}L
 
 ANDERSEN'S 
 STORIES fcf FAIRY TALES
 
 Her fears fell upon the jasmine fougli, 
 Jay, tn thesavns 
 
 are as she grew paler, 
 lecame fresher and greener; otic 
 df tcr anotKcr 
 
 15
 
 STORIES ^FAIRYTALES 
 BY HANS CHRISTIANA 
 
 TRAN SLATED 
 H.OSKAR SOMMER.Ph:D. 
 
 WIH 100 PICTURES 
 ARTHUR .3 
 
 VOLUME 1 
 
 'ROCK A BY BABY 
 
 ON THE TREE 'TOP." 
 
 ^PUBLISHED BY GEORGE 
 LONDON & ORPINGTON. M-D-CCC-XC-llt
 
 BALIAHTYNE PRESS 
 LONDON fif EDINBURGH 
 
 All rights reserved
 
 Pz, 
 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 Nightingale 
 
 * The Rose-Elf . 
 
 1 The Emperor's New Suit 
 
 * The Storks 
 "The Daisy 
 
 The Steadfast Tin Soldier . 
 4 The Buckwheat .... 
 The Swineherd . 
 
 The Elfin Hill ..... 
 The Fir-Tree . ; . 
 Big Claus and Little Claus . 
 The Saucy Boy . 
 The Shepherdess and the Sweep . 
 The Goloshes of Fortune . 
 A Beginning . 
 
 What Happened to the Counsellor . 
 The Watchman's Adventures . '.. :. 
 A Critical Moment A Most Extraordinary 
 
 Journey . . . 
 The Clerk's Transformation 
 The Best Thing the Goloshes did 
 The Flying Trunk 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 The Little Match Girl . 
 
 OleLuk-Oie . ' f * jig 
 
 Monday. './.-> ' 
 
 Tuesday. - - 
 
 Wednesday . 
 
 Thursday . 
 
 Friday 
 
 1 26 
 
 Saturday . 
 
 127 
 
 Sunday . / /--. 
 
 ^ The Ugly Duckling . 
 
 Twelve by the Mail . 
 
 \/The Little Mermaid . 
 
 The Lovers . 
 
 ' Thumbelina .... 
 The Flax . . 
 The Princess and the Pea .. . 
 The Garden of Paradise 
 The Snowman . 
 Holger Danske . 
 j The Red Shoes . 
 
 The Little Elder-tree Mother 
 The Darning Needle . 
 The Last Dream of the Old Oak 
 A The Wild Swans 
 The Shadow 
 The Old Street Lamp 
 The Neighbouring Families 
 The Wicked Prince . 
 The Old House .
 
 CONTENTS xi 
 
 Story of a Mother . .''.-. . Tage/tqy 
 
 TheBdl 300 
 
 The Girl who Trod on the Loaf of Bread . . 305 
 
 The Shirt-Collar 
 
 The Happy Family .... , 17 
 
 Little Tuk . V . . , 
 
 ' The Tinder-Box " . ! . 
 A Cheerful Temper . ! . . / . m 
 
 Little Ida's Flowers . ,, a 
 
 33 
 The Story of the Year 
 
 The Travelling Companion .... (^cT^ 
 
 " There is no Doubt about it " . . ""174. 
 
 Soup from a Sausage-Peg .... 
 
 What the First Little Mouse had Seen and 
 
 Learnt on her Travels . . . 3 ~g 
 
 What the Second Little Mouse had to Tell 382 
 
 What the Fourth Mouse had to Tell, before 
 
 the Third One had Spoken . . 386 
 
 How it was Prepared .... 389 
 
 The Beetle
 
 The Nightingale 
 
 IN China, as you know, 
 the emperor is a China- 
 man, and all those he has 
 about him are Chinamen 
 too. The following story 
 happened many years ago, 
 but that is just why it is 
 worth hearing before it 
 is forgotten. The em- 
 peror's castle was the 
 most beautiful in the 
 world and was entirely 
 of fine porcelain ; it was 
 very costly, but so brittle 
 and delicate to touch, 
 that one had to be very 
 careful. In the garden 
 were seen the most won- 
 derful flowers, to the
 
 a STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 finest of which tinkling silver bells were tied, lest people should ! 
 pass without noticing them. Indeed, everything in the emperor's ; 
 garden was well thought out, and it was such a large one that the i 
 gardener himself did not know where it ended. If you kept on i 
 walking you came to a noble forest with high trees and deep i 
 lakes. The forest sloped straight down to the deep blue sea, and 
 large ships could sail right up under the branches of the trees. In 
 one of these trees there lived a nightingale who sang so beautifully 
 that even the poor fishermen, who had plenty of other things to do, 
 would stop and listen when, on going out at night to spread their : 
 nets, they heard it sing. " Heavens ! how beautiful that is," they 
 would say ; but they had to attend to their work and forget the 
 bird. So if it sang again next night, and the fishermen came 
 that way, they would again exclaim, " How beautifully that bird ! 
 sings ! " 
 
 Travellers came from every country in the world to the 
 emperor's city, which they admired very much, as well as the 
 castle and the garden. But when they heard the nightingale, 
 they would exclaim, " That is the best of all ! " And when 
 the travellers returned home they told of these things, and the 
 learned ones wrote many books about the town, the castle and 
 the garden. Neither did they forget the nightingale : that was 
 praised most of all, and those who could write poetry wrote 
 most beautiful poems about the nightingale in the wood by the 
 deep sea. 
 
 These books travelled all over the world, and some of them; 
 came into the hands of the emperor. He sat in his golden 
 chair reading and reading on; every moment he nodded his head,;, 
 for it pleased him to find the beautiful descriptions of the city, 
 the castle and the garden. Then he came to the words : 
 
 " But the nightingale is the best of all ! " 
 
 " What is this ? " said he. " I don't know the nightingale at 
 all. Is there such a bird in my empire, and even in my garden ? 
 I have never heard of it. Fancy learning such a thing for the 
 first time from a book ! " 
 
 Hereupon he called his chamberlain, who was so important 
 that when any one of lower rank than himself dared to speak to
 
 THE NIGHTINGALE 3 
 
 him or to ask him anything, he would only answer, " Pooh ! " 
 and that meant nothing. 
 
 " There is said to be a most remarkable bird here, called the 
 nightingale," said the emperor. " They say it is the finest thing 
 in my great empire. Why have I never been told about it ? " 
 
 " I have never heard it mentioned before," said the chamber- 
 lain. " It has never been presented at court." 
 
 "I wish it to come and sing before me this evening," said the 
 emperor. "The whole world knows what I possess, while I 
 myself do not." 
 
 , "I have never heard it mentioned before," said the chamber- 
 lain ; " but I shall look for it and I shall find it." 
 
 But where was it to be found ? The chamberlain ran up and 
 iown all the stairs, through halls and corridors, but not one of 
 :hose whom he met had heard of the nightingale. So he 
 ran back to the emperor, and said that it must certainly be an 
 nvention of those people who wrote books. 
 
 "Your Imperial Majesty will scarcely believe," said he, "what 
 hings are written in books. It is all fiction and something that 
 s called the black art." 
 
 " But the book in which I have read this," said the emperor, 
 ' has been sent to me by the high and mighty Emperor of Japan, 
 ind there cannot therefore be anything untrue in it. I will hear 
 he nightingale ! It must be here this evening ! It has my 
 lighest favour, and if it does not come, the whole court shall be 
 rampled upon after supper." 
 
 " Tsing pe ! " said the chamberlain, and ran up and down all 
 le stairs again, and through all the halls and corridors \ and half 
 pe court ran with him, for they were not at all desirous of being 
 fcampled upon. Then there was a great inquiry after the remark- 
 jible nightingale which was known to all the world except to the 
 eople at court. 
 
 i! At last they came upon a poor little girl in the kitchen, who 
 aid, " Dear me, I know the nightingale well, and it can sing too ! 
 Jlvery evening I have leave to take home to my poor sick mother 
 : ie scraps from the table ; she lives down by the seashore, and 
 ithen I am tired I sit down to rest in the wood as I come back,
 
 4 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 and then I hear the nightingale sing. It makes the tears come 
 into my eyes, and I feel just as if my mother were kissing me.' 
 
 "Little maid," said the chamberlain, "I will get you an 
 appointment in the kitchen, and permission to see the emperor 
 dine, if you will lead us to the nightingale, for it has been com- 
 manded to appear this evening." 
 
 So they all went out into the wood, where the nightingale was 
 wont to sing ; half the court was. there, When they were well on 
 their way a cow began to low. " Oh," said the courtiers, " now 
 we've got it ! What wonderful power in such a small creature ! I 
 nave certainly heard it before." 
 
 No, those are cows lowing," said the little maid ; " we are a 
 long way from the place yet." 
 
 Some frogs then began to croak in the marsh. 
 " Beautiful ! " said the Chinese court chaplain. " Now I hear 
 it ; it sounds exactly like little church bells." 
 
 " No," said the little maid, " those are frogs. But I think we 
 shall soon hear it now." And then the nightingale began to 
 sing. 
 
 " That's it ! " said the little girl. " Hark, hark j there it sits ! " 
 And she pointed out a little grey bird up in the branches. 
 
 " Is it possible ? " said the chamberlain. " I should never have 
 imagined it like that. How simple it looks ! I suppose it has 
 lost its colour at seeing so many grand people around it." 
 
 "Little nightingale," the little maid called out in a loud tone, 
 " our most gracious emperor wishes you to sing to him." 
 
 " With the greatest pleasure," said the nightingale, and sang 
 so nicely that it was a pleasure to hear it. 
 
 " It sounds exactly like glass bells," said the chamberlain. 
 
 " And look at its little throat, how it works. It is remarkable 
 
 that we never heard it before ; it will be a great success at court." 
 
 " Shall I sing before the emperor again ? " asked the nightingale, 
 
 believing that the emperor was also present. 
 
 " My excellent little nightingale," said the chamberlain, " I 
 have great pleasure in inviting you to a court festival this evening, 
 when you will bewitch His Imperial Majesty with your charming 
 song."
 
 THE NIGHTINGALE 5 
 
 "That is best heard in the woods," said the nightingale; but 
 j still it came willingly when it heard the emperor wished it. 
 
 The castle had been elegantly decorated. The walls and the 
 floors, which were of porcelain, glittered in the light of many 
 [thousands of golden lamps; the most beautiful flowers, which 
 j tinkled merrily, stood in the corridors. In fact, what with the 
 j running to and fro and the draught, the bells tinkled so loudly 
 ithat you could not hear yourself speak. 
 
 In the centre of the great hall in which the emperor sat, a 
 teolden perch had been fixed for the nightingale. The whole 
 bourt was present, and the little kitchen-maid, having now received 
 khe title of a real court cook, had obtained permission to stand 
 behind the door. All were dressed in their very best, and all had 
 heir eyes on the little grey bird, to whom the emperor nodded. 
 
 The nightingale sang so beautifully that tears came into the 
 mperor's eyes and ran down his cheeks, and when the bird sang 
 till more beautifully it went straight to one's heart. The emperor 
 ?as so pleased that he said the nightingale should have his golden 
 lipper to wear round its neck. But the nightingale declined with 
 hanks, saying that it had already received sufficient reward. 
 
 " I have seen tears in the emperor's eyes, and that is the 
 reatest treasure for me. An emperor's tears have a wonderful 
 >ower. Heaven knows, I have been sufficiently rewarded." 
 Thereupon she again sang in her beautiful, sweet voice. 
 
 " That is the sweetest coquetry that we know," said the ladies 
 
 vho were standing round, and then took water in their mouths to 
 
 nake them cluck when any one spoke to them. This made them 
 
 hink they were nightingales too. Even the footmen and the 
 
 hambermaids allowed themselves to express their satisfaction 
 
 hat is saying a good deal, for they are the hardest to please. In 
 
 word, the nightingale was a great success. 
 
 It was now to remain at court, have its own cage, and liberty to 
 
 o out twice a day and once during the night. It was then 
 
 ccompanied by twelve servants, each of whom held it fast by a 
 
 ilken string attached to its leg. There was by no means any 
 
 leasure in such flying. 
 
 The whole city talked about the wonderful bird, and if two
 
 6 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 people met, one would say to the other " Nightin," and the other 
 would answer "gale." And then they sighed and understood 
 each other. Eleven pedlars' children had even been named after 
 the bird, though not one of them could sing a note. 
 
 One day the emperor received a large parcel, on which was 
 written : " The nightingale." 
 
 " Here we have a new book about our celebrated bird," said 
 the emperor. It was no book, however, but a small work of art, 
 which lay in a casket : an artificial nightingale, supposed to look 
 like the living one, but covered all over with diamonds, rubies and 
 sapphires. As soon as the imitation bird had been wound up, it 
 could sing one of the pieces that the real bird sang, and then it 
 would move its tail up and down, all glittering with silver and 
 gold. Round its neck hung a little ribbon on which was written : 
 " The Emperor of Japan's nightingale is poor compared with that 
 of the Emperor of China." 
 
 " How beautiful ! " they all cried ; and he who had brought the 
 artificial bird immediately -received the title of Imperial Nightin- 
 gale-bringer-in-chief. 
 
 " Now they must sing together ; what a lovely duet that will be ! " 
 
 And so they had to sing together ; but it did not go very well, 
 for the real bird sang in its own way, and the imitation one sang 
 only waltzes. 
 
 " That is not the new one's fault," said the music-master ; " it 
 sings in perfect time, and quite according to my method." So 
 the imitation bird had to sing alone. It had quite as great a 
 success as the real one ; besides, it was much prettier to look at 
 glittering like bracelets and breast-pins. 
 
 Thirty-three times it sang one and the same tune and still was | 
 not tired. 
 
 The courtiers would like to have heard it all over again, but the : 
 emperor thought that the live nightingale ought now to sing 
 something as well. But where was it ? No one had noticed ill 
 flying out of the window back to its green woods. 
 
 " But how is that ? " said the emperor. And all the courtiers 
 blamed the nightingale, and thought it a most ungrateful 
 creature. " In any way, we have the best bird," they said ; and
 
 THE NIGHTINGALE 7 
 
 so the imitation one had to sing again, which made the thirty- 
 Fourtht time that they had heard the same tune. Even then 
 they did not know it by heart, for it was much too difficult. 
 The music-master praised the bird exceedingly; indeed, he 
 issured them that it was better than a nightingale, not only in 
 its dress and the number of beautiful diamonds, but also in its 
 inside. 
 
 " For, see, your gracious majesty and my lords, with a real 
 nightingale we never know what is coming next, but with the 
 irtificial one everything is arranged. You can open it, you can 
 explain it, and make people understand how the waltzes lie, how 
 they work, and why one note follows the other." 
 
 " That is just what we think too," they all said ; and the 
 nusic-master received permission to show the bird to the 
 Deople on the following Sunday. The emperor commanded that 
 :hey should also hear it sing. When they did so, they were as 
 jleased as if they had all got drunk on tea, which is a Chinese 
 ashion ; and they all said " Oh ! " and held up their first fingers 
 md nodded. But the poor fishermen, who had heard the real 
 lightingale, said, " It sounds pretty enough, the tunes are all 
 ilike too, but there is something wanting I don't know what." 
 
 The real nightingale was banished from the country and the 
 5mpire. The imitation bird had its place on a silk cushion close 
 o the emperor's bed ; and all the presents which it had received 
 jay around it, and it had been promoted to the rank of Number 
 t)ne on the Left, with the title of Grand Imperial Toilet-table 
 linger. The emperor considered the left side, on which the 
 jieart lies, as the most noble, and an emperor has his heart on 
 left just like other people. The music-master, too, wrote 
 
 ork of twenty-five volumes about the artificial bird ; it was so 
 earned and so long, so full of the most difficult Chinese words, 
 lat all the people said they had read it and understood it, 
 3r otherwise they would have been thought stupid and had 
 ieir bodies trampled upon. 
 
 For a whole year it went on like that. The emperor, the 
 ourt, and all the other Chinamen knew every turn in the 
 rtificial bird's song by heart, and that was just why it pleased
 
 8 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 them now more than ever. They could sing with it, and often 
 did so, too. The street boys sang " Tseetseetsee ! Cluck, cluck, 
 cluck ! " and the emperor did just the same. It was really most 
 beautiful. 
 
 One evening, when the artificial bird was singing its best and 
 the emperor was lying in bed and listening to it, something inside 
 the bird snapped with a bang. All the wheels ran round with a 
 " whirr-r-r," and then the music stopped. 
 
 The emperor immediately jumped out of bed and sent for 
 his physician ; but what could he do ? Then they fetched the 
 watchmaker, and, after a good deal of talking and examining, 
 he got the bird into something like order; but he said that 
 it must not be used too much, as the barrels were worn out, and 
 it was impossible to put in new ones with any certainty of the 
 music going right. Now there was great sorrow ; the imitation 
 bird could only be allowed to sing once a year, and even that 
 was almost too much. On these occasions the music-master 
 would make a little speech full of big words, and say that the 
 singing was just as good as ever; and after that of course the 
 court were as well pleased as before. 
 
 Five years had now passed, and a great sorrow fell upon the land. 
 The Chinese were all really very fond of their emperor, and now 
 he was ill and could not live long, they said. A new emperor 
 had already been chosen, and the people stood out in the street 
 and asked the chamberlain how their old emperor was. 
 
 " Pooh ! " he said, and shook his head. 
 
 Cold and pale lay the emperor in his great, splendid bed ; the 
 whole court thought he was dead, and every one ran away t<| 
 greet the new emperor. The pages ran out to gossip about it, 
 and the maids-of-honour had a grand tea-party. Cloth had beem 
 laid down in all the halls and corridors, so that no footstep i 
 should be heard, and it was therefore very, very quiet. But the| 
 emperor was not dead yet; stiff and pale he lay on the 
 splendid bed with the long velvet curtains and the heavy i 
 gold tassels, and high up a window stood open, and the mooni 
 shone in upon him and the artificial bird. 
 
 The poor emperor could hardly breathe; he felt as though;
 
 THE NIGHTINGALE 9 
 
 something were sitting on his chest. He opened his eyes and 
 saw that it was Death who was sitting there ; he had put on the 
 emperor's golden crown, and held his golden sword in one hand, 
 and his beautiful flag in the other. 
 
 All around, strange heads peeped out from the folds of the 
 large velvet bed-curtains : some were hideous, others were sweet 
 and gentle. 
 
 These were all the emperor's bad and good deeds, which were 
 staring at him now that Death was sitting on his heart. 
 
 " Do you remember this ? " they whispered one after another. 
 " Do you recollect that ? " And then they told him of so much 
 that the perspiration ran down from his brow. 
 
 " That I did not know," cried the emperor. " Music ! music ! 
 the great Chinese drum ! " he shouted ; "so that I may not have 
 to hear what they say." 
 
 But they went on, and Death nodded like a Chinaman to all that 
 was said. 
 
 " Music ! music ! " shrieked the emperor. " You precious little 
 golden bird ! Sing, do sing ! I have given you gold and jewels, 
 I have hung even my gold slipper round your neck. Sing, I say, 
 sing ! " 
 
 But the bird was silent ; it could not sing without being wound 
 up, and there was no one to do it. Death continued to stare at 
 the emperor with his large, hollow eyes, and all was still, terribly 
 still. Suddenly from the window came the sound of sweetest 
 singing ; it was the real little nightingale sitting on a bough outside, 
 tt had heard how the emperor was suffering, and had there- 
 fore come to console him and bring him hope by its singing. 
 And as it sang, the ghostly heads grew paler and paler, the blood 
 began to flow faster and faster through the emperor's weak limbs 
 and even Death listened and said : " Go on, little nightingale, 
 go on." 
 
 "Yes, but will you give me the beautiful golden sword? Will 
 you give me the rich banner ? Will you give me the emperor' rich 
 crown ? " 
 
 And Death gave up each of these treasures for a song, whilst the 
 nightingale still went on singing. It sang of the quiet churchyard
 
 10 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 where the white roses grow, where the elder tree scents the air, and 
 where the fresh grass is moistened by the tears of those who are 
 left behind. Then Death longed to be in his garden, and floated 
 out through the window like a cold white mist. 
 
 "Thanks, thanks," said the emperor. "You heavenly little 
 bird I I know you well. It was you that I drove out of my 
 country and my empire. And still you have charmed away the 
 evil faces from my bed, and removed Death from my heart. How 
 can I reward you ? " 
 
 " You have rewarded me," said the nightingale. " I drew tears 
 from your eyes when for the first time I sang to you ; that I shall 
 never forget. They are jewels that gladden the heart of a singer. 
 But sleep now and get well and strong again. I will sing you 
 something." 
 
 And as it sang the emperor fell into a sweet slumber. Oh, how 
 mild and refreshing was that sleep ! The sun shone in upon him 
 through the window when he awoke strong and well. None of his 
 servants had yet returned, for they believed he was dead ; only the 
 nightingale was still sitting by him singing. 
 
 " You must always stay with me," said the emperor. " You shall 
 now sing only when you like, and I shall smash the imitation bird 
 into a thousand pieces." 
 
 41 Don't do that," said the nightingale. " It did its best, as long 
 as it could. Keep it, as before. I cannot build my nest and live 
 in the castle ; but let me come just when I like. In the evening I 
 will sit on that bough near your window and sing something to you, 
 so that you shall be joyful and pensive at the same time. I will sing 
 of those who are happy and of those who suffer. I will sing of the 
 good and of the bad that are hidden all around you. The little 
 singing bird flies far away, to the poor fisherman, to the peasant's 
 cottage, to all who are far removed from you and your court. I love 
 your heart more than your crown, and yet the crown has almost a 
 halo of holiness around it. I will come and I will sing to you. 
 But you must promise me one thing." 
 
 "Everything," said the emperor, and standing there in bis 
 imperial robes, which he had himself put on, he pressed his sword, 
 all heavy with gold, to his heart.
 
 THE ROSE-ELF n 
 
 " I only ask one thing. Let no one know that you have a little 
 bird that tells you everything ; it will be for the best." 
 
 Saying this the nightingale flew away. 
 
 The servants came in to look after their dead emperor. When 
 [they saw him they stood aghast, and the emperor said, " Good 
 
 The Rose-Elf 
 
 N the midst of a garden grew a rose-tree ; 
 upon it were many, many roses ; in one 
 of them, the most beautiful of all, lived 
 an elf. He was so very small that no 
 human eye could perceive him. Behind 
 every petal of the rose he had a bed- 
 room. No child could have been more 
 beautifully formed than he was ; he had wings that reached from 
 lis shoulders down to his feet. All his rooms were so sweet and 
 fragrant, the walls were so bright and beautiful, for they consisted 
 )f the pink rose-petals. 
 
 All day long the elf enjoyed himself in the warm sunshine, flying 
 rom flower to flower, and dancing on the wings of the fluttering 
 Butterfly. One day he measured how many steps he would have 
 p take in order to pass through all the roads and paths which 
 fcrere on a single leaf of the lime-tree. These were what we call 
 Hie veins of the leaf; to him they seemed to be endless roads, 
 pefore he had finished the sun set ; he had begun his task too late, 
 t became very cold, dew fell and the wind was blowing; at 
 this time he would have been best at home. He hastened as 
 fluch as he could, but his rose was closed up, he could not enter, 
 I nd not a single rose was open. The poor little elf was very 
 Tightened. He had never before been out of doors at night; as 
 :.e had always sweetly slumbered behind the warm rose-petals, 
 'his would mean certain death to him ! 
 
 ' The elf knew that at the other end of the garden stood a summer- 
 Uouse, covered all over with beautiful honeysuckle ; the blossoms
 
 I2 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 looked like large painted horns ; in one of them, he thought, he 
 might enter and sleep until the next morning Thither he flew. 
 
 But hush ! Two people were sitting in the summer-house : a 
 handsome young man and a beautiful girl. They sat side by I 
 side and wished that they need never part. They loved one ! 
 another so much much more indeed than the best child would 
 love his father or mother. 
 
 "Alas! we must part," said the young man. "Your brother | 
 dislikes me, and that is why he sends me on an errand so far away i 
 over mountains and seas. Farewell, my own dear love, for that ! 
 you will always be to me." 
 
 Then they kissed each other, and the girl cried and gave him a 
 rose. But before she gave it to him she so ardently pressed it to ! 
 her lips that the flower opened. 
 
 Now the little elf flew into it and rested his head against the 
 fine fragrant walls ; there he could hear very well how they bade l 
 farewell to each other 1 He felt that the young man placed the ' 
 rose on his breast. Oh, how his heart was beating ! The little elf 
 could not fall asleep, it throbbed so much. 
 
 The rose did not long remain undisturbed on his breast. The 
 young man, while walking alone through the dark forest, took j 
 it out, and kissed it so often and so passionately that the little elf ! 
 was almost crushed. He could feel through the leaf how hot the i 
 young man's lips were ; and the rose had opened its petals as if 
 the strongest midday sun were shining upon it. 
 
 Then came another man, sullen and wicked ; he was the 
 malicious brother of the beautiful girl. He drew out a dagger, i 
 and while the other fondly kissed the rose, stabbed him to death ; 
 then he cut off the head from the body, and buried both in the 
 soft ground under a lime-tree. 
 
 " Now he's gone and forgotten," thought the murderer ; " he will 
 never return again. He was to set out on a long journey, over! 
 mountains and across the sea ; on such an expedition a man might 
 easily lose his life, and he has lost it. He will never come back,' 
 and my sister dare not ask me what has become of him." 
 
 Thus thinking, he scraped dry leaves together with his foot, 
 heaped them on the soft mould, and went home in the darkness
 
 THE ROSE-ELF 13 
 
 >f the night. But he was not alone, as he imagined, for the little 
 :lf was with him. He had seated himself in a dry, rolled-up leaf 
 jf the lime-tree, which had fallen on the wicked man's hair while 
 ke was digging the grave. He had put his hat on now ; it was 
 rery dark inside the hat, and the elf was trembling with horror 
 Lnd indignation at the evil deed. 
 
 In the dawn of the morning the murderer reached home ; he 
 ;ook off his hat, and entered his sister's bedroom. There the 
 beautiful girl, with rosy cheeks, was sleeping and dreaming of him 
 Lhom she loved so dearly, and whom she supposed now to travel 
 ^ver mountains and across the sea. 
 
 The unnatural brother bent over the girl, and laughed hideously, 
 only evil demons can laugh. The dry leaf dropped out of his 
 lir on her counterpane, but he did not notice it, and went out of 
 e room to have a little sleep in the early morning hours. The 
 left his resting-place and slipped into the ear of the sleeping 
 rl, and told her, as in a dream, the horrible deed ; he described 
 spot where her lover was stabbed and where his body was 
 ; he told her of the blooming lime-tree standing close by, 
 id said : " That you should not think all I told you is only a 
 ream, you will find on your bed on awaking a dry leaf." And 
 hen she awoke she really found it. Then she cried bitterly, 
 he window was open all day long ; the little elf might easily have 
 turned to the roses and to the other flowers in the garden, but 
 e had not the heart to leave the unfortunate girl. 
 On the window-sill stood a little bunch of monthly roses in a 
 ower-pot ; in one of its blooms the elf sat down and looked at the 
 oor girl. Her brother came several times into the room, and in / 
 pite of his crime seemed quite cheerful, and she had not the 
 ourage to say a word about her grief. 
 
 No sooner had the night come than she stole out of the house 
 nd went into the wood, to the spot where the lime-tree stood ; 
 le removed the dry leaves from the ground, turned the earth up 
 nd found her murdered sweetheart. And she wept bitterly. She 
 rayed God that she might also die. 
 
 She would have gladly taken the body home with her, but that 
 /as impossible. So she took up the pale-faced head with the
 
 , 4 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 closed eyes, kissed the cold lips and shook the earth out of the 
 beautiful curls. " I will at least keep this," she said When she 
 had replaced the mould and the dry haves on the body, she took 
 the head and a little bough of a jasmine-bush growing near the 
 spot where the body was buried, and returned home. Upon 
 
 reaching her room she took the largest flower-pot she could find, 
 put the head into it, covered it over with mould, and planted 
 therein the jasmine bough. 
 
 " Farewell, farewell," whispered the little elf, being unable to 
 witness any longer her grief and pain. He then returned to his 
 rose in the garden ; but the rose was faded, only a few withered 
 petals were still clinging to the green stalk. " Oh, how" soon all 
 that is beautiful and good vanishes," sighed the little e]L- 
 
 At last he found a new rose and made it his home ; under the 
 shelter of its tender and fragrant petals he could abide in safety, j 
 Every morning he flew to the window of the poor girl, and every 
 morning he found her crying by the flower-pot. Her tears fell l
 
 THE ROSE-ELF 15 
 
 upon the jasmine-bough, and day by day, in the same measure as 
 she grew paler, the bough became fresher and greener ; one shoot 
 after another sprang up ; many little white buds burst forth, and 
 she kissed them. The heartless brother scolded her and asked 
 her if she had lost her senses ; for he did not like to see her crying 
 over the flower-pot, and he could not make out why she did it. 
 He had no idea whose closed eyes, whose red lips were decaying 
 in the flower-pot. 
 
 One day the little rose-elf found her slumbering and resting with 
 her head on the flower-pot. He slipped again into her ear, and 
 told her of the evening in the summer-house, of the sweet smell of 
 the rose, and of the love of rose-elves. She dreamt so sweetly, and 
 with her dream her life passed away; she died a calm and peaceful 
 death. She had gone to heaven to him whom she loved. 
 
 And the jasmine unfolded its buds into large white flowers, and 
 filled the air with its peculiarly sweet fragrance, it could not other- 
 wise give vent to its grief for the dead girl. 
 
 The wicked brother took the beautiful jasmine bush as his in- 
 eritance, carried it into his bedroom and placed it close by his 
 ed ; for it was delightful to look at, and its fragrance was very 
 leasant. The little rose-elf followed; he flew from flower to 
 ower for in each of them lived a little elf and told them of the 
 lurdered young man whose head was decaying beneath the mould, 
 nd of the wicked brother and the poor sister. 
 
 We know all about it," replied the little elves, " we know it, for 
 ave we not sprung forth from the eyes and lips of the dead man's 
 ice ? We know," they repeated, nodding their heads in a strange 
 nanner. 
 
 The rose-elf could not understand why they remained so calm ; 
 le flew out to the bees, which were gathering honey, and told them 
 he story of the wicked brother. The bees told their queen, and 
 he queen ordered that they should all go on the next morning to 
 all the murderer. But when it was night the first night after 
 sister's death while the brother was sleeping close by the 
 ragrant jasmine-bush in his bed, all its flowers opened and all the 
 ittle invisible elves came out, armed with venomous spears, and 
 eated themselves in his ears and told him terrible dreams ; then
 
 1 6 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 they flew on to his lips and stabbed his tongue with their poisonous 
 weapons. "Now we have avenged the dead," they said, and re- 
 turned to their white flowers. 
 
 When, on the next morning, the window of the bedroom was 
 opened, the rose-elf and the whole swarm of the bees with their 
 queen entered to carry out their revenge. But he was already 
 dead. People standing around the bed, said : " The smell of the 
 jasmine has killed him." 
 
 The rose-elf understood the revenge of the flowers and told 
 the queen of the bees about it, who with her whole swarm 
 was humming round the flower-pot. The bees could not be 
 driven away from it, and when at last a man took up the pot 
 a bee stung him in the hand, so that he dropped it, and it broke 
 to pieces. Then all saw the bleached skull and understood that 
 the dead man in the bed was a murderer. 
 
 The queen of the bees hummed and sang of the revenge of the 
 flowers and of the rose-elf, and said that behind the smallest 
 jeaf dwells one who can disclose evil deeds and revengejhem. 
 
 The Emperor's New Suit 
 
 JANY, 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." 
 
 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
 
 THE EMPEROR'S NEW SUIT 17 
 
 lat they were weavers, and declared they could manufacture 
 ie finest cloth to be imagined. Their colours and patterns, 
 icy said, were not only exceptionally beautiful, but the clothes 
 lade of their material possessed the wonderful quality of being 
 ivisible to any man who was unfit for his office or unpardonably 
 upid. 
 
 "That must be wonderful cloth," thought the emperor. "If 
 were to be dressed in a suit made of this cloth I should be 
 t)le to find out which men in my empire were unfit for their 
 laces, and I could distinguish the clever from the stupid. I 
 lust have this cloth woven for me without delay." And he 
 ive a large sum of money to the swindlers, in advance, that 
 ley should set to work without any loss of time. They set up 
 FO looms, and pretended to be very hard at work, but 
 icy did nothing whatever on the looms. They asked for 
 ie finest silk and the most precious gold-cloth; all they got 
 icy did away with, and worked at the empty looms till late 
 : night. 
 
 " I should very much like to know how they are getting on 
 ith the cloth/' thought the emperor. But he felt rather un- 
 l^y when he remembered that he who was not fit for his office 
 auld not see it. Personally, he was of opinion that he had 
 athing to fear, yet he thought it advisable to send somebody else 
 st to see how matters stood Everybody in the town knew what 
 remarkable quality the stuff possessed, and all were anxious to 
 e how bad or stupid their neighbours were. 
 
 I shall send my honest old minister to the weavers," 
 ought the emperor. " He can judge best how the stuff looks, 
 r he is intelligent, and nobody understands his office better 
 an he." 
 
 The good old minister went into the room where the swindlers 
 t before the empty looms. " Heaven preserve us!" he thought, 
 d opened his eyes wide, " I cannot see anything at all," but he 
 d not say so. Both swindlers requested him to come near, and 
 iced him if he did not admire the exquisite pattern and the beau- 
 ul colours, pointing to the empty looms. The poor old minister 
 ed his very best, but he could see nothing, for there was nothing 
 
 VOL. I. B
 
 1 8 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 to be seen. " Oh dear," he thought, " can I be so stupid ? I shoul* 
 never have thought so, and nobody must know it ! Is it possiby I 
 that I am not fit for my office ? No, no, I cannot say that I wa 
 unable to see the cloth." 
 
 "Now, have you got nothing to say?" said one of tr 
 swindlers, while he pretended to be busily weaving. 
 
 " 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." 
 
 " 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. 
 
 Now the swindlers asked for more money, silk and gold-cloth, 
 which they required for weaving. They kept everything for them- 
 selves, and not a thread came near the loom, but they continued,* 
 as hitherto, to work at the empty looms. 
 
 Soon afterwards the emperor sent another honest courtier to thei 
 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. 
 
 " Is it not a beautiful piece of cloth ? " asked the two swindlers, 
 showing and explaining the magnificent pattern, which, however, 
 did not exist. 
 
 "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, whichj 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 " Is it not magnificent ? " said the two old statesmen who had
 
 THE EMPEROR'S NEW SUIT 19 
 
 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. 
 
 " What is this ? " thought the emperor, " I do not see anything 
 at all. That is terrible! Am I stupid? Am I unfit to be 
 
 i emperor? That would indeed be the most dreadful thing that 
 could happen to me." 
 
 * " Really," he said, turning to the weavers, " your cloth has our 
 hmost gracious approval ; " and nodding contentedly he looked at 
 !the empty loom, for he did not like to say that he saw nothing. 
 lAll 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 
 ihim 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 de- 
 l 'lighted, and the emperor appointed the two swindlers " Imperial 
 i Court weavers." 
 
 The whole night previous to the day on which the procession
 
 20 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 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." 
 
 The emperor and all Jhis 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." 
 
 " Indeed ! " said all the courtiers ; but they could not see any- 
 thing, for there was nothing to be seen. 
 
 " 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 ? " 
 
 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. 
 
 " How well they look ! How well they fit ! " said all. " What 
 a beautiful pattern ! What fine colours ! That is a magnificent suit 
 of clothes ! " 
 
 The master of the ceremonies announced that the bearers of the 
 canopy, which was to be carried in the procession, were ready. 
 
 " 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 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 that he saw nothing, for then he would have ,
 
 THE EMPEROR'S NEW SUIT 21 
 
 been unfit for his office or too stupid. Never emperor's clothes 
 were more admired. 
 
 " But he has nothing on at all," said a little child at last. 
 " Good heavens I 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. 
 
 The Storks 
 
 N the roof of the last house in a little village 
 was a stork's nest ; a mother-stork sat in it, 
 and four young ones were stretching forth 
 their little heads with the pointed black 
 beaks, which had not yet turned red like 
 those of the old birds. At a little distance 
 the father-stork stood upright and almost 
 immovable on the ridge of the roof; he had drawn up one leg, in 
 lorder not to be quite idle, while he was watching over his nest like 
 |a sentry. He stood so still that one might have thought he was 
 Icarved in wood. " Surely, it must look very important, that my 
 wife has a sentry before her nest," he thought. " Nobody knows 
 [that I am her husband. People will think that I am commanded 
 to stand here. That looks so distinguished." And he continued 
 KO stand on one leg. 
 
 A crowd of children were playing below in the street ; no sooner 
 had they noticed the storks than one of the pluckiest boys began 
 KO sing an old ditty to tease them ; soon all his playmates joined 
 In ; but they only repeated what he could remember of it : 
 
 " Fly away, stork, fly away ! 
 Stand not on one leg all day, 
 While your dear wife in the nest 
 Gently rocks her babes to rest.
 
 22 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 " The first little stork they will hang, 
 The second will fry by the fire, 
 The third will be shot with a bang, 
 The fourth will be roast for the squire." 
 
 "Do you hear what those boys are singing?" said the young j 
 storks, "they say we shall be hanged and roasted." 
 
 "Never mind what they say," replied the mother-stork; "if you I 
 do not listen to them, they can do you no harm." 
 
 The boys went on singing, and pointed at the storks with 
 their fingers ; only one of them, named Peter, said that it was 
 wrong of them to tease the birds, and did not join them. The 
 mother-stork comforted her children. " You must not pay atten- 
 tion to them ; look at your father, how quietly he stands there on 
 one leg ! " 
 
 " Oh, we are so frightened," said the young ones, and then they 
 hid their heads in the nest. 
 
 On the following day, when the children had come out to play 
 and saw the storks, they sang again the song : 
 
 " The third will be shot with a bang, 
 The fourth will be roast for the squire." 
 
 "Shall we really be hanged and roasted?" asked the young 
 storks. 
 
 " Certainly not," replied the mother, " you will learn how to fly ; 
 I shall teach you myself. Then we shall fly into the meadows and 
 go to see the frogs, who will bow to us in the water and cry : 
 ' Croak, croak ' ; and then we shall eat them up. That will be 
 delightful." 
 
 " And then ? " asked the young ones. 
 
 " Then," continued the mother-stork, " all the storks of this 
 country will come together, and the great autumn manoeuvre will 
 be gone through ; every stork must be able to fly well, for that is 
 of great importance. All those who cannot fly the general kills 
 with his beak. Therefore you must take great pains to learn it 
 well, when the drilling begins." 
 
 " Why, then we shall be stabbed after all as the boys sing 
 listen, they are singing it again."
 
 THE STORKS 23 
 
 "Only listen to me, and not to them," said the mother- 
 stork. 
 
 "After the great autumn manoeuvre we shall fly away from 
 here to warmer countries, far away over mountains and woods. 
 We shall fly to Egypt, where you shall see three-cornered stone 
 houses, the pointed tops of which almost touch the clouds ; people 
 call them Pyramids, and they are much older than a stork can 
 imagine. There is a river in that country which rises every year 
 over its banks, covering the whole land with mud. We shall walk 
 about in the mud and eat frogs." 
 
 " Oh, how charming," cried the young ones. 
 
 " Yes, indeed, that country is very pleasant ; we shall do nothing 
 there but eat all day long ; and while we shall be so comfortable 
 there, they will not have a single leaf on the trees in this country, 
 and it will be so cold that the clouds will freeze, and fall down on 
 the ground in little white rags." She meant, of course, the snow, 
 but she could not otherwise explain it. 
 
 " Will the naughty boys also freeze to pieces ? " asked the 
 young storks. 
 
 " No," answered the mother, " they will not freeze to pieces, 
 but they will not be very far from it They will have to stay all 
 day long in-doors, in the gloomy room ; whereas you will fly 
 about in foreign lands, where the warm sun shines and many 
 towers are blooming." 
 
 After some time the young ones had grown so tall that they 
 could stand upright in the nest and look about into the 
 neighbourhood ; the father-stork returned every day with frogs 
 and little snakes and all sorts of stork-dainties which he 
 lad picked up. Oh, it was so funny to see him perform tricks 
 or their amusement ; he used to place his head quite back on 
 his tail and clatter with his beak as if it had been a rattle; 
 and then he used to tell them stories about the marsh-land. 
 
 "Come along," the stork-mother said one day, "now you 
 must learn to fly." The four young storks had to come out of 
 the nest on to the ridge of the roof. At first they tottered about 
 a good deal, and although they balanced themselves with their 
 wings, they nearly fell down.
 
 24 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 " You have only to look at me," said the mother. " You must 
 hold your heads like this, and place your feet thus : one, two, 
 one> two that's right; that is what will enable you to get on in 
 the world." Then she flew a short distance away from them, and 
 the young ones made a little jump, but they fell down with a 
 thud, for their bodies were still too heavy. 
 
 "I do not wish to fly," said one of the young ones, and^crept 
 back into the nest ; " I do not care to go to warm countries." 
 
 " Would you prefer to freeze to death here, when the winter 
 comes ; or shall the boys come to hang and roast you? I will 
 call them." 
 
 " Oh no, no, dear mother," said the young stork, hopping out on 
 the roof again to the others. On the third day they could already 
 fly a little, and now they thought they would be able to soar in 
 the air like their parents. They tried to do so, but they tumbled 
 down, and had quickly to move their wings again. The boys in 
 the street began to sing again : 
 
 " Fly away, stork, fly away, 
 Stand not on one leg all day," &c. 
 
 " Shall we fly down and pick their eyes out ? " asked the young 
 storks. 
 
 "No," said the mother; "do not mind them. Only listen to 
 me, that is far more important. One, two, three, now we turn to 
 the right ; one, two, three, to the left ; now round the chimney-top. 
 That was very good indeed ! The last clap with the wings was so 
 correctly and well done that I shall let you come to-morrow with 
 me to the marshes. There you will see several respectable storks 
 with their families ; you must let them see that my children are 
 the prettiest and best-behaved. You must proudly stride about ; 
 that will look well, and by this you will gain respect " 
 
 " But shall we not punish those wicked boys? " asked the young 
 storks. 
 
 " Let them cry as much as they like ; you will rise high into 
 the clouds and fly away to the country of the pyramids while 
 they are freezing, and have not a single green leaf nor a sweet 
 apple."
 
 THE STORKS 25 
 
 " We shall take our revenge upon them," whispered the little 
 ones, and went on practising. 
 
 Of all the boys in the street none was more bent upon singing 
 the song than the one who had first started it, and he was quite a 
 mite and not more than six years old. The young storks thought 
 he was more than a hundred years old, because he was so much 
 taller than their father and mother, and what did they know 
 about the age of children and grown-up people ? They made up 
 their minds to take their revenge upon this boy, because he was 
 the first to sing the song and was never tired of going on with 
 it. The young storks were very angry with him, and the older they 
 became the less they would suffer it ; at last the mother had to 
 give them the promise that they should be revenged, but not until 
 (the day before their departure. * 
 
 " We must first see how you will behave at the great manoeuvre, 
 f you do badly, so that the general has to thrust his beak through 
 r ou, the boys will be right, at least in a way. But let us see." 
 
 " You shall see," said the young ones, and took still greater 
 ins ; they practised every day, and soon they could fly so well 
 bat it was a pleasure to see them. 
 
 Autumn came at last : all the storks began to assemble and to 
 et out for the warm countries, to pass the winter. That was a 
 r reat manoeuvre ! They had to fly over woods and villages, only 
 o see what they could do, for their journey was a very long one. 
 Tiey acquitted themselves so well that they passed the review 
 xcellently, and received frogs and snakes as a reward. That was 
 tie best certificate, and they could eat the frogs and the snakes, 
 hich was better still. 
 
 " Now we shall take our revenge," they said. 
 "Certainly," cried the mother-stork. "I have already thought 
 f the best way. I know where the pond is in which all the little 
 hildren are lying until the storks come and take them to their 
 arents. The pretty little babies sleep there and dream so 
 wreetly, much more sweetly than they will dream ever after. All 
 le parents wish for such a little child, and the children wish for a 
 rother or a sister. Now we shall go to the pond and fetch one for 
 very child who has not sung that wicked song to tease the storks."
 
 26 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 But what shall we do to the bad boy who began to sing the 
 
 S g ln' the pond lies a little dead baby that has dreamt itself to 
 death, that we will take to him; then he will cry because we 
 have brought him a dead little brother. But the good boy-I hope 
 you have not forgotten him, who said that it was wrong to 
 tease animals-we will bring him a brother as well as a sister. 
 And as this boy's name was Peter, you shall all henceforth 
 
 ^And soTt'was done, and all the storks are called Peter to the 
 present day. 
 
 The Daisy 
 
 lOW 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 
 !T~ditch, on its fresh green bank 
 grew a little daisy; the sun shone 
 as warmly and brightly upon it as or 
 
 the magnificent garden flowers, and therefore it thrived well 
 One morning it had quite opened, and its little snow-whit< 
 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 i 
 was a poor despised flower ; on the contrary, it was quite happy 
 and turned towards the sun, looking upward and listening to tfo 
 song of the lark high up in the air. 
 
 The little daisy was as happy as if the day had been a grea 
 holiday, but it was only Monday. All the children were a 
 school, and while they were sitting on the forms and learnin; 
 their lessons, it sat on its thin green stalk and learnt from th 
 -from its surroundings how kind God is, and it rejoice
 
 ,*fJM*sP*SS
 
 THE DAISY 29 
 
 :hat the song of the little lark expressed so sweetly and distinctly 
 Its own feelings. With a sort of reverence the daisy looked up 
 :o 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 ! " 
 I In the garden close by grew many large and magnificent 
 powers, and, strange to say, the less fragrance they had jthe 
 laughtier and prouder they were. The peonies puffed them- 
 selves up in order to be larger than the roses, but size is 
 hot everything ! The tulips had the finest colours, and they 
 pew it~weH7foo, for they were standing bolt upright like candles, 
 tfiat one might see them the better. In their pride they did not 
 lee 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 
 :he daisy was still thinking, the lark came flying down, crying 
 [' Tweet," but not to the peonies and tulips no, into the grass to 
 !he poor daisy. Its joy was so great that it did not know what to 
 ihink. The little bird hopped round it and sang, " How beauti- 
 tully soft the grass is, and what a lovely little jtower with its golden 
 icart and silver dress is growing here." The yellow centre in 
 he daisy did indeed look like gold, while the little petals shone as 
 >rightly as silver. 
 
 * How happy the daisy was ! No one has the least idea. The 
 :>ird kissed it with its beak, sang to it, and then rose again up 
 
 the blue sky. It was certainly more than a quarter of an 
 hour before the daisy recovered its senses. ' Half ashamed, yet 
 :;lad at heart, it looked over to the other flowers in the garden ; 
 iurely they had witnessed its pleasure and the honour that had 
 iieen done to it ; they understood its joy. But the tulips stood 
 
 1 lore stiffly than ever, their faces were pointed and red, because 
 [hey were vexed. The peonies were sulky ; it was well that they 
 lould not speak, otherwise they would have given the daisy a 
 
 ood lecture. The little flower could very well see that they were 
 ' 1 at ease, and pitied them sincerely. 
 I Shortly after this a girl came into the garden, with a large sharp 

 
 3 o STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 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." 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 " 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. 
 
 "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. 
 
 " No, let it stay," said the other boy, " it looks so pretty." 
 
 And so it stayed, and was brought into the lark's cage. The 
 poor bird was lamenting its lost liberty, and beating its wingsi 
 against the wires ; and the little daisy could not speak or utter
 
 THE DAISY 31 
 
 a consoling word, much as it would have liked to do so. So the 
 forenoon passed. 
 
 " 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 
 jgreen tree for me, each of your white petals a fragrant flower. 
 Alas ! you only remind me of what I have lost." 
 
 " I wish I could console the poor lark," thought the daisy, 
 t 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 
 idid not touch the flower. 
 
 | 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 
 tcould utter, then it bent its little head towards the flower, and its 
 iheart broke for want and longing. The flower could not, as on 
 .the previous evening, fold up its petals and sleep ; it drooped 
 ^sorrowfully. The boys only came the next morning ; when they 
 saw the dead bird, they began to cry bitterly, dug a nice grave 
 Jfor it, and adorned it with flowers. The bird's body was placed 
 n a pretty red box ; they wished to bury it with royal honours- 
 jWhile it was alive and sang they forgot it, and let it suffer want 
 Bin 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 
 fthe dusty highway. Nobody thought of the flower which had 
 felt so much for the bird and had so greatly desired to comfort it.
 
 32 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 The Steadfast Tin-Soldier 
 
 HERE were once twenty-five tin soldiers, who 
 were all brothers, as they were cast from an 
 old tin spoon. They all carried a gun in 
 their left arm and looked straight forward; 
 their uniform was red and blue. The first 
 words which they heard upon seeing the 
 light of day, when the lid was taken off the 
 box in which they were packed, were, " Tin soldiers ! " These 
 words were uttered by a little boy who had received them as a 
 birthday present, and clapped his hands for joy ; he then put them 
 in rank and file on the table. One soldier looked exactly like the 
 other : only one, who had been cast last of all, when there was not 
 enough tin, was not like his brothers, for he had only one leg ; 
 nevertheless, he stood just as firmly on his one leg as the others 
 on two ; and he was the one who became remarkable. 
 
 On the table on which they were placed were many other toys ; 
 but what caught the eye most of all was a pretty little castle of 
 cardboard. Through its small windows one could look into the 
 rooms. Before the castle stood little trees surrounding a clear lake, 
 which was formed by a small looking-glass. Swans made of wax 
 were swimming on it and were reflected by it. All this was very 
 pretty, but the prettiest of all was a little lady who stood in the 
 open door of the castle; she was cut out of paper, but she had a 
 frock of the whitest muslin on, and a piece of narrow blue ribbon 
 was fixed on her shoulders like a bodice, on it was fixed a glittering 
 tinsel rose, as large as her whole face. The little lady stretched j 
 out both arms, for she was a dancer ; and as she had lifted one j 
 leg high up, so that the tin soldier could not see it, he thought she | 
 had only one leg like himself. 
 
 " That is a wife for me," he thought ; " but she is very grand ; j 
 she lives in a castle, while I have only a box, which I share with , 
 twenty-four ; that is not a place for her. But I must make her 
 acquaintance." And then he laid himself at full length behind f
 
 THE STEADFAST TIN SOLDIER 33 
 
 _.-box which was on the table ; from his place he could 
 the little well-dressed lady, who continued to stand on one leg 
 vithout losing her balance. 
 
 ! At night the tin soldiers were put back into their box and the 
 i teople of the house went to bed. Now the toys began to play, to pay 
 Irisits, to make war, and to go to balls. The tin soldiers rattled in 
 (heir box, for they wished to take part in the games, but they could 
 i ot raise the lid. The nutcrackers made somersaults, the slate-pencil 
 irijoyed itself on the slate ; they made so much noise that the 
 Unary woke up, and began to talk, and that in verse. The tin 
 tbldier and the dancer were the only ones who remained in their 
 laces. She was standing on tiptoe with her arm stretched out ; 
 fee stood firmly on his one leg, never taking his eyes away from her 
 br a moment. When the clock struck twelve, suddenly the lid 
 c the snuff-box was flung open ; there was no snuff in it, but a 
 jnall black Jack-in-the-box, who had performed his trick. 
 I "Tin soldier," said the Jack, "don't covet things that do not 
 felong to you." 
 
 I The tin soldier pretended not to hear anything. 
 1 "All right; wait till to-morrow," said the Jack. 
 I When the morning had come and the children were up, the 
 fei soldier was placed on the window-sill ; all at once, whether 
 Irough draught or through the Jack, the window flew open and 
 le soldier fell headlong down into the street from the third 
 prey. That was a terrible fall ! His one leg high up in the 
 r, he stood on fns helmet, while his bayonet entered into the 
 fcound between the paving stones. The servant and the little 
 iy came at once down to look for him ; but although they 
 ':re so close to him that they almost trod upon him, they did 
 it find him. If the tin soldier had cried : " Here I am," 
 py would surely have found him ; but he did not consider it 
 ifDper to cry aloud, because he was in uniform. 
 [Now it began to rain, first very little, but soon more, till it 
 Icame a heavy shower. When the rain had ceased two boys 
 |ssed by the soldier. 
 
 [." Look, there is a tin soldier," said one of them, " let us make 
 S)oat for him." 
 
 VOL. i. c
 
 34 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 They then made a boat out of a piece of newspaper, put the tin 
 soldier in it, and let him float down the gutter; both ran by 
 the side and clapped their hands for pleasure. Heaven preserve 
 us ! there were large waves in the gutter, and a strong current, 1 ! 
 too, for the rain had been pouring down in torrents. The papeij 
 boat was rocking up and down; sometimes it turned round sc 
 quickly that the tin soldier trembled ; but he remained firm, he! 
 did not move a muscle, and looked straight forward, holding the! 
 gun in his arm. Suddenly the boat was driven under a large'; 
 bridge which was over the gutter, and there it became as dark as. 
 in the tin soldier's box. 
 
 "Where am I going to?" he thought. "That is the fault & 
 the black Jack-in-the-box. I wish the little lady were here witlj 
 me in the boat, then I should not mind how dark it was." 
 Then came a big water-rat which lived under the bridge. 
 " Have you a passport ? " asked the rat. " Give it up at once."> 
 But the tin soldier was silent and held his gun tighter than 
 before. The boat was rushing forward ; the rat followed, gnashing 
 its teeth, and crying out to the chips of wood and straws : " Stojj 
 him, stop him ! He has paid no toll, and has not shown hij 
 passport ! " 
 
 The current became stronger and stronger; the tin soldie 
 could already see the light of day where the bridge ended ; bil 
 he also heard a roaring noise, strong enough to frighten a bravjj 
 man. Just think : the gutter ran there, where the bridge ended, int r 
 a canal, that was for him as dangerous as for us to cross a big wate^ 
 fall. He was already so close to it that stopping was impossiblrtj 
 The boat drifted on, the poor tin soldier held himself as stiff as bij 
 could; nobody could say of him that he had blinked an eyl 
 The boat rapidly whirled round three or four times, and w| 
 filled with water to the very brim ; he must sink down. The ti i 
 soldier stood up to his neck in the water; deeper and deepr 
 sank the boat, more and more the paper became wet and limf | 
 then the water closed over his head. He thought of the swej 
 little dancer which he should never see again, and it sounde, 
 into his ear : 
 
 " Farewell, soldier, true and brave, 
 Nothing now thy life can save."
 
 THE STEADFAST TIN SOLDIER 35 
 
 i Then the paper-boat fell to pieces, and the tin soldier, sinking 
 into the water, was swallowed up by a large fish. 
 
 It was indeed very dark inside the fish, much darker than 
 ,under the bridge over the gutter, and, in addition, it was awfully 
 .narrow, but the tin soldier remained firm, and lay down at full 
 , length, holding his gun tightly in his arm. 
 
 The fish was swimming about and made most extraordinary 
 jmovements ; at last it became quiet ; it seemed as if a flash of 
 lightning passed through it, the broad daylight appeared, and 
 p voice said, " Hallo ! there is the tin soldier." The fish had 
 ibeen caught and taken to market; there it had been sold and 
 prought to the kitchen, where the cook was just cutting it open. 
 fa two fingers she took the tin soldier round the waist, carried 
 I into the room, to show everybody the wonderful man who 
 
 been travelling about in a fish's stomach ; but the tin soldier 
 ibs not proud. They put him on the table, and there what 
 fjtrange things occur in this world ! he was in the same place 
 jfhere he had been before; he saw the same children, and the 
 lame toys were on the table; there was also the pretty castle with 
 |pe dear little dancer. She stood still on one leg and held the 
 |;ther high up in the air: she too was steadfast. The tin 
 jbldier was very much touched, and he nearly shed tin tears, but that 
 
 not becoming for a soldier. He looked at her but said 
 [pthing. Suddenly one of the little boys took up the tin soldier 
 hid threw him into the stove, without giving any reason for this 
 trange conduct; surely it was again the fault of the Jack-in-the- 
 Ipx. The tin soldier stood there in the strong light and felt an 
 taxable heat, but whether this heat was caused by the real fire 
 h by love, he did not know. His colours had vanished, but 
 tody could say if that happened during his journey, or if heart 
 JM was the cause of it. He looked at the little lady and she 
 jbked at him, and he felt that he was melting, but still he stood 
 Bright with his gun in his arm. All at once a door flew open, 
 fc wind seized the dancer, she flew like a sylph into the stove to 
 Ife tin soldier, where she was burnt and gone in a 'moment. The 
 It soldier melted down into a lump, and when the servant cleared 
 
 * the cinders on the next morning, she found it in the shape of 
 
 Sc
 
 3 6 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 a little tin heart. Of the little dancer only the tinsel rose was left 
 which had become as black as coal. 
 
 The Buckwheat 
 
 |HEN you pass by a field of buckwheat afte 
 a thunderstorm you will often find it lookin 
 blackened and singed, as if a flame of fir 
 had swept over it. Peasants say : " Th 
 lightning has caused this." But why did th 
 lightning blacken the buckwheat? I wi 
 tell you what I heard from the sparrow, wh 
 was told by an old willow-tree standing near a field of buckwheai 
 It was a large imposing old willow-tree, although somewhat cripple 
 by old age, and split in the middle ; grass and a bramble-bus 
 grew in the cleft ; the tree was bending down its branches so tha 
 they nearly touched the ground, hanging down like long gree: 
 hair. On all the neighbouring fields grew corn, not only rye am 
 barley, but also oats splendid oats indeed, which look, when the 
 are ripe, like many little yellow canary-birds on a branch. Th 
 corn was lovely to look at, and the fuller the ears were the lowe 
 they were hanging down, as if in godly humility. Close by, rigt 
 opposite to the old willow-tree, was also a field of buckwhea 
 The buckwheat did not bend down like the other corn, but stoo 
 proudly and stiffly upright. 
 
 "I am certainly as well off as the corn," it said,." I am i: 
 addition to this much better-looking ; my flowers are as beautift 
 as the blossoms of the apple-tree ; it must be a pleasure to loo' 
 at me and my companions. Do you know anything more magni 
 ficent than we are, old willow-tree ? " 
 
 The willow-tree nodded its head, as if it wished to say : " Ye; 
 certainly, I do." The buckwheat spread, full of pride, its leave 
 and said : " This stupid old tree ! It is so old that grass is grov 
 ing out of its trunk." 
 
 Soon a heavy thunder-storm arose ; all the flowers in the fiel
 
 THE BUCKWHEAT 37 
 
 >lded their leaves or bowed their little heads down, while the 
 :orm passed over them ; but the buckwheat remained proudly 
 anding upright. 
 
 " Bend your head, as we do," said the flowers. 
 
 " Why should I ? " asked the buckwheat. 
 
 " Bend your head, as we do," said the corn. " The angel of 
 le storm is approaching ; his wings reach from the clouds down 
 > the ground ; he will cut you in two, ere you can cry for mercy." 
 
 " But I refuse to bend my head," said the buckwheat. 
 
 " Close up your flowers and bend down your leaves," cried the 
 Id willow-tree. " Do not look up at the lightning when it tears 
 ie clouds; even mankind can't do that, for while a flash of 
 ghtning lasts one can look into heaven, and that dazzles even 
 lankind ; what would then happen to us, the plants of the earth, 
 hich are so greatly inferior to men, if we dared do so ? " 
 
 " Why greatly inferior ? " said the buckwheat. " If you cannot 
 ve a better reason, i will look up into heaven." And in its 
 oundless pride and presumption it did look up. Suddenly came 
 
 flash of lightning, that was so strong that it seemed for a 
 loment as if the whole world was in flames. 
 
 When the storm had abated, the flowers and the corn stood 
 freshed by the rain in the pure, still air ; but the buckwheat was 
 urnt by the lightning, and had become a dead, useless weed. 
 
 The wind moved the branches of the old willow-tree, so that 
 ige drops of water fell down from its green leaves, as if the tree 
 as weeping ; and the sparrows asked it, " Why do you cry ? 
 lessings are showered upon us all ; look how the sun shines, and 
 pw the clouds sail on ! Do you not smell the. sweet fragrance of 
 pwers and bushes ? Why do you cry, old willow-tree ? " 
 j Then the willow -tree told them of the pride of the buckwheat, 
 I its presumption, and of the punishment which it had to suffer, 
 'who have told you this story have heard it from the sparrows ; 
 .ey related it to me one night when I had asked them for a tale.
 
 3 8 
 
 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 The Swineherd 
 
 NCE 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 " I wish it were a little pussy cat," she said. But then the: 
 rose-tree with the beautiful rose was unpacked. 
 " Oh, how nicely it is made," exclaimed the ladies. 
 " It is more than nice," said the emperor, " it is charming." 
 The princess touched it and nearly began to cry. 
 " For shame, pa," she said, " it is not artificial, it is natural ! " 
 " For shame, it is natural,' repeated all her ladies. 
 " 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.
 
 THE SWINEHERD 3 $ 
 
 "Superbe, charmant," said the ladies of the court, for they all 
 prattled French, one worse than the other. 
 
 " 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." 
 
 " You are right," said the emperor, and began to cry like a 
 little child. 
 
 " I hope it is not natural," said the princess. 
 
 " Yes, certainly it is natural," replied those who had brought 
 the presents. 
 
 " Then let it fly," said the princess, and refused to see the 
 iprince. 
 
 But the prince was not discouraged. He painted his face, put 
 ,on common clothes, pulled his cap over his forehead, and came 
 foack. 
 
 " Good day, emperor," he said, " could you not give me some 
 employment at the court ? " 
 
 " There are so many," replied the emperor, " who apply for 
 places, "that for the present I have no vacancy, but I will 
 :emember you. But wait a moment ; it just comes into my mind, I 
 ;equire somebody to look after my pigs, for I have a great many." 
 Thus the prince was appointed imperial swineherd, and as such 
 ie 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 
 jittle pot. There were little bells round the rim, and when the 
 f ater began to boil in it, the bells began to play the old tune : 
 
 " A jolly old sow once lived in a sty, " Y** 
 Three little piggies had she," S-c. A*** 
 
 3ut what was more wonderful was that, when one put a finger 
 ito the steam rising from the pot, one could at once smell what 
 leals they were preparing on every fire in the whole town. That 
 r as indeed much more remarkable than the rose. When the 
 ,rincess with her ladies passed by and heard the tune, she stopped 
 pd looked quite pleased, for she also could play it in fact, it was 
 r ie only tune she could, play, and she played it with one finger. 
 " That is the tune I know," she exclaimed. " He must be a
 
 4 o STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 well-educated swineherd. Go and ask him how much the 
 instrument is." 
 
 One of the ladies had to go and ask ; but she put on pattens. 
 
 " What will you take for your pot ? " asked the lady. 
 
 I will have ten kisses from the princess," said the swineherd. 
 
 " God forbid," said the lady. 
 
 " Well, I cannot sell it for less," replied the swineherd. 
 
 " What did he say ? " said the princess. 
 
 " I really cannot tell you," replied the lady. 
 
 " You can whisper it into my ear." 
 
 " It is very naughty," said the princess, and walked off. 
 
 But when she had gone a little distance, the bells rang again so 
 
 sweetly : 
 
 "A jolly old sow once lived itt a, sty, 
 Three little piggies had she," &c. 
 
 "Ask him," said the princess, "if he will be satisfied with ten 
 kisses from one of my ladies." 
 
 " No, thank you," said the swineherd : " ten kisses from the 
 princess, or I keep my pot." 
 
 "That is tiresome," said the princess. "But you must stand 
 before me, so that nobody can see it." 
 
 The ladies placed themselves in front of her and spread out 
 their dresses, and she gave the swineherd ten kisses and received 
 the pot. 
 
 That was a pleasure ! Day and night the water in the pot was
 
 THE SWINEHERD 41 
 
 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. 
 
 " We know who will eat soup and pancakes ; we know who will 
 eat porridge and cutlets ; oh, how interesting ! " 
 
 " Very interesting, indeed," said the mistress of the household. 
 " But you must not betray me, for I am the emperor's daughter. 
 
 " Of course not," they all said. 
 
 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. 
 
 " 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." 
 
 " He will have a hundred kisses from the princess," said the lady, 
 who had gone down to ask him. 
 
 " 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." 
 
 " But we do not like to kiss him," said the ladies. 
 
 "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. 
 
 " A hundred kisses from the princess," said the swineherd, " or 
 everybody keeps his own." 
 
 " Place yourselves before me," said the princess then. They did 
 as they were bidden, and the princess kissed him. 
 ; " 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. 
 
 i " 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 
 iwere down at the heels, and he was very quick about it. When
 
 42 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 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. 
 
 " 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. 
 
 " 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. 
 
 " Alas, unfortunate creature that I am ! " said the princess, " I 
 wish I had accepted the prince. Oh, how wretched I am ! " 
 
 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. 
 
 " 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 ! " 
 
 And then he returned into his kingdom and left her behind. 
 She could now sing at her leisure : 
 
 " A jolly old sow once lived in a sty, 
 Three little piggies had she," &c. 
 
 The Elfin Hill 
 
 OME large lizards were nimbly running about 
 in the clefts of an old tree ; they understood 
 one another very well, for they all spoke the 
 lizard language. 
 
 " I wonder what is rumbling and rattling 
 in yon old elfin hill," said the first lizard. 
 " I have been unable to shut an eye for the 
 last two nights, so great was the noise ; it was 
 just as bad as toothache, for that also prevents me from sleeping."
 
 THE ELFIN HILL 43 
 
 n I am sure there is something on," said another lizard ; " they 
 had the top of the hill propped up on four red pillars until the 
 cock crowed this morning ; it must be well aired ; the elfin girls 
 have also learnt new dances. Surely, there is something on." 
 
 " Yes," said a third lizard, " I have seen an earthworm of my 
 acquaintance, just when it came out of the hill where it had been 
 groping about in the ground day and night. It has heard a good 
 deal ; the unfortunate animal cannot see, but knows well enough 
 how to wriggle about and listen. They expect visitors in the 
 elfin hill, and very distinguished ones too ; but whom the earth- 
 worm was unwilling or unable to tell me. All the will-o'-the wisps 
 are ordered to take part in a torchlight procession, as it is called ; 
 the silver and gold, of which there is plenty in the hill, is 
 polished and placed out in the moonlight." 
 
 " Who may these visitors be ? " asked all the lizards. " What 
 are they doing? Listen, how it hums and rumbles!" No 
 sooner had they said this than the elfin hill opened and an old 
 elfin girl, hollow at the back,* came tripping out ; she was the 
 housekeeper of the old elfin king, and being distantly connected 
 with the family, she wore an amber heart on her forehead. Her feet 
 moved so nimbly trip, trip. Good gracious ! how she could trip 
 she went straight down to the sea to the night-raven, f 
 
 " I have to invite you to the elfin hill for to-night," she said j 
 11 but you would do us a great favour if you would undertake the 
 invitations. You ought to do something, as you do not entertain 
 yourself. We expect some very distinguished friends, sorcerers, 
 who can tell us something ; that is why the old king of the elves 
 wishes to show off." 
 
 " Who is to be invited ? " asked the night-raven. 
 
 * Elfin girls are, according to the popular superstition, to be looked at 
 only from one side, as they are supposed to be hollow, like a mask. 
 
 t When in former days a ghost appeared the priest banished it into the 
 earth ; on the spot where this had happened they drove a stake into the 
 ground. At midnight there was suddenly a cry heard : " Let me go." The 
 stake was then removed, and the banished ghost escaped in the shape of a 
 raven with a hole in his left wing. This ghostly bird was called the 
 night-raven.
 
 44 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 " All the world may attend the grand ball, even human beings, if 
 they can talk in their sleep or know anything of the like which is 
 according to our ways. But for the feast the company has to be 
 strictly select : we only wish to have tiptop society. I have had 
 an argument with the king, for in my opinion not even ghosts 
 ought to be admitted. The merman and his daughters have to 
 be invited first of all. Perhaps they may not like to come to the 
 dry land, but we shall provide them with wet stones to sit on, 
 or with something still better ; and under these circumstances I 
 think they will not refuse this time. All the old demons of the 
 first class, with tails such as the goblins, we must invite, of course ; 
 further, I think, we must not forget the grave-pig,* the death-horse, 
 nor the church dwarf; they belong, it is true, to the clergy, who 
 are not of our class, but that is only their vocation ; they are our 
 near relatives, and frequently call upon us." 
 
 " Croak," said the night-raven, and flew off at once to invite the 
 people. 
 
 The elfin girls were already dancing on the hill, they were 
 wrapped in shawls made of mist and moonshine, which look very 
 pretty to people who like things of this kind. The large hall in 
 the centre of the elfin hill was beautifully adorned ; the floor had 
 been washed with moonshine, while the walls had been polished 
 with a salve prepared by witches, so that they shone like tulip- 
 leaves in the light. In the kitchen they were very busy ; frogs 
 were roasting on the spit, dishes of snail-skins with children's 
 fingers and salads of mushroom-seed, hemlock and mouse noses 
 were preparing; there was beer of the marshwoman's make, 
 sparkling wine of saltpetre from the grave vaults : all was very 
 substantial food ; the dessert consisted of rusty nails and glass 
 from church windows. The old king of the elves had his golden 
 crown polished with crushed slate-pencil ; it was the same as used 
 by the first form, and indeed it is difficult for an elf king to obtain 
 such slate-pencils. In the bedroom, curtains were hung up and 
 
 * In Denmark, superstitious people believe that under every church a 
 living horse or pig is buried. It is supposed that the ghost of the horse 
 limps on three legs every night to some house where somebody is going to 
 die.
 
 THE ELFIN HILL 45 
 
 fastened with snail-slime. There was a running, rumbling and 
 jostling everywhere. 
 
 " Now let us perfume the place by burning horse-hair and pig's 
 bristles, and then, I think, I have done all I can," said the old 
 elfin girl. 
 
 " Father, dear," said the youngest daughter, "may I now know 
 who our distinguished guests will be ? " 
 
 " Well, I suppose I may tell you now," he said. " Two of my 
 daughters must be prepared for marriage ; for two will certainly 
 be married. The old goblin of Norway, who lives in the old 
 Dovre-mountains and possesses many strong castles built on the 
 cliffs and a gold mine, which is much better than people think, 
 will come down with his two sons, who are both looking out for 
 a wife. The old goblin is as genuine and honest an old chap as 
 Norway ever brought forth; he is merry and straightforward too. 
 I have known him a very long time, we used to drink together to 
 our good friendship ; he was last here to fetch his wife, she is 
 dead now ; she was a daughter of the king of the chalk-hills 
 near Moen. He took his wife on tick, as people say. Oh, how I 
 am longing for the dear old goblin again ! They say his sons are 
 somewhat naughty and forward, but people may do them wrong 
 by supposing that, and I think they will be all right when they 
 grow older. Let me see that you can teach them good 
 manners."
 
 46 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 " When are they coming?" asked one of the daughters. 
 " That depends on wind and weather," replied the king of the 
 elves. "They travel economically. They will come when they 
 have the chance to go by ship. I wished them to come through 
 Sweden, but that was not to the old man's liking. He does not 
 advance with time, and I do not like that at all." 
 
 Just then two will-o'-the-wisps came leaping in, the one much 
 quicker than the other, and therefore one arrived first. 
 " They are coming, they are coming," they cried. 
 " Give me my crown, and let me stand in the moonshine," said 
 the elf king. 
 
 The daughters raised their shawls and bowed to the ground. 
 There stood the old goblin from Dovre; he wore a crown of 
 hardened ice and polished fir-cones ; he was wrapt in a bear-skin 
 and had large warm boots on; his sons, on the contrary, had 
 nothing round their necks and no braces on their trousers, for 
 they were strong men. 
 
 " Is that a hill ? " asked the youngest of the boys, pointing to 
 the elfin hill. " We should call it a hole, in Norway." 
 
 " Boys," said the old man, " you ought to know better, a hole 
 goes in, a hill stands out ; have you no eyes in your heads ? " 
 
 The only thing that struck them, they said, was that they were 
 able to understand the language without any difficulty. 
 
 " Don't be so foolish," said the old goblin ; " people might think 
 you are still unfledged." 
 
 Then they all went into the elfin hill, where the distinguished 
 visitors had assembled, and so quickly, that it seemed as if the 
 wind had blown them together. But every one was nicely and well 
 accommodated. The sea folks sat at dinner in big water-tubs ; 
 they said they felt quite at home. All showed very good breeding 
 except the two young goblins of the north, who put their legs on 
 the table, for they imagined that they might take such liberties. 
 
 "Take your feet off the table," said the old goblin ; and they 
 obeyed, though reluctantly. They tickled their fair neighbours at 
 table with fir-cones which they brought in their pockets ; they took 
 their boots off, in order to be at ease, and gave them to the ladies 
 to hold. But their father, the old Dovre goblin, was quite
 
 THE ELFIN HILL 47 
 
 different; he talked so well about the stately Norwegian rocks, 
 and of the waterfalls which rushed down with a noise like thunder 
 and the sound of an organ, forming white foam ; he told of the 
 salmon which leap against the rushing water when the Reck begins 
 to play on the golden harp ; he spoke of the fine moonlight winter 
 nights, when the sledge-bells are ringing and the young men skate 
 with burning torches in their hands over the ice, which is so clear 
 and transparent that they frighten the fishes under their feet. He 
 could talk so well that those who listened to him saw all in 
 reality ; it was just as if the sawmills were going, and as if servants 
 and maids were singing and dancing ; suddenly the old goblin 
 gave the old elfin girl a kiss, and it was a real kiss, and yet they 
 were almost strangers to each other. 
 
 After this the elfin girls had to perform their dances, first in the 
 ordinary way, and then with stamping of their feet, and it looked 
 very well; afterwards came the artistic and solo dance. Good 
 gracious ! how they threw their legs up ; nobody knew where they 
 began or where they ended, nor which were the legs and which 
 the arms ; all were flying about like sawdust, and they turned 
 so quickly round that the death-horse and the grave-pig became 
 unwell and had to leave the room. 
 
 " Hallo ! " cried the old goblin, " that is a strange way of 
 working about with the legs ! But what do they know besides 
 dancing, stretching the legs, and producing a whirlwind ? " 
 
 " That you shall soon see," said the elf king, and called the 
 youngest of his daughters. She was as nimble and bright as moon- 
 shine ; she was indeed the finest-looking of all the sisters. She 
 took a white chip of wood into her mouth, and disappeared in- 
 stantly ; that was her accomplishment. But the old goblin said 
 he should not like his wife to possess such a power, and was 
 sure his sons would be of the same opinion. The second could 
 walk by her own side as if she had a shadow, while everybody 
 knows that goblins never have a shadow. The third was quite 
 different in her accomplishments ; she had been apprenticed to 
 the marsh-woman in the brewery, and knew well how to lard 
 elder-tree logs with glow-worms. 
 
 "She will make a good housekeeper," said the old goblin, 

 
 4 8 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 drinking her health with his eyes, as he did not wish to take any- 
 thing more. 
 
 Now came the fourth, with a large harp to play upon ; no 
 sooner had she struck the first chord than all lifted up the left leg 
 
 for the goblins are left-legged and when she touched the 
 
 strings again every one had to do what she wished. 
 
 " That is a dangerous person," said the old goblin ; and his two 
 sons went out of the hill, for new they had seen quite enough. 
 " What does your next daughter know ? " asked the old goblin. 
 
 " I have learnt to admire all that is Norwegian, and I shall never 
 marry unless I can go to Norway." 
 
 But the smallest of the sisters whispered into the old man's ear : 
 " That is only because she has heard in a Norwegian song that 
 when the world is destroyed through water the Norwegian cliffs 
 will remain standing like monuments ; therefore she wishes to 
 go there, because she is so much afraid of being drowned." 
 
 " Ho, ho ! " said the old goblin ; " is that really what she 
 meant ? But tell me, what can the seventh and last do ? " 
 
 " The sixth comes before the seventh," said the elf king, for he 
 could count ; but the sixth was rather timid. 
 
 " I can only tell people the truth," she said at last. " Nobody 
 cares for me, and I am sufficiently occupied in making my shroud." 
 
 Now came the seventh and last ; what could she do ? Why, 
 she could tell fairy tales, and as many as ever she wished. 
 
 " Here are my five fingers," said the old goblin ; " tell me one 
 for each of them." 
 
 And she took him by the wrist, and he laughed so much that he 
 was nearly choked; when she came to the ring-finger, which 
 had a golden ring upon it, as if it was aware that a betrothal should 
 take place, the old goblin said, " Hold fast what you have ; this 
 hand is yours ; I shall marry you myself." 
 
 Then the elfin girl said that the tales of the ring-finger and 
 that of Peter Playman had yet to be told. 
 
 " Those we shall hear in the winter," said the old goblin, " and 
 also those of the birch-tree, of the ghosts' presents, and of the 
 creaking frost. You shall relate all your stories, for nobody up 
 there can tell stories well ; and then we shall sit in the rooms of
 
 THE ELFIN HILL 49 
 
 stone where the pine logs are burning, and we shall drink mead 
 but of the drinking-horns of the old Norwegian kings Reck has 
 nade me a present of a couple of them and when we are sitting 
 ihere the mermaid will come to see us ; she will sing to you all the 
 :ongs of the shepherd-girls in the mountains. We shall enjoy it 
 Jery much. The salmon will leap up in the waterfalls against the 
 rtone walls, but they cannot come in. Indeed, life is very pleasant 
 in dear old Norway. But where are my boys ? " 
 I Where had they gone to ? They were running about in the 
 ields and blowing out the will-o'-the-wisps who had so kindly 
 [ome to march in the torchlight procession. 
 I "What have you been doing?" asked the old goblin. " I have 
 taken a new mother for you ; now you can each choose one of 
 jhe aunts." 
 
 I But the boys declared that they preferred to make speeches 
 kid drink ; they had no wish to marry. And they began to 
 bake speeches, drank to other people's health, and emptied 
 heir glasses to the dregs. Afterwards they took off their coats 
 Lnd placed themselves on the tables to sleep, for they did not 
 hind on ceremonies. But the old goblin danced with his young 
 jveetheart about the room, and exchanged boots with her, for 
 i mt is more fashionable than exchanging rings. 
 I "The cock is crowing," cried the old elfin girl that did the 
 busekeeping ; " now we must close the shutters, lest the sun 
 Lrn us." 
 
 I Then the hill was closed up. But outside, the lizards were 
 Itnning about in the cleft tree, and one said to the other: "I like 
 lie old Norwegian goblin very much." 
 
 " I prefer the boys," said the earthworm ; but the unfortunate 
 himal could not see. 
 
 VOL.
 
 50 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 The Fir-Tree 
 
 AR out in the forest grew a pretty little fir-tree. 
 It had a favourable place ; the sun shone 
 brightly on it, and there was plenty of fresh 
 air, while many taller comrades, both pines 
 and firs, were thriving around it. The little 
 fir-tree longingly desired to grow taller ! It 
 was indifferent to the warm sun and the 
 fresh air, it took no notice of the peasant children, who ran about 
 and chattered, when they had come out to gather strawberries 
 and raspberries. Often they came with a basket full, and had 
 threaded strawberries on a straw like beads ; then they used to sit 
 down near the little fir-tree and say : " What a pretty little tree 
 this one is ! " But this the tree did not like to hear at all. 
 
 In the following year it grew taller by a considerable shoot, 
 and the year after by another one, for by the number of shoots 
 which fir-trees have, we may discover how many years they have 
 grown. 
 
 " Oh, that I were as tall a tree as the others ! " sighed the little 
 tree; "then I might spread out my branches far around, and 
 look with my crown out into the wide world ! The birds would 
 build their nests in my boughs, and when the wind blew I could 
 proudly nod, just like the others yonder ! " 
 
 It took no delight in the sunshine, in the birds, nor in the red 
 clouds which in the morning and evening passed over it. When 
 the winter had come and the snow was lying white and 
 sparkling on the ground, often a hare came running and jumped 
 right over the little tree oh, that annoyed it so much ! But two 
 winters passed, and in the third the little tree was already so 
 high that the hare had to run round it. " To grow, to grow, to 
 become tall and old, this is the most desirable thing in the world," 
 thought the tree. 
 
 Every year in autumn woodcutters came and felled several of 
 the biggest trees; the young tree, now well grown, shuddered, for
 
 THE FIR-TREE $i 
 
 the tall magnificent trees fell to the ground with a crash; 
 and when their branches were hewn off, the trees looked so 
 naked, long and slender, they were hardly to be recognised. Then 
 they were placed upon carts, and horses drew them out of the 
 wood. Whither were they going ? What was to become of them ? 
 In spring, when the swallows and storks returned, the tree 
 asked them : " Can you not- tell me whither they have taken / 
 them ? Have you not met them ? " 
 
 The swallows knew nothing about them ; but the stork looked 
 pensive, nodded his head and said: "Yes, I think I know.. 
 When I left Egypt I passed by many new ships, and on the ships 
 were splendid masts ; I suppose these were the trees, for they 
 smelt like fir-trees, and they looked very stately indeed ! " 
 
 " I wish I were tall enough to go over the sea ! I should like 
 | to know what the sea is. What does it look like ? " 
 
 " To explain that," replied the stork, " would take me too long," ' 
 \ and thus saying he flew away. 
 
 " Enjoy thy youth ! " said the sunbeams ; " take pleasure in 
 ithy vigorous growth, in the fresh life that is within thee." 
 
 The wind kissed the tree, and the dew shed tears over it ; but 
 ; the fir-tree did not understand them. ><?/<0*w-fv<i34stXl 
 
 About Christmas-time people cut down many trees which were 
 quite young and smaller than the fir-tree, which had no rest and 
 i always wished to be off. These young trees, the very best that 
 .could be found, kept all their branches ; they were placed upon 
 carts and drawn out of the wood by horses. 
 ! " What are they doing with them ? " asked the fir-tree. " They 
 [are not taller than I am nay, there was one much smaller ! Why 
 Ijdid they retain all their branches? Where are they conveying 
 Ethem to?" 
 
 I " We can tell you ; we know ! " chirped the sparrows. " Down 
 below in the town we have looked through the windows! 
 I'We know where they are taken to ! They come to the greatest 
 I splendour you can imagine ! We have looked in at the windows 
 ind have seen them standing in the middle of a warm room 
 j Covered with the most beautiful things : gilded apples, gingerbread, 
 I toys, and many, many wax-candles."
 
 5 4 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 "And then," asked the fir-tree, trembling all over, "what 
 happens after that?"' 
 
 " Why, that is all we have seen ! But that was very beautiful." 
 
 " I wonder whether I am destined to receive such great splendour," 
 exclaimed the fir-tree merrily. " That is far better than crossing 
 the sea ! How much I am longing for the time ! I wish Christmas 
 had arrived ! Now I am tall and have grown to a good length 
 like the others which they took away last year ! I wish I were 
 already placed on the cart or in the warm room adorned with all 
 the bright and beautiful things ! And then there is something 
 much better and brighter to come, or why would they decorate 
 the trees so beautifully? Yes, indeed, there is something more 
 splendid and grand to follow ! But what can it be ? Oh, how I 
 suffer with longing; I hardly know how I feel." 
 
 " Enjoy our presence," said the air and the sunshine ; " delight 
 in thy young life here in the forest." 
 
 But the tree did not enjoy anything, it grew and grew; winter 
 and summer it was green, and people who saw it said that it was a 
 beautiful tree. 
 
 Christmas came at last, and the tree was the first to be cut 
 down. The axe entered deeply into its stem ; the tree fell groaning 
 to the ground ; a pain and a faintness overcame it ; it was unable 
 to think of the happiness to come, it was sad that it had to leave 
 its home, the spot where it had grown up ; it knew well enough 
 that it would never see again the dear old comrades, the little 
 bushes and the flowers, and perhaps not even the birds. Parting 
 was not at all pleasant. The tree did not recover until it was taken 
 from the cart in a court-yard with other trees and heard a man 
 say : " This one is very fine, we only want this one." 
 
 Two servants in livery soon came and carried the tree into a 
 large, beautiful room. The walls were all covered with pictures, 
 and by the side of the tile-stove stood big Chinese vases with lions 
 on the lids ; there were rocking-chairs, couches covered with silk, 
 on a large table were displayed picture-books and toys of very 
 great value at least, so the children said. The fir-tree was put 
 into a large vessel filled with sand ; but nobody could see that it 
 was a vessel, for it was covered all over with green cloth and
 
 THE FIR-TREE 53 
 
 placed on a handsome carpet of many colours. How the fir-tree 
 trembled I What was to happen now ? The young ladies of the 
 house, aided by the servants, adorned the tree. They hung on its 
 branches little nets cut out of coloured paper and filled with 
 sweets ; gilded apples and walnuts were fastened to the tree, as if 
 they grew on it, and more than a hundred small candles, red, blue, 
 and white, were fixed to the branches. Dolls looking exactly like 
 human beings the tree had never seen anything of the like 
 before were hanging in the green foliage, and on the very top of 
 the tree they fixed a glittering star of tinsel. It was very beautiful. 
 "To-night," they all said " to-night it will shine !" 
 " Oh, that the evening had come ! " thought the tree. " I wish 
 the candles were lighted! And what will happen then? I 
 wonder if the trees will come from the wood to look at me, or if 
 the sparrows will look in at the windows. Am I to grow fast here 
 an^jejoajn^winter and summer adorned asJLamoiow ? " 
 
 Indeed, that was not a bad guess ! Its longing made its bark 
 ache ; barkache for a tree is just as bad as a headache for 
 
 us. 
 
 i At last the candles were lighted. What a blaze of light ! What 
 a splendour! The tree trembled so much with joy in all its 
 .branches that one of the lights set fire to one of its boughs and 
 scorched it. 
 
 , "Heaven preserve us!" exclaimed the young ladies, and 
 quickly extinguished the flame. 
 
 Now the tree was no longer allowed to tremble ! That was 
 dreadful. It was so afraid lest it might lose some of its ornaments ; 
 it was quite dazzled by all the splendour. Then the folding-doors 
 were thrown open, and the children rushed into the room as if 
 Jfcey wished to upset the tree ; the elders followed. For a moment 
 4ie children stood silent with surprise, but only for a moment ; 
 i :hen they shouted for joy till the room rang; they danced joyfully 
 found the tree, and present after present was taken down from it. 
 
 "What are they doing?" thought the tree. "What is to 
 I lappen ? " The candles burnt gradually down to the boughs on 
 > Thich they were fastened and were put out, and then the children 
 j.vere allowed to plunder the tree, Oh, how they rushed at it; all
 
 54 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 its branches cracked, and had it not been fastened with the 
 glittering star to the ceiling, they would have upset it. The 
 children were dancing about with their beautiful toys. No- 
 body took any notice of the tree, except the old nurse, who came 
 and looked at the branches, but only to see if there was not a fig 
 or an apple left on them. 
 
 "A story! a story!" cried the children, while they pulled a 
 small stout man towards the tree. He seated himself just under- 
 neath the tree, " for there we are in its green shade " he said, 
 " and it will be an advantage to the tree to listen ! But I shall 
 only tell one story. Would you like to hear Ivede-Avede or 
 Humpty Dumpty, who fell downstairs, but came to honours after 
 all and married the princess ? " 
 
 " Ivede-Avede ! " cried some, " Humpty Dumpty ! " cried 
 others ; there was a good deal of crying and shouting. Only the 
 fir-tree was quite silent and thought to itself : " Am I not to 
 take part in this ? " but it had already done what it was expected 
 to do. 
 
 And the man told the story of Humpty Dumpty who fell down- 
 stairs, and after all came to honours and married the princess. 
 And the children clapped their hands and cried : " Go on, tell 
 us another ! " They wished also to hear the story of Ivede-Avede, 
 but he only told that of Humpty Dumpty. The fir-tree was 
 standing quite silent and thoughtful ; the birds of the wood had 
 never told such stories. "Humpty Dumpty fell downstairs, and 
 yet married the princess. Thus it happens in the world," 
 thought the fir-tree, and believed that it was all true, because such 
 a nice man had told the story. " Well, well ! Who knows ? 
 Perhaps 1 shall also fall downstairs and marry a princess ! " And 
 it looked forward with joy to being adorned again on the following 
 day with toys, glitter, and fruit. 
 
 " To-morrow I shall not tremble ! " it thought ; " I shall 
 enjoy all my splendour thoroughly. To-morrow I shall hear 
 the story of Humpty Dumpty again, and perhaps also that of 
 Ivede-Avede." 
 
 All night the tree was standing silent and thoughtful. In 
 the morning the man-servants and housemaids entered the
 
 THE FIR-TREE 55 
 
 room. " Now," thought the tree, " they will adorn me again ! " 
 But they dragged it out of the room, upstairs into the garret, 
 and placed it there in a dark corner, where no daylight reached 
 'it. " What does this mean ?" thought the tree. "What am I to 
 do here ? What can I hear in such a place ?" and it leaned against 
 :the wall, and thought and thought. And, indeed, it had time 
 enough to think ; for days and nights passed, but nobody came 
 upstairs, and when at last somebody did come, it was only to store 
 away some big chests. Thus the tree was quite hidden; one 
 might have thought that they had entirely forgotten it. 
 
 " Now it is winter," thought the tree. " The ground is so hard - 
 [and covered with snow that people cannot plant me again ! 
 [Therefore, I think, they shelter me here until spring comes. How 
 (thoughtful ! How kind people are to me ! I only wish it was 
 mot quite so dark and so dreadfully lonely here ! Not even 
 a small hare is to be seen ! How nice it was in the wood, when 
 ohe snow covered the ground and the hare was running by; I 
 should not even mind his jumping right over me, although then I 
 Kould not bear the thought of it. It is awfully lonely here, indeed ! " 
 I "Squeak, squeak," a little mouse said just then, creeping timidly 
 [forward ; another one soon followed. They sniffed at the fir-tree 
 and slipped into its branches. 
 
 f " Oh, that it were not so bitter cold," said the mice, " then we 
 [should feel quite comfortable here. Don't you think so, old 
 fir-tree?" 
 
 I " I am not old at all ! " replied the fir-tree ; " there are many 
 knuch older than myself." 
 
 f " Where do you come from ? " asked the mice ; " what do you 
 know ? " for they were very inquisitive. " Tell us about the most 
 beautiful place on earth! Have you been there? Have you 
 peen in the pantry where cheeses lie on the shelves, and hams 
 hang from the ceiling, where one can dance on tallow candles, 
 Imd go in thin and come out fat ? " 
 
 l " I have not been there," said the tree; "but I know the wood 
 [where the sun shines and the birds sing." And then the tree 
 | :old the mice all about its youth. The little mice, who had never 
 Lieard anything like it before, listened attentively and exclaimed :
 
 5 6 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 "You have seen a great deal, indeed; how happy you must 
 have felt!" 
 
 " Do you think so ? " said the tree, and reflected on its own 
 story. " After all, those days were not unhappy." Then it told 
 them all about Christmas-eve, when it was so beautifully adorned 
 with cake and lights. 
 
 " You must have been very happy, you old fir-tree," replied the 
 mice. 
 
 "I am not old at all," repeated the tree, " I only left the wood 
 this winter ; I am somewhat forward in my growth." 
 
 " How well you can tell stories," said the little mice. Next 
 night they returned with four more little mice, whom they wished 
 to hear what the tree had to relate ; the more the tree told them, 
 the more it remembered distinctly all that had happened, and it 
 thought, " Those days were happy indeed, but they may come again. 
 Humpty Dumpty fell downstairs, and married the princess after 
 all ; perhaps I may also marry a princess ! " And then the fir-tree 
 thought of a pretty little birch in the wood, which appeared to it 
 a beautiful princess. 
 
 " Who is Humpty Dumpty ? " asked the little mice. And then 
 the tree had to relate the whole tale. It remembered every word 
 of it, and the little mice were so delighted that they nearly jumped 
 to the top of the tree for joy. The next night many more mice 
 came to listen to the tree ; and on Sunday two rats came ; they, 
 however, said the story was not pretty. The little mice were very 
 sorry, for they began to think less of it. 
 
 " Do you know only that one story ? " asked the rats. 
 
 "Only that one," said the tree, " and that I heard on the 
 happiest night of my life ; but then I did not know how happy I 
 was." 
 
 "That is a very poor tale," said the rats. "Do you not know 
 one about bacon and tallow candles a sort of store-room story ? " 
 
 " No," said the tree. 
 
 " We do not care for this one ; " thus saying, the rats went off. 
 
 In the end also the little mice stayed away, and the tree sighed 
 and said : " How pleasant it was to see all the lively little mice 
 sitting round me when I talked! Now all this is passed. I
 
 THE FIR-TREE 57 
 
 should be very pleased if they came to fetch me away from 
 here." 
 
 But whenever would that happen ? One morning people came 
 to tidy the garret; the chests were put aside, the tree was 
 dragged out of its corner and thrown roughly to the ground; a 
 man-servant carried it at once towards the staircase, where the 
 sun was shining. 
 
 " Now life is beginning again," thought the tree ; it felt the 
 fresh air and the first sunbeams, and soon it was carried into the 
 courtyard. All happened so quickly that the tree forgot to look 
 at itself; there was so much about it to look at. The courtyard 
 bordered on a garden, where all plants were in flower ; the roses 
 hung fresh and fragrant over the small fence ; the lime-trees were 
 blooming, and the swallows flew about, saying, " Twit, twit, twit, 
 my husband has come !" but they did not mean the fir-tree. 
 
 "Now I shall live," exclaimed the fir-tree joyfully, spreading 
 out its branches ; but alas ! they were all withered and yellow ; 
 and it lay between weeds and nettles. The star of gilt paper was 
 still fixed to its top and glittered in the sunshine. Some of the 
 bright children who had been dancing round the tree so merrily 
 on Christmas-eve were playing in the courtyard. One of the 
 smallest came and tore the gilt star off. 
 
 " Look, what is still sticking to the ugly fir-tree ! " said the 
 child, treading on the branches, which cracked under its boots. 
 And the tree looked at all the fresh and beautiful flowers in the 
 garden; it looked at itself and wished that it had remained in 
 the dark corner of the garret ; it remembered its bright youth in 
 the forest, the delightful Christmas-eve, the little mice, which had 
 so quietly listened to the story of Humpty Dumpty. 
 
 " All is over," said the old tree. " Oh, that I had enjoyed 
 myself while I could do so ! All is passed away." 
 
 A man-servant came and chopped the tree into small pieces, 
 until a large bundle was lying on the ground; then he placed 
 them in the fire, under a large copper, where they blazed 
 up brightly ; the tree sighed deeply, and each sigh was as loud as 
 a little pistol-shot ; the children, who were playing near, came \ 
 and sat down before the fire, and looking into it cried, "Pop,
 
 
 5 8 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 pop." But at each little shot, which was a deep sigh, the tree 
 thought of a summer day in the wood, or a winter night there, 
 when the stars sparkled ; it remembered the Christmas-eve and 
 ; Humpty Dumpty, the only fairy tale which it had heard and 
 knew to tell, and then it was all burnt up. 
 
 The boys played in the garden, and the smallest had fixed the 
 gilt star which had adorned the tree on its happiest night on his 
 breast. Now all had come to an end, the tree had come to an end, 
 and also the story, for all stories come to an end ! 
 
 Big Claus and Little Glaus 
 
 |N a village there once lived two men, who 
 had both the same name. Both were called 
 Claus, but the one had four horses and 
 the other had only a single one. So, to 
 distinguish them from each other, he who 
 had four horses was called " Big Claus," 
 and he who had only one " Little Claus." 
 Now let us hear what happened to both, for it is a true story. 
 
 Throughout the whole week Little Claus had to plough for Big 
 Claus and lend him his only horse ; then in return big Claus lent 
 him his four, but only once a week, and that was on Sunday. 
 Hurrah! how Little Claus cracked his whip over all the five 
 horses ; they were indeed as good as his, on that one day. The 
 sun shone beautifully, all the bells in the church steeple were 
 ringing, and the people, dressed in their best, were going to 
 church, with their hymn-books under their arm, to hear the vicar 
 preach. They saw Little Claus, who was ploughing with five 
 horses, and he was so happy that he kept on cracking his whip 
 and shouting, " Gee-up, all my horses ! " 
 
 "You must not talk like that," said Big Claus, "only one of 
 them is yours ! " 
 
 But as soon as some one went by Little Claus forgot that he 
 ought not to say so, and cried : Gee-up, all my horses ! "
 
 GG-UB, 
 ^ = ~ 
 
 1 I \ /muoQy
 
 BIG CLAUS AND LITTLE CLAUS 61 
 
 " Well, now I must ask you to leave off saying that," said Big 
 [Glaus ; " for if you say it once more, I shall strike your horse on 
 the head, so that it will die on the spot ; it will be all over with 
 him then." 
 
 " I will really not say so any more," said Little Glaus. But as 
 soon as people came near again, and nodded him " good-day," he 
 felt happy, and thought how very fine it looked to have five horses 
 to plough his field ; so he cracked his whip once more and cried, 
 " Gee-up, all my horses ! " 
 
 i " I'll gee-up your horses ! " said Big Glaus, and taking a heavy 
 bar struck Little Glaus's only horse on the head, so that it fell down 
 dead on the spot. 
 
 ; " Oh, now I have no longer any horse," said Little Glaus, and 
 began to cry. He then took the hide from off his horse and let it 
 pry well in the wind, put it into a sack which he slung across his 
 shoulder, and went to the town to sell it. 
 
 He had a very long way to go, through a great, dark wood, and 
 a violent storm came on ; he lost his way entirely, and before he 
 came to the right road again it was evening, and much too far to 
 reach the town or to return home before nightfall. 
 
 Close to the road lay a large farm ; the shutters were up before 
 the windows, but the light could still shine through at the top. 
 ;" I daresay I shall be able to get permission to stay there for the 
 night," thought Little Glaus, and went up and knocked. 
 [ The farmer's wife opened the door, but when she heard what he 
 wanted, she told him to be off, saying that her husband was not at 
 lome, and that she did not take in strangers. 
 I " Well, then I must lie down outside," said Little Glaus, and 
 |;he farmer's wife shut the door in his face. 
 
 [ Close by stood a large haystack, and between this and the house 
 aras a small shed covered with a flat thatched roof. 
 I " I can lie down there," thought little Glaus, when he spied 
 ;he roof; "that will make a splendid bed. I don't suppose the 
 stork will fly down and bite my legs." For a live stork was stand- 
 ng high up on the roof, where it had its nest. 
 
 Little Glaus now crept up on the shed, where he lay and turned 
 limself over to settle down comfortably. The wooden shutters
 
 62 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 before the windows did not reach to the top, and so he could see 
 right into the room. 
 
 There was a big table laden with wine and roast meat and a 
 splendid fish ; at this table were seated the farmer's wife and the 
 sexton, but no one else. She was filling his glass, and he was 
 pegging away with his fork at the fish, for it was his favourite 
 dish. 
 
 "How ever could I get some of it, too?" thought Little 
 Glaus, and stretched his head out towards the window. Heavens ! 
 what a fine cake he saw in there ! That was indeed a feast ! 
 
 Now he heard some one riding from the high road towards 
 the house ; that was the woman's husband, who was coming 
 home. He was a very good man, but he had the strange peculiarity 
 that he could never bear to see a sexton ; if he caught sight of a 
 sexton he would get quite mad. It was also for this reason that 
 the sexton had gone to see the wife to bid her good-day, because 
 he knew that her husband was not at home, and the good woman 
 therefore placed before him the best fare that she had. But when 
 they heard the husband coming they were startled, and the woman 
 begged the sexton to creep into a great empty chest. He did so, 
 because he knew that the poor man could not bear to see a sexton. 
 The woman hastily hid all the fine things and the wine in her 
 oven, for if her husband had seen them, he would certainly have 
 asked what it meant. 
 
 " Ah me ! " sighed Little Glaus up on his shed when he saw the 
 good things vanishing. 
 
 " Is any one up there ? " asked the farmer, and cast his eyes up 
 to Little Glaus. "What are you lying there for? You had 
 better come with me into the room." 
 
 Then Little Glaus told how he had lost his way, and begged to 
 be allowed to stay there for the night. 
 
 "Most certainly!" said the farmer; "but we must first have 
 something to live on." 
 
 The woman received them both in a very friendly manner, laid 
 the cloth on a long table, and gave them a large dish of porridge. 
 The farmer was hungry and ate with a good appetite, but Little 
 Glaus could not help thinking of the fine roast meat, fish, and
 
 BIG CLAUS AND LITTLE CLAUS 63 
 
 cake which he knew were in the oven. Under the table, at his 
 feet, he had placed the sack containing the horse-hide, which, as 
 we know, he was going to sell in the town. He did not care 
 for the porridge, and therefore trod upon his sack so that the dry 
 hide creaked. 
 
 " Hush ! " said Little Glaus to his sack, treading, at the same 
 time, on it again, when it creaked louder than before. 
 
 " What is it that you have in your sack ? " asked the farmer. 
 
 " Oh, that's a magician ! " said Little Claus. " He says we 
 should not eat any porridge, as he has conjured the whole oven 
 full of roast meat, fish and cake." 
 
 " Gracious me ! " said the farmer, and quickly opened the oven, 
 where he saw all the nice dainty fare which his wife had hidden 
 there, but which he believed the magician in the sack had 
 conjured up for them. The woman dared not say anything, but 
 put the things on the table at once, and so they both ate of the 
 fish, the roast meat and the cake. Little Claus then trod on his 
 sack again, so that the hide creaked. 
 
 " What does he say now ? " asked the farmer. 
 
 "He says that he has also conjured three bottles of wine for 
 us, and that they are standing in the corner near the oven." 
 The woman was now obliged to bring out the wine which she 
 had hidden, and the farmer drank and became very merry. A 
 magician, such as Little Claus had in his sack, he would have 
 very much liked to possess. 
 
 " Can he conjure up the devil too ? " asked the farmer ; " I 
 should like to see him, for I am merry now." 
 
 " Yes," said Little Claus, " my magician can do anything that 
 I ask of him. Can't you ? " he asked, and trod on the sack to 
 make it creak. " Do you hear ? He says, ' Yes,' but the devil is 
 very ugly ; we had better not see him." 
 
 " Oh, I'm not at all afraid. I wonder what he is like." 
 
 " He will take the form of a sexton." 
 
 " Ugh ! " said the farmer, " that's awful ! I must tell you that 
 I cannot bear to see a sexton. But that's nothing ; I know that 
 it's the devil, so I can easily put up with it. Now I have courage. 
 But he must not come too near to me."
 
 64 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 "Then I will ask my magician," said Little Glaus, and treading 
 on the sack held his ear to it. 
 
 " What does he say ? " 
 
 " He says that if you open the chest which is standing in the 
 corner there, you will see the devil crouching inside ; but you 
 must hold the lid so that he does not escape." 
 
 Will you help me to hold it ? " he said, and went up to the chest 
 
 in which the woman had hidden the real sexton, who was sitting 
 inside in a great fright. 
 
 The farmer opened the lid a little, and looked in under it. 
 " Ugh ! " he cried, and sprang back. " Yes, now I've seen him ; 
 he looked exactly like our sexton. Nay, that was terrible." 
 
 After that they were obliged to drink, and so they drank till far 
 into the night. 
 
 "You must sell me the magician," said the farmer. "Ask 
 what you like for him. I'll give you a whole bushel full of money 
 at once." 
 
 " No, I can't do that," said Little Glaus. " Just think, how 
 much profit I can get out of this magician." 
 
 " I should so much like to have him," said the farmer, and 
 went on begging.
 
 
 BIG CLAUS AND LITTLE CLAUS 65 
 
 " Well," said Little Glaus at last, " as you have been so good as 
 to give me shelter to-night, I'll do it. You shall have the 
 magician for a bushel full of money, but I must have the bushel 
 heaped up." 
 
 "That you shall have," said the farmer. "But you must take 
 the chest there with you. I won't keep it in my house an hour ; 
 one can never know, perhaps he is still in there." 
 
 Little Glaus gave the farmer his sack containing the dry hide, 
 and received for it a bushel full of money, heaped up too. The 
 farmer even gave him a truck as well, to carry away the money 
 and the chest. 
 
 " Good-bye ! " said Little Glaus, and went away with his money 
 and the large chest in which the sexton was still concealed. 
 
 On the other side of the wood was a large, deep river; the 
 water flowed so rapidly that it was scarcely possible to swim 
 against the stream. A large new bridge had been built across it ; 
 Little Glaus stopped on the middle of this, and said quite loud 
 so that the sexton in the chest could hear it : 
 , " Whatever am I to do with this stupid chest ? It's as heavy 
 as if there were stones in it. I shall only get tired by dragging it 
 'farther ; I'll throw it into the river. If it swims home to me, well 
 and good, and if it doesn't, it won't matter much." 
 : He then took hold of the chest with one hand and lifted it up 
 i little, as if he wanted to throw it into the water. 
 
 " No, don't do that ! " cried the sexton in the chest. " Let me 
 out first." 
 
 ; " Ugh ! " said Little Glaus, and pretended to be frightened. 
 ' He's still inside ! Then I must throw him into the river 
 quickly, so that he drowns." 
 
 | " Oh no, no ! " shouted the sexton. " I'll give you a whole 
 : Dushel full of money, if you let me go." 
 
 " Oh, well ! that's different," said Little Glaus, and opened the 
 I :hest. The sexton crept out quickly, threw the empty chest into 
 .he water, and went to his home, where Little Glaus received a 
 Bushel full of money; he had already received one from the 
 j fanner, so he now had his truck full of money. 
 | " See, I was well paid for the horse ! " he said to himself, when 
 VOL. i. E
 
 66 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 he shook out all the money into a heap in his room at home. 
 "That will make Big Glaus angry, when he hears how rich I 
 have become through my single horse ; but I won't tell him all 
 about it." 
 
 He then sent a boy to Big Glaus to borrow a bushel measure. 
 
 "What can he want with that?" thought Big Glaus, and 
 smeared some tar on the bottom, so that something of whatever 
 was measured would remain sticking to it. And so it happened, 
 too ; for when he got the bushel measure back, three new silver 
 shilling pieces were sticking to it. 
 
 "What's that?" said Big Glaus, and immediately ran to Little 
 Glaus. 
 
 " Where did you get so much money from ? " 
 
 " Oh 1 that's for my horse-hide ; I sold it yesterday evening." 
 
 " That's really well paid ! " said Big Glaus, and running quickly 
 home, took an axe, and struck all his four horses on the head ; he 
 then flayed them, and drove to the town with the hides. 
 
 " Hides ! Hides ! Who'll buy hides ! " he cried through the 
 streets. All the shoemakers and tanners came running up and 
 asked what he wanted for them. 
 
 " A bushel of money for each," said Big Glaus. 
 
 " Are you mad ? " they all cried. " Do you think we have 
 money by the bushel ? " 
 
 " Hides ! Hides ! Who'll buy hides ! " and to all who asked 
 him what the hides cost, he answered : " A bushel of money." 
 
 " He wants to fool us," they all said ; so the shoemakers took 
 their straps, and the tanners their leather aprons, and gave Big 
 Glaus a sound thrashing. 
 
 "Hides! Hides!" they jeeringly called after him; "yes, 
 we'll tan your hide, till the red liquor runs down from you. Out 
 of the town with him ! " they cried, and Big Glaus had to run aa 
 fast as he could, for he had never had such a sound thrashing 
 before. 
 
 "Well," he said, when he got home, " Little Glaus shall pay me 
 for that ; I'll strike him dead for it." 
 
 Little Claus's grandmother, who lived with him, had died. She 
 had really been very cross and bad to him, but still he was sorry,
 
 BIG CLAUS AND LITTLE CLAUS 67 
 
 and took the dead woman and laid her in his warm bed to see 
 whether she did not come to life again. He would let her lie 
 | there the whole night ; he himself would go to sleep upon a 
 chair in the corner, as he had often done before. 
 
 As he was sitting there in the night, the door opened, and Big 
 Claus came in with his axe. He well knew where Little Claus's bed 
 i stood, went straight up to it, and struck the grandmother on the 
 ; head, thinking that it was Little Claus. 
 
 " There," he said, " now you shall not make a fool of me again," 
 i and went home. 
 
 "That is a very wicked man," thought Little Claus. "He 
 wanted to kill me. It is lucky for grandmother that she was dead 
 already, else he would have taken her life." 
 
 He then dressed his grandmother in her Sunday clothes, borrowed 
 a horse of his neighbour and harnessed it to the cart ; then he put 
 his grandmother on the back seat, in order that she could not fall 
 out as he drove, and so they rode away through the wood. By 
 sunrise they had arrived at a large inn ; here Little Claus stopped 
 and went in to get something to drink. The landlord had a 
 great deal of money : he was a very good man, too, but as 
 passionate as if he were filled with pepper and tobacco. 
 
 " Good morning ! " he said to Little Claus. " You got into your 
 jclothes early to-day." 
 
 ! "Yes," said Little Claus, "I am going to the town with my 
 grandmother ; she is sitting outside on the cart, I can't bring her 
 knto the room. Will you give her a glass of mead ? But you must 
 Speak very loud, for she can't hear well." 
 
 I " Yes, certainly I will," said the landlord, and poured out a 
 large glass of mead, which he took out to the dead grandmother, 
 who was placed upright in the cart. 
 
 " Here is a glass of mead from your son," said the landlord. 
 The dead woman, however, did not answer a word, and sat still. 
 
 " Don't you hear ? " shouted the landlord, as loud as he could ; 
 "here is a glass of mead from your grandson." 
 
 He shouted it out once more and then still once more, but as 
 she did not move at all from her place he became angry and threw 
 the glass in her face, so that the mead ran down her nose and she
 
 68 
 
 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 fell backwards in the cart ; for she had only been placed upright 
 and not tied fast. 
 
 " Hallo ! " cried Little Glaus, rushing out and seizing the land- 
 lord by the throat; "you have killed my grandmother. Look 
 here, there is a large hole in her forehead." 
 
 " Oh, what a misfortune ! " cried the landlord, wringing his 
 hands. "All this comes of my hot temper. My dear Little 
 Glaus, I will give you a bushel of money and have your grand- 
 mother buried as if she were my own ; but keep silent, or they 
 will cut off my head and that would be so unpleasant." So Little 
 Glaus got a bushel of money, and the landlord buried his grand- 
 mother as if she had been his own. 
 
 When Little Glaus came home again with all the money, he at 
 once sent his boy over to ask Big Glaus to lend him a bushel 
 measure. 
 
 " What's that ? " said Big Glaus. " Have I not killed him ? I 
 must go and see for myself." So he himself took the bushel 
 measure over to Little Glaus.
 
 BIG CLAUS AND LITTLE CLAUS 69 
 
 "Tell me where you got all that money," he said, and opened 
 his eyes wide when he saw what had been added. 
 
 " You didn't kill me, but my grandmother," said Little Claus ; 
 " I have sold her and got a bushel of money for her." 
 
 " That's really well paid," said Big Claus ; and hurrying home, 
 took an axe and killed his grandmother on the spot. Placing her 
 in the cart, he drove with her to the town where the apothecary 
 lived, and asked him whether he could buy a dead body. 
 
 " Who is it, and where did you get it ? " asked the apothecary. 
 
 " It's my grandmother," said Big Claus. " I killed her to get a 
 bushel of money for her." 
 
 "Heaven preserve us!" said the apothecary. "You are mad. 
 Don't talk like that, or you will lose your head." And then he 
 explained to him what a wicked deed he had done, and what a 
 bad man he was, and that he ought to be punished ; this frightened 
 Big Claus so, that he rushed out of the shop into the cart, lashed 
 his horses and drove home. But the apothecary and all the people 
 thought he was mad, and so let him drive where he liked. 
 
 " You shall pay me for that ! " said Big Claus, when he got on 
 the high road outside the town. " Yes, you shall pay me for it, 
 Little Claus." As soon as he reached home he took the largest 
 sack that he could find, went over to Little Claus, and 
 said, "You have made a fool of me again. First I killed my 
 horse, then my grandmother. That's all your fault, but you 
 shall not fool me again." With that he took hold of Little 
 Claus round the body and put him in his sack, then took him on 
 his back, and called out to him : " Now I am going to take you 
 away to drown you." 
 
 It was a long way that he had to go before he came to the river, 
 and Little Claus was not very light to carry. The road led close 
 by the church, and the organ was pealing and the people were 
 singing beautifully. So Big Claus put down his sack with Little 
 Claus in it close to the church door, and thought it might be a 
 very good thing to go in and hear a psalm before going any 
 farther. Little Claus could not possibly get out of the sack, 
 and all the people were in the church ; so he went in. 
 ' " Oh dear ! oh dear ! " sighed Little Claus in the sack, turning
 
 ;o 
 
 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 and twisting about ; but it was impossible for him to untie the 
 string. By-and-bye an old cattle-driver with snow-white hair 
 passed by, with a long staff in his hand. He was driving a herd 
 of cows and oxen before him, and these, stumbling against the 
 sack in which Little Glaus lay, it was thrown over. " Ah me !" 
 
 sighed Little Glaus, " I am still so young, and am going already 
 to heaven." 
 
 " And I, poor man," said the driver, " who am already so old, 
 cannot get there yet." 
 
 " Open the sack," called out Little Glaus ; " get in instead of 
 me, and you will go to heaven immediately." 
 
 " With all my heart," said the driver, and untied the sack, out of 
 which Little Glaus crept at once. 
 
 " But will you look after my cattle ? " asked the old man, as he 
 got into the sack ; upon which Little Glaus tied it up and went 
 away with all the cows and oxen. 
 
 Soon afterwards Big Glaus came out of the church and took 
 his sack on his back again, although it seemed to him to have 
 become lighter, for the old cattle-driver was only half as heavy as 
 Little Glaus. " How light he is to carry now ! That is because
 
 BIG CLAUS AND LITTLE CLAUS 71 
 
 I have heard a psalm." So he went to the river, which was 
 deep and wide, threw the sack, with the old driver in it, into the 
 water, and called out after him, for he believed that it was 
 Little Glaus : " Lie there ! You will not fool me again." He 
 then went home ; but when he came to the place where two roads 
 crossed, he met Little Glaus, who was driving his cattle along. 
 
 " What's that ? " said Big Glaus. " Haven't I drowned you ? " 
 
 " Yes ! " said Little Glaus. " You threw me into the river 
 scarcely half an hour ago." 
 
 "But where did you get these beautiful cattle?" asked Big 
 Glaus. 
 
 " These are sea-cattle," said Little Glaus. " I will tell you the 
 whole story, and thank you for having drowned me, for now I am 
 up in the world and am really rich. How frightened I was while 
 I was in the sack ! the wind whistled in my ears as you threw me 
 down from the bridge into the cold water. I immediately sank to 
 the bottom, but did not hurt myself, for down there grows the 
 finest soft grass. I fell on that and the sack was opened at once ; 
 a most lovely maiden, with snow-white clothes and a green 
 wreath around her wet hair, took me by the hand and said, " Are 
 you there, Little Glaus ? Here you have some cattle to begin with. 
 A mile farther on the road there is another large herd, which I will 
 give you." Then I saw that the river formed a great highway for 
 the people of the sea. Down at the bottom they were walking 
 and driving straight from the sea right up into the land, as far as the 
 place where the river ends. It was full of lovely flowers and the 
 freshest grass ; the fish, which swam in the water, shot past my 
 ears, just as the birds do here in the air. What lovely people 
 there were there, and what fine cattle grazing in the valleys and on 
 the hills ! " 
 
 " But why did you come up again to us so quickly ? " asked 
 Big Glaus. " I shouldn't have done so, if it is so fine down 
 there." 
 
 " Well," said Little Glaus, " that was good policy on my part. 
 You heard me say that the sea-maiden told me there was a herd 
 of cattle for me a mile farther on the road. Now by the road she 
 meant the river, for she cannot go anywhere else. But I know
 
 72 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 what windings the river makes, first here and then there, so that 
 it is a long way round ; it is much shorter by landing here and 
 cutting across the field back to the river. I save almost half a 
 mile in that way, and get to my cattle more quickly." 
 
 " Oh, you are a lucky man," said Big Claus. " Do you think 
 that I should get some cattle too if I went to the bottom of the 
 river?" 
 
 " Yes, I think so," said Little Claus. " But I can't carry you 
 in the sack to the river ; you are too heavy for me. If you will 
 walk there yourself and creep into the sack, I will throw you in 
 with the greatest pleasure." 
 
 " Thank you," said Big Claus ; " but if I don't get any sea-cattle 
 when I reach the bottom, I promise you I'll give you a sound 
 thrashing." 
 
 " Oh, don't be as bad as that ! " So they both went to the 
 river. When the cattle, who were thirsty, saw the water, they ran 
 as fast as they could, to get down to the stream. 
 
 " See how they hurry ! " said Little Claus. " They are longing 
 to get back to the bottom." 
 
 "Yes, but help me first," said Big Claus, " else I'll thrash you ;" 
 and he crept into a large sack which had been lying across the 
 back of one of the oxen. " Put a stone into it, or I am afraid I 
 shall not sink to the bottom," he added. 
 
 " That's all right ! " said Little Claus ; but he put a large stone 
 into the sack all the same, tied the string tightly, and then pushed. 
 Plump ! there lay Big Claus in the river, and immediately sank to 
 the bottom. 
 
 " I don't think he'll find the cattle," said Little Claus, and went 
 home with those that he had.
 
 THE SAUCY BOY 73 
 
 The Saucy Boy 
 
 NCE upon a time there was an old poet, one 
 of those right good old poets. 
 
 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. 
 
 " There will not be a dry thread left on the poor people who are 
 put in this weather," he said. 
 
 ! " 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 
 che rain was pouring down and the wind was rattling all the 
 Vindows. 
 
 j " Poor creature ! " said the poet, and got up and opened the 
 loor. Before him stood a little boy; he was naked, and the 
 .vater flowed from his long fair locks. He was shivering with 
 bid ; if he had not been let in, he would certainly have perished 
 n the storm. 
 
 1 " Poor little thing ! " said the poet, and took him by the hand. 
 I; Come to me ; I will soon warm you. You shall have some wine 
 nd an apple, for you are such a pretty boy." 
 i And he was, too. His eyes sparkled like two bright stars, and 
 Ithough the water flowed down from his fair locks, they still 
 ! urled quite beautifully. 
 
 I He looked like a little angel, but was pale with cold, and trem- 
 i ling all over. In his hand he held a splendid bow, but it had 
 een entirely spoilt by the rain, and the colours of the pretty arrows 
 ad run into one another by getting wet. 
 
 The old man sat down by the fire, and taking the little boy on 
 ! is knee, wrung the water out of his locks and warmed his hands 
 i his own. 
 He then made him some hot spiced wine, which quickly revived
 
 74 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 him; so that, with reddening cheeks, he sprang upon the floor and 
 danced around the old man. 
 
 " You are a merry boy," said the latter. " What is your name ? " 
 
 " My name is Cupid," he answered. " Don't you know me ? j 
 There lies my bow. I shoot with that, you know. Look, the 
 weather is getting fine again the moon is shining." 
 
 " But your bow is spoilt," said the old poet. 
 
 " 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 j 
 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 ! 
 
 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." 
 
 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 recognise 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. 
 Now you know what a bad boy this wicked Cupid is.
 
 THE SHEPHERDESS AND THE SWEEP 75 
 
 The Shepherdess and the Sweep 
 
 AVE you ever seen a very old wooden 
 3J ^***gi^jfcl cupboard, blackened by age, and de- 
 lA ^Oi^OsSXI corated with many carved arabesques 
 and foliage? Such a one stood in a 
 sitting-room ; it was a legacy from the 
 great-grandmother, and was covered all 
 over with carved roses and tulips. Upon 
 it one could see the most peculiar figures, 
 nd little stagheads with antlers were projecting from them. In the 
 icntre of the cupboard stood a carved man ; he looked, indeed, 
 jery ridiculous, and he grinned, for one could not possibly call 
 i laughing ; he had legs like a goat, little horns on his forehead, 
 ind a long beard. The children in the room used to call him 
 Jnder- General -Commander -War -Sergeant -in -Chief Billy Goat- 
 ;gs. That was a name difficult to pronounce, and there are very 
 w who obtain such a title ; but to have such a man cut out was 
 Bitainly something. There he was ! He looked continually 
 owards the table underneath the looking-glass, where a sweet 
 ?ttle shepherdess of porcelain was standing. Her shoes were 
 tiilded, her dress was adorned with a red rose ; she wore a golden 
 at and crook ; in short, she was very beautiful. Close by her 
 lood a little chimney-sweep, as black as coal, and he, too, was of 
 brcelain. He was as clean and nice as any other person ; that he 
 as a sweep was only because he was to represent one ; the 
 [brcelain modeller might just as well have made him a prince, if 
 K had liked. 
 
 i There he was standing with his ladder, and his face was as 
 ihite and rosy as a girl's ; properly speaking, that was wrong, for it 
 t'jght to have been a little blackened. He was close by the 
 i icpherdess, and both were standing on the spots where they had 
 btn placed. As they were thus brought together, they had 
 jcome engaged. They were very suitable for each other ; both 
 sre young, of the same porcelain and equally fragile.
 
 7 6 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 Close by stood another figure, which was three times as large as 
 this couple ; it was an old china-man who could nod. He, too, 
 was made of porcelain, and pretended to be the grandfather of 
 the little shepherdess, but he had no proof of it. He claimed to 
 have power over her, and therefore he had nodded to the Under- 
 General-Commander- War-Sergeant - in - Chief Billy Goatlegs, who 
 paid his addresses to the little shepherdess. 
 
 " You will have a husband," said the old china-man, " who, I 
 incline to think, is of mahogany. He can make you Mrs. Under- 
 General-Commander- War-Sergeant - in - Chief Billy Goatlegs; he 
 has a whole cupboard full of silver-plate, which he keeps in secret 
 compartments." 
 
 " I do not wish to go into the dark cupboard," said the little 
 shepherdess. "I have heard it said that he has eleven china- 
 women inside the cupboard." 
 
 " Then you may well become the twelfth," said the china-man. 
 "To-night, as soon as it rattles in the cupboard, you shall be 
 married, as truly as I am a china-man." Then he nodded again 
 and fell asleep. 
 
 But the little shepherdess cried and looked at her beloved one, 
 the porcelain chimney-sweep. 
 
 " I entreat you," she said to him, " to take me far, far away, for 
 we cannot stay here." 
 
 " I will do anything you please," said the little sweep. " Let us 
 be off at once. I think I shall be able to keep you by my 
 trade ! " 
 
 " I wish we had already safely got down from the table," she 
 said. " I shall not be happy, until we are far away." 
 
 And he comforted her, and showed her how she must put her 
 little feet on the carved corners and the gilded ornaments of the 
 leg of the table ; he aided her with his little ladder, and soon they 
 arrived on the floor. When they looked towards the old cup- 
 board, they noticed that there was a great deal of noise in it ; all 
 the carved stags put their heads further out, lifted up their antlers, 
 and twisted their necks. The Under-General-Commander-War- 
 Sergeant-in-Chief Billy Goatlegs jumped up with excitement, and 
 called out to the old china-man : " Look, there they are running
 
 THE SHEPHERDESS AND THE SWEEP 77 
 
 '.way." Then they were terribly frightened, and leapt quickly into 
 (he drawer of the window-seat. 
 
 In this drawer were three packs of cards, but none of them was 
 complete, and a little doll's theatre, which was built up as well as 
 rcircumstances permitted. There a comedy was being performed, 
 ,nd all the ladies, diamonds, clubs, hearts, and spades, were sitting 
 n the front row and fanning themselves with their tulips; all the 
 .inaves were standing behind them, showing that they had a head 
 >elow as well as above, as all playing-cards have. The comedy 
 vas about two people who were not to marry each other. The 
 jhepherdess shed tears over it, for it was exactly her own story. 
 f " I cannot stand this any longer," she said, " I must get out of 
 he drawer." But when they got out and looked up towards the 
 able, the old china-man was awake and shook his whole body, 
 jyhich was all one piece. 
 
 " Now the old china-man is coming," cried the little shepherdess, 
 ,nd fell down on her porcelain knees, she was so much afraid, 
 i " I have an idea," said the sweep. " Shall we creep into the 
 'ig pot-pourri vase yonder in the corner ? There we can repose 
 | ; n roses and lavender, and throw salt into his eyes when he 
 Domes." 
 
 : "That will not save us," she said, "for I know that the old 
 jiiina-man and the pot-pourri vase were one day engaged, and 
 :iere always remains a certain friendly feeling between people who 
 iave once been on such terms. No, we have no alternative ; we 
 mst go out into the wide world." 
 
 !, " Have you really the courage to go with me out into the wide 
 orld? "asked the sweep. "Have you ever thought how large 
 le world is, and that we shall never return here ? " 
 5 " Yes, certainly," was her reply. 
 
 ! Then the sweep looked her straight into the face and said : 
 ;My way leads through the chimney. Have you really the 
 purage to go with me through the stove, through the iron case 
 >s well as through the pipes ? Through them we get out into 
 le chimney, and then I know my way very well. We shall get 
 P high up, that they can no longer reach us ; on the very top is a 
 .Die which leads out into the wide world."
 
 7 8 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 He then led her to the stove-door. 
 
 " How black it looks ! " she said ; but she went with him, not only 
 through the iron case, but also through the pipes, where it was 
 pitch dark. 
 
 " Now we are in the chimney," he said. " Look up above you, 
 there is a beautiful star shining." 
 
 It was a real star in the sky which was shining straight down upon 
 them, as if it wished to show them the way. They climbed and 
 crept on ; it was a dreadful way and very high up. He held her 
 tightly and pointed the best places out to her, where she could 
 put her little porcelain feet safely down ; at last they reached the 
 rim of the chimney-pot and sat down, for they were very tired, 
 and that was not wonderful. 
 
 The sky, with all its stars, was high above them, the roofs of the 
 town spread out at their feet. They could see very far, far out 
 into the world. The poor shepherdess had not thought that it 
 would be like this ; she leant her head on her sweep and began 
 to cry so bitterly that all the gilt came off her girdle. 
 
 "That is too much," she said. " I cannot stand it. The world 
 is too large ! I wish I were again on the table underneath the 
 looking-glass. I shall not be happy until I have got back there. 
 I have gone out with you into the wide world, now you can take 
 me back again, if you really care so much for me as you say." 
 
 The sweep reasoned with her, talked about the old china-man 
 and the Under-General-Commander-War-Sergeant-in-Chief Billy 
 Goatlegs ; but she sobbed bitterly, and kissed her little sweep 
 so much, that he could not do otherwise than give in, although 
 it was foolish. 
 
 So they returned, with great difficulties, through the chimney, 
 and crept through the pipes and the iron case : that was very 
 unpleasant. When they had arrived in the dark stove they stood 
 and listened behind the door to hear what was going on in the 
 room. But there all was quiet ; they peeped in, and there the 
 old china-man was lying on the floor. He had fallen down from 
 the table when he wished to run after them, and was broken into 
 three pieces ; the whole back had come off in one piece, and the 
 head had rolled into a corner. The Un.der-General-Commander-
 
 THE SHEPHERDESS AND THE SWEEP 79 
 
 tfar-Sergeant-in-Chief Billy Goatlegs stood still in the place 
 svhere he had always been, and meditated. 
 
 " That is terrible," ''said the little shepherdess. The old 
 rrandfather is broken to pieces, and that is all our fault I 
 [hall never get over this." And then she wrung her hand" 
 
 "He can be riveted,'Lsaid.-the sweep. "He can be riveted 
 gam. Do not be too frightened^ If they cement his back and 
 ut a good strong n^eHnttrffis neck, he will be as good as new, 
 nd may still say many disagreeable things to us." 
 
 " Do you think so ? " she asked. Then they crept up to the 
 ible and returned to their former places. 
 
 ( " Here we are again on the same spot," said the sweep. " We 
 tight have saved all the trouble." 
 
 , " Oh, that grandfather were riveted again ! " said the shepherdess. 
 Is that very expensive ? " 
 
 ; And he was riveted. The people had his back cemented, and 
 jgood strong rivet was put into his neck ; he was as good as new 
 ;ain, but he could no longer nod. 
 
 " You seem to have become haughty since you broke to pieces," 
 id the Under-General-Commander-War-Sergeant-in-Chief. "I 
 Jink you have no cause to be so conceited. Am I to have her 
 'am I not?" 
 
 The sweep and the little shepherdess looked quite piteously at the 
 id china-man ; they feared lest he might nod again. But he could 
 tt do so. It was very unpleasant for him to tell the people that 
 \ had a rivet in his neck. Thus the two lovers remained together, 
 Jjssed the grandfather's rivet, and loved each other till they broke 
 i pieces. '
 
 80 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 The Goloshes of Fortune 
 
 I. A BEGINNING. 
 
 |T a house in East Street, Copenhagen, not far 
 from the King's New Market, a very large 
 party had assembled; evidently the host 
 aimed at receiving invitations in return, as 
 he had invited so many people. Half of 
 the guests had already sat down at the 
 card-tables, while the others seemed to be 
 waiting for the answer to their hostess's question, " What shall we 
 do now ? " The entertainment had advanced far enough for the 
 people to be getting more and more animated. Among various 
 other subjects, the conversation turned upon the Middle Ages. 
 Some held the opinion that the Middle Ages were more interesting 
 than our own time ; and Counsellor Knapp stood up for this 
 opinion so warmly, that the lady of the house sided with him at 
 once, and both eagerly declaimed against Oerstedt's treatise in the 
 Almanac " On Ancient and Modern Times," in which the main 
 preference is given to our own age. The Counsellor held that 
 the times of the Danish King Hans were the best and most 
 prosperous. 
 
 While this was the subject of the conversation, which was only 
 interrupted for a moment by the arrival of a newspaper contain- 
 ing nothing worth reading, let us look into the anteroom, 
 where the cloaks, sticks, and goloshes belonging to the guests 
 were lying. Here two women were sitting, the one young, the 
 other more advanced in years. One might have thought they 
 were servants who had come to accompany their mistresses 
 home ; but upon looking more closely at them, one was soon ( 
 convinced that they were not common servants ; their appearance 
 was too dignified, their skins too delicate, and their dresses too 
 elegant. They were two fairies. 
 
 The youngest was not Fortune herself, it is true, but the hand-
 
 VOL. I.
 
 THE GOLOSHES Of FORTUNE 3 
 
 maid of one of her ladies in waiting, who carried the smaller gifts 
 about. The elder one looked somewhat gloomy; she was Care 
 who always transacts all her business personally, for only then 
 does she know that it is well done. 
 
 They were telling each other where they had been during the 
 jday. Fortune's messenger had only carried out some unimpor- 
 ant commissions ; for instance, she had saved a new hat from a 
 ihower of ram, obtained a bow from a titled nonentity for an 
 lonest man, &c. ; but she had now something of greater con- 
 , equence to do. I must also tell you," she said, that to-day is 
 ay birthday, and in honour of it a pair of goloshes have been 
 L ntrusted to me, which I am to bring to mankind. These goloshes 
 .ave the property, that whoever puts them on is instantly trans- 
 ited to the place and age where he or she most desires to be 
 l very wish regarding time or place of existence is at once realised' 
 tid thus man can for once be happy here below " 
 "Believe me," said Care, "he will be most unhappy, and bless 
 le moment when he is once more rid of the goloshes " 
 " Is that your opinion ? " replied the other. Now I shall put 
 iem down at the door ; some one will take them, and become the 
 ippy man." 
 > Such was their conversation. 
 
 II. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE COUNSELLOR. 
 
 | It was late; Counsellor Knapp, deeply lost in thought over the 
 jloe of King Hans, wished to go home; but fate so arranged 
 flitters that, instead of his own goloshes, he put on those of 
 totune, and walked out into East Street. 
 
 \ The magic power of the goloshes instantly carried him back to 
 p times of King Hans, and his feet sank deeply into the mud 
 tf mire of the street, which was not paved in those days 
 
 'It is awfully dirty here," said the Counsellor; "why, the good 
 njstones are gone and the lamps are all out." 
 
 Fhe moon had not yet risen high enough; the atmosphere 
 i somewhat thick, so that all the surrounding objects were not 
 tt recognised in the darkness. When he came to the next
 
 8 4 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 corner, he found a lamp before a picture of the Holy Virgin, but 
 the light it gave was so small that he only notaced it when he 
 was passing underneath it, and his eyes fell upon the punted 
 figures of the Mother and Child. 
 
 " That is evidently a curiosity shop," he thought, " and they 
 have forgotten to take in their sign." 
 
 Several people in the costume of that age then passed by 
 him. 
 
 " How funnily they are dressed up ! No doubt they are r 
 turning from a masquerade." 
 
 Suddenly the sound of drums and fifes struck his ears. He saw 
 the flaring light of torches, and stopped. A very extraordinar) 
 procession passed before him. First marched a band 
 drummers, beating their instruments with great skill ; they wen 
 followed by attendants with cross-bows and lances. Thi
 
 THE GOLOSHES OF FORTUNE 85 
 
 principal person in the procession was a clergyman. The astonished 
 Counsellor asked what all this meant, and who the clergyman 
 was. 
 
 " The Bishop of Zealand," was the answer. 
 
 "Good heavens!" sighed the Counsellor, "what does the 
 Bishop intend to do?" Then he shook his head; he could not 
 .believe it possible that the man was the bishop. 
 
 Still torturing his brains on this point, he passed through East 
 (Street and over High Bridge Place. The bridge, which he used 
 ko cross in order to reach Castle Square, was nowhere to be 
 |found; he at last reached the bank of a shallow river, where 
 he saw two men with a boat. 
 
 " Would the gentleman like to cross over to the Holm ?" they 
 asked him. 
 
 "To the Holm ? " said the Counsellor, who was quite uncon- 
 scious that he lived in a different age. " I wish to go to Christian's 
 Port, in Little Turf Street." 
 
 The two men stared at him. 
 
 " Only tell me where the bridge is," he said. " It is unpardon- 
 able that they have not lighted the lamps here, and it is as 
 buddy as if it were a marsh." 
 
 B The more he talked to the boatmen, the less intelligible their 
 [language became to him. 
 
 8 " I do not understand your Bornholmish," he said at last in an 
 jingry tone, and left them. He could not find the bridge, nor 
 as there any rail-fence. " It is a downright shame that things 
 Ire in such disorder here," he said. He had never thought his 
 56 more miserable than he did this evening. " I think it will 
 fs best for me to take a droske," * he thought. But where were 
 lie cabs ? None were visible. " I shall have to return to King's 
 j'ewmarket to find a vehicle, otherwise I shall never reach 
 t hristian's Port. " Then he went back to East Street, and had 
 Nrly come to the end of it, when the moon broke through the 
 I'ouds. 
 
 "Good heavens! What strange building have they erected 
 Ipre!" he exclaimed when he saw the East Gate, which in 
 * A cab is called " droske" in Copenhagen.
 
 86 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 those days stood at the end of East Street. He found, however, 
 one of the wickets still open, and passed through it, in the hope 
 of reaching the King's Newmarket; but there were wide 
 meadows before him, with a few bushes growing upon them, and 
 a broad canal or river streaming through them. A few wretched 
 wooden huts, belonging to Dutch sailors, stood on the opposite 
 bank. " Either what I see is a. fata morgana, or I am intoxicated," 
 lamented the Counsellor. " If I only knew what all this means!" 
 He returned again, firmly believing that he was ill. Walking 
 back through the same streets, he looked more closely at the 
 houses, and noticed that most of them were only built of lath 
 and plaster, and had thatched roofs. 
 
 " I do not feel at all well ; " he sighed, " and yet I have only taken 
 one glass of punch. But punch does not agree with me, and it is 
 altogether wrong to serve punch with hot salmon. I shall tell the 
 agent's wife so. Would it be wise to go back now, and let them 
 know how I feel? No, no, it would look too ridiculous; and : 
 then, after all, the question is, if they are still up." He looked for 
 the house, but was unable to find it. 
 
 " This is dreadful ; I cannot even recognise East Street again. 
 I do not see a single shop ; there are only wretched old houses, 
 as if I were in Roeskilde or Ringstedt. There is no longer any 
 doubt ; I am ill, and it is useless to stand on ceremonies. But 
 where in all the world is the agent's house ? It is no longer the 
 same ; but in yonder house I see some people still up. Alas ! I am 
 very ill." He soon arrived at a half-opened door, and saw the light 
 inside. It was an inn of that period, a sort of public-house. 
 The room looked very much like a Dutch bar : a number of j j 
 people, sailors, citizens of Copenhagen, and a few scholars, sat I 
 there in lively conversation, with their mugs before them, and j 
 paid little attention to the Counsellor coming in. 
 
 "I beg your pardon," said the Counsellor to the landlady, 
 " I have been suddenly taken ill ; would you kindly send for a cab ' 
 to drive me to Christian's Port ? " 
 
 The woman looked at him and shook her head. Then she 
 addressed him in German. The Counsellor, supposing that she 
 could not speak Danish, repeated his request in German ; this, In .
 
 THE GOLOSHES OF FORTUNE 87 
 
 addition to his dress, made the woman feel sure that he was a 
 .foreigner; but she understood that he was unwell, and brought 
 ;him a jug of water : it tasted very much of sea-water, although it 
 ,had been fetched from the well outside. 
 
 The Counsellor rested his head upon his hand, drew a deep 
 .breath and thought over all the strange things around him. 
 
 "Is that this evening's number of the Day*1 he asked me- 
 ichanically when he saw the woman putting a large piece of paper 
 aside. 
 
 1 She did not know what he meant, but she gave him the 
 paper. It was a woodcut representing a phenomenon which had 
 been seen in the city of Cologne. 
 
 ; "That is very old," said the Counsellor, and became quite 
 cheerful at the sight of this old curiosity. " How did you get this 
 fare cut? It is highly interesting, although the whole is but a 
 jable. These phenomena are now explained as polar lights 
 :hey probably are caused by electricity." 
 
 ; Those who sat next to him, and heard his speech, looked at 
 lim with great surprise, and one of them rose, politely raised his 
 ,iat, and said in a serious tone, " You are certainly a very learned 
 nan, monsieur." 
 
 I; " Not at all," replied the Counsellor ; " I can only talk about 
 .hings that everybody is supposed to understand." 
 ' "Modestia is a fine virtue," said the man. " Moreover, I have 
 poadd to your explanation mihi secus videtur ; yet in the present 
 .;:ase I willingly suspend myjudictum." 
 
 " May I ask with whom I have the honour to speak ? " replied 
 <he Counsellor. 
 
 " I am a Bachelor of Divinity," said the man. 
 I This answer was enough for the Counsellor; title and dress 
 irere in accordance with each other. "Surely," he thought, 
 this man is an old village schoolmaster, such a specimen as 
 ine still meets with sometimes in the upper parts of Jutland." 
 
 "Although here we are not in a locus docendi," began the 
 ban again, "I request you to take the trouble to give us a 
 speech. You are Burely well read in the ancients." 
 * Evening paper at Copenhagen.
 
 88 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 11 Oh, yes," replied the Counsellor, " I am very fond of reading 
 old and useful books, but I am also interested in new ones with 
 the exception of every-day stories, of which we have so many in 
 reality." 
 
 " Every-day stories ? " asked the Bachelor of Divinity. 
 
 " Why, yes ; I mean the modern novels." 
 
 " Oh ! " said the man, smiling, " they certainly contain a great 
 deal of wit, and are read at Court. The King especially likes the 
 romance by Iffven and Gaudian which treats of King Arthur and 
 his valiant Knights of the Round Table. He has made jokes 
 about it to his courtiers." 
 
 " This one certainly I have not read yet," said the Counsellor. 
 " It must be quite a new one, published by Heidberg." 
 
 " No," replied the man, " Heiberg is not the publisher, but 
 Gotfred of Gehmen." * 
 
 " Is he the author ? " asked the Counsellor ; " that is a very old 
 name. Was it not the name of the first Danish printer ? " 
 
 " Yes, he is our first printer," said the scholar. 
 
 So far everything went fairly well; now one of the citizens 
 spoke of the dreadful plague which had raged a few years ago, 
 meaning that of the year 1484. The Counsellor thought he 
 spoke of the cholera, and so they could discuss it, unaware of 
 the fact that each spoke of something else. The war against the 
 freebooters had happened so lately that it was unavoidably 
 mentioned ; the English pirates, they said, had seized some ships 
 that were in the harbour. The Counsellor, in the belief that they 
 meant the events of 1801, was strongly against the English. 
 The latter part of the conversation, however, did not go off so 
 smoothly ; they could not help contradicting each other every 
 moment; the good Bachelor of Divinity was dreadfully ignorant, 
 so that the simplest remark of the Counsellor seemed to him too 
 daring or too fantastic. They often looked at each other in aston- 
 ishment, and when matters became too difficult, the scholar began 
 to talk Latin, hoping to be better understood, but all was of no avail. 
 
 "How do you feel now?" asked the landlady, pulling the 
 
 * First printer and publisher in Denmark, under the reign of King 
 Hans.
 
 THE GOLOSHES OF FORTUNE 89 
 
 Counsellor's sleeve. Only then his memory returned; in the 
 course of the conversation he had forgotten all that had 
 happened. 
 
 "Good heavens! where am I?" he said, and he felt quite 
 dizzy when he thought of it. 
 
 " Let us have claret, mead, or Bremen beer," cried one of the 
 guests. " And you shall drink with us." 
 
 Two girls came in ; one had on a cap of two colours. They 
 poured the wine out, and made curtseys. The Counsellor felt 
 a cold shiver run down his back. " What does all this mean ? " 
 he said. But he had to drink with them, they asked him so 
 politely. He was quite in despair, and when one of them said that 
 he was intoxicated, he did not doubt it for a moment, and only 
 requested them to get him a droske. Now they thought he 
 spoke the Muscovite language. Never in his life had he been in 
 such rude and vulgar company. "One would think that the 
 country had gone back to Paganism," he thought ; " this is the 
 most terrible moment in all my life." 
 
 Just then the idea struck him that he would stoop under the 
 table and creep towards the door. He carried this out, but 
 when he was near the door, the others discovered his intention ; 
 they took hold of his feet, and to his great good fortune, pulled 
 off the goloshes, and at once the whole enchantment was broken. 
 
 The Counsellor distinctly saw a street lamp burning, and 
 (behind it a large building; it all seemed familiar and grand to 
 him. He was in East Street, as we know it now, and was resting 
 ;on the pavement with his legs towards the door, and opposite sat 
 the watchman, asleep. 
 
 i " Goodness gracious ! have I really lain here in the street dream- 
 Sing?" he said. " Yes, this is East Street. How beautifully light 
 :and pleasant it looks ! That glass of punch must have had a 
 idreadful effect upon me." 
 
 Two minutes later, he sat in a cab, and drove to Christian's 
 Port. He thought of all the anguish he had suffered, and praised 
 the present, his own age, with all his heart, as being, in spite of 
 its shortcomings, much better than the age in which he had 
 existed a short while ago.
 
 90 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 III. THE WATCHMAN'S ADVENTURES. 
 
 " Well, I never ! " said the watchman ; " there are a pair of 
 goloshes. They evidently belong to the lieutenant who lives up 
 there, for they are close by his door." The honest man would 
 gladly have rung the bell and returned them to their owner, for 
 there was still a light upstairs, but he did not wish to wake up the 
 other people in the house, so he left them there. " I am sure a 
 pair of such things must keep one's feet very warm," he said. 
 " How nice and soft the leather is ! " They fitted his feet 
 exactly. " How strange things are in this world ! This man, 
 now, might go into his warm bed, and yet he does not do so, 
 but walks up and down in his room. He is a fortunate man. He 
 has neither wife nor child ; he is out every evening. I wish I 
 were in his place, I should certainly be happy." 
 
 No sooner had he uttered this wish than the goloshes carried it 
 out ; the watchman became the lieutenant in body and mind. 
 
 There he was, standing upstairs in the room, holding a sheet of 
 pink note-paper between his fingers, on which was written a poem 
 a poem from the lieutenant's own pen. Who has not had, once in 
 his life, a poetical moment ? Then, if one writes down one's 
 thoughts, they are poetry. 
 
 Such poems people only write down when they are in love, but 
 a prudent man never has them printed. To be a lieutenant, poor 
 and in love this forms a triangle ; or one might better describe 
 it as half the broken die of fortune. That is just what the 
 lieutenant thought at this moment, and therefore leant his head 
 against the window frame and sighed. "The poor watchman 
 down in the street is much happier than I. He does not know 
 what I call want. He has a home, a wife and children, who 
 share his joys and sorrows. I should be much happier if I could 
 change places with him, and live with only his hopes and 
 expectations. I am sure he is much happier than I." 
 
 Instantly the watchman became a watchman again, for, through 
 the goloshes of Fortune, he had become, body and soul, the 
 lieutenant ; but as such he felt less contented than before, and
 
 THE GOLOSHES OF FORTUNE 91 
 
 preferred what he had despised a short time ago. He was a 
 watchman again. 
 
 "That was a hideous dream," he said, "but very curious; I 
 I felt as if I were the lieutenant up there, and that was by no means 
 a pleasure. I missed my wife and children, who are always ready 
 to smother me with their kisses." 
 
 He sat down again and nodded ; he could not quite get over 
 ithe dream ; the goloshes were still on his feet. A shooting star 
 passed over the sky. 
 
 I " There it goes " he said, " and yet there are plenty left. I 
 (should like to look a little more closely at these things, especially 
 bt the moon, for she would not slip so easily out of one's hands. 
 fThe student my wife does washing for, says that when we are dead 
 kve shall fly from one planet to another. That is wrong, although 
 fit would not be at all bad. I wish I could take a little leap up 
 jthere. I should not mind leaving my body here on the steps." 
 
 There are some things in this world that must be spoken of 
 with caution, and one ought to be still more careful when one has 
 l:he goloshes of Fortune upon one's feet. Now, let us see what 
 Happened to the watchman. 
 
 j Everybody knows how quickly one can move from one place to 
 tinother by steam, having experienced it either on a railway or a 
 Lteamboat. But this speed is not more than the crawl of the 
 3 loth or creeping of a snail in comparison to the swiftness with 
 Jvhich light travels. It flies nineteen million times faster than the 
 buickest railway engine. Death is an electric shock to our hearts : 
 the delivered soul vanishes away on the wings of electricity, 
 feunlight requires about eight minutes and a few seconds to per- 
 brm a journey of more than ninety-five millions of miles ; the 
 loul travels as quickly on the wings of electricity. The distance 
 Hnreen the various celestial bodies is not greater to it than we 
 Ihould find the distance between the houses of friends living 
 li the same town quite close together. The electric shock to our 
 B earts costs us our bodies, unless we have by chance the goloshes 
 j,f Fortune on our feet, like the watchman. 
 
 I In a few seconds the watchman had traversed the distance of 
 jffo hundred and sixty thousand miles to the moon, which
 
 92 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 consists, as everybody knows, of much lighter material than our 
 earth ; something like new-fallen snow, as we should say. He had 
 arrived on one of the numerous circular mountains which one 
 sees on Dr. Maedler's large map of the moon. The inside was a 
 basin of about half a mile in depth. Down below was a town ; to 
 get an idea of its appearance, the best thing would be to pour 
 the white of an egg into a glass of water ; the substance here was 
 just as soft, and formed similar transparent towers, domes, and 
 terraces, floating in the thin air like sails. Our globe hung above 
 his head, like a dark red ball. 
 
 He soon noticed a great many beings, surely intended to be 
 what we call "men," but they were very different from us. If 
 they had been arnftiged in rank and file, and painted, one would 
 certainly say, " What a beautiful arabesque ! " They also had 
 a language, but how could the soul of a watchman be expected to 
 understand it? Nevertheless, it did understand the moon- 
 language, for a soul has much greater faculties than we commonly 
 suppose. Have we not frequent proof of its dramatic power in 
 dreams ? Then all our friends appear to us in their own character 
 and voice, so exactly like the reality that we should have great 
 difficulty in imitating them in our waking hours. Does not our 
 soul often recall persons of whom we have not thought for years ? 
 
 Suddenly they appear before our mental eyes in such living 
 reality that we are able to recognise their minutest peculiarities. 
 Truly, our soul's memory is a dreadful thing, for it will be able 
 one day to recall every sin, every evil thought, we ever had ; and 
 then we shall have to give an account of every light word which 
 was in our hearts or on our lips. 
 
 Thus the watchman's soul understood the language of the 
 inhabitants of the moon very well. They were discussing our 
 earth, and had doubts as to its being inhabited ; they asserted the 
 air there must be too thick for any moon-being to live in. They 
 were of opinion that the moon only was inhabited ; that it was 
 the celestial body where the ancient inhabitants of the world 
 lived. 
 
 They also talked politics ; but let us leave them, and return to 
 East Street, and see what happens to the watchman's body. He
 
 THE GOLOSHES OF FORTUNE 93 
 
 was still sitting motionless on the steps, his staff having fallen out 
 of his hand, while his eyes looked fixedly towards the moon, where 
 his honest soul was rambling about. 
 
 " What's o'clock, watchman ? " asked one of the passers-by. 
 But the watchman gave no answer. Then the man gently 
 fillipped his nose, which caused him to lose his equilibrium, and 
 fall, full length, on the ground, like a dead man. His comrades 
 were frightened ; he seemed quite lifeless, and remained in the 
 same condition. The incident was reported and discussed, and 
 later on in the morning the body was taken to the hospital. 
 
 It might have turned out a capital joke if the soul had come 
 back and looked for its body in East Street, without being able 
 to find it. Probably it would first go to the Police Station, from 
 thence to the Lost Property Office, that inquiries might be made, 
 and in the end repair to the hospital. But we need not trouble 
 our minds on that point, for souls are most clever when they act 
 on their own responsibility ; only the bodies make them stupid. 
 
 As I have stated, the watchman's body was carried to the 
 hospital ; there it was taken to the room where the bodies were 
 washed, and naturally, the first thing they did was to take off the 
 goloshes, whereupon the soul was obliged to return to the body. 
 It at once started straight for the body, and in a few moments the 
 man was alive again. He declared that he had never in all his 
 life passed such a dreadful night, and not for any amount of 
 money would he care to have such sensations again ; but he got 
 over it all right. 
 
 He was able to leave the hospital the same day, but the 
 goloshes remained there. 
 
 IV. A CRITICAL MOMENT A MOST EXTRAORDINARY JOURNEY. 
 
 Every inhabitant of Copenhagen knows the entrance to 
 Frederick's Hospital, but as probably also some people who have 
 not seen Copenhagen will read this story, it will be well to give a 
 short description of it. 
 
 Towards the street the hospital is surrounded by an iron 
 railing of considerable height, the thick bars of which stand so far
 
 94 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 apart that sometimes, as the story goes, some of the most slender 
 young medical assistants have squeezed themselves through and 
 paid little visits to town. Their heads were the most difficult to 
 be brought through, and therefore here, as in other things in this 
 world, those who had the smallest heads were the best off. This 
 information will be sufficient for our narrative. 
 
 One of the volunteers, of whom one could only say that he had 
 a great head in the physical sense, was on watch one evening ; the 
 rain was pouring down; but in spite of these two obstacles 
 he wished to go out. 
 
 Just for a quarter of an hour, he thought ; he need not trouble 
 the porter, especially if he could slip through the bars. He 
 noticed the goloshes which the watchman had forgotten ; it did 
 not strike him in the least that they were those of Fortune ; they 
 would render him good service in the bad weather, he thought, 
 and so put them on. The point was now, if he could squeeze 
 himself through the bars he had never tried before. They were 
 now in front of him. 
 
 "I wish I had my head outside," he said, and instantly, 
 although it was very thick and large, it glided smoothly through 
 the bars ; the goloshes seemed to know how to do that very well ; 
 now he tried to pass his body through too, but this was 
 impossible. 
 
 " I am too stout," he said ; " I thought my head was the worst ; 
 but it is my body that I can't get through." 
 
 Now he tried to withdraw his head again, but he was unable to 
 do so ; he could move his neck about comfortably, and this was 
 all. At first he felt very angry, but soon became discouraged. 
 The goloshes of Fortune had placed him in this awkward position, 
 and, unluckily, it never came into his mind to wish himself free 
 again. Instead of wishing, he struggled to get his head out of the 
 bars, but all his attempts were in vain. The rain was pouring 
 down j not a soul was to be seen in the street ; he could not reach 
 the bell at the porter's lodge. How could he get out ? He felt 
 certain he would have to stop there until the next morning, then 
 they would be obliged to send for a blacksmith to file through the 
 iron bars. But all this would take time ; all the charity children
 
 THE GOLOSHES OF FORTUNE 95 
 
 . would be going to their school opposite, all the inhabitants of the 
 adjoining sailor's quarter would flock together to see him in the 
 
 i stocks ; there would be a large crowd, no doubt ! " Ugh ! " he 
 
 K cried, " the blood is rushing to my head ; I must go mad ! Yes I 
 
 am going mad; oh, I wish I were free, then perhaps I might fed 
 
 He ought to have said this sooner, for the thought was 
 
 Scarcely expressed when his head was free, and he rushed up to 
 hisjoom, quite upset by the fright which the goloshes had caused 
 
 Now we must not think it was all over for him. No the 
 [..worst was still to come. 
 
 The night and the following day passed; nobody claimed the 
 Jlosnes. In the evening a recital was to take place on the plat- 
 term of a private theatre in a far-off street. The house was filled 
 jo every part; the volunteer from the hospital was among the 
 adience, and seemed to have entirely forgotten what had hap- 
 pened to him the night before. He had put on the goloshes 
 no one had claimed them, and they rendered him good 
 
 IT 06 > r the StfeetS W6re V6ry dirty ' A new P em > en titled 
 
 Aunty s Spectacles," was being recited, in which the spectacles 
 
 re described as enabling the person who wore them in a large 
 
 hisembly to read the people like cards, and to predict from them 
 
 p that would happen in the coming year. 
 
 I The spectacles pleased him; he would have very much liked to 
 |.ve such a pair. He thought, one might perhaps be able to look 
 light into people's hearts, if one made good use of them and 
 at surely would be much more interesting than to see what 
 mid happen in the coming year; the latter, one would be sure 
 1 see, but not the former. 
 
 f" I think if I could look into the hearts of the ladies and gentle- 
 
 fcn in the first row, they would seem to me to form a sort of 
 
 |ge warehouse; oh, how my eyes would wander about in it ! 
 
 the heart of that lady, sitting there, I am sure I should find a 
 
 rimer's shop, in the next one the shop is empty, but a cleaning 
 
 | would do it no harm. Would there also be some shops with 
 
 f d articles to be found in them ? " Yes, yes," he sighed, " I 
 
 m* one in which everything is genuine, but there is already
 
 9 6 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 a clerk in it, and that, in fact, is the only thing I have to find j 
 fault with One might be invited to come into various others and 
 inspect them. I wish I could pass like a little thought through 
 
 these hearts ! " 
 
 That was the catch-word for the goloshes ; the volunteer shrunk 
 together, and at once began a most extraordinary journey through 
 the hearts of the occupiers of the first row. The first heart 
 through which he passed belonged to a lady ; it seemed to him 
 that he was in one of the rooms of an orthopaedic museum, where 
 the plaster casts of deformed limbs are arranged on the walls, the 
 only difference being, that while in the museum the casts are 
 formed when the people enter, they were formed and kept in this 
 heart after they had left. There were casts of the bodily and 
 mental deformities of the lady's female friends carefully preserved. 
 Quickly he glided into another lady's heart. It appeared to 
 him to be like a large holy church; the white dove of innocence 
 fluttered over the high altar. He would have gladly knelt down, 
 but he had no time he had to go into the next heart ; the sound 
 of the organ was still ringing in his ears, and he felt he had 
 become a new and better man, so that he did not feel unworthy 
 to enter the next sanctuary, where he saw a sick mother in a 
 miserable garret-room. But God's bright sun was shining through 
 
 the window, splendid roses were growing in the little flower-box 
 
 on the roof, and two sky-blue birds were singing of the joys of 
 
 childhood, while the sick mother implored God to bless her 
 
 daughter. 
 
 Then he crept on all-fours through an overcrowded butchers 
 
 shop ; wherever he turned there was nothing but meat. It was 
 
 the heart of a rich and respectable man, whose name you win 
 
 certainly find in the directory. 
 
 Thence he came into the heart of this gentleman's wife 
 
 it was nothing but an old dilapidated pigeon-house. 
 
 husband's portrait served as a weathercock, and was connected 
 
 with the doors, so that they opened and shut whenever he turned 
 
 his head. 
 
 In the next heart he found a cabinet of mirrors, like those on< 
 
 sees in the castle of Rosenburg. But the mirrors magnified in at
 
 THE GOLOSHES OF FORTUNE 97 
 
 incredible degree. The insignificant / of the proprietor sat in 
 the centre of the floor, like the Dalai- Lama, admiringly contem- 
 plating his own greatness. 
 
 i Next he thought he had entered a narrow case, full of pointed 
 needles, and said, " No doubt, this is the heart of an old maid." 
 8ut such was not the case ; it belonged to a young officer with 
 several orders, whom people considered a man of intellect and 
 ;ieart. The poor volunteer was quite dizzy when he came out of 
 phe last heart in the row ; he could not collect his thoughts, and 
 fancied his too strong imaginative powers had run away with 
 lim. 
 
 , " Good heavens ! " he sighed, " I have a strong tendency to go 
 ,nad, without doubt, and in here it is intolerably hot ; the blood is 
 iiishing to my head." Just then he remembered his critical 
 jituation the evening before, when he had stuck fast between the 
 )ars of the hospital railing. 
 
 >| " Surely that was when I caught it," he thought ; " I must do 
 fomething for it in time. Perhaps a Russian bath would do me 
 ijood. I wish I were already on the top-shelves." 
 >', There he lay on the top-shelf of the vapour-bath, fully dressed, 
 iyith boots and goloshes still on, and the water dropped down 
 rrom the ceiling on his face. 
 
 I " Ugh ! " he cried, and jumped down to take a plunge-bath. 
 |l The attendant cried out loudly in his surprise at seeing a man 
 ;yith all his clothes on. 
 
 I The volunteer fortunately had enough presence of mind to 
 i/hisper in his ear, "It is for a bet." 
 
 L Upon arriving home, he at once placed a large mustard plaster 
 tjn his neck and another on his back, to draw out the madness. 
 I The next morning he had a very sore back, and that was all he 
 gained through the goloshes of Fortune. 
 
 V. THE CLERK'S TRANSFORMATION. 
 
 r The watchman, whom surely we have not yet forgotten in the 
 Meantime, remembered the goloshes which he had found, and 
 lirried with him to the hospital 
 
 I VOL. I. G
 
 98 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 He went to fetch them, and when neither the lieutenanlj 
 nor anybody else in the same street recognised them as theii, 
 property, he took them to the police-office. 
 
 "They look exactly like my own goloshes," said one of th<| 
 clerks, looking at the goloshes, and placing them by the side o: 
 his own. " It requires more than a shoemaker's eye to distinguish 
 the difference " 
 
 "Mr. Clerk," said an attendant, who entered the room witr. 
 some papers. The clerk turned round and spoke to the man 
 afterwards, when he looked at the goloshes again, he was 
 uncertain whether the pair on the left or on the right were his. 
 " The wet ones must be mine," he thought ; but in this he was 
 wrong they were the goloshes of Fortune ; and after all it is not 
 so wonderful, for a police-clerk can make mistakes like any- 
 body else. 
 
 He put the goloshes on, thrust some papers into his pocket 
 took some others under his arm (the latter he was to read at homej 
 and make abstracts of their contents), and went out. By chance 
 it was Sunday morning, and splendid weather. "A trip M 
 Fredericksburg would do me good," he thought, and thither he 
 bent his steps. 
 
 No one could be more quiet and steady than this young clerk. 
 We will not grudge him the little walk ; after so much sitting, it 
 will no doubt be beneficial to him. At first he walked on 
 mechanically without thinking of anything at all, and therefore 
 gave the goloshes no opportunity of proving their magic powers. 
 In the Avenue he met an acquaintance, a young Danish poet, 
 who told him that he intended to start the next day for a summer 
 tour. 
 
 "Are you really off again?" asked the clerk. "You are 
 indeed a luckier and freer man than one of us. You can go 
 wherever you like, but we always have a chain to our 
 feet." 
 
 " But it is fastened to the bread-tree," replied the poet. " You 
 need not have a care for the morrow, and when you grow old you 
 will receive a pension." 
 
 "But you are better off, after all," said the clerk. " It must be
 
 THE GOLOSHES OF FORTUNE 99 
 
 a pleasure to sit down and write poetry. Everybody has some- 
 thing pleasant to say to you, and you are your own master. 
 Come and try what it is like to be obliged to sit in court and 
 listen to all sorts of frivolous cases." 
 
 The poet shook his head ; the clerk did the same, and so they 
 parted, each retaining his own opinion. 
 
 "They are peculiar people, these poets," thought the clerk. 
 
 " I should very much like to try and enter into such a nature, and 
 
 become a poet myself, for I am certain I should not write such 
 
 lamentations as the others. To-day is a splendid spring day for a 
 
 boet ! The air is exceptionally clear, the clouds look beautiful, 
 
 d the green grass has such a fragrance. For many years I 
 
 ve not felt as I do now." 
 
 From these remarks we see that he had already turned a poet, 
 express such feelings would in most cases be considered 
 iculous. It is foolish to think a poet is a different being from 
 ler men; there may be some among the latter who have far 
 3re poetical minds than professional poets. But a poet has 
 better memory, he can retain ideas and thoughts until 
 y are clearly fixed and expressed in words; and that 
 lers cannot do. But the transition of an ordinary nature to a 
 etical one must needs be noticeable, and so it was with the 
 jrk. 
 
 " What a delicious fragrance ! " he said. " How much it reminds 
 of the violets at Aunt Laura's. That was when I was a small 
 y. Dear me! I have not thought of that for a long time. 
 )od old lady ! She used to live near the canal. She always kept 
 ;reen branch or a few green shoots in water, however hard the 
 nter was. The violets smelt sweet when I was putting hot pennies 
 ainst the frozen window-panes to make peep-holes. And I had 
 fine view through them. There lay the ships out in the canal, 
 >zen in and deserted by their crews; a lonely crow was the 
 ly living thing on board. But when spring came, all became 
 ve ; with cries and shouting the ice was burst, the ships were 
 rred and rigged, and then they started for distant lands. I have 
 ways remained here, and shall always be obliged to do so, and 
 in a police office, while other people take passports for
 
 ioo STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 abroad. That's my fate." And he sighed deeply. Suddenly he 
 stopped. "Good heavens! what can be the matter with me? 
 I have never thought and felt like this. The spring air must be 
 the cause of it. It alarms me, and yet it is not disagreeable ! " He 
 felt in his pockets for his papers. " They will soon make me think 
 of something else," he said, and his eyes glided over the first 
 page: 
 
 " ' Mrs. Sigbirth : Original Tragedy, in Five Acts,' " he read. 
 " What's this ? It's my own handwriting. Have I written this 
 tragedy ? ' The Intrigue on the Promenade ; or, Fast Day : a 
 Vaudeville.' But wherever have I got these things? Some- 
 body must have put them into my pocket. And here is a letter." 
 
 It was from a theatrical manager ; the plays were refused, and 
 the letter was written in not over-polite language. 
 
 " H'm H'm," said the clerk, and seated himself on a bench. 
 His thoughts were very elevated, and his nerves highly strung. 
 Involuntarily he plucked a flower growing near him ; it was a 
 common daisy. What botanists tell us in many a lecture, this 
 flower tells us in a minute. It told the story of its birth, of the 
 power of the sunlight, which, spreading out the fine petals, 
 compels them to breathe forth sweet fragrance. Then he thought 
 of the struggle of life, which in the same way awakens feelings in 
 our breast. Air and light are the flower's lovers, but light is the 
 favoured one. It turns towards the light, and when light vanishes, , 
 it folds its petals and sleeps in the arms of the air. 
 
 " Light adorns me," said the flower. 
 
 "But the air enables thee to breathe," whispered the poet. 
 
 A little way off, a boy was splashing with a stick in the water of 
 a marshy ditch, so that the drops of water flew up to the green . 
 branches ; the clerk thought of the millions of animalculae which 
 were thrown up in each drop of water, which, considering their 
 size, must produce in them the same feeling as if we were thrown 
 up high into the clouds. When the clerk thought of the great 
 change that had taken place in him, he smiled. 
 
 " I am asleep and dreaming ! It is strange how naturally one , 
 can dream and all the time one knows that he is only dreaming. 
 I hope I may be able to remember this dream to-morrow when
 
 THE GOLOSHES OF FORTUNE 101 
 
 I am awake. I feel unusually excited. What a clear perception I 
 have of everything, and how free I feel ! But I am sure, should I 
 remember anything of it to-morrow, it will seem stuff and nonsense; 
 something of the like has happened to me before. All the clever 
 and beautiful things one hears of and speaks about in dreams, are 
 like the underground treasure ; when one digs it up, it looks rich 
 and beautiful, and in the daylight it is but stones and faded 
 leaves. " Ah ! " he sighed sadly, and looked at the singing birds 
 hopping merrily from branch to branch, " they are much better 
 off than I ! Flying is a fine art. Happy is he who has been born 
 with wings. If I could transform myself into a bird, I should 
 choose to be r. lark." 
 
 Immediately his coat-tails and sleeves became wings, his clothes 
 feathers, and the goloshes, claws j he noticed it and smiled to 
 himself. " Well, now ! I see that I am dreaming, but I never had 
 such a foolish dream ! " 
 
 ; He flew up into the green branches and sang, but there was no 
 poetry in his song ; the poetical mind was gone. The goloshes, like 
 Anybody else who wishes to do a thing well, could only do one 
 phing at a time. He wished to be a poet : he became one. Then 
 he desired to be a little bird, and by becoming one, his former 
 (Character disappeared. 
 
 I "This is charming indeed," he said. "In the daytime I sit 
 lit the police office among the most uninteresting official papers ; 
 t.t night I can dream, and fly about as a lark in the park of 
 Fredericksburg. One might really write a popular comedy about 
 111 this." 
 
 I Then he flew down into the grass, turned his head from side to 
 tide, and pecked the flexible blades of grass with his beak, which, 
 Ii proportion to his present size, appeared to him as large as 
 ialm-leaves in North Africa. The next moment all became as 
 
 ark as night around him. Something, as it seemed to him, of 
 
 normous size was thrown over him ; it was a sailor boy's cap. 
 i- . hand then came underneath the cap, and seized the clerk by 
 1'ie back and wings so tightly that he cried out. In his fright 
 re instinctively shouted out, "You rascal, I am a clerk in the 
 folice office." But this only sounded to the sailor boy like
 
 loz STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 " Tweet, tweet." He tapped the bird on its beak and walked 
 
 off. 
 
 In the avenue he met two schoolboys of the upper class that 
 is, from the social point of view ; for as far as their abilities were 
 concerned they belonged to the lowest class in the school ; they 
 bought the bird for a small sum, and thus the clerk was brought 
 back to Copenhagen. 
 
 " It is a good thing that I am dreaming," said the clerk, " other- 
 wise I should certainly feel very angry ! First I was a poet, now I 
 am a lark. Surely the poetical nature has transformed me into 
 this little bird ! It is a very poor story, especially if one falls into 
 boy's hands. I should very much like to know how it will 
 end." 
 
 The boys took the bird into a very elegantly furnished room ; a 
 stout, amiable-looking lady received them. She was not at all 
 pleased to see that they had brought home such a common field 
 bird, as she called the lark. She would only allow them to keep 
 it for the day, and they had to put the bird into an empty cage 
 near the window. 
 
 "Perhaps it will please Polly," she added, and nodded to a 
 large green parrot which was proudly rocking itself in its ring in 
 a beautiful brass cage. " To-day is Polly's birthday," she said 
 foolishly, " the little field-bird wants to congratulate it." 
 
 Polly did not reply a single word, and continued to rock 
 itself, but a pretty canary, which had been brought away from 
 its warm native country only last summer, began to warble 
 sweetly. 
 
 " Squaller ! " cried the lady, and threw a white cloth over the 
 cage. 
 
 "Tweet, tweet," it sighed ; "this is a terrible snowstorm." And 
 then became silent. 
 
 The clerk, or, as the lady called him, the field-bird, was put into 
 a small cage close by the canary and not far from the parrot 
 All that Polly could say (and it sounded sometimes most comical) 
 was, " No, let us be men." What it said besides was no more 
 intelligible than the warbling of the canary ; but the clerk, being 
 now a bird himself, understood his comrades very well.
 
 
 THE GOLOSHES OF FORTUNE 103 
 
 I flew about beneath green palms and flowering almond- 
 trees," sang the canary. " I used to fly with my brothers and 
 sisters over the beautiful flowers and smooth clear lakes, at the 
 bottom of which one could see the plants waving their leaves. 
 I also saw many fine-looking parrots, which could tell the most 
 amusing tales." 
 
 "They were wild birds," replied the parrot, "they were not 
 I educated. No, let us be men. Why don't you laugh ? When the 
 i lady and all the other people laugh you ought to do so also. It 
 I is a great shortcoming not to be able to appreciate fun. No, let 
 jus be men." 
 
 " Do you remember the handsome girls who used to dance in the 
 tents near the flowering trees ? " asked the canary. " Have you 
 forgotten the sweet fruit, and the cooling juice of the wild herbs ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes, I remember it all," replied the parrot ; " but I am 
 jmuch more comfortable here. I have good food, and am well 
 ijtreated ; I know I am clever, and I do not ask for more. Let us 
 |be men. You are a poet, as men call it ; I possess sound know- 
 ledge and wit ; you are a genius, but you lack discretion. You 
 wise up to those high notes of yours, and then they cover you over. 
 IjThey dare not treat me like that. I was more expensive. My 
 ubeak gains me consideration, and I can be witty. No, let us be 
 nen." 
 
 I " Oh, my warm native country," sang the canary. " I will sing 
 f your dark green trees, your calm bays, where the branches kiss 
 Lhe smooth, clear water. I will sing of all my shining comrades' 
 loy, where the plants grow by the desert springs." 
 [, " Leave off those mournful strains," said the parrot. " Sing 
 liomething that makes one laugh. By laughing you show that 
 I/ou possess the highest mental accomplishments. Have you ever 
 ween a horse or a dog laugh ? No, they can cry out ; but laugh 
 li only man has the gift of laughing." Then it laughed " Ha, ha, 
 la ! " and added, " Let us be men." 
 
 i " You poor little grey bird of the North," said the canary, " you 
 
 } ,ire a prisoner here, like us. Although it is cold in your woods, 
 
 r ; r ou have freedom there. Fly away ; they have forgotten to close 
 
 he door of your cage, and the top window is open. Fly away ! "
 
 ,04 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 The clerk instinctively obeyed, and hopped out of the cage. 
 At the same moment the half-open door leading into the next 
 room creaked, and stealthily, with green shining eyes, the cat came 
 in and chased him. The canary fluttered in the cage, the parrot** 
 opened its wings, and cried, " Let us be men." The clerk felt a 
 mortal fright and flew out through the window, over houses and 
 streets, until he was obliged to rest himself a little. 
 
 The house opposite his resting-place seemed familiar to him ; 
 the windows stood open j he flew in it was his own room. 
 
 He perched himself on the table, and said, " Let us be men," 
 involuntarily imitating the parrot. Instantly he became the clerk 
 again, but he was sitting on the table. 
 
 " Oh dear," he said, " I wonder how I came up here, and fell 
 asleep. That was a disagreeable dream. After all, it was nothing 
 but stuff and nonsense." 
 
 VI. THE BEST THING THE GOLOSHES DID. 
 
 The next day, early in the morning, when the clerk was still in 
 bed, somebody knocked at his door; his neighbour, a young 
 student of theology, who lived in the same storey, walked in. 
 
 " Lend me your goloshes," he said ; " it is damp in the garden, 
 but the sun shines so brightly that I should like to smoke a pipe out 
 there." He put on the goloshes and was soon in the garden below, 
 in which a plum-tree and a pear-tree were growing. Even such a 
 small garden is considered a wonderful treasure in the centre of 
 big cities. 
 
 The student walked about in the garden ; it was only six o'clock, 
 and from the street he heard the sound of a post-horn. 
 
 "Travelling, travelling," he exclaimed. "That is the most 
 desirable thing in the world, that is the aim of all my wishes. 
 The restlessness which I often feel would be cured by travelling. 
 But I ought to be able to go far away. I should like to see 
 
 beautiful Switzerland, to travel through Italy, and " 
 
 It was well that the goloshes acted instantly, otherwise he 
 might have gone too far, not only for himself, but for us too. 
 He was travelling in the heart of Switzerland, closely packed
 
 THE GOLOSHES OF FORTUNE 105 
 
 with eight others in a diligence. He had a headache, his neck 
 was stiff with fatigue, the blood had ceased to circulate in his feet, 
 they were swollen, and the boots pinched. He was half-asleep 
 !knd half-awake. In his right-hand pocket he carried his letters of 
 credit ; in his left, the passport ; and some gold coins sewn in a 
 little bag he wore on his chest. Whenever he dozed off he woke 
 up imagining he had lost one or other of his valuables, and 
 started up suddenly ; then his hand would move in a triangle from 
 the right over the breast to the left, to feel if they were still in their 
 places. Umbrellas, sticks and hats were swinging in a net in front 
 of him, and almost entirely deprived him of the view, which was 
 very imposing ; he looked at it, but his heart sang what, at least, 
 one poet we know of has sung in Switzerland, although he had 
 not yet printed it 
 
 / dreamt of beauty, and I now behold it 
 Mont Blanc doth rise before me, steep and grey ! 
 Were my purse full, I should esteem it 
 The greatest joy in Switzerland to stay." 
 
 Grand, serious, and dark was all nature around him. The pine- 
 .woods looked as small as heather on the high rocks, the summits 
 ,of which towered into the misty clouds ; it began to snow ; an icy 
 Iwind was blowing. 
 
 i " Ugh ! " he shivered, " I wish we were on the other side of the 
 sAlps ; there it would be summer, and I should have raised money 
 pn my credit notes. I am so anxious about my money that I do 
 not enjoy Switzerland. Oh ! I wish I had already come to the 
 [other side." 
 
 And there he was on the other side, in Central Italy, between 
 BFlorence and Rome. The lake Thrasymene lay before his eyes, 
 and looked in the evening light like fiery gold between the dark 
 plue mountains. Here, where Hannibal defeated Flaminius, 
 wines were peacefully growing ; by the wayside, lovely half-naked 
 children watched over a herd of swine under the flowering laurel- 
 jstrees. If we could describe this picture correctly, all would 
 exclaim, "Beautiful Italy!" 
 I But neither the student, nor any of his travelling companions
 
 106 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 in the carriage of the vetturino, said anything of the sort. 
 Venomous flies and gnats flew into the carriage by thousands; 
 they tried to drive them away with myrtle branches, but in vain ; 
 the flies stung them nevertheless. There was not one among 
 them whose face was not swollen from their painful stings. The 
 poor horses looked dreadful ; the flies covered them in swarms, and 
 it was only a momentary relief when the coachman dismounted 
 and swept the flies off. 
 
 Now the sun set, and a sudden icy cold pervaded all nature 
 much like the cold air in a tomb when we enter it on a hot 
 summer day ; the mountains round about appeared wrapped 
 in that peculiar green which we see in some old oil paintings, 
 and which, if we have not witnessed it in the south, we believe 
 to be unnatural. It was a superb spectacle, but the travellers' 
 stomachs were empty and their bodies exhausted with fatigue ; all 
 they were longing for was good night quarters, but what could 
 they find ? They looked more longingly for this than they did 
 at the magnificent scenery before them. 
 
 The road led through an olive grove, much like a road between 
 pollard willow trees at home. Here was at last a lonely inn. A 
 dozen crippled beggars were lying down before it ; the liveliest of 
 them looked, to use one of Marryat's phrases, "like the eldest son 
 of Hunger having just come of age " ; the others were either blind 
 or had paralysed feet, and crept about on their hands, or they had 
 crippled arms and fingerless hands. That was misery in rags, 
 indeed ! 
 
 " Excellenza miserabili? they sighed, and stretched forth their 
 crippled limbs. The landlady herself, barefooted and with dis- 
 orderly hair and a soiled blouse, received the guests. 
 
 The doors were fastened with strings ; the floors of the rooms 
 consisted of bricks, and were broken in many places; bats 
 flew about under the ceilings, and there was a vile odour 
 within. 
 
 " Lay the table down in the stable," said one of the travellers. 
 "There, at least, we know what we breathe." 
 
 The windows were opened to allow the fresh air to enter ; but 
 the crippled arms and continual lamenting, " Miserabili excellent?
 
 THE GOLOSHES OF FORTUNE 107 
 
 came in quicker than the air. Many inscriptions covered the 
 walls ; half of them were not in favour of the Bella Italia ! 
 
 Supper, when served, consisted of watery soup, with pepper and 
 rancid oil. The latter was the chief ingredient in the salad. Musty 
 eggs and fried cockscombs were the best dishes ; even the wine 
 had a peculiar taste ; it was a nauseous mixture. 
 
 At night the travellers' boxes were placed against the door, 
 and one of them had to watch while the others slept. It was the 
 student's turn to watch. Oh, how unbearably close the room 
 was ! The heat was oppressive j the gnats buzzed and stung, the 
 miserabili outside groaned in their dreams. 
 
 " Travelling," said the student, " would be a pleasure if one had 
 no body. If the body could rest and the mind fly about. Where- 
 ever I go I feel a want that oppresses me ; I wish for something 
 better than the moment can give me ; something better nay, the 
 best ; but where and what is it ? " 
 
 No sooner had he uttered this wish than he was at home again. 
 The long white curtains were hanging before the window, and 
 in the middle of the room stood a black coffin ; in it he slept the 
 sleep of death. His wish was fulfilled ; his body rested, his spirit 
 was free to travel. 
 
 " Consider no man happy until he rests in the grave," were the 
 words of Solon. In this case their truth was confirmed. Every 
 dead body is a sphinx of immortality. The sphinx in the black 
 , coffin answered the questions which the student two days before 
 ; had written down : 
 
 " Death, thou stern dark angel, we do find 
 Nought but the tombs that thou dost leave behind! 
 Will not the soul on Jacob's ladder upward pass, 
 Or only rise as sickly churchyard grass ? 
 
 " The world doth seldom see the greatest woes 
 Y lonely suffering ones ! ye now repose ! 
 Your hearts were often more opprest by care. 
 Than by the earth your coffin-lid doth bear." 
 
 Two beings were moving about in the room ; we know them 
 already. One was the fairy Care, the other was the messenger of 
 I Fortune. They bent over the dead.
 
 ,o8 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 " Now you see," said Care, " what happiness your goloshes have 
 brought to mankind ! " 
 
 " They, at least, brought a lasting gift to him who slumbers 
 here," answered Fortune's messenger. 
 
 " Oh, no," said Care. " He passed away at his own wish ; he 
 was not summoned. His mental power was not strong enough to 
 discern the treasures Fate had destined him to discover. I will 
 render him a good service now." 
 
 And she pulled the goloshes from his feet ; the sleep of death 
 was at once ended ; the awakened man raised himself. Care dis- 
 appeared, and with her the goloshes; probably she considered 
 them her property. 
 
 The Flying Trunk 
 
 HERE was once a merchant who was so rich 
 that he could pave the whole street, and 
 almost a little lane too, with silver. But 
 he did not do so ; he knew how to employ 
 his money differently. If he spent a shilling, 
 he got back four ; such a clever merchant was 
 he till he died. 
 His son now got all this money. He lived merrily, went 
 masquerading every night, made kites out of dollar-notes, and 
 played at ducks and drakes on the sea-shore with gold pieces 
 instead of stones. In this manner the money could easily come 
 to an end, and it did so. At last he possessed no more than four 
 shillings, and had no other clothes than a pair of slippers and an 
 old dressing-gown. His friends now no longer troubled them- 
 selves about him, as they could not of course walk along the 
 streets with him ; but one of them, who was good-natured, sent 
 him an old trunk, with the remark, " Pack up ! " That was 
 indeed very nice of him, but he had nothing to pack up, so he sat 
 down in the trunk himself.
 
 THE FLYING TRUNK 109 
 
 It was a wonderful trunk. As soon as you pressed the lock, 
 the trunk could fly. He pressed, and away it flew with him 
 through the chimney, high up above the clouds, farther and 
 farther away. But as often as the bottom creaked a little he was 
 in great terror lest the trunk might go to pieces ; in that case he 
 would have turned a mighty somersault. 
 
 Heaven preserve us ! In this manner he arrived in the country 
 of the Turks. He hid the trunk in the wood under the dry leaves, 
 and then went into the town. He could do so very well, for 
 among the Turks everybody went about like that in a dressing- 
 gown and slippers. Meeting a nurse with a little child, he said, 
 [" I say, you Turkish nurse, what grand castle is that close by the 
 town, in which the windows are so wide open ? " 
 ji "The Sultan's daughter lives there," she replied. "It was 
 prophesied that she would be very unhappy about a lover, and 
 therefore no one may go to her, unless the Sultan and Sultana are 
 here too." 
 
 " Thank you," said the merchant's son ; and going out into the 
 wood, sat down in his trunk, flew up on the roof and crept through 
 !the window into the Princess's apartments. She was lying on 
 [che sofa asleep, and was so beautiful that the merchant's son 
 [:ould not help kissing her. At this she awoke, and was greatly 
 (.certified ; but he said he was a Turkish god, who had come down 
 !:o her from the sky, and that pleased her. 
 
 f They sat down next to one another, and he told her little stories 
 [about her eyes : that they were the most glorious dark lakes, in 
 Uhich thoughts were swimming about like mermaids. And he told 
 her of her forehead, that it was a mountain of snow with the most 
 splendid halls and images. 
 
 [ They were indeed fine stories ! Then he asked the Princess for 
 ner hand, and she said " Yes " at once. 
 
 I " But you must come here on Saturday," she said. " The Sultan 
 |md the Sultana will be here to tea then. They will be very 
 broud at my marrying a Turkish god. But mind you bring a very 
 pretty little tale with you, for my parents like them immensely. 
 [ Mother likes them moral and high-flown, but father likes merry 
 :ones, at which he can laugh."
 
 no STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 "Yes, I shall bring no other marriage gift than a story," said he, 
 and so they parted. But the Princess gave him a sword orna- 
 mented with gold pieces, and the latter were very useful to him. 
 
 So he flew away, bought himself a new dressing-gown, and 
 sitting down in the wood made up a story : it was to be ready by 
 Saturday, and that was no easy task. By the time he had got 
 it ready Saturday had come. The Sultan, the Sultana and the 
 whole Court were at the Princess's to tea. He was received very 
 graciously. 
 
 " Will you tell us a tale ? " said the Sultana. " One that is deep 
 and instructive." 
 
 " But something to laugh at, too," said the Sultan. 
 
 "Certainly," he replied, and commenced. And now pay 
 attention : 
 
 " Once upon a time there was a box of matches which were 
 very proud of their high descent. Their genealogical tree that is 
 to say, the great fir-tree, of which each of them was a little splinter 
 had been a high old tree in the forest. The matches were 
 now lying between a tinder-box and an old iron pot, and they 
 were telling about their youth. ' Yes,' said they, ' when we were 
 upon the green branches, then we were really upon the green 
 branches. Every morning and evening there was diamond tea, 
 that was the dew : we had sunshine the whole day long, and when the 
 sun shone the little birds had to tell stories. We could very 
 well see that we were rich too, for the other trees were only 
 dressed in summer, while our family had means for green dresses 
 both in summer and winter. 
 
 " 'But one day the woodman came ; that was the great revolution ; 
 and our family was split up. The head of the family received a 
 post as mainmast on a splendid vessel which could sail round the 
 world, if it wished ; the other branches settled in different places, 
 and we now hold the office of kindling a light for the common 
 herd. That is how such grand people as we have come down to 
 the kitchen.'" 
 
 " My fate shaped itself in another way," said the iron pot next 
 to which the matches were lying. "From the time I first
 
 THE FLYING TRUNK ITI 
 
 came into the world, much scrubbing and cooking has gone on 
 3 inside me. I look after the material wants of life, and occupy the 
 1 first place in the house. My only pleasure is to be on the shelf 
 after dinner, very nice and clean, and to carry on a sensible 
 1 conversation with my comrades. But with the exception of the 
 jpail, which now and then gets taken down into the yard, we 
 jalways live within our four walls. The only one who brings us 
 kny news is the market basket, but it speaks very unassuringly 
 Itabout the government and the people ; indeed, only the other day 
 fan old pot fell down from fright and broke into pieces It is a 
 Liberal, I tell you !" 
 
 " Now you're talking too much," interrupted the tinder-box, 
 fend the steel struck against the flint, so that it gave out sparks. 
 |[ c Had we not better have a pleasant evening ? * 
 I "Yes, let us talk about who is the grandest," said the 
 . Hatches. 
 
 "No, I don't like to talk about myself," objected the pot. 
 L'Let us get up an evening's entertainment. I will begin by 
 telling a story of every-day life something that any one can take 
 r.n interest in and derive pleasure from, too. 
 
 " On the Baltic by the Danish coast " 
 
 " That's a pretty beginning ! " said all the plates. " That will 
 te a story which we shall like." 
 
 "Yes, I passed my youth there, in a quiet family. The furniture 
 his polished, the floor was scrubbed, and every fortnight clean 
 rurtains were hung up." 
 
 "How interesting you make your story," said the broom. 
 lOne can hear at once that the teller is a man who has 
 l-oved much among women. Something so pure runs through 
 
 ! " Yes, that is so," said the pail, and jumped for joy, so that the 
 feter splashed all over the floor. 
 
 I And the pot continued telling its story, the end of which was 
 I st as good as the beginning. 
 
 I All the plates rattled for joy, and the broom got some green 
 flrsley out of the dust-hole and made a wreath for the pot, for it 
 ftew that this would make the others angry. " If I present him
 
 iiz STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 with a wreath to-day," it thought, " he will have to give me one 
 to-morrow." 
 
 " Now I will dance," said the tongs, and did so. Heavens ! 
 how high she could lift up one leg. The old chair-cushion in 
 the corner burst when he saw it. " Shall I get a wreath too ?" 
 asked the tongs ; and she got one. 
 
 " Still, they're only common people," thought the matches. 
 Now the tea-urn was asked to sing; but she said she had 
 caught cold and could not sing unless she were boiling. That 
 was mere affectation, however ; she would not sing unless she were 
 standing on the table with the family. 
 
 By the window was stuck an old goose-quill, with which the 
 maid wrote. There was nothing remarkable about it, except that 
 it had been dipped far too deep into the ink. But it was 
 proud of that. "If the tea-urn will sing," it said, "let her 
 alone. Outside there is a nightingale in a cage which can sing. 
 It is true that it has learnt nothing, but we'll leave that out of 
 the question this evening." 
 
 " I don't think it at all right," said the tea-kettle he was kitchen 
 singer and half-brother to the tea-urn " that such a foreign 
 bird should be heard. Is that patriotic ? Let the market-basket 
 decide." 
 
 " I should only be angry," said the market-basket ; " there is 
 such a conflict going on within me as no one would believe. 
 Is this a proper way in which to pass an evening ? Would it not 
 be more sensible to put the house in order ? Every one ought 
 to go to his own place, and I would lead the game. That would 
 be quite another thing." 
 
 "Yes, let us make a noise," they all said. Then the door 
 opened, and the servant came in, at which they all stood still ; 
 not one stirred. But there was not a single pot who did not 
 know what he could do and how grand he was. " Yes, if I 
 had liked," each one thought, " we might have had a right merry 
 evening." 
 
 The maid took the matches and lit the fire with them. 
 Heavens ! what sparks they threw out, and how they burst into 
 flame!
 
 THE FLYING TRUNK 113 
 
 "Now, everybody can see that we are first," they thought. 
 " How we shine, and with what light ! " And they were 
 burnt up. 
 
 "That was a fine story," said the Sultana. "I feel quite 
 transplanted to the kitchen among the matches. Yes, now you 
 shall have our daughter." 
 
 " Indeed you shall," said the Sultan ; " you shall marry our 
 daughter on Monday." And they made him feel quite one of 
 the family. 
 
 The wedding was settled, and on the evening before it the whole 
 Icity was illuminated. Biscuits and cakes were thrown among 
 (the people; the street boys stood upon their toes, shouting 
 (" Hurrah " and whistling on their fingers. It was uncommonly 
 grand. 
 
 " Well, I suppose I shall have to treat them to something too," 
 thought the merchant's son. So he bought some rockets and 
 crackers, and every kind of fireworks that you can think of, put 
 'hem in his trunk and flew up to the sky with them. 
 
 Bang, bang ! How they went off and cracked 1 
 ; All the Turks jumped so high that their slippers flew over 
 'heir ears ; such a display they had never yet seen. Now they 
 tould understand that it was the god of the Turks himself who 
 vas to marry the Princess. 
 
 < As soon as the merchant's son had come down again into the 
 taod with his trunk, he thought, " I'll just go into the town to 
 tear what impression it made." And it was natural that he 
 iiould wish to know that. 
 
 What stories the people did tell ! Every one whom he asked 
 pout it had seen it in his own way ; but all thought it beautiful. 
 '' "I saw the god of the Turks himself," said one. "His eyes 
 
 ere like shining stars, and his beard like foaming water." 
 " He flew in a mantle of fire," said another. " The sweetest 
 :tle cherubs peeped out of its folds." 
 
 , Indeed they were fine things that he heard, and on the follow - 
 
 g day he was to be married. 
 
 So he went back to the wood to get into his trunk ; but what 
 
 VOL. I. H
 
 n 4 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 had become of it ? The trunk was burnt. A spark from the 
 fireworks had fallen into it and had set it alight, and now the 
 trunk lay in ashes. He could not fly any more, nor get to his 
 bride. 
 
 She stood on the roof the whole day and waited, and is pro- 
 bably waiting still. But he wanders through the world telling 
 tales, which are, however, no longer such merry ones as the one 
 he told about the matches. 
 
 The Little Match Girl 
 
 IT was terribly cold; it snowed and was 
 almost dark on this, the last evening of 
 the year. In the cold and darkness, a 
 poor little girl, with bare head and naked 
 feet, went along the streets. When she 
 left home, it is true, she had had slippers 
 on, but what was the use of that ? They 
 were very large slippers ; her mother had worn them till then, so 
 big were they. So the little girl lost them as she sped across the 
 street, to get out of the way of two carts driving furiously along. 
 One slipper was not to be found again, and a boy had caught up 
 the other and run away with it. So the little girl had to walk 
 with naked feet, which were red and blue with cold. She carried 
 a lot of matches in a red apron, and a box of them in her hand. 
 No one had bought anything of her the live-long day ; no one 
 had given her a penny. 
 
 Shivering with cold and hunger, she crept along, poor little thing, 
 a picture of misery. 
 
 The snow-flakes covered her beautiful fair hair, which fell in long 
 tresses about her neck : but she did not think of that now. 
 Lights were shining in all the windows, and there was a tempting 
 smell of roast goose, for it was New Year's Eve. Yes, she was 
 thinking of that. 
 
 In a corner formed by two houses, one of which projected beyond
 
 THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL i,$ 
 
 the other, she crouched down in a little heap. Although she 
 had drawn her feet up under her, she became colder and 
 colder ; she dared not go home, for she had not sold any matches 
 nor earned a single penny. 
 
 She would certainly be beaten by her father, and -it was cold 
 at home, too; they had only the roof above them, through which 
 
 the wind whistled, although the largest cracks had been stopped up 
 
 frith straw and rags. 
 
 : Her hands were almost numb with cold. One little match 
 
 might do her good, if she dared take only one out of the box, 
 
 strike it on the wall and warm her fingers. She took one out 
 
 and lit it. How it sputtered and burned ! 
 
 I It was a warm, bright flame, like a little candle, when she held 
 
 jier hands over it ; it was a wonderful little light, and it really 
 
 ;eemed to the child as though she was sitting in front of a great 
 
 ron stove with polished brass feet and brass ornaments. How the 
 
 ; ire burned up, and how nicely it warmed one ! The little girl
 
 n 6 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 was already stretching out her feet to warm these too, when out 
 went the little flame, the stove vanished, and she had only the 
 remains of the burnt match in her hand. 
 
 - She struck a second one on the wall ; it threw a light, and where 
 this fell upon the wall, the latter became transparent, like a veil ; 
 she could see right into the room. A white table-cloth was spread 
 upon the table, which was decked with shining china dishes, and 
 there was a glorious smell of roast goose stuffed with apples and 
 dried plums. And what pleased the poor little girl more than all 
 was that the goose hopped down from the dish, and with a knife 
 and fork sticking in its breast, came waddling across the floor 
 straight up to her. Just at that moment out went the match, and 
 only the thick, damp, cold wall remained. So she lighted another 
 match, and at once she sat under the beautiful Christmas tree ; it 
 was much larger and better dressed than the one she had seen 
 through the glass doors at the rich merchant's. The green boughs 
 were lit up with thousands of candles, and gaily-painted figures, 
 like those in the shop-windows, looked down upon her. The 
 little girl stretched her hands out towards them and out went the 
 match. The Christmas candles rose higher and higher till they 
 were only the stars in the sky ; one of them fell, leaving a long 
 fiery trail behind it. 
 
 " Now, some one is dying," thought the little girl, for she had 
 been told by her old grandmother, the only person she had ever 
 loved, and who was now dead, that when a star falls a soul goes 
 up to heaven. 
 
 She struck another match on the wall ; it was alight once more, 
 and before her stood her old grandmother, all dazzling and bright, 
 and looking very kind and loving. 
 
 " Grandmother ! " cried the little girl. " Oh ! take me with you. 
 I know that you will go away when the match is burnt out ; you 
 will vanish like the warm stove, like the beautiful roast goose, and 
 the large and splendid Christmas-tree." And she quickly lighted 
 the whole box of matches, for she did not wish to let her grand- 
 mother go. The matches burned with such a blaze that it was 
 lighter than day, and the old grandmother had never appeared so 
 beautiful nor so tall before. Taking the little girl in her arms,
 
 OLE LUK-OIE 117 
 
 she flew up with her, high, endlessly high, above the earth ; and 
 there they knew neither cold, nor hunger, nor sorrow for they 
 were with God. 
 
 But in the cold dawn, the poor little girl was still sitting with red 
 cheeks and a smile upon her lips in the corner, leaning against 
 ,the wall : frozen to death on the last evening of the Old Year. 
 The New Year's sun shone on the little body. The child sat up 
 stiffly, holding her matches, of which a box had been burnt. 
 " She must have tried to warm herself," some one said. No one 
 iknew what beautiful things she had seen, nor into what glory she 
 had entered with her grandmother on the joyous New Year. 
 
 Ole Luk-Oie 
 
 HERE is no one in the world who knows 
 so many stories as Ole Luk-Oie. He can tell 
 them beautifully ! 
 
 Towards evening time when children are 
 still sitting nicely at table or on their stools, 
 Ole Luk-Oie comes. He creeps up the stairs 
 very quietly, for he always walks in his socks ; 
 lie opens the doors gently, and whish ! he squirts sweet milk into 
 ihe children's eyes in tiny drops, but still quite enough to prevent 
 hem from keeping their eyes open and therefore from seeing him. 
 rle steals behind them, and blows softly on their necks, and this 
 nakes their heads heavy. Of course it does not hurt them, for 
 Ole Luk-Oie is the children's friend ; he only wants them to be 
 iiuiet, and that they are not until they have been put to bed. 
 j He wants them to be quiet only to tell them stories. 
 | When the children are at last asleep, Ole Luk-Oie sits down upon 
 heir bed. He has fine clothes on ; his coat is of silk, but it is im- 
 :>ossible to say of what colour, for it shines green, red and blue, 
 .ccording as he turns. Under each arm he carries an umbrella ; 
 jhe one with pictures on it he opens over good children, and then 
 hey dream the most beautiful stories all night ; but the other, on
 
 Ii8 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 which there is nothing at all, he opens over naughty children, and 
 then they sleep as though they were deaf, so that when they awake 
 in the morning they have not dreamt of the least thing. 
 
 Now we shall hear how during one week Ole Luk-Oie came to a 
 little boy named Hjalmar every evening, and what he told him. 
 There are seven stories : for there are seven days in the week. 
 
 MONDAY. 
 
 " Look here," said Ole Luk-Oie in the evening, when he had 
 put Hjalmar to bed ; " I'll just make things look nice." 
 
 And all the flowers in the flower-pots grew into large trees 
 stretching out their long branches across the ceiling and along the 
 walls, so that the room looked like a beautiful arbour ; and all the 
 branches were full of flowers, every flower being finer than a rose 
 and smelling sweetly. If one wanted to eat them, they were
 
 OLE LUK-OIE 119 
 
 sweeter than jam. The fruits shone like gold, and there were 
 cakes simply bursting with currants. Nothing like it had ever 
 been seen before. But at the same time terrible cries were 
 heard coming from the table-drawer in which Hjalmar's school- 
 books lay. 
 
 "Whatever is the matter?" said Ole Luk-Oie, going to the 
 table and opening the drawer. It was the slate, upon which a 
 terrible riot was going on amongst the figures, because a wrong one 
 had got into the sum, so that it was nearly falling to pieces ; the 
 pencil hopped and skipped at the end of its string, as if it were a 
 little dog who would have liked to help the sum, but it could 
 not. And from Hjalmar's copy-book there also came the sounds 
 of woe, terrible to hear. On every page there stood at the begin- 
 ning of each line a capital letter, with a small one next to it ; that 
 was for a copy. Now next to these stood some other letters which 
 Hjalmar had written, and these thought they looked just like the 
 two first. But they lay there as if they had fallen over the pencil- 
 lines upon which they ought to have stood. 
 
 " Look, this is the way you ought to hold yourselves up," said 
 the copy. " Look, slanting like this, with a powerful up-stroke." 
 
 " Oh, we should like to," said Hjalmar's letters ; " but we can't, 
 we are too weak." 
 
 "Then you must take some medicine," said Ole Luk- 
 Oie. 
 
 " Oh, no," they cried, and stood up so gracefully that it was a 
 pleasure to see them. 
 
 " Well, we cannot tell any stories now! " said Ole Luk-Oie ; I 
 must drill them. One, two ! one, two ! " And in this way he 
 drilled the letters. They stood up quite gracefully, and looked as 
 nice as only a copy can do. But when Ole Luk-Oie had gone 
 and Hjalmar looked at them in the morning, they were just as weak 
 and miserable as before. 
 
 TUESDAY. 
 
 As soon as Hjalmar had gone to bed, Ole Luk-Oie touched all 
 1 the furniture in the room with his little magic squirt, whereupon it 
 immediately began to talk.
 
 I 2 o STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 Every piece spoke about itself, with the exception of the spit- !i 
 toon, which stood quietly there and got very angry at their being ja 
 so vain as to talk only about themselves, to think only about jj 
 themselves, and to take no notice whatever of it, which || 
 stood modestly in the corner and allowed itself to be spat 
 upon. 
 
 Over the wardrobe hung a large picture in a gilt frame ; it was 
 a landscape. There might be seen large old trees, flowers in 
 the grass, and a wide river flowing round the wood, past many 
 castles, and far out into the stormy sea. 
 
 Ole Luk-Oie touched the picture with his magic squirt, and the 
 birds immediately began to sing, the branches of the trees to move, 
 and the clouds to sail past ; their shadows could be seen gliding 
 along over the landscape. 
 
 Then Ole Luk-Oie lifted Hjalmar up to the frame and put his 
 little feet into the picture, right among the high grass ; there he 
 stood. The sun shone down upon him through the branches of 
 the trees. He ran to the water and got into a small boat which 
 was lying there ; it was painted red and white, the sails glittering 
 like silver ; and six swans, wearing golden crowns round their 
 necks and brilliant blue stars on their heads, drew the boat along, 
 past the green wood where the trees tell of robbers and witches, and 
 where the flowers speak of the dainty little elves and of what the 
 butterflies have told them. 
 
 Most lovely fishes, with scales like silver and gold, swam after 
 the boat ; now and then they took a jump, making the water 
 splash. Birds, blue and red, small and large, also followed, flying 
 in two long rows. 
 
 The gnats danced and the cockchafers said : " Boom, boom ! " 
 They all wanted to follow Hjalmar, and each had a story to 
 tell. 
 
 What a pleasant voyage it was ! At times the woods were 
 thick and dark, at times full of sunlight and flowers like the most 
 beautiful garden. There were great castles built of glass and of 
 marble, and on the balconies stood princesses, who were all little 
 girls whom Hjalmar knew very well, and with whom he had 
 formerly played. Every one of them stretched out her hands,
 
 OLE LUK-OIE 121 
 
 offering him the prettiest sugar-heart that you could find in a 
 sweetstuff shop. Hjalmar caught hold of one side of the sugar- 
 heart as he sailed by, and the princess also holding on tightly, each 
 got a piece of it ; she the smallest, Hjalmar the biggest. At every 
 castle little princes were keeping guard, shouldering their golden 
 swords and showering down raisins and tin-soldiers ; it was easy to 
 see that they were real princes. 
 
 Sometimes Hjalmar sailed through forests, sometimes through 
 great halls or through the middle of a town ; he also came to the 
 town in which lived the nurse who had carried him when he was 
 still a little boy and who had always been so good to him. She 
 nodded and beckoned to him, and sang the pretty little verse 
 which she had herself composed and sent to Hjalmar : 
 
 "/ think of thee full many a time. 
 
 My own dear darling boy ; 
 To kiss thy mouth, thine eyes, thy brow, 
 Was once my only joy. 
 
 "I heard thee lisp thy first sweet words, 
 
 Yet from thee I was torn ; 
 May Heaven be e'er that angel' s shield 
 Whom in my arms I've borne. " 
 
 [And all the birds sang too, the flowers danced on their stalks, 
 and the old trees nodded as if Ole Luk-Oie were also telling them 
 i stories. 
 
 WEDNESDAY. 
 
 , How the rain was pouring down outside ! Hjalmar could hear 
 :it in his sleep, and when Ole Luk-Oie opened one of the windows 
 the water came up to the window-sill. It formed quite a lake, 
 and a most splendid ship lay close to the house. 
 
 " If you would like to sail with us, little Hjalmar," said Ole 
 Luk-Oie, " you can reach foreign countries to-night, and get back 
 here by the morning." 
 
 Then Hjalmar suddenly found himself dressed in his Sunday 
 clothes in the middle of the beautiful ship ; the weather at once 
 became fine, and they sailed through the streets, cruised round
 
 122 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 the church, and were soon sailing on a great stormy sea. They 
 sailed until they lost sight of land, and could see only a flight of! 
 storks which were coming from Hjalmar's home and going to warm 
 climates. They were flying in a line one after another, and had 
 already come very far. One of them was so tired that his 
 wings could scarcely carry him any longer ; he was the last in the 
 line, and was soon left a long way behind, finally sinking lower and 
 lower with outspread wings. He flapped them once or twice 
 more, but it was of no use ; first he touched the rigging of the 
 vessel with his feet, then he slid down from the sail, and at last 
 he stood on the deck. 
 
 The cabin-boy took him and put him into the fowl-coop with 
 the hens, ducks, and turkeys; there stood the poor stork, a 
 prisoner among them. 
 
 " Look at the fellow," said all the fowls, and the turkey-cock 
 puffed himself out as much as he could, and asked him who he 
 was; the ducks waddled backwards and jostled each other, 
 quacking : " What a fool ! What a fool ! " And the stork told 
 them about the heat of Africa, about the pyramids, and about the 
 ostrich who runs across the desert like a wild horse ; but the 
 ducks did not understand him, and nudged each other, saying : 
 " I suppose we all agree that he is very stupid." 
 
 " Of course he is very stupid," said the turkey ; and then he 
 gobbled. So the stork was silent and thought of his Africa. 
 
 " What beautifully thin legs you have," said the turkey-cock. 
 " What do they cost a yard ? " 
 
 " Quack, quack, quack ! " grinned all the ducks ; but the stork 
 pretended not to have heard it. 
 
 " You might laugh anyhow," said the turkey-cock to him ; " for 
 it was very wittily said. But perhaps it was too deep for you. 
 Ha, ha ! he is not very clever. We will keep to our interesting 
 selves." And then he gobbled, and the ducks quacked. It was 
 irritating to hear how they amused themselves. 
 
 But Hjalmar went to the fowl-coop, opened the door and called 
 the stork, who hopped out to him on the deck. He had now 
 had a good rest, and he seemed to nod at Hjalmar, as if to thank 
 him. He then spread his wings and flew to the warm countries;
 
 OLE LUK-O1E I23 
 
 ut the hens cackled, the ducks quacked, and the turkey-cock 
 turned red as fire in his face. 
 
 "To-morrow we shall make soup of you," said Hjalmar ; and 
 with that he awoke and found himself between his linen sheets. 
 But it was a strange journey upon which Ole Luk-Oie had taken 
 him that night. 
 
 THURSDAY. 
 
 "Do you know what?" said Ole Luk-Oie; "only don't be 
 frightened, and you will see a little mouse here." And he held 
 out his hand with the pretty little animal in it. " She is come to 
 invite you to a wedding. There are two little mice, who are 
 going to enter the state of matrimony to-night. They live under 
 the floor of your mother's pantry, which must be a fine place to 
 dwell in." 
 
 "But how can I get through the little mouse-hole in the 
 floor ? " asked Hjalmar. 
 
 "Let me look after that," said Ole Luk-Oie. "I will soon 
 make you small." And then he touched Hjalmar with his little 
 magic squirt, making him immediately smaller and smaller, until 
 at last he was only as big as a finger. " Now you can borrow the 
 clothes of the tin soldier ; I think they will fit you, and it looks 
 well to wear a uniform when you are in company." 
 
 " So it does," said Hjalmar, and in a moment he was dressed 
 like the prettiest little tin soldier. 
 
 " Will you be good enough to sit in your mother's thimble ? " 
 ,said the little mouse ; " then I shall have the honour of drawing 
 you along." 
 
 j "Dear me! will you take so much trouble yourself?" said 
 Hjalmar; and in that fashion they drove to the mouse's 
 wedding. 
 
 j At first they came to a long passage under the floor, just 
 high enough to enable them to drive along with the thimble, and 
 ihe whole passage was illuminated with lighted tinder. 
 
 " Doesn't it smell delightful here ? " asked the mouse, who was 
 Drawing him along. " The passage is smeared with bacon-rind. 
 There can be nothing nicer ! "
 
 I2 4 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 They now came into the hall where the wedding was to take 
 place. On the right-hand side stood all the little lady-mice 
 whispering and squeaking as though they were having rare fun ; 
 on the left stood all the gentlemen-mice stroking their whiskers 
 with their paws. In the middle of the hall could be seen the 
 bride and bridegroom standing in the hollowed-out rind of a 
 cheese ; they were kissing each other in a shameless manner 
 before the eyes of all, for they were already betrothed and on the 
 point of being married. 
 
 More strangers were continually arriving; the mice were 
 almost treading each other to death, and the bridal pair had 
 placed themselves right in the doorway, so that it was impossible 
 to go in and out. The whole room, like the passage, had been 
 besmeared with bacon-rind, and that was all the refreshments ; for 
 dessert, however, a pea was shown, in which a mouse of the 
 family had bitten the name of the bridal pair that is to say, 
 of course only the initials. But what a novel idea it was ! 
 
 All the mice agreed that it had been a splendid wedding, and 
 that the conversation had been most agreeable. 
 
 Then Hjalmar drove home again. He had certainly been in 
 distinguished society, but he had also had to huddle himself up a 
 good deal, to make himself small, and to wear the uniform of a 
 tin soldier. 
 
 FRIDAY. 
 
 " You would hardly believe how many grown-up people there 
 are who would only be too pleased to have me," said Ole Luk- 
 Oie. "Particularly those who have done something bad. 
 ' Dear little Ole,' they say to me, ' we cannot close our eyes, and 
 so we lie awake the whole night and see all our wicked deeds 
 sitting like ugly little goblins on the bedstead, and squirting hot 
 water over us ; we wish you would come and drive them away, so 
 that we could get a good sleep.' Then they sigh deeply. 
 'Indeed we would willingly pay for it; good-night, Ole, the 
 money is on the window-sill.' 
 
 " But I don't do it for money," said Ole Luk-Oie. 
 
 " What are we going to do to-night ? " asked Hjalmar.
 
 OLE LUK-OIE , 2$ 
 
 " Well, I don't know whether you would like to go to another 
 wedding to-night ; it is of quite a different kind to last night's. 
 Your sister's big doll the one that looks like a man and is called 
 Hermann is going to marry the doll Bertha. Besides this it is 
 the bride's birthday, and therefore they will receive a great many 
 presents." 
 
 "Yes, I know that," said Hjalmar. "Whenever the dolls 
 want new clothes, my sister says it is a birthday or a wedding ; 
 that has happened quite a hundred times already." 
 
 " Yes, but to-night is the hundred and first wedding, and when 
 that number is reached, everything is over. That is why this one 
 will be quite unlike any other. Only just look ! " 
 
 And Hjalmar looked upon the table. There stood the little 
 doll's house with lights in the windows, and all the tin soldiers 
 presenting arms in front of it. The bride and bridegroom were 
 sitting on the floor and leaning against the leg of the table ; they 
 seemed very thoughtful, and for this they had perhaps good cause. 
 Ole Luk-Oie, dressed in grandmother's black gown, married 
 them. When the ceremony was over, all the furniture in the 
 room began to sing the following beautiful song, written by the 
 lead-pencil to the air of the soldiers' tattoo : 
 
 " We'll troll the song out like the wind, 
 
 Long live the bridal pair ! 
 They're both so dumb, so stiff and blind, 
 
 Of leather made, they'll wear. 
 Hurrah, hurrah, though deaf and blind 
 We'll sing it out in rain and wind." 
 
 And now came the presents ; they had, however, declined to 
 accept any eatables, love being enough for them to live on. 
 
 " Shall we take a country-house, or would you rather travel ? " 
 asked the bridegroom. To settle this, the swallow, who had 
 travelled a great deal, and the old hen, who had hatched five 
 broods of chicks, were asked for their advice. 
 
 The swallow spoke of the beautiful warm countries, where the 
 grapes grow large and full, where the air is so mild and the 
 mountains have such colours as are never seen on them in our 
 country.
 
 i 2 6 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 " But still they have not our broccoli," said the hen. " I was 
 once in the country for a whole summer with all my chicks ; 
 there was a sand-pit, into which we might go, and scrape up, and 
 then we were admitted to a garden full of broccoli. Oh, it was 
 grand ! I cannot imagine anything nicer." 
 
 "But one head of cabbage is just like another," said the 
 swallow ; " and then we very often have bad weather here." 
 
 " Well, one gets used to that," said the hen. 
 
 " But it is cold here, and it freezes." 
 
 " That is good for cabbages," said the hen. " Besides, it can 
 be warm here too. Didn't we have a summer, four years ago, 
 that lasted five weeks ? It was almost too warm to breathe. 
 And then we have not poisonous animals, as they have there ; 
 and we are free from robbers. He must be a wicked man 
 who does not think that our country is most beautiful. He 
 really does not deserve to be here." 
 
 And then the hen wept and added : " I have travelled too. 
 I rode for more than twelve miles in a coop. Travelling is by 
 no means a pleasure." 
 
 " The hen is a sensible woman," said the doll Bertha. " I don't 
 in the least care for mountain travelling myself, for you only go 
 up and down again. No, we will go into the gravel-pit outside 
 the gate and take a walk in the cabbage-garden." 
 
 And so they did. 
 
 SATURDAY. 
 
 " Shall I hear any stories to-night ? " asked little Hjalmar, as 
 soon as Ole Luk-Oie had sent him to sleep. 
 
 " We have no time for any this evening," said Ole Luk-Oie, 
 opening his beautiful umbrella over him. "Just look at these 
 Chinamen ! " 
 
 The umbrella looked like a large Chinese bowl with blue trees 
 and pointed bridges, and with little Chinamen nodding their 
 heads. 
 
 "We must have the whole world cleaned up by to-morrow 
 morning," said Ole Luk-Oie, " for it is a holiday, it is Sunday. 
 I will go to the church-steeple and see whether the little church
 
 OLE LUK-OIE 127 
 
 goblins are polishing the bells, so that they may sound sweetly; 
 I will go out into the fields and see whether the wind is blowing 
 the dust off the grass and the leaves ; and what is the most 
 necessary work of all, I must fetch down the stars to polish them. 
 I take them in my apron ; but first each one must be 
 numbered, and the holes in which they are fixed must also be 
 numbered, so that they may be put back in their right places. 
 They would otherwise not hold fast and we should have too many 
 falling stars, one tumbling down after another. 
 
 " Look here ; do you know, Mr. Ole Luk-Oie," said an old 
 portrait which hung on the wall in Hjalmar's bedroom, " I am 
 Hjalmar's great-grandfather? I thank you for telling the boy 
 tales ; but you must not put wrong ideas into his head. The 
 stars cannot be taken down. The stars are worlds, just like our 
 earth, and that is the beauty of them." 
 
 "Thank you, old great-grandfather," said Ole Luk-Oie; 
 "thank you. You are the head of the family; you are its 
 founder ; but I am still older than you. I am an old heathen ; 
 the Greeks and Romans called me the God of Dreams. I have 
 visited the grandest houses, and still go there. I know how to 
 deal both with the humble and the great. Now, you may tell 
 your stories." And Ole Luk-Oie went away and took his umbrella 
 with him. 
 
 " Well ! One must not even give one's opinion any more," 
 grumbled the old portrait. 
 
 And Hjalmar awoke. 
 
 SUNDAY. 
 
 "Good evening," said Ole Luke-Oie. Hjalmar nodded and 
 sprang up to turn his great-grandfather's portrait against the wall, 
 so that it could not interrupt, as it had done yesterday. 
 . " You must tell me some stories about the five green peas 
 prho lived in one pod; about the leg of the cock which went 
 ,:ourting the leg of the hen ; and about the darning-needle who 
 ; vas so grand that she fancied she was a sewing-needle. 
 , " You can have too much of a good thing," said Ole Luk-Oie. 
 1 You know very well that I prefer showing you something. I
 
 i 2 8 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 will show you my brother. He is also called Ole Luk-Oie, but 
 he never comes to any one more than once, but when he does 
 come to them, he takes them with him on his horse and tells 
 them stories. He only knows two ; one is so extremely beautiful 
 that no one in the world can imagine anything like it ; the other 
 is most awful and horrible it cannot be described." 
 
 Then Ole Luk-Oie lifted little Hjalmar up to the window, saying : 
 " Now you will see my brother, the other Ole Luk-Oie. They call 
 him Death. Do you see, he does not look so bad as in the 
 picture books, where they make him out to be a skeleton. That 
 splendid hussar uniform that he is wearing is embroidered with 
 silver; a black velvet mantle floats behind him over the horse. 
 See at what a gallop he rides." 
 
 And Hjalmar saw how this Ole Luk-Oie rode away, taking both 
 young and old upon his horse. Some he placed before him and 
 others behind, but he always asked first : 
 
 " How is your report for good behaviour ? " 
 
 " Good," they all replied. 
 
 " Yes, but let me see it myself," said he ; and then each one 
 had to show him his book of reports. All those who had ' Very 
 good ' and ' Excellent ' were placed in front upon the horse and 
 heard the delightful story ; but those who had ' Pretty good ' and 
 1 Middling ' had to get up behind and listen to the horrible tale ; 
 they trembled and wept, and wanted to jump down from the 
 horse, but could not do so, because they had immediately grown 
 fast to it. 
 
 " But Death is a most beautiful Ole Luk-Oie," said Hjalmar. 
 " I am not afraid of him." 
 
 " Neither should you be," said Ole Luk-Oie ; " only take care 
 that you get good reports." 
 
 "Well, that's instructive," muttered the great-grandfather's por- 
 trait. " It is of some use to give one's opinion occasionally." 
 
 Now he felt satisfied. 
 
 And that is the story of Ole Luk-Oie; perhaps he will tell you 
 some more to-night himself.
 
 THE UGLY DUCKLING 
 
 The Ugly Duckling 
 
 HE country was looking beautiful. It was 
 summer; the wheat was yellow, the oats 
 were green, the hay stood in stacks on the 
 green meadows, and the stork strutted 
 about on his long red legs chattering 
 Egyptian, for he had learnt that language 
 from his mother. All around the fields 
 and meadows were large forests, and in the middle of these 
 forests deep lakes. Yes, it was really glorious out in the 
 country. In the sunshine one could see an old country seat 
 surrounded by deep canals, and from the wall, right down to 
 the water, there grew large burdock leaves, which were so' high 
 that little children could stand upright under the tallest. 
 It was as wild there as in the thickest wood. A duck, who was 
 hatching her young, sat on her nest here, but she got very tired 
 of waiting for the young ones to come. She rarely had visitors, 
 for the other ducks preferred swimming about in the canals to 
 waddling up and sitting down under a burdock leaf to gossip 
 with her. 
 
 At last one egg cracked after another. "Chick, chick;" all 
 the yolks were alive, and the little heads peeped out. 
 
 "Quack, quack!" said the duck; so they all hurried up as 
 fast as they could, and looked about on all sides under the 
 green leaves. Their mother let them look as much as they liked, 
 because green is good for the eyes. 
 
 " How large the world is," said all the little ones ; for, of course, 
 they had much more room now than in the egg. 
 I " Do you think this is the whole world ? " said the mother ; 
 "why, thpt stretches far beyond the other side of the garden, 
 right into the parson's field, but I have never been there yet. I 
 suppose you are all here ? " she continued, getting up. " No, you 
 are not ; the largest egg is still lying here. How long will this 
 last ? I'm getting tired of it ! " And so saying she sat down again* 
 
 VOL, I. I
 
 1 30 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 " Well, how are you getting on ? " said an old duck, who had 
 come to pay her a visit. 
 
 " This egg takes such a long time," answered the sitting duck ; 
 " it will not break. But just look at the others ; are they not the 
 daintiest ducklings that were ever seen ? They all look like their 
 father, the rascal he doesn't come to pay me a visit." 
 
 " Let me see the egg that will not break," said the old duck. 
 " Depend upon it, it is a turkey's egg. I was once deceived in 
 the same way myself, and had a lot of trouble and bother with 
 the young ones, for they are afraid of the water. I couldn't get 
 them into it ; I quacked at them and I hacked at them, but it was 
 of no use. Let me see the egg. Yes, that is a turkey's egg. Let 
 it alone and rather teach the other little ones to swim." 
 
 " I'll just sit on it a little while longer," said the duck ; " having 
 sat so long now, I may as well sit a few days more." 
 
 "As you like," said the old duck, and went away. 
 
 At last the big egg broke. " Tweet, tweet," said the young one, 
 creeping out. It was very big and ugly. The duck looked at it. 
 " That's a mighty big duckling," said she ; " none of the others 
 look like that ; could he be a young turkey-cock ? Well, we shall 
 soon get to know that ; he will have to go into the water, if I have 
 to push him in myself." 
 
 The next day the weather was gloriously fine ; the sun shone 
 down on all the green leaves, and the mother duck went down to 
 the canal with her whole family. She sprang with a splash into 
 the water, and as she went " Quack, quack ! " one duckling after 
 another jumped in. The water closed over their heads, but they 
 soon came up again, and swam beautifully ; their legs moved by 
 themselves, and all were in the water. Even the ugly little grey 
 one was swimming too. 
 
 " No, he is not a turkey," said the duck ; " look how beautifully 
 he moves its legs, and how upright he holds itself; he is my own 
 child. And if you only look at him properly, he is really very pretty. 
 Quack, quack ! Come with me ; I will take you into society, and 
 introduce you to the duck-yard ; but mind you always keep near 
 me, so that no one treads on you ; and beware of the cat." 
 
 So they came into the duck-yard. There was a terrible noise
 
 THE UGLY DUCKLING 131 
 
 inside, for there were two families who were fighting about the 
 head of an eel ; and after all the cat got it. 
 
 " You see, such is the way of the world," said the mother-duck, 
 sharpening her beak, for she, too, wanted the eel's head. " Now, 
 use your legs," said she ; " try to hurry along, and bend your 
 necks before the old duck there ; she is the most distinguished of 
 
 all here. She is of Spanish blood, that is why she is so fat ; and 
 
 you see she has a red rag round her leg. That is something 
 
 extremely grand, and the greatest distinction a duck can attain ; it 
 
 \ is as much as to say that they don't want her to get lost, and that 
 
 i she may be recognised by man and beast. Hurry up ! Don't 
 
 ' turn your feet inwards; a well-educated duckling turns his feet 
 
 1 outwards as much as possible, just like his father and mother. 
 
 i Look, like that ! Now bend your neck and say ' Quack ! ' " 
 
 And they did as she told them ; but the other ducks all around 
 
 looked at them and said, quite loud : " Look there ! Now we are 
 
 1 to have that lot too ; as if we were not enough already. And, fie ! 
 
 how ugly that one duckling is; we will not stand that." And one 
 
 1 of the ducks immediately flew at him, and bit him in the neck. 
 
 " Leave him alone," said the mother ; " he is doing no one any 
 harm."
 
 I 3 z STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 " Yes, but he is too big and strange-looking," said the duck who 
 had bitten him ; " and therefore he must be whacked." 
 
 " They are pretty children which the mother has," said the old 
 duck with the rag round her leg ; " they are all fine, except one, 
 which has turned out badly. I wish she could hatch him over 
 again." 
 
 " That cannot be, your highness," said the duckling's mother ; 
 " he is not handsome, but he has a very good heart, and swims as 
 beautifully as any other ; indeed, I may say, somewhat better. I 
 think he will grow prettier and get to look a little smaller in 
 time. He has lain too long in the egg, and therefore not received 
 the right shape." And with this she scratched the little one's 
 neck and smoothed his feathers. " Besides," she said, " he is a 
 drake, and therefore it does not matter so much. I think he 
 will become very strong and fight his way through the world." 
 
 "The other ducklings are very pretty," said the old duck; 
 " pray make yourselves at home, and if you find an eel's head, 
 you may bring it to me." 
 
 So now they felt at home. But the poor duckling who had 
 been the last to leave his shell, and who was so ugly, was bitten, 
 pushed, and made a fool of, and that by the hens as well as by the 
 ducks. " He is too big," they all said, and the turkey-cock, who 
 had come into the world with spurs, and therefore thought himself 
 an emperor, puffed himself up like a ship in full sail, and bore 
 down upon him, gobbling and getting quite red in the face. The 
 poor duckling did not know where to stand or where to go ; he was 
 distressed at being so ugly and the jest of the whole duck-yard. 
 
 So passed the first day, and afterwards things grew worse and 
 worse. The poor duckling was chased about by all ; even his 
 sisters were unkind to him, and kept on saying : " If only the cat 
 would catch you, you hideous creature ! " And his mother said, 
 " Would that you were far away ! " The ducks bit him, the hens 
 beat him, and the girl who had to feed the poultry kicked him 
 away with her foot. 
 
 So he ran and flew over the hedge, frightening away the little 
 birds in the bushes. " That is because I am so ugly," thought 
 the duckling, closing his eyes, but running on just the same. So
 
 THE UGLY DUCKLING 133 
 
 he came to a great moor, where some wild ducks lived ; here he 
 lay the whole night, being tired and sorrowful. 
 
 Towards morning the wild ducks flew up and gazed at their 
 new comrade. 
 
 " Pray, who are you ? " they asked, and the duckling turned in 
 all directions, and greeted them as well as he could. 
 
 " You are exceptionally ugly ! " said the wild ducks ; " but that 
 does not matter to us as long as you do not marry into our family." 
 
 Poor thing ! he was really not thinking of marrying, but only 
 wanted permission to lie among the reeds and drink a little moor 
 water. So he lay two whole days ; then two wild geese, or rather 
 ganders, came by ; they had not long crept out of their shell, and 
 that is why they were so bold. 
 
 " Listen, comrade," they said ; " you are rather ugly but we like 
 you very well ; will you come with us and be a bird of passage ? 
 On another moor near this place there are some nice sweet wild 
 geese, all females too, every one of whom can say ' Quack ! ' You 
 would be in a fair way to make your fortune there, ugly as 
 you are." 
 
 " Bang ! bang ! " went a gun, and the two wild ganders fell 
 down dead among the reeds, and the water became red with their 
 blood. " Bang ! bang ! " came again, and whole flocks of wild 
 geese flew up out of the reeds. Once more came a shot. There 
 was a great hunting party going on, and the huntsmen were lying 
 all round the moor ; some were even sitting up in the branches of 
 the trees, which stretched far out over the reeds. The blue 
 smoke dispersed itself into the thick trees and far out over the 
 water, like clouds ; the hounds came splashing across the moor, 
 the reeds and the rushes bending in all directions. What a fright 
 the poor duckling was in ! He turned his head to put it under 
 his wing, but at the same moment a terribly large dog stood quite 
 close to him, his tongue hanging far out of his mouth, his eyes 
 gleaming angrily, hideously. Craning forward straight at the 
 
 duckling, he showed his sharp teeth, and splash ! splash ! 
 
 he was gone again, without touching him. 
 
 " Oh, how thankful I am ! " sighed the duckling; " I am so 
 ugly that even the dog will not bite me."
 
 134 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 And so he lay still whilst the shots whistled through the reeds, 
 one report following another. 
 
 It was late in the day before all was quiet, but the poor little 
 one did not dare to stir even then ; he waited several hours more 
 before he looked round, and then hurried away from the moor as 
 fast as he could. He ran over fields and meadows, though there 
 was such a storm raging that it was difficult for him to get along 
 at all. 
 
 In the evening he reached a wretched little peasant's hut ; it 
 was in such bad repair that it did not know itself on which side 
 to fall, and therefore remained standing. The wind whistled so 
 round the duckling that he was obliged to sit down in order to 
 withstand it, and. it grew worse and worse. He then noticed that 
 the door had fallen from one of its hinges, and hung so to one 
 side that he could creep into the room through the gap, which 
 he did. 
 
 Here lived a woman with her tom-cat and her hen. The tom- 
 cat, whom she called her little son, could put his back up and 
 purr ; he could even give out sparks, but that was only when he 
 was stroked the wrong way. The hen had very small short legs 
 and was therefore called " Chickling Short-legs " ; she laid good 
 eggs, and the woman loved her like her own child. The next 
 morning they immediately noticed the strange duckling, and the 
 tom-cat began to purr and the hen to cluck. 
 
 " What's the matter ? " said the woman, looking round ; but she 
 could not see well, and took the duckling to be a fat duck who 
 had lost her way. " That's indeed a rare catch," said she. " Now 
 I can have duck's eggs. I hope it's not a drake. That we must 
 find out." 
 
 And so the duckling was taken on trial for three weeks, but no 
 eggs came. 
 
 The tom-cat was master in the house, and the hen was mistress, 
 and they used always to say "We and the world," for they 
 believed themselves to be the half, and by far the better half too. 
 The duckling thought that it was possible to be of another 
 opinion, but that the hen would not allow. 
 
 " Can you lay eggs ? " she asked.
 
 THE UGLY DUCKLING 135 
 
 "No." 
 
 " Well, then you will have the goodness to be quiet." 
 
 And the tom-cat said, " Can you set your back up, purr and 
 give out sparks ? " 
 
 "No." 
 
 " Then you may have no opinion when reasonable people are 
 speaking." 
 
 So the duckling sat in the corner and was in a bad humour ; 
 here the fresh air and the sunshine came in to him, and excited 
 in him such a strong desire to swim on the water that he could 
 not help telling the hen of it. 
 
 "What are you thinking of?" asked the latter. "You have 
 nothing to do, and that is why you get these fancies. Either lay 
 eggs or purr, and then they will pass away." 
 
 " But it is so nice to swim on the water," said the duckling ; 
 " so delightful to let it close over your head and to dive to the 
 bottom." 
 
 " Well, that seems a fine pleasure," said the hen. " I think you 
 must be mad. Ask the tom-cat he is the wisest creature I know 
 whether he likes to swim on the water or to dive under. I won't 
 speak of myself. Ask even our mistress, the old woman ; there 
 is no one in the world wiser than she. Do you think she has a 
 longing to swim and to let the water close over her head ? " 
 
 " You don't understand me," said the duckling. 
 
 " We don't understand you ? Who then would be able to under- 
 stand you ? I don't suppose you pretend to be wiser than the tom- 
 cat and the old woman I won't speak of myself at all. Don't get 
 silly things into your head, child, and be thankful 'for all the kind- 
 ness that has been shown you. Have you not come into a warm 
 room, and are you not in the society of those from whom you can 
 learn something ? But you are a fool, and it is disagreeable to 
 have anything to do with you. Believe me, I wish you well. 
 I tell you unpleasant things, and it is in this way that one's real 
 friends may be known. Only learn to lay eggs or to purr and 
 send out sparks." 
 
 " I think I shall go out into the wide world," said the 
 duckling.
 
 I 3 6 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 " Well, do so," said the hen. 
 
 So the duckling went ; he swam upon the water, he dived down, 
 but none of the animals took any notice of him, on account of his 
 ugliness. 
 
 The autumn now came ; the leaves in the wood turned yellow 
 and brown ; the wind caught them and made them dance about ; 
 and up in the air it was very cold. The clouds were heavy with 
 hail and snow-flakes, and the raven sat on the hedge and croaked 
 with cold ; indeed, it made one shiver only to think of it. The 
 poor duckling had by no means a good time. One evening there 
 was a glorious sunset a flock of beautiful large birds came out of 
 a thicket. The duckling had never seen such handsome ones ; 
 they were of dazzling whiteness, with long slender necks. They 
 were swans ; and uttering a peculiar cry they spread their long, 
 splendid wings and flew away out of the cold region to warmer 
 countries and open seas. 
 
 They rose so high, that a strange feeling came over the ugly 
 young duckling. He turned round and round in the water like a 
 wheel, stretched his neck high up in the air after them, and uttered 
 such a loud and peculiar cry that he was quite frightened by it 
 himself ! Oh ! he could not forget the beautiful happy birds, and 
 when he could see them no longer he dived down to the bottom ; 
 on coming up again he was almost beside himself. He did not 
 know what the birds were called, nor whither they were flying ; 
 yet he loved them as he had never loved any one before. He did 
 not envy them at all How could it occur to him to wish himself 
 such loveliness as that ? He would have been quite happy if only 
 the ducks had suffered him to be among them the poor, ugly 
 creature. 
 
 The winter became cold, very cold. The duckling was obliged 
 to swim about in the water to prevent it from freezing over entirely, 
 but every night the opening in which he swam became smaller and 
 smaller. It froze so hard that the ice cracked ; the duckling was 
 obliged to use his legs continually, so that the hole should 
 not close up. At last he got tired, lay quite still, and froze fast 
 in the ice. 
 
 Early next morning a peasant came by, and seeing what had
 
 THE UGLY DUCKLING , 37 
 
 happened, went up, broke the ice in pieces with his wooden 
 shoe, and carried the duckling home to his wife. There he 
 revived. 
 
 The children wanted to play with him ; but the duckling thought 
 they wished to do him some harm, and in his terror jumped right 
 into the milk-pail, so that the milk flew about the room. The 
 farmer's wife clapped her hands at him, upon which he flew into the 
 butter-vat, then down into the meal tub, and out again. What a 
 sight he looked ! The woman screamed and struck at him with 
 the tongs, and the children, all laughing and screaming, knocked 
 each other down in trying to catch him. It was a good thing for 
 him that the door was open, and that he could slip out among the 
 bushes into the freshly fallen snow. There he lay, quite worn out. 
 
 But it would be too sad to relate all the trouble and misery that 
 the duckling had to endure during the severe winter. He was 
 lying on the moor among the reeds when the sun began to shine 
 warmly again. The larks were singing ; it was beautiful spring. 
 
 Then once more the duckling was able to use his wings ; they 
 were much stronger, and carried him along more swiftly than 
 before, and ere he was aware of it, he found himself in a 
 large garden, where an elder-tree scented the air, and bent its 
 long green branches down to the winding canal. Oh, what 
 beauty, what vernal freshness was here ! And out of the thicket 
 came three splendid white swans ; they ruffled their feathers and 
 swam lightly on the water. The duckling knew the splendid 
 creatures, and was seized with a strange sadness. 
 
 " I will fly to them, to those royal birds ! And they will kill 
 me, because I, who am so ugly, dare to come near them. Better 
 to be killed by them than to be bitten by the ducks, beaten by 
 4je..hens, kicked by the girl who minds the poultry-yard, and to 
 suffer so much in winter." So he flew into the water and swam 
 towards the beautiful swans. They perceived him, and shot 
 down upon him with all their feathers up. " Only kill me," said 
 the poor creature, bowing his head to the level of the water and 
 awaiting his death. But what did he see in the clear water ? He 
 saw beneath him his own image, no longer an awkward dark grey 
 bird, ugly and deformed, but a swan himself.
 
 138 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 It matters little whether one has been born in a duck-yard so 
 long as one has been hatched from a swan's egg. 
 
 He felt quite happy at having suffered so much trouble and 
 care. Now only could he rightly value the good fortune that 
 greeted him. And the large swans swam round him and stroked 
 him with their beaks. 
 
 Some little children came into the garden and threw bread 
 and corn into the water. The youngest one cried, "There is 
 a new one ; " and the other children also shouted with glee, 
 " Yes, a new one has come," dancing about and clapping their 
 hands. They ran to their father and mother, and bread and cake 
 was thrown into the water, while every one said, " The new one is 
 the finest j so young and so beautiful ! " And the old swans 
 bowed down before him. 
 
 Then he felt quite ashamed, and put his head under his wing ; 
 he really did not know what to do. He was all too happy, but 
 not at all proud. He remembered how he had been persecuted 
 and despised, and now he heard every one saying that he was the 
 most beautiful of all beautiful birds. Even the elder-tree bowed 
 down before him till its branches touched the water, and the sun 
 shone warm and bright. Then he shook his feathers, stretched 
 his slender neck, and from the bottom of his heart joyfully 
 exclaimed, " I never even dreamed of such happiness when I was 
 still the ugly duckling." 
 
 Twelve by the Mail 
 
 |T was intensely cold, the sky was studded 
 with stars, there was no breath of air 
 stirring. 
 
 " Boom! " An old earthen pot was flung 
 against the neighbour's door. "Bang, 
 bang ! " A gun was fired off. They were 
 greeting the New Year. It was New 
 Year's Eve ! The church-clock was striking Midnight.
 
 TWELVE BY THE MAIL 139 
 
 " Ta-ta-ra, ta-ta-ra ! " The heavy mail-coach came lumbering up 
 and stopped before the gate of the town. There were twelve 
 passengers in it, for all seats were occupied. 
 
 " Hip, hip, hurrah ! " cried the people in the houses of the town, 
 where they were keeping New Year's Night, and rose when the 
 clock struck twelve with their glasses in their hands, drinking the 
 health of the New Year. 
 
 " A Happy New Year to you ! " was the cry. " A pretty wife ! 
 plenty of money ! no trouble and sorrow ! " 
 
 Such were the good wishes expressed amid clinking of glasses. 
 There was singing and ringing ! Before the gate of the town 
 stopped the mail-coach with twelve guests, the passengers. 
 
 And who were these strangers ? Each of them had his pass- 
 jport and luggage with him ; they even brought presents for you, 
 j for me, and for all the inhabitants of the little town. But who 
 .were they, what did they intend to do, and what did they bring 
 with them? 
 
 " Good morning ! " they called out to the sentry at the town-gate 
 " Good morning ! " answered the sentry, for the clock had 
 already struck twelve o'clock. 
 
 " Your names ? your business ? " the sentry asked the first who 
 left the coach. 
 
 " Look for yourself in my passport," replied the man. " I am 
 i//" And he was indeed a man, clad in a large bearskin and 
 ; wearing fur boots. "I am the man on whom many people set 
 their hopes. Come and see me to-morrow and I shall give you a 
 1 New Year's gift. I throw coppers and silver among the people, 
 :and give balls to wit, thirty-one) but more nights I cannot 
 sacrifice. My ships are frozen in, but in my office it is warm and 
 pleasant. My name is January ; I am a merchant, and carry all 
 my accounts with me." 
 
 Then the second alighted from the coach. He was a jovial 
 : fellow; he was theatrical manager, arranger of masquerades and 
 all sorts of amusements that one could think of. His luggage 
 : consisted of a big cask. 
 
 "We shall drive the cat out of this cask at carnival time," he 
 said. " I shall give you and myself pleasure. We shall be merry
 
 H o STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 every day. I have not too long to live in fact, of all the" familj 
 my life is the shortest, for I shall only become twenty-eight day; 
 old. Sometimes they allow me one day more, but I don't trouble 
 myself about that. Hurrah ! " 
 
 "You must not shout so ! " said the sentry. 
 
 "Why shouldn't I ? " replied the man. " I am Prince Carnival 
 travelling under the name of Februarius." 
 
 Then the third left the coach. He looked the very picture ol 
 fasting ; he carried his nose very high, for he was related to the 
 " forty knights," and he was a weather-prophet. But this is not 
 a remunerative trade, and therefore he was in favour of fasting. 
 He had a bunch of violets in his button-hole, but it was very small. 
 
 "March, March!" cried the fourth after him, slapping his 
 shoulders, " do you not smell something ? Come quick into the 
 guardroom ; they are drinking punch there, which is your favourite 
 beverage ; I can smell it outside. March, Mr. Martius ! " But it 
 was not true, he only wished to tease him by making him ar 
 April fool ; for with such merriment the fourth generally made 
 his entrance into the town. He looked very smart, worked bul 
 very little, and kept more holidays than others. " I wish there was 
 a little more steadiness in the world," he said, " but sometimes 
 one is in good, sometimes in bad, humour, always according to cir- 
 cumstances ; one has continually to change one's dress, for some 
 times it rains and sometimes the sun shines. I am a sort of house 
 agent and undertaker ; I can laugh and weep according to circum 
 stances. I have my summer-clothes here in my portmanteau, 
 but it would be foolish to put them on. Here I am ! On Sundays 
 I take a walk in shoes and white silk stockings, and with a muff." 
 
 After him a lady alighted from the coach. Her name was Mis: 
 May. She wore a summer dress and goloshes, her frock was of i 
 light green, and anemones adorned her hair; she smelt s< 
 strongly of thyme that the sentry could not help sneezing 
 " Health and prosperity to you," she said, greeting him. Hov 
 pretty she was ! She was a singer, but not a theatrical vocalist 
 nor a ballad-singer ; she was a songstress of the grove ; sh< 
 roamed about in the green forests and sang for her own pleasur< 
 and amusement.
 
 TWELVE BY THE MAIL 141 
 
 " Now comes the young married woman," they cried from inside 
 the coach, and a young, beautiful and distinguished-looking 
 woman stepped out. One could see that Mrs. June was not 
 accustomed to do much for herself, but rather to be waited upon. 
 On the longest day in the year she gave a great dinner-party, that 
 her guests might have time to eat the numerous courses which were 
 served. Although she had her own carriage, she travelled like 
 the others by the mail, in order to show people that she was not 
 haughty. But she was not unaccompanied, for her younger 
 brother Julius was with her. He looked very well fed, wore 
 summer clothes and a straw hat. He had but little luggage, as 
 it was burdensome to carry in the great heat ; he had only a pair 
 of bathing-drawers with him. 
 
 Then the mother alighted, Mrs. August, a wholesale fruiterer, 
 the proprietress of many fish-ponds and a farmer, wearing a large 
 crinoline ; she was stout and hot, worked hard, and carried the 
 ibeer out to her labourers in the field herself. " In the sweat 
 lof thy brow thou shalt eat thy bread," she used to say ; 
 :"that is written in the Bible. When the work is done follow 
 tthe excursions into the country, dance and play under the green 
 itrees, and the harvest festivals." She was an excellent house- 
 keeper. 
 
 After her a man came out of the coach who was a painter ; he 
 was the famous colourist, September; he would repair to the 
 woods and change the colour of the leaves according to his ideas ; 
 md soon it gleamed with crimson, russet, and gold. The master 
 ::ould whistle like a starling ; he was a quick worker, and decorated 
 lis beer-jug with a twining branch of hops, so that it looked 
 Beautiful ; he had a strong sense of beauty. There he stood with 
 lis colour-box, which made up his whole luggage. 
 
 He was followed by a landowner, who only thought of ploughing 
 i.nd preparing the field in the seed-month, and who was fond of field 
 :ports. Mr. October had his dog and gun with him, and carried 
 luts in his game-bag. " Crack, crack ! " He had a great deal 
 if luggage, including even an English plough ; he talked about 
 
 griculture, but on account of the coughing and groaning of his 
 
 eighbour one could not hear much of it.
 
 142 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 It was November who coughed so much when he got out. He 
 suffered a great deal from colds, and blew his nose continually ; 
 and yet he declared that he must accompany the servant-girls to 
 their new places and initiate them into their winter service ; his 
 cold, he thought, would soon be better when he began wood- 
 cutting, for he was a master woodcutter, and the president of the 
 guild. He passed his evenings cutting wood for skates, for he 
 knew well, he said, that in a few weeks these articles would be in 
 great demand for the people's amusement. 
 
 Finally, the last passenger made her appearance the old 
 mother December, carrying a foot-warmer with her. The old 
 woman was shivering with cold, but her eyes were as bright as two 
 stars. She held a flower-pot in her arm, in which a little fir-tree 
 was growing. " This tree," she said, " I will take care of and 
 cherish, that it may thrive and grow very tall, till Christmas-eve ; 
 it must reach from the floor to the ceiling, and will be covered 
 with glittering lights, gilded apples, and cut-out figures. The 
 foot-warmer warms me like a stove ; I shall take a story-book out 
 of my pocket and read it aloud, until all the children in the room 
 are quiet, and all the little figures on the tree become alive ; and 
 the little wax angel on the top of the tree opens his wings of 
 tinsel, flies down from his green resting-place, and kisses all the 
 children and grown-up people in the room. Nay, he also kisses 
 the poor children who stand outside in the street and sing the 
 Christmas song of the " Star of Bethlehem." 
 
 "Well, the coach may drive off," said the sentry, "now we 
 have all the twelve. And the luggage cart may come up." 
 
 " First let the twelve come in to me," said the captain of the 
 guard, " one after the other. I shall keep their passports here ; 
 they are all available for one month ; when it is gone I shall give 
 them a character on the passports. Now, Mr. January, please 
 walk in." 
 
 And Mr. January accepted the invitation. 
 
 When a year is gone, I shall tell you what the twelve passengers 
 have brought you, myself, and all of us. At present I do not 
 know it, and perhaps they do not know it themselves ; for it is a 
 strange time we live in.
 
 THE LITTLE MERMAID 143 
 
 The Little Mermaid 
 
 AR out in the ocean the water is as blue as the 
 petals of the finest corn-flower, and as trans- 
 parent as the purest glass. But it is very 
 deep, much deeper indeed than any anchor- 
 chain can fathom ; many steeples would have 
 to be piled one on the top of the other in 
 order to reach from the bottom to the surface 
 of the water. Down there live the sea-folks. 
 
 You must not think that there is nothing but the bare white 
 sand at the bottom of the ocean ; no, on the contrary, there grow 
 the most peculiar trees and plants, having such pliable trunks, 
 stalks, and leaves that they stir at the slightest movement of the 
 water, as if they were alive. All the big and small fishes glide 
 through their branches as birds fly through the trees. Where the 
 ocean is deepest stands the sea-king's castle ; its walls are built of 
 coral, and the high arched windows are cut out of the clearest 
 amber ; the roof is covered all over with shells, which open and 
 close according as the current of the water sets. It looks most 
 beautiful, for each of them is filled with pearls of priceless value ; 
 a single one of them would be a fit ornament for a queen's 
 diadem. 
 
 The sea-king had been a widower for many years, and his aged 
 mother was keeping house for him. She was a clever woman, but 
 she was very proud of her noble birth ; therefore she wore twelve - 
 oysters on her tail, while other distinguished sea-folks were only 
 allowed to wear six. In every other respect she deserved un- 
 mingled praise, especially for her tender care of the sea-princesses, 
 her grand-daughters. They were six in number, and the youngest 
 was the most beautiful of all. Her skin was as clear and delicate 
 as the petals of a rose, her eyes as blue as the sea in its greatest 
 depth ; but she also, like the others, had no legs her body ended 
 in a fish-tail. All day long the princesses used to play about in 
 the spacious halls of the castle, where flowers blossom from the
 
 I 4 4 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 walls. When the large amber windows were thrown open the 
 fishes came swimming to the princesses, as the swallows sometimes 
 fly in when we open the windows ; the fishes were so tame that 
 they ate out of their hands, and suffered the princesses to stroke 
 them. 
 
 In front of the castle was a large garden in which bright red 
 and dark blue flowers were growing ; the fruit glittered like gold, 
 and the flowers looked like flames of fire ; their stalks and leaves 
 were continually moving. The ground was covered with the 
 finest sand, as blue as the flame of sulphur. A peculiar blue light 
 was shed over everything ; one would rather have imagined one's 
 self to be high up in the air, having above and below the blue sky, 
 than at the bottom of the sea. When the sea was calm one could 
 see the sun ; it looked like an immense purple flower, from which 
 the light streamed forth in all directions. 
 
 Each of the little princesses had her own place in the garden, 
 where she was allowed to dig and to plant at her pleasure. One 
 gave her flower-bed the shape of a whale, another preferred to 
 form it like a little mermaid; but the youngest made hers as 
 round as the sun, and her flowers were also of the purple hue of 
 the sun. She was a peculiar child, always quiet and sensitive ; 
 while her sisters thought a great deal of all sorts of curious objects 
 which they received from wrecked ships, she only loved her 
 purple flowers, and a beautiful figure, representing a boy, carved 
 out of clear white marble, which had come from some wreck to 
 the bottom of the sea. She had planted a red weeping-willow 
 close by the marble figure, which throve well and was hanging 
 over it with its fresh branches reaching down to the blue sand 
 and casting a violet-coloured shadow. Like the branches, this 
 shadow was continually moving, and it gave one the impression as 
 if the top and the roots of the tree were playing together and try- 
 ing to kiss each other. 
 
 The little mermaid liked most of all to hear stories about man- 
 kind above, and the grandmother had to tell her all she knew 
 about ships, towns, and animals ; she was very much surprised to 
 hear that on earth the flowers were fragrant (the sea-flowers had no 
 Smell) and that the woods were green, that the fishes which one saw
 
 THE LITTLE MERMAID 145 
 
 there on the trees could sing beautifully and delight everybody. 
 The grandmother called the little birds fishes ; otherwise her 
 grand-daughters would not have understood her, as they had 
 never seen a bird. 
 
 " When you are fifteen years old," said the grandmother, " you 
 will be allowed to rise up to the surface of the sea and sit on the 
 cliffs in the moonlight, where the big ships will be sailing by. ^ 
 Then you will also see the woods and towns." 
 
 In the following year the eldest princess would complete her 
 fifteenth year; the other sisters were each one year younger 
 than the other; the youngest therefore had to wait fully five 
 years before she could go up from the bottom of the sea and 
 look at the earth above. But each promised to tell her sisters 
 what she liked best on her first visit; for their grandmother, 
 they thought, did not tell them enough there were so many 
 things on which they wished to be informed. None of them, 
 however, longed so much to go up as the youngest, who had 
 to wait the longest time, and was always so quiet and pensive. 
 Many a night she stood at the open window and looked up 
 through the dark blue water, watching the fishes as they splashed 
 in the water with their fins and tails. She could see the moon 
 and the stars they looked quite pale, but appeared through the 
 water much larger than we see them. When something like a 
 dark cloud passed over her and concealed them for a while, she 
 knew it was either a whale, or a ship with many human beings, 
 who had no idea that a lovely little mermaid was standing ', 
 below stretching out her white hands towards the keel of their i 
 ship. 
 
 The eldest princess now completed her fifteenth year, and was 
 illowed to rise up. When she came back she had to tell about 
 lundreds of things : the greatest pleasure, she said, was to lie in 
 he moonlight on a sandbank, when the sea was calm, and to 
 ook at the near coast and the large town where the lights 
 parkled like many hundreds of stars; to hear the music and 
 loise caused by the clamour of carriages and human voices, to 
 : ee the many church-steeples and to listen to the ringing of the 
 'ells. The youngest sister listened attentively to all this, and 
 
 VOL. I. K
 
 146 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 when she again, at night, stood at the open window and 
 looked up through the dark-blue water, she thought of the great 
 town, with all its bustle and noise, and imagined she heard the 
 ringing of the bells in the depth of the sea. 
 
 In the following year the second sister's turn came to rise up 
 to the surface of the sea and to swim whither she pleased. She 
 came up just as the sun was setting, and this aspect she con- 
 sidered the most beautiful of all she saw. The whole sky looked 
 like gold, and she could not find words to describe the beautiful 
 clouds. Purple and violet, they were sailing by over her head ; 
 but even quicker than the clouds she saw a flight of wild swans 
 flying towards the sun; she followed them, but the sun sank 
 down and the rosy hue on the surface of the water and in the 
 clouds vanished. 
 
 The year after, the third sister rose up. She was the boldest 
 of all, arid swam up the mouth of a broad river. She saw 
 beautiful green hills covered with vines. Strongholds and castles 
 peeped out of the splendid woods ; she heard the birds sing, and 
 the sun was shining so warmly that she had often to dive down 
 and cool her burning face. In a little creek she found a troop of 
 human children playing ; they were quite naked, and splashed in 
 the water; she wished to play with them, but they ran away, 
 terrified. Then a little black animal, a dog, came she had never 
 seen one before and barked so dreadfully at her that she was 
 frightened, and hurried back as fast as she could to the open 
 sea. But she could never forget the stately woods, the green 
 hills, and the nice children who could swim, although they had no 
 fish-tails. 
 
 The fourth sister was not so daring ; she remained out in the 
 open sea, and declared that there it was most pleasant to stay. 
 There, she said, one could look around many miles, and the 
 sky appeared to one like an immense glass globe. She had also , 
 seen ships, but only from a great distance ; they looked to her " 
 like seagulls. The playful dolphins, she said, threw somer- 
 saults, while the big whales spouted up the sea-water through 
 their nostrils, as if many hundred fountains were playing all 
 around her.
 
 THE LITTLE MERMAID 147 
 
 Now the fifth sister's turn came, and as her birthday was in winter 
 she saw something different from her sisters on her first visit. 
 The sea looked quite green ; enormous icebergs were floating 
 around her every one of them was like pearl, she said, although 
 they were much higher than the church- steeples built by men. 
 They had the most peculiar shapes and glittered like diamonds. She 
 had seated herself on one of the highest, and while the wind was 
 playing with her hair she noticed how the ships were tossed about ; 
 towards the evening the sky became covered with black clouds, it 
 lightened and thundered, and the big ice-blocks reflected the 
 flashes of lightning while they were tossed up by the roaring 
 sea. The sailors reefed all their sails, for they were terrified and 
 anxious ; but she was sitting quietly on the floating iceberg, and 
 watching how the flashes of lightning descended zigzag into the 
 foaming sea. 
 
 The first time one of the sisters came to the surface, all 
 the new and beautiful things charmed her ; but now, being as 
 grown-up girls allowed to rise whenever they pleased, all this i 
 became indifferent to them, and after a month they declared j 
 that it was best down below in their own home. On many a 
 night the five sisters would rise to the surface of the water arm-in- 
 arm, in a row, and sing, for they had beautiful voices, much finer 
 than any human being ever has ; and when a storm was 
 approaching, and they thought that some ships might be wrecked, 
 , they swam in front of them, singing of the beautiful things at the 
 bottom of the sea, and bidding the people not to be afraid, but 
 come down. The people, however, did not understand them, and 
 mistook their singing for the noise of the wind ; they never saw the 
 treasures below, for when the ship went down they were drowned, 
 and only arrived dead at the sea-king's castle. When her sisters 
 thus went up arm-in-arm, the youngest princess used to stand 
 alone and follow them with her eyes j then she often felt as if she 
 must cry; but mermaids have no tears, therefore they suffer 
 much more than we do. 
 
 " Oh ! that I were already fifteen years old," she said ; " I know 
 I shall love the world above, and the people that dwell in it, very 
 much."
 
 I 4 8 
 
 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 At last she was fifteen. " You are now grown up," said her 
 grandmother, the old dowager-queen, to her ; " now let me adorn 
 you like your sisters." She placed a wreath of white lilies on 
 her head, the petals of the flowers being half-pearls; and in 
 order to show her high rank the old lady caused eight oysters 
 to be fixed to her grand-daughter's tail. 
 
 " They hurt me, Granny," said the little mermaid. " Never 
 mind, my child, pride must suffer pain," replied the old lady. The 
 little princess would have gladly taken off all her ornaments and the 
 heavy wreath; her purple flowers would have suited her much 
 better, but she could not offend her grandmother. " Farewell ! " 
 she said, and rose up as lightly as a bubble. The sun had just 
 set when she lifted her head out of the water, but the clouds were 
 still coloured like purple and gold; the evening-star sparkled 
 beautifully through the rose-tinted atmosphere ; the air was mild 
 and fresh, and the sea perfectly calm. There was a big ship with 
 three masts lying before her ; only one sail was set, as not a breath 
 of air was stirring ; the sailors were sitting about on deck and in 
 the rigging. There were music and dancing on board, and when it 
 became dark many hundreds of coloured lamps were lighted, and
 
 THE LITTLE MERMAID 149 
 
 it looked as if the flags of all nations were floating in the air. 
 The little mermaid swam up close to the cabin windows, and 
 when the waves lifted her up she could see many well-dressed 
 people through the clear panes. The most beautiful of them was 
 a young prince with large black eyes he certainly seemed not 
 older than sixteen ; it was his birthday, and that was the cause 
 of all this rejoicing. The sailors were dancing on deck, and 
 when the young prince stepped out of the cabin-door hundreds 
 of rockets were thrown up into the air, and became for some 
 moments as bright as day. The little mermaid was frightened, 
 and dived under the water; but soon she lifted up her head 
 again, and then it seemed to her as if all the stars were falling 
 down from the sky. She had never seen such a display of fireworks. 
 Large Catherine-wheels turned rapidly round, splendid fiery 
 fishes flew through the air, and all was reflected by the bright 
 calm sea. On the ship it was so light that one could distinctly 
 see everything, even the smallest rope. And the young prince 
 was so beautiful ! He shook hands with the people and smiled 
 graciously, while the music sounded dreamily through the starry 
 night. 
 
 It became very late, but the little mermaid could not turn her 
 eyes away from the ship and the beautiful prince. The coloured 
 lamps were extinguished ; no more rockets were sent up nor 
 cannons fired off. But in the sea, deep below, was a strange 
 murmuring and humming, while the little mermaid was rocking 
 on the waves and looking into the cabin. Soon the wind began 
 to blow ; one sail after another was furled ; the waves rose up 
 high ; flashes of lightning were seen in the distance ; a terrible 
 storm was approaching. Then all the sails were reefed. The 
 large ship in its rapid course was tossed about like a nutshell by 
 the waves, which rose up as high as mountains, as if they would 
 roll over the top of the masts. The ship dived like a swan 
 down between the waves, and was then carried up again by 
 them to a great height. The little mermaid thought it was a 
 pleasant journey ; not so the sailors. The ship creaked and 
 groaned ; her strong planks were bending under the weight of the 
 heavy waves which entered into her; the mainmast was broken
 
 1 5 o STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 like a reed ; the ship lay over on her side, and the water rushed 
 over her. The little mermaid then perceived that the crew was 
 in danger ; she herself had to be careful, lest the posts and planks 
 floating about on the water might hurt her. For moments it was 
 so dark that one could distinguish nothing, but when it lightened 
 everything was visible. The little mermaid was looking out for 
 the prince ; she saw him sink down into the depths when the ship 
 broke up. She was very pleased, for now she thought he would 
 come down to her. But soon she remembered that men cannot 
 live in the water, and that he would arrive dead at her father's 
 castle. No, he must not die ! Heedless of the beams and planks 
 floating on the waters, she dived down to the bottom, and came 
 up again in search of the prince. At last she found him ; his 
 strength was failing him ; he was no longer able to swim in the 
 storm-tost sea ; his arms and legs became powerless ; his beautiful 
 eyes closed ; he would surely have died had not the little mermaid 
 come to his assistance. She held up his head, and let the waves 
 drift them where they would. 
 
 Next morning the storm had abated, but not a plank was 
 visible of the ship anywhere ; the sun rose purple and radiant 
 out of the water, and seemed to impart new life to the prince's 
 cheeks ; his eyes, however, remained closed. The mermaid kissed 
 his beautiful forehead, stroked back his wet hair ; he looked to her 
 very much like the white marble figure in her little garden at 
 home. She kissed him again and again, and wished that he were 
 alive. 
 
 Now she had before her eyes the dry land, where high 
 mountains towered into the clouds, while the snow was glittering 
 on their summits, and looking like swans resting there. Down 
 on the coast were magnificent green woods, and quite in the fore- 
 ground stood a church or a convent she did not know which ; but 
 at any rate it was a building. Lemon and orange trees were 
 growing in the garden, and high palms stood before the gate. 
 The sea formed a little bay here and was quite calm, although 
 very deep j she swam straight to the cliff, where the fine white 
 sand had been washed ashore, and put him down, taking special 
 care that his head was raised up to the warm sunshine. Then all
 
 THE LITTLE MERMAID 151 
 
 the bells began to ring in the large white building, and many 
 young girls passed through the garden. The little mermaid swam 
 farther out, hid herself behind some rocks, covered her hair and 
 breast with sea-foam, lest anybody might see her little face, and 
 watched to see who would come to the poor prince. After a 
 while a young girl came to the spot where the prince was lying ; 
 at first she seemed very much frightened, but she soon recovered 
 herself, and called some people. The little mermaid saw that the 
 prince came back to life, and smiled at all who stood around him, 
 but at her he did not smile ; he little knew that she had saved 
 
 him. She was very sad ; and when they had taken him into the 
 large building, she dived down and so returned to her father's 
 castle. 
 
 She had always been silent and pensive ; now she was still more 
 so. Her sisters asked her what she had seen when she went up 
 for the first time, but she told them nothing. Many a morning 
 and many an evening she returned to the spot where she had 
 left the prince ; she saw how the fruit in the garden became ripe 
 and was gathered, how the snow melted on the high mountains ; 
 but she never caught sight of the prince, and each time she 
 returned home she was more mournful than before. 
 
 Her only consolation was to sit in her little garden, and to put 
 her arms round the marble figure which resembled the prince, 
 but she no longer looked after her flowers. Her garden became
 
 152 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 a wilderness ; the plants straggled over the paths, and twined their 
 long stalks and leaves round the trunks and branches of the trees, 
 so that it became quite dark and gloomy. 
 
 At last she could bear it no longer, and confided her troubles to 
 one of her sisters, who of course told the others. These, and a few 
 other mermaids who mentioned it confidentially to their intimate 
 friends, were the only people who were in the secret. One 
 of them knew the prince, and could tell them where his 
 kingdom was. She also had witnessed the festival on board the 
 ship. 
 
 " Come, dear sister," said the other princesses ; and arm-in-arm, 
 in a long row, they rose up to the spot where the prince's castle 
 stood. It was built of bright yellow stone, and had broad 
 marble staircases, one of which reached right down to the sea. 
 Magnificent gilt cupolas surmounted the roof, and in the colon- 
 nades, running all round the building, stood lifelike marble 
 statues. Through the clear panes in the high window could be 
 seen splendid halls, where costly silk curtains and beautiful tapestry 
 hung, and the wall was covered with paintings so exquisite that it 
 was a pleasure to look at them. In the centre of the largest hall 
 a fountain played ; its jets rose as high as the glass cupola in the 
 ceiling, through which the sun shone upon the water and the 
 beautiful plants growing in the great basin. 
 
 Now she knew where he dwelt, and near there she passed many 
 an evening and many a night on the water. She swam much 
 closer to the shore than any of the others would have ventured ; 
 nay, she even went up the narrow canal under the magnificent 
 marble balcony which threw a large shadow on the water. Here 
 she sat and gazed at the young prince, who thought that he was 
 quite alone in the moonlight. Often she saw him sailing in a 
 stately boat, decorated with flags, and with music on board. She 
 listened from behind the green rushes ; and when the wind caught 
 her long silver-white veil, and people noticed it, they imagined it 
 was a swan opening its wings. Many a time at night, when the 
 fishermen were upon the sea with torches, she heard them say 
 many good things about the prince, and she was glad that she had 
 saved his life when he was drifting half-dead upon the waves ; she
 
 THE LITTLE MERMAID 153 
 
 remembered how his head had rested on her bosom, and how 
 fervently she had kissed him, but he knew nothing about it, and 
 did not even dream of her. Her love for mankind grew from day 
 to day, and she longed more and more to be able to live among 
 them, for their world seemed to her so much larger than hers, - J 
 They could cross the sea in large ships, and ascend mountains 
 towering into the clouds. The lands which they possessed, both 
 woods and fields, stretched farther than her eyes could reach. 
 There were still so many things on which she wished to have in- 
 formation, and her sisters could not answer all her questions ; 
 therefore she asked her grandmother, who knew the upper world 
 very well, and appropriately styled it "the countries above 
 the sea." 
 
 I '*"*"" If human beings are not drowned," asked the little mermaid, 
 " can they live for ever ? Do they not die as we do down here in 
 the sea?" 
 
 " Yes " replied the old lady. " They also die, and their life is 
 even shorter than ours. We sometimes live to be three hundred 
 years old ; but when we cease to exist here we are turned into foam 
 on the surface of the water, and have not even a grave in the 
 depth of the sea among those we love. We never live again ; our 
 souls are not immortal ; we are like the green seaweed, which, when 
 
 ; once severed from its root, can never grow again. Men, on the 
 other hand, have a soul which lives for ever after the body has N , 
 become dust ; it rises through the sky, up to the shining stars. 
 
 ,! As we rise out of the sea, and behold all the countries of the 
 earth, so they rise to unknown glorious regions which we shall 
 
 ; never see." 
 
 " Why have we not also an immortal soul ? " asked the little 
 
 h mermaid, sorrowfully. " I would gladly give all the years I have 
 yet to live, if I could be a human being only for one day, and 
 
 [ to have the hope of seeing that marvellous country beyond the 
 ' sky." 
 
 " You must not dream of that," replied the old lady. "We are 
 much happier and better off than mankind above." 
 
 " Then I shall die, and drift on the sea as foam, never hearing 
 the music of the waves, or seeing the beautiful flowers and the red
 
 I 5 4 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 sun. Is there not anything I can do in order to obtain an im- 
 mortal soul ? " 
 
 " No ! " said the grandmother. " Only if a man would love you 
 so much that you would be dearer to him than father or mother, 
 if he would cling with all his heart and all his love to you, and let 
 the priest place his right hand into yours, with the promise to be 
 faithful to you here and to eternity, then his soul would flow over 
 into your body, and you would receive a share of the happiness of 
 mankind. He would give you a soul and yet keep his own. But 
 that can never happen ! What is beautiful here below, your fish 
 tail, they consider ugly on earth they do not know any better ; up 
 there one must have two clumsy limbs, which they call legs, in 
 order to be beautiful." 
 
 The little mermaid sighed, and looked at her fish-tail mourn- 
 fully. " Let us be merry," said the old lady. " Let us dance and 
 make the best of the three hundred years of our life. That is 
 truly quite enough ; afterwards repose will be more pleasant. To- 
 V jiight we will have a court ball." 
 
 Such a splendid sight is never seen on earth. The walls and 
 the ceiling of the large ballroom were of thick transparent glass. 
 Several hundred enormous shells, purple and bright green, stood 
 at each side in long rows, filled with blue fire, which lit up the 
 whole room and shone through the walls so that the sea outside 
 was quite illuminated ; one could see countless fishes, of all sizes, 
 swimming against the glass walls ; the scales of some gleamed 
 with purple, others glittered like silver and gold. A broad stream 
 ran through the middle of the ballroom, upon which the sea-folks, 
 both men and women, danced to the music of their own sweet 
 songs. Human beings have not such beautiful voices. The little 
 mermaid sang best of all, and the whole court applauded with 
 fins and tails. For a moment she felt a joy in her heart at the 
 thought that she possessed the most beautiful voice of all living 
 on earth or in the sea. But soon her mind returned to the world 
 above ; she could not forget the beautiful prince, nor cease griev- 
 ing that she did not possess an immortal soul like his. Therefore 
 she stole out of her father's castle ; and while within the others en- 
 joyed songs and merriment, she sat sorrowfully in her little garden.
 
 THE LITTLE MERMAID 155 
 
 Then she heard a bugle sound through the water, and thought, 
 " Surely now he is sailing above, he who fills my mind, and into 
 whose hands I should like to entrust my fate. I will dare all in 
 order to obtain him and an immortal soul ! While my sisters are 
 dancing in my father's castle I will go to the sea-witch, whom I 
 have always feared so much ; perhaps she can advise and help me." 
 
 Then the little mermaid left her garden and went out to the 
 roaring whirlpools where the witch dwelt. She had never gone 
 that way before ; no flowers, no seaweed even, was growing there 
 only bare grey sandy soil surrounded the whirlpools, where the 
 water rushed round like mill-wheels and drew everything it got 
 hold of down into the depths. She had to pass right through 
 these dreadful whirlpools in order to reach the witch's territory. 
 For a good part of the way the road led over warm bubbling mud ; 
 this the witch called her peat-moor. Behind this her house stood, 
 in a strange wood, for all the trees and bushes were polypes half- 
 animals and half-plants. They looked like snakes, with many 
 hundred heads, growing out of the ground. All the branches were 
 slimy arms with fingers like supple worms, every limb was moving 
 from .the root to the highest branch, all they could seize out of the 
 sea they clutched and held fast, never letting it go again. The 
 little mermaid stopped timidly in front of them ; her heart was beat- 
 ing with fear, she nearly turned back again ; but then she thought 
 of the prince and the immortal soul, and regained her courage. 
 She twisted her long flowing hair round her head, lest the polypes 
 might seize it ; she crossed her hands upon her breast, and shot 
 through the water like a fish, right past the dreadful polypes, 
 which stretched out their supple arms and fingers after her. She 
 saw that each of them had seized something and held it tightly 
 with hundreds of little arms. The polypes held in their arms 
 white skeletons of people who had perished at sea and had sunk 
 into the depth, the oars of ships, and chests, skeletons of land 
 animals, and a little mermaid whom they had caught and strangled : 
 this latter was the most dreadful sight to the little princess. 
 
 Then she came to a big marshy place in the wood, where large 
 fat water-snakes were rolling about, and showing their ugly light 
 yellow bodies.
 
 I 5 6 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 In the middle of this place stood a house, built with the white 
 bones of shipwrecked people; there the sea-witch sat, letting a 
 toad eat out of her mouth, as we should feed a little canary with 
 sugar. The ugly fat water-snakes she called her little chickens, 
 and allowed them to crawl all over her. 
 
 " I know very well what you want," said the sea-witch. " It is 
 silly of you, but you shall have your way; you will become 
 wretchedly unhappy, my beautiful princess. You wish to get rid 
 of your fish-tail and have two limbs instead, which men use for 
 walking, that the young prince may fall in love with you and that 
 you may gain him, and an immortal soul." Thus saying the old 
 witch laughed loud and hideously, so that the toads and the 
 snakes fell to the ground, where they wriggled about. " You are 
 just in good time," said the witch ; " if you had come to-morrow 
 after sunrise, I should not have been able to help you for a whole 
 year. Jj will prepare you a drink, and you must swim ashore 
 before the sun rises, and sit down and drink it ; then your tail will 
 disappear and shrink together into what mankind call legs ; but it 
 will hurt you, as if a sharp sword pierced you. Every man who sees 
 you will say that you are the most beautiful girl he has ever seen. 
 You will keep your gracefulness, and no dancer will be able to 
 move as lightly as you ; but at each step that you take you will 
 feel as though you trod on a sharp knife, and as if your blood 
 must flow. If you are ready to suffer all this, I will help you." 
 
 " Yes ! " said the little mermaid, with a trembling voice ; and 
 she thought of the prince and the immortal soul. 
 
 " But remember," said the witch, " if you have once received a 
 human form you can never become a mermaid again ; you will 
 never be able to return again to your sisters and to your father's 
 cattle ; and if you fail to gain the prince's love, so that he forgets, 
 for your sake, father and mother, clings to you with body and 
 soul, and makes the priest join your hands, that you become man 
 and wife, you will not obtain an immortal soul. On the first 
 morning after he has wedded another, your heart will break, and 
 you will become foam on the water." 
 
 " I will have it," said the little mermaid, and turned as pale as 
 death.
 
 THE LITTLE MERMAID , 57 
 
 " But you must pay me," said the witch, " and it is not a little 
 that I ask. You have the most beautiful voice of all who live at 
 the bottom of the sea; you may think you can bewitch him 
 with it ; but this voice you must give me. I will have the best 
 thing you possess in exchange for my costly drink, for I must give 
 you my own blood, that the drink may be strong enough, and as 
 cutting as a two-edged sword." 
 
 " If you take my voice," said the little mermaid, " what is left to 
 me?" 
 
 " Your fine figure," said the witch, " your gracefulness and your 
 speaking eyes with these you may easily capture a human heart. 
 Now, have you lost your courage? Put out your little tongue, 
 that I may cut it off in payment, and I will give you the wonderful 
 drink." 
 
 " Do it," said the little mermaid ; and the witch placed her pot 
 on the fire to prepare the draught. 
 
 " Cleanliness is a good thing " she said, and scoured the kettle 
 with snakes which she had tied into a bundle ; then she pricked 
 herself in the breast and let her black blood drop into it. The 
 steam rose up in the strangest shapes ; any one who could have 
 seen it, would have been frightened to death. Every moment the 
 witch threw new things into the pot, and when it boiled the sound 
 was like the weeping of a crocodile. At last the drink was ready, 
 and looked like the clearest water. 
 
 "There it is," said the witch, and cut the little mermaid's 
 tongue off; so now she was dumb, and -could neither sing nor 
 speak. " If the polypes should seize you when you go back 
 through my wood," said the witch, " you have only to throw one 
 drop of this fluid over them, and their arms and fingers will break 
 into a thousand pieces." But the little mermaid had no need of 
 it ; the polypes shrunk back in fear at the sight of the sparkling 
 drink, which shone in her hand like a glittering star. 
 
 Thus she passed quickly through the wood and the marsh and 
 the roaring whirlpools. She could see her father's castle ; the 
 torches in the ballroom were all extinguished ; they were all 
 asleep ; she dared not go to them ; now she was dumb and on the 
 point of leaving them for ever, she felt as though her little heart
 
 i 5 8 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 would break. She stole into the garden, took a blossom from 
 each of her sisters' flower-beds, kissed her hands a thousand times 
 towards the castle, and rose up through the dark blue sea. The 
 sun had not yet risen when she reached the prince's castle and 
 went up the magnificent marble steps. The moon was shining 
 more brightly than usual. The little mermaid took the burning 
 draught, and felt as though a two-edged swor^^ejreejd_herjender 
 body ; she fainted, and lay there as if dead. When the sun rose out 
 of the sea she awoke and felt a sharp pain, but just before her stood 
 the beautiful young prince. He fixed his black eyes upon her, so 
 that she cast hers down, and noticed that her fish tail had 
 disappeared, and that she had, instead, two of the prettiest feet 
 any girl could wish for. As she had no clothes she wrapped her- 
 self in her long hair. The Prince asked her who she was, and 
 where she came from ; she looked at him sweetly and yet mourn- 
 fully with her dark blue eyes, for she was unable to speak. Then 
 he took her by the hand and led her into the castle. At every 
 step she took she felt, as the witch had told her in advance, as if 
 she trod upon needles and knives ; but she suffered it willingly, 
 and stepped as lightly as a soap-bubble at the prince's side, who, 
 with all the others, admired her graceful movements. 
 
 They gave her splendid dresses of silk and muslin to put on, 
 and she was the most beautiful of all women in the castle ; but 
 she was mute, and could neither sing nor speak. Lovely slaves, 
 dressed in silk and gold, came to sing before the prince and his 
 royal parents. One sang better than all the rest, and the prince 
 clapped his hands and smiled at her. Then the little mermaid 
 became sorrowful ; she knew that she had been able to sing much 
 more sweetly, and thought, " Oh ! if he only knew that in order to 
 be with him I have sacrificed my voice for ever ! " 
 
 Then the slaves danced graceful dances to the loveliest music ; 
 and the little mermaid lifted her beautiful white arms, balanced 
 herself on tiptoe, and glided, dancing, over the floor; none of 
 them could equal her. At every movement her beauty became 
 still more apparent, and her eyes spoke more deeply to the heart 
 than the songs of the slaves. All were charmed, especially the 
 prince, who called her his little foundling. She danced again, and
 
 THE LITTLE MERMAID 159 
 
 again, although she felt, whenever her feet touched the ground as 
 though she trod upon sharp knives. The prince wished her 
 always to remain with him, and gave her permission to sleep on a 
 velvet cushion before his door. 
 
 He had her dressed like a page, that she might accompany him 
 on horseback. They rode through the fragrant woods, where the 
 green boughs touched their shoulders and the birds sang in the 
 fresh foliage. She climbed with the prince to the summits of the 
 high mountains, and although her tender feet bled so much that 
 even others could see it, she smiled and followed him until they 
 saw the clouds sailing beneath their feet, like a flight of birds 
 travelling to foreign countries. At home, in the prince's castle, 
 when the others slept at night, she went out on the broad marble 
 staircase ; it was cooling for her burning feet to stand in the cold 
 sea-water, and then she thought of those below in the deep. One 
 night her sisters came up arm in arm ; they sang mournfully as 
 they floated on the water; she beckoned to them, and they 
 recognised her and told her how much she had grieved them. 
 After this she saw them every night, and once she also saw her 
 old grandmother, who had not come up to the surface for many, 
 many years, and the Sea King with his crown on his head. They 
 stretched out their hands towards her, but they did not venture so 
 close to the land as her sisters. 
 
 The prince cared more for her from day to day ; he loved her as 
 one would love a dear good child, but he never had the least 
 thought of marrying her; and yet she had to become his wife 
 before she could obtain an immortal soul, otherwise she would 
 turn to foam on the sea the morning after his wedding. " Don't 
 you love me most of all ? " the mermaid's eyes seemed to say 
 when the prince took her in his arms and kissed her beautiful 
 forehead. 
 
 " Yes, I care most for you," he said, " for you have the best 
 heart of them all. You are most devoted to me, and resemble a 
 young girl whom I once saw, but whom I shall certainly not find 
 again. I was on board a ship which was wrecked ; the waves 
 washed me ashore near a sacred temple, where several young girls 
 officiated. The youngest of them found me on the beach, and
 
 i6o STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 saved my life. I only saw her twice ; she would be the only girl 
 in the world I could love ; but you are like her, and you almost 
 efface her likeness from my heart. She belongs to the sacred 
 temple, and therefore my good fortune has sent you to me. Let 
 us never separate." 
 
 " Alas ! he does not know that I have saved his life," thought 
 the little mermaid. " I carried him across the sea towards the 
 wood where the temple stands ; I was sitting behind the foam, 
 looking to see if any one would come to him. I saw the beautiful 
 girl whom he loves better than me." She sighed deeply, for she 
 could not weep. " The girl belongs to the sacred temple, he has 
 said. She will never come out into the world ; they will never 
 meet again ; but I am near him, and see him every day. I will 
 care for him, love him, and sacrifice my life for him." 
 
 But soon the rumour spread that the prince was to marry the 
 beautiful daughter of a neighbouring king, and that was why they 
 were* equipping a magnificent ship. They say the prince is 
 travelling to see the neighbouring king's country, but in reality 
 he goes to see his daughter. A large suite is to accompany him. 
 The little mermaid shook her head and smiled ; she knew the 
 prince's thoughts much better than the others. " I must travel," 
 he had said to her; " I must go and see the beautiful princess, for 
 my parents wish it ; but they will not compel me to marry her. I 
 cannot love her ; she is not like the beautiful girl in the temple, 
 whom you resemble. Should I one day select a bride, I should 
 prefer you, my dumb foundling with the eloquent eyes." And 
 he kissed her ruby lips, and played with her long tresses, and 
 placed his head on her bosom, so that she began to dream of 
 human happiness and an immortal soul. 
 
 " You are not afraid of the sea, my dumb child ? " he said to her 
 when they were standing on the stately ship that was to take him 
 to the neighbouring king's country. He told her of the storm and 
 of the calm, of the strange fishes in the deep, and of the marvel- 
 lous things divers had seen there. She smiled at his words, for 
 who knew more about the things at the bottom of the sea than 
 she did ? In the moonlight night, when all were asleep except 
 the man at the wheel, she sat on board, gazing down into the
 
 THE LITTLE MERMAID 161 
 
 clear water. Then she imagined she saw her father's castle ; and 
 her grandmother with her silver crown on her head, looking up 
 through the violent currents at the ship's keel. Her sisters came 
 up to the surface, looked mournfully at her, and wrung their white 
 hands. She beckoned them, smiled, and wished to tell them she 
 was comfortable and happy, but a sailor boy approached her, and 
 her sisters dived under, so that he thought the white objects he 
 had seen were foam on the surface of the water. 
 
 The next morning the ship arrived in the harbour of the neigh- 
 bouring king's splendid city. All the church bells were merrily 
 pealing, trumpets were sounding from the high towers, while the 
 soldiers paraded, with colours flying and bayonets glittering. 
 Every day another festivity took place ; balls and entertainments 
 followed one another; but the princess had not yet come. They 
 said she was being educated in a sacred temple far away, where 
 she was learning every royal virtue. At last she arrived. The little 
 mermaid was anxious to see her beauty, and did not fail to 
 acknowledge it when she saw her. She had never seen a lovelier 
 being; her complexion was clear and delicate, and behind dark 
 lashes smiled a pair of dark blue, faithful-looking eyes. 
 
 "You are she who saved me when I was lying like a dead 
 body on the beach," said the prince, and he pressed his blushing 
 bride to his heart. " I am too happy," he said to the little 
 mermaid. " My greatest hopes have been realised. You will be 
 glad to hear of my happiness, for you have always been so kind to 
 me." The little mermaid kissed his hand, and felt as if her heart 
 was going to break. She knew that she was to die on his wedding 
 morning, and turn to foam on the sea. 
 
 The church bells pealed, heralds rode through the streets and 
 innounced the engagement. On all the altars sweet-smelling 
 )il burnt in costly silver lamps. The priests swung their censers ; 
 iride and bridegroom joined hands, and received the bishop's 
 >lessing. The little mermaid was dressed in silk and gold, and 
 arried the bride's train ; but her ears did not hear the festive 
 lusic, her eyes did not see the sacred ceremony ; she thought of 
 ie night of her death, and all that she had lost in this world. 
 
 The very same evening bride and bridegroom went on board 
 VOL. i. L
 
 i6z STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 the ship ; the cannons roared ; the flags streamed in the wind ; 
 in the middle of the ship a beautiful tent of purple and gold was 
 erected for the royal couple. 
 
 The sails swelled in the wind, and the ship glided gently and 
 lightly through the smooth sea. When it became dark, coloured 
 lamps were lit, and the sailors danced merrily on deck. The 
 little mermaid could not help thinking of the first time she rose 
 to the surface, when she had witnessed the same splendour and 
 joy; she danced madly, hovering like a swallow when it is 
 pursued. All applauded her, for she had never danced so well. 
 It was like sharp knives cutting her tender feet, but she did not 
 feel it ; her heart suffered much greater pain. She knew that it I 
 was the last evening that she was to be with him him for whom 
 she had deserted her relatives and her home, sacrificed her sweet 
 voice, and daily suffered endless pain, while he had not the 
 slightest idea of it. It was the last night that she could breathe 
 the same air with him, and see the deep sea and the starry sky ; 
 eternal night, without thought or dream, was waiting for her who 
 had not been able to gain a soul. On board the ship joy and 
 merriment lasted till long past midnight ; she laughed and danced 
 while her heart was full of thoughts of death. The prince 
 kissed his beautiful bride, and she fondly touched his dark curls, 
 and arm in arm they retired to rest in the magnificent tent. 
 
 Then all became still on board ; only the man at the wheel 
 remained at his post. The little mermaid rested her white arms 
 on the railing of the ship, and looked towards the east for the 
 morning dawn; the first sunbeam she knew would kill her. 
 She saw her sisters rising out of the waves ; they were as pale as 
 herself; their beautiful long hair was no longer fluttering in the 
 wind it was cut off. " We have given it to the witch, that 
 we might help you, and save you from death to-night. She has 
 given us a knife ; here it is ! Look how sharp it is ! Before the 
 sun rises you must thrust it into the prince's heart, and when the 
 warm blood spurts upon your feet, they will grow together again 
 into a fish-tail, and you will be a mermaid once more ; then you 
 can come back to us, and live your three hundred years before 
 you become dead salt sea-foam. Hasten ! You or he must die
 
 THE LITTLE MERMAID 163 
 
 before the sun rises. Our grandmother is so grieved, her white 
 hair has also been cut off by the witch's scissors. Kill the prince 
 and return to us ! Hasten ! Do you see that red streak in 
 the sky ? In a few minutes the sun will rise, and then you must 
 die ! " 
 
 Then they heaved a mournful sigh, and disappeared in the 
 waves. 
 
 The little mermaid drew back the purple curtain at the door of 
 the tent, and saw the beautiful bride lying with her head on the 
 prince's breast. She bent down and kissed his forehead, and 
 looked up to the sky, where daybreak was approaching ; then she 
 looked at the sharp knife, and again at the prince, who murmured 
 his bride's name in his dreams. Only she was in his thoughts, 
 and the knife trembled in the little mermaid's hand. Suddenly 
 she threw it far out into the sea, and where it fell the waves 
 looked red, and it seemed as if drops of blood were spurting 
 up out of the water. As she was passing away she looked 
 once more at the prince, then threw herself down from the ship 
 into the sea, and felt her body dissolving into foam. 
 
 The sun rose out of the sea, and his rays fell with gentleness 
 and warmth upon the cold sea-foam; the little mermaid felt 
 no pain of death. She saw the bright sun, and above her were 
 hovering hundreds of transparent beings ; their language was 
 , melodious, but so ethereal that no human ear could hear them, 
 and no earthly eye could see them; they were lighter than 
 s air, and floated about in it without wings. The little mermaid 
 . noticed that she had a body like theirs, which rose higher and 
 higher out of the foam. 
 
 " Where am I coming to ? " she asked, and her voice sounded 
 jlike that of the other beings so ethereal that no earthly music 
 . could equal it. " To the daughters of the air," replied the others. 
 "The mermaids have no immortal souls, and can never obtain 
 ,one unless they gain the love of human beings; their eternal 
 existence depends on another's power. The daughters of the air 
 have no immortal soul either, but they can obtain one for them- 
 , selves by good actions. We fly to the hot countries where the 
 poisonous vapours kill mankind, and bring them cool breezes.
 
 i6 4 
 
 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 We spread the fragrance of the flowers through the air, an 
 refresh and heal them. When we have striven for three hundred 
 years to achieve all the good that is in our power, we obtain an 
 immortal soul, and share the eternal happiness of mankind. 
 You poor little mermaid, you have striven with all your heart for 
 
 
 the same object ; you have endured and suffered ; now you have 
 risen to the aerial world ; and now, after three hundred years of 
 good works, you will gain an immortal soul for yourself." 
 
 And the little mermaid raised her eyes up to the sun and felt 
 tears in them for the first time. 
 
 On the ship there was life and noise once more ; she saw how 
 the prince and his beautiful bride were looking for her ; mourn- 
 fully they gazed at the glittering foam, as if they knew that she 
 had thrown herself into the waves. Invisibly she kissed the bride's 
 forehead and caressed the prince ; then she rose with the other 
 children of the air up to the rosy cloud which sailed through 
 the ether. 
 
 "After three hundred years we float thus into the eternal 
 Kingdom of God ! "
 
 THE LOVERS 165 
 
 " But we may get there sooner," whispered one of the daughters 
 of the air. " Invisibly we penetrate into the houses of human 
 beings, where they have children, and for every day on which we 
 find a good child that causes its parents joy and deserves their 
 love, God shortens our period of probation. The child does not 
 know when we fly through the room, and if we smile for joy, one 
 of the three hundred years is taken off; but if we see a naughty 
 or wicked child, we must shed tears of sorrow, and every tear 
 augments our period of probation by one day. 
 
 The Lovers 
 
 TOP and a little ball lay together among 
 other toys in a drawer. The top said to the 
 little ball one day, " Shall we be sweethearts, 
 as we are lying together here in the same 
 drawer?" But the little ball, which was 
 covered with red morocco, and thought as 
 much of itself as any young lady, would not 
 even reply to such a proposal. 
 On the next day the little boy to whom the toys belonged took 
 
 ie top, painted it red and yellow, and drove a nail with a brass 
 
 ead into it, so that the top looked very beautiful when it was 
 
 Dinning round. 
 " Look at me," it said to the little ball. "What do you say to 
 
 lis ? Shall we be sweethearts now ? We are so well suited to 
 
 ich other ; you jump and I dance. No two people could be 
 
 ippier than we two." 
 "Really, do you think so?" replied the little ball. "You 
 
 idently do not know that my father and mother were morocco 
 
 ppers, and that I have a Spanish cork in my body. 
 
 "Very well, but I am made of mahogany," said the top. " The 
 
 :iyor himself has turned me, for he has a lathe of his own which 
 
 uses him a great deal of pleasure."
 
 1 66 
 
 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 "Can I depend upon this being true?" asked the little 
 ball. 
 
 " May I never be whipped again, if I do not speak the truth," 
 replied the top. 
 
 " You know very well how to plead your cause," said the little 
 ball. " But I cannot comply 
 with your wishes, for I am as good 
 as engaged to a swallow. When- 
 ever I fly up into the air it puts 
 its head out of the nest and asks 
 me : ' Will you ? ' And in myself 
 I have already said Yes, and that 
 is as much as half an engagement ; 
 but I will promise never to forget 
 you." 
 
 "What is the good of that to 
 me?" said the top ; and they spoke 
 no more to each other. 
 
 Soon after this conversation 
 the boy took out the little ball. 
 The top saw it flying high up 
 into the air, like a bird, till it was 
 no longer visible : it always came 
 back, and every time it touched 
 the ground it made a high leap ; 
 this was either because it was 
 desirous to fly up again, or be- 
 cause it had a Spanish cork in its 
 body. 
 
 When the boy threw it up for 
 the ninth time, the little ball did 
 not come back ; he looked every- 
 where for it, but could not find it it was gone. 
 
 " I know very well where it has gone to," sighed the top, " it is 
 in the swallow's nest, and has married the swallow." The more 
 the top thought of this, the more it loved the little ball ; and its 
 love increased for the very reason that its wish could not be
 
 THE LOVERS 167 
 
 fulfilled, for the little ball had married another; and the top 
 twirled round and hummed, and was continually thinking of the 
 little ball, which, to its imagination, became more and more 
 beautiful. Thus the years passed by, and its love grew quite 
 old. 
 
 The top itself was no longer young ; but one day it was gilded 
 all over, and looked more beautiful than it had ever done before. 
 Now it was a golden top, and leapt and twirled till it hummed. 
 But suddenly it jumped too high and was gone. 
 
 They sought it everywhere, even in the cellar, but it was not to 
 be found. 
 
 Where was it ? 
 
 It had jumped into the dust-bin, where all sorts of rubbish were 
 lying: old cabbage stalks, dust and dirt, that had fallen down 
 through the gutter. 
 
 " Here, I am well placed indeed ! Here my gilding will soon 
 disappear. Oh, what company I have come into ! " And then it 
 looked at a long naked cabbage stalk and at a peculiar round 
 thing that was much like an old apple ; but it was no apple it 
 was an old ball which had lain for many years in the gutter and 
 was soaked through with water. 
 
 " Heaven be thanked ! here is an equal at last ; somebody to 
 whom one can talk," said the little ball, and looked at the gilded 
 top. " I was originally covered with morocco, and sewn by the 
 hands of a young lady, and have a Spanish cork in my body ; but 
 nobody will think so now. I was on the point of marrying a 
 swallow, but then I dropped into the gutter, and there I remained 
 more than five years, and was thoroughly soaked through. You 
 can believe me, it was a very long time for a little ball." 
 
 But the top said nothing ; it thought of its old love, and the 
 more the little ball talked, the more it became certain that this 
 was its old sweetheart. Just then the servant came to throw 
 some rubbish into the dust-bin. " Ah, there is the gilt top," 
 she said. 
 
 Thus the top came again to respectability and honour, but the 
 little ball was never heard of again. The top did not mention its 
 old love any more, for love vanishes when one's sweetheart has 

 
 1 68 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 lain five years in the gutter and become soaked through ; one does 
 not recognise it again, if one meets it in the dust-bin. 
 
 Thumbelina 
 
 INCE upon a time there was a woman who 
 wished very much to have a very small 
 child, but she did not know where to get 
 one. So she went to an old witch and said 
 to her : " I would so very much like to have 
 a small child ; can you tell me where I can 
 get one ? " 
 
 "Oh, we shall soon be able to manage 
 that," said the witch. " Here is a barleycorn ; it is not of the 
 same kind that grows in the farmer's field, or that the chickens 
 get to eat. Put it into a flower-pot, and you will see something." 
 "Thank you," said the woman, and gave the witch twelve 
 shillings, for that was the price of it. Then she went home and 
 planted the barleycorn ; immediately there grew up a large hand- 
 some flower, looking like a tulip; the leaves, however, were 
 tightly closed, as though it were still a bud. "It is a beautiful 
 flower," said the woman, kissing its red and yellow leaves ; but as 
 she kissed it the flower opened with a bang. It was a real tulip, 
 as could now be seen ; but in the middle of the flower, on the 
 green velvety pistils, sat a tiny maiden, delicately and gracefully 
 formed. She was scarcely half a thumb's length high, and there- 
 fore she was called Thumbelina. 
 
 A neat polished walnut-shell served Thumbelina for a 
 cradle, blue violet leaves were her mattresses, and a rose-leaf her 
 blanket. There she slept at night, but in the daytime she played 
 about on the table, where the woman had put a plate with a 
 wreath of flowers round it, the stalks of which stood in water. 
 On this water floated a large tulip leaf, and on this she could sit 
 and row from one side of the plate to the other, having two
 
 THUMBELINA 
 
 ,69 
 
 white horse-hairs for oars. It looked wonderfully pretty. She 
 could sing, too, and indeed, so tenderly and prettily as had never 
 been heard before. 
 
 One night, as she was lying in 
 her pretty bed, an old toad came 
 creeping in through the window, 
 in which there was a broken pane. 
 The toad was a very ugly one, 
 large and wet; it hopped down 
 upon the table, where Thumbelina 
 lay sleeping under the red rose- 
 leaf. 
 
 " She would be a pretty wife for 
 my son," said the toad, taking the 
 walnut-shell in which Thumbelina 
 was sleeping, and hopping with it 
 through the window, down into 
 the garden. 
 
 There flowed a great wide 
 brook, the margin of which was 
 swampy and marshy, and here 
 lived the toad with her son. 
 Ugh ! he was so ugly and nasty, 
 and looked just like his mother 
 "Croak, croak! Crek-kek-kex ! 
 was all that he could say when 
 he spied the graceful little girl in 
 the walnut-shell. 
 
 " Don't speak so loud, else you'll 
 wake her," said the old toad. 
 "She might run away from us, 
 for she is as light as swan's-down, 
 so we will put her on one of the broad leaves of the water-lily in 
 the brook ; that will be just like an island for her, she is so light 
 and small. She will not be able to run away from there while 
 we are getting ready the state-room under the marsh, where you 
 ire to live and keep house."
 
 170 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 Out in the brook there grew a great many water-lilies with broad 
 green leaves, which looked as though they were floating on the 
 water ; the leaf which lay farthest off was the largest, to this the 
 old toad swam out, and laid the walnut-shell with Thumbelina 
 upon it. 
 
 Tiny Thumbelina woke early in the morning, and when she 
 saw where she was she began to cry very bitterly ; for there was 
 water on every side of the great green leaf, and she could not get 
 to land. 
 
 The old toad was sitting in the marsh decking out her room 
 
 with reeds and yellow flowers it was to be made very pretty for 
 the new daughter-in-law ; then she swam out with her ugly son 
 to the leaf where Thumbelina was. They wanted to fetch her 
 pretty bed, which was to be placed in the bridal chamber before 
 she herself entered it. The old toad bowed low in the water 
 before her and said : " Here you have my son ; he will be your 
 husband, and you will live in great splendour down in the marsh." 
 " Croak, croak ! Crek-kek-kex ! " was all that the son could say. 
 Then they took the pretty little bed and swam away with it, 
 leaving Thumbelina sitting alone on the green leaf, crying, for she 
 did not want to live with the nasty old toad, or have her ugly son 
 for a husband. The little fishes swimming down in the water 
 had both seen the toad and also heard what she had said ; so 
 they put out their heads, for they wanted to see the little girl too. 
 As soon as they saw her they thought her so pretty that they felt 
 very sorry that she was to go down to the ugly toad. No, that should
 
 THUMBELINA 17, 
 
 never be ! They assembled together down in the water, round 
 the green stalk that held the leaf on which the tiny maiden stood, 
 and with their teeth they gnawed away the stalk ; the leaf floated 
 away down the stream with Thumbelina far away, where the 
 toad could not reach her. 
 
 Thumbelina sailed by many towns, and the little birds sitting 
 in the bushes saw her and sang, " What a lovely little girl ! " 
 The leaf went floating away with her farther and farther, and so 
 Thumbelina travelled right out of the country. 
 
 A pretty little white butterfly kept fluttering around her, and at 
 last sat down upon the leaf. Thumbelina pleased him, and she 
 was very glad of it, for now the toad could not reach her, and it 
 was so beautiful where she was; the sun was shining on the 
 water, making it sparkle like the brightest silver. She took her 
 girdle, and tied one end of it round the butterfly, fastening the 
 other end of the ribbon to the leaf ; it glided along much quicker 
 now, and she too, for of course she was standing on it. 
 
 A great cockchafer came flying along, who spied her, and im- 
 mediately clasped his claws round her slender waist and flew up 
 with her into a tree. The green leaf floated down the stream, and 
 the butterfly with it ; for he was bound fast to the leaf and could 
 not get away. 
 
 Heavens ! how frightened poor Thumbelina was when the cock- 
 chafer flew up into the tree with her. But she was mostly grieved 
 for the sake of the beautiful white butterfly which she had bound 
 fast ; in case he could not free himself, he would be obliged to 
 starve. But the cockchafer did not care about that. He sat 
 down with her on the largest green leaf of the tree, gave her the 
 honey from the flowers to eat, and told her that she was very 
 pretty, although she was not at all like a cockchafer. 
 
 Later on all the other cockchafers who lived in the tree came to 
 pay a visit ; they looked at Thumbelina and said, " She has not 
 even more than two legs ; that looks miserable ! " " She hasn't 
 any feelers," said another. " She has such a narrow waist, and 
 looks quite human. Ugh, how ugly she is ! " said all the lady 
 cockchafers ; and yet Thumbelina was very pretty even the cock- 
 chafer who had carried her off admitted that. But when all the
 
 1 72 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 others said she was ugly, he at last believed it too, and would no 
 longer have her; she might go where she liked. So they flew 
 from off the tree with her and put her upon a daisy ; she wept 
 because she was so ugly that the cockchafers would not have her, 
 and yet she was the loveliest little girl that one could imagine as 
 delicate and as tender as the most beautiful rose-leaf. 
 
 The whole summer through poor Thumbelina lived alone in the 
 great forest. She wove herself a bed out of blades of grass, and 
 hung it under a shamrock, in order to be protected from the rain ; 
 she gathered the honey out of the flowers for food, and drank of 
 the dew that was on the leaves every morning. In this way 
 summer and autumn passed, but now came winter the long, cold 
 winter. All the birds who had sung so beautifully about her flew 
 away ; the trees became bare and the flowers faded. The large 
 shamrock under which she had lived dried up, and there remained 
 nothing of it but a withered stalk ; she was dreadfully cold, for her 
 clothes were in tatters, and she herself was so small and delicate. 
 Poor little Thumbelina, she would be frozen to death. It began 
 to snow, and every snow-flake that fell upon her was like a whole 
 shovelful thrown upon us ; for we are so tall, and she was only an 
 inch long. So she wrapped herself in a dry leaf, but that tore in 
 half and would not warm her ; she was shivering with cold. 
 
 Close to the wood to which she had now come lay a large corn- 
 field ; but the corn was gone long since, and only the dry naked 
 stubbles stood up out of the frozen ground. These were like a 
 forest for her to wander through, and oh ! how she was trembling 
 with cold. In this state she reached the door of a field-mouse 
 who occupied a hole under the corn stubbles. There the mouse 
 lived comfortably, had a whole room full of corn, a splendid 
 kitchen and larder. Poor Thumbelina stood before the door like 
 a little beggar girl, and asked for a piece of a barleycorn, for she 
 had not had a bit to eat for two days. 
 
 " You poor little creature ! " said the field-mouse for she was 
 really a good old mouse " come into my warm room and dine 
 with me." 
 
 Now, being pleased with Thumbelina, she said : " If you like, 
 you can stay with me the whole winter, but you must keep my
 
 THUMBELINA , 73 
 
 room clean and neat, and tell me tales, for I am very fond of them." 
 And Thumbelina did what the good old field-mouse wished, and 
 in return was treated uncommonly well. 
 
 " Now we shall soon have a visit," said the field-mouse ; " my 
 neighbour is in the habit of visiting me once a week. He is even 
 better off than I am ; has large rooms, and wears a beautiful black 
 velvety fur. If you could only get him for a husband you would 
 be well provided for. But he cannot see. You must tell him the 
 prettiest stories that you know." 
 
 But Thumbelina did not trouble herself about it; she did not 
 think much of the neighbour, for he was only a mole. 
 
 He came and paid a visit in his black velvety fur. He was so 
 rich and so learned, said the field-mouse, and his dwelling was 
 twenty times larger than hers; he possessed great learning, but 
 he could not bear the sun and the beautiful flowers. Of the 
 latter he seldom spoke, for he had never seen them. 
 
 Thumbelina had to sing, and she sang: "Cockchafer 
 cockchafer, fly away," and "When the parson goes afield." }\ 
 So the mole fell in love with her because of her beautiful voice : 
 but he said nothing, for he was a prudent man. 
 
 A short time before, he had dug a passage through the earth 
 from his house to theirs, and the field-mouse and Thumbelina 
 received permission to take a walk in this passage as often as they 
 liked. But he begged them not to be afraid of the dead bird 
 which lay there. It was an entire bird, with feathers and beak, 
 who had probably died only a short time before, and was buried 
 just where the mole had made his passage. 
 
 The mole took a piece of decayed wood in his mouth, for that 
 glimmers like a light in the dark, and then went on in front, and 
 lighted them through the long dark passage. When they came 
 to the spot where the dead bird lay, the mole thrust his broad 
 nose against the ceiling and pushed the earth up, so that a large 
 hole was made, through which the light could shine down. In 
 the middle of the floor lay a dead swallow, with its beautiful 
 wings pressed close to its sides and its feet and head drawn under 
 its feathers; the poor bird had certainly died of cold. This 
 grieved Thumbelina very much ; she was very fond of all the
 
 I 7 4 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 little birds who had sung and twittered so beautifully to her all 
 the summer. But the mole kicked him with his crooked legs, and 
 said, " He doesn't pipe any more now. How miserable it must 
 be to be born a little bird ! Thank Heaven, that can happen 
 to none of my children ; such a bird has nothing but his tweet, 
 and is obliged to starve in winter." 
 
 " Yes, you may well say that as a sensible man," said the field- 
 mouse. " What does the bird get for all his twittering when winter 
 comes ? He must starve and freeze. But I suppose that is con- 
 sidered very grand." 
 
 Thumbelina said nothing ; but when the two others had turned 
 their backs upon the bird, she bent down, and putting the feathers 
 aside which covered its head, she kissed him upon his closed 
 eyes. 
 
 "Perhaps it was he who sang so beautifully to me in the 
 summer," she thought. How much pleasure he has given me, 
 the dear, beautiful bird ! " 
 
 The mole now stopped up the hole through which the daylight 
 shone in, and then accompanied the ladies home. But at night 
 Thumbelina could get no sleep ; so she got up from her bed and 
 wove a fine large carpet of hay, which she carried along, and 
 spread out over the dead bird. She also laid the tender stamina 
 of flowers, which were as soft as cotton, and which she had found 
 in the field-mouse's room, around the bird, so that he might lie 
 warm. 
 
 " Good-bye, you beautiful little bird," she said. " Good-bye 
 and many thanks for your beautiful singing in summer, when all 
 the trees were green and the sun shone down warm upon us." 
 Then she laid her head upon the bird's heart. But the bird was 
 not dead ; he was only lying there benumbed, and having now 
 been warmed again was coming back to life. 
 
 In autumn all the swallows fly away to warm countries ; but if 
 there is one who is belated, it gets so frozen that it drops down as 
 if dead, and remains lying where it falls, and soon the cold snow 
 covers it. 
 
 Thumbelina trembled, so frightened was she, for the bird was 
 big, very big, compared with her, who was only an inch long.
 
 THUMBELINA 175 
 
 But she took courage, and laying the cotton more closely round 
 the poor swallow, she fetched a leaf of mint which she herself had 
 used as a blanket, and laid it over the bird's head. 
 
 The next night she again stole up to him ; he was alive, but 
 very weak, and could open his eyes only for a short moment to 
 look at Thumbelina, who stood before him with a piece of 
 decaying wood in her hand, for she had no other lantern. 
 
 " Thank you, my pretty little child," said the sick swallow to 
 her. " I have been so beautifully warm. Soon I shall get my 
 strength back and will then be able to fly about in the warm 
 sunshine outside." 
 
 " Oh ! " said she, " it is cold outside ; it is snowing and freezing. 
 Stay in your warm bed ; I will take care of you." 
 
 Then she brought the swallow some water in a leaf of a flower. 
 This the swallow drank, and told her how he had torn one of his 
 wings on a thorn-bush, and had therefore been unable to fly so 
 quickly as the other swallows who had flown far away to warm 
 countries. So he had at last fallen to the ground, but could not 
 remember anything more, and did not at all know how he had 
 come there. 
 
 So he remained down there the whole winter, and Thumbelina 
 nursed and tended him with all her heart ; neither the mole nor 
 the field-mouse knew anything about it, for they did not like the 
 poor swallow at all. 
 
 As soon as spring came, and the sun warmed the earth, the 
 swallow said good-bye to Thumbelina, who opened the hole 
 which the mole had made up above. The sun shone in beautifully 
 upon them, and the swallow asked her whether she would go with 
 him ; she could sit upon his back, he said, and they would fly far 
 into the green forest. But Thumbelina knew that it would grieve 
 the old field-mouse if she left her like that. "No, I cannot," 
 she said. 
 
 ' Good-bye, good-bye, you good pretty little girl ! " said the 
 swallow, and flew out into the sunshine. Thumbelina looked 
 after him, and the tears came into her eyes, for she was very fond 
 of the poor swallow. 
 
 "Tweet, tweet," sang the bird and flew into the green forest
 
 176 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 Thumbelina was very sad. She got no permission to go out into 
 the warm sunshine. The corn which had been sown on the field 
 over the house of the field mouse grew up high into the air ; it 
 was a thick wood for the poor little girl who was only an inch 
 high. 
 
 "Now you are a bride, Thumbelina," said the field-mouse. 
 " Our neighbour has asked for your hand. What a great piece of 
 luck for a poor child ! Now you will have to make your outfit, 
 both woollen and linen clothes ; for you must lack nothing when 
 you are the mole's wife." 
 
 Thumbelina had to turn the spindle, and the field-mouse 
 hired four spiders to weave for her day and night. Every evening 
 the mole used to visit them, and was always saying that at the end 
 of the summer the sun would not shine so warm by a long way, 
 that it was burning the earth as hard as a stone. Yes, when the 
 summer was over he would celebrate his marriage with Thumbelina. 
 But the latter was not at all pleased, for she could not bear the 
 tiresome mole. Every morning when the sun rose, and every 
 evening when it set she stole out to the door, and when the wind 
 parted the ears of corn, so that she could see the blue sky, she 
 would think how bright and beautiful it was out there, and would 
 have a great longing to see the dear swallow again. But he never 
 came back; he had probably flown far away into the beautiful 
 green wood. 
 
 When autumn came, Thumbelina had her whole outfit ready. 
 
 " You are to be married in four weeks," said the field-mouse 
 to her. But Thumbelina wept, and said she would not have the 
 tiresome mole. 
 
 " Fiddlesticks ! " said the field-mouse ; " don't be obstinate, or 
 I will bite you with my white teeth. He is a fine man whom you 
 are going to marry. The Queen herself has not such black 
 velvety fur. He has a full kitchen and cellar. Be thankful for 
 it!" 
 
 Now the wedding was to take place. The mole had already 
 come to fetch Thumbelina ; she was to live with him deep down 
 under the earth, and never come out to the warm sunshine, for 
 that he did not like. The poor little girl was very sad ; she was
 
 THUMBELINA 177 
 
 now to say good-bye to the beautiful sun, which, while she lived 
 with the field-mouse, she had always had permission to look at 
 from the door. " Good-bye, bright sun ! " she said, and stretched 
 her arms out high, and walked a little way off from the house of 
 the field-mouse, for now the corn was cut and there remained 
 only the dry stubbles. " Good-bye, good-bye ! " she said, and 
 wound her arms round a little red flower which was still blooming 
 there. "Greet the little swallow for me, if you see him." 
 ! " Tweet, tweet," suddenly sounded above her head ; she looked 
 ,up, and saw the little swallow, who was just flying by. When he 
 ispied Thumbelina, he was very pleased ; she told him how un- 
 .willing she was to marry the ugly mole, and that she would have 
 |to live deep down under the earth, where the sun never shone. 
 She could not held crying in telling it. 
 
 j "The cold winter is coming now," said the little swallow; "I 
 am flying away to warm countries ; will you come with me ? You 
 lean sit on my back ; then we shall fly away from the ugly mole 
 and his dark room, far away over the mountains, to warm 
 Countries, where the sun shines more beautifully than here, where 
 l .t is always summer and there are glorious flowers. Do fly with 
 i ne, dear little Thumbelina you who saved my life when I lay 
 rozen in the dark underground cellar." 
 
 [; " Yes, I will go with you," said Thumbelina ; and she seated 
 5 icrself on the bird's back, with her feet on his outspread wing, 
 Binding her girdle fast to one of his strongest feathers. Then the 
 \ wallow flew up into the air, over forest and sea, high up over 
 Ihe great mountains, where snow always lies. And Thumbelina 
 !r>egan to freeze in the cold air, but then she crept under the bird's 
 harm feathers, and only put out her little head to admire all the 
 g-eauty beneath her. 
 
 I At last they came to the warm countries. There the sun shone 
 
 I ir brighter than here , the sky seemed twice as high, and in the 
 
 r itches and on the hedges grew the finest green and blue grapes. 
 
 ti i the woods hung citron and oranges ; the air was heavy with 
 
 I le scent of myrtle and mint, and on the high roads the prettiest 
 
 ttle children ran and played with large coloured butterflies. 
 
 I ut the swallow flew still farther, and it became more and more 
 
 VOL. i. M
 
 178 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 beautiful. Under the most majestic green trees by the blue lake 
 stood a marble castle of dazzling whiteness, all of the olden time, i 
 Vines wound themselves round the tall pillars, and up above 
 there were a number of swallows' nests, and in one of these lived 
 the swallow who was carrying Thumbelina. 
 
 " This is my house," said the swallow. " But it would not be 
 proper for you to live with me here, and my arrangements are 
 not such as you would be satisfied with. Pick out for yourself 
 one of the most beautiful flowers that are growing down there ; 
 then I will put you into it, and you shall have everything as nice 1 
 as you can wish.' 
 
 " That is glorious ! " she said, clapping her little hands. 
 There lay a large white marble pillar which had fallen to the 
 ground and broken into three pieces; between these grew the 
 finest large white flowers . The swallow flew down with Thumbe- 
 lina, and set her upon one of the broad petals. But what was 
 her surprise ! There in the middle of the flower sat a little man,, 
 as white and transparent as if he were made of glass ; he wore the 
 prettiest golden crown on his head, and had splendid little wings 
 on his shoulders ; he himself was no bigger than Thumbelina. 
 He was the angel of the flower. In every flower lived such a 
 little man or woman ; but this one was the king of all. 
 
 " Heavens ! how beautiful he is ! " whispered Thumbelina to the 
 swallow. The little prince was very frightened at the sight of 
 the swallow, for it was a giant bird compared to him, who was so; 
 small and delicate. But when he spied Thumbelina he was 
 greatly pleased; she was the prettiest little girl he had ever seen. 
 He therefore took his golden crown from off his head, and put it, 
 upon hers, asking her what her name was, and whether she would 
 be his wife ; then she should be queen of all the flowers. He 
 was indeed quite a different man to the son of the toad, and 
 the mole with the black velvety fur. She said " Yes " to the 
 grand prince. And out of every flower came a lady and a gentle- 
 man, so dainty that they were a pleasure to behold. Each one 
 brought Thumbelina a present ; but the best of all was a pair of 
 beautiful wings from a large white fly ; these were fastened on to 
 Thumbelina's back, and now she too could fly from flower to flower.
 
 THE FLAX ,79 
 
 There was much rejoicing, and the little swallow sat up in his 
 nest, and was to sing the bridal song ; this he did as well as he 
 could, although in his heart he was sad, for he was so fond of 
 Thumbelina, and would have liked never to separate himself 
 from her. 
 
 "You shall not be called Thumbelina," said the Flower Angel 
 to her. " That is an ugly name, and you are too pretty for it. 
 We will call you Maia." " Good-bye, good-bye ! " said the little 
 swallow with a heavy heart, and flew away from the warm 
 countries back to Denmark. There he had a little nest over the 
 window where the man lives who can tell tales. To him he 
 sang " Tweet, tweet." That is how we know the whole story. 
 
 The Flax 
 
 [HE flax was standing in full bloom ; it had 
 pretty blue flowers, as delicate as the wings 
 of a moth, if not more so. The sun was 
 warming it with his rays, the rain-clouds 
 watered it; and that was as beneficial to 
 the flax as it is to little children to be 
 washed and afterwards kissed by their 
 mothers. It makes them look much 
 brighter. So it did the flax. 
 
 " People say I am standing very well," said the flax ; " that I 
 
 1 have a good length to make a piece of strong linen. Oh, I am 
 
 ( so very happy ! I am certainly the happiest of all plants ! How 
 
 well I am cared for ! And I shall be useful ! How much I 
 
 enjoy the warm sun, how much the rain refreshes me. I am 
 
 exceedingly happy nay, I am the happiest of all plants." 
 
 "That is all very well," said a fence-post; "you do not know 
 : the world as well as I, for I have plenty of knots in me." And 
 1 then it groaned quite piteously : 
 
 1 Snip, snap, snurre 
 Bassellurre : 
 Ended is the song."
 
 , 8o STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 "No, it is not ended," said the flax, "the sun will shine to- 
 morrow, or the rain will refresh us. I feel how I am growing. 
 I see that I am in full flower, I am the happiest of all plants." 
 
 One day people came, seized the flax and pulled it out by the 
 roots ; that was very painful ! They placed it in water as if they 
 intended to drown it, and afterwards hung it over a fire, as if they 
 wished to fry it. It was dreadful ! 
 
 " One cannot always be happy," said the flax ; " one must also 
 suffer in order to become experienced." 
 
 And things much worse happened to it. The flax was steeped, 
 roasted, broken, and hackled. How could it possibly know the 
 names of the various operations they performed upon it ? After- 
 wards the flax was put on the spinning-wheel. "Whirr, whirr," 
 the wheel turned so rapidly round that the flax was not able to 
 gather its thoughts. 
 
 " How very happy I was," it thought, whilst it suffered agonies 
 of pain ; " one must be contented with the good one has enjoyed 
 in the past. Contented, contented ! " Thus the flax still said, 
 when it was put on the loom. A large piece of beautiful linen 
 was woven from it, and all the flax, to the very last stalk, was 
 used up for this one piece. 
 
 "But this is marvellous; I should never have thought it! 
 Fortune favours me very much indeed. The fence-post knew 
 something after all when it sang : 
 
 'Snip, snap, snvrre 
 Bassellurre.' 
 
 The song is by no means ended. No, on the contrary, now 
 it only begins. That is very extraordinary. I have suffered a 
 great deal, no doubt, but now I have turned out something useful 
 I am the happiest of all plants ! How strong and fine, how 
 white and long I am. It is something very different from being 
 only a plant, although it bears flowers ; as a plant, one is not so 
 much looked after, and gets water only when it rains. Now I 
 am well cared for ; the maid turns me over every morning, and 
 at night she gives me a shower-bath with the watering-pot ; the 
 pastor's wife has even made a speech in praise of me ; she said
 
 THE FLAX 181 
 
 that I was the best piece of linen in the whole parish. I cannot 
 possibly be happier than I am now ! " 
 
 The linen was taken into the house and operated upon with 
 scissors. How they cut and tore it, and pricked it with sewing- 
 needles ; it was by no means a pleasure ! They made twelve 
 garments of it of a kind which people do not like to mention, 
 although nobody can get on without them ; they made a whole 
 dozen out of one piece of linen. 
 
 " Look at me now," said the flax, " only now I have become 
 something really useful, and clearly understand what I am 
 destined for in this world. What a blessing ! Now I am useful, 
 and so everybody ought to be, for that is the only true happiness 
 in the world. Although they have cut twelve pieces of me, 
 all the twelve are one and the same ; we just make up the dozea 
 What an exceptional luck ! " 
 
 Years and years passed : the garments were so much worn 
 that they began to fall to pieces. 
 
 " There must be an end one day," said every piece. " I should 
 have very much liked to last a little longer, but one must not 
 expect more than is possible." 
 
 Then they were torn into rags and tatters. " It is all over 
 now," they thought, when they were ground in a mill, soaked, and 
 boiled, and went through various processes they were unable to 
 remember. But they became beautiful white paper. 
 
 " That is a surprise indeed, and what a pleasant one," said the 
 paper. " Now I am finer than before, and now they will write 
 upon me. That is an extraordinary good fortune. 
 i And really the most interesting stories and beautiful stanzas were 
 written upon the paper, and there was only one ink-blot ; of course 
 this was quite an exceptional chance. And the people heard 
 what was written upon it; it was good and clever, and made 
 them better and enlightened them. Thus the words written on 
 this paper produced a great blessing. 
 
 " That is more than I ever dreamt of, when I was a little blue 
 flower in the field. How could it come into my mind that I 
 should be destined to give mankind pleasure and knowledge ? I 
 can hardly believe it, and yet it is true. God knows that I have
 
 i8t STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 myself done nothing more with my feeble strength than what was 
 necessary for my existence and growfh, and yet He heaps honour 
 after honour upon me. Whenever I think, ' Now the song is 
 ended,' I pass into something better and higher. Now I shall 
 probably travel about in the world, that all people may read what 
 is written upon me. It can't be otherwise ; it is most likely. I 
 have so many great thoughts written upon me as I had formerly 
 blue flowers. I am indeed the happiest of all plants." 
 
 The paper, however, was not sent on travels nay, it was taken to 
 the printer's, and there the whole manuscript was set up in type, 
 and a book, or rather many hundreds of books were made of it, 
 so that many more might have pleasure and profit from the 
 writing than was possible if the paper on which it was written 
 had been sent about in the world ; no doubt it would have fallen 
 to pieces before it had performed half its journey. 
 
 "Certainly, this is the wisest thing that could be done," 
 thought the written paper, " although it never struck me. I 
 remain at home, and am honoured like an old grandfather, for 
 that I am indeed to all new books. Thus some good can be 
 done. I should not have been able to wander so much about. 
 Only he who wrote the book has looked at me, for every one of 
 his words run out of his pen straight upon me. I am the happiest 
 of all!" 
 
 Then the paper was tied up in a bundle with other papers, and 
 thrown into a cask which stood in the wash-house. 
 
 " When the work is done, it is pleasant to rest," said the paper. 
 " It is wise to collect one's thoughts and to reflect on all that lives 
 in one. It is only now that I thoroughly understand all that is 
 written upon me. I wonder what will happen now ? Surely there 
 will be progress again ; one always advances that I know by my 
 own experience." 
 
 One day all the paper was taken out of the cask and placed on 
 the hearth ; it was to be burnt, for people said it must not be 
 sold to tradesmen to wrap butter or sugar in it. All the children 
 of the house were standing round the fireplace, for they wished to 
 see the paper burning ; it flamed up so beautifully, and afterwards 
 One could see so many red sparks flying about in the ashes : one
 
 THE FLAX 183 
 
 after another of the sparks disappeared as quickly as the wind. 
 They called it " seeing the children coming out of school " : the 
 last spark was the schoolmaster. They thought they knew all 
 about it, but that was a mistake. We, however, shall soon know. 
 
 All the old paper, the whole bundle of it, was put on the fire and 
 was soon ablaze. " Ugh," it said, and flamed up high. " Ugh, 
 that is not at all pleasant ; " but when all was alight the bright 
 flames reached much higher than the flax would ever have been 
 able to stretch its little blue flowers, and the flames shone more 
 brightly than the linen could ever have done. All the written 
 letters turned red for a moment, and all the words and thoughts 
 they expressed vanished in the flames. " Now I am flying straight 
 up to the sun," said a voice in the flame ; and it seemed as if a 
 thousand voices repeated it, and the flames came out of the 
 chimney-pot. 
 
 And finer than the flames, invisible to human eyes, there were 
 rising up as many little beings as the flax had had flowers. They 
 were still lighter than the flame that had borne them, and when it 
 was extinguished and nothing left of the paper but black ashes, 
 they danced once more over the ashes, and wherever they touched 
 it red sparks leapt up. " The children came out of school, and 
 the last was the schoolmaster." That was a pleasure ! And the 
 children sang : 
 
 " Snip, snap, snurre 
 Bassellurre : 
 Ended is the song,'* 
 
 -s 
 
 But all the little invisible beings said : " The song is never ended 
 that is the best of all ; and therefore I am the happiest of all in 
 the world." 
 
 Of course the children could neither hear nor understand it, and 
 that was quite right, for children must not know everything.
 
 1 8 4 
 
 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 The Princess and the Pea 
 
 NCE 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 " 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. 
 
 On this the princess had to lie all night. In the morning she 
 
 was asked how she had slept. 
 
 " Oh, very badly ! " said she. " I have scarcely closed my
 
 THE GARDEN OF PARADISE 185 
 
 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 ! " 
 
 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. 
 
 Nobody but a real princess could be as sensitive as that. 
 
 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. 
 
 There, that is a true story. 
 -/ 
 
 The Garden of Paradise 
 
 NCE upon a time there was a king's son. No 
 one had so many fine books as he; he 
 could read in them about everything that 
 had happened in this world, and see pictures 
 of it all in beautiful engravings. He could 
 get information upon every nation and 
 every country ; but there was not a word to 
 say where the Garden of Paradise was to be 
 found, and that happened to be just what he thought most about. 
 His grandmother had told him when he was still little, and was 
 about to go to school for the first time, that every flower in this 
 Garden of Paradise was made of the nicest cake, and that the 
 pistils contained the finest wines; that history was written on 
 some of them, and geography or tables on others, so that one had 
 only to eat cake to know one's lesson. The more one ate, the 
 more history, geography, and tables one would learn. 
 
 At that time he believed it. But soon, when he was a bigger 
 boy, and had learned more and become wiser, he understood well 
 enough that 'there must be quite a different kind of delight in the 
 Garden of Paradise. 
 
 " Oh, why did Eve pluck from the tree of knowledge ? Why 
 did Adam eat of the forbidden fruit ? If I had been he, it would
 
 i86 
 
 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 not have happened. Sin would never have come into the world." 
 He said this then, and he still said so when he was seventeen 
 years old. The Garden of Paradise occupied all his thoughts. 
 
 One day he was walking in the wood alone, for that was his 
 greatest pleasure. The sun went down, and the sky became 
 
 clouded over. The rain came down as though the whole of 
 heaven were a single sluice-gate, out of which the water poured ; 
 and it was as dark as it is only at night in the deepest well. He 
 often slipped on the wet grass, and often fell over the smooth 
 stones which protruded from the wet rocky ground. Everything 
 was dripping with water ; there was not a dry thread on the poor 
 prince. He was obliged to clamber over great boulders, where 
 the water welled up out of the high moss. He was almost faint- 
 ing, when he heard a strange rushing sound and saw before him a 
 large illuminated cave. There was such a large fire burning in the 
 middle that a stag could have been roasted before it. And indeed 
 this was : being done. A splendid stag with long horns had been
 
 THE GARDEN OF PARADISE i? 9 
 
 placed upon a spit and was being slowly turned between two 
 felled pine-trunks. An elderly woman, tall and strong, looking 
 like a man in woman's clothes, was sitting by the fire and throwing 
 on one piece of wood after another. 
 
 " Come nearer," she said ; " sit down by the fire, so that your 
 clothes may dry." 
 
 " There's a terrible draught here," said the prince, sitting down 
 on the floor. 
 
 "It will' be worse when my sons come home," answered the 
 woman. " You are here in the Cave of the Winds ; my sons are 
 the four winds of the world. Can you understand that ? " 
 
 " Where are your sons ? " asked the prince. 
 
 "Well, it is difficult to answer when people ask stupid 
 questions," said the woman. "My sons do just as they like: 
 now they are playing at shuttlecock with the clouds up there in 
 the king's hall." And with these words she pointed upwards.
 
 1 88 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 " Indeed ! " said the prince. " But I must say you speak rather 
 gruffly, and are not so gentle as the women I usually have about me." 
 
 "Well, I suppose they have nothing else to do. I must be 
 hard, if I wish to keep my boys in order; but that I can do, 
 although they are obstinate fellows. Do you see these four sacks 
 hanging on the wall ? They are as frightened of those as you used 
 to be of the rod behind the mirror. I can bend those boys 
 together, I tell you, and then I pop them into the sack ; we make 
 no ceremony about it. Then they sit there and dare not stir 
 out before I think fit. But here we have one of them." 
 
 It was the North-wind, who brought in icy coldness ; large hail- 
 stones skipped upon the floor, and snowflakes fluttered around. 
 He wore bearskin trousers and jacket, and a sealskin cap came 
 down over his ears ; long icicles hung down from his beard, and one 
 hailstone after another slid down from the collar of his jacket. 
 
 " Don't go near the fire at once," said the prince. " You might 
 get your hands and face frostbitten." 
 
 "Frostbitten?" said the North-wind, and laughed out loud. 
 " Cold is my greatest pleasure. And pray what tailor's son may 
 you be ? How did you come into the Cave of the Winds ? " 
 
 " He is my guest," said the old woman ; " and if you are not 
 satisfied with this explanation, you will find your way into the 
 sack. Do you understand me now ? " 
 
 That settled the matter ; and the North-wind told whence he 
 came, and where he had been almost a whole month. 
 
 " I come from the Polar Sea," said he. " I have been on 
 Bear Island with the Russian walrus-hunters. I sat at the helm 
 and slept when they set sail from the North Cape, and when I 
 awoke now and then the stormy petrel was flying about my legs. 
 What a strange bird that is ! It makes a quick stroke with its wings, 
 holds them stretched out and unmoved, and is then in full flight." 
 
 " Come, don't make your tale too long," said the mother of the 
 winds. " So you came to Bear Island ? " 
 
 " It is a beautiful place. The ground would do for dancing 
 on, smooth as china. The half-thawed snow mixed with a little 
 moss, sharp stones and the skeletons of walruses and ice-bears lay 
 all around, as well as giant arms and legs covered with mouldy
 
 THE GARDEN OF PARADISE 189 
 
 green. One would have believed that the sun had never shone 
 upon it at all. I blew the fog off a little in order to see the hut. 
 It was built of wreckage, covered over with walrus hides, the flesh 
 side of which had been turned outwards ; a live polar bear was 
 sitting on the roof growling. I went to the shore, and looking 
 into the birds' nests, saw the naked young ones, who were crying 
 with their beaks wide open. I blew down into their thousand 
 throats, and they learned to keep their beaks shut. A little 
 farther off, the walruses were rolling about like live entrails, 
 or giant worms with swine-heads and teeth a yard long." 
 
 "You tell your story beautifully, my son," said the mother. 
 " My mouth waters when I listen to you." 
 
 "Then the hunting began. The harpoon was thrust into the 
 breast of the walrus, so that the steaming blood rushed over the 
 ice like a fountain. Then I remembered my sport too. I blew 
 and made my ships, the towering icebergs, shut in the boats. 
 Hey ! how the men whistled and shouted ; but I whistled still 
 louder. They were obliged to throw the bodies of the dead 
 walruses, the boxes and the cordage out upon the ice. I shook 
 snow-flakes over them, and let them float southwards, in their 
 hemmed-in vessels, with what they had caught, to taste the sea- 
 waters. They will never come to Bear Island again." 
 
 " Then you have been doing mischief, "said the mother of the winds. 
 
 " The good that I have done others may tell about," said he. 
 " But here we have my brother from the West. I like him best 
 of all : he smells of the sea, and brings a fine coldness with him." 
 
 " Is that the little Zephyr ? " asked the prince. 
 
 11 It is indeed Zephyr," said the old woman. " But he is by no 
 means little. Years ago he was a pretty boy, but that time is now past." 
 
 He looked like a savage, and wore a padded hat, so that he 
 should not hurt himself in falling. In his hand he held a 
 mahogany club, hewn in the mahogany forests of America. It 
 was no plaything ! 
 
 " Where do you come from ? " asked his mother. 
 
 " From the forest-wastes," said he, " where the water-snake lies 
 in the wet grass and people seem to be unnecessary." 
 
 " What did you do there ? "
 
 190 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 " I looked into the deepest river and saw how it hurled itself 
 from the rocks, became dust and flew up to the clouds to carry 
 the rainbow. I saw the wild buffalo swimming in the stream, and 
 how the current carried him away. He floated along with a flock 
 of wild ducks, who flew into the air when they came to the water- 
 fall. But the buffalo had to go down ; that pleased me, and I 
 raised a storm that shivered the oldest trees into splinters." 
 
 " And is that all you have done ? " asked the old woman. 
 
 " I have turned somersaults in the savannahs ; I have stroked 
 the wild horses, and shaken down the coker-nuts. Dear me ! 
 what stories I could tell. But one must not say everything that 
 one knows. You know that very well, old lady." And he kissed 
 his mother so boisterously that she almost fell backwards. He 
 was a terribly wild boy. 
 
 The South-wind now came in, wearing a turban and the flowing 
 mantle of a Bedouin. 
 
 " It is very cold out here," said he, throwing some more wood 
 upon the fire. " It is easy to see that the North-wind came in first." 
 
 " It is hot enough here to roast an ice-bear," said the North-wind. 
 
 " You are an ice-bear yourself," answered the South-wind. 
 
 " Do you want to be put into the sack ? " asked the old woman. 
 " Sit down on that stone there, and tell me where you have been." 
 
 "In Africa, mother," he answered. " I went lion-hunting with 
 the Hottentots in the country of the Kaffirs. Grass grows on the 
 plains there as green as an olive. The ostrich ran a race with 
 me, but I am still quicker than he. I came to the desert and to 
 the yellow sand, where it looks just like the bottom of the sea. I 
 met a caravan : they were killing their last camel to get some 
 drinking water, but they got only a little, after all. The sun 
 burned from overhead and the sand from underfoot. The far- 
 stretching desert was boundless. I danced about in the fine loose 
 sand, and whirled it up into great pillars. What a dance that 
 was ! You should have seen how despondently the dromedary 
 stood there, and how the trader drew his caftan over his head. 
 He threw himself down before me as before Allah, his god. 
 Now they are buried ; a pyramid of sand is heaped up over them 
 all. When I blow that away, the sun will bleach their white bones ;
 
 THE GARDEN OF PARADISE 191 
 
 then travellers will see that human beings have been there before. 
 Otherwise that would not be believed in the desert." 
 
 " Then you have only done evil," said his mother. " Into the 
 sack with you ! " And before he knew where he was she had 
 caught the South-wind round the body, and popped him into the 
 sack. He rolled himself over and over on the ground, but she 
 sat down on him, and he had to lie still. 
 
 "These boys of yours are lively," said the prince. 
 
 " They are," she answered, " but I know how to keep them in 
 order. Here comes the fourth ! " 
 
 This was the East-wind, dressed like a Chinaman. 
 
 " Oh, so you come from that quarter ? " said his mother. 
 " I thought that you had been in the Garden of Paradise." 
 
 "I am not going there until to-morrow," said the East-wind. 
 "That will be a hundred years since I have been there. I 
 come from China now, where I danced round the porcelain tower 
 and made all the bells jingle. The officials were being beaten in 
 the street ; bamboo canes were split across their shoulders, and 
 they were all people from the first to the ninth grade. They 
 shouted : ' Many thanks, my paternal benefactor.' But the cry 
 did not come from their hearts, and I jingled the bells and sang : 
 ' Tsing, tsang, tsu ! ' " 
 
 " You are mischievous," said the old woman. It is a good 
 thing that you are going to the Garden of Paradise to-morrow ; 
 you always learn better manners there. Take a good draught at 
 the fountain of wisdom, and bring a bottleful home for me." 
 
 " I will ! " said the East-wind. " But why have you put my 
 brother of the south into the sack ? Out with him ! He must tell 
 me about the phoenix bird ; the princess in the Garden of 
 Paradise always likes to hear about it, when I pay her a visit 
 every hundred years. Open the sack, and then you will be my 
 sweetest mother, and I will give you two bags full of tea, as green 
 and as fresh as I picked it on the spot where it grew." 
 
 " Well, for the sake of the tea, and because you are my pet boy, I 
 will open the sack." She did so, and the South-wind crept out ; but 
 he looked quite dejected, because the stranger prince had seen his 
 disgrace.
 
 I 9 z STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 "Here is a palm-leaf for the princess," said he. "This leaf 
 was given me by the phoenix, the only bird of that kind in the 
 world. It has traced upon it with its beak the whole story of 
 its life during the hundred years that it has lived. Now she can 
 read for herself how the phoenix bird set fire to its nest and sat in 
 it while it was consumed by the flames, like a Hindoo widow. 
 How the dry twigs crackled ! What a smoke and a vapour there 
 were ! At length all had been destroyed by the flames ; the old 
 phoenix bird had become ashes. But its egg lay red and glowing 
 in the fire ; suddenly it burst with a great clap, and the young one 
 flew out, and that one now reigns over all birds, and is the only 
 phoenix bird in the world. It has bitten a hole in the palm-leaf I 
 gave you ; that is its greeting to the princess." 
 
 " Let us eat something," said the mother of the Winds. So they 
 all sat down together and ate of the roast stag. The young 
 prince sat by the side of the East-wind, and therefore they soon 
 became good friends. "I say," said the prince, "just tell me 
 what princess that is of whom you were talking so much just 
 now, and where is the Garden of Paradise situated ? " 
 
 " Ho, ho 1 " said the East-wind ; " would you like to go there ? 
 Well, then, fly with me to-morrow. But I must tell you this : no 
 human being has been there since the time of Adam and Eve. I 
 suppose you know them from your Bible history ? " 
 
 " Of course," said the prince. 
 
 "At that time, when they were driven out, the Garden of 
 Paradise sank into the earth ; but it retained its warm sunshine, 
 its balmy air, and all its beauty. The fairy queen lives there now ; 
 there lies also the Island of Happiness, where Death never comes 
 and where all is beautiful. If you get upon my back to-morrow, 
 I will take you with me ; I think we shall be able to manage it. 
 But leave off talking now, because I want to go to sleep." 
 
 And then they all went to sleep. 
 
 Early in the morning the prince awoke, and was not a little 
 surprised to find himself already high above the clouds. He was 
 sitting on the back of the East-wind, who held him fast; they 
 were so high up in the air that forests and meadows, rivers and 
 seas looked as though painted on a map.
 
 THE GARDEN OF PARADISE 193 
 
 " Good morning," said the East-wind. " You might just as well 
 sleep a little longer, because there is not much to be seen on the flat 
 country beneath us, unless you have a mind to count the churches. 
 They stand like little lumps of chalk on the green board." What 
 he called a green board were the fields and meadows. 
 
 " It was very rude of me not to say good-bye to your mother 
 and your brothers," said the prince. 
 
 "Such things are excusable if one is asleep," said the East- 
 wind. And thereupon they flew along still faster. It could be 
 heard by the tree-tops, for when they flew over them all the 
 branches and the leaves rustled ; it could be heard by the sea and 
 the lakes, for wherever they flew the waves rose higher, and the 
 great ships dipped low into the water, like swans swimming. 
 
 Towards evening, when it was getting dark, the large towns 
 were an extremely pretty sight, with all the lights being kindled, 
 first here and then there. It was just like watching all the little 
 sparks as they vanish one after another from a burnt piece of 
 paper. At this the prince clapped his hands ; but the East-wind 
 begged him not to do so, and rather to hold on tight, as otherwise he 
 might easily fall, and remain hanging from the top of a church steeple. 
 
 The eagle in the dark forests flew very lightly, but the East- 
 wind flew more lightly still. The Cossack on his little steed sped 
 very swiftly across the plain, but the prince rode more swiftly still. 
 " Now you can see the Himalayas," said the East-wind. " They 
 are the highest mountains in Asia, and we shall soon reach the 
 Garden of Paradise." Then they turned more towards the south, 
 and soon the air was balmy with spices and flowers. Figs and 
 pomegranates were growing wild ; red and white grapes hung from 
 the wild vines. Here they both descended and stretched them- 
 selves on the soft grass, where the flowers nodded to the wind, as 
 if they wanted to say, " Welcome ! " 
 
 " Are we now in the Garden of Paradise ? " asked the prince. 
 
 " Dear me ! no, " answered the East-wind. " But we shall soon 
 get there. Do you see yonder cliff and the wide cave in front of 
 which the vines hang like a long green curtain ? We must go 
 through there to get in. Wrap yourself up in your cloak ; the sun 
 burns here ; but one step farther, and it will be as cold as ice. 
 
 VOL. I. N
 
 194 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 The bird which flies past the cave has one wing in the warmth of 
 summer, and the other in the cold of winter." 
 
 " Indeed ! So that is the way to the Garden of Paradise," said 
 the prince. They now entered the cave. Oh, how icy cold it 
 was ! But it did not last long ; the East-wind spread out his 
 wings, and they shone like the brightest fire. What a cave it was ! 
 The great boulders, from which the water trickled down, hung 
 above them in the strangest forms. In one place it was so narrow 
 that they had to creep along on hands and feet, and in another as 
 high and wide as in the open air. It looked like subterranean 
 chapels with mute organ-pipes and petrified organs. 
 
 " I suppose we are going to the Garden of Paradise by the road 
 of Death ? " asked the prince. But the East-wind answered not a 
 syllable, only pointing forwards, where the most beautiful blue 
 light was streaming towards them. The boulders above became 
 more and more hazy, till at last they looked like a white cloud in 
 the moonlight. Now they breathed a beautiful balmy air, as fresh 
 as on the mountains, as fragrant as among the roses of the valley. 
 A river flowed there, as clear as the air itself, and the fish were 
 like silver and gold. Purple eels, which gave forth blue sparks 
 with every movement, were playing beneath the surface, and the 
 broad leaves of the water-lily had all the colours of the rainbow. 
 The flower itself was a glowing orange- coloured flame, which was 
 fed by the water, just as oil keeps a lamp continually burning. A 
 strong marble bridge, so delicately and artistically carved as though 
 it were of lace and seed-pearls, led over the water to the Island 
 of Happiness, where the Garden of Paradise was. 
 
 The East-wind took the prince in his arms, and carried him 
 across. The flowers and leaves sang the most beautiful songs of 
 his childhood, but with such sweet modulations as no human 
 voice can command. Were they palm-trees or gigantic water- 
 plants that grew here ? The prince had never before seen trees 
 so large and full of sap, and hanging there in long garlands were 
 the most wonderful creepers, such as are only found, painted 
 in colours and gold, on the margins of old missals or wound 
 about initial letters. They were the strangest compounds of 
 birds, flowers, and stalks. Close by, on the grass, stood a group of
 
 THE GARDEN OF PARADISE j 9 $ 
 
 peacocks with their bright tails spread out. It was really so ! But 
 when the prince touched them he found that they were not birds, 
 but plants ; they were large plantain-leaves, that shone here like 
 the majestic tail of the peacock. Lions and tigers sprang like 
 agile cats in and out of the green hedges, which were as fragrant 
 as the flowers of the olive-tree ; but they were tame. The wild 
 wood-pigeon shone like the finest pearl, and beat her wings against 
 the lion's mane ; the antelope, so shy elsewhere, stood by and 
 nodded its head, as if it wished to join them in their play. 
 
 There now appeared the Fairy of Paradise. Her raiment was 
 resplendent as the sun, and her face wore a smile like that of a 
 glad mother when she is happy on account of her child. She was 
 young and fair, and the loveliest maidens, each wearing a bright 
 star in her hair, followed her. The East-wind gave her the leaf 
 on which the phoenix bird had written, and it made her eyes 
 sparkle with joy. She took the prince by the hand, and led him 
 into her castle, where the walls had colours like those of the 
 brightest tulip petals when they are held in the sunlight. The 
 ceiling itself was a large shining flower, and the more one looked 
 up at it the deeper seemed to be its cup. The prince went to the 
 window and looked through one of the panes : there was the Tree 
 of Knowledge, and Adam and Eve standing close by. " Were they 
 ' not driven out ? " he asked. And the Fairy smiled and explained 
 ' to him that Time had stamped its picture on every pane ; but 
 : not as pictures are generally seen. Here there was life in them. 
 : The leaves of the trees moved ; the people came and went just as 
 anything is seen in a mirror. And he looked through another pane 
 iand saw Jacob's dream, with the ladder reaching up to heaven, and 
 angels with great wings were floating up and down. Indeed, every- 
 thing that had happened in this world lived and moved in the glass 
 panes ; such artistic pictures could only be engraved by Time. 
 
 The fairy smiled and led him to a large lofty hall, the walls of 
 'which appeared to be transparent. Here were many portraits, 
 ; one more beautiful than the other. Millions of happy faces were 
 ; seen, all smiling and singing in beautiful harmony. The top ones 
 were so small that they looked smaller than the smallest rose-buds 
 when they are drawn, no larger than a pin's head on paper. In the
 
 196 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 middle of the hall stood a large tree with luxuriant branches hang- 
 ing down ; golden apples peeped out like oranges from between the 
 green leaves. It was the Tree of Knowledge, of whose fruit Adam 
 and Eve had eaten. From each leaf there trickled a bright red 
 dew-drop ; it looked as if the tree were weeping tears of blood. 
 
 " Let us get into the boat now," said the fairy, " and we will 
 have some refreshments on the billowy water. Our bark will not 
 move from the spot, but all the countries of the earth will glide 
 past before our eyes." 
 
 And it was wonderful to behold how the whole coast moved. 
 First came the high, snow-clad Alps, with clouds and dark fir-trees ; 
 the horn sent forth its melancholy note, and the shepherd sang 
 lustily in the valley. Then the banana-trees trailed their long hang- 
 ing branches over the boat ; black swans swam upon the water, and 
 the strangest animals and flowers appeared on the river-bank : it 
 was New Holland, the fifth quarter of the globe, which with a view 
 of its blue mountains now swept by. One could hear the chant of 
 the priests and see the savages dancing to the sound of the drums 
 and the bone trumpets. The pyramids of Egypt, their tops reach- 
 ing the clouds, ruined pillars and sphinxes, half buried in the 
 sand, sailed past in like manner. The Northern Lights shone out 
 over the extinct volcanoes of the Arctic regions : a firework display 
 which no one could imitate. The prince was very happy, for he 
 saw a hundred times as much as we can tell of here. 
 
 " And can I always stay here ? " he asked. 
 
 " That depends upon yourself," answered the fairy. " If you 
 do not wish to do, as Adam did, what is forbidden, you can always 
 stay here." 
 
 "I will never touch the apples on the Tree of Knowledge," 
 said the prince. 
 
 " There are thousands of kinds of fruit here, just as fine as they 
 are. Try yourself, and if you are not strong enough, go back with 
 the East-wind, who brought you here. He is now about to fly 
 back, and will not let himself be seen here for a hundred years ) 
 that time will pass for you in this place as if it were a hundred 
 hours, but it is a long time to resist temptation. Every evening 
 when I leave you, I must call to you : " Come with me ! " I must
 
 THE GARDEN OF PARADISE 197 
 
 beckon you to me with my hand. But stay where you are. Do 
 not go with me, or else your desire would grow stronger at every 
 step. You would then reach the hall where the Tree of Know- 
 ledge grows ; I sleep under its fragrant, hanging branches. You 
 will bend over me, and I must smile, but if you press a kiss upon 
 my mouth, Paradise will sink deep into the earth, and be lost to 
 you. The piercing wind of the desert will whistle round you, and 
 the cold rain will trickle upon your head. Sorrow and trouble 
 will be your lot." 
 
 " I will stay here," said the prince. And the East-wind kissed 
 him on the forehead and said : " Be strong ; then we shall meet 
 each other here again after a hundred years. Farewell, farewell ! " 
 And the East-wind spread out his great wings ; they shone like 
 lightning in harvest-time, or like the North-light in winter. 
 
 " Farewell, farewell ! " re-echoed all the flowers and trees. 
 Rows of storks and pelicans flew like waving ribbons, and 
 accompanied him to the boundaries of the garden. 
 
 "Now let us begin our dances," said the fairy. "Towards 
 the end, when I am dancing with you, and the sun is sinking, you 
 will see me beckon you, and hear me call to you to come with 
 me. But do not do so. For a hundred years I must repeat it 
 every evening ; on every occasion, as soon as the time is past, you 
 will have gained more strength, and at last you will no longer even 
 think of it. To-night is the first time ; now I have warned you." 
 
 The fairy then led him into a large hall of white transparent 
 lilies; the yellow stamina in each flower formed a little golden 
 harp, from the strings of which came notes like those of a flute. 
 The most beautiful maidens, graceful and slender, clad in wavy 
 gauze, so that their charming limbs could be seen, glided through 
 the dance, and sang how beautiful it was to live, that they would 
 never die, and that the Garden of Paradise would flourish for ever. 
 
 The sun was setting ; the whole sky became the colour of gold, 
 1 and gave the lilies the appearance of the most lovely roses. The 
 prince drank the sparkling wine which the maidens handed him, 
 and felt a happiness that he had never experienced before. He 
 saw the background of the hall open itself, and the Tree of 
 Knowledge standing in a splendour which blinded his eyes; the.
 
 198 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 singing there was soft and sweet, like his mother's voice, and it 
 seemed as though she were singing : " My child, my beloved child !" 
 
 Then the fairy beckoned to him, and called so sweetly, " Come 
 with me ! Come with me ! " that he rushed towards her, forgetting 
 his promise, forgetting it already on the first evening, while she 
 beckoned and smiled. The fragrance, the spicy fragrance, all 
 around became stronger ; the harps sounded much sweeter, and 
 it seemed as if the millions of smiling heads in the hall, where the 
 tree grew, nodded and sang : " One should know everything. 
 Man is lord of the earth." And they were no longer tears of 
 blood that fell from the leaves of the Tree of Knowledge ; they 
 were brilliant red stars, which the prince thought he saw. " Come 
 with me ! Come with me ! " sang the quivering tones, and with 
 every step the prince's cheeks burned more hotly, his blood rushed 
 more quickly through his veins. " I must," said he. " It is no 
 sin can be none. Why may I not follow beauty and joy ? I will 
 see her sleep ; there is no harm done if I refrain from kissing 
 her. And I shall not kiss her. I am strong ; I have a firm will." 
 
 And the fairy, throwing aside her dazzling raiment, bent back 
 the boughs, and a moment after she was concealed behind them. 
 
 " I have not yet sinned," said the prince ; " neither will I do 
 so." 
 
 And then he diew the boughs aside ; she was already asleep, as 
 beautiful as only the fairy in the Garden of Paradise can be. She 
 smiled in her dream, but he bending down over her, saw tears 
 trembling between her eyelids. 
 
 " Do you weep on my account ? " he whispered. " Do not 
 weep, you lovely creature. Now only do I understand the bliss 
 of Paradise. It is rushing through my blood, through my 
 thoughts ; I feel the strength of the cherub and of eternal life in 
 my earthly body. N May eternal night come over me ! One minute 
 such as this is riches enough ! " And he kissed the tears from her 
 eyes ; his mouth touched hers. 
 
 There came a crash of thunder more deep and terrible than had 
 ever been heard. Everything rushed together ; the beautiful fairy, 
 the blooming Garden of Paradise sank, sank lower and lower. 
 The prince saw it sink into the black night ; it shone in the
 
 THE SNOWMAN 109 
 
 distance like a twinkling little star. Icy coldness ran through his 
 limbs ; he closed his eyes and lay for a long time as one dead 
 
 The cold rain beat into his face, the sharp wind flew about his 
 head, and his senses returned. " What have I done ! " he sighed. 
 " I have sinned, like Adam sinned, so that Paradise has sunk 
 far away." He opened his eyes and still beheld the star in the 
 distance, the star that shone like the lost Paradise it was the 
 morning-star in the heavens. He rose and found himself in the great 
 forest near the Cave of the Winds ; the mother of the winds was 
 sitting beside it ; she looked angry and raised her hand in the air. 
 
 " Already, on the first evening," she said. " I thought as much ! 
 Well, if you were my son you would go into the sack." 
 
 " He shall go in," said Death. He was a strong old man, with 
 a scythe in his hand and with large black wings. " He shall be 
 laid in the coffin, but not yet. I will only mark him, and let him 
 wander about a little while longer in the world to repent of his sins 
 and to become good and better. But I shall come one day when 
 he least expects it, put him into the blapk coffin, place it on my 
 head and fly up to the star. There too blooms the Garden of 
 Paradise, and if he is good and pious, he shall enter ; but if his 
 thoughts are wicked and his heart is still full of sin, he will sink 
 deeper with his coffin than Paradise sank, and I shall fetch him 
 up only every thousand years, so that he either sinks still deeper 
 or reaches the star that star which shines yonder." 
 
 The Snowman 
 
 is so bitterly cold that my whole body 
 creaks," said the snowman. " The wind is 
 wonderfully invigorating. How that glow- 
 ing thing up there is staring at me ! " He 
 meant the sun, who was just setting. " He 
 shall not make me wink ; I will hold the 
 pieces tightly." For you must know that 
 he had two large triangular pieces of red tile in the place of eyes
 
 200 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 in his head ; an old rake represented his mouth, and therefore 
 he had also teeth. 
 
 He was born amidst the cheering of the boys, and greeted by 
 the tinkling of sledge-bells and the cracking of whips. 
 
 The sun set, the full moon rose large, round and clear on the 
 blue sky. " There he is again on the other side ! " said the snow- 
 man. Of course he fancied the sun was showing himself again. 
 " I thought I had cured him of staring. Now let him hang there, 
 and give me a light, that I may see myself. I wish I knew how 
 to move, I should so much like to walk about. If I could, I 
 should like to go down and slide on yonder ice, as I have seen 
 the boys do ; but I don't know how I can't even walk." 
 
 " Away, away ! " barked the old dog in the yard ; he was some- 
 what hoarse, and could no longer well pronounce the proper 
 " Wow, wow." He had become hoarse when he used to live 
 indoors and lie all day long under the warm stove. " The sun 
 will soon teach you how to run ; I have seen him teach your 
 predecessor last year, and his predecessors before him. Away, 
 away, they are all gone." 
 
 " I do not understand you, friend," said the snowman. " Do 
 you mean to say that she up there is to teach me walking ? " He 
 meant the moon. " I have certainly seen her walk a little while 
 ago when I looked her straight in the face, but now she comes 
 creeping from the other side." 
 
 " You are dreadfully ignorant," replied the dog, " but that is no 
 wonder, for you have only just been put up. She whom you see 
 up there is the moon ; he whom you have seen going off a little 
 while ago was the sun ; he is returning to-morrow, and is sure to 
 teach you how to run down into the ditch. We shall soon have a 
 change in the weather, I feel it by the pain I have in my left hind 
 leg ; the weather is going to change." 
 
 " I do not understand him," said the snowman, " but it strikes 
 me that he speaks of something disagreeable. He who was so 
 staring at me and afterwards went off the sun, as he calls him 
 is not my friend ; so much I know for certain." 
 
 " Away, away," barked the dog ; turned three times round him- 
 self, and crept back into his kennel to sleep.
 
 
 THE SNOWMAN 201 
 
 The weather really changed. On the next morning the whole 
 country was enveloped in a dense fog ; later on an icy wind began 
 to blow, it was bitter cold ; but when the sun rose, what a 
 splendour! Trees and bushes were covered with a hoar-frost, 
 they looked like a wood of white coral ; all the branches seemed 
 to be strewed over with shiny white blossoms. The many 
 delicate boughs and twigs, which are in the summer 
 completely hidden by the rich foliage, were all visible now. It 
 looked very much like a snowy white cobweb ; every twig seemed 
 to send forth rays of white light. The birch-tree moved its 
 branches in the wind, as the trees do in the summer; it was 
 marvellously beautiful to look at. 
 
 And when the sun rose the whole glittered and sparkled as if 
 small diamonds had been strewed over them, while on the snowy 
 carpet below large diamonds or innumerable lights seemed to 
 shine even more white than the snow. 
 
 " How charming ! " said a young girl who stepped out into the 
 garden with a young man. Both stopped near the snowman, and 
 then looked admiringly at the glittering trees. "There is no 
 more beautiful scene in the summer," she said, and her eyes were 
 beaming. " And we can't possibly have such a fellow there in 
 the summer," replied the young man, pointing at the snowman. 
 
 The girl laughed, nodded at the snowman, and then both 
 walked over the snow, so that it creaked under their feet like starch. 
 
 " Who were these two ? " asked the snowman of the dog. " You 
 are longer in the yard than I ; do you know them ? " 
 
 " Certainly I do," replied the dog. " She has stroked me, and 
 he has given me a meat-bone. I shall never bite those two." 
 
 " But what are they ? " asked the snowman again. 
 
 "Lovers," was the dog's answer. "They are going to live 
 together in one kennel, and gnaw on the same bone. Away, away ! " 
 
 " Are they beings like ourselves ? " asked the snowman. 
 
 " They are members of the master's family," replied the dog. 
 " Of course one knows very little if one has only been born yester- 
 day. I can see that from you ! I have the age and the knowledge 
 too. I know all in the house. I also knew a time when I was 
 not obliged to be chained up here in the cold. Away, away ! "
 
 202 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 " The cold is splendid," said the snowman. " Go on, tell me 
 more ; but you must not rattle so with the chain, for you make me 
 shudder if you do ." 
 
 " Away, away ! " barked the dog. " They say I was once 
 a dear little boy. Then I used to lie on a chair covered 
 with velvet, up in the mansion, or sit on the mistress's lap; 
 they kissed me upon the mouth and wiped my paws with an 
 embroidered handkerchief. They called me Ami, dear sweet 
 Ami. But later on I became too big for them, and they gave me 
 to the housekeeper ; thus I came down into the basement. You 
 can look in at the window from the place where you are standing. 
 You can look down into the room where I was one day master, 
 for master I was at the housekeeper's. The rooms were not so 
 grand as above in the mansion, but they were more homely ; I 
 was not continually touched and pulled about by the children, 
 and the food was just as good, if not better, than at the mansion. 
 I had my own cushion, and there was a stove in the room, 
 which is at this time of the year the best thing in the world. I 
 used to creep under the stove ; there was enough room for me. 
 I am still dreaming of this stove. Away, away ! " 
 
 " Does a stove look nice ? " asked the snowman. " Does it 
 resemble me ? " 
 
 " The very contrary of you ! It is as black as a raven and has 
 a long neck with a broad brass band round it. It eats so much 
 fuel that the fire comes out of its mouth. One must keep at its 
 side, close by or underneath it ; there one is very comfortable. 
 Perhaps you can see it from your place." 
 
 The snowman looked and noticed something, brightly polished 
 with a broad brass band round it ; in its lower parts the fire was 
 visible. A strange feeling overcame the snowman ; he had no idea 
 what it was, nor could he explain the cause of it ; but all beings, 
 even those who are not snowmen, know it. 
 
 " Why did you leave her ? " asked the snowman, for he had a 
 notion that the stove was a woman. " How could you leave such 
 a place ? " 
 
 " I was compelled to," replied the dog ; " they threw me out of 
 the house and fastened me up here with the chain. I had bitten
 
 THE SNOWMAN 2O3 
 
 the youngest son of the squire in the leg, because he pushed 
 away the bone which I was gnawing with his foot. Bone for bone, 
 I think. But this they took very ill of me, and from this time 
 forward I was chained up. And I have lost my voice, too do you 
 not hear how hoarse I am ? Away, away ! I can no longer bark 
 like other dogs. Away, away ! That was how it ended." 
 
 The snowman was no longer listening to him ; he looked un- 
 swervingly at the basement into the housekeeper's room, where the 
 stove was standing on its four iron legs, as high as the snowman. 
 
 "What a strange noise I hear within me," he said. "Shall I 
 never get in there ? It is such an innocent wish of mine, and 
 they say innocent wishes are sure to be fulfilled. I must 
 go in there, and lean against her, even if I must break the 
 window." 
 
 " You will never get in there," said the dog, " and if you come 
 close to the stove you are gone. Away, away ! " 
 
 " I am already now as good as gone," replied the snowman, " I 
 believe I am fainting." 
 
 The snowman was all day long looking in at the window. In 
 the dawn the room appeared still more inviting; a gentle light 
 shone out of the stove, not like that of the moon or the sun, but 
 such light as only a stove can produce after being filled with fuel. 
 When the door of the room was opened, the flame burst out at 
 the mouth of the stove that was its custom. And the flame was 
 reflected on the white face and breast of the snowman, and made 
 him appear quite ruddy. 
 
 " I can no longer stand it," he said ; " how well it suits her to 
 put out her tongue ! " 
 
 The night was long, but it did not appear so to the snowman, 
 for he was standing there deeply lost in his pleasant thoughts, 
 which were so freezing that it creaked. 
 
 In the morning the window-panes of the basement were 
 covered with ice ; the most beautiful ice-flowers that one could 
 wish for were upon them ; but they concealed the stove. 
 
 The ice on the window-panes would not thaw ; the snowman 
 could not see the stove which he imagined to be such a lovely 
 woman. It groaned and creaked within him ; it was the very
 
 204 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 weather to please a snowman ; but he did not rejoicehow could 
 he have been happy with this great longing for the stove ? 
 
 "That is a dreadful disease for a snowman," said the dog ; "I 
 suffered myself from it one day, but I have got over it." 
 " Away, away ! " he barked. " We shall soon have a change in the 
 weather," he added. 
 
 The weather changed ; it was beginning to thaw. The warmer 
 it became, the more the snowman vanished away. He said 
 nothing, he did not complain ; that is the surest sign. 
 
 One morning he broke down ; and lo ! in the place where he 
 had stood, something like a broomstick was sticking in the 
 ground, round which the boys had built him up. 
 
 " Well, now I understand why he had such a great longing," said 
 the dog ; "I see there is an iron hook attached to the stick, which 
 people use to clean stoves with; the snowman had a stove-scraper in 
 his body, that has moved him so. Now all is over. Away, away ! " 
 
 And soon the winter was gone. "Away, away," barked the 
 hoarse dog, but the girls in the house were singing : 
 
 " Thyme, green thyme, come out, we sing, 
 Soon will come the gentle spring ; 
 Ye willow trees, your catkins don : 
 The sun shines bright and days roll on. 
 Cuckoo and lark sing merrily too, 
 We also will sing Cuckoo ! cuckoo ! " 
 
 And nobody thought of the snowman. 
 
 Holger Danske 
 
 |N Denmark, close by the Oeresund, stands 
 the old castle of Kronborg ; hundreds of 
 ships, English, Russian, and Prussian, pass 
 through the sound every day and fire salutes 
 to the old castle " Boom, boom ! " and 
 the old castle returns their salutes with can- 
 nons, for in the language of cannons 
 "Boom "means " Good-day " and "Thank you." In the winter-
 
 THE SLEEP OFHOLGERDANSKE.
 
 HOLGER DANSKE 207 
 
 time no ships can sail by there, for then the water is frozen right 
 across to the Swedish coast, and has quite the appearance 6f a high- 
 road. There the Danish and Swedish flags are streaming in the 
 wind, and Danes and Swedes bid each other " Good-day " and 
 "Thank you," not with cannons, but with cordial shaking of hands ; 
 each comes to buy the bread and cake of the other, for you know 
 other people's bread and butter tastes better than one's own. But 
 the old castle of Kronborg is by far the most beautiful sight of all ; 
 there Holger Danske is sitting in a deep, dark cellar, into which 
 nobody can go. He is clad in an armour of iron and steel, and 
 rests his head on his strong arms ; his long beard hangs down over 
 the marble table, and has grown through it. He sleeps and dreams, 
 but in his dream he sees all that is going on in Denmark. Every 
 Christmas-eve an angel of God comes to him and tells him that all 
 he has dreamt is true, and that he might go on sleeping, as Den- 
 mark is in no real danger ; but should it ever get into trouble, the 
 old Holger Danske will rise and burst the table in withdrawing 
 his beard. Then he will strike with his sword, so that the dint of 
 his strokes will be heard through all the countries of the world. 
 
 An old grandfather was telling all this about Holger Danske to 
 his little grandson, and the little boy knew that all his grandfather 
 said was true. While the old man spoke he busily carved a large 
 wooden figure, intended to represent Holger Danske and to be 
 fixed to the prow of a ship, for he was a carver in wood that is to 
 say, a man who carves the figures of persons in wood, which are to 
 be fixed to the fronts of ships according to the names they receive. 
 Now he had carved Holger Danske, who was standing there so 
 proudly with his long beard, holding his broad sword in one hand 
 while the other rested on the Danish arms. 
 
 The old man said so much about distinguished Danish men and 
 women that it seemed to his little grandson in the end as if he 
 knew quite as much as Holger Danske, who after all was only 
 dreaming. And when the child was put to bed he thought so 
 much about all he had heard, that he pressed his chin against the 
 counterpane, believing he had a long beard which had grown 
 through it. 
 
 The grandfather went on working : he was carving the kst part
 
 zo8 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 of the figure, the arms of Denmark. When he had finished and 
 looked at the whole and thought of all he had read and heard of, 
 and what he had told his little grandson, he nodded, wiped his 
 spectacles and put them on again, saying : " Well, well, Holger 
 Danske will not come in my lifetime, but the little boy there in 
 bed may have a chance of seeing him one day, when there is 
 really need." The old man nodded again ; the more he looked at 
 his figure of Holger Danske, the more he was satisfied with his 
 work ; it seemed to him to become coloured, and the armour to 
 gleam like iron and steel ; the hearts in the Danish arms turned 
 more and more red, and the lions with the golden crowns on their 
 heads were leaping.* 
 
 " Indeed, there is no more beautiful coat of arms in the world," 
 said the old man. " The lions represent strength, the hearts kind- 
 ness and love ! " He looked at the uppermost of the lions and 
 thought of King Canute, who subjected the great England to the 
 Danish throne ; the second lion reminded him of Waldemar, 
 who united Denmark and conquered the Wendish territories ; 
 when he looked at the third lion he thought of Margaret, who 
 united Denmark with Sweden and Norway. When he looked at 
 the red hearts they seemed to glow more than before ; they became 
 flames which moved, and in his mind he followed each of them. 
 
 The first flame led him into a narrow dark prison ; there sat a 
 prisoner, a beautiful woman, Eleanor Ulfeld,t the daughter of 
 Christian the Fourth, and the flame took the shape of a rose on 
 her bosom, and became one with the heart of this noblest and 
 best of all Danish women. 
 
 " That is a heart indeed in Denmark's arms," said the old 
 grandfather. And his mind followed the second flame far out into 
 the sea, where the cannons roared and smoke enveloped the ships ; 
 it fixed itself in the shape of the ribbon of an order to the breast 
 
 * The Danish arms consist of three lions between nine hearts. 
 
 t Eleanor was the wife of Corfitz Ulfeld, who was accused of high 
 treason. The only crime of this high-minded woman was her faithful love 
 to her unhappy husband. She passed twenty-two years in a dreadful 
 prison, and was only delivered after the death of her prosecutor, Queen 
 Sophia Amelia.
 
 HOLGER DANSKE 209 
 
 of Hvitfeld* when he blew himself up with his ship in order to 
 save the fleet. 
 
 The third flame led him to the miserable huts in Greenland, 
 where the missionary Hans Egede t ruled in word and deed with 
 love; the flame became a star on his breast that was another 
 heart of the Danish coat of arms. 
 
 The old man's mind hastened on in front of the fourth flame ; 
 he knew where it would go. In the wretched room of a peasant 
 woman stood Frederick the Sixth, and wrote his name with chalk 
 on a beam ; the flame was burning on his breast and in his heart, 
 and there in the peasant's room his heart became a heart of the 
 Danish arms. 
 
 The old man wiped his eyes, for he had known King Frederick 
 with his silvery locks and honest blue eyes, and loved him ; he 
 folded his hands and was silent for a moment. Just then the old 
 man's daughter-in-law entered the room, and said : " It is late; you 
 must go to rest ; supper is ready." 
 
 " The figure you have carved is very beautiful, Holger Danske, 
 and our whole old coat of arms," she continued. " I feel as if I 
 have seen this face before." 
 
 " No, that is impossible," said the grandfather ; " but I have 
 seen it, and I have endeavoured to carve it in wood as I have kept 
 it in my memory. It was when the English were in the port, on 
 the memorable second of April when we gave proof that we were 
 all old Danes. On board the Denmark, where I fought in the 
 squadron of Steen Bille, there was a man by my side whom the 
 balls seemed to fear. He merrily sang old songs and fought as if 
 he were more than a man. I remember him still very well, but 
 whence he came and whither he went nobody knows. I have 
 often thought that he was perhaps Holger Danske himself, who 
 had swam down from Kronborg in order to help us in the hour 
 of danger ; that was my idea, and that is his likeness." 
 
 * When Hvitfeld's ship, the Danebrog, in the battle on the Kjoge Bay, 
 710, caught fire, this gallant man blew himself up in order to save the 
 'own and the Danish fleet, against which the ship was drifting. 
 1 f Hans Egede went in 1721 to Greenland, and worked there as a mission- 
 ry for fifteen years under very hard conditions.
 
 210 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 And the figure cast a great shadow all over the wall and part of 
 the ceiling ; it seemed as if the real Holger Danske was casting it, 
 for it moved ; but this might also have been caused by the flame, 
 which did not burn steadily. And the daughter-in-law kissed the 
 old man and led him to the big easy chair near the table ; and 
 there she and the old man's son, who was the father of the little boy 
 in bed, had their supper. The grandfather spoke of the Danish 
 lions and the Danish hearts, of their strength and kindness ; he 
 declared that there existed yet another strength besides that of the 
 sword ; he pointed to the shelves filled with old books, where 
 Holberg's comedies stood which were so much read and so 
 amusing, it seemed almost as if all the persons of bygone days 
 could be recognised in them. " He, too, knew how to strike a 
 blow," said the grandfather, "for he ridiculed as much as he 
 could the follies and prejudices of the people." Then the grand- 
 father nodded towards the looking-glass where the almanac with 
 the picture of the Round Tower * was hanging, and said : " Tycho 
 Brahe was also a man who made use of the sword, not to cut 
 flesh and bone, but to make the path on the sky through the stars 
 more distinct. And he, whose father belonged to my trade, the j 
 old wood-carver's son, he whom we have often seen with his white 
 curls and broad shoulders, he who is known all over the world he 
 could shape the stone ; but I can only carve wood. Well, well, 
 Holger Danske can appear in many shapes, so that all the world 
 hears of Denmark's strength. Let us drink Bert el's t health ! " 
 
 The little boy in bed saw distinctly the old castle of Kronborg 
 and the Oeresund, the real Holger Danske who was sitting deep 
 below with his beard grown to the marble table and dreaming of 
 all that happens here above. Holger Danske was also dreaming 
 of the humble little room where the wood-carver sat ; he heard all 
 that was said, and nodded in his dream, saying : " Yes, remember 
 me, ye Danish people keep me in your memory. I shall return 
 to you in the hour of danger ! " 
 
 And outside before the Kronborg the bright day shone ; the 
 wind carried the sounds of the bugle over from the neighbouring 
 
 * Observatory at Copenhagen. 
 
 t Bertel Thorwaldsen. the famous sculptor.
 
 THE RED SHOES 2II 
 
 country ; the ships sailed by and saluted " Boom, boom ! " and 
 from the Kronborg it echoed " Boom, boom ! " But Holger 
 Danske did not awake, however strong the cannons roared, for it 
 was only " Good day " and " Thank you." They must fire more 
 strongly if they wish to wake him up ; but one day he will wake 
 up, for there is still life in Holger Danske. 
 
 The Red Shoes 
 
 NCE upon a time there was a 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. 
 
 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, 
 i 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. 
 
 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." 
 
 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 
 :o read and to sew, and people said that she was pretty. But the 
 tiirror told her, " You are more than pretty you are beautiful." 
 
 One day the Queen was travelling through that part of the 
 :ountry, and had her little daughter, who was a princess, with her.
 
 2I2 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 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 ! 
 
 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. 
 
 " I suppose they are of shiny leather ? " asked the old lady. 
 " They shine so." 
 
 " 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. 
 
 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 every- 
 body 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.
 
 THE RED SHOES 213 
 
 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. 
 
 The sun was shining gloriously, so Karen and the old lady 
 went along the footpath through the corn, where it was rather 
 dusty. 
 
 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 
 shoes, and slapping the soles with his hand. 
 
 The old lady gave the soldier some money and then went with 
 Karen into the church. 
 
 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." 
 
 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. 
 
 At home the shoes were put into the cupboard, but Karen 
 could not help looking at them. 
 
 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
 
 214 
 
 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 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. 
 
 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!" 
 
 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. 
 
 She danced out into the open churchyard ; but the dead there
 
 THE RED SHOES 215 
 
 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. 
 
 " 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 ! " 
 
 " 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. 
 
 . 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. 
 
 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 : > 
 
 "Come out, come out! I cannot come in, for I must 
 dance." 
 
 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." 
 
 " 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." 
 
 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. 
 
 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
 
 216 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 the hand that had guided the axe, and went away over the 
 heath. 
 
 r " 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. 
 
 ^ 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 
 I 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. 
 
 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 her 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. 
 
 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 1 " 
 
 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
 
 THE RED SHOES 
 
 217 
 
 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." 
 
 " It was mercy," said she. 
 
 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. 

 
 2i 8 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 The Little Elder-tree Mother 
 
 HERE 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'kihd-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. 
 
 " Now, drink your tea," said the mother ; " perhaps you will 
 hear a story." 
 
 " 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. 
 
 " That," replied the mother, " nobody can understand" 
 " Will you tell me a story ? " asked the boy. 
 " Yes, if you can tell me as nearly as possible how deep is the 
 gutter in the little street where you go to school." 
 
 " Just half as high as my top-boots," replied the boy ; " but then 
 I must stand in the deepest holes." 
 
 " 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." 
 
 "You can make one up/ said the little boy. "Mother says 
 you can tell a fairy tale about anything you look at or touch." 
 
 " That is all very well, but such tales or stories are worth 
 nothing ! No, the right ones come by themselves and knock at 
 myjorehead saying : ' Here I am.' " 
 
 " Will not one knock soon ? " asked the boy ; and the mother
 
 THE LITTLE ELDER-TREE MOTHER 
 
 219 
 
 smiled while she put elder-tree blossoms into the teapot and poured 
 boiling water over them. " Pray, tell me a story." 
 
 " 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." 
 
 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 bushnay, 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. 
 
 " What is this woman's name ? " asked the little boy. 
 
 " Well, the Romans and Greeks used to call_he/a Dryad)," said 
 the old man ; " but we do not understand that. Out in the sailors 1 
 quarter they give her a better name j there she is called elder-tree
 
 220 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 mother. Now, you must attentively listen to her and look at the 
 beautiful elder tree." 
 
 " 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. 
 
 " ' 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.' 
 
 " '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.' 
 
 " ' 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.' 
 
 " ' But first we went to school to learn something,' she said, 
 ' and then we were confirmed ; we wept both 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 Copen- 
 hagen and the sea ; then we walked to Fredericksburg, where the 
 king and the queen were sailing about in Their magnificent boat on 
 the canals.' 
 
 " ' But soon I had to sail about somewhere else, and for many 
 years I was travelling about far away from home.' 
 
 " ' 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 dis- 
 tinctly : the rain was pouring down in torrents ; the dustman had 
 come to the house where I was in service ; I went down with the
 
 THE LITTLE ELDER-TREE MOTHER 221 
 
 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 ' 
 
 " ' Yes, and you gave him a hearty smack on the cheek,' said 
 the old man. 
 
 " * 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 ! ' 
 
 " ' Then we married,' he said. ' Do you remember how we got 
 our first boy, and then Mary, Niels, Peter, John, and Christian ? ' 
 
 " ' Oh yes ; and now they have all grown up, and have become 
 useful members of society, whom everybody cares for.' 
 
 " ' And their children have had children again,' said the ofd 
 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.' 
 
 "'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 grand- 
 children danced round them, and cried merrily that there would
 
 222 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 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." 
 
 "But that was no fairy tale," said the little boy who had 
 listened to it. 
 
 " You will presently understand it," said the old man who told 
 the story. " Let us ask little elder-tree mother about it." 
 
 " 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." 
 
 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. " Hoorray ! 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
 
 THE LITTLE ELDER-TREE MOTHER 223 
 
 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 tj^e smjthj^whjej^^^ 
 
 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 every- 
 thing 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, 
 againstT which the boy often rested his head during the flight. 
 
 " 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 ! n 
 
 " 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 fields 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 hjiyjicks in the meadows smelt sweetly. " One can never 
 forget it ! " 
 
 " Here it is beautiful in autumn ! " said the little girl, and the 

 
 224 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 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 no be more pleasant anywhere. 
 
 "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 ! " 
 
 And indeed it was beautiful ! And the little girl showed every- 
 thing 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. 
 
 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
 
 THE LITTLE ELDER-TREE MOTHER 225 
 
 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. J"here they both sat 
 like a kjn^ind^een^una^rtrie sweet-smelling tree, which looked 
 exactly like an elder-free, 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. 
 
 " 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 
 ' Eejnmbrance/__ 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." 
 
 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 
 Drowns on their heads, sat in the glowing evening sun. They 
 
 :losed their eyes and and 
 
 ; 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 
 n the table, but no elder-tree was growing out of it, and the old 
 nan who had told the story was on the point of leaving the room, 
 nd he did go out. 
 
 How beautiful it was ! " said the little boy. " Mother, I have 
 ieen to warm countries ! " 
 
 "I believe you," said the mother; "if one takes two cups of 
 ot elder-tea it is quite natural that one gets into warm countries l'~' 
 Lnd she covered him up well, so that he might not take cold. 
 You have slept soundly while I was arguing with the old man 
 hether it was a story or a fairy tale ! " 
 
 " And what has become of the little elder-tree mother ? " asked 
 le boy. 
 
 " She is in the teapot," said the mother ; " and there she may 
 imain."
 
 226 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 The Darning Needle 
 
 HERE was once upon a time a darning 
 needle, which thought itself so fine that it 
 imagined that it ought to be a sewing needle. 
 " Take care that you hold me tightly," said 
 the darning needle to the fingers which took 
 it up. " Do not drop me, for if I fall on the 
 ground one will certainly not find me again, I 
 am so fine ! " 
 
 " That's what you say," said the fingers, and seized her round 
 the body. 
 
 " Look out ! I am coming with a suite ! " said the darning 
 needle, and dragged a long thread after it ; but there was no knot 
 in the thread. The fingers directed the needle straight towards 
 the cook's slipper. The upper leather was torn and had to be 
 mended. 
 
 " That's degrading work," said the darning needle ; " I shall 
 never get through it ; I shall break, I shall break ! " And really it 
 broke. " Did I not tell you so ? " said the darning needle, " I am 
 too fine." 
 
 " Now it's good for nothing," said the fingers ; but yet they had 
 to hold it. The cook fixed a knob of sealing-wax to the needle, 
 and fastened her neckerchief with it. " So ! now I am a scarf- 
 pin," said the needle. " I knew very well that I should come 
 to honour ; when one is worthy one gets on in the world ! " And 
 then it laughed to itself; but one never sees when a darning 
 needle laughs. It sat there as proudly as if it was in a state car- 
 riage, and looked in all directions. 
 
 " May I ask if you are made of gold ? " it inquired of a pin, its 
 neighbour. " You have a bright exterior, and a head of your own, 
 although it is but small ! You must endeavour to grow, for it is 
 not every one who receives a knob of sealing-wax 1 " Thus saying, 
 the darning needle raised itself so proudly that it fell out of the 
 neckerchief, straight into the sink which the cook was rinsing
 
 THE DARNING NEEDLE 227 
 
 down. " Now I am going on my travels," said the darning needle, 
 " I hope I shall not be lost ! " But it was lost indeed. " I am too 
 fine for this world," it said, when it was lying in the gutter, " but 
 I know who I am, and that is always a little pleasure." And the 
 darning needle kept its proud bearing, and did not lose its cheer- 
 ful temper. All sorts of things passed over it ; chips, straws, and 
 bits of old newspaper. " Look how they sail," said the darning 
 needle, "they do not know what is underneath them! I am 
 sticking fast here. See, there goes a chip, thinking of nothing 
 in the world but itself a chip ! There is a straw drifting by ; 
 how it turns round and round ! Don't think only of yourself ; you 
 might easily run against a stone. There floats a piece of news- 
 paper ; and although what is printed upon it was forgotten long 
 ago, it gives itself airs. I am sitting here patiently and quietly ; 
 I know who I am, and that I shall continue to be ! " 
 
 One day something lay by the side of it which glittered so 
 splendidly that the darning needle thought it was a diamond; but 
 it was only a piece of a broken glass bottle, and because it was so 
 bright the darning needle spoke to it, and introduced itself as a 
 scarf-pin. " I suppose you are a diamond ? " " Yes, something 
 of that kind." And then they both thought each other something 
 very precious ; they spoke of the pride of the world. 
 
 " I have been in a girl's box," said the darning needle, " and 
 this girl was a cook ; she had five fingers on each hand, but I have 
 never seen anything so conceited as these fingers ! And yet they 
 were only there to take me out of the box, and put me back 
 again." 
 
 " Were they very distinguished ? " asked the piece of glass. 
 " Distinguished ! " said the darning needle ; " no, but haughty. 
 They were five brothers, all born fingers. They held proudly 
 together, although they were of different lengths. The first, the 
 thumb, was short and thick ; it stood out of the rank, and had only 
 one joint in its back and could only make one bow ; but it said, if 
 it was cut off a man's hand he could not be a soldier. Sweet- 
 'tooth, the second finger, was put into sweet and sour dishes, 
 pointed to the sun and the moon, and made the downstrokes 
 when the fingers wrote. Longman, the third, looked over the
 
 228 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 heads of all the others. Gold rim, the fourth, wore a golden girdle 
 round the waist ; and little Playman did nothing at all, and was 
 proud of it. They did nothing but brag, and therefore I left them." 
 
 " And now we sit here and glitter," said the piece of glass. At 
 the same moment more water rushed into the gutter ; it overflowed, 
 and carried the piece of glass away. " So, now it is promoted," 
 said the darning needle, " but I remain here ; I am too fine ; but 
 that is my pride, and I have good reason for it ! " And it sat 
 there proudly and had many great thoughts. " I am almost 
 inclined to think I am the child of a sunbeam, I am so fine ! It 
 seems to me as if sunbeams were always looking for me here under 
 the water also ! I am so fine that my mother cannot find me. If 
 I had my old eye, the one that broke off, I believe I should cry, 
 but I shall not do it it is not considered good breeding to cry." 
 
 One day, a few urchins lay grubbing in the gutter, where they 
 found old nails, farthings, and suchlike treasures. It was dirty 
 work, but it caused them great pleasure. " Oh ! " cried one, who 
 had pricked himself with the darning needle, "look, what a 
 fellow." 
 
 " I am not a fellow, I am a miss," said the darning needle, but 
 nobody listened to it. The sealing wax had come off and the 
 needle had turned black ; but black makes one look thinner, and 
 therefore it thought itself finer than ever. 
 
 " Here comes an egg-shell drifting along," said the boys, and f 
 they stuck the darning needle firmly into it. " White walls, and I , 
 am black myself," said the darning needle ; "that is very becoming; 
 now one can see me at least. I wish I may not become seasick 
 and break." But it did not become seasick, nor did it break. 
 
 " It is a good thing against seasickness if one has a steel 
 stomach, and does not forget that one is something better than a 
 man. Now my seasickness is past ; the finer one is, the more one 
 can bear ! " 
 
 " Crack," cried the eggshell, as a heavy cart went over it. 
 
 " Good heavens ! " said the darning needle, " how it presses ! 
 Now I shall become seasick after all. I am breaking ! " 
 
 But itdid not break, although the heavy cart passed over it ; it 
 lay there full length, and there it may stay.
 
 THE LAST DREAM OF THE OLD OAK 229 
 
 The Last Dream of the Old Oak 
 
 (A CHRISTMAS STORY) 
 
 a wood, high up on the steep shore, near 
 the open sea, stood a very old oak tree. It 
 was three hundred and sixty-five years old, 
 but all this long time had not appeared 
 any longer to the tree than the same 
 number of days to us human beings. We 
 are awake in the daytime, we sleep at 
 night, and then we have our dreams. It is different with a tree ; it 
 is awake during three seasons, and only begins to sleep towards 
 the winter. Winter is its resting-time, its night after a long day, 
 consisting of spring, summer, and autumn. 
 
 On many a warm summer day the ephemera the fly that lives 
 but one day danced round its crown, lived and felt happy in the 
 sunshine, and then the little creature rested a moment in quiet 
 contentment on one of the large fresh oak leaves, and the oak tree 
 would say: "Poor little one! your whole life is but one day! 
 How very short ! It is sad indeed ! " 
 
 " Sad ? What do you mean by that ? " the ephemera used to \ 
 ask. "All around me it is so wonderfully light, warm, and 
 beautiful, and that makes me glad." 
 
 " But only one day, and then it is all over ! " 
 "Over," repeated the ephemera; "What does over mean? Is it 
 not over with you too ? " 
 
 "No; I live perhaps thousands of your days, and my days 
 consist of entire seasons ! That is so long that you are unable to 
 reckon it up ! " 
 
 " No. I don't understand you ! You have thousands of my 
 days, but I have thousands of moments in which I can be merry 
 and happy. Does all the splendour of this world cease to exist 
 when you die ? " 
 
 " No," said the tree ; " that will probably last much longer 
 indefinitely longer than I am able to imagine."
 
 230 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 " But then we have both the same time to live, only we reckon 
 differently." And the ephemera danced and flew about in the 
 air, rejoicing in the possession of its wonderful wings of gauze and 
 velvet; it enjoyed the warm air, which was saturated with the 
 spicy fragrance of the clover fields, the dog roses, the lilac and 
 honeysuckle, the garden hedges, thyme, the primrose, and the 
 mint The fragrance was so strong that the ephemera was almost 
 intoxicated with it. The day was long and beautiful, full of joy 
 and sweet pleasures, and when the sun set the little fly always felt 
 agreeably tired of all the delight. Its wings would no longer 
 support it, and gently and slowly it glided down on the waving 
 blades of grass, nodded as an ephemera can nod, and fell 
 asleep, peacefully and joyfully. It was dead. "Poor little 
 ephemera," said the oak, "that was really too short a life." 
 
 The same dance, the same questions and answers, the same 
 falling asleep, occurred again on every summer day ; all repeated 
 itself through whole generations of ephemeras, which all felt 
 equally merry and happy. 
 
 The oak stood awake in the spring, its morning j the summer, its 
 midday; and the autumn, its evening; soon its resting-time, night, 
 was approaching. The winter was at hand. Already the storms 
 sang " Good night ! good night ! " Here dropped a leaf, there 
 dropped a leaf. "We will stir you and shake you ! Go to sleep, 
 go to sleep ! We shall sing you to sleep, we shall shake you to 
 sleep, and surely it will do your old twigs good ; they will crackle 
 with delight and joy. Sleep sweetly ! sleep sweetly ! It is your 
 three hundred and sixty-fifth night; properly speaking you are 
 only a stripling ! Sleep sweetly ! The clouds will throw snow 
 down and make you a covering to keep your feet warm ! Sleep 
 sweetly and pleasant dreams ! " 
 
 The oak stood there, deprived of its foliage, to go to rest for the 
 whole long winter and to dream many a dream ; all was of some- 
 thing that had happened to it, as in the dreams of human 
 beings. The large tree was once small nay, an acorn had been 
 its cradle. According to human calculation, it was now living its 
 fourth century ; it was the largest and best tree in the wood, and 
 over-towered by far all the other trees with its crown. It was seen
 
 THE LAST DREAM OF THE OLD OAK 231 
 
 from a great distance out at sea, and served as a landmark to the 
 sailors. Of course, it had no idea that so many eyes looked for 
 it. High up in its green crown the wood-pigeon built her nest, 
 and the cuckoo made its voice heard ; and in autumn, when its 
 leaves looked like hammered copper, the birds of passage rested 
 themselves there before they flew across the sea. Now, however, 
 it was winter ; the tree stood there without leaves, and one could 
 see how crooked and knotty the branches were that grew out of the 
 stem. Crows and jackdaws came and sat alternately on it while 
 they talked about the hard times which were now beginning, and 
 how difficult it was to find food in the winter. 
 
 Towards the holy Christmas time the tree dreamt a most 
 beautiful dream. It had a distinct notion of the festive time, and 
 it seemed to the tree as if all the church bells round about were 
 merrily pealing, and as if all this took place on a bright, mild, and 
 warm summer day. Fresh and green its mighty crown spread 
 forth, the sunbeams were playing between the leaves and branches, 
 the air was filled with the fragrance of herbs and blossoms; 
 coloured butterflies chased each other, the ephemeras danced 
 about as if all was only there for them to enjoy. All the tree had 
 seen happening round it during many years passed before it in a 
 festive procession. It saw the knights and noble ladies of bygone 
 days on horseback, with waving plumes on their heads, the 
 falcons on their wrists, riding through the wood; the bugle 
 sounded, the hounds barked ; it saw hostile warriors in coloured 
 garments, with glittering arms, spears, and halberds, pitching tents 
 and striking them again ; the watch-fires were burning while they 
 sang and slept under the branches of the oak tree ; it saw lovers in 
 quiet happiness meet at its trunk in the moonlight and cut their 
 names, their initials, into the dark-green bark. Guitars and 
 ^Eolian harps were once many, many years ago hung in the 
 branches of the oak by merry travellers ; now they were hanging 
 there again, and their wonderful sounds rang forth. The wood- 
 pigeons cooed as if they wished to tell what the tree was feeling, 
 and the cuckoo called out to it how many days it had yet to live. 
 Then the tree felt new life streaming into it, down to the smallest 
 root and high up into the topmost branches and leaves.. It felt
 
 232 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 how it spread and extended nay, it felt, by means of its roots, 
 that there was also warmth and life deep below in the earth ; its 
 force was increasing, it grew higher and higher, the trunk shot up, 
 there was no resting ; more and more it grew, the crown became 
 fuller, spread out, and raised itself, and in measure as the tree 
 grew, its happiness and its longing to reach higher and higher 
 increased, right up to the bright warm sun. It had already grown 
 up into the clouds, which sailed under it like flights of birds of 
 passage, or large white swans. Every leaf of the tree had the gift 
 of sight, as if they had eyes to see. The stars became visible to it 
 in broad daylight ; they were large and sparkling, each of them 
 glittered as mildly and clearly as a pair of eyes ; they recalled to 
 its memory well-known kind eyes children's eyes, lovers' eyes 
 who had met under the tree. It was a marvellous moment, so full of 
 joy and delight ! And yet amidst all this joy the tree felt a 
 desire, a longing wish, that all the other trees down in the wood 
 all the bushes, all the herbs and flowers might be able to rise 
 with it, see all this splendour, and feel this joy. The great 
 majestic oak, with all its grandeur, was not quite happy without 
 having them all, great and small, around it, and these feelings 
 of longing passed through all the leaves and branches as vigorously 
 as they would pass through a human breast. The crown of the 
 tree was rocking to and fro as if it were seeking something in its 
 deep longing j it was looking back. Then it smelt the fragrance 
 of the thyme, and soon the still stronger scent of the honeysuckle 
 and violet ; it seemed as if the cuckoo was answering it 
 
 Yes, through the clouds the green tops of the wood became 
 visible, and below the oak recognised the other trees how they 
 grew and rose. Bushes and herbs shot high up, several tearing 
 themselves up by the roots and flying up the quicker. The birch 
 tree was the quickest of all ; like a white flash of lightning its 
 slender stem shot up in a zigzag line, the branches surrounding it 
 like green gauze and flags. The whole wood, even the brown 
 feathery reed, grew up ; the birds followed and sang, and on a 
 long blade of grass which fluttered in the air like a green silk 
 ribbon sat a grasshopper, cleaning his wings with his legs ; the 
 cockchafers and the bees were humming ; every bird was singing
 
 THE LAST DREAM OF THE OLD OAK 233 
 
 as well as it could ; sounds and songs of joy and gladness rose 
 up to heaven. 
 
 " But where is the little blue flower that grows near the water," 
 cried the oak, "and the harebell and the little daisy?" Indeed, 
 the old oak wished to have them all around it. 
 
 " Here we are ! Here we are ! " echoed from all sides. 
 
 "But where is the beautiful thyme of last summer? and wasn't 
 there a bed of snowdrops here last year ? and the crab-apple that 
 bloomed so beautifully, and the splendour of the woods during 
 the whole year ! Oh ! that it were only born now, that it were 
 only here now ; then it could be with us ! " 
 
 " We are here ! We are here ! " sounded voices still higher, as 
 if they had flown up in advance. 
 
 " No ! that is too beautiful to be believed ! " exclaimed the old 
 oak. "I have them all, both great and small; not one is for- 
 gotten ! How is all this happiness imaginable ? How is it 
 possible ? " 
 
 "In God's eternal kingdom it is possible and imaginable," 
 sounded through the air. 
 
 The old tree, which was incessantly growing, felt its roots 
 tearing themselves away from the earth. " That is right so, that 
 is the best of all," said the old tree. " No fetters are holding me 
 any longer ; I can rise to the highest light and splendour, and all 
 my beloved ones are with me, both great and small. All ! All ! " 
 
 That was the dream of the old oak, and while it thus dreamed 
 a terrible storm was raging over land and sea on holy Christmas 
 Eve. The sea was rolling heavy waves against the shore ; the tree, 
 which crackled and groaned, was torn out of the ground by the 
 roots at the very moment when it was dreaming that its roots tore 
 themselves out of the earth. It fell to the ground. Its three 
 hundred and sixty-five years had now passed away like the one 
 day of the ephemera. 
 
 On Christmas morn, when the sun rose, the storm had abated. 
 ! All the church bells were merrily pealing ; out of every chimney 
 top, even from the smallest and humblest cottage, the smoke rose 
 up in blue clouds, like the smoke which rose from the altars of 
 the Druids when they offered thankofferings. The sea became
 
 2 34 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 gradually calm ; and on board a large ship which had been 
 struggling all night with the storm, and happily got through it, all 
 the flags were hoisted as a sign of Christmas joy. 
 
 " The tree is gone ! The old oak, our landmark on the coast," 
 said the sailors, " it has fallen during last night's storm. Who 
 can replace it ? No one ! " 
 
 Such a funeral oration, short and sincere, was pronounced on 
 the tree, which lay stretched out on the snow near the shore ; and 
 over it passed the sound of the psalms from the ship songs of 
 Christmas joy, and of the redemption of the human soul through 
 Christ, and of eternal life : 
 
 " Christians, awake! salute the happy morn, 
 Whereon the Saviour of the world was born; 
 Rise to adore the mystery of love 
 Which hosts of angels chanted from above. 
 Hallelujah, Hallelujah." 
 
 Thus sounded the old hymn, and every one on board the ship 
 felt himself edified by song and prayer, as the old tree had done 
 in its last most beautiful dream, on Christmas morn. 
 
 The Wild Swans 
 
 AR from here, where the swallows fly when 
 it is winter with us, there lived a king 
 who had eleven sons, and one daughter, 
 called Elise.^) The eleven brothers were 
 princes, and went to school with stars on 
 their breasts and swords at their sides. They 
 ^____^___ wrote with diamond pencils on gold slates, 
 and learning by heart came as easy to them as reading ; one could 
 see at once that they were princes. Their sister Elise sat upon 
 a little plate-glass stool, and had a picture-book that had been 
 bought for half a kingdom. 
 
 Oh, the children were extremely well cared for, but it was not
 
 THE WILD SWANS 2 ^ 
 
 to be always so. Their father, who was king of the whole country, 
 married a wicked queen, who did not love the poor children 
 at all. That they found out the very first day. There were 
 grand doings at the castle, and the children were playing at 
 " visiting " ; but instead of having as many cakes and roasted 
 apples as they used to have, the queen gave them only some 
 sand in a teacup and told them they could pretend it was 
 something. 
 
 The following week she took little Elise to live with some pea- 
 sants in the country, and it was not long before she told the king 
 so much that was untrue about the poor princes that he would 
 have nothing more to do with them. 
 
 " Go out into the world and gain your own living," said the 
 wicked queen. " Fly, like the great dumb birds ! " But she 
 could not make matters as bad as she wished, for they became 
 eleven beautiful wild swans. 
 
 With a strange cry they flew out of the castle windows, far away 
 over the park and into the wood. 
 
 It was still early in the morning when they passed the place 
 where their sister Elise lay sleeping in the peasant's hut. Here 
 they hovered about the roof, stretched their long necks and 
 flapped their wings ; but no one heard or saw them. They 
 were obliged to go farther, high up in the clouds, out into the 
 wide world ; so they flew on to a great dark forest which extended 
 as far as the seashore. 
 
 Poor little Elise stood in the peasant's hut playing with a green 
 leaf, for she had no other plaything. She pricked a hole in the 
 leaf^and looking up at the sun through it, she seemed to see her 
 brothers' bright eyes, and whenever the warm sunbeams fell upon 
 her cheeks she thought of all their kisses. 
 
 One day passed just like the other. When the wind blew 
 through the great edge of rose bushes before the house it would 
 whisper to the roses : " Who can be more beautiful than you ? " 
 But the roses would shake their heads and say " Elise ! " And 
 when the old woman sat before the door on Sundays reading her 
 hymn-book, the wind would turn over the leaves and say to the 
 book: "Who can be more pious than you?" And the hymn-
 
 236 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 book would answer, " Elise." It was the pure truth too, what the 
 roses and the hymn-book said. 
 
 When she wasjtoeenjears old she was to go home ; and when 
 the queen saw how beautiful she was she disliked her more than 
 ever. She would gladly have changed her into a wild swan like 
 her brothers ; but she did not dare to do so at once, because the 
 king wished to see his daughter. 
 
 Early in the morning the queen went into the bath, which was 
 built of marble and furnished with soft cushions and the most 
 splendid coverings. She took three toads, and, kissing them, said 
 to one : " Get on Elise's head when she enters the bath, so that 
 she may become dumb like you." " Get on her forehead," she 
 said to the other, " and let her become ugly like you, so that her 
 father may not know her ! " " Rest on her heart ! " she whispered 
 to the third ; " let her become wicked, so that she may be tor- 
 mented." Putting the toads into the clear water, which imme- 
 diately turned green, she called Elise, undressed her, and made 
 her get in too. As Elise dived under, one of the toads got into 
 her hair, another upon her forehead, and the third upon her 
 breast. She, however, appeared not to notice them, and as soon 
 as she stood up, three red poppies were floating on the water. 
 Had the creatures not been poisonous and kissed by a witch, they 
 would have been changed into red roses. But having rested on 
 her head, her forehead, and her heart, they were bound to become 
 flowers of some kind. She was too pious and innocent for sorcery 
 to have any power over her. 
 
 When the wicked queen saw that, she rubbed Elise all over 
 with walnut juice, so that she became dark brown, smeared an 
 evil-smelling salve over her pretty face and entangled her glorious 
 hair. It was impossible to recognise the beautiful Elise. 
 
 When her father saw her he was quite startled, and said she was 
 not his daughter. No one knew her except the watch-dog and 
 the swallows ; but they were merely poor animals who had 
 nothing to say. 
 
 Then poor Elise wept and thought of her eleven brothers who 
 were all away. She stole out of the castle sorrowfully, and walked 
 the whole day over fields and moors till she reached the great
 
 THE WILD SWANS 237 
 
 forest. She did not know where to go, but she felt extremely 
 miserable and longed for her brothers : she supposed that they, 
 like her, had been driven out into the world, and she determined 
 to seek and find them. 
 
 She had been in the forest only a short time when night came 
 on ; then she entirely lost her way. So she lay down on the soft 
 moss, said her evening prayer, and leaned her head against the 
 stump of a tree. A deep silence reigned, the air was mild, and 
 all around in the grass and in the moss there gleamed, like green 
 fire, hundreds of glow-worms ; when she touched a branch gently 
 with her hand, the glimmering insects fell down upon her like 
 falling stars. 
 
 All night long she dreamed of her brothers ; they were playing 
 again as when they were children, writing with the diamond 
 pencils on the golden slates and looking at the beautiful picture- 
 book that had cost half a kingdom. But on the slate they did not 
 make, as formerly, noughts and strokes ; they wrote, instead, of 
 the daring deeds they had done and of all they had seen and gone 
 through. And in the picture-book everything was alive ; the 
 birds sang, and the people came out of the book and spoke to 
 Elise and her brothers. But when she turned over a leaf, they 
 immediately jumped back, so that there should be no confusion. 
 
 When she awoke, the sun was already high in the heavens. It 
 is true she could not see it, for the branches of the tall trees were 
 so closely entwined overhead. But the sunbeams played among 
 them like a wavy golden veil, while the foliage gave forth a sweet 
 fragrance and the birds almost sat upon her shoulders. She 
 heard the splashing of water, for there were a number of large 
 springs which all flowed into a lake having the softest sand for its 
 bed. Although thick bushes grew all around it, the deer had 
 made an opening in one place, and through this Elise went down 
 to the water. 
 
 It was so clear that if the wind had not moved the branches and 
 bushes one would have believed that they were painted on the 
 surface ; so distinctly was every leaf reflected in it, both those 
 upon which the sun shone and those which were in the shade. 
 
 As soon as Elise perceived her own face, she was quite startled, 

 
 238 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 so brown and ugly did it look ; but when she wetted her little 
 hand and rubbed her eyes and forehead, her skin appeared as 
 white as before. Then she undressed and got into the fresh 
 water. A more beautiful king's daughter than she could not be 
 found in the wide world. 
 
 When she had dressed herself again and plaited her long 
 hair, she went to the bubbling spring, drank out of the hollow 
 of her hand, and wandered far into the forest, without knowing 
 whither. She thought of her brothers, and of the good God who 
 would certainly not forsake her. He had made the wild crab- 
 apples grow to feed the hungry, and now led her to a tree the 
 branches of which bent under the weight of their fruit. Here she 
 made her mid-day meal, put some props under the branches, and 
 then penetrated into the darkest part of the forest. It was so 
 still that she could hear her own footsteps, as well as the rustling 
 of every dry leaf that bent under her feet. Not one bird was to 
 be seen, not a single ray of the sun could penetrate the thick dark 
 foliage. The tall stems stood so close together, that when she 
 looked straight before her, it seemed as if she was enclosed by 
 palisades on all sides. Here was a solitude such as she had 
 never known before. 
 
 The night became very dark ; not a single little glow-worm glim- 
 mered in the moss. Sorrowfully she laid herself down to sleep. 
 Then it seemed to her as though the boughs above her were parted, 
 and the good God looked down upon her with kindness, and little 
 angels peeped out from above and behind Him. 
 
 When she awoke in the morning she did not know whether she 
 had dreamed it or whether it had really happened. 
 
 After walking a few steps she met an old woman with some 
 berries in her basket ; the old woman gave her some of them, and 
 Elise asked whether she had not seen eleven princes riding 
 through the forest. 
 
 "No," replied the old woman; "but yesterday I saw eleven 
 swans with golden crowns on their heads swimming in the river 
 close by." 
 
 And she led Elise a short distance farther to a slope, at the foot 
 of which a streamlet wound its way. The trees on its banks
 
 THE WILD SWANS 239 
 
 stretched their long leafy branches out towards each other, and 
 where by their natural growth they could not reach across, the 
 roots had been torn out of the earth, and hung, entwined with the 
 branches, over the water. 
 
 Elise bade the old woman farewell, and went along the stream 
 to the place where it flowed out to the great open shore. 
 
 The whole glorious sea lay before the young girl, but not one 
 sail appeared upon it : not a single boat was to be seen. How 
 was she to get any farther ? She gazed on the innumerable little 
 pebbles on the shore ; the water had worn them all smooth and 
 round. Glass, iron stones, everything that was lying washed 
 together there, had received its shape from the water, which was, 
 however, softer than her dainty hand. 
 
 " It rolls on unweariedly, and thus it makes hard things smooth.' 
 I will be just as indefatigable. Thanks for your lesson, you clear \ 
 rolling waves ; my heart tells me that some day you will carry me J \^ 
 to my brothers." 
 
 Upon the seaweed that had been washed ashore lay eleven 
 white swans' feathers, which Elise collected into a little bunch. 
 Some drops of water lay upon them : whether they were dewdrops 
 or tears no one could tell. It was very lonely on the sea-shore, 
 but she did not feel it, for the sea afforded constant variety ; 
 indeed, more in a few hours than the lovely inland lakes 
 presented in a whole year. When a great black cloud came it 
 seemed as if the sea wished to say : " I can look black too " ; and 
 then the wind would blow and the waves turn their white linings 
 outside. But when the clouds shone red, and the winds slept, 
 then the sea was as smooth as a rose-leaf; sometimes green, 
 sometimes white. But however peaceful it might be, there was 
 always a slight movement on the shore ; the water would heave 
 gently, like the bosom of a sleeping child. 
 
 Just as the sun was about to set, Elise saw eleven wild swans, 
 with golden crowns on their heads, flying towards the land ; they 
 flew one behind the other, and looked like a long white ribbon. 
 Then Elise ascended the slope and hid behind a bush ; the swans 
 descended close to her and flapped their great white wings. 
 
 As the sun sank beneath the water, the swans' feathers suddenly
 
 240 
 
 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 disappeared, and there stood eleven beautiful princes Elise's 
 brothers. 
 
 She uttered a loud cry, for although they had altered very much, 
 she knew that they were, and felt that they must be, her brothers. 
 She sprang into their arms and called them by their names ; and 
 
 the princes felt very happy when they saw their little sister, and 
 recognised her too, who was now so tall and beautiful. They 
 laughed and wept, and soon they had told each other how wickedly 
 their stepmother had behaved towards them all. 
 
 "We brothers," said the eldest, "fly about as wild swans when 
 the sun is in the heavens ; as soon as it has set, we again return to 
 our human shape. We therefore have to be very careful to find a 
 safe resting-place by sunset, for if at that time we should be flying 
 up towards the clouds, we should be hurled down into the depths 
 in our human form. We do not live here ; there is a country just 
 as beautiful as this across the sea, but it is a long way off. We 
 have to cross the great ocean, and there is no island on our 
 way where we can rest for the night ; only one little rock rises up 
 from the waters midway, and that is only just large enough to
 
 VOL. I.
 
 r one of them, the youngest remain 
 hmduand the swan laid his head in her 
 1 ap and she strokedhi? wings; and the 
 whole day they remamedrogether.:
 
 THE WILD SWANS H5 
 
 accommodate us if we stand very close together. When the sea 
 is very rough, the water dashes up right over us, but still we thank 
 Heaven for this resting-place. There we pass the night in our 
 human form ; if it were not for this rock we could never visit our 
 dear native land, for we require two of the longest days in the 
 year for our flight. Only once a year are we permitted to visit 
 our home; we may stay here for eleven days and fly over the 
 great forest from whence we can see the castle in which we were 
 born, and where our father lives, and catch a glimpse of the high 
 church-tower where our mother lies buried. Here it seems as if 
 even the trees and bushes were related to us ; here the wild horses 
 career across the steppes as we saw them do in our childhood ; 
 Jiere the charcoal-burner sings the old songs to which we danced 
 when children ; here is our native land, hither we feel drawn, and 
 here we have found you, dear little sister. We can stay here two 
 days longer; then we must away across the sea to a glorious 
 country, which, however, is not our native land. How can we get 
 ?ou away ? We have neither ship nor boat." 
 
 " In what manner can I release you ? " asked their sister. And 
 hey sat talking nearly the whole night, taking only a few hours' 
 lumber. Elise was awakened by the beating of the swans' wings 
 .s they rustled above her. Her brothers were again transformed, 
 .nd flew in great circles, and at last went far away ; but one of 
 hem, the youngest, remained behind, and the swan laid his head 
 i her lap and she stroked his wings ; the whole day they were 
 Dgether. Towards evening the others came back, and when the 
 un had set they stood there in their natural forms. 
 
 "To-morrow we fly away from here, and cannot come back 
 efore a 'whole year has gone by. But we cannot leave you like 
 ut. Have you courage to go with us? My arms are strong 
 aough to carry you through the wood ; ought not, then, all our 
 ings be strong enough to fly with you across the sea ? " 
 
 " Yes, take me with you," said Elise. 
 
 They were occupied the whole night in making a great strong 
 2t out of the pliable willow bark and tough reeds. On this Elise 
 id herself, and when the sun rose, and her brothers were changed 
 to wild swans, they seized the net with their bills and flew with
 
 244 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 their dear sister, who was still asleep, high up towards the clouds. 
 The sunbeams fell right upon her face, so one of the swans flew 
 over her head so that his broad wings might overshadow her. 
 
 They were far away from land when Elise awoke ; she thought 
 she was still dreaming, so strange did it seem to her to be carried 
 across the sea, high up in the air. At her side lay a branch with 
 beautiful ripe berries and a bunch of sweet carrots ; the youngest 
 of her brothers had picked them and laid them there for her. She 
 smiled at him gratefully, for she recognised him; he it was who 
 flew over her and shaded her with his wings. 
 
 They were so high that the largest ship they saw beneath them 
 looked like a white sea-gull lying on the water. A large cloud; 
 stood behind them looking just like a mountain, and upon itj 
 Elise saw her own shadow and that of the eleven swans in'l 
 gigantic proportions. It was a picture more splendid than she; 
 had ever seen before. But as the sun rose higher and the cloud: 
 remained farther behind, the floating shadow picture vanished. 
 
 The whole day they flew on like an arrow rushing through the 
 air ; but they went slower than usual, for now they had their sistei 
 to carry. Bad weather came on and evening drew near; Elise 
 looked anxiously at the setting sun, and still the lonely rock in the 
 ocean was not to be seen. It seemed to her as if the swans were' 
 making stronger efforts with their wings. Alas ! it was through he; 
 that they did not get along fast enough. When the sun had se 
 they must become human and fall into the sea and drown. Ther^ i 
 she sent up a prayer to Heaven from the bottom of her heart, bu; ,
 
 THE WILD SWANS 24.5 
 
 still she perceived no rock. The black clouds came nearer, form- 
 ing themselves into one great threatening wave, which shot for- 
 ward as if it were of lead, while continuous flashes of lightning lit 
 up the sky. 
 
 The sun was now just at the water's edge. Elise's heart beat 
 
 fast; suddenly the swans shot down, and so quickly that she 
 
 ' thought she should fall, but still they sailed on for a little. The 
 
 sun was already half below the water when she perceived the little 
 
 rock beneath her. It looked no larger than if it were a seal 
 
 i putting its head above the water. The sun sank very fast; it 
 
 i looked only like a star as her foot touched the firm ground, and 
 
 then it vanished like the last spark in a piece of burnt paper. She 
 
 saw her brothers standing arm-in-arm around her, but there was 
 
 j only just room enough for them and her, not more. 
 
 The sea dashed against the rock and covered them with its 
 ; spray; the heavens were ablaze with continuous flashes of 
 i lightning, and the thunder rolled in peal upon peal ; but sister and 
 I brothers held each other by the hand and sang psalms, from which 
 1 they gathered comfort and courage. 
 
 In the early dawn the sky was serene and calm ; as soon as the 
 . sun rose, the swans flew away with Elise from the island. The 
 j sea still ran high ; it seemed to them, high up in the air, as if the 
 white foam on the dark green sea were millions of swans swim- 
 ming upon the water. 
 
 When the sun rose higher Elise saw before her, half floating in 
 
 | the air, a mountainous land with shining masses of ice on its 
 
 heights ; in the middle of it rose a castle quite a mile long, with 
 
 row upon row of stately pillars, while beneath waved forests of 
 
 palms and gorgeous flowers. She asked whether that was the land 
 
 , for which they were making ; but the swans shook their heads, for 
 
 . what she beheld was the beautiful but ever-changing castle in the 
 
 air of the Fata Morgana ; into this they might bring no human 
 
 I being. As Elise gazed upon it, mountains, woods, and castle fell 
 
 i into an indistinct heap, and twenty proud churches, all alike, with 
 
 tall spires and pointed windows, stood in their place. She thought 
 
 . she heard the organ pealing, but it was only the sea that she 
 
 heard. When she came quite close to the churches they changed
 
 * 4 6 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 to a whole fleet sailing away beneath her, but when she looked 
 down it was only a sea-mist floating on the water. Thus she had 
 a constant change before her, till, at last, she saw the real land for 
 which they were making ; there arose the most beautiful blue 
 mountains with cedar forests, cities, and castles. Long before the 
 sun went down she was sitting on a rock in front of a great cave 
 which was overgrown with delicate green creepers looking like 
 embroidered carpets. 
 
 " Now we shall see what you dream of here to-night," said the 
 youngest brother showing her her bedroom. 
 
 " Heaven grant that I may dream how I can release you," said 
 she. This thought filled her mind completely, and she fervently 
 prayed to Heaven for help; indeed, even in her sleep she con- 
 tinued to pray. Then it seemed to her as if she were flying high 
 up into the air, to the castle among the clouds of the Fata Mor- 
 gana ; and the fairy came towards her, beautiful and radiant, but 
 still bearing a close resemblance to the old woman who had given 
 her berries in the forest and had told her of the swans with the 
 golden crowns. 
 
 "Your brothers can be released," she said, "but have you 
 courage and perseverance? Water is indeed softer than your 
 dainty hands, and yet it changes the shape of stones ; but it does 
 not feel the pain which your fingers will feel ; it has no heart, and 
 therefore does not suffer the anxiety and torment which you must 
 endure. Do you see the stinging-nettle that I hold in my hand ? 
 Many of the same kind grow around the cave in which you sleep ; 
 now remember that only that kind, and those which grow upon 
 the graves in the churchyard, are of any use. Those you must 
 pluck, although they will make your hands full of blisters. If you 
 ,,1;read these nettles underfoot, you will get flax : of this you must 
 plait and weave eleven shirts of mail with long sleeves ; throw 
 these over the eleven swans, and the charm will be broken. But 
 remember that from the moment when you begin this task until it 
 is finished, even if it should take years to do, you may not speak ; 
 the first word that you utter will go like a deadly dagger straight 
 to your brothers' hearts. Upon your tongue depends their life. 
 Remember all that I tell you ! "
 
 THE WILD SWANS 247 
 
 And at the same time she touched her hand with the nettle ; 
 it was like a burning fire, and awoke Elise. It was broad daylight, 
 and close to where she had slept lay a nettle like the one she had 
 seen in her dream. Then she fell upon her knees to offer up her 
 thanks to Heaven, and went out of the cave to begin her task. 
 
 With her delicate hands she caught hold of the hateful nettles ; 
 they stung like fire and raised great blisters on her hands and 
 arms ; but she would bear it gladly if she could but release her 
 dear brothers. She trod on every nettle with her bare feet and 
 plaited the green flax. 
 
 When the sun had gone down her brothers returned and were 
 frightened at finding her so dumb ; they believed it was a new 
 charm of their wicked stepmother. But when they saw her hands 
 they understood what she was doing for their sake. The youngest 
 brother wept, and wherever his tears fell she felt no pain and the 
 birning blisters vanished. 
 
 She passed the night at her work, for she could not rest until 
 she had released her dear brothers. The following day, whilst the 
 swans were away, she sat in her solitude ; but never before had the 
 time flown so quickly as now. One shirt of mail was already 
 finished, and now she was beginning the second. 
 
 Suddenly a hunting-horn was heard among the hills, and she 
 was seized with fear. The sound came nearer and nearer, and she 
 heaid the baying of hounds ; she fled in terror into the cave, and 
 binding the nettles which she had collected and prepared into 
 a bundle, sat down upon it. 
 
 Immediately a great dog came leaping up out of the ravine, and 
 soon afterwards another and yet another ; they kept running to 
 and fro, baying loudly. In a few minutes all the huntsmen were 
 ; before the cave, and the most handsome among them was the 
 king of that country. He went up to Elise, for he had never seen 
 a more beautiful maiden. 
 
 " How did you come hither, you lovely child ? " he asked. 
 
 Elise shook her head ; she dared not speak, for her brothers' 
 deliverance and life were at stake. She also hid her hands under 
 her apron, so that the king should not see what she had to suffer. 
 
 " Come with me ! " he said ; " you shall not stop here. If you
 
 248 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 are as good as you are beautiful I will clothe you in silk and 
 velvet, place a golden crown upon your head, and you shall live 
 in my grandest castle and reign ! " Then he lifted her upon his 
 horse. She wept and wrung her hands, but the king said : " I 
 only wish for your happiness. Some day you will thank me for 
 it." With these words he galloped away across the mountains, 
 holding her before him on his horse, and the hunters galloped 
 behind. 
 
 When the sun went down, the beautiful royal city with its 
 churches and cupolas lay before them. The king led her into the 
 castle, where great fountains were splashing in the marble halls, 
 and where walls and ceilings were adorned with paintings. But 
 she had no eyes for all this, she only wept and mourned. She 
 passively allowed the women to dress her in royal robes, to plait 
 pearls in her hair, and to draw on dainty gloves over her blistered 
 fingers. 
 
 When she stood there in her splendour she was dazzlingly 
 beautiful, so that the courtiers bowed low before her. The king 
 chose her for his bride, although the archbishop shook his held, 
 and whispered that the beautiful forest maiden was certainlr a 
 witch who dazzled the eyes and fooled the heart of the king. 
 
 The king, however, did not listen to this, but ordered the music 
 to play, the costliest dishes to be served, and the loveliest maidens 
 to dance before them. And she was led through fragrant gardens 
 into splendid halls, but never a smile came upon her lips or f'om 
 her eyes : she stood there a picture of grief. Then the ling 
 opened a little chamber close by, where she was to sleep ; it was 
 hung with costly green tapestry and resembled the cave in which 
 she had been. On the floor lay the bundle of flax which she had 
 made from the nettles, and under the tapestry hung the shirt of 
 mail which she had already completed. All these things one of 
 the huntsmen had taken with him as curiosities. 
 
 " Here you can dream yourself back in your former home ! " 
 said the king. " Here is the work that occupied you there ; now, 
 in the midst of all your splendour it will be pleasant for you to 
 recall that time." 
 
 When Elise saw the work she was so anxious about, a smile
 
 THE WILD SWANS 249 
 
 played round her mouth and the blood came back to her cheeks. 
 She thought of her brothers' deliverance, and kissed the king's hand, 
 while he pressed her to his heart and had the marriage feast pro- 
 claimed by all the church bells. The beautiful dumb maiden out 
 of the wood became queen of the land. 
 
 Then the archbishop whispered evil words into the king's ear, 
 but they did not reach hi- heart. The marriage was to take 
 place ; the archbishop himself had to place the crown upon her 
 head, and he maliciously pressed the narrow circlet down tightly 
 upon her brow so that it pained her. But a heavier band encom- 
 passed her heart sorrow for her brothers. She did not feel 
 bodily pain. Her lips were dumb, for a single word would have 
 caused her brothers to die, but her eyes spoke of tender love 
 for the good handsome king who did everything to please her. 
 He became dearer to her from day to day, and oh ! how she 
 wished that she could confide in him and tell him of her 
 sorrows. But she was forced to be dumb, and to remain so 
 until she had finished her task. Therefore at night she crept 
 away from his side, went into the little chamber which had 
 been decorated like the cave, and wove one shirt of mail after 
 the other. But when she began the seventh, she had no more 
 flax. 
 
 She knew that in the churchyard there grew nettles that she 
 could use ; but she must pluck them herself, and how was she to 
 get there? 
 
 " Oh, what is the pain in my fingers compared to the torture 
 that my heart endures?" thought she. "I must venture it. 
 Heaven will not withdraw its protection from me." 
 
 In fear and trembling, as though what she intended doing were 
 a wicked deed, she crept down into the garden in the moonlight 
 night and went through the lanes and the lonely streets to the 
 churchyard. There she saw a circle of vampires sitting on one of 
 the broadest tombstones. These hideous witches took off their 
 rags, as if they were going to bathe, and then digging up the 
 newly-made graves with their long skinny fingers, they snatched 
 out the corpses with fiendish greed and ate the flesh. Elise had 
 to pass close by them, and they fastened their evil glances upon
 
 250 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 her; but she prayed quietly, collected the stinging nettles, and 
 carried them home to the castle. 
 
 Only one person had seen her ; it was the archbishop, for he 
 was awake when other people slept. Now he knew that he was 
 right in his opinion, that all was not with the queen as it should 
 be : she was a witch, and therefore she had cast a spell over the 
 king and the people. 
 
 He secretly told the king what he had seen and what he feared. 
 And when the hard words fell from his lips the images of the 
 saints in the church shook their heads as though they wished to 
 say, " It is not so ; Elise is innocent ! " But the archbishop in- 
 terpreted it in a different way ; in his opinion they bore witness 
 against her and shook their heads at her sins. Then two big 
 tears rolled down the king's cheeks ; he went home with doubt in 
 his heart and pretended to be asleep in the night. But no peace- 
 ful slumber came to his eyelids, and he noticed that Elise got up. 
 Every night she did the same, and every time he followed her 
 softly and saw her vanish into her room. 
 
 From day to day his looks grew darker ; Elise saw it, but did 
 not understand the reason ; but it made her anxious, and what 
 did she not suffer in her heart for her brothers ! Her hot tears 
 fell upon the royal velvet and purple ; they lay there like glittering 
 diamonds. And all who saw the rich splendour wished to be 
 queen. In the meantime she had almost finished her work ; only 
 one shirt of mail was still wanting, but she had no more flax and 
 not a single nettle. Therefore she was obliged to go once more, 
 for the last time, to the churchyard to pluck a few handfuls. 
 She thought with terror of this lonely walk and of the horrible 
 vampires ; but her will was firm as well as her faith in Providence. 
 
 Elise went ; but the king and the archbishop were following 
 her. They saw her disappear by the gate leading into the church- 
 yard, and when they approached it, they saw the vampires sitting 
 on the tombstone as Elise had seen them ; and the king turned 
 aside, for among them he believed her to be whose head had 
 rested on his breast only that evening. 
 
 " The people must condemn her," he said : and the people con- 
 demned her to be burnt.
 
 THE WILD SWANS 
 
 251 
 
 Out of the splendid regal halls she was led into a dark damp 
 hole, where the wind whistled in through the grated window ; in- 
 stead of velvet and silk, they gave her the bundle of nettles that 
 she had collected. She could lay her head upon them and the 
 hard stinging coats of mail which she had woven were to be her 
 coverlet. But they could have given her nothing more dear to 
 her ; she took up her work again and prayed to Heaven. Outside 
 
 the street-boys sang mocking songs about her ; not a soul com- 
 forted her with a kind word. 
 
 Towards evening there was a rustling of swans' wings close to 
 the grating ; it was the youngest of her brothers. He had found 
 his sister, and she sobbed aloud for joy, though she knew that the 
 next night would probably be the last she had to live. But now 
 the work was almost ended, and her brothers were here. 
 
 The archbishop now came, to be with her in her last hours : 
 that he had promised to the king. But she shook her head and 
 begged him with looks and gestures to go. That night she had 
 to finish her work, otherwise all would have been in vain ; the 
 pain, the tears, and the sleepless nights. The archbishop went 
 away with nothing but evil words for her ; but poor Elise knew 
 that she was innocent and went on with her work. 
 
 The little mice ran about upon the floor and dragged the nettles
 
 252 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 up to her feet in order to help in some way too, and the thrush 
 sat upon the window grating and sang all night as merrily as it 
 could, so that Elise should not lose courage. 
 
 In the morning twilight, about an hour before sunrise, the 
 eleven brothers stood at the castle gate and requested to be taken 
 before the king. They were told that that could not be ; that it 
 was not daylight yet : that the king was asleep and could not be 
 disturbed. They begged and threatened so, that the sentinels 
 came up, and even the king himself came out and asked what the 
 matter was. Just then the sun rose and no brothers were now to 
 be seen, but eleven wild swans flew away over the castle. 
 
 The whole people streamed out of the city gates ; they were 
 going to see the witch burnt. A broken-down old horse drew the 
 cart along on which she sat ; they had dressed her in a gown of 
 coarse sackcloth, and her glorious hair hung loose about her 
 beautiful head. Her cheeks were deadly pale ; her lips moved 
 slightly, whilst her ringers were busied with the green flax. Even 
 on the way to her death she did not interrupt the work she had 
 begun ; ten shirts of mail lay at her feet, and she was now work- 
 ing at the eleventh. The mob jeered at her. 
 
 " Look at the red witch, how she mutters ! She has no hymn- 
 book in her hand ; no, there she sits with her hideous sorcery 
 tear it from her into a thousand pieces." 
 
 And they all crowded upon her and wanted to tear up the 
 shirts of mail ; then eleven wild swans came flying up and sat 
 round her on the cart, beating their great wings. Now the mob 
 fell back terrified. " It is a sign from heaven ! She cannot be 
 guilty," many whispered. But they did not dare to say so aloud. 
 
 As the executioner seized her by the hand she quickly threw 
 the eleven shirts of mail over the swans. Immediately eleven 
 beautiful princes stood there. But the youngest had a swan's 
 wing instead of an arm, for one sleeve was wanting in his 
 shirt of mail that one she had not quite finished. 
 
 " Now I may speak," said she. " I am innocent." 
 
 And the people who saw what had happened bowed down 
 before her as before a saint ; she, however, sank lifeless into her 
 brothers' arms, the suspense, anguish, and pain having told upon her.
 
 THE WILD SWANS 253 
 
 "Yes, she is innocent," said the eldest brother, and then he 
 related all that had taken place. Whilst he spoke a fragrance as 
 of millions of roses spread itself in the air, for every piece of wood 
 piled around the stake had taken root and was sending out 
 shoots. There stood a fragrant hedge, tall and thick, full of red 
 
 roses ; on the top was a flower of dazzling whiteness, gleaming like 
 a star. This the king plucked and placed upon Elise's bosom, 
 whereupon she awoke with peace and happiness in her heart. 
 
 All the church bells rang of their own accord and the birds came 
 in great flocks. There was a wedding procession back to the castle 
 such as no king had ever seen.
 
 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 The Shadow 
 
 |N hot countries the sun is very strong ; 
 people turn mahogany brown, and in the 
 hottest countries they are even burnt to 
 niggers. This time it was, however, only 
 as far as the hot countries that a learned 
 man from the cold regions had come. 
 He believed that he would be able to walk 
 about there in the same way as he did at home, but he soon 
 found out his mistake. He had to stay at home like other 
 sensible people ; the window-shutters and the doors were closed 
 the whole day, and it looked just as if everybody in the house were 
 asleep or had gone out. The narrow street of high houses where 
 he lived was so situated that the sun fell upon it from morning till 
 night, making it really unbearable. The learned man from the 
 cold regions was, although a young man, a wise one ; he felt as 
 though he were sitting in a burning oven, and this injured his 
 health, and he became thin. Even his shadow shrivelled up and 
 became smaller than it used to be at home ; the sun went so far as 
 to take it away altogether, and it only re-appeared in the evening 
 after that luminary had set. It was a pleasure to see it return. 
 As soon as the light was brought into the room the shadow 
 stretched itself up the wall, and even made itself so tall that it 
 reached the ceiling ; it was obliged to stretch itself in order to get 
 its strength back. The learned man used to go out upon the 
 balcony to stretch himself, and as soon as the stars appeared in 
 the beautiful clear sky he seemed to come back to life. People 
 now appeared on all the balconies in the street, and in warm 
 countries there is a balcony before every window, for one must 
 have fresh air even if one is accustomed to getting mahogany 
 brown. Then there was life above and below. Below, all the 
 cobblers and tailors among whom is included everybody else 
 came out into the street ; they brought out tables and chairs and 
 lights. Thousands of lights were lit, One talked, another sang,
 
 THE SHADOW 55 
 
 and some walked about ; carriages passed and mules trotted by, 
 the bells which they wear on their harness tinkling merrily. On 
 one side was heard the chant of a funeral procession, on the other 
 the tolling of the church bells. Yes, there was indeed life in the 
 street at such an hour. Only in one house the one opposite to 
 which the learned man from the north lived it was very quiet. 
 And yet somebody lived there, for on the balcony there were 
 flowers which bloomed beautifully even in the heat of the sun ; 
 this they could not have done if they had not been watered, and 
 there must have been somebody to do that. Besides, the doors 
 were half opened towards evening ; but then it was dark, at least 
 in the front room, while music was heard proceeding from the 
 inner one. The learned stranger thought this music particularly 
 fine, but that might have been only a fancy of his, for he thought 
 everything in these warm countries excellent, with the exception of 
 the sun. The stranger's landlord told him that he did not know 
 who had taken the house opposite ; no one had ever been seen, 
 and as to the music, it seemed to him terribly tedious. "It 
 is just as if some one were sitting there practising a piece 
 that he can't play : always the same piece. ' I shall play it 
 after all/ he thinks, but he won't play it, however long he may 
 practise." 
 
 One night the stranger awoke. He always slept with the 
 balcony door open ; the wind blew aside the curtain hanging 
 before it, and it seemed to him as though there were a strange 
 light coming from the balcony of the house opposite. All the 
 flowers shone like flames of the most beautiful colours, and in the 
 midst of the flowers stood a lovely graceful maiden. She seemed 
 to be all aglow, and it quite dazzled his eyes, but he had opened 
 them too wide, having just woke up out of his sleep. With one 
 jump he was out of bed. Softly he crept behind the curtain ; but 
 the maiden was gone, the splendour was gone, and the flowers no 
 longer shone, although they stood there as beautiful as ever. The 
 door was ajar, and from inside came such sweet and lovely music 
 that one could really go into raptures about it. It was like 
 sorcery ; but who lived there ? Where was the actual entrance ? 
 For towards both the street and the side-street the whole of the
 
 256 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 ground floor was taken up by shops, and surely people could not 
 go through these to get upstairs. 
 
 One evening the stranger was sitting on his balcony : a light 
 was burning in the room close behind him, and it was therefore 
 natural for his shadow to fall upon the wall of the house opposite. 
 Yes, there it sat, among the flowers on the balcony, and when the 
 stranger moved the shadow moved too. 
 
 " I believe my shadow is the only living thing to be seen over 
 there," said the learned man. "See how nicely it sits there among 
 the flowers. The door is only half closed : now my shadow ought 
 to have the sense to go in, have a look round, and then come 
 back and tell me what it has seen. "Yes, you would make 
 yourself useful by doing that," he said in a joke. "Be good 
 enough to go in. Well, why don't you go ? " He then nodded to 
 the shadow, and the shadow nodded back. " Well, go ! but don't 
 stay away altogether." The stranger got up, and the shadow on 
 the balcony opposite got up too ; the stranger turned round, and 
 if any one had paid particular attention to it he would have seen 
 how the shadow went straight through the half-opened balcony 
 door of the opposite house at the same moment that the stranger 
 entered his room and let fall the long curtains. 
 
 The next morning the learned man went out to get a cup of 
 coffee and to read the papers. " How's this ? " he said when he 
 came into the sunshine. " I've lost my shadow. Then it really 
 went away last night and did not come back; this is most 
 annoying ! " 
 
 He was vexed ; not so much because his shadow was gone, but 
 because he knew that there was already a story of a man without 
 a shadow. Everybody in his own country knew that story, and 
 when he returned home and told his own tale they would say that 
 it was only an imitation, and he did not care about having that 
 said of him. He therefore resolved to say nothing about it, which 
 was very sensible of him. 
 
 In the evening he again went out upon his balcony ; he had 
 placed the light just behind him, for he knew that a shadow 
 always likes to have its master for a screen, but he could not 
 entice it to come out. He made himself first small and then tall,
 
 THE SHADOW 2 57 
 
 but there was no shadow, and there came no shadow. He said 
 " Hem, hem ! " but that was of no use either. 
 
 It was very, very vexing ; but in warm countries everything grows 
 very quickly, and after the lapse of a week he perceived, to his 
 great joy, that a new shadow was growing out of his legs when he 
 walked in the sunshine : the roots must therefore have remained. 
 After three weeks' time he had a tolerable shadow, which 
 continued to grow during his journey back to the north till it was 
 at last so tall and so broad that he could well have spared 
 half of it. 
 
 When the learned man came home he wrote books about all 
 that was true, and good, and beautiful in the world ; and days and 
 years many years passed. 
 
 One evening as he was sitting in his room there was a gentle 
 rap at the door. " Come in," he said ; but as nobody appeared 
 le got up and opened the door. There stood a man before him 
 ;o excessively thin that it made him feel quite queer, but as the 
 nan was also very well dressed he took him to be an important 
 )ersonage. 
 
 " With whom have I the honour of speaking ? " he asked. 
 
 " Ah ! " said the fine gentleman, " I hardly expected that you 
 srould recognise me. I have grown so much body that I have 
 i x)th flesh and clothes. I suppose you never thought of seeing 
 tie in this condition ? Don't you know your old shadow ? You 
 ioubtless never believed that I would ever come back. Things 
 ; ave gone exceedingly well with me since I saw you last, and I 
 ave amassed fortune in every way. I could easily buy myself 
 ee from servitude if I wished to do so." He rattled a bunch of 
 aluable seals which hung from his watch, and passed his hand 
 ver the massive gold chain which he wore round his neck. And 
 ow the diamond rings on his fingers glittered ! Everything was 
 ;al too ! 
 
 1 "I am utterly bewildered!" said the learned man. "What 
 : oes all this mean ? " 
 
 "Well, certainly nothing usual," answered the shadow. "But 
 ; 3U are not like ordinary men yourself, and, as you well know, I 
 ive trodden in your footsteps since childhood. As soon as you 
 VOL. i. R
 
 258 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 thought that I was old enough to 30 out into the world alone I 
 went my own way, and I am now in brilliant circumstances. But 
 a kind of longing came over me to see you once more before you 
 die, and I wanted to see these places again, for one always loves 
 one's native country. I know that you have grown another 
 shadow ; have I anything to pay to it or to you ? If so, kindly 
 say so." 
 
 " But is it really you ? " said the learned man. " It is indeed 
 astonishing. I should never have believed that one could ever 
 see one's old shadow again turned into a human being." 
 
 "Do tell me what I have to pay," said the shadow, "for I 
 would not like to be in any one's debt." 
 
 " How can you talk like that ? " said the learned man. " What 
 debt can there be? You are as free as any one else. I am 
 exceedingly glad of your good fortune. Sit down, my old friend, 
 and just tell me how all this came about, and what you have seen 
 in the warm countries and in that house opposite to which we 
 used to live." 
 
 " Well, I will tell you," said the shadow, sitting down ; " but 
 you must promise me never to tell any one in the town here, 
 wherever you may meet me, that I was once your shadow. I 
 intend to become engaged ; I can support more than one family." 
 
 " Have no fear," said the learned man ; " I will tell no one who 
 you really are. Here is my hand ; I promise it upon my honour 
 as a man ! " 
 
 " Upon my honour as a shadow ! " said the other. He was, of 
 course, obliged to speak like that. 
 
 It was, however, most wonderful how much of a human being 
 he had become. He was dressed in the finest black cloth, and 
 wore patent leather boots and an opera hat that is, a hat which 
 can be closed up till it looks all brim and crown. We will say 
 nothing more of the seals, the gold chain, and the diamond rings, 
 with which we are already acquainted. Yes, the shadow was 
 exceedingly well dressed, and it was, in fact, this that made him 
 look quite like a man. 
 
 " Now I will tell you all about it," said the shadow ; and then 
 he put down his feet with the patent leather boots as hard as he
 
 THE SHADOW 259 
 
 could on the arm of the learned man's new shadow, which was 
 lying like a dog at his feet. This he did either out of pride or 
 because he thought the new shadow might stick to him. But the 
 shadow lying down remained very still, in order that he might hear 
 all about it ; he was also desirous to know how he might free 
 himself and become his own master. 
 
 " Do you know who lived in the house opposite us ? " said the 
 shadow. "That was the most charming of all ! It was Poetry. 
 I was there for three weeks, and that is exactly the same as living 
 three thousand years and reading everything that is composed and 
 written. For this I tell you and it is true : I have seen every- 
 thing, and I know everything." 
 
 " Poetry ! " cried the learned man. " It is true she only lives as 
 a hermitess in large cities. Poetry ! Yes, I saw her for one short 
 moment, but sleep was still in my eyes ; she was standing on the 
 balcony radiant as the northern lights, in the midst of flowers 
 with living flames. Tell me, tell me ! You were on the balcony. 
 You went in at the door and then " 
 
 " Then I found myself in the front room," said the shadow. 
 " You were sitting on the other side and continually looking across 
 into the room. It was not lit up, but there was a kind of twilight ; 
 one door after another stood open in a long row of rooms and 
 halls, and at the end it was so bright that the mass of light would 
 have killed me if I had reached the maiden. But I was prudent ; 
 I took my time, and that one is obliged to do." 
 j " And what did you see then ? " asked the learned man. 
 
 " I saw everything ! And I will tell you all about it ; but you 
 ,must really not put it down to pride on my part as a free man, 
 and considering the knowledge that I possess, to say nothing of 
 my position and circumstances, I wish you would speak to me a 
 .ittle more respectfully." 
 
 " I beg your pardon," said the learned man, " but my way of 
 speaking is an old habit, and it is therefore difficult to drop, 
 /ou are perfectly right, I will think of it in future. But now do 
 ell me all that you saw." 
 
 " All," said the shadow, " for I saw all and I know all." 
 
 " How did it look in the inner rooms? " asked the learned man,
 
 2 6o STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 " Were they like the cool grove ? Were they like a holy temple ? 
 Were the halls like the starry heavens seen from the mountain- 
 tops?" 
 
 " Everything was there," said the shadow. " I certainly did not 
 go right inside, for I remained in the twilight of the outer room, 
 but that was an excellent position. I saw everything and know 
 everything. I have been in the antechamber of the Court of 
 Poetry." 
 
 " But what did you see ? Did the gods of antiquity pass along 
 the lofty halls? Did you see the combats of the ancient heroes? 
 Did sweet children play there and tell their dreams ? " 
 
 " I tell you that I was there, and from that you must understand 
 that I saw everything that was to be seen. If you had gone there, 
 you would not have remained a human being, but I became one, 
 and at the same time I obtained a knowledge of my inmost nature, 
 of what is born in me, and the relationship in which I stood to 
 Poetry. When I was still with you I never thought of such things ; 
 but you know that whenever the sun rose or set I was often 
 wonderfully tall, and in the moonlight I was almost more notice- 
 able than yourself. At that time I did not understand my inner 
 self; it was made plain to me in the antechamber when I became 
 a human being. I came out fully mature, but you were no longer 
 in the warm countries. I was ashamed of myself to go about as 
 a human being in the condition in which I then was. I wanted 
 boots and clothes and the whole of that human outfit that distin- 
 guishes a man. I made my way yes, I think I can trust you 
 with this, for you will not put it into a book I made my way 
 under the cook's cloak ; I hid myself under it, and the woman 
 did not know how much she was hiding. It was only in the 
 evening that I went out, and walked about the streets in the 
 moonlight. I stretched myself up along the wall, which tickles 
 one very pleasantly in the back ; I ran up and down, looked 
 through the highest windows into grand halls, as well as through 
 the attic windows which nobody could reach, and I saw what no 
 one saw, what no one was supposed to see. It is really a wicked 
 world after all ; I would not care to be a man if it were not the 
 generally accepted idea that it is an honour to be one. I saw the
 
 THE SHADOW z6l 
 
 most incredible things among men and women, among parents, 
 and ' sweet incomparable children.' I saw what no one knows, 
 but which all would so much like to know : their neighbour's evil 
 deeds. Had I published a newspaper, it would have been read, 
 but I wrote straight to the evil-doers themselves, and in every 
 town I came I created terror. They were so afraid of me that 
 they loved me to excess. Professors made me a professor ; 
 tailors gave me new clothes (I am well provided) ; coiners made 
 money for me ; women said that I was beautiful and so I became 
 the man I now am. I must now bid you adieu. Here is my 
 card, I live on the sunny side, and am always at home when it 
 rains." And the shadow went. 
 
 " That was very remarkable," said the learned man. 
 
 Days and years passed away, and the shadow came again. 
 
 " How do you do ? " he asked. 
 
 j " Ah ! " sighed the learned man ; " I am writing about the true, 
 the good, and the beautiful ; but no one cares to hear about such 
 things. I am in despair, for I take it to heart." 
 
 " That I never do," said the shadow; "I grow strong and fat 
 as every one should try to be. You don't understand the world, 
 md. that makes you ill you must travel. I am going to make a 
 :our this summer ; will you go with me ? I should like to have a 
 .ravelling companion ; will you come as my shadow ? It would 
 )e a great pleasure to me, and I will pay your expenses." 
 i ', "I suppose you are going very far ? " asked the learned man. 
 , " Some might call it so," said the shadow. " A journey will do 
 ,ou a deal of good. Will you be my shadow ? You shall have 
 , very thing paid for you." 
 
 " The idea is too mad," said the learned man. 
 
 "But so is the world," said the shadow, "and it will remain 
 
 3." 
 
 : With that he went away. 
 
 Everything went wrong with the learned man; sorrow and 
 ouble followed him, and what he wrote about the true, the good, 
 id the beautiful, was like casting pearls before swine. At length 
 j fell ill. 
 
 " You really look like a shadow," people said to him, and at
 
 262 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 these words a shudder ran through the learned man, for he had 
 his own thoughts on the matter. 
 
 " You must go and drink the waters," said the shadow, who one 
 day paid him a visit. " There is no other help for you. I will 
 take you with me for old acquaintance' sake. I will pay your ex- 
 penses, and you shall write a description of the journey to entertain 
 me on the way. I want to go to a watering-place ; my beard does 
 not grow quite as it ought, which is as bad as being ill, for one 
 must have a beard. Now be reasonable, and accept my offer; 
 we will travel as comrades." 
 
 And they travelled. The shadow was now master, and the 
 master, shadow. They drove, they rode, and they walked 
 together, sometimes next to each other, sometimes before or 
 behind each other, according to the position of the sun. The 
 shadow always took care to secure the place of honour; the 
 learned man hardly noticed it, for he had a very kind heart and 
 exceedingly mild and friendly manners. One day the master said 
 to the shadow, " As we have become travelling comrades in this 
 way and have also grown up together from childhood, shall we not 
 call each other * thou ' ? It sounds so much more familiar." 
 
 "What you say," said the shadow, who was now really the 
 master, " is very kind and straightforward ; I will now be just as 
 kind and straightforward. You, who are a learned man, know 
 very well how strange nature is. There are some people who 
 cannot bear the smell of brown paper it makes them ill, while 
 it makes others' flesh creep to hear a pane of glass scratched with 
 a nail ; I myself have a similar feeling when I hear you address 
 me as ' thou.' I feel as though I were thrust back into my old 
 position with you pressed to the earth. You see it is only a 
 matter of feeling, not pride. I cannot let you say ' thou ' to me, 
 but I will willingly call you ' thou,' and so your wish will be half 
 fulfilled." 
 
 And now the shadow called its former master " thou." " That's 
 rather cool," thought the latter, " that I have to say ' you ' to him, 
 while he says ' thou ' to me " ; but he was obliged to put up with 
 it. 
 
 They came to a watering-place where there were a great many
 
 THE SHADOW 2 6 3 
 
 strangers, and among them a very pretty princess whose malady 
 consisted in being too sharp-sighted, which was very alarming. 
 
 She at once perceived that the new arrival was quite a different 
 kind of person from all the others. " It is said that he is here to 
 make his beard grow, but I recognise the real cause he cannot 
 cast a shadow." 
 
 Her curiosity now being aroused, she immediately entered into 
 conversation with the stranger on the promenade. Being a king's 
 daughter, it was not necessary for her to make any ceremonies, so 
 she told him straight out : " Your illness consists in your being 
 unable to cast a shadow." 
 
 " Your royal highness must be well on the road to recovery," 
 said the shadow. " I know that your illness consists in seeing too 
 sharply, but that is past, and you are cured. I have a very 
 uncommon shadow. Don't you see the person who always walks 
 next to me? Other people have common shadows, but I don't 
 like what is common. People often give their servants better 
 cloth for their liveries than they wear themselves, and so I have 
 allowed my shadow to dress himself up like a man ; as you see, I 
 have even given him a shadow. It costs a great deal, but I like 
 to have something uncommon." 
 
 "What!" said the princess, "can I be really cured? These 
 baths are the best that exist ; the waters have quite marvellous 
 powers nowadays. But I sha'n't go from here yet, for it is only 
 just beginning to be amusing ; the strange prince for he must be 
 a prince pleases me immensely. I only hope his beard won't 
 grow, for if it does he will be off again." 
 
 In the evening the king's daughter danced with the shadow in 
 the great ballroom. She was light, but he was still lighter ; she 
 : had never seen such a dancer before. She told him from what 
 ; country she came, and he knew the country; he had been there, 
 but she was away at the time. He had looked through the 
 i windows of the castle, both the upper and the lower ones ; there 
 ihe had learnt one thing and another, and could therefore give the 
 iprincess answers and make allusions that greatly astonished her. 
 She thought he must be the cleverest man in the world, and she 
 [conceived a great respect for all that he knew. And when she
 
 264 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 danced with him again she fell in love with him ; and that the 
 shadow perceived very well, for she almost looked him through 
 and through with her eyes. They danced together once more, 
 and she was nearly telling him of her love, but she was judicious, 
 and thought of her country and her kingdom and of the many 
 people over whom she was to reign. 
 
 " He is a clever man," she said to herself; " that is good. And 
 he dances excellently ; that is good too. But I wonder whether 
 he has good sound knowledge. That is just as important; he 
 must be examined." And she immediately put a difficult question 
 to him which she herself could not have answered; and the 
 shadow pulled a long face. 
 
 "You can't answer me that," said the princess. 
 
 " I knew that already when I was a child," said the shadow. " I 
 believe even my shadow, standing by the door there, could 
 answer that." 
 
 " Your shadow," said the princess ; " that would be very strange." 
 
 " I don't say for certain that he can," said the shadow, " but I 
 should almost think so. He has followed me now for so many 
 years, and he has heard so much from me, that I should think so. 
 But your royal highness will permit me to draw your attention to 
 the fact that he is so proud of passing for a man that if he is to be 
 put into a good humour and that he must be to answer cor- 
 rectly he should be treated just like a human being. 
 
 " I like that ! " said the princess. 
 
 And now she went up to the learned man at the door and 
 spoke with him about the sun and the moon, about the green 
 forests and nations both near and far, and the learned man 
 answered very wisely and well. 
 
 " What a man that must be, who has such a clever shadow ! " 
 she thought. " It would be a real blessing for my people and my 
 kingdom if I chose him. I will do so ! " 
 
 And the matter was soon agreed to between the princess and 
 the shadow, but no one was to know anything of it till she had 
 returned to her country. 
 
 " No one ; not even my shadow," said the shadow, and for that 
 he had special reasons.
 
 THE SHADOW 265 
 
 They came to the country where the princess ruled when she 
 was at home. "Listen, my friend," said the shadow to the 
 learned man ; " now I am as happy and powerful as any one can 
 become, and now I will do something special for you. You shall 
 live with me in the castle, you shall drive with me in the royal 
 carriage, and you shall have a hundred thousand dollars a year ; 
 but you must allow yourself to be called a shadow by each and 
 every one, and may never say that you have ever been a man. 
 And then once every year, when I sit in the sun on the balcony 
 to show myself, you must lie at my feet as befits a shadow ; for I 
 will tell you that I am going to rnarry the princess, and the 
 wedding will take place this evening." 
 
 "No, that is too mad!" said the learned man. "I won't 
 do it, and I sha'n't do it; why, it means cheating the whole 
 country and the princess too ! I'll tell everything : that I am a 
 man, and that you are a shadow merely dressed up in men's 
 clothes." 
 
 " No one would believe you," said the shadow. " Be reasonable, 
 or I'll call out the guard." 
 
 " I am going straight to the princess ! " said the learned man. 
 
 "But I shall go first," said the shadow, "and you'll go to 
 prison." And it was so too, for the sentries obeyed the one whom 
 they knew the princess was going to marry. 
 
 " You are trembling," said the princess when the shadow came 
 into her room. " Has anything happened ? You must not be ill 
 to-day, just as we are going to get married." 
 
 " I have experienced the most terrible thing that can happen to 
 one," said the shadow. " Just fancy such a poor shadow brain 
 ' cannot stand much just fancy, my shadow has gone mad ; he 
 imagines that he has become a man, and that only just fancy ! 
 that I am his shadow." 
 
 "How terrible!" said the princess. "He is locked up, I 
 suppose ? " 
 
 "Of course ; I fear he will never recover." 
 
 " Poor shadow ! " cried the princess. " He is very unfortunate ; 
 it would be a real kindness to rid him of his life. And if I 
 consider the matter rightly how in our time the people are only
 
 266 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 too ready to take the part of the lower against the higher it 
 appears to me necessary to have him quietly put away." 
 
 "That's really hard, for he was a faithful servant," said the 
 shadow, and he pretended to sigh. 
 
 " You are a noble character ! " said the princess, and bowed 
 before him. 
 
 In the evening the whole city was illuminated, and cannon 
 were fired " Boom ! " and the soldiers presented arms. What a 
 wedding it was ! The princess and the shadow came out upon 
 the balcony to show themselves and receive another " Hurrah ! " 
 The learned man heard nothing of all these festivities, for he was 
 already executed. 
 
 The Old Street Lamp 
 
 WE you ever heard the story of the old 
 street lamp? It is not particularly 
 amusing, it is true, but still it is worth 
 hearing for once. 
 
 It was a very honest old lamp, that 
 had done its duty for many, many years, 
 but was now to retire from active service. 
 It felt like an old ballet-dancer who 
 dances for the last time, and who on the morrow will sit in her 
 garret forgotten. The lamp was very anxious indeed about the 
 next day, for it knew that it was to appear for the first time in 
 the Town Hall and be examined by the burgomaster and the 
 council to see whether it was fit for further service or not. 
 
 It was to be decided whether it was in future to show its light 
 for the inhabitants of one of the suburbs, or in some factory in 
 the country ; its way might even lead straight to an iron foundry 
 to be melted down. In the latter case anything might indeed be 
 made of it, but the thought whether it would then retain the re- 
 collection of having formerly been a street lamp troubled it 
 terribly. Whatever might happen to it, this much was certain :
 
 THE OLD STREET LAMP 267 
 
 that it would be separated from the watchman and his wife, who 
 looked upon it as belonging to their family. When the lamp was 
 hung up for the first time, the watchman was a sturdy young 
 man ; it happened at the very same hour when he first entered 
 on his duties. Yes, it was certainly a long time ago, that it 
 became a lamp and he a watchman. The wife was at that time 
 rather proud. Only when she went by in the evening would she 
 deign to notice the lamp ; in the daytime, never. But now, of 
 late years, when they all three, the watchman, his wife, and the 
 lamp, had grown old, the wife had also tended it, cleaned it, and 
 provided it with oil. The old couple were thoroughly honest ; 
 never had they cheated the lamp of one drop of its proper 
 measure of oil. 
 
 It was its last evening in the street, and on the morrow it was 
 to go to the Town Hall ; these were two gloomy thoughts. No 
 wonder that it did not burn brightly. But many other thoughts 
 passed through it too. To how much had it lent its light ! How 
 much it had seen ! Perhaps quite as much as the burgomaster 
 and the council. But it did not give utterance to these thoughts, 
 for it was a good, honest old lamp, which would never have hurt 
 any one, least of all the authorities. It thought of many things, 
 and from time to time its flame flickered up. At such moments 
 it had a feeling that it, too, would be remembered. " There was 
 that handsome young man it is certainly a long time ago who 
 had a letter on pink paper with gilt edges. It was so daintily 
 written, as if by a lady's hand. Twice he read it and kissed it 
 and looked up at me with eyes which plainly said, ' I am the 
 happiest of men ! ' Only he and I knew what was written in this 
 first letter from his love. Yes, there is still another pair of eyes 
 that I remember. It is something wonderful how thoughts jump 
 about. There was a funeral procession in the street ; the young 
 beautiful lady lay on a grand hearse in a coffin covered with 
 flowers and wreaths, and the number of torches darkened my 
 light. The people stood in crowds along the houses, and all 
 followed the funeral as it passed. But when the torches were out 
 of my sight and I looked round, a single person still stood leaning 
 against my post, weeping. Never shall I forget those mournful
 
 2 68 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 eyes that looked up to me!" These and similar thoughts 
 occupied the old street lamp, which was burning to-day for the 
 last time. 
 
 The sentry who is relieved from his post at least knows his 
 successor and may whisper a few words to him. The lamp did 
 not know who was to succeed it, and yet it might have given a few 
 useful hints regarding rain and fog, and some information as to 
 how far the rays of the moon fell upon the pavement, and from 
 what side the wind generally blew, and many other things. 
 
 On the bridge of the gutter stood three persons who wished to 
 introduce themselves to the lamp, believing that the latter itself 
 had the bestowal of the office it filled. The first person was a 
 herring's head, which could shine in the dark too. He thought it 
 would be a great saving of oil if he were stuck up on the post. 
 Number two was a piece of rotten wood, which also shines in the 
 dark. It believed itself to be descended from an old stock, once 
 the pride of the forest. The third person was a glow-worm; 
 whence it had come the lamp could not understand, but there it 
 was, and it could give light too. But the rotten wood and the 
 herring's head swore by all that they held sacred that it only gave 
 light at certain times, and could therefore not be taken into 
 account. 
 
 The old lamp declared that none of them gave sufficient light 
 to fill the post of a street lamp ; but none of them believed that. 
 They were therefore very glad to hear that the office could not 
 be given away by the lamp itself, declaring that it was much too 
 decrepit to choose aright. 
 
 At the same moment the wind From the street corner came 
 rushing along and passed through the air-holes of the old lamp. 
 " What do I hear ? " he said ; " you are going away to-morrow ? 
 Do I meet you to-day for the last time ? Then I must give you 
 something at parting ; I am now going to blow into your brain- 
 box in such a way that in future you will not only be able to re- 
 member all that you have seen and heard, but it will be so 
 bright within you that you will be able to see all that is read 
 about, or spoken of, in your presence." 
 
 "Oh, that is really much, very much," said the old lamp.
 
 THE OLD STREET LAMP 269 
 
 " I thank you heartily. I only hope I shall not be melted 
 down." 
 
 " That won't happen just yet," said the wind. " Now I am 
 blowing memory into you ; if you get many presents like that, you 
 will be able to pass your old days very pleasantly." 
 
 " I only hope I shall not be melted down," said the lamp. 
 " Or should I, in that case, also retain my memory ? " 
 
 " Old lamp, be sensible," said the wind, and blew. 
 
 At that moment the moon came out from behind some clouds. 
 
 "What do you give the lamp ? " asked the wind. 
 
 " I give nothing," answered the moon. " I am on the wane, 
 and the lamps have never given me light ; on the contrary, I have 
 often given the lamps light." With these words it again hid itself 
 behind the clouds to escape from further demands. 
 
 A drop now fell down upon the lamp as if from the roof; the 
 drop declared that it came from the grey clouds, and that it was 
 also a present, and perhaps the best of all. " I will penetrate you 
 so thoroughly that you will have the power to turn into rust and 
 to crumble away in a single night, if you wish it." 
 
 This seemed to be a very bad present to the lamp, and the wind 
 thought the same. " Does no one give any more ? Does no one 
 give any more ? " he blew as loud as he could. 
 
 There fell a bright shooting star, forming one long band of 
 light. 
 
 "What was that?" cried the herring's head. "Didn't a star 
 fall down ? I verily believe it went into the lamp. Really, if such 
 high-placed personages compete for this post, we may say good 
 night and betake ourselves home." 
 
 And they all three did so. The old lamp shed a wonderfully 
 strong light. " That was a splendid present ! " it said. " The 
 bright stars, which have always been my greatest joy, and which 
 shine as I have never been able to shine, although I have tried 
 with all my might, have yet noticed me, the poor old lamp, and 
 have sent me a present, consisting in the power of letting those I 
 love see all that I remember, and which I myself see as plainly as 
 if it stood before me. And herein lies true pleasure ; for joy that 
 cannot be shared with others is only half joy."
 
 270 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 "Such sentiments do you honour," said the wind. "But for 
 that, wax lights will be necessary. If these are not lit up in you, 
 your rare powers will be of no use to others. Do you see ? the 
 stars have not thought of that; they take you and every other 
 light to be wax candles. But I must go down." And the wind 
 went down. 
 
 " Good heavens ! Wax lights ! " said the lamp. " I never had 
 such things till now, and don't suppose I shall get them in the 
 future. I only hope I shall not be melted down." 
 
 The next day well, the next day we shall do better to pass 
 over. The next evening the lamp was reclining in an armchair. 
 Guess where. At the old watchman's. He had begged of the 
 burgomaster and council, in consideration of his long and faithful 
 services, the favour of being allowed to keep the old lamp, which 
 he himself had set up and lit for the first time on his first day of 
 office, four-and-twenty years ago. 
 
 He looked upon it as his child, for he had no other ; and the 
 lamp was given to him. 
 
 Now it lay in the armchair, near the warm stove. It secerned 
 as if it had got bigger, for it occupied the chair all alone. 
 
 The old people sat at supper and cast kindly glances at the old 
 lamp, which they would gladly have given a place at the table. 
 
 They certainly only occupied a cellar, six feet below the ground, 
 and one had to go along a stone passage to get to the room. But 
 inside it was very comfortable and warm, strips of cloth having 
 been nailed along the door. Everything was clean and neat; 
 there were curtains round the little bedsteads and before the little 
 windows. On the window-sill stood two curious flower-pots which 
 Christian the sailor had brought from the East and West Indies. 
 They were only of clay, and represented two elephants whose 
 backs were wanting ; in their place there sprang up from the earth 
 with which one figure was filled the most beautiful chives : that 
 was the kitchen garden. Out of the other grew a large geranium : 
 that was the flower garden. On the wall hung a large coloured 
 picture : the Congress of Vienna. There they had all the kings 
 and emperors at once. A kitchen clock with heavy weights went 
 " tick, tick," and always went fast too ; but the old people thought
 
 THE OLD STREET LAMP 2?I 
 
 that this was much better than going slow. They ate their supper, 
 and the street lamp lay, as we have said, in the armchair close to 
 the stove. It seemed to the lamp as if the whole world had been 
 turned round and round. But when the old watchman looked at 
 it and spoke of what they two had gone through together in 
 
 rain and fog, in the short bright summer nights, as well as in the 
 long nights of winter, when the snow came down and one longed 
 to be back in the cellar then the old lamp felt all right again. It 
 saw everything as plainly as if it were now taking place ; yes, the 
 wind had provided it with a capital light. 
 
 The old people were very active and industrious ; not an hour 
 was spent in idleness. On Sunday afternoons some book or 
 other was brought out preferably a book of travels. And the 
 old man read aloud of Africa, of the great forests, of the elephants 
 which run about wild ; and the old woman listened intently, with 
 stolen glances at the clay elephants which served as flower-pots. 
 
 "I can almost picture it to myself," said she. And the lamp 
 heartily wished that a wax candle had been there, and could have 
 been lit up within it ; then the old woman could have seen every- 
 thing to the smallest detail, just as the lamp saw it : the high trees, 
 the branches all closely interwoven, the naked black people on
 
 272 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 horseback, and bands of elephants trampling down the reeds and 
 bushes with their broad clumsy feet. 
 
 " What is now the use of all my powers if I get no wax light ? " 
 sighed the lamp. " They have only oil and tallow candles, and 
 that won't do." 
 
 One day a great heap of wax candle-ends came down into the 
 cellar ; the largest pieces served as lights, the small ones the old 
 woman used for waxing her thread. So there were wax candles 
 enough, but it occurred to no one to put a little piece into the 
 lamp. 
 
 "Here stand I with my rare powers," thought the lamp. "I 
 carry everything within me, and cannot let them take part in it ; 
 they do not know that I am able to transform bare walls into the 
 most gorgeous tapestries, into the most beautiful woods, into 
 everything they can wish for." The lamp was, however, kept 
 clean, and stood shining in a corner where it caught everybody's 
 eye. Strangers considered it a great piece of rubbish; but the 
 old people did not mind that : they loved the lamp. 
 
 One day it was the old watchman's birthday the old woman 
 approached the lamp, smiling to herself, and said: "I'll have 
 some illuminations to-day in honour of my old man." And the 
 lamp rattled its metal frame and thought : " Well, at last they have 
 a bright idea." But the idea only went as far as oil, and no wax 
 candle came forth. The lamp burned the whole evening, but 
 now saw only too well that the gift of the star would remain a lost 
 treasure for all its life. Then it had a dream with such faculties 
 there was, of course, nothing wonderful in that. It seemed to it 
 that the old people were dead, and that it had itself come to the 
 iron foundry to be melted down. It felt quite as terrified as the 
 time when it had to go to the Town Hall to be inspected by the 
 burgomaster and the council. But although the power had been 
 given it to fall into rust and dust at will, still it did not do so. It 
 was put into the furnace and turned into an iron candlestick to 
 hold wax candles as beautiful a candlestick as any one could 
 wish for. It had received the shape of an angel holding a large 
 bouquet, and in the middle of the bouquet the wax candle was to 
 be placed. The candlestick had a place given to it on a green
 
 
 THE NEIGHBOURING FAMILIES 273 
 
 writing-table. The room was very comfortable: many books 
 stood round it, and the walls were hung with, beautiful picturesjjt 
 belonged to a poet. Everything that he thought or wrote showed 
 itself round about him." Nature changed itself into thick dark 
 jlorests, into smiling meadows where the storks strutted about, into 
 a ship on the billowy sea, into the clear sky with all its stars. 
 
 " What powers lie in me ! " said the old lamp, awakening. " I 
 icould almost wish to be melted down. But no ! that must not be 
 as long as the old people are alive. They love me for my own 
 sake; they have cleaned me and provided me with oil. I am 
 indeed quite as well off as the whole Congress, in the contempla- 
 tion of which they also take pleasure." 
 
 ! And since that time it enjoyed more inner peace, and that the 
 ; Honest old street lamp had"weircTeserved. 
 
 The Neighbouring Families 
 
 NE would have thought that something im- 
 portant 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 
 swam to the sides ; the traces of their feet 
 were seen in the wet earth, and their 
 ^^ cackling was heard far and wide. The 
 
 Uer, which a few moments before had been as clear and smooth 
 p a mirror, became very troubled. Before, every tree, every 
 tlighbouring bush, the old farmhouse with the holes in the roof 
 pi the swallows' nest, and especially the great rose-bush full of 
 fl-vers, had been reflected in it. The rose-bush covered the wall 
 9-1 hung out over the water, in which everything was seen as if in 
 ancture, except that it all stood on its head; but when the water 
 v > troubled everything- got mixed up, and the picture was gone. 
 lojeathers which the fluttering ducks had lost floated up and 
 dvn ; suddenly they took a rush as if the wind were coming, but 
 
 VOL. 1. S
 
 274 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 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. 
 
 "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 ! " 
 
 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. 
 
 "Are those the ducks' children swimming there?" asked the 
 young sparrows, when they saw the feathers on the water. 
 
 "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." 
 
 " 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." 
 
 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
 
 THE NEIGHBOURING FAMILIES 2?5 
 
 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. 
 
 ' 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 thejittle holes in it." 
 
 They meant the stars, but they knew no better. 
 
 " 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
 
 276 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 make a nice smell. You see, that's their life ; they exist only for 
 the eye and the nose. Now you know." 
 
 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 nightin- 
 gale 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. 
 
 " 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 ? " 
 
 "Nothing at all," answered their mother; "that's only some- 
 thing 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." 
 
 "I'll pluck them," piped the young sparrow, who had no 
 feathers yet. 
 
 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. 
 
 " 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.
 
 THE NEIGHBOURING FAMILIES 277 
 
 " This sight is really too tedious," said the sparrow-mother, who 
 could see into the room from her nest ; and she flew away. 
 
 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 sha 
 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. 
 
 " 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. 
 
 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 ? " 
 
 At these words an icy shudder ran through the sparrow-mother. 
 
 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. 
 
 "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 a 
 strange bird she was.
 
 *78 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 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. 
 
 " Look at her ! Look at her ! " they all cried. 
 
 "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 could not 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. 
 
 " Poor creature ! " said all the roses ; " only be still, and we will 
 hide you. Lean your little head against us." 
 
 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. 
 
 " 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 ? " 
 
 " Yes, it won't do for you to stay with me when I increase my 
 household with a wife and children," said the smallest. 
 
 "I daresay I shall have more wives and children than you," said 
 the second. 
 
 " 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. 
 
 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
 
 THE NEIGHBOURING FAMILIES 279 
 
 The young one who had remained behind in the nest made 
 nimself 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 "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, tKe~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. 
 
 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 
 I 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 
 
 On a beautiful sunny autumn day one could almost have 
 believed it was still the middle of summer there hopped about in 
 ithe 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." 
 
 "What kind of creatures are those little grey ones that run
 
 2 8o STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 about behind us ? " asked an old pigeon, with red and green in her 
 eyes. " Little grey ones ! Little grey ones ! " she cried. 
 
 " They are sparrows, and good creatures. We Jiave 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." 
 
 Indeed they were continually making three foot-scrapings with 
 the left foot and also said " Peep ! " By this means they recog- 
 nised each other, for they were the sparrows from the nest on the 
 burned house. 
 
 " 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. 
 
 " 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 ! " 
 
 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." 
 
 " 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, exclaim- 
 ing, "All or nothing! It is a curious man's nest all the same; 
 and what have they put up here ? What is it ? " 
 
 Close to the sparrows the roses were blooming ; they were re- 
 flected 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
 
 
 THE NEIGHBOURING FAMILIES 2 gi 
 
 was all a picture, a great splendid picture, which the artist had 
 painted from a sketch. 
 
 " Peep ! " said &6^Mi6w^J4^no^rg._ It only looks like 
 something. Peep! that is 'the beautiful.' Do you understand 
 
 it? raoffF*- 
 
 And they flew away, for some people came into the room. 
 Days and years went by. The pigeons had often cooed, not to 
 say growled the spiteful creatures ; the sparrows had been frozen 
 
 I 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 
 
 i 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. 
 
 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 
 
 j 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 
 
 i 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 Thonvaldsen's Museum. 
 
 ir 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
 
 282 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 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. 
 
 " 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 beauti- 
 ful.' Peep ! " 
 
 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 neigh- 
 bours. And so they really were. The painter who had drawn the 
 rose-bush near the ruined house, had afterwards obtained per- 
 mission 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 
 mememtoes to distant lands. 
 
 " Have you obtained an appointment here in the city ? " asked 
 the sparrows. The roses nodded; they recognised 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
 
 THE WICKED PRINCE 283 
 
 on. Yes, somejsucceed while they are asleep. Ah! there's a 
 faded leaf; lean see that quite plainly." Andlhey 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. 
 
 The Wicked Prince 
 
 HERE lived once upon a time a wicked prince 
 whose heart and mind were set upon conquer- 
 ing 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 ' The prince often looked with delight upon his gold and his mag- 
 aificent edifices, and thought, like the crowd : " What a mighty
 
 284. STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 prince ! But I must have more much more. No power on 
 earth must equal mine, far less exceed it." 
 
 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." 
 
 " 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 ?
 
 THE WICKED PRINCE 2 8 5 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 " I will conquer God ! " said the prince. " I have sworn it : my 
 will must be done ! " 
 
 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 
 iat him, the mad prince, who wished to make war with God, and 
 was overcome by a single little gnat.
 
 286 
 
 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 The Old House 
 
 DOWN yonder in the stree 
 stood an old, old house 
 It was almost three hur 
 dred years old according t 
 the inscription on one of th 
 beams, which bore the dat 
 of its erection surrounded b 
 tulips and trailing hops. Ther 
 one could read whole verse 
 in old-fashioned letters, an 
 over each window a fact 
 making all kinds of grimace; 
 had been carved in the bean 
 
 One storey projected a Ion 
 way beyond the other, an 
 close under the roof was 
 leaden gutter with a dragon ; 
 head. The rain-water was t 
 run out of the jaws, but it ra 
 out of the animal's stomad 
 for there was a hole in th 
 gutter. 
 
 All the other houses in th 
 street were still new and nea 
 with large window-panes an 
 smooth walls. It was plainl 
 to be seen that they wishe 
 to have nothing to do with th 
 old house. Perhaps they wer 
 thinking : " How long is th* 
 tumble-down old thing to n 
 main a scandal to the whol 
 street ? The parapet project
 
 THE OLD HOUSE 287 
 
 so far that no one can see from our windows what is going on 
 on the other side. The steps are as broad as those of a castle, 
 and as high as if they led to a church steeple. The iron railings 
 look like the gate of a family vault, and they have brass knobs too. 
 It is really too silly ! " 
 
 Opposite, there were some more new neat houses, and they 
 
 thought just as the others ; but at the window sat a little boy with 
 
 fresh rosy cheeks and clear sparkling eyes, and he was particularly 
 
 fond of the old house, both by sunshine and by moonlight. And 
 
 when he gazed across at the wall where the plaster had fallen off, 
 
 he could make out the strangest pictures of how the street had 
 
 formerly looked, with its open staircases, parapets, and pointed 
 
 gables; he could see soldiers with halberds, and gutters in the 
 
 form of dragons and griffins. It was a house worth looking 
 
 at, and in it lived an old man who went about in leather 
 
 knee-breeches, and wore a coat with great brass buttons, and a 
 
 wig which it was easy to see was a real one. Every morning an- 
 
 ! other old man came to clean the place for him and to run on 
 
 I errands. With this exception, the old man in the knee-breeches 
 
 I lived quite alone in the old house. Occasionally he came to the 
 
 | window and looked out, and the little boy would nod to him, and 
 
 : the old man would nod back, and so they became acquainted and 
 
 j became friends, although they had never spoken to each other. 
 
 i But indeed that was not at all necessary. 
 
 The little boy once heard his parents say: "The old man 
 opposite is very well off; but he is alone ! " 
 
 On the following Sunday the little boy wrapped something up 
 i in a piece of paper, went into the street with it, and addressing 
 i the old man, who ran errands, said: "Here! will you take this 
 i to the old man who lives opposite, from me? I have two tin 
 I soldiers ; this is one of them, and he shall have it, because I know 
 1 he is quite alone." 
 
 And the old attendant looked pleased, nodded, and took the tin 
 
 I soldier into the old house. Afterwards word was sent over 
 
 ' whether the little boy would not like to come himself and pay a 
 
 i visit. His parents gave him leave to do so, and he 'went over to 
 
 the old house.
 
 288 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 The brass knobs on the staircase railings shone brighter than 
 ever; one would have thought that they had been polished on 
 account of the visit. And it looked just as if the carved trum- 
 peters for on the door trumpeters had been carved all in tulips 
 were blowing with all their might ; their cheeks were more blown 
 out than before. Yes, they blew, " Ta-ta-ra-ta ! The little boy is 
 coming ! Ta-ta-ra-ta ! " And then the door opened. The whole 
 hall was hung with old portraits of knights in armour, and ladies 
 in silk dresses ; and the armour clattered and the silk dresses 
 rustled. And then came a staircase which went up a long way 
 and then down a little bit, and then one found oneself upon a 
 balcony, which was certainly very rickety, with large holes and 
 long cracks ; out of all these grew grass, for the whole balcony, the 
 courtyard, and the wall was so overgrown with green that it 
 looked like a garden ; but it was only a balcony. Here stood old 
 flower-pots which had faces and asses' ears ; but the flowers grew 
 just as it pleased them. In one pot pinks were growing over on 
 all sides that is to say, the green part of them sprout upon 
 sprout. And they said quite plainly : " The air has caressed me, 
 the sun has kissed me and promised me a little flower on Sunday, 
 a little flower on Sunday." 
 
 And then one came to a room where the walls were covered 
 with pigskin, and on the pigskin golden flowers had been 
 
 stamped. 
 
 " Gilding fades fast, 
 
 But pigskin will last!" 
 said the walls. 
 
 And there stood chairs with high backs, all carved and with 
 arms on each side. " Sit down," they said. " Oh, how it cracks 
 inside me ! I am certainly getting gouty, like the old cupboard. 
 Gout in the back ugh ! " 
 
 And then the little boy came to the room where the old man 
 was sitting. 
 
 "Thank you for the tin soldier, my little friend," said he, "and 
 thank you for coming over to me." 
 
 " Thanks, thanks ! " or rather, " Crick, crack ! " said all the fur- 
 niture. There was so much of it that the pieces almost stood in 
 each other's way to see the little boy.
 
 THE OLD HOUSE 2 8 9 
 
 And in the middle of the wall hung a picture of a beautiful lady, 
 of young and cheerful appearance, but dressed in the old-fashioned 
 way, with powdered hair and clothes that stood out stiff. She 
 said neither " Thanks " nor " Crack," but looked down with kind 
 eyes upon the little boy, who immediately asked the old man, 
 " Where did you get her from ? " 
 
 " From the second-hand dealer over the way," said the old man. 
 " There are always a lot of portraits hanging there ; no one knows 
 who they were or troubles about them, for they are all buried. 
 But I knew this lady many years ago, and now she has been dead 
 and gone these fifty years." 
 
 And under the portrait hung, in a frame, a bouquet of faded 
 flowers ; they were certainly half a century old too at least they 
 looked so. 
 
 And the pendulum of the great clock swung to and fro, and the 
 hands moved, and everything in the room grew older still ; but no 
 one noticed it. 
 
 " They say at home," said the little boy, " that you are always 
 alone." 
 
 " Oh ! " replied the old man, "the old thoughts, with all that 
 they bring with them, come and visit me ; and now you come too. 
 : I am very comfortable, I'm sure ! " 
 
 And then he took from a shelf a book with pictures ; there were 
 long processions and the most wonderful coaches, such as are 
 never seen now-a-days ; soldiers like the knave of clubs, and 
 citizens with waving banners. The tailors had a banner with a 
 pair of shears on it, held by two lions, and the shoemakers a 
 banner without any shoes, but with an eagle that had two heads, 
 for shoemakers must have everything in such a way that they can 
 say, " That's a pair ! " What a picture-book it was ! 
 
 The old man went into the next room to get some preserves, 
 apples, and nuts. It was really glorious in the old house. 
 
 " I can't stand it any longer ! " said the tin soldier, who was 
 standing on the chest of drawers. " It is quite too lonely and 
 dull here. No ; when once one knows what family life is, there 
 is no getting accustomed to this kind of thing. I cannot stand it ! 
 The day seems already long enough; but the evening is longer 
 VOL. T. T
 
 2g o STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 still. Here it is not at all like it is at your house, where your 
 father and mother always talked pleasantly, and where you and 
 the other sweet children made a capital noise. Dear me ! how 
 lonely it is here at the old man's ! Do you think he gets any 
 kisses ? Do you think he gets friendly looks or a Christmas tree ? 
 He'll get nothing but a grave ! I can't stand it ! " 
 
 " You mustn't look at it from the dark side," said the little boy. 
 "All this seems to me extremely beautiful, and all the old 
 thoughts, with all that they bring with them, come and visit here." 
 
 " Yes, but I don't see them and I don't know them," said the 
 tin soldier. " I can't stand it ! " 
 
 " You must ! " said the little boy. 
 
 The old man came with a most pleased look on his face, and 
 with the finest preserved fruits and apples and nuts ; then the 
 little boy thought no more of the tin soldier. 
 
 The little boy came home happy and pleased. Days and weeks 
 passed by, during which there was a great deal of nodding both 
 to and from the old house ; then the little boy went across again. 
 
 The carved trumpeters blew " Ta-ta-ra-ta ! There's the little 
 boy I Ta-ta-ra-ta ! " The swords and armour on the old knights' 
 portraits clattered, and the silk dresses rustled ; the pigskin told 
 tales, and the old chairs had gout in their backs : " Oh ! " It was 
 just like the first time, for over there one day or one hour was just 
 like another. 
 
 11 1 can't stand it ! " said the tin soldier. " I have wept tin. It 
 is too dull here. Let me rather go to war and lose my arms and 
 legs. That would be at least a change. I can't stand it ! Now I 
 know what it means to be visited by one's old thoughts, with all 
 that they bring with them. I have had visits from mine, and you 
 may believe me, that's no pleasure in the long run. I was at last 
 nearly jumping down from the chest of drawers. I saw you all in 
 the house over there as plainly as if you were really here. It was 
 again Sunday morning, and you children were all standing round 
 the table singing the hymn that you sing every morning. You 
 were standing devoutly with folded hands, and father and mother 
 were also feeling very solemn ; then the door opened and your 
 little sister Mary, who is not yet two years old, and who always
 
 THE OLD HOUSE 2 gi 
 
 dances when she hears music and singing, of whatever kind it may 
 be, was brought in. She ought not to have done so, but she 
 began to dance, though she could not get into the right time, for 
 the notes were too long drawn ; so she stood first on one leg and 
 held her head forward, but she could not keep it up long enough. 
 You all looked very earnest, though it was rather difficult to do 
 so ; but I laughed inwardly, and therefore fell down from the table 
 and got a bump, which I have still. It was certainly not right 
 of me to laugh. All this, and everything else that I have gone 
 through, now passes through me again, and these are, no doubt, the 
 old thoughts with all that they bring with them. Tell me, do you 
 still sing on Sundays ? And tell me something about little Mary. 
 And how is my comrade, the other tin soldier ? He is certainly a 
 very happy fellow. I can't stand it ! " 
 
 " You have been given away," said the little boy ; " you must 
 stay. Can't you see that ? " 
 
 Then the old man came with a chest in which there were many 
 things to be seen : little rouge-boxes and scent-boxes and old 
 cards, so large and so thickly gilt as one never sees now-a-days. 
 Many little boxes were opened ; the piano too, and on the inside 
 of the lid of this were painted landscapes. But it sounded quite 
 hoarse when the old man played upon it ; then he nodded to the 
 portrait that he had bought at the second-hand dealer's, and his 
 eyes sparkled quite brightly. 
 
 " I'll go to war ! I'll go to war ! " cried the tin soldier as loud as 
 he could, and threw himself down upon the floor. 
 
 Yes, but where had he gone ? The old man looked for him 
 and the little boy looked too, but away he was, and away he 
 stopped. " I'll find him some day," said the old man, but he 
 never did ; the flooring was too open and full of holes. The tin 
 soldier had fallen through a crack, and there he now lay as in an 
 open grave. 
 
 The day passed, and the little boy came home. Several weeks 
 passed by ; the windows were quite frozen up, and the little boy 
 had to breathe upon the panes to make a peep-hole to look at the 
 old house. The snow had blown into all the carvings and in- 
 \ scriptions, and covered the whole staircase, as if there were no one
 
 29 2 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 in the house. And there was no one in the house, either : the old 
 man had died ! In the evening a carriage stopped at the door, 
 and upon that he was placed in his coffin ; he was to rest in his 
 family vault in the country. So he was carried away ; but no one 
 followed him, for all his friends were dead. The little boy threw 
 kisses after the coffin as it was driven by. 
 
 A few days afterwards an auction was held in the old house, 
 and the little boy saw from his window how the old knights and 
 the old ladies, the flower-pots with the long ears, the chairs and 
 the old cupboards, were carried away. One went this way, 
 another that way ; her portrait, that had been bought from the 
 second-hand dealer went back to his shop, and there it remained 
 hanging, for no one cared about the old picture. 
 
 In the spring the old house itself was pulled down ; it was ^n 
 old piece of lumber, people said. You could see from the street 
 straight into the room with the pigskin wall-covering, which was 
 torn down all in tatters, and the green of the balcony hung in 
 confusion around the beams, which threatened a total downfall. 
 And now the place was cleared up. 
 
 " That's a good thing ! " said the neighbouring houses. 
 
 A noble house was built, with large windows and smooth white 
 walls ; but in front of the place where the old house had stood a 
 little garden was laid out and wild vines crept up the neighbours' 
 wall. Before the garden were placed great iron railings with an 
 iron gate, looking very stately. People remained standing before 
 it and looked through. And the sparrows sat in dozens upon the 
 vine branches, all chattering at once as loud as they could, but not 
 about the old house, for that they could not remember, many 
 years having passed so many, that the little boy had grown into 
 a man, a sturdy man who was a great joy to his parents. He was 
 just married, and had moved with his wife into the house which 
 had the garden in front of it ; and here he stood beside her while 
 she planted a field flower which she thought very pretty; she 
 planted it with her little hand, pressing the earth close round it 
 with her fingers. " Oh ! what was that ? " She had pricked her- 
 self. Out of the soft ground something pointed was sticking up. 
 It was just fancy ! the tin soldier, the same that had been lost
 
 THE OLD HOUSE 2g3 
 
 up at the old man's, that had been roaming about for a long time 
 amongst old wood and rubbish, and that had now lain already 
 many years in the earth. 
 
 The young wife first dried the soldier with a green leaf, and then 
 with her dainty handkerchief, which smelt delightfully. 
 
 The tin soldier felt just as if he were waking up out of a 
 swoon. 
 
 " Let me see him ! " said the young man. He smiled and then 
 shook his head. " No, it can hardly be the same one ; but it 
 reminds me of the story of a tin soldier which I had when I was a 
 little boy." And then he told his wife about the old house and 
 the old man, and the tin soldier which he had sent across to him 
 because he was so lonely ; and the tears came into the young 
 wife's eyes when she heard of the old house and the old man. 
 
 " But it is quite possible that this is the very tin soldier ! " said 
 she. " I will take care of him and remember what you have told 
 me ; but you must show me the old man's grave." 
 
 " I don't know where that is," he replied, " and no one knows. 
 All his friends were dead ; no one tended it, and I was only a 
 little boy." 
 
 " Oh ! how lonely he must have been ! " said she. 
 
 "Yes, very lonely !" said the tin soldier; "but it is glorious 
 not to be forgotten." 
 
 " Glorious ! " exclaimed a voice close by ; but no one except 
 the tin soldier saw that it came from a rag of the pigskin hangings, 
 which had now lost all its gilding. It looked like wet earth; but 
 still it had an opinion which it expressed as follows : 
 
 " Gilding fades fast, 
 But pigskin will last ! " 
 
 But the tin soldier did not believe it. .
 
 294 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 The Story of a Mother 
 
 MOTHER was sitting by her little child; 
 she was very sad, for she was afraid that it 
 was going to die. Its little face was pale, 
 and the little eyes were closed. The child 
 breathed with difficulty, and at times as 
 deeply as if it were sighing, and the mother 
 looked more and more sadly at the little 
 being. There was a knock at the door, and a poor old man came 
 in wrapped up in a large horse-cloth to keep him warm; he had 
 need of it, too, for it was in the depth of winter. Outside every 
 thing was covered with ice and snow, and the wind blew so keenly 
 that it cut one's face. 
 
 As the old man was shivering with cold and the child was 
 asleep for a moment, the woman got up and warmed some beer in 
 the oven in a little pot. The old man sat down and rocked the 
 cradle, while the mother also sat down on an old chair next to 
 him, looking at her sick child, who was breathing so heavily, and 
 holding his little hand. 
 
 " You don't think I am going to lose it, do you ? " she asked. 
 " Heaven will not take it from me." 
 
 The old man it was Death nodded his head in such a 
 strange way that it might just as well have meant " Yes " as " No." 
 The mother looked down and tears rolled over her cheeks. Her 
 head began to feel heavy ; for three days and three nights she had 
 not closed her eyes, and now she slept, but only for a minute; 
 then she jumped up shivering with cold. "What is it?" she 
 asked, looking all around her ; but the old man was gone and her 
 little child too. He had taken it with him. The wheels of the 
 old clock in the corner went whirring round ; the heavy leaden 
 weight ran right down to the ground, and then the clock stood 
 still. 
 
 The poor mother rushed out of the house, calling for her 
 child
 
 THE STORY OF A MOTHER 
 
 295 
 
 Outside, in the midst of the snow, sat a woman in long black 
 clothes, who said : " Death has been in your room ; I saw him 
 hurry away with your little child. He strides along more quickly 
 than the wind, and never brings back what he has taken." 
 
 "Only tell me which way he went," said the mother. "Tell 
 me the way, and I will find him." 
 
 " I know the way," said the woman in black ; " but before I tell 
 it you, you must sing me all the songs you sung to your child. I 
 like those songs ; I have heard them before, for I am Night, and 
 saw your tears when you were singing them." 
 
 "I will sing them all all!" said the mother. "But do not 
 detain me now ; let me overtake him, so that I may get my child 
 back." 
 
 But Night sat dumb and motionless. The mother wrung her 
 hands, singing and weeping. There were many songs, but still
 
 296 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 more tears. Then Night said : " Go to the right into the dark 
 pine forest; thither I saw Death wend his way with the little 
 child." 
 
 In the depths of the forest the road divided, and she did not 
 know in which direction to go. There stood a blackthorn bush, 
 without any leaves, or flowers ; for it was winter time, and icicles 
 hung from its boughs. 
 
 " Have you seen Death pass by with my little child ? " 
 
 " Yes," replied the blackthorn bush ; " but I shall not tell you 
 which road he took unless you first warm me at your bosom. I 
 am freezing to death here I am turning into pure ice ! " 
 
 So she pressed the blackthorn bush close to her bosom in order 
 to thaw it completely. The thorns pierced her flesh and her 
 blood flowed in large drops. But the blackthorn bush put forth 
 fresh green leaves and blossomed in the cold winter's night ; so 
 warm is the heart of a sorrowing mother. Then the bush told her 
 which road she was to take. 
 
 She came to a great lake upon which there was neither ship nor 
 boat. The lake was not frozen hard enough to bear her, nor was 
 it shallow and even enough for her to wade through it, and yet she 
 must cross it if she wished to find her child. Then she lay down 
 to drink the lake dry, but that was impossible for one person to 
 do. The sorrowing mother, however, thought that perhaps a 
 miracle might be wrought. 
 
 " No, that will never do," said the lake. " Let us rather see 
 whether we can come to some agreement. I love to collect pearls, 
 and your eyes are two of the brightest I have ever seen ; if you 
 will weep them out into me, I will carry you over to the great hot- 
 house where Death lives and where he grows flowers and trees, 
 each one of which is a human life." 
 
 ''Oh, what would I not give to get back my child !" said the 
 sobbing mother. She wept still more, and her eyes fell down to 
 the bottom of the lake and became two costly pearls. Then the 
 lake took her up as though she were sitting in a swing, and in one ' 
 sweep wafted her to the opposite shore, where stood a wonderful 
 house, miles in length. It was difficult to say whether it was 
 a mountain with forests and caves, or whether it had been
 
 THE STORY OF A MOTHER 2g7 
 
 lilt. But the poor mother could not see it ; she had cried out 
 her eyes. 
 
 " Where shall I find Death, who took my little child away?" she 
 asked. 
 
 " He has not arrived here yet," said an old grey-haired woman, 
 who was walking to and fro and guarding Death's hothouse. 
 " But how did you find your way here, and who helped you ? " 
 
 " Heaven has helped me," she answered. " It is merciful, and 
 that you will be too. Where shall I find my little child ? " 
 
 "I don't know it," said the old woman, "and you can't see. 
 Many flowers and trees have faded during the night, and Death 
 will soon come to transplant them. You know very well that 
 every human being has his tree of life or his flower of life, accord- 
 ing to how it has been arranged for each. They look just like 
 other plants, but their hearts beat. Children's hearts can beat 
 too. If you try, perhaps you may be able to recognise the heart- 
 beat of your child. But what will you give me if I tell you what 
 else you must do ? " 
 
 u I have nothing to give," said the unhappy mother. " But I 
 will go to the end of the world for you." 
 
 " I have nothing there for you to do," said the old woman ; 
 " but you can give me your long black hair: I daresay you know 
 yourself that it is beautiful; it pleases me. You can have my 
 white locks for it ; they are better than nothing." 
 
 " Is that all you want?" she said. " I will give you that with 
 pleasure." And she gave her her beautiful hair, receiving for it 
 the snow-white locks of the old woman. 
 
 Then they went into Death's great hothouse, where flowers and 
 trees grew strangely intermingled. Here stood some delicate 
 hyacinths under glass bells, and great strong paeonies. There 
 grew water-plants, some quite fresh, others somewhat sickly; 
 water-snakes lay upon them, and black crabs clung fast to the 
 stalks. In another place were splendid palm-trees, oaks, and 
 plantains, parsley and blooming thyme. All the trees and flowers 
 bore names ; each one was a human life, and the people they 
 represented were still living, some in China, others in Greenland, 
 and all over the world. There were great trees planted in small
 
 298 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 pots, so that they were cramped and almost bursting the pots ; 
 and there was also many a weakly little flower set in rich mould, 
 with moss all round it, and well taken care of and tended. The 
 anxious mother bent down over all the little plants to hear the 
 human heart beating in each, and from among millions she 
 recognised that of her child. 
 
 " There it Is ! " she cried, and stretched out her hand towards a 
 little crocus, which was feebly hanging over on one side. 
 
 "Don't touch the flower!" said the old woman, "but stand 
 here, and when Death comes I expect him every moment don't 
 let him tear up the plant, but threaten him that you will do the 
 same with the other flowers : that will frighten him ! He is 
 responsible for them to Heaven; not one may be pulled up 
 before permission has been given." 
 
 Suddenly an icy blast swept through the hall, and the blind 
 mother felt that it was Death who was approaching. 
 
 " How could you find the way here ? " he asked. " How were 
 you able to come here more quickly than I ? " 
 
 " I am a mother ! " she replied. 
 
 Death stretched out his long hand towards the small delicate 
 flower ; but she held her hands firmly round it, held them clasped 
 oh ! so closely, and yet full of anxious care lest she should touch 
 one of the petals. Then Death breathed upon her hands, and she 
 felt that this was colder than the cold wind ; and her hands sank 
 down powerless. 
 
 " You have no power to resist me ! " said Death. 
 
 " But Heaven has ! " said she. 
 
 "I only do its will," said Death. " I am its gardener. I take 
 up all its flowers and trees and transplant them into the great 
 Garden of Paradise, into the Unknown Land. How they thrive 
 there and what that life is like I may not tell you." 
 
 " Give me back my child ! " said the mother, weeping and 
 imploring. 
 
 Suddenly she grasped two pretty flowers firmly in her hands and 
 called out to Death : " I will tear up all your flowers, for I am in 
 despair." 
 
 '' Do not touch them ! " said Death. " You say that you are so
 
 THE STORY OF A MOTHER 299 
 
 unhappy, and would you now make another mother as unhappy 
 as yourself?" 
 
 " Another mother ! " exclaimed the poor mother, and immedi- 
 ately let both flowers go. 
 
 " Here are your eyes," said Death. " I fished them up out of 
 the lake ; they were sparkling brightly at the bottom ; I did not 
 know that they were yours. Take them back they are now even 
 brighter than before and then look down into this deep well. I 
 will utter the names of the two flowers you were about to tear up, 
 and you will see what you were on the point of destroying." 
 
 She looked down into the well ; it was a glorious thing to see 
 how one of the lives became a blessing to the world, to see how 
 much happiness and joy diffused itself around it. She also saw 
 the life of the other, which consisted in sorrow and want, trouble 
 and misery. 
 
 " Both are the will of God ! " said Death. 
 
 "Which of them is the flower of unhappiness, and which the 
 blessed one ? " she asked. 
 
 "That I will not tell you," answered Death; "but this you 
 shall learn from me, that one of the flowers is that of your own 
 child. It was the fate of your child that you saw the future of 
 your own child." 
 
 Then the mother shrieked with terror. "Which of them is 
 that of my child ? Tell me that ! Liberate the innocent child ! 
 Release my child from all this misery ! Rather take it away ! 
 Take it to the Kingdom of God ! Forget my tears, forget my 
 entreaties and all that I have done ! " 
 
 " I don't understand you," said Death. " Will you have your 
 child back, or shall I take it to that place that you do not 
 know ? " 
 
 Then the mother wrung her hands, and falling on her knees, 
 prayed to the good God : " Hear me not when I pray contrary to 
 Thy will, for Thy will is ever best ! Hear me not ! Hear me 
 :not!" 
 
 Her head sank down upon her breast, and Death went with her 
 child to the Unknown Land.
 
 300 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 The Bell 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 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
 
 
 THE BELL 30I 
 
 beloved child; no tune, he said, was sweeter than the sound 
 of the bell. 
 
 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. 
 
 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 explana- 
 tion. 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 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 land- 
 lord 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
 
 302 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 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 ! " 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 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
 
 THE BELL 3 o 3 
 
 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. 
 
 " 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. 
 
 " 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." 
 
 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 ! " 
 
 But he walked on undaunted, deeper and deeper into the wood, 
 where the most wonderful flowers were growing ; there were stand- 
 ing white star lilies with blood-red stamens, sky-blue tulips shin- 
 ing 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
 
 304 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 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 out 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 i 
 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.
 
 THE GIRL WHO TROD ON THE LOAF 305 
 
 The Girl who Trod on the Loaf 
 of Bread 
 
 |HE story of the girl who trod on a loaf of 
 bread in order to avoid soiling her shoes, 
 and how she was punished for it, is well 
 known; it is written down nay, even printed. 
 Ing was the girl's name; she was a poor 
 child, but proud and haughty ; there was a 
 bad foundation in her, as the saying is. 
 Already, when quite a small child, it amused her greatly to catch 
 flies, pull their wings off, and to transform them into creeping things. 
 Later on she took cockchafers and beetles, stuck them on a needle, 
 and held a green leaf or a little piece of paper close to their feet. 
 Then the poor animal seized it, and turned it over and over in its 
 struggles to get free from the needle. " Now the cockchafer is 
 reading," said Inge", "look how it turns the leaf over." As years 
 passed by she became rather worse than better, but she was beau- 
 tiful, and that was her misfortune ; otherwise something else might _^ 
 have happened to her than what really happened. 
 
 "Your bad disposition ought to be thoroughly rooted out," hei 
 own mother said to her. "As a child you have often trampled 
 upon my apron, but I am afraid you will one day trample on my 
 heart." 
 
 And that she really did. 
 
 1 She went into the country, and entered the service of some rich 
 Deople who treated her like their own child, and dressed her 
 iccordingly ; she looked very well, but her haughtiness increased. / 
 
 When she had been there about a year, her mistress said to her : 
 ' Inge", you ought to go for once to see your parents." 
 
 And Ing went off, but only in order to show herself in her 
 
 lative place ; she wished people to see how grand she had 
 
 tecome. But when she came to the entrance of the village and 
 
 aw the young men and girls chatting there, and her own mother 
 
 VOL. i. U
 
 306 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 near them, resting on a stone, and having a bundle of sticks in 
 front of her which she had picked up in the wood, Inge turned 
 back ; she was ashamed to think that she, who was so well clad, 
 
 had a poor ragged woman for a mother, who picked up sticks in 
 the wood. And she was not sorry that she returned ; she was only 
 angry. 
 
 Again six months passed by, and her mistress said: "You 
 ought to go home again and visit your parents, Inge*. I will give 
 you a large loaf of bread for them. I am sure they will be 
 pleased to see you." 
 
 Inge put her best dress and her new shoes on, raised her skirt, 
 and walked very carefully that she might be clean and neat about 
 the feet and for that no one could find fault with her. But when
 
 THE GIRL WHO TROD ON THE LOAF 307 
 
 she came to the point where the path runs over the moor, where 
 it was muddy, and where many puddles had formed, she threw 
 the loaf down and trod on it, in order to keep her shoes clean ; 
 but while she was thus standing with one foot on the loaf and the 
 other raised up in order to go on, the loaf sank down with her 
 
 deeper and deeper, and she entirely disappeared. A large puddle 
 with bubbles on it was all that was left to show where she had 
 sunk. That is the story. But what became of Inge ? She sank 
 iown into the ground, and came to the Marsh Woman below, 
 vhere she was brewing. The Marsh Woman is a sister of the 
 Sinn Girls, who are known well enough, for there are songs and 
 pictures of them ; but of the Marsh Woman people only know 
 hat when in the summer mists rise in the meadows, she is brew- 
 ng below. Inge sank down to the Marsh Woman's brewery, but 
 here nobody can bear to stay long. The dung hole is a splendid 
 Irawing-room compared to the Marsh Woman's brewery. Every
 
 3 o8 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 vessel smells so disagreeably that one almost faints, and in addition 
 the barrels are so closely packed that if there were a small open- 
 ing between them through which one might creep, it would be 
 impossible because of the wet toads and fat serpents which abide 
 there. In this place Ing arrived ; all the horrible creeping things 
 were so icy cold, that she shuddered all over, and then she became 
 I more and more rigid. She stuck fast to the loaf, which dragged 
 V her down as an amber button attracts a straw. 
 
 The Marsh Woman was at home. There were visitors at the 
 brewery, for Old Bogey and his grandmother inspected it. And 
 Old Bogey's grandmother is a wicked old woman, who is never 
 idle ; she never rode out on visits without having her needlework 
 with her, and also here she had not forgotten it. She sewed little 
 bits of leather to be attached to men's shoes, so that they 
 continually wander about without being able to settle anywhere ; 
 she embroidered cobwebs of lies, and made crochet-work of 
 foolish words which had fallen to the ground : all this was for 
 men's disadvantage and destruction. Yes, indeed ! She knew 
 how to sew, to embroider, and to crochet this old grandmother. 
 
 She saw Inge", put her spectacles on, and looked at her again. 
 
 " That's a girl who possesses talents," she said ; " and I request 
 you to let me have the little one as a memento of my visit here. 
 She will make a suitable statue in my grandson's ante-room." 
 
 And she was given to her, and thus Inge" came into still lower 
 regions. People do not go there directly, but they can get there 
 by a circuitous road, when they have the necessary talents. That 
 was an endless ante-room; one felt quite dizzy if one looked 
 forward or backward. A crowd of people, exhausted to death, 
 were standing here and waiting for the gate of mercy to be opened 
 to them. They had to wait a long time. Large, fat, waddling 
 spiders spun cobwebs, which lasted thousands of years, over their 
 feet, and cut like iron foot-traps and copper chains ; besides this, 
 every soul was filled with everlasting restlessness a restlessness of 
 misery. The miser was standing there, and had forgotten the key 
 of his money-box ; the key was in the keyhole, he knew that. It 
 would lead us too far to enumerate all the tortures and misery 
 which were seen there. Ing felt inexpressible pain when she had 
 
 f 
 
 |
 
 THE GIRL WHO TROD ON THE LOAF 309 
 
 to stand there as a statue; it was as if she had been tied to 
 the loaf. 
 
 "That is the consequence of trying to keep one's feet clean and 
 tidy," she said to herself. " Look how they stare at me ! " 
 
 And indeed the eyes of all were fixed upon her ; their wicked 
 desires were looking out of their eyes and speaking out of their 
 mouths, without a sound being heard. They were dreadful to 
 look at. 
 
 " It must be a pleasure to look at me ! " thought Inge*. " I 
 have a pretty face and fine clothes." And then she turned her 
 eyes, for she could not move her neck it was too stiff. She had 
 forgotten that she had been much soiled in the Marsh Woman's 
 brewery. Her dress was covered with slime ; a snake had fixed 
 itself in her hair, and hung down her back ; out of every fold of 
 her dress a toad looked forth, croaking like a short-winded pug- 
 dog. That was very disagreeable. " But the others down here 
 look just as dreadful," she thought, and thus consoled herself. 
 
 The worst of all, however, was the terrible hunger she felt. 
 Could she not stoop down and break off a piece from the loaf on 
 which she was standing ? No, her back was stiff, her arms and 
 hands were rigid, her whole body was like a pillar of stone ; she 
 could only turn her eyes in her head, but right round, so she 
 could also see behind her. It was an awful aspect. And then 
 flies came and ran to and fro over her eyes. She blinked, but 
 they did not fly away, for they could not, as their wings were torn > 
 off, and they were transformed into creeping things. It was a 
 horrible pain, which was increased by hunger, and at last 
 'it seemed to her as if there was nothing left in her body. "If 
 this is to last much longer," she said, " I shall not be able to bear 
 it." But she had to bear it. Then a hot tear fell upon her head, 
 : and rolled over her face and her breast, down to the loaf upon 
 'which she stood ; and another tear fell, and many others more. 
 Who do you think was weeping for Inge* ? Her mother was still 
 ['alive ! The tears of grief which a mother sheds over her child 
 always reach it, but they do not redeem ; they burn and augment 
 the torture this unbearable hunger, and not to be able to reach 
 the loaf upon which she was standing with her feet ! She had a
 
 3io STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 feeling as if her whole interior had consumed itself. She was like 
 a thin hollow reed which takes in every sound ; she heard every- 
 thing distinctly that was spoken about her on earth, but what she 
 heard was hard and evil. Although her mother shed a great 
 many tears over her, and was sad, she could not help saying, 
 " Pride goes before a fall. That was your misfortune, Inge". You 
 have much grieved your mother." 
 
 Her mother and all on earth knew of the sin which she had 
 committed ; they knew that she had trod on the loaf, and that she 
 had sunk and disappeared, for the cowherd had seen it from the 
 slope near the marsh land. 
 
 " How you have grieved your mother, Inge* ! " said the mother. 
 " I had a sort of presentiment." 
 
 " I wish I had never been born ! " thought Ing ; " it would 
 have been much better. Of what use are my mother's tears now?" 
 
 She heard how her master and mistress, the good people who 
 had taken care of her like parents, said that she was a sinful child 
 who had despised God's gifts, and trod upon them with her feet. 
 The gates of mercy would be very slowly opened to her ! 
 
 " They ought to have chastised me, and driven out the whims, 
 if I had any," thought Inge". 
 
 She heard that a song was composed about her the haughty 
 girl who had trod on a loaf to keep her shoes clean and that it 
 was sung all over the country. 
 
 "That one must bear so much evil, and have to suffer so 
 much ! " thought Inge". " Others ought to be punished too for 
 their sins ! But, of course, then there would be much to be 
 punished. Alas ! how I am tortured ! " 
 
 ( Her mind now became harder than her exterior. " In such 
 
 ': company," she said, " it is impossible to become better, and I 
 
 don't wish to become better. Look how they stare at me ! " Her 
 
 mind was full of wrath and malice against all men. " At last 
 
 } those up there have something to talk about ! Alas ! how I am 
 
 tortured ! " 
 
 She also heard how her story was told to children, and how the 
 little ones called her wicked Inge". They said she was so ugly and 
 wicked she ought to be severely punished. Again and again hard
 
 THE GIRL WHO TROD ON THE LOAF 3 n 
 
 words were uttered about her by children. Yet, one day, while 
 grief and hunger were gnawing her hollow body, she heard her 
 name pronounced and her story told to an innocent child a little 
 girl and she also heard that the little one burst into tears at the 
 story of the haughty, vain Inge*. 
 
 " But will Inge never come up again ? " asked the little girl. 
 
 " No, never," was the answer. 
 
 " But if she says ' please,' and asks pardon, and promises never 
 to do it again ? " 
 
 " Then, yes ; but she will not ask to be pardoned," they told the 
 child. 
 
 " I should like her so much to do it," said the little girl, and was 
 quite inconsolable. " I will give my doll and all my toys if she 
 may only come up. It is too terrible poor Inge." 
 
 These words touched Inge to the depth of her heart ; they did 
 her good. It was the first time any one had said, " Poor Inge","
 
 3 i2 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 / and did not add anything about her faults. A young innocent 
 child cried and asked mercy for her. She felt very strange ; she 
 ' would have much liked to cry herself, but she could not do it : 
 she was unable to cry, and that was another torture. 
 
 While years passed on above, no change took place below. 
 She more rarely heard words from above ; she was less spoken of. 
 Then suddenly one day a sigh reached her ear : " Inge* ! Ing ! 
 how sad you have made me. I have said it would be so ! " It 
 was the last sigh of her dying mother. Sometimes she heard her 
 name mentioned by her former master and mistress, and these 
 were pleasant words when the lady said : " Shall I ever see you 
 again, Inge" ? One does not know where one comes to ! " 
 
 But Inge was convinced that her kind mistress would never 
 come to the place where she was. 
 
 Again a long while passed a long bitter time. Then Inge* 
 heard her name pronounced once more, and saw two stars spark- 
 ling above her. These were two kind eyes which had closed on 
 earth. So many years had passed since the little girl had been 
 inconsolable and had wept over " poor Inge'," that the child had 
 become an old woman, whom God was calling back again, and in 
 the hour when thoughts of various periods of her life came back 
 to her mind she remembered how she had once as a little child 
 cried bitterly when she heard the story of Inge". And the old 
 lady had such a lively recollection, in the hour of death, of the 
 impression the story had made upon her that she exclaimed : " My 
 God and Lord, have I not sometimes, like Inge", trampled Thy 
 blessings under my feet, without thinking it wrong ? Have I not 
 walked about with haughtiness ? But in Thy mercy Thou hast not 
 let me sink, but supported me. Oh, do not forsake me in my last 
 hour ! " The eyes of the old lady closed, and the eyes of her soul 
 opened to see hidden things. She, whose last thoughts Inge had 
 so much occupied, saw now how deep she had sunk, and at this 
 sight the pious woman burst into tears ; in heaven she was stand- 
 ing like a child and crying for poor Ingd ! And these tears and 
 prayers resounded like an echo in the hollow outside shell that 
 enclosed the fettered tortured soul ; the never-dreamt-of love from 
 above overwhelmed her ; an angel of God was shedding tears over
 
 
 THE GIRL WHO TROD ON THE LOAF 313 
 
 her. Why was this granted her ? The tortured soul collected as 
 it were in thought every action she had done on earth, and Inge* 
 trembled in tears such as she had never wept. Grief at herself 
 filled her, she felt as if the gates of mercy could never be thrown 
 open to her ; and while in contrition she recognised this, a beam 
 of light rushed down to her in the precipice with a force much 
 stronger than that of the sunbeam which melts the snowman that 
 boys have put up, and much quicker than the snowflake melts 
 that falls on the warm lips of a child, and becomes a drop of 
 water ; the petrified shape of Inge* dissolved into mist a little bird 
 flew up with the quickness of lightning into the upper world. But 
 the bird was timid and shy towards all that surrounded it, it was 
 ashamed of itself, ashamed to face the living creatures, and 
 quickly concealed itself in a dark hole in an old weather-beaten 
 wall. There it sat and cowered, trembling all over and unable to 
 utter a single sound : it had no voice. It sat there a long time 
 before it could see all the splendour around it ; indeed it was very 
 beautiful ! The air was fresh and mild, the moon threw her 
 silvery light over the earth ; trees and bushes breathed forth fra- 
 grance, and the place where it sat was pleasant ; its feathers were 
 pure and fine. How love and brightness pervaded all creation ! 
 The bird wanted to burst into song, and to sing forth all that 
 filled its breast, but was unable to do it ; it would gladly have 
 sung like the cuckoo and nightingale in spring. But God, who 
 hears the soundless hymn of praise of the worm, also heard the 
 notes of praise which filled its breast, as the psalms of David 
 were heard before they were expressed in word and tune. 
 
 For weeks these soundless songs stirred in the bird's breast ; a 
 good deed had to be performed to make them burst forth ! 
 
 Holy Christmastime approached. A peasant set up a pole near 
 the wall and tied a bunch of oats to it, that the birds of the air 
 might also have a pleasant Christmas and a good feed in this 
 blissful time. When the sun rose on Christmas morn and shone 
 upon the oats, the twittering birds flew in flocks round the pole. 
 Then also a " tweet, tweet " sounded from a hole in the wall the 
 swelling thought became a sound, the weak "tweet, tweet," a 
 whole song of joy, the thought of a good deed was called to life,
 
 3 i4 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 the bird left its hiding-place ; in heaven it was known what sort of 
 bird this was ! 
 
 The winter was hard, the water frozen over, and the birds and 
 the animals in the wood had little food. Our little bird flew over 
 the highroad, and found a grain of corn here and there in the ruts 
 the sledges made, and a few crumbs at the halting-places ; it ate 
 but few, but called all the other starving sparrows that they might 
 have some food. It flew into the towns, looked all round, and 
 where a loving hand had strewn bread-crumbs on a window-sill 
 for the birds, it only ate a single crumb, leaving all to the other 
 birds. 
 
 In the course of the winter the bird had gathered so many 
 crumbs and given them to other birds, that altogether they 
 equalled the weight of the whole loaf on which Inge* had trodden 
 to keep her shoes clean. And when the last bread-crumb was 
 found and given away, the grey wings of the bird turned white 
 and expanded. 
 
 " There flies a sea-swallow over the water," said the children 
 who saw the white bird; it dived down into the sea and 
 then rose up again into the bright sunshine; it glittered, and 
 it was impossible to see what became of it they said it flew 
 into the sun. 
 
 The Shirt-Collar 
 
 HERE lived once a rich gentleman whose 
 whole goods and chattels consisted of a 
 boot-jack and a hair-brush, but he wore the 
 finest shirt-collar in the world, and it is about 
 this very shirt-collar that we shall hear 
 a story. The shirt-collar had now become 
 so old that it thought of getting married; 
 
 and it happened that it was sent to the laundress together 
 
 with a garter. 
 
 " Truly," said the shirt-collar, " I have never seen anybody so
 
 THE SHIRT-COLLAR 315 
 
 slender and refined, so tender and nice before ! May I ask for 
 your name ? " 
 
 " I shall not answer you," replied the garter. 
 
 " Where do you live ? " continued the shirt-collar. 
 
 But the garter was somewhat shy, and thought it strange to be 
 expected to answer such questions. 
 
 " I suppose you are a girdle," said the shirt-collar, "a sort of inside 
 girdle. I see you are useful as well as ornamental, my little lady ! " 
 
 "Do not speak to me," said the garter, "I think I have given 
 you no encouragement to do so ! " 
 
 " If one is as beautiful as you are," said the shirt-collar, " is this 
 not encouragement enough ? " 
 
 " Go away, and do not come too close to me 1 " said the garter, 
 " you look exactly like a man." 
 
 " I am a gentleman, indeed," said the shirt-collar, " I possess a 
 boot-jack and a hair-brush ! " 
 
 But that was not true, for it was his master who possessed these 
 articles. 
 
 " Do not come too near me ! " said the garter, " I am not 
 accustomed to that." 
 
 " Conceited thing ! " said the shirt-collar. 
 
 Then they were taken out of the washing-tub, stretched and put 
 on a chair in the sunshine to dry, and put on the ironing-board. 
 And now came, {he |iot iron. ; . 
 
 " Mistress wldirnr ! " cried the shirt-collar, " little mistress widow, 
 I am getting very warm ! I am turning quite another being, all 
 my creases are coming out ; you are burning a hole in me ! Ugh ! 
 I propose to you ! " 
 
 " Wretch ! " said the iron, proudly passing over the shirt-collar, 
 for it imagined itself a steam-engine which was to run on metals 
 and draw carriages. " Wretch ! " it repeated. 
 
 As the edges of the shirt-collar were a little frayed, the scissors 
 were brought to trim it. " I believe," said the shirt-collar, 
 addressing the scissors, " you must be a first-class dancer. How 
 you can throw your legs up ! I have never seen anything more 
 charming ; no human being can do what you do." 
 
 " I know," replied the scissors.
 
 316 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 "You deserve to be made a countess," continued the shirt- 
 collar. " All I possess is a gentleman, a boot-jack, and a hair- 
 brush. I wish, for your sake, that I had an earl's estate." 
 
 " What ! He will propose to me ! " said the scissors, and be- 
 came so angry, that they cut too deeply into the shirt-collar, and 
 it had to be turned out as useless. 
 
 " I shall have to propose to the hair-brush," thought the shirt- 
 collar. One day it said, speaking to the hair-brush : " What 
 remarkably beautiful hair you have, my little lady ! Have you 
 never thought of becoming engaged ? " 
 
 " Of course ! How could you have any doubt about this ? " 
 replied the hair-brush. " I am engaged to the boot-jack." 
 
 " Engaged ? " said the shirt-collar. As there was now nobody 
 left to propose to, the shirt-collar began to despise all love- 
 makings. 
 
 A long time passed after this ; the shirt-collar came at last into 
 the bag of the paper-maker ! There was a large company of rags, 
 the fine ones lay apart from the coarse ones, as it ought to be. 
 They had all a great deal to tell, but most of all the shirt-collar, 
 for it was a wonderful bragger. 
 
 " I have had no end of love-affairs," said the shirt-collar ; " they 
 never left me alone ; but, of course, I was a distinguished gentle- 
 man, and well starched. I possessed a boot-jack and a hair-brush, 
 which I never used. You ought to have seen me seen me when 
 I was put aside ! I shall never forget my first love ! It was a 
 girdle, and how fine, soft and nice it was ! My first love threw 
 itself fjpr my sake into a large washing-tub. There was also a 
 widow, which loved me very ardently, but I left it and it turned 
 quite black ! Then there was a first-class dancer, the very person 
 which inflicted the wound upon me which you still see ; it was a very 
 excitable being. My own hair-brush was in love with me and 
 lost all its hairs because I disappointed it. I have seen a great 
 deal of this sort of thing, but most of all I am sorry for the garter 
 girdle, I intended to say which threw itself into a washing-tub. 
 I have a great deal to answer for ; it is time that I should be turned 
 into white paper." 
 
 And to this the collar was transformed at last, the very same
 
 THE HAPPY FAMILY 
 
 317 
 
 paper on which this story here is printed, because it had bragged 
 so much and told things which were not true. And we ought to 
 remember this, and never imitate the shirt-collar, for who knows 
 if we may not one day also come into the rag-bag and be turned 
 to white paper, upon which our whole story, even its most secret 
 parts, might be printed, so that we should be obliged, like the 
 shirt-collar, to run about and tell it ourselves. 
 
 The Happy Family 
 
 HE largest green leaf here in the country is 
 certainly the burdock leaf: if you put it 
 round your little waist it is like an apron ; 
 and if you lay it upon your head when it 
 rains, it is almost as good as an umbrella, for 
 it is extremely large. One burdock never 
 grows alone ; where one grows there are 
 
 several more, making quite a splendid sight. And all this 
 
 splendour is food for snails. Of these large white snails, which 
 
 lived on burdock leaves, the 
 
 grand people in olden times 
 
 used to have fricassee made, 
 
 and when they had eaten it 
 
 they would say, " Dear me ! 
 
 how nice it is " ; for they really 
 
 believed it tasted excellent. 
 
 And that is why burdocks 
 
 were sown. 
 
 Now there was an old country-seat, where snails were no longer 
 
 eaten. They had died out, but the burdocks had not died out. 
 
 They grew and grew in all the paths, on all the beds ; there was 
 
 no stopping them any more it was quite a forest of burdocks. 
 
 Here and there stood an apple or plum tree ; otherwise one would 
 
 never have thought that it was a garden. Everything was burdock, 
 
 and among it all lived the two last ancient snails.
 
 3i8 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 They did not know themselves how old they were, but they 
 could very well remember that there had been a great many more 
 of them, that they came from a foreign family, and that the forest 
 had been planted for them and theirs. They had never been out 
 of it, but it was known to them that there was something in the 
 world besides, which was called " the Castle " ; there one was 
 boiled, became black, and was laid upon a silver dish but what 
 happened after that they did not know. They could not imagine 
 what it was like to be boiled and laid upon a silver dish, but it 
 was said to be very fine and particularly grand. Neither the 
 cockchafer, nor the toad, nor the earthworm, all of whom they 
 questioned, could give them any information about it ; for none 
 of their kind had ever been boiled or laid upon a silver dish. 
 
 The old white snails were the grandest in the world : that they 
 knew. The forest was there on their account, and the castle too, 
 so that they might be boiled and laid upon a silver dish. 
 
 They lived very retired and happy, and as they themselves were 
 childless, they had adopted a common little snail, which they 
 brought up as their own child. But the little one would not grow, 
 for it was only a common snail ; the old people, however, 
 particularly the mother-snail, declared that it was easy to see how 
 it grew. And she said that if the father could not see that, he was 
 only just to feel the little shell, and on doing so, he found that the 
 mother was right. 
 
 One day it rained very hard. 
 
 " Listen how it drums upon the burdock-leaves rum-a-dum- 
 dum, rum-a-dum-dum ! " said the father-snail. 
 
 " Those are what I call drops ! " said the mother-snail. " It is 
 running down the stalk. You see it will get wet here. I'm 
 only glad that we have our good houses, and that the little one has 
 his too. More has really been done for us than for other 
 creatures ; it is very plainly to be seen that we are the lords of the 
 world. We have houses from our birth, and the burdock forest 
 was planted for our sakes. I should like to know how far it 
 extends, and what lies outside it." 
 
 " There is nothing," said the father-snail, " that could be better 
 than it is with us : I have nothing to wish for."
 
 THE HAPPY FAMILY 3I9 
 
 "Yes ! " said the mother. " I should like to be taken up to 
 the Castle, boiled and laid upon a silver dish; that is what 
 happened to all our ancestors, and you may believe that it is some- 
 thing uncommon." 
 
 " The Castle has perhaps fallen in," said the father-snail ; " or 
 the burdock forest has grown over it, so that the people cannot 
 come out. But there's not the slightest hurry about it. You're 
 always in too great a hurry, and the little one is beginning to be 
 just the same. Has he not been crawling up that stalk for 
 already three days ? It really gives me a headache to look up at 
 him." 
 
 "You must not scold him," said the mother-snail. " He crawls 
 along very deliberately: we shall certainly live to have great joy 
 of him, and we old ones have really nothing else to live for. But 
 have you ever thought of where we shall get a wife for him ? 
 Don't you think that there are some of our kind still living farther 
 in the burdock forest ? 
 
 " I daresay there are some black snails there," said the old 
 man ; " black snails without houses ; but they are too vulgar, and 
 yet they fancy themselves somebody. But we can give the ants 
 the commission ; they run to and fro, as though they had some 
 business to do ; they will certainly know of a wife for our little one." 
 
 " I certainly know the most beautiful one you could have," said 
 one of the ants ; but I am afraid the proposal is of no use, for she 
 is a queen." 
 
 "That doesn't matter!" said the old people. "Has she a 
 house ? " 
 
 "She has a castle," answered the ant ; "a most beautiful ant- 
 hill with seven hundred passages." 
 
 " Many thanks ! " said the mother-snail. " Our son shall not 
 go into an ant-hill. If you know of nothing better than that, we 
 will give the white gnats the commission ; they fly far around in 
 rain and sunshine ; they know the burdock forest in and out." 
 
 " We have a wife for him," said the gnats. " A hundred man's 
 paces from here there is a little snail with a house sitting on a 
 gooseberry-bush ; she is all alone, and old enough to marry. 
 It is only a hundred man's paces from here."
 
 320 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 " Well, let her come to him," said the old people. " He has a 
 burdock forest ; she has only a bush." 
 
 And so they fetched the little maiden snail. She took eight 
 days in coming ; but that was the beauty of it, for by that one 
 could see that she was of the right kind. 
 
 Then they had the wedding. Six glow-worms gave as much 
 light as they could ; for the rest, things went very quietly, for the 
 old people could not bear much feasting and dissipation. A 
 beautiful speech was, however, made by the mother-snail. The 
 father could not speak ; he was too deeply moved. Then they 
 gave the young couple the whole burdock forest as an inheritance, 
 and said what they had always said : that it was the best in the 
 world, and that if they lived honest and upright lives, and 
 multiplied, they and their children would one day be taken to the 
 Castle, boiled black, and laid upon a silver dish. And after this 
 speech had been made, the old people crept back into their 
 houses and never came out again ; they slept. The young couple 
 now ruled in the forest and had a numerous progeny. But as 
 they were never boiled and laid upon the silver dish, they con- 
 cluded that the Castle must have fallen in, and that all the people 
 in the world had died out. And as nobody contradicted them, 
 they knew they were right. The rain fell upon the burdock 
 leaves to play the drum for them, and the sun shone to colour the 
 burdock forest for their sake. They were very happy, and the 
 whole family was happy infinitely happy !
 
 LITTLE TUK 32J 
 
 Little Tuk 
 
 XL, yes, that was little Tuk. That was not 
 his name, but when he could not yet speak 
 he called himself Tuk, which he meant for 
 Charlie; and that does very well, but one 
 must know it. He had to look after his 
 little sister Gustava, who was much 
 younger than himself, and at the same time 
 he had to learn his lessons ; these two things, however, would not 
 igo very well together. The poor boy sat there with his little sister 
 ,on his knee, singing to her all the songs he knew, and glancing 
 now and then into his geography book which lay open before him. 
 The next morning he had to know all the towns of Zealand by 
 heart, and all that any one can be expected to know "about them. 
 
 Then his mother came home, who had been out, and took little 
 
 Gustava herself. Tuk went as quickly as possible to the window, 
 
 ind read so zealously that he had almost read his eyes out ; it 
 
 Decame darker and darker, but the mother had no money to buy 
 
 I candles. 
 
 " There goes the old washerwoman from over the way," said the 
 
 [ nother, looking out of the window. " The poor woman can hardly 
 
 . Irag herself along, and has to carry a pail full of water from the 
 
 veil ; be a good boy, Tuk, my child, run over and help the old 
 
 vroman. Will you ? " 
 
 And Tuk ran quickly over and helped her ; but when he came 
 
 >ack to the room it had become quite dark, and as there could be 
 
 ; 10 question about light, he was to go to bed ; his bed was an old 
 
 j ettle^ He was lying upon it thinking of his geography lesson 
 
 $ f Zealand, and of all the master had said. Of course he ought 
 
 till to be learning, but that was impossible. He therefore put the 
 
 1 eography book under his pillow, because he had heard that this 
 
 i elps one a great deal when one wants to learn a lesson ; the only 
 
 i iing is, one can't depend upon it. There he was lying and think- 
 
 ig and thinking, and then it seemed to him suddenly as if some 
 
 VOL. i. x
 
 32* 
 
 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 one kissed him on the eyes and mouth. He slept, and yet he did 
 not sleep"-' he felt as if the old washerwoman looked at him with 
 her kind eyes and said : " It would be a great pity if you did not 
 know your lesson to-morrow ! You have helped me ; therefore I 
 will now help you, as God always helps every one." And suddenly 
 
 the book under Tuk's pillow began to move. " Cluck, cluck ! " 
 It was a hen which came crawling out, and she was from Kjoge. 1 
 " I am a Kjoge-hen," she said, and then she told him how many 
 inhabitants the town had, and of the battle that had taken place 
 there, although this latter was not worth mentioning. 
 
 Then he heard a rattling noise and a plump something fell 
 down. It was a wooden bird, the parrot that was used at the 
 shooting competition in Prastoe. 4 It said that there were as many 
 inhabitants in that town as it had nails in its body ; it was very 
 
 1 Kjoge is a small town in the bay of the same name. 
 
 2 Prastoe is a little town, only known because the Castle of Nysoe, where 
 ' Thorwaldsen lived, is in its immediate neighbourhood.
 
 LITTLE TUK 323 
 
 proud too. "Thorwaldsen has been living quite close to me, 
 Plump ! here I am, quite comfortable ! " 
 
 But now little Tuk was no longer lying in bed, but sat on horse- 
 back, and went off at a gallop. A magnificently dressed knight, 
 :with a shining plume on his helmet, held Tuk before him on the 
 : saddle, and so they rode through the wood to the old town of 
 'Wprdingborg, 1 and that was a large lively town ; on the king's 
 castle were high towers, and light streamed from all the windows. 
 (Inside there was singing and dancing, for King Waldemar danced 
 with the gaily-dressed Court ladies. Now it became morning, and 
 as the sun rose, the whole city and the king's castle, tower after 
 itower, sank down ; and at last one single tower stood on the hill 
 (where the castle had been standing. The town was very small 
 and poor, and the boys came out of school with their books under 
 |:heir arms, and said : " Two thousand inhabitants \ " but that was 
 I jiot true, for there were not so many in the town. 
 i! And little Tuk was again in bed, and did not know if he was 
 Ireaming or not, but somebody stood close by his side. " Little 
 ; Tuk, little Tuk," a voice said. It was a sailor who spoke, but he 
 i ras as small as if he were a midshipman, although he was not one. 
 r f I have to greet you from Cprsor ; that's a rising town, and is very 
 \ ively ; it has steamboats and mail-coaches formerly they said 
 hat it was ugly, but that is no longer true." 
 
 j "I am situated upon the sea," said Corsor; 2 "I have high-roads 
 
 I nd pleasure-grounds, and I am the birthplace of a poet who was 
 
 itty and entertaining, qualities that not all poets possess. Once I 
 
 ished to equip a ship that was to go all round the world ; but it 
 
 id not do it, although it might have done it. In addition, I smell 
 
 veetly, for close by my gates grow the most splendid rose trees." 
 
 ; Little Tuk looked, but all was red and green before his eyes ; 
 
 'ben the confusion of colours had passed by, he all at once saw 
 
 'wooded slope near a bay, and high above it stood a beautiful 
 
 d church with two high pointed spires. Springs of water flowed 
 
 t -it of the slope in numerous jets, so that there was continual 
 
 . ' Wordingborg is known for the ruins of the old castle. Under King 
 
 aldeinar it was a flourishing town. " 
 { ! Corsor, a small town on the Great Belt.
 
 3 2 4 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 splashing. Close by sat an old king with a golden crown on 
 his long hair. He was King Hroar, near the springs, close by the 
 city of Roeskilde, 1 as one now calls it. And over the slope went 
 all the kings and queens of Denmark, hand in hand, with their 
 golden crowns on their heads, up to the old church, and the organ 
 was playing, and the springs rippled. Little Tuk saw and heard 
 everything. " Don't forget the towns," said King Hroar. 
 
 All at once everything was gone again, but whither ? It seemed 
 
 to Tuk as if some one turned over the leaves of a book. And 
 
 there stood an old peasant woman before him, who came from 
 
 Soroe, 2 where the grass grows in the market-place. A grey linen 
 
 apron was hanging over her head and back, and was very wet; it 
 
 must have been raining. "Yes, it has," she said, and she could 
 
 tell many amusing passages from Holberg's comedies and of Wal- 
 
 demar and Absolom. But all at once she shrank together and 
 
 nodded her head as if she wanted to jump. " Croak," she said ; 
 
 " it is wet, it is wet ; Soroe is as quiet as a grave ! " Suddenly she 
 
 became a frog. " Croak ! " And then she turned an old woman 
 
 again. " One must dress oneself according to the weather," she* 
 
 said ' " It is wet ! It is wet ! My town is like a bottle one had 
 
 to go in at the neck, and come out at the neck again ! Formerly 
 
 I had most splendid fishes, and now I have fresh rosy-cheekec 
 
 boys at the bottom of the bottle, who learn wisdom, Hebrew 
 
 Greek. Croak 1 " That sounded as if the frogs croaked, or as i| 
 
 some one walked over the marshes with large boots always thj 
 
 same sound, so monotonous and tiresome, that little Tuk fe 
 
 asleep, and that could not do him any harm. But even in th 
 
 sleep came a dream, or something of that kind. His little sistq 
 
 Gustava, with her blue eyes and golden curly hair, had sudden! 
 
 become a tall slender girl, and could fly without haying a 
 
 wings; .r,d then they flew right across Zealand, with its gree 
 
 woods and blue lakes. 
 
 Do you hear the cock crow, little Tuk ? ' Cock-a-doodle-d< 
 The cocks fly up from Kjoge ! You shall have a large farmyai 
 
 1 Roeskilde was once the capital of Denmark. 
 
 2 Soroe, a small beautifully-situated town ; the Danish poet t 
 founded an academy here.
 
 THE TINDER-BOX 325 
 
 one day! You will never suffer want or hunger ! And you will 
 I take the cake, as people say : you will become a rich and happy 
 man. Your house will rise like the tower of King Waldemar, and 
 | will be richly adorned with marble statues like those at Eriistqe, 
 i Understand me well : your name shall travel with glory all over 
 .the world, like the ship that was to sail off from Corsor, and at 
 
 Roeskilde "don't forget the towns!" said King Hroar 
 
 i" there you will speak well and cleverly, little Tuk ; and when they 
 place you at last in your grave you will sleep peacefully." 
 
 " As if I lay in Soroe,." said little Tuk, and then he woke up. 
 
 It was broad daylight, and he could no longer remember his 
 dream, but that was not necessary, for one must not know what is 
 focoffiejnjuture. He quickly jumped out of bed and read his 
 jook, and there, all at once, he knew his whole lesson. 
 I The old washerwoman just then peeped in at the door, nodded 
 tindly to him, and said : " Many thanks, you good child, for your 
 resistance ! May God realise your beautiful dream ! " 
 i Little Tuk did not remember what he had dreamt, but God 
 ::new it. 
 
 The Tinder-Box 
 
 SOLDIER was marching along the high- 
 roadleft, right ! left, right ! He had a 
 knapsack on his back and a sword at his 
 side. He was returning from war, and now 
 on his way home. 
 When he had gone some distance he met 
 
 an old witch. She was dreadfully ugly, her 
 
 iderlip was hanging down upon her breast. 
 " Good evening, soldier," she said ; " what a fine sword you 
 ive, and what a big knapsack ! You are a true soldier, and now 
 ;>u shall have as much money as ever you wish for." 
 " Thank you, old witch," replied the soldier. 
 i"Do you see yonder large tree?" asked the witch, pointing out 
 :ree which stood not far from them. " It is hollow inside. You
 
 326 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 must climb right up to its summit, when you will see a hole; 
 through this hole you can let yourself down and get deep into the 
 tree. I shall tie a rope round your waist, so that I can pull you up 
 when you call out to me." 
 
 " What shall I do down in the tree ? " asked the soldier. 
 
 "Fetch money," said the witch. "You must know that you 
 will find a spacious hall at the bottom of the tree ; it is quite light, 
 for there are no less than three hundred lamps burning down 
 there. You will then see three doors ; you can open them the 
 keys are in the locks. If you enter the first room you will find in 
 the middle of the floor a large wooden chest and a dog sitting on 
 it, which has a pair of eyes as large as tea-cups. Never mind him ! 
 I shall give you my blue checked apron ; you can spread it on the 
 floor ; then go quickly, seize the dog and place him on my apron, 
 open the chest, and take out of it as many coins as you like. They
 
 THE TINDER-BOX 327 
 
 are of copper ; if you prefer to have silver, you must go into the 
 second room. There you will see a dog having eyes as large as 
 mill-wheels. But do not be afraid ; put him on my apron and take 
 as much money as you like. If, however, you wish to have gold, 
 you can have that too, and as much as you can carry, if you go 
 into the third room. The dog which sits on the chest in this 
 room has eyes as large as a church-steeple. He is a very wicked 
 dog, I can assure you, but you need not fear him. If you put him 
 on my apron he will not hurt you, and you can take as much gold 
 as you like out of the chest" 
 
 " That is not at all bad," said the soldier. " But what do you 
 expect me to give you in return, for surely you will not do all this 
 for nothing ? " 
 
 "Yes," replied the witch. "I shall not ask you for a single 
 , shilling. I only want you to bring up for me an old tinder-box 
 which my grandmother forgot when she was down there for the 
 last time." 
 
 " Well, then, tie the rope round my waist," said the soldier. 
 
 " Here it is," said the witch, " and here is also my blue checked 
 apron." 
 
 The soldier then climbed up the tree, descended inside it by the 
 rope, and arrived, as the witch had told him, in the great hall 
 where the three hundred lamps were burning. 
 
 He opened the first door. Ugh ! there the dog with the eyes as 
 arge as teacups was staring at him. 
 
 "You are a fine fellow," said the soldier, placed him on the 
 
 ipron of the witch, and took as many coppers as his pockets 
 
 1 vould hold. Then he locked the chest, put the dog upon it, and 
 
 vent to the second room. Really, there was the dog with the 
 
 ,yes as large as mill-wheels. 
 
 jj "You had better not look at me so hard," said the soldier, "you 
 
 light strain your eyes," and put the dog on the witch's apron. 
 
 ! Vhen he saw the silver in the chest, he threw all the copper he had 
 
 : ; iken away, and filled his pockets and knapsack with silver. Then 
 
 e went into the third room. That was dreadful to look at. The 
 
 og there had really two eyes as large as church steeples, which 
 
 irned in his head like wheels.
 
 328 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 " Good evening," said the soldier, and touched his cap, for he 
 had never in his life seen a dog like this. When he had looked at 
 him more closely, he thought w that is enough," lifted him down 
 on the floor, and opened the chest. Good heavens ! what a lot of 
 gold there was ! There was enough gold to buy the whole town, 
 and all the sweets from all the sweetmeat stalls, in addition to all 
 the tin soldiers, whips, and rocking-horses in the whole world. 
 The soldier quickly threw away all the silver with which he had 
 filled his pockets and knapsack, and replaced it by gold. He 
 filled even his cfep and his boots with gold, so that he could 
 scarcely walk. Now he was rich. 
 
 He placed the dog again on the chest, shut the door, and called 
 up through the tree. 
 
 " Now pull me up, old witch." 
 
 " Have you found the tinder-box ? " asked the old witch. 
 
 " Upon my soul," said the soldier, " that I should really have 
 forgotten." He returned and fetched it. The old witch pulled 
 him up, and soon he was again in the high road, his pockets, 
 boots, knapsack, and cap filled with gold. 
 
 "What will you do with the tinder-box?" asked the soldier. 
 
 " Do not trouble your mind about that," said the witch. " You 
 have received your reward. Give me the tinder-box." 
 
 " Certainly not," replied the soldier. " Tell me quickly what you 
 are going to do with it, or I shall draw my sword and cut your 
 head off." 
 
 " No," said the witch. 
 
 Then the soldier cut her head off, so that she lay dead on the 
 ground. He tied all his gold up in her apron, took it like a 
 bundle on his shoulders, put the tinder-box into his pocket, and 
 went straight to the nearest town. 
 
 It was a very pleasant town. He put up in the best inn, asked 
 for the best rooms and for his favourite dishes ; for he was rich, 
 having so much gold. 
 
 The servant, who had to clean his boots, thought they were 
 rather shabby old things for such a rich gentleman, for he had not 
 yet bought a new pair. On the next day, however, he purchased 
 decent boots and fine clothes. Thus the poor soldier had become
 
 THE TINDER-BOX 329 
 
 a gentleman, and people talked to him about all the sights of their 
 town, about the king, and about the beautiful princess his 
 daughter. 
 
 " Where can one see her ? " inquired the soldier. 
 
 " Nobody can see her," they all said, " she lives in a strong 
 copper castle with many towers, surrounded by high walls. 
 Nobody but the king himself can pass in and out, for there has 
 been a prophecy that she would marry a private soldier, and the 
 king will prevent that." 
 
 " I should very much like to see her," thought the soldier, 
 but he could by no means obtain permission to do so. 
 
 He led a merry life, went to the theatre, drove in the Royal 
 Gardens, and gave largely to the poor that was very good of 
 him ; he remembered well of former days what it means to have 
 not a single penny. He was now rich, had fine clothes, and soon 
 found many friends, who all told him that he was a splendid fellow 
 and a true gentleman ; all this pleased the soldier greatly. As, 
 however, he spent every day a good deal of money, without 
 gaining anything, he had soon nothing left but two shillings ; 
 therefore he had to give up the elegant rooms which he occupied 
 and live on the top of the house in a little garret; he had 
 to black his own boots, and to mend] them with a darning 
 needle. None of his former friends came to see him, he lived 
 so high up. 
 
 On one dark evening he could not even buy a candle. Then 
 he remembered that there was a piece of candle in the tinder-box 
 which he had fetched out of the hollow tree with the assistance of 
 the witch. He took up the tinder-box and the little end of the 
 candle, and was going to strike a light, when suddenly the door 
 flew open, and the dog with a pair of eyes as large as tea-cups, 
 which he had seen under the tree, made his appearance and 
 asked : " Your lordship's commands ? " 
 
 " What is this ? " asked the soldier. " That is a capital tinder- 
 I box if I can get through it what I wish for. Get me some money," 
 : he said to the dog. The dog was gone like lightning ; but in a 
 : moment he returned again, holding a large bag of coppers in his 
 : mouth.
 
 330 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 Thus the soldier learnt what a wonderful tinder-box he had. 
 If he struck once, the dog from the chest containing the copper 
 appeared ; two strokes made the dog who watched the silver 
 come ; and if he struck three times, the dog who sat on the chest 
 containing the gold made his appearance. Now the soldier 
 moved back into the elegant rooms, and appeared again well- 
 dressed. All his former friends recognised him, and thought 
 much of him. 
 
 One day the soldier thought : " It is very strange that nobody is 
 allowed to see the princess. All agree in saying that she is so 
 beautiful ; but what is the use of her beauty if she is compelled to 
 remain for ever in the big copper castle with its many towers ? Is 
 there no chance at all to see her ? " 
 
 At this moment he thought of his tinder-box. He struck a 
 light, and there the dog with a pair of eyes as large as tea-cups 
 came. 
 
 "Although it is midnight," said the soldier, "I should very 
 much like to see the princess for a moment." 
 
 No sooner had he pronounced his wish than the dog ran away, 
 and returned in a few seconds with the princess. She was lying 
 fast asleep on the dog's back ; she was so lovely to look at, that 
 nobody could help seeing at once that she was a princess. The 
 soldier could not abstain from kissing her, for he was a true 
 soldier. 
 
 Then the dog carried the princess back ; but on the next morn- 
 ing, when she was at tea with the king and the queen, she told them 
 that she had had a very strange dream of a dog and a soldier in 
 the night ; she had been riding on the dog and the soldier had 
 kissed her. 
 
 " That would be a fine tale," said the queen. 
 
 Next night one of the Court ladies had to watch by the bed of 
 the princess to see whether it was really a dream, or what else it 
 could be. 
 
 The soldier felt a great longing to see the princess again, so he 
 called the dog next night once more, who fetched her, running with 
 her as fast as he could. But the old lady put on water-boots and 
 followed him. When she saw that the dog disappeared with the
 
 THE TINDER-BOX 33I 
 
 princess in a large house, she took a piece of chalk and made a 
 large white cross on the door, thinking that she would be able to 
 recognise the house again. Then she returned home and went 
 to bed. The dog soon brought the princess back ; and when he 
 saw the white cross on the house where the soldier lived, he 
 
 made white crosses on all the doors in the town, that the Court 
 lady might not be able to find it. 
 
 Early on the next morning, the king, the queen, the lady, and 
 many officers of the Court came to see where the princess had 
 been. 
 
 " There is the house," said the king when he saw the first door 
 with a white cross. 
 
 " No ; there it is, my dear husband," said the queen, on seeing a. 
 second door with a white cross. 
 
 " But there is one, and there is another," said all, and wherever
 
 332 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 they looked they saw white crosses on the doors. Then they 
 understood that it would be useless to search any more. 
 
 The queen was a very clever woman ; she could do more than 
 merely ride in a carriage. She took her large golden scissors, cut a 
 piece of silk in squares and made a nice little bag of it. This bag 
 she filled with ground buckwheat, then tied it to the princess's 
 back, and cut a little hole into it, so that the buckwheat could 
 run out all along the road the princess was taken. 
 
 At night the dog came again, took the princess on his back, 
 and ran with her to the soldier, who was deeply in love with 
 her, and wished nothing more than to be a prince, that he might 
 marry her. 
 
 The dog did not notice how the buckwheat strewed all the way 
 from the castle up to the soldier's house, where he climbed up the 
 wall to enter the soldier's window. Next morning the king and 
 the queen knew where their daughter had been taken to: the 
 soldier was at once arrested and thrown into prison. 
 
 There he sat, and found it awfully dark and dull. He 
 was told, " To-morrow you will be hanged." All this was very 
 unpleasant, and the worst was that he had left his tinder-box at 
 the inn. 
 
 On the next morning he could see through the iron bars how 
 the people were hurrying out of the town in order to witness his 
 execution. He heard the noise of the drums and saw the soldiers 
 march past. In the crowd he noticed a shoemaker's apprentice 
 with a leather apron and wooden slippers on, who ran so fast that 
 one of his slippers came off and flew against the wall, quite close 
 to the window at which the soldier sat behind the iron bars. 
 
 " You need not hurry so, boy," cried the soldier, " they can't do 
 anything until I arrive. If you would run to the place where I 
 used to live and fetch me my tinder-box, I will give you four 
 shillings." 
 
 The boy, who was very anxious to have so much money, fetched 
 the tinder-box and handed it to the soldier. Now, let us see what 
 happened. 
 
 Outside the town they had erected a high gibbet ; soldiers and 
 many thousands of people stood around it. The king and the queen
 
 THE TINDER-BOX 333 
 
 were sitting on a magnificent throne opposite the judges and 
 counsel. 
 
 The soldier was already standing on the top of the ladder, and 
 they were just going to put the rope round his neck, when he 
 said he knew that it was a custom to grant a last request to a poor 
 criminal before he suffered death, and he should very much like to 
 smoke a pipe the last he would ever have a chance of smoking in 
 this world. 
 
 The king would not refuse this favour, and the soldier took up 
 his tinder-box and struck " One, two, three." And lo ! there 
 suddenly appeared the three dogs ; the first with eyes as large as 
 tea-cups, the second with eyes as large as mill-wheels, and the 
 third having eyes as large as church-steeples. 
 
 " Help" me now, that they cannot hang me," said the soldier. 
 Then the dogs rushed at the judges and the counsel, took the 
 one up by the legs, the other by the nose, and threw them high 
 up into the air, so that they fell down and were smashed to 
 pieces. 
 
 " Leave me alone," said the king ; but the largest of the dogs 
 seized both him and the queen and threw them up after the 
 others. 
 
 When the soldiers and all the people saw that, they had great 
 fear, and cried : " Good soldier, you shall become our king and 
 marry the beautiful princess." 
 
 They seated the soldier in the king's carriage, and the three 
 dogs danced in front of it and cried " Hurrah ! " The boys 
 whistled on their fingers, and the soldiers presented arms. The 
 princess came out of the copper castle and became queen, and 
 she liked it very much. 
 
 The wedding festivities lasted eight days ; the dogs sat at table 
 and opened their eyes wide.
 
 334 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 A Cheerful Temper 
 
 ]Y father left me the best inheritance any man 
 can leave to his son a cheerful temper. But 
 who was my father ? Why, that really has 
 nothing to do with the cheerful temper. He 
 was lively and quick, although somewhat 
 stout and fat ; in fact, he was in body and 
 mind the very opposite to what one would 
 expect from a man of his calling. But what 
 was his position, what services did he render to the community ? 
 Why, if that were to be written down and printed at the very 
 beginning of a book, some people in reading it would be likely to 
 lay it aside and say there is something unpleasant about it ; I don't 
 like anything of that sort. And yet my father was neither a 
 knacker nor a hangman ; on the contrary, his office was such that 
 it placed him at the head of the most distinguished citizens of the 
 town, and he was fully entitled to be there, for it was his proper 
 place. He must needs be the foremost of all before the bishop, 
 nay, even before princes of royal blood, because he was a hearse- 
 driver. 
 
 There, now I have betrayed the secret! and I must confess 
 that, when one saw my father sitting high up on the box of 
 Death's bus, clad in his long wide black cloak, having a black- 
 trimmed three-cornered hat on, and then looked into his face, 
 which was as round and smiling as a picture of the sun, one 
 could not think of mourning and the grave ; for his face said : " It 
 doesn't matter, never mind it will go much better than one thinks." 
 So, you see, from him I have my cheerful temper and also the 
 habit of often going to the churchyard : and that is quite amusing, 
 if one goes thither in good spirits. I forgot to say that I also take 
 in the Advertiser, as he used to do. 
 
 I am no longer young I have neither wife nor child, nor a 
 library, but I read, as I have mentioned, the Advertiser ; that 
 suffices me. It is my favourite newspaper, as it was my father's.
 
 A CHEERFUL TEMPER 335 
 
 The Advertiser is a most useful paper, and contains really 
 everything a man requires to know ; therein you find who preaches 
 in the churches and in new books ; it tells you about charitable 
 institutions, and contains many harmless poetical attempts. 
 Marriages are desired, and meetings brought about. All is so 
 simple and natural ! One can indeed live very happily and be 
 buried, if one reads the Advertiser nay, at the end of one's 
 life one has such a heap of paper that one can comfortably lie on 
 it, if one does not care to rest on wood shavings. 
 
 The Advertiser and the churchyard were always the two 
 things that most elevated my mind, and best nourished my good 
 temper. 
 
 Everybody can peruse the Advertiser by himself, but let him 
 
 go with me to the churchyard. Let us go there when the sun is 
 
 shining and the trees are green ; let us walk about between the 
 
 graves. Every one of them is a closed book with its back turned 
 
 up ; one can read its title, which says all the book contains, and 
 
 yet says nothing at all. But I know my way ; I learnt much from 
 
 my father, and something I know from my own experience. 1 
 
 have it all written down in a book, which I have made for use 
 
 ; and pleasure ; there is something written about them all, and 
 
 ; about a few more. 
 
 Now we are at the churchyard. 
 
 Here, behind the railings, painted out in white, where one day 
 a rose-tree stood it is gone now, and only a little bush of ever 
 green from the neighbour's grave stretches a few straggling 
 ; branches in, lest it be quite bare rests a very unfortunate man, 
 and yet he was, as people call it, well-off when he was alive ; he 
 had sufficient to live comfortably, and something to spare, but the 
 world that is to say " art " used him too badly. When he went 
 in the evening to the theatre to enjoy a play thoroughly, he nearly 
 went out of his mind when the machinist put too strong a light 
 into one of the cheeks of the moon, or when the canvases repre- 
 senting the sky were hanging in front of the scene instead of 
 behind, or if they made a palm appear in a garden at Copen- 
 hagen, or a cactus plant in Switzerland, or beech-trees in the 
 northern regions of Norway. What does it matter to any one?
 
 336 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 Who would trouble his mind about anything of that sort ? All is 
 only a play which is intended to amuse people. Sometimes the 
 people applauded too much in his opinion, sometimes not enough. 
 " That is wet wood to-night," he used to say, " it will not catch 
 fire ; " and when he looked round to see what sort of people were 
 there, then he found that they laughed in the wrong places, when 
 they were not expected to laugh at all. All this angered him, 
 pained him, and made him miserable ; and now he rests in the grave. 
 
 Here rests a man who was very lucky in life; I mean to say 
 that he was a nobleman of high birth, and that was his luck, for 
 otherwise he would not have turned out anything at all. Nature 
 orders all things so wisely that it is a pleasure to think of it ! He 
 used to wear a coat richly embroidered with silk ; and one might 
 very well have compared him with a precious bell-pull in a 
 drawing-room. As such, a bell-pull generally has a good strong 
 string behind it ; so he had a substitute to do his work for him, 
 and he does it, in fact, still for some other man of that type. Yes, 
 yes ; all is so well arranged in this world, one has good reason to 
 have a cheerful temper. 
 
 Now here rests it is very sad indeed a man who exercised 
 his brains for sixty-seven years in perpetual search for a good idea ; 
 at last, according to his own opinion, he had one, and was so 
 pleased with himself that he died for joy. So his good idea was 
 of no use to any-one, for nobody heard anything at all about it. 
 I am inclined to think that this good idea will prevent him from 
 resting quietly in the grave ; for suppose it was such that it could 
 only be well explained at breakfast-time, and that, being a dead 
 man, he can only rise about midnight according to the common 
 notion about ghosts it is not suitable for the time ; nobody laughs 
 at it, and the man must take his good idea again down with him 
 into his grave. 
 
 Here rests a miser : in her lifetime this woman was so dreadfully 
 stingy that she used to get up at night and mew in order to make 
 people believe she kept a cat. 
 
 Here rests a young lady of good family, who liked immensely 
 to sing in society : when she sang " Mi manca la voce," it was 
 the only true thing she said in her life.
 
 A CHEERFUL TEMPER 33? 
 
 Here rests a maiden of another kind. Yes, indeed love does 
 not hsten to reason ! She was to be married ; but that 's an eve ' 
 day story. Let the dead rest. 
 
 Here li es a widow who had a sweet voice, but bitterness in her 
 heart. She used to visit the families in the neighbourhood and 
 pursuit Ut Sh rtcomin g s > and she was very zealous in this 
 
 What you see here is a family grave. All the members of this 
 
 family were so much of one opinion that when the whole world 
 
 id all the newspapers said a certain thing was so, and the little 
 
 boy came home from school and said it was not so, he was right 
 
 Because he belonged to the family. And you can be sure if it 
 
 Happened that the cock of this family crowed at midnight,' they 
 
 it was morning, even if the watchman and all the clocks of 
 
 the town were announcing the midnight hour. 
 
 The great poet Goethe concludes his Faust" with the words: 
 May be continued"; we may say the same about our walk 
 irough the churchyard. I often come here; and when any of 
 ny friends or non-friends go too far, I go out to the churchyard, 
 
 :ct a plot of ground, and consecrate it to him or to her, whom- 
 oever I wish to bury ; then I do bury them immediately, and 
 |hey remain there dead and powerless until they return as new 
 d better people. I write down their lives and deeds into my 
 ook m my own fashion ; everybody ought to do so. Nobody 
 hould be vexed ; if his friends do something foolish, let him 
 ury them at once and keep his good temper. He can also read 
 ^Advertiser, which is a paper written by the people, although 
 'ieir hands are sometimes guided. 
 
 I When the time comes that I myself and the story of my life are 
 '> be bound in the grave, I wish they may write upon it the 
 Ditaph ; 
 
 A CHEERFUL TEMPER. 
 
 VOL.
 
 33 8 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 Little Ida's Flowers 
 
 poor flowers are quite dead," said little 
 Ida. " They were so beautiful last night, 
 and now their leaves hang all withered on 
 the stalks ! Why do they do that ? " she 
 asked the student who was sitting on the 
 sofa, and who liked her very much. He 
 knew how to tell the most beautiful 
 stories, and could cut the most amus- 
 ing figures out of paper: hearts, with little ladies in them 
 who danced, flowers, and large castles in which one could open 
 the doors. He was a merry student. " Why do my flowers look 
 so faded to-day?" she asked him again, and showed him the 
 bunch, which was quite withered. 
 
 "Do you know what is the matter with them?" asked th< 
 student. " The flowers have been at a ball last night, and that L 
 why they droop their heads so." 
 
 " But the flowers can't dance," said little Ida. 
 " Certainly," said the student. "When it grows dark, and w 
 are asleep, they jump merrily about ; they have a ball almos 
 every night." 
 
 " Cannot children go to this ball ? " 
 
 "Oh, yes!" said the student; "the little daisies and 1 
 snowdrops." 
 
 "Where are the beautiful flowers dancing ?" asked little Ida. 
 "Have you not often been outside the town gate, near tt 
 large castle where the king lives in in the summer, where tl 
 beautiful garden is, with the many flowers? You have seen tr 
 swans which swim towards you when you give them bread-crumbi 
 Believe me, out there the great balls take place." 
 
 " I was out there in the garden yesterday with my mother," s 
 Ida ; " but all the leaves were off the trees, and there are no long, 
 any flowers there. Where are they? In the summer I saws, 
 many 1 "
 
 LITTLE IDA'S FLOWERS 339 
 
 "They are within the castle, said the student. "You must 
 
 know that as soon as the king and his courtiers return to town 
 
 the flowers immediately run into the castle and enjoy themselves 
 
 You ought to see that: the two most beautiful roses seat them' 
 
 selves on the throne, and then they are king and queen ; all the 
 
 red cockscombs come and place themselves on each side and bow 
 
 -they are the chamberlains. Afterwards all the pretty flowers 
 
 :! arrive, and a great ball takes place. The blue violets represent 
 
 little naval cadets; they dance with hyacinths and crocuses, which 
 
 ; they address as ' Miss ' ; the tulips and the large tiger-lilies are old 
 
 ladies, who see that they all dance well, and behave themselves." 
 
 "But," asked little Ida, "is nobody there who hurts the flowers 
 
 (because they dance in the king's castle?" 
 
 "The truth is, nobody knows about it," said the student. 
 I Sometimes, of course, the old steward of the castle, who has 
 to watch out there, comes during the night; he has a big bunch 
 of keys, but as soon as the flowers hear the keys rattle they are 
 Iquiet, and hide themselves behind the curtains, and only peep out 
 with their heads. ' I smell that there are flowers here,' says the 
 ?ld steward, but he cannot see them." 
 
 "That's splendid!" said little Ida, and clapped her hands. 
 " But should I not be able to see the flowers either ? " 
 
 "Yes," said the student; "only remember, when you go out 
 i.gain to look through the window then you will see them. I 
 ooked in to-day, and saw a large yellow lily resting on the sofa 
 nd stretching herself. She was a lady-in-waiting." 
 
 " Can the flowers from the Botanical Gardens also go there ? 
 >?an they go such a long distance ? " 
 
 " Yes, certainly," said the student ; " if they wish it, they can 
 y. Have you not seen the beautiful red, yellow, and white 
 utterflies ? They almost look like flowers, and that they have 
 'een. They have flown off their stalks high into the air, and 
 ive beaten it with their petals as if they had little wings, and 
 len they flew. And because they behaved themselves well they 
 ^tained permission to fly about in the daytime too, and had not 
 return home and sit still on their stalks ; and thus the petals 
 Beanie in the end real wings. That you have seen yourself. It
 
 34-0 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 is, however, very probable that the flowers in the Botanical 
 Gardens have never been at the king's castle, or do not know 
 that there is such merriment out there at night. Therefore I will 
 tell you how you can give a surprise to the Professor of Botany, 
 who lives next door : you know him well, do you not ? When you 
 go into his garden you must tell one of the flowers that a large 
 ball takes place at the castle every night ; then the flower will tell 
 all the others, and they will all fly away ; and if the professor 
 comes into the garden he will not find a single flower there, and 
 he will be unable to understand what has become of them." 
 
 " But how can one flower tell the others ? Flowers can't talk ! " 
 
 "Of course they can't," said the student, "but then they make 
 signs. Have you never seen that when the wind blows a little \ 
 the flowers nod to one another and move all their green leaves ? ; 
 That they understand as well as us when we talk together." 
 
 "Can the professor understand their signs?" asked Ida. 
 
 "Certainly. One morning he came into the garden and saw a 
 large stinging-nettle making signs with its leaves to a beautiful redr 
 carnation. It said : ' You are so pretty, and I love you with all 
 my heart.' But the professor can't stand things of that sort, and.i 
 beat the nettle at once on its leaves, which are its fingers ; bul| 
 then it stung him, and since that time he never dares touch a! 
 nettle again." 
 
 " That's amusing," said little Ida, laughing. 
 
 " How can one make a child believe such silly things ! " said z -I 
 tiresome actuary, who had come to pay a visit and was also sitting < 
 on the sofa. He could not bear the student, and always grumblec 
 when he saw him cutting out the funny amusing figures : some I 
 times he cut out a man hanging on a gibbet and holding a hear 
 in his hand, for he had been stealing hearts ; sometimes an ok 
 witch, who was riding on a broomstick, and carrying her husbanc 
 on her nose. But all this the old actuary could not stand, am . 
 then he generally said, as he did now : " How can one make a 
 child believe such silly things ? That is stupid fancy ! " 
 
 But to little Ida what the student told her about the flower o 
 seemed very amusing, and she thought a great deal of it. 
 
 The flowers hung their heads because they were tired and hat
 
 LITTLE IDA'S FLOWERS 3 z 
 
 1 
 
 danced all night ; they were surely ill. Then she took them to 
 . her other toys, which were placed on a nice little table, and the 
 ;! whole drawer was full of beautiful things. In the doll's bed her 
 ,; do Sophy was sleeping, but little Ida said to her : You mS 
 
 really get up now, Sophy, and be satisfied to lie in the drawe^to 
 
 night. The poor flowers are ill, and they must rest in your bed ; 
 iperhaps then they will recover ! " And she took the doll out at 
 ionce, but Sophy looked displeased and did not say a single word, 
 for she was vexed that she could not keep her bed. 
 
 Then Ida placed the flowers in her doll's bed, pulled the little 
 counterpane over them, and bade them lie quietly; she would 
 make them some tea, so that they might get well again, and be able 
 so get up in the morning. She drew the little curtains round 
 :he bed, lest the sun might shine into their eyes. She could not 
 uelp thinking the whole evening about all the student had told 
 jer. And when she was going to bed herself, she first looked 
 Behind the curtains, which were hanging before the window, on 
 'hich her mother's beautiful flowers stood, hyacinths and tulips, 
 'nd she whispered in a low voice : "I know where you are going 
 D-night to the ball ! " The flowers pretended not to understand 
 ier, and did not stir a leaf, but little Ida was convinced it was so.
 
 342 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 When she had gone to bed she lay for a long time thinking how 
 delightful it would be to see the beautiful flowers dancing on the 
 king's castle. " I wonder if my flowers have really been there ? " 
 Then she fell asleep. In the night she woke up again ; she had 
 been dreaming of the flowers and of the student whom the actuary 
 had blamed. It was quiet in the bedroom where Ida slept ; the 
 night lamp was burning on the table, and father and mother were 
 asleep. 
 
 " I wonder if my flowers are still resting in Sophy's bed ? " she 
 thought, " how much I should like to know that ! " She raised 
 herself a little and looked towards the door, which was ajar ; in 
 the room to which it led were her flowers and all her toys. She 
 listened, and it seemed to her as if she heard some one in the 
 room playing the piano, but quite softly, and she had never heard 
 any one play so well before. " I am sure all my flowers are 
 dancing in there," she thought. " How much I should like to see 
 them ! " But she dared not get up for fear of waking her father 
 and mother. 
 
 " Oh ! I wish they would come in here," she thought. But the 
 flowers did not come, and the music continued to sound sweetly ; 
 at last she could no longer bear it it was too beautiful ; she crept 
 out of her little bed, went softly towards the door and peeped into 
 the adjoining room. What a splendid sight she saw there ! 
 There was no night lamp burning, and yet it was quite bright the 
 moon was shining on the floor ; it was almost as light as day. All ; 
 the hyacinths and tulips stood in two long rows in the room ; not '; 
 a single one remained on the window-sill, where only the empty 
 pots were left. On the floor all the flowers danced very grace- 
 fully round one another, made figures, and held each other by 
 their long green leaves while swinging round. At the piano 
 sat a large yellow lily, which little Ida was certain she had 
 seen in the summer, for she remembered distinctly that the 
 student had said : " How much this lily resembles Miss Lina ! " 
 But then they had all laughed at him ; but now it seemed to little 
 Ida as if the flower was really like the young lady : she had the 
 same peculiar manners when she played sometimes she bent her 
 yellow smiling face to one side, sometimes to the other, and
 
 LITTLE IDA'S FLOWERS 343 
 
 nodded in time to the sweet music ! None of them noticed little 
 
 ; Ida. Then she saw a large blue crocus jump on the table, walk 
 
 , straight to the doll's bed and draw away the curtains ; there were 
 
 the sick flowers, but they got up at once and nodded to the others, 
 
 saying that they wished to dance with them. The old fumigator, 
 
 in the shape of a man whose underlip was broken off, got up and 
 
 bowed to the beautiful flowers ; they looked by no means ill ; they 
 
 leapt down to the others and enjoyed themselves very much. 
 
 Then it seemed as if something fell from the table. Ida looked 
 i and saw the carnival birch-rod jump down, and it seemed as if it 
 i was one of the flowers. It looked very pretty, and a little wax- 
 doll with a broad-brimmed hat, such as the actuary usually wore, 
 sat upon it. The carnival birch-rod hopped about among the 
 flowers on its three red stilts, and stamped on the ground, for it 
 j was dancing a mazurka, a dance which the other flowers were 
 | unable to manage, as they were too light and could not stamp on 
 , the ground. 
 
 The wax doll on the carnival birch-rod suddenly grew up, and 
 raising itself over the paper flowers which were on the rod, 
 exclaimed : " How can one make a child believe such foolish 
 things ? That is stupid fancy ! " And the wax doll looked 
 .exactly like the actuary just as yellow and dissatisfied as he was. 
 But the paper flowers beat against his thin legs, and then he 
 shrank together again and became the little wax doll. All this 
 was very amusing to see, and little Ida could not help laughing. 
 The carnival birch-rod continued to dance, and the actuary had 
 jto dance too. There was no getting out of it, whether he made 
 himself tall or long or remained the little yellow wax doll with the 
 broad-brimmed black hat. Then the other flowers, especially 
 :hose which had rested in the doll's bed, interceded in his favour, 
 md the carnival birch-rod gave in. At the same moment a loud 
 cnock was heard in the drawer where Ida's doll Sophy lay with 
 nany other toys ; the fumigator in the shape of a man walked up 
 o the edge of the table, laid itself down at full length, and began 
 o open the drawer a little way. Sophy rose and glanced with 
 istonishment all round. " I suppose there is a ball here to-night," 
 ,he said. " Why has nobody told me of it ? "
 
 344 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 " Will you dance with me ? " asked the fumigator. 
 
 " You would be the right sort of fellow to dance with ! " she said, 
 and turned her back upon it. 
 
 Then she sat down on the edge of the drawer and thought that 
 perhaps one of the flowers would ask her to dance, but none came. 
 Then she coughed, " Hem, a-hem," but even in spite of this none 
 appeared. Then the fumigator began to dance by itself not so 
 badly, after all ! As none of the flowers seemed to notice Sophy, 
 she let herself drop down from the drawer on the floor, to make a 
 noise. All the flowers came running to her and inquired if she 
 had hurt herself; they were all very polite to her, especially the 
 flowers who had been in her bed. But she was not hurt, and Ida's 
 flowers thanked her for the beautiful bed, and were very kind to 
 her took her into the centre of the room, where the moon was 
 shining, and danced with her, while ail the other flowers stood in 
 a circle round them. Now Sophy was happy, and said they might 
 keep her bed ; she did not mind sleeping in the drawer. 
 
 But the flowers said : " You are very kind, but we cannot live 
 any longer; we shall be dead by to-morrow. Tell little Ida to 
 bury us in the garden, where she has buried the canary ; then we 
 shall wake up again next summer and be more beautiful than ever ! " 
 
 " No, you must not die," said Sophy, and kissed them. Then 
 the door flew open and many beautiful flowers came dancing in. 
 Ida could not at all understand where they came from; surely 
 they had come from the king's castle. Two beautiful roses with 
 crowns on their heads walked in front ; they were king and queen. ; 
 Then came pretty stocks and carnations, bowing to all sides : they 
 had brought music with them. Large poppies and peonies blew on , 
 pea-pods until they were quite red in the face. The blue hyacinths 
 and the little white lilies of the valley tinkled as if they had bells. ! 
 That was wonderful music ! Then many other flowers came, and 
 they all danced blue violets, the red night daisies, and lilies of the i 
 valley. All the flowers kissed one another; it was very sweet to, 
 look at. At last the flowers said "Good-night" to one another,. 
 and then little Ida stole back into her bed again, and dreamt of 
 all she had seen. When she got up in the morning she quickly 
 went to the little table to see if her flowers were still there. She
 
 THE STORY OF THE YEAR 345 
 
 drew the curtains from the little bed, and there they lay, all 
 withered much more so than the day before. Sophy was lying in 
 the drawer where she had placed her, but she looked very sleepy. 
 " Do you not remember what you have to tell me ? " asked little 
 Ida. But Sophy was dumb, and did not say a single word. 
 " You are not good," said Ida ; " have they not all danced with 
 you?" Then she took a small paper box on which beautiful 
 birds were painted, opened it, and placed the dead flowers inside. 
 "This shall be your pretty coffin," she said, "and when my 
 cousins come again they shall help me to bury you, out in the 
 garden, that you may next summer grow again, and become more 
 beautiful!" 
 
 The cousins were two bright boys called Jonas and Adolphe ; 
 
 their father had given them each a crossbow, which they had 
 
 brought with them to show Ida. She told them about the poor 
 
 flowers, and asked them to help her to bury them. The two boys 
 
 walked in front with their crossbows on their shoulders, while 
 
 ! little Ida followed, carrying the pretty box with the dead flowers. 
 
 ! In the garden they dug a little grave. Ida first kissed the flowers 
 
 ; and then laid them with the little box in the earth. Adolphe and 
 
 Jonas shot with their crossbows over the grave, for they had 
 
 neither guns nor cannons. 
 
 The Story of the Year 
 
 |T was in the latter part of the month of 
 January. A violent snowstorm was raging ; 
 the snow whirled along the streets and 
 lanes and covered the outside of the 
 window-panes all over, whilst it fell down 
 in larger masses from the roofs of the 
 houses. 
 
 < All the people in the street were seized with a sudden haste ; 
 they hurried along, often jostling against one another or falling 
 'into one another's arms, holding on tightly, so as to be safe for a
 
 34 6 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 moment at least. Carriages and horses looked as if they were 
 powdered all over with sugar ; the footmen were standing with their 
 backs to the carriages, in order to shelter their faces from the 
 cutting wind ; foot-passengers eagerly sought the protection of the 
 vehicles which moved slowly forward through the deep snow. 
 When at last the storm had abated, and narrow paths were 
 cleared along the fronts of the houses, people nevertheless 
 often came to a dead stop when they met, neither wishing 
 to step aside into the deep snow to make room for the other 
 
 to pass. 
 
 Still and silently they were standing face to face, till at last 
 they mutually arrived at the tacit compromise of exposing each 
 one foot to the snow-heaps. 
 
 Towards the evening the wind ceased to blow ; the sky looked 
 as if it had been swept, and became higher and more trans- 
 parent ; the stars seemed to be quite new, and some of them were 
 shining marvellously bright and clear ; it was freezing so much that 
 the snow creaked, and soon it was covered with a crust strong 
 enough to carry the sparrows at daybreak, when they hopped up 
 and down, where the snow had been shovelled away; but there 
 was very little food to be found, and it was bitterly cold. 
 
 " Twit," said one to another, " this is what they call a new year j 
 it is much worse than the last, and we might just as well have kept 
 the old one. I am very dissatisfied, and I think I have good 
 cause to be so." 
 
 " Yes ; people were running about and firing salutes in honour 
 of the new year," said a little sparrow, shivering with cold. " They 
 were throwing pots and dishes against the doors, and were nearly 
 out of their minds for joy, because the old year was gone. I was 
 glad of it too, for I hoped we should soon have warmer days 
 again ; but nothing of the sort has happened yet ; on the contrary, 
 it freezes much harder than before. I think they must have made 
 a mistake in their calculation of the time." 
 
 " There is no doubt about it," said a third, an old grey-headed 
 bird. " They have a thing they call a calendar, which is entirely 
 their own invention, and that is why they wish to regulate every- 
 thing according to it ; but that can't be so easily done. When
 
 THE STORY OF THE YEAR 347 
 
 Spring comes the new year begins ; that is the course of nature 
 I go by that." 
 
 " But when will Spring come ? " asked the others. 
 
 " It will come when the stork comes back ; but he is very 
 uncertain. Nobody here in town knows anything about him ; they 
 are better informed in the country. Shall we fly thither and wait ? 
 There we are certainly much nearer to Spring." 
 
 " That is all very well," said one of the sparrows, who had hopped 
 
 about and chirped for a long time, without really saying anything. 
 
 " I have found here in town comforts which I fear I should have 
 
 to go without in the country. Near here, in a courtyard, live 
 
 | some people who had the happy thought of attaching two or 
 
 j three flower-pots to their house, so that their open ends are close 
 
 to the wall, whilst the bottoms of the pots stand out; a hole is cut 
 
 I into each of them large enough for me to fly in and out ; there my 
 
 husband and I have built our nest, and there we have reared all 
 j our young ones. These people have of course done all this to 
 | have the pleasure of seeing us, otherwise I am sure they would 
 I not have done it. For their own pleasure, also, they strew out 
 : bread-crumbs, and thus we have food : we are, as it were, provided 
 : for. Therefore I think my husband and I will stay, although we 
 i are very discontented yes, I think we shall stay." 
 
 " And we shall fly into the country to see if Spring is not yet 
 1 coming." And off they went. 
 
 In the country the winter was harder still, and the glass showed 
 
 * a few degrees more cold than in town. The piercing wind swept 
 ' over the snow-covered fields. The peasant sat in his sledge, with 
 'his hands wrapt in warm mittens, beating his arms across his 
 .chest to get warm, whilst his whip was lying on his knees ; the 
 
 :ilean horses ran so fast that they steamed; the snow creaked, and 
 ,the sparrows hopped about in the ruts and froze. " Twit ! When 
 .will Spring come ? It takes a very long time." 
 
 " A very long time," resounded from the nearest snow-covered 
 hill far over the field; it might have been an echo which 
 'one heard, or perhaps the language of the wonderful old man 
 who sat in wind and weather on the top of snow-heaps; lie 
 .was quite white, dressed like a peasant in a coarse white coat of
 
 348 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 frieze; he had long white hair, was very pale, and had large 
 clear eyes. 
 
 " Who is the old man yonder ? " asked the sparrows. 
 
 " I know," said an old raven sitting on the post of a railing, who 
 was condescending enough to acknowledge that we are all small 
 birds in the sight of the Lord, and who was therefore ready to 
 talk to the sparrows and to give them information. "I know 
 who the old man is. It is Winter, the old man of last year : he 
 is not dead, as the calendar says, but is guardian to the young 
 prince Spring, who is coming. Yes, Winter is still swaying his 
 sceptre. Ugh ! the cold makes you shiver, you little ones, does 
 it not?" 
 
 " Yes ; but is it not as I said ? " asked the sparrow. " The 
 calendar is only the invention of men, it is not arranged according 
 to nature. They ought to leave such things to us, who are more 
 sensitive." 
 
 Week after week passed by ; the frozen lake was motionless, 
 and looked like molten lead; damp, icy mists were hanging 
 heavily over the country ; the large black crows flew about in long 
 rows without making a noise ; it was as if everything in nature was 
 asleep. Then a sunbeam glided over the icy surface of the lake, 
 and made it shine like polished tin. The snow covering the fields 
 and the hill no longer glittered as before ; but the white man, 
 Winter himself, was still sitting there and looking unswervingly 
 southward ; he did not notice that the snowy carpet sunk, as it 
 were, into the ground, and that here and there little green spots 
 came forth, and on these spots the sparrows flocked together. 
 
 " Twit, twit ! is Spring coming now?" 
 
 " Spring ! " It sounded over field and meadow, and through 
 the dark woods, where bright green moss was shining on the 
 trunks of the trees ; and the two first storks arrived from the 
 south, carrying on their backs two lovely little children, a boy and 
 a girl ; they kissed the earth in greeting, and wherever they set 
 their feet, white flowers sprang forth out of the snow ; hand-in- 
 hand they went to the old ice-man, Winter, and tenderly clung to 
 his breast. In a moment they had all three disappeared, whilst 
 the whole country round them was enveloped in a thick damp
 
 - 
 
 THE STORY OF THE YEAR 349 
 
 ist, dense and heavy, which covered everything like a veil 
 Gradually the wind began to blow, and rushed with a roar against 
 the mist and drove it away with violent blows ; the sun shone 
 brightly. 
 
 Winter had disappeared, but Spring's lovely children had seated 
 themselves on the throne of the year. 
 
 " This is the new year ! " cried the sparrows. " Now we shall 
 get our due, and damages in addition, for the severe winter." 
 
 Wherever the two children directed their steps, green buds 
 burst forth on the bushes and trees ; the grass was shooting up ; 
 the cornfields became day by day greener and more lovely to look 
 at. The little girl strewed flowers all around there were no end 
 of them in her frock, which she held up ; however jealously she 
 strewed them, they seemed to grow there. In her great zeal she 
 poured forth a snow of blossoms over apple and pear trees, so 
 that they stood there in all their splendour, before the green leaves 
 had time to grow forth. 
 
 And she clapped her hands, and the boy followed her example ; 
 flocks of birds came flying, nobody knew where they came from, 
 and chirped and sang : " Spring has come ! " 
 
 That was wonderful to see. Many an old woman came out of 
 her doorway into the sunshine, and basked in it, looking at the 
 yellow flowers, blooming everywhere in the fields, and thinking 
 that it was just like that in her young days ; the world grew young 
 again to her. " It is a blessing to be out here to-day," she said. 
 
 The wood still wore its dark green garments, made of buds, but 
 the thyme had already come out, filling the air with sweet 
 fragrance, and there were plenty of violets, anemones and prim- 
 roses : every blade of grass was full of sap and strength. Truly 
 that was a marvellous carpet, on which one could not help wish- 
 ing to rest. There the two Spring children sat down hand-in- 
 hand, singing and smiling, and continually growing. A mild rain 
 fell down from heaven] they did not notice it, the rain-drops 
 mingled with their own tears of joy. 
 
 : The two lovers kissed each other, and in a moment the green 
 of the wood became alive. When the sun rose again all the 
 woods were green.
 
 350 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 Hand-in-hand the betrothed wandered under the fresh 
 hanging roof of leaves, wherever the sunbeams and shadows 
 produced a change of colour in the green. 
 
 What delicate tints, what a sweet fragrance the new leaves had ! 
 The clear stream and brooks rippled merrily between the velvet- 
 lik^ rushes and over the coloured pebbles. " So it was for ever 
 and shall ever remain so," said all Nature. The cuckoo sang, the 
 lark flew up it was a beautiful spring ; but the willow trees wore 
 woollen mittens over their blossoms; they were exceedingly 
 careful, and that is tiresome. 
 
 Days and weeks passed by, and the heat came, as it were, roll- 
 ing down ; hot waves of air passed through the corn and made it 
 yellower from day to day. The white water-lily of the north 
 spread its large green leaves over the surface of the streams and 
 lakes, and the fishes sought shade beneath them. In a spot 
 where the trees of the wood sheltered it stood a farmer's cottage ; 
 the sun shone on its walls and warmed the unfolded roses, and 
 the black juicy berries with which the cherry-trees were loaded. 
 There sat the lovely wife of Summer, the same that we have seen as 
 child and bride ; her glances were fixed on the rising dark clouds, 
 which, like mountains, in wave-like outlines, dark blue and heavy, 
 were rising higher and higher. From three sides they came, con- 
 tinually growing, and seemed very much like a petrified reversed 
 ocean gradually settling down on the forest, where everything, as 
 if by magic, had become quiet. Not a breath of air was stirring ; 
 every bird was silent, there was an earnest expectation in the 
 whole of Nature, but on the paths and roadways people in 
 carriages, on horseback, and on foot, hastened to reach a shelter. 
 
 Suddenly there came a flash of light, as if the sun broke through 
 the clouds again, flaming, dazzling, all-devouring ; and then again 
 it became dark, and the thunder rolled. Rain came pouring down 
 in torrents ; darkness and light, absolute silence and terrible noise, 
 followed each other in quick succession. The wind moved the 
 long, feather-like reeds on the moor like the waves of the sea ; the 
 branches of the trees were concealed in watery mist. Grass and 
 corn lay beaten down and swamped, looking as if they could 
 never rise again. Then the rain gradually ceased, the sun burst
 
 THE STORY OF THE YEAR 351 
 
 forth, drops of water glittered on the stalks and leaves like pearls, 
 the birds began to sing, the fishes darted out of the water, the 
 gnats played in the sunshine ; and out on a stone in the foaming 
 water stood Summer himself, the strong man, with vigorous limbs, 
 and wet, dripping hair, refreshed by the bath, basking in the 
 sunshine. 
 
 All Nature seemed born anew, and stood forth in rich, strong, 
 beautiful splendour ; it was Summer, warm, sweet Summer. 
 
 Sweet and agreeable was the fragrance streaming forth from the 
 rich clover field ; the bees were humming yonder round the ruins 
 of the old meeting-place ; a bramble-bush wound itself round the 
 stone altar, which, washed by the rain, was glittering in the sun- 
 shine, thither flew the queen with the whole swarm to prepare 
 wax and honey. Only Summer saw it, and his vigorous spouse ; 
 for them the altar-table was covered with Nature's offerings. 
 
 The evening sky looked like gold ; no church dome was ever 
 so bright, and the moon was shining between the evening red and 
 the dawn. It was Summer ! 
 
 And days and weeks passed by. The shining scythes of the 
 reapers glittered in the cornfields, the branches of the apple-trees 
 were bending under the weight of the red and yellow fruit ; the 
 hops smelt sweetly and hung in large clusters, and under the 
 hazel bushes, where the nuts grew in big bunches, sat Summer, 
 with his serious wife. 
 
 "What a wealth !" she said ; "blessings are spread everywhere. 
 
 Wherever one turns it is pleasant to abide ; and yet I do not 
 
 know why I am longing for peace, rest ; I cannot express what I 
 
 feel. They are already ploughing again. Men are insatiable ; 
 
 they always wish to gain more and more. See, the storks come in 
 
 flocks and follow at a little distance behind the ploughs ; it is the 
 
 | bird of Egypt which carried us through the air. Do you still 
 
 i remember when we two came hither to this northern land ? We 
 
 '. brought with us flowers, lovely sunshine, and green woods. The 
 
 , wind has dealt very roughly with them; they are becoming brown 
 
 , and dark like the trees of the south, but they do not carry golden 
 
 I fruit like those." 
 
 " You would like to see the golden fruit?" asked Summer. " Look
 
 352 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 up, then." He lifted his arm, and the leaves of the trees became 
 red and golden. A splendour of colour was spread over all the 
 woods ; the dog-rose hedge glittered with scarlet hips, the 
 elder-trees were full of large bunches of dark-brown berries, 
 the horse-chestnuts fell down out of their dark-green husks, 
 and on the ground below violets were blooming for the second 
 time. 
 
 But the queen of the year grew quieter and paler. "It is 
 blowing very cold," she said ; " the night brings damp mists. I 
 am longing for the country where I passed my childhood." 
 
 And she saw the storks fly away. Not a single one remained ; 
 and she stretched out her hands after them, as if she wished 
 to retain them. She looked up at the empty nests in one a 
 long-stalked cornflower, in another the yellow rape-seed were 
 thriving, as if the nest was only intended to protect them and 
 serve as a fence for them; and the sparrows flew up into the 
 Storks' nest. 
 
 " Twit ! What has become of the master and his wife ? They 
 cannot bear it if the wind blows a little, and therefore they have 
 left the country. I wish them a happy journey." 
 
 The leaves in the wood became more yellow day by day, and 
 fell down one after another. The violent autumn winds were 
 blowing ; the year was far advanced, and on a couch of dry leaves 
 rested the queen of the year, and looked with mild eyes at the 
 sparkling stars, while her husband stood by her side. A gust of 
 wind made the leaves rustle ; a great many of them fell down, and 
 suddenly she was gone but a butterfly the last of the year flew 
 through the cold air. 
 
 Damp fogs came, icy winds were blowing, and the dark long 
 nights set in. The ruler of the year stood there, with white locks, 
 but he was not aware of it ; he thought snowflakes were falling 
 from the clouds. 
 
 A thin layer of snow was spread over the green fields, and the 
 church bells were pealing forth the Christmas chimes. 
 
 " The bells are telling of Christ's birth," said the ruler of the 
 year. " Soon the new rulers will be born, and I shall go to rest, 
 like my wife : to rest in the shining star."
 
 THE STORY OF THE YEAR 
 
 And out in the green pinewood the Christmas angel consecrate, 
 [the young trees which he selected to serve at his festival 
 
 "May there be joy in the homes under the green branches" 
 laid the old ruler of the year: in a few weeks his hair had 
 *^!*L? SnOW " : The time for my rest draws 
 
 y Crow " 
 "You are still in power," said the Christmas angel; "you must 
 
 ot yet go to rest. Let the snow still cover and warm the young 
 leed. Learn to bear the thought that honour is done to another 
 Be you are still the ruler. Learn to be forgotten and vet to 
 f ve. The hour of your deliverance approaches with Spring" 
 
 " When is Spring coming ? " said Winter. 
 I " He will come when the stork returns." 
 6 And Winter, ice-cold and broken down, with white locks and 
 U whiter beard, was sitting on the top of the hill, where his 
 Predecessor had sat, and looked towards the south. The ice 
 lacked, the snow creaked, the skaters enjoyed themselves on 
 Je smooth surface of the lake and the black of the ravens 
 |id crows stood in strong contrast to the white ground. Not 
 I breath of air was stirring. Old Winter clenched his fists in 
 le cold air, and the ice on the rivers and lakes was several 
 fct thick. 
 
 | Then the sparrows came out of town again and asked : " Who 
 the old man yonder?" And the raven was there again, or 
 irhaps his son, which comes to the same thing, and replied to 
 {turn : " It is Winter, the old man from last year. He is not dead, 
 i the calendar says, but is the guardian of Spring, who is 
 tf preaching." 
 
 j," When will Spring come ? " asked the sparrows ; " then we 
 Jill have a better time and milder regime ; the old one was good 
 (f nothing." 
 
 |And Winter nodded pensively towards the dark leafless woods, 
 fcere every tree showed the graceful outline of its branches, and 
 Jring the long winter night icy fogs descended the ruler 
 framt of his young days, of his manhood, and at daybreak the 
 lole forest was glittering with hoar-frost; that was Winter's 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 354 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 summer dream, but the sunshine soon made the frost melt and 
 drop down from the branches. 
 
 " When will Spring come ? " asked the sparrows 
 
 " Spring ! " echoed the snow-covered hills : the sun shone more 
 warmly, the snow melted, the birds chirped, " Spring is coming." 
 
 And the first stork came flying through the air, a second soon 
 followed : each had a lovely child on his back. They descended 
 in an open field, kissed the ground and kissed the silent old man ; 
 and as Moses disappeared on the mount, so he disappeared, 
 carried away by the clouds. 
 
 The story of the year was ended. 
 
 " This is all very fine," said the sparrows ; " it is beautiful too ; 
 but it is not according to the calendar, and therefore it must 
 be wrong." 
 
 The Travelling Companion 
 
 OOR John was in great trouble, for his 
 father was very ill and could not be cured. 
 Besides these two there was no one at all 
 in the little room : the lamp on the table 
 was almost out, and it was late at 
 night. 
 
 " You have been a good son, John," said 
 the sick father ; " the Lord will help you 
 on in the world." He looked at him with his grave loving eyes, 
 took a deep breath, and died : it seemed as if he were asleep. John 
 wept; now he had no one in the world, neither father nor 
 mother, neither sister nor brother. Poor John ! He lay on his 
 knees at the bedside, kissed his dead father's hand, and wept 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 saw the sun and moon 
 bow down before him ; he saw his father alive and well again, and 
 heard him laugh as he always laughed when he was right merry.
 
 THE TRAVELLING COMPANION 355 
 
 A beautiful girl, with a golden crown on her long shining hair, gave 
 him her hand, and his father said : " Do you see what a bride 
 | you have obtained? She is the most beautiful maiden in the 
 ; world." Then he awoke, and all the joy was gone ; his father lay 
 :dead and cold upon the bed, and there was no one else in the 
 room. Poor John ! 
 
 The next week the funeral took place. John walked close 
 behind the coffin; he could no longer see the kind father 
 (who had loved him so dearly. He heard them throwing the 
 tearth down upon the coffin, and gazed upon it till only the last 
 corner was to be seen ; but with the next shovelful of earth that 
 loo was hidden. Then he felt as if his heart must burst with 
 tsorrow. Those around him were singing a psalm in beautiful 
 jsacred tones that brought tears into his eyes ; he wept, and that 
 jdid him good in his grief. 
 
 The sun shone beautifully upon the green trees, as if it would 
 isay : " You must not give way to sorrow any longer, John ! Do you 
 5ee how beautiful the sky is ? Up yonder is your father, and he 
 is praying to the good Lord that it may always go well with 
 jrou." 
 
 fj " I will always be good," said John ; " then I shall join my 
 ;ather in heaven; and what joy it will be when we see each 
 , ; >ther again ! How much shall I then be able to tell him ! And 
 lie will show me so many things, and explain to me the glory of 
 .icaven, just as he used to instruct me here upon earth. Oh ! 
 I /hat joy that will be ! " 
 
 ','. He saw it all so plainly that it made him smile, whilst the tears 
 
 : .'ere still running down his cheeks. The little birds sat up in the 
 
 i hestnut-trees and twittered. They were joyous and cheerful, 
 
 i ilthough they too had been present at the funeral ; but they knew 
 
 1 .2ry well that the dead man was now in Heaven, and that he had 
 
 .ings, larger and more beautiful than theirs. They knew that he 
 
 as happy now, because he had been good down here on earth, 
 
 ! Ad therefore they were pleased. John saw how they flew far out 
 
 r to the world from the green trees, and he felt a desire to fly with 
 
 .em. But first he cut a large wooden cross to place upon his 
 
 ther's grave, and when he brought it there in the evening he
 
 356 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 found the grave already strewn with sand and flowers. Strangers 
 had done this, for all loved the good father who was now 
 dead. 
 
 Early next morning John packed his little bundle, and care- 
 fully placed in his belt his whole inheritance, amounting to fifty 
 dollars and a few silver pennies ; with this he intended to start 
 out into the world. But he first went to the churchyard to his 
 father's grave, recited the Lord's Prayer, and said " Farewell ! " 
 
 In the fields through which he passed all the flowers looked 
 fresh and blooming in the warm sunshine ; they nodded in the 
 wind as if they wished to say, " Welcome to the green pastures ! 
 Is it not beautiful here ? " 
 
 But John turned round once more to take a last look at the old 
 church in which he had been baptized when a little child, and 
 where he had gone to service with his father every Sunday, and 
 where he had sung many a psalm. On looking back he saw the 
 goblin of the church, with his little red pointed cap, standing high 
 up in one of the openings of the steeple, shading his face with his 
 bent arm to keep the sun out of his eyes. John nodded him 
 farewell, and the goblin waved his red cap, laid his hand upon his 
 heart, and threw him a great many kisses to show that he wished 
 him well and hoped that he might have a right pleasant journey. 
 
 John thought of the many beautiful things he would now see in 
 the great splendid world, and he went farther and farther farther 
 than he had ever been before. He did not know the places 
 through which he passed nor the people whom he met; he was, 
 now in quite a strange land. 
 
 The first night he had to lie down to rest upon a haystack in 
 the open fields ; he had no other bed. But it was a very nice 
 one, he thought ; the king could have no better : the whole field, 
 with the brook, the haystack, and then the blue sky above what 
 a fine bedroom it made ! The green grass, with its little red and 
 white flowers, was the carpet ; the elder bushes and the wild roses 
 were bouquets; and the whole brook, with its clear fresh water, in,i 
 which the reeds bowed down and wished him good evening and 
 good morning, served him as a wash-hand basin. The moon was 
 really a splendid night-lamp high up under the blue canopy, and
 
 THE TRAVELLING COMPANION 357 
 
 it would not set light to the bed-curtainsJohn could sleep in 
 i .peace. And he did so too, not waking up till the sun rose and 
 i all the little birds round about were singing " Good morning ! 
 
 Good morning ! Are you not up yet ? " 
 The bells were ringing for church ; it was Sunday. The people 
 
 were going to hear the sermon, and John went in with them, sang 
 
 - a hymn and listened to the Word of God. He felt as if he were 
 i in his own church, in which he had been baptized and where he 
 
 had sung hymns with his father. 
 
 ; Outside in the churchyard were many graves, and on some 
 i there grew long grass. Then he thought of his father's grave, 
 
 which would one day look like these, for he would not be able to 
 . weed it and keep it trim. So he sat down, tearing up the weeds, 
 :i setting upright the wooden crosses that had fallen down, and 
 
 estoring to their places the wreaths which the wind had carried 
 
 rom the graves. 
 
 1 " Perhaps some one will do the same to my father's grave, since 
 cannot do so ! " thought he. 
 
 1 At the churchyard gate stood an old beggar leaning on a crutch. 
 
 ohn gave him the silver pennies he had, and then went farther 
 pj 'n his way into the wide world, happy and contented. 
 
 Towards evening a dreadful storm came on. He hastened to 
 ; et under shelter, but the dark night soon fell, and at last he 
 
 - cached a small church which stood alone upon a little hill. 
 
 || " I will sit down in a corner here," he said, and went in. " I am 
 red, and must rest for a little while." 
 
 So he sat down, folded his hands, and said his evening prayer ; 
 id before he knew it he was asleep and dreaming, while outside 
 
 thundered and lightened. 
 
 When he awoke it was midnight ; the storm was over and the 
 oon was shining in through the windows. In the middle of the 
 .urch stood an open coffin in which lay a dead man waiting to be 
 'tried. John was by no means afraid, for he had a clear 
 1 nscience, and he knew that the dead hurt no one. 
 
 Only the living who do evil are wicked. Two of these living 
 T cked people stood close by the corpse, which had been placed in 
 ti church before burial ; they had come with the wicked intention
 
 
 358 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 of taking the poor man out of his coffin and of throwing him out 
 before the church door. 
 
 " Why do you want to do that ? " asked John. " That is wicked 
 and bad ; let him rest, in God's name." 
 
 "Fiddlesticks!" said the two evil-looking men. "He has 
 deceived us. He owes us money which he could not pay ; and 
 now that he is dead into the bargain, we shall not get a penny of it : 
 that's why we want revenge. He shall lie like a dog before the 
 church-door." 
 
 "I have only fifty dollars," said John. "That is my whole 
 inheritance ; but I will gladly give it you, if you promise me, upon 
 your honour, to leave the poor dead man in peace. I daresay I 
 shall manage to get on without the money ; I have strong healthy 
 limbs, and the Lord will provide." 
 
 " Very well," said the men ; " if you will pay his debts, we shall 
 neither of us do him any harm, you may depend upon that." So 
 they took the money that he gave them and went their way, 
 laughing loudly at his simplicity. He then laid the body straight 
 again in the coffin, folded its hands, and bidding it farewell went 
 further into the wood with a light heart. 
 
 All around him, wherever the moon shone through the trees, he 
 saw the pretty little elves playing merrily. They were not at all 
 disturbed by him; they knew very well that he was good and 
 innocent, and it is only bad people who never see the elves. 
 Some of them were no taller than a finger's breadth, and had their 
 long yellow hair fastened up with golden combs. Two by two they 
 played at see-saw on the large dew-drops that lay upon the leaves 
 and the tall grass ; every now and then a drop rolled down, and 
 then they fell among the long blades of grass, causing much 
 laughter and noise among the rest of the little people. It was 
 delightful ! They sang, and John distinctly recognised the pretty 
 songs which he had learnt when a little boy. Great gaily-coloured 
 spiders, with silver crowns on their heads, were made to spin lon 
 suspension bridges from one hedge to another, and palace; 
 that looked like glittering glass in the moonshine when thf 
 fine dew fell upon them. And so it went till sunrise. Thei 
 the little elves crept into the flower-beds, and the wind seize<
 
 THE TRAVELLING COMPANION 359 
 
 their bridges and castles, which flew through the air like spiders' 
 webs. 
 
 John had just left the wood, when a strong manly voice called 
 out after him : " Hallo, comrade, where are you going to?" 
 
 "Out into the wide world!" he replied. "I have neither 
 father nor mother, I am only a poor fellow but the Lord will help 
 me." 
 
 " I am going out into the wide world, too," said the stranger. 
 " Shall we keep each other company ? " 
 
 "Certainly," replied John ; and so they went together. 
 
 They soon grew very fond of each other, for they were both good 
 hmen. But John perceived that the stranger was much wiser than 
 ihimself. He had travelled almost all over the world and could 
 Upeak of every possible thing that existed. 
 
 I The sun was already high in the heavens when they sat down 
 I under a large tree to eat their breakfast. Just then an old woman 
 rame up. She was very old and lame, supporting herself on a 
 putch; on her back she carried a bundle of firewood that she had 
 [collected in the woods. Her apron was tied up, and John saw that 
 ^he had three large bundles of ferns and willow-boughs in it. As 
 Lhe came near them, her foot slipped, and she fell with a loud cry, 
 or she had broken her leg, poor old woman. 
 [ John at once suggested that they should carry the old woman 
 I o her home ; but the stranger, opening his knapsack, took out a
 
 360 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 box, and said that he had a salve that would heal her leg, and 
 make it strong immediately, so that she would be able to walk 
 home herself, as if she had never broken her leg at all. 
 
 But he demanded that in return she should give him the three 
 bundles she had in her apron. 
 
 "That would be well paid," said the old woman, shaking her 
 head in a strange manner. She was very unwilling to give up the 
 herbs, but it was certainly unpleasant to lie there with a broken 
 leg. So she gave him the three bundles, and as soon as he had 
 rubbed the salve into her leg she got up and walked much better 
 than before. All this the salve could do. But it was not to be 
 bought at the chemist's. 
 
 "What do you want the bundles for?" John asked his 
 companion. 
 
 " They are three fine bundles of herbs," he replied. " I am very 
 fond of them, for I am an odd kind of fellow." 
 
 They walked on some distance. 
 
 " Look how the clouds are gathering," said John, pointing 
 straight before him. " How terribly black they are ! " 
 
 "No," said his companion, "those are not clouds, they are 
 mountains the glorious high mountains by which one gets up 
 amongst the clouds and into the fresh air. Believe me, it is 
 delightful to be there. To-morrow we shall certainly be a good 
 stretch on our way." 
 
 But they were not so near as they looked ; they had to walk a 
 whole day long before they reached the mountains, where the dark 
 forests grew up towards the sky, and where there were stones 
 almost as large as a whole town. It would certainly be a great 
 exertion to cross them, so John and his companion turned into an 
 inn to take a good rest, and recruit their strength for the morrow's 
 march. 
 
 A great many people were assembled in the roomy bar of the 
 inn, for there was a man giving a puppet-show. He had just put 
 up his little theatre, and the people were sitting round in a circle 
 to see the play. A fat butcher had taken the best seat in the first 
 row, and by his side sat his big mastiff a ferocious-looking 
 animal staring, like all the others, with all his might.
 
 THE TRAVELLING COMPANION s6l 
 
 The show now began; it was a pretty little play with a kin 
 and a queen m it. They sat upon a splendid thron* ^ 5* 
 
 ; crowns upon their heads, and long trains to their robes fofSS 
 means permitted it. The sweetest little wooden dolls 'wkh da 
 
 : eyes and great moustaches, stood at all the doors, owning and 
 
 closing them, so that fresh air might come into the room ft ^ 
 
 really a very pretty play. But when the queen got up and walked 
 
 he d S h ,h r K f ^ maStiff ~ Heaven kn < why !-not being 
 held by the fat butcher, jumped right into the theatre, and seized 
 
 the queen by the waist, making her crack. It was terrible 
 
 The poor showman was very upset and grieved about his queen 
 I ?*l H K m St , beautiful do11 he Possessed, and now the ugTy 
 ..mastiff had bitten her head off. But when all the people had gone 
 :ithe stranger who had come with John said that he would soon 
 .make it right again; taking out his box, he rubbed some of the 
 salve that he had used to heal the old woman's broken leg, into the 
 loll. As soon as it had been applied, the doll was whole again 
 indeed, it could even use all its limbs by itself; there was no longer' 
 my need to pull the string. The doll was just like a human being 
 scept that it could not speak. The owner of the little show was 
 lelighted; he no longer needed to hold this doll, for it could dance 
 >y itself. None of the others could do that. 
 Later in the night, when all the people in the inn were in bed 
 ae one was heard groaning so terribly and so continuously that 
 very one got up to see who it was. The showman went to his little 
 heatre, for it was from that quarter that the groans came. All 
 ie wooden puppets, including the king and all the soldiers, lay 
 Scattered about; they were groaning terribly, and looking most 
 : iteously out of their glass eyes, for they were all most anxious to 
 2 besmeared with the salve like the queen, so that they also 
 Wit be able to move by themselves. The queen immediately 
 11 upon her knees, and holding out her splendid crown, said in 
 mploring tones: "Take this, but anoint my consort and my 
 )urtiers ! " At this the poor showman could not refrain from 
 eping ; he really felt for her. He promised to give the stranger 
 I the money he should receive for his play on the following 
 "ening, if he would only besmear four or five of his best dolls.
 
 362 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 But the stranger said he desired nothing more than the sword that 
 the showman carried at his side; on that being given him, he 
 besmeared six puppets, which immediately began to dance, and so 
 prettily, that all the young girls who were looking on soon began 
 to dance too. The coachman and the cook, the waiter and the 
 chambermaid, all the guests, and even the shovel and the tongs, 
 joined in ; the latter, however, fell over as soon as they had taken 
 the first step. What a merry night it was ! 
 
 Next morning John left the inn with his companion, ascending 
 the lofty mountains, and going through the vast pine-forests. 
 They got up so high that the church towers far beneath them 
 looked like little blue berries amongst all the verdure ; they could 
 see very far, for many, many miles, places where they had never been. 
 John had never before seen so much of the beauty of this fair 
 world at once. The sun shone warm in the clear blue sky, and 
 when he heard the sweet notes of the horn as it was blown by the 
 huntsmen in the mountains, tears of joy came into his eyes, and he 
 could not refrain from crying : " How good is God to have created 
 so much beauty in the world, and to have given it us to enjoy ! " 
 
 His comrade too stood there with his arms folded, gazing out 
 over woods and towns, into the warm sunshine. 
 
 At that moment they heard a strange sweet sound over their 
 heads, and looking up they saw a large white swan hovering in the 
 air above them and singing as they had never heard a bird sing 
 before. The song, however, grew fainter and fainter ; with droop- 
 ing head the bird slowly sank down at their feet, where the 
 beautiful creature died. 
 
 " Two beautiful wings," said John's companion, " so white and 
 large as those which this bird has, are worth money ; I will take 
 them with me. Do you see what a good thing it was that I had a 
 sword ? " 
 
 So he struck off both wings of the dead bird with one blow ; he 
 was going to keep them. 
 
 They now travelled many, many miles, far across the mountains, 
 till at last they saw a great city before them, with hundreds of 
 steeples that shone like silver in the sun. In the city was a 
 splendid marble castle with a roof of pure gold. There lived the
 
 THE TRAVELLING COMPANION 363 
 
 king. John and his companion did not wish to go into the town 
 at once, but stopped at an inn just outside, in order to wash and 
 dress themselves a bit, for they wanted to look neat when they 
 went into the streets. 
 
 The landlord told them that the king was a very good man, who 
 never did any one any harm ; but as for his daughter Heavens 
 
 preserve us ! she was a bad princess. She was beautiful enough ; 
 nobody was so pretty nor so dainty as she ; but what was the use 
 of that ? She was a wicked sorceress, who was the cause of many 
 handsome princes losing their lives. She had given everybody 
 permission to woo her. Any one might come, were he prince or 
 beggar; that was all one to her. He was only to guess three 
 things that she happened to be thinking of when she asked him. 
 If he could do so, she would marry him, and he would be king 
 over the whole country when her father died ; but if he could not 
 guess the three things, she had him hanged or beheaded. Her 
 father, the old king, was very grieved about it ; but he could not 
 prevent her from being so wicked, for he had once declared that 
 he would never have anything to do with her lovers, and that she
 
 364 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 could do as she liked. Every time a prince came and tried to 
 guess in order to have the princess, he failed, and then he was 
 either hanged or beheaded. He had been warned in time ; he 
 might have gone away without guessing. The old king was so 
 grieved at all the sorrow and misery she caused, that he and all 
 his soldiers spend a whole day on their knees every year, praying 
 that the princess might reform \ but that she never would. The 
 old women who drank brandy used to colour it black before they 
 drank it so deeply did they mourn. And more than that they 
 really could not do. 
 
 " What a hateful princess ! " said John. " She ought really to 
 be flogged that would do her good. If only I were the old king, 
 she should soon be thrashed." 
 
 As they spoke they heard the people shouting " Hurrah " out- 
 side. The princess was passing ; she was really so beautiful that 
 all the people forgot how wicked she was, and so they shouted 
 " Hurrah." Twelve fair maidens, all in white silk dresses, and 
 each carrying a golden tulip in her hand, rode at her side on black 
 horses. The princess herself was on a white horse adorned with 
 diamonds and rubies. Her riding habit was of pure cloth of gold, 
 and the whip which she held in her hand glittered like a sunbeam. 
 The golden chain around her neck seemed as though composed 
 of small heavenly stars, and her mantle had been made up 
 from more than a thousand butterflies' wings. Nevertheless, she 
 was still more beautiful than her attire. 
 
 When John beheld her, he got as red in the face as a drop of 
 blood, and could not say a single word. The princess looked just 
 like the beautiful maiden with the golden crown of whom he had 
 dreamt the night his father died. He thought her so beautiful 
 that he could not help loving her with all his heart. " It could not 
 be true," he said to himself, " that she was a wicked sorceress, who 
 had people hanged or beheaded if they could not guess what she 
 asked them. Every one is free to woo her, even the poorest beggar. 
 Then I will really go to the castle, for I feel that I must." 
 
 Every one told him not to go, and warned him that he would 
 certainly share the fate of all the others. His companion, too, 
 tried to dissuade him, but John was of opinion that it would be
 
 THE TRAVELLING COMPANION 365 
 
 all right. He brushed his shoes and coat, washed his hands and 
 face, combed his beautiful fair hair, and went into the town alone 
 and up to the castle. 
 
 "Come in," said the old king when John knocked at the door. 
 John went in, and the old king, in his dressing-gown and slippers, 
 
 aw 
 
 :ame to meet him. He had his crown on his head and held the 
 ;ceptre in one hand and the orb in the other. 
 : " Wait a moment," he said, putting the orb under his arm in 
 >rder to shake hands with John. But as soon as he heard that 
 le was a suitor, he began to cry so bitterly that both the sceptre 
 ind the orb fell upon the floor, and he was obliged to dry his eyes 
 )n his dressing-gown. Poor old king ! 
 
 " Pray, don't," he said. " You will share the fate of all the others. 
 Veil, you will see." Then he led him out into the princess's pleasure 
 garden. What a terrible sight was there ! In each tree there 
 lung three or four princes who had wooed the princess, but had 
 lot been able to guess what she had asked them. Every time a
 
 366 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 gust of wind came, all the skeletons rattled, so that the little birds 
 were startled and never ventured to comeinto the garden. All 
 the flowers were tied up to human "bones, and in the flower-pots 
 were grinning skulls. It was really a strange garden for a 
 princess. 
 
 " Now you see it," said the old king. " You will share the 
 same fate. Therefore give up the idea. You will really make 
 me very unhappy, for I take these things much to heart.' 
 
 John kissed the good old king's hand and said it would be all 
 right, for he was charmed with the fair princess. 
 
 Then the princess herself came riding into the courtyard with 
 all her ladies, so they went out to her and bade her "Good-day." 
 She was marvellously fair to look at, and gave John her hand. He 
 loved her still more passionately than before. She could certainly 
 be no wicked sorceress, as all the people wanted to make out. 
 Then they went into the hall and the little pages offered them 
 preserves and ginger-nuts. But the old king was sad and could 
 eat nothing. Besides, the ginger-nuts were too hard for him. 
 
 It was arranged that John was to come to the castle again on 
 the following morning ; then the judges and the whole council 
 would be assembled to hear the guessing. If it turned out all right 
 he would have to come twice more ; but hitherto no one had yet 
 guessed aright the first time, and had all lost their lives. 
 
 John was not much concerned about his fate. On the contrary, 
 he was in good spirits, and thought only of the fair princess, 
 feeling sure Heaven would help him how, he did not know, and 
 preferred not to think about it. He danced along the high- 
 road as he went back to the inn, where his travelling companion 
 was waiting for him. 
 
 John did not tire of telling how gracious the princess had 
 been to him, and how beautiful she was. He already longed for 
 the next day, when he was to go to the castle to try his luck at 
 guessing. 
 
 But his companion shook his head and was very sad. " I am 
 so fond of you,'' he said ; " we might have stayed together a long 
 while yet, and I am to lose you so soon. Poor dear John ! I 
 could weep, but I will not spoil your happiness on the last evening
 
 THE TRAVELLING COMPANION 
 
 367 
 
 that we shall perhaps spend together. We will be merry, right 
 merry; to-morrow, when you are gone, I will weep undisturbed." 
 
 All the people in the town had soon heard that a new 
 suitor for the princess had arrived, and consequently there was 
 great mourning. The theatre was closed ; all the cake-women tied 
 crape round their sugar-figures, 
 and the king and the priests lay 
 upon their knees in the churches. 
 There was general mourning, for 
 no other fate awaited John than 
 that which had befallen all the 
 other suitors. 
 
 Towards the evening John's 
 companion made a large bowl of 
 punch, and said to him : " Now 
 let us be right merry, and drink 
 to the health of the princess." 
 But when John had drunk two 
 glasses he became so sleepy that 
 it was impossible for him to keep 
 his eyes open; he sank into a 
 deep slumber. His companion 
 lifted him gently from the chair 
 and laid him in the bed. When 
 it had got quite dark he took the two large wings that he had cut 
 off from the swan, and fastened them upon his own shoulders. He 
 then put into his pocket the largest of the bundles which he had 
 received from the old woman who had fallen and broken her leg, 
 and, opening the window, flew over the town to the castle, where 
 ,ae sat down in a corner under the window that belonged to the 
 ['princess's bedroom. 
 
 l' Stillness reigned throughout the city. As the clock struck a 
 
 quarter to twelve the window opened, and the princess, with black 
 
 vings and a long white mantle, flew away over the town to a high 
 
 : nountain. John's companion, making himself invisible, flew after 
 
 per, and whipped her so with his rod that the blood came at 
 
 ;very stroke. What a journey that was through the air ! The
 
 368 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 wind caught her mantle, which spread itself out on all sides like a 
 sail of a ship, and the moon shone through it. 
 
 " How it hails ! how it hails ! " said the princess at each blow 
 she received from the rod ; and it served her right. At last she 
 arrived at the mountain and knocked. There was a noise like 
 thunder as the mountain opened and she went in. John's 
 companion followed her, for no one could see him : he was 
 invisible. They went through a long wide passage where the 
 walls shone strangely, for more than a thousand gleaming spiders 
 were running up and down them, making them look as though 
 illuminated with fire. Then they entered a great hall built of 
 silver and gold. Red and blue flowers as large as sunflowers 
 shone on the walls ; but no one could pick them, for the stalks 
 were hideous poisonous snakes, and the flowers were flames 
 darting out of their jaws. The whole ceiling was covered with 
 shining glow-worms and sky-blue bats flapping their flimsy wings. 
 
 The place looked quite horrible. In the middle of the floor 
 was a throne, borne by four skeleton horses, whose harness had 
 been made by the red fiery spiders. The throne itself was made 
 of milk-white glass, and the cushions were little black mice, who 
 were biting each other's tails. Over it was a canopy of rose- 
 coloured spiders' webs studded with pretty little green flies that 
 shone like precious stones. On the throne sat an old sorcerer, 
 with a crown on his ugly head and a sceptre in his hand. He 
 kissed the princess on the forehead, gave her a seat by his side on 
 the splendid throne, and then the music began. Great black 
 grasshoppers played on mouth-organs, and an owl beat the 
 drum. It was a ridiculous concert. Little black goblins, each 
 with a will-o'-the-wisp on its cap, danced around in the hall. 
 But no one could see the travelling companion; he had 
 placed himself behind the throne and could hear and see every- 
 thing. The courtiers, who now entered, looked very noble and 
 grand, but any one with common sense could see what they 
 really were. They were nothing more than broomsticks with 
 cabbages stuck upon them; the sorcerer had blown life into 
 them and given them embroidered robes. But that made no 
 difference ; they were only used for show.
 
 THE TRAVELLING COMPANION 3 6 9 
 
 After there had been some dancing, the princess told the 
 sorcerer that she had a new suitor, and therefore asked him what 
 ;he was to think of for him to guess when he came to the castle 
 iext morning. 
 
 " Listen," said the sorcerer ; " I will tell you. You must choose 
 iomething very easy, for then he will not guess it at all. Think of 
 rour shoes. He won't guess that. Have his head chopped off, 
 iut don't forget to bring me his eyes when you come to-morrow 
 'ight, for I want to eat them." 
 
 ! The princess bowed low and said she would not forget the eyes, 
 [he sorcerer then opened the mountain and she flew back again 
 jut the travelling companion followed her and whipped her so 
 Kth the rod that she groaned aloud at the severity of the hail- 
 :orm, and made as much haste as she could to get back to her 
 edroom through the window. The companion then flew back 
 
 the inn where John was still asleep, took off his wings and lay 
 pwn on the bed, for he was naturally very tired. 
 
 It^vas early in the morning when John awoke. His com- 
 iinion got up too, and told that he had had a wonderful dream 
 [at night of the princess and her shoe, and therefore begged him 
 c ask her whether she had not thought of her shoe. For that 
 ns what he had heard from the sorcerer in the mountain. 
 I" I can just as well ask that as anything else," said John. 
 [Perhaps what you have dreamt is correct, for I trust in Heaven, 
 hich I am sure will help me. But still I will bid you farewell, 
 [ if I guess wrong I shall never see you again." 
 (Then they embraced each other, and John went into the town 
 M to the castle. The hall was full of people \ the judges sat in 
 hir armchairs and had eider-down cushions upon which to rest 
 \ir heads, for they had a great deal to think of. The old king 
 ^: up and dried his eyes with a white pocket-handkerchief. 
 jMow the princess entered. She was still more beautiful than 
 |: had been on the previous day, and greeted every one in the 
 ^st gracious manner ; but to John she gave her hand and said, 
 * ood morning to you." 
 
 1 Jow, John was to guess of what she had thought. Heavens ! 
 fc/ kindly she looked at him. But as soon as she heard him 
 
 \ VOL. I. 2 A
 
 370 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 utter the word " shoe " she turned deathly pale and trembled 
 all over. But that could not help her, for he had guessec 
 aright. 
 
 Gracious ! how pleased the old king was he turned a somer 
 sault which it was a pleasure to see. And all the people clappec 
 their hands in his honour and John's, who had guessed rightly th( 
 first time. 
 
 The travelling companion too was glad when he heard ho\i 
 successful John had been. But the latter folded his hands anc 
 thanked God, who he felt sure would also help him on the tw< 
 other occasions. On the next day the guessing was again to tab 
 place. 
 
 The evening was passed like the preceding one. When Johr 
 was asleep his companion flew after the princess to the mountair 
 and flogged her more severely than the night before, for now h< 
 had taken two rods. No one could see him, and he heard every 
 thing. The princess was to think of her glove, and this he tolc 
 John as if he had again heard it in a dream. He was therefon 
 able to guess correctly, and it caused great joy at the castle. Th< 
 whole Court turned somersaults, just as they had seen the king d( 
 on the first occasion. But the princess lay upon the sofa anc 
 would not say a single word. Now it depended whether Johr 
 would be able to guess aright the third time. If he did, he woulc 
 receive the fair princess's hand, and inherit the whole kingdoir 
 after the death of the old king. But if he guessed wrong, h< 
 would lose his life, and the sorcerer would eat his beautiful blue 
 eyes. 
 
 The evening before the day John went to bed early, said his 
 evening prayer, and slept peacefully. But his companion tied on 
 his wings, hung his sword by his side, took all the three rods, and 
 flew to the castle. 
 
 The night was dark and it was so stormy that the tiles flew from 
 off the houses, and the trees in the garden, with the skeletons on 
 them, bent like reeds before the wind. The lightning flashed 
 every moment, and the thunder rolled as though it were one con- 
 tinuous peal all night. The window opened, and the princess flew 
 out. She was as pale as death, but she laughed at the storm and
 
 THE TRAVELLING COMPANION 37 , 
 
 thought it was not bad enough. Her white mantle fluttered in 
 the air like the great sail of a ship, and John's travelling companion 
 Chipped her with his three rods till the blood ran down upon the 
 ground and she could scarcely fly any farther. At last, however, 
 she reached the mountain. 
 
 " What a terrible hail-storm ! " she said ; " I have never been 
 put in such weather." 
 
 " One can have too much of a good thing," said the sorcerer. 
 f hen she told him that John had guessed aright the second time 
 [oo, and if he did the same the next morning he would have won, 
 jmd she would never be able to come to the mountain again, or 
 practice such magic arts as she had formerly done ; therefore she 
 pas very grieved. 
 
 " He will not be able to guess it this time," said the sorcerer. 
 [ I will think of something for you that he has never thought of, 
 nless he be a greater magician than I. But now let us be 
 berry." 
 
 j And then he took the princess by both hands, and they danced 
 bound with all the little goblins and will-o'-the-wisps in the 
 ;>om. The red spiders ran up and down the walls quite as 
 kerrily ; and it seemed as if the fiery flowers were throwing out 
 barks. The owl beat the drum, the crickets whistled, and the 
 ack grasshoppers played on mouth-organs. It was a merry 
 ill. 
 
 [ When they had danced enough the princess had to go home, 
 jit she might be missed at the castle. The sorcerer said he 
 buld accompany her; they would thus still be together on 
 [e way. 
 
 iThen they flew away through the storm, and the travelling 
 mpanion broke his three rods across their backs. Never had 
 ;J sorcerer been out in such a hail-storm. Just outside the 
 stle he bade the princess good-bye, and whispered to her: 
 Think of my head ! " But the companion had heard it, and 
 t as the princess slipped through the window into her bedroom, 
 |I the magician was about to turn back, he seized him by his 
 g beard and with his sword struck off his hideous head just at 
 : shoulders, so that the sorcerer did not even see him. He
 
 372 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 threw the body into the sea to the fishes, but the head he only 
 dipped in the water, and then tying it up in his silk handkerchief 
 he took it with him to the inn and lay down to sleep. 
 
 The next morning he gave John the handkerchief and told him 
 not to untie it before the princess asked him what she had 
 thought of. 
 
 There were so many people in the great hall of the castle that 
 they stood as close as radishes tied together in a bundle. The 
 councillors sat upon their chairs with the soft cushions, and the 
 old king had new clothes on ; his golden crown and the sceptre 
 had been polished up, and he looked quite stately. But the 
 princess was pale and wore a black gown, as though she were 
 going to a funeral. 
 
 " What have I thought of? " she asked John. 
 
 He immediately untied the handkerchief, and was himself 
 startled when he beheld the hideous head of the sorcerer. All 
 the people shuddered, for it was horrible to look at; but the 
 princess sat there like a marble statue, and could not utter a 
 single word. At last she rose and gave John her hand, for he had 
 guessed aright. She looked at no one, but sighed deeply and said j 
 "You are my master now; the wedding shall take place this 
 evening." 
 
 " Well, I am pleased," said the old king. " That's just what 1 
 wished." 
 
 All the people shouted "Hurrah," the band played in the streets 1 
 the bells rang, and the cake-women took the black crape off thei: 
 sugar figures, for now there reigned great joy. Three roast oxer 
 stuffed with ducks and chickens were put in the middle of th<' 
 market-place, and every one could help himself to a slice. Th< 
 fountains ran with the finest wines, and if you asked for a penn; 
 roll at the baker's, you got six large buns as a present and wit! 
 raisins, too. 
 
 In the evening the whole town was illuminated ; the soldiers le 
 off cannons, and the boys crackers ; there were eating and drinking 
 toasting and dancing, up at the castle. All the grand lords ani 
 ladies danced together; at a great distance they could be hear 
 singing :
 
 THE TRAVELLING COMPANION 373 
 
 Here are many maidens fair 
 
 Dancing all so gladly. 
 Turning like a spinning-wheel 
 
 In the maze so madly; 
 Dance and jump the whole night through, 
 Till the sole falls from your shoe. 
 
 But the princess was still a witch, and did not care for John at 
 IL His travelling companion had thought of that, and he there- 
 bre gave John three feathers from the swan's wings, and a little 
 lottle containing a few drops. He then told him to have a large 
 hb full of water placed before the princess's bed, and when she was 
 bout to retire, he must give her a little push, so that she might fall 
 fcto the water in which he was to dip her under three times, after 
 aving first thrown the feathers and the drops into it. This would 
 jispel the charm under which she was, and she would love him 
 ^arly. 
 
 John did everything that his companion told him. The 
 jincess shrieked when he dipped her under the water, and 
 'niggled in his hands in the form of a great black swan with 
 harkling eyes. When she came out of the water for the 
 jjcond time, the swan was white, with the exception of a black 
 ng round its neck. John prayed devoutly to Heaven, and 
 b the water close a third time over the bird's head, and 
 I the same moment it was changed into the most beautiful 
 pncess. She was more beautiful than before, and thanked 
 tn with tears in her glorious eyes for having dispelled the 
 [arm. 
 
 [The next morning the old king came with his whole Court, and 
 Jpre were congratulations till late in the day. Last of all came 
 Inn's travelling companion; John embraced him many times, and 
 Id him he must not go away, but must remain with him, for he 
 Is the cause of his good fortune. But the other shook his head 
 id said quietly and kindly : " No, my time is up. I have only 
 [id my debt. Do you remember the dead man whom the 
 >:ked men wanted to ill-treat? You gave everything you 
 psessed, so that he might rest in his grave. I am that dead i
 
 374 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 Saying this, he vanished. 
 
 The wedding lasted a whole month. John and the princess 
 loved each other dearly, and the old king lived to see many happy 
 days, and used to let his little grandchildren ride on his knee and 
 play with his sceptre. 
 
 And in time John became king over the whole land. 
 
 "There is no Doubt about It. ! 
 
 HAT 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. 
 
 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 
 feathe'rs and short legs, used to lay her eggs according to the re- 
 gulations, 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. 
 
 " 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 has been said, very respectable. With 
 that she went to sleep. 
 
 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 whc
 
 "THERE IS NO DOUBT ABOUT IT" 375 
 
 intends to pluck herself in order to look well. If I were a cock, 
 
 I should despise her." 
 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 hen 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 
 I to a hen that she plucks out all her feathers and lets the cock 
 [see it." 
 
 " Prenez garde aux enfants I " said father owl ; " children should 
 
 not hear such things." 
 
 " But I must tell our neighbour owl about it ; she is such an 
 
 estimable owl to talk to." And with that she flew away." 
 
 " Too-whoo ! Too-whoo ! " they both hooted into the neigh- 
 Ibour's dove-cot to the doves inside. " Have you heard ? Have 
 ;;you heard ? Too-whoo ! There is a hen who has plucked out 
 [sail her feathers for the sake of the cock ; she will freeze to death, 
 [if she is not frozen already. Too-whoo ! " 
 " Where ? where ? " cooed the doves. 
 " 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." 
 
 t " Believe every word of what we tell you," said the doves, and 
 booed down into their poultry-yard. " There is a hen nay, some 
 I say that there are two who have plucked out all their feathers, in 
 prder not to look like the others, and to attract the attention of 
 tthe cock. It is a dangerous game, for one can easily catch cold 
 |ind die from fever, and both of these are dead already." 
 I " Wake up ! wake up ! " crowed the cock, and flew upon his 
 fcoard. Sleep was still in his eyes, but yet he crowed out : " Three 
 liens have died of their unfortunate love for a cock. They had 
 fftlucked out all their feathers. It is a horrible story ; I will not 
 fceep it to myself, but let it go farther." 
 
 I " Let it go farther," shrieked the bats, and the hens clucked 
 5 .nd the cocks crowed, " Let it go farther ! Let it go farther ! " In
 
 37 6 
 
 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 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. 
 
 " 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." 
 
 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." 
 
 It got into the papers, it was printed ; and there is no doubt 
 about it, one little feather may easily grow into five hens.
 
 SOUP FROM A SAUSAGE-PEG 377 
 
 Soup from a Sausage-Peg 
 
 HAT was an excellent dinner yesterday," said 
 an old mouse of the female sex to another 
 who had not been present at the festive 
 meal. " I sat number twenty-one from the 
 old mouse-king; that was not such a bad 
 place ! Would you like to hear the menu ? 
 The courses were very well arranged : 
 mouldy bread, bacon rind, tallow candles, and sausage and then 
 the same things over again. It was just as good as having two 
 banquets. Everything went on as jovially and as good-humouredly 
 as at a family gathering. There was absolutely nothing left but 
 the sausage-pegs ; the conversation turned upon these, and at last 
 the expression ' soup from sausage skins,' or, as the proverb runs 
 in the neighbouring country, ' soup from a sausage-peg,' was men- 
 tioned. Now every one had heard of this, but no one had tasted 
 such soup, much less prepared it. A very pretty toast to the 
 inventor was drunk ; it was said that he deserved to be made an 
 overseer of the poor. That was very witty, wasn't it ? And the 
 old mouse king rose and promised that the young female mouse 
 who could prepare the said soup in the most tasty way should be 
 his queen ; he gave her a year and a day for the trial." 
 
 "That wasn't bad !" said the other mouse; "but how is the 
 soup prepared ? " 
 
 " Ah ! how is it prepared ? " That was just what all the other 
 female mice, both young and old, were asking. They would all 
 have liked to be queen, but they did not want to take the trouble 
 to go out into the wide world to learn how to prepare the soup, 
 and yet that was what would have to be done. But every one is 
 not ready to leave home and family ; and out in the world cheese- 
 rinds are not to be had for the asking, nor is bacon to be smelt 
 every day. No, one must suffer hunger, perhaps even be eaten up 
 alive by a cat. 
 
 Such were probably the considerations by which the majority
 
 378 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 allowed themselves to be deterred from going out into the world 
 in search of information. Only four mice gave in their names as 
 being ready to start. They were young and active, but poor ; 
 each of them intended to proceed to one of the four quarters of 
 the globe, and it would then be seen to which of them fortune 
 was favourable. Each of the four took a sausage-peg with her, so 
 that she might be mindful of her object in travelling ; the sausage- 
 peg was to be her pilgrim's staff. 
 
 They set out at the beginning of May, and not till the May of 
 the following year did they return, and then only three of them ; 
 the fourth did not report herself, nor did she send any word or 
 sign, notwithstanding that the day of trial had arrived. 
 
 " Yes, every pleasure has its drawback," said the mouse-king ; 
 then he gave orders that all the mice for many miles round should 
 be invited. They were to assemble in the kitchen, and the three 
 travelled mice should stand in a row alone ; a sausage-peg, hung 
 with black crape, was erected in memory of the fourth, who was 
 missing. No one was to give his opinion before the mouse-king 
 had said what was to be said. 
 
 Now, we shall hear ! 
 
 II. 
 
 WHAT THE FIRST LITTLE MOUSE HAD SEEN AND 
 LEARNT ON HER TRAVELS. 
 
 " When I went out into the wide world," said the little mouse, 
 " I thought, as a great many do at my age, that I already knew all 
 there was to be known. But that was not so ; years must pass 
 before one gets as far as that. I went straight to the sea. I 
 went in a ship that sailed to the north. I had been told that a 
 ship's cook must know how to make the best of things at sea, but 
 it is easy to make the best of things if one has plenty of sides of 
 bacon and great tubs of salt pork and mouldy flour ; one has 
 delicate living there, but one does not learn how to make soup 
 from a sausage-peg. We sailed on for many days and nights ; the 
 ship rocked fearfully, and we did not get off without a wetting 
 either. When we at last reached our destination I left the vessel ; 
 it was up in the far north.
 
 SOUP FROM A SAUSAGE-PEG 379 
 
 " It is a strange thing to leave one's own corner at home, to sail 
 in a ship which is only a kind of corner too, and then to suddenly 
 find oneself more than a hundred miles away in a strange land. I 
 saw great trackless forests of pines and birches, that smelt so 
 strong that I sneezed and thought of sausages. There were great 
 lakes there too. The waters when looked at quite close were 
 clear, but from a distance they appeared black as ink. White 
 swans lay upon them ; they lay so still I thought they were foam, 
 but when I saw them fly and walk I recognised them. They 
 belong to the same race as the geese ; one can easily see that by 
 their walk no one can deny his descent. I kept to my own 
 kind. I associated with the forest and field mice, who by the way 
 know very little, especially as regards cooking, and yet that was 
 just what I had gone abroad for. The idea that soup might be 
 made from a sausage-peg seemed to them so extraordinary that it at 
 once spread from mouth to mouth through the whole wood. That 
 the problem could ever be solved they thought an impossibility, 
 and least of all did I think that there, and the very first night too, 
 should I be initiated into the manner of preparing it. It was the 
 height of summer, and that, said the mice, was why the forest smelt 
 so strongly, why the herbs were so fragrant, the lakes so clear and 
 yet so dark, with the swans floating upon them. 
 
 " On the edge of the wood, surrounded by three or four houses, 
 a pole as high as the mainmast of a ship had been set up, and 
 from the top of it hung wreaths and fluttering ribbons it was a may- 
 pole. Lads and lasses danced around the tree, and sang as loudly 
 as they could to the music of the fiddler. All went merrily in the 
 sunset and by moonlight, but I took no part in it what has a 
 little mouse to do with a May-dance ? I sat in the soft moss and 
 held my sausage-peg fast. The moon threw its rays just upon a 
 spot where stood a tree covered with such exceedingly fine moss 
 ; that I may almost say it was as fine and soft as the mouse-king's 
 'fur ; but it was green, and that is good for the eyes. 
 
 " All at once the most charming little people came marching 
 ; out. They did not reach higher than my knee, and though they 
 looked like human beings they were better proportioned. They 
 called themselves elves, and wore fine clothes of flower-leaves
 
 380 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 trimmed with the wings of flies and gnats, which did not look at 
 all bad. Directly they appeared they seemed to be looking for 
 something I did not know what ; but at last some of them came 
 up to me, the chief among them pointing to my sausage-peg, and 
 saying : ' That is just the kind of one we want ! It is pointed it 
 is excellent ! ' And the more he looked at my pilgrim's staff the 
 more delighted he became. 
 
 " ' To lend,' I said, ' but not to keep.' 
 
 " ' Not to keep ! ' they all cried ; then they seized the sausage- 
 peg, which I let go, and danced off with it to the spot with the fine 
 moss, where they set it up in the midst of the green. They wanted 
 to have a maypole too, and that which they now had seemed 
 cut out for them. Then it was decorated ; what a sight that was ! 
 
 " Little spiders spun golden threads round it, and hung it with 
 fluttering veils and flags, so finely woven and bleached so snowy 
 white in the moonshine that it dazzled my eyes. They took the 
 colours from the butterflies' wings and strewed these over the white 
 linen, and flowers and diamonds gleamed upon it so that I did not 
 know my sausage-peg again ; there was certainly not another may- 
 pole in the whole world like that which had been made out of it. 
 And now only came the real great party of elves. They wore no 
 clothes at all it could not have been more genteel. I was invited 
 to witness the festivities, but only at a certain distance, for I was 
 too big for them. 
 
 " Then began a wonderful music ! It seemed as if thousands of 
 glass bells were ringing, so full, so rich that I thought it was the 
 singing of the swans ; I even thought I heard the voice of the 
 cuckoo and the blackbird, and at last the whole wood seemed to 
 join in. There were children's voices, the sound of bells, and the 
 song of birds ; the most glorious melodies and all that was lovely 
 came out of the elves' maypole it was a whole peal of bells, and 
 yet it was my sausage-peg. That so much could have been got 
 out of it I should never have believed, but it no doubt depends 
 upon what hands it gets into. I was deeply moved ; I wept, as a 
 little mouse can weep, for pure joy. 
 
 " The night was far too short, but up yonder they are not any 
 longer about that time of year. In the morning dawn the light
 
 SOUP FROM A SAUSAGE-PEG 381 
 
 breezes sprang up, the surface of the woodland lake became ruffled, 
 and all the dainty floating veils and flags floated in the air. The 
 wavy garlands of spiders' web, the hanging bridges and balustrades, 
 or whatever they are called, vanished as if they were nothing ; 
 six elves carried my sausage-peg back to me, asking me at the 
 same time whether I had any wish that they could fulfil. So I 
 begged them to tell me how to make soup from a sausage-peg. 
 
 " ' How we do it ? ' asked the chief of the elves, smiling. ' Why, you 
 have just seen it. You hardly knew your own sausage-peg again.' 
 
 " 'They only mean that for a joke,' I thought, and I told them 
 straight away the object of my journey and what hopes were 
 entertained at home respecting this brew. ' What advantage,' I 
 asked, ' can accrue to the mouse-king and to the whole of our 
 mighty kingdom by my having witnessed this splendour ? I can't 
 shake it out of the sausage-peg and say: "Look, here is the 
 sausage-peg ; now comes the soup ! " That would be a kind of dish 
 that could only be served up when people had had enough.' 
 
 "Then the elf dipped his little finger in the cup of a blue 
 violet and said to me : ' Pay attention ! Here I anoint your 
 pilgrim's staff, and when you return home and enter the mouse- 
 king's castle, touch the warm breast of your king with it, and 
 violets will spring forth and cover the whole of the staff, even in 
 the coldest winter time. And with that I think I have given you 
 something to take home with you, and even a little more ! ' " 
 
 But before the little mouse said what this " a little more " was, 
 she touched the king's breast with her staff, and in truth the most 
 beautiful bunch of violets burst forth. They smelt so strongly that 
 the mouse-king immediately ordered the mice who stood nearest 
 the chimney to put their tails into the fire to make a smell of 
 I burning, for the scent of the violets was not to be borne, and was 
 not of the kind they liked. 
 
 "But what was the 'more' of which you spoke?" asked the 
 mouse-king. 
 
 ' Well," said the little mouse, " that is, I think, what is called 
 
 > ' effect.' " And thereupon she turned the sausage-peg round, and 
 
 behold, there was no longer a single flower to be seen upon it : she 
 
 held only the naked peg, and this she lifted like a. conductor's baton.
 
 382 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 " ' Violets,' the elf told me, ' are to look at, to smell, and to 
 touch. Hearing and taste, therefore, still remain to be con- 
 sidered.' " Then the little mouse beat time, and music was heard 
 not such as rang through the forest at the elves' party, but such 
 as is to be heard in the kitchen. What a sound of cooking and 
 roasting there was ! It came suddenly, as if the wind were rushing 
 through all the victuals, and as if the pots and kettles were boiling 
 over. The fire-shovel hammered upon the brass kettle, and then 
 suddenly all was quiet again. The low subdued singing of the 
 tea-kettle was heard, and it was wonderful to listen to : they could 
 not quite tell whether the kettle was beginning to boil or leaving 
 off. The little pot bubbled up and the big pot bubbled up ; the 
 one did not care for the other, and it seemed as if there were no 
 rhyme or reason in the pots. Then the little mouse waved her 
 baton more and more wildly the pots foamed, threw up large 
 bubbles, boiled over ; the wind roared and whistled through the 
 chimney ugh ! it became so terrible that the little mouse even 
 lost her stick. 
 
 " That was a heavy soup ! " said the mouse-king. 
 
 " Isn't the dish coming soon ? " 
 
 " That is all," answered the little mouse, with a bow. 
 
 " All ! Well, then let us hear what the next has to say ! " said 
 the king. 
 
 III. 
 
 WHAT THE SECOND LITTLE MOUSE HAD TO TELL. 
 
 " I was born in the castle library," said the second mouse. " I 
 and several members of our family have never had the good for- 
 tune to get into the dining-room, let alone the larder ; it was only 
 on my travels and here to-day that I saw a kitchen. Indeed we 
 often had to suffer hunger in the library, but we acquired much 
 knowledge. The rumour of the royal prize offered to those who 
 could make soup from a sausage-peg reached our ears, and then 
 my old grandmother brought out a manuscript that she could not 
 read herself, but which she had heard read out, and in which was 
 written : ' If one is a poet, one can make soup from a sausage-peg.'
 
 SOUP FROM A SAUSAGE-PEG 383 
 
 |j She asked me whether I was a poet. I felt that I was innocent 
 
 in that respect, and she said that then I must go out and manage 
 
 to become one. I again asked what I was to do, for it was 
 
 I quite as difficult for me to find that out as to make the soup. 
 
 j But my grandmother had heard a good deal read out, and she said 
 
 jj three things above all were necessary : < Understanding, imagina- 
 
 | tion, and feeling. If you can manage to attain these three, you 
 
 j; are a poet, and then the matter of the sausage-peg will be an easy 
 
 |i one for you.' 
 
 " I departed and marched towards the west, out into the wide 
 I world, to become a poet. 
 
 " Understanding is of the most importance in everything that I 
 I knew ; the other two qualities are held in much less esteem, and 
 | I therefore went in quest of understanding first. Yes, where does 
 I it dwell ? ' Go to the ant and learn wisdom,' said a great king of 
 I the Jews ; that I had learnt in the library, so I did not stop till I 
 I came to the first great ant-hill, and there I lay upon the watch to 
 L become wise. 
 
 " The ants are a very respectable little people ; they are under- 
 | standing all over. Everything with them is like a well-worked sum 
 jj in arithmetic that comes right. To work and to lay eggs, they say, 
 j means both to live and to provide for posterity, and so that is 
 I what they do. They divide themselves into clean and dirty ants ; 
 I the ant-queen is number one, and her opinion the only correct one. 
 She contains the wisdom of all the world, and it was important for 
 I me to know that. She spoke so much, and it was so clever, that 
 I it seemed to me like nonsense. She said that her ant-hill was the 
 highest thing in the world, though close beside it stood a tree 
 I which was higher, much higher that was not to be denied, and 
 so nothing was said of it. One evening an ant had lost herself on 
 the tree and had crawled up the trunk not so far up as the 
 I crown, but still higher than any ant had reached till then ; and 
 iwhen she turned round and came home again she told of some- 
 I thing far higher that she had come across out in the world. But 
 Sf.this all the ants thought an insult to the community, and the ant 
 I was therefore condemned to be muzzled and to be kept in solitary 
 ^confinement for life. But shortly afterwards another ant came
 
 384 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 across the same tree and made the same journey and the same 
 discovery. She spoke about it with deliberation, but unintelligibly, 
 as they called it ; and as she was, besides, a much-respected ant and 
 one of the clean ones, she was believed ; and when she died an egg 
 shell was erected to her memory, for they had a great respect for 
 the sciences. I saw," continued the little mouse, " that the ants 
 always ran about with their eggs on their backs. One of them 
 once dropped her egg, and though she took great pains to pick it 
 up again, she did not succeed ; just then two others came up who 
 helped her with all their might, so that they nearly dropped their 
 own eggs in doing so. But then they immediately stopped in 
 their efforts, for one must think of one's self first and the ant- 
 queen declared that in this case both heart and understanding 
 had been shown. ' These two qualities,' she said, ' give us ants a 
 place in the first rank among all reasoning beings ; we all possess 
 understanding in a high degree, and I have the most of all.' And 
 with that she raised herself on her hind legs, so that she could not 
 fail to be recognised. I could not be mistaken : I swallowed her. 
 ' Go to the ants to learn wisdom ' now I had the queen ! 
 
 " I now went closer to the large tree I have already mentioned 
 several times. It was an oak, with a tall trunk and a full wide- 
 spreading crown, and was very old. I knew that here dwelt a 
 living being, a woman called a Dryad, who is born with the tree 
 and dies with it. I had heard of this in the library ; now I beheld 
 such a tree, and one of these oak maidens. She uttered a terrible 
 cry when she saw me so close to her. Like all women, she was 
 very much afraid of mice ; but she had more cause to be so than 
 others, for I could have gnawed the tree through, on which her 
 life depended. I spoke to the maiden in a friendly cordial way, 
 and inspired her with courage ; she took me in her dainty hand, 
 and when I had told her why I had gone out into the wide world, 
 she promised me that very evening I should probably have one of 
 the two treasures of which I was still in quest. She told me that 
 Phantasy was her intimate friend, that he was as handsome as the 
 God of Love, and that he rested many an hour under the leafy 
 branches of the tree, which then rustled more strongly than ever 
 over the two. He called her his Dryad, she said, and the tree his
 
 SOUP FROM A SAUSAGE-PEG 385 
 
 cree ; the beautiful gnarled oak was just to his taste, the roots 
 spread themselves deeply and firmly in the ground, and the trunk 
 ind the crown rose high up into the fresh air; they knew the driving 
 snow, the keen winds, and the warm sunshine, as these should be 
 known. ' Yes,' continued the Dryad, ' the birds up there in the 
 Town sing and tell of foreign countries they have visited, and on 
 lie only dead bough the stork has built his nest that is very 
 ornamental, and one hears a little too about the land of the 
 pyramids. All this pleases Phantasy, but it is not enough for him ; 
 o I myself have to tell him about the life in the woods, and have 
 > go back to my childhood's days when I was young and the tree 
 -fas frail, so frail that a stinging-nettle overshadowed it; and I 
 lave to tell everything till now that the tree has grown big and 
 fcrong. Now sit you down under the green thyme yonder and 
 , ay attention ; and when Phantasy conies I'll find some oppor- 
 fanity to pinch his wings and to pull out a little feather ; take the 
 father no better one has been given a poet for a pen and it 
 : ill suffice you ! ' 
 
 I " And when Phantasy came, the feather was pulled out, and I 
 I ized it," said the little mouse. " I put it in water and held it 
 b.ere till it got soft. It was very hard to digest even then, but 
 I ill I nibbled it up at last. It is very easy to gnaw one's self into 
 g.'ing a poet, though there are many things that one has to 
 jrallow. Now I had two understanding and imagination and 
 Brough these two I knew that the third was to be found in the 
 m>rary ; for a great man has said and written that there are novels 
 f rich exist purely and solely to relieve people of their superfluous 
 ITS, and are therefore a kind of sponge to suck up the feelings, 
 ^remembered a few of those books which had always looked 
 Irticularly appetising, and were well thumbed and greasy ; they 
 fcist have absorbed an infinite deal of emotion. 
 I" I betook myself back to the library, and devoured, so to 
 ak, a whole novel that is, the soft or essential part of it ; but 
 I; crust, the binding, I left. When I had digested it, and 
 ther one besides, I noticed what a stirring there was inside me, 
 II I devoured a piece of a third novel. And now I was a poet. 
 laid so to myself and told it to others too. I had headache and
 
 3 86 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 stomach-ache, and I don't know what aches I didn't have. Then j 
 I began to think what stories might be made to refer to a sausage- 
 peg, and a great many pegs and sticks and staves and splinters, 
 came into my thoughts the ant-queen had possessed an extra- 
 ordinary understanding. I remembered the man who put a white 
 stick into his mouth by which he could make both himself and 
 the stick invisible. I thought of wooden hobby-horses, of stock 
 rhymes, of breaking the staff over any one, and of goodness knows 
 how many expressions of that kind concerning staves, sticks, and 
 pegs All my thoughts ran upon pegs, sticks, and staves, and il 
 one is a poet and that I am, for I have tortured myself till I have 
 become one one must be able to make poetry on these things 
 too. I will therefore be able to serve you up a peg that is, a, 
 story every day in the week j yes, that is my soup 1 " 
 
 " Let us hear what the third one has to say ! " ordered the 
 mouse-king. 
 
 " Peep ! peep ! " was heard at the kitchen door, and a in 
 mouse it was the fourth of the mice who had competed for the, 
 prize, the one whom the others believed to be dead shot in hi 
 an arrow. She threw the sausage-peg with the crape right over. 
 She had been running day and night, had travelled on the railway 
 by goods train, having watched her opportunity, and yet she hac 
 arrived almost too late. She pressed forward, looking m 
 crumpled ; she had lost her sausage-peg, but not her voice, for s 
 began to speak at once, as if they had been waiting only for h 
 and wanted to hear her only-as if everything else in the worl 
 were of no consequence whatever. She spoke at once and wen 
 on till she had said all she had to say. She appeared so ur 
 expectedly that no one had time to object to her speech while 
 was speaking. Let us hear what she said. 
 
 IV. 
 
 WHAT THE FOURTH MOUSE HAD TO TELL, BEFORE THE 
 
 THIRD ONE HAD SPOKEN. 
 
 I immediately betook myself to the largest town," she said 
 *' the name has escaped me I have a bad memory for names
 
 SOUP FROM A SAUSAGE-PEG 3 8 7 
 
 From the railway station I was taken with some confiscated goods 
 to the town-hall, and when I arrived there, I ran into the gaoler's 
 dwelling. The gaoler was talking of his prisoners, especially of one 
 ffho had uttered some hasty words. About these words other words 
 lad been spoken, and then again others, and these again had 
 3een written down and recorded. 
 
 1 " The whole thing is soup from a sausage-peg," said the gaoler ; 
 * but the soup may cost him his neck ! " 
 
 " Now this gave me some interest in the prisoner," said the 
 |ttle mouse, " so I seized an opportunity and slipped in to him ; 
 here is a mouse-hole behind every locked door ! The prisoner 
 boked very pale, and had a long beard and large sparkling eyes, 
 the lamp nickered and smoked, and the walls were so used to 
 ,jiat, that they grew no blacker for it. The prisoner was scratch- 
 fig pictures and verses in white upon black, but I did not read 
 lem. I believe he felt very dull, and I was a welcome guest. 
 lie lured me with bread-crumbs, with whistling, and with gentle 
 prds. He was very glad to see me : I gradually began to trust him, 
 Lid we became friends. He shared his bread-and-water with me, 
 jve me cheese and sausage, and I lived well ; but I must say that 
 iier all it was principally the good company that kept me there. 
 Be let me run about in his hand, on his arm, and right up his 
 fceve ; he let me creep about in his beard, and called me his 
 pie friend. I really began to like him such things are mutual ! 
 forgot what I had gone out into the wide world to seek, and left 
 m sausage-peg in a crack in the floor; it lies there still. I 
 jtfnted to stay where I was ; if I went away, the poor prisoner 
 tuld have no one at all, and that is too little in this world I 
 lyed, but he did not. He spoke to me very sadly the last time, 
 g'e me twice as much bread-and-cheese as usual, and threw me 
 lies ; he went and never came back. I don't know his history. 
 'u)up from a sausage-peg ! ' the gaoler had said, and to him I 
 m? went. He certainly took me in his hand, but he put me into 
 4 ige, into a tread-mill. That's awful ! One runs and runs and 
 g<; no farther, and is only laughed at. 
 
 J The gaoler's daughter was a most charming little girl with a 
 i of curls like the finest gold, and such joyous eyes and such
 
 3 88 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 a smiling mouth ! 'You poor little mouse,' she said ; and peeping 
 into my hateful cage she drew out the iron pin, and I sprang down 
 upon the window-sill and so out upon the gutter of the roof. 
 Free ! free ! I thought only of that, and not of the object of my 
 travels. 
 
 " It was dark night was drawing near. I took up my lodgings 
 in an old tower where a watchman and an owl dwelt. I trusted 
 neither, and least of the two the owl. That animal is like a cat> 
 and possesses the great failing of eating mice ; but one may be 
 mistaken, and that I was. She was a respectable, highly-educated 
 old owl ; she knew more than the watchman, and quite as much 
 as I. The owl children made a fuss about everything. ' Don't 
 make soup from a sausage-peg,' the old one would say ; those 
 were the harshest words she could bring herself to utter, such 
 tender affection did she cherish for her own family. Her behaviour 
 inspired me with such confidence that I sent her a ' peep ' ! from 
 the crack where I sat ; this confidence pleased her very much, 
 and she assured me that I should be under her protection, 
 and that no animal would be allowed to do me harm. She 
 would eat me herself in winter, she declared, when food got 
 scarce. 
 
 " She was in every way a clever woman ; she explained to me 
 that the watchman could only shriek through the horn that hung 
 loose at his side, saying, ' He is terribly conceited about it, and 
 thinks he is an owl in the tower. He wants to look big, but is 
 very little ! Soup from a sausage-peg ! ' 
 
 " I begged the owl to give me the recipe for the soup, and then 
 she explained it to me : ' Soup from a sausage-peg,' she said, 'isi 
 only a human expression, and can be used in different ways. 
 Every one thinks his own way is the most correct, but the whole 
 thing really means nothing.' 
 
 " Nothing ! " I exclaimed. I was struck. The truth is not 
 always agreeable, but truth is above everything, and the old owl 
 said so too. So I thought it over, and soon perceived that if I 
 brought home that which is above everything, I should bring far 
 more than soup from a sausage-peg. And thereupon I hastened 
 away, so that I might get home in time and bring the highest and
 
 SOUP FROM A SAUSAGE-PEG 3 8 9 
 
 best, that which is above everything the truth. The mice are an 
 enlightened little people, and the mouse-king is above them all. 
 He is capable of making me queen for the sake of truth ! " 
 
 " Your truth is a lie ! " said the mouse who had not yet spoken. 
 " I can prepare the soup, and I will prepare it too." 
 
 V. 
 
 How IT WAS PREPARED. 
 
 " I didn't travel," said the third mouse ; " I remained in the 
 country, and that's the right thing to do. There is no necessity to 
 travel one can get everything just as good here. I remained ; I 
 did not get my information from supernatural beings, did not 
 gobble it up, nor yet learn it from owls. I have evolved mine 
 from my own thoughts. Now just you get the kettle put upon 
 the fire. That's it. Now some water poured into it ! Quite 
 Full up to the brim ! So now more fuel ! Let it burn up, so 
 that the water boils it must boil over and over! That's it! 
 Now throw the peg in. Will the king now be pleased to dip his 
 jail into the boiling water and stir it with that tail ? The 
 jonger the king stirs, the stronger the soup will become. It costs 
 nothing. It requires no other ingredients only stirring ! " 
 I " Can't any one else do that ? " asked the king. 
 I " No," said the mouse, " it is only the king's tail that contains 
 he power." 
 
 | And the water boiled and spluttered, and the mouse-king 
 placed himself close to the kettle there was almost danger 
 attached to it he put out his tail, as the mice do in the dairy 
 Lhen they skim a pan of milk, and then lick their creamy tails ; 
 lut he only put his tail in as far as the hot steam, then he quickly 
 (Sprang down from the hearth. 
 
 I " It's understood, of course, that you are to be my queen ! " he 
 : ried ; " but we'll leave the soup till our golden wedding; in this way 
 1 le poor of my kingdom, who will have to be fed then, will have 
 jiDmethmg to look forward to with pleasure, and for a long time,
 
 390 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 Then they held the wedding. But several of the mice said as 
 they were returning home, " that was really not to be called soup 
 from a sausage-peg after all, but rather soup from a mouse's tail." 
 This and that of what had been told they thought very good ; but 
 the whole thing might have been different. " Now I would have 
 told it so and so and so ! " 
 
 These were the critics, and they are always so wise after- 
 wards. 
 
 This story went out all over the wide world, and opinions 
 differed about it, but the story itself remained as it was. 
 And that is the best thing in both great things and small, even 
 with regard to soup from a sausage-peg not to expect any thanks 
 for it 
 
 The Beetle 
 
 HE emperor's favourite horse was shod with 
 gold ; he had a golden horseshoe on each foot, 
 But why was that ? 
 
 He was a beautiful creature, with slender 
 legs, bright intelligent eyes, and a mane that 
 hung down like a veil over his neck. He had 
 carried his master through the smoke of 
 powder and the rain of bullets, and had heard the balls whistling 
 past ; he had bitten, kicked, and taken part in the fight when the 
 enemy pressed forward, and leaping with the emperor across the 
 fallen horse of one of the foe, had saved the bright golden crown 
 and the life of the emperor and that was worth more than all the 
 bright gold. And that is why the emperor's horse had golder 
 horseshoes. 
 
 A beetle came creeping out. " First the great, then the small/ 
 said he ; " but size is not everything." And with that he stre tehee 
 out his thin legs. 
 
 " Well, what do you want ? " asked the smith. 
 " Golden shoes," replied the beetle.
 
 THE BEETLE 39 , 
 
 "Why, you must be out of your senses!" cried the smith. 
 " You want golden shoes too ? tt 
 
 " Certainly golden shoes ! " said the beetle. " Am I not as 
 good as that creature there, that is waited on, and brushed, and 
 has food and drink put before him ? Don't I belong to the imperial 
 stables too ? " 
 
 "But why has the horse golden shoes?" asked the smith. 
 " Don't you understand that ? " 
 
 "Understand? I understand that it is a personal slight for 
 me," said the beetle. " It is done to vex me, and I will therefore 
 go out into the wide world." 
 
 " Go along ! " said the smith. 
 
 "You rude fellow!" said the beetle; and then he went out 
 of the stable, flew a short distance, and soon afterwards found 
 himself in a beautiful flower garden, fragrant with roses and 
 lavender. 
 
 " Isn't it beautiful here ? " asked one of the little lady-birds that 
 were flying about with their red shield-shaped black-spotted wings. 
 " How sweet it is here, and how lovely ! " 
 
 " I have been used to better than that," said the beetle. "You 
 call this beautiful ? Why, there's not even a dunghill." 
 
 Then he went on, under the shadow of a big gilliflower, where a 
 caterpillar was creeping along. 
 
 " How beautiful the world is ! " said the caterpillar ; " the sun is 
 so warm, and everything so happy ! And when I one day fall 
 j asleep and die, as they call it, I shall awake as a butterfly." 
 
 " What things you do fancy ! " said the beetle. " To fly about 
 i as a butterfly ! I come from the emperor's stable, but no one 
 I there not even the emperor's favourite horse, that wears my cast- 
 off golden shoes fancies anything like that. Get wings ! Fly ! 
 : Well, we'll fly now ! " And away flew the beetle. " I don't want 
 to be vexed, but I am all the same," he said, as he flew oft". 
 
 Soon afterwards he fell upon a great lawn ; here he lay awhile, 
 and pretended to be asleep, but at last he really dozed off. 
 
 Suddenly a heavy shower of rain fell from the clouds. The 
 noise awoke the beetle, and he wanted to creep into the earth, but 
 could not, for he was being turned over and over. First he was
 
 592 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 swimming on his stomach, then on his back, and flying was not to 
 be thought of; he despaired of getting away from the place alive. 
 So he lay where he lay, and remained there. When the rain had 
 left off a little, and the beetle had blinked the water out of his 
 eyes, he saw the gleam of something white ; it was linen laid out 
 to bleach. He reached it and crept into a fold of the damp linen. 
 It was certainly not so comfortable here as in the warm dunghill 
 in the stable, but nothing better happened to be at hand, and so 
 he stayed where he was stayed a whole day and a whole night, 
 and the rain stayed too. Towards morning he crept out ; he was 
 greatly annoyed at the climate. 
 
 On the linen sat two frogs, their bright eyes sparkling with 
 pure joy. 
 
 " This is glorious weather," said one. " How refreshing ! And 
 the linen keeps the water together so beautifully. My hind legs 
 are itching to swim." 
 
 " I should like to know," said the other, " whether the swallow 
 which flies about so far has ever found a better climate than ours in 
 her many travels abroad. So nice and damp ! It is really like 
 lying in a wet ditch. Whoever doesn't like this can't be said to 
 love his native country." 
 
 " Have you then never been in the emperor's stable ? " asked 
 the beetle. " There the dampness is warm and fragrant : that's 
 the climate for me ! But you can't take it with you when you 
 travel. Is there no dung-heap in the garden here, where people 
 of rank, like myself, can feel at home and take up their quar- 
 ters ? " 
 
 The frogs either could not or would not understand him. 
 
 " I never ask twice ! " exclaimed the beetle, after he had already 
 asked three times and received no answer. 
 
 Thereupon he went a little further, and came across a piece of 
 broken pottery which should certainly not have been lying there, 
 but which, as it lay, afforded a good shelter against wind and 
 weather. Here lived several families of earwigs ; they did not 
 require much only company. The females are full of tenderest 
 maternal love, and every mother therefore praised her child as the 
 most beautiful and cleverest.
 
 THE BEETLE 393 
 
 "Our little son is engaged to be married \ said one mother 
 " Sweet innocence ! It is his sole ambition to get into a parson's 
 ear some day. He is so artless and loveable; his engagement 
 will keep him steady. What joy for a mother ! " 
 
 " Our son," said another mother, "had hardly crept out of the 
 egg, when he was off on his travels. He's all life and spirits 
 he'll run his horns off. What joy for a mother 1 Isn't it so,' 
 Mr. Beetle?" They recognised the stranger by the cut of his 
 wings. 
 
 ^ "You are both right ! " said the beetle, and then they begged 
 him to enter the room ; that is to say, to come as far as he could 
 under the piece of pottery. 
 
 " Now you see my little earwig too," cried a third and a fourth 
 mother. "They are the sweetest children, and very playful. 
 They are never naughty, except when they occasionally have pains 
 in their inside ; unfortunately, one gets those only too easily at 
 their age." 
 
 ^ In this manner every mother spoke of her baby, and the babies 
 joined in too, and used the little nippers that they have in their 
 tails to pull the beetle by his beard. 
 
 " Yes, they're always up to something, the little rogues ! " said 
 the mothers, boiling over with maternal affection. But this bored 
 the beetle, and so he asked whether it was much farther to the 
 dunghill. 
 
 " Why, that's out in the wide world, on the other side of the 
 ditch," answered an earwig ; " I hope none of my children will go 
 so far it would be the death of me." 
 
 " I'll try to get as far anyhow," said the beetle ; and he went off 
 without saying good-bye, for that is considered the most polite way. 
 [By the ditch he met several of his kind all beetles. 
 
 " We live here ! " they said. " We are very comfortable. May 
 tare ask you to step down into the rich mud ? The journey has no 
 poubt been very fatiguing for you ? " 
 
 " Very," said the beetle. " I have been exposed to the rain, 
 Und have had to lie on linen, and cleanliness always weakens 
 ine very much. I have pain too in one wing through hav- 
 ;ng stood in the draught under a broken piece of pottery.
 
 394 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 It is really quite a comfort to get once more among one's own 
 kindred." 
 
 " Perhaps you come from the dung-heap ? " asked the eldest. 
 
 " Oho ! from higher places ! " cried the beetle. " I come from 
 the emperor's stable, where I was born with golden shoes 
 on my feet. I am travelling on a secret mission, but you 
 must not ask me any questions about it, for I won't betray the 
 secret." 
 
 With that the beetle stepped down into the rich mud. There 
 sat three young beetle maidens ; they giggled, because they did 
 not know what to say. 
 
 " They are all three still disengaged," said the mother ; and 
 the young beetle maidens giggled again, this time from bash- 
 fulness. 
 
 " I have not seen greater beauties in the imperial stables," said 
 the beetle, taking a rest. 
 
 " Don't you spoil my girls for me, and don't speak to them 
 unless you have serious intentions. But about that I have no 
 doubt, and so I give you my blessing ! " 
 
 " Hurrah ! " cried all the other beetles, and our beetle was now 
 engaged. The engagement was immediately followed by the 
 wedding, for there was no reason for delay. 
 
 The following day passed very pleasantly, and the one after 
 that fairly so ; but on the third day the time had come to think of 
 food for the wife, and perhaps even for the children. 
 
 " I have allowed myself to be taken in," thought the beetle ; 
 "nothing is therefore left for me but to take others in, in 
 return." 
 
 So said, so done. Away he went, and stayed out the 
 whole day and the whole night and his wife sat there, a lonely 
 widow. 
 
 " Oh ! " said the other beetles, " that fellow whom we received 
 into our family is a thorough vagabond ; he went away and left 
 his wife sitting there, to be a burden upon us." 
 
 " Well, then she must be passed off as unmarried again, and 
 stay here as my child," said the mother. " Fie on the villain who 
 deserted her ! "
 
 THE BEETLE ^ 
 
 In the meantime the beetle had gone on travelling, and had 
 sailed across the watery ditch on a cabbage-leaf. In the morning 
 two people came to the ditch ; when they spied him, they picked 
 him up, turned him over and over, and looked very wise, especially 
 one of them a boy. " Allah sees the black beetle in the black 
 stone and in the black rock. Isn't it written so in the Koran ? " 
 Then he translated the beetle's name into Latin, and enlarged upon 
 its species and nature. The second person, an older scholar, 
 was for taking him home with them. But the other said that they 
 had specimens quite as good as that, and this, our beetle thought, 
 was not a polite thing to say so he suddenly flew out of the 
 speaker's hand. His wings being now dry, he flew a pretty long 
 distance and reached a hotbed, where, one of the windows of 
 the glass-house being ajar, he slipped in comfortably and buried 
 himself in the fresh manure. 
 
 " How delightful it is here ! " he said. 
 
 Soon after, he fell asleep and dreamed that the emperor's 
 favourite horse had fallen and had given him his golden horse- 
 shoes, with the promise to have two more made for him. 
 
 That was very acceptable. When the beetle awoke, he crept 
 out and looked about him. What splendour there was in the hot- 
 house ! In the background were palm trees, growing to a great 
 height ; the sun made them look transparent, and under them 
 what a wealth of verdure and bright flowers, red as fire, yellow 
 as amber, and white as driven snow ! 
 
 "There is an incomparable splendour in these plants," said 
 the beetle ; " how fine they will taste when they decay ! This is 
 a good larder ! There must certainly be relatives of mine living 
 here. I'll have a look round to see if I can find any one to 
 associate with. Proud I am, and that is my pride." And now 
 he strolled about in the hothouse, and thought of his beautiful 
 dream of the dead horse, and the golden horseshoes he had in- 
 herited. 
 
 Suddenly a hand seized the beetle, pressed him, and turned him 
 over and over. 
 
 The gardener's son and a little girl who played with him had 
 come up to the hotbed, had spied the beetle, and wanted to have
 
 396 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 some fun with him. First he was wrapped up in a vine-leaf, and 
 then put into a warm trousers-pocket. There he cribbled and 
 Grabbled about with all his might ; but for this he got a squeeze 
 from the boy's hand, and that taught him to be quiet. Then the 
 boy ran off to the great lake at the end of the garden. Here the 
 beetle was put into an old half-broken wooden shoe, in which a 
 little stick was placed for a mast, and to this mast the beetle was 
 bound by a woollen thread. Now he was a sailor and had to sail. 
 The lake was very large, and to the beetle it seemed an ocean ; 
 he was so terrified by it that he fell on his back and kicked out 
 with his feet. The little ship sailed away, and the current of the 
 water seized it. But when it went too far from the shore, the 
 little boy would turn up his trousers, go into the water, and fetch 
 it back to the land. But at last, just as it was setting out to sea 
 again in full sail, the children were called away for something 
 important; they hastened to obey, and running away from the 
 lake, left the little ship to its fate. This drifted farther and 
 farther away from the shore, and farther out into the open sea ; it 
 was terrible for the beetle, for he could not get away, being bound 
 to the mast. Then a fly paid him a visit. "What lovely 
 weather ! " said the fly. " I'll rest here and bask in the sun ; it's 
 very pleasant for you here." 
 
 " You talk of what you don't understand ! Don't you see that 
 I'm tied fast?" 
 
 " But I'm not," said the fly, and flew off. 
 
 " Well, now I know the world," said the beetle. " It's a base 
 world. I'm the only honest one in it. First, they refuse me 
 golden shoes ; then I have to lie on wet linen and stand in a 
 draught ; and, to cap all, they fasten a wife on to me. Then, when 
 I have taken a quick step out into the world, and learn how com- 
 fortable one can be there, and how I ought to have it, up comes a 
 human boy, binds me fast, and leaves me to the wild waves, while 
 the emperor's favourite horse prances about in golden shoes. 
 That vexes me most of all ! But one must not count on sympathy 
 in this world. My career is very interesting ; but what's the use 
 of that if nobody knows it? The world doesn't deserve to be 
 made acquainted with my story, for it ought to have given me
 
 THE BEETLE 397 
 
 golden shoes in the emperor's stable when the emperor's favourite 
 horse was being shod, and I stretched out my legs too. If I had 
 received golden shoes I should have been an ornament to the 
 stable ; now the stable has lost me, the world has lost me all 
 is over ! " 
 
 But all was not over yet. A boat, in which there were some 
 young girls, came rowing up. 
 
 " Look, there's an old wooden shoe sailing along," said one of 
 the girls. 
 
 " There's a little creature tied up in it ! " cried another. 
 
 The boat came quite close to our beetle's little ship, and the 
 young girls fished it up out of the water. One of them drew a 
 small pair of scissors out of her pocket, cut the woollen thread 
 without hurting the beetle, and when she got to the shore placed 
 him in the grass. 
 
 " Creep, creep. Fly, fly if you can," she said. " Freedom is 
 a glorious thing." 
 
 The beetle flew up and went through the open window of a 
 large building ; there he sank down, tired and exhausted, upon the 
 fine, soft, long mane of the emperor's horse that was standing in 
 the stables where both he and the beetle were at home. The 
 beetle clung fast to the mane, sat there quite still for a short 
 time, and recovered. 
 
 " Here I sit on the emperor's favourite horse sit on him just 
 like an emperor. But what was I going to say? Ah, yes! I 
 remember. It's a good idea, and quite correct. Why does the 
 emperor's horse have golden shoes ? That's what the smith asked 
 me. Now the answer is clear to me. The horse had golden 
 horseshoes on my account ! " 
 
 And now the beetle was in a good temper. " Travelling opens 
 one's brains," he said. 
 
 The sun's rays came streaming into the stable upon him, and 
 made things bright and pleasant. 
 
 " The world is not so bad after all, when you come to examine 
 it," said the beetle, " but you must know how to take it." 
 
 Yes, the world was beautiful, because the emperor's favourite 
 horse had only received golden shoes so that the beetle might
 
 398 
 
 STORIES AND FAIRY TALES 
 
 become his rider. " Now I will go down to the other beetles and 
 tell them how much has been done for me. I will relate to them 
 all the disagreeable things I went through in my travels abroad, 
 and tell them that I shall now remain at home till the horse has 
 worn out his golden shoes." 
 
 BO 
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 TALE 
 
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