun; see it there if you can. +</P> + +<P> +The brightness is too dazzling there. We have not yet such eyes as +can see into the glories which God has created, but we shall receive +them by-and-by; and that will be the most beautiful story of all, +and we shall all have our share in it. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="top_ball"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE TOP AND BALL +</H3> + +<P> +A whipping top and a little ball lay together in a box, among +other toys, and the top said to the ball, "Shall we be married, as +we live in the same box?" +</P> + +<P> +But the ball, which wore a dress of morocco leather, and thought +as much of herself as any other young lady, would not even +condescend to reply. +</P> + +<P> +The next day came the little boy to whom the playthings +belonged, and he painted the top red and yellow, and drove a +brass-headed nail into the middle, so that while the top was +spinning round it looked splendid. +</P> + +<P> +"Look at me," said the top to the ball. "What do you say now? +Shall we be engaged to each other? We should suit so well; you spring, +and I dance. No one could be happier than we should be." +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed! do you think so? Perhaps you do not know that my father +and mother were morocco slippers, and that I have a Spanish cork in my +body." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; but I am made of mahogany," said the top. "The major himself +turned me. He has a turning lathe of his own, and it is a great +amusement to him." +</P> + +<P> +"Can I believe it?" asked the ball. +</P> + +<P> +"May I never be whipped again," said the top, "if I am not telling +you the truth." +</P> + +<P> +"You certainly know how to speak for yourself very well," said the +ball; "but I cannot accept your proposal. I am almost engaged to a +swallow. Every time I fly up in the air, he puts his head out of the +nest, and says, 'Will you?' and I have said, 'Yes,' to myself +silently, and that is as good as being half engaged; but I will +promise never to forget you." +</P> + +<P> +"Much good that will be to me," said the top; and they spoke to +each other no more. +</P> + +<P> +Next day the ball was taken out by the boy. The top saw it +flying high in the air, like a bird, till it would go quite out of +sight. Each time it came back, as it touched the earth, it gave a +higher leap than before, either because it longed to fly upwards, or +from having a Spanish cork in its body. But the ninth time it rose +in the air, it remained away, and did not return. The boy searched +everywhere for it, but he searched in vain, for it could not be found; +it was gone. +</P> + +<P> +"I know very well where she is," sighed the top; "she is in the +swallow's nest, and has married the swallow." +</P> + +<P> +The more the top thought of this, the more he longed for the ball. +His love increased the more, just because he could not get her; and +that she should have been won by another, was the worst of all. The +top still twirled about and hummed, but he continued to think of the +ball; and the more he thought of her, the more beautiful she seemed to +his fancy. +</P> + +<P> +Thus several years passed by, and his love became quite old. The +top, also, was no longer young; but there came a day when he looked +handsomer than ever; for he was gilded all over. He was now a golden +top, and whirled and danced about till he hummed quite loud, and was +something worth looking at; but one day he leaped too high, and then +he, also, was gone. They searched everywhere, even in the cellar, +but he was nowhere to be found. Where could he be? He had jumped +into the dust-bin, where all sorts of rubbish were lying: +cabbage-stalks, dust, and rain-droppings that had fallen down from the +gutter under the roof. +</P> + +<P> +"Now I am in a nice place," said he; "my gilding will soon be +washed off here. Oh dear, what a set of rabble I have got amongst!" +And then he glanced at a curious round thing like an old apple, +which lay near a long, leafless cabbage-stalk. It was, however, not an +apple, but an old ball, which had lain for years in the gutter, and +was soaked through with water. +</P> + +<P> +"Thank goodness, here comes one of my own class, with whom I can +talk," said the ball, examining the gilded top. "I am made of +morocco," she said. "I was sewn together by a young lady, and I have a +Spanish cork in my body; but no one would think it, to look at me now. +I was once engaged to a swallow; but I fell in here from the gutter +under the roof, and I have lain here more than five years, and have +been thoroughly drenched. Believe me, it is a long time for a young +maiden." +</P> + +<P> +The top said nothing, but he thought of his old love; and the more +she said, the more clear it became to him that this was the same ball. +</P> + +<P> +The servant then came to clean out the dust-bin. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah," she exclaimed, "here is a gilt top." So the top was +brought again to notice and honor, but nothing more was heard of the +little ball. He spoke not a word about his old love; for that soon +died away. When the beloved object has lain for five years in a +gutter, and has been drenched through, no one cares to know her +again on meeting her in a dust-bin. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="travelng"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE TRAVELLING COMPANION +</H3> + +<P> +Poor John was very sad; for his father was so ill, he had no +hope of his recovery. John sat alone with the sick man in the little +room, and the lamp had nearly burnt out; for it was late in the night. +</P> + +<P> +"You have been a good son, John," said the sick father, "and God +will help you on in the world." He looked at him, as he spoke, with +mild, earnest eyes, drew a deep sigh, and died; yet it appeared as +if he still slept. +</P> + +<P> +John wept bitterly. He had no one in the wide world now; neither +father, mother, brother, nor sister. Poor John! he knelt down by the +bed, kissed his dead father's hand, and wept many, many bitter +tears. But at last his eyes closed, and he fell asleep with his head +resting against the hard bedpost. Then he dreamed a strange dream; +he thought he saw the sun shining upon him, and his father alive and +well, and even heard him laughing as he used to do when he was very +happy. A beautiful girl, with a golden crown on her head, and long, +shining hair, gave him her hand; and his father said, "See what a +bride you have won. She is the loveliest maiden on the whole earth." +Then he awoke, and all the beautiful things vanished before his +eyes, his father lay dead on the bed, and he was all alone. Poor John! +</P> + +<P> +During the following week the dead man was buried. The son +walked behind the coffin which contained his father, whom he so dearly +loved, and would never again behold. He heard the earth fall on the +coffin-lid, and watched it till only a corner remained in sight, and +at last that also disappeared. He felt as if his heart would break +with its weight of sorrow, till those who stood round the grave sang a +psalm, and the sweet, holy tones brought tears into his eyes, which +relieved him. The sun shone brightly down on the green trees, as if it +would say, "You must not be so sorrowful, John. Do you see the +beautiful blue sky above you? Your father is up there, and he prays to +the loving Father of all, that you may do well in the future." +</P> + +<P> +"I will always be good," said John, "and then I shall go to be +with my father in heaven. What joy it will be when we see each other +again! How much I shall have to relate to him, and how many things +he will be able to explain to me of the delights of heaven, and +teach me as he once did on earth. Oh, what joy it will be!" +</P> + +<P> +He pictured it all so plainly to himself, that he smiled even +while the tears ran down his cheeks. +</P> + +<P> +The little birds in the chestnut-trees twittered, "Tweet, +tweet;" they were so happy, although they had seen the funeral; but +they seemed as if they knew that the dead man was now in heaven, and +that he had wings much larger and more beautiful than their own; and +he was happy now, because he had been good here on earth, and they +were glad of it. John saw them fly away out of the green trees into +the wide world, and he longed to fly with them; but first he cut out a +large wooden cross, to place on his father's grave; and when he +brought it there in the evening, he found the grave decked out with +gravel and flowers. Strangers had done this; they who had known the +good old father who was now dead, and who had loved him very much. +</P> + +<P> +Early the next morning, John packed up his little bundle of +clothes, and placed all his money, which consisted of fifty dollars +and a few shillings, in his girdle; with this he determined to try his +fortune in the world. But first he went into the churchyard; and, by +his father's grave, he offered up a prayer, and said, "Farewell." +</P> + +<P> +As he passed through the fields, all the flowers looked fresh +and beautiful in the warm sunshine, and nodded in the wind, as if they +wished to say, "Welcome to the green wood, where all is fresh and +bright." +</P> + +<P> +Then John turned to have one more look at the old church, in which +he had been christened in his infancy, and where his father had +taken him every Sunday to hear the service and join in singing the +psalms. As he looked at the old tower, he espied the ringer standing +at one of the narrow openings, with his little pointed red cap on +his head, and shading his eyes from the sun with his bent arm. John +nodded farewell to him, and the little ringer waved his red cap, +laid his hand on his heart, and kissed his hand to him a great many +times, to show that he felt kindly towards him, and wished him a +prosperous journey. +</P> + +<P> +John continued his journey, and thought of all the wonderful +things he should see in the large, beautiful world, till he found +himself farther away from home than ever he had been before. He did +not even know the names of the places he passed through, and could +scarcely understand the language of the people he met, for he was +far away, in a strange land. The first night he slept on a haystack, +out in the fields, for there was no other bed for him; but it seemed +to him so nice and comfortable that even a king need not wish for a +better. The field, the brook, the haystack, with the blue sky above, +formed a beautiful sleeping-room. The green grass, with the little red +and white flowers, was the carpet; the elder-bushes and the hedges +of wild roses looked like garlands on the walls; and for a bath he +could have the clear, fresh water of the brook; while the rushes bowed +their heads to him, to wish him good morning and good evening. The +moon, like a large lamp, hung high up in the blue ceiling, and he +had no fear of its setting fire to his curtains. John slept here quite +safely all night; and when he awoke, the sun was up, and all the +little birds were singing round him, "Good morning, good morning. +Are you not up yet?" +</P> + +<P> +It was Sunday, and the bells were ringing for church. As the +people went in, John followed them; he heard God's word, joined in +singing the psalms, and listened to the preacher. It seemed to him +just as if he were in his own church, where he had been christened, +and had sung the psalms with his father. Out in the churchyard were +several graves, and on some of them the grass had grown very high. +John thought of his father's grave, which he knew at last would look +like these, as he was not there to weed and attend to it. Then he +set to work, pulled up the high grass, raised the wooden crosses which +had fallen down, and replaced the wreaths which had been blown away +from their places by the wind, thinking all the time, "Perhaps some +one is doing the same for my father's grave, as I am not there to do +it." +</P> + +<P> +Outside the church door stood an old beggar, leaning on his +crutch. John gave him his silver shillings, and then he continued +his journey, feeling lighter and happier than ever. Towards evening, +the weather became very stormy, and he hastened on as quickly as he +could, to get shelter; but it was quite dark by the time he reached +a little lonely church which stood on a hill. "I will go in here," +he said, "and sit down in a corner; for I am quite tired, and want +rest." +</P> + +<P> +So he went in, and seated himself; then he folded his hands, and +offered up his evening prayer, and was soon fast asleep and +dreaming, while the thunder rolled and the lightning flashed +without. When he awoke, it was still night; but the storm had +ceased, and the moon shone in upon him through the windows. Then he +saw an open coffin standing in the centre of the church, which +contained a dead man, waiting for burial. John was not at all timid; +he had a good conscience, and he knew also that the dead can never +injure any one. It is living wicked men who do harm to others. Two +such wicked persons stood now by the dead man, who had been brought to +the church to be buried. Their evil intentions were to throw the +poor dead body outside the church door, and not leave him to rest in +his coffin. +</P> + +<P> +"Why do you do this?" asked John, when he saw what they were going +to do; "it is very wicked. Leave him to rest in peace, in Christ's +name." +</P> + +<P> +"Nonsense," replied the two dreadful men. "He has cheated us; he +owed us money which he could not pay, and now he is dead we shall +not get a penny; so we mean to have our revenge, and let him lie +like a dog outside the church door." +</P> + +<P> +"I have only fifty dollars," said John, "it is all I possess in +the world, but I will give it to you if you will promise me faithfully +to leave the dead man in peace. I shall be able to get on without +the money; I have strong and healthy limbs, and God will always help +me." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, of course," said the horrid men, "if you will pay his debt +we will both promise not to touch him. You may depend upon that;" +and then they took the money he offered them, laughed at him for his +good nature, and went their way. +</P> + +<P> +Then he laid the dead body back in the coffin, folded the hands, +and took leave of it; and went away contentedly through the great +forest. All around him he could see the prettiest little elves dancing +in the moonlight, which shone through the trees. They were not +disturbed by his appearance, for they knew he was good and harmless +among men. They are wicked people only who can never obtain a +glimpse of fairies. Some of them were not taller than the breadth of a +finger, and they wore golden combs in their long, yellow hair. They +were rocking themselves two together on the large dew-drops with which +the leaves and the high grass were sprinkled. Sometimes the +dew-drops would roll away, and then they fell down between the stems +of the long grass, and caused a great deal of laughing and noise among +the other little people. It was quite charming to watch them at +play. Then they sang songs, and John remembered that he had learnt +those pretty songs when he was a little boy. Large speckled spiders, +with silver crowns on their heads, were employed to spin suspension +bridges and palaces from one hedge to another, and when the tiny drops +fell upon them, they glittered in the moonlight like shining glass. +This continued till sunrise. Then the little elves crept into the +flower-buds, and the wind seized the bridges and palaces, and +fluttered them in the air like cobwebs. +</P> + +<P> +As John left the wood, a strong man's voice called after him, +"Hallo, comrade, where are you travelling?" +</P> + +<P> +"Into the wide world," he replied; "I am only a poor lad, I have +neither father nor mother, but God will help me." +</P> + +<P> +"I am going into the wide world also," replied the stranger; +"shall we keep each other company?" +</P> + +<P> +"With all my heart," he said, and so they went on together. Soon +they began to like each other very much, for they were both good; +but John found out that the stranger was much more clever than +himself. He had travelled all over the world, and could describe +almost everything. The sun was high in the heavens when they seated +themselves under a large tree to eat their breakfast, and at the +same moment an old woman came towards them. She was very old and +almost bent double. She leaned upon a stick and carried on her back +a bundle of firewood, which she had collected in the forest; her apron +was tied round it, and John saw three great stems of fern and some +willow twigs peeping out. Just as she came close up to them, her +foot slipped and she fell to the ground screaming loudly; poor old +woman, she had broken her leg! John proposed directly that they should +carry the old woman home to her cottage; but the stranger opened his +knapsack and took out a box, in which he said he had a salve that +would quickly make her leg well and strong again, so that she would be +able to walk home herself, as if her leg had never been broken. And +all that he would ask in return was the three fern stems which she +carried in her apron. +</P> + +<P> +"That is rather too high a price," said the old woman, nodding her +head quite strangely. She did not seem at all inclined to part with +the fern stems. However, it was not very agreeable to lie there with a +broken leg, so she gave them to him; and such was the power of the +ointment, that no sooner had he rubbed her leg with it than the old +mother rose up and walked even better than she had done before. But +then this wonderful ointment could not be bought at a chemist's. +</P> + +<P> +"What can you want with those three fern rods?" asked John of +his fellow-traveller. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, they will make capital brooms," said he; "and I like them +because I have strange whims sometimes." Then they walked on +together for a long distance. +</P> + +<P> +"How dark the sky is becoming," said John; "and look at those +thick, heavy clouds." +</P> + +<P> +"Those are not clouds," replied his fellow-traveller; "they are +mountains—large lofty mountains—on the tops of which we should be +above the clouds, in the pure, free air. Believe me, it is +delightful to ascend so high, tomorrow we shall be there." But the +mountains were not so near as they appeared; they had to travel a +whole day before they reached them, and pass through black forests and +piles of rock as large as a town. The journey had been so fatiguing +that John and his fellow-traveller stopped to rest at a roadside +inn, so that they might gain strength for their journey on the morrow. +In the large public room of the inn a great many persons were +assembled to see a comedy performed by dolls. The showman had just +erected his little theatre, and the people were sitting round the room +to witness the performance. Right in front, in the very best place, +sat a stout butcher, with a great bull-dog by his side who seemed very +much inclined to bite. He sat staring with all his eyes, and so indeed +did every one else in the room. And then the play began. It was a +pretty piece, with a king and a queen in it, who sat on a beautiful +throne, and had gold crowns on their heads. The trains to their +dresses were very long, according to the fashion; while the +prettiest of wooden dolls, with glass eyes and large mustaches, +stood at the doors, and opened and shut them, that the fresh air might +come into the room. It was a very pleasant play, not at all +mournful; but just as the queen stood up and walked across the +stage, the great bull-dog, who should have been held back by his +master, made a spring forward, and caught the queen in the teeth by +the slender wrist, so that it snapped in two. This was a very dreadful +disaster. The poor man, who was exhibiting the dolls, was much +annoyed, and quite sad about his queen; she was the prettiest doll +he had, and the bull-dog had broken her head and shoulders off. But +after all the people were gone away, the stranger, who came with John, +said that he could soon set her to rights. And then he brought out his +box and rubbed the doll with some of the salve with which he had cured +the old woman when she broke her leg. As soon as this was done the +doll's back became quite right again; her head and shoulders were +fixed on, and she could even move her limbs herself: there was now +no occasion to pull the wires, for the doll acted just like a living +creature, excepting that she could not speak. The man to whom the show +belonged was quite delighted at having a doll who could dance of +herself without being pulled by the wires; none of the other dolls +could do this. +</P> + +<P> +During the night, when all the people at the inn were gone to bed, +some one was heard to sigh so deeply and painfully, and the sighing +continued for so long a time, that every one got up to see what +could be the matter. The showman went at once to his little theatre +and found that it proceeded from the dolls, who all lay on the floor +sighing piteously, and staring with their glass eyes; they all +wanted to be rubbed with the ointment, so that, like the queen, they +might be able to move of themselves. The queen threw herself on her +knees, took off her beautiful crown, and, holding it in her hand, +cried, "Take this from me, but do rub my husband and his courtiers." +</P> + +<P> +The poor man who owned the theatre could scarcely refrain from +weeping; he was so sorry that he could not help them. Then he +immediately spoke to John's comrade, and promised him all the money he +might receive at the next evening's performance, if he would only +rub the ointment on four or five of his dolls. But the fellow-traveller +said he did not require anything in return, excepting the sword +which the showman wore by his side. As soon as he received the +sword he anointed six of the dolls with the ointment, and they +were able immediately to dance so gracefully that all the living girls +in the room could not help joining in the dance. The coachman danced +with the cook, and the waiters with the chambermaids, and all the +strangers joined; even the tongs and the fire-shovel made an +attempt, but they fell down after the first jump. So after all it +was a very merry night. The next morning John and his companion left +the inn to continue their journey through the great pine-forests and +over the high mountains. They arrived at last at such a great height +that towns and villages lay beneath them, and the church steeples +looked like little specks between the green trees. They could see +for miles round, far away to places they had never visited, and John +saw more of the beautiful world than he had ever known before. The sun +shone brightly in the blue firmament above, and through the clear +mountain air came the sound of the huntsman's horn, and the soft, +sweet notes brought tears into his eyes, and he could not help +exclaiming, "How good and loving God is to give us all this beauty and +loveliness in the world to make us happy!" +</P> + +<P> +His fellow-traveller stood by with folded hands, gazing on the +dark wood and the towns bathed in the warm sunshine. At this moment +there sounded over their heads sweet music. They looked up, and +discovered a large white swan hovering in the air, and singing as +never bird sang before. But the song soon became weaker and weaker, +the bird's head drooped, and he sunk slowly down, and lay dead at +their feet. +</P> + +<P> +"It is a beautiful bird," said the traveller, "and these large +white wings are worth a great deal of money. I will take them with me. +You see now that a sword will be very useful." +</P> + +<P> +So he cut off the wings of the dead swan with one blow, and +carried them away with him. +</P> + +<P> +They now continued their journey over the mountains for many +miles, till they at length reached a large city, containing hundreds +of towers, that shone in the sunshine like silver. In the midst of the +city stood a splendid marble palace, roofed with pure red gold, in +which dwelt the king. John and his companion would not go into the +town immediately; so they stopped at an inn outside the town, to +change their clothes; for they wished to appear respectable as they +walked through the streets. The landlord told them that the king was a +very good man, who never injured any one: but as to his daughter, +"Heaven defend us!" +</P> + +<P> +She was indeed a wicked princess. She possessed beauty enough—nobody +could be more elegant or prettier than she was; but what of +that? for she was a wicked witch; and in consequence of her conduct +many noble young princes had lost their lives. Any one was at +liberty to make her an offer; were he a prince or a beggar, it +mattered not to her. She would ask him to guess three things which she +had just thought of, and if he succeed, he was to marry her, and be +king over all the land when her father died; but if he could not guess +these three things, then she ordered him to be hanged or to have his +head cut off. The old king, her father, was very much grieved at her +conduct, but he could not prevent her from being so wicked, because he +once said he would have nothing more to do with her lovers; she +might do as she pleased. Each prince who came and tried the three +guesses, so that he might marry the princess, had been unable to +find them out, and had been hanged or beheaded. They had all been +warned in time, and might have left her alone, if they would. The +old king became at last so distressed at all these dreadful +circumstances, that for a whole day every year he and his soldiers +knelt and prayed that the princess might become good; but she +continued as wicked as ever. The old women who drank brandy would +color it quite black before they drank it, to show how they mourned; +and what more could they do? +</P> + +<P> +"What a horrible princess!" said John; "she ought to be well +flogged. If I were the old king, I would have her punished in some +way." +</P> + +<P> +Just then they heard the people outside shouting, "Hurrah!" and, +looking out, they saw the princess passing by; and she was really so +beautiful that everybody forgot her wickedness, and shouted +"Hurrah!" Twelve lovely maidens in white silk dresses, holding +golden tulips in their hands, rode by her side on coal-black horses. +The princess herself had a snow-white steed, decked with diamonds +and rubies. Her dress was of cloth of gold, and the whip she held in +her hand looked like a sunbeam. The golden crown on her head glittered +like the stars of heaven, and her mantle was formed of thousands of +butterflies' wings sewn together. Yet she herself was more beautiful +than all. +</P> + +<P> +When John saw her, his face became as red as a drop of blood, +and he could scarcely utter a word. The princess looked exactly like +the beautiful lady with the golden crown, of whom he had dreamed on +the night his father died. She appeared to him so lovely that he could +not help loving her. +</P> + +<P> +"It could not be true," he thought, "that she was really a +wicked witch, who ordered people to be hanged or beheaded, if they +could not guess her thoughts. Every one has permission to go and ask +her hand, even the poorest beggar. I shall pay a visit to the palace," +he said; "I must go, for I cannot help myself." +</P> + +<P> +Then they all advised him not to attempt it; for he would be +sure to share the same fate as the rest. His fellow-traveller also +tried to persuade him against it; but John seemed quite sure of +success. He brushed his shoes and his coat, washed his face and his +hands, combed his soft flaxen hair, and then went out alone into the +town, and walked to the palace. +</P> + +<P> +"Come in," said the king, as John knocked at the door. John opened +it, and the old king, in a dressing gown and embroidered slippers, +came towards him. He had the crown on his head, carried his sceptre in +one hand, and the orb in the other. "Wait a bit," said he, and he +placed the orb under his arm, so that he could offer the other hand to +John; but when he found that John was another suitor, he began to weep +so violently, that both the sceptre and the orb fell to the floor, and +he was obliged to wipe his eyes with his dressing gown. Poor old king! +"Let her alone," he said; "you will fare as badly as all the others. +Come, I will show you." Then he led him out into the princess's +pleasure gardens, and there he saw a frightful sight. On every tree +hung three or four king's sons who had wooed the princess, but had not +been able to guess the riddles she gave them. Their skeletons +rattled in every breeze, so that the terrified birds never dared to +venture into the garden. All the flowers were supported by human bones +instead of sticks, and human skulls in the flower-pots grinned +horribly. It was really a doleful garden for a princess. "Do you see +all this?" said the old king; "your fate will be the same as those who +are here, therefore do not attempt it. You really make me very +unhappy,—I take these things to heart so very much." +</P> + +<P> +John kissed the good old king's hand, and said he was sure it +would be all right, for he was quite enchanted with the beautiful +princess. Then the princess herself came riding into the palace yard +with all her ladies, and he wished her "Good morning." She looked +wonderfully fair and lovely when she offered her hand to John, and +he loved her more than ever. How could she be a wicked witch, as all +the people asserted? He accompanied her into the hall, and the +little pages offered them gingerbread nuts and sweetmeats, but the old +king was so unhappy he could eat nothing, and besides, gingerbread +nuts were too hard for him. It was decided that John should come to +the palace the next day, when the judges and the whole of the +counsellors would be present, to try if he could guess the first +riddle. If he succeeded, he would have to come a second time; but if +not, he would lose his life,—and no one had ever been able to guess +even one. However, John was not at all anxious about the result of his +trial; on the contrary, he was very merry. He thought only of the +beautiful princess, and believed that in some way he should have help, +but how he knew not, and did not like to think about it; so he +danced along the high-road as he went back to the inn, where he had +left his fellow-traveller waiting for him. John could not refrain from +telling him how gracious the princess had been, and how beautiful +she looked. He longed for the next day so much, that he might go to +the palace and try his luck at guessing the riddles. But his comrade +shook his head, and looked very mournful. "I do so wish you to do +well," said he; "we might have continued together much longer, and now +I am likely to lose you; you poor dear John! I could shed tears, but I +will not make you unhappy on the last night we may be together. We +will be merry, really merry this evening; to-morrow, after you are +gone, shall be able to weep undisturbed." +</P> + +<P> +It was very quickly known among the inhabitants of the town that +another suitor had arrived for the princess, and there was great +sorrow in consequence. The theatre remained closed, the women who sold +sweetmeats tied crape round the sugar-sticks, and the king and the +priests were on their knees in the church. There was a great +lamentation, for no one expected John to succeed better than those who +had been suitors before. +</P> + +<P> +In the evening John's comrade prepared a large bowl of punch, +and said, "Now let us be merry, and drink to the health of the +princess." But after drinking two glasses, John became so sleepy, that +he could not keep his eyes open, and fell fast asleep. Then his +fellow-traveller lifted him gently out of his chair, and laid him on +the bed; and as soon as it was quite dark, he took the two large wings +which he had cut from the dead swan, and tied them firmly to his own +shoulders. Then he put into his pocket the largest of the three rods +which he had obtained from the old woman who had fallen and broken her +leg. After this he opened the window, and flew away over the town, +straight towards the palace, and seated himself in a corner, under the +window which looked into the bedroom of the princess. +</P> + +<P> +The town was perfectly still when the clocks struck a quarter to +twelve. Presently the window opened, and the princess, who had large +black wings to her shoulders, and a long white mantle, flew away +over the city towards a high mountain. The fellow-traveller, who had +made himself invisible, so that she could not possibly see him, flew +after her through the air, and whipped the princess with his rod, so +that the blood came whenever he struck her. Ah, it was a strange +flight through the air! The wind caught her mantle, so that it +spread out on all sides, like the large sail of a ship, and the moon +shone through it. "How it hails, to be sure!" said the princess, at +each blow she received from the rod; and it served her right to be +whipped. +</P> + +<P> +At last she reached the side of the mountain, and knocked. The +mountain opened with a noise like the roll of thunder, and the +princess went in. The traveller followed her; no one could see him, as +he had made himself invisible. They went through a long, wide passage. +A thousand gleaming spiders ran here and there on the walls, causing +them to glitter as if they were illuminated with fire. They next +entered a large hall built of silver and gold. Large red and blue +flowers shone on the walls, looking like sunflowers in size, but no +one could dare to pluck them, for the stems were hideous poisonous +snakes, and the flowers were flames of fire, darting out of their +jaws. Shining glow-worms covered the ceiling, and sky-blue bats +flapped their transparent wings. Altogether the place had a +frightful appearance. In the middle of the floor stood a throne +supported by four skeleton horses, whose harness had been made by +fiery-red spiders. The throne itself was made of milk-white glass, and +the cushions were little black mice, each biting the other's tail. +Over it hung a canopy of rose-colored spider's webs, spotted with +the prettiest little green flies, which sparkled like precious stones. +On the throne sat an old magician with a crown on his ugly head, and a +sceptre in his hand. He kissed the princess on the forehead, seated +her by his side on the splendid throne, and then the music +commenced. Great black grasshoppers played the mouth organ, and the +owl struck herself on the body instead of a drum. It was altogether +a ridiculous concert. Little black goblins with false lights in +their caps danced about the hall; but no one could see the +traveller, and he had placed himself just behind the throne where he +could see and hear everything. The courtiers who came in afterwards +looked noble and grand; but any one with common sense could see what +they really were, only broomsticks, with cabbages for heads. The +magician had given them life, and dressed them in embroidered robes. +It answered very well, as they were only wanted for show. After +there had been a little dancing, the princess told the magician that +she had a new suitor, and asked him what she could think of for the +suitor to guess when he came to the castle the next morning. +</P> + +<P> +"Listen to what I say," said the magician, "you must choose +something very easy, he is less likely to guess it then. Think of +one of your shoes, he will never imagine it is that. Then cut his head +off; and mind you do not forget to bring his eyes with you to-morrow +night, that I may eat them." +</P> + +<P> +The princess curtsied low, and said she would not forget the eyes. +</P> + +<P> +The magician then opened the mountain and she flew home again, but +the traveller followed and flogged her so much with the rod, that +she sighed quite deeply about the heavy hail-storm, and made as much +haste as she could to get back to her bedroom through the window. +The traveller then returned to the inn where John still slept, took +off his wings and laid down on the bed, for he was very tired. Early +in the morning John awoke, and when his fellow-traveller got up, he +said that he had a very wonderful dream about the princess and her +shoe, he therefore advised John to ask her if she had not thought of +her shoe. Of course the traveller knew this from what the magician +in the mountain had said. +</P> + +<P> +"I may as well say that as anything," said John. "Perhaps your +dream may come true; still I will say farewell, for if I guess wrong I +shall never see you again." +</P> + +<P> +Then they embraced each other, and John went into the town and +walked to the palace. The great hall was full of people, and the +judges sat in arm-chairs, with eider-down cushions to rest their heads +upon, because they had so much to think of. The old king stood near, +wiping his eyes with his white pocket-handkerchief. When the +princess entered, she looked even more beautiful than she had appeared +the day before, and greeted every one present most gracefully; but +to John she gave her hand, and said, "Good morning to you." +</P> + +<P> +Now came the time for John to guess what she was thinking of; +and oh, how kindly she looked at him as she spoke. But when he uttered +the single word shoe, she turned as pale as a ghost; all her wisdom +could not help her, for he had guessed rightly. Oh, how pleased the +old king was! It was quite amusing to see how he capered about. All +the people clapped their hands, both on his account and John's, who +had guessed rightly the first time. His fellow-traveller was glad +also, when he heard how successful John had been. But John folded +his hands, and thanked God, who, he felt quite sure, would help him +again; and he knew he had to guess twice more. The evening passed +pleasantly like the one preceding. While John slept, his companion +flew behind the princess to the mountain, and flogged her even +harder than before; this time he had taken two rods with him. No one +saw him go in with her, and he heard all that was said. The princess +this time was to think of a glove, and he told John as if he had again +heard it in a dream. The next day, therefore, he was able to guess +correctly the second time, and it caused great rejoicing at the +palace. The whole court jumped about as they had seen the king do +the day before, but the princess lay on the sofa, and would not say +a single word. All now depended upon John. If he only guessed +rightly the third time, he would marry the princess, and reign over +the kingdom after the death of the old king: but if he failed, he +would lose his life, and the magician would have his beautiful blue +eyes. That evening John said his prayers and went to bed very early, +and soon fell asleep calmly. But his companion tied on his wings to +his shoulders, took three rods, and, with his sword at his side, +flew to the palace. It was a very dark night, and so stormy that the +tiles flew from the roofs of the houses, and the trees in the garden +upon which the skeletons hung bent themselves like reeds before the +wind. The lightning flashed, and the thunder rolled in one +long-continued peal all night. The window of the castle opened, and +the princess flew out. She was pale as death, but she laughed at the +storm as if it were not bad enough. Her white mantle fluttered in +the wind like a large sail, and the traveller flogged her with the +three rods till the blood trickled down, and at last she could +scarcely fly; she contrived, however, to reach the mountain. "What a +hail-storm!" she said, as she entered; "I have never been out in +such weather as this." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, there may be too much of a good thing sometimes," said the +magician. +</P> + +<P> +Then the princess told him that John had guessed rightly the +second time, and if he succeeded the next morning, he would win, and +she could never come to the mountain again, or practice magic as she +had done, and therefore she was quite unhappy. "I will find out +something for you to think of which he will never guess, unless he +is a greater conjuror than myself. But now let us be merry." +</P> + +<P> +Then he took the princess by both hands, and they danced with +all the little goblins and Jack-o'-lanterns in the room. The red +spiders sprang here and there on the walls quite as merrily, and the +flowers of fire appeared as if they were throwing out sparks. The +owl beat the drum, the crickets whistled and the grasshoppers played +the mouth-organ. It was a very ridiculous ball. After they had +danced enough, the princess was obliged to go home, for fear she +should be missed at the palace. The magician offered to go with her, +that they might be company to each other on the way. Then they flew +away through the bad weather, and the traveller followed them, and +broke his three rods across their shoulders. The magician had never +been out in such a hail-storm as this. Just by the palace the magician +stopped to wish the princess farewell, and to whisper in her ear, +"To-morrow think of my head." +</P> + +<P> +But the traveller heard it, and just as the princess slipped +through the window into her bedroom, and the magician turned round +to fly back to the mountain, he seized him by the long black beard, +and with his sabre cut off the wicked conjuror's head just behind +the shoulders, so that he could not even see who it was. He threw +the body into the sea to the fishes, and after dipping the head into +the water, he tied it up in a silk handkerchief, took it with him to +the inn, and then went to bed. The next morning he gave John the +handkerchief, and told him not to untie it till the princess asked him +what she was thinking of. There were so many people in the great +hall of the palace that they stood as thick as radishes tied +together in a bundle. The council sat in their arm-chairs with the +white cushions. The old king wore new robes, and the golden crown +and sceptre had been polished up so that he looked quite smart. But +the princess was very pale, and wore a black dress as if she were +going to a funeral. +</P> + +<P> +"What have I thought of?" asked the princess, of John. He +immediately untied the handkerchief, and was himself quite +frightened when he saw the head of the ugly magician. Every one +shuddered, for it was terrible to look at; but the princess sat like a +statue, and could not utter a single word. At length she rose and gave +John her hand, for he had guessed rightly. +</P> + +<P> +She looked at no one, but sighed deeply, and said, "You are my +master now; this evening our marriage must take place." +</P> + +<P> +"I am very pleased to hear it," said the old king. "It is just +what I wish." +</P> + +<P> +Then all the people shouted "Hurrah." The band played music in the +streets, the bells rang, and the cake-women took the black crape off +the sugar-sticks. There was universal joy. Three oxen, stuffed with +ducks and chickens, were roasted whole in the market-place, where +every one might help himself to a slice. The fountains spouted forth +the most delicious wine, and whoever bought a penny loaf at the +baker's received six large buns, full of raisins, as a present. In the +evening the whole town was illuminated. The soldiers fired off +cannons, and the boys let off crackers. There was eating and drinking, +dancing and jumping everywhere. In the palace, the high-born gentlemen +and beautiful ladies danced with each other, and they could be heard +at a great distance singing the following song:— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Here are maidens, young and fair,<BR> + Dancing in the summer air;<BR> + Like two spinning-wheels at play,<BR> + Pretty maidens dance away—<BR> + Dance the spring and summer through<BR> + Till the sole falls from your shoe."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +But the princess was still a witch, and she could not love John. +His fellow-traveller had thought of that, so he gave John three +feathers out of the swan's wings, and a little bottle with a few drops +in it. He told him to place a large bath full of water by the +princess's bed, and put the feathers and the drops into it. Then, at +the moment she was about to get into bed, he must give her a little +push, so that she might fall into the water, and then dip her three +times. This would destroy the power of the magician, and she would +love him very much. John did all that his companion told him to do. +The princess shrieked aloud when he dipped her under the water the +first time, and struggled under his hands in the form of a great black +swan with fiery eyes. As she rose the second time from the water, +the swan had become white, with a black ring round its neck. John +allowed the water to close once more over the bird, and at the same +time it changed into a most beautiful princess. She was more lovely +even than before, and thanked him, while her eyes sparkled with tears, +for having broken the spell of the magician. The next day, the king +came with the whole court to offer their congratulations, and stayed +till quite late. Last of all came the travelling companion; he had his +staff in his hand and his knapsack on his back. John kissed him many +times and told him he must not go, he must remain with him, for he was +the cause of all his good fortune. But the traveller shook his head, +and said gently and kindly, "No: my time is up now; I have only paid +my debt to you. Do you remember the dead man whom the bad people +wished to throw out of his coffin? You gave all you possessed that +he might rest in his grave; I am that man." As he said this, he +vanished. +</P> + +<P> +The wedding festivities lasted a whole month. John and his +princess loved each other dearly, and the old king lived to see many a +happy day, when he took their little children on his knees and let +them play with his sceptre. And John became king over the whole +country. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="two_bro"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +TWO BROTHERS +</H3> + +<P> +On one of the Danish islands, where old Thingstones, the seats +of justice of our forefathers, still stand in the cornfields, and huge +trees rise in the forests of beech, there lies a little town whose low +houses are covered with red tiles. In one of these houses strange +things were brewing over the glowing coals on the open hearth; there +was a boiling going on in glasses, and a mixing and distilling, +while herbs were being cut up and pounded in mortars. An elderly man +looked after it all. +</P> + +<P> +"One must only do the right thing," he said; "yes, the right—the +correct thing. One must find out the truth concerning every +created particle, and keep to that." +</P> + +<P> +In the room with the good housewife sat her two sons; they were +still small, but had great thoughts. Their mother, too, had always +spoken to them of right and justice, and exhorted them to keep to +the truth, which she said was the countenance of the Lord in this +world. +</P> + +<P> +The elder of the boys looked roguish and enterprising. He took a +delight in reading of the forces of nature, of the sun and the moon; +no fairy tale pleased him so much. Oh, how beautiful it must be, he +thought, to go on voyages of discovery, or to find out how to +imitate the wings of birds and then to be able to fly! Yes, to find +that out was the right thing. Father was right, and mother was +right—truth holds the world together. +</P> + +<P> +The younger brother was quieter, and buried himself entirely in +his books. When he read about Jacob dressing himself in sheep-skins to +personify Esau, and so to usurp his brother's birthright, he would +clench his little fist in anger against the deceiver; when he read +of tyrants and of the injustice and wickedness of the world, tears +would come into his eyes, and he was quite filled with the thought +of the justice and truth which must and would triumph. +</P> + +<P> +One evening he was lying in bed, but the curtains were not yet +drawn close, and the light streamed in upon him; he had taken his book +into bed with him, for he wanted to finish reading the story of Solon. +His thoughts lifted and carried him away a wonderful distance; it +seemed to him as if the bed had become a ship flying along under +full sail. Was he dreaming, or what was happening? It glided over +the rolling waves and across the ocean of time, and to him came the +voice of Solon; spoken in a strange tongue, yet intelligible to him, +he heard the Danish motto: "By law the land is ruled." +</P> + +<P> +The genius of the human race stood in the humble room, bent down +over the bed and imprinted a kiss on the boy's forehead: "Be thou +strong in fame and strong in the battle of life! With truth in thy +heart fly toward the land of truth!" +</P> + +<P> +The elder brother was not yet in bed; he was standing at the +window looking out at the mist which rose from the meadows. They +were not elves dancing out there, as their old nurse had told him; +he knew better—they were vapours which were warmer than the air, +and that is why they rose. A shooting star lit up the sky, and the +boy's thoughts passed in a second from the vapours of the earth up +to the shining meteor. The stars gleamed in the heavens, and it seemed +as if long golden threads hung down from them to the earth. +</P> + +<P> +"Fly with me," sang a voice, which the boy heard in his heart. And +the mighty genius of mankind, swifter than a bird and than an +arrow—swifter than anything of earthly origin—carried him out into +space, where the heavenly bodies are bound together by the rays that +pass from star to star. Our earth revolved in the thin air, and the +cities upon it seemed to lie close to each other. Through the +spheres echoed the words: +</P> + +<P> +"What is near, what is far, when thou art lifted by the mighty +genius of mind?" +</P> + +<P> +And again the boy stood by the window, gazing out, whilst his +younger brother lay in bed. Their mother called them by their names: +"Anders Sandoe" and "Hans Christian." +</P> + +<P> +Denmark and the whole world knows them—the two brothers Oersted. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="two_maid"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +TWO MAIDENS +</H3> + +<P> +Have you ever seen a maiden? I mean what our pavers call a maiden, +a thing with which they ram down the paving-stones in the roads. A +maiden of this kind is made altogether of wood, broad below, and +girt round with iron rings. At the top she is narrow, and has a +stick passed across through her waist, and this stick forms the arms +of the maiden. +</P> + +<P> +In the shed stood two Maidens of this kind. They had their place +among shovels, hand-carts, wheelbarrows, and measuring-tapes; and to +all this company the news had come that the Maidens were no longer +to be called "maidens," but "hand-rammers," which word was the +newest and the only correct designation among the pavers for the thing +we all know from the old times by the name of "the maiden." +</P> + +<P> +Now, there are among us human creatures certain individuals who +are known as "emancipated women," as, for instance, principals of +institutions, dancers who stand professionally on one leg, +milliners, and sick-nurses; and with this class of emancipated women +the two Maidens in the shed associated themselves. They were "maidens" +among the paver folk, and determined not to give up this honorable +appellation, and let themselves be miscalled "rammers. +</P> + +<P> +"Maiden is a human name, but hand-rammer is a thing, and we +won't be called things—that's insulting us." +</P> + +<P> +"My lover would be ready to give up his engagement," said the +youngest, who was betrothed to a paver's hammer; and the hammer is the +thing which drives great piles into the earth, like a machine, and +therefore does on a large scale what ten maidens effect in a similar +way. "He wants to marry me as a maiden, but whether he would have me +were I a hand-rammer is a question, so I won't have my name changed." +</P> + +<P> +"And I," said the elder one, "would rather have both my arms +broken off." +</P> + +<P> +But the Wheelbarrow was of a different opinion; and the +Wheelbarrow was looked upon as of some consequence, for he +considered himself a quarter of a coach, because he went about upon +one wheel. +</P> + +<P> +"I must submit to your notice," he said, "that the name 'maiden' +is common enough, and not nearly so refined as 'hand-rammer,' or +'stamper,' which latter has also been proposed, and through which +you would be introduced into the category of seals; and only think +of the great stamp of state, which impresses the royal seal that gives +effect to the laws! No, in your case I would surrender my maiden +name." +</P> + +<P> +"No, certainly not!" exclaimed the elder. "I am too old for that." +</P> + +<P> +"I presume you have never heard of what is called 'European +necessity?'" observed the honest Measuring Tape. "One must be able +to adapt one's self to time and circumstances, and if there is a law +that the 'maiden' is to be called 'hand-rammer,' why, she must be +called 'hand-rammer,' and no pouting will avail, for everything has +its measure." +</P> + +<P> +"No; if there must be a change," said the younger, "I should +prefer to be called 'Missy,' for that reminds one a little of +maidens." +</P> + +<P> +"But I would rather be chopped to chips," said the elder. +</P> + +<P> +At last they all went to work. The Maidens rode—that is, they +were put in a wheelbarrow, and that was a distinction; but still +they were called "hand-rammers." +</P> + +<P> +"Mai—!" they said, as they were bumped upon the pavement. +"Mai—!" and they were very nearly pronouncing the whole word "maiden;" +but they broke off short, and swallowed the last syllable; for after +mature deliberation they considered it beneath their dignity to +protest. But they always called each other "maiden," and praised the +good old days in which everything had been called by its right name, +and those who were maidens were called maidens. And they remained as +they were; for the hammer really broke off his engagement with the +younger one, for nothing would suit him but he must have a maiden +for his bride. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="ugly_duc"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE UGLY DUCKLING +</H3> + +<P> +It was lovely summer weather in the country, and the golden +corn, the green oats, and the haystacks piled up in the meadows looked +beautiful. The stork walking about on his long red legs chattered in +the Egyptian language, which he had learnt from his mother. The +corn-fields and meadows were surrounded by large forests, in the midst +of which were deep pools. It was, indeed, delightful to walk about +in the country. In a sunny spot stood a pleasant old farm-house +close by a deep river, and from the house down to the water side +grew great burdock leaves, so high, that under the tallest of them a +little child could stand upright. The spot was as wild as the centre +of a thick wood. In this snug retreat sat a duck on her nest, watching +for her young brood to hatch; she was beginning to get tired of her +task, for the little ones were a long time coming out of their shells, +and she seldom had any visitors. The other ducks liked much better +to swim about in the river than to climb the slippery banks, and sit +under a burdock leaf, to have a gossip with her. At length one shell +cracked, and then another, and from each egg came a living creature +that lifted its head and cried, "Peep, peep." "Quack, quack," said the +mother, and then they all quacked as well as they could, and looked +about them on every side at the large green leaves. Their mother +allowed them to look as much as they liked, because green is good +for the eyes. "How large the world is," said the young ducks, when +they found how much more room they now had than while they were inside +the egg-shell. "Do you imagine this is the whole world?" asked the +mother; "Wait till you have seen the garden; it stretches far beyond +that to the parson's field, but I have never ventured to such a +distance. Are you all out?" she continued, rising; "No, I declare, the +largest egg lies there still. I wonder how long this is to last, I +am quite tired of it;" and she seated herself again on the nest. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, how are you getting on?" asked an old duck, who paid her +a visit. +</P> + +<P> +"One egg is not hatched yet," said the duck, "it will not break. +But just look at all the others, are they not the prettiest little +ducklings you ever saw? They are the image of their father, who is +so unkind, he never comes to see." +</P> + +<P> +"Let me see the egg that will not break," said the duck; "I have +no doubt it is a turkey's egg. I was persuaded to hatch some once, and +after all my care and trouble with the young ones, they were afraid of +the water. I quacked and clucked, but all to no purpose. I could not +get them to venture in. Let me look at the egg. Yes, that is a +turkey's egg; take my advice, leave it where it is and teach the other +children to swim." +</P> + +<P> +"I think I will sit on it a little while longer," said the duck; +"as I have sat so long already, a few days will be nothing." +</P> + +<P> +"Please yourself," said the old duck, and she went away. +</P> + +<P> +At last the large egg broke, and a young one crept forth crying, +"Peep, peep." It was very large and ugly. The duck stared at it and +exclaimed, "It is very large and not at all like the others. I +wonder if it really is a turkey. We shall soon find it out, however +when we go to the water. It must go in, if I have to push it myself." +</P> + +<P> +On the next day the weather was delightful, and the sun shone +brightly on the green burdock leaves, so the mother duck took her +young brood down to the water, and jumped in with a splash. "Quack, +quack," cried she, and one after another the little ducklings jumped +in. The water closed over their heads, but they came up again in an +instant, and swam about quite prettily with their legs paddling +under them as easily as possible, and the ugly duckling was also in +the water swimming with them. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh," said the mother, "that is not a turkey; how well he uses his +legs, and how upright he holds himself! He is my own child, and he +is not so very ugly after all if you look at him properly. Quack, +quack! come with me now, I will take you into grand society, and +introduce you to the farmyard, but you must keep close to me or you +may be trodden upon; and, above all, beware of the cat." +</P> + +<P> +When they reached the farmyard, there was a great disturbance, two +families were fighting for an eel's head, which, after all, was +carried off by the cat. "See, children, that is the way of the world," +said the mother duck, whetting her beak, for she would have liked +the eel's head herself. "Come, now, use your legs, and let me see +how well you can behave. You must bow your heads prettily to that +old duck yonder; she is the highest born of them all, and has +Spanish blood, therefore, she is well off. Don't you see she has a red +flag tied to her leg, which is something very grand, and a great honor +for a duck; it shows that every one is anxious not to lose her, as she +can be recognized both by man and beast. Come, now, don't turn your +toes, a well-bred duckling spreads his feet wide apart, just like +his father and mother, in this way; now bend your neck, and say +'quack.'" +</P> + +<P> +The ducklings did as they were bid, but the other duck stared, and +said, "Look, here comes another brood, as if there were not enough +of us already! and what a queer looking object one of them is; we +don't want him here," and then one flew out and bit him in the neck. +</P> + +<P> +"Let him alone," said the mother; "he is not doing any harm." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, but he is so big and ugly," said the spiteful duck "and +therefore he must be turned out." +</P> + +<P> +"The others are very pretty children," said the old duck, with the +rag on her leg, "all but that one; I wish his mother could improve him +a little." +</P> + +<P> +"That is impossible, your grace," replied the mother; "he is not +pretty; but he has a very good disposition, and swims as well or +even better than the others. I think he will grow up pretty, and +perhaps be smaller; he has remained too long in the egg, and therefore +his figure is not properly formed;" and then she stroked his neck +and smoothed the feathers, saying, "It is a drake, and therefore not +of so much consequence. I think he will grow up strong, and able to +take care of himself." +</P> + +<P> +"The other ducklings are graceful enough," said the old duck. "Now +make yourself at home, and if you can find an eel's head, you can +bring it to me." +</P> + +<P> +And so they made themselves comfortable; but the poor duckling, +who had crept out of his shell last of all, and looked so ugly, was +bitten and pushed and made fun of, not only by the ducks, but by all +the poultry. "He is too big," they all said, and the turkey cock, +who had been born into the world with spurs, and fancied himself +really an emperor, puffed himself out like a vessel in full sail, +and flew at the duckling, and became quite red in the head with +passion, so that the poor little thing did not know where to go, and +was quite miserable because he was so ugly and laughed at by the whole +farmyard. So it went on from day to day till it got worse and worse. +The poor duckling was driven about by every one; even his brothers and +sisters were unkind to him, and would say, "Ah, you ugly creature, I +wish the cat would get you," and his mother said she wished he had +never been born. The ducks pecked him, the chickens beat him, and +the girl who fed the poultry kicked him with her feet. So at last he +ran away, frightening the little birds in the hedge as he flew over +the palings. +</P> + +<P> +"They are afraid of me because I am ugly," he said. So he closed +his eyes, and flew still farther, until he came out on a large moor, +inhabited by wild ducks. Here he remained the whole night, feeling +very tired and sorrowful. +</P> + +<P> +In the morning, when the wild ducks rose in the air, they stared +at their new comrade. "What sort of a duck are you?" they all said, +coming round him. +</P> + +<P> +He bowed to them, and was as polite as he could be, but he did not +reply to their question. "You are exceedingly ugly," said the wild +ducks, "but that will not matter if you do not want to marry one of +our family." +</P> + +<P> +Poor thing! he had no thoughts of marriage; all he wanted was +permission to lie among the rushes, and drink some of the water on the +moor. After he had been on the moor two days, there came two wild +geese, or rather goslings, for they had not been out of the egg +long, and were very saucy. "Listen, friend," said one of them to the +duckling, "you are so ugly, that we like you very well. Will you go +with us, and become a bird of passage? Not far from here is another +moor, in which there are some pretty wild geese, all unmarried. It +is a chance for you to get a wife; you may be lucky, ugly as you are." +</P> + +<P> +"Pop, pop," sounded in the air, and the two wild geese fell dead +among the rushes, and the water was tinged with blood. "Pop, pop," +echoed far and wide in the distance, and whole flocks of wild geese +rose up from the rushes. The sound continued from every direction, for +the sportsmen surrounded the moor, and some were even seated on +branches of trees, overlooking the rushes. The blue smoke from the +guns rose like clouds over the dark trees, and as it floated away +across the water, a number of sporting dogs bounded in among the +rushes, which bent beneath them wherever they went. How they terrified +the poor duckling! He turned away his head to hide it under his +wing, and at the same moment a large terrible dog passed quite near +him. His jaws were open, his tongue hung from his mouth, and his +eyes glared fearfully. He thrust his nose close to the duckling, +showing his sharp teeth, and then, "splash, splash," he went into +the water without touching him, "Oh," sighed the duckling, "how +thankful I am for being so ugly; even a dog will not bite me." And +so he lay quite still, while the shot rattled through the rushes, +and gun after gun was fired over him. It was late in the day before +all became quiet, but even then the poor young thing did not dare to +move. He waited quietly for several hours, and then, after looking +carefully around him, hastened away from the moor as fast as he could. +He ran over field and meadow till a storm arose, and he could hardly +struggle against it. Towards evening, he reached a poor little cottage +that seemed ready to fall, and only remained standing because it could +not decide on which side to fall first. The storm continued so +violent, that the duckling could go no farther; he sat down by the +cottage, and then he noticed that the door was not quite closed in +consequence of one of the hinges having given way. There was therefore +a narrow opening near the bottom large enough for him to slip through, +which he did very quietly, and got a shelter for the night. A woman, a +tom cat, and a hen lived in this cottage. The tom cat, whom the +mistress called, "My little son," was a great favorite; he could raise +his back, and purr, and could even throw out sparks from his fur if it +were stroked the wrong way. The hen had very short legs, so she was +called "Chickie short legs." She laid good eggs, and her mistress +loved her as if she had been her own child. In the morning, the +strange visitor was discovered, and the tom cat began to purr, and the +hen to cluck. +</P> + +<P> +"What is that noise about?" said the old woman, looking round +the room, but her sight was not very good; therefore, when she saw the +duckling she thought it must be a fat duck, that had strayed from +home. "Oh what a prize!" she exclaimed, "I hope it is not a drake, for +then I shall have some duck's eggs. I must wait and see." So the +duckling was allowed to remain on trial for three weeks, but there +were no eggs. Now the tom cat was the master of the house, and the hen +was mistress, and they always said, "We and the world," for they +believed themselves to be half the world, and the better half too. The +duckling thought that others might hold a different opinion on the +subject, but the hen would not listen to such doubts. "Can you lay +eggs?" she asked. "No." "Then have the goodness to hold your +tongue." "Can you raise your back, or purr, or throw out sparks?" said +the tom cat. "No." "Then you have no right to express an opinion +when sensible people are speaking." So the duckling sat in a corner, +feeling very low spirited, till the sunshine and the fresh air came +into the room through the open door, and then he began to feel such +a great longing for a swim on the water, that he could not help +telling the hen. +</P> + +<P> +"What an absurd idea," said the hen. "You have nothing else to do, +therefore you have foolish fancies. If you could purr or lay eggs, +they would pass away." +</P> + +<P> +"But it is so delightful to swim about on the water," said the +duckling, "and so refreshing to feel it close over your head, while +you dive down to the bottom." +</P> + +<P> +"Delightful, indeed!" said the hen, "why you must be crazy! Ask +the cat, he is the cleverest animal I know, ask him how he would +like to swim about on the water, or to dive under it, for I will not +speak of my own opinion; ask our mistress, the old woman—there is +no one in the world more clever than she is. Do you think she would +like to swim, or to let the water close over her head?" +</P> + +<P> +"You don't understand me," said the duckling. +</P> + +<P> +"We don't understand you? Who can understand you, I wonder? Do you +consider yourself more clever than the cat, or the old woman? I will +say nothing of myself. Don't imagine such nonsense, child, and thank +your good fortune that you have been received here. Are you not in a +warm room, and in society from which you may learn something. But +you are a chatterer, and your company is not very agreeable. Believe +me, I speak only for your own good. I may tell you unpleasant +truths, but that is a proof of my friendship. I advise you, therefore, +to lay eggs, and learn to purr as quickly as possible." +</P> + +<P> +"I believe I must go out into the world again," said the duckling. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, do," said the hen. So the duckling left the cottage, and +soon found water on which it could swim and dive, but was avoided by +all other animals, because of its ugly appearance. Autumn came, and +the leaves in the forest turned to orange and gold. Then, as winter +approached, the wind caught them as they fell and whirled them in +the cold air. The clouds, heavy with hail and snow-flakes, hung low in +the sky, and the raven stood on the ferns crying, "Croak, croak." It +made one shiver with cold to look at him. All this was very sad for +the poor little duckling. One evening, just as the sun set amid +radiant clouds, there came a large flock of beautiful birds out of the +bushes. The duckling had never seen any like them before. They were +swans, and they curved their graceful necks, while their soft +plumage shown with dazzling whiteness. They uttered a singular cry, as +they spread their glorious wings and flew away from those cold regions +to warmer countries across the sea. As they mounted higher and +higher in the air, the ugly little duckling felt quite a strange +sensation as he watched them. He whirled himself in the water like a +wheel, stretched out his neck towards them, and uttered a cry so +strange that it frightened himself. Could he ever forget those +beautiful, happy birds; and when at last they were out of his sight, +he dived under the water, and rose again almost beside himself with +excitement. He knew not the names of these birds, nor where they had +flown, but he felt towards them as he had never felt for any other +bird in the world. He was not envious of these beautiful creatures, +but wished to be as lovely as they. Poor ugly creature, how gladly +he would have lived even with the ducks had they only given him +encouragement. The winter grew colder and colder; he was obliged to +swim about on the water to keep it from freezing, but every night +the space on which he swam became smaller and smaller. At length it +froze so hard that the ice in the water crackled as he moved, and +the duckling had to paddle with his legs as well as he could, to +keep the space from closing up. He became exhausted at last, and lay +still and helpless, frozen fast in the ice. +</P> + +<P> +Early in the morning, a peasant, who was passing by, saw what +had happened. He broke the ice in pieces with his wooden shoe, and +carried the duckling home to his wife. The warmth revived the poor +little creature; but when the children wanted to play with him, the +duckling thought they would do him some harm; so he started up in +terror, fluttered into the milk-pan, and splashed the milk about the +room. Then the woman clapped her hands, which frightened him still +more. He flew first into the butter-cask, then into the meal-tub, +and out again. What a condition he was in! The woman screamed, and +struck at him with the tongs; the children laughed and screamed, and +tumbled over each other, in their efforts to catch him; but luckily he +escaped. The door stood open; the poor creature could just manage to +slip out among the bushes, and lie down quite exhausted in the newly +fallen snow. +</P> + +<P> +It would be very sad, were I to relate all the misery and +privations which the poor little duckling endured during the hard +winter; but when it had passed, he found himself lying one morning +in a moor, amongst the rushes. He felt the warm sun shining, and heard +the lark singing, and saw that all around was beautiful spring. Then +the young bird felt that his wings were strong, as he flapped them +against his sides, and rose high into the air. They bore him +onwards, until he found himself in a large garden, before he well knew +how it had happened. The apple-trees were in full blossom, and the +fragrant elders bent their long green branches down to the stream +which wound round a smooth lawn. Everything looked beautiful, in the +freshness of early spring. From a thicket close by came three +beautiful white swans, rustling their feathers, and swimming lightly +over the smooth water. The duckling remembered the lovely birds, and +felt more strangely unhappy than ever. +</P> + +<P> +"I will fly to those royal birds," he exclaimed, "and they will +kill me, because I am so ugly, and dare to approach them; but it +does not matter: better be killed by them than pecked by the ducks, +beaten by the hens, pushed about by the maiden who feeds the +poultry, or starved with hunger in the winter." +</P> + +<P> +Then he flew to the water, and swam towards the beautiful swans. +The moment they espied the stranger, they rushed to meet him with +outstretched wings. +</P> + +<P> +"Kill me," said the poor bird; and he bent his head down to the +surface of the water, and awaited death. +</P> + +<P> +But what did he see in the clear stream below? His own image; no +longer a dark, gray bird, ugly and disagreeable to look at, but a +graceful and beautiful swan. To be born in a duck's nest, in a +farmyard, is of no consequence to a bird, if it is hatched from a +swan's egg. He now felt glad at having suffered sorrow and trouble, +because it enabled him to enjoy so much better all the pleasure and +happiness around him; for the great swans swam round the new-comer, +and stroked his neck with their beaks, as a welcome. +</P> + +<P> +Into the garden presently came some little children, and threw +bread and cake into the water. +</P> + +<P> +"See," cried the youngest, "there is a new one;" and the rest were +delighted, and ran to their father and mother, dancing and clapping +their hands, and shouting joyously, "There is another swan come; a new +one has arrived." +</P> + +<P> +Then they threw more bread and cake into the water, and said, "The +new one is the most beautiful of all; he is so young and pretty." +And the old swans bowed their heads before him. +</P> + +<P> +Then he felt quite ashamed, and hid his head under his wing; for +he did not know what to do, he was so happy, and yet not at all proud. +He had been persecuted and despised for his ugliness, and now he heard +them say he was the most beautiful of all the birds. Even the +elder-tree bent down its bows into the water before him, and the sun +shone warm and bright. Then he rustled his feathers, curved his +slender neck, and cried joyfully, from the depths of his heart, "I +never dreamed of such happiness as this, while I was an ugly +duckling." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="under_wi"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +UNDER THE WILLOW-TREE +</H3> + +<P> +The region round the little town of Kjoge is very bleak and +cold. The town lies on the sea shore, which is always beautiful; but +here it might be more beautiful than it is, for on every side the +fields are flat, and it is a long way to the forest. But when +persons reside in a place and get used to it, they can always find +something beautiful in it,—something for which they long, even in the +most charming spot in the world which is not home. It must be owned +that there are in the outskirts of the town some humble gardens on the +banks of a little stream that runs on towards the sea, and in summer +these gardens look very pretty. Such indeed was the opinion of two +little children, whose parents were neighbors, and who played in these +gardens, and forced their way from one garden to the other through the +gooseberry-bushes that divided them. In one of the gardens grew an +elder-tree, and in the other an old willow, under which the children +were very fond of playing. They had permission to do so, although +the tree stood close by the stream, and they might easily have +fallen into the water; but the eye of God watches over the little +ones, otherwise they would never be safe. At the same time, these +children were very careful not to go too near the water; indeed, the +boy was so afraid of it, that in the summer, while the other +children were splashing about in the sea, nothing could entice him +to join them. They jeered and laughed at him, and he was obliged to +bear it all as patiently as he could. Once the neighbor's little girl, +Joanna, dreamed that she was sailing in a boat, and the boy—Knud +was his name—waded out in the water to join her, and the water came +up to his neck, and at last closed over his head, and in a moment he +had disappeared. When little Knud heard this dream, it seemed as if he +could not bear the mocking and jeering again; how could he dare to +go into the water now, after Joanna's dream! He never would do it, for +this dream always satisfied him. The parents of these children, who +were poor, often sat together while Knud and Joanna played in the +gardens or in the road. Along this road—a row of willow-trees had +been planted to separate it from a ditch on one side of it. They +were not very handsome trees, for the tops had been cut off; +however, they were intended for use, and not for show. The old +willow-tree in the garden was much handsomer, and therefore the +children were very fond of sitting under it. The town had a large +market-place; and at the fair-time there would be whole rows, like +streets, of tents and booths containing silks and ribbons, and toys +and cakes, and everything that could be wished for. There were +crowds of people, and sometimes the weather would be rainy, and splash +with moisture the woollen jackets of the peasants; but it did not +destroy the beautiful fragrance of the honey-cakes and gingerbread +with which one booth was filled; and the best of it was, that the +man who sold these cakes always lodged during the fair-time with +little Knud's parents. So every now and then he had a present of +gingerbread, and of course Joanna always had a share. And, more +delightful still, the gingerbread seller knew all sorts of things to +tell and could even relate stories about his own gingerbread. So one +evening he told them a story that made such a deep impression on the +children that they never forgot it; and therefore I think we may as +well hear it too, for it is not very long. +</P> + +<P> +"Once upon a time," said he, "there lay on my counter two +gingerbread cakes, one in the shape of a man wearing a hat, the +other of a maiden without a bonnet. Their faces were on the side +that was uppermost, for on the other side they looked very +different. Most people have a best side to their characters, which +they take care to show to the world. On the left, just where the heart +is, the gingerbread man had an almond stuck in to represent it, but +the maiden was honey cake all over. They were placed on the counter as +samples, and after lying there a long time they at last fell in love +with each other; but neither of them spoke of it to the other, as they +should have done if they expected anything to follow. 'He is a man, he +ought to speak the first word,' thought the gingerbread maiden; but +she felt quite happy—she was sure that her love was returned. But his +thoughts were far more ambitious, as the thoughts of a man often +are. He dreamed that he was a real street boy, that he possessed +four real pennies, and that he had bought the gingerbread lady, and +ate her up. And so they lay on the counter for days and weeks, till +they grew hard and dry; but the thoughts of the maiden became ever +more tender and womanly. 'Ah well, it is enough for me that I have +been able to live on the same counter with him,' said she one day; +when suddenly, 'crack,' and she broke in two. 'Ah,' said the +gingerbread man to himself, 'if she had only known of my love, she +would have kept together a little longer.' And here they both are, and +that is their history," said the cake man. "You think the history of +their lives and their silent love, which never came to anything, +very remarkable; and there they are for you." So saying, he gave +Joanna the gingerbread man, who was still quite whole—and to Knud the +broken maiden; but the children had been so much impressed by the +story, that they had not the heart to eat the lovers up. +</P> + +<P> +The next day they went into the churchyard, and took the two +cake figures with them, and sat down under the church wall, which +was covered with luxuriant ivy in summer and winter, and looked as +if hung with rich tapestry. They stuck up the two gingerbread +figures in the sunshine among the green leaves, and then told the +story, and all about the silent love which came to nothing, to a group +of children. They called it, "love," because the story was so +lovely, and the other children had the same opinion. But when they +turned to look at the gingerbread pair, the broken maiden was gone! +A great boy, out of wickedness, had eaten her up. At first the +children cried about it; but afterwards, thinking very probably that +the poor lover ought not to be left alone in the world, they ate him +up too: but they never forgot the story. +</P> + +<P> +The two children still continued to play together by the +elder-tree, and under the willow; and the little maiden sang beautiful +songs, with a voice that was as clear as a bell. Knud, on the +contrary, had not a note of music in him, but knew the words of the +songs, and that of course is something. The people of Kjoge, and +even the rich wife of the man who kept the fancy shop, would stand and +listen while Joanna was singing, and say, "She has really a very sweet +voice." +</P> + +<P> +Those were happy days; but they could not last forever. The +neighbors were separated, the mother of the little girl was dead, +and her father had thoughts of marrying again and of residing in the +capital, where he had been promised a very lucrative appointment as +messenger. The neighbors parted with tears, the children wept sadly; +but their parents promised that they should write to each other at +least once a year. +</P> + +<P> +After this, Knud was bound apprentice to a shoemaker; he was +growing a great boy, and could not be allowed to run wild any +longer. Besides, he was going to be confirmed. Ah, how happy he +would have been on that festal day in Copenhagen with little Joanna; +but he still remained at Kjoge, and had never seen the great city, +though the town is not five miles from it. But far across the bay, +when the sky was clear, the towers of Copenhagen could be seen; and on +the day of his confirmation he saw distinctly the golden cross on +the principal church glittering in the sun. How often his thoughts +were with Joanna! but did she think of him? Yes. About Christmas +came a letter from her father to Knud's parents, which stated that +they were going on very well in Copenhagen, and mentioning +particularly that Joanna's beautiful voice was likely to bring her a +brilliant fortune in the future. She was engaged to sing at a concert, +and she had already earned money by singing, out of which she sent her +dear neighbors at Kjoge a whole dollar, for them to make merry on +Christmas eve, and they were to drink her health. She had herself +added this in a postscript, and in the same postscript she wrote, +"Kind regards to Knud." +</P> + +<P> +The good neighbors wept, although the news was so pleasant; but +they wept tears of joy. Knud's thoughts had been daily with Joanna, +and now he knew that she also had thought of him; and the nearer the +time came for his apprenticeship to end, the clearer did it appear +to him that he loved Joanna, and that she must be his wife; and a +smile came on his lips at the thought, and at one time he drew the +thread so fast as he worked, and pressed his foot so hard against +the knee strap, that he ran the awl into his finger; but what did he +care for that? He was determined not to play the dumb lover as both +the gingerbread cakes had done; the story was a good lesson to him. +</P> + +<P> +At length he become a journeyman; and then, for the first time, he +prepared for a journey to Copenhagen, with his knapsack packed and +ready. A master was expecting him there, and he thought of Joanna, and +how glad she would be to see him. She was now seventeen, and he +nineteen years old. He wanted to buy a gold ring for her in Kjoge, but +then he recollected how far more beautiful such things would be in +Copenhagen. So he took leave of his parents, and on a rainy day, +late in the autumn, wandered forth on foot from the town of his birth. +The leaves were falling from the trees; and, by the time he arrived at +his new master's in the great metropolis, he was wet through. On the +following Sunday he intended to pay his first visit to Joanna's +father. When the day came, the new journeyman's clothes were brought +out, and a new hat, which he had brought in Kjoge. The hat became +him very well, for hitherto he had only worn a cap. He found the house +that he sought easily, but had to mount so many stairs that he +became quite giddy; it surprised him to find how people lived over one +another in this dreadful town. +</P> + +<P> +On entering a room in which everything denoted prosperity, +Joanna's father received him very kindly. The new wife was a +stranger to him, but she shook hands with him, and offered him coffee. +</P> + +<P> +"Joanna will be very glad to see you," said her father. "You +have grown quite a nice young man, you shall see her presently; she is +a good child, and is the joy of my heart, and, please God, she will +continue to be so; she has her own room now, and pays us rent for it." +And the father knocked quite politely at a door, as if he were a +stranger, and then they both went in. How pretty everything was in +that room! a more beautiful apartment could not be found in the +whole town of Kjoge; the queen herself could scarcely be better +accommodated. There were carpets, and rugs, and window curtains +hanging to the ground. Pictures and flowers were scattered about. +There was a velvet chair, and a looking-glass against the wall, into +which a person might be in danger of stepping, for it was as large +as a door. All this Knud saw at a glance, and yet, in truth, he saw +nothing but Joanna. She was quite grown up, and very different from +what Knud had fancied her, and a great deal more beautiful. In all +Kjoge there was not a girl like her; and how graceful she looked, +although her glance at first was odd, and not familiar; but for a +moment only, then she rushed towards him as if she would have kissed +him; she did not, however, although she was very near it. Yes, she +really was joyful at seeing the friend of her childhood once more, and +the tears even stood in her eyes. Then she asked so many questions +about Knud's parents, and everything, even to the elder-tree and the +willow, which she called "elder-mother and willow-father," as if +they had been human beings; and so, indeed, they might be, quite as +much as the gingerbread cakes. Then she talked about them, and the +story of their silent love, and how they lay on the counter together +and split in two; and then she laughed heartily; but the blood +rushed into Knud's cheeks, and his heart beat quickly. Joanna was +not proud at all; he noticed that through her he was invited by her +parents to remain the whole evening with them, and she poured out +the tea and gave him a cup herself; and afterwards she took a book and +read aloud to them, and it seemed to Knud as if the story was all +about himself and his love, for it agreed so well with his own +thoughts. And then she sang a simple song, which, through her singing, +became a true story, and as if she poured forth the feelings of her +own heart. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh," he thought, "she knows I am fond of her." The tears he could +not restrain rolled down his cheeks, and he was unable to utter a +single word; it seemed as if he had been struck dumb. +</P> + +<P> +When he left, she pressed his hand, and said, "You have a kind +heart, Knud: remain always as you are now." What an evening of +happiness this had been; to sleep after it was impossible, and Knud +did not sleep. +</P> + +<P> +At parting, Joanna's father had said, "Now, you won't quite forget +us; you must not let the whole winter go by without paying us +another visit;" so that Knud felt himself free to go again the +following Sunday evening, and so he did. But every evening after +working hours—and they worked by candle-light then—he walked out +into the town, and through the street in which Joanna lived, to look +up at her window. It was almost always lighted up; and one evening +he saw the shadow of her face quite plainly on the window blind; +that was a glorious evening for him. His master's wife did not like +his always going out in the evening, idling, wasting time, as she +called it, and she shook her head. +</P> + +<P> +But his master only smiled, and said, "He is a young man, my dear, +you know." +</P> + +<P> +"On Sunday I shall see her," said Knud to himself, "and I will +tell her that I love her with my whole heart and soul, and that she +must be my little wife. I know I am now only a poor journeyman +shoemaker, but I will work and strive, and become a master in time. +Yes, I will speak to her; nothing comes from silent love. I learnt +that from the gingerbread-cake story." +</P> + +<P> +Sunday came, but when Knud arrived, they were all unfortunately +invited out to spend the evening, and were obliged to tell him so. +</P> + +<P> +Joanna pressed his hand, and said, "Have you ever been to the +theatre? you must go once; I sing there on Wednesday, and if you +have time on that day, I will send you a ticket; my father knows where +your master lives." How kind this was of her! And on Wednesday, +about noon, Knud received a sealed packet with no address, but the +ticket was inside; and in the evening Knud went, for the first time in +his life, to a theatre. And what did he see? He saw Joanna, and how +beautiful and charming she looked! He certainly saw her being +married to a stranger, but that was all in the play, and only a +pretence; Knud well knew that. She could never have the heart, he +thought, to send him a ticket to go and see it, if it had been real. +So he looked on, and when all the people applauded and clapped their +hands, he shouted "hurrah." He could see that even the king smiled +at Joanna, and seemed delighted with her singing. How small Knud felt; +but then he loved her so dearly, and thought she loved him, and the +man must speak the first word, as the gingerbread maiden had +thought. Ah, how much there was for him in that childish story. As +soon as Sunday arrived, he went again, and felt as if he were about to +enter on holy ground. Joanna was alone to welcome him, nothing could +be more fortunate. +</P> + +<P> +"I am so glad you are come," she said. "I was thinking of sending +my father for you, but I had a presentiment that you would be here +this evening. The fact is, I wanted to tell you that I am going to +France. I shall start on Friday. It is necessary for me to go there, +if I wish to become a first-rate performer." +</P> + +<P> +Poor Knud! it seemed to him as if the whole room was whirling +round with him. His courage failed, and he felt as if his heart +would burst. He kept down the tears, but it was easy to see how +sorrowful he was. +</P> + +<P> +"You honest, faithful soul," she exclaimed; and the words loosened +Knud's tongue, and he told her how truly he had loved her, and that +she must be his wife; and as he said this, he saw Joanna change color, +and turn pale. She let his hand fall, and said, earnestly and +mournfully, "Knud, do not make yourself and me unhappy. I will +always be a good sister to you, one in whom you can trust; but I can +never be anything more." And she drew her white hand over his +burning forehead, and said, "God gives strength to bear a great +deal, if we only strive ourselves to endure." +</P> + +<P> +At this moment her stepmother came into the room, and Joanna +said quickly, "Knud is so unhappy, because I am going away;" and it +appeared as if they had only been talking of her journey. "Come, be +a man," she added, placing her hand on his shoulder; "you are still a +child, and you must be good and reasonable, as you were when we were +both children, and played together under the willow-tree." +</P> + +<P> +Knud listened, but he felt as if the world had slid out of its +course. His thoughts were like a loose thread fluttering to and fro in +the wind. He stayed, although he could not tell whether she had +asked him to do so. But she was kind and gentle to him; she poured out +his tea, and sang to him; but the song had not the old tone in it, +although it was wonderfully beautiful, and made his heart feel ready +to burst. And then he rose to go. He did not offer his hand, but she +seized it, and said— +</P> + +<P> +"Will you not shake hands with your sister at parting, my old +playfellow?" and she smiled through the tears that were rolling down +her cheeks. Again she repeated the word "brother," which was a great +consolation certainly; and thus they parted. +</P> + +<P> +She sailed to France, and Knud wandered about the muddy streets of +Copenhagen. The other journeymen in the shop asked him why he looked +so gloomy, and wanted him to go and amuse himself with them, as he was +still a young man. So he went with them to a dancing-room. He saw many +handsome girls there, but none like Joanna; and here, where he thought +to forget her, she was more life-like before his mind than ever. +"God gives us strength to bear much, if we try to do our best," she +had said; and as he thought of this, a devout feeling came into his +mind, and he folded his hands. Then, as the violins played and the +girls danced round the room, he started; for it seemed to him as if he +were in a place where he ought not to have brought Joanna, for she was +here with him in his heart; and so he went out at once. As he went +through the streets at a quick pace, he passed the house where she +used to live; it was all dark, empty, and lonely. But the world went +on its course, and Knud was obliged to go on too. +</P> + +<P> +Winter came; the water was frozen, and everything seemed buried in +a cold grave. But when spring returned, and the first steamer prepared +to sail, Knud was seized with a longing to wander forth into the +world, but not to France. So he packed his knapsack, and travelled +through Germany, going from town to town, but finding neither rest +or peace. It was not till he arrived at the glorious old town of +Nuremberg that he gained the mastery over himself, and rested his +weary feet; and here he remained. +</P> + +<P> +Nuremberg is a wonderful old city, and looks as if it had been cut +out of an old picture-book. The streets seem to have arranged +themselves according to their own fancy, and as if the houses objected +to stand in rows or rank and file. Gables, with little towers, +ornamented columns, and statues, can be seen even to the city gate; +and from the singular-shaped roofs, waterspouts, formed like +dragons, or long lean dogs, extend far across to the middle of the +street. Here, in the market-place, stood Knud, with his knapsack on +his back, close to one of the old fountains which are so beautifully +adorned with figures, scriptural and historical, and which spring up +between the sparkling jets of water. A pretty servant-maid was just +filling her pails, and she gave Knud a refreshing draught; she had a +handful of roses, and she gave him one, which appeared to him like a +good omen for the future. From a neighboring church came the sounds of +music, and the familiar tones reminded him of the organ at home at +Kjoge; so he passed into the great cathedral. The sunshine streamed +through the painted glass windows, and between two lofty slender +pillars. His thoughts became prayerful, and calm peace rested on his +soul. He next sought and found a good master in Nuremberg, with whom +he stayed and learnt the German language. +</P> + +<P> +The old moat round the town had been converted into a number of +little kitchen gardens; but the high walls, with their heavy-looking +towers, are still standing. Inside these walls the ropemaker twisted +his ropes along a walk built like a gallery, and in the cracks and +crevices of the walls elderbushes grow and stretch their green +boughs over the small houses which stand below. In one of these houses +lived the master for whom Knud worked; and over the little garret +window where he sat, the elder-tree waved its branches. Here he +dwelt through one summer and winter, but when spring came again, he +could endure it no longer. The elder was in blossom, and its fragrance +was so homelike, that he fancied himself back again in the gardens +of Kjoge. So Knud left his master, and went to work for another who +lived farther in the town, where no elder grew. His workshop was quite +close to one of the old stone bridges, near to a water-mill, round +which the roaring stream rushed and foamed always, yet restrained by +the neighboring houses, whose old, decayed balconies hung over, and +seemed ready to fall into the water. Here grew no elder; here was +not even a flower-pot, with its little green plant; but just +opposite the workshop stood a great willow-tree, which seemed to +hold fast to the house for fear of being carried away by the water. It +stretched its branches over the stream just as those of the +willow-tree in the garden at Kjoge had spread over the river. Yes, +he had indeed gone from elder-mother to willow-father. There was a +something about the tree here, especially in the moonlight nights, +that went direct to his heart; yet it was not in reality the +moonlight, but the old tree itself. However, he could not endure it: +and why? Ask the willow, ask the blossoming elder! At all events, he +bade farewell to Nuremberg and journeyed onwards. He never spoke of +Joanna to any one; his sorrow was hidden in his heart. The old +childish story of the two cakes had a deep meaning for him. He +understood now why the gingerbread man had a bitter almond in his left +side; his was the feeling of bitterness, and Joanna, so mild and +friendly, was represented by the honeycake maiden. As he thought +upon all this, the strap of his knapsack pressed across his chest so +that he could hardly breathe; he loosened it, but gained no relief. He +saw but half the world around him; the other half he carried with +him in his inward thoughts; and this is the condition in which he left +Nuremberg. Not till he caught sight of the lofty mountains did the +world appear more free to him; his thoughts were attracted to outer +objects, and tears came into his eyes. The Alps appeared to him like +the wings of earth folded together; unfolded, they would display the +variegated pictures of dark woods, foaming waters, spreading clouds, +and masses of snow. "At the last day," thought he, "the earth will +unfold its great wings, and soar upwards to the skies, there to +burst like a soap-bubble in the radiant glance of the Deity. Oh," +sighed he, "that the last day were come!" +</P> + +<P> +Silently he wandered on through the country of the Alps, which +seemed to him like a fruit garden, covered with soft turf. From the +wooden balconies of the houses the young lacemakers nodded as he +passed. The summits of the mountains glowed in the red evening sunset, +and the green lakes beneath the dark trees reflected the glow. Then he +thought of the sea coast by the bay Kjoge, with a longing in his heart +that was, however, without pain. There, where the Rhine rolls onward +like a great billow, and dissolves itself into snowflakes, where +glistening clouds are ever changing as if here was the place of +their creation, while the rainbow flutters about them like a +many-colored ribbon, there did Knud think of the water-mill at +Kjoge, with its rushing, foaming waters. Gladly would he have remained +in the quiet Rhenish town, but there were too many elders and +willow-trees. +</P> + +<P> +So he travelled onwards, over a grand, lofty chain of mountains, +over rugged,—rocky precipices, and along roads that hung on the +mountain's side like a swallow's nest. The waters foamed in the depths +below him. The clouds lay beneath him. He wandered on, treading upon +Alpine roses, thistles, and snow, with the summer sun shining upon +him, till at length he bid farewell to the lands of the north. Then he +passed on under the shade of blooming chestnut-trees, through +vineyards, and fields of Indian corn, till conscious that the +mountains were as a wall between him and his early recollections; +and he wished it to be so. +</P> + +<P> +Before him lay a large and splendid city, called Milan, and here +he found a German master who engaged him as a workman. The master +and his wife, in whose workshop he was employed, were an old, pious +couple; and the two old people became quite fond of the quiet +journeyman, who spoke but little, but worked more, and led a pious, +Christian life; and even to himself it seemed as if God had removed +the heavy burden from his heart. His greatest pleasure was to climb, +now and then, to the roof of the noble church, which was built of +white marble. The pointed towers, the decorated and open cloisters, +the stately columns, the white statues which smiled upon him from +every corner and porch and arch,—all, even the church itself, +seemed to him to have been formed from the snow of his native land. +Above him was the blue sky; below him, the city and the wide-spreading +plains of Lombardy; and towards the north, the lofty mountains, +covered with perpetual snow. And then he thought of the church of +Kjoge, with its red, ivy-clad walls, but he had no longing to go +there; here, beyond the mountains, he would die and be buried. +</P> + +<P> +Three years had passed away since he left his home; one year of +that time he had dwelt at Milan. +</P> + +<P> +One day his master took him into the town; not to the circus in +which riders performed, but to the opera, a large building, itself a +sight well worth seeing. The seven tiers of boxes, which reached +from the ground to a dizzy height, near the ceiling, were hung with +rich, silken curtains; and in them were seated elegantly-dressed +ladies, with bouquets of flowers in their hands. The gentlemen were +also in full dress, and many of them wore decorations of gold and +silver. The place was so brilliantly lighted that it seemed like +sunshine, and glorious music rolled through the building. Everything +looked more beautiful than in the theatre at Copenhagen, but then +Joanna had been there, and—could it be? Yes—it was like magic,—she +was here also: for, when the curtain rose, there stood Joanna, +dressed in silk and gold, and with a golden crown upon her head. She +sang, he thought, as only an angel could sing; and then she stepped +forward to the front and smiled, as only Joanna could smile, and +looked directly at Knud. Poor Knud! he seized his master's hand, and +cried out loud, "Joanna," but no one heard him, excepting his +master, for the music sounded above everything. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yes, it is Joanna," said his master; and he drew forth a +printed bill, and pointed to her name, which was there in full. Then +it was not a dream. All the audience applauded her, and threw +wreaths of flowers at her; and every time she went away they called +for her again, so that she was always coming and going. In the +street the people crowded round her carriage, and drew it away +themselves without the horses. Knud was in the foremost row, and +shouted as joyously as the rest; and when the carriage stopped +before a brilliantly lighted house, Knud placed himself close to the +door of her carriage. It flew open, and she stepped out; the light +fell upon her dear face, and he could see that she smiled as she +thanked them, and appeared quite overcome. Knud looked straight in her +face, and she looked at him, but she did not recognize him. A man, +with a glittering star on his breast, gave her his arm, and people +said the two were engaged to be married. Then Knud went home and +packed up his knapsack; he felt he must return to the home of his +childhood, to the elder-tree and the willow. "Ah, under that +willow-tree!" A man may live a whole life in one single hour. +</P> + +<P> +The old couple begged him to remain, but words were useless. In +vain they reminded him that winter was coming, and that the snow had +already fallen on the mountains. He said he could easily follow the +track of the closely-moving carriages, for which a path must be kept +clear, and with nothing but his knapsack on his back, and leaning on +his stick, he could step along briskly. So he turned his steps to +the mountains, ascended one side and descended the other, still +going northward till his strength began to fail, and not a house or +village could be seen. The stars shone in the sky above him, and +down in the valley lights glittered like stars, as if another sky were +beneath him; but his head was dizzy and his feet stumbled, and he felt +ill. The lights in the valley grew brighter and brighter, and more +numerous, and he could see them moving to and fro, and then he +understood that there must be a village in the distance; so he exerted +his failing strength to reach it, and at length obtained shelter in +a humble lodging. He remained there that night and the whole of the +following day, for his body required rest and refreshment, and in +the valley there was rain and a thaw. But early in the morning of +the third day, a man came with an organ and played one of the melodies +of home; and after that Knud could remain there no longer, so he +started again on his journey toward the north. He travelled for many +days with hasty steps, as if he were trying to reach home before all +whom he remembered should die; but he spoke to no one of this longing. +No one would have believed or understood this sorrow of his heart, the +deepest that can be felt by human nature. Such grief is not for the +world; it is not entertaining even to friends, and poor Knud had no +friends; he was a stranger, wandering through strange lands to his +home in the north. +</P> + +<P> +He was walking one evening through the public roads, the country +around him was flatter, with fields and meadows, the air had a +frosty feeling. A willow-tree grew by the roadside, everything +reminded him of home. He felt very tired; so he sat down under the +tree, and very soon began to nod, then his eyes closed in sleep. Yet +still he seemed conscious that the willow-tree was stretching its +branches over him; in his dreaming state the tree appeared like a +strong, old man—the "willow-father" himself, who had taken his +tired son up in his arms to carry him back to the land of home, to the +garden of his childhood, on the bleak open shores of Kjoge. And then +he dreamed that it was really the willow-tree itself from Kjoge, which +had travelled out in the world to seek him, and now had found him +and carried him back into the little garden on the banks of the +streamlet; and there stood Joanna, in all her splendor, with the +golden crown on her head, as he had last seen her, to welcome him +back. And then there appeared before him two remarkable shapes, +which looked much more like human beings than when he had seen them in +his childhood; they were changed, but he remembered that they were the +two gingerbread cakes, the man and the woman, who had shown their best +sides to the world and looked so good. +</P> + +<P> +"We thank you," they said to Knud, "for you have loosened our +tongues; we have learnt from you that thoughts should be spoken +freely, or nothing will come of them; and now something has come of +our thoughts, for we are engaged to be married." Then they walked +away, hand-in-hand, through the streets of Kjoge, looking very +respectable on the best side, which they were quite right to show. +They turned their steps to the church, and Knud and Joanna followed +them, also walking hand-in-hand; there stood the church, as of old, +with its red walls, on which the green ivy grew. +</P> + +<P> +The great church door flew open wide, and as they walked up the +broad aisle, soft tones of music sounded from the organ. "Our master +first," said the gingerbread pair, making room for Knud and Joanna. As +they knelt at the altar, Joanna bent her head over him, and cold, +icy tears fell on his face from her eyes. They were indeed tears of +ice, for her heart was melting towards him through his strong love, +and as her tears fell on his burning cheeks he awoke. He was still +sitting under the willow-tree in a strange land, on a cold winter +evening, with snow and hail falling from the clouds, and beating +upon his face. +</P> + +<P> +"That was the most delightful hour of my life," said he, "although +it was only a dream. Oh, let me dream again." Then he closed his +eyes once more, and slept and dreamed. +</P> + +<P> +Towards morning there was a great fall of snow; the wind drifted +it over him, but he still slept on. The villagers came forth to go +to church; by the roadside they found a workman seated, but he was +dead! frozen to death under a willow-tree. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="uttermst"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +IN THE UTTERMOST PARTS OF THE SEA +</H3> + +<P> +Some years ago, large ships were sent towards the north pole, to +explore the distant coasts, and to try how far men could penetrate +into those unknown regions. For more than a year one of these ships +had been pushing its way northward, amid snow and ice, and the sailors +had endured many hardships; till at length winter set in, and the +sun entirely disappeared; for many weeks there would be constant +night. All around, as far as the eye could reach, nothing could be +seen but fields of ice, in which the ship remained stuck fast. The +snow lay piled up in great heaps, and of these the sailors made +huts, in the form of bee-hives, some of them as large and spacious +as one of the "Huns' graves," and others only containing room enough +to hold three or four men. It was not quite dark; the northern +lights shot forth red and blue flames, like continuous fireworks, +and the snow glittered, and reflected back the light, so that the +night here was one long twilight. When the moon was brightest, the +natives came in crowds to see the sailors. They had a very singular +appearance in their rough, hairy dresses of fur, and riding in sledges +over the ice. They brought with them furs and skins in great +abundance, so that the snow-houses were soon provided with warm +carpets, and the furs also served for the sailors to wrap themselves +in, when they slept under the roofs of snow, while outside it was +freezing with a cold far more severe than in the winter with us. In +our country it was still autumn, though late in the season; and they +thought of that in their distant exile, and often pictured to +themselves the yellow leaves on the trees at home. Their watches +pointed to the hours of evening, and time to go to sleep, although +in these regions it was now always night. +</P> + +<P> +In one of the huts, two of the men laid themselves down to rest. +The younger of these men had brought with him from home his best, +his dearest treasure—a Bible, which his grandmother had given him +on his departure. Every night the sacred volume rested under his head, +and he had known from his childhood what was written in it. Every +day he read in the book, and while stretched on his cold couch, the +holy words he had learnt would come into his mind: "If I take the +wings of the morning, and fly to the uttermost parts of the sea, +even there Thou art with me, and Thy right hand shall uphold me;" +and under the influence of that faith which these holy words inspired, +sleep came upon him, and dreams, which are the manifestations of God +to the spirit. The soul lives and acts, while the body is at rest. +He felt this life in him, and it was as if he heard the sound of dear, +well-known melodies, as if the breezes of summer floated around him; +and over his couch shone a ray of brightness, as if it were shining +through the covering of his snow-roof. He lifted his head, and saw +that the bright gleaming was not the reflection of the glittering +snow, but the dazzling brightness of the pinions of a mighty angel, +into whose beaming face he was gazing. As from the cup of a lily, +the angel rose from amidst the leaves of the Bible; and, stretching +out his arm, the walls of the hut sunk down, as though they had been +formed of a light, airy veil of mist, and the green hills and +meadows of home, with its ruddy woods, lay spread around him in the +quiet sunshine of a lovely autumn day. The nest of the stork was +empty, but ripe fruit still hung on the wild apple-tree, although +the leaves had fallen. The red hips gleamed on the hedges, and the +starling which hung in the green cage outside the window of the +peasant's hut, which was his home, whistled the tune which he had +taught him. His grandmother hung green birds'-food around the cage, as +he, her grandson, had been accustomed to do. The daughter of the +village blacksmith, who was young and fair, stood at the well, drawing +water. She nodded to the grandmother, and the old woman nodded to her, +and pointed to a letter which had come from a long way off. That +very morning the letter had arrived from the cold regions of the +north; there, where the absent one was sweetly sleeping under the +protecting hand of God. They laughed and wept over the letter; and he, +far away, amid ice and snow, under the shadow of the angel's wings, +wept and smiled with them in spirit; for he saw and heard it all in +his dream. From the letter they read aloud the words of Holy Writ: "In +the uttermost parts of the sea, Thy right hand shall uphold me." And +as the angel spread his wings like a veil over the sleeper, there +was the sound of beautiful music and a hymn. Then the vision fled. +It was dark again in the snow-hut: but the Bible still rested +beneath his head, and faith and hope dwelt in his heart. God was +with him, and he carried home in his heart, even "in the uttermost +parts of the sea." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="what_one"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +WHAT ONE CAN INVENT +</H3> + +<P> +There was once a young man who was studying to be a poet. He +wanted to become one by Easter, and to marry, and to live by poetry. +To write poems, he knew, only consists in being able to invent +something; but he could not invent anything. He had been born too +late—everything had been taken up before he came into the world, +and everything had been written and told about. +</P> + +<P> +"Happy people who were born a thousand years ago!" said he. "It +was an easy matter for them to become immortal. Happy even was he +who was born a hundred years ago, for then there was still something +about which a poem could be written. Now the world is written out, and +what can I write poetry about?" +</P> + +<P> +Then he studied till he became ill and wretched, the wretched man! +No doctor could help him, but perhaps the wise woman could. She +lived in the little house by the wayside, where the gate is that she +opened for those who rode and drove. But she could do more than unlock +the gate. She was wiser than the doctor who drives in his own carriage +and pays tax for his rank. +</P> + +<P> +"I must go to her," said the young man. +</P> + +<P> +The house in which she dwelt was small and neat, but dreary to +behold, for there were no flowers near it—no trees. By the door stood +a bee-hive, which was very useful. There was also a little +potato-field, very useful, and an earth bank, with sloe bushes upon +it, which had done blossoming, and now bore fruit, sloes, that draw +one's mouth together if one tastes them before the frost has touched +them. +</P> + +<P> +"That's a true picture of our poetryless time, that I see before +me now," thought the young man; and that was at least a thought, a +grain of gold that he found by the door of the wise woman. +</P> + +<P> +"Write that down!" said she. "Even crumbs are bread. I know why +you come hither. You cannot invent anything, and yet you want to be +a poet by Easter." +</P> + +<P> +"Everything has been written down," said he. "Our time is not +the old time." +</P> + +<P> +"No," said the woman. "In the old time wise women were burnt, +and poets went about with empty stomachs, and very much out at elbows. +The present time is good, it is the best of times; but you have not +the right way of looking at it. Your ear is not sharpened to hear, and +I fancy you do not say the Lord's Prayer in the evening. There is +plenty here to write poems about, and to tell of, for any one who +knows the way. You can read it in the fruits of the earth, you can +draw it from the flowing and the standing water; but you must +understand how—you must understand how to catch a sunbeam. Now just +you try my spectacles on, and put my ear-trumpet to your ear, and then +pray to God, and leave off thinking of yourself." +</P> + +<P> +The last was a very difficult thing to do—more than a wise +woman ought to ask. +</P> + +<P> +He received the spectacles and the ear-trumpet, and was posted +in the middle of the potato-field. She put a great potato into his +hand. Sounds came from within it; there came a song with words, the +history of the potato, an every-day story in ten parts, an interesting +story. And ten lines were enough to tell it in. +</P> + +<P> +And what did the potato sing? +</P> + +<P> +She sang of herself and of her family, of the arrival of the +potato in Europe, of the misrepresentation to which she had been +exposed before she was acknowledged, as she is now, to be a greater +treasure than a lump of gold. +</P> + +<P> +"We were distributed, by the King's command, from the +council-houses through the various towns, and proclamation was made of +our great value; but no one believed in it, or even understood how +to plant us. One man dug a hole in the earth and threw in his whole +bushel of potatoes; another put one potato here and another there in +the ground, and expected that each was to come up a perfect tree, from +which he might shake down potatoes. And they certainly grew, and +produced flowers and green watery fruit, but it all withered away. +Nobody thought of what was in the ground—the blessing—the potato. +Yes, we have endured and suffered, that is to say, our forefathers +have; they and we, it is all one." +</P> + +<P> +What a story it was! +</P> + +<P> +"Well, and that will do," said the woman. "Now look at the sloe +bush." +</P> + +<P> +"We have also some near relations in the home of the potatoes, but +higher towards the north than they grew," said the Sloes. "There +were Northmen, from Norway, who steered westward through mist and +storm to an unknown land, where, behind ice and snow, they found +plants and green meadows, and bushes with blue-black grapes—sloe +bushes. The grapes were ripened by the frost just as we are. And +they called the land 'wine-land,' that is, 'Groenland,' or +'Sloeland.'" +</P> + +<P> +"That is quite a romantic story," said the young man. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, certainly. But now come with me," said the wise woman, and +she led him to the bee-hive. +</P> + +<P> +He looked into it. What life and labor! There were bees standing +in all the passages, waving their wings, so that a wholesome draught +of air might blow through the great manufactory; that was their +business. Then there came in bees from without, who had been born with +little baskets on their feet; they brought flower-dust, which was +poured out, sorted, and manufactured into honey and wax. They flew +in and out. The queen-bee wanted to fly out, but then all the other +bees must have gone with her. It was not yet the time for that, but +still she wanted to fly out; so the others bit off her majesty's +wings, and she had to stay where she was. +</P> + +<P> +"Now get upon the earth bank," said the wise woman. "Come and look +out over the highway, where you can see the people." +</P> + +<P> +"What a crowd it is!" said the young man. "One story after +another. It whirls and whirls! It's quite a confusion before my +eyes. I shall go out at the back." +</P> + +<P> +"No, go straight forward," said the woman. "Go straight into the +crowd of people; look at them in the right way. Have an ear to hear +and the right heart to feel, and you will soon invent something. +But, before you go away, you must give me my spectacles and my +ear-trumpet again." +</P> + +<P> +And so saying, she took both from him. +</P> + +<P> +"Now I do not see the smallest thing," said the young man, "and +now I don't hear anything more." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, then, you can't be a poet by Easter," said the wise woman. +</P> + +<P> +"But, by what time can I be one?" asked he. +</P> + +<P> +"Neither by Easter nor by Whitsuntide! You will not learn how to +invent anything." +</P> + +<P> +"What must I do to earn my bread by poetry?" +</P> + +<P> +"You can do that before Shrove Tuesday. Hunt the poets! Kill their +writings and thus you will kill them. Don't be put out of countenance. +Strike at them boldly, and you'll have carnival cake, on which you can +support yourself and your wife too." +</P> + +<P> +"What one can invent!" cried the young man. And so he hit out +boldly at every second poet, because he could not be a poet himself. +</P> + +<P> +We have it from the wise woman. She knows WHAT ONE CAN INVENT. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="wicked_p"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE WICKED PRINCE +</H3> + +<P> +There lived once upon a time a wicked prince whose heart and +mind were set upon conquering all the countries of the world, and on +frightening the people; he devastated their countries with fire and +sword, and his soldiers trod down the crops in the fields and +destroyed the peasants' huts by fire, so that the flames licked the +green leaves off the branches, and the fruit hung dried up on the +singed black trees. Many a poor mother fled, her naked baby in her +arms, behind the still smoking walls of her cottage; but also there +the soldiers followed her, and when they found her, she served as +new nourishment to their diabolical enjoyments; demons could not +possibly have done worse things than these soldiers! The prince was of +opinion that all this was right, and that it was only the natural +course which things ought to take. His power increased day by day, his +name was feared by all, and fortune favoured his deeds. +</P> + +<P> +He brought enormous wealth home from the conquered towns, and +gradually accumulated in his residence riches which could nowhere be +equalled. He erected magnificent palaces, churches, and halls, and all +who saw these splendid buildings and great treasures exclaimed +admiringly: "What a mighty prince!" But they did not know what endless +misery he had brought upon other countries, nor did they hear the +sighs and lamentations which rose up from the debris of the +destroyed cities. +</P> + +<P> +The prince often looked with delight upon his gold and his +magnificent edifices, and thought, like the crowd: "What a mighty +prince! But I must have more—much more. No power on earth must +equal mine, far less exceed it." +</P> + +<P> +He made war with all his neighbours, and defeated them. The +conquered kings were chained up with golden fetters to his chariot +when he drove through the streets of his city. These kings had to +kneel at his and his courtiers' feet when they sat at table, and +live on the morsels which they left. At last the prince had his own +statue erected on the public places and fixed on the royal palaces; +nay, he even wished it to be placed in the churches, on the altars, +but in this the priests opposed him, saying: "Prince, you are mighty +indeed, but God's power is much greater than yours; we dare not obey +your orders." +</P> + +<P> +"Well," said the prince. "Then I will conquer God too." And in his +haughtiness and foolish presumption he ordered a magnificent ship to +be constructed, with which he could sail through the air; it was +gorgeously fitted out and of many colours; like the tail of a peacock, +it was covered with thousands of eyes, but each eye was the barrel +of a gun. The prince sat in the centre of the ship, and had only to +touch a spring in order to make thousands of bullets fly out in all +directions, while the guns were at once loaded again. Hundreds of +eagles were attached to this ship, and it rose with the swiftness of +an arrow up towards the sun. The earth was soon left far below, and +looked, with its mountains and woods, like a cornfield where the +plough had made furrows which separated green meadows; soon it +looked only like a map with indistinct lines upon it; and at last it +entirely disappeared in mist and clouds. Higher and higher rose the +eagles up into the air; then God sent one of his numberless angels +against the ship. The wicked prince showered thousands of bullets upon +him, but they rebounded from his shining wings and fell down like +ordinary hailstones. One drop of blood, one single drop, came out of +the white feathers of the angel's wings and fell upon the ship in +which the prince sat, burnt into it, and weighed upon it like +thousands of hundredweights, dragging it rapidly down to the earth +again; the strong wings of the eagles gave way, the wind roared +round the prince's head, and the clouds around—were they formed by +the smoke rising up from the burnt cities?—took strange shapes, +like crabs many, many miles long, which stretched their claws out +after him, and rose up like enormous rocks, from which rolling +masses dashed down, and became fire-spitting dragons. +</P> + +<P> +The prince was lying half-dead in his ship, when it sank at last +with a terrible shock into the branches of a large tree in the wood. +</P> + +<P> +"I will conquer God!" said the prince. "I have sworn it: my will +must be done!" +</P> + +<P> +And he spent seven years in the construction of wonderful ships to +sail through the air, and had darts cast from the hardest steel to +break the walls of heaven with. He gathered warriors from all +countries, so many that when they were placed side by side they +covered the space of several miles. They entered the ships and the +prince was approaching his own, when God sent a swarm of gnats—one +swarm of little gnats. They buzzed round the prince and stung his face +and hands; angrily he drew his sword and brandished it, but he only +touched the air and did not hit the gnats. Then he ordered his +servants to bring costly coverings and wrap him in them, that the +gnats might no longer be able to reach him. The servants carried out +his orders, but one single gnat had placed itself inside one of the +coverings, crept into the prince's ear and stung him. The place +burnt like fire, and the poison entered into his blood. Mad with pain, +he tore off the coverings and his clothes too, flinging them far away, +and danced about before the eyes of his ferocious soldiers, who now +mocked at him, the mad prince, who wished to make war with God, and +was overcome by a single little gnat. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="wild_swa"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE WILD SWANS +</H3> + +<P> +Far away in the land to which the swallows fly when it is +winter, dwelt a king who had eleven sons, and one daughter, named +Eliza. The eleven brothers were princes, and each went to school +with a star on his breast, and a sword by his side. They wrote with +diamond pencils on gold slates, and learnt their lessons so quickly +and read so easily that every one might know they were princes. +Their sister Eliza sat on a little stool of plate-glass, and had a +book full of pictures, which had cost as much as half a kingdom. Oh, +these children were indeed happy, but it was not to remain so +always. Their father, who was king of the country, married a very +wicked queen, who did not love the poor children at all. They knew +this from the very first day after the wedding. In the palace there +were great festivities, and the children played at receiving +company; but instead of having, as usual, all the cakes and apples +that were left, she gave them some sand in a tea-cup, and told them to +pretend it was cake. The week after, she sent little Eliza into the +country to a peasant and his wife, and then she told the king so +many untrue things about the young princes, that he gave himself no +more trouble respecting them. +</P> + +<P> +"Go out into the world and get your own living," said the queen. +"Fly like great birds, who have no voice." But she could not make them +ugly as she wished, for they were turned into eleven beautiful wild +swans. Then, with a strange cry, they flew through the windows of +the palace, over the park, to the forest beyond. It was early +morning when they passed the peasant's cottage, where their sister +Eliza lay asleep in her room. They hovered over the roof, twisted +their long necks and flapped their wings, but no one heard them or saw +them, so they were at last obliged to fly away, high up in the clouds; +and over the wide world they flew till they came to a thick, dark +wood, which stretched far away to the seashore. Poor little Eliza +was alone in her room playing with a green leaf, for she had no +other playthings, and she pierced a hole through the leaf, and +looked through it at the sun, and it was as if she saw her brothers' +clear eyes, and when the warm sun shone on her cheeks, she thought +of all the kisses they had given her. One day passed just like +another; sometimes the winds rustled through the leaves of the +rose-bush, and would whisper to the roses, "Who can be more +beautiful than you!" But the roses would shake their heads, and say, +"Eliza is." And when the old woman sat at the cottage door on +Sunday, and read her hymn-book, the wind would flutter the leaves, and +say to the book, "Who can be more pious than you?" and then the +hymn-book would answer "Eliza." And the roses and the hymn-book told +the real truth. At fifteen she returned home, but when the queen saw +how beautiful she was, she became full of spite and hatred towards +her. Willingly would she have turned her into a swan, like her +brothers, but she did not dare to do so yet, because the king wished +to see his daughter. Early one morning the queen went into the +bath-room; it was built of marble, and had soft cushions, trimmed with +the most beautiful tapestry. She took three toads with her, and kissed +them, and said to one, "When Eliza comes to the bath, seat yourself +upon her head, that she may become as stupid as you are." Then she +said to another, "Place yourself on her forehead, that she may +become as ugly as you are, and that her father may not know her." +"Rest on her heart," she whispered to the third, "then she will have +evil inclinations, and suffer in consequence." So she put the toads +into the clear water, and they turned green immediately. She next +called Eliza, and helped her to undress and get into the bath. As +Eliza dipped her head under the water, one of the toads sat on her +hair, a second on her forehead, and a third on her breast, but she did +not seem to notice them, and when she rose out of the water, there +were three red poppies floating upon it. Had not the creatures been +venomous or been kissed by the witch, they would have been changed +into red roses. At all events they became flowers, because they had +rested on Eliza's head, and on her heart. She was too good and too +innocent for witchcraft to have any power over her. When the wicked +queen saw this, she rubbed her face with walnut-juice, so that she was +quite brown; then she tangled her beautiful hair and smeared it with +disgusting ointment, till it was quite impossible to recognize the +beautiful Eliza. +</P> + +<P> +When her father saw her, he was much shocked, and declared she was +not his daughter. No one but the watch-dog and the swallows knew +her; and they were only poor animals, and could say nothing. Then poor +Eliza wept, and thought of her eleven brothers, who were all away. +Sorrowfully, she stole away from the palace, and walked, the whole +day, over fields and moors, till she came to the great forest. She +knew not in what direction to go; but she was so unhappy, and longed +so for her brothers, who had been, like herself, driven out into the +world, that she was determined to seek them. She had been but a +short time in the wood when night came on, and she quite lost the +path; so she laid herself down on the soft moss, offered up her +evening prayer, and leaned her head against the stump of a tree. All +nature was still, and the soft, mild air fanned her forehead. The +light of hundreds of glow-worms shone amidst the grass and the moss, +like green fire; and if she touched a twig with her hand, ever so +lightly, the brilliant insects fell down around her, like +shooting-stars. +</P> + +<P> +All night long she dreamt of her brothers. She and they were +children again, playing together. She saw them writing with their +diamond pencils on golden slates, while she looked at the beautiful +picture-book which had cost half a kingdom. They were not writing +lines and letters, as they used to do; but descriptions of the noble +deeds they had performed, and of all they had discovered and seen. +In the picture-book, too, everything was living. The birds sang, and +the people came out of the book, and spoke to Eliza and her +brothers; but, as the leaves turned over, they darted back again to +their places, that all might be in order. +</P> + +<P> +When she awoke, the sun was high in the heavens; yet she could not +see him, for the lofty trees spread their branches thickly over her +head; but his beams were glancing through the leaves here and there, +like a golden mist. There was a sweet fragrance from the fresh green +verdure, and the birds almost perched upon her shoulders. She heard +water rippling from a number of springs, all flowing in a lake with +golden sands. Bushes grew thickly round the lake, and at one spot an +opening had been made by a deer, through which Eliza went down to +the water. The lake was so clear that, had not the wind rustled the +branches of the trees and the bushes, so that they moved, they would +have appeared as if painted in the depths of the lake; for every +leaf was reflected in the water, whether it stood in the shade or +the sunshine. As soon as Eliza saw her own face, she was quite +terrified at finding it so brown and ugly; but when she wetted her +little hand, and rubbed her eyes and forehead, the white skin +gleamed forth once more; and, after she had undressed, and dipped +herself in the fresh water, a more beautiful king's daughter could not +be found in the wide world. As soon as she had dressed herself +again, and braided her long hair, she went to the bubbling spring, and +drank some water out of the hollow of her hand. Then she wandered +far into the forest, not knowing whither she went. She thought of +her brothers, and felt sure that God would not forsake her. It is +God who makes the wild apples grow in the wood, to satisfy the hungry, +and He now led her to one of these trees, which was so loaded with +fruit, that the boughs bent beneath the weight. Here she held her +noonday repast, placed props under the boughs, and then went into +the gloomiest depths of the forest. It was so still that she could +hear the sound of her own footsteps, as well as the rustling of +every withered leaf which she crushed under her feet. Not a bird was +to be seen, not a sunbeam could penetrate through the large, dark +boughs of the trees. Their lofty trunks stood so close together, that, +when she looked before her, it seemed as if she were enclosed within +trellis-work. Such solitude she had never known before. The night +was very dark. Not a single glow-worm glittered in the moss. +</P> + +<P> +Sorrowfully she laid herself down to sleep; and, after a while, it +seemed to her as if the branches of the trees parted over her head, +and that the mild eyes of angels looked down upon her from heaven. +When she awoke in the morning, she knew not whether she had dreamt +this, or if it had really been so. Then she continued her wandering; +but she had not gone many steps forward, when she met an old woman +with berries in her basket, and she gave her a few to eat. Then +Eliza asked her if she had not seen eleven princes riding through +the forest. +</P> + +<P> +"No," replied the old woman, "But I saw yesterday eleven swans, +with gold crowns on their heads, swimming on the river close by." Then +she led Eliza a little distance farther to a sloping bank, and at +the foot of it wound a little river. The trees on its banks +stretched their long leafy branches across the water towards each +other, and where the growth prevented them from meeting naturally, the +roots had torn themselves away from the ground, so that the branches +might mingle their foliage as they hung over the water. Eliza bade the +old woman farewell, and walked by the flowing river, till she +reached the shore of the open sea. And there, before the young +maiden's eyes, lay the glorious ocean, but not a sail appeared on +its surface, not even a boat could be seen. How was she to go farther? +She noticed how the countless pebbles on the sea-shore had been +smoothed and rounded by the action of the water. Glass, iron, +stones, everything that lay there mingled together, had taken its +shape from the same power, and felt as smooth, or even smoother than +her own delicate hand. "The water rolls on without weariness," she +said, "till all that is hard becomes smooth; so will I be unwearied +in my task. Thanks for your lessons, bright rolling waves; my heart +tells me you will lead me to my dear brothers." On the foam-covered +sea-weeds, lay eleven white swan feathers, which she gathered up and +placed together. Drops of water lay upon them; whether they were +dew-drops or tears no one could say. Lonely as it was on the +sea-shore, she did not observe it, for the ever-moving sea showed more +changes in a few hours than the most varying lake could produce during +a whole year. If a black heavy cloud arose, it was as if the sea said, +"I can look dark and angry too;" and then the wind blew, and the waves +turned to white foam as they rolled. When the wind slept, and the +clouds glowed with the red sunlight, then the sea looked like a rose +leaf. But however quietly its white glassy surface rested, there was +still a motion on the shore, as its waves rose and fell like the +breast of a sleeping child. When the sun was about to set, Eliza saw +eleven white swans with golden crowns on their heads, flying towards +the land, one behind the other, like a long white ribbon. Then Eliza +went down the slope from the shore, and hid herself behind the bushes. +The swans alighted quite close to her and flapped their great white +wings. As soon as the sun had disappeared under the water, the +feathers of the swans fell off, and eleven beautiful princes, +Eliza's brothers, stood near her. She uttered a loud cry, for, +although they were very much changed, she knew them immediately. She +sprang into their arms, and called them each by name. Then, how +happy the princes were at meeting their little sister again, for +they recognized her, although she had grown so tall and beautiful. +They laughed, and they wept, and very soon understood how wickedly +their mother had acted to them all. "We brothers," said the eldest, +"fly about as wild swans, so long as the sun is in the sky; but as +soon as it sinks behind the hills, we recover our human shape. +Therefore must we always be near a resting place for our feet before +sunset; for if we should be flying towards the clouds at the time we +recovered our natural shape as men, we should sink deep into the +sea. We do not dwell here, but in a land just as fair, that lies +beyond the ocean, which we have to cross for a long distance; there is +no island in our passage upon which we could pass, the night; +nothing but a little rock rising out of the sea, upon which we can +scarcely stand with safety, even closely crowded together. If the +sea is rough, the foam dashes over us, yet we thank God even for +this rock; we have passed whole nights upon it, or we should never +have reached our beloved fatherland, for our flight across the sea +occupies two of the longest days in the year. We have permission to +visit out home once in every year, and to remain eleven days, during +which we fly across the forest to look once more at the palace where +our father dwells, and where we were born, and at the church, where +our mother lies buried. Here it seems as if the very trees and +bushes were related to us. The wild horses leap over the plains as +we have seen them in our childhood. The charcoal burners sing the +old songs, to which we have danced as children. This is our +fatherland, to which we are drawn by loving ties; and here we have +found you, our dear little sister. Two days longer we can remain +here, and then must we fly away to a beautiful land which is not our +home; and how can we take you with us? We have neither ship nor boat." +</P> + +<P> +"How can I break this spell?" said their sister. And then she +talked about it nearly the whole night, only slumbering for a few +hours. Eliza was awakened by the rustling of the swans' wings as +they soared above. Her brothers were again changed to swans, and +they flew in circles wider and wider, till they were far away; but one +of them, the youngest swan, remained behind, and laid his head in +his sister's lap, while she stroked his wings; and they remained +together the whole day. Towards evening, the rest came back, and as +the sun went down they resumed their natural forms. "To-morrow," +said one, "we shall fly away, not to return again till a whole year +has passed. But we cannot leave you here. Have you courage to go +with us? My arm is strong enough to carry you through the wood; and +will not all our wings be strong enough to fly with you over the sea?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, take me with you," said Eliza. Then they spent the whole +night in weaving a net with the pliant willow and rushes. It was +very large and strong. Eliza laid herself down on the net, and when +the sun rose, and her brothers again became wild swans, they took up +the net with their beaks, and flew up to the clouds with their dear +sister, who still slept. The sunbeams fell on her face, therefore +one of the swans soared over her head, so that his broad wings might +shade her. They were far from the land when Eliza woke. She thought +she must still be dreaming, it seemed so strange to her to feel +herself being carried so high in the air over the sea. By her side lay +a branch full of beautiful ripe berries, and a bundle of sweet +roots; the youngest of her brothers had gathered them for her, and +placed them by her side. She smiled her thanks to him; she knew it was +the same who had hovered over her to shade her with his wings. They +were now so high, that a large ship beneath them looked like a white +sea-gull skimming the waves. A great cloud floating behind them +appeared like a vast mountain, and upon it Eliza saw her own shadow +and those of the eleven swans, looking gigantic in size. Altogether it +formed a more beautiful picture than she had ever seen; but as the sun +rose higher, and the clouds were left behind, the shadowy picture +vanished away. Onward the whole day they flew through the air like a +winged arrow, yet more slowly than usual, for they had their sister to +carry. The weather seemed inclined to be stormy, and Eliza watched the +sinking sun with great anxiety, for the little rock in the ocean was +not yet in sight. It appeared to her as if the swans were making great +efforts with their wings. Alas! she was the cause of their not +advancing more quickly. When the sun set, they would change to men, +fall into the sea and be drowned. Then she offered a prayer from her +inmost heart, but still no appearance of the rock. Dark clouds came +nearer, the gusts of wind told of a coming storm, while from a +thick, heavy mass of clouds the lightning burst forth flash after +flash. The sun had reached the edge of the sea, when the swans +darted down so swiftly, that Eliza's head trembled; she believed +they were falling, but they again soared onward. Presently she +caught sight of the rock just below them, and by this time the sun was +half hidden by the waves. The rock did not appear larger than a seal's +head thrust out of the water. They sunk so rapidly, that at the moment +their feet touched the rock, it shone only like a star, and at last +disappeared like the last spark in a piece of burnt paper. Then she +saw her brothers standing closely round her with their arms linked +together. There was but just room enough for them, and not the +smallest space to spare. The sea dashed against the rock, and +covered them with spray. The heavens were lighted up with continual +flashes, and peal after peal of thunder rolled. But the sister and +brothers sat holding each other's hands, and singing hymns, from which +they gained hope and courage. In the early dawn the air became calm +and still, and at sunrise the swans flew away from the rock with +Eliza. The sea was still rough, and from their high position in the +air, the white foam on the dark green waves looked like millions of +swans swimming on the water. As the sun rose higher, Eliza saw +before her, floating on the air, a range of mountains, with shining +masses of ice on their summits. In the centre, rose a castle +apparently a mile long, with rows of columns, rising one above +another, while, around it, palm-trees waved and flowers bloomed as +large as mill wheels. She asked if this was the land to which they +were hastening. The swans shook their heads, for what she beheld +were the beautiful ever-changing cloud palaces of the "Fata +Morgana," into which no mortal can enter. Eliza was still gazing at +the scene, when mountains, forests, and castles melted away, and +twenty stately churches rose in their stead, with high towers and +pointed gothic windows. Eliza even fancied she could hear the tones of +the organ, but it was the music of the murmuring sea which she +heard. As they drew nearer to the churches, they also changed into a +fleet of ships, which seemed to be sailing beneath her; but as she +looked again, she found it was only a sea mist gliding over the ocean. +So there continued to pass before her eyes a constant change of scene, +till at last she saw the real land to which they were bound, with +its blue mountains, its cedar forests, and its cities and palaces. +Long before the sun went down, she sat on a rock, in front of a +large cave, on the floor of which the over-grown yet delicate green +creeping plants looked like an embroidered carpet. "Now we shall +expect to hear what you dream of to-night," said the youngest brother, +as he showed his sister her bedroom. +</P> + +<P> +"Heaven grant that I may dream how to save you," she replied. +And this thought took such hold upon her mind that she prayed +earnestly to God for help, and even in her sleep she continued to +pray. Then it appeared to her as if she were flying high in the air, +towards the cloudy palace of the "Fata Morgana," and a fairy came +out to meet her, radiant and beautiful in appearance, and yet very +much like the old woman who had given her berries in the wood, and who +had told her of the swans with golden crowns on their heads. "Your +brothers can be released," said she, "if you have only courage and +perseverance. True, water is softer than your own delicate hands, +and yet it polishes stones into shapes; it feels no pain as your +fingers would feel, it has no soul, and cannot suffer such agony and +torment as you will have to endure. Do you see the stinging nettle +which I hold in my hand? Quantities of the same sort grow round the +cave in which you sleep, but none will be of any use to you unless +they grow upon the graves in a churchyard. These you must gather +even while they burn blisters on your hands. Break them to pieces with +your hands and feet, and they will become flax, from which you must +spin and weave eleven coats with long sleeves; if these are then +thrown over the eleven swans, the spell will be broken. But +remember, that from the moment you commence your task until it is +finished, even should it occupy years of your life, you must not +speak. The first word you utter will pierce through the hearts of your +brothers like a deadly dagger. Their lives hang upon your tongue. +Remember all I have told you." And as she finished speaking, she +touched her hand lightly with the nettle, and a pain, as of burning +fire, awoke Eliza. +</P> + +<P> +It was broad daylight, and close by where she had been sleeping +lay a nettle like the one she had seen in her dream. She fell on her +knees and offered her thanks to God. Then she went forth from the cave +to begin her work with her delicate hands. She groped in amongst the +ugly nettles, which burnt great blisters on her hands and arms, but +she determined to bear it gladly if she could only release her dear +brothers. So she bruised the nettles with her bare feet and spun the +flax. At sunset her brothers returned and were very much frightened +when they found her dumb. They believed it to be some new sorcery of +their wicked step-mother. But when they saw her hands they +understood what she was doing on their behalf, and the youngest +brother wept, and where his tears fell the pain ceased, and the +burning blisters vanished. She kept to her work all night, for she +could not rest till she had released her dear brothers. During the +whole of the following day, while her brothers were absent, she sat in +solitude, but never before had the time flown so quickly. One coat was +already finished and she had begun the second, when she heard the +huntsman's horn, and was struck with fear. The sound came nearer and +nearer, she heard the dogs barking, and fled with terror into the +cave. She hastily bound together the nettles she had gathered into a +bundle and sat upon them. Immediately a great dog came bounding +towards her out of the ravine, and then another and another; they +barked loudly, ran back, and then came again. In a very few minutes +all the huntsmen stood before the cave, and the handsomest of them was +the king of the country. He advanced towards her, for he had never +seen a more beautiful maiden. +</P> + +<P> +"How did you come here, my sweet child?" he asked. But Eliza shook +her head. She dared not speak, at the cost of her brothers' lives. And +she hid her hands under her apron, so that the king might not see +how she must be suffering. +</P> + +<P> +"Come with me," he said; "here you cannot remain. If you are as +good as you are beautiful, I will dress you in silk and velvet, I will +place a golden crown upon your head, and you shall dwell, and rule, +and make your home in my richest castle." And then he lifted her on +his horse. She wept and wrung her hands, but the king said, "I wish +only for your happiness. A time will come when you will thank me for +this." And then he galloped away over the mountains, holding her +before him on this horse, and the hunters followed behind them. As the +sun went down, they approached a fair royal city, with churches, and +cupolas. On arriving at the castle the king led her into marble halls, +where large fountains played, and where the walls and the ceilings +were covered with rich paintings. But she had no eyes for all these +glorious sights, she could only mourn and weep. Patiently she +allowed the women to array her in royal robes, to weave pearls in +her hair, and draw soft gloves over her blistered fingers. As she +stood before them in all her rich dress, she looked so dazzlingly +beautiful that the court bowed low in her presence. Then the king +declared his intention of making her his bride, but the archbishop +shook his head, and whispered that the fair young maiden was only a +witch who had blinded the king's eyes and bewitched his heart. But the +king would not listen to this; he ordered the music to sound, the +daintiest dishes to be served, and the loveliest maidens to dance. +After-wards he led her through fragrant gardens and lofty halls, but +not a smile appeared on her lips or sparkled in her eyes. She looked +the very picture of grief. Then the king opened the door of a little +chamber in which she was to sleep; it was adorned with rich green +tapestry, and resembled the cave in which he had found her. On the +floor lay the bundle of flax which she had spun from the nettles, +and under the ceiling hung the coat she had made. These things had +been brought away from the cave as curiosities by one of the huntsmen. +</P> + +<P> +"Here you can dream yourself back again in the old home in the +cave," said the king; "here is the work with which you employed +yourself. It will amuse you now in the midst of all this splendor to +think of that time." +</P> + +<P> +When Eliza saw all these things which lay so near her heart, a +smile played around her mouth, and the crimson blood rushed to her +cheeks. She thought of her brothers, and their release made her so +joyful that she kissed the king's hand. Then he pressed her to his +heart. Very soon the joyous church bells announced the marriage feast, +and that the beautiful dumb girl out of the wood was to be made the +queen of the country. Then the archbishop whispered wicked words in +the king's ear, but they did not sink into his heart. The marriage was +still to take place, and the archbishop himself had to place the crown +on the bride's head; in his wicked spite, he pressed the narrow +circlet so tightly on her forehead that it caused her pain. But a +heavier weight encircled her heart—sorrow for her brothers. She +felt not bodily pain. Her mouth was closed; a single word would cost +the lives of her brothers. But she loved the kind, handsome king, +who did everything to make her happy more and more each day; she loved +him with all her heart, and her eyes beamed with the love she dared +not speak. Oh! if she had only been able to confide in him and tell +him of her grief. But dumb she must remain till her task was finished. +Therefore at night she crept away into her little chamber, which had +been decked out to look like the cave, and quickly wove one coat after +another. But when she began the seventh she found she had no more +flax. She knew that the nettles she wanted to use grew in the +churchyard, and that she must pluck them herself. How should she get +out there? "Oh, what is the pain in my fingers to the torment which my +heart endures?" said she. "I must venture, I shall not be denied +help from heaven." Then with a trembling heart, as if she were about +to perform a wicked deed, she crept into the garden in the broad +moonlight, and passed through the narrow walks and the deserted +streets, till she reached the churchyard. Then she saw on one of the +broad tombstones a group of ghouls. These hideous creatures took off +their rags, as if they intended to bathe, and then clawing open the +fresh graves with their long, skinny fingers, pulled out the dead +bodies and ate the flesh! Eliza had to pass close by them, and they +fixed their wicked glances upon her, but she prayed silently, gathered +the burning nettles, and carried them home with her to the castle. One +person only had seen her, and that was the archbishop—he was awake +while everybody was asleep. Now he thought his opinion was evidently +correct. All was not right with the queen. She was a witch, and had +bewitched the king and all the people. Secretly he told the king +what he had seen and what he feared, and as the hard words came from +his tongue, the carved images of the saints shook their heads as if +they would say. "It is not so. Eliza is innocent." +</P> + +<P> +But the archbishop interpreted it in another way; he believed that +they witnessed against her, and were shaking their heads at her +wickedness. Two large tears rolled down the king's cheeks, and he went +home with doubt in his heart, and at night he pretended to sleep, +but there came no real sleep to his eyes, for he saw Eliza get up +every night and disappear in her own chamber. From day to day his brow +became darker, and Eliza saw it and did not understand the reason, but +it alarmed her and made her heart tremble for her brothers. Her hot +tears glittered like pearls on the regal velvet and diamonds, while +all who saw her were wishing they could be queens. In the mean time +she had almost finished her task; only one coat of mail was wanting, +but she had no flax left, and not a single nettle. Once more only, and +for the last time, must she venture to the churchyard and pluck a +few handfuls. She thought with terror of the solitary walk, and of the +horrible ghouls, but her will was firm, as well as her trust in +Providence. Eliza went, and the king and the archbishop followed +her. They saw her vanish through the wicket gate into the +churchyard, and when they came nearer they saw the ghouls sitting on +the tombstone, as Eliza had seen them, and the king turned away his +head, for he thought she was with them—she whose head had rested on +his breast that very evening. "The people must condemn her," said +he, and she was very quickly condemned by every one to suffer death by +fire. Away from the gorgeous regal halls was she led to a dark, dreary +cell, where the wind whistled through the iron bars. Instead of the +velvet and silk dresses, they gave her the coats of mail which she had +woven to cover her, and the bundle of nettles for a pillow; but +nothing they could give her would have pleased her more. She continued +her task with joy, and prayed for help, while the street-boys sang +jeering songs about her, and not a soul comforted her with a kind +word. Towards evening, she heard at the grating the flutter of a +swan's wing, it was her youngest brother—he had found his sister, and +she sobbed for joy, although she knew that very likely this would be +the last night she would have to live. But still she could hope, for +her task was almost finished, and her brothers were come. Then the +archbishop arrived, to be with her during her last hours, as he had +promised the king. But she shook her head, and begged him, by looks +and gestures, not to stay; for in this night she knew she must +finish her task, otherwise all her pain and tears and sleepless nights +would have been suffered in vain. The archbishop withdrew, uttering +bitter words against her; but poor Eliza knew that she was innocent, +and diligently continued her work. +</P> + +<P> +The little mice ran about the floor, they dragged the nettles to +her feet, to help as well as they could; and the thrush sat outside +the grating of the window, and sang to her the whole night long, as +sweetly as possible, to keep up her spirits. +</P> + +<P> +It was still twilight, and at least an hour before sunrise, when +the eleven brothers stood at the castle gate, and demanded to be +brought before the king. They were told it could not be, it was yet +almost night, and as the king slept they dared not disturb him. They +threatened, they entreated. Then the guard appeared, and even the king +himself, inquiring what all the noise meant. At this moment the sun +rose. The eleven brothers were seen no more, but eleven wild swans +flew away over the castle. +</P> + +<P> +And now all the people came streaming forth from the gates of +the city, to see the witch burnt. An old horse drew the cart on +which she sat. They had dressed her in a garment of coarse +sackcloth. Her lovely hair hung loose on her shoulders, her cheeks +were deadly pale, her lips moved silently, while her fingers still +worked at the green flax. Even on the way to death, she would not give +up her task. The ten coats of mail lay at her feet, she was working +hard at the eleventh, while the mob jeered her and said, "See the +witch, how she mutters! She has no hymn-book in her hand. She sits +there with her ugly sorcery. Let us tear it in a thousand pieces." +</P> + +<P> +And then they pressed towards her, and would have destroyed the +coats of mail, but at the same moment eleven wild swans flew over her, +and alighted on the cart. Then they flapped their large wings, and the +crowd drew on one side in alarm. +</P> + +<P> +"It is a sign from heaven that she is innocent," whispered many of +them; but they ventured not to say it aloud. +</P> + +<P> +As the executioner seized her by the hand, to lift her out of +the cart, she hastily threw the eleven coats of mail over the swans, +and they immediately became eleven handsome princes; but the +youngest had a swan's wing, instead of an arm; for she had not been +able to finish the last sleeve of the coat. +</P> + +<P> +"Now I may speak," she exclaimed. "I am innocent." +</P> + +<P> +Then the people, who saw what happened, bowed to her, as before +a saint; but she sank lifeless in her brothers' arms, overcome with +suspense, anguish, and pain. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, she is innocent," said the eldest brother; and then he +related all that had taken place; and while he spoke there rose in the +air a fragrance as from millions of roses. Every piece of faggot in +the pile had taken root, and threw out branches, and appeared a +thick hedge, large and high, covered with roses; while above all +bloomed a white and shining flower, that glittered like a star. This +flower the king plucked, and placed in Eliza's bosom, when she awoke +from her swoon, with peace and happiness in her heart. And all the +church bells rang of themselves, and the birds came in great troops. +And a marriage procession returned to the castle, such as no king +had ever before seen. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="will_o_t"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE WILL-O-THE WISP IS IN THE TOWN, SAYS THE MOOR WOMAN +</H3> + +<P> +There was a man who once knew many stories, but they had slipped +away from him—so he said. The Story that used to visit him of its own +accord no longer came and knocked at his door. And why did it come +no longer? It is true enough that for days and years the man had not +thought of it, had not expected it to come and knock; and if he had +expected it, it would certainly not have come; for without there was +war, and within was the care and sorrow that war brings with it. +</P> + +<P> +The stork and the swallows came back from their long journey, +for they thought of no danger; and, behold, when they arrived, the +nest was burnt, the habitations of men were burnt, the hedges were all +in disorder, and everything seemed gone, and the enemy's horses were +stamping in the old graves. Those were hard, gloomy times, but they +came to an end. +</P> + +<P> +And now they were past and gone—so people said; yet no Story came +and knocked at the door, or gave any tidings of its presence. +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose it must be dead, or gone away with many other +things," said the man. +</P> + +<P> +But the story never dies. And more than a whole year went by, +and he longed—oh, so very much!—for the Story. +</P> + +<P> +"I wonder if the Story will ever come back again and knock?" +</P> + +<P> +And he remembered it so well in all the various forms in which +it had come to him, sometimes young and charming, like spring +itself, sometimes as a beautiful maiden, with a wreath of thyme in her +hair, and a beechen branch in her hand, and with eyes that gleamed +like deep woodland lakes in the bright sunshine. +</P> + +<P> +Sometimes it had come to him in the guise of a peddler, and had +opened its box and let silver ribbon come fluttering out, with +verses and inscriptions of old remembrances. +</P> + +<P> +But it was most charming of all when it came as an old +grandmother, with silvery hair, and such large, sensible eyes. She +knew so well how to tell about the oldest times, long before the +princesses spun with the golden spindles, and the dragons lay +outside the castles, guarding them. She told with such an air of +truth, that black spots danced before the eyes of all who heard her, +and the floor became black with human blood; terrible to see and to +hear, and yet so entertaining, because such a long time had passed +since it all happened. +</P> + +<P> +"Will it ever knock at my door again?" said the man, and he +gazed at the door, so that black spots came before his eyes and upon +the floor; he did not know if it was blood, or mourning crape from the +dark heavy days. +</P> + +<P> +And as he sat thus, the thought came upon him whether the Story +might not have hidden itself, like the princess in the old tale. And +he would now go in search of it; if he found it, it would beam in +new splendor, lovelier than ever. +</P> + +<P> +"Who knows? Perhaps it has hidden itself in the straw that +balances on the margin of the well. Carefully, carefully! Perhaps it +lies hidden in a certain flower—that flower in one of the great books +on the book-shelf." +</P> + +<P> +And the man went and opened one of the newest books, to gain +information on this point; but there was no flower to be found. +There he read about Holger Danske; and the man read that the tale +had been invented and put together by a monk in France, that it was +a romance, "translated into Danish and printed in that language;" that +Holger Danske had never really lived, and consequently could never +come again, as we have sung, and have been so glad to believe. And +William Tell was treated just like Holger Danske. These were all +only myths—nothing on which we could depend; and yet it is all +written in a very learned book. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I shall believe what I believe!" said the man. "There grows +no plantain where no foot has trod." +</P> + +<P> +And he closed the book and put it back in its place, and went to +the fresh flowers at the window. Perhaps the Story might have hidden +itself in the red tulips, with the golden yellow edges, or in the +fresh rose, or in the beaming camellia. The sunshine lay among the +flowers, but no Story. +</P> + +<P> +The flowers which had been here in the dark troublous time had +been much more beautiful; but they had been cut off, one after +another, to be woven into wreaths and placed in coffins, and the +flag had waved over them! Perhaps the Story had been buried with the +flowers; but then the flowers would have known of it, and the coffin +would have heard it, and every little blade of grass that shot forth +would have told of it. The Story never dies. +</P> + +<P> +Perhaps it has been here once, and has knocked; but who had eyes +or ears for it in those times? People looked darkly, gloomily, and +almost angrily at the sunshine of spring, at the twittering birds, and +all the cheerful green; the tongue could not even bear the old +merry, popular songs, and they were laid in the coffin with so much +that our heart held dear. The Story may have knocked without obtaining +a hearing; there was none to bid it welcome, and so it may have gone +away. +</P> + +<P> +"I will go forth and seek it. Out in the country! out in the wood! +and on the open sea beach!" +</P> + +<P> +Out in the country lies an old manor house, with red walls, +pointed gables, and a red flag that floats on the tower. The +nightingale sings among the finely-fringed beech-leaves, looking at +the blooming apple trees of the garden, and thinking that they bear +roses. Here the bees are mightily busy in the summer-time, and hover +round their queen with their humming song. The autumn has much to tell +of the wild chase, of the leaves of the trees, and of the races of men +that are passing away together. The wild swans sing at +Christmas-time on the open water, while in the old hall the guests +by the fireside gladly listen to songs and to old legends. +</P> + +<P> +Down into the old part of the garden, where the great avenue of +wild chestnut trees lures the wanderer to tread its shades, went the +man who was in search of the Story; for here the wind had once +murmured something to him of "Waldemar Daa and his Daughters." The +Dryad in the tree, who was the Story-mother herself, had here told him +the "Dream of the Old Oak Tree." Here, in the time of the ancestral +mother, had stood clipped hedges, but now only ferns and stinging +nettles grew there, hiding the scattered fragments of old sculptured +figures; the moss is growing in their eyes, but they can see as well +as ever, which was more than the man could do who was in search of the +Story, for he could not find that. Where could it be? +</P> + +<P> +The crows flew past him by hundreds across the old trees, and +screamed, "Krah! da!—Krah! da!" +</P> + +<P> +And he went out of the garden and over the grass-plot of the yard, +into the alder grove; there stood a little six-sided house, with a +poultry-yard and a duck-yard. In the middle of the room sat the old +woman who had the management of the whole, and who knew accurately +about every egg that was laid, and about every chicken that could +creep out of an egg. But she was not the Story of which the man was in +search; that she could attest with a Christian certificate of +baptism and of vaccination that lay in her drawer. +</P> + +<P> +Without, not far from the house, is a hill covered with +red-thorn and broom. Here lies an old grave-stone, which was brought +here many years ago from the churchyard of the provincial town, a +remembrance of one of the most honored councillors of the place; his +wife and his five daughters, all with folded hands and stiff ruffs, +stand round him. One could look at them so long, that it had an effect +upon the thoughts, and these reacted upon the stones, as if they +were telling of old times; at least it had been so with the man who +was in search of the Story. +</P> + +<P> +As he came nearer, he noticed a living butterfly sitting on the +forehead of the sculptured councillor. The butterfly flapped its +wings, and flew a little bit farther, and then returned fatigued to +sit upon the grave-stone, as if to point out what grew there. +Four-leaved shamrocks grew there; there were seven specimens close +to each other. When fortune comes, it comes in a heap. He plucked +the shamrocks and put them in his pocket. +</P> + +<P> +"Fortune is as good as red gold, but a new charming story would be +better still," thought the man; but he could not find it here. +</P> + +<P> +And the sun went down, round and large; the meadow was covered +with vapor. The moor-woman was at her brewing. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +It was evening. He stood alone in his room, and looked out upon +the sea, over the meadow, over moor and coast. The moon shone +bright, a mist was over the meadow, making it look like a great +lake; and, indeed, it was once so, as the legend tells—and in the +moonlight the eye realizes these myths. +</P> + +<P> +Then the man thought of what he had been reading in the town, that +William Tell and Holger Danske never really lived, but yet live in +popular story, like the lake yonder, a living evidence for such myths. +Yes, Holger Danske will return again! +</P> + +<P> +As he stood thus and thought, something beat quite strongly +against the window. Was it a bird, a bat or an owl? Those are not +let in, even when they knock. The window flew open of itself, and an +old woman looked in at the man. +</P> + +<P> +"What's your pleasure?" said he. "Who are you? You're looking in +at the first floor window. Are you standing on a ladder?" +</P> + +<P> +"You have a four-leaved shamrock in your pocket," she replied. +"Indeed, you have seven, and one of them is a six-leaved one." +</P> + +<P> +"Who are you?" asked the man again. +</P> + +<P> +"The Moor-woman," she replied. "The Moor-woman who brews. I was at +it. The bung was in the cask, but one of the little moor-imps pulled +it out in his mischief, and flung it up into the yard, where it beat +against the window; and now the beer's running out of the cask, and +that won't do good to anybody." +</P> + +<P> +"Pray tell me some more!" said the man. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, wait a little," answered the Moor-woman. "I've something +else to do just now." And she was gone. +</P> + +<P> +The man was going to shut the window, when the woman already stood +before him again. +</P> + +<P> +"Now it's done," she said; "but I shall have half the beer to brew +over again to-morrow, if the weather is suitable. Well, what have +you to ask me? I've come back, for I always keep my word, and you have +seven four-leaved shamrocks in your pocket, and one of them is a +six-leaved one. That inspires respect, for that's an order that +grows beside the sandy way; but that every one does not find. What +have you to ask me? Don't stand there like a ridiculous oaf, for I +must go back again directly to my bung and my cask." +</P> + +<P> +And the man asked about the Story, and inquired if the +Moor-woman had met it in her journeyings. +</P> + +<P> +"By the big brewing-vat!" exclaimed the woman, "haven't you got +stories enough? I really believe that most people have enough of them. +Here are other things to take notice of, other things to examine. Even +the children have gone beyond that. Give the little boy a cigar, and +the little girl a new crinoline; they like that much better. To listen +to stories! No, indeed, there are more important things to be done +here, and other things to notice!" +</P> + +<P> +"What do you mean by that?" asked the man, "and what do you know +of the world? You don't see anything but frogs and Will-o'-the-Wisps!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, beware of the Will-o'-the-Wisps," said the Moor-woman, +"for they're out—they're let loose—that's what we must talk about! +Come to me in the moor, where my presence is necessary, and I will +tell you all about it; but you must make haste, and come while your +seven four-leaved shamrocks, for which one has six leaves, are still +fresh, and the moon stands high!" +</P> + +<P> +And the Moor-woman was gone. +</P> + +<P> +It struck twelve in the town, and before the last stroke had +died away, the man was out in the yard, out in the garden, and stood +in the meadow. The mist had vanished, and the Moor-woman stopped her +brewing. +</P> + +<P> +"You've been a long time coming!" said the Moor-woman. "Witches +get forward faster than men, and I'm glad that I belong to the witch +folk!" +</P> + +<P> +"What have you to say to me now?" asked the man. "Is it anything +about the Story?" +</P> + +<P> +"Can you never get beyond asking about that?" retorted the woman. +</P> + +<P> +"Can you tell me anything about the poetry of the future?" resumed +the man. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't get on your stilts," said the crone, "and I'll answer +you. You think of nothing but poetry, and only ask about that Story, +as if she were the lady of the whole troop. She's the oldest of us +all, but she takes precedence of the youngest. I know her well. I've +been young, too, and she's no chicken now. I was once quite a pretty +elf-maiden, and have danced in my time with the others in the +moonlight, and have heard the nightingale, and have gone into the +forest and met the Story-maiden, who was always to be found out there, +running about. Sometimes she took up her night's lodging in a +half-blown tulip, or in a field flower; sometimes she would slip +into the church, and wrap herself in the mourning crape that hung down +from the candles on the altar." +</P> + +<P> +"You are capitally well-informed," said the man. +</P> + +<P> +"I ought at least to know as much as you," answered the +Moor-woman. "Stories and poetry—yes, they're like two yards of the +same piece of stuff; they can go and lie down where they like, and one +can brew all their prattle, and have it all the better and cheaper. +You shall have it from me for nothing. I have a whole cupboard-full of +poetry in bottles. It makes essences; and that's the best of +it—bitter and sweet herbs. I have everything that people want of +poetry, in bottles, so that I can put a little on my handkerchief, +on holidays, to smell." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, these are wonderful things that you're telling!" said the +man. "You have poetry in bottles?" +</P> + +<P> +"More than you can require," said the woman. "I suppose you know +the history of 'the Girl who Trod on the Loaf, so that she might not +soil her shoes'? That has been written, and printed too." +</P> + +<P> +"I told that story myself," said the man. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, then you must know it; and you must know also that the +girl sank into the earth directly, to the Moor-woman, just as Old +Bogey's grandmother was paying her morning visit to inspect the +brewery. She saw the girl gliding down, and asked to have her as a +remembrance of her visit, and got her too; while I received a +present that's of no use to me—a travelling druggist's shop—a +whole cupboard-full of poetry in bottles. Grandmother told me where +the cupboard was to be placed, and there it's standing still. Just +look! You've your seven four-leaved shamrocks in your pocket, one of +which is a six-leaved one, and so you will be able to see it." +</P> + +<P> +And really in the midst of the moor lay something like a great +knotted block of alder, and that was the old grandmother's cupboard. +The Moor-woman said that this was always open to her and to every +one in the land, if they only knew where the cupboard stood. It +could be opened either at the front or at the back, and at every +side and corner—a perfect work of art, and yet only an old alder +stump in appearance. The poets of all lands, and especially those of +our own country, had been arranged here; the spirit of them had been +extracted, refined, criticised and renovated, and then stored up in +bottles. With what may be called great aptitude, if it was not +genius the grandmother had taken as it were the flavor of this and +of that poet, and had added a little devilry, and then corked up the +bottles for use during all future times. +</P> + +<P> +"Pray let me see," said the man. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, but there are more important things to hear," replied the +Moor-woman. +</P> + +<P> +"But now we are at the cupboard!" said the man. And he looked +in. "Here are bottles of all sizes. What is in this one? and what in +that one yonder?" +</P> + +<P> +"Here is what they call may-balm," replied the woman. "I have +not tried it myself. But I have not yet told you the 'more +important' thing you were to hear. THE WILL-O'-THE-WISP'S IN THE TOWN! +That's of much more consequence than poetry and stories. I ought, +indeed, to hold my tongue; but there must be a necessity—a fate—a +something that sticks in my throat, and that wants to come out. Take +care, you mortals!" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't understand a word of all this!" cried the man. +</P> + +<P> +"Be kind enough to seat yourself on that cupboard," she retorted, +"but take care you don't fall through and break the bottles—you know +what's inside of them. I must tell of the great event. It occurred no +longer ago than the day before yesterday. It did not happen earlier. +It has now three hundred and sixty-three days to run about. I suppose +you know how many days there are in a year?" +</P> + +<P> +And this is what the Moor-woman told: +</P> + +<P> +"There was a great commotion yesterday out here in the marsh! +There was a christening feast! A little Will-o'-the-Wisp was born +here—in fact, twelve of them were born all together; and they have +permission, if they choose to use it, to go abroad among men, and to +move about and command among them, just as if they were born +mortals. That was a great event in the marsh, and accordingly all +the Will-o'-the-Wisps, male and female, went dancing like little +lights across the moor. There are some of them of the dog species, but +those are not worth mentioning. I sat there on the cupboard, and had +all the twelve little new-born Will-o'-the-Wisps upon my lap. They +shone like glow-worms; they already began to hop, and increased in +size every moment, so that before a quarter of an hour had elapsed, +each of them looked just as large as his father or his uncle. Now, +it's an old-established regulation and favor, that when the moon +stands just as it did yesterday, and the wind blows just as it blew +then, it is allowed and accorded to all Will-o'-the-Wisps—that is, to +all those who are born at that minute of time—to become mortals, +and individually to exert their power for the space of one year. +</P> + +<P> +"The Will-o'-the-Wisp may run about in the country and through the +world, if it is not afraid of falling into the sea, or of being +blown out by a heavy storm. It can enter into a person and speak for +him, and make all the movements it pleases. The Will-o'-the-Wisp may +take whatever form he likes, of man or woman, and can act in their +spirit and in their disguise in such a way that he can effect whatever +he wishes to do. But he must manage, in the course of the year, to +lead three hundred and sixty-five people into a bad way, and in a +grand style, too. To lead them away from the right and the truth; +and then he reaches the highest point. Such a Will-o'-the-Wisp can +attain to the honor of being a runner before the devil's state +coach; and then he'll wear clothes of fiery yellow, and breathe +forth flames out of his throat. That's enough to make a simple +Will-o'-the-Wisp smack his lips. But there's some danger in this, +and a great deal of work for a Will-o'-the-Wisp who aspires to play so +distinguished a part. If the eyes of the man are opened to what he is, +and if the man can then blow him away, it's all over with him, and +he must come back into the marsh; or if, before the year is up, the +Will-o'-the-Wisp is seized with a longing to see his family, and so +returns to it and gives the matter up, it is over with him likewise, +and he can no longer burn clear, and soon becomes extinguished, and +cannot be lit up again; and when the year has elapsed, and he has +not led three hundred and sixty-five people away from the truth and +from all that is grand and noble, he is condemned to be imprisoned +in decayed wood, and to lie glimmering there, without being able to +move; and that's the most terrible punishment that can be inflicted on +a lively Will-o'-the-Wisp. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, all this I know, and all this I told to the twelve little +Will-o'-the-Wisps whom I had on my lap, and who seemed quite crazy +with joy. +</P> + +<P> +"I told them that the safest and most convenient course was to +give up the honor, and do nothing at all; but the little flames +would not agree to this, and already fancied themselves clad in +fiery yellow clothes, breathing flames from their throats. +</P> + +<P> +"'Stay with us,' said some of the older ones. +</P> + +<P> +"'Carry on your sport with mortals,' said the others. +</P> + +<P> +"'The mortals are drying up our meadows; they've taken to +draining. What will our successors do?' +</P> + +<P> +"'We want to flame; we will flame—flame!' cried the new-born +Will-o'the-Wisps. +</P> + +<P> +"And thus the affair was settled. +</P> + +<P> +"And now a ball was given, a minute long; it could not well be +shorter. The little elf-maidens whirled round three times with the +rest, that they might not appear proud, but they preferred dancing +with one another. +</P> + +<P> +"And now the sponsors' gifts were presented, and presents were +thrown them. These presents flew like pebbles across the sea-water. +Each of the elf-maidens gave a little piece of her veil. +</P> + +<P> +"'Take that,' they said, 'and then you'll know the higher dance, +the most difficult turns and twists—that is to say, if you should +find them necessary. You'll know the proper deportment, and then you +can show yourself in the very pick of society.' +</P> + +<P> +"The night raven taught each of the young Will-o'-the-Wisps to +say, 'Goo-goo-good,' and to say it in the right place; and that's a +great gift which brings its own reward. +</P> + +<P> +"The owl and the stork—but they said it was not worth mentioning, +and so we won't mention it. +</P> + +<P> +"King Waldemar's wild chase was just then rushing over the moor, +and when the great lords heard of the festivities that were going +on, they sent a couple of handsome dogs, which hunt on the spoor of +the wind, as a present; and these might carry two or three of the +Will-o'-the-Wisps. A couple of old Alpas, spirits who occupy +themselves with Alp-pressing, were also at the feast; and from these +the young Will-o'-the-Wisps learned the art of slipping through +every key-hole, as if the door stood open before them. These Alpas +offered to carry the youngsters to the town, with which they were well +acquainted. They usually rode through the atmosphere on their own back +hair, which is fastened into a knot, for they love a hard seat; but +now they sat sideways on the wild hunting dogs, took the young +Will-o'-the-Wisps in their laps, who wanted to go into the town to +mislead and entice mortals, and, whisk! away they were. Now, this is +what happened last night. To-day the Will-o'-the-Wisps are in the +town, and have taken the matter in hand—but where and how? Ah, can +you tell me that? Still, I've a lightning conductor in my great toe, +and that will always tell me something." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, this is a complete story," exclaimed the man. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, but it is only the beginning," replied the woman. "Can you +tell me how the Will-o'-the-Wisps deport themselves, and how they +behave? and in what shapes they have aforetime appeared and led people +into crooked paths?" +</P> + +<P> +"I believe," replied the man, "that one could tell quite a romance +about the Will-o'-the-Wisps, in twelve parts; or, better still, one +might make quite a popular play of them." +</P> + +<P> +"You might write that," said the woman, "but it's best let alone." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, that's better and more agreeable," the man replied, "for +then we shall escape from the newspapers, and not be tied up by +them, which is just as uncomfortable as for a Will-o'-the-Wisp to +lie in decaying wood, to have to gleam, and not to be able to stir." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't care about it either way," cried the woman. "Let the rest +write, those who can, and those who cannot likewise. I'll grant you an +old bung from my cask that will open the cupboard where poetry's +kept in bottles, and you may take from that whatever may be wanting. +But you, my good man, seem to have blotted your hands sufficiently +with ink, and to have come to that age of satiety that you need not be +running about every year for stories, especially as there are much +more important things to be done. You must have understood what is +going on?" +</P> + +<P> +"The Will-o'-the-Wisp is in town," said the man. "I've heard it, +and I have understood it. But what do you think I ought to do? I +should be thrashed if I were to go to the people and say, 'Look, +yonder goes a Will-o'-the-Wisp in his best clothes!' +</P> + +<P> +"They also go in undress," replied the woman. "The +Will-o'-the-Wisp can assume all kinds of forms, and appear in every +place. He goes into the church, but not for the sake of the service; +and perhaps he may enter into one or other of the priests. He speaks +in the Parliament, not for the benefit of the country, but only for +himself. He's an artist with the color-pot as well as in the +theatre; but when he gets all the power into his own hands, then the +pot's empty! I chatter and chatter, but it must come out, what's +sticking in my throat, to the disadvantage of my own family. But I +must now be the woman that will save a good many people. It is not +done with my good will, or for the sake of a medal. I do the most +insane things I possibly can, and then I tell a poet about it, and +thus the whole town gets to know of it directly." +</P> + +<P> +"The town will not take that to heart," observed the man; "that +will not disturb a single person; for they will all think I'm only +telling them a story if I say, 'The Will-o'-the-Wisp is in the town, +says the Moor-woman. Take care of yourselves!'" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="wind"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE STORY OF THE WIND +</H3> + +<P> +"Near the shores of the great Belt, which is one of the straits +that connect the Cattegat with the Baltic, stands an old mansion +with thick red walls. I know every stone of it," says the Wind. "I saw +it when it was part of the castle of Marck Stig on the promontory. But +the castle was obliged to be pulled down, and the stone was used again +for the walls of a new mansion on another spot—the baronial residence +of Borreby, which still stands near the coast. I knew them well, those +noble lords and ladies, the successive generations that dwelt there; +and now I'm going to tell you of Waldemar Daa and his daughters. How +proud was his bearing, for he was of royal blood, and could boast of +more noble deeds than merely hunting the stag and emptying the +wine-cup. His rule was despotic: 'It shall be,' he was accustomed to +say. His wife, in garments embroidered with gold, stepped proudly over +the polished marble floors. The tapestries were gorgeous, and the +furniture of costly and artistic taste. She had brought gold and plate +with her into the house. The cellars were full of wine. Black, fiery +horses, neighed in the stables. There was a look of wealth about the +house of Borreby at that time. They had three children, daughters, +fair and delicate maidens—Ida, Joanna, and Anna Dorothea; I have +never forgotten their names. They were a rich, noble family, born in +affluence and nurtured in luxury. +</P> + +<P> +"Whir-r-r, whir-r-r!" roared the Wind, and went on, "I did not see +in this house, as in other great houses, the high-born lady sitting +among her women, turning the spinning-wheel. She could sweep the +sounding chords of the guitar, and sing to the music, not always +Danish melodies, but the songs of a strange land. It was 'Live and let +live,' here. Stranger guests came from far and near, music sounded, +goblets clashed, and I," said the Wind, "was not able to drown the +noise. Ostentation, pride, splendor, and display ruled, but not the +fear of the Lord. +</P> + +<P> +"It was on the evening of the first day of May," the Wind +continued, "I came from the west, and had seen the ships overpowered +with the waves, when all on board persisted or were cast shipwrecked +on the coast of Jutland. I had hurried across the heath and over +Jutland's wood-girt eastern coast, and over the island of Funen, and +then I drove across the great belt, sighing and moaning. At length I +lay down to rest on the shores of Zeeland, near to the great house +of Borreby, where the splendid forest of oaks still flourished. The +young men of the neighborhood were collecting branches and brushwood +under the oak-trees. The largest and dryest they could find they +carried into the village, and piled them up in a heap and set them +on fire. Then the men and maidens danced, and sung in a circle round +the blazing pile. I lay quite quiet," said the Wind, "but I silently +touched a branch which had been brought by one of the handsomest of +the young men, and the wood blazed up brightly, blazed brighter than +all the rest. Then he was chosen as the chief, and received the name +of the Shepherd; and might choose his lamb from among the maidens. +There was greater mirth and rejoicing than I had ever heard in the +halls of the rich baronial house. Then the noble lady drove by towards +the baron's mansion with her three daughters, in a gilded carriage +drawn by six horses. The daughters were young and beautiful—three +charming blossoms—a rose, a lily, and a white hyacinth. The mother +was a proud tulip, and never acknowledged the salutations of any of +the men or maidens who paused in their sport to do her honor. The +gracious lady seemed like a flower that was rather stiff in the stalk. +Rose, lily, and hyacinth—yes, I saw them all three. Whose little +lambs will they one day become? thought I; their shepherd will be a +gallant knight, perhaps a prince. The carriage rolled on, and the +peasants resumed their dancing. They drove about the summer through +all the villages near. But one night, when I rose again, the high-born +lady lay down to rise again no more; that thing came to her which +comes to us all, in which there is nothing new. Waldemar Daa +remained for a time silent and thoughtful. 'The loftiest tree may be +bowed without being broken,' said a voice within him. His daughters +wept; all the people in the mansion wiped their eyes, but Lady Daa had +driven away, and I drove away too," said the Wind. "Whir-r-r, +whir-r-r-! +</P> + +<P> +"I returned again; I often returned and passed over the island +of Funen and the shores of the Belt. Then I rested by Borreby, near +the glorious wood, where the heron made his nest, the haunt of the +wood-pigeons, the blue-birds, and the black stork. It was yet +spring, some were sitting on their eggs, others had already hatched +their young broods; but how they fluttered about and cried out when +the axe sounded through the forest, blow upon blow! The trees of the +forest were doomed. Waldemar Daa wanted to build a noble ship, a +man-of-war, a three-decker, which the king would be sure to buy; and +these, the trees of the wood, the landmark of the seamen, the refuge +of the birds, must be felled. The hawk started up and flew away, for +its nest was destroyed; the heron and all the birds of the forest +became homeless, and flew about in fear and anger. I could well +understand how they felt. Crows and ravens croaked, as if in scorn, +while the trees were cracking and falling around them. Far in the +interior of the wood, where a noisy swarm of laborers were working, +stood Waldemar Daa and his three daughters, and all were laughing at +the wild cries of the birds, excepting one, the youngest, Anna +Dorothea, who felt grieved to the heart; and when they made +preparations to fell a tree that was almost dead, and on whose naked +branches the black stork had built her nest, she saw the poor little +things stretching out their necks, and she begged for mercy for +them, with the tears in her eyes. So the tree with the black stork's +nest was left standing; the tree itself, however, was not worth much +to speak of. Then there was a great deal of hewing and sawing, and +at last the three-decker was built. The builder was a man of low +origin, but possessing great pride; his eyes and forehead spoke of +large intellect, and Waldemar Daa was fond of listening to him, and so +was Waldemar's daughter Ida, the eldest, now about fifteen years +old; and while he was building the ship for the father, he was +building for himself a castle in the air, in which he and Ida were +to live when they were married. This might have happened, indeed, if +there had been a real castle, with stone walls, ramparts, and a +moat. But in spite of his clever head, the builder was still but a +poor, inferior bird; and how can a sparrow expect to be admitted +into the society of peacocks? +</P> + +<P> +"I passed on in my course," said the Wind, "and he passed away +also. He was not allowed to remain, and little Ida got over it, +because she was obliged to do so. Proud, black horses, worth looking +at, were neighing in the stable. And they were locked up; for the +admiral, who had been sent by the king to inspect the new ship, and +make arrangements for its purchase, was loud in admiration of these +beautiful horses. I heard it all," said the Wind, "for I accompanied +the gentlemen through the open door of the stable, and strewed +stalks of straw, like bars of gold, at their feet. Waldemar Daa wanted +gold, and the admiral wished for the proud black horses; therefore +he praised them so much. But the hint was not taken, and +consequently the ship was not bought. It remained on the shore covered +with boards,—a Noah's ark that never got to the water—Whir-r-r-r—and +that was a pity. +</P> + +<P> +"In the winter, when the fields were covered with snow, and the +water filled with large blocks of ice which I had blown up to the +coast," continued the Wind, "great flocks of crows and ravens, dark +and black as they usually are, came and alighted on the lonely, +deserted ship. Then they croaked in harsh accents of the forest that +now existed no more, of the many pretty birds' nests destroyed and the +little ones left without a home; and all for the sake of that great +bit of lumber, that proud ship, that never sailed forth. I made the +snowflakes whirl till the snow lay like a great lake round the ship, +and drifted over it. I let it hear my voice, that it might know what +the storm has to say. Certainly I did my part towards teaching it +seamanship. +</P> + +<P> +"That winter passed away, and another winter and summer both +passed, as they are still passing away, even as I pass away. The +snow drifts onwards, the apple-blossoms are scattered, the leaves +fall,—everything passes away, and men are passing away too. But the +great man's daughters are still young, and little Ida is a rose as +fair to look upon as on the day when the shipbuilder first saw her. +I often tumbled her long, brown hair, while she stood in the garden by +the apple-tree, musing, and not heeding how I strewed the blossoms +on her hair, and dishevelled it; or sometimes, while she stood +gazing at the red sun and the golden sky through the opening +branches of the dark, thick foliage of the garden trees. Her sister +Joanna was bright and slender as a lily; she had a tall and lofty +carriage and figure, though, like her mother, rather stiff in back. +She was very fond of walking through the great hall, where hung the +portraits of her ancestors. The women were represented in dresses of +velvet and silk, with tiny little hats, embroidered with pearls, on +their braided hair. They were all handsome women. The gentlemen +appeared clad in steel, or in rich cloaks lined with squirrel's fur; +they wore little ruffs, and swords at their sides. Where would +Joanna's place be on that wall some day? and how would he look,—her +noble lord and husband? This is what she thought of, and often spoke +of in a low voice to herself. I heard it as I swept into the long +hall, and turned round to come out again. Anna Dorothea, the pale +hyacinth, a child of fourteen, was quiet and thoughtful; her large, +deep, blue eyes had a dreamy look, but a childlike smile still +played round her mouth. I was not able to blow it away, neither did +I wish to do so. We have met in the garden, in the hollow lane, in the +field and meadow, where she gathered herbs and flowers which she +knew would be useful to her father in preparing the drugs and mixtures +he was always concocting. Waldemar Daa was arrogant and proud, but +he was also a learned man, and knew a great deal. It was no secret, +and many opinions were expressed on what he did. In his fireplace +there was a fire, even in summer time. He would lock himself in his +room, and for days the fire would be kept burning; but he did not talk +much of what he was doing. The secret powers of nature are generally +discovered in solitude, and did he not soon expect to find out the art +of making the greatest of all good things—the art of making gold? +So he fondly hoped; therefore the chimney smoked and the fire crackled +so constantly. Yes, I was there too," said the Wind. "'Leave it +alone,' I sang down the chimney; 'leave it alone, it will all end in +smoke, air, coals, and ashes, and you will burn your fingers.' But +Waldemar Daa did not leave it alone, and all he possessed vanished +like smoke blown by me. The splendid black horses, where are they? +What became of the cows in the field, the old gold and silver +vessels in cupboards and chests, and even the house and home itself? +It was easy to melt all these away in the gold-making crucible, and +yet obtain no gold. And so it was. Empty are the barns and +store-rooms, the cellars and cupboards; the servants decreased in +number, and the mice multiplied. First one window became broken, and +then another, so that I could get in at other places besides the door. +'Where the chimney smokes, the meal is being cooked,' says the +proverb; but here a chimney smoked that devoured all the meals for the +sake of gold. I blew round the courtyard," said the Wind, "like a +watchman blowing his home, but no watchman was there. I twirled the +weather-cock round on the summit of the tower, and it creaked like the +snoring of a warder, but no warder was there; nothing but mice and +rats. Poverty laid the table-cloth; poverty sat in the wardrobe and in +the larder. The door fell off its hinges, cracks and fissures made +their appearance everywhere; so that I could go in and out at +pleasure, and that is how I know all about it. Amid smoke and ashes, +sorrow, and sleepless nights, the hair and beard of the master of +the house turned gray, and deep furrows showed themselves around his +temples; his skin turned pale and yellow, while his eyes still +looked eagerly for gold, the longed-for gold, and the result of his +labor was debt instead of gain. I blew the smoke and ashes into his +face and beard; I moaned through the broken window-panes, and the +yawning clefts in the walls; I blew into the chests and drawers +belonging to his daughters, wherein lay the clothes that had become +faded and threadbare, from being worn over and over again. Such a song +had not been sung, at the children's cradle as I sung now. The +lordly life had changed to a life of penury. I was the only one who +rejoiced aloud in that castle," said the Wind. "At last I snowed +them up, and they say snow keeps people warm. It was good for them, +for they had no wood, and the forest, from which they might have +obtained it, had been cut down. The frost was very bitter, and I +rushed through loop-holes and passages, over gables and roofs with +keen and cutting swiftness. The three high-born daughters were lying +in bed because of the cold, and their father crouching beneath his +leather coverlet. Nothing to eat, nothing to burn, no fire on the +hearth! Here was a life for high-born people! 'Give it up, give it +up!' But my Lord Daa would not do that. 'After winter, spring will +come,' he said, 'after want, good times. We must not lose patience, we +must learn to wait. Now my horses and lands are all mortgaged, it is +indeed high time; but gold will come at last—at Easter.' +</P> + +<P> +"I heard him as he thus spoke; he was looking at a spider's web, +and he continued, 'Thou cunning little weaver, thou dost teach me +perseverance. Let any one tear thy web, and thou wilt begin again +and repair it. Let it be entirely destroyed, thou wilt resolutely +begin to make another till it is completed. So ought we to do, if we +wish to succeed at last.' +</P> + +<P> +"It was the morning of Easter-day. The bells sounded from the +neighboring church, and the sun seemed to rejoice in the sky. The +master of the castle had watched through the night, in feverish +excitement, and had been melting and cooling, distilling and mixing. I +heard him sighing like a soul in despair; I heard him praying, and I +noticed how he held his breath. The lamp burnt out, but he did not +observe it. I blew up the fire in the coals on the hearth, and it +threw a red glow on his ghastly white face, lighting it up with a +glare, while his sunken eyes looked out wildly from their cavernous +depths, and appeared to grow larger and more prominent, as if they +would burst from their sockets. 'Look at the alchymic glass,' he +cried; 'something glows in the crucible, pure and heavy.' He lifted it +with a trembling hand, and exclaimed in a voice of agitation, 'Gold! +gold!' He was quite giddy, I could have blown him down," said the +Wind; "but I only fanned the glowing coals, and accompanied him +through the door to the room where his daughter sat shivering. His +coat was powdered with ashes, and there were ashes in his beard and in +his tangled hair. He stood erect, and held high in the air the brittle +glass that contained his costly treasure. 'Found! found! Gold! +gold!' he shouted, again holding the glass aloft, that it might +flash in the sunshine; but his hand trembled, and the alchymic glass +fell from it, clattering to the ground, and brake in a thousand +pieces. The last bubble of his happiness had burst, with a whiz and +a whir, and I rushed away from the gold-maker's house. +</P> + +<P> +"Late in the autumn, when the days were short, and the mist +sprinkled cold drops on the berries and the leafless branches, I +came back in fresh spirits, rushed through the air, swept the sky +clear, and snapped off the dry twigs, which is certainly no great +labor to do, yet it must be done. There was another kind of sweeping +taking place at Waldemar Daa's, in the castle of Borreby. His enemy, +Owe Ramel, of Basnas, was there, with the mortgage of the house and +everything it contained, in his pocket. I rattled the broken +windows, beat against the old rotten doors, and whistled through +cracks and crevices, so that Mr. Owe Ramel did not much like to remain +there. Ida and Anna Dorothea wept bitterly, Joanna stood, pale and +proud, biting her lips till the blood came; but what could that avail? +Owe Ramel offered Waldemar Daa permission to remain in the house +till the end of his life. No one thanked him for the offer, and I +saw the ruined old gentleman lift his head, and throw it back more +proudly than ever. Then I rushed against the house and the old +lime-trees with such force, that one of the thickest branches, a +decayed one, was broken off, and the branch fell at the entrance, +and remained there. It might have been used as a broom, if any one had +wanted to sweep the place out, and a grand sweeping-out there really +was; I thought it would be so. It was hard for any one to preserve +composure on such a day; but these people had strong wills, as +unbending as their hard fortune. There was nothing they could call +their own, excepting the clothes they wore. Yes, there was one thing +more, an alchymist's glass, a new one, which had been lately bought, +and filled with what could be gathered from the ground of the treasure +which had promised so much but failed in keeping its promise. Waldemar +Daa hid the glass in his bosom, and, taking his stick in his hand, the +once rich gentleman passed with his daughters out of the house of +Borreby. I blew coldly upon his flustered cheeks, I stroked his gray +beard and his long white hair, and I sang as well as I was able, +'Whir-r-r, whir-r-r. Gone away! Gone away!' Ida walked on one side +of the old man, and Anna Dorothea on the other; Joanna turned round, +as they left the entrance. Why? Fortune would not turn because she +turned. She looked at the stone in the walls which had once formed +part of the castle of Marck Stig, and perhaps she thought of his +daughters and of the old song,— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "The eldest and youngest, hand-in-hand,<BR> + Went forth alone to a distant land."<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +These were only two; here there were three, and their father with them +also. They walked along the high-road, where once they had driven in +their splendid carriage; they went forth with their father as beggars. +They wandered across an open field to a mud hut, which they rented for +a dollar and a half a year, a new home, with bare walls and empty +cupboards. Crows and magpies fluttered about them, and cried, as if in +contempt, 'Caw, caw, turned out of our nest—caw, caw,' as they had +done in the wood at Borreby, when the trees were felled. Daa and his +daughters could not help hearing it, so I blew about their ears to +drown the noise; what use was it that they should listen? So they went +to live in the mud hut in the open field, and I wandered away, over +moor and meadow, through bare bushes and leafless forests, to the open +sea, to the broad shores in other lands, 'Whir-r-r, whir-r-r! Away, +away!' year after year." +</P> + +<P> +And what became of Waldemar Daa and his daughters? Listen; the +Wind will tell us: +</P> + +<P> +"The last I saw of them was the pale hyacinth, Anna Dorothea. She +was old and bent then; for fifty years had passed and she had outlived +them all. She could relate the history. Yonder, on the heath, near the +town of Wiborg, in Jutland, stood the fine new house of the canon. It +was built of red brick, with projecting gables. It was inhabited, for +the smoke curled up thickly from the chimneys. The canon's gentle lady +and her beautiful daughters sat in the bay-window, and looked over the +hawthorn hedge of the garden towards the brown heath. What were they +looking at? Their glances fell upon a stork's nest, which was built +upon an old tumbledown hut. The roof, as far as one existed at all, +was covered with moss and lichen. The stork's nest covered the greater +part of it, and that alone was in a good condition; for it was kept in +order by the stork himself. That is a house to be looked at, and not +to be touched," said the Wind. "For the sake of the stork's nest it +had been allowed to remain, although it is a blot on the landscape. +They did not like to drive the stork away; therefore the old shed was +left standing, and the poor woman who dwelt in it allowed to stay. She +had the Egyptian bird to thank for that; or was it perchance her +reward for having once interceded for the preservation of the nest of +its black brother in the forest of Borreby? At that time she, the +poor woman, was a young child, a white hyacinth in a rich garden. She +remembered that time well; for it was Anna Dorothea. +</P> + +<P> +"'O-h, o-h,' she sighed; for people can sigh like the moaning of +the wind among the reeds and rushes. 'O-h, o-h,' she would say, 'no +bell sounded at thy burial, Waldemar Daa. The poor school-boys did not +even sing a psalm when the former lord of Borreby was laid in the +earth to rest. O-h, everything has an end, even misery. Sister Ida +became the wife of a peasant; that was the hardest trial which +befell our father, that the husband of his own daughter should be a +miserable serf, whom his owner could place for punishment on the +wooden horse. I suppose he is under the ground now; and Ida—alas! +alas! it is not ended yet; miserable that I am! Kind Heaven, grant +me that I may die.' +</P> + +<P> +"That was Anna Dorothea's prayer in the wretched hut that was left +standing for the sake of the stork. I took pity on the proudest of the +sisters," said the Wind. "Her courage was like that of a man; and in +man's clothes she served as a sailor on board ship. She was of few +words, and of a dark countenance; but she did not know how to climb, +so I blew her overboard before any one found out that she was a woman; +and, in my opinion, that was well done," said the Wind. +</P> + +<P> +On such another Easter morning as that on which Waldemar Daa +imagined he had discovered the art of making gold, I heard the tones +of a psalm under the stork's nest, and within the crumbling walls. +It was Anna Dorothea's last song. There was no window in the hut, only +a hole in the wall; and the sun rose like a globe of burnished gold, +and looked through. With what splendor he filled that dismal dwelling! +Her eyes were glazing, and her heart breaking; but so it would have +been, even had the sun not shone that morning on Anna Dorothea. The +stork's nest had secured her a home till her death. I sung over her +grave; I sung at her father's grave. I know where it lies, and where +her grave is too, but nobody else knows it. +</P> + +<P> +"New times now; all is changed. The old high-road is lost amid +cultivated fields; the new one now winds along over covered graves; +and soon the railway will come, with its train of carriages, and +rush over graves where lie those whose very names are forgoten. All +passed away, passed away! +</P> + +<P> +"This is the story of Waldemar Daa and his daughters. Tell it +better, any of you, if you know how," said the Wind; and he rushed +away, and was gone. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="windmill"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE WINDMILL +</H3> + +<P> +A windmill stood upon the hill, proud to look at, and it was proud +too. +</P> + +<P> +"I am not proud at all," it said, "but I am very much +enlightened without and within. I have sun and moon for my outward +use, and for inward use too; and into the bargain I have stearine +candles, train oil and lamps, and tallow candles. I may well say +that I'm enlightened. I'm a thinking being, and so well constructed +that it's quite delightful. I have a good windpipe in my chest, and +I have four wings that are placed outside my head, just beneath my +hat. The birds have only two wings, and are obliged to carry them on +their backs. I am a Dutchman by birth, that may be seen by my +figure—a flying Dutchman. They are considered supernatural beings, +I know, and yet I am quite natural. I have a gallery round my chest, +and house-room beneath it; that's where my thoughts dwell. My +strongest thought, who rules and reigns, is called by others 'The +Man in the Mill.' He knows what he wants, and is lord over the meal +and the bran; but he has his companion, too, and she calls herself +'Mother.' She is the very heart of me. She does not run about stupidly +and awkwardly, for she knows what she wants, she knows what she can +do, she's as soft as a zephyr and as strong as a storm; she knows +how to begin a thing carefully, and to have her own way. She is my +soft temper, and the father is my hard one. They are two, and yet one; +they each call the other 'My half.' These two have some little boys, +young thoughts, that can grow. The little ones keep everything in +order. When, lately, in my wisdom, I let the father and the boys +examine my throat and the hole in my chest, to see what was going on +there,—for something in me was out of order, and it's well to examine +one's self,—the little ones made a tremendous noise. The youngest +jumped up into my hat, and shouted so there that it tickled me. The +little thoughts may grow—I know that very well; and out in the +world thoughts come too, and not only of my kind, for as far as I +can see, I cannot discern anything like myself; but the wingless +houses, whose throats make no noise, have thoughts too, and these come +to my thoughts, and make love to them, as it is called. It's wonderful +enough—yes, there are many wonderful things. Something has come +over me, or into me,—something has changed in the mill-work. It seems +as if the one half, the father, had altered, and had received a better +temper and a more affectionate helpmate—so young and good, and yet +the same, only more gentle and good through the course of time. What +was bitter has passed away, and the whole is much more comfortable. +</P> + +<P> +"The days go on, and the days come nearer and nearer to +clearness and to joy; and then a day will come when it will be over +with me; but not over altogether. I must be pulled down that I may +be built up again; I shall cease, but yet shall live on. To become +quite a different being, and yet remain the same! That's difficult for +me to understand, however enlightened I may be with sun, moon, +stearine, train oil, and tallow. My old wood-work and my old +brick-work will rise again from the dust! +</P> + +<P> +"I will hope that I may keep my old thoughts, the father in the +mill, and the mother, great ones and little ones—the family; for I +call them all, great and little, the company of thoughts, because I +must, and cannot refrain from it. +</P> + +<P> +"And I must also remain 'myself,' with my throat in my chest, my +wings on my head, the gallery round my body; else I should not know +myself, nor could the others know me, and say, 'There's the mill on +the hill, proud to look at, and yet not proud at all.'" +</P> + +<P> +That is what the mill said. Indeed, it said much more, but that is +the most important part. +</P> + +<P> +And the days came, and the days went, and yesterday was the last +day. +</P> + +<P> +Then the mill caught fire. The flames rose up high, and beat out +and in, and bit at the beams and planks, and ate them up. The mill +fell, and nothing remained of it but a heap of ashes. The smoke +drove across the scene of the conflagration, and the wind carried it +away. +</P> + +<P> +Whatever had been alive in the mill remained, and what had been +gained by it has nothing to do with this story. +</P> + +<P> +The miller's family—one soul, many thoughts, and yet only one—built +a new, a splendid mill, which answered its purpose. It was quite +like the old one, and people said, "Why, yonder is the mill on the +hill, proud to look at!" But this mill was better arranged, more +according to the time than the last, so that progress might be made. +The old beams had become worm-eaten and spongy—they lay in dust and +ashes. The body of the mill did not rise out of the dust as they had +believed it would do. They had taken it literally, and all things +are not to be taken literally. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="year"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE STORY OF THE YEAR +</H3> + +<P> +It was near the end of January, and a terrible fall of snow was +pelting down, and whirling through the streets and lanes; the +windows were plastered with snow on the outside, snow fell in masses +from the roofs. Every one seemed in a great hurry; they ran, they +flew, fell into each other's arms, holding fast for a moment as long +as they could stand safely. Coaches and horses looked as if they had +been frosted with sugar. The footmen stood with their backs against +the carriages, so as to turn their faces from the wind. The foot +passengers kept within the shelter of the carriages, which could +only move slowly on in the deep snow. At last the storm abated, and +a narrow path was swept clean in front of the houses; when two persons +met in this path they stood still, for neither liked to take the first +step on one side into the deep snow to let the other pass him. There +they stood silent and motionless, till at last, as if by tacit +consent, they each sacrificed a leg and buried it in the deep snow. +Towards evening, the weather became calm. The sky, cleared from the +snow, looked more lofty and transparent, while the stars shone with +new brightness and purity. The frozen snow crackled under foot, and +was quite firm enough to bear the sparrows, who hopped upon it in +the morning dawn. They searched for food in the path which had been +swept, but there was very little for them, and they were terribly +cold. "Tweet, tweet," said one to another; "they call this a new +year, but I think it is worse than the last. We might just as well +have kept the old year; I'm quite unhappy, and I have a right to be +so." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, you have; and yet the people ran about and fired off guns, +to usher in the new year," said a little shivering sparrow. "They +threw things against the doors, and were quite beside themselves +with joy, because the old year had disappeared. I was glad too, for +I expected we should have some warm days, but my hopes have come to +nothing. It freezes harder than ever; I think mankind have made a +mistake in reckoning time." +</P> + +<P> +"That they have," said a third, an old sparrow with a white +poll; "they have something they call a calendar; it's an invention +of their own, and everything must be arranged according to it, but +it won't do. When spring comes, then the year begins. It is the +voice of nature, and I reckon by that." +</P> + +<P> +"But when will spring come?" asked the others. +</P> + +<P> +"It will come when the stork returns, but he is very uncertain, +and here in the town no one knows anything about it. In the country +they have more knowledge; shall we fly away there and wait? we shall +be nearer to spring then, certainly." +</P> + +<P> +"That may be all very well," said another sparrow, who had been +hopping about for a long time, chirping, but not saying anything of +consequence, "but I have found a few comforts here in town which, +I'm afraid, I should miss out in the country. Here in this +neighborhood, there lives a family of people who have been so sensible +as to place three or four flower-pots against the wall in the +court-yard, so that the openings are all turned inward, and the bottom +of each points outward. In the latter a hole has been cut large enough +for me to fly in and out. I and my husband have built a nest in one of +these pots, and all our young ones, who have now flown away, were +brought up there. The people who live there of course made the whole +arrangement that they might have the pleasure of seeing us, or they +would not have done it. It pleased them also to strew bread-crumbs for +us, and so we have food, and may consider ourselves provided for. So I +think my husband and I will stay where we are; although we are not +very happy, but we shall stay." +</P> + +<P> +"And we will fly into the country," said the others, "to see if +spring is coming." And away they flew. +</P> + +<P> +In the country it was really winter, a few degrees colder than +in the town. The sharp winds blew over the snow-covered fields. The +farmer, wrapped in warm clothing, sat in his sleigh, and beat his arms +across his chest to keep off the cold. The whip lay on his lap. The +horses ran till they smoked. The snow crackled, the sparrows hopped +about in the wheel-ruts, and shivered, crying, "Tweet, tweet; when +will spring come? It is very long in coming." +</P> + +<P> +"Very long indeed," sounded over the field, from the nearest +snow-covered hill. It might have been the echo which people heard, +or perhaps the words of that wonderful old man, who sat high on a heap +of snow, regardless of wind or weather. He was all in white; he had on +a peasant's coarse white coat of frieze. He had long white hair, a +pale face, and large clear blue eyes. "Who is that old man?" asked the +sparrows. +</P> + +<P> +"I know who he is," said an old raven, who sat on the fence, and +was condescending enough to acknowledge that we are all equal in the +sight of Heaven, even as little birds, and therefore he talked with +the sparrows, and gave them the information they wanted. "I know who +the old man is," he said. "It is Winter, the old man of last year; +he is not dead yet, as the calendar says, but acts as guardian to +little Prince Spring who is coming. Winter rules here still. Ugh! +the cold makes you shiver, little ones, does it not?" +</P> + +<P> +"There! Did I not tell you so?" said the smallest of the sparrows. +"The calendar is only an invention of man, and is not arranged +according to nature. They should leave these things to us; we are +created so much more clever than they are." +</P> + +<P> +One week passed, and then another. The forest looked dark, the +hard-frozen lake lay like a sheet of lead. The mountains had +disappeared, for over the land hung damp, icy mists. Large black crows +flew about in silence; it was as if nature slept. At length a +sunbeam glided over the lake, and it shone like burnished silver. +But the snow on the fields and the hills did not glitter as before. +The white form of Winter sat there still, with his un-wandering gaze +fixed on the south. He did not perceive that the snowy carpet seemed +to sink as it were into the earth; that here and there a little +green patch of grass appeared, and that these patches were covered +with sparrows. +</P> + +<P> +"Tee-wit, tee-wit; is spring coming at last?" +</P> + +<P> +Spring! How the cry resounded over field and meadow, and through +the dark-brown woods, where the fresh green moss still gleamed on +the trunks of the trees, and from the south came the two first +storks flying through the air, and on the back of each sat a lovely +little child, a boy and a girl. They greeted the earth with a kiss, +and wherever they placed their feet white flowers sprung up from +beneath the snow. Hand in hand they approached the old ice-man, +Winter, embraced him and clung to his breast; and as they did so, in a +moment all three were enveloped in a thick, damp mist, dark and heavy, +that closed over them like a veil. The wind arose with mighty rustling +tone, and cleared away the mist. Then the sun shone out warmly. Winter +had vanished away, and the beautiful children of Spring sat on the +throne of the year. +</P> + +<P> +"This is really a new year," cried all the sparrows, "now we shall +get our rights, and have some return for what we suffered in winter." +</P> + +<P> +Wherever the two children wandered, green buds burst forth on bush +and tree, the grass grew higher, and the corn-fields became lovely +in delicate green. +</P> + +<P> +The little maiden strewed flowers in her path. She held her +apron before her: it was full of flowers; it was as if they sprung +into life there, for the more she scattered around her, the more +flowers did her apron contain. Eagerly she showered snowy blossoms +over apple and peach-trees, so that they stood in full beauty before +even their green leaves had burst from the bud. Then the boy and the +girl clapped their hands, and troops of birds came flying by, no one +knew from whence, and they all twittered and chirped, singing +"Spring has come!" How beautiful everything was! Many an old dame came +forth from her door into the sunshine, and shuffled about with great +delight, glancing at the golden flowers which glittered everywhere +in the fields, as they used to do in her young days. The world grew +young again to her, as she said, "It is a blessed time out here +to-day." The forest already wore its dress of dark-green buds. The +thyme blossomed in fresh fragrance. Primroses and anemones sprung +forth, and violets bloomed in the shade, while every blade of grass +was full of strength and sap. Who could resist sitting down on such +a beautiful carpet? and then the young children of Spring seated +themselves, holding each other's hands, and sang, and laughed, and +grew. A gentle rain fell upon them from the sky, but they did not +notice it, for the rain-drops were their own tears of joy. They kissed +each other, and were betrothed; and in the same moment the buds of the +trees unfolded, and when the sun rose, the forest was green. Hand in +hand the two wandered beneath the fresh pendant canopy of foliage, +while the sun's rays gleamed through the opening of the shade, in +changing and varied colors. The delicate young leaves filled the air +with refreshing odor. Merrily rippled the clear brooks and rivulets +between the green, velvety rushes, and over the many-colored pebbles +beneath. All nature spoke of abundance and plenty. The cuckoo sang, +and the lark carolled, for it was now beautiful spring. The careful +willows had, however, covered their blossoms with woolly gloves; and +this carefulness is rather tedious. Days and weeks went by, and the +heat increased. Warm air waved the corn as it grew golden in the +sun. The white northern lily spread its large green leaves over the +glossy mirror of the woodland lake, and the fishes sought the +shadows beneath them. In a sheltered part of the wood, the sun shone +upon the walls of a farm-house, brightening the blooming roses, and +ripening the black juicy berries, which hung on the loaded +cherry-trees, with his hot beams. Here sat the lovely wife of +Summer, the same whom we have seen as a child and a bride; her eyes +were fixed on dark gathering clouds, which in wavy outlines of black +and indigo were piling themselves up like mountains, higher and +higher. They came from every side, always increasing like a rising, +rolling sea. Then they swooped towards the forest, where every sound +had been silenced as if by magic, every breath hushed, every bird +mute. All nature stood still in grave suspense. But in the lanes and +the highways, passengers on foot or in carriages were hurrying to find +a place of shelter. Then came a flash of light, as if the sun had +rushed forth from the sky, flaming, burning, all-devouring, and +darkness returned amid a rolling crash of thunder. The rain poured +down in streams,—now there was darkness, then blinding light,—now +thrilling silence, then deafening din. The young brown reeds on the +moor waved to and fro in feathery billows; the forest boughs were +hidden in a watery mist, and still light and darkness followed each +other, still came the silence after the roar, while the corn and the +blades of grass lay beaten down and swamped, so that it seemed +impossible they could ever raise themselves again. But after a while +the rain began to fall gently, the sun's rays pierced the clouds, +and the water-drops glittered like pearls on leaf and stem. The +birds sang, the fishes leaped up to the surface of the water, the +gnats danced in the sunshine, and yonder, on a rock by the heaving +salt sea, sat Summer himself, a strong man with sturdy limbs and long, +dripping hair. Strengthened by the cool bath, he sat in the warm +sunshine, while all around him renewed nature bloomed strong, +luxuriant, and beautiful: it was summer, warm, lovely summer. Sweet +and pleasant was the fragrance wafted from the clover-field, where the +bees swarmed round the ruined tower, the bramble twined itself over +the old altar, which, washed by the rain, glittered in the sunshine; +and thither flew the queen bee with her swarm, and prepared wax and +honey. But Summer and his bosom-wife saw it with different eyes, to +them the altar-table was covered with the offerings of nature. The +evening sky shone like gold, no church dome could ever gleam so +brightly, and between the golden evening and the blushing morning +there was moonlight. It was indeed summer. And days and weeks +passed, the bright scythes of the reapers glittered in the +corn-fields, the branches of the apple-trees bent low, heavy with +the red and golden fruit. The hop, hanging in clusters, filled the air +with sweet fragrance, and beneath the hazel-bushes, where the nuts +hung in great bunches, rested a man and a woman—Summer and his +grave consort. +</P> + +<P> +"See," she exclaimed, "what wealth, what blessings surround us. +Everything is home-like and good, and yet, I know not why, I long +for rest and peace; I can scarcely express what I feel. They are +already ploughing the fields again; more and more the people wish +for gain. See, the storks are flocking together, and following the +plough at a short distance. They are the birds from Egypt, who carried +us through the air. Do you remember how we came as children to this +land of the north; we brought with us flowers and bright sunshine, and +green to the forests, but the wind has been rough with them, and +they are now become dark and brown, like the trees of the south, but +they do not, like them, bear golden fruit." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you wish to see golden fruit?" said the man, "then rejoice," +and he lifted his arm. The leaves of the forest put on colors of red +and gold, and bright tints covered the woodlands. The rose-bushes +gleamed with scarlet hips, and the branches of the elder-trees hung +down with the weight of the full, dark berries. The wild chestnuts +fell ripe from their dark, green shells, and in the forests the +violets bloomed for the second time. But the queen of the year +became more and more silent and pale. +</P> + +<P> +"It blows cold," she said, "and night brings the damp mist; I long +for the land of my childhood." Then she saw the storks fly away +every one, and she stretched out her hands towards them. She looked at +the empty nests; in one of them grew a long-stalked corn flower, in +another the yellow mustard seed, as if the nest had been placed +there only for its comfort and protection, and the sparrows were +flying round them all. +</P> + +<P> +"Tweet, where has the master of the nest gone?" cried one, "I +suppose he could not bear it when the wind blew, and therefore he +has left this country. I wish him a pleasant journey." +</P> + +<P> +The forest leaves became more and more yellow, leaf after leaf +fell, and the stormy winds of Autumn howled. The year was now far +advanced, and upon the fallen, yellow leaves, lay the queen of the +year, looking up with mild eyes at a gleaming star, and her husband +stood by her. A gust of wind swept through the foliage, and the leaves +fell in a shower. The summer queen was gone, but a butterfly, the last +of the year, flew through the cold air. Damp fogs came, icy winds +blew, and the long, dark nights of winter approached. The ruler of the +year appeared with hair white as snow, but he knew it not; he +thought snow-flakes falling from the sky covered his head, as they +decked the green fields with a thin, white covering of snow. And +then the church bells rang out for Christmas time. +</P> + +<P> +"The bells are ringing for the new-born year," said the ruler, +"soon will a new ruler and his bride be born, and I shall go to +rest with my wife in yonder light-giving star." +</P> + +<P> +In the fresh, green fir-wood, where the snow lay all around, stood +the angel of Christmas, and consecrated the young trees that were to +adorn his feast. +</P> + +<P> +"May there be joy in the rooms, and under the green boughs," +said the old ruler of the year. In a few weeks he had become a very +old man, with hair as white as snow. "My resting-time draws near; +the young pair of the year will soon claim my crown and sceptre." +</P> + +<P> +"But the night is still thine," said the angel of Christmas, +"for power, but not for rest. Let the snow lie warmly upon the +tender seed. Learn to endure the thought that another is worshipped +whilst thou art still lord. Learn to endure being forgotten while +yet thou livest. The hour of thy freedom will come when Spring +appears." +</P> + +<P> +"And when will Spring come?" asked Winter. +</P> + +<P> +"It will come when the stork returns." +</P> + +<P> +And with white locks and snowy beard, cold, bent, and hoary, but +strong as the wintry storm, and firm as the ice, old Winter sat on the +snowdrift-covered hill, looking towards the south, where Winter had +sat before, and gazed. The ice glittered, the snow crackled, the +skaters skimmed over the polished surface of the lakes; ravens and +crows formed a pleasing contrast to the white ground, and not a breath +of wind stirred, and in the still air old Winter clenched his fists, +and the ice lay fathoms deep between the lands. Then came the sparrows +again out of the town, and asked, "Who is that old man?" The raven sat +there still, or it might be his son, which is the same thing, and he +said to them,— +</P> + +<P> +"It is Winter, the old man of the former year; he is not dead, +as the calendar says, but he is guardian to the spring, which is +coming." +</P> + +<P> +"When will Spring come?" asked the sparrows, "for we shall have +better times then, and a better rule. The old times are worth +nothing." +</P> + +<P> +And in quiet thought old Winter looked at the leafless forest, +where the graceful form and bends of each tree and branch could be +seen; and while Winter slept, icy mists came from the clouds, and +the ruler dreamt of his youthful days and of his manhood, and in the +morning dawn the whole forest glittered with hoar frost, which the sun +shook from the branches,—and this was the summer dream of Winter. +</P> + +<P> +"When will Spring come?" asked the sparrows. "Spring!" Again the +echo sounded from the hills on which the snow lay. The sunshine became +warmer, the snow melted, and the birds twittered, "Spring is +coming!" And high in the air flew the first stork, and the second +followed; a lovely child sat on the back of each, and they sank down +on the open field, kissed the earth, and kissed the quiet old man; +and, as the mist from the mountain top, he vanished away and +disappeared. And the story of the year was finished. +</P> + +<P> +"This is all very fine, no doubt," said the sparrows, "and it is +very beautiful; but it is not according to the calendar, therefore, it +must be all wrong." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen, by +Hans Christian Andersen + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FAIRY TALES OF HANS ANDERSEN *** + +***** This file should be named 27200-h.htm or 27200-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/7/2/0/27200/ + +Produced by Al Haines + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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