Little Ellie and other tales

CHILDREN'S BOOK
COLLECTION

LIBRARY OF THE

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA

LOS ANGELES

JL J

*, x^>

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FRANCIS & C O.' S

H T IF & IS 1 H IB IB A IB

FOR YOUNG PERSONS OF VARIOUS AGES.

LITTLE ELLIE,

AND OTHER TALES.

BY HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN.

jFrsncus & Co.'s SLtttle

C. 8. FRANCIS & Co., New York, have published a uniform Seriet
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KJ>. 5. C. HALL. — TURNS OF FORTUNE; ALL is NOT GOLB

THAT GLITTER a, &c.
- THE PRIVATE PURSE ; CLEVERNESS, and other Tales.

LITTLE EL LIE,

ot&er Sales.

HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN.

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS.

NEW YORK:

0. S. FRANCIS & CO., 252 BROADWAY.
BOSTON:

J. H. FRANCIS, 128 WASHINGTON STRKKT.

1850.

B B 1 1 * i f ,

LITTLE ELLIS .......

THE TINDEB-BOX

THE WICKED KINO

THE RESOLUTE LEADEN SOLDIER .

THB GARDEN OF PARADISE -

THE SHEPHERDESS AND THE CHIMNKY-SWKBP

LITTLE IDA'S FLOWERS

THE DAISY .......

NEW YEAR'S Eva - - ...

7

34
53
60
71
105
117
136
146

ruth

1 M i.

' HERE was once
upon a time a
young woman, and
she was so kind,
so sweet-tempered,
that every body loved
iher. Among the rest
f there was an old witch
;who lived near where
she dwelt, and with
whom she was a great favorite. One day

7

ratu

she went to the old witch, and said to her :
" I would give anything to have a nice little
child of my own : do but tell me how to ac-
complish my wish !"

"Oh! we'll soon manage that !" replied
the old witch. ' ' Look ye here at this barley-
corn ! It is not like those that grow in the
fields, or what the fowls are fed with. This
you must plant in a flower-pot, and then
wait and see what will happen."

"A thousand thanks,!" said the other,
putting some silver in the witch's hand.
She then went home and planted the barley-
corn as the old woman had told her. A
beautiful large flower soon shot up out of
the flower-pot, but its leaves were all closed
like buds that were soon to open.

"What a beautiful flower!" said the wife,
at the same time kissing the red and yellow
leaves; but scarcely had she pressed her
lips on the flower, when there was a loud
report, and the calix opened. She now saw
that it was a real tulip, and in the middle
of the cup sat, on the still green seed-stalk,
a charming little maiden, so delicate and
8

lovely, and yet that was only an inch high ;
on which account she gave her the name of
" Ellie."*

She made the baby a cradle out of a
polished walnut-shell, gave her blue violets
as mattress, and a rose-leaf for counterpane.
In this cradle little Ellie slept at night ; by
day she played on the table. Here a plate
full of water was placed, surrounded by a
garland of flowers that dipped their stems
in the water : in the middle, a large tulip-
leaf was swimming, and on this Ellie was
to sit, and to sail from one side of the plate
to the other; and two white horse- hairs
served as oars to row her boat with. All
this looked exceedingly pretty; besides,
Ellie could sing, and with so sweet a voice
that the like nobody ever had heard.

* This tale is called "Ellise" in the original; a
name given to the beautiful daughters of the fairy-
people in the mythology of the North. As, however,
to the English reader the word would not have con-
veyed the original idea of a diminutive being, I pre- -
ferred giving the story the title I have. — THE TRANS-
LATOR.

9

IfliU

One night, as she lay in her nice little
bed, an ugly, yellow toad hopped in through
the broken window-pane. The creature
was large and ugly, and jumped right upon
the table where Ellie lay asleep under the
rose-leaf.

" Why that would be a pretty wife for
my son," said the toad; then it seized with
its mouth the nutshell in which Ellie was,
and hopped with it through the window
into the garden.

Here was a large piece of water, but the
banks were marshy ; and there the toad
and her son lived. Faugh ! how ugly the
son was ! all spotted with green and yellow,
just like his mother ; and all he had to say
when he saw the pretty little maiden in
the nutshell was, " Croak ! Cr-rr-oa-oa-k !
Cr-r-r-oak !"

" Don't speak so loud," said his mother:
" If you do, she may wake up and escape,
for she is lighter than swans' down. We
will take her out on the river and put her
on the leaf of a water-lily ; to her that will
be a large island ; and thence she cannot

10

escape; and we, meanwhile, will build a
festal hall below in the mud, where you two
shall live together."

Innumerable plants were growing in the
water, with their broad green leaves looking
as though they floated on the stream. The
one that grew farthest oif was at the same
time the largest, and thither the old toad
swam, and set the walnut-shell with the
little maiden upon it.

Poor little Ellie awoke early on the
following morning; and when she looked
about her and saw where she was, that
her new dwelling was surrounded with
water, and that there was no possible way
by which she could get to land, she began
to weep bitterly.

The old toad sat, meanwhile, in the
marsh, and decorated the hall with reeds
and the leaves of the water-lily, so that it
might look nice for her future daughter-in-
law ; and then, in company with her fright-
ful son, she swam to the island lily-leaf,
where Ellie was. They wanted to fetch
her pretty little bed, that it might at once be

u

littU

placed in the chamber before El lie herself
came there.

The old toad bowed most politely to her
in the water, at the same time that she in-
troduced her son with the words — " Here
you behold my son; he is to be your
husband; and you both can live together
delightfully down below there in the
mud !"

" Cr-oa-oa-oa-k ! Cr-oa-oa-oa-k ! Breckke-
kek!" was all the bridegroom could find to
say in reply.

On this they both took the charming
little bed and swam away with it; but
Ellie sat alone on the leaf and cried, for she
could not bear to live with the ugly toad of
a mamma, and still less to have her hideous
son for a husband. The little fishes that
swam below in the water had probably
seen the toad, and heard what she said ; for
they put up their heads that they might
have a look at the little maiden. As soon
as they had seen her, they were touched by
her beauty, and they were very sorry that
such a charming little damsel should become

12

Itttlt elite.

the prey of a nasty toad. They therefore
assembled round the green stem on which
the leaf grew where Ellie was, and gnawed
it in two with their teeth ; and now leaf
and Ellie, slowly and gently, floated down
the stream, far away out of reach of the
toad.

Thus the little maiden sailed along, past
towns and villages ; and when the birds on
the trees perceived her, they sang aloud,
'•'Oh, what a charming little maid!" But
away, away floated the leaf, always further
and further; Ellie was making quite a
foreign voyage upon it.

Then there came a small white butterfly,
and after fluttering about a long time,
settled at last on her leaf, because Ellie
pleased him ; she, too, was glad of the visit;
for she knew it would be impossible for the
toad to overtake her now. The country
she passed through was very beautiful ; arid
the sun shone on the water, making it
glitter like gold. It now entered her head
to take off her girdle, and bind one end of
it to the butterfly, and the other to the leaf;

13

little (glib.

so that it went along much quicker, and
she got more expeditiously through the
world, and saw a great deal more of its
beauties and wonders.

As she was thus sailing along so charm-
ingly a cockchafer flew by, who laid hold
of her thin waist with his long nippers, and
flew away with her up into a tree, while the
leaf of the water-lily, that was obliged to
follow the butterfly, floated on ; for Ellie
had bound him so firmly that he could not
get loose.

Oh, how frightened was poor Ellie when
the cockchafer flew away with her into the
tree ! She was, too, so sorry for the little
butterfly, who now would perish, unless he
could liberate himself from her girdle and
the green leaf.

But all this did not trouble the chafer ; he
put her down on a large leaf, gave her
honey to eat, which had been gathered
from the flowers, and told her she was quite
charming, although she was not at all like
a chafer.

Before long all the other cockchafers that

littit €Uw.

lived in the tree made their appearance, and
paid their respects to Ellie, stared at her
from head to foot, while the young-lady
chafers turned up their feelers and said,
"She has but two legs; and that looks very
wretched. She has no feelers either," said
they; "and is, moreover, as small round
the waist as a human being ! It's very
ugly, I declare ! it is really hideous !" cried
out all the young-lady chafers at once.
And yet our sweet Ellie was really the most
engaging little being imaginable.

And so the cockchafer that had carried
her off thought too ; but because all the lady
chafers said she was ugly, he began at last
to think so himself, and therefore would
have nothing more to say to her ; she might
go where she chuse, he said ; and with these
words he flew with her over the ground,
and set her on a daisy.

The poor thing wept, because she was so
ugly that not even a cockchafer would have
anything to do with her. But, despite the
opinion of the young-lady chafers, which
was certainly a very important one, Ellie

15

littlt

was the most lovely little creature in the
world, as delicate and beautiful as a young
rose-leaf.

All that long summer poor Ellie lived
quite alone, in the large forest. She wove
herself a bed of fine grasses, which she then
hung up under a burdock-leaf, that it might
not be washed away by the rain. For food
she gathered the honey from the flower-
cups; and she drank the fresh dew that
every morning stood in glittering drops
upon the leaves.

Thus passed the summer and autumn ;
but now came the cold long winter. All
the birds that had sung so prettily to Ellie
forsook her now ; the trees lost their foliage,
the flowers faded, and the large burdock-
leaf, which hitherto had served her for
shelter, shrunk together, till nothing but a
dry yellow stalk was left, and she was so
cold, for her clothes were in rags ; and she
herself was so delicate and small ! Poor
Ellie shivered; she was almost frozen to
death !

It began, too, to snow; and every flake

16

tittb (fllit.

that struck her was as much to her as a
whole shovel-full would be for us, her
whole body being only an inch long. To
protect herself from the weather, she wrap-
ped herself up in a dead leaf; but there was
no warmth in it, and she trembled from
head to foot with cold.

Close to the wood where Ellie lay was a
large corn-field ; but the corn had long been
cut, and only the dried stubble now stood
above the ground ; but to Ellie this was a
wood, and hither she came. So she
chanced to arrive at the house of a field-
mouse, which consisted of a little hole
among the roots of the corn-stubble. Here,
warm and comfortable, dwelt the field-
mouse ; she had her whole room stored full
of corn for the winter; and besides it a nice
little kitchen and larder. Poor Ellie ap-
proached the door like a little beggar child,
and prayed for a morsel of barley-coni to
eat; for she had tasted nothing for two
whole days.

"Poor little thing!" said the field-mouse,
who was very good-hearted; " come into

2 DD 17

ran*

my warm room, and eat some of my bread."
And as Ellie pleased her, she said, " Per-
haps you would like to pass the winter in
my house; but then you must keep my
room clean, and tell me fairy tales to amuse
me ; for that is what I like more than any
thing." Ellie did what the good mouse re-
quired, and in return had a very comforta-
ble life.

"We shall soon have visitors," said the
field-mouse to her one day, soon after Ellie
was settled in her place. "My neighbor
usually pays me a visit once a-week. He
lives in much grander style than I ; for he
has many splendid chambers, and wears
costly fur. If you could get him for a hus-
band, you were then well provided for;
however, his sight is not very good. But
you must not fail to tell him the prettiest
stories, and sing for him the most touching
songs, that you know."

But Ellie would listen to nothing of the

sort; for she could not bear the sight of

their neighbor, because he was a mole.

He really did come to pay the mouse a

18

visit ; and, true enough, had on fur as soft
as velvet. He was very rich and very
learned, the field-mouse said ; and his house
was more than twenty times larger than
hers. As to his being learned, there was
not a doubt about it; but he detested the
sun and the gay flowers, and spoke of both
with contempt, though he had never seen
either.

Ellie was obliged to sing to him; so
she sang two songs, " Fly away, lady-
bird, fly away home !" and " The priest
goes to the field!" Her beautiful voice so
pleased the mole, that he fell in love with
her ; but he took good care not to show it ;
for he was a most sensible personage.

A short time before, he had made a long
passage from his dwelling to that of his
neighbor ; and he now gave Ellie and the
mouse permission to walk in it as often as
they pleased. He begged them, at the
same time, not to be frightened at the dead
bird that lay at the entrance. It was, no
doubt, a bird that had just died ; for it had
all its feathers on, and seemed to have been

19

tittlt

buried at the spot where the mole had built
his gallery.

Neighbor mole then took a bit of touch-
wood in his mouth, for it shines just like fire
in the dark, and went before to light them
through the dark passage; and when he
came to the spot where the dead bird lay,
he gave the earth a push with his snout, so
that the mould rolled down and made a
large opening, through which the daylight
fell.

Ellie could now see the dead bird quite
well — it was a swallow. Its pretty wings
were pressed close to its body, and its feet
and head drawn back under the feathers.

" The poor bird is certainly frozen to
death," said Ellie: and she was heartily
sorry for the poor animal, for she loved
birds dearly, because they had sung to
her the whole summer long.

But the mole gave it a push with his foot,
and said, " There is an end of all his fine
singing now ! It really must be a wretched
existence to be a bird ! Thank heaven, my
children won't be birds. Why, such a poor

20

feathery thing has nothing in the world ex-
cept his 'chirp,' 'chirp,' and when winter
comes he must starve."

"Yes, indeed, you may well say that,"
replied the mouse. " And with all his fine
'chirp,' 'chirp.' what has a bird got when
winter is come? Starvation and cold,
that's all? But that I suppose is thought
very grand."

Ellie was silent; but when the others
turned their backs, she bent over the bird,
put aside the feathers which lay over its
head, and kissed its closed eyes.

"Perhaps it was you who sang me such
pretty songs." thought she. "How often
have you delighted me, my dear, beautiful
bird !"

The mole then stopped up the opening
again through which the daylight had
entered, and escorted the two ladies home.
But Ellie could not sleep that night. She
got up out of bed, platted a mat of hay,
carried it to where the .dead bird was,
spread it over him, and covered him up on
every side with soft cotton, which she had

M

•;
Itttlt (fllfe.

found in the field-mouse's parlor, that he
might rest more warmly than on the cold
earth.

"Farewell, pretty little bird," said she,
"farewell! and many thanks for your
friendly song last summer, when all the
trees were green, and the sun shone down
upon us all so warmly!"

Then she laid her little head on the
bosom of the bird, but she was sadly fright-
ened ; for it seemed to her as if something
moved within. It was the heart of the
bird, who was not dead, but only lay
benumbed, and came to life again when
penetrated by the warmth.

In autumn the swallows fly to warm
countries, but when there is a weakling
among them, which tarries behind until
the winter sets in, it becomes benumbed
with the cold, so that it falls to the ground
and lies in a torpid state till the chill snow
covers it.

At first Ellie was frightened when the
bird began to move, for compared to her he
was a giant ; but she soon took courage,
22

€ lib.

tucked in the covering all around the ex-
hausted creature, and then fetched the mint
leaf which had hitherto served her as a
pillow, in order to put it over the poor bird's
head.

The following night she again stole away
to the swallow, whom she now found quite
revived, but still so weak that he could only
open his eyes a few times to look at Ellie,
who held a bit of touchwood in her hand
that she might see his face.

"A thousand thanks, you pretty little
child," said the sick swallow. "I am so
warmed through, that I shall soon recover
my strength, and be able to fly out again into
the warm sunshine."

"Oh, it is still much too cold out of
doors." answered Ellie. "It snows and
freezes still. You must stay in your warm
bed, and I will nurse you and take care of
you."

She now brought the bird some water in
a leaf, which he drank; and he told her
how he had hurt his wings with some
brambles so much that he was not able to

23

littlt

fly away to the warm countries with his
companions, but had fallen exhausted to
the earth, and had lost all power of recol-
lection, so that it did not know how it had
come there.

The little swallow remained here the
whole winter, and Ellie tended him and
liked him better and better every day ; but
she told the mole and the field-mouse no-
thing of the matter, for she knew very well
that neither of them could bear the poor bird.

As soon as summer was come and the
genial rays of the sun penetrated the earth,
the .swallow bade Ellie farewell; for she
had opened the hole in the ground through
which the mole had let in the light. The
sun shone so cheerily that the swallow
asked his faithful nurse if she would not fly
away with him. She might sit on his back,
and then they would fly away together to
the wood. But Ellie thought it would
grieve the old field-mouse if she were to
leave her in secret, and therefore she felt
obliged to decline the kind invitation of the
swallow.

24

littl*

"Farewell, then, good little maiden,"
said the swallow, and flew off into the
pleasant sunshine. Ellie looked after him
sorrowfully, and tears came into her eyes ;
for she liked the friendly bird very much,
and was sorry to part from him. She felt
quite forlorn now he was gone.

''Chirup! chimp ! chirup !" sang the
swallow, and flew away toward the green
wood.

Ellie was now very sad, for she was not
allowed to go out of the dark hole to enjoy
the warm sunshine. The corn grew up
above her, and formed quite a thick wood
before the dwelling of the field-mouse.

"You can employ the summer in getting
your wedding-clothes ready, and what you
want in housekeeping," said the mouse ;
for her neighbor, the tiresome mole, had
really proposed for Ellie.

11 1 will give you all you want, both
woollen and linen," said the mouse, " so
that you may have a house full when you
are the wife of the mole."

So Ellie was obliged to spin at the bobbins,
EE 25

and the field-mouse hired four spiders that
were forced to weave day and night.
Every evening the mole came to pay a
visit, and always spoke of his wish that
summer would soon be over, that there
might be an end of the heat; and when
winter should come, then was to be the
wedding. But Ellie was not at all glad;
for she could not bear the sight of the ugly
mole, though his fur was as rich and soft
as velvet.

Morning and evening she stole to the door ;
and when the breeze blew the ears of corn
apart, and she could see the blue sky. she
thought it was so beautiful and bright out
there in the open air, and she wished with
all her heart that she might see the little
swallow once again. But no swallow
came; he was, no doubt, enjoying the
warm sunshine far away in the green
wood.

As autumn approached. Ellie was ready
with her wedding-things.

"In four weeks you will be married,"
said the old field-mouse ; but Ellie wept,

26

little <f llit.

and said she would not have the tiresome
mole for a husband.

" Fiddle de dee !" answered the field-
mouse. " Don't be refractory, or I shall
give you a bite with my sharp teeth ; is not
your future husband a very handsome
man? Even the Queen has not such a
dress of beautiful velvet fur to show as he
has ! His larder and cellar are full, and
you may thank your stars that you can be
so well provided for."

Now, then, was to be the wedding ! The
mole was already come to fetch Ellie, who
in future was to live with him deep under
the earth, where no sunbeam could ever
penetrate. The poor thing was quite melan-
choly at the thought of taking leave of the
dear sun, which, as long as she was with
the field-mouse, she could at least see from
the door ; and she begged so hard, that the
mouse gave her leave to go out and see it
for the last time.

"Farewell, beloved sun!" said she, rais-
ing her hands to the sky, and advancing
some steps from the house ; for the harvest

27

littlt «U».

was over, and the dry stubble again on the
field. " Farewell ! farewell !" repeated she,
and twined her arms round a little flower
that stood near her. "Remember me to
the swallow if you should chance to see
him."

' ' Chirrup ! chirrup ! chirrup !" resounded
at the same moment; and when Ellie lifted
up her eyes, she saw the very same well-
known swallow fly by. As soon as the
bird perceived Ellie, he instantly flew to his
kind nurse, who told him how unwilling
she was to take the ugly mole for her hus-
band ; and that she was to live with him
under-ground, where the sun and moon
would never shine. At these words she
burst into tears.

"Winter will soon be here," said the
swallow, "and I shall fly far away to the
warm countries. If you will travel with
me, I will willingly take you on my back.
You have only to bind yourself on firmly
with your girdle, and off we will fly far
away from the hateful mole and his dark
chamber, over mountain and valley, to

28

ItttU

those beautiful lands where the sun shines
much more warmly than here ; where cease-
less summer reigns, and bright flowers are
always blooming. Take courage, and fly
with me, good little Ellie ; you who saved
my life when I lay frozen and almost dead
on the earth !"

"Yes, I will fly with you," exclaimed
Ellie joyfully. She mounted on the back
of the swallow, supported her feet on his
wings, fastened herself by her girdle to a
strong feather, and flew away with him high
over woods and lakes, over valley and
mountain. When they passed over icy or
snowy glaciers, Ellie often felt cold; but
then she crept under the feathers of the
bird, covered herself ah1 over, and only put
out her head to admire all the wonders
below her.

At last they arrived in the warm countries.
There the sun shone brighter than with us ;
the sky was as high again, and on walls
and palings grew the finest blue and green
grapes. Ripe oranges and citrons hung in
the groves, and the fragrance of myrtles

29

littlt lElltr.

and of jasmine rose in the air, while lovely
children played about with the most bril-
liantly painted butterflies. But the swallow
flew further and further, and beneath them
the country became always more and more
beautiful.

On the banks of a lake, amid magnificent
acacias, stood a marble palace, built in long-
past days. Vines twined themselves round
its columns, on which, high above, many
swallows' nests were hanging. Into one of
these nests the swallow carried Ellie.

"Here is my home," said he; "but do
you seek out one of the loveliest flow-
ers that grow yonder for your dwelling;
then I will carry you thither, and you shall
make yourself as comfortable as you please ;
your every wish shall be readily and cheer-
fully fulfilled."

"Oh, that will be delightful indeed!"
exclaimed Ellie, and clapped her little hands
with joy.

On the ground lay a large white marble
pillar, that had fallen down, and was broken
in three pieces ; but between each fragment

30

little <EUtt.

the most beautiful white flowers grew lux-
uriantly.

The swallow flew with El lie to one of
these flowers, and set her down on a hroad
leaf; but how astonished was Ellie when
she saw that in the flower a little mannikin
was sitting, as delicate and transparent as
glass. He wore a small golden crown on
his head, and the most beautiful bright
wings on his shoulders ; and he was not a
whit larger than Ellie herself. This was
the sylph of the flower. In each flower
dwelt such a little man with his wife ; but
this was the king of all the sylphs of the
flowers.

" Oh, how handsome this king is !" whis-
pered Ellie in the swallow's ear. The little
prince started at the sudden arrival of the
great bird ; but when he saw Ellie he be-
came enamored of her, for she was the most
beautiful maiden he had ever seen. Then
he took off his golden crown, set it on Ellie' s
head, and asked her name, and if she would
be his wife, and so become queen of all the
flowers.

31

littb

Now that, to be sure, was a different sort
of husband to the son of the ugly toad, or
the tiresome mole with the costly fur ! So
Ellie said "Yes" to the little prince; and
then a lady appeared, and then a gentleman,
out of all the other flowers, so lovely, that it
was quite a pleasure to see them, and each
of them brought a present to Ellie. The
best gift that was offered her was a pair of
beautiful white wings, which were fastened
on her shoulders immediately; and now she
too could fly from flower to flower — that
was such a delight !

The joy was universal. The little swal-
low sat on high in his nest, and sang as well
as he could, though he was very sad ; for he
had a great affection for Ellie, and did not
wish to part from her.

:' You shall not be called Eilie any long-
er," said the sylph ; " for that is not a pret-
ty name, and you are so very beautiful.
Henceforward we will call you Maia."*

"Farewell, farewell!" cried then the little
swallow, and flew away again from the
* Maria.

Kttlt €\St.

warm land, far, far away ; off to little Den-
mark, where he has his nest just over the
window of the room in which dwells the
poet who can tell delightful tales, and there
sings to him his "Chirrup! chirrup! chir-
rup !" It was he who told us the whole of
this wonderful story.

SOLDIER, came once
upon a time, marching
along on the highway.
He had his knapsack
upon his back,
and his sword by
his side ; for he
came from the wars, and
was now on his way home.
Presently an old witch met him ; she
was a loathsome -looking creature ; for
her under-lip hung down over her
chin.

34

;l Good evening, soldier !" said she.
" What a beautiful sword you have there,
and what a fine large knapsack! You
look truly like a brave soldier ; and there-
fore you shall have as much money as you
can wish for !"

"Thank ye, old witch!" replied the
soldier. "That would be very acceptable
indeed."

"Do you see that great tree yonder?"
asked the witch, pointing to a stout oak
that stood by the wayside. " That tree is
quite hollow; and if you will climb up to
the top, you will see a hole in the . trunk,
through which you can slide down and get
to the very bottom of the tree. I will tie a
rope round your body, so that I may be
able to pull you up to the top again when
you call."

" And what nave I to do down there at
the bottom of the tree ?" asked the soldier.

"To fetch money, to be sure! What
else do you think !" continued the witch.
" But you must know, that when you have
got to the bottom of the oak, you will find

yourself in a large hall, lighted by a
hundred lamps. There you will see three
doors, all of which you can open, for the
key is in every one of them. If you enter
the first door, you will come into a chamber,
in the middle of which, on the floor, a great
money-chest stands, but which is guarded
by a dog with eyes as large as tea-cups ;
but that you need not mind. I will give
you my colored apron ; you must spread it
out on the floor, and then you may boldly
lay hold of the dog and put him on it ; after
which you can take out of the chest as
many halfpence as you please: in that
chest it is all copper. But if you want
silver, you must go into the second cham-
ber. However, here sits a dog upon the
chest, with a pair of eyes as large as mill-
wheels ; but that you need not mind either :
put the dog on the apron, and take as much
silver as you please. But if you would
rather have gold, you must go into the
third chamber, and then you can take as
much as you can carry. But the dog that
guards this money-chest has eyes as large as

the Round Tower* at Copenhagen. That's
a dog for you who can see ! But you need
not mind him : put him on my apron, and
take as many gold pieces out of the chest as
you please; the dog won't do you any harm."

"That wouldn't be amiss!" said the
soldier. " But what am I to give you, old
beldame? For 'tis not very likely you
would tell me this, and send me down the
hollow tree to get so much treasure for
nothing !"

"No, said the witch, "I don't ask a
farthing ! You must only bring up with
you the tinder-box you will find, that my
grandmother forgot the last time she was
down there."

" Well, give me the rope," said the
soldier, "I'll try!"

"Here it is," said the witch; "and here
too is my colored apron." And she gave
them both to him.

So the soldier climbed up to the top of
the oak, put the rope about him, slipped

* The Observatory ; so called on account of its round
form.

37

f iukr-to.

through the hole in the trunk, and stood
suddenly in the great hall, which was
lighted, exactly as the old witch had told
him, by a hundred lamps.

As soon as he had looked round him a
little, he found also the three doors, and im-
mediately opened the first. There really
sat the dog with eyes as large as tea-cups,
and stared at him.

"Ho, ho, my dog!" said the soldier.
" Good fellow !" And he spread the witch's
apron on the floor, and set the dog upon it.

He now opened the money-chest, filled all
his pockets with copper pennies and half-
pence, shut down the lid again, put the
staring dog on the top of it, and went, with
his apron, into the second chamber. Good
heavens ! There sat the dog with eyes as
big as mill-wheels.

"You should not look at me so fixedly,"
said he to the dog that was keeping watch;
"that weakens the eyes!" Thereupon he
set the animal on the apron ; but when he
saw the quantity of silver coin, he threw
away the coppers and filled all his pockets

and his knapsack with the bright silver.
And then he went to the third door, and
into the chamber.

Well, that was enough to disgust anybody !
The dog here really had eyes as large as the
Round Tower, and they rolled about in his
head like turning- wheels.

"Good evening," said the soldier, putting
his hand to his cap and saluting in true
military style ; for such a monster he had
never met before. However, after he had
looked at him for some moments, he thought
it was enough ; so he spread out the apron,
lifted the enormous dog off the cover, and
opened the money-chest. (

What heaps of gold he saw ! He could
have bought all Copenhagen, all the sugar-
plums, all the games of soldiers, all the
whips and rocking-horses in Europe, with
the money ! At the first sight of such rich
treasure, the soldier threw away all the
silver with which he was laden, and stuffed
his pockets, his knapsack, his cap, and his
boots, so full of gold pieces, that he could
but just move with the weight. Now, in-

39

deed, he had money in abundance. The tre-
mendous dog was put on the cover again, the
door of the chamber shut, and the soldier
went back to the hollow of the tree, and
called out.

" Hallo, old hag ! Now, then, pull me
up again !"

" Have you got the tinder-box ?" said the
witch in reply.

"Til be hanged, if I hadn't nearly forgot-
ten it !" said the soldier. He then put the
tinder-box in his pocket; the witch drew
him up out of the tree ; and he soon was
standing again upon the highway with all
his treasures.

" What do you want with the tinder-box ?"
asked the soldier.

"That's nothing to you," answered the
old hag. "You've got money in plenty;
so give me the tinder-box."

"No!" said the soldier. "Tell me
directly what you'll do with the tinder-box,
or I'll cut your head off with my sword !"

"No," cried the witch, "I won't."

And the soldier instantly drew his sword

40

and chopped her head from her body ; so
there was an end of her ! He then tied up
his money in her apron, put the bundle over
his shoulder and the tinder-box in his
pocket, and walked on until he came to the
next town.

It was a large city ; and he went to the
first hotel, asked for the best apartments,
and ordered the most delicate things for
dinner ; for he was now a moneyed man.

The waiters, it is true, thought his boots
rather strange-looking for so grand a gentle-
man ; but they were of another opinion next
morning, after he had been out shopping;
for they now had the most elegant boots to
clean, and the finest clothing to brush.
The soldier had become quite a dandy ; he
talked of the curiosities of the town, and the
sights to be seen, and the people told him
about the King and his beautiful daughter
the Princess.

'•How can I see her?" asked the soldier
impatiently.

"She is not to be seen at all," was the
answer ; "for she lives in a large brazen

palace surrounded by many towers and
high walls. Only the King visits his
daughter ; because it has been foretold that
the Princess will marry a common soldier,
and the King would never hear of such a
thing."

"I'd give the world to see the Princess !"
thought the soldier to himself; but as to
getting a permission, it was of no use think-
ing of such a thing.

Meanwhile he led a merry life ; went
often to the play, drove about in the royal
park, and gave a good deal to the poor. It
was praiseworthy of him to be charitable ;
but he knew well enough by experience
what a poor fellow feels who has not a
penny in his pocket, He was, moreover,
a rich man, had handsome clothes, and
. many friends, who told him every day that
he was an excellent creature, a perfect
gentleman ; and all this the soldier liked to
hear.

But it so happened after a while, as he
was always taking from his money and
never received any, he had at last but two-
12

pence-halfpenny left. So he was obliged to
leave the handsome lodgings he had lived in
till now, and to take a small garret, to clean
his own boots, and darn and mend his
clothes himself when they wanted it. None
of his old friends visited him any more ; for
they could not, of course, go up so many
pair of stairs for his sake.

It was quite dark in his room, and he
had not even money enough to buy a
candle. Suddenly he remembered that, in
the tinder-box which he fetched up from the
bottom of the hollow oak, there were a
few matches. He therefore took it, and
began to strike a light ; but as soon as the
sparks flew about, the door of his room was
thrown open, and the dog with eyes as large
as a tea-cup walked in, and said, "What
does the master please to command?7'

" Well done !" cried the soldier, astonish-
ed; "that's a capital tinder-box, if I can
get all I want with so little trouble ! Well,
then, my friend," said he to the dog with
the staring eyes, " I am in want of money ;
get me some '"

43

Clj* Ci

Crack! the dog had vanished, and crack !
there he was again standing before the
soldier, holding a purse filled with copper
coin between his teeth.

Now the soldier perfectly understood how
to employ the tinder-box : if he struck with
the flint and steel once, then the dog with
the copper money appeared; if twice, the
one with the silver coin ; and if three times,
then came the dog that guarded the chest
of gold.

After this discovery, he returned imme-
diately to his former handsome lodgings;
his numerous kind friends came to him
again, and testified their sincere affection
and attachment.

"Well," thought the soldier one day to
himself, "'tis very strange that no one may
see the beautiful Princess ! They say she
is a great beauty ; but what good will that
do her, if she is always to stay shut up
in the brazen castle with the numerous
towers ! I wonder if it really be impossible
to see her ! Where's my tinder-box ? I
should like to know if it's only money that

44

he can procure." He struck the flint, and
the well-known dog with saucer-eyes stood
before him.

"It is midnight, it is true," said he;
"but I should like so much to see the
Princess only for a moment !"

In a moment the dog was out of the room,
and before the soldier thought it possible,
he saw him return with the Princess, who
sat asleep on the dog's back, and was so in-
describably beautiful that anybody who
saw her would know directly she was a
Princess. The soldier could not help it;
happen what might, he must give the
Princess a kiss, and so he did, for he was,
body and soul, a soldier.

Then the dog ran back again to the
palace with the lovely Princess. The next
morning at breakfast she told her parents of
the curious dream she had had; that she
had been riding on a dog, and that a soldier
had given her a kiss.

"A very pretty affair indeed!" said the
Queen. So now it was agreed that, next
night, one of the ladies of the court should

45

e

watch at the bedside of the Princess, in
order to see into the matter of the dream,
and if anything happened to her in her
sleep.

That night again, the soldier felt a
strange longing to see the beautiful Princess
from the brazen castle. The dog was there-
fore despatched, who took her again on his
back and ran off with her. But the cunning
old lady quickly put on a pair of good
walking-boots, and ran after the dog so fast,
that she caught sight of him just as he was
going into the house where the soldier
lived.

"Ah, ah!" thought she ; " all's right
now ! I know where he is gone to ;" and
she made a cross on the street door with a
piece of chalk. Then she went back to the
palace, and lay down to sleep. The dog,
too, came back with the Princess ; but
when he remarked that there was a cross
on the house where the soldier lived, he
made crosses on all the street-doors in
the town; which was very clever of the
animal, for now the lady would not be able,

46

with the pieces made a bag. This bag she
had filled with the most finely-sifted flour,
and tied it with her own hands round the
Princess's neck. When this was done, she
took her golden scissors and cut a small
hole in the bag, just large enough to let
the flour run slowly out when the Princess
moved.

The dog came again in the night, took
the Princess on his back, and ran off with
her to the soldier, who wanted so much only
to look at her, and who would have given
any thing to be a Prince, so that he might
marry the Princess.

But the dog did not observe that his track
from the palace to the soldier's house was
marked with the flour that had run out of
the bag. On the following morning the
King and the Queen readily saw where their
daughter had been during the night; and
therefore they ordered the soldier to be ar-
rested and put into prison.

There now sat the poor soldier in prison,
and it was so dark too in his cell ; besides,
the jailor told him that he was to be hang-

48

with all her ingenuity, to find the right door
again.

Early next morning came the King and
Queen, the old lady, and all the high
officers of the crown, to ascertain where
the Princess had gone to in the night.

" Here's the house !" exclaimed the King,
when he saw the first door that had a cross
on it.

" No, it must be here, my dear," said the
Queen, perceiving the next house with a
white cross.

" Here, there, and every where are white
crosses" cried all; for, look where they
would, the street-doors had white crosses
on them ; and they now perceived it would
be a vain attempt to try to find the right
house.

The Queen, however, was an exceeding!^
clever woman. She knew something more
than merely how to sit in a carriage with
an air; and therefore she soon found out a
way how to come on the traces of the dog.
She took a whole piece of silk, cut it in
two with a golden pair of scissors, and

47

ed on the morrow. That was indeed no
very pleasant news for the soldier, and more
unfortunate than all, he had left his tinder-
box at the hotel.

When day broke he could see out of his
little prison- windows how the people were
streaming from the town to see the execu-
tion; he heard the drums beat, and saw
the soldiers marching to the spot where the
scaffold was erected. Among the crowd
was a little apprentice, who was in such a
hurry that he lost one of his shoes just as
he was running by the prison.

" Hallo, my little man !" cried the soldier
to the boy ; " you need not be in such a hurry;
for nothing can be done till I come ! If you
will run to the inn, at the sign of the Golden
Angel, and fetch me a tinder-box that I left
behind in my room, I'll give you a groat for
your trouble ; — but you must make all the
haste you can !"

The boy wanted very much to get the

groat ; so off he ran to the Golden Angel,

found the tinder-box as described in the

soldier's room, and brought it to him to his

4 GG 49

grated window. Now let us see what hap-
pened.

Outside the town a high gallows had
been erected, which was surrounded by a
quantity of soldiers, and thousands of peo-
ple occupied the large field. The King and
Queen sat on a splendid throne that had
been erected for them, opposite the judges
and the councillors.

The soldier was already on the highest
step of the ladder, and the executioner was
just about to put the rope round his neck,
when he implored that they would grant
him, poor sinner that he was, one last wish.
He had. he said, a great longing to smoke
a pipe of tobacco, and as this was the last
act of grace he should ask for in this world,
he hoped they would not be so cruel as to
refuse him.

So the King allowed them to accede to
his request : and the soldier took out his
flint and steel, and struck one, two, three
times ; when presently all three enchanted
dogs stood before him; the one with the
saucer-eyes, as well as the other two with

50

eyes like mill-wheels and the Round Tow-
er at Copenhagen.

" Help me out of my difficulty !" called
the soldier to the dogs. " Don't let them
hang me !"

Thereupon the three frightful dogs fell on
the judge and the councillors, seized one
by the leg, another by the nose, and tossed
them high up in the air, so that in tum-
bling down they were immediately dashed
to pieces.

'We are not graciously pleased "

cried the King ; but the dogs cared little for
that, and took King and Queen, one after
the other, and tossed them like the rest in
the air.

Then the soldiers grew frightened, and
the people called out, " Good soldier, you
shall be our King, and you shall have the
beautiful Princess for a wife !"

Then the soldier seated himself in the
King's carriage, and all three dogs danced
in front of it, and shouted " Hurrah!" The
boys in the street whistled, and the soldiers
presented arms.

51

Now the Princess was liberated from the
brazen castle, and was made Queen, which
she liked very much. The wedding festivi-
ties lasted eight days, and the dogs seated
themselves at table, and stared at every
body with their great eyes.

52

tfjrt Hfirktfc Sing.

N old times there
lived a wicked,
proud - hearted
King, who nev-
er thought of
^ anything but of
conquering all
and making his
He hurried
his soldiers
trampled down the corn in the fields, and
burned the houses of the peasants, so that
the red flame seemed to lick the leaves off

53

the lands in the world
name a terror to every one.
about with fire and sword;

lung.

the trees, and the fruit hung roasted from
the black and scorched boughs. Many a
poor mother hid herself, with her little
naked baby, behind the smoking walls, and
the soldiers searched for them till they found
both herself and her child, and then began
their cruel joy. Wicked spirits could not have
done more shocking things than they did;
but the king thought this was just as it
should be.

Day by day his power increased; his
name became a terror to every one, and
fortune favored him in all that he did. He
brought home large heaps of gold and
treasure from the cities that he conquered ;
and in his own royal city such wealth was
stored up as never was seen in any other
place. Now he had splendid castles and
palaces built; and every one who saw
these glorious things said, " What a great
king !" They never thought of the distress
he had brought upon other countries ; they
never heard the sighs and groans that rose
from the towns which he had laid in
ashes.

54

«|re iflirltrtr Irag.

The king gazed on his gold, and on his
gorgeous palaces ; and then, like many
other people, he thought, "What a great
king am I ! but I must have still more,
much more. No power must be called
equal to, and certainly none shall be greater
than mine !"

So he began at once to make war upon all
his neighbors, and he conquered them all.
He had the vanquished princes fastened to
his chariot by chains of gold when he
drove through the streets ; and when he sat
at table, they had to lie at his feet, and at
the feet of his courtiers, and pick up the
crumbs that were thrown to them.

Now the king had his image set up in the
public squares and royal palaces: yes, he
even wanted it to stand in the churches
before the altar of the Lord ; but the priests
said, "O King, thou art great, but God is
greater : we dare not do this."

"Well, then," said the wicked king, "I
will overcome Him also !"

And in the pride and folly of his heart, he
had a beautiful ship built, which could sail

55

ling.

through the air. It was as gay in color as
the tail of the peacock, and seemed furnish-
ed with a thousand eyes; but every eye
was the muzzle of a gun-barrel. The King
sat in the middle of the ship ; then he had
only to press a spring, and thousands of
balls would fly out, while the guns were
found loaded again, just as they had been
before. Hundreds of mighty eagles were
harnessed to the ship : and so, now that all
was ready, it rose in the air, and flew up
towards the sun.

The earth soon lay far down below him.
At first, with its mountains and its woods,
it looked like a ploughed field, where the
green blades of grass peep out from among
the broken clods of turf; then it was like a
smooth map of the world, and soon after
this it was hidden in mist and cloud.
Higher and higher flew the eagles.

But, behold, God sent a single one from
His .countless host of angels, and the king
shot thousands of balls at him; but the
hard balls rebounded like hail from the
angel's shining wings. One drop of blood

5Q

ling.

only, one single drop, came trickling from
his snow-white plumes. This drop fell
upon the ship in which the king was sitting :
it burnt itself into it, and weighing down
the vessel like a thousand fothers of lead, it
bore it with awful violence towards the
earth.

The slrong wings of the eagles were
broken ; the wind whistled round the head
of the king; and the clouds around him,
which were made of the smoke of the
burnt cities, took the threatening form of
griffins, many miles long, that stretched out
their strong claws at him; or now they
looked like rolling rocks and dragons vomit-
ing fire.

The king lay half dead at the bottom of
the ship, which was caught, at last, in the
thick branches of the forest.

"I will conquer heaven," said he. "I
have sworn that I will, and it shall be
done."

So for the next seven years he had ships
cleverly built for sailing through the air;
he had flashes of lightning forged from the

Cjr* IBirteft ling,

hardest steel ; for he was bent on riving the
bulwarks of heaven. From all the countries
he ruled over, large armies were levied,
which covered a circuit of several miles
when they were drawn up in order man
by man.

They embarked in the ship she had so cun-
ningly contrived, and he himself ehrew near
to the one which he was to sail in. It was
then that God sent a swarm of gnats against
him. — one little swarm of gnats. They
buzzed round the king, and stung him on
his face and hands. He drew his sword in
anger, but he only fought the empty air,
for he could not touch the gnats. There-
fore he ordered silken robes to be brought :
he bade them wind these around him, that
not a gnat should be able to reach him with
its sting ; and they did as he commanded.

But one little gnat lighted on the inside
of the robes: it crept into the King's ear,
and stung him there. The wound burned
like fire ; the poison rose to his brain. He
tore off the silken coverings, and dashed
them from him ; then, rending his clothes,

58

ling.

he danced naked and mad before the rude
wild soldiers ; while they, in their turn,
jeered at the mad and wicked King, who
had thought of fighting with God, and who
yet had been overcome by one single little
gnat.

59

jfesntab

HERE were, once
upon a time, five-and-
twenty leaden soldiers,
all brothers ; for they
had all been made out
of an old metal spoon.
They " carried arms,"
and stood there every one of them with their
"eyes right." Their uniform was red and
blue, and was quite beautiful. The very
first thing they heard in this world when
the cover was taken off the box, was,
"Leaden Soldiers!" These words were

60

fUsnlnte Iwhra

uttered by a little boy who clapped his
hands for joy ; they had been given him
because it was his birthday, and he now
set them out upon the table. One soldier
was exactly a counterpart of the other ; a
single one only was somewhat different from
the rest — he had but one leg. He had been
cast the last of all, and there was not lead
enough left; yet he stood on his one leg
quite as firmly as the others on two : and it
is this very soldier whose fate is so remark-
able.

On the table where they were set up
many other playthings were lying; but
what was most attractive to the eye was a
pretty little castle of pasteboard. Through
the little windows one could see right into
the apartments. Before the castle little
trees were standing round a little mirror
which was meant for a lake; and swans,
made of wax, swam about on it, and were
reflected in the water. All was so nice and
pretty; but the nicest of all was a little
damsel that stood in the open entrance to
the castle. She was cut out of paper, but

61

Inlfe.

she had on a dress of the finest gauze, and
a narrow blue riband over her shoulders,
and in the middle of this was a glittering
spangle, which was just as large as her
whole face.

The little lady stretched out both her arms,
for she was a dancer, and at the same time
lifted one leg so high in the air that the
leaden Soldier could not find it, and he might
almost have fancied she had but one leg,
like himself.

" She would make a good wife for me,"
thought he, "but she is rather a high
personage. She lives in a castle ; /have
only a wooden-box, and there, too, are our
five-and-twenty men : that's not a place
for her ! However, I will try to get ac-
quainted with her."

And then he laid himself at full length
behind a snuff-box that was standing on the
table ; whence he could have a perfect view
of the little fine lady that stood on one leg
without losing her balance.

As evening drew in, all the other soldiers
came into their box, and the people in the

62

te Erato 3>afrnt Inliihr.

house went to bed. Then the toys began
to play, and amuse themselves, — they play-
ed at visiting, and at dancing the polka,
and at war.

The soldiers in the box made a rattle ; for
they wanted to join the game, but the cover
would not come off. The nutcrackers
threw a sommerset, and the slate-pencil
jumped about on the slate ; it was such a
sight that even the canary-bird awoke, and
began to talk with the rest, and in verse,
too, into the bargain.

The only two who did not move from
their places were the leaden Soldier and the
little Dancer ; she remained in her graceful
position on tip-toe with outstretched arms ;
and he stood just as firm on his one leg,
and never took his eyes from off her even
for a moment.

Now the clock struck twelve. Suddenly
the cover of the snuff-box flew open ; but
there was no snuff in it. No, out sprung a
little black Magician, for it was a conjuring-
box.

63

te Ersolnte I mint Inltor.

" Soldier!" cried the Magician, "will
you keep your eyes to yourself?"

But the leaden Soldier pretended that he
did not hear.

"Well! only wait! to-morrow!" said the
magician.

When the morning was come, and the
children were out of bed, the soldier was
placed in the window, and, — whether the
Magician did it, or the wind, that I don't
know, — all at once the window flew open,
and the Soldier fell down head over heels
from the third story into the street. It
was a frightful descent! He struck one
leg into the air, and remained standing on
his military cap, with his bayonet between
the stones.

The maid and the little boy ran down
directly to look for him ; but, although they
nearly trod on him, they could not see him.
Had but the soldier cried out "Here I am!"
they might have found him ; but he did not
deem it proper to call out loud because he
was in uniform.

It now began to rain, one drop fell thicker

64

than the other; till it came in a perfect
torrent. When it was over two little boys
came by.

" Look here !" said one. " Here is a
leaden Soldier ! Let us give him a sail in
a boat !"

And they made a boat out of a newspaper,
put the soldier in it, and now, there he was
sailing along down the gutter. Both the
little boys ran by the side clapping their
hands.

Dear me ! what waves were rolling in the
gutter, and what a torrent it was ! for the
shower was a pretty smart one, I can tell
you. The paper boat heaved and fell, and
now and then made such turns that the
leaden Soldier became quite giddy ; but he
was resolute, never changed countenance,
kept his "eyes right," and '-'carried arms"
as before. All at once the boat was driven
into a long covered drain ; it was as dark to
the Soldier as if he were in his own wooden
box.

"Where am I going to now!" thought
he. " Yes, yes, this is the Magician's

5 HH 65

lUsnteb %nln f ultot

doings ! Oh, were the little maiden with
me in the boat, darkness and all else were
indifferent to me !"

At the same moment a large water-rat,
that lived in the drain, made his appear-
ance.

"Where's your passport?" asked the rat;
"out with your passport!"

But the soldier was silent, and held his
musket the tighter. The boat drove on-
ward, the rat pursuing. How horribly he
gnashed his teeth, and how dreadful it was
to hear him cry out to the straws and float-
ing bits of wood :

"Stop him! stop him! he has defrauded
the customs ! He has not shown his pass-
port!"

But the stream grew stronger and stronger.
Already could the soldiers see the light of
day before he got to the end of the drain,
but he heard, too, a roaring sound, at which
the bravest heart would have quaked.
Only imagine ! at the spot where the drain
ended, the water of the gutter was precipi-
tated headlong into a great canal : for the

jfasnlnte Irniint Intor.

Soldier, that was as dangerous as descend-
ing a mighty cataract.

He was already so near that to stop was
impossible ; the boat shot forward ; the poor
leaden Soldier stood as upright as he could,
for no one could say of him that he had
even winked his eyes. The boat whirled
round three, four times, and was filled with
water up to the very edge. Sink it must.
The soldier was up to his neck in water :
deeper and deeper sank the boat, and looser
and looser became the paper. At last the
water went over the Soldier's head; he
thought of the pretty little Dancer that he
was never to see again, and the words of
the song,

O warrior ! dangers must thou brave,
And death must be thy portion,

sounded in his ears. Then the paper fell
to pieces, the leaden Soldier tumbled out —
but at that very moment a large fish swal-
lowed him.

Well to be sure, how dark it was ! It
was darker here than in the drain; and,

67

Inlter.

besides, there was so little room. But the
leaden Soldier was resolute ; there he lay at
full length, and still "carried arms."

The fish darted hither and thither; he
moved about in the most terrible manner,
and at last he was quite still. Something
like a Tay of light darted through him ; all
was bright and clear, and a voice cried,
" The leaden Soldier !" The fish had been
caught, taken to market, bought, and sent
into the kitchen, where the cook cut it open
with a large knife. She took the Soldier by
the waist with her finger and thumb, and
carried him up stairs, where everybody was
eager to see the remarkable man that had
made a journey in the inside of a fish. But
the Soldier was not proud. They put him
on the table, and — no ! how wondrou ^y
things fall out in this world ! — he wat in
the very same room where he had I en
before ; he saw the same children ; the s ne
toys were upon the table — the beautiful
castle with the pretty little Dancer standing
at the door — all were the same ! She stood
upon one leg still, and held the other high

68

fUanlate Iwtiteii Inlhim

in the air: she, too, was resolute. The
leaden Soldier was quite affected at the
thought, and he could have wept tears of
lead, but that it did not become him to
do so. He gazed at her, and she gazed on
him ; but they spoke not a word.

At that moment one of the little boys took
up the Soldier, flung him without more ado
into the fire ! He gave no reason for doing
so ; but it was, doubtless, the work of the
Magician in the snuff-box.

There stood the Soldier in a blaze of light.
He felt a terrible glow ; but whether it arose
from the fire or from love, he knew not.
He had completely changed color; how-
ever, I am unable to say whether that
happened on account of his long journey, or
was the consequence of his agitation. He
looked at the little damsel, she looked at
him, and he felt that he was melting ; but
there he stood, still resolute, and "carried
arms."

Suddenly a door opened, the wind caught
the Dancer, and, like a sylphide, she flew

lUsnlttft jCrnkn Inter.

straight into the fire to the leaden Soldier,
blazed up, and — she was gone !

The Soldier melted together in a lump, and
the next morning, when the maid came to
take away the ashes, she found his remains
in the form of a little leaden heart. Of the
Dancer, however, nothing but the spangle
remained, and that was burnt as black as a
coal.

Barton nf

OULD you like to
hear about the
Garden of Para-
dise? Well then,
I will tell you that
once upon a time
there lived the son
of a King; nobody
ever had so many
and such beautiful books as he ; and in them
he could read of all the events that had
ever happened in the world, and see them
represented in magnificent pictures. From

feton nf

them he could get information about every
country and every people: but of where
the Garden of Paradise was to be found,
not a word was said; and Iliav was the
very thing he thought most of and mos*
wished to know.

While the Prince was still quite a little
boy, and just when he ought to have been
sent to school, his grandmother told him
that every flower in the Garden of Paradise
was made of the sweetest cake, and its
stamina of the choicest wine : on one plant
grew history, on another geography, on a
third the German language; so that one
only need eat the cakes in order to know
one's lesson perfectly; and the more one
ate the more one learned, and the more one
understood of history, geography, or Ger-
man.

At that time the young Prince believed
all this ; but by degrees, as he grew older
and wiser, he saw very well that the glory
of the Garden of Paradise must be a very
different sort of thing.

"Oh, why did Eve pluck the fruit from

72

nf

the tree of knowledge? Why did Adam
eat of what was forbidden? 7 ought to
have been there, and then it would not
have happened ! Never should sin have
entered into the world !"

So spoke he then ; and so he spoke still,
when he was seventeen years old. The
Garden of Paradise occupied all his
thoughts.

One day he strolled into the forest. He
was alone; for to be so was his greatest
pleasure.

The evening was closing in, the clouds
were gathering, and it began to rain as if
the whole heavens were one great floodgate
from which the water was bursting. It
was, too, as dark as it could be at night in
the deepest well. Now he slipped on the
wet grass, now he stumbled over bare
stones which were scattered over the rocky
ground.

He was, besides, dripping wet : the poor
Prince had not a dry thread on his body.
He was forced to climb over huge blocks of
stone, where the water trickled down from

II 73

nf

the high moss. He was near falling from
fatigue, when he heard a strange humming
noise ; and before him he saw a large illu-
* mined cavern. In the middle of it burned
a fire, at which a buck might have been
roasted whole. And it was the case too ; —
a very fine buck, with zig-zag antlers, was
stuck on the spit, and turned slowly
between two enormous pine-trees. An
elderly woman, tall and strong, as though
she were a man in disguise, sat by the fire,
and threw in one piece of wood after
another.

" Come, come nearer," said she. seeing^
the Prince; "seat yourself by the fire, and
dry your clothes."

" There's a terrible draught here," said
the Prince, and he sat down on the floor of
the cave.

" That will be still worse when my sons
come home," said the woman. "You are
in the Cavern of the Winds; my sons are
the Four Winds of the world. Do you un-
derstand me?"

€ jje burton nf

"Where are your sons?" asked the
Prince.

" Stupid questions are not easily answer-
ed," said the woman. "My sons live just*
as they please ; they play at ball with the
clouds up there," and so saying she pointed
to the sky above.

" Oh, indeed !" said the Prince, " as to
yourself, you speak rather roughly, and are
altogether not so gentle as the women that I
generally see around me."

"Yes; they, I suppose, have nothing else
to do. I must be harsh, if I am to keep my
boys in order : but I can do it, though they
have stiff necks of their own ! Do you see
those four sacks yonder by the wall? they
stand as much in awe of them as you once
did of the rod on the shelf. I bang them
together, let me tell you, and then off they
march into the sack; we don't stand on
much ceremony here, — there they sit, nor
do they come out till I choose to let them.
But see, here is one of them !"

With that in came the North Wind. He
entered with an icy coldness; large hail-

75

nf

stones danced upon the ground and flakes
of snow flew about him. He had on a
jacket and trowsers of bear-skin ; a seal-skin
cap hung over his ears; long icicles were
hanging at his beard, and one hailstone
after the other slipped out from under his
jacket-collar.

" But don't go to the fire directly !" said
the Prince. " Your face and hands might
get frostbitten !"

"Frostbitten!" said the North Wind,
laughing loudly; "Frostbitten! why that
is just my greatest delight ! But pray who
are you. Mr. Spindleshanks ? How came
you into the Cavern of the Winds?"

"He is my guest," said the old woman;
"and if you are not satisfied with the
explanation, you shall be off to the sack.
So now you know my mind."

This had the desired effect; and the
North Wind sat down and related whence
he came, and where he had been the whole
month.

"I came from the Arctic Ocean : I have
been on Bear Island," said he, with the

76

nf

Russian whale-fishers. I sat and slept at
the helm as they sailed past the North
Cape. When I now and then awoke up a
little, the stormy-petrel flew about my legs;
it is a strange bird ! he gives a quick stroke
with his wings, and then keeps them
stretched out immoveably, and needs no
further exertion."

"Do not make your story so long," said
the Mother of the Winds. "And so you
came to Bear Island?"

" 'Tis splendid there ! The ground is
like a floor just fit for dancing, as flat as a
board ! Half-thawed snow and moss, sharp
stones, and the skeletons of whales and
polar bears lay -about, and they looked
exactly like the legs and arms of giants
covered over with a mouldy green. One
would think the sun never shone upon
them. I blew aside the rnist a little, that I
might see the hut. That was a fine house !
It was built of the remains of a wreck, and
covered with the skin of a whale; the
fleshy side outwards, all green and red;
and on the roof there sat a live polar bear,

77

(Pnrhii of

and growled. I went along the shore,
looked into the birds' nests, and saw the
callow young ones screaming and chirping
with open mouths; so I blew into their
throats by thousands, and then they learned
to shut their mouths. Beneath me the
walruses tumbled about, looking like gigan-
tic worms with heads of swine and tusks an
ell long."

"You tell your story well, my son," ex-
claimed the mother; " it makes one freeze
to listen to you."

"Now, then, the fishing began; the har-
poon was thrust into the breast of the
walrus, and the reeking stream of blood
spouted like a fountain over the ice. Then
I thought of my part of the sport. I gave a
blast, and made my ships, the stupendous
icebergs, hem in the boats. Ha, ha ! how
the crew all whistled and shouted, but I
whistled louder ! The pieces of the dead
whales, chests, and tackle — all were obliged
to be unpacked upon the ice. I shook
snow-flakes about them, and sent them and
their boat, locked up in the ice, drifting to

78

cteltra nf

the southward, to get a taste of salt-water.
They won't make their appearance at Bear
Island again !"

"You have been doing mischief, then !"
said the Mother of the Winds.

"The good I have done others may re-
late,'' said he ; " but here comes my brother
from the West ; I love him best of all — he
smells so of the sea, and he has such a
healthy cold about him."

"Is that delicate little Zephyr?" asked
the Prince.

"Yes, to be sure it is," said the old
woman; "but he is no longer so very deli-
cate either. Once upon a time he was a
nice, mild little fellow, but that's all over
now."

The West Wind looked like a wild man,
but on his head he had a sort of padded
covering, to save him from hurt. In his
hand he held a club of mahogany, hewn in
the American forests. Nothing less than this
would have done.

" Where do you come from 7" inquired
his old mother.

79

(0arhn nf

"From the forest wilderness," said he,
"where the thorny lianas form a hedge
between every tree, where the water-snakes
lie in the wet grass, and where man seems
to be useless."

" What did you do there ?"

" I looked into the deep river, saw how it
rolled from the rocks, and dashed into spray,
flew up towards the clouds, and gave form
to the rainbow. I saw a buffalo swimming
in the stream, but the current bore him
down : he drifted onwards with a flock of
wild-fowls ; they flew away when the water
swept over the precipice, but the buffalo
was forced to plunge over with it. That
pleased me, and I blew such a hurricane
that the primeval trees were hurled crack-
ing to the earth, and were crashed to
atoms."

"And have you done nothing else?"
asked the old woman.

" I have tumbled head over heels in the
Savannahs, I have chased the wild horses,
and rattled down the cocoa-nuts Yes,
yes ; I have enough to tell about. But one

80

nf

must not tell all one knows ; that you know
very well, old mamfny." And so saying,
he kissed his mother to such a degree that
she nearly tumbled down. He was a wild
fellow, that West Wind !

Now came in the South Wind ; he had
a turban on his head and a flying Bedouin
mantle.

"It's cold enough here," said he, throwing
wood upon the fire ; " one can very well
feel that the North Wind was here before
me."

" It's so hot here that one might roast a
polar bear," said the North Wind.

" You are a polar bear yourself," said the
South Wind.

"Do you want to be put in the sack 7"
asked the old woman. "Sit down there on
the stone, and tell where you have been, and
what you have done."

"In Africa, mother," answered he. "I
have been lion-hunting with the Hottentots
in the land of the Caffres. What fine grass
grows there in the plains, as green as the
olive! There frisked the gnu, and the

6 81

af

ostrich ran races with me ; but I am swifter
than he. I came to the desert, to the yellow
sand : it looks like the bottom of the sea.
I met a caravan ; they killed their last
camel to get water to drink, but they did
not get much. From above they were
scorched by the sun, from below they were
burned by the sand. The vast desert was
endless. There I rolled myself in the fine
loose sand, and in great pillars whirled it
up into the air. Oh, it was a glorious
dance ! You should have seen how stupi-
fied the dromedary stood, and how the
merchant drew his caften over his head !
He threw himself down before me, as before
Allah, his God. Now they are all buried,
but a pyramid of sand stands above them.
When some day or other I blow it away,
the sun will bleach the white bones, and
travellers may see that men have been
there before them. But for this no one
would believe it in the desert."

"So, then, you have done nothing but
evil," said his mother. "March! to the
sack !" And before he was aware of it} she

82

nf

had seized hold of the South Wind by the
body, and — into the sack with him. The
bag with him in it kicked and roiled about
the floor ; but she seized it, held it fast and
sat down on it, and then he was forced to
lie still.

" They are desperately wild fellows, these
sons of yours !" said the Prince.

"Yes. indeed they are," answered she;
"but they must obey for all that. Ha!
here we have the fourth."

This was the East Wind, who was dress-
ed like a Chinese.

" What ! are you come from that corner
of the world ?" said his mother. " I thought
you had been to the Garden of Paradise?"

"I am going there to-morrow," said the
East Wind: "to-morrow it will be a hun-
dred years since I was there. I come from
China now, where I danced round the por-
celain tower till I set all the bells a-tinkling.
Below in the street the officers of state got
such a beating that the bamboo-canes split
across their shoulders ; and these were per-
sonages from the first to the ninth degree.

83

nf

They called out, ' Thanks, thanks, paternal
benefactor!' but they didn't mean it; and I
tinkled the bells all the while, and sang,
'Tsing. tsang, tsu!'"

"You are a harum-scarum youth," said
the old woman. "It is a good thing you
are going to the Garden of Paradise to-
morrow; your education requires it, and
your visit there always contributes to your
improvement. Do but drink deep of the
fountain of wisdom, and bring a little bottle-
ful for me."

" I will," said the East Wind ; " but why
have you put my brother from the south
into the sack? Let him out; he must tell
me about the phcenix ; about this bird the
Princess in the Garden of Paradise wants
always to hear something, when I go to
pay my visit every hundred years. Open
the sack; you are my own sweet dear little
mother; and I'll give you two pocketsful of
tea, quite fresh and green, just as I picked
it myself on the spot."

"Well, then, for the sake of the tea, and

nf

because, after all, you are my darling, I'll
open the sack."

And she did so, and the South Wind
crept out ; but he looked very crest-fallen,
because the Prince, who was a stranger,
had seen the whole affair.

" Here is a palm-leaf for the Princess,"
said the South Wind; "it was given me by
the old phoenix-bird — the only one that was
in the whole world. On it he has scribbled
with his bill his whole history during the
hundred years that he lived; so now she
can read it herself. I saw how the phoenix
set fire to his own nest, seated himself on
it, and was burnt like the Hindoo widow.
How the green boughs crackled, and what
a smoke and fragrance from the burning
nest ! At length all was in flames; the old
bird was turned to ashes, but his egg lay
red and glowing in the fire. It burst with
a loud noise, and the young phoenix flew
out. He is now lord over all the birds, and
the only phoenix in the world. He has
bitten a hole in that leaf I have given you ;
that is his greeting to the Princess."

85

Barton nf

" Let us now take something to refresh
ourselves," said the mother of the winds ;
and they all sat down to eat of the roasted
buck ; and the Prince took a place next to
the East Wind, and for that reason they
very soon became very good friends.

"I say," began the Prince, "just tell me
what Princess that is of whom you have
talked so much ? and where does the Garden
of Paradise lie?"

"Ho, Ho!" said the East Wind; "will
you go there ? If you will, set off to-morrow
with me ; but this much must I tell you, no
human being was ever there since Adam
and Eve's time. You know them, of course,
from the Bible history?"

"Yes, to be sure," said the Prince.

"When they were driven away, the Gar-
den of Paradise sank into the earth ; but it
retained its warm sunshine, its genial air,
and all its glory. The Queen of the Fairies
lives there : there lies the Island of Bliss,
which Death can never reach, and where
life is so very beautiful. Seat yourself to-
morrow on my back; and I will take you

86

nf

with me; I think we shall be able to
manage it. But now hold your tongue, for
I want to go to rest."

And now they all fell asleep.

Early in the morning the Prince awoke,
and was not a little astonished to see that
he was already far above the clouds. He
was sitting on the back of the East Wind,
who carefully held him fast ; they were so
high in the air that woods and fields, rivers
and lakes, looked like a large colored map,
stretched out below.

"Good morning," said the East Wind ;
"you may, if you like, sleep a little longer;
for as yet there is not much to be seen on
the flat land beneath us, unless you would
like to count the churches, which stand like
little white dots down there on the green
board." They were the fields and meadows
which he called a green board.

" It was un polite of me to depart without
taking leave of your mother and brothers,"
said the Prince.

" If one sleeps, it is excusable," answered
the East Wind ; and now they flew on still

87

nf

more quickly. One could hear it by the
tops of -the trees ; when they passed over
them, all the leaves and the branches
rustled : one could hear it on the sea, and
on the lakes; for wherever they flew, the
waves rose higher, and the tall ships bent
low down to the water like swans.

Towards evening, as it was getting dark,
the great cities appeared very strange.
Lights were burning below, now here, now
there ; and it looked exactly as if one had
burned a piece of paper, and shaken the
sparks in all directions ; and then to see
them vanish one after another, till at last.
as children say, out goes the sexton and his
family.

The Prince clapped his hands ; but the
East Wind begged him to be quiet, and to
hold fast ; otherwise it was not unlikely he
might fall down, and be left hanging to
some church-steeple.

The eagle in the dark forests flew quickly
enough; but the East Wind flew more
quickly. The Cossack on his little horse
rode at full speed over the steppes ; but the

88

nf

Prince rode along more rapidly in a very
different manner.

"Xowyou can see the Himalaya/' said
the East Wind, " they are the highest
mountains in Asia: we shall soon be at the
Garden of Paradise."

They after wards turned more to the south;
and the fragrance of spices and flowers soon
floated through the air. Figs and pome-
granates grew wild, and red and white
grapes hung in profusion on the wild vine.
Here they both descended, and lay in the
soft grass, where the flowers nodded to the
wind, as though they would say, "Welcome,
welcome !"

" Are we now in the Garden of Paradise?"
asked the Prince.

" Xo. not yet," said the East Wind ; "but
we shall soon be there. Do you see yon
\vall of rock, and the great cavern, where
the tendrils of the vine-leaves hang like
rich green curtains ? There we must pass.
Wrap yourself up in your cloak : here the
sun is burning ; but a step further and it is
icy cold. The bird that flies before the

ferte af

cavern has one wing out here in the warm
summer, and the other within in the cold
winter.7'

" And that is the way to the Garden of
Paradise?" asked the Prince.

So now they entered the cavern : oh, how
icy cold it was ! but it did not last long.
The East Wind spread out his wings, and
they shone like a glowing fire. But what
a cavern ! The huge blocks of stone, from
which the water trickled, hung over them
in the most extraordinary shapes. Some-
times the passage was so narrow that they
were obliged to creep along on hands and
feet : and again it was as broad and high as
under the open heaven. It looked like a
subterranean chapel, with silent organ-
pipes and petrified organ.

'• Suely we are going by the path of
Death into the Garden of Paradise, are we
not ?" said the Prince. But the East Wind
answered not a word : he only pointed
forwards, where the loveliest blue light
gleamed towards them. The blocks of
stone above their heads became more and

90

nf

more like a vapor, and at last were as clear
as a white cloud in the moonlight. They
were now in the mildest air, as refreshing
as on the mountains, and as fragrant as
among the roses of the valley.

Here flowed a river as transparent as the
air itself; arid the fish that were in it were
of silver and gold ; purple-colored eels, that
at every turn sent forth a shower of blue
sparks, sported in the water ; and the broad
leaves of the water-lily displayed every
color of the rainbow — the flower itself was a
pale-yellow burning flame, which was sus-
tained by the water, as the lamp is fed by
the oil. A firm bridge of marble, but so
fine and so curiously wrought as though it
were made of glass beads and lace, led over
the water to the Island of Bliss, where
bloomed the Garden of Paradise.

The East Wind took the Prince in his
arms and carried him across. Then the
leaves and the flowers sang the most beauti-
ful songs about his childhood ; but in such
sweet and swelling tones, that no human
voice could imitate them.

91

fnrton nf

Whether they were palms or gigantic
water-plants that grew here, the Prince
knew not; but such great luxurious trees
he had never before seen ; and there in long
garlands were hanging from tree Jo tree the
most curious creepers, just as one sees them
in rich colors and gold on the margin of old
Prayer-books, or twining round the initial
letters. There was the most beautiful mix-
ture of birds, and wreaths, and flowers.
Close by in the grass, stood a flock of pea-
cocks, with their radiant tails outspread.
Yes, indeed it was so — but no, when the
Prince touched them, he found that they
were npt birds, but plants. They were
large burs, which here shone like the mag-
nificent tail of the peacock. Lions and
tigers leaped like playful cats between the
green hedges, that smelt as sweetJy as the
blossom of the olive ; and the lions and the
tigers were tame. The timid wood-dove,
her plumage shining like the fairest pearl,
fanned the lion's mane with her wings; and
the antelope, usually so shy, stood and

(tetott nf

nodded its head, as though it would like to
play with the rest.

Now came the Fairy of Paradise. Hei
clothes shone like the sun; and her counte-
nance was as mild as that of a happy
mother when she rejoices over her child.
She was young and beautiful ; and follow-
ing her were the loveliest maidens, each one
with a gleaming star in her hair.

The East Wind gave her the leaf with
the writing from the phoenix, and her eyes
beamed with joy. She took the Prince by
the hand, and led him into her palace,
where the walls were colored like the leaf
of the most beautiful tulip when held up to
the sun. The ceiling was a single shining
flower; and the more one looked into the
calix, the deeper it seemed. The Prince
advanced to the window, and looked through
one of the panes : he saw there the Tree of
Knowledge, with the Serpent; and Adam
and Eve standing close beside it.

" Were they not driven away?" asked he.
And the Fairy smiled, and explained to
him that on every pane of glass Time had

93

nf

burnt its image; but it was not such a
picture as one generally sees: no, there was
life in it ; the leaves of the trees moved, and
human beings went and came as in a
mirror. And he looked through another
pane; there was Jacob's dream. The
ladder went straight up into heaven, and
the angels with their broad wings ascended
and descended upon it. Yea, all that had
happened in this world lived and moved on
the window-panes ; but such beautiful glass-
painting as this could only be produced by
Time.

The Fairy smiled, and led the Prince into
a high, and spacious hall, whose walls
seemed transparent, and were covered with
paintings : there were thousands of happy
beings, whose faces were radiant with
beauty, and who laughed and sang so that
their voices formed a wondrous harmony.
The highest were so very small; smaller
than the least rose-bud, when it is drawn
like a mere dot upon the paper.

In the midst of the hall stood a large tree,
with luxuriant pendent branches ; and

nf

golden apples, large and small, hung like
oranges between the green leaves. This
was the Tree of Knowledge, of whose fruit
Adam and Eve had eaten. From every
leaf a red gleaming dew-drop was falling :
it was as if the tree shed tears of blood.

"Now let us get into the boat," said the
Fairy; "we will refresh ourselves on the
heaving water. The boat rocks on the
swelling waves, yet it moves riot from the
spot; but all the countries of the earth will
glide by before our eyes."

And it was wonderful to behold how the
whole coast moved. There came the lofty
snow-covered Alps, with clouds and dark
pines: the deep melancholy sound of the
horn was heard; and herdsmen shouted
merrily from the valley below.

Now the long drooping branches of the
Bananas hung down into the boat, jet black
swans swam on the water, and the strangest
looking animals and flowers were to be seen
on the banks. This was New Holland, and
the fifth quarter of the Globe, that glided by
with a view of the Blue Mountains. And

95

nf

now came the songs of the priests, and they
saw the wild inhabitants dance to the sound
of the drum and of the bone tuba. Egypt's
pyramids climbing to the clouds, overthrown
columns, and sphynxes, half buried in sand,
sailed by. The aurora borealis burned over
the mountains of the north : that was a fire-
work that no mortal could imitate. The
Prince was so happy, and he saw a hundred
times more than is related here !

" And may I always stay here ?" asked
he.

" That depends on yourself," answered
the Fairy. "If you do not allow yourself
to be seduced, like Adam, to do that which
is forbidden, you may stay here for ever."

" I will not touch the apple of the Tree
of Knowledge," said the Prince. " Here
are a thousand fruits as beautiful as that
one. I should never do as Adam did !"

" Examine yourself, and if you are not
strong enough, then go with the East Wind
that brought you : he is about to fly back,
and will not come again for a hundred
years. To you the time here will pass

96

nf

away as though it were a hundred hours ;
but it is a long time for temptation and sin.
Every evening, when I leave you, I must
call, ' Come with me !' I must beckon to you
with my hand — but do not attend. Do not
follow me ; for with every step temptation
will increase. Should you come into the
hall where the Tree of Knowledge stands,
under whose fragrant boughs I sleep, and
bend over me, and press a kiss on my
mouth, then will Paradise sink into the
earth, and be lost to you. The chill winds
of the desert will whistle around you, the
cold rain trickle from your hair, and want
and sorrow will be your portion."

"I will remain," said the Prince; and
the East Wind kissed him on the forehead,
and said, "Be firm, and we shall meet
again here in a hundred years ! Farewell,
farewell!"

And the East Wind spread out his large
wings: they shone like lightning seen at
harvest-time; or like the aurora borealis
in cold winter.

"Farewell ! farewell!" was re-echoed by

7 PL 97

nf

tree and flower. The storks and the pelicans
flew in long rows like fluttering streamers
as they accompanied him to the boundary
of the garden.

"Now we begin our dances!" said the
Fairy. "At the conclusion, when I have
danced with you, you will see how. as the
sinking sun departs, I shall beckon to you.
"You will hear me call, 'Come, oh come
with me !' but do riot follow me. That is
your temptation — that is sin to you. Fora
hundred years must I repeat the call to you
every evening. With each evening that
you resist the temptation will your moral
strength increase, till at last you will not
give it a thought. This evening will be
the first trial — remember I have given you
.warning !"

And the Fairy led him to a large hall of
white transparent lilies; and the yellow
stamina of the lilies were little golden harps,
which gave forth a music as of stringed
instruments and flutes.

Lovely maidens, light and slender, danced
gracefully around him, and sang of life and

nf

its delights; and the burden of their song
was, that death should never approach
those who were purified by trial, and that
the Garden of Paradise should bloom to
them for ever.

It was sunset : the whole sky was as
pure gold ; and in the purple light the lilies
shone like the most beautiful roses. And
the Prince felt a joy within his heart which
he had never experienced before. He saw
how the background of the hall opened, and
beheld the Tree of Knowledge standing
amidst dazzling brightness.

And again the sound of song was wafted
towards him, mild and gentle as his mother's
voice ; and he seemed to hear her sing,
"My child, my dear, dear child!"

Then the Fairy beckoned with tenderness,
and cried, " Come, oh come with me !"

He rushed towards her ; forgot his vow,
forgot it even on the very first evening ; and
again she beckoned and smiled.

The air, *the spicy air around grew still
more balmy ; and the harps sounded more
deliciously ; and it seemed as if the millions

teton nf

of laughing faces in the hall, where the tree
grew, nodded and said, "One should know
all ! Man is Lord of the Earth." And it
was no longer tears of blood that dropped
from the leaves of the Tree of Knowledge,
but red, shining stars ; such, at least, did
they seem to him.

"Come, oh come with me!" sounded
with trembling tones ; and at every step the
cheeks of the Prince burned more ardently,
and more quickly flowed his blood.

"I must," said he; "it surely is no sin;
cannot possibly be a sin ! Why not pursue
what is beautiful and joyous? I will see
her while she sleeps. In doing that I shall
have lost nothing : but if I were to kiss her,
— but kiss her I will not — I am strong, and
am resolute !"

And the Fairy threw off her shining
mantle, bent aside the branches, and was
hidden in a moment from his sight.

" As yet I have not sinned," said the

Prince; " nor will I;" and he pushed aside

the green, depending branches of the Tree

of Knowledge; she slept — as beautiful as

100

nf

only the Fairy of the Garden of Paradise
can be. She smiled in her dream ; he bent
over her, and saw tears beneath her eye-
lashes.

"Dostthou weep forme?" he murmur-
ed : " oh, weep not, beautiful maiden! —
NOAV, for the first time, do I comprehend the
joy of Paradise ! I feel it in every vein :
every thought is possessed by it. I feel the
cherub's strength, and everlasting life in my
mortal body ; let darkness enwrap me for
ever — one moment like this is enough !"
And he kissed the tears from her eyes ; his
lips touched hers — a frightful clap of thun-
der was heard, so loud and terrible that
none has ever heard the like. And all dis-
appeared: the charming Fairy and the
blooming Paradise sunk deep into the earth;
down into dark night the Prince saw it sink-
ing ; and like a small twinkling star it shone
in the far distance. An icy coldness spread
over his limbs ; he closed his eyes, and lay
for a long while as if dead.

The cold rain fell on his face, the chill

101

nf

wind blew on his forehead, and at last his
senses returned.

" What have I done ?" said he ; " I have
sinned like Adam ; I have sinned, and Pa-
radise has sunk from my sight !"

He opened his eyes ; the distant star, the
star that twinkled like the sunken Paradise,
he could see still : it was the Morning-star
shining in the sky.

He rose and found himself in the great
wood, near the Cave of the Winds. The
Mother of the Wincfs sat by his side; she
looked displeased, and lifted her arm on
high.

" Already, the first evening !" said she ;
" I thought as much; yes, if you were my
son, by my faith, I would punish you. you
should march into the sack."

" In he shall go ; punishment will come !"
said a strong old man with a scythe in his
hand, and with large black wings ! "He
shall be laid in the coffin, but not now ; I
have marked him, but I will leave him yet
a little while to wander on the earth, to re-
pent his sins; he may improve, he may
102

nf

grow good. Some day I shall come again.
When he least expects it, I shall push him
into the black coffin. I shall put it on my
head, and shall fly towards the stars.
There, too, blooms the Garden of Paradise.
If he be good and holy, he may enter its
beautiful pearl gates and be a dweller in it
for ever and ever : but should his head and
heart be still full of sin, then he will sink
with the coffin deeper than ever sank the
Garden of Paradise; and every thousand
years only shall I come to fetch him, that he
may either sink still deeper, or dwell in the
star — in that bright sparkling star there
yonder !"

The Prince arose — the old woman was
gone — the Cave of the Winds was nothing
now but a hollow in the rock ; he wondered
how it had seemed so large the night before ;
the morning star had set, and the sun shone
with a clear and cheerful light upon the little
flowers and blades of grass, which were
heavy with the last night's rain ; the birds
sang, and the bees hummed in the blossoms
of the lime tree.

103

nf

The Prince walked home to his castle.
He told his grandmother how he had been
to the Garden of Paradise, and whaj, had
happened to him there, and what the old
man with the black wings had said.

"This will do you more good than many
book-lessons," said his grandmother ; "nev-
er let it go out of thy memory !"

And the Prince never did forget it.

104

•(Tiff

unto

AYE you ever seen
a very, very old
clothespress, quite
black with age, on
which all sorts of
flourishes and foliage
were carved ? Just
such a one stood in a
certain room. It had been hand-
ed down as a legacy to the o wner
from a great great grandmother,
and it was carved from top to bottom with
roses and tulips; the most curious flourishes

» 105

mti

were to be seen on it, and between them
little stags popped out their heads with zig-
zag antlers.

But on the top a man at full length was
carved. True he was laughable to look at ;
for he showed his teeth — laughing one could
not call it — had goat's legs, little horns on
his head, and a long beard. The children
in the room always called him General-
clothes-press-inspector - head - superintendent
Goat-legs, for this was a name difficult to
pronounce, and there are very few who
get the title : but to cut him out in wood —
that was no trifle. However, there he was.
He looked down upon the table and towards
the mirror, for there a charming little porce-
lain Shepherdess was standing. Her shoes
were gilded, her gown was tastefully looped
up with a red rose, and she had a golden
hat and cloak ; in short, she was most ex-
quisite.

Close by her stood a little Chimney-sweep,
as black as a coal, although he was made
of porcelain too. He was just as clean and
pretty as the rest of them ; as. to his being a

106

chimney-sweep, that was only what he re-
presented : and the porcelain manufacturer
could just as well have made a prince of
him as a chimney-sweep, if he had chosen ;
one was as easy as the other, to a clever
workman.

There he stood so prettily with his
ladder,* and with a little round face as fair
and as rosy as that of the Shepherdess. In
reality this was a fault; for a little black
he certainly ought to have been. He was
quite close to the Shepherdess ; both stood
where they had been placed ; and as soon
as they were put there, they had mutually
promised each other eternal fidelity ; for
they suited each other exactly — they were
young, they were of the same porcelain,
and both equally fragile.

Close to them stood another figure three

* The flues in Germany are much larger than in the
houses in England ; so much so indeed, that men only
are employed as sweeps. The lower part being very
wide, they have short ladders of about eight feet in
length to enable them to get up to the narrower part,
where they then scramble on in the usual way. — C. B.

107

•<BItf fjppjprtoss unit

times as large as they were. It was an old
Chinese, that could nod his head. He was
made of porcelain too, and said that he was
grandfather of the little Shepherdess; but
this he could not prove. He asserted,
moreover, that he had authority over her,
and that was the reason he had nodded his
assent to the General-clothes-press-inspector-
head-superintendent-Goat-legs, who paid his
addresses to the Shepherdess.

'•In him," said the old Chinese, "you
will have a husband who, I verily believe,
is of mahogany. You will be Mrs. Goat-
legs, the wife of a General-clothes-press-
inspector-head-superintendent, who has his
shelves full of plate, besides what is hidden
in secret drawers and recesses."

"I will not go into the dark cupboard,"
said the little Shepherdess ; "I have heard
say that he has eleven wives of porcelain in
there already."

a Then you may be the twelfth," said
the Chinese. " To-night, as soon as the
old clothes-press cracks, as sure as I am a

108

ttj?

Chinese, we will keep the wedding. And
then he nodded his head, and fell asleep.

But the little Shepherdess wept, and
looked at her beloved — at the porcelain
Chimney-sweep.

"I implore you," said she, "fly hence
with me into the wide world : for here it is
impossible for us to remain."

"I will do all you ask," said the little
Chimney-sweep. " Let us instantly leave
this place. I think my trade will enable
me to support you."

"If we were only down from the table,"
said she. " I shall not be happy till we are
far from here, and free."

He consoled her, and showed her how
she was to set her little foot on the carved .
border and on the gilded foliage which
twined around the leg of the table, brought
his ladder to her assistance, and at last both
were on the floor ; but when they looked
towards the old clothes-press, they observed
a great stir. All the carved stags stretched
their heads out farther, raised their antlers,
and turned round their heads. The Gen-

109

unit

eral-clothes-press-inspec tor-head-superinten-
dent gave a jump, arid called to the old
Chinese, " They are running away! they
are running away !"

At this she grew a little frightened, and
jumped quickly over the ridge into a low
drawer near the window.

Here lay three or four packs of cards.
which were not complete, and a little
puppet-show, which was set up as well as
it was possible to do. A play was being
performed, and all the ladies, Diamonds as
well as Hearts, Clubs and Spades, sat in
the front row, and fanned themselves with
the tulips they held in their hands, while
behind them stood all the knaves ready to
wait upon them when they wanted any-
thing. The play was about two persons
who could not have each other as they
wished, at which the Shepherdess wept, for
it was her own history.

"I cannot bear it any longer," said she;
" I must get out of the drawer."

But when she had got down on the floor,
and looked up to the table, she saw that
no

tire £>$

the old Chinese was awake, and that his
whole body was rocking.

" The old Chinese is coming !" cried the
little Shepherdess; and down she fell on
her porcelain knee, so frightened was she.

" A thought has struck me," said the
Chimney-sweep; "let us creep into the
great Pot-pourri Jar that stands in the
corner ; there we can lie on roses and laven-
der, and if he comes after us, throw dust
in his eyes."

" 'Tis of no use," said she. " Besides, I
know that the old Chinese and the Pot-
pourri Jar were once betrothed ; and when
one has been once on such terms, a little
regard always lingers behind. No; for us
there is nothing left but to wander forth in-
to the wide world."

" Have you really courage to go forth
with me into the wide world?" asked the
Chimney-sweep tenderly. " Have you con-
sidered how large it is, and that we can
never come back here again?"

"I have thought of all that," said she.

And the Sweep gazed fixedly upon her,

ill

rod

and then said, " My way lies up the chim-
ney. Have yon really courage to go with
me through the stove, and to creep through
all the flues? We shall then get into the
main flue, after which I am not at a loss
what to do. Up we mount, then, so high
that they can never reach us; and at the
top is an opening that leads out into the
world."

And he led her towards the door of the
stove.

"It looks quite black," said she; but still
she went with him, and on through all
the intricacies of the interior, and through
the flues, where a pitchy darkness reigned.

"We are now in the chimney," said he;
"and behold, behold, above us is shining
the loveliest star !"

It was a real star in the sky that shone
straight down upon them, as if to show
the way. They climbed and they crept
higher and higher. It was a frightful way ;
but he lifted her up, he held her, and show-
ed her the best places on which to put her
little porcelain feet ; and thus they reached

112

tlj? Ctfi

the top of the chimney, and seated them-
selves on the edge of it ; for they were tired,
which is not to be wondered at.

The heaven and all its stars were above
them, and all the roofs of the town below
them ; they could see far around, they had
such a splendid view of the world. The
poor Shepherdess had never pictured it to
herself thus ; she leaned her little head on
her Sweep, and wept so bitterly that all the
gilding of her girdle came off.

"Oh, this is too much!" said she; "I
cannot bear it. The world is too large.
Oh, were I but again on the little table
under the looking-glass ! I shall never be
happy till I am there again. I have follow-
ed you into the wide world; now if you
really love me, you may follow me home
again."

And the Chimney-sweep spoke sensibly
to her, spoke to her about the old Chinese
and the General-clothes-press-inspector-head-
superintendent ; but she sobbed so violently,
and kissed her little Sweep so passionately,

8 MM 113

that he was obliged to give way, although
it was not right to do so.

So now down they climbed again with
great difficulty, crept through the flue and
into the stove, where they listened behind
the door, to discover if anybody was in the
room. It was quite still ; they peeped out,
and there, on the floor, in the middle of the
room, lay the old Chinese. He had fallen
from the table in trying to follow the fugi-
tives, and was broken in three pieces ; his
whole back was but a stump, and his head
had rolled into a corner, while General-
clothes-press-inspector-head-superintendent
Goat-legs was standing where he had ever
stood, absorbed in thought.

" How dreadful !" said the little Shep-
herdess. " My old grandfather is dashed to
pieces, and we are the cause. I never can
survive the accident." And she wrung her
little hands in agony.

" He can be mended," said the Chimney-
sweep; "he can easily be mended. Only
do not be so hasty. If they glue his back
together, and rivet his neck well, he will be

tjp (Pju

as good as new, and will be able to say
enough disagreeable things to us for some
time to come."

"Do you think so?" said she; and then
they clambered up again to the table on
which they had stood before.

"You see," said the Sweep, "we might
have spared ourselves these disagreeables,
after all."

"If we had but mended my old grand-
father!" said the Shepherdess. "Does it
cost much?"

And mended he was. The family had his
back glued, and his neck riveted, so that
he was as good as new, except that he
could not nod.

" Meseems, you have grown haughty
since you were dashed to pieces," said
General-clothes-press-inspector-head-super-
intendent Goat-legs. "However, I think
there is not so very much to be proud of.
Am I to have her, or am I not?"

Then the Chimney-sweep and the little
Shepherdess looked so touchingly at the old
Chinese ; they were so afraid he would nod !

115

But he could not, and it was disagreeable to
him to tell a stranger that he constantly
carried a rivet in his neck. So the little
porcelain personages remained together.
They blessed the old grandfather's rivet
over and over again, and loved each other
till they both fell to pieces.

116

ITittU

Y poor flowers,
you are wither'd!"
said little Ida. "Yes-
terday evening you
were so pretty, and
now all your leaves
are drooping! What
is the reason of it?" asked
she of a youth sitting on a sofa,
and whom she liked very much,
because he told her the most beautiful fairy-
tales, and cut out pasteboard houses for her,
and such wonderful pictures too ; he could

117

3h's flwsm.

cut out hearts with little ladies dancing in
them ; flowers he could cut out, and castles
with doors that would open. He was a
very charming youth.

" Why do these flowers look so faded?"
asked she again, showing him a withered
nosegay.

"Don't you know what ails them?'' an-
swered he; "your flowers have been all
night at a ball, and that's the reason they
all hang their heads."

" Flowers cannot dance !" exclaimed little
Ida.

" Certainly they can ! When it is dark,
and we are all asleep, then they dance about
right merrily. They have a ball almost
every night !" said the youth.

" May children go to the flowers' ball
too?" asked little Ida.

"Yes," answered the youth. "Little
tiny daisies, and lilies of the valley."

"Where do the prettiest flowers dance?"
asked little Ida.

" Have you never been to the large castle,
just outside the gates, which is the King's

118

little 3k's

country-house, and where there is a beau-
tiful garden with so many flowers in it?
You have surely seen the swans that come
swimming towards you on the lake when
you throw them crumbs of bread ? The
flowers have regular balls there, I can tell
you."

"I was in the garden yesterday with my
mother," said Ida; "but there were no
leaves on the trees, and I did not see a
single flower. Where were they, then?
There were so many of them there in sum-
mer !"

"They are in the palace now," said the
youth. "As soon as the King leaves his
summer-palace, and goes to town with his
court, all the flowers go directly out of the
garden into the palace, and make merry
there, and enjoy themselves famously. If
you could but see it once ! The two most
beautiful roses seat themselves on the
throne, and play at King and Queen.
Then the red cockscombs range themselves
in rows on both sides, and make a low-
bow; these are the gentlemen of the bed-

STittl? 3h's flnms.

chamber. Then the nicest flowers enter,
and the great ball begins. The blue violets
are midshipmen and cadets, and they dance
with hyacinths and crocuses, which they
call young ladies. The tulips and great
yellow lilies, they are old ladies who look
on and see that the dancing goes on
properly, and that all is conducted with
propriety."

" But," said little Ida, quite astonished,
" may the flowers give a ball in the King's
palace in that way, and does nobody come
in to disturb them?"

" No one in the palace knows anything
about it," answered the youth. "It's true,
sometimes the old inspector of the palace
comes up stairs in the night with his great
bunch of keys, to see if all is safe ; but as
soon as the flowers hear the rattling of his
keys, they keep quite still, and hide them-
selves behind the long silken window-
curtains, and peep out with their little heads,
( I smell flowers here somewhere about/
says the old inspector ; but he cannot find
out where they are."

120

Sto's

" That's very droll," said little Ida,
clapping her hands. " But could I not see
the flowers?"

"Of course you can see them, "'answered
the youth. "Only peep in at the window
when you go again to the palace. I looked
in to-day, and I saw a long pale white lily
reclining on the sofa. That was a maid of
honor."

" Can the flowers in the Botanic Garden
go there too?" asked she. " Are they able
to go all that way?"

"Certainly, that you may believe," said
the youth, "for if the flowers choose, they
can fly. Have you not seen the pretty red
and yellow butterflies, and the white ones too,
that almost look like flowers, are in reality
nothing else. They have grown on stalks,
high up in the air, and then they have
leave given them to jump from their stems,
they move their leaves as if they were
wings, and so fly about; and as they
always behave well, they are allowed to
flutter hither and thither by day, instead of
sitting quietly on their stems, till at last real

NN 121

Itttl* 3hrs /Intro.

wings grow out of their leaves. Why, you
have seen it often enough yourself. How-
ever, it may be that the flowers in the
Botanic Garden did not know that there
was such merry-making in the King's pal-
ace of a night, and so have never been
there. But I'll tell you something that will
put the Professor of Botany, who lives beside
the garden, into a perplexity: when you
go there again, you have only to whisper it
to one flower, that there is a ball to be
given at night at Friedricksburg, and one
will tell it to the other till they all know it,
and then all the flowers are sure to fly
there. Then when the Professor comes
into the garden, and does not find any of
his flowers, he will not be able to compre-
hend what is become of them."

"Ah!" said little Ida, somewhat vexed
at the strange story, "how should the
flowers be able to tell each other what I
say? Flowers cannot speak!"

"No, they cannot properly talk: there
you are quite right," continued the youth;
" but they make themselves understood by

122

little Sinfs /Intro.

gestures. Have you not often seen how
they bend to and fro, and nod and move all
their green leaves, when there is the gentlest
breeze ? To them this is as intelligible as
words are to us."

"Does the Professor understand their
gestures, then?" said little Ida.

" To be sure he does. One morning he
came into the garden and remarked that a
great stinging-nettle was conversing on very
intimate terms with a pretty young carna-
tion. ' You are so beautiful,' said the
nettle to the carnation, ' and I love you so
devotedly!' But the Professor would not
suffer any thing of the sort, and tapped the
nettle on his leaves — for those are its
fingers; but they stung him so that from
that day forward he has never ventured to
meddle with a stinging-nettle again."

" Ha ! ha ! ha! that was good fun indeed."
laughed little Ida.

" What's the meaning of this," said the
Professor of Mathematics, who had just
come to pay a visit, "to tell the child such
nonsense !" He could not bear the young

123

little 3h'0 flwnx.

man. and always scolded when he saw him
cutting out pasteboard figures — as, for ex-
ample, a man on the gallows with a heart
in his hand, which was meant for a stealer
of hearts; or an old witch riding on a
broomstick, carrying her husband on the tip
of her nose. The cross Professor could not
bear any of these, and then he used to say
as he did now, " What's the meaning of
that — to teach the child such nonsense !
That's your stupid Imagination, I sup-
pose !"

But little Ida thought it was very amus-
ing, and could not leave off thinking of
what the youth had told her about the
flowers. No doubt her flowers did hang
their heads because they really had been to
the ball yesterday. She therefore carried
them to the table where all sorts of toys
were nicely arranged, and in the drawer
were many pretty things besides. Her doll
lay in a little bed, to go to sleep ; but Ida
said to her, "Really, Sophie, you must get
up, and be satisfied with the drawer for to-
night; for the poor flowers are ill, and

124

Kiiih

must sleep in your bed. Then perhaps they
may be well by to-morrow."

So she took the doll out of bed ; but the
good lady did not say a single word, she
only made a wry face at being obliged to
leave her bed for the sake of the old
flowers.

Ida laid the withered flowers in her doll's
bed, covered them up with the counterpane,
tucked them in very nicely, and told them
to lie quite still, and in the meantime she
would make some tea for them to drink,
that they might be quite well by to-morrow
morning. And she drew the curtains close
all round the bed, so that the sun might not
shine in their eyes.

The whole evening she kept on thinking
of what she had heard, and just before
going to bed she ran to the window where
her mother's tulips and hyacinths were
standing, and she whispered quite softly to
them, "I know very well that you are
going to the ball to-night." But the flowers
seemed as if they heard nothing, and moved

little Site's

not a leaf; — but little Ida knew what she
knew.

When she was in bed she lay for a long
time thinking how delightful it would be
to see the flowers dancing at the King's
palace.

"Have my flowers really been there?"
But before she could think about the an-
swer, she had fallen asleep. She awoke
again in the night; she had dreamed of the
youth and the flowers, and the professor of
Mathematics, who always said the youth
stuffed her head with nonsense, and that
she believed every thing. It was quite still
in the sleeping-room ; the night-lamp burnt
on the table, and her father and mother
were fast asleep.

"I wonder if my flowers are still in
Sophie's bed!" said she. "I should like so
much to know!"

She sat up in her bed, looked towards the
door which was half open, and there lay the
flowers and her playthings all as she had
left them. She listened, and it seemed to
her as if some one was playing on the

126

litto Sin's /intern

piano in the next room, but quite softly,
and yet so beautifully that she thought she
had never heard the like.

"Now, then, my flowers are all dancing
for certain!" said she. "Oh, how I should
like to go and see them !" But she did not
dare to get up, for fear of awaking her father
and mother.

"If they would but come in here!" said
she. But the flowers did not come, and the
music continued to sound so sweetly. At
last she could bear it no longer, it was so
delightful — see the dance she must; so she
crept noiselessly out of bed, and glided to-
wards the door of the drawing-room. And
what wonders did she behold !

The night-lamp burned no longer; and
yet it was quite light in the room, because
the moon shone through the window and
illuminated the whole floor, so it was almost
as light as day. All the hyacinths and
tulips stood in two rows in the drawing-
room, and before the windows was nothing
but the empty flower-pots. The flowers
danced figures, one round another on the

127

Sin's

floor ; they made a regular chain and held
each other by the long leaves.

At the piano sat a large yellow lily, that
Ida thought she had seen before ; for she
remembered that the youth had once told
her that this lily was like Miss Laura, and
that every body had laughed at him for
saying so. Now, it seemed to her that the tall
lily really was like the young lady, and that
she had quite the same manners when she
played; for now she bent her long sallow
face first on one side and then on the other,
and nodded with her head to keep time;
Ida stood looking in upon them, but not one
of them observed her.

Now a large blue crocus sprang upon
the table where Ida's toys were lying, went
straight to the bed, and drew aside the
curtains. There lay the sick flowers; but
they got up directly and saluted the other
flowers, who begged them to join the dance.
The old snapdragon, whose under lip was
broken off, stood up and bowed to the pretty
flowers. The sick flowers really did get up •

128

looked no longer ill, and danced merrily
with the rest.

Suddenly a dull sound was heard, as if
something had fallen from the table. Ida
cast her eyes in that direction, and saw that
it was the Easter-wand she had found lying
on her bed one shrovetide morning, and
which now wanted to be looked upon as a
flower. It was indeed a charming rod ; for
at the top a little wax figure was hidden,
with a broad-brimmed hat on like the Pro-
fessor: and it was tied with red and blue
ribands. So it hopped about among the
flowers, and stamped away right merrily
with its feet ; for it was the mazourka that
it was dancing, and this the flowers could
not dance, for they were much too light-
footed.

All at once the wax figure in the rod
became a tall and stout giant, and cried out
with a loud voice, " What's the meaning of
this — to teach the child such nonsense!
But this is your stupid Imagination, I sup-
pose !" And now the doll grew just like
the Professor, and looked as yellow and

/Intra,

cross as he did : they were as like &s two
peas. But the paper flowers with which
the rod was ornamented pinched his thin
lanky legs, and then he shrunk together
and was a tiny wax doll again.

Little Ida thought this scene so funny
that she burst out a laughing, which, how-
ever, the company did not remark ; for the
rod kept on stamping, till at last the Pro-
fessor of Mathematics was obliged to dance
too, whether he made himself stout or thin,
big or little, he was forced to keep on, till at
last the flowers begged for him, and the rod
then left him in peace.

A loud knocking was now heard in the
drawer where the doll lay ; and with this
the snap-dragon run up to the corner of the
table and opened the drawer a little. It
was Sophie, who, putting out her head,
looked around quite astonished :

"Is there a ball here?" said she "why
was I not told of it?"

"Will you dance with me?" said the nut-
crackers.

"A fine sort of person indeed to dance

130

Itttl* Site's flmnx.

with!" said Sophie, turning her back on
him. She seated herself on the drawer,
and thought that some one of the flowers
would certainly come and engage her to
dance. But no one came. So she coughed
a little : " A-hem ! a-hem !" Still none came.
Then the nutcrackers began dancing alone,
and he performed his steps by no means
badly.

When Sophie saw that not one of the
flowers came to offer himself as partner, she
suddenly slipped down on the floor, so that
there was a terrible fuss, and all the flowers
came running up and gathered around her
to inquire if she had hurt or bruised herself.
She was not hurt at all ; but all the flowers
were very complaisant, particularly those
belonging to Ida, who took this opportunity
to thank her for the nice bed in which they
had slept.so quietly ; and then they paid her
so much attention and they took her by the
hand, and led her to the dance, while all
the other flowers stood round in a circle.
Sophie was now quite happy, and begged
Ida's flowers to make use of her bed after

131

's flim*.

the ball, as she, for her part, did not at all
mind sleeping one night in the drawer.

But the flowers said: "We are very
much obliged to you indeed ; but we shall
not live so long, for to-morrow we shall be
quite withered. But now tell little Ida that
she must bury us down in her garden near
her canary-bird; there we shall appear
again next summer, and grow more beauti-
ful than we were this year."

"No, you shall not die!" continued
Sophie vehemently, kissing the flowers.

Suddenly the door of the drawing-room
opened, arid a great crowd of beautiful
flowers came dancing in. Ida could not
comprehend where these flowers came from,
unless they were the flowers from the
King's pleasure-grounds. First of all en-
tered two magnificent roses with golden
crowns on, they were a King and a Queen ;
and then followed stocks and pinks bowing
on every side. They had too a band of
music with them : large poppies and peonies
blew upon peashells till they were red in
the face, and lilies of the valley and biue-

132

littk 3ta'0 flmm.

bells joined their tinkling sounds, and rung
as if they were musical* bells. It was
charming music.

Then came a crowd of the most various
flowers, all dancing, — violets, daisies, con-
volvuluses, hyacinths ; and they all moved
and turned about so prettily, and kissed
one another, that it was quite a charming
sight.

At last the happy flowers wished each
other good night; and now little Ida slipped
into the bed again, and dreamed of all the
splendid things she had just beheld.

The following morning, as soon as she
was up and dressed, she went to the table
where her playthings were, to see if her
flowers were still there. She drew the bed-
curtains aside, and — yes ! the flowers were
there, but they were much more withered
than they were yesterday. Sophie, too,
was in the drawer, but she looked dread-
fully sleepy.

" Can't you remember what you had to
say tome?" asked little Ida. Sophie, how-

133

Kttlr 3h'0

ever, only looked very stupid, and did not
answer a word.

" You are not at all good," said Ida, "and
yet all the flowers asked you to dance with
them."

Then she chose a little box of pasteboard
from among her playthings; it was painted
with birds, and in it she laid the withered
flowers."

" That shall be your coffin," she said ;
" and when my cousins from Norway come
to see me, they shall go to your funeral in
the garden ; so that next summer you may
bloom again, and grow more beautiful than
you were this year."

The cousins from Norway were two
merry boys, Jonas and Esben. Their
father had just made each of them a present
of a bow and arrows, which they brought
with them to show to Ida. She told them
all about the poor flowers that were dead,
and that she was going to bury in the gar-
den. The two boys went before with the
bows on their shoulders, and little Ida follow-
ed with the dead flowers in the pretty little

134

littl* 3krs ftimts.

DOX. A grave was dug in the garden. Ida
kissed the flowers once more, put the box
into the earth, and Jonas and Esben shot
over the grave with their bows, for they had
no guns or cannons.

135

Now LISTEN!

UT in the country,
close to the road-
side, there stands
a country house.
I am sure you have
often seen it ; in
front there is a little
flower-garden, enclosed hy white palisades
with the points painted green. Close by,

136

on a bank outside the palings, amid the
most beautiful grass, grew a little Daisy;
the sun shone on it just as bright and warm
as on the splendid flowers in the garden,
and so each hour it grew in strength and
beauty. One morning, there it stood full
blown, with its delicate white glistening
leaves, which encircled the little yellow sun
in the middle like rays of light.

It never once occurred to the little flower
that it was seen by nobody, hidden as it
was down there in the grass, and that it
was a poor despised flower ! No, nothing
of the kind !

It was so contented ! It turned towards
the warm sun, gazed upon it, and listened
to the lark that was singing in the air.

The little Daisy was so happy ! as happy
as though it had been a great holiday ; and
yet it was only a Monday. The children
were in school ; and while they sat there on
their forms and learned their lessons, the
little flower sat on its green stem, and also
learned, from the warm sun and from all
around, how good God is; and it was just

00 137

as if the lark uttered all this in its song,
beautifully and distinctly, while the flower
felt it in silence. And the flower looked up
with a sort of reverence to the happy bird-
that could sing and fly. but it was not
dejected at being itself unable to do the
same.

"Do I not see and hear?" thought the
Daisy; "the sun shines on me, and the
breeze kisses me, — oh, what rich gifts do I
enjoy!"

Within the palisading of the garden stood
many stiff stately flowers: the less fra-
grance they had, the higher they held their
heads. The peonies puffed themselves out,
in order to make themselves larger than the
roses ; but it is not always the size that will
avail any thing. The tulips were of the
most beautiful colors ; they knew that very
well, and held themselves as straight as an
arrow, so that they might be seen all the
better. They did not deign to cast a look
on the little Daisy-flower outside ; but the
flower looked at them so much the more,
and thought, " How rich and beautiful those

138

are ! Yes, to be sure, the beautiful bird
certainly flies down to them — them he surely
visits ! What happiness to have got a place
so near, whence I can see all this splendor."
And just as it was thinking so, — " quirre-
vit !" down came the lark from on high;
but it did not go to the peonies or tulips ;
no, but down into the grass to the poor little
Daisy, which for pure joy was so astonished
that it did not even know what it should
think.

The little bird hopped about in the grass
and sang: "Well! how soft the grass is!
and only look, what a sweet little flower
with a golden heart and with a robe of
silver!" For the yellow spot in the Daisy
looked really just like gold, and the little
leaves around were shining, and as white as
silver.

How happy the little Daisy was ! no one
could believe it. The bird kissed her with
his beak, sang to her, and then flew up
again in the blue air. It was certainly a
whole quarter of an hour before the Daisy
came to herself again. Half ashamed, and

yet so glad at heart, she looked at the
flowers over in the garden : they had beheld
the honor and the happiness that had be-
fallen her ; they would surely comprehend,
she thought, what a joy it was to her ; but
there stood the tulips as stiff again as
before, looking quite prim, and they were,
too, quite red in the face; for they were
vexed. But the peonies looked so thick-
headed ! ah ! it was a good thing they
could not speak, otherwise the Daisy would
have heard a fine speech. The poor little
flower, however, could see very plainly that
they were not in a good humor, and she
was heartily sorry for it. At this moment
a maiden came into the garden with a
knife in her hand, sharp and polished ; she
went among the tulips, and cut off one after
the other.

"Ah!" sighed the little Daisy, "this
is really terrible; now it is all over with
them."

Then the girl with the tulips went away.
The Daisy was glad that it was standing
out there in the grass, and was but a poor

140

little flower ; — it was quite thankful : and
when the sun set, it folded its leaves, went
to sleep, and dreamed the whole night of the
Sun and the beautiful bird.

On the following morning, when the
flower, fresh and joyful, again stretched out
its white leaves, like little arms, into the
bright sunshine and clear blue air, it recog-
nized the voice of the bird ; but what he
sung was so melancholy ! Yes, the poor
lark had good reason to be sad : he had
been taken prisoner, and was now sitting in
a cage, close to an open window in the
pleasure-house. He sang of the joy of be-
ing able to fly about in freedom, sang of the
young green corn in the field, and of the
beautiful journey ings which he used to
make on his wings, high up in the free air.
The poor bird was heavy of heart : there he
sat a captive in a narrow cage.

The little Daisy would so gladly have help-
ed him ; but how to begin, yes, that was
the difficulty. In sympathizing with the
lark, it forgot entirely how beautiful was
every thing around it, how warm the sun

141

shone, and how beautifully white its own
leaves glistened : — oh ! it could only think
on the imprisoned bird, for whom it was in-
capable of doing any thing.

Then suddenly there came two little boys
out of the garden, and one of them had a
knife in his hand, large and sharp, like that
with which the girl had cut the tulips.
They came straight towards the little Daisy,
who could not imagine what they wanted.

" Here we can cut a nice piece of turf for
the lark," said one of the boys, and began
to cut out a square all around the Daisy, so
that the flower stood in the very middle
of it.

"Pull up the flower," said one boy; and
the Daisy trembled for very fear ; fbr to be
pulled up, why that was to die, and it
wished to live, as it was to be put with
the turf into the cage of the imprisoned
lark.

" No, let it stay," said the other boy ;
" it looks so pretty." And so it remained,
and was put into the cage with the lark.

But the poor bird bewailed loudly nis

Cije

lost freedom, and fluttered against the iron
wires of the cage. The little flower could
not speak, could not say one consoling
word to him, much as she wished to do so.
Thus passed the whole forenoon.

" There is no water here," said the im-
prisoned lark; " they are all gone out, and
have forgotten me. Not a drop of water
to drink ! my throat is dry and burning !
within me is fire and ice, and the air is so
heavy ! Oh, I shall die ; I must leave the
warm sunshine, and the fresh green trees,
and all the beautiful things that God has
created !" And saying these words, he press-
ed his beak into the cool piece of turf to re-
fresh himself a little ; and his eye fell on the
Daisy, and the bird nodded to it and kissed
it, and said: " You also must wither here,
you poor little flower; you and the green
turf here have been given me instead of the
whole world, which I had out there ! Every
little blade of grass must be to me as a
green tree, every one of your white leaves a
fragrant flower. Ah, you only remind me
how much I have lost !"

143

Braj.

"What can I do to comfort him?"
thought the little flower ; but she could not
move a leaf; yet the fragrance which
streamed from her delicate leaves was much
stronger than is usual with this flower.
The bird observed this; and although he
was dying of thirst, and tore up every green
blade of grass in his suffering, yet he did
not even touch the little Daisy.

It was evening, and no one came as yet
to bring the poor bird a drop of water : he
stretched out his delicate wings, and flutter-
tered convulsively; his song was a com-
plaining chirp. His little head bowed
down towards the Daisy, and the heart of
the bird broke for thirst and longing.

Then the flower was not able as on the
evening before, to fold its leaves together
and sleep ; it bowed down ill and sorrowful
to the earth.

It was not until the next morning that
the boys came back ; and when they saw
that the bird was dead, they wept many
tears, and dug for it a pretty grave, which
they decked with flowers. The dead bbdy

144

of the bird was put in a beautiful red
paper box; — he was to be buried royally,
the poor bird ! While he lived and sang,
they forgot him, let him sit in a cage and
suffer want; now they showed him great
honor and lamented him.

But the bit of turf with the Daisy was
thrown out into the dust of the highway ;
no one thought of her, who, however, had
felt most for the little bird, and had wished
so much to comfort him.

10

145

Jhtn

[These touching stanzas are a translation, or rather
adaptation, of Andersen's story of the " Little Match
Girl." They were originally published in the Boston
Transcript.]

TITTLE Gretchen, little Gretchen,
Wanders up and down the street,

The snow is on her yellow hair,
The frost is on her feet.

146

The rows of long dark houses,
Without look cold and damp,

By the struggling of the moonbeam,
By the flicker of the lamp.

The clouds ride fast as horses
The wind is from the north ;

But no one cares for Gretchen,
And no one looketh forth.

Within those dark damp houses

Are merry faces bright,
And happy hearts are watching out

The old year's latest night.

The board is spread with plenty,
Where the smiling kindred meet,

But the frost is on the pavement,
And the beggars in the street.

With the little box of matches,
She could not sell all day,

And the thin, thin tattered mantle,
The wind blows every way.

147

She clingeth to the railing,
She shivers in the gloom, —

There are parents sitting snugly
By firelight in the room :

And groups of busy children,
Withdrawing just the tips

Of rosy fingers pressed in vain
Against their burning lips ;

With grave and earnest faces,
Are whispering each other,

Of presents for the new year, made
For father or for mother.

But no one talks to Gretchen,
And no one hears her speak,

No breath of little whisperers
Comes warmly to her cheek:

No little arms are round her,
Ah me ! that there should be

With so much happiness on earth,
So much of misery.

148

Sure they of many blessings,
Should scatter blessings round,

As laden boughs in Autumn fling
Their ripe fruits to the ground.

And the best love man can oifer
To the God of love, be sure,

Is kindness to his little ones,
And bounty to his poor.

Little Gretchen, little Gretchen

Goes coldly on her way ;
There's no one looketh out at her,

There's no one bids her stay,

Her home is cold and desolate,
No smile, no food, no fire ;

But children clamorous for bread,
And an impatient sire.

So she sits down in an angle,
Where two great houses meet,

And she curleth up beneath her,
For warmth, her little feet.

149

And she looketh on the cold wall,

And on the colder sky,
And wonders if the little stars

Are bright fires up on high.

She heard a clock strike slowly.

Up in a far church tower.
With such a sad and solemn tone.

Telling the midnight hour.

Then all the bells together,
Their merry music poured ;

They were ringing in the feast,
The circumcision of the Lord.

And she thought as she sat lonely,

And listened to the chime,
Of wondrous things that she had loved

To hear in the olden time.

And she remembered her of tales,

Her mother used to tell,
And the cradle songs she sang,

When summer's twilight fell.

150

Of good men and of angels,

And of the Holy Child,
Who was cradled in a manger,

When winter was most wild.

Who was poor, and cold, and hungry,

And desolate and lone ;
And she thought the song had told,

He was ever with his own.

And all the poor and hungry,
And forsaken ones are his :
* How good of him to look on me,
In such a place as this."

Colder it grows and colder,
But she does not feel it now,

For the pressure at her heart,
And the weight upon her brow.

But she struck one little match
On the wall so cold and bare,

That she might look around her,
And see if He were there.

151

Mm

The single match has kindled,
And by the light it threw,

It seemed to little Gretchen,
The wall was rent in two.

And she could see the room within,
The room all warm and bright.

With the fire- glow red, and dusky,
And the tapers all alight.

And there were kindred gathered,
Round the table richly spread,

With heaps of goodly viands,
Red wine and pleasant bread.

She could smell the fragrant savor,
She could hear what they did say,

Then all was darkness once again,
The match had burned away.

She struck another hastily,
And now she seemed to see,

Within the same warm chamber,
A glorious Christmas tree.

152

The branches were all laden
With such things as children prize,

Bright gift for boy and maiden,
She saw them with her eyes.

And she almost seemed to touch them,
And to join the welcome shout;

When darkness fell around her,
For the little match was out.

Another, yet another, she

Has tried, they will not light,

Till all her little store she took,
And struck with all her might.

And the whole miserable place
Was lighted with the glare,

And lo, there hung a little child
Before her in the air.

There were blood-drops on his forehead,
And a spear- wound in his side,

And cruel nail-prints in his feet,
And in his hands spread wide.

153

And he looked upon her gently,
And she felt that he had known

Pain, hunger, cold, and sorrow,
Ay, equal to her own.

And he pointed to the laden board,

And to the Christmas tree,
Then up to the cold sky, and said,

"Will Gretchen come with me]"

The poor child felt her pulses fail,

She felt her eyeballs swim,
And a ringing sound was in her ears,

Like her dead mother's hymn.

And she folded both her thin white hands.

And turned from that bright board.
And from the golden gifts, and said,

"With Thee, with Thee, O Lord.'7

The chilly winter morning

Breaks up in the dull skies,
On the city wrapt in vapor,

On the spot where Gretchen lies.

154

The night was wild and stormy,
The morn is cold and gray,

And good church bells are ringing,
Christ's circumcision day.

And holy men were praying

In many a holy place ;
And little children's angels

Sing songs before his face.

In her scant and tattered garment,
With her back against the wall ;

She sitteth cold and rigid,
She answers not their call ;

They have lifted her up fearfully,
They shuddered as they said,

"It was a bitter, bitter night,
The child is frozen dead."

The angels sang their greeting,
For one more redeemed from sic. ;

Men said, "It was a bitter night,
Would no one let her in?"

155

And they shuddered as they spoke of her,
And sighed ; they could not see,

How much of happiness there was,
With so much misery.

jFrmtcts $c Co.'s Hittie

C. S. FRANCIS & Co., New York, have published a uniform Seriet
of Choice volumes for Young People, by some of the most distin-
gnished writers for Children. Neatly bound in cloth-, and illus-
trated by Engravings.

L. MARIA CHILD.— FLOWERS FOR CHILDREN: No. IjforChil"
dren eight or nine years old.

- FLOWERS FOR CHILDREN: No. 2, for Children three or four

years old.

- FLOWERS FOR CHILDREN : No. 3, for Children eleven or

twelve vears old.

MARY HO WITT. -FIRESIDE TALES.
-- THE CHRISTMAS TREE : A Book of Stories.

- THE TURTLE DOVE OF CARMEL; and other Stories.

- THE FAVORITE SCHOLAR ; LITTLE CHATTERBOX ; PERSE-

VERANCE, and other Tales. By Mary Howitt, Mrs. S.

C. Hall, and others.
MRS. TRIMMER. -THE BOBBINS; OR DOMESTIC LIFS AMONG

THE BIRDS. Designed for the Instruction of Children

respecting their Treatment of Animals.
MISS LESLIE.— KUSSEL AND SIDNEY AND CHASE LORINO:

Tales of the American Revolution.
MRS. CAROLINE OILMAN.— THE LITTLE WKEATH or

STORIES AND POEMS FOR CHILDREN.

HANS" CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN.— A CHRISTMAS GREET-
ING : Thirteen New Stories from the Danish of Hans
Christian Andersen.

- A PICTURE BOOK WITHOUT PICTURES ; and jiner Stories:

by Hans Christian Andersen. Translated by Mary
Howitt, v/ith a Memoir of the Author.

- A DANISH STORY BOOK.

CLAUDINE ; OR HUMILITY THE BASIS OF ALL THE VIRTUES.

A Swiss Tale. By a Mother; author of "Always Hap-

py," tk True Stories from History," &c.
FACTS TO CORRECT FANCIES; or Short Narratives

compiled from the Memoirs of Remarkable Women.

By a Mother.

HOLIDAY STORIES. Containing five Moral Tales.
MRS HO FL AND. —THE HISTORY OF AN OFFICER'S WIDOW,

and her Young Family.

- - THE CLERGYMAN'S WIDOW, and her Young Family.

- THE MERCHANT'S WIDOW, and her Young Family. •
MISS ABBOT.— KATE AND LIZZIE; OR Six MONTHS OUT OK

SCHOOL.

MISS ELIZA ROB BINS.— CLASSIC TALES. Designed for tho
Instruction and Amusement of Young Persons. By the
author of u American Popular Lessons," &c.

MRS. S. C. HALL.— TURNS OF FORTUNE; ALL is NOT GOL»

THAT GI.ITTKP3, &C.

••• Tat PKIVATK PURSE ; CLEVERNESS, and other Tales.

NKW-\'OR1

Etrteresttnfl

THE PICKWICK CARDS,

Invented by SAMUEL WELLLR, fur-the Entertainment of hia

Friends, Old and Young.

Twenty-five Cards, enclosed in a neat case ; each card having on ita
scene or character from the writings- of Dickens; with directions for

g laying three different games, for the amusement of evening parties,
rice 50 cents.

SHAKSPERE IN A NEW DRESS.

Thirty Cards, containing fifty-two choice quotations from Shaks-
pere, with a list of questions, to be answered from tha cards. So
arranged as to form an interesting round game, with forfeits.

Price 50 cents.

NEW FORTUNE-TELLER.

THE ORACLE OF FORTUNE, and Guide to Wealth
and Success.

" These interesting Cards combine all the information necessary to
secure Wealth, ami Success in matters of Love or Money ; they ara
constructed on the principles which the late Baron Rothschild found
so eminently successful, and combine the requisite mixture of shrewd
suggestions, wise calculations, and cautious admonitions, to direct any
one in the way to good luck." Price 50 cents.

THE BOY'S OWN BOOK*.

A Complete Encyclopedia of all the Diversions, Athletic,

Scientific, and Recreative, of Boyhood and Youth.
Including Games with Marbles, Tops, Balls, Sports of Agility and
Spoed, Toys, Archery, Cricket, Gymnastics, Swimming; Arithmetical,
Optical and Chemical Amusements; Checkers, Cards, Legerdemain,
Puzzles, Riddles, Angling, Fencing, Jfcc.&c.&c. With very numerous
engravings.

THE AMERICAN GIRL'S BOOK;

Or, OCCUPATION FOR PLAY HOURS. By Miss Leslie.
Including all the Sports and Pastimes suited to Girls ; Plays with
Toys, Games with Cards, Riddles, Amusing and Fancy Needle- Work.
Card- Work, &c. Ac.

PUBLISHED BY C. S. FRANCIS AXD CO., NEW TORE.

Young

BIBLE CARTOONS.

ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE HIS-
TORY. FROM DESIGNS BY JOHN FRANKLIN.
Containing Sixteen Engravings of Scenes from the Lives of ADAM,
NOAH, ABRAHAM, JOSEPH, AND MOSES. With Descriptions in
the words of the Bible. 1 vol. 4to. 75 cents.

HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN.

HANS ANDERSEN'S STORY BOOK :

With a Memoir of the Author, by MARY HOWITT.
Illustrated. One thick vol. 75 cents.

ANDERSEN'S TALES FROM DENMARK ;

One vol. to match the above. 75 cents.

Containing a large number of the most popular Tales of this fasci-
nating story-teller ; not included in the former volume- [I* PRESS.
" We prophecy for these Tales an immortality in the nursery." —
Blackicood.

MRS. HOFLAND

DOMESTIC TALES :

Being the Histories of the OFFICER'S, MERCHANT'S,
and CLERGYMEN'S Widows, and their Young Fami-
lies. With Illustrations. In one vol. 75 cents

L. MARIA CHILD.

FLOWERS FOR CHILDREN :

Complete in one thick vol. with Engravings. 87£ cents.

ROSE MARIAN, AND THE FLOWER FAIRIES.

Adapted from the German Legend, by L. MARIA CHILD. With
Twelve Illustrations from the German copy. 25 cents.

FUN FOR THE LITTLE ONES.

THE STORY OF STORIES:

Being Rambles in the Fairy Land of Italy. From the
Pentamerone of GIAMBATTISTA BASILE. Translated from the
Neapolitan, by JOHN EDWARD TAYLOR. With Illustrations, by
George Cruikshank. 87£ cts.

3

,\

\

One thick Volume, with Illustrations, and a Memoir
of the Author by Mary Howitt.

Price 75 cents; extra gilt, 15 1,
CONTENTS.

MEMOIR OF HANS CHRISTIAN

ANDERSEN.
A PICTURE-BOOK WITHOUT

PICTURES.
MY BOOTS.

SCENES ON THE DANUBE.
PEGASUS AND POST-HORSES.

THE SWINEHERD.
THE REAL PRINCESS.
THE SHOES OF FORTUNE.
THE FIR-TREE.
THE SNOW-QUEEN.
THE LEAP-FROG.
THE ELDER-BUSH.

THE BELL.

THE OLD HOUSE.

THE DROP OF WATER.

THE HAPPY FAMILY.

THE STORY OF A MOTHE

THE FALSE COLLAR.

THE SHADOW-

REAM OF LITTLE TUK.
AUGHTY BOY.
IKIGHBORING FAMILIES.

THE LITTLE MATCH-GIRL .

THE RED SHOES.

TO THE YOUNG READERS.

« We have placed Andersen's name at tins hearl of our list, in gratitude
for the delight and amusement his stories for children have afforded u*.
When Fairy-land seemed lost to us, or peopled by a new race of utilita-
rians, who spoke its language and tried its spells in mere slavish imitation,
without comprehending their ose and meaning ; a Poet from the North
has made fresh flowers bloom there, and brought it back again to our
hearts and eyes in brighter colors and stronger outlines than before." —
Christian Remembrancer.

« There is a child-like tenderness and simplicity in his writings— an ele-
Tation and purity of tone— which is the secret of the extreme charm his
celebrated stories have for children. They are as simple and as touchin*
as the old Bible narratives of Joseph and his Brethren, and the ;
who died in the corn field We wonder not at their being the most popu-
lar books of their kind in Europe."— Wary Hewitt.

Published by C. S. FRANCIS & Co., New York.

^H