The Baldwin Library
THE LITTLE MERMAID
AND OTHER STORIES :
THE LITTLE MERMAID AND
OtHER STORIES. By HANS
CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN. TRANSLATED BY
R. NISBET BAIN. LU STRATED BY IR
WEGUELIN.
Lonnpon: LAWRENCE AND BULLEN
16, HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN
. MDCCCXCIII
RicHarp CLAY AND Sons, Liairep
LONDON AND BUNGAY.
CONTENTS.
= PAGE
THE LITTLE MERMAID . . : : Ses : : ; : ; ee ek
TEW TINDER BOR: 9) 60 ee ao.
LITTLE CLAUS AND BIG CLAUS : 5 : : ; : i ‘ ; . 49
A REAL PRINCESS . Oe : : ; : : : : f . 66
LITTLE ee FLOWERS . 7 i : ; : Sie . : ee OD
THE NAUGHTY BOY... : : 2 5 ; : ; : : : : OL
‘THE TRAVELLING COMPANION Je : S ; Boies ; : : . 85
THE EMPEROR’S NEW CLOTHES : : : : : : : : ; ots)
THE MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER — . : : : : : : : : . 121
THE SWINEHERD . oe : as os : Sea . 175
_“ $HR’S GOOD FOR NOTHING†« : : : : : : : ; : . 183
THE STORY oF THE YEAR ee ee Oe
re ecea ee iy
THE BUCKWHEAT a 215
THERE'S THR DIFFERENCE og
OCepMEMrint 903
THE WICKED PRINCE : : j : : i : : ; f ooo
Vill
THE
THE
THE
THE
THE
WILD SWANS . . .
GARDEN OF EDEN . :
FLYING TRUNK ‘ .
GIRL WHO TROD ON A LOAF.
STEADFAST TIN SOLDIER .
UGLY DUCKLING .
LITTLE MATCHGIRL . .
IB. AND LITTLE CHRISTINA
OLI LOCKEYE . . . .
DANISH HOLGER ects
CONTENTS.
PAGE
242
267
291
301
315
322
337
358
377
INTRODUCTION.
Hans CaRristiA4n ANDERSEN was born at Odense in Funen on the
_. 2nd of April, 1805. His father was a cobbler, a sensitive, dreamy,
fanciful nature with a strong taste for reading and a passion for
building castles in the air. Hans Christian was, in these respects,
his. father’s own’ child, and his peculiarities, set off as they were
by an odd gawkiness and an almost comical ugliness, made the
morbidly self-conscious lad a fair butt for his humble comrades,
whose natural impulse was to ridicule whatever they could not
understand. Fortunately for his own happiness, his self-confidence
"was always in excess of his shyness, and in his fourteenth year,
shortly ae. being confirmed, he set out to seek his fortune at |
the capital. . Here, for a time, ie led a sort of vagabond life,
picking up a trifle here and there, as best he could, and sustained
by ‘the fixed idea that his universal.genius was bound to succeed
in the long run. The things he attempted seem almost incredible
5 o Ss * b
x INTRODUCTION.
in these matter-of-fact days. He danced figure dances before the
most famous danseuse of the capital, who not unnaturally regarded:
the queer creature as an escaped lunatic; he sang arias before
the director of the Copenhagen Conservatoire, who gave him sing-
ing lessons there till his voice broke; he wrote high-flown dramas
which were unconscious plagiarisms of Oehlenschlager and Ingemann ;
he haunted the back-doors of theatres in hopes of being employed
as a supernumerary, till, at last, the enlightened and sympathetic
Jonas Collin, at that time manager of the Royal Theatre, took pity -
on him and-represented his case to the King, nO: readily granted
him a small pension, and sent him, free of charge, to the Latin
School at Slagelse, about 124, Danish miles from Copenhagen. The
pride of the sensitive hobbledehoy of eighteen must have suffered
acutely when he took his place among the little urchins at the bottom
; of the lowest form at Slagelse School; but he seems to have suffered
even more from the sarcasms of the rector, Simon Meisling, whose
sense of the ridiculous was never disturbed by any charitable
scruples: In 1826 Meisling was transferred to Elsinore, and with .
him Andersen quitted Slagelse—or Plagelse* as he preferred to
eall it “ not merely for the rhyme’s sake,†as he is careful to tell
us. He lodged for a time with Meisling at Elsinore, but master
- and pupil never. could hit it off together, and Andersen gladly
took advantage of his friend Collin’s offer to remove him to
1 Plague.
*
INTRODUCTION. Xl
Copenhagen, where his education was privately completed by the
theologian Ludwig Christian Miller. It was at Elsinore that
Andersen composed his first poem, “The Dying Child,†which,
with some others in Heine’s manner, was printed in the celebrated
Flying Post of Copenhagen. His first important work was the
Fodreise fra Holmens canal til Ostpynten af Amager Aarene,
1828 og 1829 (“Tour on Foot from Holm’s Canal to Amager,
1828-29â€), a humorously fantastic itinerary, clearly written
under the influence of Hoffmann’s Fantasiestiicken. Although
superficial and pedantic, 1t is not without a delicate irony and some
fine touches of that naive childlike fancy which was one day to
‘make the young author famous. The Jodreise was received
with favour. Even such an Aristarchus as Heiberg wrote it up
in the Flying Post. A comic vaudeville, entitled Ajerlighed
paa Nicolai Taarn ( Love on Nicholas’ Towerâ€), which appeared
| a couple of months later, was also successful. It was a
smart parody on the high-flying, heroic dramas of the day
and many began to see a. future satirist of promise in
the young author. But an unhappy love affair at this time,
Gon which he never seems to have quite recovered, turned
him aside from the affectation of cynicism which he had
borrowed from Heine, and his next work, a collection of poems
entitled Phantasier og Skizeer (“Fantasies and Sketchesâ€),
1831, was the most natural thing he had yet written It
xu ~ s INTRODUCTION. |
was now too, that he met with his first literary reverse.
The great. satirist Baggesen, in his famous polemical poem,
Gyengangeren (“Spectreâ€), did not spare even Andersen, and
the latter’s irregular, defective prosody and frequent solecisms
were hit off in the following stinging -lines :
s Drunk with the thin small-beer of Faney,
~ And mounted on Slagelsian Nancy,
The Muses’ ancient, night-mare hack,
‘ With drooping flanks and broken back,
Behold! Saint Andersen comes riding,
Whom the unlettered mob takes pride in.
- ‘They hold him—their applauses show it—
For quite a prophet of a poet |!â€
Such ridicule in the leading critical periodical of the day
Andersen never could forget. His morbidly sensitive tian cline
saw a deliberate insult, an irreparable calamity in the lightest, the
mildest criticism, whilst even the grossest praise from the most
incompetent admirers used to raise him into the seventh heaven:
of rapture. No man moreover was ever a worse judge of his
own, writings. He always regarded his latest, as bis incomparably
best -work, and the childish enthusiasm with which he raved
about: his own favourite productions drew down upon him all
manner of ridicule, which was so much torture to him. It was
well for him that he had such an asylum at. this time as the
~ INTRODUCTION. xiii
Collins’ house, where he was always treated as a member of the
family, and within whose patriarchal walls his sickly fancies and
morbid broodings were always met by wise remonstrance or good-
humoured badinage. His frequent. foreign tours moreover (he
was as much a bird of passage as his prime favourite, the Stork) did
much to take him out of himself. His first little excursion was
made in 1831 to North Germany, and he has left us an account
of it in the charming Skyggebilder af en Reisen til Harzen
" (Silhouettes of a Journey to the Harzâ€) His second tour
_ (1833), at the expense of the State, took in Germany,
‘France, Switzerland and Italy. At Rome, where he lived on
the most friendly terms with his literary opponent Hertz, and in
daily intercourse with the Scandinavian artist colony, whose leading
eign was Thorvaldsen, he began his first novel, Improvisatoren,
which was published in 1835. The hero, a young Improvisatore
who fights his way to the front in the face of adverse
circumstances and unjust neglect, is transparently the author
himself, and the same may be said. of the heroes of the
subsequent novels, O, 7. (1836) and Kun en Spillemand
1837 (“Only a Fiddlerâ€), All three romances show Andersen at
his best and at his worst, What we may call the scaffolding of tie
story, the descriptions of nature, the impressions of travel, the
humorous episodes, and the fanciful observations of men and things
are admirable; but the characterisation is generally feeble’ and the
XIV INTRODUCTION. .
exalted sensitiveness and panies egotism of the author are
disturbing elements.
A few months after the appearance of Jmprovisatoren,
Andersen had published a little volume of tales for children con-
taining “The Tinder-box,†“ Little Claus and Big Claus,†‘‘ The
Princess on the Pea†and “Little Ida’s Flowers,†which was to be the
- foundation of his future fame. “After a long fumbling about,†a |
great critic has finely said,’ “after many years of aimless wander-
ing irae Panclemen found himself standing, one evening, outside a —
little unpretentious but. mysterious door, the door of Fairy-Tale oe
touched it, it flew open, and he saw, sparkling inside there in the
darkness, the little tinder-box which was to be his Algddin’s lamp. .
He struck fire with it and the Spirits of the Lamp—the dogs with
the eyes like tea-cups, like mill-wheels, and like the Round Tower—
- stood by him and brought him the three huge chests full of all the
fairy copper moriey, silver money and gold money. The first fairy
tale was there and it drew all the others after it. Happy the
man who finds his roe tinder-box !†:
“T have begun upon some tales as told to children,†wrote
Andersen on this occasion to a friend, “and I fancy I have succeeded.
I have given [the public] a copy of the fairy tales which used to.
please me when I was little and which are ee -known, I think. I
have written them just as if I were telling them to a child.†It is
1G. Brandes: Kritiker og Portraiter.
‘INTRODUCTION. Xv
remarkable that Andersen should from the very first have so closely
set before him what was to be the essential peculiarity of his fairy
tales distinguishing them sharply from all others. All previous
fairy tales had been written for children, his were told to them. His
| tales appealed directly to the childish fancy, they accommodated
themselves absolutely to the child’s point of view, to that faculty of
childhood which animates and personifies everything in nature.
That this was the right way to tell a fairy-tale there can be no
doubt, but its very novelty struck the public at first as odd and
eccentric. People thought them rather childish than childlike—“ un
peu trop enfantin,†perhaps, as Professor Brandes’ young Frenchman
considered them—and 50 far as they were noticed by the press at all,
they were noticed unfavourably. Only a single eye saw more
deeply into the matter, but that eye happened to be the clearest in
Denmark. Hans Christian Orsted assured Andersen that while the
Improvisatoren would make him famous, the fairy tales would make
him immortal. “They are,†said Orsted, “the most perfect things
you have yet written.†The readily impressionable Andersen,
however, was at first rather inclined to believe the verdict of the
Public. He regarded “the little fairy tales,†he said, as “a juggler’s
sleight of hand with Fancy’s golden apples.†He meant to make
his reputation by “ areater WOR - The first modest collection of
fairy tales was, nevertheless regularly followed by subsequent
little companion volumes, the public gradually got to like them, and
xvi INTRODUCTION.
its respect for them increased vastly when the actors at the Royal
_ Theatre condescended to recite them from the stage.
These “greater works †which chiefly occupied Andersen at the
time of the appearance of the first fairy tales were, besides the
novels already mentioned, the romantic drama, The Mulatto and
the tragedy The Moorish Girl (1840), both of which were ap-
: plauded indeed’ by playgoers, but fiercely assailed by the critics.
Heiberg in his Aristophanic comedy, A Soul after Death, placed
both plays in the repertoire of Triviality in Hell, and his satiric lash
drove the smarting dramatist away from Denmark again. This
time Andersen visited Germany, Italy, Greece, Tanker and Hungary,
subsequently describing his impressions in the exquisite little col-
lection of tales and sketches En Digters Bazar (“A Poet's _
Bazarâ€), 1842. Fresh tours to Paris and. North Germany quickly
followed, while in the summer-time, Andersen usually stayed, a |
welcome guest, at the country houses of the gentry in Zealand
and Funen. He-was also frequently a guest of King Christian VIII.
at Fobr. In 1846 he produced his one good comedy, Den nye -
_ Barselstwe (‘The New Lying-in Roomâ€), in Holberg’s vein, which
appeared anonymously and was enthusiastically applauded by critics
and public ante Much less suécessful were his epic poem Ash-
uerus, an aphoristic sae of historical tableaux from the birth of
Christ to the discovery of America (1848), and his romance, The
Two Baronesses (1849). From 1850 to the end of his life Andersen
' INTRODUCTION, Xvil
was constantly on the move, scouring Europe from north to south
and from east to west, venturing even to Barbary, and only pre-
vented cect accepting an invitation to America for on of crossing
the ocean, especially as a dear lady friend of his had predicted .
his death on the other side under mysteriously terrifying
circumstances. _
Andersen celebrated his fiftieth birthday by publishing (1855)
Mit Livs Eventyr (“The Story of My Lifeâ€), perhaps the most
subjective autobiography ever written. This work, with its
subsequent supplements and his correspondence, edited three years
after his death by Bille and Bogh, are the documents upon which.
his future biographer (for he has not yet found one) must
mainly depend. In the latter years of his life, Andersen
dabbled. im metaphysics to the decided detriment of his
literary reputation. The last and worst of his novels, At
vere eller ikke vere (“To Be or Not to Beâ€), is an
ambitious attempt to combat the materialistic view of life and
“reconcile Nature and the Bible.†Andersen, with his usual
enthusiasm for his latest production, confidently expected that this
work would: completely revolutionise modern thought, but it fell
flat. Some of the later fairy tales also suffer slightly from. the
author’s well-meaning but mistaken efforts to settle the most
difficult problems of life on purely speculative grounds. :
In 1875, on the occasion of Andersen’s seventieth birthday, his
¢G
XV1il INTRODUCTION.
beautiful Story of a Mother was*published in fifteen languages at
Copenhagen. Andersen was now as full of honours as of years.
All his youthful ambitions had been more than prance He had
_adistinguished title and no end of orders of knighthood, both native
and foreign ; he was the personal friend of his sovereign and the
darling of the people; he had obtained th® freedom. of his native
city, and finally had the unusual but not unpleasant experience
of sitting for the statue which was to be raised to him in the capital.
His joy on this occasion was, however, considerably dashed because
the sculptor had, in the first instance, represented him suntoundad
by a group of listening children against which appendage he
protested with whimsical but characteristic vehemence. ‘Not one
of the sculptors,†he complains, “ seems to know that I never could
tell tales whenever anyone is sitting behind me, or close up to me,
still less when I have children in my lap, or on my back, or young
Copenhageners leaning right against me. To call me ‘the children’s -
poet’ is a mere figure of speech. My aim has always been to be the
poet of elder people of all sorts : children alone cannot represent me.â€.
Nevertheless it is as the children’s poet that Andersen has now his
truest and most enduring fame. His dramatic works are forgotten ;
his poems are unimportant ; his novels never read ; but his fairy
tales will live as long as there is such a thing as Tice at all.
Andersen died on the 4th August, 1875, at his country house,
“ Rolighed,†near Copenhagen, surrounded by loving and sorrowing
- INTRODUCTION. xix
friends. Despite his weaknesses and peculiarities he was beloved
as few Dave been.
The ideal translation of the fairy tales is Victor Rydberg’s
monumental version, but that it should be so, was, apart from the
peculiar genius of the ‘translator, only to be expected considering
that the idioms of the two Scandinavian languages are almost
identical.’ Some of the German translations are also very good.
‘In no country, however, is Andersen so well known and so highly
appreciated as in England, though here, unfortunately, he has not
been very happy in his translators. Omitting school. editions and
minor selections, there are, roughly speaking, ten English versions
“and of these (taking them, as far as possible, by order of merit) the
earliest is still, on the whole and as far as it goes, the best. We
allude, of course, to the ten tales translated by Mrs. Howitt
(Wonderful Tales, 1846). Mrs. Howitt’s Danish is miserably
faulty; occasionally she commits blunders which would be the ruin
of the average translator now-a-days ;* but nobody ever caught the
spirit of. Andersen as she has done; she is both loyally literal and
fol free as occasion. demands; while her masterly rendering
of those extremely difficult nonsense rhymes in “Ole Lukiie†|
beginning: “Vor Sang skall komme som en Vind,†is an un-
approachable model for all future translators. Another excellent
eg. In “Ole Lukiie,†“der gjorde cour til†is translated “who cured,â€
instead of ‘‘ who courted.†The word cour might have suggested that this was
one of Andersen’s frequent Gallicisms, ¢.e. “faisatt la cour a.â€
XX INTRODUCTION.
minor collection (it consists of but eight of the best stories)
is the beautifully printed and gorgeously illustrated 4to of
1872 (Sampson Low), by H. L. D. Ward and A. Plesner.
Their knowledge of Danish, though not always above reproach,
is more thorough than Mrs. Howitt’s; but their English, though
very good, is somewhat tawdry beside hers, and, where comparison
is possible, we in nine cases out of ten prefer the language of the
modest little 16mo of 1846 to the language of -its magnificent
successor. By far the ablest of the larger collections is certainly
Madame de Chatelain’s translation (Routledge, 1852). This lady,
who had considerable experience as a translator, is scrupulously
exact and painstaking; her English too, is pure and simple, and her
knowledge of Danish much more intimate than that of any
other of Andersen’s translators. All the remaining English versions
of Andersen are distinctly inferior to the first three. Least
irritating, perhaps, are the numerous and well-known versions of
Mr. Dulcken, to whom the British public owes its first complete
Andersen. Mr. Dulecken evidently knows Danish very well,
though his slavish literalness constantly reminds us of the
fact that we are reading a translation. His English also
leaves very much to be desired. Still less can we commend
the English of Mr. Sievert’s version (Sampson Low, 1887).
Even when accurate (and he is generally accurate) he
repeatedly vulgarises his original, and not infrequently both
INTRODUCTION, XX
garbles the more difficult and debases the more beautiful passages.
I am also inclined to think, from internal evidence, that he owes
something to Rydberg’s Swedish version. Of Mrs. Paull’s version
(Warne, 1882) we can only say that it is feebly accurate and wildly
slipshod. The humour of Andersen, always his strong point, 1s
frequently missed altogether; but the translator compensates us
somewhat by an unconscious humour of her own, especially remark-
able in her notes, which reveal a perfect genius for blundering. The
numerous anonymous versions published by Messrs. Ward, Lock
and Co. are fairly correct, but their English is, generally speaking,
wooden and wayward. Nevertheless they are preferable to the
translations (1846, 1852, Bohn) for which Miss Peachey is
responsible. Other translators may misunderstand and therefore
misinterpret their Andersen: Miss Peachey presumes to beautify and
even bowdlerise him. In “ The Tinder-Box,†the dog that had the
gold is expanded into “the monstrous guardian of the golden
treasure.â€
The soldier, who, by the way, puts up not at an inn, but
at a hotel, is so modest that he “kneels down and kisses the
Princess’s hand.†This will be news to Andersen’s admirers. We
remember that the Queen, in the same story, is described as a wise
woman who “ could do something more than ride ina coach.†Miss
Peachey is careful to add, “and look very grand and condescending.â€
Four adjectives suffice Andersen for describing the little match-girl’s
grandmother : Miss Peachey requires three sentences. Mr. Wehnert,
Xxll- INTRODUCTION.
however (Bell, 1869), is still more presumptuous, for his fondness for
big words goes hand-in-hand with a perfect mania for moralising.
Andersen himself would scarcely recognise ‘“‘ The Wild Swans †when.
it emerges from beneath Mr. Wehnert’s deforming pen. The
heroine, poor Elisa, to take but a few instances, leans against the
stump of a tree “which in all probability had been destroyed by
lightning.†Wien she plaits her hair it is “simply but prettily.â€
When.- her elder brother tells her they must all fly away on the
morrow, “the other ten confirmed these words with evident emotion.â€
Elisa puts her trust not in “God†but in “the Ruler of the destinies
of man†—all the italicised words being of course gratuitous em-
bellishments of the translator. The ne plus ultra of pretentious
pedantry, however, is reached by Mr. Gardiner (Heywood, 1889),
who takes unheard-of liberties with his text; devotes a note of ten
lines to prove that the boots which the old Court lady in “The
Tinder-Box †wore were goloshes, and substitutes the name Ludvig
for that of Hjalmar in “Ole Lukéie,†“as conveying the general
idea of the original; and also because a foreign name better suits
the spirit of the story.†: :
It seems strange at first sight, that most of the English ver-
sions of Andersen should be so inadequate, for Andersen is, ba the
whole, anything but a difficult mace We may go famthen, and say
that no writer of equal genius can bear to be so literally translated
into English as he. His meaning is, geuerally, transparently ob-
INTRODUCTION. Xxill
vious and his Danish is perfectly simple and straightforward. It is
‘never paradoxical like Kiekegaard’s, or elusively subtle like Jacob-
sen’s, or obscurely concentrated like Ibsen’s and Bjérnson’s. How is
it then that he has fared so ill at the hands of his English trans-
lators? The reason seems to me a want of reverence on their part,
a feeling that he was, after all, a mere teller of fairy tales, of trifles
which might be Englished anyhow and by anybody. ‘Translators
who approach the great Dane in such a profane spirit are bound to
fail. They have no sense for the quaint conceits, the delicate
nuances, the child-like naiveté and the lightsome bird-like humour
which are of the very essence of his simple but unique art. They
must become children again themselves before they can hope to
understand him. |
R. NISBET BAIN,
HANS ANDERSEN’S FATRY ‘TALES.
THE LITTLE MERMAID.
(“The Little Mermaid,†written in 1836, “Thumbelisa,†and “Little Ida’s
Flowersâ€â€™ were the first original stories that -Andersen wrote. The
immortal “Tinder-Box†is a good old nursery-tale re-told as only Andersen
could re-tell it.)
Far out in the sea the water is as blue as the leaves of the
loveliest cornflower and as clear as the purest glass, but it is very
: deep, deeper than ever anchor yet reached; many church-towers
_ would have to be piled one on the top of the other to reach right up
from the bottom to the surface of the water. Down there dwell
the Sea-folk. Now you must by no means fancy that there is
nothing there but a bare white sandbank ; no, the most wondrous trees
and plants grow there, the stalks and leaves of which are so supple
that they move to and fro at the least motion of the water, just as
_ if they were living beings. All the fish, small and great, dart about
among the branches just as the birds do in the air up here. In the
deepest spot of all lies the Sea-King’s palace. The walls are of coral
and the long, pointed windows of the clearest sort of amber, but
_ the roof is of mussel-shells which open and shut according as the
water flows; it looks lovely, for in every one of the shells lies
a glistening pearl. Any one of these pearls would be the glory of a
_Queen’s crown,
77 ee > B
2 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
The Sea-King down there had been a widower for many years,
but his old mother kept house for him; she was a wise woman, but
proud of her noble birth, and that was why she always went about
with twelve oysters on her tail, the other notabilities being only
allowed to carry six. Nevertheless she was very popular, especially
because she doated upon the little sea-princesses, her grand-
daughters. They were six pretty children, but the youngest
was the loveliest of them all; her skin was as delicately tinted
as a rose leaf, her eyes as blue as the deepest lake, but, like all the
others, she had no feet, her body ended in a fish’s tail. The
livelong day they used to play in the palace down there in the great
saloon where living flowers grew out of the walls. The large amber
windows were opened and so the fishes swam into them just as the
swallows fly in to us when we open our windows, but the fishes:
swam tight up to the little princesses, ate out of their hands and
let themselves be patted.
Outside the palace was a large garden full of blood-red and
dark blue trees ; the fruits there shone like gold, and the flowers like
burning fire, and the stalks and leaves were always moving to and
fro. The soil itself was of the finest: sand, but as blue as sulphur-
flames. A wondrous blue gleam lay over everything down there ;
~ one would be more inclined to fancy that one stood high up in the
air and saw nothing but sky above and beneath than that one
was at the bottom of the sea. During a calm, too, one could catch |
a glimpse of the sun; it looked like a purple flower from the cup of |
which all light streamed forth. ee
Every one of the little princesses had her own little garden-
plot where she could dig and plant as she liked; one gave her
4 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
flower-plot the form of a whale, another preferred hers to look like
a little mermaid, but the youngest made hers quite round like the
sun and would only have flowers which shone red like it. She was
a strange child, silent and pensive, and when the other sisters
adorned their gardens with the strangest things which they got
from stranded vessels, all ‘that she would have, besides the rosy-red
flowers which resembled the sun up above, was a ‘pretty marble
statue of a lovely boy, hewn out of bright white stone, which
had ean to ‘the bottom of the sea during a shipwreck. She
planted by this statue a rosy-red weeping willow, it grew splendidly ©
and hung over the statue with its fresh branches, right down towards
the blue sandy bottom where the shadows took a violet hue and
7 moved to and fro like the branches ; ‘it looked as if roots and .
tree-top were playing at kissing each other.
Her greatest joy was to hear about the world of mankind up
above. She made her old grandmother tell her all she knew about
ships and towns, men and beasts ; and what especially struck her as
wonderfully nice was that the flowers which grew upon the earth
should give forth fragrance, which they did not do at the bottom of
the sea; and that the. woods there were green and the fish which
were to be seen there among the branches could sing so loudly and
beautifully that it was a joy to listen to them; it was the le
birds that her grandmother called fishes, they would not otherwise
have understood her, for they had never seen a bird
rE
“When you have reached your ‘fifteenth year, said her grand-
mother, “ you shall have leave to duck up out of the sea and sit in
the moonshine on the rocks and see the big ships which sail by;
woods and cities you shall also see.â€
Hh LETTE MERMAID. “5
&
In the following year one of the sisters would be fifteen years
old, but how about the others? Each one was a year younger than
‘the one before, and'so the youngest had to wait five whole years
before she could come up from the bottom of the sea and see how
things are with us. But each one had promised to tell the others
what she had seen and what’ she had thought the loveliest on the
‘ By
first day ; for their grandmother did not tell them half enough,
there was so much they wanted to know about.
None of them was so full of longing as the youngest, just the
very one who-had the longest time to wait and was so silent and
pensive. Many a time she stood by the open window and looked
up through the dark blue water where the fishes steered about with
their fins and tails. She could see the moon and stars; of course,
they. shone quite faintly, but at the same time they looked twice as |
6 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
- large through the water as they look to us, and when something like
a dark cloud glided across them, she knew that it was either a
whale swimming over them, or else a ship with many people on
board; they certainly never dreamt that a pretty little mermaid
stood down below and stretched her white arms up towards
the keel.
And now the eldest princess was fifteen years.old and might
ascend to the surface of the water. When she came back she had _
hundreds of things to tell about, but the nicest of all, she said, was
to lie in the moonshine on a sandbank in the calm sea, and see,
close by the shore, the large town where the lights were twinkling,
like hundreds of stars, and hear the music and the noise and bustle
of carts and men, and look at the many church towers and spires,
and hear the bells ringing; it was just because she could not go
ashore that she longed so for all these things.
Oh! how the youngest sister listened, and ever afterwards,
when she stood in the evening close by the open window, and
looked up through the dark blue water, she thought of the great
city with all its noise and bustle, and then she thought she heard
the church bells ringing down where she was.
The next year the second sister got leave to mount up through
the water and swim where she liked. She ducked ‘up just as the.
sun was going down and she thought that the prettiest sight of all.
The whole sky had looked. like gold, she said, and the clouds—well,
their beauty she absolutely could not describe. All red and violet
they had sailed right over her; but far quicker than they, a flock of
wild swans had flown right over the place where the sun stood, like
‘a long white veil; she also swam towards the sun, but it sank ; and
THE LITTLE MERMAID. 7
the rosy gleam it left behind it was swallowed up by the sea and
the clouds.
A year after that the third sister came up to the surface; she
was the boldest of them all, so she swam up a broad river which ran
into the sea. She saw pretty green hillocks with vines around
them, castles and country houses peeped forth from among the
woods; she heard all the birds singing and the sun shone so hotly
that she frequently had to duck down under the water to cool her
burning face. In a little creek she came upon a whole swarm of
~ human children ; they were running about quite naked and splashing
about in the water. She wanted to play with them but they ran
away in terror, and a little black beast came up. It was a dog, but
8 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
she had never seen a dog before ; it barked so savagely at her that
she got frightened and sought the open sea again, but never could
she. forget the splendid woods, the green heights and the pretty
children who could swim in the water although they had no fishes’
“tails, | |
_ The fourth sister was not so bold; she remained: out in the
middle of the wild sea and said that that was the nicest of all; you
could see for miles and miles round about, and the sky above stood
there just like a large glass bell. Ships she had seen too, but far
away they looked like sea-mews ; the merry dolphins had turned
somersaults and the big whales had spirted water up out of their
~ nostrils, so that it looked like hundreds of fountains playing
all around. a 2 . eee
And now it was the turn of the fifth sister. Her birthday
: happened to be in the winter time; and therefore she saw what the
others had not seen the first time. The sea took quite a green
colour and round about swam huge icebergs; each one looked like a
pearl, she said, and yet was fax larger than the church towers which
men build. 7 They showed themselves in the strangest shapes and _
gleamed like diamonds. She had sat wpon one of the largest, and
all vessels had cruised far out of their reach in terror while she sat |
there and let: :the blast flutter her long streaming hair ; but
towards evening the sky was overcast with clouds, it thundered and
lightened while the black sea lifted the large ice-blocks high up and -
let them shine in the strong glare of the lightning. On all the
ships. they took in the sails ; distress and horror were there, but she
sat calmly on her swimming iceberg and saw the blue thunderbolts
strike down in zigzags into the shining sea,
WD pp nen
cat
10 HANS ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES.
The first time any of the sisters rose to the surface of the
water she was always enraptured at the new and beautiful things
she saw, but when they now, as grown-up girls, had leave to go up
whenever they chose, they became quite indifferent about it; they
longed for home, and in about.a month’s time or so would say that
it was nicest of all down below, for there one felt so thoroughly
at home. :
Very often in the evenings the five sisters would take each
other’s arms and mount up in a group to the surface of the water ;
they had nice voices, sweeter than any human voice, and when it
was blowing a gale and they had good reason to believe that a ship
might be lost, they would swim before that ship and sing so sweetly
of how pleasant it was at the bottom of the sea, and bid the sailors not
be afraid to come down. But the sailors could not understand their
words, They fancied it was the storm, nor did they ever get to sec
any of the beautiful things down below, for when the ship sank the
crew were drowned and only came as dead men to the Sea-King’s
palace. ,
Now when her sisters thus ascended, arm in arm, high up
through the sea, the little sister would remain behind all alone and
look up after them, and she felt as if she must cry ; but the mermaid —
has no tears and go she suffers all the more.. -
“ Oh, if only I were fifteen years old!†said she. “TI know that
I shall quite get to love the world up above there and the men who
live and dwell there.â€
. And at last she was fifteen years old.
“Well, now at last we have yow off our hands,†said her
grandmother, the old Queen Dowager. “Come here and let me
THE LITTLE MERMAID. 11
-make'you look nice like your sisters,†and she placed a wreath of
white lilies on her hair, but every petal in every flower was the half
of a pearl, and the old lady made eight large oysters cling fast on
to the Princess’s tail to show her high rank.
“But it hurts me so!†said the little mermaid.
“Yes, one must suffer a little for the sake. of appearances,â€
said the old lady.
Oh, how much she would have liked to have torn off all this
finery and laid aside her heavy wreath, the little red flowers from
her garden suited her much better; but she dared not do it.
« Farewell!†she said and mounted, en and bright as a bubble,
up through the water.
. The sun had just gone down as she lifted her head above the
sea, but all the clouds were still shining like roses and gold, and in
the midst of the pale pink sky sparkled the evening star, so
clear and lovely. The air was mild and fresh and the sea as still as
a mirror. A black ship with three masts lay upon it, only a single
sail was up, for not a breath of wind was stirring and the sailors were
sprawling all about on the masts and rigging. Music and singing were
going on, and as the evening grew darker hundreds of variegated lamps
were lit ; it looked as if the flags of all nations were waving in the
air. The little mermaid swam right up to the cabin window and
every time the water raised her in the air she could look in through
the mirror-bright panes where so many stylishly-dressed people were
standing. The handsomest of them all was certainly the young
Prince with the large black eyes (he could not have been more than
sixteen years old) ; it was his birthday and that was why they were
making all this display. The sailors were dancing upon the deck,
12 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
and when the young Prince stepped out, more than a hundred
rockets rose into the air; they shone as bright as day, so that the —
little mermaid was quite frightened and ducked down beneath the
water, but she soon stuck wp her head again and then it was as if all
the stars of heaven were falling down to her. Never had she seen
such fire-works. Large suns whizzed round and round, splendid
fiery. fish swung about in the blue air, and everything was reflected
back from the clear, calm sea. On the ship itself it was so light
that you could see every little rope and spar, to say nothing of the
men. But oh! how lovely the young Prince was, and how he
pressed people’s hands and laughed and smiled while the music
sounded through the lovely night.
It grew late, but the little mermaid could not tear her eyes
away from the ship and the handsome Prince. The variegated
lights were put out. No more rockets rose into the air, no more
salvos were fired, but deep down in the sea there was a murmuring
and a roaring. She meanwhile sat upon the water and rocked up —
and down with it so that she could look into the cabin. But the
ship now took a swifter course, one sail spread out after the other,
the roll of the billows grew stronger, it lightened far away. Oh!
there will be a frightful storm, that is why the sailors are now
reefing the sails. The huge ship rocked to and fro as it flew along
the wild. ocean; the water rose like big black mountains, which.
would roll right over the masts, but the ship ducked like a swan
down among the lofty billows and let herself be’ lifted up again on
the towering water. The little mermaid thought it rich sport, but
not so the sailors; the ship strained and cracked, the thick
planks bent at the violent shock of the sea, the mast snapped
THE LITTLE MERMAID. 13
right in the middle like a reed, and the ship heeled over
on her side while the water rushed into the cabin. And now the
little mermaid saw that they were in danger, she herself had to
beware of the spars and wreckage of the ship which drove along
upon the water. For a moment it was so pitch dark that she could
see nothing at all, but when it lightened it was bright enough for
VK Gaga eln,
her to see everything on the ship. Everybody there was tumbling
about anyhow. She looked out for the young Prince especially and
she saw him, when the ship went to pieces, sink down into the deep
sea. She immediately became quite delighted, for now he would
come down to her, but then it occurred to her that men cannot live
in the water and that it was only as a corpse that he could reach
14 ! HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
her father’s palace. Die he must not, oh no; and so she swam
among the spars and planks which were drifting about on the sea,
quite forgetting that they might have crushed her, ducked down
beneath the water and rose aloft again on the billows ; and so, at last,
she came up to the young Prince, who could scarcely swim a bit
more in the raging sea. His arms and legs began to fail him, his
beautiful eyes closed, he must have died if the little mermaid had —
"not come up. She held his head above the water and let the billows
drive him and her wherever they listed.
When morning dawned the storm had: passed away, but not
a fragment of the ship was to be seen. The sun rose so red
and shining above the water, it seemed as if the Prince’s cheeks
regained the hue of life, but his eyes remained closed. The
mermaid kissed his lofty handsome brow and stroked back his
wet locks. He looked just like the marble statue down in her
little garden ; she kissed him again and wished that he might live.
And now she saw in front of her the mainland, the lofty blue
mountains, on the summits of which the snow shone as if it
were swans that lay there; down on’ the shore were lovely
green woods and right in front lay a church or cloister, she did
not exactly know what it was, but it was a building of some
sort. Lemon and oranges trees grew in the garden there, and
in front of the gate stood tall palm-trees. The sea formed a
- little creek here, it was quite calm but very deep, right up to
the very cliff where the sea had washed up the fine white sand ;
thither she swam with the handsome Prince and laid him on
the sand, taking particular care that his head should lie high in
_ the warm sunshine.
THE LITTLE MERMAID. L5
And now the bells in the large white building fell a-ringing,
and a number of young girls came walking through the garden.
Then the. little mermaid swam further out behind some lofty
rocks which towered up out of the water, laid sea foam on her
hair and breast that no one might see her face, and watched to
see who would come to the poor Prince.
It was not very long before a young girl came by that
way; she appeared quite frightened when she saw him, but only
for a moment. Then she went and brought a lot of people, and
the mermaid saw that the Prince came to life again, and smiled
on all around him, but he did not send a smile to her, for of
course he did not know that she had saved him. She felt so
erieved that when he was carried away into the large building
she ducked down under the water full of sorrow and sought
her father’s palace. ;
She had always been silent and pensive, but now she
became still more so. Her sisters asked her what she had seen
up there the first time, but she told them nothing. Many a 7
morning and many an evening she ascended to the spot where she
had seen the Prince. She saw how the fruits of the garden
ripened and were plucked, she saw how the snow melted upon
the lofty mountains, but the Prince she did not see, and therefore
she returned home more and more sorrowful every time. Her
only consolation was to sit in the little garden and wind her
arms round the pretty marble statue which was so like the Prince.
But she did not attend to her flowers at all; they grew as if in
a wilderness right over the paths and wreathed their long
stalks and leaves among the branches of the trees till it was
16 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
quite gloomy there. At last she could endure it no longer, but
told it to one of her sisters, and so all the others. immediately
got to know about it; but no one else knew it save they and
a couple of other mermaids, who told it to nobody but their
closest friends. One of these knew who the Prince was and all
about him; she had also seen the merry-making on board. the
ship and knew whence he was and where his kingdom lay.
“Come, little sister!†said the other Princesses, and with their
arms around each other’s shoulders, they rose in a long row
above the water in the place where they knew the Prince’s palace
lay. This palace was built of a light yellow glistening sort of
stone with large marble staircases, one of which went straight
down into the sea. Gorgeous gilded cupolas rose above the roof,
and between the columns, which went round about the whole
building, stood marble statues which looked like living beings.
Through the clear glass in the lofty windows you looked into
magnificent rooms hung with costly silk curtains and tapestries,
and all the walls were adorned with large pictures, so that it
was quite a pleasure to look at them. In the midst of the
largest room plashed a large fountain, the water-jets rose high
into the air towards the- glass cupola, through which the sun
shone upon the water and upon the beautiful plants which erew
in the huge basin.
So now she knew where he dwelt, and many an evening and
night she rose upon the water there. She swam much nearer
to the land than any of the others had ventured to do; nay, she
went right up the narrow canal, beneath the magnificent marble
balcony which cast a long shadow across the water. Here she
THE LITTLE MERMAID. 17
used to sit and look at the young Prince, who fancied he was
quite alone in the bright moonshine.
Many an evening she saw him sail with music in his splendid
boat where the banners waved; she peeped forth from the green
rushes, and when the wind played with her long silvery white
veil and people saw it, they fancied it was a swan lifting
its wings.
Many a night- when the fishermen were fishing by torch-light
on the sea, she heard them speaking so well of the young Prince,
and she was glad that she had saved his hfe when he was drifting
half dead upon the billows, and she thought how fast his head had
rested on her breast, and how ardently she then had kissed him ;
he knew nothing at all about it, he could not even dream
about her.
And so she got to love mankind more and more, more and
more she desired to be among them. Their world seemed to her
far grander than her own; why, they could fly across the sea in
ships, ascend the lofty mountains high above the clouds, and the
lands they called their own extended with their woods and
meadows farther than her eye could reach. . There was so much
she would have liked to know, but her sisters would not answer
everything she asked, and therefore she asked her old grandmother,
for she knew all about the upper world, which she very correctly
called the lands above the sea.
“When men don’t drown,†asked the little mermaid, “can they
live for ever? Don’t they die as we do down in the sea here?†—
“Yes,†said the old grandmother, “ they also must die ; and
indeed their life is even shorter than ours. We can last for three
b
18 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
hundred years, but when at last we do cease to be, we become mere
foam upon the water, we have not even a grave down here among
our dear ones. We have no immortal soul; we never live again ;
we are like the green rushes, if once they be cut down, they
cannot grow green again, Men, on the other hand, have souls
which always live—live when the body has become earth ; they rise
-up through the clear air, right up to the shining stars ; just as we
duck up out of the sea and see the lands of men, so they mount
up to beautiful unknown places of which we shall never. catch
a glimpse.â€
“Why have not we got an immortal soul ?â€. id the little
mermaid sorrowfully. « would give. all the hundreds of years
I have to live to be a human’ bemg but for a single day that so
I might have my portion in the world above the sky!†Bee
: “You must not bother your head about that Pe said
"the old grandmother, “we have a much hotter and. happier lot
than mankind .up-there.†|
- “So Iam to die and seud - away nee foam upon the sea,
co no more the music of the billows, see. no more the pretty
flowers and the red sun. Ora I then do nothing at all to win
an immortal soul?†- - :
" “No!â€. said. the old. peneieorien s ony, is a man got to
: love thee so dearly that thou, wert more to him than father or
mother, if he clave to thee with all his heart and soul, and let
the priest lay his right hand in thine and vow fidelity to thee
here and in all eternity, then his soul would flow over into thy
body and thou wouldst have thy portion of human bliss. He
would have given thee a soul; and yet have kept his own. But
20 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
that can never be! The very thing that is so pretty in the sea
here, thy fish’s tail, is looked upon as hideous upon earth; they
don’t know any better. Up there one must have a couple of clumsy
columns called feet to be thought handsome ! †|
| Then the little mermaid Sehed and looked commen saly at
her fish’s tail. ;
“ Let us be content with our lot,†said the old grandmother,
“we'll hop and skip about to our hearts’ content in the three
hundred years we have to live in. Upon my word we have a
nice long time of it, and after it is all over one can rest all the
more contentedly in one’s grave.) We'll have a court ball this very
evening Ie ae 7 :
And indeed it was a gorgeous. sight such as one never sees
on earth. The walls and ceiling of the vast dancing-hall were
of glass, thick but clear. Many hundreds of . colossal shells,
“rosy red and grass-green, stood in rowson each side full of a blue |
blazing fire which lit up the whole saloon and shone right through |
the walls so that the sea beyond them was quite illuminated,
You could see all the countless fishes, both small and great,’
swimming towards the glass walls; the shells of some of them
shone purple red, the shells of others seemed like gold and silver.
In the midst of the saloon ‘flowed a broad running stream, and
on this danced the mermen and the mermaids to their own
' pretty songs. Such lovely voices are unknown on earth. The
little mermaid sang sweetest of them all and’ they clapped her
loudly, arid for a moment her heart was ‘glad, for she knew that
1 The old grandmother’s memory here played her false. She forgot that
- there are no graves at the bottom of the sea. :
THE LITTLE MERMAID. . 21
she had the loveliest voice of all creatures on the earth or in the
sea. But very soon she began once more to think of the world
above her; she could not forget the handsome Prince and her
sorrow at not possessing, like him, an immortal soul. So she
stole quietly out of her father’s palace, and while everything
there was mirth and melody, she sat full of sorrow in her little
2 garden. Then she heard the bugle-horn ringing down through
the water and she thought, “ Now I know he is sailing up there,
he whom I love more than father or mother, he to whom the
thoughts of my heart cleave and in whose hands I would
willingly lay my life's happiness. Everything will I venture to win
him and an immortal soul! While my sisters are dancing within
my father’s palace, I will go to the sea-witch; I have always
been a of her, but ape _ perchance, may help and
counsel me.’
Bo the little mermaid went out of her own. sea right towards
‘the raging whirlpool behind which the witch dwelt. She had
never gone that way before. No flowers, no seagrasses grew there,
only the bare grey sandy bottom stretched out towards the whirl-
pools where the water, like a rushing mill-wheel, whirled round and
round, tearing everything it caught hold of away with it into the
deep ; she had to go right through the midst of these buffeting whirl-
_ pools to get to the sea-witch’s domain, and here, for a long stretch,
there was no other way than across hot bubbling mire which the
“witch called her turf moss. Right behind lay her house in the
midst of a strange wood. All the trees and bushes were polypi,
half animal, half vegetable, they looked like hundred-headed serpents
growing out of the earth; all their branches were long slimy
22 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
arms, with fingers like supple snakes, and joint by joint they
were twisting and twirling from the roots to the outermost tips
of their branches. Everything in the sea which they could catch
go of it
hold of they wound themselves about and never let
again. The little Princess was quite terrified and remained
standing outside there; her heart thumped for fear, she was
very near turning back again, but then she thought of the Prince
and of the human soul, and her courage came back to her. She
bound her long fluttering hair close to her head so that the
THE LITTLE MERMAID. 23
polypi might not grip hold of her thereby, then she crossed’ both
hands over her breast, and away she flew through the water as only
fishes can fly, right between the hideous polypi which stretched
out their long supple arms and fingers after her. She saw
that every one of them still had something which it had gripped,
hundreds of little fingers held it like iron bands. Men who had
perished in the sea and sunk down thither peeped forth from
the arms of the polypi in the shape of white skeletons. Ships’
rudders and coffers too they held fast; there were also the skeletons
of land animals and even a little mermaid whom they had caught
and tortured to death, and that was to her the most terrible
sight of all.
‘And now she came to a large slimy open space in the wood
where big fat water-snakes were wallowing and airing their ugly
whity-yellow bellies. In the midst of the empty space a house had
been raised from the white bones of shipwrecked: men ; here sat the
sea-witch and let a toad eat out of her mouth just as men let little
canary-birds pick sugar. She called the hideous fat water-snakes
her ‘chicks and let them roll about over her large spongy
bosom.
e know very well what you Sane said the sea-witch ;
“you're a fool for your pains ! Nevertheless you shall have your
own way, for it will get you into trouble, my pretty Princess. You
want to get rid of your fish’s tail, eh? and have a couple of
stumps. to walk about on as men have, so that the young Prince
may fall in love with you, and you may get bim. and an
immortal soul into the bargain!†And with that, the witch
laughed so loudly and hideously that the toad and the snakes. fell
24 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
down upon the ground and began wallowing there. “You have —
come at the very nick of time,†said the witch; “if you had put it
off till to-morrow, at sunrise, [ should not have been able to help
you for another year. I'll brew you a potion, but you must swim
to land, sit down on the shore, and drink it off before sunrise, and
then your tail will split and shrivel up into what men all nice
legs ; but it will hurt, it will be like a sharp sword piercing through
you. All who see you will say that you are the loveliest child of
man they ever saw. You will keep your lightsome gait, no dancing -
girl will be able to float along like you; but every stride you take ;
will be to you like treading on some sharp knife till the blood
flows. If you like to suffer all this, ll help you.†:
“T will,†said the little mermaid with a trembling voice ; she
thought of the Prince and of winning an immortal soul.
“But remember this,†said the witch, “when once you have
got a human shape you can never become a mermaid again! You can
never again descend down through the water to your sisters and to
your father’s palace, and if you do not win the Prince’s love so that,
for your sake, he forgets father and mother and cleaves to. you
with all his soul, and lets the priest lay your hands together and
make you man and wife, you will get no immortal soul at all!
The very first morning after he has married another your heart will
break and you will become foam upon the water !â€
_ “Be it so!†said the little mermaid, but she was as pale
as death.
“ But you must pay me too,†said ‘the witch, “and it will not
be a small thing either that J demand. You have the loveliest
voice of all things down below here at the bottom of the sea, you
THE LITTLE MERMAID. 25
fancy you will enchant him with that, I know; nota bit of it, you
must. give that voice to me. I mean to have your best possession
in return for my precious potion, for have I not to give you of my
own blood in it, so that the potion may be as sharp as a two-edged
_ sword ?†,
“But if you take my voice, what will be left for me?†asked —
the little mermaid... |
“Your lovely, shape,†said the witch, “your lightsome gait and
your speaking eye ; you can fool a man’s heart ‘with them, I suppose ?
Well! have you lost heart, eh? Put out your little tongue and I'll
cut it off in payment, and you shall have the precious potion !â€
_“ Be it so, then!†said the little mermaid, and the witch put her
‘kettle on to brew the magic potion. “Cleanliness is a good thing,â€
~ said she, and she scoured out the cauldron with the snakes, which
she tied into a knot; then she gashed herself in the breast and let
her black blood drip down into the cauldron. The steam that rose
from it took the strangest shapes, so that one could not but feel
anguish and terror. Every moment the witch put something fresh
into the cauldron, and when it was well on the boil it sounded like
a crying crocodile. At last the drink was ready, it looked like the
clearest water !
“ There you are!†said the witch, and cut out the tongue of
the little mermaid who was now quite dumb; she could neither
sing nor talk.
“Tf the polypi grip at you when you go back through the -
wood,†said the witch, “just you throw a single drop of this
potion upon them, and their arms and fingers will burst into a
thousand bits!†But the little mermaid had no need to do this,
26 _ «HANS ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES.
the polypi shrank back from her in terror when they saw the
shining potion which sparkled in her hand like a dazzling star. So —
very soon she got through the wood, the morass and the raging
whirlpool. She could see her father’s palace; the lights in the long
dancing-hall had been put out; all within there were doubtless
sleeping; but she dared not venture thither to visit them now that
she was dumb, and wanted to go away from them for ever. Yet
her heart felt as if it must burst asunder for sorrow. She ‘crept
down into the garden, plucked a flower from each of her sister's
| flower-beds, threw a thousand kisses towards the palace, and
ascended again through the dark blue’ sea. The “sun had not yet . ~
risen when she beheld the Prince’s palace, and mounted the splendid
marble staircase. The moon was shining bright and beautiful.
The little mermaid drank the sharp burning potion, and:it was as
though a two-edged sword pierced right through her Pen she
moaned with the agony and lay there as one dead. =~
When the sun shone over the sea she woke up and felt a
sharp pang, but right in front of her stood the handsome young
Prince. — He fixed his coal-black eyes upon her, so that she cast her
own eyes down and saw that her fish tail had gone, and that she had
the prettiest little white legs, but she was quite naked, so she ~
wrapped herself in her large long locks. The Prince asked who
she was and how she came thither ; and she looked at him with her
dark blue eyes so mildly, and yet so sadly, for speak she could not.
- Then he took her by the hand and led her into his palace. Every
_ step she took was, as the witch said it would be beforehand, as if
she were treading on pointed awls or sharp knives, but she willingly
bore it; holding the Prince’s hand, she mounted the staircase as
be Hs
|
28 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
light as a bubble, and he and every one else were amazed at her
graceful, lightsome gait. She was arrayed in the most costly garments,
all silk and muslin, none in the whole palace was so lovely as she 3
but she was dumb, she could neither sing nor speak, Lovely slave-
girls, clad in silk and gold, came forth and sang to the Prince and
his royal parents ; one of them sang more sweetly than all the rest,
and the Prince clapped his hands and smiled at her. Then the little
mermaid was troubled, she knew that she herself had sung far
more sweetly, and she thought: “ Oh, would that he might know that
for the sake of being near him, I have “etven away my voice for ever
and ever!â€
- And. now the eee e danced the graceful, lightsome dance
to the loveliest music, and then the little mermaid raised on
high her lovely white arms, raised. herself on the tips of her
toes, and danced and swept across the floor as none ever danced
before; at every movement her loveliness became more and more
visible and her eyes spoke more deeply to the heart than ever the
songs of the slave-girl: They were all enchanted with her, especially
the Prince, who called her his little foundling, and she danced
more and mare? though every time her feet touched the ground it
was as if she trod upon a sharp knife. The Prince said she should
always be with him, and she got. leave to sit outside his door on
a velvet cushion.
He had a male costume made for her an she might ride out
with him. They rode through the fragrant woods where the
green branches smote her on the shoulders and the little birds sang
behind the fresh leaves. She clambered with ‘the Prince right up .
the high mountains, and although her tender feet bled, so that the
THE LITTLE MERMAID. 29
.
others could see it, she only laughed at it and followed him till they
saw the clouds sailing below them like flocks of birds departing
to a foreign land. |
At night, in the Prince’s palace, while others slept, she went
out upon the broad marble staircase, and it cooled her burning feet
to stand in the cold sea-water, and then she thought of them in the
depths below. i
One night her sisters came up arm in arm, they sang so
sorrowfully as they swam in the water, and she nodded to them,
and they recognised her, and told her how miserable she had made
them all. After that, they visited her every night, and one night
she saw, a long way out, her old grandmother who had.not been
above the sea for many years, and the Sea-King with his crown upon
his head ; they stretched out their hands towards her, but dared not
come so close to land as her sisters.
She became dearer to the Prince every day. He loved her as
one might love a dear, good child; but to make her his queen never
entered his mind, and his wife she must be, or she would never
have an immortal soul, but would become foam upon the sea upon
| his bridal morn.
“Do you love me most of all?†the eyes of the little mermaid.
seemed to say when he took her in his arms and kissed her fair brow.
“Yes, you are dearest of all to me,†said the Prince, “for you
have the best heart of them all, you are most devoted to me, and
you are just'like a young girl I once saw but certainly shall never
see again. I was on a ship which was wrecked, the billows drifted
me ashore near a holy temple, where many young girls were the
ministrants. The ae “who found me on the sea-shore and saved
30 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
my life, I only. saw twice; she is the only girl I can love in this
world, but you are like her, you almost expel her image from my
soul; she belongs to that holy temple, and therefore my good
fortune has sent me you instead, we will never part 2
« Alas! he knows not that ‘twas I who saved his life!†thought :
the little mermaid. “I bore him right over the sea to the wood
where the temple stands, I sat behind the foam and looked to see if
any one would come ; I saw the pretty girl whom he loves better
than me!†And the mermaid drew a deep sigh, weep she could
not. ‘He says the girl belongs to that holy temple, she will never
come forth into the world, they will never meet again. I am with
him, I see him. every day, I will cherish him, love him, sacrifice
my lite for him! ec
But now the Prince was to be married and take the lovely
daughter of the neighbouring king to wife, and that was why he
now set about equipping a splendid ship. The Prince is travelling
to see the land of the neighbouring king, that is what they said;
but it was to see the neighbouring king’s’ daughter that he went
forth with such a grand retinue. But the little mermaid shook her
head and laughed ; she knew the Prince’s thoughts much better than
-all the others. “I must travel,†he had said to her, “I must see
the fair Princess, my parents require it of me; but they shall not
compel me to bring her home as my bride. I cannot love her, she
is not like the lovely girl in the temple whom you are like. Should
T ever choose me a bride, it would rather be you, my dumb found-
ling with the speaking eyes !†And he kissed her red mouth, played
with her long hair, and laid his head close to her heart till her heart
dreamt of human bliss and an immortal soul.
THE LITTLE MERMAID. 31
“Surely you are not frightened at the sea, my dumb child!â€
said he, as they stood on the gorgeous ship which was to carry
him to the land of. the neighbouring king; and he told her about
storm and calm, about the strange fishes of the deep, and what the
divers had seen down there, and she smiled at his telling, for
she knew better than any one else all about the bottom of
the sea, ;
In the moonlight nights when all were asleep save the man at
the helm, she sat at the side of the ship and looked down through
the clear water and seemed to see her father’s palace, and at the very
top of it stood the old grandmother with the silver crown upon her
head, and stared up at the ship’s keel through the contrary currents.
Then her sisters came up to the surface of the water, they gazed
sadly at her and wrung their white hands. She beckoned to them, —
smiled, and would have told them that everything was going on
well and happily, but the cabin-boy drew near at that moment and
her sisters ducked down again, so that she half fancied that
the white things she had seen were the foam upon the sea.
The next morning the ship sailed into the-haven of the
neighbouring king’s splendid capital. All the church bells were
ringing, they blew blasts with the bassoons from the tops of the
| high towers, while the soldiers stood drawn up with waving banners
and flashing bayonets. Every day had its own special feast. Balls
and assemblies followed each other in rapid succession, but the
Princess was not yet there, she had been brought up in a holy
temple far away, they said, where she had learnt all royal virtues.
At last she arrived.
Full of eagerness, the little mermaid stood there to see her
32 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
loveliness ; and recognise it she must, a more beauteous shape she
had never seen. Her skin was so transparently fine, and from
behind the long dark eyelashes smiled a pair of dark blue, faithful
eyes.
“Tis thou!†said the Prince, “ thou who hast saved me when
I lay like a corpse on the sea-shore !†and he embraced his blushing
bride. “Oh! I am so happy, I don’t know what to do!†said he to
the little mermaid. “The very best I dared to hope has come to.
pass. You too will rejoice at my good fortune, for you love me more
than them all!†And the little mermaid kissed his hand, and she
felt that her heart was like to break. Yes, his bridal-morn would be
_ the death of her, and change her into sea-foam.
All the bells were ringing, and the heralds rode about the streets
to proclaim the espousals.
Fragrant oil in precious silver lamps burned upon every altar.
The priests swung their censers, and the bride and bridegroom gave
each other their hands and received the bishop’s benediction. The
little mermaid stood there in cloth of gold and held the bride’s train,
but her ears did not hear the festal music, her eyes did not see the
sacred ceremony, she thought of her night of death, she thought of
- all she had lost in this world.
The same evening the bride and bridegroom went on board the
ship, the cannons were fired, all the flags waved, and in the midst
of the ship a royal tent was raised of cloth of gold and purple and
precious furs; there the bridal pair were to oe in the still, cool
night.
The sails swelled out in the breeze, nl the ship plidedl lightly
rocking, away over the bright ocean. When it grew dark, coloured —
THE LITTLE MERMAID. 33
lamps were lit, and the mariners danced merry dances on the deck.
The little mermaid could not help thinking of the first time she had
ducked up above the sea, and seen the self-same gaiety and splendour,
and she whirled round and round in the dance, skimming along as
the swallow skims when it is pursued, and they all applauded her
enthusiastically, never before had she danced so splendidly. There
was.a piercing as of sharp knives in her feet, but she felt it not ; the
anguish of her heart was far more piercing. She knew it was the
last evening she was to see him for whom she had forsaken house
- and home, surrendered her lovely voice, and suffered endless tortures
day by day, without his having any idea of it all. It was the last
night she was to breathe the same air as he, and look wpon the deep
sea and the star-lit sky ; re eternal night without a thought,
without a dream, awaited her who had no soul and could not win
one. And all was joy and jollity on board the ship till long past
midnight, and she laughed and danced with the thought of death in
her heart. The Prince kissed his lovely bride, and she toyed with
his black hair, and arm in arm they went to rest in the gorgeous
tent.
ie grew. dark and still on board; only the steersman was there,
standing at the helm. The little mermaid laid her white arms on the
railing and looked towards the east for the rosy dawn, the first
sunbeam, she knew it well, must kill her. Then she saw her sisters
rise up from the sea, they were as pale as she was; their long fait
hair fluttered no longer in the breeze, it was all cut off.
_ “We have given it to the witch that she might bring help so
that you may not die to-night! She has given us a knife, here it is,
look how sharp it is! Before the sun rises you must thrust it into
F
3A | HANS ANDERSEN’S. FAIRY TALES.
the Prince’s heart, and then, when his warm blood sprinkles your
feet, they will grow together into a fish’s tail, and you will become a
mermaid again, and may sink down through the water to us, and
jive out your three hundred ‘years before you become dead, salt
sea-foam. But hasten! Either you or he must die before sun-rise.
Our old grandmother has sorrowed so that her hair has fallen off, -
just as ours has fallen off beneath the witeh’ sshears. Killthe Prince
and come back to us! Hasten! Don't you. see the red strip in the
sky yonder? A few minutes more and the sun will rise and you
must die.†And they heaved a wondrously deep sigh and sank
beneath the billows.
The little mermaid drew aside the purple curtains from the
tent door, and she saw the beauteous bride sleeping with her head
on the Prince’s breast, and she bent down, kissed him on his fair
brow, looked at the sky where the red dawn shone brighter and
brighter, looked at the sharp knife, and again fixed her eyes on the
Prince, who, in his dreams, named his wife by her name, she alone
was in his thoughts. And the knife quivered in the mermaid’s hand—
but then she cast it out far into the billows, they shone red where it
fell, it looked as if drops of blood were there bubbling up out of the
water. Once again she looked with half-breaking eyes at the Prince,
plunged from the ship into the sea, and felt: her whole body dissolving
into foam. ;
And now the sun rose out of the sea, his rays fell with so gentle
a warmth upon the death-cold sea foam, and ‘the little mermaid did
not feel death; she saw the bright sun, and right above her
hundreds of beauteous, transparent shapes were hovering.. Through
them she could see the white sails of the ship and the red clouds of
“THE LITTLE MERMAID. 39d
the sky, their voice was all melody, but so ethereal that no human ear
could hear it, just as no human eye could see them; they had no
wings, but their very lightness wafted them up and down in the air.
The little mermaid saw that she had a body like them, it rose
higher and higher out of the foam. “To whom have I come?â€
_. said she, and her voice sounded like the voices of the other beings,
so ethereal that no earthly music can render it.
“To the daughters of the air,’ answered the others; “the
mermaid has no immortal soul and can never have one unless she
wins a man’s love, her eternal existence depends upon a Power
_ beyond her. The daughters of the air, likewise, have no immortal
soul, but they can make themselves one by good deeds. We fly to
the hot countries, where the sultry, pestilential air slays the children
of men ; there we waft coolness. We spread the fragrance of flowers
through the air and send refreshment and healing. When for three
hundred years we have striven to do all the good we can, we get an
immortal soul and have a share in the eternal destinies of mankind.
Thou, poor little mermaid, thou also hast striven after good with thy
whole heart; like us, thou hast suffered and endured, and raised
thyself into the sphere of the spirits of the air ; now, therefore, thou
canst also win for thyself an immortal soul after three hundred years
“of good deeds.â€
And the little mermaid raised her bright arms towards God's
sun, and for the first time she felt tears in her eyes. There was
life and bustle on board the ship again, she saw the Prince with his
fair bride looking for her, and they gazed sadly down upon the
bubbling foam, as if they knew she had plunged into the billows.
Invisible as she was, she kissed the bride’s brow, smiled upon the
36 HANS ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES.
Prince, and ascended with the other children of the air up to the
tosy red clouds which were. sailing along in the sky. ‘For three’
hundred years we shall float and float till we float right into God’s
kingdom.â€
“Yea, and we may also get there still sooner,†whispered one of
them. “Invisibly we sweep into the houses of men, where there
are children, and every day we find there a good child who gladdens
his parents’ hearts, and deserves their love, God shortens our time of
trial. The child does not know when we fly through the room, but
when we can smile van joy over it, a whole year is taken from off
the three hundred ; but whenever we see a bad, naughty child, we
iust, perforce, weep tears of sorrow, and every tear adds a day to
our time of trial !â€
~ :
Ne
the. soldier.
THE TINDERBOX.
A SOLDIER came -marching along the highway : Left, right |!
left, right ! He had his knapsack on his back and a sword by his
side, for he had been to the wars and was now coming home. Then
he met an old witch on the highway ; she was so ugly, her underlip
hung right down upon her breast.
“ Good evening, soldier,†said she; “what a nice sword you've
got, and a big knapsack, too; you are something like a soldier!
You shall have as much money as you know what to do with.â€
“Thanks to you, old witch!†said the soldier.
~ “Do you see that large tree ?†said the witch, and she pointed
- toa tree which’ stood close beside them. “It is quite hollow inside.
You ‘must. creep up to the top of it, and then you'll see a hole
through which you can let yourself glide, and so you'll come deep
down into the tree. I will fasten a cord round your body so that I
: may hoist you up again when you call to me.â€
“And what am I to do right down in the tree?†asked
“ Fetch money !†said the witch. “I must tell you that when
38 : HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
you get to the very bottom of the tree you will see a large passage j
it is quite light, for hundreds and hundreds of lamps are burning
there. Presently you'll come to three doors, you can open them
all, for the keys are in them. When you go into the first
chamber, you will see in the middle of the floor a large chest, on the
top of which sits a dog; he has eyes as large as teacups, but you
must not mind about that. I will give you my blue-striped apron,
that you may spread. it out on the floor; then march briskly up to
the dog, seize him, ‘place him on my apron, open the chest and take
as many pieces of money as you like. . They are of copper, the whole
lot of them ; but if you would rather have silver, you must: go into
the next chamber ; there sits a dog who has eyes as large as mill-
wheels, but you must not mind-about that, only put him on my
apron and help yourself to the money. If, however, you would pre-
fer gold, you can have that also—yes, as much of.it as you can
carry, if only you go into the third chamber. But the dog that sits
on the money-chest there has two eyes, each one of which is as big
as “The Round Tower.â€! That is something like a dog, I can tell
you! ! But just you put him on my apron and he won't hurt you-a
_ bit, and then you can take out of the chest as much gold as
you like.†. ee
“Tt doesn’t.sound so bad,†said the soldier. “But what am I
to give you then, eh, old witch ’—for oe mean to have something
out of me for it, I know.â€
No. said the witeh, “I won't’ have | a single fanthing “You
1 Not “Round Towers,†as sometimes cd The famous “Round
Tower†at Copenhagen, built by Tycho Brahe’s pupil, Kristen oe is meant,
and would occur at once to every Danish child,
THE TINDERBOX. - 39
be
must only bring me an old tinderbox which my grandmother forgot
when she was last down there.â€
“All right! Let me fasten the cord round my body,†said
the soldier. — : : ;
“Here it is,†said the witch, “and here is my blue-striped
apron.â€
‘So the soldier. crept up the tree, let himself plump down into
the hole, and now stood, as the witch had said, in the large passage
where hundreds and hundreds of lamps were burning.
And now he unlocked the first door. Ugh! there sat the dog
with the eyes as large as teacups, and glared at him.
“You're a pretty chap!†said the soldier, putting him on the
witch’s.apron, and taking as many copper coins as he could cram into
his pockets. Then he locked the chest, put the dog on the top of
it again, and went into the second chamber. Ugh ! there sat the dog
- with eyes as big as mill-wheels. , |
“You shouldn’t stare at me so much,†said the soldier, “ you
might injure your eyesight!†And with that he placed the dog on
the witch’s apron, but when he saw the heaps of silver money in the
chest he pitched away all the copper money he had and filled his
pockets and his knapsack with nothing but silver. Then he went
into the third chamber. Nay ! it was truly hideous. The dog in that
room really had two eyes, each one of which was as large as “ The
Round Tower,†and they ran round in his head just like
| clock-work,
“Good evening!†said the soldier, and touched his cap, for a
dog like that he had never seen before ; but. after looking at him a
bit longer, “Come, come,†thought he, “Fve stared ‘enough now,
va
JORDEN ORPHAN IIE LEENA TET Bid en Bes USER EE Ne nee
a one sacs otinaeateime st pe PAETT SCR tac POP rene SEER EH ENDORSE AE NRA to etna
ernitctidcettonrn oman ee asa NesinaE enOL Ea tL LTE SLATE ON ITE EEL IELTS NIN TIE OE ———s pets escpete ech
I want.â€
40 . HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
surely |†and lifting him down on to the floor he unlocked the chest.—
Gracious me! what a lot of gold was there | ‘Why, with all that .
money he might have bought the whole of Copenhagen, and all the
sugar pigs of all the cake-women there, together with all the tin .
soldiers, whips, and rocking-horses in the whole world! Yes, there
was money there, and no mistake ! Then the soldier threw away all
the silver pieces he had filled his pockets and his knapsack with, and
took gold instead—yes, he filled his pockets, his knapsack, his cap,
and his shoes so that he could hardly walk. Now he really had money !
Then he lifted the dog on to the chest again, banged to the door,
and bawled up the tree, “Hoist me up now, you old witch !â€
“ Have you got the tinderbox with you?†asked the witch.
“Right you are!†said the soldier. - “ I had clean forgotten it,â€
and he went back and fetched it. | The witch hoisted him up, and so i
he stood again upon the highway, with his pockets, boots, pe cas
and cap crammed full of money.
soldier.
“That doesn’t concer you,†said the witch. “ You've. got -
your money, haven’t you? Give me the tinderbox, that’s all
“Rubbish !†said the soldier. “Will you tell me this instant
what you want with it? If not, T’ll draw my sword and cut your
head off !â€
“No,†said the witch, “ I won’t!â€
‘So the soldier chopped off her head. There she lay, but he
tied up all his money in her apron, slung it over his shoulder, put
the tinderbox in his pocket, and went straight to town.
“What do you want with- this tinderbox ? 2†asked «he,
THE TINDERBOX. 4]
It was a pretty town, and he put up at the prettiest inn there,
demanded the very best rooms they had and the food he was fondest
of, for now he was rich—he had lots of money.
To the servant who cleaned his boots it seemed absurd that so
tich a gentleman should have such ridiculous old boots, but he
~ '
Roe again, :
had not yet had time to buy himself new ones. Next day he got
proper walking boots and really beautiful clothes. So the soldier
now became a fine gentleman, and they told him all about their
town and its riches and splendour, and about their King, and what
a charming daughter he had.
» 342 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
« Where can. one get. a “peep at, her?†asked the
soldier. j oe
“You can’t see her at all,’ : - they all said: “she dwells. in a
large copper castle with walls and no end of towers all around it.
None but the King may go-in and out of it to see her, for it has
“been foretold that she will become the wite of a mere common
soldier, and the King cannot endure the thought of that.â€
“Would that I might but see her!†thought the soldier ; but
of course it was quite out ‘of the question. -
_ And now he lived right. merrily, went to the theatre, drove
in the King’s park, and gave lots of money to the poor,
which was very handsome of ‘him. He knew indeed, of old,
how bad it was to be without afarthing. But now he. was rich —
and had fine clothes, and a lot of friends who all said what
a fine fellow, what a perfect gentleman he was, and the soldier
rather liked it than otherwise. But as he was paymmg money
away every day, and none was coming in, he at last found that
he had only two farthings left, and was obliged to quit the | |
handsome apartments where he had been living, and make the
best of a little bit of a room right under the roof, where he had
to clean his own boots, and mend them with a darning needle,
‘and not one of his friends came to see him—they did not like going
up so many stairs.
It was a. very dark evening, ad he had nob enough to even
buy himself a candle, when it occurred to him that there might
be the fag end of one in the tinderbox he had picked up in the
hollow tree where the witch. had:, helped him down. So he took
out the tinderbox and the candle stump, but while he was striking
THE TINDERBOX. 48
a light and the sparks were flying from the flintstone, the door
flew open and the dog with eyes as big as tea-cups, whom he
_ had seen down in the tree, stood before him and said, “ What does
my lord command ?â€: :
“Well, I never!†sue the soldier. “It would be a funny
sort of tinderbox if I can get whatever I want! Fetch me
some money,†said he to the dog, and whisk! it was gone—
whisk ! and it was back again, and held in its mouth a large bag
full of copper coins. oe: 7
And now the soldier understood what a very nice sort of
tinderbox it really was. If he struck it once, the dog came who
sat upon the chest full of copper coins; if he struck it twice, the
dog came who had the silver money ; and if he struck it thrice, the
dog came who had the gold. So the soldier flitted down stairs’
again to his handsome apartments, got more good clothes, and all
his old friends immediately recognised and made much of him.
One day he fell a-thinking: “How very ridiculous it is that
one cannot get a peep at the Princess ! Every one says how lovely
she is, but what’s the good of that if she is to mope away all her
days in the big copper castle with the many towers? Can’tI get to
see her somehow ?. Where’s my tinderbox?†- And so he struck a
light, and whisk! there stood the ees with the eyes as big: as tea-
cups.
a know very ‘al that it is midnight? ’ said the soldier, “ but
I should so very much like to see the Princess, if it were only for a
tiny moment!†— ees
The dog was immediately out of the house, ack hefaue the
soldier had time to think about it, he saw him reappear with the
44 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
Princess—she lay asleep on the dog’s back, and was so lovely. that
any one could see at once she was a real Princess. The soldier
could not let well alone. Kiss her he must, for he was a true
soldier. | oo .
-The dog ran back again with the Princess, but when it was
morning, and the King and Queen were having breakfast, the Princess
said that she had dreamed such a strange dream in the night about a
dog anda soldier. She had ridden on the dog,. and the soldier
had kissed -her. ae
“ A very pretty story truly !†said the Queen.
"And now one of the old ladies-in-waiting was told off to watch by
the Princess’s bed next night to see if it were really a dream or what
else it could be.
The soldier longed | 80 fiightfuly for another glimpse of the
Princess, and go the dog came again at night, took her, andran away
with all its might; but the old: lady-in-waiting put on waterproof
- boots and ran just as quickly behind them. When she saw them
disappear into a large house, she thought, “Now I know where it is,â€
and marked a great cross on the door with a piece of chalk. Then
she went home and ‘lay down, andthe dog also came along that way
again with the Princess; but when he saw that a cross had been
marked on the door where the soldier dwelt, he also took a piece
- of chalk and marked crosses on‘all the doors in the town, and very
clever it was of. him, for now indeed the Court dame could not
possibly find the right door among so many.
Very early i in the morning the King and the Queen, the old
Court dame and all the Court officials, came to see where it was the
Princess had been.
A6 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
« It is there!†said the King, when he saw the first door with a -
cross upon it.
“No, it is there, my darling nabanc) !†said the Queen, who saw
the second door with the cross upon it.
“ But there is one here, and there is one there!†cried all the |
courtiers. . Wherever they looked there were crosses on the doors.
So they soon saw that it was no good searching any farther,
| But the Queen was a very wise woman, who could do much
- more than merely ride about in a coach. She took her large gold -
Scissors, shipped a large piece of silk-stuff into small bits and sewed ©
them into a pretty little bag ; this she filled with small fine grains of
buckwheat, fastened it to the Princess's back, and when this was
done, she cut a little hole in the bag so that the grains might
“dribble through along the whole way the Princess went. — a
At night the dog. came again, took the ‘Princess on his back,
* and ran away with her to the soldier, who was so fond of her and
longed so much to be a Prince that he might have hee to wife.
The dog. did not observe at all how the grains were dribbling
all the way from the Palace to the soldier’s dwelling, where it ran .
right up the wall with the Princess; so in the morning the King
and: Queen saw at once where their daughter had been, wherefore
they seized the soldier and threw him into jail. eS
There he : sat. Ugh! how dark and horrid it was, and they
said to him, “To-morrow you shall be hanged!†It was not a
pleasant thing to. hear, and he had forgotten his tinderbox at the
inn. In the morning he could see through the iron bars of the little
window all the people hastening out of the town to see him hanged.
He heard the drums and. saw. the soldiens marching, Every one was
THE TINDERBOX. 47
Tunning that way as fast as they could. Among them was a
cobbler’s lad with a leather apron and slippers on; he was galloping
along at such a rate that one of his slippers flew off right
against the wall where the soldier was peeping out between the
iron bars. oe
Hil you cobbler-lad, don’t be in such a hurry!†said the
soldier to him. .*N othing will take place: till I arrive, but if you
will just skip over to where I have been living and fetch me my
tinderbox, you shall have five copper pieces, but you must stir your
stumps a bit!†The cobbler’s lad wanted the five copper pieces very
much, so off he set for the tinderbox, gave it to the ee andes
now you shall hear something ! ! :
Outside the town a large gallows had been erected, round about
it stood the soldiers and many hundreds of thousands of people.
The King and Queen sat upon a beautiful throne right opposite the
i udge and the whole Council.
. The soldier already stood upon the ladder, but just as they were
about to throw the cord round his neck, he said that it had always been
-the custom for a criminal before undergoing his sentence to have one
innocent wish gratified. He would so much like, he said, to smoke
a pipe of tobacco—it was, after all, the last pipe he would ever
smoke in this world! “The King did not like to say no to that, and
so the soldier took out his tinderbox and struck a light—one, two,
: three! and there stood all the. dogs, the one with eyes as big as tea-
| cups, the one with eyes as big as mill- wheels, and the one with eyes
as big as “ The Round Tower.â€
ae Save me now from being hanged ! !†said the soldier, “fl
with that the dogs rushed upon the Judges ‘and the whole ~
nce tan rea enh cae ety eT RM eS TO A hg A te ME nS aT Re HO
Kiara beatae ph aria RE atte
48 HANS ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES.
Council, took one by the legs and another by the nose and
pitched them up fathoms high into the air so that they fell
down and were dashed to pieces. |
— “T won't have it!†said the King ; but Ie biggest dog took
both him and the Queen and hurled them ever so much farther than -
all the others ; then the soldiers grew frightened and all the people
qried, “ Little soldier, you shall be our King and have the pretty
Princess ! 12
So the soldier sat in the King’s carriage, and all three dogs
danced in front and eried, “ Hurrah!†and the boys whistled through
| their fingers; and the soldiers presented arms, and the Princess came
out of the copper castle and became Queen, and rather liked it than
otherwise. ‘The wedding eee ¢ eight ayes and the dogs sat at the
table and made LS yee
LITTLE CLAUS AND BIG CLAUS.
Tuer were two men in one city who both had the self-same
name—both of them were called Claus ; but one owned four horses
and the other only one horse, so to distinguish them from one
another-they called him with the four horses Big Claus, and him
with only one horse Little Claus. We shall now hear how it fared
with these two men, for this is a true story.
The whole week through Little Claus had to plough for Big
Claus and lend him his one horse, and Big Claus helped him again
| with all his four horses, but only once a week, and that was on
Sunday. Huzzah! how Little Claus cracked his whip over all four
horses—they were as good as his own that one day. The sun shone
so charmingly, and all the bells in the church tower were ringing for
church ; the people were all so smartly dressed and walked along
_ with their hymn-books under the arms to hear their parson preach,
and they looked at Little Claus who was ploughing with his five
horses, and he was so delighted that he cracked his whip again and
_ cried, “ Gee up, my five horses !â€
“You must not say that,†said Big Claus; “it is only one
horse, you know, which i 18 yours.â€
if
50. HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
Soon afterwards some one else passed by to church, and little
Claus forgot that he was not to say it, and cried again, “ Gee up,
all my five horses !â€
“Tet us have no more ‘of ie d’ye hear ?†aad Big Claus ;
for if you say it once more, I'll give your horse a blow on the
forehead that will make him drop down dead on the es and then
we'll have done with him!â€
EE really will. not say it again,†a little Claus ; but when
more people passed by that way, and nodded and said good- -day, he
was so delighted, and it seemed to him such a fine thing to have
five horses to plough his land with, that he cracked his whip again
and cried, “Gee up, all my five horses !†7
_ “Tl gee up your horse for. you ! 1†said Big Claus, and he took
-up the tetherpin and struck little Claus’s one horse on the forehead
_ so that it fell down dead on the spot.
“ Alas! now I have no horse at all !†a little Clans} so he
fell a-weeping. But after a while he flayed the horse, took away
the hide, and, after letting it dry well in the wind, put it in a bag,
which he threw over his shoulders, and went to town to sell his
horse-hide. :
“He had such a long way to go. He had to go. right
through a large wood,’ and it had become terribly bad - weather.
~ He quite lost his way, and before he found it again “it was
evening, and too far. to. get to town or ene me before
nightfall. Be .
Close by. the wayside lay a infos farm ; the chutits had been
: put up in front of the windows outside, but the light shone out
above them:
- LITTLE CLAUS AND BIG CLAUS. 51
“T should think I could get leave to stay the night there,â€
_ thought Little Claus, so he went up and knocked,
The farmer’s wife opened the door, but when one heard what
he wanted, she told him to be off; her husband was not at home,
she said, and she did not receive strangers.
oye Well, I suppose I must lie outside,†said Little Claus, and the
farmer’s wife shut the door in his face.
Close by stood.a large haystack, and between it and the house
a little shed with a flat straw roof had been built.
- “T can lie up there,†said Little Claus, when he saw the roof ;
“a splendid bed it will be, and I don’t. think the stork will fly
down and nibble my legs.†For there on the top of the. roof stood
a live stork, which had built its nest there.
_ So Little Claus crept up on to the shed, and there he
_lay down and turned about to make himself quite comfortable. The
wooden shutters before the farm-windows did not fit close atop, and
so he could see right into the room.
A large table was spread with wine and roast meat and such a
nice fish, and the farmer's wife and the clerk sat at table, and none
_ besides ;-and she was filling his glass for him, and he was well
_ to work with the fish, for it was a dish that he loved.
ae TE only I could have a finger in that pie!†said Little Claus,
and he stretched his head out towards the window. Heavens!
what lovely cakes he could see standing pie there. Wey, ib was
a. regular feast | ec
And now he heard some one riding along the highway
towards the house : it was the husband coming home. He was such
a eons man, but he hada seo failing : he could not endure the
52 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
sight of a clerk! If a clerk caught his eye, he became down-
right frantic. That was why the clerk had looked in to say good-
day to the wife when he knew that the husband was not at home,
and the good wife had set before him all her best dishes. Now,
when they heard the husband coming, they were so scared that the
wife begged the clerk to creep into a large empty chest which
stood on one side in a corner. He did so, for he knew very well
that the: wretched husband could not endure the sight of a clerk.
The wife hastily concealed all. the dainty. meats and wine
inside her baking oven, for had her husband caught sight
of them, he might have asked what was the meaning of
it all. i
«Ah me!†sighed Little Claus on the top of the shed, shen
he saw all the meat smuggled away.
| “Ts there any one up there ?†asked the futine. and peered up
at Little Claus. “ Why do you lie there Hadn't you better come
into the room along with me ?â€
~ So Little Claus told how he had lost his way, and begged that
he might stay the night there.
“Yes, certainly!†said the farmer; “but first let us have a
little bit of something to eat.â€
_ The wife welcomed the pair of them most st kindly. spread a long
table, and gave them a large dish of greens. The farmer was hungry ~
- and ate with a rare good appetite, but Little Claus could not help
thinking of the dainty meat, fish, and. cakes which he knew to. be
inside the oven. — —
Under the table at hig feet he had laid his sack with the horse-
hide inside it, for we know that he had left home in order to sell it
saben
4:
eS
54 ; HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
in the town. The greens he ‘could not stomach at all, and so
he trod upon his bag, and the dry hide in the sack crackled
quite loudly. ; | a
“Hush !†said Little Claus to his sack, but at the same time he
trod upon it again, and again ib crackled meh 3 more loudly than |
before. |
“Why, what lage. “you got in fat sack?†asked the
farmer. oe
“Oh, it is a ee oe Little Claus ; “he says that we
ought not to eat greens, he has-charmed the whole oven full of roast
meat and fish and cakes.†|
“What-an idea!†said the farmer, and in a trice he had opened
the oven, where he saw all the savoury meat his wife had. concealed,
~~ but which he thought had been spirited there for them by the wizard
in the bag. The wife dared ‘not say anything, but immediately
placed the food on the table, so they both of them feasted upon the
- fish and the roast and the cakes. Shortly afterwards Little Claus
_ again trod upon his bag so that the hide erackled. |
“What does he say now ?†asked the farmer.
“He says,†said ‘Little Claus, “that he has also cones up
for us three flasks of wine; they- also stand in the oven.’ And —
now the woman was obliged to bring forth the wine ‘that she had _
hidden, and the farmer “drank and grew merry. Such a wizard
as Little Claus had in fat ae he would have been right ae to.
call his own. :
: “Can he call up the devil aS ?†asked the farmer. “ I should
like to see him now anyway, I feel so jolly.â€
“Yes,†said Little Claus, ‘my wizard can do everything that I
LITTLE CLAUS AND BIG CLAUS. 55
fo Eh, can’t you?†he asked, and trod upon the bag till it
crackled again. “Don’t you hear ?—he says yes! But the devil is
really so ugly that he is not worth looking at.â€
“Oh, I am nota bit afraid, whatever he looks like !â€
“Very well, he will show himself in the shape of a clerk as
large as life.†ats
7 oy Weh |? said the farmer, “that’s ugly certainly ! You must
know that I cannot bear the sight of a clerk. But’tis all one. I
know very well that it is only the devil, so I'l put up with it
for once. I’ve lots of pluck you know, but pray don’t let him come
too near.â€
“Now I will ask my wizard,†said Little Claus, and he trod
upon the bag and put his ear to it,
“What does he say ?†~
Z He says that if you go yonder and open the chest which
stands i in the corner, you will see the devil lurking there, but you
must hold fast the lid in case he slips out.â€
“Won't you help me to hold it?†said the farmer, and he
went towards the chest where his wife. had hidden the real clerk,
who sat there trembling in every limb.
The farmer lifted the lid a little and peeped under it. “Ugh!â€
he shrieked, and sprang back. “Yes, yes! I saw him—he looks
hs like our clerk! It was truly horrible!â€
= They were beuad to take a glass or two on the strength of it,
and so. they drank and drank till far into the night.
“You must sell me that wizard,†said the farmer ; “ask what-
ever you like for him. Yes, i say, I'll aime you half a _ bushel of
money on the spot.â€
56 _ HANS ‘ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
“No, I can’t do it!†said Little Claus ; “just think what a lot
I make out of this wizard.â€
“An! I should like to have it above all things, †said the
farmer, and never ceased begging and praying for it.
“Well, †said Little Claus at last, “as you have been’ so kind
and given me a night’s lodging, be itso, I don’t much care. You
shall have the wizard for half a bushel of money, but I must have
the half-bushel brimful.†Bat
“That indeed you shall,†said the farmer ; “ but you must take
that chest along with you, I won't have it in my house an hour
joey there’s no oun: whether he may not be sitting there
stil
Little Claus gave the farmer his sack with the dry hide in it,
and got in exchange for it a whole half-bushel of money, and brimful
too. The fone gave him besides a large wheelbarrow to carry the
- chest away.
“ Farewell!†said Little Claus, and off he bowled with his
money and tlie large chest in which the clerk was still sitting.
_ -On the other side of the wood was a large deep river; the
current ran so swiftly that one could scarcely swim against it. A
large new bridge had been built over it ; in the middle of this bridge
Little Claus stopped short, and said quite loudly, so that the clerk
in the chest might hear it, “Now, what shall I do with this stupid
chest? It is as heavy as if it. were full of stones. I am. quite tired
of bowling it along, so I'll pitch it into the river; if it sails home to
me, well and good ; and if it doesn’t, it is: all one to me.’ Then he
took the chest with one hand and tilted it up a little as if he were
about to pitch it into the water.
LITTLE CLAUS AND BIG CLAUS. 57
“No, stop!†cried the clerk in the chest. “Let me come
out; do! Let me come out 1â€
“Ugh!†said Little Claus, and pretended to be frightened.
“ He is still sitting inside, then. Into the river he goes this very
instant, and there let him drown !â€
ae “Don’t, don’t!†cried the clerk ; “Ill give you a whole half-
bushel of money if you will let me out!â€
“ Ah, that now is quite another thing!†said Little Claus, and
he opened the chest. The clerk immediately crept out, and, after
pushing the empty chest into the water, went to his home, where
Little Claus got another half-bushel of money. One half-bushel he
had already got from the farmer, so now he ca his wheelbarrow .
quite full of money.
“Look now, I made a good bargain out of that horse, said
he to himself, when he found himself at home in his own room and
pitched all the money in a large heap in the middle of the floor.
“Tt will vex Big Claus when he gets. to know how rich I have
become with my one horse; but I don’t mean to tell him all about
it straight off.†So he sent a boy to Big Claus to borrow a
corn-measure,
“What does he want that for, I should like to know ?†thought
Big Claus, and he smeared the bottom of it with tar so that a little
of what was going to be measured might stick to it; and that was
just what did happen, for when he got the measure back again,
‘three new silver penny pieces were sticking to it.
“Well I never!†said Big Claus, and with that he ran straight
off-to Little Claus. “Where have you got all that money from 2â€
asked he,
58 | HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
“Oh! that is for my horse-hide. I sold it yesterday.â€
“Th was a good bargain!†said Big Claus; then he ran home,
_took an‘ axe, poleaxed all his four horses, flayed them, and set off
townwards with the hides.
“ Hides, hides! Who will buy eres cried he, Hees
the streets,
All the shoemakers and tanners came running up, and asked
him what he wanted for them.
“ Half a bushel of money foreach one!†said Big Claus.
“ Are you crazy ?†they all cried; “do you suppose we have
bushels of money?â€
_ “ Hides, hides, ! ‘Who el buy hides?†he cried again, but to.
all who asked the: price of the hides he answered, “ Half a bushel of
money.†He- wants “to-make-a- fool of us,†they sajd, so the
shoemakers took their straps and the tanners their leather aprons
and began to beat Big Claus. “Hides, hides!†they cried
derisively,- “yes, we'll give you a hide that shall sweat pigslard!—
Out of the town with him!†they cried, and Big Claus had to
stir his stumps, for never in all his life had he been so cudgelled.
s N ever mind,†said he, when he got home, “ Little Claus
shall pay for this. Tl kill him tor it! = 3 :
- Now, Little Claus’s old grandmother had just died j in his house.
. She had always been a crosspatch, and behaved downright badly to
him, but yet he was quite distressed about it, and took the dead
woman and laid her in his own warm bed. Even if she could. not
come to life: again, she should le there all night. He himself meant
to sit in the corner and sleep on a chair, as he had often done before.
Now, when ne came, and he was sitting there, the door r opened
LITTLE CLAUS AND BIG GLAUS. 59
and Big Claus came in with his axe. He knew very well where
Little Claus’s bed was, went straight up to it, and struck the dead
grandmother on the forehead, for he fancied it was Little Claus.
“There,†said he, “you won’t make a fool of me any more!†and so
he went home again. ‘ That is a bad wicked man if you like!†said
Little Claus ; “why, he wanted to kill me! It was a good thing
we
e b
PRBB cy ate ‘
for the old grandmother that she was dead already, or he would
certainly have killed her.†Then he dressed the old ovandmother
in her Sunday clothes, borrowed a horse from his neighbour,
harnessed it to his cart, and put the old grandmother up behind so
that she could not fall out when he drove, and so he rattled away
through the wood. By sunrise they had got to a large tavern,
60 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
There Little Claus stopped, and went in to get something to eat.
The inn-keeper had lots and lots of money, he was also a very good |
man, but hasty, just as if he were full of snuff and pepper. “ Good
morning,†said he to Little Claus; “you have jumped into your
best clothes early this morning.â€
“Yes,†said Little Olan oT have to go to town with my old
grandmother ; she is sitting outside in the waggon, I cannot get her
to come in. Won’t you take her a glass of mead? But don’t
forget to speak up, she’s rather hard of hearing.†« All right, Tl
take care of that!†said the innkeeper, and he poured out a large
glass of mead, and went out with it to the dead grandmother who
was perched up in the waggon, “Here is a glass of mead from your
grandson,†said the landlord; but the dead woman said not a word, and
= sat quite still a Don’ t you hear (eae ‘bawled the innkeeper as loudly Roger ancy
as he could; “here is a glass of mead from your grandson |! 1†Once
more he bawled the’ same thing at her, and once again, but as
she absolutely did not stir from the spot, he grew angry and threw
the glass right into her face so. that the mead ran down over her
nose, and she fell backwards into the waggon, for she was only
perched up there and not tied up. ‘“ What’s all this?†cried
_ Little Claus, and he sprang out of the door and seized. hold of the
landlord. “Why, look there! ‘If you haven’t killed my erand-—
mother ! Just: look, there is a great hole in her forehead!†“Oh,
luckless wretch that I am!†eried the innkeeper, “that all comes
from my, hastiness | Dear Little Claus, I will give you.a whole
~ half-bushel of money, and bury your grandmother into the bargain —
as if she were my own, only do but hold your tongue about it
else they will cut off my head, and that is so nasty |â€
LITTLE CLAUS AND BIG CLAUS. 61
So Little Claus got a half-bushel of money, and the landlord
buried the dead grandmother as if she had been. his own.
Now, when Little Claus got home again with heaps of money,
he immediately sent his boy. over to Big Claus to beg the loan. of
his corn-measure. “Why, what’s the meaning of this?†said Big
Claus; “didn’t I strike him dead! I must look to this myself!
And so he went over to Little Claus with the measure. “Now,
_ where have you got all that money from?†he asked; and didn’t
he open his eyes when he saw what a lot there was! “It was my
grandmother, and not me whom you killed,†said Little Claus, “ and
I have just. sold her for half a bushel of money !â€â€”‘'That was a
good bargain and no mistake !†said Big Claus, and he hastened
home, took an axe, and immediately struck his old grandmother
‘dead with it, laid her on the top of a waggon, drove into the town —
to the spent: and asked him whether he wanted to buy a
corpse.
“f Where | is it, and ‘where did you ae it from?†asked the
apothecary. “Ts my grandmother,†said Big Claus; “I have
killed her in order to get half a bushel of money.†“God preserve
us!†said the apothecary, “ you must be mad! Don’t talk like
that, for you might lose your head!†And now he showed him
"plainly what a frightful crime he had committed, and what a bad
man he was, and how he ought to be punished. Big Claus grew
* 80 frightened that he jumped with one bound out of the apothecary’s
shop into the cart, whipped up his horses, and drove home; but
the apothecary and all the people thought that he was mad, so
they let him go his own way.
“Tl pay you off for this!†said Big Claus, when he was
oS
62 + HANS ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES.
fairly on the high-road, “Yes, Little Claus, won’t I make you pay
for this!†‘And as soon as he got home he took the largest sack he
_ could find, went over to Little Claus, and said, ‘‘ Look now, you
have made a fool of me again! First I killed my horses, and then
my grandmother. It is all your fault; but you shall never make
a fool of me again { 1†And so he took Little Claus by the waist,.
put him into the sack, threw him over his shoulder, and bawled to
dja N ow, I am going to drown you !â€
It was a stiffish walk to the river, and Little Claus was no -
_ light weight. The road went hard by the church, the organ was
playing, and the people inside were singing’ go prettily. So Big
Claus put down the sack with Little Claus+ “in it close to the church
door, and thought that it would be nice to go in and hear a hymn
first, before he went any farther. Little Claus could never get out,
and all the people were at church, so in he went.
* Alas, alas!†sighed Little Claus, inside the sack. He twisted
and he turned, but it was quite impossible, he found, to loosen the
strings. At that moment up came an old cattle-drover with chalk- .
white hair, and a large walking-stick in his hand. He was driving
before him a whole herd of cows and bullocks, and oy ran
right over the sack in which Little Claus was sitting, 80 that
_ it fell over,
« Alas!†sighed Little Claus, “so young that I am, and yet must
go to Heaven already !â€
. “And I, miserable wretch !†said the cattle-drover, “am so old,
and cannot get there yet !†os a
“ Open the sack!†cried Little Claus; “creep into it instead of —
me, and in that way youll go straight to Heaven.â€
LITTLE CLAUS AND BIG CLAUS. © 65
“Right gladly will I do so,†said the cattle-drover, and he
unloosed the sack for Little Claus, who immediately sprang out.
“Will you look after my cattle?†said the old man, and erept
into the bag, which Little Claus tied up again, and went his way
with all the cows and bullocks.
Shortly afterwards Big Claus came out of church ; he shouldered
his sack again, and thought, sure enough, that it had orown. much
lighter, for the old cattle-drover was not half so heavy as Little
ie Claus. “ How much highter he hasbecome! Yes, to be sure! It is
because I have been singing hymns!†§o on he went to the river,
which was broad and deep, threw the sack, with the old cattle- drover
_ inside it, right into mid-stream, and bawled after him—for of course
he fancied it was Little Claus—“ There now, you won't fool me any
“more!†Then he went homewards, but when he came to the cross
roads, he met Little Claus driving all his cattle before him.
“Why, what's this?†said 5 Glens “haven't I drowned you,
then ?â€
“Well,†said Little cone e you certainly did throw me into the
water a wee half-hour ago.â€
© But: how, then, did Pon es all those fine cattle?†asked Big
Claus.
: “They are sea- Seattle †said Little Claus. “T will tell you the
whole story ; and how cah I ever thank you for having drowned me!
Now that I'm up here on my legs again, I’m pretty rich, I can tell
you. Iwas so frightened as I lay inside the sack, and the wind
whistled i in my ears when you threw me down from the bridge into
the cold water. I sank right down to the very bottom, but I did
not hurt myself, for down below there the finest, softest grass grows, :
|
|
64 _. HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
In fact, I fell upon it, and immediately the bag was opened, and the
most lovely maiden in chalk-white clothes, and with a green garland
round her wet harr, seized my hands and said, ‘Is that you, Little
-. Claus? Accept from me first of all some cattle. A mile farther up —
the road-a whole herd of them is browsing, and I give them all to
you.’ Then I saw that the river was the great highway of these sea-_
folk. ‘Down atthe bottom they walked and drove out of the sea
right into the land as far as the river goes. It was so lovely there,
what with the flowers and. the fresh grasses, and the fishes that swam
in the water and whisked about my cars, just as the birds do here in
the air. Oh, what nice people were there, and what cattle wandering
among the hedges and ditches !â€
“ But why, then, were you in such a hurry to leave it all and
~ come up to us again?†asked Big Claus. «T would not have done
that if it was all so lovely down below.â€
“Well,†said Little Claus, “I fear I have been a little sly about
at You heard what I said to you about the sea-maiden telling me
that a mile higher up the road (and of course by the road she means
the river, for that’s the only way she can go) a whole drove of cattle
was waiting for me. But I: know how the river turns and winds in
every direction—it is a terribly round-about way; so, if you can
manage it, it is a much shorter cut to come up on the land again
and go right across the river again by the bridge, by which means I
spared myself half a mile at least, and got. all the e auc to my sea-
cattle.†ee :
Tas Oh, what a freee man you are!†said Big Claus. “Do you
think that I, too, could get some sea-cattle if I went right down to
"the bottom of the river?â€
LITTLE CLAUS AND BIG CLAUS. 65
«J should think so, indeed,†said Little Claus ; “but I cannot
carry you in the sack all the way to the river, you are much too
heavy for me. If you will go there yourself, and then creep into the
bag, I will pitch you in with the greatest of pleasure.â€
“Thank you kindly,†said Big Claus ; “but if I don’t get the
sea-cattle when I get down, I'll give you a good drubbing, take my
word for it!†7 |
“Oh no, don’t be so wicked ! â€
So they went together to the river. When the cattle, which
were thirsty, saw the water, they ran towards it as fast as they could
in order to get down to the edge and drink. “‘ Look how they are
running,’ ’ said Little Claus; “ they want to get to the bottom again.â€
“ Yes, but you must help me first,†said Big Claus,’ “ or else
; you ll get a thrashing | and 80 he crept ‘into the large sack SW MCs = seat ern ena
had been thrown across the back of one of the beasts. “ Put a stone
In as well, or else I am afraid I sha’n’t sink,†said Big Claus.
; “Tt will do as it is,†said ‘Little Claus, but for all that he put a
large stone into the sack, tied the cord fast, and pushed it off. Down
it went—plump! There lay Big Claus in the middle of the river
and sank at once to the bottom. :
“Tam afraid. he won't find the cattle ! 1†said Little Claus, and
so he drove home with what he had.
_ AREAL Ba
‘Tore 4 was once. upon a , time a Prince who was bent upon having
a Princess, but ib was to bea . reatl Princess. So he roamed the whole
world over: to find such a one, but there “was always something the
matter. OF Princesses there were enough and to “spare, but he could
not qui make up. his mind-as to whether they were 7 eal. Princesses ;
there was always something that was not quite right. So home he
came again, -and-was. much distressed, for he absolutely ee after
a veal Princess. oe
One evening - there†was a temible storm, ‘it. thundered and
lightened, the rain poured i in torrents—it was positively frightful !
Then there came a knocking at the oN gic, and the old King went
and opened it. )
It was a Princess who ced outside, ‘but oh what a fright she
- looked in the rain ‘and wet weather! The. water tan all down her
hair and clothes, and it ran into the tip of her shoe and out again at
_the heel, and yet she said she was a real Princess.
“ Indeed !: - We’ I see about that presently,†thought the le
Queen.. She said | nothing but she went into her bedroom, took off
68 HANS ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES.
ll the bed-clothes, and laid a pea at the bottom of the bed; then
she took twenty mattresses, laid them on the top of the pea, and
‘finally | on the 2 of the mattresses she put nen eider-down
quilts.
There the Princess was to rest that night,
In the morning the Queen mother asked her how she had Beat
Oh, horribly ! a said the Princess. “I have scarcely had
a wink of sleep all night, God knows what there was in my bed! I
~ have been lying on something hard, for my whole body is black and
blue !- It is perfectly frightful i
So they could see ati once that this was a 1 real Princess, for she —
had felt the pea through twenty mattresses and twenty- eider down
quilts. No one but a real Princess could have had such a sensitive
skin as ‘that.
- ‘Then the Prince took her to wife, for now ‘te knew that shes was
a . real Princess ; ; and the pea was preserved | in’ the EL Museum,
where it may still be seen if no one has taken it.away.
There now, that was something like-a story !
- LITTLE IDA’S FLOWERS.
“My poor flowers are quite dead !†said little Ida. “They were
80 pretty yesterday, and now all their leaves hang down and wither. 7
Why do they do that?†she asked the student who was sitting on
the sofa, She was very fond of the student. He could tell the most
delightful stories, and could clip out the funniest figures—hearts with
tiny dancing ladies-inside them ; flowers and large castles with doors
that opened and shut. Was there ever such a merry student ?
- Why do the flowers look so poorly to- -day ? ¢†she asked again, and
showed him a whole bouquet that was quite withered,
“Don’t you know what ails them ?†said the student. ‘“ Well,
rn tell you. The flowers were at a ball last ment that is why they
hang their heads.†e
“ But flowers can’t dance, I’m sure!†said. little Ida,
. | Yes,†said the student,. “when it gets dark, and we are all
asleep, they spring about right menniys Ey they have a ball
nearly every mortal night ! [ee
eS And can no child go ‘to the ball, too?â€
© Oh yes !†said the student ; “wee, wee groundsels and lilies of
the valley can, » certainly.â€
“0 _° HANS ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES.
“Where do the loveliest flowers dance?†asked little Ida. :
ae Haye you ever been inside the gates near the large palace
where the King « dwells in the summer-time, and where are all the
lovely flower-beds with such lots of flowers? You know where the
swans are that come swimming to you when you want to give them
bread-crumbs? Well, it’s there. You could have ‘something like a
ball there, I can tell you!†~. .
“T was out in the gardens yesterday with mother,’ - said Ida,
“but all the leaves were off the trees, and there was not a single
flower. left. Where are they all? In the summer-time I’ saw ‘so
many.†:
“They are inside the palace,†said the student ; “‘ you must know
that as soon as ever the King and all the Court go to town, the flowers
immediately run. away from: the gardens into the palace, and have a
Aine time of it. That’s a sight worth seeing The two loveliest of —
the roses sit down upon the throne, and so they are the King and
Queen. “All the red cockscombs range themselves beside it and stand
and ‘bow; they are the gentlemen-in-waiting. Then all the prettiest
_ flowers come dropping in, and then there isa big ball... The blue violets
are the midshipmen, and they dance with the hyacinths and
crocuses, whom they call Miss. The tulips and the large yellow
lilies are the old ladies who take care that the dancing i is proper and
everything goes off nicely.â€
“ But,†asked little Ida, “is there no one who elves the Hower
a good. scolding for dancing in _ the King’s palace ?â€
“Nobody knows anything about it, you see,†replied the :
| student. “ Tt is true that at night, sometimes, the old seneschal; who
has to see to things theré, comes round with his big bunch of keys, —
LITTLE IDA’S. FLOWERS. wl
~ but as soon as the flowers hear the keys rattle, they keep quite still,
hide themselves behind the long curtains, and pop their heads out.
‘There are some flowers here, I can smell ’em,’ says the old
seneschal ; but he cannot see them.â€
— «That ts funny!†cried little Ida, and Bere her hands.
“But couldn’t T see the flowers, then?â€
“Yes,†said the student, “when you ‘go there again,
remember to peep through the window, and then you'll see
them well enough. That's what I did the other day, and I saw a
long yellow daffodil lying at full length on. the ee thought
she was a Court lady.â€
: “ And can the flowers in the botanical gardens. get in there
‘too? Can they go all that long way ?â€
a I should rather think so!†said the student, “for they can fly
whenever they’ ve a’mind too. Haven’ t you seen the pretty yellow,
white, and red. butterflies '—they. look just like flowers, and they
were flowers once. . They sprang off their stalks and flapped with
their leaves just as if they were tiny wings; and then they flew away,
and as. they held. themselves nicely wp-and did not fall, they got
leave to ily about in the daytime as well, instead of going home
again and sitting on their stalks ; and so their leaves became real _
wings at last. - Why, you've seen that yourself ! ! At the same time, —
it is quite possible that the flowers in the botanical gardens have
never been in the King’s palace, or even know that such fun goes on
_ there. at night. ‘And now I'll tell you something. You know the |
Professor of botany who lives close by the gardens? . Very well !
S He would be. 80. ‘surprised if you do what I tell you. When you go
into h his garden, fst y you tell. one of the flowers that there is a great
72 : HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
ball in ihe palace; it will be sure to tell all the others, and A they will
| all fly away ; so when the Professor comes into the garden he won't
find a single flower there, and will not be able to make out whither
they all have gone.â€
~ © But how can ‘the flower tell it. to the olen Flowers can’t
talk, you know.†; CAO.
“No, they can’t exactly talk ae said the neat. “but
they do everything i in pantomime. . Have you. never. noticed. that
when there’s a breeze the flowers nod their heads, and move all
their green leaves; it is just as if they were talking.â€
“Then can the Professor understand. pantomime?†asked
Ida. : ee : . i
~ “TJ should rather think so!. Why, one morning he came down ©
into his garden, and. saw a’ large stinging-nettle standing and
speaking in pantomime with | ‘its leaves to a lovely | red pink, It
said, ‘You are so nice, and I-am: so. fond of you. This the
Professor could not stand at ‘all, s0- he immediately struck the
stinging-nettle on its leaves (they are its fingers, you know), but it
— stung him, and since that time he. has never. dared to touch a
stinging-nettle again.†os
“That was funny!†said little Ide; and ae laughed. .
“Why do you fill the child’s- head. with such stuff 2?†said the
horrid. State-councillor who had dropped in to pay a call, and was
sitting on the sofa. He could not endure the student, and always
snapped and snarled when he clipped out the funny, ridiculous figures —
—such, for instance, as a man hanging on a gallows and holding a
heart in his hand because he had stolen. hearts away ; or an old witch
riding ona broomstick with her husband on her nose. The State-
74 : "HANS | ANDERSEN'S FAIRY -TALES.
councillor, I say, could not stand such things, and he always said
what he said now, “ Why do you fill the child’s head with such
: stuff? 2 Tt is all silly fancy!â€
But to little Ida all that the student told her about the fewer
seemed so funny, and she thought so much. about it. The flowers _
; hung-their heads because they were tired out through dancing all
night. “They were certainly sick. So she went away with them to
her other playthings, which stood upon a pretty little table with a .
drawer quite full of all sorts of finery. In the doll’s bed lay her
doll, Sophie, asleep, but little Ida said to her, “You must really get
up, Sophie, and be satisfied with sleeping in the drawer to-night.
The poor flowers are ill, so they must lie in your bed, perhaps that
will do them good.†So she took up the doll, but it looked so
cross-and said not a single word, for it was angry because its bed -
was taken away from it. So Ida laid the flowers in the doll’s bed,
tucked them well up with the. little counterpane, and told. them |
they must lie good and quiet, and she would | boil them some tea,
that they might g vet well, and be able to get up in the morning ;
and she drew the curtains close round the little bed, so that the sun
might not shine in their eyes. |
All that. evening she could not help, thinking of what the |
student had told her, and when her own bedtime came, ane insisted,
first of all, upon looking behind the curtains which hung down
before the windows where her mother’s beautiful flowers stood, both
hyacinths and tulips, and. she whispered -quite softly,.“I tell you
-what—you are going to a ball to- -night, I know!†The flowers
pretended that they did not understand, and never stirred a leaf;
but little Ida knew all about. it.
LITTLE IDA’S FLOWERS. 75
Wher she was aut to bed she lay awake a long time thinking
how nice it would be to see the pretty flowers dancing inside the
King’s.palace. “I wonder if my. flowers will be there, too.†But
then she fell asleep. In.the middle of the night. she awoke again.
She had been dreaming about the flowers and the student. whom: the
State-councillor had snubbed and chided for filling her head with
nonsense. It was quite still in the bed-chamber where Ida lay.
The night-lamp was shining on the table, and her father and mother
were fast asleep. - “T wonder if my flowers are still lying in Sophie’s ~
bed,†she said to herself; “how very much I should like to know!â€
So she raised herself a little in her bed, and looked towards the door. .
It stood ajar, beyond it lay the flowers and all her toys.. She
listened, and then she seemed to hear some one inside the room
playing on the piano, but very softly and so nicely that-she had
never heard anything like it, before: “T am certain all the flowers
‘are dancing inside there!†she said.“ Oh, how I should like to see
it all!†_ But she dared not get up, for she would have awakened
Wer father sndimother If they would only come in. here!†said
she; but the flowers did not come, and the music went ori playing.
Then she could not stand it any longer, for it was really too lovely,
so she crept out of her little bed and went quite softly to the door
and peeped into the room. Was there ever anything so funny as
what she saw there now ? x | nS
There was no. night- lamp at all in the room, and yet it was
quite light ; ‘the moon shone through the window on to the middie
of the floor ; it was almost as bright 2 as day. All the hyacinths and
tulips stood in two long rows upon the floor; there was not one of
them left on the window-sill, but’ the empty pots still stood there. |
76 HANS. ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. —
Down upon the floor all the flowers were dancing round with one
another so nicely. They formed ‘a regular circle, and held one
another by their long green leaves as they swung round. But
at. the piano sat a large. yellow lily, which little Ida had certainly
seen in the summer-time, for she recollected quite well that the
student had said, ‘ Well now, how like it is to Miss Lina!†Then
they had all laughed at hima, but now it really seemed to little Ida
also as if the long yellow flower was just like Miss Lina, and it went
- on just as she did when she played, holding its oval yellow face
first on one side and then on the other, and beating time to the
- pretty music. Not one of them observed little Ida. And now she
saw a big blue crocus hop on to the middle of the table where the
“playthings lay, go straight up to the doll’s bed, and draw back the
curtains. There lay the sick flowers, but they immediately got up
and nodded to the others below, which was as much as to say that
they wanted to dance too, The old chimney-sweep, whose under
jaw was broken off, then stood up and bowed to the pretty flowers ;
and they didn’t look at all sick, but leaped down among the others,
and were so happy.
__ There was a sound of something elle on the floor. Ida
-_ looked in that direction and saw that it was the carnival birch-rod. —
which had jumped down ; apparently it also belonged to the flowers’
party. It also looked very nice, and on top of it. gat a little wax
- doll, which, had just such a broad-brimmed hat on its head |
as the State-councillor used to go about. in. The carnival:
birch-rod trotted along on its three red wooden: legs through
the very midst of the flowers, and, stamped right vigorously,
for it was dancing the mazurka, and the flowers could
LITTLE IDA’S FLOWERS. 77
not dance that dance because they were too light to stamp —
properly.
The wax doll on - the eas birch-rod ai at once, grew
a
big and long, looked round and snarled over the paper
flowers beneath him, and cried quite loudly, “Why do you
fill the child’s head with such nonsense? It is all stupid
fancy!†and then the wax doll exactly resembled the State-
councillor ~with the broad-brimmed hat, and looked just as
bilious and peevish: But the paper: flowers beat his spindle-shanks
about, so he retired within himself and became a little bit of a wax
doll again. It was such a funny sight that little Ida really could not.
help laughing. The carnival birch-rod continued to dance, and the
State-councillor had to dance too. He couldn’t help himself.
_ Whether he welled out big and lanky, or whether he remained the
little yellow wax doll with the big black hat, dance he must. Then —
the other flowers interceded for him, especially those who had been
lying in the doll’s bed, and so the carnival birch-rod at last
consented to keep quiet. At that moment there was a vigorous
knocking inside the drawer where Ida’s doll, Sophie, lay with so —
many other playthings. . he chimney-sweep then ran to the
corner of the table, lay ‘at full length on his belly, and managed to
open the drawer a little way. Then Sophie popped out and looked
all around her in great surprise... “Why, there’s a ball,†said she,
“and nobody told me a word about it!â€
“Will you dance with me?†said the nae -sweep.
“With you indeed ! A likely tale!†and she turned her back
upon him. Then she gat down on the side of the drawer and thought
that one of the flowers might come and offer her a dance ; but no
78 HANS ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES.
- one came, so she coughed : “Ahem!†but still no one came. So the
chimney-sweep danced all by himself, and he didn’t dance, so badly
either. . Now, as none of the flowers seemed to notice Sophie, she let
herself fall down from the drawer on to the floor with a-great thud,
so that there was great consternation, and all the flowers came
flocking round her and asked her whether she had hurt herself; and
they were all so nice to her, especially the flowers that had lain in
her bed. But she had not hurt herself at all; and. all. the flowers
said, ‘Thank you for the nice bed,†and made much of her, leading
her into the middle of the floor, where the moon was shining, and
danced with her, and all the other flowers formed a circle round
them. . And now Sophie was very pleased, and she said they were
quite welcome to keep her bed, she did not mind sleeping in the
drawer a bit. But the flowers said, “ Many, many thanks to you!
But we sha’n’t want it for very long. To-morrow, we shall be quite
dead, but say to little Ida that she is to bury us out in the garden |
where the canary-bird lies, and then we will orow up again in the
summer-time and be much prettier.â€
“No, you must not die!†said Sophie, oa she kissed ie
flowers ; and the same instant the door opened and a whole mob of
- other beautiful flowers came dancing in. Ida could not make out
whence they came, they must. certainly be all the flowers out
of the King’s palace. First came two beautiful. roses, and they |
had small gold crowns on their heads; it was. a, King and a
Queen. Then came the nicest stocks and carnations,. bowing in
- every. direction.. They brought their music with them. ~Big poppies
and. peonies blew into pease-pods till they were quite red in the face ;
andthe blue-bells and small.white snowdrops jingled as if they were
LITTLE IDA’s FLOWERS. 79
‘covered with little bells. It was- such. funny. music. ‘Then came -
“many other flowers, and they all danced together—the blue violets
and the red pinks, the daisies and the lilies of the valley. And _all
- the flowers kissed each other : it was such a pretty sight.
At last the flowers said good-night to one another, so little Ida
also crept stealthily to bed, where she dreamed of everything she
had seen, . os .
When she got up next morning, she went straight to the little
table to see if the flowers were still there. She drew aside the
curtains of the little bed. Yes, there they all lay, but they were
quite withered, much more so than yesterday. Sophie lay in the
drawer where she had been put, but she looked very drowsy. |
“Do you recollect what you were to tell me?†said little Ida ;
but Sophie only looked very. stupid, and said not a single word.
“ You're very naughty ! I†said little Ida, “and after they all
danced with you, too!†Then she took up a little paper box, on
which pretty flowers were painted, opened it, and put the dead
flowers insideit. ‘That shall be your pretty coffin; and next time
my Norwegian cousins come, they shall help me to bury you in the
: garden, so that you may grow up again in the summer-time, and be
ever so much prettier.†.
_ The Norwegian cousins were two sharp lads called Jonas and
Adolphus: Their father had given them two new bows, and they
brought these with them to show Ida. She told them about the
_ poor flowers that were dead, and they got leave to bury them, The
‘two boys marched i in front, with their bows over their shoulders ;
and little Ida came after, with the dead flowers in the pretty box.
Out in the garden a little grave had been dug. Ida kissed the
80 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
flowers first, and then put them into the earth with the box; and
Adolphus and Jonas fired a salute over the grave with their bows,
because they had no-guns or cannons.
THE ee BOY.
THERE * was once upon a tame an old poet, . and a good old
poet he was. He’ was sitting at home one evening ; outside the
weather was frightful. The rain fell in torrents, but the old poet
"sat in the best of humours by. his: stove, where the fire was burning, -
and the apples were simmering. “The poor wretches who are out
in this weather won't have a dry stitch on their bodies !†said he,
_ for he was such a good old poet.
“Oh, let me in! let me in 1] am freezing, and so wet! 1†cried
a little child outside. It cried and knocked at the door, while the —
rain poured in torrents, and the blast shook all the windows and
made them rattle. _ Poor little creature ! Ce said the old_ poet, and
le got up to open the. door. There stood a little boy. He was
quite naked, and the water dripped off his long yellow, hair. He
was trembling with cold ; if he had not been let in he must certainly
: have died in that bad weather. ‘“ You poor little creature!†said the
old poet, and took him by the hand. “ Come to me and I'll make you
warm in} no time, and. you shall have wine and oe into the bargain,
for uae are such a prety hey {2
M
"82 ey _ HANS ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES.
And a aie boy indeed -he was. His eyes looked like two
7 bright stars, and though the- water flowed down. his yellow hair, it
~ curled prettily all the same. He looked Just like a little cherub, -
but the cold had taken: all the colour out of his cheeks, and he
trembled in every limb.. He had a. pretty bow in his hand, but it
. was quite spoiled by the rain ; and the wet weather had smudged all
_the colours on the pretty quiver. .
_ The old poet sat down by the stove, took the little boy on his
lap, wrung the water from his hair, warmed his hands in his own,
_and boiled him some sweet wine. “Thus he gradually recovered, got
back his tosy cheeks, sprarig ‘down upon the floor, and danced round —
and round the old poet.
“What a merry lad > you are!†id the old man.
“My name is Cupid!†he teplied ; “don’t you know me?_
There lies my bow, and I can shoot with it, too, I can tell
you! But look ! the weather is fine outside now. The moon
is shining !.†“ iP
“But your bow i ls spoilt’ iG said ‘the old: poet.
“Tt would be a bad job if it were !†said the little lad, and he
took it up and looked at it. “Oh, iti is dry alr ee '—and isn’t hurt
abit! The string is quite tight. Twill try it now.†So he spanned
the bow, laid an arrow on it, took aim, and ‘shot the good old poet
right through the heart. “Now you can see that my bow is not
spoiled, can’t you ?†he said, and ran away laughing loudly.» The -
naughty boy to shoot like that at the good old poet who had invited
him into the warm room, and been so good to him, and given him
nice win and the best apples !
The ae poet ay upon the floor and Gtoned he oa! was
THE NAUGHTY BOY, 83
shot right through the heart. “Fie, fie!†said he, ‘what a naughty
boy that Cupid is! I will tell this to all good children that they may
take care not to play with him, lest he do them a mischief. And all
the good children he told it to, both boys and girls, were very
- 84 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
efune of that wicked Cana but he got the better of them for
all that, for he is so very wide awake.
When the students are coming from their lectures, he runs
beside them with a book ander his. arm and a black hood on. Of
course they cannot recognise him, so they fancy he is a student like
themselves, and take his arm, and so he manages to stick his dart
into their breasts. When the girls are coming away from confession,
or when they are in church, he is after them even then. In fact
he is after people at all times. He sits on the big chandelier at the
theatre and bursts into full dome. so that the people fancy it is a
lamp, but they find out afterwards that: it is something very different.
He runs about in the King’s garden and on the ramparts—nay !
once he even shot his own mother and father through the heart.
Just ask them, and you'll hear what they say. . Vos, he is a “wicked ; a
boy, that fellow Cupid; you must never have anything to do-
with him, he is after everybody. Why, only fancy ! once he
actually shot a dart at dear old grandmamma. ‘That was long
. ago indeed, and it is all over now; but yet she will never
forget it. Fie! thou wicked Cupid! But now you know all about —
him, and can understand what a naughty boy he is.
THE TRAVELLING COMPANION.
Poor John was sorely troubled, for his father was sick unto
death. They two were absolutely alone in the little room.
The lamp upon the table was just Hheetaie out, and the
night was far gone.
: “You have been a . good son, John,†said the sick father ; “God |
will help you on in the world,†and he looked at him with
grave, gentle eyes, drew a deep, deep breath, and died: it was just
‘as if he had fallen asleep. But John fell a-weeping. He had now
no one left in the whole world, neither father nor mother, sister nor
brother. Poor John! he knelt before the coffin and kissed the hand
0b his dead father. Many were the tears he wept; but at last
his eyes closed, and he fell asleep with his head upon the hard
bed-post. - Then he dreamed a wondrous dream. He saw the sun.
and the moon bow down before him, and he saw his father. fresh and
. hearty again, and he heard him laugh as he used always to laugh
_ when. he was pleased. A lovely girl with a gold crown on her long
‘fair. hair held. out her hand to him, and his father said, “ Look
what a nice bride you’ ve got! She is the loveliest bride in the
whole world.†‘Then he awoke—and all this bliss was gone. His |
86 HANS ANDERSEN'S: FAIRY TALES.
father lay dead and cold on the bed; there was absolutely no one
with them. Poor John! a =
A week’ afterwards the dead man was buried. John walked
close behind the coffin; He would never see again the kind father
who had loved him so much. He heard them throw the earth down
on the coffin, he caught sight of the last corner of it, but the next
spadeful of earth that was thrown down hid that also. Then. his.
grief overcame him, and his heart was nigh to breaking. Those
about the grave sang a hymn, it sounded so prettily, and the tears
came into John’s eyes: he cried, and it did his heart good. The
sun shone beautifully on the green trees, as if it would say, “ Don’t
be so distressed, J ohn ! Can't you see how lovely the blue sky is?
Your father is up there now, ie to God that things ay oH
go well with you.â€
“Twill always be need e aad ih ohn ; “and en I also shall go to
Heaven, and be with father. Oh, how joyful it will be when we
see each other again! What a lot I shall have to tell him, and he, ©
too, will show me so many things, and teach me so much about the
beauty of Heaven, just as he used to teach me here on earth. ON
how joyful it will be! ve ?
All this passed so vividly before John’s eine that he could not
_-but-smile at the thought of it, though the tears were all the time
running down his cheeks. The little birds were. sitting on the
chestnut-trees and twittering, “twee-wit, twee- wit 1†They were -
80 happy, though they also had been at the funeral ; but they knew ‘i
well enough that the dead man was now in Heaven, and had wings |
far finer and larger than theirs, and that he was now happy, because
he had been good on earth, and they were quite delighted at the
THE TRAVELLING COMPANION. 87
_ thought of it. John saw them flit away from the green trees far
out into the wide world, and then he also was minded to follow
their example. But first he carved a large wooden cross to place over
‘his father’s grave, and when he brought it thither in the evening, he
found the grave nicely trimmed with sand and flowers. Strangers
had done this, for they had loved the dear father who now
was dead. ey -
Early next morning John packed up his little bundle, hid in
his belt the whole of his patrimony—some fifty rix-dollars! and a
couple of silver pence—and resolved to seek his fortune in the wide
world. But first he went into the churchyard to his father’s grave,
recited “Our Father,†and said, “ Farewell, dear dad; I will always
bea good man; and oh, pray God that it may be well with me!â€
As John went through the fields all the flowers stood so fresh
and beautiful in the warm sunshine, and they nodded in the wind
as if they would say, “ Welcome to the green fields! Is it not lovely
here?†But John turned him round once more to look at the
church where he, as a little boy, had been christened, and where he
had gone every Sunday with his old father and sung hymns ; and
= lie saw standing high up in one of the holes of.the tower the church-
nixey†in his little red pointed cap, shading his face with both
hands, so that the sun might not shine into his eyes, John nodded
farewell to him, and the little nixey swung his red cap, put’ his
_ hand on his heart, and kissed his fingers to him again and again, to
- show that he wished him well and a right prosperous journey.
1 A rix-dollar was worth about 2s. 3d.
2 This kind of nixey, the only one which can bear the sound of church-bells, is .
generally known as uae Kirkegrimme, See Thiele, Danmark's Folksagn.
Soar HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
John thought of -all the fine things he was going to see in the
wide magnificent world, and went farther and farther away, farther
- than he had ever been before. -He knew absolutely nothing of the
towns he passed through, or the people he met, he was far away
among total strangers. The first night he was obliged to sleep in
a hay-stack in the fields, for hé had no other bed. Yet it seemed
very cosy to him; the King himself could not have been better off.
The whole plain, with the river, the hay-stack, and the blue sky
above it all—what finer bedchamber could one have? The green
grass, with the tiny red and white flowers, was the: carpet; the
elder-bushes and the hedges of wild roses were the bouquets of
flowers on the dressing-table; and for his bath he had the whole
_ river with the clear, fresh water, where the rushes nodded and said
both good-morning and good-evening. The moon, high up under
the blue ceiling, was a splendid large night-lamp, and it didn’t set
fire to the curtains either. John could sleep quite comfortably ; and
so he did, and he only awoke again: when the sun rose, and all the
‘little birds round about sang, “ Good-morning, good-morning ! Are
you not up yet?â€
The bells were ringing for church : it was Sunday. The people
went to hear the parson preach, and John went with them and sang
a hymn, and heard God’s Word; and it was just as if he were in
his own church where he had been christened and had sung hymns
with his father. ‘There were so many graves in the churchyard,
and some of them were overgrown with tall grass. This made John
think of his father’s pvaive. Tt might get to look like -these when
he was no longer there to trim and weed it. So he sat him down and
plucked ‘off the grass, put up again the wooden -crosses that had
THE TRAVELLING COMPANION. 89
fallen down, and put back in their proper places the wreaths which
the wind had torn away from the graves, thinking to himself all the
while, ‘‘ Perchance some one’ will do the same to my father’s grave;
now that I am far away.†i |
Outside the churchyard stood an old oe leaning on hie staff ;
J obn gave him all the little silver coins he had, and then went on his
way into the wide world so happy and contented. Towards evening
a terrible storm arose. John made haste to get under cover, but dark
night had fallen upon him before he came at last to a. little church
which stood all alone on thé _top of a little. hill. Fortunately the
door stood ajar, and he crept -in, and determined to. stay there till
the storm had passed away. “TI will lay me down in a cor ne said,
he... “Tam quite tired, and feel the want of a. little test.†So he
sat down, folded his hands, and said his “evening prayers; and,
before he knew it, he was asleep and dreaming, while outside it
was. still thundering and lightening. When he awoke again it ,
was midnight, but the storm had passed away, and the moon was
shining through the windows upon him. In the middle of the nave
. stood an open coffin. with a dead man in it, for ie had not yet been
buried. | John was not at all afraid, for he had a good “conscience ;
and, besides, he knew that the dead hurt no one ; itis living wicked
men who do’ harm. Two such living wicked people stood at: that
_ moment beside the dead man who had been placed in the church
before being put into his grave; they wanted to do him harm, they
would not let him lie in peace in his coffin, but wanted to cast him
into the churchyard outside, poor dead man! _
“Why do you do that?†asked John; “’tis an ail wicked
deed, Let him sleep in Jesu’s name.â€
90 HANS ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES.
* Stuff and nonsense!†said the two horrid men; “he has
cheated us! He owes us money which he could not pay, and now
he has died into the bargain, and so we sha’n’t get a farthing.
That is why we mean to tear him out-of his coffin; he shall lie
outside the church-door like a dog.â€
“T have no more than fifty rix-dollars,†said John; “itis my |
_ whole inheritance ; but I will cheerfully give it to you if you will
faithfully promise me to leave the poor dead man in peace. I can
get on well enough without the moe I have. eens eey
limbs, and God will always help me.’
: “Well,†said the horrid men, “if you will pay his debts as you
say, you may be quite certain that we sha’n’t do anything to him ;’
and so they took the money J ohn gave.them, laughed heartily at his
- softness, and went their way. But John placed. the | corpse back
decently i in its coffin, erossed | its hands, said farewell, and went
with a light heart through the great forest. Wherever the moon
managed to shine in through the trees he saw on every side of him
the prettiest little elves all playing gaily. They did not mind
him inthe least, for they knew very well that he was good and ouile-
less, and it is only wicked people who cannot see the elves. . Some
of them were no bigger than your finger, and had their long yellow
hair done up “with gold combs. They rocked to and froin couples on
the large dewdrops which lay on the leaves and the tall grass. Some- :
times the dewdrops slipped from under them, and down they: fell
among the long. straw stalks, and then there was such laughter and
uproar among the other wee mannikins. It was prodigiously funny 1
Then they began singing, and John recognised at once all the pretty
songs he had learnt as a little boy. Big suede’ spiders with omer
THE TRAVELLING COMPANION. 91
crowns on their heads had to weave long swinging bridges and palaces
from one hedge to the other, which, when the fine dew fell upon
them, looked like shining erystal in the bright moonshine ; and thus
Th oe cin,
it went on till the sun rose. Then the little elves crept into
the flower blossoms, and the wind dispersed their bridges
and palaces, which then swung to and fro in the air like
big spider-webs.
92 ‘ HANS ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES.
J ohn had just come: out of the wood when a strong, manly’
‘voice exclaimed behind him, “Hallo, comrade !: whither away ?â€
We “ Out into the wide world!†said John. “Tama poor fellow |
without father or mother, but I am sure God will help me.â€
“T also am going into the wide world,†said the man; “shall
' we two go together?†“With pleasure,†said John; so they
pursued their way in company, and soon got.to like each other
very much, for they were both good fellows. But John soon
perceived ‘that the stranger was much wiser than he; he had been
nearly the whole world over, and there was nothing in existence
that he could not tell you something about. The sun was already
high when they sat them down under a large tree to eat their break-
fast, and the same moment an old woman came up. Oh, she was _
_so old, quite crooked j in fact, leaned upon a: crutch, and had a bundle ;
of firewood on -her back, which she had picked up in the wood.
Her apron was tucked up, and John saw that three big bundles of
bracken and willow twigs were sticking out of it. When she got
quite close to them her foot slipped, she fell down and gave a loud
shriek, for the poor old woman had broken her leg. J ohn im-
mediately proposed that they should carry her to her home, but the
stranger opened his knapsack, took out a jar, and said he there had
a salve eatin would make her leg quite well and sound again in a
minute, so that she could go home herself just as if she had never
broken her leg at all. In return for this, however, he wanted her to
give him the three bundles which†‘she had in her apron.
= ‘You ask a good price,†’ said the old woman, and nodded her
“head: very mysteriously. She would have liked very much to |
keep her bundles, but it was no joke to lie there with a broken leg,
a eee eee
THE TRAVELLING COMPANION. 93
so she gave him the bundles, and no sooner had he rubbed the
salve on her leg, than up sprang the old granny, and went on her
way. much more briskly than before. A wonderful salve truly,
but you could not get it at any apothecary’s.
“What do you want wal those bundles ?†iad John of
his comrade. : ae
““Oh, they are eee pretty nosegays 1» said he. “I have ——
taken rather a fancy to them, for I ama strange sort of fellow.†So
they went on a bit farther.
“Why, how overcast it is getting!†said John, and pointed
ahead of him. “There are some terribly big clouds over there.â€
“Nay,†said his travelling companion, “those are not clouds,
they are mountains, the beautiful big mountains where one can
get right above the clouds into the bracing air; and splendid it
is, I can tell you! To- -morrow we shall certainly - be 3 a good: step
on our journey into the wide. world.â€
- The mountains were nothing like go close as they seemed. It
took them a whole day to ‘get to the spot where the black woods
grew right up against the sky, and where there were stones as
big as a whole town. A stiff pull it would be before they could
get right up there, and therefore J ohn and his travelling companion
went first of all into an inn to have a good rest and brace them-
‘selves up for their journey on the morrow. A crowd of people
was assembled in the tap-room, for there was a puppet-show man
there. » He -had just set up his little theatre, and the people
“gat all’ round ‘to. ‘see the play; but a fat old butcher had. taken
the front seat, which was by far the best. His big bulldog—ugh !
how grim it looked—sat by his side and glared at all the company.
94 "HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
And now the play began, and a very pretty play it was,
with a King and a Queen who sat upon a velvet throne, had
gold crowns on their heads; and long trains behind their robes,
_ for they could afford it. ‘The prettiest dolls with glass eyes and
large whiskers stood at all the doors, and opened and shut them:
continually so as to let fresh air into the room. It was quite
a pretty play, and not at all sad ; but just as the Queen arose
and was walking across the stage, then—Heaven only knows what
the bulldog was thinking about! ! but, anyhow, as the fat butcher
_was not holding him, he made one bound into the middle of the
= stage, and seized the Queen round the waist, so that it went
“Knick! Knack!†It was a horrible sight!
- The poor man who was acting the whole play was frightened
and distressed about hig Queen, for she was the prettiest doll he.
had; and now the ugly bulldog had bitten her head off. But
when all the people had gone away the stranger who had come
with John said that he would soon make her all right again, end
so he took out his jar and smeared the doll with the salve he had
helped the poor old woman with when she had broken her leg.
‘As soon as ever the doll was rubbed she becaine all right again
at; once—nay! she could now move all her limbs about herself, —
you had not even to pull the string. The doll became like a living
creature, except that it could not talk. The man who had the -
little puppet theatre was delighted. He now had no need to
hold the. doll at all. It could dance of its own accord.
Now when it was night, and. all the people in the inn had
gone to bed, somebody was heard to sigh so. lamentably, and kept
it up so long, that every one else got up to see what it could be.
“THE TRAVELLING COMPANION. 95
The man- who had acted the play went to his little theatre, for
it was from thence that the sighing seemed to come. All the
wooden dolls lay higgledy-piggledy ; the King and his guards all
mixed up together, and it was they who were sighing so piteously
and staring with their big glass eyes, for they wanted so much
‘to be rubbed with the ointment like the Queen, that they also_
might be able to move about of their own accord. The Queen
sank down upon her knees; and held her pretty gold crown up
_ in the air while she seemed to pray, “Oh take it, take it, but anoint
my consort and my courtiers!†Then the poor man who owned...
the play and all the puppets could not help weeping, for it rane
-him feel so sorry for them all. He promised to give the travelling
companion all the money he took for his play next evening if
| only he would smear four or five of his prettiest dolls with the
ointment. But the travelling companion said that all he asked in
return was the big sword that hung by the man’s side ; and when
he had got it, he smeared six dolls with the ointment, and they
immediately fell a-dancing so prettily that all the girls—the living,
human girls who were looking on—fell a-dancing as well. The
“coachman and the scullery-maid, the lacquey and the parlour-maid
danced. together, and all the strangers followed suit, and the poker
and tongs likewise ; but the last two tumbled down at the very first
caper. Oh, it was a merry night!
. Next morning John left them all and went right away with
his comrade up the high mountains and through the large pine
forests. They went 80 high up that the church towers far below
looked. just like small red berries in the midst of all the green,
cand they could see far, far away many, many a mile, where they
96 HANS ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES.
had never yet: been. John had never in his life seen so much
of the beautiful world at one time, and the sun shone so warmly
from out of the. fresh blue sky: He heard,’ too, the hunters
blowing their horns among the mountains, a it was 80 lovely es
and blissful that the. water came into his eyes for joy, and he
could: not help saying, “Q God, how good Thou art! I could kiss
Thee, because Thou art so good to us all, and hast given us as
our own all thie: beauty that is in the world. _
His companion, too, stood with folded hands and gazed away |
over wood and town in. the warm sunshine. At that moment
“there was a wondrously beautiful sound high over. their heads.
> They looked up into the air; a large white swan was sweeping
through the sky. It was so beautiful, and it sang as they never
heard a bird sing before ; but it gradually grew weaker and weaker,
bowed its head, and at last sank quite slowly down at their feet, .
where it lay dead—the lovely bird ! :
“Two such beautiful big white wings as that bird has got are
worth money,†said the travelling companion, ‘and I mean to
take: them with me. Now you can see what a good thing it was
I took the sword,†and with that he cut off both the swan’s mee
at one blow, for he meant to keep them. :
And now they journeyed many and many a mile across ie
mountains, till at last they saw before them a large city with many
hundreds of towers, which shone like silver in the sunlight. In
the midst of the city was a splendid marble palace covered with
real gold, and there dwelt the King. John and his travelling
companion would not go into the city at- once, but stopped at —
an inn outside to smarten themselves up, for they. wanted to
‘THE TRAVELLING COMPANION. 97
look nice when they walked about the streets. The host told
i them that the King was such a good man who never harmed
‘any one; but his.. daughter—God preserve us!—she was indeed a
wicked Princess. She was beautiful enough, indeed no one could
be so pretty and captivating as she ; but what was the good of that
when she was a vile, wicked witch, through whose fault so many
-handsome Princes had lost their lives ? She had given every one
leave to woo her ; ; anybody might come forward; whether he was
“Prince or beggar, it was all the same, he had only to guess three
‘things she asked him, If he could guess them she would marry ’
him, and he: would reign over the whole land when her father died. .
~ But if he could not guess these three things, she had him hanged or
- beheaded, so evil and wicked was this lovely Princess. Her father,
ee the old King, was sore afflicted at this state of things, but he could
. not prevent her from being so. wicked, for he had once said that
he: would ‘have nothing whatever to do with her lovers, she could
do what she liked in that matter. Hitherto, every Prince who
had tried to guess the questions so as to win the Princess had always
_ failed, and go had either been hanged or beheaded, and yet he had
always been warned beforehand not to woo. The old King was
So grieved at all’the sorrow and misery caused thereby that once
a year he knelt down all day with his soldiers and prayed that
the Princess might become good ; but. this she absolutely refused
to be; and the old women who drank brandy dyed it quite black
- before they drank it oy way of mourning, for what else could
- they do? ie
~ ©The nasty Princess (P ‘said John, “she should really have -
the birch-rod ; it ‘would do her good ! If only I were the old
Oo
Oe HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
King, she should bleed for it yet!†At that moment they heard
the people outside cry “ Hurrah ! » The Princess was passing
- by; and she really was 50 - lovely that all the people forgot how
wicked she was, and so they cried “Hurrah!†Fresh, lovely
maidens, al] in “white silk gowns with golden tulips in their hands,
rode on coal-black horses by her side. The Princess herself had -
a chalk-white horse bedizened with diamonds ‘and rubies; her
riding-habit was of pure gold, and the whip she had in her hand
looked like a sunbeam; the gold crown on her head was as if made
of little stars taken from the sky ; oad her mantle was embroidered
with the wings of thousands and thousands of little butterflies.
_ At the same time, she was ever so much lovelier than her
raiment.
When J ohn eaugiit dipiit of fa he burned as red in the face
as a drop of blood, and could scarcely utter a ‘single word. The
Princess looked exactly like the beautiful girl with the gold
crown on he had dreamed about on the night his father died. He
thought her so beautiful, and could not help loving her. It was
certainly not true, said he, that she could be an evil witch who
had people hanged or beheaded when they could not guess what
she asked them. «Every one, they say, even the poorest beggar,
has leave. to woo her; then I, too, will g° up to the palace,
because I really can’t help it.â€
_ Every one said that he ought not to do so. He soul cently
fare as all the others. had done. His travelling companion also
dissuaded him, but John declared that it would. all come right,
brushed his shoes and jacket, washed his face and hands, combed his
beautiful yellow hair, and so went quite alone into the city and up
THE TRAVELLING
COMPANION. 99
to the palace. “Come in!’
said the old King when John
knocked at the door.. John
opened the door, and the old
King, in a dressing-eown and
embroidered slippers, came to
meet him. He had his gold
crown upon his head, his
sceptre in one hand and the
orb in the other, “Wait a
bit,†said he, and he shoved the
orb under one arm, so as to
be able to shake hands with
John. But as soon as he
understood that it was another
wooer, he began to weep so
violently that the sceptre and
orb fell upon the floor, and
he had to dry his tears in his
dressing gown. Poor - old
King !
“Dont do ity? said he «
“at will go badly with you as
with all the others. Well, you
shall just see for yourself!†so
he led John into the Princess’s
pleasure-garden. Ob, what a
horrible sight! On every tree
100 HANS ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES.
- hung three or four kings’ sons who had wooed the Princess, but
had been unable to guess the things she had asked them.
Every time the wind blew, all their bones rattled so that the
small birds were scared away and never dared to come into the _
garden. All the flowers were tied to dead men’s bones instead of
sticks, and grinning skulls stood in all the flower-pots. That was
a nice garden for a Princess ! |
_“ Look there now !†said the old King, “so it will fare with
you as with all the others you see here. Give up the idea, do!
You make me positively wretched; I take it so much to
heart.†3 :
John kissed the hand of the good old King a and said that fis
would all come right in the end, for he was so fond of the lovely
Princess. At the same moment the Princess herself came riding
into the courtyard with all her ladies, so they went out to meet her,
and said good-day. She was lovely indeed, and she held. out her
hand to John, who loved her more than ever, She surely could .
never be the evil, wicked witch that all the people said she was !
They went up into the drawing- -room, and the little pages presented
them with sweetmeats and gingerbread-nuts. But the old King
was so grieved that he absolutely could not. eat anything ;
and, besides, the gingerbread-nuts were too tough for his
teeth. : 7
It was now arranged that John was to come up to. the palace
again next morning, when the Judges and the whole Senate would
be gathered together to hear how he got on with the guessing. a
he got through’ with it, he was to come twice more, but hitherto
_ there had never been any one who had guessed the first time, and so
THE TRAVELLING COMPANION, 101
they had all lost their lives. John was not a bit anxious as to
how.he should fare; he was-in the best of humours, thought of
nothing but the charming Princess, and believed firmly that God
would help him somehow, but how he had no idea, nor would he
even bestow a single thought upon it. He actually danced along
the highway as he went back to his inn, where his travelling —
companion awaited. him.
John could not find words adequately to express how nice the
Princess had been to him, and how beautiful she was. He longed
already for the next day to come that he might go to the palace
“again and try his luck at guessing. But his travelling companion
shook his head and was very sad. “I am so fond of you,†said he,
“and we might have been companions together for a long time to
- come yet. Poor, dear John ! I could weep my eyes out, but I won’t
spoil the last evening, perhaps, that we shall ever spend together.
We will be merry, right merry. To-morrow when you are gone I
shall have cause to weep !â€
All the people in the city had immediately got to know that a -
new wooer had arrived, and accordingly there was great lamentation.
The theatre was closed, all the cake-women tied pieces of crape
round their sugar-pigs, the King and the priests knelt in the church ;
there was such a lamentation, for how could it possibly fare better
with John than with all the. wooers who had gone before him ?
‘Towards evening the travelling companion brewed a large bowl
of punch, and said to John that they would now be jolly together
and drink the Princess’s health, But when John had drunk two
glasses he became so drowsy that he could not keep his eyes open,
so he fell fast asleep. The travelling companion lifted him very
102 HANS ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES.
softly from the chair and laid him on the bed; and when it was’
night and quite-dark, he took the two large wings which he had-cut
off the swan, bound them tightly to his shoulders, put in his pocket
the largest of the bundles of birches which he had got from the old
woman who had fallen and broken her leg, opéned the window, and -
flew away over the city straight to the palace, where he crouched
down in a corner just under the window which looked into the
Princess’s bedroom.
The whole city lay in silence when the clock struck a quarter to _
twelve, ‘Then the window flew open, and the. Princess flew out in a
large white cape, and with long black wings, right across the town
to a large mountain ; but the travelling companion made himself
invisible, so that she could not see him at all, flew behind her, and
whipped the Princess with his birches till he drew blood. Uh! -
that was something like. a flight through the air! The wind
caught her cape, so that it bulged out on all sides like a huge sail,
-and the moon shone through it. “How it hails! how it hails !â€
said the Princess at every blow she got from the birches, and she had
~ quite enough of it, too! At last she came right up to the mountain-
side, and knocked, There was a rolling sound like thunder, while
the mountain opened and the Princess went in, the travelling
companion following after, for absolutely no one could see him—he
was invisible. They went through a large, long passage where the
walls sparkled most wondrously ; : there were thousands and
thousands of red-hot spiders there that ran up and down the walls,
and glowed like fire.. And.now they came to a large room built of
gold and silver. Flowers as large as sunflowers, red and blue,
- gleamed on the walls; but none could pluck these flowers, for their
eee ne eee eT ae
104 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
stalks were nasty, venomous serpents, and the blossoms were the |
flames which came out of the serpents’ mouths. The atmosphere was
all full of shining glow-worms and sky-blue bats,’ which flapped
their gossamer wings to and fro. It was indeed a strange sight. In.
the middle. of the floor was a throne supported by four skeleton
horses, with a harness of fiery-red spiders. The throne itself was of
milk-white glass, and the cushions were small black mice, which bit
each other in the heel continually. Above the throne was a canopy
of rosy-red spider-webs, sewn with the prettiest’ small green flies,
which sparkled like precious stones. In the midst of the throne sat
an old Troll, with a crown upon his hideous head and a sceptre in
his hand.. He kissed the Princess on the forehead, invited†her to
sit down beside him on the gorgeous throne, and now the music —
“began. Big black grasshoppers played on the Jews harp, and the
owl beat his stomach with his wings to supply the place of the
drum. It was a ridiculous -concert. Wee, wee nixies with will-o’-
the-wisps in their caps danced round and round the room. No one
could see the travelling companion ; he had posted himself right —
behind the throne, and heard and saw everything. ‘The courtiers—
for they also now came in—were so smart and distinguished- -looking ; _
but any one who had eyes to see, could perceive soon enough. what
sort of people they were. They were neither more nor less than _
broomsticks with cabbage-heads on, who had been vivified by the
~ magic spells of the Troll, and dressed up in fine brocaded garments.
But that didn’t matter a bit, they were only there for show. So
there was a little dancing, and after that the Princess told the
Troll that she had got a new wooer, and therefore wanted to know
what question she should put to him when he came up to the palace
THE TRAVELLING COMPANION, ; 105
- hext morning. “ Listen!†said the Troll, “and [ll tell you. You
must choose something very easy, and then it will never occur to
him. Think of your own slipper; he won’t guess that. Then have
his head cut off ; but when you come out again to me to-morrow
night, don’t forget to bring me his eyes, for I want to eat them!â€
_ The Princess curtseyed very low, and said she would not forget the ©
eyes; then the Troll opened the mountain, and she flew home
again. But the travelling companion, followed after and flogged her
so vigorously with the birches that she groaned at the violence of the
hailstorm, and hastened as fast as she could to get to her bedroom
again through the window; but the travelling companion flew back
to the inn where John was still sleeping, unloosed his wings, and
laid himself down also upon the bed, for he must have been very
tired, to say the least of it.
It was quite early in the morning when John awoke. The
travelling companion rose at the same- time, and told him that he
had dreamed a very strange dream that night, about the Princess
and one of her shoes, and bade him therefore ask, when it came to
the point, whether the Princess had not thought of one of her own
shoes. This indeed was what he had heard from the Troll in the
mountain ; but he would not tell John anything about that, but
simply bade him ask if she had not thought of one of her slippers.
“T may just as well ask about that as about anything else,†said
John; “ you may perhaps have dreamt the right answer after all,
for I believe that God ‘helps me at all times. At thé same time,
_ however, I will bid you farewell ; for if I guess wrong, I shall never
see youmore.†So they kissed each other, and John went to the
city, and up to the @ palace.
106 | HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
The whole of the grand saloon was quite full of rae The.
J udges. sat in easy-chairs, and they rested their heads on eider-down
cushions, because they had so much to think about. The old King —
stood up and dried his eyes with a white pocket-handkerchief. And
now the Princess entered; she was even lovelier than yesterday,
and saluted them all so sweetly ; but to John she gave ‘her hand,
'â€
and said, “ Good-morning to you!†And now John had to guess
what she was thinking about. Heavens! how kindly she looked ;
but the instant she heard him say that one word “ slipper,†her face
became chalky white, and she trembled in every limb; but it profited
her nothing, for he had guessed rightly.
Bless me! how glad the old King was. He cut capers till
_ the boards rocked again, and all the people clapped their hands for
him and John, who had thus guessed rightly for the first time.
‘The travelling companion beamed with joy when he heard how
well it had all gone off; but John clasped his hands and
thanked God, who, he felt sure, would help him the two remain-
ing times. The second guessing was then fixed for the
following ‘diy:
The same thing happened that evening as on -yesternight.
When John fell asleep, his travelling companion flew after the
Princess into the mountain, and flogged her even harder than the
first time, for he took two bundles of birches with him on this occasion.
Nobody could see him, and he heard everything. The Princess
was to think of her glove, and he told this to John just as if he
had dreamt it again, so John was able to guess aright—and oh,
what joy there was in the Palace! The whole Court cut capers
just as they had seen the King do the first time, but the Princess
THE TRAVELLING COMPANION. 107
lay upon the sofa and would not say a single word. Now all
depended wpon whether John would guess rightly the third time.
If things went well, he was to have the lovely Princess and
inherit the whole kingdom when the old King died; but if he
. guessed wrongly, he would lose his life, and the Troll would
eat his beautiful blue eyes.
The evening before, John went early to bed, said his prayers, and
then dropped off into a sweet sleep; but the travelling companion
bound the wings to his shoulders, fastened his sword by his side, took
all three bundles of birches with him, and then flew to the palace.
It was a pitch-black night. The storm raged so that the tiles flew
from the roofs of the houses, and the trees in the garden where the
skeletons hung swayed to and fro like reeds in the blast. The
lightning flashed every moment, and the thunder rolled till it
seemed like a single peal lasting through the livelong night. And
‘now the window sprang open and the Princess flew out. She was
as pale as death, ‘but she laughed at the bad weather, it didn’t seem
rough enough for her, and her white cape whirled round in the air like
a huge sail; but the travelling companion scourged her with his three
bundles of birches till her blood dripped down upon the ground, and
she could scarcely fly any farther. At last, however, she came to
the mountain. ‘“ How it hails and blows!†she cried; ‘never have
I been out in such weather before!†“Yes,†said the Troll, “one
may have too much of a good thing!†And then she told him that
John had guessed aright the second time also. If he did so again on
the morrow, victory would be his, and she could never come out to
the Troll in the mountain again, and would never again be able to
practise her enchantments as heretofore, whereupon she was sore
108 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
distressed. “He will not be able to guess this time,†said the
Troll. “I will find something the thought of which has never
entered his head, unless he be an even greater magician than I am.
But now, let us be merry!†and with that he took the Princess by
both hands, and they danced round and round with all the little
nixies and will-o’-the-wisps that were in the room ; and the red
spiders ran up and down the walls with equal glee ; the fire-flowers
glowed and sparkled, the owl beat the drum, the crickets piped, and
the grasshoppers blew upon their Jews’ harps. It was a right merry
ball. When the dance had lasted some time, the Princess declared
she must go home or she would be missed at the palace. The
Troll said he would go with her, so that they might have a little
more time together. Away they flew through the bad weather, and
the travelling companion beat his birches to shreds on their backs.
Never had the Troll been out in such a hailstorm. Outside the
palace he bade the Princess farewell, and the same instant he
whispered softly to her, “Think of my head!†but the travelling
companion heard it all the same, and at the very moment when the
Princess glided through the window into her bedroom, and the
Troll was about to turn back again, he seized him by his long
black beard. and hewed off his hideous trollish head close up to his
shoulders before the Troll himself was well aware of it. He
hurled the body down into the sea for the fishes, but the head he
merely dipped once or twice in the water, and then he tied it up in
his silk pocket-handkerchief, and took it home with him to the inn,
and laid him down to sleep. Next morning he gave the pocket-
handkerchief to John, but told him not to unloose it till the Princess
herself asked him what it was she was thinking of.
110 » HANS ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES.
There were so many in the grand saloon in the Palace that
they stood as close together as radishes tied up in a bundle. The
Council sat in their chairs with the soft cushions, and the old King
had new clothes on, and his gold crown and sceptre had been well °
furbished up for the occasion and looked splendid ; but the Princess
was quite pale, and had on a coal-black dress, just as if Bhe were
going to a funeral.
“What have I been thinking of?†said ane to John, and
straightway he loosed the pocket- -handkerchief, and was quite
terrified himself when he saw the hideous Troll’s head. Every —
one shuddered, for it Rae indeed a terrible sight; but the Princess
sat there like a. stone statue and could not utter a single word. At
last she got up and gave John her hand because he had guessed
aright ; there was no denying it. She looked neither to the right
nor to the left, but sighed from the bottom of her heart and said> _
“You are now my lord and master! This evening we will celebrate
our wedding !†a
ee, don’t object,†said the old King; “ ot would have it sO tea
All the people then cried “Hurrah!†the guards on duty played
music in the streets; the bells rang, and the cake-women took the
crape off their sugar-pigs, for the joy was universal. Three oxen
roasted whole and stuffed full with geese and pullets were placed Ta
the middle of the market- -place, ‘and every one could come and help
himself. The fountains ran with wine of the best sort; and every
one who bought a halfpenny roll at the baker’s received six large
buns into the bargain, and buns with raisins in them too ! In ie
evening the whole town was illuminated, and the soldiers fired
their guns, and the boys let off crackers, and in the palace
THE TRAVELLING COMPANION. — 111
there was no end of eating, and drinking, and toasting, and
dancing, and all the fine gentlemen and lovely young ladies danced
with each other, and you could hear them singing ever so
far off.
But the Princess was a witch still for all that, andl cared not an
atom for John. The travelling companion did not forget this, and
he therefore gave John three feathers from the swan’s wings, and a
little flask with some drops in it, and he told him to place by the
side of the bridal-bed a large vat full of water, and just as the
Princess was about to get into bed, he was to give her a little
shove so that she should fall into the water, when he was to duck
her three times, taking care first of all, however, to throw the
feathers and the drops in. In that way the enchantment would be
broken, and she would get to be very fond of him. John did all
that his travelling companion had advised him. The Princess
shrieked quite loudly when he ducked her under the water, and
wriggled between his hands like a huge coal-black swan with spark-
ling eyes. When she came up to the surface of the water the
second time, the swan was white, with the exception of a single
black ring round its’ neck, John prayed devotedly to God, and
let the water gurgle for the third time over the bird’s head, where-
“upon it immediately changed into the loveliest of Princesses. She
was even handsomer than before, and thanked him with tears in her
beautiful eyes. for breaking her spells. Next morning the old King
came in state with his whole Court, and the ceremony of congratu-
lation lasted all day. Last of all came the travelling companion,
staff in hand, with his knapsack over his shoulder. John kissed him
again and again, and said he must not go away, but must stay with
“112s. HANS ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES. -
him, for all his good fortune was owing to him; but the travelling
companion shook his head, and said to him very-gently and kindly,
“Nay, for my time is now up. I have only paid my debts. Do
you recollect the dead man to whom evil-doers would have done
a mischief? You gave all you had that he might have rest in
his grave. That dead man is myself!†and he was straightway
gone.
The wedding lasted a whole month. John and the ‘Princess
loved each other dearly, and the old King lived many happy
days and let their wee, wee children ride-a-cockhorse on his
knee and play with his sceptre : but Jobn reigned over the
whole realm. | oe
THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES.
Many years-ago there lived an Emperor who was so prodigiously
fond of nice new clothes that he spent all his money in having
himself really properly dressed. He cared not a straw for his
soldiers ; he cared not a straw for going to the theatre or driving in
the park ; all he really cared about was showing his fine new clothes.
He had a coat for every hour of the day ; and just as in other places
men speak of the «“ King in Council,†so here men spoke of the
“ Emperor in Wardrobe.â€
_ The great city where he dwelt was a very pleasant place to live
in. Many strangers visited it every day, and one day two impostors
arrived who gave themselves out for weavers, and said they knew
how to. weave the most beautiful cloth imaginable. Not only were
the colours and patterns something altogether out of the common,
but the clothes made from such cloth had the peculiar property
_ of being invisible to every man who was either unfit for his office or
insufferably stupid. -
“They would indeed be something like nice clothes,†thought
the Emperor. “By wearing them, I could discover which of my
Q.
1i4 : HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES,
ministers are unfit for the posts they occupy. I could distinguish
the wise from the stupid. lee ; some of that cloth must be woven
for me at once.†And he gaye the two impostors a lot of money in
advance so that they might begin their work.
; Accordingly they set up two looms and pretended that he
- were working, but there was absolutely nothing upon the looms.
Very soon they demanded the finest silk and the purest gold, which
they put into their own pockets, and worked on with: the empty
looms till late into the night.
“Now, I should just like to know how the manufacture of
the cloth is progressing,†‘thought the Emperor; but really and
truly his heart a little misgave him when he reflected that the
stupid or the incapable would not be able to see this cloth. He
fancied, indeed, that he had no need to be anxious on his own
account in this respect, but still he wanted to send some one else
first of all to see how things went. Every person throughout
the city knew of the wonderful power of the new cloth, and they
were all very eager to see how foolish or stupid their neighbours
were. | 7
“ T will send my eapable old minister to the weavers,†thought
the Emperor ; “he can best see what the cloth looks like, for hé is
a man of intellect, and none is fitter for his office than he.â€
_ So the able old minister went into the room where the
two impostors sat working at the empty looms. © God preserve
us!†thought the old minister, and opened his eyes “very wide,
“T can’t see anything.†But he did not say so.
The two impostors begged him to draw nearer, and asked him -
if the pattern was not a pretty one, and the colours exquisite.
THE EMPEROR'S’ NEW CLOTHES. ~ 115
_ Then they pointed ‘at the empty looms, and the poor old minister
opened his-eyes wider and wider, but he could see nothing, for
there was nothing to see. ‘ “Good gracious!†thought he, learn
not stupid, surely 2 I never thought so before, and I’ll take good
care that nobody shall know it now. What! I am not fit for my
office, eh 2? Oh no, it will never do for me to “Be and say that |
can’t see the cloth !â€
Well, have you nothing to say about it ?†a one of the
weavers. |
“Oh, it is beautiful! absolutely the neatest thing in the |
world!†said the old minister, and he took out his glasses.
ie What a pattern! And those colours, too! Yes, I'll tell the
_ Emperor that it pleases me immensely th
“Well, we are pleased with it too,†said the two weavers ;
and now they named the colours in detail, and described the
pattern, The old minister carefully took in all they said, so as
_to be able to repeat the same thing when he returned to the
Emperor, which he accordingly did. ;
And now the impostors demanded more money, more silk,
and more gold ; they required the gold for the weaving, they said.
_ They stuck everything into. their own pockets, not so much as a
thread passed over the looms; but they continued as before to
weave away upon the empty looms.
* In a very short time the Emperor sent. apotker very able
official to. see how the weaving was getting on, and if the cloth
was ‘nearly ready. It fared with him as with the minister. He
gazed and gazed, but as there was nothing there but the empty
loom, he. naturally saw nothing.
_ 116 ss HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALS.
‘A pretty piece of cloth, isn’t it? said the two impostors,
and pointed out the ey patterns of which there: was absolutely
- no trace.
: “Surely I am not stupid ie thought the man. “Not fit for
my good post, eh!
let it be noticed!†So he praised the cloth he did not see, and
congratulated them on the beautiful colours and the lovely patterns.
“Yes, it is perfectly enchanting!†said he to the Himperor.
All the people in the town were talking of the splendid
cloth. SS
And now the Emperor wanted to see it while it was still upon
the loom, With a whole host of the élite of his realm, among
whom were the two able old officials who had been there before,
he went to see the two crafty impostors, who were now working :
‘with all their might, but without a stitch or thread.
“Now, is it not magnifique | ?†said the two skilful officials.
“Will your Majesty deign to observe what patterns, what colours:
are here?†and they pointed at the empty looms, for they took
it for granted that the others could see the cloth.
“Why, what is this?†thought the Emperor. “I don’t see
_ anything! How horrible! Am I stupid then? Am I unfit to
_ be Emperor? That would be the most frightful thing that could
happen to me! Oh, it is very fine!†said the Emperor aloud.
“Tt has my most gracious approbation !†and he nodded his head
approvingly, and contemplated the empty loom. He would not
say that he could not. see anything. His whole suite stared and
stared ; they could make no more of it than the rest, but they
repeated | after the Emperor, “Oh, it is very fine!†and they
THE EMPERORS NEW CLOTHES. . 117
advised him.to wear clothes made of this new and gorgeous cloth
for the first time on the occasion of the grand procession which was
about to come off. “It is magnifique, most elegant, excellent! Z
went from mouth to mouth. They were all so mightily delighted
with it, and the Emperor gave each of the impostors a ribbon and
cross to wearin: his button-hole, and the title of gentleman-
weaver. . 2
On the eve of the procession the impostors sat up all night,
and had more than sixteen candles lit. The people could see that
they were busy getting ready the Emperor’s new clothes. They
pretended to take the cloth from the loom, they clipped the air with
large scissors, and they sewed with needles without thread,
and at last they said, “There, the clothes are now quite
ready !â€
The Emperor, with. ie most elegant cavaliers, then came to
them himself, and the impostors held out their arms as if they were
holding something at arm’s length and said, “Look, here aie the
trousers, and here is the coat, and here the mantle. They are as
light as gossamer,†they continued, “you would fancy you had
nothing on at all, but that’s just the beauty of them!â€
ie Of course!†said all the gentlemen-in-waiting ; but they
could see nothing, for there was nothing to see,
“And now, if your Imperial Majesty would most graciously
deign to take your clothes off,†said the impostors, ‘“ we will put
on the new ones for your Majesty. In front of the large mirror,
please! Thank you!†—
‘The Emperor took. off all his clothes, and the impostors
pretented to give him the newly-sewn ones piece by piece, and
118 ; HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. -
they smoothed down his body, and they tied something fast. which
was supposed to be the train, and the nem turned and twisted
himself i in-front of the: mirror.
“Heaven help us! What a good. suit it fa How nicely it
fits!†they all cried with one voice. “What a ee ee
colours! It is a splendid. dress!â€
“The canopy which is to be borne over your Maj ae in the pro-
cession 1s waiting outside,†the master of the ceremonies announced.
“All night,†said the Emperor; “I am quite ready. Does it
fit well?†And: so he turned hinself round once more before the
mirror, to make believe that he was now taking a general survey of
his splendour, ~ The gentlemen-in-waiting, who had to bear his
train, fumbled with their hands along the floor as if they were
taking the train up, and ag they went along: they held their hands
in the air, for they dared not let it be supposed that they saw
nothing. And thus the Emperor marched in the procession
beneath the beautiful canopy, and every one in the streets and in
the windows said, “Gracious! how perfect the Emperor’s new
clothes are! . What a beautiful train his mantle has! How
splendidly it fits!†No one would have had it supposed that ‘he
saw nothing, for then. he would certainly have been unfit for his.
post, or very stupid. None of the cor EE enon 8 clothes had been s0
successful as these !
“Why, he’s got’ doing on!†gaid- a little child. “Good —
heavens ! listen to the voice of innocence!†said the father: but.
every man whispered to his neighbour what the child had said.
“ He has nothing on! There is a little child here who aye he has -
nothing on!â€
Rigg
120 _ HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
“* He really fn nothing on!†cried the whole crowd at last.
: And the Emperor shrank within himself, for it seemed to him that
they were right, but he thought at the same time, “At any rate I
must go through with this procession!†And so he put on a still
haughtier air, and the gentlemen-in-waiting marched behind and
held the train which wasn’t there at all.
a
THE MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER.
Tue storks tell their little ones so many tales all about the
- moors and the fens, and these tales are generally adapted to the
age and the wits of the hearers. The youngest storks are content
with being told: “Cribbly-crabbly, plurry-murry.†They consider
this capital; but the elder ones want a deeper meaning, or at
least something about the family. Of the two oldest and longest
tales which have been preserved among the storks, we all know
the one about Moses, who was put by his mother in the waters
of the Nile; found by the King’s daughter ; got a good education
and became a great man; and was afterwards buried no man knows
where. That tale is generally known. The other tale is not known
even now, possibly because it is only found in those parts.
This tale has been handed down from stork-mother to stork- mother
for hundreds of years, and each one of them has told it better and
better, and we'll tell it now best of all.
he first pair of storks who came with it, and lived through
it, had. their summer residence on the Viking’s- log- -house
on the “Wild Moss†of Vendsyssel, which is in Hjéring county,
R
122 HANS ANDERSEN § FAIRY TALES.
‘right up towards the Skaw in Jutland, if we must speak by the
book. There, is still a vast moor there ; you can read all about
- if in the county topography. This spot was once a sea-bottom,
which was upheaved, and has remained there ever since, stretching |
away for miles, and surrounded on all sides by moist meadows
and quicksands covered with peat, bilberries, and scrub; a mist
is nearly always sweeping over it, and seventy years ago a wolf —
might still have been found there. It is well called the “Wild .
Moss,†and one can imagine how wild it must have been, and
how many swamps and tarns were there, a thousand years ago.
Yes, and in its separate features it was practically the same then
as it is now. The reeds had the same height, the same kind of
long leaves, and the same violet-brown feathery flowers as they
bear now ; the birch stood there, with its white bark and delicate,
loosely hanging leaves, just as it does now; and as for living
things that came thither, the fly wore his gauze clothing of the
same cut as now, and the stork’s livery was black and white with
red stockings; but, on the other hand, men in those days had
coats of another cut than they have nowadays; but it fared
with every one of them, whether thrall or huntsman, who ventured
upon the quagmire a thousand years ago, as it fares with those
who go there nowadays—they plumped in, and sank right down
to the Marsh King, as they called him, who ruled the whole of
the moorland realm down below. He might also have well been
called the Quagmire King, but we think it best to call him the
Marsh King, especially as that is what the storks also called him.
Very little is known about his dominion, and it is well, perhaps,
that it is 80,
THE MARSH KING'S DAUGHTER, 128
Hard by the heath, close up to the Liimfjord, lay the Viking’s
log-house, with its stone-paved cellars, tower, and three stories ;
on the top of the roof the stork had built its nest, the stork-mother
was sitting on her eggs, and was quite certain. that the hatching
would be a great success.
One afternoon the stork-father was somewhat ienger out of
doors than usual, and when he came home he looked quite rumpled
and flurried. “Ihave something quite frightful to tell you,†said
he to the stork-mother. ‘ .
7 “Don’t let me hear it then,†said she. “ Recollect that I am
hatching ay egos, I might take harm from it, and that would affect
the eggs :
“You must know it,†said he; “she has come hither, the
daughter of our host in Egypt. She has ventured to travel all
the way hither, and she is lost.â€
“She who is of the fairy race? Tell me all about.it! Don't
keep me in suspense! You know I can't bear it at hatching time ! â€
“Well, mother, ’tis like this. She believed what the doctor
said, just as you told me she would—she believed that the marsh-
flowers up here: might help her sick father—and she has flown in
featherskin with the two other featherskin ‘Princesses, who are bound
to come’ northwards every -year to bathe and renew their youth.
She has come, and she has disappeared.â€
“Don’t be so long-winded,†said the stork-mother, “the eggs
might catch cold. I can’t bear to be kept in suspense.â€
“‘T have been on the look-out,†said the stork-father, “and this
evening I went among the reeds where the quagmire could bear me ;
at that moment three swans came along; there was something about
124 _ HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
their flight which said to me, ‘Look out! that is not. altogether
swan, that is only swanskin, ’ — You know the sort of feeling I
mean, mother, don’t you ?â€
“Of course I do,†said she, “but eo on about the Princess, I
am tired of hearing about swanskin.â€
“You know that it’s es like a lake i in the middle of the moor,’
continned the stork-father ; “you can see a bit of it from here if
you'll just-shift yourself a little. There, in the direction of the reeds
and green quagmire lay a large alder-stump ; on the stump the three
swans sat them down, flapped their wings, and looked around them ;
one of them threw off her swanskin, and I recognised in her our
house- Princess from Egypt. There she sat, and had no- other
| inantle round her but her long black hair. I heard her tell the two
others to keep an eye upon her swanskin when she had ducked
under the water. to pluck the flower she thought she saw. They
nodded, and fluttered and lifted the loose feather-jacket. ‘I wonder
what they’re going to do with it,’ said I; and she evidently was
asking them the same question; and the answer she got was in
signs. not words, for up they flew in the air with her featherskin,
‘ Duck down!’ they cried, ‘you shall never fly again. in your swan-
skin! You shall never.see the land of Egypt! Stick in. the wild
heath, that’s the proper place for you !’†And then they ripped her
featherskin into a hundred pieces, so that the feathers flew all about
like snowflakes, and away they flew, the nasty, dirty Princesses ! Ieee,
“Tt is horrible!†said the stork-mother. “I can’t bear to hear
it ; but tell me, now, what happened after that.â€
“The Princess sobbed and cried. The tears rolled down upon the
alder stump, and then it moved, for it was the ‘Marsh King himself
who dwells in
the fens. I saw
how the stump turned over,
and then there was no
stump, but a stretching up
of long miry branches like
arms. Then the poor child
grew frightened, and rushed
away upon the rocking
quagmire ; but it could not
bear me there, still less
her; she sank immediately,
and the alder-stump went
down along with her. It
was he, indeed, who was
haling her away. Then big
black bubbles rose to the
surface, and then there was
not a trace of anything left.
-Nowshe is buried in the wild
swamp ; never will she come
with her flowers to the land
of Keypt. Suchasightwould
have been too much for you,
mother, indeed it would !â€
126 . HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
i “ You ought not to tell me about such things just now! It
: may affect the egos. The Princess will take care of herself. She’s
«sure to get help. If it had been I or you, or one of our sort, it
‘would have been all up with us.â€
“Tl keep a look-out every day, all the same !â€
father ; and he did so.
And now a long time passed by.
aaid the stork-
One day, however, he saw a green stalk shoot up from the very
bottom of the water, and when it reached the surface it put forth a
leaf which grew ever broader and broader. Presently, close to it
appeared a bud, and as the stork was flying over it early one morn-
ing, the flower-bud opened to the intense warmth of the sunbeams,
and in the midst of it lay a pretty child, a little girl Just as if she
had stepped out of a bath. To such a degree did she resemble the
Princess from Egypt that at first the stork fancied it was: really she
grown little.again ; but when he thought the matter over, he found
“it more reasonable to suppose that she was the daughter of the:
Princess. and the Marsh King: that was why she lay in a_
water-lily. “And there she may stay,†thought the stork. |
“In my nest. there are too many already ; but an idea occurs
to me. The Viking’s wife has no child; at one time she
desired a little one. I know I often get the blame for
bringing these “wee things, ‘but this time, at any rate, I'll
deserve it. I will fly with the child to aa Viking’s wife. How
delighted shé will be!†5
And the ‘stork †took the little girl, flew to the log- ©
house, knocked a hole through the skin-panes with his beak, .
laid the child on the breast of the. Viking’s wife, and’ then
THE MARSH KING'S DAUGHTER. 127
flew away to the stork-mother; and told her all about it.
And the little storks listened, too : they were quite big enough
to do that.
“ So you see the Princess is not dead. She has sent her little
one up, and now it is being well brought up.â€
“That's just what I said all along!†said the stork-mother ;
and now, think a little, please, of your own family. It will soon
be flitting-time. Now and again I have an itching sensation under
the wings. The cuckoo and the nightingale have already departed,
_ and I hear the quails saying that we shall soon have a favourable
wind, Our young ones will go through the manceuvres all right, I’m
quite sure.â€
But how glad the Viking’s wife was when she awoke next morn-
ing and found at her breast the pretty little child; she kissed and
: patted it, but it screamed frightfully, and sprawled about with its
arms and legs—it didn’t seem happy at all; at last it cried itself
asleep, and as it lay there it was one of the prettiest things
the eye of man could behold. The Viking’s wife was so glad
and proud. and light of heart, and as she could not get it out of
her head that her husband with all his men would certainly
come quite as unexpectedly as the little one, she turned the whole
house upside down so as to get everything ready in time for them.
“The long coloured carpets which she herself and her maids had
: woven with effigies of their gods Odin, Thor, and Freia, as they .
were called, were hung up; the thralls were. set to work scouring
the old shields, which were there used as ornaments ; skins were laid
_ on the benches and dried fuel was laid on the hearth in the middle
of the hall, so that the pile might be kindled at once. The Viking’s
128 HANS ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES.
‘
wife also laid a hand to the work, so that by evening she was pretty
tired and slept well. as
Now, when she awoke towards morning, dhs. was not a little ~
terrified, for the little child was clean gone. She sprang up, lita chip
of fir-wood and-looked all about, and there, at the bottom of the bed,
where she used to stretch her feet, lay, not the-little child, but a
large ugly toad... The sight of it made her quite sick. She took a
big stick and would have beaten the reptile to death ; but it looked
at her with such wonderful, melancholy eyes that she could not strike
it. Once again she looked round, the toad gave a feeble, pitiful
squeak, which made her shrink back, jump out of bed, and rush to
the trap-door, which she opened. At that instant the sun came’
forth and cast his rays right athwart the bed upon the large toad, and
all at once it was as though the monster’s wide mouth contracted
and became small and red, its limbs stretched themselves out in the
prettiest way—it was her own _ little lovely child. which lay there,
and no ugly toad. ope
“ Why; what is this? ?†said. she ; “have I been dreaming an
evil dream? It is indeed my own charming fairy-child which lies â€
there,†and she kissed and ‘pressed it to her heart, but it scratched
and bit like’a -wild itten: 6 "2
Neither that day; nor yet the next, aid the, Viking: arrive,
though he-was ‘actually. on ‘his’ way; but: the wind was contrary
—it blew southerly forthe storks’ sake. What is fair wind to one,
is foul wind to- another.
_ "Two more days and nights made it quite clear to the Viking’s
wife how matters stood with her little. child; a terrible enchant-
ment rested upon it. By day it was as lovely.as a bright elf,.
aR ce, Stet, n
tou
130. | | HANS: ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
but had a wild, savage sae†at night, on the other hand, it was
a hideous toad, meek and whimpering, with sorrowful eyes. Here
_were two natures constantly shifting, both outwardly and inwardly.
The reason was, that the little girl whom the stork had brought
possessed by day its real mother’s outward semblance, but at. the |
same time its father’s disposition ; at night, on the other hand, it —
was visibly akin to him in bodily shape, whilst its mother’s heart
and mind shone out of its eyes. Who could loose the spell
wrought by such magic art? The Viking’s wife had trouble and
anguish at the thought, and yet her heart clave to the little
creature, as to whose condition. she thought she would never have
_ the courage to tell her husband when he came home, for in that
case he would certainly, according to law and custom, have ex-
| posed the wretched child on the highway to be carried off
by the first passer-by. ‘This the worthy Viking’s wife had
not the heart to do; he should only see the child in the
daylight. ee |
At an early hour one morning there was a sound. of rushing
storks’ wings over the roof of the house ; during the night
more than a hundred pairs of storks had been resting after the
grand manoeuvres, now they w were flying up. into the sky to wend .
their way southwards. oe ;
“All men be ready !†was se order ; svemey and children
as well!†es
“T feel so light,†said each of the young coe “there’s
a sort of cribble-crabble right inside my bones as if I were full
of living frogs. How delightful it is to set out on one’s
travels !’
THE MARSH KING'S DAUGHTER. 131
e Keep: well with ihe flock,†said one father and mother ;.
“and don’t cackle so much, it will spoil your wind ! ee
And away they flew.
At that very time the alarm sounded all over the heath:
the Viking had landed with all his men. They returned home
with a rich booty from the Gallic coast, where the people, as .
in Britain, cried to Heaven in their terror—‘“ Deliver us from
the Northmen!†|
What a joyful. commotion prevailed in the Viking’s strong-
hold at “ Wild Moss!†The mead-tub was brought into the hall,
the pile was kindled, and the horses were slaughtered ; there
was to be something like a roast! The sacrificing priest sprinkled
_ the warm horse-blood on the thralls by way of initiation; the fire
crackled, the smoke ascended to the roof, the soot dropped down
from the-beams, but they were used to all that. The guests were
invited, and they got good gifts; treachery and evil wiles were
forgotten; they drank with each other, and cast the gnawed
bones in each other's faces—that was their way of joking.
The skjald—a sort of fiddler, but a warrior too, who had been
with them all through, and knew what he was singing about—
gave them a song in which they heard all about their martial
exploits and adventures; every verse had the same refrain:
“ Power dies, friends die, man himself dies likewise; but a
- glorious name never dies !†and then they all smote upon their
shields, and hammered with their knives or knuckle- bones upon
- the table, so that it could be heard.
~The Viking’s wife sat upon the cross bench in the open
banqueting hall ; she. had on a silk kirtle, gold bracelets, and
132 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
large amber pearls; she was in her fullest splendour; and the
skjald named her also in his song, told of the golden treasure
she had brought her rich husband who was right glad about
the lovely child—he had only seen it at daytime in all its
loveliness. The savagery which went with it pleased him; she
might become, he said, a doughty amazon, who would smite down
her antagonist ; she would not blink her eyes when a practised
hand, by way of jest, sliced off her eyebrows with a sharp sword.
The mead-tub was empty, a fresh one was brought up—yes,
they drank to the full, they were folks who could carry a full skin.
This proverb was then in vogue: “The beast knows when to g0
home from the pasture, but the foolish man never knows the
measure of his own maw.†Yes, that they knew, but to know and
to do are two different things. This also they knew, that “ Dear
becomes drear when he sits too long in another man’s house.†Yet
still they stayed—meat and mead are good things ; they fared right
lustily ; and at night the thralls slept in the warm ashes, dipped
their fingers in the fat dish-water, and licked them. It was a
splendid time !
Once again in the course of the year the Viking went cruising
forth. Despite the late autumn storms he departed ; he went with
his men to Britain’s coasts— twas after all “but across the water,â€
said he—and his wife remained behind with her little gil; and it is
a fact that very soon the foster-mother cared more for the poor toad
with the gentle eyes and the deep sighs than for the loveliness
which bit and scratched.
The raw, wet autumn mist—“Mouthlessâ€â€”which gnaws off
the leaves lay over wood and heath, “ Bird Featherless,†as they
THE MARSH KINGS DAUGHTER. 133
called the snow, flew along, flake after flake following hard up
on each other. Winter was on his way. The sparrows took posses-
sion of the storks’ nest, and reasoned in their own way about the
absent owners. And, indeed, what had become of the stork
couple and their young ones? Where were they now ?
The storks were now in the land of Egypt, where the sun shone as
warmly as it does with us on a lovely summer’s day. Tamarinds and
acacias were blooming round about; Mohammed’s moon poured its
white beams on the cupolas of the temples; on the slender towers
sat many a pair of storks, and rested after their long journey ;
whole flocks of them had nest upon nest on the mighty columns and
broken arches of the temples and forgotten high places. The date-
palm lifted its head aloft, as if it would be a sunshade. The whitish-
grey Pyramids stood like silhouettes athwart the clear sky over
against the desert, where the ostrich knew it could use its legs; and
the lion sat and looked with large wise eyes upon the marble
sphinxes which lay half-buried in the sand. The waters of the Nile
had returned to their bed ; the whole watershed swarmed with frogs,
and to the stork family that was the loveliest sight in the land.
The young ones fancied it an optical illusion, the whole thing looked
so matchless.
“You see what it’s like, and it’s always like this in our warm
land,†said the stork-mother, and a thrill of joy went through the
young ones’ maws.
“ Have we still more to see?†said they. “Shall we go farther
and farther into this beautiful country ?â€
“There’s nothing more to see,†said the stork-mother. ‘In
that luxuriant corner over there, there is only wild wood, where the
134. HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALKS.
- trees grow into each other, and are matted together by prickly
creeping plants ; only the elephants with their clumsy feet can make
| their way along there ; besides, the snakes there are too big for us, and
the lizards too quick. But if you go in the direction of the desert,
| you ll only get the sand in your eyes; and whether its fine or
- whether its coarse, you are bound to get lost in a sandstorm. No,
it is best here. Here are frogs and grasshoppers. . Here I stay, and
so must you!†e ?
- And they did stay. The old ones sat in their nests on the
slender minaret, rested themselves, and yet had a busy time of it in
smoothing their feathers and polishing their red stockings with their «
beaks ; then they lifted their necks, nodded majestically, and raised
their heads, with the high forehead, and the fine, smooth feathers,
and the brown eyes which beamed so wisely. The young hen-storks
walked gravely among the sappy reeds, stole glances at the other
young ones, made acquaintances, and swallowed a frog at every
third stride, or toyed with a little snake; it was good ‘sport,
they fancied, and tasted nice too. The young cock-storks squabbled
among themselves, thwacked each other with their wings, slashed
with their beaks, and stabbed each other till the blood came;.and so _
this one was betrothed, and then that one, both young cocks and
young hens—that, in fact, was all they lived for. They set to
building - nests, and so fell a-squabbling again; for in that hot
country they all got so very peppery, but it was pleasant ;
for all that, and a great joy to the old ones. especially. One _
always sees something nice in one’s “own youngsters !
Every day, too, there was sunshine here; every day there
was lots and lots and lots to eat; one need think of nothing
THE MARSH KING'S DAUGHTER. 135
_ but enjoying one’s self, But inside the rich palace, in the home
of their Egyptian host, as they called him, things were anything
but comfortable.
The wealthy and mighty ruler lay wpon a couch, stiff in all his
limbs, stretched out like a mummy, in the midst of the large saloon
with the variegated walls; ‘twas as though he lay in the midst of a
tulip. His kinsmen and henchmen stood round about him, he was
_ not dead, but you could not exactly call him alive either. The
saving marsh-flower from the north country, which was to have been
sought for and plucked by the one who loved him best, would never
be brought. His young and lovely daughter, who had flown over
sea and land in a swanskin, high wp towards the north, would never
come back. “She is dead and gone!†the two home-returning
swan-maidens had reported. They had made up between them a
whole story about it, and this is what they said: “We all three
flew high into the air, when a huntsman saw us, and shot his arrow
at us; it struck our young friend, and slowly, singing her farewell
song, she sank like a dying swan in the midst of a forest tarn. On its
banks we buriéd her beneath a fragrant weeping-willow. Yet we
have taken. vengeance ; ore ted fire under the wings of the swallow’
that built its nest beneath the huntsman’s rushbound roof ; it
kindled, the house burst into aennes it lit up the whole lake, even
to the drooping willow-tree where she is now earth to earth. Never
will she come to the land of Egypt.â€
And then. they both wept; and the stork-father, when he
heard it, clappered with his beak till it rattled again. ‘Lies and
invention !†said he ; “T should like to drive my beak right .into
their breasts!†~~
136 _ - HANS ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES.
“ And break it off, eh?†said the stork-mother ; “and a pretty
fright you'd look then! Think of yourself first, and then of your
S family, everything else lies quite outside !â€
a Anyhow, I'll perch upon the edge of the open. oi to-mor-
row when all the scribes and the sages assemble to talk about the
sick man ; perhaps they will then get a little nearer to the truth.â€
And the sages and the scribes came together and talked a good
‘deal which the stork could make nothing of ; and indeed it all
ended in nothing so far as the sick man and his daughter in the
wild marsh were concerned; but one may as well hear a little
of it, there’s so much one ought to hear about, you know.
But: first of all it is only right and proper to hear and know
what had happened before this, and then we shall be much better |
acquainted with the whole story, or, at any rate, as well acquainted
with it as the stork-father was,
“Love begets life: the highest love begets the highest - life—
only through love can his life be saved for him,†it had been
said, and an extraordinarily wise and good saying it was, declared
the sages.
“Tt is a fine idea!†immediately sb ‘lhe stork-father.
“T don’t exactly understand it,†said the stork-mother, “and
that is not my fault, but the idea’s! But it is all one to me, T have
other things to think about.†.
And now the sages talked ce love between this and that,
and of the difference there was between the love which lovers feel,
and the love between parents and children, and the love between
the light and the plants when the sunbeams kiss the marsh and the.
tender blade thereupon sprouts forth—it was so rigmarole and so
THE MARSH KING'S DAUGHTER. 187
learnedly set forth that it was quite impossible for the stork-
father to understand, still less to gainsay it; he became quite
thoughtful by merely attempting it, half closed his eyes and stood -
upon one leg the whole of the next day; such learning was too much
for him. |
But one thing the stork-father did understand; he had heard
both the. common people and those of high degree declare openly,
from the very bottom of their hearts, that it was a great misfortune
for many thousands, and for the land as well, that that man should
be lying there sick and helpless ; ‘twould be a joy and a blessing if
he could recover his health again. “ But where grows the health-
giving flower that can cure him?†This was the question. they all
asked, and they sought for the answer in learned books and in the
twinkling stars.. They had consulted wind and weather too, and
inquired every way, even the most roundabout, and at last, as
already said, the scribes and the sages had found an answer: “ Love
begets life, a father’s life!†and there they said more than they
themselves understood, and they repeated it, and wrote it out as a
recipe, “Love begets life,’—but when it came to apply the recipe
practically, why, then they came absolutely to a standstill. At last
they all agreed that help must come from the Princess, she who
- loved her father with all her heart and all her soul. At last they
even hit upon how it could be brought about—yes, it was
now more than a year and a day since she had gone by
night (at the moment when the newly-lit moon had gone down
‘ again) to the marble sphinx by the desert, cast away the sand
from the threshold of the door, and gone through the long passage
which led right into one of the large pyramids, where one of the
T
138 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
mighty kings of the olden time lay in his mummy-case in the midst
of all his pomp and splendour ; there she had bent down over the
dead man, and then he had revealed to her where she could gain
health and deliverance for her father. All this she had done, and in
a dream it had been revealed to her that from the deep marsh right
away in the country of the Danes (the spot had been most precisely
described) she must bring home the lotus flower which should touch
her breast in the watery depths, and then her father would be saved.
And for this cause she had flown in swanskin from the land of
Egypt right up to the Wild Moss. All this the stork-father and
stork-mother knew very well, and now we know it more accurately
‘know that the Marsh Kine dragged
‘6 she is dead and gone to all at home ;
than we knew 1
em-all now- said, like the stork-mother: ‘‘ She
erself right enough !†and for this they resolved to
wait, for there-was f othing else to be done.
-“T think Pl fileh the swanskins from those two nasty dirty
Princesses !†said the stork-father, “ and then they'll not be able to
come to the Wild Moss and make mischief; as for the swanskins
themselves, I'll hide them till J have a use for them.â€
“Where will you hide them up there ?†asked the stork-mother.
“Tn our nest by the Wild Moss,†said he. “I and our
youngest youngsters can help to carry them, and if they are too
heavy for us there are places enough on the way to hide them in till
our next flight. One swanskin, indeed, would be enough for her,
but two are still better; it is good to have plenty of travelling
clothes in a northern land.
“You'll get no thanks for it,†said the stork-mother ; “ but
THE MARSH KINGS DAUGHTER. 139
youre the master, I suppose—I’m nobody, of course, except at
hatching-time.â€
In the Viking stronghold on the Wild Moss, whither the storks
flew towards spring-time, the little girl had now got a name. Helga
JRWe “PD ai °
they had called her, but that was all too sweet a name
to match the savage mood of that peerless beauty. Month
by month this mood of hers grew with her growth, and in
the course of years, whilst the storks were making the self-same
1407 = HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
journeys in autumn towards the’ Nile, and in spring towards Wild
Moss, the little child became a big girl, and before any one had
thought much about it, she had grown into the loveliest maiden of —
sixteen. The shell was lovely indeed, ‘but ‘the kernel hard and
rough, she was wilder than the wildest ones of that hard dark time.
It was.a joy to her to dabble her- white hands in-the reeking blood
of the slaughtered sacrificial horse; in her savagery she bit off the
neck of the black cock which the priest was. to have slain, and she
used to say to her foster-father in'real earnest, “If thy enemy came -
and cast ropes.round the beam-heads of the roof, and if it tilted
over thy chamber whilst thou slept, I would not wake thee if I
could ! I would not hear oy 80 loudly. does. the blood still buzz about
_ the. ear—on which thou gav’st. me a clout Wine I was a child! I
remember !†:
But the Viking believed not these words, for he, fies the
others, was infatuated by her beauty, nor did he know how little
Helga’s mood shifted with her skin. She rode without a saddle, as
if she had grown on to the horse, when it galloped at full speed, and
she did not jump off when it bit and tore at other vicious horses.
Ata very early age she would throw herself from the cliff with all
her clothes on, and swim out against the strong current of the fjord
to meet the Viking when his boat came steering landwards. She
cut off the longest lock of her ely long hair and ue from it a
string for her bow.
{7
s Self-made is well made!†said she.
The Viking’s wife, after the manner of her time and race, was
certainly strong of will and firm of purpose, but compared with her
daughter she was but a meek, fearful woman; moreover, she
THE MARSH KINGS DAUGHTER. sf 141
knew that: there was a ‘spell upon the terrible child. Often and
often, Ae if from pure maliciousness, Helga, when her mother was
“on the balcony, or. in the garden, would stand on the very edge
of the well, ‘throw about her arms and legs, and then let herself
plump down “into the deep and narrow hole, where, frog-lke,
she would bob up and down, and -then scramble out again just as
if she were a cat, and come into the oreat hall dripping with water,
so that the leaves strewn onthe floor turned round and round in the
wet stream. : ee
Yet there was one thing which held little Helga in check, and
that was the evening twilight ; in the twilight she became still and
almost pensive, and came and went at the will of others ; then a sort
of inner sense drew her to her mother, and when the sun sank, and
the outward and inward transformation followed, she sat there silent,
melancholy, shrivelled up in the shape of a toad—her body, it is
true, was now far larger than that beast’s body, but for that very
reason all the more horrible. She looked like a loathsome dwarf
with a toad’s head, and webbed skin between her fingers. There
was something so piteous in the eyes she saw with. Voice she had
none, only a hollow squeak like that of a child which sobs in its
dreams; then the Viking’s wife would take her on her lap, she
forgot the hideous shape, looked only at the sorrowful eyes, and said —
more than once, “I could almost wish that thou wert my dumb toad-
child; Thou art more frightful a sight when the lovely side of thee
is turned outwards.†And she scrawled the runes against sickness
and sorcery, and threw them over the wretched creature’s shoulder,
but there was no mending it, |
“One would scarcely believe that she was once so small that
142 HANS ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES.
she eeu lie in a water-lily,†said the stork-father ; “now she is
quite grown up, and as like her Egyptian mother as one day is hike
another; the mother we have never seen since. She did not take
_eare of herself as you and the sages supposed. For years and years
I have now been flying across and athwart the Wild Moss, but she
has never given a sign. Yes, I tell you, in those years when I had
arrived up here some days before you' that I might mend the nest
and put things to rights generally, I have flown about continually
the whole night, as if I were an owl or a bat, all over the open
water, but it was no good. The. two swanskins, also, which I and
the young ones dragged. all’ the way up here from the land of Egypt
(and heavy ¢ enough they were, we had to make three journeys of the
_ job) are as good as useless. They have now lain for many years at
the bottom of the nest, and if a fire breaks out, if the log-house is
burnt, they will be lost. >
“And our good nest would be lost, too!†said the stotk-
mother. “ You think far less of that than you do of your feather-
rubbish and your Marsh Princess! Why don’t you go down to her
to the bottom of the marsh and stay there? You are a bad father
- to your own, that’s what I’ve always said from the time when I lay
upon my first egg. I shouldn’t wonder if we or our young ones get
an arrow in the wing from that crazy Viking hussey. She doesn’t
know what she’s about half her time. We have been a little longer
at home here than she, she ought to think of that. We never
forget our duties. We pay our taxes every year, a feather, an
ege, and a young one, as is only right. Do yout suppose when she
is out and. about that I dare to go down as I used to do in the old :
days, or as I do in Egypt, where I am hob-nob with the people,
THE MARSH KINGS DAUGHTER. 148
without presuming upon it, and can poke my beak into every pot
and pan? No! here I stick and fret about her ways—the hussey !
Yes, and I’m not best pleased with you either. You ought to have
let her lie in the water-lily, and then she would have been goon
~ done for.â€
_ “Your heart is better than your tongue,†said the stork-father.
“TI know you better than you know. yourself.†|
And then he gave a hop, and then he flapped heavily with
his wings twice, stretched out his legs backwards, and flew, or
rather sailed, away without moving his wings. When he was a
good way off, however, he made a vigorous spurt. The sun shone
upon his white feathers, his head and neck were stretched well
forward. There was go and style there, if you like. “Why, he’s
the most handsome of the lot even now!†said the stork-mother ;
“but I don’t tell him so.â€
Karly that autumn the Viking came home with booty and
captives; amongst the latter was a young Christian priest, one of
those men who persecuted the false gods of the Northern lands.
Often of late in the hall, and the women’s-room, the talk had turned
upon the new faith which was spreading far and wide in all lands.
from the south—nay, which, owing to St. Ansgar, had reached as far
northwards as Hedeby.! Little Helga herself had heard of the
faith in ‘the White Christ, who, of His love for mankind, had given
Himself for them : Bae it had only gone in at one ear and out at the
other, as people say. It was only when she was huddled up in the
1 The modern Sleswig. Ansgar, already Archbishop of Hamburg, built a
church at Hedeby, and dedicated it'to Our Lady about 840.
ayes tan te neice te
reed nectonrsglle treme nese eats nn
rag tege tent Lm nea rr geet
144 . HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
hideous toad- -shape i in the secret ; chamber that the word love seemed
to have any meaning to her; but the Viking’s wife had listened to
these tidings, and was strangely moved by the tales a rumours
concerning the Son of the one true God.
The men who came home from the raid had told about the
splendid temples of costly hewn stones raised to Him Whose message es
was love.
of the purest gold, had been brought home, and about each of them
hung a peculiar spice- like fragrance ; they were the censers which ~
the Christian priests swung before the. altar where blood never
flowed, but where the wine and the consecrated bread were changed
into His Body and Blood who had given Himself for generations yet.
unborn. — |
In. the cen stone- paved. cellars of the log-house the young
Christian priest was. placed, with his hands and feet tied with
_ bast bands ; beauteous was he, “just like ~Baldur,†as the
Viking’s wife said, and she was touched by his distress; but Helga
eagerly desired that a cord should be passed through his sinews, and
that he should be tied to the heels of wild oxen. “Then I would
‘let the hounds loose. Hui! Away over moor and cliff along the
the heath ! that would indeed be a a sight, and still merrier
it would ‘be to follow him all the way.â€
But that was not the death the Viking would. have i die.
He was to be sacrificed on the bloodstone in the sacred grove the
next. day as a gainsayer ¢ and persecutor of the high gods ; it would be
~ the first time that a human sacrifice had been offered - here.
Young Helga begged that she might sprinkle the people and
the images of the gods with his blood. She sharpened her bright
THE MARSH KINGS DAUGHTER. EER 145
blade, and when one of the large fierce dogs, of which there were
enough and to spare about the homestead, dashed over her feet,
ghe plunged the knife right into its side, “to prove it!†as she
said, and. the Viking’s wife Tooled sorrowfully at the wild evil-
minded girl ; and when night came, and the mental and bodily
beauty of her daughter shifted about again, the sorrow of her
heart overflowed, ane she spoke to her with warm and
anxious words.
= The erim toad with the troll’s body stood before her, and
_ fastened its brown sorrowful eyes upon her anddlistened, and seemed
to comprehend with a human intelligence. .
“Never, not even to my husband, have I raed my tongue
to tell my double SOrrow concerning thee,†said the Viking’s wife ;
“there is more pity in my heart for thee than I myself fancied.
Great is a mother’s love, but love has never entered into thy mind.
Thy heart is like a cold peat chump. Whence hast thou come into
my house?†— : *
Then the pitiable shape trembled strangely, and it was as
though the words touched an invisible bond between body and soul,
and there were big tears in its eyes. |
“Thine evil°times will come one day,†a the Viking’s wife,
and it will be terrible then for me, too. Better far hadst thou been
exposed as a child on the highway, ara the night chill had lulled
thee to death.†And the Viking’s wife wept many salt tears, and
: departed, wrathful and sore troubled, behind the loose skin curtain
which hung over the beams and.divided the room.
Alone in the corner crouched the toad all of a heap ; it was
speechless, but after a little while a half-stifled sigh escaped it;
WJ
146 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
‘twas as though, in its affliction, a new life had been born in a
corner of its heart. At last: it took a step forwards listened, and
then took another step, and now it fumbled with its helpless hands at
the heavy bolt which had been shot forward to hold the door ; softly
_ it pushed it back, silently it drew out the pin which had been stuck
in over the latch ; it grasped the lighted lamp which stood in the
ante-chamber as though a will stronger than its own gave it
the power ; it dragged the iron peg out of the closed trap-door, and
crept stealthily down to the captive. He was sleeping ; it touched
him with its cold clammy hand, and when he awoke and saw the
hideous shape, he shuddered as though it was an evil dream. It drew
out its knife, cut his bonds in twain, and beckoned to him
to follow.
He named the Holy Name, made: the sign of the cross, and
as the shape still stood unaltered before him, he used the words of
the Bible : “‘ Blessed is he who careth for the poor and needy, the
~ Lord shall deliver him in the day of trouble.’ Who art thou ?
Wherefore hast thou the outward form. of a beast, and art yet full of
mercy and loving kindness ?†oe
The toad-shape Becloned and led him behind protecting
einen by a lonesome passage to the stables, and pointed to a
horse ; he sprang upon it, but she also set herself in front, and held
on to the beast’s mane. ‘The captive understood her, and at a rapid
pace they rode along a way which he would never have found by
‘himself out upon the open heath. He forgot her hideous shape; lie
understood that the grace and compassion of the Lord were working
through this hobgoblin, and he prayed pious prayers and sang holy
songs. And there she sat and trembled—was it, perhaps, the might
THE MARSH KINGS DAUGHTER. 147
of the prayers and hymns ?—or was it a cold shivering fit, a
foretaste of the chill morning now nigh at hand? What was going
on within her? She raised herself high in the air—she would have
stopped the horse and sprang down, but the Christian priest held
her fast with all his might, and sang aloud a hymn, as, perchance,
being able to break the spell which held her bound in this hideous
toad-shape ; and the horse dashed still more wildly forward, the sky
grew red, the first sunbeam pierced ‘through the clouds, and in’ that
bright flood of light the transformation came to pass. She was once
again the young ‘beauty with the demoniacal, evil mood ; he held the
loveliest. young woman in his arms, and, terrified thereat, sprang
down from his horse and stopped it, fancying that he had now to deal
~ with yet another mischievous magic spell ; but young Helga sprang
~ down from the horse at the same moment, -her short child’s-shift
scarcely reached down to her knee; she tore her sharp knife from
her belt, and rushed ‘upon the astonished priest. “Let me only get
at thee!†cried she. “ Let me only get at thee, and my knife shall
play havoe with thee, thou pale face, thou slave, thou beardless
wretch ! †:
She: pressed hard upon tae and a severe struggle began ; but it
was as though an invisible power strengthened the hands of the
’ Christian man ; he held her fast, and the old oak-tree hard by came
to his help, for, with its roots half loosened from the earth, it caught.
her feet as they slipped underneath them. Close by bubbled a
- spring ; he sprinkled her over the face and breast with the fresh
stream, bade the unclean spirit come out of her, and signed her after
‘the Christian practice. —More than human might lay in this action
wrought against the striving force of evil. It seemed to overpower
148 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
her, she let her arms drop down and gazed with wondering looks
and blanching cheeks at this man who seemed to her a mighty
magician strong in sorcery and the occult art. Surely ‘twas dark
runes that he was reciting, mystic signs he was tracing in the air !
She would not so much have blinked’an eye had he whirled against
her the sharp dagger or the glittering axe, but she did so when he
made the sign of the crogs on her breast and forehead; she gat there
THE MARSH KINGS DAUGHTER. 149
like a tame bird with her head bowed upon her breast. He spoke
gently to her of the act of mercy she had done to him that night
when she came to him in the hideous toad-skin and loosed his bonds
and brought him into life and light ; she also was bound, he said,
bound in straiter bonds than he, but she also, through him, should
come to life and light. He would bring her to Hedeby, to St.
Ansgar; there, in the Christian city, the enchantment would be.broken.
But he dared no longer carry her on the horse: in, front: of chim.
‘Behind must thou sit—not in front of me! Thy: magic beauty has
power from the evil one. I fearit!†He bowed his knee and: prayed
devoutly with all his heart. It was as though the hushed solitude of.
the woods was thereby consecrated and became. a holy church ; the
birds began to sing as if they belonged to the new. communion 5 . the
wild mints exhaled their fragrance as if they would supply the place
of ambergris and incense ; and in a loud voice: the young priest: pro-
claimed the words of Scripture : ““ The Dayspring 4 from. on mel hath
visited us, to lighten them that sit in darkness and: +)
death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace,†,
And he talked about all nature groaning: an availing, and
while he spoke the horse which had borne them “along? im mad cdvéer
stood still and shook and pulled the Jarge blackberry ‘branches so
that the ripe juicy berries fell down upon Helga’s hand, thus invit-
ing her to refresh herself.
She let herself quite patiently be lifted on to the horse’s back,
where she sat like a sleep-walker who wakes not and yet does not
walk. The Christian man bound together two branches with a
wisp of bast into the form of a cross, and this he held in his hand ;
and so they rode through the wood, which grew thicker and thicker,
ora Nt da
_ 150 HANS ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES.
and the road went deeper down till there was no more road at all.
The blackthorn bush became a barricade, they had to make a circuit
round it; the spring became not a running brook, but a stagnant
quagmire, they had to make a circuit round it. Health and refresh-
ment lay in the fresh sylvan air, nor was there less of power in the
words of meekness uttered in faith and Christian charity, in the
intimate longing to bring back the possesséd one to life and light.
The raindrop, they say, hollows the hard stone; the waves of the
sea, in time, make the rent and jagged rock-stones quite round and
~ smooth; and the dew of grace which stole down upon little Helga
hollowed her hardness and rounded off her sharpness. It was to
be known indeed by no outward sign, she knew not of it herself:
what does the tender shoot that sprouts from the soil in the midst
of the quickening moisture and the warm sunshine know of the
plant. and the flower it conceals within it? Just as the mother’s
song imperceptibly lays hold of the child’s senses, and it babbles
forth single words without understanding them, but these same
words afterwards collect together. into ideas, and in time become
clearer and clearer, so in like manner was the operaiiee of the
mighty creative word.
They rode out of the wood over te heath, and then again
| through pathless woods, and towards evening eRe. fell in with
robbers.
“Where have you been couse that pretty baby ?†aia they,
and stopped the horse and tore the two riders rae his back, for
they were many. The only weapon of the priest was the knife
which jie hed taken from little Helga, and with this he cut and
thrust as best he could. One of the robbers swung his axe,
_ THE MARSH KING'S DAUGHTER. 151
but the young Christian man happily sprang aside, or he would
have been struck down; but the edge of the axe went deep into
the horse’s neck, so that the blood streamed out and the beast fell
to the earth. Then little Helga awoke, as it were, from her long fit
of pensiveness, and cast herself wpon the gasping beast ; the Christian
priest placed himself in front of her to be her watch and ward ; but
one of the robbers swung his iron hammer against-his forehead and
crushed it so that the blood and brains spurted- round about—
down to the ground he fell dead.
The robbers seized little Helga by her white arm; the same
instant the sun went down, the last sunbeam went out, and
Helga was changed into a hideous toad: her whitish-green mouth
_ reached half across her face, her arms became thin and slimy, a
broad hand with a webbed membrane spread out like a fan. Then
the terrified robbers let her go; she stood amongst them like a
hideous beast, and, as is the nature of toads, she hopped high into
the air, higher than her own stature, and-disappeared in the thicket.
‘Then the robbers perceived that it was an evil trick of Loke’s, or
secret magic, and they hastened from the spot in terror.
The full moon had already risen, soon her light and splendour
spread over all, and forth from the brushwood, in the disgusting
shape of a toad, crept little Helga. She stopped by the corpse of
the Christian priest and by his slain charger, she looked upon
them with eyes that seemed to weep; the toad’s head gave a squeak
like a child about to burst into tears. First she threw herself upon
one and then upon the other, took water in her hand, which the
sera cet temas te ii ted Sina ate, ian lh esaenien ins i ETT
152 : HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
webbed epernbenue made larger and more hollow, and poured it over
them. Dead they were, and dead they would remain ; that she
‘understood. Soon the wild beasts would come and eat their bodies.
No, it must not be so; therefore she digged in the earth as deeply
as she could; she would dig one grave for them both, but all she
had to dig with was a strong branch of a tree and her two hands,
but they had webbed membrane between the fingers ; it split, and
the blood came. She then understood that she could not succeed
with this sort of work, so she took water and washed the face of the
dead man, covered it with fresh green leaves, brought large branches
: and laid them over him, and shook down leaves in between; then
she took the heaviest stones she could lift, laid them over the dead
bodies, and stopped up all the crevices with moss ; then she believed
that the funereal mound was strong and sure enough. But during
this heavy work the night was far advanced; the sun burst forth,
and little Helga stood“there in all her loveliness, with bleeding
hands and with tears for the first time on her blushing virginal
cheeks. And it was in this transformation that the two natures
-strove together within her; she shivered and looked around her
as if awakened from a frightful dream, rushed towards the slender
beech-tree, and in the twinkling of an eye had clambered up to the
top of it like a cat, and clung fast to it; she sat there like a scared
squirrel, sat the livelong day in the deep sylvan solitude, where
all is so still and dead, as people. say. Dead, indeed, when a pair
of summer birds, billing or bickering, fly by every moment ; when
close beside the tree are so many ant-hills where hundreds. of ~
hard-working little creatures are constantly swarming backwards
and forwards; when countless swarms of midges are dancing in the
THE MARSH KING'S DAUGHTER. _ 158
air ; when crowds of buzzing flies, dragon flies, and other tiny
winged creatures are darting by; when the earth-worm creeps out
“of the wet soil, and the moles shoot up their mounds ?—yes, if
you leave out all this, it is indeed silent and dead in the woods,
as dead as people say and think it is! Nobody took any notice
of little Helga except the jays who flew shrieking about the top
of the tree where she sat, and hopped along the branches towards
her with audacious inquisitiveness. A single blink of her eye was
sufficient to drive them away again, but they could make nothing
of her at all, nor was she any the wiser about herself.
When the evening was nigh, and the sun began to sink, the
transformation process summoned her to fresh activity. She let
herself glide down the tree, and by the time the last sunbeam
had gone out she sat there in the shrunken shape of a toad, with
the webbed membrane of her hands all torn and bleeding; but her
eyes now shone with a lustre of loveliness which they had scarcely
ever possessed in her beauty shape ; the meekest, mildest maiden-
eyes sparkled from behind the hideous toad-mask, witnesses to deep
thought and human feeling. Those beautiful eyes now burst
into tears, they wept those heavy tears which give the
heart relief, ae ee
By the side of the newly raised grave still lay the cross of
branches tied together with bands of bast, the last work of him who
was now dead and gone. Little Helga took it, and—the thought
came of itself—planted it among the stones above him, and
the-horse that had been slain with him. At this woeful remem-
brance her tears burst forth afresh, and: while in this frame of mind
she scratched the same symbol in the ground round about the
* i 2 ; = Xs
1 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
grave ; 1b made such a pretty border; and then, whilst with both
hands she was thus scratching the sign of the cross, the webbed
membrane fell from off her hands like a torn glove, and as she
now washed herself in the water of the spring, and looked in wonder
at her fine white hands, she again made the sign of the cross in
the air between herself and the dead man, and then her lips:
trembled, her tongue was loosed, and the Name she had heard said
and: sung so often during her ride through the woods came plainly
from her mouth, and she said it: “Jesus Christ !†Then the toad-
“skin fell to the ground, and she was the young loveliness once more ;
but her head hung wearily down, her limbs sorely needed repose—
she slept. —
; But her slumber was short ; att midnight she was awakened ;
before her stood the dead horse, -so. dazzling, so refulgent, light ~
shone from its eyes and from its wounded neck. Close beside it
“appeared the murdered Christian priest; “more beautiful than
Baldur,†the Viking’s wife would have said; and yet he, too, seemed
all aflame. |
‘There was a solemnity i in the large mild eyes, a oor of
righteous judgment so penetrating that it shone right into the
‘inmost recesses of the novice’s heart. Little Helga trembled, and
- her memory was awakened with an intensity such as will be on
_ the Day of Doom. ‘All the good things that had been vouchsafed
“0 her, every kind word that had been said to her, took bodily
‘shape, as it- were. She understood now that it was love which
had upheld her in those days of trial, in which the elements of
‘spirit and of earth. had quickened and striven together; she
recognised that she had only obeyed the promptings of ee
- THE MARSH KINGS DAUGHTER. ; 155
moods, and had done nothing of herself; everything had been
given to her, and in. everything she had been led. Humble,
puny, and abashed, she bowed herself before Him who must needs
be able to read every corner of the heart, and the same moment
she felt, like a lightning-gleam of purifying flame, the glow of
the Holy Spirit.
“Thou daughter of the mire,†said the Christian priest, “ from
7
mire, from ea hast thou come, and from earth shalt thou arise
again! The sunbeam within thee shall go back fully conscious
- to its source, not the beam from the solar body, but the beam
from God! I come from the land of the Dead; thou also shalt
journey one day through the deep valley into the bright moun-
tain country where Grace and Perfection dwell. I lead thee not
to Hedeby for baptism ; first thou must burst asunder the water-
shield of the deep morass, drag up the living root that has been
thy life and thy cradle, and do. thy work before consecration
can come !â€
And he lifted. her 1 up on the horse, handen her a golden
- censer like the one she had seen before in the Viking’s stronghold
—and, oh, what a sweet and strong fragrance came from it! The —
gaping wound on the forehead of the murdered man shone like
a dazzling diadem ; he took the cross up from the grave, lifted it - -
on high, and now, away they went through the air, away over
the rustling woods, away over the mounds where the buried heroes
were sitting. on their slain chargers; and the mighty shapes
_ arose, and rode forth to the summit of their mounds.
The broad. gold circlets with the gold knobs sparkled in the
"moonlight round their vemples, and their ‘capes fluttered in the
156 - HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
breeze, The dragons that brood over hidden treasures lifted en
heads and looked after them. The. elfin nation peeped forth
_ from the mounds and furrows, they swarmed about with red,
blue, and green lights, like sparks in the ashes of smouldering
paper. . .
Away over wood and heath, rivers and occ they flew up
towards Wild Moss ; over it they swept in wide circles. The
Christian priest lifted the cross on high, it shone like gold, and
from his lips sounded the chant. of the Mass. Little Helga. sang,
too, like the child singing to her mother’s song; she swung the -
: censer, and there came from it, as it were, the fragrance from
some holy altar, so strong and efficacious that the reeds and
rushes of the morass burst into bloom; all the plant germs shot
_up from the deep bottom, all that had life lifted itself up. A
bloom of water- hls, like an embroidered carpet, extended itself
over the waters, and on it lay a sleeping woman, young and.
lovely. Little Helga thought she saw- herself, thought she saw
her own reflection in the still water ; but it was her mother
she saw, the Marsh King’s consort, the Princess from the waters
of the Nile.
- The dead Christian priest ee that the sleeper should
be lifted upon. the horse, but it sank beneath the burden as if its
body were only a winding-sheet ; but the sign of the cross made
the aérial phantom strong, and all three rode along towards the
solid ground. ie
Then | the cock in “the Viking’s Mronbhold crowed, and the
phantoms: dissolved into a mist which the wind carried away,. and .
now mother and daughter stood face to face.
‘THE MARSH KING'S DAUGHTER. 157
“It is myself I see in the deep water,†said the mother.
“Tt is myself I see in the bright shield,†exclaimed the daughter,
and they drew nearer to each other till they were breast to breast,
bosom to bosom; the mother’s heart beat the strongest, and she
knew the reason. “My child ! my own heart’s flower! my lotus
from the deep water !†And she embraced her child and
wept; her tears were a new life’s experience, love’s baptism for
little Helga. .
“T came hither in swanskin, and cast it off,†said the mother.
-“T. sank through the swaying weeds deep down into the mire _
‘of the morass, which closed in round about me like a wall; but
-goon I felt a fresher current; a hidden force dragged me down
deeper, ever deeper ; I felt the pressure of sleep on my eyelids,
I slept, I dreamed a dream—it seemed to me as if I lay again |
in the pyramids of Egypt ; but the swaying alder-trunk which
had so frightened me on the surface of the water still stood
before me. I regarded the refts in the bark, and they shone »
forth in colours and became hieroglyphics—it was a mummy-case
I was looking at; it burst, and forth from it came the millennial
potentate, a mummy-shape as black. as pitch, gleaming black as
the wood-snail, or as fat black mire; whether it was the Marsh
King or the mummy of the pyramids, I .know not. He wound
_ his arms around me, and it was as though I must die. Something
warm upon my breast first brought me back to life again, and
I saw that it was a little bird which sat there singing and
twittering and. flapping its wings. It flew away from my breast
right up into the dark heavy ceiling; but a long green ribbon
bound it to me still I heard and understood the tones of
158 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. .
its deep longing: freedom, sunshine, to Father! Then I thought
of my own father, my life, my love, in the sunny land of my
home, and I loosened the band and let it flutter away—away
‘home to my father. Ever since that. hour I have dreamed no
more ; I slept a sleep so long and heavy till this very hour
when strange tones and odours lifted and loosed me.â€
And that green ribbon reaching from the heart of the mother
to the wing of the bird, where was it fluttering now, or whither
had it been cast aside? Only the stork had seen it; that ribbon
was the green stalk, its bow was that shining flower which had
been the cradle of the child who had grown up in -loveliness,
and now rested once more on its mother’s breast. And whilst
they stood there in each other's arms, the stork-father flew in
circles round them, and then, flying swiftly to his nest, “fetched
the swanskins which had been hidden there so many years, cast
down one upon each of them, and it closed around them, and they
rose up into the air as two white swans.
© And TOW, let us talk a bit,†said the stork-father. “ Now
we understand each other’s language, although one bird’s beak is
fashioned differently from another's. What a good job that you.
have joined us to-night. I could not possibly have fallen out
better. To-morrow, mother and I and the: youngsters must be of.
We are going to fly southwards. Yes, you may well look at me!
I am a very old friend of yours from the land. of the Nile; and _
this is mother, her heart is softer than her cackle! ‘She always
thought that the Princess would be able to look after herself.
"Twas I and the youngsters who carried the swanskins all the’ way
up here. Well, now! I am glad. And what a lucky thing it is
THE MARSH KING'S DAUGHTER. 159
that I am here still When the day dawns, we shall be off.
There'll be lots of stork society. We fly in front, just you keep
close behind, and you won't lose your way. Besides, the youngsters
and I will keep an eye upon you, too.â€
“And the lotus flower I was to bring with me,†said
the Egyptian Princess, “does it not fly in swanskin by
my side? I have with me my own heart’s flower! Thus
it is then that the problem has been solved! Homewards |
~ Homewards !â€
But Helga said that she could not quit the Danish land till she
had seen her foster-mother, the kind-hearted Viking’s wife, once
more. very loving word that her foster-mother had spoken, every
tear she had wept, rose up in Helga’s thoughts as a sweet
remembrance, and at that moment it was as though she almost
loved that other mother the best.
“Yes,†said the stork-father, “we must go to the Viking’s
house, mother and the youngsters are waiting for us there, I know.
How they will roll their eyes, and let their clappers go! Yes,
mother indeed does not say much! She is curt and pithy, and
means more than she cares to show. Vl spring a rattle, that
they may hear us coming.†So the stork-father sprang a rattle
with his beak, and he and the swans flew towards the ‘Viking’s
dwelling. s :
There every one lay in deep slumber. Only late at night had
the Viking’ s wife got any rest. She lay there full of anxiety for |
her little Helga, who had now disappeared for three whole days
at the Christian priest. She must have helped him away, it was
her horse which was missing from the stable. What power could
160 - es HANS ANDERSEN’S FAIRY’ TALES.
have brought all this about? The Viking’s wife thought of the
miracles which were said to have been worked by the White Christ,
_ and by those who believed on Him, and followed Him. These
‘shifting thoughts took shape in vivid dreams. -It seemed to her ag
though she still sat awake and thoughtful on her bed, and darkness :
brooded over all outside. The storm came, she heard the rolling of
the sea, east and west, from the North Sea and from the
waters of the Cattegat. The monstrous serpent which spans the
earth round in the depths of ocean shook convulsively. The night |
of the gods, Ragnarok as the heathen calls it, Was nigh at hand
the last time when. all things—nay, the high gods themselves—
shall perish. The horn of doom resounded, and away over the
rainbow bridge rode the gods, clad in steel, to fight the last fight.
Before them flew the winged shield-maideus,’ and the shapes of
dead heroes closed up the rearmost ranks. The whole sky around
shone as with the radiance of the northern lights, but the
darkness was to prevail. That was a tremendous hour.
And close beside the agonised Viking’s wife sat little Helga in |
the hideous toad- -shape: she, too, was trembling and crouching up
close to her foster-mother, who took her upon her lap and held her
fast in loving embrace, despite the hideousness of the toad-skin.
‘The’ air resounded. with the din of swords and battle-axes and
hissing darts, as if a raging hailstorm was passing over them. The
time had come when earth and heaven must fail, the stars fall, and
everything perish in the fire of Surtur; but. a new earth and a
new heaven were to come, that she knew: the billowy corn would
_ wave where the sea now rolled over ‘the golden sands ; the
-1 The Amazons of Northern Ee
THE MARSH KING’s DAUGHTER. 161
unnamable God was to reign, and Baldur was to rise
up and sit beside him—Baldur. the mild and gentle, ransomed
from the realm of death: And he came; the Viking’s
wife saw | him, she recognised his face: “twas the captive
Christian priest. — |
“White Christ!†she ance aloud, and as she named that
name. she impressed a kiss on the hideous toad-child’s forehead ;
then the toad-skin fell off, and little Helga stood before her in all
her beauty, with beaming eyes, and gentle as she had never been
before : she kissed her foster-mother’s hands, blessed her for all the
care and tenderness she had shown to her in her days
of trouble and trial, thanked her for the thoughts she had
planted and awakened within her, thanked her for naming
_ that Name which she herself repeated. “White Christ !â€
she said, and little Helga arose like a mighty swan, and
her ample. wings spread out with a rushing sound as when
the birds of passage depart in their hosts. The Viking’s wife
awoke at the sound, and outside the same strong wing-strokes
resounded ; it was the time, she knew, for the storks to fly away—
it was they whom she had heard. She felt she would like to see
them once more before their departure, and bid them farewell ; so
she got up and went out upon the balcony, and then she saw on the
ridge of the roof stork upon stork, and round about the court, away
over the tall trees, flew flocks and flocks in wide circles ; but right .
in front of her, on. the edge of the well, where little Helga had sat so
often and scared her with her savage ways, two swans now sat,
and looked at her with such wise human eyes; and she remembered
her dream, it still possessed her as if it were: absolutely a reality.
: avi : Y
162. HANS ANDERSEN’S. FAIRY TALES.
She thought of little Helga in’ the ‘swan-shape, ~ she ‘thought.
of the Chistian priest, and all at once-she felt eeesy happy
at heart. ae :
The. Swans smote with their wings a bowed their necks as if
they also would greet her, and the Viking’s wife. spread out. her
arms towards them; as if. she understood it all, and. onany were her
thoughts as she smiled through her ‘teara. : |
Then with a noise of’ strong pinions and a loud cackling, all
the storks rose in the, air to travel southwards.
“We won't wait for the swans,†said the stork-mother ; “if
they want to ‘come: let them come at once!. We can’t stick here
till the crumb-birds* are ready to. go! There is something. very
nice, I think, in travelling all together in families ; not like the
chaffinches and the ruffs and reeves do, the cocks all flying by
themselves, and the hens by shemselves—which, to speak ‘plainly,
is scarcely becoming. And then, too, what a peculiar flight these
swans have !.†- oe ss pues =
“Every one flies his own way,†said the stork-father ;. “ the
swans go aslant, the cranes triangularly, and the. crumb-birds in
serpentine lines.†:
“Don’t mention anything about serpents when we are flying
7 up yonder!†said the stork-mother ; “it only gives the youngsters
— longings that cannot be. gratified.†: :
“ Are those things down there the lofty.mountains I have so
often heard about?†asked little Helga, in swanskin. ee
1 Birds that feed on crumbs, and thérefore presumably inferior to the
serpent-eating storks—from the. storks’. point of view, .
-THE MARSH KING'S DAUGHTER, 168
"They are the thunderclouds driving along beneath us,’ ee
her mother. ;
‘ “© What-are those white clouds that. raise. ihemeeless so high ?â€
saknd Helga. ;
Tis the mountains with their’ eyeenns a snow that you see,’
ad her mother, and they flew over the Alps down towards the
blue- -glancing Mediterranean. :
“ Africa's land, Egypt's strand!†joyously cried the daughter
of the Nile, in her swan-shape, as she viewed from the aérial
_ heights the narrow, whitish-yellow strip which she knew to be her
native land. The birds also saw it, and hastened their flight. “I
smell the Nile mud and wet frogs,†said the stork-mother. “TI
~ regularly tingle ! ' Yes, now you shall taste something worth
- having !—and you shall see Marabu, Ibis, and Traner, they all
belong to the family, but are not: nearly so handsome as we
are; they give themselves airs though, especially Ibis; he has been
: “quite spoiled by the Egyptians, they have made a mummy of him
and stuffed him with spices. Personally, I would rather be stuffed
with living frogs, and I dare say you think go too, and so you shall:
be! Better: something in one’s crop while one lives, than to be all:
pomp and. splendour when one is dead. That is my opinion, and
my opinion is always the right one!†a
“Now the storks have come!†they said in the rich house by
the banks of the Nile, where, in the open hall, on the soft couch,
_ covered. with leopard-skin, the royal. master lay stretched at
full. length, not.’ living nor ‘yet dead, hoping for the. lotus.
- and: there stood two ‘beaatifal women, as like unto. one ‘another Bs
pe him in til
as well, but there. the j joy ¥ W.
eee | aN EU a
=
s Hower can, tthe: deep†Norte ‘naw “Kinsmen. ‘and: henchmen see
oe around him. re oo o ee ee aa
“And. into’ the hall flew: two eplendid hile! swains ; ay: fd pics
come with the storks. ‘They cast. off their dazaling feather-skins, ae
ee drops of dew; _they bowed. their heads: over. ‘the pale, withered . : -
old man, they flung back their long hair, and while little Helga was
S bending over her grandfather, his : cheeks grew red, ‘his eyes |
brightened, and ‘life came hack to. the stiffened limbs. The old.
man atose hale: and young Seger and Bendilesetier :
And, there was joy in a} nd In. thes swans’ ie nest
the good food, the
swarms and swarms of frogs
haste to note down some reason
Princesses and of the’ health-
event and blessing, both public’
ons:of the story of the
ik-parents told the _
same tale, their own way, to
all: well filled, for, as. a rule, ‘they
listen’ to stories.
not till they were
“Now you'll become somebody, dy whispered Hie. oe :
mother, ‘ ‘or else [’m- very. much Teele Jee
“What should I become ? me said the stork father: “and a a
. fave I done to deserve itt Nothing ee
ee You have done 3 more Shani all the ‘Sthiets: pub together. ‘But oe
for roe and: ihe children, the two Princesses would never have seen ae
learned men’ ‘made
1 was such a great
166 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
the land of Egypt again and made the old man night. You'll be
somebody, I say i Vou will certainly get a Doctor’s degree, and
our children will inherit it after us, and their children after them.
Why, i look like an eee Doctor ya least in
my eyes.â€
The scribes and the sages developed the fundamental idea, as
they called it, which was at the bottom of the whole event: “ Love
_ begets life!†and they explained it in various ways: “The warm
sunbeam was the Egyptian Princess ; she went down to the Marsh
King, and from their union the flower sprang forth-—— â€.
“T cannot repeat the words exactly,†said the stork- father, who
had heard it all from the roof of the house, and was called upon to
explain it in the nest; .“ “what they said was so. involved... _At the _
same time, it was so very learned that they immediately got pro-
motion and presents; even the head cook got a great mark of
distinction—if was for the soup, I should fancy !†ie
~“ And what did you get?†asked the stork-mother ; “ they
should not forget the most important one of all; and that is you!
The learned men have only cackled a bit all tena Depend upon
it, your turn will come!â€
Late .at night, when the repose of slumber rested upon the
newly-blessed house, there. was one who still lay awake, and it was
not the stork-father, although he stood up in the nest on guard on
one leg in his sleep—no! ! it was little Helga who was watching,
leaning over the balcony and looking up into the clear sky at the
large bright stars; stars so much larger, and of a purer lustre,
than those she had seen in the North, and yet the same stars. She
thought of the Viking’s wife by the Wild Moss; she thought of
THE MARSH KINGS DAUGHTER. 167
her foster-mother’s gentle eyes, of the tears she had wept over the
poor toad-child, who now stood in the beautiful vernal air, by the
waters of the Nile, in pomp and starry splendour. She thought of
the love in the heathen woman’s breast, the-love she had. shown to
a wretched creature who in human skin was an evil beast, and in
beast-skin was loathsome both to sight and touch. She looked at
the glittering stars, and called to mind the radiance that streamed
from the foreheads of the dead as they flew away over wood and
moor; her memory gave back to her, like sweet tones, the words
she had heard as they had ridden along, and she had sat like one
possessed—words concerning the great origin of love, the highest
love which embraces all generations, _
Yes, what had not been given, won, attained! Alike by day
and by night little Helga’s mind pondered over the sum of her
good fortune, the sum of her many rare gifts, and. she stood in its
-contemplation like the child who turns impetuously from the. giver
to the gift; she was merged, as it were, in the overflowing
_blissfulness which she knew might and would ‘come to’ her.
Veritable miracles had borne her onwards to still higher’ heights of
"joy and happiness, and the time came when she so completely lost
_ herself in their contemplation that she thought no longer of the
Giver. It was the hardy self-sufficiency of youth, her eyes
~ quite “aparkled with it; but she was: suddenly awakened from
her reverie by a loud uproar in the court-yard beneath her. She
saw there two mighty ostriches running rapidly about in narrow
circles ; never before had she seen this animal, which was so large
for a bird, so. heavy and clumsy ; their wings looked as if they were -
clipped, the bird itself as if it had been injured, and she asked
168 _-HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
what was the matter with it, and so » learnt, for the first time, the
legend of the ostrich as the Egyptians tell it.
Once the ostrich race was handsome, and. its. wings large and :
strong. One evening the mighty fowls of the forest said to it,
“ Brother, shall we go to-morrow to the river to drink if it be God’s
will?†.And the ostrich answered, ‘I go because it’ is my will!â€
At dawn of day they set off, and Hew high up towards the sun,
which is God’s eye; higher and higher they went, and the ostrich
a long way in front ‘of all the. others; it flew in its pride right
towards the light; it trusted in its own strength, not in the Giver
of that strength; it did not say, “ If God will†Then the
chastising angel drew away the veil from the flaming glory of the
sun; and in an instant the bird’s wings were consumed, and it sank
miserably. to the earth. The ostrich, therefore, will never be able
to rise in the air, but flits about like a scared thing, rushing
round. and round. within. a narrow compass; .and this is a
reminder to us men in ae our sae and actions to say,
“Tf God will.†| -
And Helga dioaghtfally bowed her Tee Teoked at the antic
ostrich, saw its.terror, saw its stupid delight at the sight of its own
‘huge shadow.on the white walls, and a solemn awe took deep root
in her heart and mind. A life so rich, so full to overflowing with
happiness had been given—now, what would come of it, what
would be the end of it? It rou be all for the best, “if God so —
willed.†a
In the caus spring, when the storks were again ahout to set
off northwards, little Helga took off her golden bracelet, scratched .
her name upon it, beckoned to the stork-father, put the gold circlet
Cyel
B,
i
ite
8
ao) | HANS ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES.
round -his neck, and bade him give it to the Viking’s wife. She
would then understand that her foster-daughter was alive and
happy and had not forgotten her. |
“Tt is.a good weight to carry,†said the stork-father, when he
got it round his neck; “but gold and OA are things which
may not be lightly chucked away on the high road, and a stork-
méssenger brings good luck.â€
“You deposit gold and I deposit eggs !†said the stork- mother ;
“but you deposit only once in your life, I do so every year—but
nobody appreciates us. ‘Tt is a great shame.â€
“But you've the consciousness of a good deed, mother,†said
the stork-father, : 5
i: You can’t live upon that,†said the stork-mother ; “it gives
“neither a full meal nor a fair wind. So off = flew.
The little nightingale that sang in the tamarind-bush was also
going north very shortly ; little Helga had frequently heard it up
there by the Wild Moss; she wanted to send a message by it, too.
She knew the language of birds; from the time when she had
flown in swan-skin, she had often spoken with stork and swallow.
The nightingale would be sure to understand her; so she bade it
fly to the beech-grove in the Jutland peninsula, where the funeral
"mound of stones and branches had been raised, and she bade it beg
all the little birds to keep watch and ward round the grave, and
sing a song there over and over again.
And the nightingale flew away—and time flew away likewise.
The eagle stood on the pyramid and saw in the fall of the
THE MARSH KINGS DAUGHTER. 171
year a . stately caravan oe richly. laden camels, with gorgeously
‘arrayed men, well-armed, on snorting Arab horses, shining
white as silver, and with red, quivering nostrils, and large and
thick mains hanging down around the finely tapering legs. Rich
guests were they. A royal prince from the land of Arabia,
handsome, as a Prince ought to be, was about to enter that proud
house where the stork’s nest now stood empty ; the dwellers in that
nest were now far away in the North country, but they were soon
to be back. And they came back on the very day when joy and
mirth were at their highest. It was a splendid wedding-feast
they were celebrating, and little Helga was the bride, clad in silk
and jewels; the bridegroom was the young Prince from the land of
Arabia; and they sat at the head of the table, between the mother
and the grandfather.
But she looked not upon the ee soa swarthy, manly
cheek, with its curling black beard; she looked. not upon his dark
flashing eyes, which were fixed upon her; she gazed forth up
towards the twinkling, sparkling star which shone down upon them
from the sky. :
Then came a rustling sound of strong wings in the air outside
—the storks were coming back; and the old stork-couple, tired as
they were from their long journey, and much in need of rest,
nevertheless -flew straight down upon the railings near the
verandah. They knew very well what manner of festival it
was. Already on the frontier they had heard that little Helga
had had them painted on the wall, for, they belonged to
her story. i |
“Tt is very nice of her,†said the stork-father.
“72 . - HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
lt is very little,†said the stork-mother ;. “ indeed, it could
not very well be less.†|
- And when Helga saw them, she arose ats went out on to the
verandah to meet them and clap them on the back. The old
stork-couple bowed their necks,-and the youngsters looked on,
and felt themselves honoured. And Helga looked up to the.
glittering star, which shone more and more clearly, and between
it and her moved a shape purer even than that pure air, and
therefore visible; it swept quite close to her—it was the dead
Christian priest ; he, too, had come to her bridal feast from the —
very kingdom of Heaven. a
“The glory and splendour there oeoeees everything known on
earth !†said he..
Anal Maule Helga, prayed. more earnestly, more feelingly than
she had ever prayed before, that she might peep into the Kingdom
of Heaven if only for a minute.- And he lifted her up into the
glory and splendour in a stream of thoughts and tones ; it was not
only outside her that it shone and sounded, but within her also.
Words could not express ‘It.
“Now you must go back—you will be needs !â€. said he.
“Only one more look!†said she—“ only a single‘short minute!â€
“ We must back to earth! All the guests are departing.â€
a Only a look, the last!â€
And little Helga again stood upon the verandah ; but all ie
torches outside were ‘extinguished, all the lights in the bride-
chamber had gone out; the storks too were gone; not a guest was
to be seen; no bridegroom—everything as if blown away in three | —
short minutes.
‘THE MARSH KING'S DAUGHTER 173 ©
Then anguish fell upon little Helga, and she went through the
large empty halls into the. next chamber; foreign soldiers were
sleeping there. She opened the side-door which led into her own
_ room, and while she still thought she stood there, she was standing
outside in the garden—it was never like this before, the ey had a
reddish hue, it was near to dawn.
Only three minutes in heaven, and a whole earthly night had >
gone ! eae
Then she saw the -storks ; she called to them, spoke their
language, and the stork-father turned his head, listened, and drew
near to her. Tay
“You speak our language,†said he. “ What do you want ?
Why do you come here, you strange woman ? a
“Why, ‘tis I!—it is Helga! Don’t you know me? Three
minutes ago we were talking together over there in the verandah.â€
| “Quite a mistake!†said the stork ; “you have dreamt it all!â€
_ * No, no 1†said she, and she reminded him of the Viking’
fortress, and about the Wild Moss and the journey thither.
“Then the stork-father blinked his eyes. “ Why, that is an old
story. I have heard that it dates back to the time of my great,
great grandmother. “There was, it is true, such a Princess in Egypt
— who came from the Danish land, but she vanished on her bridal eve
| many centuries ago, and never came back again. You can read all
about it yourself on the monument in the garden. Don't you see
that both swans and storks are carved upon it, and you yourself
stand at the top in white merle ‘
_ So it was; little Helga saw it, understood it, and sank down
upon her knees.
174 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
The sun shone forth ; and just asin former times the frog-skin
fell before its rays, and the shape of loveliness became visible, so
now, in that baptism of light, a shape of beauty clearer and purer
than the sky ascended like a beam of, light to the Father.
The body sank down into the dust: there where she had stood
lay a withered lotus flower.
“That was quite a new ending to the story,†said the stork-
father; “I did not expect that; but I don’t at all dislike it.â€
“ But what will the children say to it, I should like to know?â€
asked the stork-mother.
“Yes,†replied the stork father, “that, after all, is the most
important thing.â€
THE SWINEHERD.
THERE was once a poor Prince : he had a kingdom, such a tiny
one, but it was big enough to marry upon, anyhow, and to marry
he was quite determined. Now, I must say it was pretty bold of
him to make up to the Emperor's daughter and say to her right
out, “ Will you have me?†and yet he did make bold to do so, for
his name was known far and wide, and there were hundreds of
Princesses who would’ have been very glad indeed to have said,
. “Thank you,†if they had been asked. But did the Emperor’s
daughter do so? Well, now, you shall hear.
On the grave of the Prince’s father grew a rose-tree—oh, such
a lovely rose-tree ! It blossomed. only once every five years, and
then only bore a single flower, but that was a rose which smelt so
sweet that by merely smelling it you forgot all your cares and
“sorrows. The Prince had also a nightingale which could sing as
though all the lovely songs in the world were in its little throat.
The Princess was to have both the rose and the nightingale, and
that is how it came about that they were both put into large silver
cases and sent to her.
176 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
‘The Emperor had them borne before him into the large room.
where the Princess used to walk and play at visitors with her
ladies ; in fact, they did nothing else; and when she saw the big
cases, with the presents in them, she clapped her hands for joy.
“Only fancy if it were a little pussy-cat!†said she. But it
turned out to bea beautiful Tose. :
“Well, now, how nicely it is made!†said all the Court ladies.
“Tt is more than nice,†said the Emperor. “It is genteel.â€
But the Princess felt the : rose, and immediately she was ready
to burst into tears.
“Fie! Papa,†said she; “ why, it is not artificial after all, it is
real !†.
“Fie!†said all the Court ladies ; “it Is real !†ue
“Let us first see what is in the other case before we get
angry,’ ’ said the Emperor, and so the nightingale was produced, and.
if sang so prettily that for the moment it was quite impossible to
find any fault with it: ,
: «“ Superbe ! Charmant!†said the Court aes for the whole
lot of them -jabbered French ; it was hard to say which of them
jabbered worse.
“How that bird reminds me of our late Empress’s musical-
box,†said an old courtier: “Ah, yes ! ’tis ae the same tune, and ;
the same time.â€
“Yes,†said the Emperor; and forthwith he wept like a child.
“ But I cannot believe that it is real,†said the Princess.
“Yes, "tis a real bird, †said they who brought it.
te.
“Indeed! then let it fly away!†said the Princess, and she
would on no account hear of the Prince coming to see her.
| ;
“THE SWINEHERD, - LG
But he was not to be rebuffed. He smeared his face all over.
with black and brown, pressed his'cap down over his eyes, and
knocked at the door. “Good day, Emperor!†said he. “Couldn’t
I take service in the palace here ?â€
“Well, there are so many applicants already,†said the
Emperor ; “but let me see, I very much ate some one who can
look after swine, for we've lots of them.†. And so the Prince was
appointed the Imperial swineherd. He got a wretched little shed
close by the pigsty, and there he had: to live; but the whole day
long he sat and worked, and by evening he had made a pretty
little pot, with bells all round it, and as soon as ever the
pot began to boil, the bells tinkled so prettily, and played
the old melody— :
2 ee “ Alas! thou darling Augustine |
It is all, all, all over now!â€
- But the best of it was that when one held one’s fingers in the steam
‘that came out of this pot, one could immediately smell what was
being cooked in every chimney in the town. Now, that was
certainly something very superior to a rose.
. And now the Princess came walking along with all her Court
ladies, and when she ‘heard the melody she stood stock still, and
was so delighted, for she also could play, “ Alas! thou darling
Augustine !†it was the only tune she knew, but she played it with
one finger. : .
“Vos,†she said, “that is the song that I can play. He must
indeed be an accomplished swineherd. Go in and ask him what the
instrument costs.†So one of the maids of honour had to tun into
the shed, but she put on pattens first.
178 HANS ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES.
“What do you want for that pipkin ?†asked the maid of
honour.
“T want ten kisses from the Princess,†said the swineherd.
“ Heaven preserve us!†said the maid of honour.
“Yes, I cannot take. less,†said the swineherd,
“ Well, what does he say ?†asked the Princess.
“T really cannot tell you,†said the maid of honour, “it is too
frightful !†|
“Then whisper it.†So she whispered.
“He is very naughty, really!†said the Princess, and turned
away at once; but when she had gone a little distance the bells
tinkled again so prettily :—
“ Ach, du lieber Augustin,
_ Alles ist veek, veek, veek | ee
“Listen now!†said the Princess, “ ask ce if he will take
ten kisses from one of my Court ladies.â€
“No, thank you !†said the swincherd ae ten ‘kisses from the
Princess, please, or I shall keep the pipkin !†| ;
“How very tiresome, to be sure!†said the Princess. “ Well,
then, stand: all of | you in front of me, so that nobody may
see ib!â€
And the aa! ie all ranged themselves in front of her
and spread out their dresses ; and so the swineherd got the ten
kisses, and-the Princess got the pipkin.
oe. And now they had indeed a merry time of it. All that. |
evening, and the whole-of the next day, the pipkin was kept
a-boiling.. There was not a chimney in the whole town but they
knew what was ‘being cooked there, whether it was the Lord—
180 HANS ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES.
Chamberlain’s or the cobbler’s: The Court ladies danced and
clapped their hands. = .
} “We know who is going to have sweet soup and pancakes for
dinner, and who is going to have chops and hasty-pudding. How
interesting that is!â€
“Most highly interesting!†said the Lady Sodas of the
Household. |
“Yes; but hold your tongues about it, for I am the Emperor’ 8
— daughter!†5 |
“Of course; of course!†said they all.
The swineherd, that is to say, the Prince—but they didn’t
know but what he was a real swineherd—let not a day pass by
without making something or other; and at last he made a
rattle, and when one sprang this rattle, one heard all the
waltzes, jigs, and polkas that ever were known from the creation
of the world.
“Why, that is superb !†said the Princess, as she passed by,
“JT have never heard such a beautiful composition! Listen now!
Just go in and ask him what the instrument costs. But mind, I'll
give no kisses !†3
: “He wants a hundred kisses from the Princess said the
maid of honour who had been in to ask.
ay think he is mad!†said the Princess; and she went on her
way, but when she had gone a little distance she stood stock still.
“ After all, one should encourage art,†said she. “I am the
Emperor's daughter. Tell him he shall have ten kisses, just, like
yesterday, the rest he must take from my Court ladies.â€
_ “But we don’t like to,†said the Court ladies,
| THE SWINEHERD. 181
“Fiddlesticks !†said the Princess. “If I may kiss him, you
may too. Remember, I give you board and wages!†so the maid of
honour had to go to him again. |
* A hundred kisses from the Princess,†said he, “or every one
keeps his own !†:
“Stand in front!†said the Princess, and so all the Court
ladies stood in front, and he up and kissed her.
“Why, what's the meaning of all that commotion by the
pigsty yonder?†said the Emperor, who had stepped out upon the
balcony ; and he rubbed his eyes, and put on his glasses. “‘ Why, if
it isn’t the Court ladies! They are playing some sort of game.
I must go down to them.†§o he put on his slippers, and
pulled them up behind, for they were shoes he had worn
down at heel.
By George ! what a hurry he was in.
As soon as he came down into the courtyard, he went very
softly, and the Court ladies had so much to do with counting the
kisses, so that it might be a perfectly fair bargain, and the
swineherd might not get too many or too few, that they absolutely
never observed the Emperor. He raised himself on tip-toe
“Why, what's this?†said he, when he saw them kissing, and with
that he beat them. about the head with his slipper just as the
swineherd had got his six-and-eightieth kiss. “Be off with you!â€
said the Emperor, for he was wrath, and both the Princess and the
swineherd were expelled from his domains. :
There she stood now a-weeping; the swineherd cursed and
the rain poured down in torrents.
182 HANS ANDERSEN'S: FAIRY TALES.
© Alas! wretched creature that I am!†said the Princess ;
“if only I had taken that nice prince! Alas! how miserable Tam!â€
_ And then the swineherd went behind a tree, wiped all the
black and brown from his face, pitched away his nasty clothes, and
stepped forward in his princely raiment, and so handsome he
looked that the Princess could not but curtsey. —
“T have come to scorn you, you creature, you!†said he.
“You wouldn’t have an honest Prince! You could not appreciate
roses and nightingales, but you could kiss the swineherd for a
trumpery toy! Take it, then, and much good may it do you !â€
And so-he returned to his realm, shut the door behind him,
and barred and bolted it, and she had now full leisure to stand
outside and sing :—
a ca Ach da ober Aueaeene
Alles ist vek, vek, veek!â€
“SHE'S GOOD FOR NOTHINGâ€!
THE Mayor stood by the open window; he was in his shirt
sleeves with a breast-pin in his shirt-frills and extraordinarily well-
shaved, his own handiwork; yet he had managed to give
himself a little cut and had pasted a bit of newspaper on the
top of it. ,
“T say, little one! Dy’e hear?†amed he.
The little one was none other than the washerwoman’s son
who was passing by just then and respectfully . took off his cap ; it
had a broken peak, and was made to be put into the pocket.
In his poor but clean and particularly, well patched-up clothes,
and with his heavy wooden shoes, the boy stood there as Tespect-
fully as if he stood before the. King himself.
â€
“You are a good boy,†said the. Mayor, “you are a boy an
manners! Your mother is rinsing clothes down by the brook,
isn’t she? And you're going down ‘there, I suppose, with what
a fale says that he picked the kernel of this story out of some words he
heard his mother speak when he was quite a little boy. The poor washerwoman
was a real character in Andersen’s native town, and Andersen’s large-hearted
mother knew and befriended her.
RT ce ceri
184 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
you've got in your pocket. That's a bad habit of your mother’s!
How much have you there?â€
“ Half-a- pint!†said the boy in a frightened, epee:
voice.
“And didn’t she have the same this | moming persisted
the man.
“No, it was yesterday,†replied the boy.
“Two half-pints make a whole pint! She’s no good! Biss
sad business with this class of people! Tell your mother she ought
to be ashamed of herself, and never you bea tippler. But you're
bound to be, I know! Poor child! And now go!â€
And the boy went. He still held his cap in his hand and the
wind blew upon his yellow. hair so that it rose in long tufts. He
went along the street, into the lane and down to the river where his —
mother was standing out in the water close by the washing-stool
hammering away at the heavy linen with her beetle. There was
a current in the water, for the sluices of the water-mill were up, and
the sheet drove before the stream and was very nearly wrenching
‘the washing- stool along with it; ee washerwoman had to tug
against it with all her might. . :
“T am very near sailing away,†said she. “Tis a good job .
you've come. I shall be none the worse for a little cordial to keep
my: strength up. It is cold in the water out here, and I've been
. standing in it these six hours. Have you anything for me?â€
The lad brought. out the bottle, and the mother put it to her
mouth and took a good pull at it.
«Oh! what a lot of good it does one, how it warms! It is just
as good as hot meat and not half so. dear ! Drink, my lad! You
BB
186 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
look so. pale, you are freezing in those thin clothes, and it is :
autumn, remember. Ugh! How cold.the water is! I only hope
I sha’n’t get il! But I won't do that! Just give me another
thimibleful. And you drink too, but only a little drop; you must
not make a habit of it, my poor wretched child!â€
And she went round by the bridge where the boy stood and
stepped on to the dry land. The water dripped from the rush-mat
_ she had round her waist ;. the water flowed from her petticoats.
““T toil and moil till the blood ‘is ready to burst out of the roots
~ of my nails, but it’s all the same to me if only I can get ay
dear child!â€
‘The same moment up came a coment older woman, shabby
and careworn, lame of one leg, and with a tremendously big false
curl over one eye. This curl was meant to hide her eye, but it made
the squint all the plainer. It was a friend of the washerwoman :
‘‘Lame Molly with the curl,†her neighbours called her.
“Poor thing, how you slave and slave, and stand in the cold
water! Idon’ t. wonder at your wanting something to warm you up
a bit, and yet people take offence at the wee drops you tale.†And
now the whole of the Mayor’ g speech to the boy was very soon ‘told
to the washerwoman, for Molly had heard ‘the whole thing and it had
“vexed her that he should have talked so to the child about its own ~
-mother and the drops she took when he himself was about to sit
down to his big midday banquet with whole rows of wine-bottles :
“Fine wine and strong wine for me! A fellow needn’t be particular |
about a glass or two, but one doesn’t call that drinking! We fellows
are all right, it is only you, you old. washer woman, who are
no | good. ie
SHE'S GOOD FOR NOTHING. - . 187
“So he has been talking to you, my child!†said the
washerwoman, and her lips trembled. ‘ You have a mother
who is no good; perhaps he is right! But he shouldn't say
‘that to my child. Yet from that house, many an evil ne come
upon, me
“Yes, deed you were in service in that house when the
Mayor s parents lived and dwelt there | years ago ! Many a
half-bushel of salt rae been consumed there since then, so that I am
not. surprised: at a body ‘getting thirsty,†and Molly laughed.
“There is a great banquet to-day at the Mayor’s. It ought to have
been put off, but itis too late now, and the meat has all been got
ready. I had it from the outdoor servants.. An hour ago there
came a letter to say that his younger brother has died in
Copenhagen.†:
“Died!†cried the Satheivomal and she erew pale as death.
_ “Eh! my word!†cried the old woman, “do you take it so
much to: heart then as. all that? Well, I suppose you knew him
from the time when you were in service there?†.
“Is he dead ? He was the best, the dearest of men! God does
not get many like him!†and the tears ran down her cheeks. “ Oh
Heavens! I feel as if I were going round and round! "Tis all
because I drank out of that bottle! It was more than I could stand!
I feel so bad !†and she leaned heavily against the palings.
_ “Why, bless me, mother, “youre quite bad,†said the old
| woman: “ Never mind, it will pass away. Nay, but roy are really
ill ‘The best thing you can do is to go home.â€
“ But the clothes there !â€
‘“ Oh, I'll see after them! Take hold of my arm. The lad
188 HANS ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES. .
can remain here and take care of them till I come back and wash
the rest of ‘em ; there's only a little bit left to do.â€
_ The washerwoman’s feet regularly tottered beneath her.
- “Pve been standing here too long in the cold water, I have
had neither sop nor sup since morning. I’ve fever in all my limbs.
Oh, Lord! help me home! Oh, my poor child â€_and she wept.
| The boy wept also, and soon he was sitting alone by the wet
~clothes.
The two women went away slowly, the washerwoman tottering
along the lane, along the street, past the Mayor's house and just in
front of it she sank down on the pavement. A crowd collected. :
Lame Molly ran into the house for help, and the Mayor and his
guests looked out of the window. . ee
‘Tis the washerwoman,†said. he, “she has had a little too
much; she’s no good; tis a pity for that nice little boy of hers.
[I’ve a real liking for that child. The mother’s no good!â€
And she was brought to again and taken to her poor home
where she was put to bed. A bowl of warm ale with butter and
sugar in it was straightway prepared by worthy Molly (it was the
best possible medicine in her opinion), and then she went on to the
rinsing-place, rinsed very badly indeed although with the best
intentions, dragged the clothes ashore, wet as they were, and stuffed
them into a box. io :
In the evening she sat in the poor room with the washerwoman.
A couple of baked potatoes and a piece of ham she had got from the
mayor's kitchen-maid.for the sick woman, and the lad and Molly
enjoyed it finely ; the sick woman was satisfied with the smell of it
—it was so. nourishing, she said,
SHE'S GOOD FOR NOTHING. © ; 189
_ And the boy went to bed, the self-same bed in which his mother
lay, but his place was crossways by her feet, with an old piece of -
_ carpet over him, sewn together from blue and red scraps. And the
washerwoman felt a little better; the warm ale had strengthened
her, and the smell of the nice meat had done her good.
“Thanks, you good soul,†she said to Molly, “and I'll tell you
everything about myself when the lad’s asleep. I think he’s off
already. How sweet the darling looks with his eyes closed! He
little knows what's the matter with his mother. May God spare
him what I have gone through! I used to be in service at the.
. Privy Councillor's, the Mayor’s father, and it happened then that the
youngest of his pone came home; he was a student. I was a young
madcap in those days, but I was an honest girl too, God is my
witness rin said the washerwoman, “The student was so merry
and gay, such anice fellow! every drop of blood in him was honest
and good. A better man has never existed on this earth. He was
my master’s son, and I was only a serving maid, but lovers we became
in all honour and virtue, and a kiss is surely no great sin ~
when folks are fond of one another.- And he told his mother all
about it; she was as a god to him here below, and she was wise,
~ tender, and loving. He went away to foreign parts, and he placed
his gold rg upon my finger. When he had gone right away, my
mistress sent for me; solemnly she stood there, and yet she was so
gentle too, and she talked to me as God Himself might have talked ;
she made clear to. me, in spirit and in truth, the distance between
him and me. ‘He has only eyes, just now, for your good looks,’
said she, ‘but good looks won’t last for ever. You have not been
brought up like him. Mentally you will never be fit companions for
190 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
each other, the more’s the pity ! I respect the poor man,’ said she,
‘and no doubt God will give him a much higher place than many who
are rich; but here on earth one should never cross a bad rut-when one ©
is driving, or one will get a spill, and that is what will happen to
you too! I know that a worthy man, an artisan, has been
wooing you, glove-maker Erik, I mean; he is a widower, has no
children, and is well-to-do. Think the matter over.’ Every word
-she said was like a knife through my heart; but the woman was
right, and it wrung and weighed down my heart. I kissed her hand
and shed bitter tears, and I wept still more when I got into my room
and laid me down upon my bed. It was a weary night that
followed. God only knows what I went through. So on Sunday I
“went to the Lord’s Table to be enlightened. Then—it was like an
‘ordination of Providence—j ust as I was coming out of the church who.
should I meet. but Erik, the glove-maker. So there was no longer
any doubt in my mind; our positions and circumstances made us
suitable for each other; nay, he was even a well-to-do man. So I
went straight up to him, took his hand and said to him: ‘Are thy -
thoughts still toward me?’ ‘Yes, for ever and ever, said- he.
‘Dost thou want a girl who honours and respects, but does not
love thee, though that may come afterwards?’ ‘Oh, that will
come!’ said he, and so we gave each other our hands. I went
home to my mistress. The gold ring which her son had given
me I wore upon my naked breast. I couldn’t put it on my
finger in the day-time, but only in the evening when I laid me
down to sleep. I kissed the ring till my mouth bled and then
I gave it to my mistress, and said that next week the banns would
be put up in church for me and the glove-maker. Then my
SHE'S GOOD FOR NOTHING. . 191
‘mistress took me in her arms and kissed me—she didn’t say I was
no good, but then perhaps I was better than I had ever been before,
~ though I had not yet experienced so much of the world’s. adversity.
And so the marriage took place at Candlemas, and the first year
was a good ee we had man and maid, and you, Molly, were
in our service.’
“And a dear, end mistress you were,’ ’ anid a “T shall
never forget how gentle you and your husband were to me.’
“You were with us in our lucky years. We had no children
then. I never saw the student ; or rather, I saw him, but he didn’t
see me. He came hither to his mother’s burial. I saw him
standing by the grave ; he was as white as chalk and so sad, but that
was for his mother’s sake. When, later on, his father died too, he was
away in foreign parts, and didn’t come here nor has ever been here
-sinee. He never married, so far as I know; he was a proctor, I
believe ; but anyhow he remembered me no more, and if he had
seen me, he certainly would not have known me eam) I had
grown so ugly. And it is just as well!â€
And she talked about her weary dlosas of trial, and how
misfortune literally overwhelmed them. They owned 500 rixdalers,
and as there was a house in their street to be got for 200, and it
would pay them very well to have it pulled down and a new one.
built in its stead, the house was bought. The masons and car-
penters estimated that the cost of rebuilding would be 1020 more.
Erik the Glover had credit, he borrowed the money frorn
Copenhagen; but the skipper who should have brought it to him
‘was shipwrecked, and the money went down with him.
“It was then that I gave birth to my darling boy who lies sleeping
192 _ HANS ANDERSEN’S “FAIRY TALES.
"there now. His father fell into a orievous, lingering sickness ; for
three-fourths of a year I had to dress him and undress him.
We went from bad to worse, steadily downwards ; we borrowed and
borrowed ; we parted with all our goods, and then father died. all
have toiled and moiled, struggled and striven for the child’s sake ;
scrubbed steps, washed clothes, coarse and fine; but ’tis God’s! will
that I shall not be any better off, yet he will open up a door of
deliverance for me and care for the child.†|
Then she fell asleep. _ 7
In the morning she felt much pone and strong enough, as
she thought, to go to her work again. She had scarcely come out of |
the cold water, however, when a tremor, a faintness came ‘over her;
she groped spasmodically in front of her with her hands, took a step
forwards, and fell down. Her head lay upon the dry ground, but her
feet out in the stream, her wooden shoes which she had stood in on
the bed of the river—there was a wisp of straw in each of them —
- —drifted down the stream; in this state she was found by Molly,
who came with the coffee. | .
A message had come from the Mayor that she was to wait upon
him immediately, he had ‘something to communicate to her. It was
too late. A barber was sent for to = hen: but the washerwoman
was dead. | :
“She has drunk herself to death!†said the Mayor. :
In the letter which brought the news of his brother’s death the
contents of his will was given, and there was a clause therein
bequeathing 600 rixdalers to the glove-maker’s widow who had
1 Vor Herre. Lét.: Our Lord, a familiar Danish expression, somewhat similar
to the French le bon Dieu. ee
SHES GOOD FOR NOTHING. ; 1938
once’ been in the service of his parents. The money was to be given
to her and her child in smaller or great portions as might be ~
thought best.
: “There was some sort of nonsense between my brother
and her,†said the Mayor; “’tis a very good thing she is out of
the way ; the lad will now get the whole lot, and I'll put him with .
honest folk ; a good artisan may be made of him.†And God blessed
these words. . :
And the Mayor sent for the boy, promised to look after him,
_ and. told. him, what a good thing it was that his mother was dead,
Gor she was no good.
They carried her to the churchyard, the pauper’s churchyard. .
Molly pane a little rose tree on the grave, and the lad stood by _
the side of it.
7 ate a darling: mother !†said he, and the tears streamed down
: his cheeks ; “is it true that she was no good?†—
“Nay, she was of some good,†said the old serving-woman, and
looked wp to Heaven. “I know it from what I have seen of her
these imany years,. from what I saw last night. I tell you she was
of some good, and God in Heaven says so too; let the world say
= She v was no ae as long: as it likes !â€
THE STORY OF THE YEAR.
Ir was late in J anuary. The snow-storm was frightful. The
snow flew in whirling flakes through streets and lanes. The
window-panes were regularly plastered with snow, from the
roof-tops it plunged down in masses. And then there was such a
rush of people, they flew and fell into each other's arms and held
‘one another fast for a moment to keep their footing. Carts and
horses were regularly powdered over, the lacqueys stood with their
backs against the carriage and drove backwards against the wind,
foot-passengers kept steadily in the shelter of the vehicles,
which could only go very slowly along in the deep snow, and.
when the storm at last subsided and a narrow path was made_
along the houses, people stood still there when they met each
other in the middle of it. Neither cared to take the first step
aside into the deep snow to let the other hop past. There they
stood like dummies, till at last, as if by a tacit understanding, each.
one sacrificed a leg and let that plunge into the snow heap.
Towards evening it was a dead calm. The sky looked just |
as if it had been swept out and made higher and more transparent.
‘THE STORY OF THE YEAR. 195
The stars all seemed brand new, and some of them were so bright
and blue. And it froze till it regularly crackled. The uppermost
layer of snow grew so hard that by the morning it easily bore the
weight of the grey sparrows who hopped up and down wherever
it had been shovelled, but there was not much food to be picked up
and they were regularly freezing. :
“Piep!†said one to the other, “ they call this the New Year ;
but I’m sure it’s much worse than the old one, so we might
just as well have stuck to that. I am discontented, and I have
cause to be.†an
“Yes, and there are those men all scurrying about and drink-
ing the New Year in,†said a little half-frozen sparrow; “ they are
breaking pots against the doors and are off their heads with joy
that the old year has gone; and I also was glad at it, for I expected
we should get warmer weather; but nothing of the sort! It freezes
harder than ever. - Men have miscalculated the times and seasons.â€
That they have,†said a third, who was old and had a white
top knot; “they have now something they call the almanack, an
invention of their own of course, and everything is to go by that;
but it doesn’t. When Spring comes, that’s when the year begins.
"Tis Nature’s course and I go by that.â€
“ But when does Spring come?†asked ‘the others. —
“It comes when the stork comes, but there’s always a good
deal of uncertainty about him, and in the town here there’s
_ nobody who knows anything about it; they know much better out
- in the country. Shall we i thither and wait? One is nearer to
_ ‘Spring there.†ees
2 Yes: a very . good iden? a one of them. who tad ee
196 “HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
hopping and pieping about. for some time without really saying
anything in particular, “but I have a good many conveniences
“in the town here which I-am afraid I should miss outside. In the
house round thé corner here there is a family of human beings
which has hit upon the very sensible idea of nailing fast to the
wall three or four flower pots with a great opening inside, and the
bottoms turned outwards, and in it they have carved a hole so big
~ that I can fly out and in. There [ and my husband have our nest,
and from thence all our young ones. have. flown out. into the world.
This human family has naturally invented the whole thing for the
sake of looking at us, or else they wouldn’t have. done it. They |
strew bread crumbs also for their own amusement, and so we have
food. It is just as if we were taken care of, so I think my husband
and I will ee though = are very discontented—but, still,
we'll remain.†.
© And we'll fy a away into the seit to see. if. ihe Spring is
~ coming.’ ' So off they flew.. .
~ And it was something. like winter out in the conhtns It was
freezing a couple of degrees harder than in town. The keen
wind blew right aver the anow-covered plain. The farmer, with big
- mittens on, sat on his sledge and thumped his body well with his
arms to keep. the cold out of. them. _ His whip lay in his lap, his
lean horses galloped till they steamed, the snow crackled, and the
sparrows hopped in the ruts and were nearly frozen.
« Piep! when’s Spring coming ? Tt is so long, so long !â€
- “So long!†It sounded right over the fields from the highest
bank all covered with snow. It might have been an echo that was
heard, but at could just as well have been the words of a. strange
THE STORY OF THE YEAR. 197
old man: who was sitting right at the top of the highest snowdrift,
all exposed to wind and weather. He was quite white, just like a
farmer in his friezé mantle, with long white hair, a, white beard,
quite pale was he too, and had large bright eyes.
“Who's that old man yonder?†asked the sparrows.
cy can tell you that,†said an’ old-raven who was sitting on
the railings and was condescending enough to recognise that we
are all little birds in God's eyes, and therefore stooped even to
the sparrows. and gave them explanations. -“T know who that
~ old fellow is, It is Winter, the old man from last year; he is
not dead as the almanack says, not a bit of it; he is in’ fact
_ the guardian of little Prince Spring who is coming. Yes, I
say, Winter rules now. Ugh ! don’t your bones crack with cold,
-my little men?†,
“ Now isn’t that just chet I ae †said the emallest sparrow,
“ the. almanac ke is merely a human - invention, it doce not take
‘Nature as. its model; they should ee it to us, who‘are more
finely made.â€
_ And a week passed by, and then another The woods were
black, the frozen lake. lay so heavy and looked like molten
lead. The clouds—nay, don’t call them clouds—wet, ice-cold mists
hung over the country. | The big black crows flew all together in
flocks without croaking ; it was just as if everything were asleep.
Then. a sunbeam glided over the lake and it shone like molten
tin. _The snowy winding-sheet that lay over the fields and om
the banks no longer glistened as before, but the white figure,
_ Winter himself, still sat there looking steadily towards the south.
He did not observe at all that the snowy. carpet was sinking into
198 HANS ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES,
the earth, as it were, and here and there a little prass- grees spot
was visible, which regularly swarmed with sparrows.
Quee-veet! Quee-veet! Is Spring coming now 2â€
“Spring !â€â€”It sounded over meadow and field and through
the dark brown woods, where the moss shone so freshly green —
on the trunks of the trees, and through the air came flying from
the south the first two storks; on the back of each sat a pretty :
little child, a boy and a girl, and they kissed the earth by way :
of greeting, and wherever they set their feet white flowers orew
up from beneath the snow. Hand in hand they went up to the
old ice-man Winter, lay upon his breast by way of fresh greeting,
and the same instant all three of them and the landscape as
well were hidden from view; a thick, wet mist—oh, it was so
dense and heavy !enfolded everything. Gradually it lifted—
the wind came rushing along, it came in strong gusts and .
chased the mist away. The sun shone so warm. Winter
had vanished. Spring’s lovely children sat upon the throne of
the year. os
“That's: what J call the New Year!†said the sparrows.
“Now we shall get our rights again and compensation for the
- severe winter.â€
. Wherever the two children turned, hice the green buds
shot forth on trees and bushes, there the grass grew higher and —
the young corn a more vivid ereen. And all round about her the
little girl cast flowers; she had an abundance of them in her lap,
they seemed to swarm forth from it, it was always full of them
however lavish she was with her casting forth—as quick as light
she scattered a whole. snow-storm of flowers over the apple and
THE STORY OF THE YEAR. “199
peach trees, so that they stood there in all their splendour before
they had had time to put on green leaves.
_ And she clapped her hands and the boy clapped his hands
too, and then out came the birds, one could not tell from whence, .
and they all twittered and sang: “Spring has come!â€
Tit was a lovely sight, and many a little old grandmother
came to the threshold of her door in the sunshine, shook herself,
looked right away over the fields where the yellow flowers stood
in all their glory, just as they had been in her young days. The
~ world had grown young again. “How delightful it is to-day!â€
said she. |
And the woods were still of a brownish green, bud lay by bud,
_ but the woodruff was out, so fresh and so fragrant, the violets
stood in full bloom, and there were anemones, cowslips, and oxlips ;
nay, in every blade of grass there was sap and vigour, there was a
regularly splendid flower-carpet to sit down upon, and there sat
the young Spring couple and held each other by the hand, and
sang and smiled and grew bigger and bigger.
A gentle rain fell from heaven upon them ;. they perceived
it not, the raindrop and the joyful tear were one and. the same
drop. Bride and bridegroom kissed each other, and in an instant
the woods sprang into life. When the sun rose up all the forest
was green. .
And hand in hand, the bridal pair walked beneath the fresh
hanging leafy roof, where only the sunbeams and the shadows
gave change of colour to the ever- shifting green. A virginal
purity and a refreshing fragrance: was in the delicate leaves,
The bright and ele waters: of -brook and stream rippled among
200 | HANS ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES.
the velvet green rushes and over the variegated pebbles. “ Full
to overflowing for ever and aye it is and ever will be!†said -
all Nature ; the cuckoo sang and the lark piped, it was beautiful
Spring : but the willow trees had woollen mittens round their
flowers, they were so frightfully careful, and that's always so
tiresome. 2
And so the days passed, away and the weeks too, the heat
regularly rolled down ; hot air waves passed through the corn,
which became more and more golden. The white lotus of the
north — spread its large green leaves over the watery mirrors
of the forest lakes and the fish sought a shelter beneath them ;
and on the lee side of the wood, where the sun burned down .
upon the walls of the farm-house and regularly heated the full-
blown roses through and through, and the cherry trees hung
full of juicy black, almost sun-burnt berries, sat Summer's lovely
lady, she whom we saw as a bairn and as a bride; and she -
looked towards the dark ascending clouds which like heavy dark
blue ‘billows, mountain-high, lifted themselves higher and higher.
From three sides they came, and growing every moment like an
ocean upside down and turned to stone, they descended upon the
woods, where everything lay still and dumb as if beneath a spell; _
every breath of air had died away, every bird was still, all Nature
was awesome: and expectant ; but along the roads and paths all
sorts of passengers, walking, riding, and .driving, were trying to
get under cover. - Then, suddenly, there was a radiance, as if
the sun were breaking forth, a radiance dazzling, ‘blinding, all
enkindling, and then all was gloom again amidst a rolling crash. —
The water poured down in streams ; there was night and there
THE STORY OF THE YEAR. 201
was light, there was stillness and there was uproar. The young
brown-feathered rushes in the fens swayed to and fro in long billows,
the branches of the trees were hid in watery veils, darkness came
and then light, stillness and then uproar. The grass and corn
lay as if they had been beaten down and scattered about, they
looked as if they could never lift their heads again.
_ Suddenly the rain became single drops, the sun shone, and
‘on blade and leaf the water-drops sparkled like pearls, the birds
sang, the fishes plashed in the brook, the midges danced,
and out upon a stone in the salt whipped-up sea water sat
Summer himself, a stalwart man with lusty limbs and dripping
wet hair—renewed by his fresh bath, he was sitting there in
the warm sunshine. All Nature round about was renewed,
everything stood there full of vigour, life and beauty; it was
summer, warm, lovely summer. 3
- Sweet and fresh was the fragrance onan came from the
luxuriant clover fields, the bees hummed there round old
Thingsted ; the inaemalales shoots wound round the altar-stone -
which, washed by the rain, shone in the sunlight, and from
thither the "queen-bee flew with her swarm and laid down her
store of “wax and honey. ~ Nobody saw it but Summer and his
lusty wife; for them the altar-board stood covered with Nature’s
offerings.
And the evening sky shone like a golden cupola—no church
has a cupola half so rich—and the moon shone between red sunset
and red sunrise.. It was Summer-time.
Days passed by and weeks also. The bright scythes of
> the reapers twinkled in the cornfields; the branches of the apple
ao: DD
_ 202 HANS ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES.
trees bent down beneath their red and yellow fruit; the hop gave
forth its sweet fragrance and hung down in large knobs, and
: beneath the hazel bushes, where the nuts sat close together in
heavy clusters, abode man and wife, Summer and his majestic
lady. 3
“ What wealth !†said she; “blessings all round about, good
and homely, and yet I know not how it is, but I yearn after—
rest—peace! I know not the proper word for it. They are
ploughing up the fields all over again already, men will always
have more and more! Look, the storks go about in flocks and.
follow behind | the plough, the birds of Egypt which bore us
through the air. Don’t you recollect “when we both came to
the north as children? We brought the flowers, the lovely
sunshine, and the green woods; the wind has played havoe with
them all now, they aye growing brown and dark like the trees
of the south, but bear no golden fruit like they do.â€
“Them wouldst thou see?†said Summer, “then gladden
thy heart!†and he raised his arm and the leaves of
the forest were dyed with red and with gold, a glow of colour
came upon all the woods; the rose bushes shone with fiery red :
hips, the elder branches hung down with heavy, dark brown -
berries, the wild chestnuts fell ripe out of their dark green shells, 3
and within the woods the violets bloomed for the second time.
But the Queen of the Year grew more and more pale and :
silent. “The air strikes cold,†said she, “the night has wet
mists! I long after the land of my childhood.†:
And she saw the storks fly away, every one of them, and —
she stretched her hands after them; She looked up at the nests
THE STORY OF THE YEAR. 208
which stood there empty, and in one of them there grew up the
long stalked cornflower and in another the yellow charlock, as
if the nest were only meant as a shelter and a defence for them,
and the sparrows perched upon it.
“Piep! What have become of the master and mistress ?
I suppose they cannot bear the blast to blow upon them,
and so they have left the country; a pleasant journey to
them !â€
And more and more yellow grew the leaves of the forest
and leaf. after leaf fell, the autumn storms raged, it was late
in autumn time. And on the yellow leaf-fall lay the Queen |
of the Year and looked with gentle eyes at the twinkling stars,
and her husband stood beside her. A gust of wind whirled
among the leaves—there was another fall of leaves and then
she was gone, but a butterfly, the last of the year, flew through
the cold air.
And the wet mists came, the icy blast and the long dark
nights. The Regent of the Year stood there with snow-white
hair, but he knew it not; he thought it was the snowflakes
falling from the clouds; a thin coating of snow lay over the
green fields and the church bells rang out for Christmas.
“The Birth Bells are ringing,†said the Regent of the Year,
“the new ruling couple will soon be born; and I shall Be rest
like ‘her, rest in the. twinkling stars.†|
And in the fresh green pine forest, where the snow lay, stood
the Yule-tide angel and consecrated the young trees which should
serve for his festival.
.. “Joy in the house and under the green branches!†said the
204 HANS ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES.
: Regent of the Year; weeks had aged him into quite an old fellow.
“The hour of my repose is at hand, the yeat’s oe couple will
_ now get crown and sceptre ! †.
© And yetthe power is thine,†said the Yule-tide ancel: “power ...
and not rest! Let the snow lie over the young seed and warm it!
Learn to bear to see homage rendered to another whilst. thou dost
still hold sway, learn to be forgotten and yet to live, the hour of
thy liberation will come with Spring!†— ;
“When does Spring come?†asked Winter.
“Tt comes when the stork comes.â€
And with white locks and snow-white beard Winter sat there icy
cold, old and bowed down, but strong as the winter’s storm and the
jce’s might, he sat on the lofty snow-drift and looked towards the
south as the Winter had sat and looked the year before. The ice
cracked, the snow crackled, the skaters swung round and round the
smooth, bright lake, and the ravens and the crows looked quite nice
on the white ground, not a breath of air was stirring. And Winter
folded his hands in the still air, and the ice between the ee grew
_ fathoms thick.
Then the sparrows conn came roti town and asked: “Who
is that old man yonder?†And the raven (or a son who was just |
like him) sat there again and said: “It is Winter, the old man from
last year. He is not dead as the almanack says; he isthe Regent
for the Spring who is coming.â€
“When is the Spring coming?†said the sparrows. “ We shall
then have a good time of it and a better eoyennmed the old state
of things was no good.â€
And Winter, paeppe| in silent. thought nodded at the leafless
206 | HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALKS.
black forest, where every tree showed the pretty shapes and bends of
the branches, and while Winter dozed the ice-cold cloudy mists sank
down upon the earth. The ruler of the year was dreaming of the
days of his youth and manhood, and at dawn the whole forest stood
bright with hoar frost; it was Winter's dream of summer, and the —
sunshine shook the hoar frost from the branches in glittering drops. ,
“When is the Spring coming?†asked the sparrows. |
“Spring!†It sounded like an echo from the high banks where
the snow lay. And the sun shone warmer and warmer, the snow
_. melted, the birds twittered, “Spring is coming!â€
And high through the air came the first stork and the second
stork followed ; a pretty child sat on the back of each, and they sank
- down upon the open plain and they kissed the earth and they kissed
the still, old man, and, like Moses on the mountain, he vanished in
the clouds. i.
The Story of the Year was over,
“Tt is quite- correct,†said the sparrows, “and it is also very
pretty, but it is not according to the almanack, so it’s silly !â€
THE ROSE ELF.!
Ty the midst of the garden grew a rose tree, it was quite full of
roses, and in one of these, the loveliest of them all, dwelt an Hf; he
: _ was such a wee bit of a thing that no human eye could see him ; he
had a sleeping chamber behind every leaf of the rose; he was as
well-made and lovely as any child could be, and had wings which
reached right down from his shoulders to his feet. Oh, how
fragrant was his dwelling, and how fair and bright its walls were, for
were they not delicate pink rose leaves ?
He took his pleasure in the sunshine all day long, flew from
‘flower ‘to flower, danced on the wings of the flying butterfly, and
measured how many strides he had to take before he could run over
all the roads and lanes that were on a single linden leaf.. For what
‘we call the veins of the linden leaf, he called roads and lanes. Yes ;
and to him they were endless roads, for before he had finished the
sun went down ; he had begun his measuring too late:
It was so cold, the dew fell and the wind. blew. The best —
thing he could do now was to get home. He made as much haste
1 The idea of this story is borrowed from Italian Folk-Lore.
- 208 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
as he could, but the rose had shut, he couldn't get in—not a
single rose stood open. The poor little elf was so frightened ; he had |
“never been out at night before, he had always slept so sweetly
behind the snug rose leaves. Oh, it will.certainly be the death
of him! |
He knew that at the other end of the ‘garden there was an
arbour with lovely honeysuckles in it, the flowers looked like large,
painted horns, he would creep ‘nto one of these and sleep there till
morning. So thither he flew. Hush ! There were two persons
there, a handsome young man and the prettiest young lady ; they
were sitting side by side and wishing that they might never be
parted more ; they were so fond of each other, fonder than the best |
of children can be of their own father and mother.
“Yet part we must!†said the young man; “ your brother is
not our friend, and therefore he sends me away on @ distant errand
far over seas and mountains. Farewell, my sweet bride, for that
indeed you are to me ie s
And then they kissed each other and. the young girl cried and
gave him a rose ; but before she handed it to him she pressed a kiss
upon it, a kiss so lasting and intense that the flower opened. Then
the little elf flew into it and leaned his head against the delicate,
fragrant, walls, but he could hear,“ good bye } » said very well, and
he felt that the rose had been placed on the young man’s breast.
Oh, how the heart was beating inside there! the little elf could not
sleep a wink, it was beating so. . g
The rose did not long remain quiet on that breast, the
young man took it out, and as he was going all alone through
a dark forest, he kissed the flower, oh! so often, and so hard that
' THE ROSE ELF. — 2.09. °
the little elf was very nearly erushed to death; he could feel
through the leaves that the man’s lips were burning - hot, and
the rose itself had expanded as when the mid-day sun is at its
strongest.
Then another man came along, dark and wrathful ; he was the
pretty girl’s wicked brother; he pulled out a knife so sharp and
large, and while the other was kissing the rose, the wicked man
. stabbed him to death, cut off his head, and buried it with the body
in the soft earth under the linden tree.
“Now he is hidden away and forgotten,†jhowen ie wicked
brother, “he will never come back again. He had to take a long
journey over sea and land; one can easily lose one’s life on such an
errand, and that’s what he has done. . He will come no more, and
my sister dare not ask me about him.†|
So he raked together dry leaves over it with his foot and went
home again through the dark night. He thought he was alone, but
he was not. ‘The little elf followed him, it sat in a withered,
crumpled linden leaf which had fallen on to the wicked man’s hair
as he was digging the grave. He had now put his hat on again
and it was so dark inside it, and the elf was trembling with terror
and anger at the hideous deed
At dawn the wicked man got homer he took off his hat and
~ went into his sister’s bedroom; there lay the beautiful blooming
girl, dreaming of him she loved so much, and who, as she thought,
was now journeying through forests and over mountains, and the
wicked brother bent. over her and laughed hideously, as only a
devil can laugh; then the withered leaf fell from his hair down
upon the counterpane, but lie did not observe it, and went out to
: : : EE
SBN aN ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
Se but of the withered leaf, got into the ear of the. sleeping girl and.
: i‘ told her, as in a dream, of the frightful murder ; described the spot.
: : es where her brother had ‘slain him and laid his corpse ; told of the’
es ~ blooming linden tree close by, and said :.“ “Lest thou. shouldst fanicy
; fee that tis, only a ‘dream I have told thee, thot shalt find on thy bed
ue < withered leaf.†_ And she did find it when she awoke. |
And oh, what bitter ‘boars: did. she ‘not shed ! and to no one
‘ - dared’ ghe confide her Sorrow. _ The window stood open : all day, the
aS little. elf could have easily got out into the garden. to. the roses and »
: ‘allt the other flowers, ‘put he did not like to: forsake the afflicted. lady.
, In the: window stood a che ipa him. in: “one ° ‘of 2
ie have a Title fe ‘Hinleelt { in ‘the iced daylight. ‘But the elf crept
|
|
ose tree 5
ee “Her brother came many
‘these flowers and: looke
: times into the chamber ere and wicked, but. she:
~ dared. not say a wore a 3 sorrow. No sooner was
A a went into the wood to’
: it night than she. cre’
the earth, dug dee
done to. death. |
- niet soon dies
- Gladly wo
Boe she could not Bo
- ok “little. ‘utente x ie
ee he had beet — s
THE ROSE ELF. 211
‘pot she could find, and in it she laid the dead man’s head, put earth
upon it, and then planted the jasmine branch in the pot.
“Farewell, farewell!†whispered the little elf; he could
endure no longer the sight of all this sorrow, and therefore flew
out into the garden to his rose; but it had shed its bloom, only a
few pale leaves were still hanging to the green hip.
“Alas! how soon it is all over with the Beautiful and the _
Good!†sighed the elf. At last he found another rose, and made it @
his house, behind its fine fragrant leaves he could dwell in comfort.
212, HANS ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES. —
Every morning he flew to the poor damsel’s window, and always
found her standing by the flower-pot and weeping. The salt tears
fell upon the jasmine bough, and as she every day grew paler and
paler, the bough became fresher and greener, one shoot sprouted
forth after’ another, and then came small, white flower-knobs, and
she kissed them again and again. But the wicked brother stormed.
and swore and asked her if she was cracked. He did not under- :
stand why she was always crying over the flower- -pot, and could not
endure it. .How was he to know what closed eyes ‘were there and
what red lips had there. become earth? But she ‘would bend her
head. over the flower-pot, and there the little. Rose Elf would find her
S brooding, and then he used to creep into her ear and tell her about
the evenings in the arbour and about the fragrance of the roses and
the lives of the elves. She dreamed such sweet dreams and while
she was so dreaming her life passed away ; she had died a
peaceful death, she was in heaven with him she loved so
dearly. |
And the jasmine flowers nd their large white bells, they
breathed forth such wondrous fragrance, they could mourn the dead ~
no other way.
But the wicked brother looked at the fair, blossoming tree and.
took it to himself as his inheritance, and put it into his bedchamber
close beside his bed, for it was lovely to look upon, and the
fragrance of it was so sweet and keen. The little Rose Elf followed
and flew from flower to flower, in every one of which there dwelt a
little sprite, and him he told about the dead, murdered-man, whose
head had now become earth to earth—told about the wicked brother
and the poor sister.
THE ROSE ELF. 218
“We know it!†said every sprite in every flower, “we know it!
have we not grown out of the dead man’s eyes and lips? We
know it, we know it!†and then they nodded so strangely with
their heads.
The Rose Elf could not understand how they could be so quiet
about it, and so he flew out to the bees who were gathering honey
and. told them the story of the wicked brother, and the bees told it
to their Queen, who commanded that they should all go next
morning and kill the murderer. But the night before, it was the
first night after his sister’s death, as the brother was sleeping in his
bed close beside the fragrant jasmine tree, every flower’s calyx
opened, and the souls of the flowers, invisible but armed with
‘venomous darts, came out, and they sat first of all by his ears
and told him evil dreams, and then they flew over his lips and
struck him in the tongue with their poisonous darts. ‘‘ Now we have
avenged the dead!†said they, and back they went again to the white
jasmine bells. ;
When it was morning and the window of the bedehamber was
thrown open, the Rose Elf with the (Jueen Bee and the whole swarm
~ rushed in to kill him. But he was already dead. People were
standing round his bed and they said: “The jasmine scent has
killed him !†;
Then the Rose Elf understood the vengeance of the flowers,
and he told it.to the Queen Bee, and she buzzed with all her
swarm around the flower-jar ; the bees could not be driven away.
Then a man took away the flower crock, and one of the bees stung
his hand so that he let a crock fall, and it was broken ~
to pieces,
214 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
Then they saw the white death’s head, and they knew that
the dead man in the bed was a murderer.
But the Queen Bee buzzed about in the air and sang of the
vengeance of the flowers and about the Rose Elf, and how, behind
the smallest leaf dwells one who can tell of wrong-doing, and
avenge it.
THE BUCKWHEAT. |
Oren and often “Ww
a field where the buclewih ws, olé sees that it has’ been
scorched | quite. black; it is just as if a flame of fire had passed
over it, and the farmer then says, ‘ Tt has got that from the
lightning !†But why has it got it? Well, I'l tell you. what
the; grey sparrow told me, and the grey sparrow heard it from
an old willow tree which stood close to a field of buckwheat,
and © stands | ‘there still. It. is such a big, respectable willow tree
but old. and wrinkled ; it has been split right down the middle,
: after a thunderstorm, goes past —
and grass arid bramble branches grow out of the rifts; the trée .
‘stoops: forward, and its branches hang right down to the ground
. a just as if they were long green locks of hair.
On all - the fields _ round about grew comn=tye, barley
and oaits—yes, the - pretty oats which. looks, when ripe, like
a whole: swarm of little yellow canary birds on one branch. The
corn stood | in capital condition, and the heavier it was the deeper.
te bowed: down i in pious. humility.
oe But there | was also a add a iy bucisy nent, and ‘this field lay
Ua
216 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. .
right in front of the old willow tree. The buckwheat did not
bow. down at all like the other corn; on the contrary, it held
its head on high quite stiff and proud. —
“T am not, perhaps, so rich as the wheat,†it said, “but at
any rate | am much more handsome ; my ‘blossoms are as fine
as the blossoms of the apple tree, ’tis a pleasure to look at me
‘and mine; do you know any one more beautiful than we are,
you old willow’ tree?†:
And the willow tree nodded “As “if it would say, Ane E
do, certainly!†. “but the buékwheat swelled with sheer pride,
and said, ‘Silly old tree ! Why, it is so old that grass is
growing out of its maw!†| : ‘
And now a terrible storm arose. - All the flowers of the
field folded their leaves or bowed their delicate heads while the
storm. passed away over them; but the buckwheat lifted high
its head in its pride.
+2)
«Bow your head as we do!†said the flowers.
“JT see not the slightest necessity for it!†said the buckwheat.
“Bow your head as. we do!†cried the corn, “* the angel of
the storm comes flying along. He has wings which reach right
down from the “clouds to the earth, and he will cut you meg
down before you have time to beg him for mercy.â€
“Yes, but I won't bow down 1â€. gaid the buckwheat.
“Close your flowers and bow your leaves!†said the old
willow tree. “Don’t look up at the lightning when the cloud:
bursts 1p Wihy, men themselves: dare not do that, for one can see
_ night into God’s heaven through the lightning, but that is a sight
to make even men blind; what will it be then with one of the
THE BUCKWHEAT. 217
fruits of the earth? Should we who are so much lowlier presume
to do the like?â€
~ “So much lowlier, indeed !†said the buckwheat. “ Now, I just
mean to look into God’s heaven!†and in its pride and haughtiness
it did so, It was as though the whole universe stood in flames,
it lightened so.
When the storm had passed over, the flowers and corn were
standing there in the fresh, still air, so refreshed by the rain, but
the buckwheat had been burnt as black as a coal by the lightning,
it was now a dead and useless weed that cumbered the earth.
And the old willow tree moved its branches in the wind, and
big water-drops fell down fromthe green leaves, as if the tree
were weeping, and the sparrows asked, “Why are you weeping ?
It is so blissful here! Look how the sun is shining, look how
the .clouds are moving ; can’t you feel the fragrance from the
- flowers and bushes? Why are you weeping, you old willow
tree ?â€
And the willow told about the pride, presumption, andâ€
punishment of the buckwheat; that’s the usual course of things.
I who tell this tale heard it from the sparrows—they told it to.
me one evening when I begged them for a story.
“THERE'S THE DIFFERENCE,
It was in the month of May; the wind still blew cold, but
Spring was there, the bushes, the trees, the fields and meadows said
so. There were whole swarms of flowers right up into the quickset
hedge, and there Spring was speaking for itself, 1b was speaking
from a little apple tree; there was one branch so fresh, so blooming,
with heaps and heaps of delicate, rosy-red buds just about to open ;
it knew very well itself how beautiful it was, for that sort of feeling -
is In the blade as well as in the blood, and so it was not a bit
surprised when a grand coach stopped in front of it and the young
countess said that the apple-tree branch was the sweetest sight
imaginable, it was Spring itself in its most lovely manifestation.
1 Andersen tells us that while on a visit at Christinelund, near Presté, he saw
an apple tree in full bloom which “so shone into and scented my thoughts, that I
could not get rid of it till I had transplanted it into a story.â€
: es ‘THE DEEN: ; 219
“And the branch y was broken. oft and the countess held it in, her hand
and shaded it with her silk parasol, and then they drove up to the
castle, where there were lofty halls and splendid rooms. Bright white
curtains were ‘fluttering at. the open,
i dows, and lovely flowers |
_ stood in shining transparent Vases, a
af it had: been carved. out of. freshly di
was placed amon
one of these (it looked as
now), the apple branch
h baeht: ‘beech ‘ou his; and a. ee eh
it made. ancy ec oh
And 80 - the Branch 288 pa wl it was s
that respect. eA
human. in
AN sorts of people ee through “the rooms, on each of them.
“expressed his. admiration in his: own. way, and some said nothing
i and others said too much, cand the ‘apple: branch. understood that.
there was a difference between man and man just as there is between
plant and plant. « Some are for show and some are for food, and
‘there are some we could very well do without altogether,†opined
the apple branch, and. as it was placed close by the open window,
irom whence it could. see both down into the garden and right
across the fields, it had lots and lots of flowers and plants to look at.
“and think about’ there they all stood, rich and poor, and some of
: them were very poor indeed.
: Poor “rejected herbs!†said the mle -branch, “it is “quite
‘tight that a difference: should be made, and how unhappy they must
feel GE that sort can feel as T and the like of me can); yes, it is
. quite right to. make a difference, and a difference must be made or
: it would be all ‘one, of course !â€
D ‘branch looked down upon nian with a sort of
B . - compassion, ‘ nd especially. Teen one sort. of flower which grew in
220 - HANS ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES.
large quantities in the fields and ditches. Nobody tied them into
, bouquets, they were too common ; why, one came exCOBS them even
among the stones of the bridge, they shot up like the most
- stubborn weeds, and g0 they had. given to them the ‘ugly name
of “The devil’s milk-pail.†?
“Poor rejected plants!†said the apple- -branch, “you cannot
me being. what you are ; you cannot help being so common as to
deserve the ugly name you bear; but it is with pias as with men,
there must be a difference !â€.
“A difference, eh?†said the vnesey and it kissed the
blossoming apple-branch, but it also kissed the yellow devil’s milk- .
pail out in the field, all the sunbeam’s brothers kissed oo too, they
Kissed the poor flowers as well as the rich.
: The apple-branch had’ never thought of our Lord’s Sales love
for all that lives and moves in Him, it had never thought how
much that is good and fair may ‘lie hidden but not forgotten—but ie
was quite human in this respect too. :
“The sunbeam, Tight s ray, knew better. “ You don’t see very
_ far and you don't see very clearly! Where is the. , tajecied herb
that you pity so “much ?†.
«Tis the devil’s milk-pail!†said the apple-branch. “It is
never tied into bouquets, but trodden under foot. There are too
many of them, and when they run to seed, it flies in finely-clipped
morsels of wool away over the road and sticks in people’s clothes.
‘Tis a’ weed! no doubt it is meant to be there; but I am 1 really
very thankful that I am not one of them.â€
_ And right over the fields came a whole heap of children, ‘ihe
\ The dandelion, —
THERES THE DIFFERENCE. 221
smallest of them was such a wee bit of a thing that the others
carried it, and when it was put in the grass amongst the yellow
flowers it laughed aloud for joy, kicked with its little legs, rolled
about, plucked only the yellow. flowers, and kissed them in its
sweet innocence. The somewhat bigger children plucked the
flowers off their hollow stalks and bound them all together, link by
link, into chains; first a chain for the neck, then another to hang
round the shoulders or re waist, on the bosom and on the head; it
was quite a goodly show of green links and chains; but the biggest
children carefully took the plants that had already bloomed, they
took the stalk with: its flake-like composite seed-crown, that loose,
airy, wool-flower which is quite a tiny work of art as if made of the
_ finest feathers, snow-flakes or down, and they held it close to their
mouths in order to blow it right away with a single puff. Whoever
~ could do that would get a new ‘suit of clothes before the
year was out, Grandmamma said so.
: The despised flower was quite a prophet on this occasion.
“Do you see that ?†said the sunbeam ; ‘‘ do you see its beauty,
do you see its power?â€
“
And’ out into the field. came an old woman, and she dug with
her blunt knife (it hadn’t even a handle) right down beneath the
- roots of the flower and pulled it up; from some of the roots she
meant to boil herself a little coffee, others she meant to sell for
ae money by taking fier to the apothecary who used them in his
medicines. —
« Beauty though i 18 something much superior!â€. said the apple-
bough, “Only the elect enter into the Kingdom of Beauty !
229 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
There’s a difference between plants just as there's a difference —
between men.’
And the sunbeams told of the endless love of God towards all
creation and all that had life, and of the equal distribution of every-
thing in time and in eternity.
“Yes, but that is only your opinion,†said the apple-bough.
And some people came into the room and the young countess,
_ she who’ had placed the apple-bough so nicely in the transparent
vase where the sunbeams shone, came too; and she brought a
flower or something which was hidden by three or four large leaves
wrapped round it like a paper screen to keep it from hurt and harm,
draught or pressure, and it was carried far more carefully than ever
the fine apple-bough had been carried. And now the big leaves
were put aside quite gently and one saw the delicate, flake-like seed-
crown of a yellow despised devil’s milk pail. That was what she
had plucked so carefully and was carrying so tenderly lest a single
one of the fine feathery darts which give it its aérial shape and sit 80
- lightly should be blown off. She had it in its full glory, and she
admired its beauteous shape, its airy brightness, its whole peculiar
composition, its beauty which a puff of wind would blow away.
‘* Just look how wondrously beautiful’ our Lord has made it!†©
said she; “I want to paint it along with the apple-bough. The
apple-bough indeed is wondrously beautiful to every eye, but
this poor flower also has received just as much from our Lord, only —
in another way ; so different they are, and yet both of them are
children in the Kingdom of Beauty !â€
And the sunbeam kissed the poor. flower ain it kissed the
_ blossoming apple bough, whose leaves seemed to redden thereat.
THUMBELISA.
THERE was once a woman who wanted so very much to
have a wee, wee, little child, but had no idea whatever where she
should get one from, so she went to an old witch and said to her,
“T do so long to have a little child; won’t you tell me where I can
get one from?†“ Well, we'll very soon get over that difficulty !â€
said the witch. “There you have a barley-corn ; it is not at all of
that sort which grows in the farmer's fields, or that fowls get
to eat. Put it in a flower-pot and you'll see something, I promise
you.†“Thank you kindly,†said the woman, and. she gave the
witch twelve silver pennies, went home, planted the barley-corn,
~ and immediately a beautiful flower grew up which looked just like
_a tulip, but the leaves were all folded tightly together as if it
were still budding. “That's a pretty flower!†said the woman ;
and she kissed it on its lovely red and yellow leaves, but at the
very ‘moment when she ‘was kissing it the flower gave a loud
crack and opened. It was a real tulip, any one could see that, but
on the green chair, right in the middle of the flower, sat a wee,
wee, little girl, so nice and fine. She was only a thumb Jong, so
Q24 : HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
they called her Thumbelisa. She got a splendidly varnished -
walnut-shell for her cradle, blue violet-leaves were her mattresses,
and a rose-leaf her counterpane; there she slept at night, but
‘in the day-time she played on the table, where the woman had
put a plate which she had surrounded with a whole wreath of flowers
with their stalks stuck into the water; here a large tulip leaf
floated about, and on this leaf Thumbelisa had to sit and sail
from one end of the plate to the other; she had two white
horse-hairs to row with. It was such a pretty sight! She could
sing too oh! 80 nicely and softly, never had the like of it been
heard before.
One night, as she lay in her pretty bed, .a nasty toad came -
hopping in at the window; there was a broken pane there. The
toad. was so ugly, big, and wet, and it hopped right down upon
the very table where Thumbelisa lay sleeping beneath the red
rose-leaf. ‘That would make a very nice wife for my son,â€
said the toad; and with that she took hold of the walnut-shell in
which Thumbelisa lay and hopped away with her through the
broken pane down into the garden. A large broad river was
running there, but just close by the bank it was all swampy and
muddy, and there the toad and her son lived together. Ugh! he
too was nasty and ugly, just like his mother. “ Koax-koax-brekke-
ke-kex!†that was all he could’ say when he saw the pretty little
girl in the walnut-shell. “Don’t chatter so loudly or else you'll
wake her!†said the old toad; “she could give us the slip even
now, for she is as light as swan’s down. We'll put her out in
the river, on one of the broad water-lily leaves, she is so light
and little that it will be quite an island to her. She can’t run
THUMBELISA. 22,5
away from there while we are getting the state-chamber ready
under the mud. where you are to live and keep house.â€
Out in the river grew many clumps of water-lilies with broad,
green leaves, they looked as if they were floating on
‘the surface of the water; the leaf which was farthest out was
also the biggest of all; the old toad swam out to it and placed
Thumbelisa, nut-shell and all, on. the top of it. The poor wee,
little creature awoke quite early in the morning, and when she
saw where she was, she began to cry bitterly, for there was
water on every side of the big green leaf, she couldn’t get ashore
anyhow. The old’ toad was sitting down in the mud and tidying
up her room with rushes and yellow sedges, she was deter-
mined that her new daughter-in-law should find it really nice
and tidy, and after that she swam out with her ugly son towards
the leaf where Thumbelisa was ‘sitting ; ‘they wanted to fetch
away her pretty bed, it was to be put into the bridal-chamber before
she came there herself. The old toad bowed low in the water
to her and said, “Let me introduce my son; he : to be your
husband, and you will live together pleasantly down in the mud.†|
“ Koax-koax-brekke-ke-kex!†that was all her son could say for
himself. So they took the stately little bed and swam away with
it, but Thumbelisa sat quite alone upon the green leaf and began
to cry, for she didn’t want -to live in the nasty toad’s house, or
‘have her ugly son for a husband. The little fishes who were
swimming ‘in. the water below had had a good look at the toad
and heard what she said, and that was why they stuck their heads
up; they wanted to see the little girl. As soon as they caught
‘sight of. her they thought her so pretty, and they were quite
GG
226 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
angry at the idea of her going ‘down to the ugly toad. No, that
should never be. They flocked around the green stalk below the
-.water which held up the leaf and gnawed it quite through with
their teeth, and so the leaf floated down the river. away with
Thumbelisa, far, ‘far away, whither the toad could not come.
_ Thumbelisa sailed past. such a lot of places and the little birds
sat in the bushes, looked at her, and sang, ~ “What a pretty’
little maiden!†The leaf, with her “upon it, swam farther
and farther away; thus little Thumbelisa went abroad on her
travels. =. ge ;
A pr otty†itt white butterfly kept hovering about her, and
at last it. sa on -the leaf, for it had. taken quite a fancy to
_. Thumbelisa, - Was * HAPPY: for now: ‘the toad could not get
: she awas: ‘sailing ; the sun —
ing’ gold. Then she
d the butterfly, but 2
;ccbhen . it glided. away.
the -othér end aK fatened ‘to “thie Bat «
more quiekly: than. ever, and she too, for now: she actually: stood ae Be
upon the leaf.
At that ‘moment: -a big eackalatel came flying ae ae
i sight of her ‘and instantly put its claw round her dainty waist - - ae
and.flew up into a tree with ber; but.the green leaf went swim- we
_ ming down the river and the butterfly along with it, for he was
fastened - to the leaf and could not get loose: Gracious ! “how
frightened, to be. sure, ‘poor. little Thumbelisa was when the cock-
chafer flew up into the tree with her, but she ‘was most anxious
about the pretty white butterfly, which she had tied fast to the
leaf; if he. couldn’t get loose, surely he must starve to death!
THUMBELISA. 227
But the cockchafer didn’t trouble himself about that a bit. He
sat down with her on the largest green leaf in the tree, gave
her syrup out of the flowers to eat, and told her that she was
very pretty, although she did not resemble a cockchafer in the
least. After that all the other cockchafers who lived in the tree
came and paid them a visit; they looked at Thumbelisa, and the
‘Miss Cockchafers shrugged their feelers and said, ‘‘ Why, she has
TRiegueba
only got two legs, what a fright she looks!†“She has no
feelers at all,†they went on, “just look how slim her waist is!
Fie ! if she doesn’t look just like a human being! How ugly
she is!†All the she-cockchafers said this, and yet Thumbelisa
was pretty after all. The cockchafer who had run off with her
had thought so too, but as all the others said she was ugly, he
got at last to believe that she really was ugly, and would have
228 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
: nothing more to do with her; she might go where she liked,
he said. ‘They flew down from the tree with her and put her on
_ a daisy ; there she sat and wept because she was so ugly that even
the cockchafers would have nothing to do ‘with her. And yet.she ._
was the loveliest little thing you can imagine, as‘fine and delicate.
as the most beautiful rose leaf. ee
All through the summer poor Thumbelisa lived ie alone 1n
the large wood. She plaited herself a bed of grass-stalks and hung
it under a large. dock-leaf so that the rain could not fall upon her ;
she gathered sweets from the flowers for her food, and drank of the
dew which stood, every morning, upon the leaves ; thus’ summer
and autumn passed away, but now winter had come, the long, cold
winter. All the birds that had sung so prettily to her flew their
‘way, the as and the flowers publ. the large dock-leaf she had
ee lived under crumpled up and became a yellow, withéred stalk, and »
she felt horribly cold, for her- clothes were in rags and she
herself was so small and delicate that she was bound to freeze to
leah, Poor little Thumbelisa! And now it began to snow, and
| every snowflake which fell upon her was just as if one were to cast
a whole spadeful of snow upon one. of us, for we are big and she
| was but a thumb long. Then she wrapped herself up in a withered
~ leaf, but it wouldn’t warm her a bit, she shivered with cold. -
| Close by the wood whither she had now: come lay a large corn-
field, but the corn had long since been carried away ; only: the bare,
dry stubble stood upon the frozen. ground. ‘To her indeed. it was
“just like a great wood ; oh, how she shivered as she went through it.!
And thus she came to the. field-mouse’s door. It was a little hole
right under the corn-stubble. There dwelt the field-mouse, quite
TN a ea es en EES
aia aah
mort | ° eee Rete
THUMBELISA. | 229
warm and cosy; she had a whole room full of corn, a nice kitchen
and larder. Poor Thumbelisa stood outside the door, just like
some poor beggar-girl, and begged for a little bit of barley-corn, for
she had not had the least bit to eat for two days.
“You poor little wretch !†said the field-mouse, for, at bottom, .
it was a good old field-mouse; ‘come into my warm room and dine
with me!â€. S : 7 :
As now she thought well oe Thumbelisa, she said, “ You are
quite welcome to remain with me all the winter, but you must
keep my room nice and clean and tell me stories, for I am very fond
of hearing stories.†And Thumbelisa did what the.good old mouse
demanded of her, and had a very nice time of it.
‘“We shall soon be having a visitor,†said the field-mouse one
day ; “my neighbour is wont to. pay me a visit every day of the
week. He is better housed even than I am, for he has vast halls
; and goes about in a beautiful black fur pelisse ; if only you could
get him for a husband, you would indeed be well provided for, but
unfortunately he cannot see. Now mind, tell him the very prettiest
stories you' enon? But Thumbelisa did not trouble her head about
it a bit’ she dids’t, want to. have anything whatever to do with
the : neighbour, for le was a mole. So he came and paid them
a visit in his black fur ‘pelisse; he was very rich and learned;
_gaid ‘the field-mouse, his. domestic accommodation moreover
was ten times ag large as the field-mouse’s; but he absolutely
could - not’ endure the. sun -and. the pretty flowers, and he
spoke. slightingly†about them, for le had never seen them;
: Thumbelisa had - to- sing†to him .and she sang, “Fly away, Cock-
chafer.! †and “ The Blackcap trips the meadow along.†So the mole
230 | HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
fell in love with her for her sweet voice’s sake, but he said nothing at
_ the time, he was such a very discreet person. He’ had recently dug
himself a long passage under the earth from his own house to theirs,
and the ficld-mouse and Thumbelisa got permission to walk. about
there whenever they liked. At the same time he told them not to |
be frightened of the dead bird which lay in the passage ; it was a.
_ whole bird with feathers and beak, which certainly must have died
quite recently, when the winter began, and had been buried just where
he was making his passage. The mole took a piece of touchwood in
his mouth, for it shines just like fire in. the dark, and went in front
_ to light them through the long, dark, passage. When they came to
where the dead bird lay, the mole put his broad nose against the
ceiling and shovelled up the earth till there was a large hole
through which the light could shine. In the middle of the floor lay
a dead swallow, with its pretty wings pressed closed down to its
sides, its head and legs were drawn in Cae its feathers; the
poor bird had certainly died of cold. Thumbelisa was very
sorry for it, she was fond of all little birds ; had they not sung
and twittered for her so prettily all through the summer 2° But the
mole gave a kick at it with his short legs and said, “It will whistle _
no more now. | How miserable it must be to be ‘born a little bird !
Thank God, none ‘of. my children will be that! Birds like that
-have nothing i in the world but their ‘ Kwee-wit ! Rwee-wit ! 1’ and
must starve to death in the winter, stupid things!"
“You may well say that, sensible creature as you are,†remarked
the field-mouse. “What has a bird to show for itself when the
winter comes, for all its ‘Kwee-witting’ ? It must starve and
- freeze to death: very romantic, I dare say.!â€
THUMBELISA. ~ - 231
Thumbelisa said nothing, but when the other two had turned
their backs upon the bird, she bent down over it, brushed the
feathers aside which lay over its head, and kissed it on its closed
eyes. “Perhaps it was this very one which sang so prettily to me
’ she thought ; “what a lot. of j cy it gave me, the
lovely, darling bird!â€
in the summer,’
The mole now stopped up a hole through which the daylight
shone and escorted the ladies home. But at night Thumbelisa could
not sleep a. bit, so she rose from her bed and plaited a large and
"pretty carpet of. hay, and she took it down with her and spread it
round about the dead bird, and laid soft wool, which she had found
in the field-mouse’s room, at the sides of the bird, that it might
have a warm bed on the cold earth. “Farewell, you pretty little
~ bird !†said she, “farewell, and thank you for your pretty song in
the summer-time, when all the trees were green and the sun shone
so warmly upon us!†Then she laid her head on the bird’s breast,
but the same instant was very much startled, for it was just as if
something was going “Thump! thump ! 1’ inside it. It was the
pird’s heart.. The bird. was not dead, it lay ina a‘'swoon and had now
gob warm, and was coming back to life again. In the autumn all
the swallows fly away to. warmer lands, but if there be one that
remains behind, it gets so cold that it falls right down as if dead
and remains lying where it falls, and the cold snow comes and covers
it up. Thumbelisa. actually. trembled, so frightened was she, for
really the bird was a big, big creature, compared with her who was
only a thumb long; but she plucked up her courage, laid the cotton-
wool more thickly round the poor swallow, and fetched a leaf oe
ome mint, which had served her as a counterpane, and placed it over
ete ee emcee rR ial or Poh on are
i
}
+
é
}
j
MAL spe GIO ete
ee ar ee ent ne oe eee
not,
932 |. |. HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
the bird's head. The following night she ‘again crept down to it,
and. there it was quite alive, but so faint that it could only open. its
- eye for a second and look at- Thumbelisa, who stood there with
a little piece of touchwood in her hand, iy she ted no voter
light.
_“ Many thanks, you pretty little child!†said the sick swallow
to tier “T have got so nice and warm. I shall soon get back my
strength, and be able to fly away again into the warm sunshine.â€
“Oh!†said she, “it is ‘so cold outside, it is snowing and
freezing! You keep in your warm bed, I'll be sure to take care of
you.†- She brought the swallow water in a flower-leaf; it drank,
and told her how it had torn one of its wings on a thornbush, and
therefore could not fly so strongly as the other swallows, when they
flew away—far, far away to the -warm lands, “Then it had fallen to.
the ground, but it could not remember anything more, and didn’t
know in the least how-it had got there. :
It remained down there the whole winter, and Thambelian’ “was
very kind to it and loved it very much, — Neither the mole nor the
field-mouse was told a word about it, for they absolutely could not
endure the poor wretched swallow, Thumbelisa knew that.
As soon as the spring came and the.sun warmed up the earth,
the swallow said good-bye to Thumbelisa, who opened. the hole |
which the mole had made in the ceiling. The: sun’ then. shone in
upon them so nicely, and the swallow. asked. if she would not go
along with him, she could sit on ‘his back and they would. fly far
out into the green wood. But. Thumbelisa knew that it would
grieve the old field-mouse if she left her like that. “No, I can- |
†said Thumbelisa. ‘“Good-bye, good-bye! you good, pretty
-THUMBELISA. 933
little girl !†said the swallow, and flew out into the sunshine.
Thumbelisa looked after it, and the tears came to her eyes, for she
was very fond of the poor swallow. “ Kwee-wit ! Kwee-wit!†sang
the bird, and flew away into the green wood. Thumbelisa was so
sorrowful. She couldn’t get leave anyhow to go into the warm
sunshine ; the corn which had been sown in the field, right over
the field-mouse’s house, grew high up into the air, it was quite a
thick wood to the poor little girl who was only a thumb long.
“Now this summer you must sew away at your trousseau,â€
the field-mouse said to her, for by this time their neighbour, the
tiresome mole, had come a-wooing her. “ You must have both linen
and woollen in your wardrobe. When you become the mole’s
bride you must sit down in the best and lie down in the best
also.†So Thumbelisa had to spin away at her distaff, and the
- field-mouse hired four spiders, who had to spin and weave night and
_ day. Every evening the mole paid. them a visit, and he always
talked about the same thing, and said that when the summer came
to an end the sun would not shine so hotly and bake the earth as
hard as a stone. Yes, and when summer was over the wedding with |
-Thumbelisa was to take place ; but she didn’t like that at all, for
she cared nota single bit for the tiresome mole. Every morning
when the sun arose, and every evening when it set, she crept out
of doors, and when the wind parted the tops of the corn, so that
she could ‘see the blue sky, she thought how light and lovely it was
outside there, and longed so much to see the dear swallow once
more. But it never came back Beate; it must certainly have flown
far away into the nice » green wood.
Now when autumn came Thumbélisa’s outfit was quite ready.
HH
_ 234. HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
“Tn four weeks you shall be married,†said the field-mouse to —
her. But Thumbelisa began to cry, and said that she wouldn't have
the tiresome mole. :
: “ Fiddlesticks!†said the field-mouse ; ‘“‘ don’t be obsternacious,'
or I'll bite you with my white teeth. Such a handsome husband
as youre going to have too! what more do you want? The Queen
herself has not the like of his black fur pelisse. He has lots too
in both kitchen and cellar. . Thank God for such a husband, ~
say [!†. :
And so they were to be married. The mole had already come
to fetch Thumbelisa away ; she was to dwell with him deep down in
the ground, and never come up into the warm sunlight at all, for he
could not abide it. The poor child was so distressed. She was
now to bid the beautiful sun farewell, for while she lived with the
field-mouse she was always allowed to look at the sun from the
threshold of the door anyhow. “ Farewell, thou bright sun!†she
said, and stretched out her arms high in the air, and even went a
little way beyond the field-mouse’s door, for the corn had been
garnered, and only the dry stubble stood there now. “Farewell,
farewell!†cried she, and threw her tiny arms round a little red
flower which stood there. “Greet the dear swallow from me if
you get a glimpse of him!†:
“ Kwee-wit! Kwee-wit!†it sounded at that very moment
above her head. She looked up. It was the swallow that was just —
passing by. As soon as he saw Thumbelisa he was delighted.
She told him how she loathed the idea of having the nasty mole
? Obsternasig, a colloquial comic word. The field-mouse was talking grand
and meant to say “obstinate.†—
THUMBELISA, 235
for a husband, and living with him deep down under ground where
the sun never shone. And she could not keep back her tears as she
told him.
“The cold winter is coming now,’
2
said the swallow; “I am
going to fly far away to the warm lands, will you come with me ?
~ You can sit upon my back. You have only to tie yourself fast on
with your girdle, and then we'll fly right away from the nasty mole
and his dark room ; we'll fly far away over the mountains to the
warm land where the sun shines lovelier than here, where there is
always summer with its beautiful flowers. Do, pray, fly away
with me, you sweet little Thumbelisa, who saved my life when I lay
frozen in the dark earthy cellar !â€
Ver Vila with you, said Thumbelisa, and she sat down
on the bird’s back with her feet on its outspread wings, tied
her belt fast to one of its strongest feathers, and then the swallow
flew high into the air, over wood and over sea, high up over the
big mountains where snow always lies, and Thumbelisa was almost
frozen in the cold air, but then she erept right under the bird’s
warm feathers, and only popped out her little head to see all the
beautiful things beneath her.
And so they came to the warm land. There the sun shone
much more brightly than here, the sky was twice as high, and over
hedge and ditch grew the loveliest green and blue grapes. In the
woods hung citrons and oranges, here there was a fragrance of mint
and myrtles, and along the roads ran the loveliest children and
| played with large speckled butterflies. But the swallows flew still —
farther away, and everything became prettier and prettier. Be-
neath the splendid green trees near a blue lake stood a dazzling
236 — HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
white marble palace from the olden times, the vine tendrils twined _
up and around the high pillars, and up ait the very top was a number
~ of swallow-nests ; and in one of these dwelt the swallow who had
carried. Thumbelisa. |
“ Here is my house,†said the swallow, “but pray choose now
one of the most splendid of the flowers that grow down there, and
_ then I'll put you there and you shall have as blissful a time of it as
: you can desire.†:
“Qh, that will be lovely 1††eried ae and she esnea her tiny
hands.
There on the ground lay a large white marble column which had
fallen to the ground and broken into three pieces, and between them
grew the loveliest darge white flowers. The swallow flew down with
Thumbelisa and put her on one of the broad leaves; but how
amazed was she when .she saw a little man sitting in the very
centre of the flower, as white and transparent as if he were of
glass! He had on his head the most elegant tiny gold crown and
the prettiest bright wings on his shoulders, and he was not a bit
bigger than Thumbelisa. He was the angel of the flower. Tn.
every flower there lived some such little man or woman, but he
was the King over the whole lot of them.
Gracious, how handsome he igs!†whispered Thumbelisa to the
swallow. The little prince was quite frightened at the swallow, for.
compared with him, who was | so small. and delicate, it was a ms
gigantic bird, but when he saw Thumbelisa, he was delighted ; she
was the very prettiest girl he had ever seen. Thereupon he took
“his gold crown from off his head and put it upon hers, asked her
- her name and if she would be his wife, for then she would be the
THUMBELISA. 237
Queen over all the flowers ! Yes, that was something like a husband,
_ and very different from the son of a toad, or a mole in his black fur
pelisse, She therefore said “Yes†to the pretty prince, and from
every flower came forth a lord or a lady, and all so graceful that it
was a joy tobehold them. Every one of them brought Thumbelisa
a present, but the best of all was a pair of pretty wings froma
large white fly ; they were fastened on to Thumbelisa’s back, and so
she could now fly from flower to flower. There was such a merry-
making, and the swallow sat high up in his nest and sang to them
as well as he could, but at heart he was much distressed, for he was
very fond of Thumbelisa and would have liked to have been with
her always. :
“You shall not be called Thumbelisa any more,†said the angel
of the flower to her; “it is an ugly name and you are so lovely.
We will call you Maya.â€
“ Farewell, farewell!†said the swallow, and flew away again
from the warm land—far, far away back to Denmark. There it had
a little nest over the window where the man lives who can tell fairy
tales, and it sang to him, “Kwee-wit! Kwee-wit!†And that is
where we got this story from.
THE WICKED PRINCE.
THERE was once a wicked and overweening Prince, whose
whole mind was bent upon winning all the countries of the world
rand striking terror with his name. Fire and sword marked his
onward progress ; his soldiers trod down the corn in the fields, they
set fire to the peasants’ huts, so that the red flames licked the leaves
from the trees, and the baked fruit hung on the black and charred
branches. Many a wretched mother hid herself behind the reeking
wall with her naked suckling at her breast, and the soldiers sought
after her, and if they found her and-her child, then their devilish joy
first began—evil spirits could not have done worse. But to the
Prince’s mind all this was just as it should be. Day by day his
. power increased, his name was universally ‘feared, and fortune
followed him in all his doings. He drew gold and vast treasures
from the conquered towns ; and wealth, the like of which was not to
be found in any other place, was amassed in his capital. And now
he built him splendid palaces, churches, and triumphal arches, and’
every one who saw these glories said “ What a ereat Prince !â€
They never thought of the distress he had brought upon other lands ;
THE WICKED PRINCE. 239
they did not hear the weeping and wailing which rose up from
the devastated cities.
The Prince looked at his gold, looked at his splendid edifices,
and then thought, as the majority of men thought, “ What a great
Prince Tam! But I must have more, much more! It must never
be said that any other power is greater than mine, or even as great,â€
and he went to war with all his neighbours, and conquered them all.
He chained the vanquished kings to his car with chains of gold, and .
so made them drag him through the streets whenever he would take
a drive ; and when he sat at table they had to lie down at his feet, and
at the feet of his courtiers, and pick up the crumbs of bread which
were thrown to them.
And now this Prince had his statue set up in the market-places,
and in the royal palace—nay, he would have had it placed in the
churches, before the very altar of the Lord, but the priests said,
“OQ Prince! thou art great; but God is greater still. We dare
not do it!â€
“Well,†said ae evil Prince, “then I will overcome God
likewise!†and in the pride and haughtiness of his heart he built
him a most cunning ship wherewith he would navigate the air; it
was as variegated as the neck of the peacock, and seemed to be
starred with a thousand eyes, but every eye was a gun-barrel. The
Prince sat in the midst, of this ship, he had only to press a
spring and a thousand bullets 2 flew out, whereupon the barrels were
immediately loaded again as before. Hundreds of strong eagles
were harnessed to this.ship, and then away he flew towards the sun.
The earth lay far below him; at first it looked, with all its
ee mountains and forests, merely like a ploughed-up field, where the
940 HANS ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES. :
- green patches peep up from the midst of the over-turned turf; then
it resembled a flat chart, and soon it was lost altogether in clouds
- and mist. Higher and higher flew the eagles. Then God sent.
forth a single one of his countless angels, and the wicked Prince
discharged a thousand bullets at him. But the bullets fell back like
spent hailstones from the angel’ s shining wings. One drop of blood,
only one solitary drop, dripped down from the white feathers, and
that drop fell upon the ship wherein the Prince sat. Tt was like a
burning flame, and it weighed as heavily as a thousand tons of lead,
and bore the ship down: towards the earth with it at a breakneck
pace. The strong wings of the eagles were snapped; the wind
whizzed around the Prinée’s head, and the clouds round about .
(formed doubtless from the cities he had burnt) took threatening
shapes, -like ‘erabs, miles long, which stretched out their strong ©
claws after him, or like rolling masses of rocks or fire-belching
dragons. - Half dead the Prince lay in the ship, which at last
remained suspended between the thick branches of the forest.
“T will vanquish God!†cried he. “I have sworn it—my
will is law!†and he took seven years to build a most cunning ship
to navigate the air with. He had thunderbolts forged of the
hardest. steel, for he would storm the fortresses of Heaven. He got
together a vast host from all his domains, and when they stood
side by side in battle array, they covered a circuit of many miles. _
They mounted the cunningly-devised ship, and the King himself was
about to take his seat therem, when God sent forth a swarm of
gnats, a single little swarm of gnats, which buzzed about the King
and stung his hands and face. In his rage he drew his sword, but
only beat the empty air, the gnats he could not touch. Then he
THE WICKED PRINCE. _ QAI
commanded that costly carpets should be brought thither, and these
they were to wrap around him, so that no midge could pierce
through them: with its sting ; and they did as he commanded.
But one little midge made its way into the innermost carpet, crept
into: the King’s ear, and stung him there. It burnt like fire, the
- venom flew to his brain ; he broke loose from the ship, tore off all
the carpets, rent his clothes asunder, and danced all naked in the
midst of his coarse and savage soldiers, who now mocked at the
mad Prince who would fain have stormed the courts of God Himself,
and was immediately overcome by a single little midge.
Hie
THE WILD SWANS.
Far away from here, in the land whither the swallows fly when
we have winter, dwelt a King who had eleven sons, and one daughter
called Elisa, The eleven brothers (they were Princes, remember) went
to school with stars on their breasts and swords by their sides. They
wrote upon gold slates with diamond pencils, and said their lessons
right off both backwards and forwards, so that one could see at once
that they were Princes. Their sister Elisa used to sit on a little
stool made of looking-glass, and had a picture-book which was worth
half the kingdom. Oh, what a happy time these children had,
but it was not to last for ever ! ;
Their father, who was, King over the whole land, married a
wicked Queen, who was not at all kind to the poor Giilgren: They
could see the difference the very first day. There was a great to-do
in the palace, and the children played at visitors, but instead of the
- cakes and roasted apples they used to get, she gave them only sand in
a teacup, and told them to make believe that it was something else.
A week after that she packed off little Hlisa away into the country with: |
some peasant people, and it was not very long before she got the -
THE WILD SWANS. 943
King to believe so many bad things of the poor Princes that he
absolutely troubled his head about them no more.
“Fly away into the world and shift for yourselves !†said the
wicked Queen. “ Fly away as big birds that cannot speak!†But
she could not make it as bad for them as she wished, for they became _
eleven beautiful wild swans. With a strange cry, they flew out
of the castle windows right away over the park and wood. It was
still quite early in the morning when they passed by the place where
- their sister Elisa lay asleep in the peasant’s hut; here they swept
over the roof, stretched out their long necks, and flapped their
wings, but no one either heard or saw them. They had again to
~take to flight, high up. towards the clouds, far out into the wide
world ; away they flew and settled in a large dark forest, which
stretched right down towards the strand.
Poor little Elisa stood in the hut and played with a green leaf,
she had no other plaything ; and she made a hole in the leaf, peeped
' through it at the sun, and then it seemed to her as if she saw her
brothers’ bright eyes, and every time the warm sunbeams shone upon
her cheeks she thought of all their kisses.
One day passed just like another. When the breeze blew
through the large rose-bushes outside the house, it whispered to the
“roses, “ Who can be lovelier than ye?†But the roses shook their
‘heads, and said, “ Elisa is!†And when the old peasant woman sat
sat.the door on Sunday, and read her hymn-book, the wind would
turn over the leaves and say to the book, “Who can be more pious
than you?†“Tilisa is!†said the hymn-book ; and what the roses
_ and the hymn-book said was only the simple truth.
She was to return. home when she was fifteen years old, and
944 HANS ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES.
when the Queen saw how lovely she was, she was wroth and hated |
her; she would have liked to turn her into a wild swan like
her brothers, but she dared not-do it on the ‘spot, because the King
wished to see his daughter once more.
Early in the morning the Queen went to her bath. It was
built of marble, and adorned with soft cushions and the loveliest
carpets, and she took with her three toads, kissed them, and said to.
one of them, “Sit upon Elisa’s head when she gets into the bath,
that she may become sluggish like you ! 3 To the second she said,
“You sit upon her forehead that she may become ugly like you, so
that her father may not know her again!†And to the third she
whispered, ‘“ Nestle near her heart, that she may. have an evil
conscience to. torture her!†Then she put the toads into the clear
water, which immediately turned green, called lisa, undressed her, ©
and made her descend into the water, and while she ducked her head
one of the toads sat in her hair, the second on her forehead, and the
third on her breast; but Elisa ‘did not seem to notice it in the least.
No. sooner had she come to the surface again-than three red poppies
floated on the water ; had not the beasts been venomous and kissed
by the witch, they would have turned: into red roses, but flowers they
became anyhow from resting on Elisa’s head and near her heart ; evil
spells eamldbere no power over one so innocent and holy. ae
When the wicked Queen saw this, she rubbed her all over with
walnut juice till she was tanned a dirty brown, smeared her sweet
face with an ill-smelling salve,and ruffled her beautiful hair all over,
so that it was impossible to recognise pretty Elisa. When, therefore,
her father saw her he was quite horrified, and said that it was not
his daughter. Indeed, no one would have anything to do with her
%
246 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
but the watch-dog and the swallows, but they were only poor animals’
who had nothing to say for themselves. Then poor Elisa fell a-
weeping, and thought of her eleven brothers who were all far away.
- Much afflicted, she crept out of the palace, and wandered all day over
marsh and moor into the vast forest. She had no idea whither she
wanted to go, but she felt. so sad, and yearned after her brothers.
- Like her, they had been driven into the wide world, and she wanted
to seek and find them. She had only been a short time in the wood
when night fell. She had altogether lost her way, so she lay down
on the soft moss, said her evening prayer, and laid her head against
the stump of a tree. It was so still there; the air was so mild, and
all about her, in the orass and on the moss, hundreds of clowworms
shone like green fire, and when she softly touched one of the
branches with her hand, the sparkling insects rained down like
falling stars. The whole night she dreamed about her brothers.
They were playing together again as children, writing with diamond
pencils on their golden slates, and looking at the lovely picture-book
that was worth half the kingdom; but they wrote upon the slates
not noughts and crosses as heretofore, but the heroic deeds they had
done, and all that they had seen and experienced. And in the
picture-book everything was alive; the birds sang, and the people ©
came out of the book and talked to Elisa and her brothers ; but
when she turned the leaf over they immediately jumped in again, so
that none of the pictures might be out of place.
‘When she awoke the sun was already high in the heavens.
She could not actually see it, indeed, for the lofty trees spread out
their branches thick and fast: but the sunbeams glanced through
like wavy gold gauze. There was a fragrance of green things, and
THE WILD SWANS. 247
the birds all but perched on her shoulders. She heard the splashing
of water, for there were many large cascades; they all fell into a
dam, which had the loveliest sandy bottom. It is true that thick
bushes grew all round it, but in one place the stags had dug a great
gap, and through it Elisa went down to the water, which was so
clear that-if the wind had not stirred the branches and bushes and
made them move, she would have fancied that they were painted on
the bottom, so plainly did all the leaves mirror themselves there,
both those through which the sun shone and those which lay quite
in the shade.
- No sooner did she catch sight of her own face than she was
horrified, so brown and ugly it looked ; but when she had moistened
her little hand, and passed it over her eyes and forehead, the white
~ skin shone through again; then she took off all her clothes and
went into the fresh water—a lovelier royal child was not to
be found in the whole world. ie
Now when she had dressed herself again, and had plaited her
long hair, she went to the bubbling spring, drank out of her hollow
hand, and wandered farther into the wood without herself knowing
whither. She thought of her brothers, she thought of God, who
would surely never forsake her. Tis He who makes the crab-
apples grow to feed the hungry, and He showed her such a tree, the
branches bent down beneath their fruit. There she had her dinner,
and, after putting props under the branches, went on into the darkest
part of the wood. It was so still that she could hear her own foot-
steps ; she could hear every little withered leaf which bent beneath
her foot. Not a bird was to be seen, not a sunbeam could penetrate
through the large thick branches; the lofty trunks stood so close to
248 ‘Coane HANS ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES.
each other that when she looked straight before her it was just as if
she were surrounded by row after row of huge railings. Oh, here
was a solitude she had never known before !
The night was so dark; not a single little glowworm twinkled
on the moss. Sad at heart, she laid her down to sleep, and it
seemed to her as if the branches of the tree above her parted on
both sides, and our Lord with gentle eyes looked down upon her,
and little angels peeped over His head, and from under His arm.
When she awoke in the morning, she did not know whether she had
dreamed this or whether it had really happened. She went a few
steps forward, and she met an old woman with a basket of berries,
and the old woman ‘gave her some. lisa asked her if she had seen
eleven Princes ride through the forest. “ No,†said the old woman ;
“but I saw yesterday eleven swans, with gold crowns on their heads, —
swimming down the river close by here.†And she led Elisa a step
farther to a steep slope, at the foot of which was a winding river.
The trees on its banks stretched their long leafy branches towards
each other, and where they could not come together by means of
their natural orowth, they had uprooted themselves from the soil
and leaned over the water with interlocked branches. Elisa said
farewell to the old woman, and went along the river to where it
flowed out into the large open sea. The whole of the beautiful sea
lay before the young girl, but not a sail appeared on it, not a boat
was to be seen; how would she be able to pursue her journey
farther? She looked at the countless pebbles on the beach ; ; the
water had made them all round. Glass, iron, stone, everything
that had been cast up there, had been fashioned thus by the water,
which nevertheless was far softer than her delicate hand. “It rolls
250 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
untiringly, and everything that is hard becomes smooth. I will be
just as untiring! Thanks for your lesson, ye clear, rolling billows !
My heart tells me that you will one day carry me ‘to my brothers.â€
On the sence on the shore lay eleven white swan feathers,
and she made a bouquet of them. Drops of water lay upon them,
‘but none could tell whether it was dew or tears. It was lonely by
the strand, but she did not feel it, for the sea was for ever changing ;
there was more variety there every few hours than the fresh inland
lakes can show in a twelyemonth. If a _large black cloud came
sailing along, it was as though the sea would say, “I, too, can look
black!†and then the blast blew, and. the billows turned their white
side outwards; but when the. clouds eleamed red, and the wind
slept, then the sea was like a rose-leaf: at one time it was green, at
another, white; but, however gently it rested, there was always
a gentle surge on the shore: the water sank, and fell as gently as
the breast of a sleeping child.
When the sun was about to set, Elisa saw eleven white swans,
with gold crowns on their heads, flying landwards. They flew one
behind the other, so that it looked like a long white -ribbon. Then
Elisa climbed up the slope and hid herself behind a bush; and
the swans settled down close beside her, and Epp their large
white wings.
The sun dipped beneath the water, and ea the swans’
plumage fell off, and there stood eleven handsome Princes—Hlisa’s
brothers. She uttered a loud shriek, for, although they were much
altered, she knew that it was they—she felt it must be they; she
sprang into their arms, and called them by their names ; and they
were happy when they saw ‘and recognised their little sister, who’ :
THE WILD SWANS. 251
had now become so big and beautiful. They laughed, and they
cried, and very soon they had made each other understand how
wickedly their stepmother had treated them all.
“We brothers,†said the eldest of them, “ fly about as wild
swans so long as the sun is in the sky; but when it sets we take
again our human shape; therefore we must always take care to
have a resting-place. for our feet at sunset, for if we are flying
among the clouds at that time, we may as men fall down in the
deep. We do not live here. A land just as beautiful as this lies
beyond the sea, but the way thither is long; we have to cross over the
vast sea, and there is not an island on the way where we can pass
the night, save one lonely little rock which towers up in the midst of
it, a rock just big enough for us to rest upon when we all crouch side
by side; if the sea is rough the water splashes all over us; but yet
we thank God for this little rock. There we pass the night in the
shape of men, but for it we should never be able to visit our dear
native land, for we require the two longest days in the year for
our flight. Only once a year are we permitted to visit the home of
our fathers ; éleven days we may remain here, then we fly away
over the great forest, whence we can view the castle where we
were born and where our father dwells, and see the high tower
of the church where our mother lies buried. Here the very trees
“and bushes seem to be of our kin; here the wild horses gallop over
the plains as we saw them do in our childhood ; here the charcoal-
burners sing the very same songs we used to dance to when we were
children. Here is our fatherland, hither we are drawn, and here
we have found you, dear little sister! We may stay two days
_ longer, but alter that we must cross the sea to a land which is
252 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. —
beautiful indeed, but not our fatherland. ‘How can we take you
with us? We have neither ship nor boat.â€
« And how shall I deliver you! 2†said the little sister. They
talked together nearly the: -whole ee for a very few hours |
. did they sleep. i
Elisa awoke at the sound of the swans’ wings misting above
her. Her brothers had been changed again, and they wheeled
about in wide circles, and-at last flew right away; but one of them, -
the youngest, stayed behind. And the swan laid its head in her
lap, and she stroked ‘its white wings ; they were together all day.
: Towards evening the others came back, and when the sun had set
they all stood there in their natural shapes.
“To-morrow we must fly from hence, and we must not come
back again for a whole year; but we cannot leave you like that.
Have you the courage to come with us 2 My arm is strong enough
to carry you through the wood ; must not all our wings together
be strong enough, then, to carry you right over the sea?â€
“Yes, take me with you,†said Elisa.
They employed the whole night in weaving a net af fee
willow-bark and tough sedges, and it was large and strong. Elisa.
lay down upon. it, and so, when the sun came forth and the
__ brothers were changed into wild swans, they seized the net with
their beaks and flew high up towards the clouds with their dear
sister, who was still sleeping. The sunbeams fell nght upon her
face, so one of the swans flew over her head to shade her with ‘its
broad wings. They were far away from land when Elisa awoke.
She still thought she was dreaming, so strange it seemed to her
to be carried aloft in the air right over the sea. By her side lay
ee
254 j HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. |
a branch covered with lovely ripe berries, and a bundle of savoury
roots. These the youngest brother had gathered and placed. beside
her, and she smiled gratefully upon him, for she knew that it was
he who flew-above her head and shaded her with his wings. They
were so high up that the first ship they saw beneath them looked
‘like a white gull upon the water. A large cloud stood right behind
them, a whole mountain it seerfied, and upon it Elisa saw the
shadows of herself and the eleven swans flying along as large as
life ; such a splendid picture she had never seen before; but as
the sun rose higher and the cloud fell farther back, the floating
_ shadow-picture faded away.
All day long they flow on and on through the air like a
e whizzing dart, but yet they went slower than usual, for they now
had their sister to carry. And now a storm was rising, the
evening was drawing nigh ; with anguish Elisa saw the sun setting,
and still there was nothing to be seen of the lonely sea- bound rock ;
it seemed to her as if the swans were making stronger strokes with
their wings. Alas! hers was the fault that they did not get along
more quickly ; when the sun had quite set they would become men;
. fall into the sea, and perish. Then, from the very depths of her
heart’ she sent up a prayer to God, -but still she could not see
a sign of any rock; the black cloud drew nearer, the strong blast,
foreboded a storm, the clouds all grouped together into one large
threatening mass that stood out against them almost ‘like a wall of |
lead; the lightning flashes came thick and fast.
And now the sun was on the very verge of the sea. Elisa's.
_ heart quaked within her. Then the swans shot down so swiftly
that she fancied they were falling ; but now they soared onwards
THE WILD SWANS. 255
again. The sun was by this time half beneath the water, but
now, for the first time, she.saw beneath her the little rock, it looked
no bigger than a seal that lifts its head above the water. The sun
sank so swiftly; now it was a mere tiny star, and the instant
her foot touched the solid earth, the sun went out like the last
spark on a piece of smouldering paper. _ Arm in arm she saw her
brothers standing around her, but there was just enough room for
her and them and no more. The sea smote against the rock and
flew in showers above them: The heavens were a sea of flame,
and crash upon crash rolled the thunder; but the brothers and the
_ sister held one another's hands and sang a hymn, and une hearts
grew strong and blithe.
At dawn the atmosphere was clear and calm, and as soon
as the sun arose the swans flew away from the island with Elisa.
The sea was still rough. It looked, when they were high up in
the air, as if the white foam on the dark green sea was millions of
swans floating on the water.
— As the sun rose higher, Elisa saw before her, half swimming
in the air, a mountain-land with shining masses of ice on the lofty
peaks, and amongst them lay a palace, extending for a mile at
: least, with colonnade upon colonnade piled up in the most daring
style ; below it palm oroves were swaying to and fro, and gorgeous
flowers as large as mill-wheels. She asked if this were the land
they were going to ; but the swans shook their heads, for what she
saw was Fata Morgana’s beautiful, ever-shifting, cloud-built palace.
They -dare not take any human being there. lisa stared at it,
and then mountain, wood, and palace all collapsed, and there stood
in place of it all twenty proud churches, as like as peas, with high
“2290 7 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. =
towers and pointed windows. She thought she heard the organ
playing, but it was the sea she heard. And now she was quite —
~elose to the churches, when they ‘suddenly became a whole fleet
. _ sailing along beneath her ; she. looked down, and it was only the .
sea mist driving over ‘the: water. Yes, an_ eternal changing was
going on before. her eyes, and now at last she saw the land she was
really going to. There were the beautiful blue mountains, with the -
_ cedar groves, towns, and palaces. Long before the sun went down
she was sitting on the mountain in front of a large cave, which -was
overgrown with ine oes creepers which jeokeetl hike embroidered
carpets. : fee
peer Now we shall see what: you'll dream: about to- night,†‘said
the youngest brother, and he showed: her her bedroom. “ Would ;
~ that I might dream. how I-tould deliver: you!†said she ; and ‘this —
ra thought 80 vividly occupied her mind that ‘she prayed earnestly
_ to God for His help, nay, even in her sleep she kept on praying ;
then. she scented to herself to be flying: high up inthe air to Fata
: “Morgana’s palace, and the fairy came to meet her, so fair and
~ shining, and yet she was exactly like the old woman who had given
her the berries in the wood, and told (ne about the swans with
the golden. crowns. ‘ one
ae Your brothers can be saved, †she said ; a but have you. courage
and constancy enough for the task ? Tt is true that the sea is.
softer than your delicate hands, and yet ‘it transforms the hardest
stones ¢ but ib does not feel the ‘smart your fingers will feel, it has
no hea at to suffer all the anguish and pain that you must undergo.
~ Do you see this stinging- -nettle I hold i in my hand ? Many sorts of it
grow round about the cave where you sleep 5 only, greet; and those —
THE WILD) ‘SWANS. 257
ale whieh grow on the graves in the churchyard, are of any. use,
mark that! You must pluck these, though they will blister your
- skin, then heckle the nettles with your feet till you get flax, and —
~ this you must twist and knit into eleven padded coats with long .
sleeves ; cast them over the eleven wild swans and the enchantment
will be broken. But. bear well in. ‘mind that from the moment you |
begin this task until “it is quite finished, even if years and years ~
intervene, you must not ‘speak. The first word you utter will go
like a, mortal dagger. through your brothers’ hearts. Their life hangs
upon your tongue, Mark that, every word of it!†And at the
‘same instant she touched her hand with the nettle; it was like a |
burning fire, the pain of it awakened Elisa, It was broad day, and
close by where. she had slept lay. a nettle like that she had. seen in
her - dream. ~Then she fell. upon her knees and thanked God,
and came out of the cave to begin. her work. With her delicate
~~ ands she grasped the ‘hideous nettles; they were like fire. They
raised big blisters « on her hands and arms, but she was quite willing
to suffer it, if only she might save her brothers. She heckled every â€
nettle with her naked feet, emul began. weaving and Eaieane with
: the green, flax.
With the sunset came the brothers, and they were terrified to
find her dumb: They thought at first it was a fresh spell of their
: wicked stepmother; but when they saw her hands, they understood
- what she had done for their sakes; and the youngest brother wept,
and wherever his tears fell she felt no pain, and the burning blisters
disappeared.
All through the night she worked, for she could have no rest
till she had. delivered no dear brothers, ‘The whole of the following
Lu.
258 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
day, while the swans were away, she sat allalone, but never had time
flown away so quickly. One padded coat was already done, and
now she began the second. Suddenly, a hunting-horn rang out in
‘the mountains. She was sore afraid. The sound came nearer.
She heard the. dogs bark. In her terror she crept into the cave,
bound together the nettles she had gathered and heckled, and ‘sat
upon them. At the same momenta large dog came springing down. —
from the coppice, and immediately afterwards another, and then
another, barking loudly, and running backwards and forwards. . Inâ€
a very few minutes all the hunters stood outside the cave, and the
handsomest of them all was the King of the land, who came towards
Elisa. Never had he seen such a beautiful girl. —
“Whence comest thou, beautiful child?†said he. ° Hlisa
~ shook her head, for, of course, she dared not speak ; it was as much
as her brothers’ life and deliverance were worth; and she hid her
hands beneath her apron, that the ia might not see how much
she was obliged to suffer.
“ Follow me,†said he, “ you must not remain here. If you are
“as 3 good as you are fair, I will clothe you in silk and satin, set a gold
crown upon your head, and you shall have your house and home in
my richest palace ; and so he lifted her upon his horse. She wept,
and wrung her hands, but the King said, “I only want to make you —
happy. The day will come when you will thank me for all this.â€
- So he rode off among the mountains, and held her in front of him |
on the horse, and the huntsmen galloped after.
At sunset the splendid capital with all its churches and cupolas
lay before them, and the King led her into the palace, where a great
fountain was splashing in a lofty marble hall, where the walls and
260 ° HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
ceiling were gorgeous with sculptures ; but she had no eyes for these
things, but wept and mourned. continually, and helplessly let the
"women put royal robes upon her, plait pearls in her hair, and draw
= gloves over her blistered hands. ; :
| Now when she stood before the ‘King i in all her splendour she
WAS 80 dazzlingly beautiful that the whole Court bowed down before
her, and the King chose her for his bride, although the Archbishop :
shook his head and whispered that the beautiful wood-nymph was
certainly a witch who had blinded their eyes and ensnared the
- . King’s heart. The King would not. listen, but ordered the music to
play, the most delicious dishes to be served, and the prettiest girls.
to dance round her, and she was conducted through fragrant gardens
and splendid rooms ; yet. not a smile crossed her lips or beamed
from her eyes, but sorrow stood there as if it were her eternal lot
and portion. And now the King opened a little chamber close
_ beside his own where she was to sleep.. It was decked with costly
- green carpets, and was just like the cave where she had been. On
the floor lay the bundle of flax she had spun from the nettles, and -
- from the ceiling hung the padded coats that were ready. All this’ -
had been picked up by one of the huntsmen as a great curiosity.
“Here you ean fancy yourself back i in your former home,†’ said
the King. “Here is the work which occupied you there. In the
‘midst of all your mplendour it a amuse a to think of that
time.†oy :
When Elisa saw that which lives so near her fear, a ale played
round her mouth ‘and the colour came back to. her cheeks ; she
thought of her brothers’ deliverance, kissed the King’ s hand, and he
pressed her to his heart, and had all the bells set a-ringing to
THE WILD SWANS. 261
announce the bridal feast. ‘The beautiful dumb ot on the woods
was to be the Queen of the land.
Then the Archbishop whispered evil words into the King’s ear,
but they did not reach his heart. The wedding was to hold good,
and the Archbishop himself had to place the crown on the Queen’s _
head, and in his evil malice he pressed the narrow circlet right down
‘upon her forehead, so that it hurt her; but’a still heavier circlet lay
- around her heart—sorrow for her. brothers. _ She felt no bodily pain,
her mouth was dumb, a single word would surely cost her brothers
- their lives: but in her eyes lay a deep affection for the good and
handsome King who did all he could to please. her. She clave to
him more and more every day with her whole heart. Oh, if she
only dared to confide in him! but dumb she must be—dumb she
‘must accomplish her work. *‘So-she slipped away from his side at
night, went into the little private chamber which was tricked out
like a cave, and she fed one padded coat after another ; but —
when she came to the seventh she found she had no more flax.
- She knew that in the churchyard grew the nettles she had to
use, but she had to pluck them herself; and how should she get
there?“ Oh, what is the smart in my fingers compared with the
anguish in my heart!†she ‘thought. “T must venture it. Our
Lord will not withdraw His hand from me.†With an agony of
heart as great as if she were bent upon some evil action, she crept
down into the garden on a bright moonlight night, and went through
the long alleys and down the lonely paths right away to the church-
yard. There she saw a group of Lamias, hideous witches, sitting on
| one of the broadest gravestones. They took off their rags as if they
were going to have a bath, dug up the fresh graves with their long
262 = ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. -
lean fingers, drag a out the corpses, and ate their fleshy Elisa had
to pass close by them, and they fixed their evil eyes upon her; but |
she said. her prayers, gathered the stinging- -netiles, and carried them
home to the palace.
Only a single person had seen her, the Archbishop, who was
astir when other men slept. He had thought that there was some-
thing not quite right about the Queen, and now he was sure of it.
She was evidently a witch who had befooled the: King and. all the. -
people. At the shriving stool he told the King what he had seen
and what he feared, and as the hard words came. from his tongue :
the carved images of the Saints shook their heads as though they
would say, “Tt is not so: Elisa is innocent!†But the Archbishop
interpreted it otherwise, and opined that they witnessed against her,
“and were shaking’ their heads at her sin. Then two heavy tears
rolled down the King’s cheeks, and he went home with doubt in his’
heart. At night he made as though he slept, but no sweet sleep
visited his eyes, and he marked how Elisa got up and did the same
thing every night, and every time he followed softly behind her, and .
saw her disappear into her secret chamber.
Day by day his looks erew blacker ; Elisa saw it, and oad not -
guess the reason, but it distressed her. | And what did she not suffer
in her heart for her brothers! Her salt tears ran down the royal
purple and velvet, they lay there like sparkling diamonds, and all
who saw the splendid garments wished to be Queen. Meanwhile ©
she had all but finished her task, only a single coat still remained to
be done, but.she had now no more flax, and not a single nettle left.
Once more, then, for the very last time, she must 0 to the church-
yard and pluck a few handfuls of nettles. It was an agony to even
"THE WILD SWANS... : 263
think of the jones journey Sar the frightful Lamias, but her
resolution was as strong as her trust: in God.
- So Elisa went, but the King and the Archbishop followed after.
- They saw her vanish through the wicket-gate into the churchyard,
and as they approached it they saw the Lamias on the gravestones ©
just as Elisa had seen them, and the King turned away, for he
thought she was: one’ of them, she whose head that very evening
had rested on his breast. “Let the people judge her,†said he; and
| the people condemned her to be burnt alive. :
She was dragged from the splendid palace to a dark and
: noisome dungeon, where the wind whistled through the barred
windows.’ Instead of her silk and satin they pave her the bundle
~ of nettles she had gathered ; she might lay her head on these if she
chose. The hard, stinging padded coats she had knitted were to —
‘be her pillow and counterpane; but they could have given her
nothing more precious, so, she set to work again, and prayed
earnestly to her God.. The street boys outside sang ribald songs
-about her ; not a single soul comforted her with a loving word.
Then, towards. evening, swans’ wings fluttered close by her
~~ dungeen grating. _It was the youngest of her brothers; he had dis-
oe his sister, and she | sobbed with joy although she knew that
e night that had come would doubtless be her last; but, on the
aeher hand, her task was now ay finished, and her brothers were
“sf there.â€
The Archbishop came to be with her during her last moments
-—he had promised the King as much—but she shook her head—
and her looks and gestureswbade him go away; for that night she
must finish her work, or else everything, her tears, her woes, her
264 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
- sleepless nights, would be labour lost. The Archbishop went away,
~ and evil were the words he spoke against her; but poor Klisa knew
that she was innocent, and went on with her work. .
The tiny mice ran about the floor, they dragged the nettles
‘close to her feet, to help her if ever so little ; and the thrush sat
down by her window-grating and sang the whole night through
as merrily as he could, so. that she should not lose heart. .
It was just upon dawn, there was still an hour before the
wild swans would take to flight; when the eleven brothers
stood at the gate of the palace and demanded an audience of
the King, but they were told that it could not be yet. Was it
not still night? The King was asleep, and none durst wake him.
They implored, they threatened, the guards were sent for, nay,
at last the King himself came out and asked what it all meant. |
The same instant the sun rose and no more was to be seen of
the ‘brothers, but eleven wild swans flew away over the palace..
Out of the city gates streamed all the people ; they were 2
going to see the witch burnt. A broken-down jade dragged the |
car on which she sat. They had dressed -her.in a coarse sackcloth :
smock. Her beautiful long hair hung loosely down over her ~
lovely head, her cheeks were as pale as death; her lips moved
softly while her fingers. worked away at the green flax ; even on
the way to death she céased not from the still unfinished task.
Ten of the coats of mail lay at her feet, and the eleventh she .
was still knitting. The populace cursed her. “Look at the witch!†-
they cried, “ how she mumbles! She hasn’t got a hymn-book
in her hands; no, not she! She’s at her juggling tricks still |
Snatch it from. her! ear it to pieces !†But as they pressed upon
MM
266 HANS ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES.
her from all aides to tear it to pieces, eleven wild swans caine
flying along and perched -upon the car around her and flapped.
. their large wings. Then. the mob fell back in amazement. “It is
a sign from Heaven ! She is innocent, that’s esa 1†But
they dared not say so aloud. | :
: And now the headsman took her hand, but she hastily cast
- the eleven coats over the swans, and there stood eleven handsome.
princes; but the youngest had a swan’s wing in place of an arm
for his coat was short of a sleeve, which she had: been unable to
finish in time. : ,
“Now I may speak !†she ied “JT am innocent!â€
And the people, when they saw what had happened, bowed
down before her as. to a saint; but she sank lifeless into her
brothers’ arms. The suspense, — and oa had been too
much for her.
“Yes,†said fhe eldest “prothen “she is innocent!†And
now he told all that had happened, and while he was speaking, |
a fragrance as of millions of roses spread abroad, for every faggot
in the pile had struck root and shot forth green branches, and |
there stood a fragrant hedge of red roses, large and lofty,
and at the very top of it rested a white and shining flower that
sparkled like a star. This flower the King plucked and laid on
Blisa’s breast, and she awoke with peace . and J joy in her heart.
Then all the church bells fell a-tinging ot their own. accord,
mad the birds all came flying up in large flocks, and there was a"
bridal procession back to the palace, the like of. which never a King .
had seen before.
THE GARDEN OF EDEN,
THERE was once a King’s son—nobody ever had so many nice
books as he. All that had ever happened in- this world he could
read about or see represented in beautiful pictures. He knew
everything about every country and every people; but not a word
could he find about. where the Garden of _Hden lay, and. that was
just: the very place that he thought most about. His evandmother
had told him, when he was still very little and just beginning to
_ go to school, that every flower in the Garden of Paradise was the
sweetest of cakes, and that their calixes were full of the finest
wine; history was written on one of them, -geography or tables on
another, and you had only to eat these cakes to know your lessens
at once. The. more you ate, the more you knew of history,
geography, and tables. He believed all this at first, but when. he
grew a bigger boy, learnt more and got ever so much wiser, he
understood well enough that the delights of the Garden of Edenâ€
must be something very different to that.
8 Oh, why did Eve pluck of the tree of knowledge ? Why ce
Adam eat of the forbidden fruit? It ought to have been me, and_
~ then it wouldn't have happened! Never would sin have then come
268 _ HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
into the world!†He said this once, and he said it. again when he
_ was seventeen years old. The Garden of Eden occupied all his
thoughts;
~ One day: -he went into the woods ; he went alone, for it was his
: greatest j joy to go into the woods alone. The evening drew on, the
_ clouds gathered, and the rain fell as if the whole sky was one huge’
sluice. from which. the water, poured, and it grew as dark as the
deepest well at night time. As for the Prince, now he slipped upon
the wet grass, now he fell over the rough stones which projected.
out of the rocky ground. Everything was dripping with water, the
poor Prince had not a dry thread on 1 his whole body, he was -
obliged to crawl over big blocks of stone where the water oozed out
of the tall.moss: He was just about to give up altogether when he
~ heard -a- strange: whizzing noise, and saw in front: of hima large ©
well-lighted cavern.. In the middle of it blazed a fire big enough to
roast a stag, and, in fact, a stag was actually roasting upon it—the
| stateliest stag with huge antlers was stuck upon a spit revolving
between two felled fir-trees. An oldish woman, tall and sturdy, as _
if she were a man in disguise, sat by the fire, and from time to time
cast a faggot into it.
- . “Pray come closer,†said she i “Ab dow by the fire and get :
your clothes dried.†— Soe. : oe
oe This is a bad look-out,†said the Prince, and he sat down on
ie floor. ee co
“Tt will be still worse when my sons come Horie †said the old
woman ; “you are in the Cavern of the Winds—my sons are the
world’s four winds. Do you understand that ?â€
Where are your sons now ?†asked the Prince,
THE GARDEN OF EDEN. — 269
“A silly question deserves no answer!†said the woman.
“My sons are away on their own account. They are playing at
_ ball with the clouds in the big room up above ‘there | !†and she
pointed to the sky. —
“Come, come!†said the ‘Prince, “you've ‘rather a rough
tongue, and are not nae 80 gentle as the ladies I generally see
about me.’
“Well, ae have nothing else to do but be polite; I must be
rough if I mean to keep my lads in order. But I can hold my own,
though they have got stiff necks.. Do you see those four sacks which,
hang upon the wall? They are afraid of them as you used to be of
the bogey: behind the mirror. JI know how to make them knuckle
under, I can tell you, and then into the bag they so. We don't
“stand upon ceremony. There they have to remain, and don’t go
gadding about again till it think _ proper. But here comes one of
them already.†= oe
It was the North Wind who. came in, and brought with him an
icy coldness ; large hailstones hopped. about the floor and snowflakes
- drifted all about. He was dressed in bearskin breeches and jacket:
a sealskin cap: fitted close down over his ears; long icicles hung
down from his’ beard, and one ailstone after another glided down
the collar of his coat,
+ * Don’t go to the fire all at once!†said the Prince. “The
frost might fly to your face and hands and give you chilblains !â€
“Frost 1? said the North Wind, with a loud laugh, “ why
that. is my greatest delight | But what sort of a jackanapes are
a The Danish word frost means both frost and chilblain, the pun ig
necessarily lost in English, ,
270 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. |
you, I should like to know? How did you get into the Cavern
of the. Winds?†reas |
“He is my guest,†said the old woman; “and if you are not
~~ satisfied with that explanation, into the bag you go—so, there!â€
| That was quite enough, so the N orth Wind now: told them
whence he had come, and where-he had been for the last mouth
or’ two. cs s
oI fave come from the Polar Sea,†said he; “I have been over
Berra Asland with the Russian whalers. I sat and slept by the
helm when they sailed out from the North Cape, but when I was
waking up a little, the stormy petrel came knocking about my legs.
It is a funny’ sort of bird, the stormy petrel, for it gives a sharp
flap with its wings, and then sticks them out quite straight without
~ moving them, and yet it-flies well enough, too.†Se
“Not quite so long- -winded, please,†said the. mother a the
Winds. “And so you came to Beeren Island ?â€
“Yes ; and. a, nice place itis, too. That 1 is a ‘Hoot for dancing
on: if you like! As flat as.a plate. Half-thawed snow and moss,
rough stones and skeletons of whales and Polar bears lie about
_ there, and look like the arms and legs of warriors covered with
mould. One would fancy that the sun never shone upon them. I
puffed away a little of the mist so that they might see the shanty
there. It was a. house . built of wreckage and covered over with
walrus hide; the fleshy side of. which was turned outwards and full
of green and red. stuff ; ‘on the roof sata live Polar bear growling.
I went down to the. strand, looked at the birds’ nests, and peeped ,
at the callow fledglings, who screeched and gabbled at me, 30 I blew.
a blast into their thousand throats and ee them to hold their |
pg RR OSD NON ea PIER
272, HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
tongues. Right down below wallowed the whales, like living
entrails or prize nae. with pigs’ heads and teeth an
: ell long.â€
~ “You tell a tale ale my son,’ †said his mother ; ‘‘it makes my oe
mouth water to listen to you!†ale.
“So a-hunting we went! The. harpoon: was hurled into the
whale’s breast so that the steaming plood-jet gushed over the ice
like a fountain. Then I thought I, too, would have a share in the
sport, so I blew up a blast and: made my swift clippers, the moun-
tain-high icebergs, hem the boats in. - Ho, how the sailors whistled
and how. they shricked! but I whistled still higher. _ They had to
unpack the whale’s dead body, boxes and cordage and all on the ice.
I shook the snowflakes about their ears, and let the imprisoned
vessels with - their quarry drift-southwards -to- taste salt water
there, They will ml come to Beeren Island again in a
: hurry.
“So you. have been up to ) mischief dome ?†said the mother
of the Winds. : . ee
oe © Others may tell of the on I've done, †ad he. “ But here |
~ comes. my brother from the west. I like i the best of the lot.
He smacks of the briny: and oe a lee coolness aleng
with him.â€
“Ts that little Zephys 2 ae asked the Pikes si
ce Yes, it is Zephyr, certainly ; ;†said the old woman, “but he’s.
noe | go very little after all. Years ago he was a Pie lad, but Si
. that is long ago.†;
He looked like a savage, but he had on a “ dlouhed hat so as
not to come to grief. . He held in his hand a mahogany club cut in
THE GARDEN OF EDEN. 273
the American mahogany woods. He couldn’t have done with a
smaller one. .
‘Whence do you come ?†asked his mother.
“From the forest-wildernesses,†said he, “where the thorny
lianas spread thickets from tree to tree; where the watersnake lics
in the wet grass, and men seem out of place.â€
“What have you been doing there ? 2
“T was looking at the deep river; I watched it plunge down
from the rocks, turn to dust, and fly towards the clouds to make a
bridge for the rainbow. I saw the wild buffalo swimming in the
flood, but the current tore him away with it; he drifted along
with a flock of wild ducks which rose in the air- down where the
water plunged, but the buffalo had to go with the waterfall; I
felt for him, so I blew such a oust that the primeval trees sailed
. away like shavings.†:
| K And you've done nothing else ?†asked the old woman.
“JT have turned somersaults in the savannahs, I have raced
ihe geld horse, and shaken down cocoa-nuts. Yes, yes, I’ve many a.
tale to tell, but one ought not to tell all one knows. You know
that well enough, old mother ! ey And he embraced her so im-
petuously that she. very, nearly tumbled over. He was certainly
a very rough lad. :
And now the South ‘Wind came in, with a Sarban ‘and a
flying†Bedouin mantle.
#1 is frightfully cold here!†said he, and fe a log on
the fire. “ One can see that the North Wind arrived first.â€
& Why, it's so hot you could roast a Polar bear,†said
~ the Moreh: Wind.
274: HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
“You are a Polar bear yourself ! !†said the South Wind.
vo you want to be put into that bag?†asked the old
woman. “Sit down on that stone there and tell us where you
have been.â€
: “In Africa, mother,†said he. “I have. been hunting lions —
with the Hottentots in Kaffir -land. What grass grows upon the
plains there! ’tis as green as olives. There the gnu danced, and
the ostrich ran races with me; but I am still quicker on my
pins. I came to the yellow sand of the desert, which looks like
the bottom of the sea. I met a caravan, They had just slain
their last camel to get water to drink, but it was little enough ~
they got. Above them was the scorching sun, beneath them the |
singeing sand. The desert extended into boundless space. Then
_ I gambolled about in the-fine loose sand and whirled it aloft in huge
columns. That was a dance, I can tell you! You should have
seen how the dromedary crouched before me, and how the -
merchant drew his: caftan over his head. He cast himself down
before me as-before Allah, his God. Now they all lie buried there.
A pyramid of sand marks the spot where. they lie. Whenever |
blow it away again the sun will bleach their white bones, and .
travellers will see that men have been there before ; else how could
one think it possible i in the desert 2†; ,
a 86 you, too, have only. yaoneht evil a said his mother.
“Tnto the bag with you !†And before he was well aware of
it, she caught the South Wind round the waist and bundled him. —
into the: sack. Round and round. about the floor it rolled, but
she sat upon it, and then it was obliged to keep still.
“ You've got some lively lads there!†observed the Prince. —
276 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
“Yes, indeed,†she replied ; “and I can keep them in order,
too. But here comes a fourth.†|
It was the East Wind, and he was s dressed like a Chinaman.
“So you come from that quarter, eh? * said his mother.
“Why, I thought you had been to the Garden of Eden.â€
“JT don’t fly thither till to-morrow,’ ’ replied the East Wind.
«Tt will be a hundred years to-morrow since I was last there. I
now come from China, where I danced round the porcelain tower
till all the bells rang again. Down in the street sundry high
officials were being flogged. The bamboo cane was slit over their
shoulders, and people of the first to the ninth degree too! They |
shrieked, ‘Many thanks, many thanks, my fatherly benefactor ! ’
But they didn't mean anything by it, and 1 mee the bells, and
sang, ‘Tsing, tsang, tsu!’â€
“You are full of mischief!†Gnd ie old woman. «Well,
to-morrow you are off to the Garden of Eden, and that
always helps to polish you up a bit. Take a good long
draught | from the fountain of wisdom, and bring a little bottleful
_ home for me.â€
“All right!†said the Hast Wind. “But why have you put my
brother from the South in that bag? Out with him! I want him
to tell me about the bird Phoenix. The Princess of the Garden of
Eden is always wanting to hear about that bird when I pay her a
visit every hundred years. Open the bag, my own dear darling
mother, and I'll make you a present of two pocketfuls of tea, so
fresh and green, which I plucked myself on the spot.â€
«Well, well, for the sake of the tea, and because you are my
pet, Pll open the bag.†So she did so, and the South Wind crept
Se
THE GARDEN OF EDEN. - 277
out; but he looked very crestfallen because the strange Prince had
seen him put in. |
_ “There’s a palm-leaf for the Princess,†said the South Wind.
“That leaf was given to me by the ancient bird Phoenix, the one
solitary Phcenix in the whole world. He scratched his whole
biography on it with his beak when he had already lived his
hundred years. Now the Princess can read it all herself. I saw
‘the bird Pheenix set himself on fire in his nest and sit and consume.
away like a Hindoo’s widow. How the dried branches crackled!
There was smoke and fragrance there, I warrant you! At last it all
burst forth into flame, and the ancient bird Pheenix became ashes,
but his egg lay red hot in the fire; it burst open with a loud bang,
and the fledgling flew out. Now it rules over all the birds, and is
the only bird Phoenix in the world. He has pecked a hole in the
palm-leaf I gave you. That is his greeting to the Princess.â€
“ And now let us have something to eat,†said the mother of
_ the Winds, and so they all sat down to partake of the roasted stag,
and the Prince sat by the side of the East Wind, so they soon
becamé very good friends. °—
“Now, just tell me,†said the Prince, “ what sort of a Princess
is she about whom you have all been talking so much, and where
does the Garden of Eden lie ?â€
| “Ho, ho!†said the East Wind. “So you want to go there,
eh? Well, fly thither with me to-morrow. But let me tell you
one thing. Nobody has ever been there since Adam and Eve's
time. You know about them, at any rate, from your Bible history,
don’t you?â€
_“ Of course I do,†said the Prince.
278. HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
“When they were driven out, the Garden of Eden sank down
into the earth, but it still keeps its warm sunshine, its mild air, and |
all its glory. The Queen of the Fairies dwells there now. ‘There,
too, lie the Fortunate Islands, where death never comes, and where
it is so pleasant to be. Sit upon my back to-morrow, and ill take
you with me. I think I can manage it for you. But now, don’t
chatter any more, for I want to go to sleep.†7
_ And so they all went to sleep.
im the early morning the Prince awoke, and was not a little
_ startled to find himself already high up among the clouds. He was
sitting upon the back of the East Wind, who was civil enough to
hold him tight besides. They were so high up in the air that woods
and plains, rivers and lakes had the appearance of a very clearly .
‘printed chart that shows everything.
Good morning!†said the East Wind; “you might just as
well take another little nap if you like, for there’s not much to look |
at on the flat land below us. Unless, of course, you like to count
_ the churches which stand out like chalk-pricks on the green board.â€
By “the green board,†he of course meant the fields and plains.
“Tt was very rude of me not to say good-bye to your mother
and brothers,†said the Prince. . :
“When one’s asleep one’s excused,†said the East Wind;
and with that they flew along ata still swifter pace. They could
tell it was so from the tops of the woods, for all the branches and
leaves rustled as they rushed past; they could tell it from the seas.
and lakes, for where they flew, the waves rolled higher, and the big
ships ducked down in the water like swimming swans. Towards -
evening, when it erew dark, the big towns looked so strange. The
in gdits
eg:
PR
a
280 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
lights below twinkled now here, now there,.just as when one burns
a piece of paper black and watches the many little fiery sparks
flitting about it like little boys coming from school. And the
Prince clapped his hands; but the Hast Wind told him to be careful
| and hold tight, as otherwise he might so easily tumble down, and
" remain hanging on a church spire. i
The eagle in the dark woods flew aleag so nimbly,. but che
Kast’ Wind flew more nimbly still. The Cossack on his little nag
sped swiftly over the steppes, but the Prince sped along like the
wind.
“Now you can see the Himalayas,†said the East Wind, “they |
are the loftiest mountains in Asia; we shall soon be at the Garden
of Eden now!†Then they turned more southwardly, and presently
> there was an odour of sweet herbs and flowers. ~ The fig and
pomegranate grew wild there, and the wild vine had blue and red
grapes. Here they. both stopped short and stretched themselves in 3
the soft grass, where the flowers nodded in the breeze as if they .
would say, “ Welcome back again ! s
“Are we in the Garden of Eden now?†asked the Prince,
“No, indeed,†replied the East Wind, “but we soon shall be.
Do you see the mountain path over there, and the large cavern where
the vine tendrils hang down like large ereen curtains ?. We must
20 through there. Wrap yourself well in your cape, for though the
sun scorches just here, yet a step farther on it is icy cold. The bird.
that hovers about this cave has one wing out here in the summer |
heat, and the other i in there in the winter's cold.†Sy
“So this is the way, to the Garden of Eden 1†said the Prince.
And now they entered the cavern. Oh, how icy cold it was!
THE GARDEN OF EDEN. - 281
but it did not last long. .The East Wind stretched out his ‘wings,
_ and they gleamed like sparkling embers. And what a cavern it was!
The large blocks of stone, down which the water trickled, hung over
them in the strangest shapes. At one’‘time it. was so narrow there
that they had to creep on their hands and feet, and at another it
was as vast and lofty as the open air. It looked like a lot of
mortuary-chapels with mute organ-pipes and petrified banners.
“We must be going to the Garden of Eden through the Valley
of Death!†said the Prince, and the East Wind answered. never a
word, but pointed onwards, and there the loveliest blue light was
streaming towards them. The stone blocks up above became more
and more like vapour, which grew at last as bright as a white cloud
in the Pome nie. They were now in the softest, sweetest atmo-
sphere, as fresh as the air of the mountains, as fragrant as the roses
of the valley.
And there flowed a river as clear as the air itself, and its fishes
were like gold and silver. Purple eels, which shot forth blue sparks
at every turn, sported within the water, and the broad leaves of the
water-lilies had the hues of the rainbow. The lilies themselves
_ were ruddy-yellow, burning flames which the water nourished just as
oil keeps a lamp burning. A bridge of marble, solid indeed, but so
cunningly and delicately wrought that it seemed made of nothing
but lace and. beads, led over the water to the Fortunate Islands,
where the Garden of Eden bloomed. The East Wind took the
Prince in his arms and carried him across. There the leaves and
. the flowers sang the loveliest songs of his childhood, but in sweetly
swelling tones such as no human voice can sing. Were they palm-
trees, or gigantic water-plants that grew there? Such large and
: 99
Me
a
CF ceccins
282 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
luxuriant trees the Prince had never seen before. The most
wondrous creeping plants, such as are only to be. found wrought
with gold and beautiful colours on the margins of saintly old
books, or wreathed about the initial letters, hung there in long
festoons. It was the most curious combination of birds and flowers
and arabesques. In the grass, close beside them, stood a flock of
peacocks, with outspread glittering necks—yes, there they were,
there was no doubt about it. Yet, when the Prince came to touch
them, he perceived that they were not animals at all, but plants.
The big dock-leaves here gleamed just like the lovely neck of the
peacock. Lions and tigers sprang about like supple cats among the
green hedges, where the olive-tree flowers perfumed the air, and
these lions and tigers were quite tame. The wild dove, which
4 gleamed like the loveliest pearls, flapped the lion’s mane with its
wings; and the antelope, generally so timid, stood by and nodded
its head as if it also would fain have a share in the sport.
And now the Fairy of Eden came up. Her garments shone
like the sun, and her face was as gentle as the face of a happy
mother when she rejoices over her child. She was so young and
pretty ; and the loveliest maidens, each one with a shining star in
her hair, followed in her train. The Hast: Wind gave her the leaf
on which the bird Pheenix, had written, and her eyes. sparkled with
joy. She took the Prince by the hand and led him into her palace,
where the walls had colours like the most gorgeous tulip-leaves |
when held against the sun. The whole ceiling was one huge
dazzling flower, and the more one stared at it, the deeper seemed its.
calyx. The Prince stepped to the window, and, looking through
one of the panes, perceived the tree of knowledge, with the Serpent,
THE GARDEN OF EDEN. 283
and Adam and Eve, standing close beside it. ‘“ What! are they
not driven away after all?†he asked. And the Fairy smiled, and
explained to him that time had in this way burnt its image on
— every pane, but those images were not like the pictures that men
see. ‘No, there was life in them—the leaves of the trees moved, and
men came and went, as in a mirror, Then he looked through
another pane, and there was Jacob’s dream, with the ladder which
went straight up into Heaven, and angels with large wings swept
up and down it. Yes, everything which had happened in this
world lived:and moved in these panes of glass; such works of art
only time could engrave.
The Fairy smiled and led him into a large and lofty room, the
walls of which seemed to be transparent pictures, and every face
seemed lovelier than every other. Millions of happy beings were
there, who laughed and sang so that it all flowed together into one
melody; the topmost ones were so small that they seemed less than the
smallest rosebud when it is painted like a tiny point. . And in the
midst of the room stood a large tree with luxuriant, hanging
branches ; golden apples, large and small, hung like oranges among
the green leaves. This-was the tree of knowledge, of the fruit of
which Adam and Eve had eaten. From every leaf dropped a shining
red dewdrop ; ‘twas as if the tree wept tears of blood.
“Let us now get into the boat,†said the Fairy ; “and there
we'll have refreshments on the heaving billows. The boat rocks,
but does not move from the spot, yet all the kingdoms of the world
glide past before our eyes.†And a strange sight it was. Now the
whole of the coast began to move. First came the lofty snow-
capped Alps with their clouds and dark fir-trees, the horns sounded
284 | HANS ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES.
deep and sad, and the herdsmen yodled sweetly in the valleys.
Then the banana-trees bowed their long hanging branches over the
boat; coal-black swans swam upon the water, and the strangest
beasts and flowers appeared on the banks. It was New Holland,
the fifth Continent, which glided by with a distant prospect of the
Blue Mountains. One heard the songs of the priests, and saw the
savages dance to the sound of bones and tom-toms. The Pyramids —
of Egypt towering into the skies, overturned pillars, and sphinxes
half-buried in the sand, all sailed by. The Aurora Borealis gleamed
above the northern ‘glaciers ; no fireworks could come up to that.
The Prince was so happy—yes, and he saw a hundredfold more than
we can tell about here.
“And can I remain here always ?â€
“That depends upon yourself,†replied the Fairy. “If you do
‘not let yourself be tempted like Adam to, do what is forbidden, you ~
may remain here always.â€
“T am not to touch the apples on the tree of enowledae?®
said the Prince. “ Why should I, when there are a a’ thousand
other fruits as beautiful as they?â€
«Well, try your strength, and if the trial be too strong for
you, return with the East Wind who brought you. He is now
going to fly back, and. will return again in a hundred years. In
this place that time will seem no more than. a hundred hours to
you; but it is long enough for temptation and sin. Every evening
when I depart from you, I must call to you, ‘Follow me!’ I must
beckon with my hand to you, but keep back. Do not follow, for
with every step you take your desire will grow stronger; you will
enter the room where the tree of knowledge grows, and I sleep
286 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
beneath its fragrant, hanging ‘branches; you will bend over me,
and I am bound to smile upon you; butif you press a kiss upon
my mouth, Eden will sink deep into the earth, and you are lost.
The keen wind of the desert will howl around you, the cold rain
will drip from your hair, and sorrow and affliction will be your
portion.â€
“Here I remain,†said the Prince ; and the East Wind kissed
him on the forehead and said, “Be strong, and we will meet
ee
together here again in a hundred years’ time. Farewell, farewell !
“And the East Wind spread abroad his huge wings; they shone like
the harvest moon in the autumn, or like the Aurora Borealis in the
1?
cold winter time. ‘Farewell, farewell!†resounded from flowers
and trees, and whole strings of storks and: pelicans, like fluttering
ribbons, accompanied him to the boundaries of the garden.
said the Fairy. ‘“ Whenever I
dance with you, and the dance is drawing to a close, and the sun is
2
“ Now let us begin our dance,’
setting, you will see me beckon to you, you will hear me ery,
‘Follow me!’ But do not. Every evening of the hundred
years I must repeat it; every time the dance is over you will gain
more strength, till at last you will think nothing at all of the ordeal.
This evening is the first time. I have warned you, remember !â€
And the Fairy led him into a large room of white transparent
lilies, the-yellow petals in every one. of them was a little gold harp
which sounded like stringed instruments and wind instruments in
one. The loveliest girls, so supple and slim, clothed in wavy gauze,
weaved the light dance, and sang of the joys of life. The Garden
of Eden, they sang, would bloom for ever, and they should
never cle.
THE GARDEN OF EDEN, 287
And the sun went down, the whole sky became a piece of gold
which gave the lilies tints like the loveliest rose, and the Prince
drank of the foaming wine the girls presented him with, and he felt
a bliss he had never felt before; he saw how the background of the
room opened, and the tree of knowledge stood there in a splendour
which dazzled his eyes ; and from it came a song as soft and sweet
as the voice of his mother, and it was as though she sang, “ My
child, my darling child !†Then the Fairy beckoned and cried so
tenderly, “Follow me! follow me!†and he rushed towards her,
‘forgot his promise, forgot it all the very first evening, and she
beckoned and smiled. The fragrance, the spiced fragrance all about
grew stronger and stronger, the harps sounded far lovelier, and it.
was as though millions of smiling heads in the room where the tree
“grew nodded and sang, “One ought to know all things! Man is
the lord of the earth!†And it was no longer tears of blood which
fell from the leaves of the tree of knowledge, it was red sparkling
stars, he thought. “Follow me! follow me!†cried the quivering
tones, and at every step the Prince’s cheeks burned more hotly, his
blood flowed more quickly. “Imust!†said he. “Why, it’s no
sin! . How can it be? Why should I not follow after joy and
beauty? I want to see her asleep! Why, surely nothing’s lost if I
only take care not to kiss her! And that I'll not do—I am strong,
-T have a firm will !†;
And the Fairy. cast off her shining raiment, bent back
the branches, ‘and a moment afterwards she was concealed
within them.. - Se
“T haven't sinned yet,†said the Prince, “and, what is more, I
don’t mean to!†and he drew the branches apart. There she was
oatnacnee enpice oe crtens
mi 1
288 HANS ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES.
sleeping already, lovely as only the Fairy of the Garden of Hden -
‘can be. She was smiling in her dreams; he bent down over her
and saw the tears trembling upon her eyelashes.
“Art thou weeping for me?†he whispered. ‘‘ Weep not,
lovely woman! Now, for the first time, I comprehend the bliss of
Paradise ; it streams through my blood, through my very thoughts,
and I feel life eternal in my earthly body. What if eternal night ~e
be my portion—one moment like this is wealth enough for me!†and —
he kissed away the tears from her eyes, and his mouth touched hers.
Then sounded a peal of thunder, deeper and more terrible than
any one has ever heard, and everything collapsed. The beautiful
_ Fairy vanished, and Paradise with all its flowers sank deep, deep -
down—the Prince saw it sink down into black night ; far, far away - |
it shone like a tiny twinkling star. The chill of death shivered
through all his limbs, he closed his eyes, and ay for a long time as
one who is dead.
The cold rain fell upon his face, the keen blast: blew... Seu his -
head, and then his thoughts came back to him; te What. have I
done?†he sighed. “Ihave sinned like Adém! Sinned ‘so. that
- Paradise has sunk deep down!†and he opened his: eyes. The star ~
far away, the star which. sparkled Tike the sunken - ‘Paradise, he still
saw it—it was the morning star shining i i the: sky. He rose up and
found himself by: the Cavern of the Winds, and. the Mother of the
Winds was sitting by his side; she looked angry, and raised her
- . arm in the air.
“The very first evening, too!†she said. “I thought as
much! If you were al boy, into that oe you should go this
instant!â€
p
990 "HANS ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES.
“And thither he shall go!†said Death. “Twas a grim
old man that spoke, scythe in hand, with large black
wings. “He shall be laid in a coffin, but not just yet. I have set
my mark upon him, that’s all. Let him wander about on the earth
a little while longer, atone for his sin and grow good and better. I
shall. come one day! When he least expects it, I shall put him in
his coffin, place it on my head, and fly away to the stars. There,
also, blooms the Garden of Eden, and if he is good ‘he shall enter
~ therein ; but if his thoughts be evil, and his heart still full of sin, he
shall sink with his coffin deeper than ever Paradise sank, and only
once every thousand. years will I fetch him again, that he may sink
still deeper, or abide in the star, the star that shines above.â€
Spamerpasapverntoean ON sheen Henerr meme RT ae eT tga
THE FLYING TRUNK.’
THERE was once a merchant who was so rich that he could
have paved the whole street (and a little lane thrown in
besides) with silver pieces, but he didn’t, for he had other
things to do with his money. He made a shilling out of every
farthing he invested (that’s the sort of merchant he was!), and
then he died. |
His son now got all. this money and he lived right merrily,
went to fancy balls every night, made paper kites out of bank-
notes, and. played at ducks and drakes over the water with gold
pieces instead of stones, so that his money had leave to go, and
go it did, till at last he had nothing in the world but four
farthings, a pair of slippers, and an old dressing-gown. Now
that he was not fit to be seen in the street with them, his
friends washed their hands of him altogether; but one of them,
who was kind, sent him an old trunk, and said “Pack up!â€
which was certainly very good advice, but as he had nothing
at all to pack up he sat down on the trunk instead.
1 The idea, of this story is borrowed from the Arabian Nights.
292 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
It was a comical trunk. You had only to press the lock
and the trunk set off flying. It did so now. Whisk! up the
chimney it flew with him, high above the Clouds. further and
further away; it creaked frightfully inside and he was so terti-
fied lest it should go to pieces altogether, in which case he would
have turned quite a pretty summersault; but at last he got to
the land of the Turks. He hid the trunk in a wood beneath
the withered leaves and then went into the town; there was
nothing to prevent him doing that, for’ among the Turks every-
body went about in dressing- gowns and slippers just like him.
So he met a nurse with a little child.. “Listen, thou Turkish
nurse !†said he, “what is that large castle close to the town
with the windows all so high ? 2
“That is. where the King’s daughter dwells !†bl she ;..“‘it
has been foretold to her that she will have great trouble about:
a lover, and so no wooer is allowed to o sepaonch her unless the
King and Queen come too.â€
“Thank you!†said the merchant’s son; and he went back
to the wood, sat down on the trunk, flew upon the roof of
the castle, and crept through the Princess’s window.
She lay upon the sofa asleep, and was so pretty that the
smerchant’s son kissed her, he really could not help it. She —
awoke and was quite frightened, but he said he was the God of
the Turks who had come through the air to her, and she rather
seemed, to like it. So they sat there side by side and. he told
her tales about her eyes; they were the loveliest eyes and
thoughts hike mermaids swam. about in them; and he made up
tales about her brow; it was a snow mountain with the loveliest
nent a
nape te ee Ptr mtn eR ane Nt Sahn ret tees
294 HANS ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES.
rooms and pictures; and he told her about the stork who brings’
the sweet little children. Yes, indeed, very pretty tales they
were, so he wooed the Princess and she said “ Yes,†immediately.
“ But,†she added, “ you ‘must come here on Saturday when
the. King and Queen are here to tea; they will be very
proud for me to have a Turkish god for my husband. But
see that you have a really lovely tale ready, for that is what
my parents are particularly fond of; my mother likes her stories
moral and refined, while my father likes them rollicking—things
that make one laugh, you know!â€
“Very well, the only bridal gift I'M bring will be a nice
tale!†said he, and so they parted; but ‘the Princess gave him
a sabre set with gold pieces: it was just what he wanted and
he could turn it to good account.
So he flew away, bought himself a new dressing-gown, and then
sat down in the wood and began composing a tale; it was to be
ready by Saturday, and it is not so easy to compose that sort of thing
to order. But he was ready with it at last, and by that time it
was Saturday. The King, Queen, and the whole Court were
having tea with the Princess, and they were all awaiting him.
He was received so nicely! aS
“And now will you tell us a tale?†said the Queen, “ one
that is profound and improving!â€
“But which will make one laugh as well!†said the King.
“Oh, certainly!†said he; and so he told them what you
must now listen to with all your might,
“There was once a bundle of matches who were extra-
ordinarily proud because they were of high lineage; their an--
THE FLYING TRUNK. 295
cestral tree—that is to say, the great fir-tree, of which each one
of them was a little splinter—had been a huge old tree in the
forest. The matches now lay upon the shelf between a tinder-box
and an old iron pot, and to these they told the tale of their
youth. ‘Yes, when we were on the green branch,’ said they,
then we were indeed in clover! Every morning and evening
TRG: nel
ret
diamond tea, that is to say; dew. Sunshine all day long
when the sun shone, and all the little birds to tell us stories.
We could see very well that we, too; were rich, for the leaf trees !
were only dressed up in summer, but our family had the right to
wear clothes ‘both summer and winter. But then came the
- wood-cutters, that was the great revolution, and our family was
1 All trees except the pine and fir species.
296 -~—S«#HANS ANDERSEN’S FAIRY ‘TALES.
felled to the ground. The head of the family got a place as
main-mast on board a’ splendid ship, which could sail round the
world if it liked; the other branches went elsewhere, and
our mission. now is to light candles for the common people
—that is why we ee ene have come down.to the
kitchen.’
“<< Well, things are very different with me!’ said the iron pot,
by the side of which lay the matches, “ever since I came out in
the world I have been scoured and boiled many and many a
time. I look to solidity, and, properly speaking, am the first person
in the house. My only joy is to lie neat and clean after dinner
on the shelf and have a sensible chat with my comrades; but if
I except ‘the pail, which occasionally goes down into the
garden, we always ‘live indoors. Our only newsmonger is the
-market-basket, and it ig talking incessantly about the Government
and: the people ; yes, last year there was an old pot with us who
‘Was so terrified thereby that it fell down and. dashed itself to
pieces. That market-basket is quite a radical, I can tell you!’
“
the steel struck the flint stone till it regularly sparkled. ‘Shall
we havea cheerful afternoon now 2’ ;
“Ves, let us talk about who is the most fashionable,’ said
the matches.
© ¢No, I don’t like tag about myself†said the pewter
pot. & “Let us have an evening entertainment. I'll begin. T’'ll tell
about something which every one has experienced ; one can imagine
~ one’s self in similar circumstances, and that i is such capital fun. “By
9
~ the East Sea, where the Danish beeches grow—
THE FLYING TRUNK. 297
“«That is a nice beginning,’ said all the plates, ‘we know
we shall like that story.’
“* Yes, there [ passed the days of my youth in a quiet family ;
the furniture was waxed, the floor washed, and we had clean
curtains every fortnight.’ -
“¢ How interesting you do make it!’ said the hearth-broom.
‘One can hear at once that it is a lady who tells the tale ; a vein
of such refinement runs right through it all’
“Ves, one does feel that!’ said the pail, and it took a little
skip for pure joy, so that the floor regularly creaked.
“And so the pot continued its story, and the end was as
good as the beginning. —
_ “ And the plates rattled for joy, and the hearth-brush took some
green parsley from the sand-box and. crowned the pot, for it knew
that that would irritate the others, ‘And if I crown her to-day,’
it thought, ‘she will crown me to-morrow.’
“<«Now Ill dance,’ said the fire-tongs, and dance it did.
Heaven help us! how it flung its legs into the air! the old chair-
cover in the corner regularly split its sides at the sight. ‘ Let
me be crowned too!’ said the fire-tongs, and. crowned she was.
“A low lot, a low lot after all!’ thought the matches.
« And now the tea-pot was asked to sing, but she protested she
had a cold and could only sing when she-was boiling over, but
this ‘was pure affectation ; it would not sing†crn it was on the
table with the family. :
“Right in the loreal oer an old aa pen viel the
maid-servant used to write with; there was: nothing remarkable
about: i except that it had been dipped a little too deeply into
Qa
298 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
_ the ink-pot, but of.that it was quite proud. ‘If the tea-pot won't
sing,’ th said, «she may leave ‘it alone. Outside there is a
nightingale hanging in its cage, it can sing if -you like. It is true
it hasn’t learnt anything, but we won't speak ill of it this evening.’
“<«T consider it highly unbecoming that such a foreign bird
should be listened to at all, said the tea-kettle, who -was the
kitchen-songtress and half-sister of the tea-pot. ‘Is it patriotic ?
That's what I want to know! Let the market-basket decide.’
«All I know is that I am very angry!’ said the market-
basket ; ‘nobody can imagine how angry Iam! Is this a proper
way of passing the evening I ask? Would it not be much better
to put our household to rights first of all? Every one would then
get his proper place, and I should rule the whole roast. Things
would be something very different then !’
© ¢Yes, let us kick up a row !’ said they all. The same instant
the door opened. It was the maid-servant, and they immediately
stood stock-still; no one uttered a sound; but there was not a pot
there which did not know very well what it could do and how
distinguished it really was. ‘Yes, if only ‘I had liked, thought |
each one of them, ‘what a rollicking afternoon we should have
had !’ Sete
' “The maid-servant took the matches and struck a light with
them; how they spluttered and burst into flame, to be sure! ‘Now
every one can see,’ thought they, ‘that we stand first of all! What
light, what splendour is ours!’ angyso they burned right out.â€
“That was a beautiful story !
into the feelings of the matches in the kitchen. Yes, now thou
shalt have our daughter !â€
said the Queen. “I so entered
THE
“Yes, certainly,†said
the King, “ thou shalt have
our daughter on Monday !â€
They called him “thou!â€
now, you see, as he} was to
belong to the family.
So the wedding was
fixed, and the evening be-
fore the whole city was
illuminated ; buns and bis-
cuits were scattered broad-
cast, the street-boys stood
on their heads, whistled
through their fingers, and
cried hurrah. It was truly
magnificent.
bo
©
sO
FLYING TRUNK.
300 5 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. ©
“Yes, and I must take good care to do something likewise !â€
thought the merchant’s son, and so he bought rockets, crackers, and
every sort of firework you can think of, put them in He trunk and
then flew up into the air. Rutch! how they went off and how they
fizzed! The Turks‘all skipped into the air at the sight, so that their
slippers flew about their ears; such.a shower of meteors they had
never seen before. Now they could well understand that it was
the god of the Turks himself who was to have the Princess.
As soon as the: merchant’s son had got back into the wood
with his trunk he thought : “J will just go into the town to hear
how the affair went off!†And it was only reasonable that he should
wish to do so. . ae
: How folks did alk to be gure! Every blessed one whom he
asked -about it had. seen it in his own ee le ey had one and
all thought it. charming.
“T saw the god of the “Turks himself,†said one ; “ he had eyes
like shining stars and a beard like foaming water.â€
“He flew in a fiery mantle,†said another ; “‘ the loveliest little
angels peeped forth from the folds of ie ,
Yes, he heard the most beautiful things about himself, and the |
day after he was to be married. And now he: went back to the wood
to set himself on his: trunk—but where was it? The trunk was’
burnt up. A spark from the fireworks had remained in it, it had
caught fire, and the trunk was nothing but ashes. He could fly no
more, he could not get at his bride. She stood all day on the roof.
and waited ; she is still waiting ; ; but he goes round about the world
and tells stories, but they are no longer as merry as the story he
told about the matches.
THE GIRL WHO TROD ON A LOAE!.
I DARE say you have heard of the egul silt fod upon the loaf
50.as not to soil her shoes, and how ill it fared with her. "Tis both
‘written and printed.
_ She was a poor girl, proud and stuck up; there was a vicious
strain in her, as people say. When quite a little thing, it was her
greatest delight to catch hold of flies, pull their wings off, and thus
make creeping things of them. She took cockchafers and beetles,
stuck them on a pin, and then placed a green leaf or a little
bit. of paper on the top of their feet, and the poor creatures
held fast on to it and twisted and turned it to try and get off
‘the pin.
“Took! the cockchafer is. reading ! †said little Inger; “see
how it turns the leaf over!â€
- As-she grew up she grew rather worse than better, but she was
pretty, and that was the ruin of her, for otherwise she would have
been slapped and thumped into something like good behaviour.
1 This was one of the stories which Andersen first heard in his childhood,
though, as now told by him, it is more merciful to the young sinner who is the
heroine. |
302 HANS ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES.
“You need a strong hand over you!†said her own mother ;
“while quite a child you often trod upon my apron. I fear that when
you erow older you will often tread upon my heart.â€
And sure enough she did.
And now she went to the country to take service with gentle-
folks ; they treated her just as if she was their own child, and as
such she was dressed ; very well she looked too, and so her pride:
increased. | :
She had been with them a year when her mistress said to her:
“You ought to go and see your parents now and then, little
Inger !†|
: So she went, but only to shove herself off; they should see
what a fine lady she had grown; but when she came to the
outskirts of the little town and saw the girls and the young fellows
romping about by the pond, and her own mother actually sitting
down on a stone and resting with a bundle of firewood in. her lap
' which she had gathered in the wood, then indeed Inger turned round
again, she was ashamed that. she who was so finely dressed should
have such a ragged old thing for a mother who went out to
pick up sticks. She did not reproach herself a bit for turning
back, she was “quite offended. |
And now another six months passed by.
“You should go home and see your, old “parents now and
then, little Inger!†said her mistress; “there’s a large wheaten
loaf for es you can take it with you; they'll be quite glad
to see you.â€
And Inger put on all her finery and ies new shoes, and
she lifted her skirts and tripped so gingerly so as to be nicé
304 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY ‘TALES.
and clean about the feet, and she cannot be blamed for that
-of course; but when she came to where | the path crossed
a fen and there was mud and water for a good bit of the way,
_she threw the bread into the mud so as to tread upon it and
come dryshod over; but as she stood -with one foot on the loaf
and the other in the air, the loaf sank down with her deeper and
deeper, she disappeared entirely, and a black bubbling puddle -
_ was all that was to be seen.
| That's the story! ’ ;
But what became of her? Well, she “went down to the
Marsh Woman who is always brewing. The Marsh Woman is
the aunt of the elves. on the father’s side. These elves are very
- well kriown ; songs are written about them and they are painted
in ‘pictures, but all that people know of the Marsh Woman is
- that when the meadows are steaming, in the summer time, it
is really the Marsh Woman. who is brewing. Down into’ her
brewery it was. that Inger. sank, and it is a place “where one
can’t hold owt very long. A cesspool is a brilliant. state-chamber
compared. with the Marsh Woman's brewery. Every vat thera
smells enough to make men faint, and these vats all stand squeezed |
close up to one another; and if there is anywhere a little gap
between them — where one might squeeze through, one can't do
it because of the wet toads and fat snakes which are all
entangled together there; thither did little Inger sink down ; |
and all the nasty living mud _ there was so icy cold that she
- ghivered in all her’ limbs, nay, she stiffened more and more.
‘The loaf hung fast on to her and drew her. down just as a knob
: of amber draws down a bit of straw.
wee
306 . HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
The Marsh Woman was at “home, the brewery was to be
‘inspected that day by the devil and his great-grandmother,
and the devil’s great grandmother 1s a very venomous old woman
who is never idle; she never goes: out without taking her
knitting with tee and she had it with her now. She sewed
- together bits of itching leather to put in. people’s boots, and then
they know no rest; she embroidered lies and cross-stitched rash
words, which. fell 10 the earth to the ruin and damage of all
who came across them. Yes, that old | can
sew, embroider, and cross- stich I can tell you!
“She saw Inger, put her eye- glass to her eye, and then looked
at her again. “That's a girl with talent!†said she. “I beg
you to give her to me as a souvenir of my visit here! She
“will do very coral as a pedestal in the ante-chamber OE my great
great grandchild !†ee :
And she got. her; and so little Inger came to hell. Folks
don’t always get there straightway, but - they may get there
by a roundabout way if they have talent in that direction.
It was an ante-chamber to infinity ; ; one got quite giddy
if one looked forward, and quite giddy also if one looked backward —
there, and a whole swarm, of despairing creatures stood here waiting
for the door of grace to be opened to them. They might wait here
a long time. too: 1 large, fat, waddling ' spiders ‘span their. =
thousand-year webs over their feet, and these webs clutched like
footscrews and gripped like. copper links ; and besides. that there
was an eternal unrest in every soul there, a tormenting restlessness.
The miset stood there and had forgotten the key of his money-
chest, and he knew that he pad left it in the lock. Yes, it would
THE GIRL WHO TROD ON A LOAF, 307
take too long to go over all the plagues and torments which
were suffered here. It was horrible for Inger to stand there
as a pedestal, she was riveted tightly to the loaf from below,
as it were, .
“ And all because one wants to keep one’s feet clean !†said
she to-herself. “Just look how they all glare at me!†Yes, they
all looked at her; their evil wishes shone out of their eyes and spoke
without words from the corners of their mouths ; they were horrible»
to behold. . :
“T must be quite nice to look at! †said little Inger; “I have
a pretty face and nice clothes!†and she rolled her eyes about ;
‘she would have turned her neck too, but it was too stiff for that.
Nay, but how dirty she had become in the Marsh Woman’s brewery ;
she had never thought of that! It was just as if she had been
drenched through with a huge bucketful of slime; a snake -
hung in her hair and dangled down her neck, and from every fold
of her dress there peeped a toad, which barked like an asthmatic
lap-dog.. ‘Tt was very unpleasant. “But all the others down below
here look just as dreadful!†said she by way of consoling
herself. | . < 7 ;
Worst. of all, however, a the frightful hunger she felt;
: couldn’t she manage then to stoop down and break oft a. bit of the
- loaf on which. she stood? No, her back was stiff, her arms and
hands were stiff, her whole body was like a stone statue, her eyes
were the only things she could turn in her head, but she could turn
: them right round so that she could look out of the back of her
head, and a hideous sight it was. And then the flies came. They
crept right over her eyes both backwards and forwards, she
308 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
blinked with her eyes, but the flies didn’t fly away, for they
couldn't, their wings had been pulled off, they had become creeping
things ; that was a torment, and the dreadful hunger was
added to it, nay, at last, it seemed to her as if she were being
burnt up, and she became so empty inside, so frightfully
" empty. | i x
“Tf it lasts much longer I shall not be able to bear it!†7
said she; but she had to bear it, and still it lasted and went on
lasting. ?
‘Then a burning tear fell down upon her head, it trickled over
her face and breast right down to the loaf, there fell another tear,
there fell many more. Who was it that wept over little Inger? Had
she not a mother upon the earth ?_The tears of sorrow which
a mother weeps over her child always reach it, but they do not
loosen, they burn and only make the torment greater. And now
this unendurable hunger, and not to be able to get at the loaf she
was treading under foot! At last she had a feeling that everything
inside her must have eaten’ itself up ,she was like a thin, hollow
reéd which drew every sound into it; she heard quite plainly
everything on earth concerning her, and all’she heard was hard
and evil.’ Her mother, sure enough, wept woeful bitter. tears, _
but she said at the same time: “Pride goes before a fall!
Pride was your ruin, Inger! Ah! how you have grieved your
mother !†Le ede oe
Her mother andall the folks up there knew about her sin,
knew that. she-had trod on the loaf, sunk through the ground and —
disappeared. The cowherd told them about ai he had seen ity
himself from the slope.
THE GIRL WHO TROD ON A LOAF, 309
“How you have grieved your mother, Inger!†said her
‘mother. “I thought it would end like this!â€
4 Would that I had never been born,†thought Inger; “it
would have been much better for me! It is of no use of mother
to whine about it now!†;
And she heard how those good and honest folks, her master
and mistress, who had been like second parents to her, now talked
about her. “She was a sinful child!†said they; “she had no
respect for God’s gifts, but trod them under foot. It will be hard
for her to get the door of grace opened.â€
_ “They should have. brought me up better!†thought Inger,
“and plucked the crotchets out of my head if I had any!†—
. She heard how they made up a ballad all about her: “The
conceited girl who trod upon the loaf to keep her shoes nice and
clean,†and it was sung all over the country.
«That one should have to listen to so much and suffer so much
for such a trifle as that!†thought Inger. “The others should
be punished for their faults in the same way, that’s all! There
_ would be a lot to punish then, I know! Ugh! how I am
tormented !†;
And her heart grew even harder than her shell.
“Down below here one ought not to be better than one’s
company ! And-I don’t want to be better either. How they
do glare!†|
And her heart grew wrathful and bitter against all men.
“Now they’ve something to talk about up there. Ugh!
how I am tormented.â€
And she heard them tell her story to the children, and the
i
810 - | HANS ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES
little ones called her “that wicked Inger!â€â€”“ She “was 80
horrid,†said they, “so nasty! she ought to be thoroughly
tormented !â€
There were always hard words against her in the children’s
mouths.
Yet one day when wrath and hunger were gnawing away at
her hollow shell, and she heard her name mentioned and her story
told to an innocent child, a little girl, she heard the little thing
burst into tears at the story of vain, conceited Inger.
“But will she never come up again?†asked the little girl ;
and the answer was, “No, she'll never come up again!â€
“But if she begs for forgiveness and says she will never do
it any more?â€
“ But she won't beg for forgiveness,†said they.
“Oh, I do so wish she would!†said the little girl,
and was quite inconsolable. “Td give my doll’s-house if
she would only come up again. It is so dreadful there for
poor Inger!â€
And the words reached right down to Inger’s heart, they really
seemed to do her good; it was the first time any one had
said “Poor Inger!†and without’ adding the least bit to her
faults. A little innocent child wept and prayed: for her, she felt:
so odd at the thought of it, she would have liked to weep and
she couldn’t weep, and that was also a torment.
The years passed away up above but there was no change at.
all down below there, and the sounds from the world above came
to her more and more seldom now and she rarely heard her name
mentioned. Then, one day, she heard a deep sigh: “ Inger ! Inger !
THE GIRL WHO TROD ON A LOAB, 311
how you have grieved me, I knew it would be so!†It was her
mother who died.
She. heard her name mentioned sometimes by her old master
and mistress, and it was her mistress who said the gentlest words
of her: “I wonder if I shall ever see you again, Inger! One
knows not what will become of one!â€
But Inger knew very well that her good and worthy master
and mistress could never come where she was.
And so time went on again and a long and bitter time it was,
and then Inger again heard her name mentioned, and saw, as it
_ were, two bright stars shining right above her; they were two
gentle eyes which. were closing to this world. So many years had
passed since the time that the little girl had cried inconsolably
over “poor Inger,†that that child had become an old woman
whom God was about to call to Himself, and just at that hour when
the sum of our whole life rises up before us in thought, she also
remembered how, as a little child, she couldn’t help weeping
bitterly on hearing the story of Inger ; that time and the impression
then made upon her stood out so vividly before the old woman at the ,
hour of her death that she cricd aloud: “O Lord my God!
have I not also then, like Inger, trodden often and often upon the
blessings of thy bounty and thought nothing of them? Have I not
also gone about with pride in my heart, but Thou of Thy erace
hast not let me sink, but held me up! Oh, withdraw not Thy
hand from me in this my last hour!â€
And the old woman’s eyes closed, and the eyes of — soul
were opened to the hidden things, and as Inger had lived so vividly 3
in her last thoughts, she saw her now, saw how deeply she had been
8312 “HANS ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES.
dragged down, and at the sight the pious soul burst into tears. She
stood in the kingdom of heaven and wept for wretched Inger, just as _
she had done when a child and her tears, and her prayers resounded
like an echo in the hollow empty shell which enclosed the imprisoned,
tormented soul, and-it was overwhelmed by the love from above sur-
- passing thought and knowledge; an angelof God was weeping over her!
Why was such a grace allowed her? The tormented soul collected in
thought, as it were, all the deeds it had ever done upon earth, and it
quivered in a flood of tears such as Inger never could have wept; she ©
was filled with a sorrow for herself ; it seemed to her as if the door
of grace could never be opened to her; and the very instant she
acknowledged it in deep contrition, a beam of light. shone down
into the abyss of hell, the beam came with a might stronger than a
sunbeam. which melts a snow-man raised by the boys in the yard, ©
and thus, far quicker than a snow-flake which falls upon the warm.
mouth of a child, and melts away into a drop of water, Inger’s
petrified shape “evaporated, and a little bird winged its zig-zag
course, up towards the world of mortals, swift as light, but shy and
timid it was at allaround it; and, as if it were ashamed of itself and
fearful of all living creatures, it hastily sought ‘a shelter in a dark
hole which it found in a tumble-down wall; there it sat crouching,
all of a heap, and quivering in every limb; it could not lifé up its
voice, for voice it had none. It sat there a long time till it was calm.
enough to look at and understand the glory outside, for a glory it
really was ; the air was so fresh and mild, the moon shone so bright,
tree and bush gave forth their fragrance ; and it was so cosy where ©
it sat, its feathery dress was so pure and fine. Nay, but how all
created things were revealed in love and glory ! All the thoughts.
THE GIRL WHO TROD ON a LOAF. ~= 318
which stirred within the bird’s breast would fain have sung out, but
the bird had not the power to sing, though gladly it would have
done so, like the cuckoos and the nightingales in spring. God, who
hears the noiseless song of praise of the very worm, heard also
the song of praise which rose up within this breast,
These voiceless songs of thought grew and swelled as the
weeks went on, they must needs burst forth at the first stroke
' of a good-deed, a good deed which must needs be done.
And now holy Yuletide came. The farmer planted a
pole hard by the wall, and tied upon jt an unthrashed bundle of
oats, that the fowls of the air might also have a happy Christmas
and a joyful meal in this the Saviour’s own time.
And the sun rose up on Christmas morn and shone on the
bundle of oats, and all the twittering birds flew round about
_ the pole: and then from the wall also there came a sound of
“ Pee ! Bee The swelling thought became a sound, the weak
piping was a whole hymn of joy, the thought of a good deed was
awakened, and the bird flew out of its hiding-place; you may be
sure that in the kingdom of heaven they knew what sort of a bird
it was,
Winter began in grim earnest, the waters were frozen deep
down: the birds. of ae air and the beasts of the forest were hard
pressed for food. The little bird flew along the highway, and in the
track of the sledges it sought and found, here and there, a grain of
corn, or a eau or two at the places where they baited the horses,
and it only ate a little of them and went and called all the starving
sparrows together that they might find some food here too. It
"flew about the villages, spied all about, and wherever a friendly
Ave : 8 5
&
314 _ HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
hand had strewn bread at the windows for the birds, it only ate a
single little bit itself and gave all the rest to the others.
In the course of the winter the bird had collected and given
away so many bead crumbs that, weighed all together, they made
_up the whole loaf which little Inger had trod upon so as not to soil
her shoes, and when the last bread crumb had been found and given
away, the bird’s gray wings became white and spread out.
“There’s a tern flying over the lake!†said the children, who
saw the white bird; now it ducked down into the lake, now it rose
in the bright sunshine, which shone so that it was impossible
to see’ what had become of it; they said that it had flown right
“into the sun. ) : |
THE STEADFAST TIN SOLDIER.
THERE were once upon a time five-and-twenty tin soldiers;
they were all brothers, for they were born of an old tin ladle.
They shouldered their muskets, looked straight before them, and
their uniform was red and blue, and very nice it looked. The
very first thing they heard in this world when the cover was taken
off the box in which they lay, were the words, “Tin soldiers !â€
"A little boy said that and clapped his hands; he had got them
because it was his birthday, and he now set them out on the
table. Every single soldier was the exact image of all the others—
at least only one of them was a little different. He had only
one leg, for he had been moulded last of all, and there was not
tin enough left to give him two legs; yet he stood as firmly on
his one leg as the others did on two legs, and it was just this
particular soldier who was to become remarkable.
Qn the table where they were set up stood a lot of other
toys, but what struck the eye most was a pretty paper palace.
- You could see right into the rooms through the little windows.
Outside stood small trees round about a little mirror which was
316 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
to represent a lake, and swans of wax swam about upon it and
mirrored hemicelncs therein. It was all very pretty, but prettiest,
of all was certainly a little maid who stood in the middle
of the open palace door;.she also was clipped out of paper, but
she had a skirt of the brightest linen, and a tiny narrow blue ribbon
right over her shoulder like a piece of drapery, and in the middle.
of it stood a glistening spangle as large as her whole face. The
little maid stretched out both her arms, for she was a dancing err,
and then she lifted one of her legs so high in the air that
the tin soldier absolutely could not make out what had become
of it, and fancied that she had only one leg like him.
“That's the wife for me!†thought he; “but she’s a swell,
she lives in a palace, I have only a box to live in, and there
are five-and-twenty of us there, so it is not the place for her !
Still Pll try and make her acquaintance!†So. he laid him down at
full length behind a snuff box which happened to be on the table ;
from whence he could have a good look at the nice little lady —
wlio kept on standing on one leg without losing her balance.
When it was evening all the other tin soldiers were put into
their box, and the people of the house went to bed. And now
the toys began to play among themselves ; they played at visitors,
at warfare, and they had a ball. The tin soldiers rattled in the
box, for they wanted to join in the sport, but they could not:
lift the. lid off. The nut-crackers turned somersaults, and the
slate-pencil cast up accounts on the slate. There was such a tacket
that the canary awoke and began to pipe, and in verse too! The —
only two who did not move from the spot were the tin soldier
and the. little dancing girl, She remained erect on the tips of’
THE STEADFAST TIN. SOLDIER. 317
her toes with both arms stretched wide out; he was just as steadfast
-on. his one leg, and never took his eyes off her for an instant.
And now it struck twelve o'clock, and crack ! the lid of the
snuff-box flew open, but there was no snuff in it, no, only a little
black gnome; it was quite a work of art.
“Tin soldier,†cried the gnome, “-will you keep your eyes
to yourself ?â€
‘But the tin soldier pretended he didn’t hear.
“Stop till morning, that’s all!†said the gnome.
Now when it was morning and the children came up to the
nursery the tin soldier was close to the window, and whether it
was the gnome or a draught of air I don’t know, but at any rate
the window all at once flew open, and the soldier was pitched out, -
head over heels, from the third story. It was a frightful flight,
he. turned his one leg right up into the air, and remained
standing on his helmet with his bayonet sticking in between the
flagstones. - oe
The maid-servant and the little boy immediately came down
stairs to look for him, but though they very nearly trod upon him
they could not see him. If the tin soldier had cried out: “Here »
am [!†they certainly would. have found him, but this he did not
consider it right and proper to do, because he was in uniform.
: And now it began to rain; the drops fell thicker and thicker,
it regularly poured. When it was over two street-boys came along
that way. “Look! †ried one of them, ‘“ there’s a tin soldier,
let’s give him a sail!†So they made a boat out of a piece of
newspaper, put the tin soldier in the middle of it, and down x
the gutter he went sailing, and both boys ran along by the side
i elements mantener
318 ‘HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
of it and clapped their hands. Heaven help us! what billows
there were in that gutter, and the current too! it was dreadful !
Yes! it had poured in torrents, and no mistake! The
paper boat rocked up and down and turned round and round
till the tin soldier was quite dizzy ; but he remained steadfast all
through it, never changed countenance, looked straight before him,
and shouldered arms. All at once the boat went right under a
long eutter-coping ; it grew as dark as if he were in his box.
ee
“Where on earth am I going now!†thought he; “yes, it is
all the gnome’s fault. Ah! if only that little maid were sitting
here in the boat it might be as dark again if it liked!†The same
instant ‘up came: a large water rat who lived under the gutter-
coping. S
“Have you a passport?†asked the rat. “Come! out with
your passport !†& :
But the tin soldier kept silence and shouldered arms still
more firmly. Off went the boat with the rat close behind it.
Ugh! how it gnashed its teeth and cried “Stop him!
stop him! He hasn’t paid his toll! He hasn’t shown his _
passport!†-But the stream grew stronger and stronger. The
tin soldier could already see the bright daylight on in front where
the coping ended, but he heard at the same time a roaring sound
which might well have made a brave man afraid. Why, only fancy!
where the coping ended the gutter plunged right down into a
large channel, which would be as dangerous to the tin soldier
as sailing down a large waterfall would be to us. And now he
was already so close to it that he could not stand. The boat
~ shot out, the wretched tin soldier stood as stiff as he could, nobody
sa peeiny ene napa nectar
320° HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
should say of him that he so much as blinked his eyes. The boat -
whirled round four times, and was filled with water to the very
brim. Sink it must-! The tin soldier stood up to his neck in water, |
and deeper and deeper aul the boat; the paper became quite
undone; now the water went right over the soldier’s head ; then
he thought of the pretty little dancing girl whom he was never
to see again, and these lines rang in the tin soldier's ear :
“March! march! warrior, march! —
_ Death shall be thy portion!â€
And now the paper burst in the mrclciley the soldier fell through,
and the same instant was swallowed by a large fish.
Nay! but how dark it was inside there! It was even worse
than the eutter-coping ; and then it was so narrow too; but the
tin soldier was steadfast, and lay at full length shouldering arms.
The fish frisked about; it leaped and darted about in the ©
most frightful manner; at last, however, it orew quite still, and
what looked like a flash of lightning went right through it. The
hight shone quite brightly, and some one cried aloud: “Tin soldier!’ _
The fish had been caught, carried to market, sold and taken to the
kitchen, where the maid-servant had. cut it up with a large knife. She
took the soldier round the waist with her two fingers and carried
him into the parlour, whither every one hastened to have a look
at 0 remarkable aman who had travelled all about inside a fish.
Yet the tin soldier was not a bit proud. They placed him on the
table, and there—how strangely to be sure things do come about in
this world !—the tin soldier found himself in the self-same room he
had been. in before ; he saw the self-same children, and the same play-
things stood upon the table; the beautiful palace with the pretty -
THE STEADFAST TIN SOLDIER. 321
little dancing girl too was there, and she still stood on one leg and
held the other in the air; she, too, was steadfast. The tin soldier
was quite touched ; he could have shed tin tears, but this would not
have become him. He looked at her and she looked at him, but
neither of them saida word. The same instant one of the little boys
took up the tin soldier and threw him right into the stove. He gave
no reason whatever for doing so; no doubt the gnome in the snuff-
box was at the bottom of it.
The tin soldier stood quite ilemmeted and felt a frightful
heat, but whether it was the actual heat of the fire or the heat
of his love he did not know. His bright colours had all faded away,
but whether in consequence of his journey or his heartache
nobody. could ‘say. He looked at the little maid and she looked
at him, and he felt in quite a melting mood, but still he stood
steadfast and shouldered arms. Then a door opened, the draught
caught the dancing girl, and she flew in the form of a sylphide
right into the stove to the tin soldier, flashed up into a flame, and
was gone; then the tin soldier melted into a mere clot of metal,
and when the serving maid next day swept the ashes out of the
grate she found him in the shape of a little tin heart. As to
the dancing gil,, all that remained of her was the spangle, and
that was burnt as black as a coal.
THE UGLY DUCKLING.
_ Ir was so pretty out in the country. It was summer. The corn
stood’ yellow, the oats green, the hay was stacked in the green
meadows, and: the stork strode about on his long red legs and.
chattered Egyptian, for he had learnt that language from his
mother. Round about the fields and meadows were large woods, —
‘and in the midst of the woods deep pools; yes, ib was truly
delightful out in the country! In the middle of the sunlight
_ lay an old country-house with deep ditches round about it, and
from the walls right down to the water grew large dock-leaves
which were so high that little children could stand on tip-toe
beneath the biggest; it was lonesome there as in the thickest
wood, and here lay a duck upon her nest; she was engaged in
hatching her young, but by this time she was nearly tired of the:
job, it had lasted so long and she seldom received visitors; the
other ducks preferred to swim about in the ditches to running up
and sitting under a dock-leaf to chat with her.
At last one egg cracked after the other,: “ Peep! peep!†was
THE UGLY DUCKLING. 323
the ery ; all the yolks of the eggs had become alive and stuck out
their heads. ,
“Rap ! rap !"" she cried; and so they all hastened away as
quickly as they could and looked all about them beneath the
green leaves, and the mother let them look to their heart’s content,
for green is good for the eyes. :
“How big the world is, to be sure!†said the young duck-
lings, for now indeed they’ had a little more room to stir about in
than when they lay inside the egg.
“Do you fancy that this is the whole world?†said their
mother, “why, it stretches far beyond the other side of the garden
right into the parson’s field; but there I have never been, I
suppose the whole lot of you are there, eh?†and she rose up.
No, I haven’t got you all out yet! The biggest egg lies there
still. How much longer will it last? I am sick and tired of
it!†And down she sat again.
“ Well, how are things with you?†said an old duck who
came to pay her a visit.
«This one ego takes such a time!†said the sitting duck,
“no hole will come in it! But just look at the others! They
are the prettiest ducklings I have ever seen ! They are all just
Tike their father, the wretch! He never comes to see me!â€
“Let me see the ege that won’t crack!†said the old duck.
“Take my word for it, ‘tis a turkey egg. I was fooled that
way myself once, and the youngsters were a grief and a trouble
to me, I can tell you, for they fought shy of the water. I couldn’t
get them into it anyhow! I snapped and quacked but it was of no
_? “ Quick, quick !â€
324 uA ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
_ use. Let me see the egg, I aa Yes, it 1s a turkey egg. Let
it lie where it is and go and teach the other children to swim !â€
“Nay, but Tl sit on it a little bit longer all the same,â€
said the duck; “if I have sat so long already, I may just as
well sit the Zoological Garden regulation time also.â€
As you like!†said the old duck, and she waddled off.
— At last the big egg burst.“ Peep, peep!†said the . fledge-
ling as it rolled out—he was so big and ugly. The duck looked
at him, “What a frightfully big duckling it is!â€- cried she ;
“none of the others are a bit like him! Surely, it can never be
a turkey chick ! - Well, we shall soon find out about that! Into
the water he goes if I have to hick him in!†|
Next day it was the most glorious weather, the sun shone
on all the green dock- -leaves. The duck mother with her: whole
family came right down to the ditch. “Rap! rap!†said she,
and one duckling plunged into the water after the other ; the water
went right over their heads, but up they came again at once
and floated so prettily; their legs went of themselves, the whole
lot of them were in; even the ugly orey oe swam along
with them.
“No, it is no turkey!†s said she, “ see how nicely it uses
its legs, how upright’ it holds itself! "Tis my own youngster! —
~ Now, really, when you come to look at it, it’s quite pretty !
Rap! Rap! Come with me now and I will lead you into the
great world and present you to the duck- yard, but always
keep close to me so that no one may ae upon you; and
beware of the cat!†:
And so they came into the duck-yard. There was a
‘THE UGLY DUCKLING. 3825
frightful noise there, for two families were fighting over an eel’s _
head, and the cat got it after all. —
“Look, that is the way of the world!†said the duck-
mother, and licked her beak for she would have liked the eel’s
head herself. “Use your legs,†said she, “look smart and nod
Oe
‘
your necks at that old duck yonder, for she is the most distin-
euished person here; she is of Spanish descent; and don’t you
see she has a red clout round her leg! That is something
extraordinarily lovely and the greatest distinction any ‘duck can
have; it is as much as to say they don’t want to get rid of her,
3826 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
and men and beasts are to take note thereof! Quick, quack !
Don’t turn your legs in! A well-brought-up duckling keeps his
legs wide apart like father and mother! Look !—So !—And now
thrust out your neck and say “ Rap!’â€
And they did so; but all the other ducks round about
looked at them and said: quite loudly, “Just look! Now we
shall have all that mob too! As if there were not enough of
us here already! And ob, fie! what a fright that duckling
looks! We won’t put up with him, anyhow!†And immediately
a duck flew at him and bit him in the neck.
“Leave him alone, will you!†said the mother; ‘he’s doing
no harm to any one!†;
“Yes, but he is too big and queer!†said the duck who had
bitten him, “and so he must be snubbed!â€
“You have pretty children, mother!†ie the - old duek
with the clout round her leg. ‘The whole lot of them is pretty
except one, which hasn’t turned out well at all! I wish you
could make him over again!†| :
“Impossible, your grace!†said the mother of the ducldings:
“he is not pretty, but he has a thoroughly good disposition and
swims as nicely as any of the others; nay, I may say even a bit
better! I fancy he will grow prettier, or perhaps somewhat smaller,
in time. He has lain too long in the egg and therefore he has
not got the proper shape !†And then she trimmed his neck with
her beak and smoothed down the rest of his person. ‘Besides,
he igs a drake,†she said, “and so it doesn’t so much matter!
I think he'll be strong enough to fight his way along !â€
“The other ducklings are very nice,†said the old duck. ‘ Pray
THE UGLY DUCKLING. 327
make yourself quite at home, and if you find an eel’s head you
may bring it to me.â€
And so they made themselves quite at home.
But the poor duckling who had come out of the egg last of all
and looked so ugly, was bitten, thumped, and made fun of both by
the ducks and the hens. “He is too big!†they all cried; and the
turkey cock, who had been born with spurs, and therefore thought 7
himself an emperor at least, puffed himself out like a ship in full
sail, regularly pitched into him, and then gabbled till he was quite
red-in the face. The poor duckling knew not whither to turn, and
was so distressed because he was ugly and the laughing-stock of
the whole duck-yard.’_
Thus it fared with him the first day, and after that things grew
worse and worse. T’he wretched duckling was chivied about by all
of them, and even his own brothers and sisters were quite angry with
him and kept on saying: “If only the cat would take you, you
hideous object!†while his mother said, “ Would that you were
far, far away!†And the ducks bit him and the hens pecked
him, and the wench who gave the animals their food kicked him
with her foot.
Then he ran away and flew right over the hedge; the little
_birds in the bushes were scared and flew into the air. “That is
because I am so ugly,†said the duckling and closed his eyes, but
-he ran right away all the same; and so he came to a large fen where
the wild ducks dwelt, and there he lay the whole night, he was so
- weary and sorrowful.
In the morning the wild ducks flew up into the air and saw
their new comrade. “ What kind of a thing are you?†they asked, —
328 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
and the duckling turned in every direction and greeted them as_
well as it could. :
‘You are intensely ugly!†said the wild ducks : “but itis all
the same to us if only you do not marry into the family!â€
Poor creature! As if he had any idea of marrying! It was:
enough for him if he might lie in the rushes and drink a little
fen water. |
There he lay for two whole days, and then there came two
wild geese, or rather wild ganders, for they were males; it was not
so very long ago since they had come out of the egg, and that was
why they were so perky.
“ Listen, comrade !†said they ; “ you are so ugly that we have
quite taken a fancy to you. Will you scud about with us and be-
come a bird of passage? Close by here, in another fen, there are
some sweet, delightful wild geese, maiden ladies the whole lot of
them, who can say, Rap! You'll be able to cut a fine figure there,
ugly as you are!â€
“Pif! paf!†it sounded the same instant, and the two wild
geese fell down dead among the rushes and the water became blood-
red. “ Pif! paf!†it sounded again, and whole swarms of wild geese
flew up out of the rushes, and then there were fresh bangs. It was -
a great hunt; the hunters lay round about the fen, nay, some even’
sat up in the branches -of :the trees which stretched right over the
sedges ; the blue smoke went like clouds among the dark trees and
hung far over the water, and the hunting dogs came splash,
splashing through the mire. Reeds and sedges swayed in every
direction; it was a terrible moment for the poor duckling, who
turned its head round to put it beneath its wing, and the same
THE UGLY DUCKLING. . 329
instant a frightful big dog stood right in front of it, his tongue
hung far out of his mouth and his eyes shone so horribly ugly ; he
put his snout right against the duckling, showed his sharp teeth—
and splash ! off he went again without seizing it.
“Oh, heaven be praised!†sighed the duckling. “TI am so
ugly that even the dog doesn’t like to bite me !â€
And it lay quite still, but the shot hissed among the sedges and
gun after gun cracked and banged away.
It was only when the day was far advanced that all was
still again, but the poor duckling dared not get up; it waited for
many hours longer before it looked about it, and then it
hastened away from the fen as fast as it could ; it ran over
marsh and meadow and there was such a blast that it could
_ hardly get along. -
Towards evening it reached a poor little farm-house; it was so
wretched that it could not make up its mind as to which side it
would fall, and so it remained standing. The blast blew so fiercely
against the duckling - that it had to sit on its tail so ag not to
be blown away, and still the wind grew worse and worse.
It then perceived. that the door was off its hinges and hung so
much awry that it could peep into the room through the crack,
and it did so.
Here dwelt an old woman with her cat and her hen, and the
cat whom she called Sonny could shoot up his back and purr, he
could even sparkle, but you had to stroke his fur the wrong way
first; the hen had quite stumpy little legs and was therefore called
Chicky-short-leg ; it laid good eggs and the old woman loved it as
her very child.
330... HANS ANDERSEN’S FAIRY ‘TALES.
Next morning they perceived the strange duckling and the
cat began to purr and the hen to cluck. ?
‘‘Well I never!†said the old woman, and looked all about
‘her, but her eyesight was not very good, so she fancied that the
‘duckling was a fat duck which had gone astray. “ Why,
{??
this is a rare good find!†said she ; ; “now I can have ducks
egos too. If only I could find a drake! We must try, at
any rate.†:
So the doling: was oe on. trial for three weeks, but not a
single egg came to light. And the cat was master in that house
and the hen was mistress, and they always said: ‘ We and the
world!†for they thought that they were half of the whole
_ world, andthe best half too. The duckling hinted that another — :
opinion Wan aldo admissible, but the hen would not hear of such a
thing. : 7 |
“ Can you lay egos 2†she asked.
“No!â€
“Then hold your Loge ye
And the cat said: “ Cap yon arch sue vee poe and
sparkle ?†Foe & .
“No!†a
“Then you have no business to: shave any Opinion ¢ at all when
sensible people are talking.â€
~ And the duckling sat in a corner and was quite out of sorts.
a it thought of the fresh air and the sunshine, and was seized
with such a strange desire to float upon the water that at last it
could not: help saying so to the hen. - a a
“Why, what’s the matter with you 2†asked the hen, “You
THE UGLY DUCKLING. 331
have nothing to do, and that’s why you have all these fancies.
Lay eggs or purr, and they'll go away!â€
“ But it is so nice to float upon the water!†said the
duckling ; “so nice to take a header and go right down to the
bottom !â€
“Oh, most delightful, I am sure!†said the hen. “Youve
mad, ‘I think! Ask the cat, he’s the wisest person I know.
Tf he likes floating on the water or taking headers, Pll say no
more. Ask our mistress, the old woman, there is no one in the
whole world wiser than she. Do you fancy that she has any
desire to float on the water and take headers ?â€
“You don’t understand me!†said the duckling.
“Tf we don’t understand you, I should fle to know who
could! You will never be wiser than the cat and the old woman,
“let alone myself! “Don’t make a fool of yourself, child, and thank
your Maker for all the kindness that has been shown to you.
Have you not been admitted into a warm room and into a society
from which -you can learn something? But you're a wretch
and intercourse with you is anything but pleasant. You may take
my word for it. I only mean it for your good when I tell you
unpleasant truths. “Tis only one’s real friends who talk to one
~ like that.! See that you lay eggs and learn to purr or sparkle.â€
. . J. think I will go out into the wide world,†said the
duckling. ~
| “Do so by all means!†said the hen. |
And so the duckling went. It floated wpon the water, ‘it
took headers, but all the other animals looked down upon it
bécause it was so ugly. —
332 | HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
And now autumn came. The leaves of the forest grew yellow
and brown, the blast caught hold of them and made them dance
about, and there was a cold look high up in the sky. The clouds
hung heavy with hail and snow-flakes, and on the fence stood the
raven and cried, for sheer cold, “Ow! ow!†yes, the very thought
of it was enough to make one freeze. The poor duckling had
anything but a nice time of it. , ,
One evening the sun went down so gloriously, and forth from
the bushes came a whole flock of. lovely large birds, the duckling
had never seen anything go beautiful, they were quite shining white
with long supple necks: they. were swans. They uttered such |
a strange cry, spread out their splendid long wings, and flew away
from thé cold fields to warmer lands and open lakes. They rose
so high, so. high, that the ugly little duckling felt quite queer. It
turned. round in the water like a wheel, stretched. its neck after
them high up in the air, and uttered such a loud and odd shriek that
it was frightened at its own voice. Oh, it absolutely could not
forget the beautiful birds, the happy birds, and as soon as it had —
lost sight of them altogether, it ducked right down to the bottom,
and when it came up again it was quite beside itself, _ Tt knew not
the name of. these birds, or whither they were flying, yet it loved
them as it had never loved anything: before. It envied them not’
one bit. How could it presume to wish for. such loveliness ! te
would have only been too glad if the ducks had suffered it among
them, the poor ugly creature!
| And the winter grew so cold, so cold, the duckling had to keep
swimming on the water to prevent it from freezing altogether ; but
every night the hole in which it, swam became smaller and smaller ;
Serine
Seater
3834 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
it froze’ so that the whole. crust of ice crackled again and the
duckling had to use its legs continually so that the water might
not be quite closed up. _ At last, however, it grew faint, lay quite
still, and froze fast into the ice.
Early in the morning a farmer came along that way, he
saw it, went out to it, broke the ice into pieces with the iron heel
_ of his wooden shoe, and brought the duckling home to his wife,
and there it was revived.
The children wanted to “play with it, but the duckling.
fancied they meant to hurt it, and: in ‘its fright it flew right
up into the milkean so that the milk was splashed all about
_. the room, The woman shrieked and smote her hands together,
and then it flew into the trough where the butter was, and then
down into the. meal barrel and out. again, by which time it cut
a pretty figure, you may be sure. ~ The woman shrieked and flung
the fire-irons ‘at it; the children tumbled over each others’
legs in trying to seizé it, and laughed and shrieked again; it
was a good thing the door was open, and out it rushed into
the freshly fallen snow enone the ee and there it lay as if
in a swoon.
But it would really be too hearirénding to tell of all the
distress and wretchedness it had to put up with that hard winter ;
it was lying in the marsh among the rushes when the sun again
began to shine warmly; the larks were singing, it was beautiful
spring- -time. ose .
- And one day it gel its wings, they. had a sieonger beat:
than heretofore and bore it vigorously away; and ere it rightly
knew where it was, it found itself in a large garden where the
4
“THE UGLY DUCKLING. 335
- apple-trees stood in full bloom, where the lilac-flowers gave forth their
perfume and hung on the long green branches right down towards the
winding ditches. Oh, it was so lovely here, so full of the fresh-
ness of spring; and right in front, from out of the thicket, came
three beautiful white swans ; they made a rushing sound with
their wings and floated upon the water. The duckling recognised —
the splendid creatures and was overcome by a strange melancholy.
x I will fly towards them, the royal birds! and they will peck
_ me to death because I, who am so ugly, dare to approach them ;
but it is all one to me. Better to be slain by them than to
be nipped by the ducks, pecked by the hens, kicked by the wench
who looks after the poultry yard, and suffer want in the winter
{ 2?
time ! And so it flew out into the water, and swam towards the
stately swans, who saw it and-came darting towards it with
bristling plumes. “Kill me then and have done with me!â€
cried the poor creature, and. it bowed its head down towards the
water and awaited its death. But what did it, see in the clear
water? It saw beneath it its own image, but it was no longer
a clumsy, dark grey bird, ugly and clammy, it was itself a swan.
It doesn’t matter a bit about being born in a duck-yard when
one has lain’ in a. swan's egg. :
Tt felt quite glad when it looked back. upon all the distress
and oppression it had gone through ; just for that very reason it
was able to enjoy its good fortune, and all the beauty that
was now its portion; and the large swans swam round and
“round about it and stroked it with their beaks.
Some , little children came running into the garden, they —
~ threw corn and bread crumbs into the water, and the smallest
336 HANS -ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES,
of them exclaimed: “There’s a new one!†and. the. other
. children also shouted, “Yes! a new one has come!†And they
clapped . their hands and danced about and ran to fetch their
- father and mother, and bread and cakes were cast into the water,
and they all said: “The new one is the prettiest! Tt is go
nice ‘and young !†And the old swans bowed down before it.
| It felt so bashful and stuck its head beneath its wings, it
did not know what to do with itself. It was almost too happy
but not a bit proud, for a good heart is never proud. It thought
of how it had formerly been persecuted and despised, and now
it heard them all say that it was the loveliest of all lovely birds.
And the lilacs bowed their branches down into the water
towards it, and the sun shone so nice and warm, and then it -
‘swelled. out. its plumage, raised its slim neck, and cried from
the bottom of an. exultant heart: “I never dreamed of so
much bliss when. I was an oy duckling Ie
THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL.) (1848.)
Ir was so horribly cold; it was snowing and the evening
“was growing dark ; it was, besides, the last evening in the year,
New Year's Eve. In the cold and darkness a poor little girl
- was.going about the streets with bare head and naked feet ; yes,
she had slippers on when she left the house, IT know that ; but
- what was the good of them ? they were very big slippers ; her mother
had worn them last, they were 80 big that the little girl lost them
as she hurried across the street because two carriages were dashing
by with such a frightful noise. One of the slippers couldn’t be
- found, and a street boy ran off with the other. He said he could use
it as a cradle when he had children of his own.
So the little girl went along on her tiny naked feet, vehicles were
red and blue from cold. She was holding a lot of matches in an
old apron, and she had a bundle of them in her hands too. Nobody
had bought from her the whole day; nobody had given her a
farthing ;. hungry and benumbed, she went along and looked so
1 Written at the request of publisher Flinch for his almanack. Flinch sent
Andersen three pictures, to one of which he was to write a tale. The picture
Andersen chose was one of. a poor little match girl.
i XX
338 | HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
"pinched and starved, poor little creature ! The snow-flakes kept os
falling on her long yellow hair, which curled so prettily round her
Po neck, but to that sort of prettiness she “never gave a thought.
. Lights were shining out of all the windows, and there was such a
nice smell of roast goose in the street (for wasn’t it New Year's
Eve %, and that was what she did think about..
Right in a corner between two houses—one of them stood a
little more forward into the street. than. the other—she cowered
down; she had drawn up her little feet beneath her, but she was |
colder than ever, and. go home she dared not; she hadn’t sold a.
single match ; she hadn't ‘got a single penny; her father would
beat her, and it was $0 cold at, home ; ‘they. hod only: ‘the. roof 2
hore. their heads, and the wind. piped through. it. although. straw
and rags had been stuffed into the biggest’ gaps. Her little. hands
were nearly ‘quite dead with cold. _ Ahtia match might be of some
use. If only she might pull one out of the bundle, strike it against
- the wall and: warm her fingers ! She drew one out. How it |
spluttered 1 how it burned! It was a warm, clear flame just like a
little candle when she held her hand round “It; it was, really. a
wonderful light. It seemed to the little girl as if she were sitting
in front of a large iron stove with bright brass studs and a. brass
drum; the fire burned 80 delightfully and warmed so nicely ; nay,
what was that? The little girl had already begun to stretch. out
her feet so as to warm them also: when—out went the flame.’ The
stove vanished—she was sitting there wih a little burnt-out match-
stump in her hand. | ae a : : :
A fresh match was struck ; it te ih shone, and the spot
where the light fell upon the wall became transparent like gauze,
340 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
‘She saw right into the room, where the table stood covered with a
shining white cloth with fine porcelain, and the roast goose was
steaming there stuffed with prunes and apples; the most splendid
thing about it all was that the goose sprang from the dish and
ae skipped along the floor with the knife and fork on its back ;
right up to the poor, little girl it came; then out went .the
match, and the only thing to be seen was a cold thick wall. |
| “She lit another. Then she was sitting beneath the loveliest .
Christmas-tree ; it was even larger and. better decorated than the
‘one she had seen through the glass door at the rich merchant's last
Christmas ; a thousand candles were burning on the green branches,
and coloured. pictures like those with which they ornament shop-
windows looked down upon. her, ' The little: gurl stretched out
both her hands—then the match ~ went out ; the many, many
Christmas candles went higher and higher ; she saw that they
were now bright stars; one of them fell and made a ne streak of
fire i in the sky. ) a a
“Some one’s dying now |†‘said the little aa for old grand-
mamma, who was the only one that had been kind to her, and who
was now dead, had said, ‘When a star falls, a soul i is going to God.â€
_ Again she struck a match against the wall; it shone all round - ;
about, and in the vadiance stood the old grandmother, so bright,
gentle, and heavenly. Be .
“ Grandmother !†cried the little girl; “oh, take me with you!
igo you'll be gone when the match goes: ‘out—gone just like
the warm stove, the -roast goose, and the beautiful Christmas-
: tree,’ and she hastily struck the whole lot of the matches in-
the bundle. She wanted to hold her grandmother fast; and the —
THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL. 341
matches shone with such a radiance that it was brighter than ‘brad
daylight. Never before had grandmamma been so. Benet
She took the little girl in her arms and they flew to Heaven,
where there is no cold, no hunger, no anguish—they were with God.
- But in the corner by the house in the cold hour of morning
sat the little girl with the red cheeks and a smile about her mouth
ihe TREE nelin :
—dead, frozen to death on the last evening of the old year. New
Year’s morn rose upon the little body sitting there with the
matches, a large pile of which was half burnt. She had tried to’
warm herself, they said. Nobody knew what beautiful things she
‘had seen, or in what glory she had gone with the old grandmother
“into her New Year's joy.
IB AND LITTLE CHRISTINA. (1855).
Nzar to Gudenaa,’ in Silkeborg Wood, there rises a tidge of
land, like a large ‘mound, which is called “The Beam,†and below it
towards the west, lay and still lies: a little farmhouse with lean
lands ; the sand shines through. the thin rye and barley fields.
_ This-was a long while ago, “The people who dwelt there did a little —
farming, and had, besides, three sheep, a pig and twooxen 3 in short.
they had plenty if one takes things as one finds them, nay, they
could very well have managed to keep a couple of horses too, but
they said, as the other farmers round about said, “the horse eats
his head off !â€â€”that is to say he eats as much as, he earns. ay eppe-
Jens farmed: his little lot in summer time; endl in the winter he was
a smart ode shoe maker He had an assistant also, a fellow who ae
| knew how to cut out wooden shoes which were both strong, light,
~ and in-the fashion ; boots and shoes they cut out; this brought in
- money ; one could ar call Jeppe-Jens’s, peoplé moor folks.
Little Ib, a boy of seven, the only child of the house, sat and
looked on, chipped away at a peg and- chipped his oe too, but
a Guden River.
1B AND LITTLE CHRISTINA. — 343
one day he cut out two pieces of wood so that they looked like
small wooden shoes ; they were a present, said he, for little Christina
the bargeman’s little daughter, and she was as nice and as pretty as
any gentleman’s child ; had her clothes been cut to suit her birth
and breeding nobody would ever have believed that she was from
the peat turf hut on Seis Heath. Over there dwelt. her father, who
was a widower, and earned a living by conveying logs in his barge
from the woods down to Silkeborg’s eel-pans, nay, sometimes still
further, right up to Randers. He had nobody who could take care
_» of little Christina, who was a year younger than Ib, and so she was
nearly always with him on his barge between the ling and the
whortleberry -bushes ; if however, he had to go night the way up
to Randers, why then little. Christina was sent over. to the
_Jeppe-Jens’s. popobs . co er
Ib and little Christina had a nice fume of it in play aad earnest ;
_ they rooted and. dug up the ground, they crawled and they
scrambled, and, one day, the pair of them ventured almost to the
very top of the “Beam†anda good-bit into the wood besides. Once:
they found snipes’ eggs.there, and that. was a great event.
_ lb had never yet been on Seis Hede, had never gone in a
barge through the lakes to Gudenaa, but now he was going; he
had been invited by the bargeman, and the eae before he
followed him home. —
On the top of. the high. stacked faggots in the barge sat the
two children early one morning, and. ate bread and raspberries.
The bargeman and his men punted themselves forward, they went
with the stream quickly down the river through lakes which seemed
locked in by woods and sedges, but there was always a passage
8440 0 7 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
through, even if the old trees leaned right forward, and the oak
trees stretched out their withered branches just as if they had turned
up their sleeves and wanted to show thei knotty naked arms; old
alder trees which the stream had torn from: the slope held fast on
to the bottom of the stream by the roots, and looked like small _
- woody islands : the lilies rocked to and fro on the water ; it
was such a beautiful journey—and so they came to the weir where
_ the water rushed through the sluices, that was emerhing for Ib and
Christina to look at if you like.
At that time neither town nor manufactory stood there, but
only the old eel-rearing establishment with those who looked
after it, and they weren’t many. The rush of’ the water through
the sluices and the shrieking of the wild ducks were the only
_eonstant signs of life there. When all the firewood had been =
unloaded, Christina’s father bought a large bundle of eels and a
— little slaughtered pig, all of which was packed up together in a basket
and placed right behind in the stern of the barge. And now they ~
_ set off home against stream, but the wind was with them, and when -
‘they put up the sail as well it was just the same as if they had two
horses tugging in front.
~ When the barge had got so bigh up in the wood ee they lay
off where the man who helped Christina’s father to punt had onlya |
-ghort distamce to go to get home, he and Christina's father went
ashore, but. told the children to be sure to keep quiet. and be careful,
but they didn’t do this very long, for they must needs look down
into the basket where the eels and the pig were stowed away, and -
they must-needs lift up the pig and hold it, and as they both
wanted to hold it they of course dropped it, and it fell right — .
IB AND LITTLE CHRISTINA. 3845
into the water; there it was drifting away with the stream—
how frightful !
Tb sprang ashore and ran along for a little distance, and then,
of course, Christina got out too. “Take me with you!†she cried ;
and soon they were right among the bushes and saw neither the
barge nor. the river ; they ran a little bit further still, and then
Christina fell down and began to ery, and Ib picked her up.
te Come with me!†said he; < the house is over there!†but the
house was not over there. They went on and on over dry fallen
branches which cracked beneath their little feet; now they heard a
loud raven—they stood still and listened ; now an eagle shrieked, it
was a hideous shriek, they were quite frightened, but right before
them in the wood grew the loveliest blackberries, a countless
multitude ; it was so tempting that they felt they must stay there a
bit, so they stayed and ate and got quite black about the mouth
-and cheeks. “And now they heard a raven again. _
“We shall get whipped for the pig!†said little Christina.
“Let us go to our own home!†said Tye “itis here in the
wood!†And they went; they came to a cart-track, but it did not
lead them home; it got dark and they were terrified. The strange
stillness around them was broken by the hideous shriek of the
large horned owl, or the sounds of birds they did not know; at last
_ they both stood still in a clump of bushes. Christina cried, and Ib
eried, and when they had thus cried for some time, they laid them
down in the dry leaves and went to sleep.
The sun was high in the heavens when they woke: they were
freezing cold, but up on the height, close by, the sun was shining
down Pepween the trees, there they might warm themselves: and
We NG
SAGs =. HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
from thence, so thought Ib, they might see their parents’ house ;
but they were far away from it in quite another part of the wood.
They scrambled right up to the top of the height and stood upon
a slope by a clear transparent lake ; there were whole shoals of fish
there shining in the sun’s rays ;. what they saw took them quite by -
surprise, and close beside was a large bush full. of nuts,. yes, as
| many as seven clusters of them; and they plucked, and they
eracked, and got out the wee kernels which had begun to form, and
then they had another surprise—or shall I call it a fright ¢—for
from among the bushes stepped forth a tall old woman whose face
was so brown.and whose hair was of 8 listening black ; the whites
of her eyes shone just like a negro’s, she hada bundle round her neck
and a knobly stick'in her hand; she was a gipsy.. The children
_-did-not understand at first what she said, and she took three- big
nuts out..of -her pocket, and the loveliest things lay hidden in each
of them—she said. they were wishing- -nuts. - |
Ib looked at: her, she was so friendly, and so he pulled Himself
togethér and asked if he might have the nuts, and the woman gave
~ them: to him, and plucked. a whole lot of theni for herself off the a
bushes. And Tb and oe eaced with big eyes at the-wishing- |
nuts. - :
“Ts there a cu in it with hoses in ont 1 asked Ib.
“«There’s. a ie carriage with golden horses,†“said the
woman. Ss
“Then give it to me,†said little Christina and Tb gave it to
her and the woman tied the nut into her neckerchief.
Tg there inside it just such a nice- little neckerchief as
Christina has?†asked Ib.
348 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
ee There are two neckerchiefs,†said the woman ; ‘“ there are fine
dresses, stockings, and hats.†:
“Then I will have that too,†said Christina, and little Tb
gave her the second nut also; the third was a little black one.
“You may been that!†said Christina ; “and it is a pretty one
too !†—
“ And what’s in this ?†asked Ib. -
“What is the “very paee ne for you,†said the gipsy
woman. 5
-And. Ib. held tte nut tight. The woman promised to take
them the right way home, and they set out, but quite in the
; opposite direction. to that they ought to. have gone, but of COUTSC
that is no reason why one should accuse her of wanting to steal
: the children... _ :
In the midst of the wild wood 4 they met the forester Chreen ;
he knew Ib, and by his help Ib and little Christina got home
where the good folks were terribly anxious about them, and they
were forgiven though they well deserved a good whipping, first
_. because they had let the pig fall into the water, and next because
they-had played. truant.
Christina went to her home on the eed and Tb remained in
the little forest hut; the first thing he did there the same evening
was to take out the nut which concealed “ the best thing of all,â€
—he laid it between ‘the door and the door hinge, shut the door to,
‘and the nut cracked, but nothing like a kernel was there to be
geen, no! it was filled with something like snuff or garden mould ;
- a worm had got into it as they say. :
fol might have known as much,†thought Ib; “how could
IB AND LITTLE CHRISTINA. 349
there be room in a little nut for the best thing of all? Christina
will get neither fine clothes nor a golden carriage out of her
two nuts.â€
And -winter came and the new year came.
And many years passed away. Ib now had to go to the priest,
and he lived a long way off. And just then the bargeman came
and told Ib’s parents one day that little Christina was now going out
to service to earn her own bread, and it was a very lucky thing for
her that she had got into such good hands and was to be a servant
to such worthy folks; just fancy ! she -was going to the rich inn-
‘keeper's over at Herning in the West; she was to make herself
handy there, and afterwards, when she had got into the way of
things, and was confirmed, they would keep her for good.
And Ib and Christina took leave of each other ; sweethearts,
folks called them; and she let him know at parting that she still
had the two nuts which she got from him when they went astray
in the wood, and she said. that she had hidden away in her clothes-
box the little wooden shoes he had carved out and presented to her
when he wasa boy. And so they parted.
Ib was confirmed, but he remained in his mother’s home for he
was a smart wooden-shoe cutter, and he looked after the little farm
capitally in the summer-time ; his mother had only him left, Ib’s
father was dead. ,
‘Only very seldom, and then through a post-boy or an eel
farmer, he heard about Christina. She was getting on very well at
the rich innkeeper’s, and when she was confirmed she wrote her
father a letter with greetings for Ib and his mother ; in the letter
was a good deal about six new shifts and a pretty frock which
tenet ewe tte no erm it cn tt
mesmiips eA ee get oR ME SCI
350 HANS ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES.
Christina had got from her master and mistress. It was vet good
news ! | . i
Andin the spring after that, on a very fine day. there was a
mocking at Ib’s mother’s door, it was the bargeman with Christina ;
shé had a whole day off; she had had the opportunity of going
to the village of Them and back, and she took advantage of it. She
was very pretty, quite like a young lady, and she had nice clothes, —
they were well sewn together and they suited her. There she stood |
in all her finery, and Ib was in his common working clothes. He had
absolutely nothing to say for himself ; it is true he took her by the
hand and held it fast and was delighted to see her, but for the life
of him he couldn’t find his tongue ; but. little Christina made up
for it, she talked and talked and had such a lot to tell them, and
~ kissed Ib right on the mouth. ae
© What, don’t you know me?†said she, but even when they —
two were quite alone and he still stood and held her by the hand,
all that he could say was: “ Why, you’ve become quite a fine lady, _
and I look sorumpled ! How I have been lcd - you, ‘Christina, - |
. and of old times!â€
And they went, arm-in-arm, right ip “The Beam,†and. looked
across Gudenaa to Seis Heath with the large banks of ling upon it, —
but Ib said nothing, yet when they parted it was quite clear to him. -
that Christina must be his wife ; why, weren't they called sweet-
hearts ever since they were quite little; they were, it seemed to
him, a. betvothed ‘couple, although neither of them had said as
~ ouch.
‘They could saly be together now for a “tee hours longer, for
she had to get back to Them, whence, early next morning, the cart
. IB AND LITTLE CHRISTINA. 351
- would carry her back westwards. Her father and Ib went along
with her as far as Them ; it was bright moonlight, and when they got
there, and Ib was still holding Christina’s hand, he really couldn’t let
it go. His eyes were so bright, but his words were very few and
faint, but every one of them came straight from his heart. “If you
7 haven’t become a little too much of a fine lady,†said he, “and if
you can put up .with living in mother’s house with me as your
husband, why then we two will one day be man and wife, but we
can wait a little bit, surely !â€
“Yes, let us wait and see how things turn out, Ib,†said she,
and then she pressed his hand and he kissed her on the mouth.
“J am proud of you, Ib!†said Christina, “and I think I love you ;
but let me think it over.â€
_ And so they parted. And Ib- told the bargeman that he and ~
Christina were now as good as engaged, and the bargeman gave it as
. his opinion that it was as he had always thought it should be; and
~ he went home with Ib and slept in the same bed with him and
nothing more was said about the engagement.
.A year had gone by; two letters had passed between Ib and .
‘Christina; “true till death!†they had signed themselves, One
day the bargeman. came to see Ib; he had.a greeting for him from
Christina; he had something else to say too, it was hard to say,
_. Somehow, but it amounted to this that Christina was getting on
very well, better than well in fact, she was a right pretty girl,
respected and beloved. ‘The innkeeper’s son had been at home on a
visit ; he had a post at some big place at Copenhagen, at a desk in
fact; he appeared to like Christina and she thought him a man
after her own heart, her parents had certainly nothing to say
we = ee) _HANS ANDERSEN’S FAIRY. TALES.
against it, but yet. Christina knew very well that Ib thought so
much of her,.and that rather lay upon her conscience, and she
had thought of refusing her chance, said the bargeman.
‘At first Ib said not a,word, but he became as white as a
sheet, shook his head a. bit, and then said: “Christina must
not refuse her chance!†ce ;
“Write her a couple of lines to that effect !†said the bargeman.
And Ib did write, but he couldn’t put the words together
as he wanted to, and he struck out and tore up, but by the
“morning a letter was - ready for little Christina, and here it is:
| “TI have read the letter which you wrote to your father,
and I see that things are going well with you in every way, and
that they. may be better still. Ask your own heart, Christina, and
_ ponder well what your taking me really means, for I have but little. -
Don’t think of me, or of how I may take it, but think of your.
own good! You are bound to me by no promise, and :if you
have given me one in your heart I release you from it. All
the joy in the world be upon you, little Christina! God will |
certainly comfort my heart!
: “ Always your most louie friend,
ate
And the letter was sent off, nd Christina got it.
‘At Martinmas the banns were read ' from the pulpit for her
_ in the church on the heath, and over at Copenhagen, too, where
. the bridegroom was, and. thither she swent with her “mistress, as
the bridegroom, by reason of much business, could not come all the
way over to Jutland. Christina, by arrangement, met her father.
at the market town of Funder, through which. the main road
IB AND ‘LITTLE CHRISTINA: SS
passes, and which: was the nearest place of meeting for him, and
there they both took leave of each other. He said a word or
two about it to folks he met, but Ib when he heard it said nothing
at all; he had become so thoughtful his old mother said, and his
‘shoughts went back to the three nuts which he, as a child, had got
from the. gipsy woman, and two of which he had given to Christina,
They were the wishing nuts. Didn't a gold carriage and horses lie
in one of hers, and in the second one the loveliest clothes? It
had. come to pass, all the promised splendour would now be hers
over at royal Copenhagen ; it had been fulfilled in her case! but
all that Ib had got out of his nut was black mould. “The
| best thing of all†for him, thé gipsy woman had said. Yes, and
that was quite true, too; black mould was veal the best
» thing for him. ae
Now he tinderstood what the woman had meant: the black
earth,«the womb’ of the grave, that was the best place for him.
And the years -passed by, not many years but long ones;
: the old people at the Inn had ‘died off one after the other; all
their wealth, many thousands of rigsdalers went to the son.
Well, now Christina could have. her gold Cammiage, and no end of
fine clothes.
: During the two long years which followed, no letter reached
him from Christina, and when his father got one at last, it was
anything but written in wealth and happiness. Poor Christina !
Neither she nor her husband had: known how to be moderate in ~ >
prosperity, their wealth went as it came, there was no blessing in it,
because they did not look for a blessing.
And the ling stood in flower and ue ling shrivelled up again:
ZZ
354 HANS ANDERSEN’S FAIRY . TALES.
for many a winter the moon had swept over Seis Heath and over
“The Beam†in the shelter of which Ib dwelt. The Springtime
sun shone out and Ib put the plough to the land. Then the
ploughshare scraped against what he thought was a flint-stone
and up to the surface there came what looked like a big black clod, -
and when Ib took hold of it he saw that it was of metal, and on the
spot where the plough had scraped it it shone brightly. It was a
large heavy gold bracelet from old heathen times; a heroic funeral
mound had been levelled by the plough, and its costly treasures
brought to light. Ib showed it to the priest, who told him what a
splendid find it was ; and from him Ib went to the-local magistrate,
who informed the authorities at Copenhagen of the fact, and
advised Ib to take his treasure trove thither himself. ©
~ “You. have found in the ground the very best thing you
could have found !†said the magistrate.
“The best,†thought Ib; “the best thing of all for land
in the ground too! Then the gipsy woman was right after all,
if this really is the best thing.â€
| And Ib went in a smack from Aarhuus to royal Copenhagen ;
it was like a voyage round the world to him, who had never
done more than cross the Gudenaa. And Ib came to ee
; The value of the gold he had found was paid to him;
was a large sum, 600 rigsdalers. So that was how Ib from Seis
Heath came to be wey about in the huge, bewildering
Copenhagen. oe |
One evening (he was to ronan to Aarhuus with the dcpper :
next day) he lost himself “in the streets and went. in quite the
“opposite direction to what: he had intended. Ib steered. his course —
IB AND LITTLE CHRISTINA. 355
: westward and that was right enough, but he did not come out
where he should have done. There was not a soul to be seen in
the streets. Then a little slip of a girl came out from a poor
house ; Ib asked her the way; she started, looked up at him, and
then he saw ‘that she was crying bitterly. His next question
was: what ailed her. She said something he could not quite
make out, and as they were both standing right under a lamp and
the light fell full upon her face, he felt quite queer, for it was
little Christina to-the life that he saw, exactly as he remembered
her when they were both children together.
And he went with the little girl into the poor house, and up
the narrow, worn-down stairs, right up to a tiny, sloping attic,
under the roof. The air there was heavy and stuffy, and there
was no light at-all; right away in the corner there was a sighing
and a gasping for breath. Jb lit a match. It was the child’s
mother who lay upon the wretched bed.
“Ts there anything I can do for you ? 2†said Ib. “The little
girl got hold of me, but Iam a stranger in town here myself. Is
there no neighbour or any one I can send for?†And he lifted
her head. |
‘Tt was Christina thom Seis Heath.
For years and years her name had not been mentioned in her
ome up in Jutland; it would have stung Ib to the quick and
destroyed his piece of mind. And besides, it was no good report
. that truth and scandal brought. They said that the riches which her
husband had inherited from his parents had made him proud and
reckless. He had given up his situation, travelled for ‘SIX months
in foreign lands, come back and made debts and lounged about all
the same. The cart had jolted more and more, and at last, it went
356 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
over altogether. The hosts of jolly fellows, who had sat so often —
at his table, said it served him quite right ; he had always lived
_ like a fool, said they. His body was found one morning in the canal.
Christina wént about more dead than alive. Her youngest
child, only a féw weeks old, conceived in prosperity, born in
adversity, was soon in the grave; and things had come to such a
pass with Christina that she lay, sick unto death, and abandoned
by- all, in a ‘wretched room—a room. which. she could have very
well put up with in her younger. days on ‘Seis Heath, but the
- full wretchedness of which she felt only too keenly, now that she
was used to better things. It was her eldest little child, also a
little Christina, who suffered need and eee with. her, that had
brought Ib up there. ae
“T. am-afraid I shall die and ie this wretched child all.
alone,†sighed she ; ‘and then what in the world wu become of
her ? 2†More she couldn’t say. e |
And Ib managed to. light another match, and fonnd a cma,
= el which burnt. wp. and lit the wretched chamber.
And Ib looked at the little girl and thought of (Chrsting: as
he fan known her in their younger days ; for Christina’s sake. he _
could well be kind. towards. this child whom he did not know.- The —
dying woman looked at him, her eyes. grew larger and larger—did ~
‘she recognize him? He didn’t know, not a word did he hear her say.
of Ee e * ee ee
"Twas in the woods by the Gas ee near Seis Heath ; po
‘the air was grey, the ling ‘was bare of blossom, the storms from
_ the west» drove the yellow leaves from ihe woods out upon the
river, and right over the heath where stood the hut of ‘grass and
turf, strange folks lived there now; but beneath the “beam,†in a
IB AND LITTLE CHRISTINA. 357
sheltered nook, behind tall trees, stood a little house, painted and
whitewashed ; in the dwelling room a peat fire was burning on
the hearth, in the dwelling room there was sunshine which
beamed from two child-eyes, the warbling of the lark of Spring-
time trilled from her red, laughing mouth as she talked; there
was life and liveliness, little Christina was there ; she sat upon Ib’s
knee; Ib was father and mother to her, they (her real father and
mother) were both to the child and the man as a dream of the
night. Ib sat in his neat, pretty little house, a well-to-do man ;
the little girl's mother lay in the pauper oe oe in royal
Copenhagen.
Ib: had: money. _ at. te Peron of he feet folks ead gold
from mould, and he had little, Christina into the bargain.
OLI LOCKEYE? —
_ THERE is nobody in the whole world who has so many tales to
| tell as Oli Lockeye !—he is the one to tell tales if you like! —
Towards evening, when the children are sitting so nicely at
3 table “Or on their little stools, that’s the time when Oli Lockeye
comes. He ‘comes 50 silently up stairs, for he goes about in his
stockings, he opens the door quite softly and. fttit: | he squirts
> sweet milk ‘into the children’s eyes, such a tiny, tiny drop, but
_ always quite enough to prevent them from keeping their eyes open |
and seeing him. Then he creeps. behind them just as quietly and
blows softly down their necks, and then their -heads grow heavy,
yes! but it does not hurt them a bit, for-Oli Lockeye means it
most kindly. He only wants to make them quiet, and he knows
that they are most quiet when they are in bed ; aye must be still
before he can tell them tales.
Now when the children are fairly asleep, Oli Lockeye sits down
on the bed. He is quite a beau. His coat 1s of silk cloth, but it is
“impossible to say what. colour it is for it shines“ green, red, and
1 Dan. _ Ole Lilkéie. Ole is the short ‘of Olof.
. 860 ‘HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
blue according as he turns himself, Beneath each arm he holds an
umbrella, one with pictures on it, and this he holds over the good
children, and then they dream the most delightful shories: all night,
and the other with nothing at all upon it, and this he holds over
~ the naughty children, and then they sleep like logs and find when —
they wake in the morning that they have not dreamed the least bit.
And now we will hear how Oli Lockeye came every evening
for a,whole week to a little -boy called Hjalmar and what he told.
him. There are seven stories 1n all, for there are seven days in a
week. :
Monday.
es Now just listen !†said Oli Lockeye one evening when he had :
got Hjalmar- to bed; “now I am going to smarten up !†and -
: immediately all the flowers in the flower- -pots became. big trees :
» “which stretched their long branches up towards: the ceiling and
* along the walls so. that the whole room looked like a most beautiful
~~ arbour, and all the branches were full of flowers and every flower
was fairer than a Tose, Semele 80 nice, and aif you chose to eat it,
was : sweeter than jam. The fruits: glistened like. gold and there |
were buns: literally bursting with Taisins, was there ever anything
‘like it? But the same instant a frightful wailing was heard in
the drawer of the table where Hjalmar’s: schoolbooks lay.
“Why, what: i is that?†said Oli Lockeye, and he went towards
the: table. and opened the. drawer. ‘Tt was the slate which was in
such tribulation, for a wrong. figure had got into the sum so that it
come right ; the pencil skipped about and tugged at ‘the
: piece af string to which it was tied just as if it were a little dog that
wanted to help the sum and ‘couldn’t E And then, too, there
OLI LOCKEYE, 3861
was a great lamenting inside Hjalmar's copy-book, it was simply
horrible to hear! Right down every page stood all the big
capital letters, each with a little one by.its side, a whole row of
them, right the way down. At the top was such a nice copy, and
close by it stood other letters who fancied that they looked just
_ like it for Hjalmar had written them, they sprawled about there
almost as if they had tumbled over the ruled pencil line which
they ought to have stood upon.
_ “Took ! you should hold yourselves 80,’ ’ said the copy; “look,
sideways, like that, with a smart swing | leas
“Oh! we should like to, so much,†said Hjalmar’s letters ;
“ only we can’t, we are so poorly.â€
“Then you must have powders,†said Oli Lockeye. —
“Oh, no!†they cried, and with that they stood g0 straight
and trim that it was a pleasure to look at them.
§¢ No ‘more tales for us to-night !†said Oli Lockeye; “I
~ must put them through their drill now. Right, left; right, left!â€
And so he drilled the letters, and there they stood as trim and
well as any. copy could stand; but when Oli Lockeye went away
and Hjalmar saw them next morning, they were just as wretched
as before.
Tuesday.
As soon as Hiei was in bed, Oli Lockeye touched all the
furniture in the room with his magic squirt and immediately they
began to chatter, and the whole lot of them chattered about them-
2 selves except the spittoon, which stood silent and was much annoyed
that they should be so vain as to talk of nothing but themselves, ©
ao od to think of nothing but themselves, without giving a single
BA
362 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
thought to him who stood so modes in the corner there a let
people spit upon him.
Over ‘the chest of drawers hung a large picture in a gilded
~ frame—it was a landscape ; you. saw there tall old trees, flowers in
’ the grass, a great sheet of water with a river which ran round by a
wood, past many castles, far out into the wide sea. Oli Lockeye
touched this picture with his magic squirt and thereupon the birds
in it began to sing, the branches of the. trees moved, and the clouds |
regularly flew ; you: could a shadows right across the
landscape. coe pee |
And now Oli fee lifted little. nice: up towards ihe
frame, and ‘Bjalmar put his legs: into the painting, right in. the
middle of the tall grass. There he stood. The sun shone down
i upon. him coe among the branches of the trees.. _He ran to the water,
and got into a little boat: which lay there. It ‘was painted red and
white, the sails shone like silver, and six swans, all with gold crowns ~
_. which reached right down their necks and a radiant blue star on
their heads, drew the boat. past the green woods, where the trees
— told about robbers and witches, and the flowers told. about the
pretty little elves and-what the butterfly. had told them. The
loveliest fishes, with scales like gold and silver, swam after the boat.
From time to time they took leaps till the water splashed again,
and the irds, red and blue, small and great, flew after him in-two
long rows ; the midges danced, and the cockchafers said, “ Bum,
: bum, bum !†They all wanted to follow Hjalmax, and every one of
them had a tale to tell.
3 That was something like a sail! eee the forests were |
so dark and close together, sometimes they were like the most
OLI LOCKEYE, 868
beautiful gardens, full of sunshine and flowers, where lay huge
castles of marble and crystal. On the balconies stood princesses,
and they were all little girls whom Hjalmar knew very well, for he
had played with them before. They stretched out their hands, and
‘every, one of them had the. nicest sugar-pig that any cake-shop
“woman can sell, and Hjalmar always took hold of one end of the
sugar-pig as he passed by, and the princess held on fast and he did
too; and so each of them got a piece, she the smallest, but Hjalmar
364 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
much the biggest.. At every. castle little princes stood on guard ; :
they shouldered their gold sabres and made ‘it rain raisins and
tin-soldiers. They were something like princes |.
And sometimes Hjalmar sailed: through woods and sometimes
through vast halls or in the midst of cities, and so he also
sailed ‘through the city where his nurse had lived, she who had
carried him about when he was quite a little boy and had been so—
fond of him, and she nodded and beckoned ‘and sang the pretty
verses which she herself had composed and sent to Hjalmar : j
a ““ My own, my little Hjalmar, dear,
I think so oft of thee!
DP ve kissed thy br ow, thy cheeks so red,
Thy mouth so fresh and. wee.
_ «T heard thee lisp thy baby words,
T needs must go away ; .
May God, ‘who sent thee from His a
_ Be here on earth thy stay!†-
a il the little birds | sang too, ce the flowers: dansed: on
their stalks, and the old trees nodded just as if Oli Lockeye were
telling: them tales too. .
‘Wednesday Ye. :
dew the rain was pouring down outside ! Hjalmar. could .
hear it in his sleep, and when Oli Lockeye. opened the’ window the »
water was right: up to the. window-frame. There was a whole lake
outside, but thé most gorgeous ship lay, alongside the house.
“Will you have a sail with me, little . Hjalmar 2†asked Oh
“Lockeye ; “if. so, you can ae to- saight to foreign | lands and: be back |
again in the morning ! 12 ; oe
And. uddenly Hjalmax 9 was ‘standing, ae in. his Sunday
ot ag, rs: ter i i te i ne OAL IO Rg ES RN MITC
366 HANS ANDERSEN'S, FAIRY TALES.
clothes, in the middle of the gorgeous ship, and the weather im-
mediately became fine, and they sailed through the streets, cruised
round the church, and everything was now a large wild sea. They
sailed so far that no more land was to be seen anywhere, and they
saw a flock of storks; they also were coming from home and on
their way to the warm lands. One stork flew right behind the .
other, and they had already flown far, oh, so far. One of them
was so tired that his wings were scarcely able to bear him any
longer ; he was quite the Jast of the row, and soon he fell a great
distance behind. Finally he sank down lower and lower with ,
outstretched | wings, he took a couple of strokes more with his
wings, but it was of no use. And now his feet touched the riggingâ€
of the ship, now he. glided down the sail, and plump! there he.
stood upon the deck. Then the sailor boy took held of him and
put him in the fowl-coop where all the ducks, hens, and turkeys
: were assembled. The poor stork stood in the midst of them. all
_ quite crestfallen.
= Suck a fright 1†said all the hens, And the: turkey- cock 2
puffed himself out as big as he could and asked who he was, and |
“the ducks waddled backwards and forwards and nudged each other
and said, “ Quick, quack ! quick, quack !â€
And thie stork told them about hot Afvien and the pyramids
and about the ostrich ao runs like a wild herse over the desert ;
but the ducks did not. understand what he said, so they nudged each ©
other and said, “ We're all agreed, are we not, that he is stupid ¢ ae
“Yes, he certainly is stupid ! 1†said the peahen, and so it
began to cackle aloud. Then me stork held its tongue altogether
and ee of Africa.
~ OLI: LOCKEYE. . 867
“Those long thin legs of yours are rather niceish,†said the
turkey-cock ; “how much do they cost now per ell ?â€
“Quack, quack, quack!†grinned all the ducks together, but
the stork pretended that he had heard nothing.
“You can laugh too if you like!†said the turkey to him,
“ for you don’t hear wit like that every day—or perhaps it was too
low for him ? Ak! Ak! He hasn’t two ideas, I see! Let us be
interesting to ourselves and leave him out of it!†And the hens
clucked and the ducks quacked. “Quick, quack ! Quick, quack! â€
It was really frightful how funny they thought it. But Hjalmar went
to-the hens’ house, opened the door, called the stork, and it hopped out
on to the roof to him. It had rested now, and it was as though it
_ nodded to Hjalmar to thank him. Then it spread out its wings
and flew to the warm lands, but the hens clucked, the ducks
quacked, and the turkey-cock grew quite red in the face.
_ “To-morrow we shall make soup of you,†said little Hjalmar,
and then he awoke and found himself lying in his little bed.
What a wondrous journey it was that Oli Lockeye had let him take
that night -
day,
“Do you know eat Dve got?†said Oli Lockeye. “ Don’t be
frightened, and you shall see a little mouse,†and he held his hand —
with the pretty fragile little creature in it towards him. “It has
come toinvite you toa wedding: There are two little mice who
will enter into wedlock this very night. They dwell under the
floor of your mother’s cupboard; it will be such a nice affair.â€
«But how can I get through the little mousehole in the floor ?â€
asked Hialmar.
lt let Sica. aa
368 HANS ANDERSEN'S | FAIRY TALES.
“Leave that to me,†said Oli ie “Tl take care to
make you small enough,†and with his ‘magic squirt he touched —
Hjalmar, who immediately became smaller and smaller till he was no
larger than your finger. “ Now you can borrow the tin- soldier’ s
clothes, I think they will fit, and a uniform looks so smart in society.†|
“So .it.does,†said Hjalmar, and jn a moment he was dressed
like the neatest of tin-soldiers. Lo
“Tf you will only be good enough to get into your mother’s
thimble, †“said the little mouse, “JT will have the honour of
drawing you.†‘
“ But, gracious me, I don’t want to give you all that incon-
venience, miss!†said Hjalmar, but he got in all the same, and.
away, they went to the mouse’s. wedding. }
: First they went under the’ floor into a long passage, which
“was just high enough and no more for them to drive along in a
thimble, and. the whole passage was ‘luminated by touchwood. -
Doesn't it smell nice here?†said the mouse who drew
“him: “the whole passage. has been smeared with bacon- rind; can
| you imagine anything more lovely ?†. + gs
And now they entered the bride-chamber. On the right stood
all the wee she-mice, and they whispered and tittered just as if they
were making fun of each. other ; on the left stood all: the
he-mice and stroked their whiskers with their paws, but in the
middle of the floor was to be seen the bridal pair. They stood ina —
hollowed cheese -rind and kissed ‘each other tremendously ‘in the
presence of all, for were ‘they not betr othed and about to be married
straight off 2
Strangers kept on pouring in, , the mice very wee trot each
OLL LOCKEYE. 369
wilien to death, and the ae pair had stuck Riemer right in the
middle of the doorway so that there was no getting either out or
in. The whole room, like the passage, was smeared with bacon-rind—
that was the whole banquet ;. but, by way of dessert, a pea was
exhibited, in which a little mouse of good family had bitten the
bride and bridegroom’s names, or, rather, their monograms ; it was
something quite extraordinary. |
All the mice said that it was a pretty wedding and that the
conversation had been so good.
And so Hjalmar drove home again; he had certainly been in
distinguished society, but he had to creep within himself, make
himself small and put on the uniform of a tin soldier.
Friday.
“Ttis really incredible what a number of elderly people there are
who would so very much like to get hold of me,†said Oli Lockeye,
“especially they who have done something wrong.†“ Good little
On they ‘say to me, “we cannot get our eyes to close, and so we
lic the whole night and see all our evil deeds, which, like hideous
little gnomes sit on the corners of the bed and squirt us all over
- with hot water. Won't you come and chase them away so ‘that we
“may have a good sleep?†And then they sigh so deeply. “ Well |
pay, handsomely of course! Good night, Oli; themoney lies on the
~“window-sill.†“But I don’t do it for money,†said Oli Lockeye.
“But what shall we have for to-night ?†asked Hjalmar.
“Well, I don’t know whether you would like-to go to a |
wedding to-night too ; it is quite another sort to yesterday’s, let me
tell you. Your sister’s big doll—the one I mean who looks like
3B
370 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
a man and is called Herman—is to be married to the doll Bertha,
‘and it is her birthday besides, so there will be a good many presents.â€
“Yes, I know that well enough,†said Hjalmar ; “‘ whenever the
dolls get new clothes my sister lets them keep a ae or have a
wedding. It has happened a hundred times.â€
“Yes, but to-night the wedding is the hundred and first time,
and when 101 is over there’s an end toitall. So this wedding
will be quite exceptionable. Only look, now!â€
‘And Hjalmar looked towards the table. A little dolls’ house -
stood there with lights in the windows, and all the tin-soldiers
_ presented arms outside. The bridal pair were sitting on the floor
and leaning against the table legs; they were quite pensive, and no
doubt had good reasons for it. But Oli Lockeye put on orand-
~-mamma’s black: dress and married them. When the ceremony was
over, all the furniture in the room joined in the following song,
which had been written by the lead pencil; it was to the same tune
as the deyil’s tattoo— :
“Our song shall come in like the wind,
The bride and groom at home to find.
They strut as spruce as any pin,
And both are made of good glove skin.
Hurra! hurra! for pin and leather :
We'll sing aloud in wind and weather!†!
‘1Incomparably the best translation of these difficult nonsense lines is Mrs.
Howitt’s, which runs thus :-— ;
“*Our song like a wind comes flitting
Into the room where the bride folks are sitting:
‘They are partly of wood as is befitting ©
Their skin is the skin of a glove well fitting,
Hurrah! hurrah! for sitting and fitting !
Thus sing we aloud as the wind comes flitting!â€
OLI LOCKEYE. - 371
Then came the presents, but they had declined beforehand all
eatables.: their love for each other was food enough for them.
“And now shall we remain in the country or go abroad ?â€
asked the bridegroom ; so the swallow, who had travelled a good bit,
and the old farmyard hen, who had hatched six broods of chickens
were consulted in the matter. And the swallow told them about
the beautiful warm. lands where the grapes hung so large and heavy,
where the air was so mild and the mountains had colours the like
of which were quite unknown here.
“But you haven’t got our green cabbage,†said the hen. “I
took change of air in the country, one summer, with all my
chickens there was a gravel-pit where we could go and scrape, and
‘in that way we had access to a garden of green. cabbage. Oh, how
green it was! I cannot imagine anything finer.â€
“But one cabbage: looks very much like another,†said the
swallow, “and the weather is often so very bad here.â€
“Yes, but.one is used to it,†said the hen.
“ But it is-so cold here, it freezes.â€
“Yes, but that does the cabbage good,†said the hen. “ Besides,
we also have it warm enough sometimes. Why, only four years ago,
didn’t we have a summer saihttel actually lasted five weeks, and it
was so hot that there was not a breath of air! And then we haven't
all the venomous beasts they have abroad and are free from bandits
besides. Whoever does not think our country the finest of all is a
wretch who does not deserve to live here ! Yes,†cried the hen,
“T also have travelled. I have ridden in a cask for more than
twelve miles and can assure you there is no pleasure at all in
travelling.â€
372, HANS .ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES.
“Yes, the hen is a sensible woman,†said Bertha the doll. ° iE
too don’t care ‘about travelling up mountains ; first it’s wp and then
me it’s down and that’s all! No, we'll go and live near the gravel-pit
and walk in the cabbage garden.†:
And go it was settled.
Saturday.
“Shall I have some stories now ?†said little Hjalmar as soon.
as Oli Lockeye had got him to bed.
© We have no time for that this eyening,†said Oli, and he
spread his beautiful. umbrella above him. “Look at those
_ Chinese now,†and the whole umbrella looked like a large Chinese
saucer with blue trees and arched bridges with little Chinese ‘upon
them who stood and wagged their heads. “We must have the
whole world tidied up for to-morrow,†said Oli, “ for itisa holy day ;
remember, it is Sunday. I must be off to the church-tower to see
if the little nixies have polished the bells so that they may
sound nicely ; I must be off to the fields to see if the wind has
_ blown the dust off the grass and leaves, and, hardest work of all,
- I must have all the stars down to furbish, them up a bit. 1
take them in my apron, but, first. of all, every one of them. has to
be ticketed, and the holes from which they hang, up above thete,
must also be ticketed, so that they may come into their right
' places again, or else they wont sit firm and we shall have such a
lot of falling stars, for they'll be sure to flop down one after the
other!†| - . 3
“Now, I tell you what it is, Mr. Lockeye,†said an old portrait,
which hung on the wall of ‘the room where Hjalmar slept, “I
;
‘
|
1
t
i
j
374 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
am Hjalmar’s great grandfather. You may tell Hjalmar tales if
you like, and you shall have our best thanks for it, but pray do
not confuse his ideas! The stars cannot be taken down and ~
polished. The stars are globes just like our own earth and that’s
the best of them!â€
“Tam very much ave ed to you, you old great grandfather ea
said Oli Lockeye; “I am very much obliged to you I’m sure!
You are the head of the family, I know very well. You are the
Old Head I am wellaware. But I am older than you. Iam anold
heathen. The Romans and the Greeks called me the God of Dreams,
I have been in the best houses, and go there still. I know how to
behave both to small and to great. N ow you can tell your
own tales if you like !"—so off went Oh. Ledaye and took his
‘umbrella with him. AR a ne Res ESE SR IT
“Why, nowadays, one canhot even express ones opinion!â€
2 i Vi ? : ?
said the old portrait.
And so Hjalmar awoke.
Sunda p
“Good evening!†said Oli Lockeye, and Hjalmar modded: but
at the same time started up and turned the portrait of the old
great grandfather with its face towards the wall so that it oe
not join in the talk as it had done the day before.
“ Now you must tell me stories. You must tell me poe
the five green peas who lived in a pea pod, and about Cock-bone:
who went courting Hen-bone, and about the darning needle who
thought herself fine enough to be a sewing needle.â€
“Yes, but one may have too much of a good. thing, you know,â€
OLI LOCKEYE. 375
said Oli Lockeye, “I prefer to show you something. I tell you what,
I'll show you my brother. He too is called Oli Lockeye, but he
never comes to any one more than ‘once, and when he comes he takes
them with him on his horse and tells them tales; he has only two
to tell, one is so matchlessly lovely that no one in the world can
imagine anything like it, and the other is so ugly and horrible—
well, there is no describing it!†And so Oli Lockeye lifted little
Hjalmar up to thé window and said, “There you shall see my
brother, the other Oli Lockeye. They also call him Death! See,
he does not look at all as ugly as the picture books make him, where
he is nothing but bones and knuckles, no! That is silver lace that
- he has on his jacket; he wears the loveliest hussar uniform, a cape
Fok black velvet sweeps behind him right over the horse. Look,
how he rides at full gallop !
And Hjalmar saw how the other Oli Lockeye was riding along and
taking both old and young up on his horse; some he put in front.
and some behind, but he always asked them this question first:
“How about the entries in your character-book?†And they all
- replied, “Oh, very good!†‘Ah, but let me see for myself!†said
he, and then they were obliged to show him the book, and all who
chad “ Very good †op “Remarkably good†noted in it were put in
front of the horse and told the loveliest tales; but those who had
‘Pretty good†or “ Middling†recorded in their books had to sit
behind and hear hideous tales. They shook and wept, and would
have sprung off the horse if they could, but this they couldn’t do
at all, for they were as if fast glued to it.
“Why Death is the loveliest Oli Lockeye after all!†said little
Hjalmar. “I am not a bit afraid of him!â€
376 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY . TALES.
“Nor ought you to be either,†said Oli Lockeye; “only take
care that you have a good Seer ,
“Yes, now that 2s improving,†mumbled the great erand-.
father’s portrait. “Tt is of some use cEprgesing:) one’s opinion
after all!†and so he too was satisfied.
“That, now, is the story of Oli Lockeye, and he himself ae
come aby evening and tell you something more
DANISH HOLGER (1847).
a ‘THERE is fa Denmatican old castle called: Kronborg which lies
right out in the Sound where the large ships sail by every day in
hundreds, both English ships, and Russian and Prussian, and they
salute the old castle with their cannons : “ Boom!†and the castle
replies again with its cannons: “Boom !â€â€”for that is how the
cannons say: “Good-day !†“ Many thanks |†In the winter time
: no ship sails there, for then it is all covered with ice right across to
- the Swedish coast ; it is exactly like a great highway, and there
a waves the Swedish flag and there the Danish, aid the Danish and
_ the Swedish people say to, each other: “Good-day!†“ Many
thanks!†But not with cannons; no, with a friendly shake of the_
oS hand ; nd each fetches wheaten bread. and biscuits from, the other, for:
‘strange meat always tastes the sweetest. But the glory of the whole
- thing-is, after all, the old Kronborg, and beneath the Kronborg it is
me that Danish Holger sits in the deep dark dungeon whither nobody
ever. goes; ; he is clad i in iron and steel and rests his head upon his
: . strong arms ; his long beard hangs down over the marble table to
ne in a has ‘grown fast ; he elops and dreams, but 1 in his dreams he
: 3
a 8 _ HANS SES FAIRY TALES.
sees ane ohioh | 1s going on up in Denmark. Every Christ-
mas Hive one of God's angels comes and tells him that what he
ee has dreamt i is right, and that he can go to sleep again, for Denmark
is not yet: in any real danger ; 5 but should the danger come—well,
_. then old Danish Holger will arise so that the table bursts when he
pulls, his beard towards him, and then he will come forth and smite
so that all the countries in the world shall hear him. :
. It was an old grandfather who said all this’ about Danish Hol-
“ger, and he told it to his. little grandson, and the little boy knew that
what his grandfather. said 1 was true. And while the old grandfather
sat and told the. story, he carved away at: a. big wooden figure ; ib
was to" represent Danish Holger; and was to be put in front of a ship ;
for the old grandfather was a carver of figures, and itis such men as ~
he who. carve out the fioure- -heads of ships aceording to the names
they have; and, here he had caa‘ved. out Danish Holger, who stood so
6 straight and proud with his. long beard, and held in one hand the 4
huge. broadsword, ‘but. zesten his other hand on the Danish COR o.
of-arms.._ fy ere
‘And the old sranitatiod told s 80 ae shout sémarkablé Danish :
men and ‘women till at last the little grandson. ‘thought: to himself -
that now he knew as much as Danish. Holger could know, who, after
all, only. dreamt. about. it; and. when the little fellow went to bed, he | :
thought so much about it that he ‘regularly squeezed his chin Into. =
the feather- bed and fancied he had a slong beard which had eo
fast. into it. . :
But the ‘ald seanilbahes renmied eu ae ie wore and : :
- carved. away at the last part of it—it was the Danish coat- -of-arms. : ie
: And now he had finished it, and he looked at it as a whole, ‘end he’
'
380° HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
thought of all he had read and heard and what he had told the
little boy in the afternoon ; and he nodded his head and wiped his
spectacles, put them. on again and said, “ Yes, Danish Holger
certainly won't come in my tine, but the lad in the bed yonder may
perhaps catch sight of-him and be one, of them when the time
comes.†And the old grandfather nodded, and the more he looked
at. his Danish Holger, the plainer it became to him that it was a |
good figure which he had made there ; it really seemed to him as if
it quite took a colour, and that the harness shone like j iron. and steel ;
the hearts in the Danish shield grew redder and redder and the lions
sprang about with their golden crowns. |
2 Olt really is the loveliest coat-of-arms in the whole world!†|
said the old man; “the lions signify strength, and the hearts are
gentleness. and love!†And he. looked _at.the topmost lion and.
thought of King Canute. who bound great England to Denmark’s
royal chair ; and he looked at the second lion and thought of
Waldemar who assembled Denmark and subdued the land of the
“Wends: he looked at.the third lion and thought of Margaret who
united Denmark, Norway and Sweden ; but as he looked at the red _
hearts they shone still stronger than before—they. actually: became |
flames which moved to and fro, and his thoughts followed them all. .
‘The first flame led him into a narrow: dark dungeon. ‘There sat —
a captive, a lovely lady, Christian IV.’s daughter, Eleonora Ulfeldt,
-~and the flame lighted like a Lose upon her bosom and blossomed .
together with the heart of ner who was the best: and noblest of
Danish women. : :
“Yes, that is indeed a heart in the arms of Denmark!†said
the old grandfather, , |
DANISH HOLGER. ~~ 381
And his thoughts followed the flame which led him out upon
the sea where the cannons roared, and the ships lay wrapped in
smoke ; and the flame fastened itself as the ribbon of an order on
Ait feld’s breast as to save his fleet he blew his ship into the air.
And the third flame led him to Greenland’s wretched huts,
where the priest Egede stood with words and deeds of Love; the
flame was a star upon his breast, a heart in the Danish coat-of-arms.
And the old grandfather's thoughts anticipated the flickering
flame, for his thoughts knew whither the flame would go. In the
peasant-woman’s humble room stood Frederick VI., and wrote his
name with chalk upon the beams ; the flame quivered on his breast,
quivered in his heart ; in the peasant’s hut his heart became’a heart
in Denmark’s shield. And the old grandfather dried his eyes, for he
had_known. and lived for King Frederick with the silvery white hair
and the honest blue eyes, and he folded his hands and gazed silently
in front of him. Then came the old grandfather's grandson and said
- that now it was late it was time for him to rest, and the supper-
table was spread. | |
, “ But [ must say you have turned out a lovely piece of work
tens) grandfather ! !†said he; “ Danish Holger and the whole of our
good old coat-of-arms! It seems to me exactly as if I had seen
that face before !â€
7 “Nay, that I am sure you have not!†said the old grandfather ;
“but Ihave seen it and I have tried to carve it out in wood just as
I remember it. That was the time when the English lay in the
Roads, on the Danish 2nd of April, when we showed ourselves Danes
of the good old’ sort. On board the Denmark where 1 stood, in
Steen Bille’s squadron, I had a certain man by my side; it seemed
sis csi cet Page WARP
gto ap lig ap a ise cra ttc Ress Rial ita cui
itieet ethan bapsccnate esi preset abe
882 _ ss HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.
as if the bullets were afraid of him, he kept on singing old-songs
right lustily and fought and fired. as if he were more. than man. p
~ remember his face still ; but: whence he came or whither he went I
know. not, hor any.one else either. I have often thought that perhaps -
it was old Danish: ‘Holger himself who had swam down from the
Kronborg. to help us in the hour of danger ; “that at any rate was
what. T° thought, and there stands his j image!â€
_ And it cast its big shadow right along the wall: close. up. to ine:
Sanhe 3 Ib: looked as if it were actually Danish Holger himself who
was standing behind tlie shadow moved about so, but perhaps ‘this
‘may. only have been “because the candle flame did not burn very !
steadily. And the daughter-in-law kissed. the old grandfather and
led: him towards the big arm-chair in front of fhe table, and she and
her ‘husband, ho was, of course, the old grandfather's son, and the
- father of the little boy who lay in the bed, sat and ate their evening
/ meal together, and the old grandfather talked about the Danish lions
and the Danish. hearts, about strength and sweetness, and he de-
clared quite plainly that there was another ‘strength pesides. the
strength which lay in the sword, and he pointed at. the shelves where
lay: the ‘old ‘books, where all Hollerg’s comedies « lay, these books 7
which were .read .so often because they -were so-amusing, and one
regularly seemed to. know all the parsons in them who used. to live
in the good old days long ago. aoe
= looks now! he _knew how to aah 00,†said the ae one
hes “he slashed. off all the follies and odd corners of people as far
: as he could: reach!†| And the old grandfather nodded towards the ©
mirror where. the name stood with the. picture of the “‘ Roundâ€
i Tower†on it, and then he said : lycho Brahe, too, was one 28h nhone .
884 ; HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY . TALES,
who used the sword ; not to hack at flesh and bones, but to hew out
a plainer way up among the stars of Heaven. And then he, too,
whose father was of my own class, the old mason’s son, he whom we
ourselves have seen with the white hair and the strong shoulders,
whose name is known to all the countries of the world! Yes, he»
could carve, I can only chip! Yes, Danish Holger can manage in’ '
many ways to make Denmark’s might known to all the world. . Let i
us drink Bertel’s health. 2 ee
But the little boy plainly saw the Sound and the old Kronborg,
and the real Danish Holger sitting deep down beneath it, with his
beard erown fast to the marble table and. dreaming of everything
that was going on in the world above ; and Danish Holger was also
dreaming of the poor little ‘egoatn where the’ mason was sitting, he
heard everything they were talking about, and nodded in histdreams
and said :
“Yes, yes! ye have only got to remember me, ye Danish
folks! Bear me in mind and I'll come in the hour of need !â€
And outside the Kronborg the bright day was shining and the
wind bore the notes of the hunter’s horn over from the neighbouring ©
land of Sweden, and the ships sailed by and gave their greetings :
“Boom! boom!†and the Kronborg sent back an answer, “Boom !
boom!†But Danish Holger awoke not, however loudly they fired,
for what did it all amount to but: “Good day!†& Many
thanks!†It must be a very different sort of shooting before he will
awake ; but awake he will, for there’ s backbone in Danish Holger.
RICHARD CLAY AND SONS, LIMITED, LONDON AND BUNGAY.
ess ae Geka
ON
aD or
fo
LITTLE
Bath
Ue