{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_63383/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_63383","id":"gutenberg_63383","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63383","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy","Category: Short Stories","Children's poetry","Fairy tales"],"text":"[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: The Wonder Clock]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n                                  The\n                              WONDER CLOCK\n                                   OR\n             _four & twenty marvellous Tales, being one for\n              each hour of the day; written & illustrated_\n\n\n                                   By\n                              Howard Pyle.\n\n                      _Embellished with Verses by\n                            Katharine Pyle._\n\n\n                         _New York_, printed by\n                           Harper & Brothers.\n\n\n\n\n                                BOOKS BY\n\n                              HOWARD PYLE\n\n               MEN OF IRON. Illustrated. Post 8vo\n               A MODERN ALADDIN. Illustrated. Post 8vo\n               PEPPER AND SALT. Illustrated. Post 8vo\n               REJECTED OF MEN. Post 8vo\n               THE ROSE OF PARADISE. Illustrated. 12mo\n               THE RUBY OF KISHMOOR. Illustrated. 8vo\n               STOLEN TREASURE. Illustrated. 12mo\n               TWILIGHT LAND. Illustrated. Post 8vo\n               THE WONDER CLOCK. Illustrated. Square 8vo\n\n                      HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK\n\n\n                 Copyright, 1887, by HARPER & BROTHERS\n\n                  Copyright, 1915, by ANNE POOLE PYLE\n\n                Printed in the United States of America\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n                                PREFACE.\n\n\nI put on my dream-cap one day and stepped into Wonderland.\n\nAlong the road I jogged and never dusted my shoes, and all the time the\npleasant sun shone and never burned my back, and the little white clouds\nfloated across the blue sky and never let fall a drop of rain to wet my\njacket. And by and by I came to a steep hill.\n\nI climbed the hill, though I had more than one tumble in doing it, and\nthere, on the tip top, I found a house as old as the world itself.\n\nThat was where Father Time lived; and who should sit in the sun at the\ndoor, spinning away for dear life, but Time\u2019s Grandmother herself; and\nif you would like to know how old she is you will have to climb to the\ntop of the church steeple and ask the wind as he sits upon the\nweather-cock, humming the tune of Over-yonder song to himself.\n\n\u201cGood-morning,\u201d says Time\u2019s Grandmother to me.\n\n\u201cGood-morning,\u201d says I to her.\n\n\u201cAnd what do you seek here?\u201d says she to me.\n\n\u201cI come to look for odds and ends,\u201d says I to her.\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d says she; \u201cjust climb the stairs to the garret, and there\nyou will find more than ten men can think about.\u201d\n\n\u201cThank you,\u201d says I, and up the stairs I went. There I found all manner\nof queer forgotten things which had been laid away, nobody but Time and\nhis Grandmother could tell where.\n\nOver in the corner was a great, tall clock, that had stood there\nsilently with never a tick or a ting since men began to grow too wise\nfor toys and trinkets.\n\nBut I knew very well that the old clock was the\n\n                            _Wonder Clock_;\n\nso down I took the key and wound it\u2014gurr! gurr! gurr!\n\nClick! buzz! went the wheels, and then\u2014tick-tock! tick-tock! for the\nWonder Clock is of that kind that it will never wear out, no matter how\nlong it may stand in Time\u2019s garret.\n\nDown I sat and watched it, for every time it struck it played a pretty\nsong, and when the song was ended\u2014click! click!\u2014out stepped the drollest\nlittle puppet-figures and went through with a dance, and I saw it all\n(with my dream-cap upon my head).\n\nBut the Wonder Clock had grown rusty from long standing, and though now\nand then the puppet-figures danced a dance that I knew as well as I know\nmy bread-and-butter, at other times they jigged a step I had never seen\nbefore, and it came into my head that maybe a dozen or more puppet-plays\nhad become jumbled together among the wheels back of the clock-face.\n\nSo there I sat in the dust watching the Wonder Clock, and when it had\nrun down and the tunes and the puppet-show had come to an end, I took\noff my dream-cap, and\u2014whisk!\u2014there I was back home again among my books,\nwith nothing brought away with me from that country but a little dust\nwhich I found sticking to my coat, and which I have never brushed away\nto this day.\n\nNow if you also would like to go into Wonderland, you have only to hunt\nup your dream-cap (for everybody has one somewhere about the house), and\nto come to me, and I will show you the way to Time\u2019s garret.\n\nThat is right! Pull the cap well down about your ears.\n\n                  *       *       *       *       *\n\nHere we are! And now I will wind the clock. Gurr! gurr! gurr!\n\n                        _Tick-tock! tick-tock!_\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n                           Table of Contents.\n\n\n                                                                       PAGE\n\n     I. Bearskin                                                          1\n\n    II. The Water of Life                                                15\n\n   III. How One Turned his Trouble to Some Account                       27\n\n    IV. How Three Went out into the Wide World                           39\n\n     V. The Clever Student and the Master of Black Arts                  49\n\n    VI. The Princess Golden-Hair and the Great Black Raven               63\n\n   VII. Cousin Greylegs, the Great Red Fox, and Grandfather Mole         77\n\n  VIII. One Good Turn Deserves Another                                   89\n\n    IX. The White Bird                                                  105\n\n     X. How the Good Gifts were Used by Two                             121\n\n    XI. How Boots Befooled the King                                     135\n\n   XII. The Step-mother                                                 149\n\n  XIII. Master Jacob                                                    161\n\n   XIV. Peterkin and the Little Grey Hare                               175\n\n    XV. Mother Hildegarde                                               189\n\n   XVI. Which is Best                                                   203\n\n  XVII. The Simpleton and his Little Black Hen                          217\n\n XVIII. The Swan Maiden                                                 229\n\n   XIX. The Three Little Pigs and the Ogre                              241\n\n    XX. The Staff and the Fiddle                                        253\n\n   XXI. How the Princess\u2019s Pride was Broken                             267\n\n  XXII. How Two Went into Partnership                                   279\n\n XXIII. King Stork                                                      291\n\n  XXIV. The Best that Life has to Give                                  305\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n                         List of Illustrations.\n\n\n                                                                  _Page_\n     _Frontispiece._\n\n _Head-piece\u2014Preface_                                                  v\n _Head-piece\u2014Table of Contents_                                      vii\n _Head-piece\u2014List of Illustrations_                                   ix\n\n\n                          _ONE O\u2019CLOCK_                                1\n\n _Head-piece\u2014Bearskin_                                                 3\n     _The Baby drifts to the River\u2019s Bank in the Basket_               5\n     _Bearskin parts from the Princess_                                9\n     _The Princess weeps_                                             10\n     _Bearskin and the Swineherd feast together_                      12\n\n\n                          _TWO O\u2019CLOCK_                               15\n\n _Head-piece\u2014The Water of Life_                                       17\n     _The King gazes upon the Picture_                                19\n     _The North Wind flies with the Faithful Servant_                 21\n     _The King brings the Water of Life to the Princess_              23\n     _The Faithful Servant gives the King his Golden Bracelet_        25\n\n\n                         _THREE O\u2019CLOCK_                              27\n\n _Head-piece\u2014How One Turned his Trouble to Some Account_              29\n     _The Soldier takes Trouble to Town_                              31\n     _The Soldier brings Trouble to the King_                         33\n     _The Giants fight one another_                                   35\n     _The Rich Man takes Trouble home_                                37\n\n\n                          _FOUR O\u2019CLOCK_                              39\n\n _Head-piece\u2014How Three went out into the Wide World_                  41\n     _The Grey Goose meets the Sausage_                               43\n     _The Great Red Fox calls upon the Cock_                          45\n     _The Great Red Fox calls upon the Sausage_                       46\n     _The Great Red Fox rests softly_                                 47\n\n\n                          _FIVE O\u2019CLOCK_                              49\n\n _Head-piece\u2014The Clever Student and the Master of Black Arts_         51\n     _A Princess walks beside the River_                              53\n     _The Clever Student and the Princess_                            55\n     _The Master of Black Arts and the Little Black Hen_              57\n     _The Master of Black Arts is caught in his Tricks_               60\n\n\n                          _SIX O\u2019CLOCK_                               63\n\n _Head-piece\u2014The Princess Golden-Hair and the Great Black Raven_      65\n     _The King meets the Great Black Raven_                           67\n     _The Princess Golden-Hair drinks_                                69\n     _Princess Golden-Hair comes to Death\u2019s Door_                     71\n     _The Princess finds the Prince_                                  75\n\n\n                         _SEVEN O\u2019CLOCK_                              77\n\n _Head-piece\u2014Cousin Greylegs, the Great Red Fox, and Grandfather\n   Mole_                                                              79\n     _Cousin Greylegs and the Great Red Fox go to the Fair_           81\n     _Cousin Greylegs runs away with the Bag_                         83\n     _The Great Red Fox meets Grandfather Mole_                       85\n     _The Great Red Fox tries the Fire_                               87\n\n\n                         _EIGHT O\u2019CLOCK_                              89\n\n _Head-piece\u2014One Good Turn Deserves Another_                          91\n     _The Young Fisherman catches a Strange Fish_                     93\n     _The Young Fisherman and the Grey Master_                        97\n     _The Grey Master is caught in the Water_                        101\n     _The Princess finds the Young Fisherman_                        103\n\n\n                          _NINE O\u2019CLOCK_                             105\n\n _Head-piece\u2014The White Bird_                                         107\n     _The Prince knocks at the Door of the Poor Little House_        109\n     _The Prince finds the Three Giants sleeping_                    111\n     _The Prince finds the Sword of Brightness_                      115\n     _The White Bird knows the Prince_                               119\n\n\n                          _TEN O\u2019CLOCK_                              121\n\n _Head-piece\u2014How the Good Gifts were used by Two_                    123\n     _St. Nicholas knocks at the Rich Man\u2019s Door_                    125\n     _St. Nicholas in the Poor Man\u2019s House_                          127\n     _The Poor Man welcomes St. Christopher_                         129\n     _The Saints feast in the Rich Man\u2019s House_                      131\n\n\n                         _ELEVEN O\u2019CLOCK_                            135\n\n _Head-piece\u2014How Boots befooled the King_                            137\n     _Peter goes to the King\u2019s Castle_                               139\n     _Paul comes Home again_                                         141\n     _The Old Woman smashes her Pots and Crocks_                     143\n     _The Councillor finds a Wisdom-sack_                            145\n\n\n                         _TWELVE O\u2019CLOCK_                            149\n\n _Head-piece\u2014The Step-mother_                                        151\n     _The Step-daughter follows the Golden Ball_                     153\n     _The Young King brings the Maiden up from the Pit_              155\n     _The Step-mother bewitches the Young Queen_                     157\n     _The Young King caresses the White Dove_                        159\n\n\n                          _ONE O\u2019CLOCK_                              161\n\n _Head-piece\u2014Master Jacob_                                           163\n     _Master Jacob brings his Fat Pig to Town_                       165\n     _Master Jacob and his Black Goat_                               167\n     _The Three Cronies and the Black Goat_                          171\n     _Master Jacob meets the Three Cronies_                          173\n\n\n                          _TWO O\u2019CLOCK_                              175\n\n _Head-piece\u2014Peterkin and the Little Grey Hare_                      177\n     _Peterkin in his Fine Clothes_                                  179\n     _Peterkin carries away the Giant\u2019s Goose_                       183\n     _Peterkin brings the Silver Bell to the King_                   185\n     _Peterkin combs the Giant\u2019s Hair_                               187\n\n\n                         _THREE O\u2019CLOCK_                             189\n\n _Head-piece\u2014Mother Hildegarde_                                      191\n     _The Princess comes to Mother Hildegarde\u2019s Door_                193\n     _The Princess looks into the Jar_                               195\n     _The Wood-pigeons feed the Princess_                            197\n     _Mother Hildegarde carries away the Baby_                       199\n\n\n                          _FOUR O\u2019CLOCK_                             203\n\n _Head-piece\u2014Which is Best?_                                         205\n     _The Rich Brother leaves the Poor Brother in Blindness_         207\n     _The Poor Man finds the Little Door_                            209\n     _The Poor Man finds that which is the Best_                     211\n     _The Rich Man finds that which he Deserves_                     213\n\n\n                          _FIVE O\u2019CLOCK_                             217\n\n _Head-piece\u2014The Simpleton and his Little Black Hen_                 219\n     _Caspar starts to Town with his Little Black Hen_               221\n     _Caspar finds a Bag of Money_                                   223\n     _Three of them share the Money_                                 225\n     _Caspar rides to the King\u2019s Castle_                             227\n\n\n                          _SIX O\u2019CLOCK_                              229\n\n _Head-piece\u2014The Swan Maiden_                                        231\n     _The Swan carries the Prince on its Back_                       233\n     _The Prince comes to the Three eyed Witch\u2019s House_              235\n     _The Swan Maiden helps the Young Prince_                        237\n     _The Witch and the Woman of Honey and Meal_                     239\n\n\n                         _SEVEN O\u2019CLOCK_                             241\n\n _Head-piece\u2014The Three Little Pigs and the Ogre_                     243\n     _The Ogre meets the Three Little Pigs in the Forest_            245\n     _The Ogre climbs the Tree_                                      247\n     _The Ogre shuts his Eyes and counts_                            249\n     _The Ogre sticks fast in the Window_                            251\n\n\n                         _EIGHT O\u2019CLOCK_                             253\n\n _Head-piece\u2014The Staff and the Fiddle_                               255\n     _The Fiddler helps the Old Woman_                               257\n     _The Fiddler and the Dwarf_                                     259\n     _The Fiddler finds the Princess_                                261\n     _The Fiddler and the Little Black Mannikin_                     263\n\n\n                          _NINE O\u2019CLOCK_                             267\n\n _Head-piece\u2014How the Princess\u2019s Pride was broken_                    269\n     _The Gooseherd plays with the Golden Ball_                      271\n     _The King peeps over the Hedge_                                 273\n     _The Princess takes her Eggs to Market_                         275\n     _The Princess knows the Young King_                             277\n\n\n                          _TEN O\u2019CLOCK_                              279\n\n _Head-piece\u2014How Two Went into Partnership_                          281\n     _The Great Red Fox goes to the Store-house_                     283\n     _The Great Red Fox frightens Father Goat_                       285\n     _The Great Red Fox and Uncle Bear at the Store-house_           287\n     _The Bear and the Fox go to Farmer John\u2019s again_                289\n\n\n                         _ELEVEN O\u2019CLOCK_                            291\n\n _Head-piece\u2014King Stork_                                             293\n     _The Drummer helps the Old Man_                                 295\n     _The Princess comes forth from the Castle at Night_             297\n     _The Drummer helps himself_                                     299\n     _The Drummer catches the One-eyed Raven_                        303\n\n\n                         _TWELVE O\u2019CLOCK_                            305\n\n _Head-piece\u2014The Best that Life has to Give_                         307\n     _The Blacksmith steals the Dwarf\u2019s Pine-cones_                  309\n     _The Blacksmith chooses the Raven_                              311\n     _The Blacksmith brings the Little Bird to the Queen_            315\n     _The Young Blacksmith Forges the Ring_                          317\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n                              One O\u2019clock\u00b7\n\n\n           One of the _Clock_, and silence deep [Sidenote: \u263e]\n           Then up the _Stairway_, black and steep\n           The old _House-Cat_ comes creepy-creep\n           With soft feet goes from room to room\n           Her green eyes shining through the gloom,\n           And finds all fast asleep. [Sidenote: \u25cb]\n\n                                                                    K.P.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: Bearskin.]\n\n                                   I.\n\n\nThere was a king travelling through the country, and he and those with\nhim were so far away from home that darkness caught them by the heels,\nand they had to stop at a stone mill for the night, because there was no\nother place handy.\n\nWhile they sat at supper, they heard a sound in the next room, and it\nwas a baby crying.\n\nThe miller stood in the corner, back of the stove, with his hat in his\nhand. \u201cWhat is that noise?\u201d said the king to him.\n\n\u201cOh! it is nothing but another baby that the good storks have brought\ninto the house to-day,\u201d said the miller.\n\nNow there was a wise man travelling along with the king, who could read\nthe stars and everything that they told as easily as one can read one\u2019s\nA B C\u2019s in a book after one knows them, and the king, for a bit of a\njest, would have him find out what the stars had to foretell of the\nmiller\u2019s baby. So the wise man went out and took a peep up in the sky,\nand by and by he came in again.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said the king, \u201cand what did the stars tell you?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe stars tell me,\u201d said the wise man, \u201cthat you shall have a daughter,\nand that the miller\u2019s baby, in the room yonder, shall marry her when\nthey are old enough to think of such things.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat!\u201d said the king, \u201cand is a miller\u2019s baby to marry the princess\nthat is to come! We will see about that.\u201d So the next day he took the\nmiller aside and talked and bargained, and bargained and talked, until\nthe upshot of the matter was that the miller was paid two hundred\ndollars, and the king rode off with the baby.\n\nAs soon as he came home to the castle he called his chief forester to\nhim. \u201cHere,\u201d says he, \u201ctake this baby and do thus and so with it, and\nwhen you have killed it bring its heart to me, that I may know that you\nhave really done as you have been told.\u201d\n\nSo off marched the forester with the baby; but on his way he stopped at\nhome, and there was his good wife working about the house.\n\n\u201cWell, Henry,\u201d said she, \u201cwhat do you do with the baby?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d said he, \u201cI am just taking it off to the forest to do thus and so\nwith it.\u201d\n\n\u201cCome,\u201d said she, \u201cit would be a pity to harm the little innocent, and\nto have its blood on your hands. Yonder hangs the rabbit that you shot\nthis morning, and its heart will please the king just as well as the\nother.\u201d\n\nThus the wife talked, and the end of the business was that she and the\nman smeared a basket all over with pitch and set the baby adrift in it\non the river, and the king was just as well satisfied with the rabbit\u2019s\nheart as he would have been with the baby\u2019s.\n\nBut the basket with the baby in it drifted on and on down the river,\nuntil it lodged at last among the high reeds that stood along the bank.\nBy and by there came a great she-bear to the water to drink, and there\nshe found it.\n\nNow the huntsmen in the forest had robbed the she-bear of her cubs, so\nthat her heart yearned over the little baby, and she carried it home\nwith her to fill the place of her own young ones. There the baby throve\nuntil he grew to a great strong lad, and as he had fed upon nothing but\nbear\u2019s milk for all that time, he was ten times stronger than the\nstrongest man in the land.\n\nOne day, as he was walking through the forest, he came across a woodman\nchopping the trees into billets of wood, and that was the first time he\nhad ever seen a body like himself. Back he went to the bear as fast as\nhe could travel, and told her what he had seen. \u201cThat,\u201d said the bear,\n\u201cis the most wicked and most cruel of all the beasts.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: The Baby drifts in the basket down the river to the reeds\nbeside the bank where the she-bear finds it. ):(]\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d says the lad, \u201cthat may be so, all the same I love beasts like\nthat as I love the food I eat, and I long for nothing so much as to go\nout into the wide world, where I may find others of the same kind.\u201d\n\nAt this the bear saw very well how the geese flew, and that the lad\nwould soon be flitting.\n\n\u201cSee,\u201d said she, \u201cif you must go out into the wide world you must. But\nyou will be wanting help before long; for the ways of the world are not\npeaceful and simple as they are here in the woods, and before you have\nlived there long you will have more needs than there are flies in\nsummer. See, here is a little crooked horn, and when your wants grow\nmany, just come to the forest and blow a blast on it, and I will not be\ntoo far away to help you.\u201d\n\nSo off went the lad away from the forest, and all the coat he had upon\nhis back was the skin of a bear dressed with the hair on it, and that\nwas why folk called him \u201cBearskin.\u201d\n\nHe trudged along the high-road, until he came to the king\u2019s castle, and\nit was the same king who thought he had put Bearskin safe out of the way\nyears and years ago.\n\nNow, the king\u2019s swineherd was in want of a lad, and as there was nothing\nbetter to do in that town, Bearskin took the place and went every\nmorning to help drive the pigs into the forest, where they might eat the\nacorns and grow fat.\n\nOne day there was a mighty stir throughout the town; folk crying, and\nmaking a great hubbub. \u201cWhat is it all about?\u201d says Bearskin to the\nswineherd.\n\nWhat! and did he not know what the trouble was? Where had he been for\nall of his life, that he had heard nothing of what was going on in the\nworld? Had he never heard of the great fiery dragon with three heads\nthat had threatened to lay waste all of that land, unless the pretty\nprincess were given up to him? This was the very day that the dragon was\nto come for her, and she was to be sent up on the hill back of the town;\nthat was why all the folk were crying and making such a stir.\n\n\u201cSo!\u201d says Bearskin, \u201cand is there never a lad in the whole country that\nis man enough to face the beast? Then I will go myself if nobody better\nis to be found.\u201d And off he went, though the swineherd laughed and\nlaughed, and thought it all a bit of a jest. By and by Bearskin came to\nthe forest, and there he blew a blast upon the little crooked horn that\nthe bear had given him.\n\nPresently came the bear through the bushes, so fast that the little\ntwigs flew behind her. \u201cAnd what is it that you want?\u201d said she.\n\n\u201cI should like,\u201d said Bearskin, \u201cto have a horse, a suit of gold and\nsilver armor that nothing can pierce, and a sword that shall cut through\niron and steel; for I would like to go up on the hill to fight the\ndragon and free the pretty princess at the king\u2019s town over yonder.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d said the bear, \u201clook back of the tree yonder, and you will\nfind just what you want.\u201d\n\nYes; sure enough, there they were back of the tree: a grand white horse\nthat champed his bit and pawed the ground till the gravel flew, and a\nsuit of gold and silver armor such as a king might wear. Bearskin put on\nthe armor and mounted the horse, and off he rode to the high hill back\nof the town.\n\nBy and by came the princess and the steward of the castle, for it was he\nthat was to bring her to the dragon. But the steward stayed at the\nbottom of the hill, for he was afraid, and the princess had to climb it\nalone, though she could hardly see the road before her for the tears\nthat fell from her eyes. But when she reached the top of the hill she\nfound instead of the dragon a fine tall fellow dressed all in gold and\nsilver armor. And it did not take Bearskin long to comfort the princess,\nI can tell you. \u201cCome, come,\u201d says he, \u201cdry your eyes and cry no more;\nall the cakes in the oven are not burned yet; just go back of the bushes\nyonder, and leave it with me to talk the matter over with Master\nDragon.\u201d\n\nThe princess was glad enough to do that. Back of the bushes she went,\nand Bearskin waited for the dragon to come. He had not long to wait\neither; for presently it came flying through the air, so that the wind\nrattled under his wings.\n\nDear, dear! if one could but have been there to see that fight between\nBearskin and the dragon, for it was well worth the seeing, and that you\nmay believe. The dragon spit out flames and smoke like a house afire.\nBut he could do no hurt to Bearskin, for the gold and silver armor\nsheltered him so well that not so much as one single hair of his head\nwas singed. So Bearskin just rattled away the blows at the dragon\u2014slish,\nslash, snip, clip\u2014until all three heads were off, and there was an end\nof it.\n\nAfter that he cut out the tongues from the three heads of the dragon,\nand tied them up in his pocket-handkerchief.\n\nThen the princess came out from behind the bushes where she had lain\nhidden, and begged Bearskin to go back with her to the king\u2019s castle,\nfor the king had said that if any one killed the dragon he should have\nher for his wife. But no; Bearskin would not go to the castle just now,\nfor the time was not yet ripe; but, if the princess would give them to\nhim, he would like to have the ring from her finger, the kerchief from\nher bosom, and the necklace of golden beads from her neck.\n\nThe princess gave him what he asked for, and a sweet kiss into the\nbargain, and then Bearskin mounted upon his grand white horse and rode\naway to the forest. \u201cHere are your horse and armor,\u201d said he to the\nbear, \u201cand they have done good service to-day, I can tell you.\u201d Then he\ntramped back again to the king\u2019s castle with the old bear\u2019s skin over\nhis shoulders.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d says the swineherd, \u201cand did you kill the dragon?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, yes,\u201d says Bearskin, \u201cI did that, but it was no such great thing to\ndo after all.\u201d\n\nAt that, the swineherd laughed and laughed, for he did not believe a\nword of it.\n\nAnd now listen to what happened to the princess after Bearskin had left\nher. The steward came sneaking up to see how matters had turned out, and\nthere he found her safe and sound, and the dragon dead. \u201cWhoever did\nthis left his luck behind him,\u201d said he, and he drew his sword and told\nthe princess that he would kill her if she did not swear to say nothing\nof what had happened. Then he gathered up the dragon\u2019s three heads, and\nhe and the princess went back to the castle again.\n\n\u201cThere!\u201d said he, when they had come before the king, and he flung down\nthe three heads upon the floor, \u201cI have killed the dragon and I have\nbrought back the princess, and now if anything is to be had for the\nlabor I would like to have it.\u201d As for the princess, she wept and wept,\nbut she could say nothing, and so it was fixed that she was to marry the\nsteward, for that was what the king had promised.\n\nAt last came the wedding-day, and the smoke went up from the chimneys in\nclouds, for there was to be a grand wedding-feast, and there was no end\nof good things cooking for those who were to come.\n\n\u201cSee now,\u201d says Bearskin to the swineherd where they were feeding their\npigs together, out in the woods, \u201cas I killed the dragon over yonder, I\nought at least to have some of the good things from the king\u2019s kitchen;\nyou shall go and ask for some of the fine white bread and meat, such as\nthe king and princess are to eat to-day.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: Bearskin slayeth y^e Dragon but will not go with y^e\nPrincess to y^e castle.]\n\nDear, dear, but you should have seen how the swineherd stared at this\nand how he laughed, for he thought the other must have gone out of his\nwits; but as for going to the castle\u2014no, he would not go a step, and\nthat was the long and the short of it.\n\n[Illustration: Thus the Princess sits and weeps and weeps.]\n\n\u201cSo! well, we will see about that,\u201d says Bearskin, and he stepped to a\nthicket and cut a good stout stick, and without another word caught the\nswineherd by the collar, and began dusting his jacket for him until it\nsmoked again.\n\n\u201cStop, stop!\u201d bawled the swineherd.\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d says Bearskin; \u201cand now will you go over to the castle for\nme, and ask for some of the same bread and meat that the king and\nprincess are to have for their dinner?\u201d\n\nYes, yes; the swineherd would do anything that Bearskin wanted him.\n\n\u201cSo! good,\u201d says Bearskin; \u201cthen just take this ring and see that the\nprincess gets it; and say that the lad who sent it would like to have\nsome of the bread and meat that she is to have for her dinner.\u201d\n\nSo the swineherd took the ring, and off he started to do as he had been\ntold. Rap! tap! tap! he knocked at the door. Well, and what did he want?\n\nOh! there was a lad over in the woods yonder who had sent him to ask for\nsome of the same bread and meat that the king and princess were to have\nfor their dinner, and he had brought this ring to the princess as a\ntoken.\n\nBut how the princess opened her eyes when she saw the ring which she had\ngiven to Bearskin up on the hill! For she saw, as plain as the nose on\nher face, that he who had saved her from the dragon was not so far away\nas she had thought. Down she went into the kitchen herself to see that\nthe very best bread and meat were sent, and the swineherd marched off\nwith a great basket full.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d says Bearskin, \u201cthat is very well so far, but I am for having\nsome of the red and white wine that they are to drink. Just take this\nkerchief over to the castle yonder, and let the princess know that the\nlad to whom she gave it upon the hill back of the town would like to\nhave a taste of the wine that she and the king are to have at the feast\nto-day.\u201d\n\nWell, the swineherd was for saying \u201cno\u201d to this as he had to the other,\nbut Bearskin just reached his hand over toward the stout stick that he\nhad used before, and the other started off as though the ground was hot\nunder his feet. And what was the swineherd wanting this time\u2014that was\nwhat they said over at the castle.\n\n\u201cThe lad with the pigs in the woods yonder,\u201d says the swineherd, \u201cmust\nhave gone crazy, for he has sent this kerchief to the princess and says\nthat he should like to have a bottle or two of the wine that she and the\nking are to drink to-day.\u201d\n\nWhen the princess saw her kerchief again, her heart leaped for joy. She\nmade no two words about the wine, but went down into the cellar and\nbrought it up with her own hands, and the swineherd marched off with it\ntucked under his coat.\n\n\u201cYes, that was all very well,\u201d said Bearskin, \u201cI am satisfied so far as\nthe wine is concerned, but now I would like to have some of the\nsweetmeats that they are to eat at the castle to-day. See, here is a\nnecklace of golden beads; just take it to the princess and ask for some\nof those sweetmeats, for I will have them,\u201d and this time he had only to\nlook towards the stick, and the other started off as fast as he could\ntravel.\n\n[Illustration: Bearskin and y^e swineherd have a grand feast.]\n\nThe swineherd had no more trouble with this asking than with the others,\nfor the princess went down-stairs and brought the sweetmeats from the\npantry with her own hands, and the swineherd carried them to Bearskin\nwhere he sat out in the woods with the pigs.\n\nThen Bearskin spread out the good things, and he and the swineherd sat\ndown to the feast together, and a fine one it was, I can tell you.\n\n\u201cAnd now,\u201d says Bearskin, when they had eaten all that they could, \u201cit\nis time for me to leave you, for I must go and marry the princess.\u201d So\noff he started, and the swineherd did nothing but stand and gape after\nhim, with his mouth open, as though he were set to catch flies. But\nBearskin went straight to the woods, and there he blew upon his horn,\nand the bear was with him as quickly this time as the last.\n\n\u201cWell, what do you want now,\u201d said she.\n\n\u201cThis time,\u201d said Bearskin, \u201cI want a fine suit of clothes made of gold\nand silver cloth, and a horse to ride on up to the king\u2019s house, for I\nam going to marry the princess.\u201d\n\nVery well; there was what he wanted back of the tree yonder; and it was\na suit of clothes fit for a great king to wear, and a splendid\ndapple-gray horse with a golden saddle and bridle studded all over with\nprecious stones. So Bearskin put on the clothes and rode away, and a\nfine sight he was to see, I can tell you.\n\nAnd how the folks stared when he rode up to the king\u2019s castle. Out came\nthe king along with the rest, for he thought that Bearskin was some\ngreat lord. But the princess knew him the moment she set eyes upon him,\nfor she was not likely to forget him so soon as all that.\n\nThe king brought Bearskin into where they were feasting, and had a place\nset for him alongside of himself.\n\nThe steward was there along with the rest. \u201cSee,\u201d said Bearskin to him,\n\u201cI have a question to put. One killed a dragon and saved a princess, but\nanother came and swore falsely that he did it. Now, what should be done\nto such a one?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy this,\u201d said the steward, speaking up as bold as brass, for he\nthought to face the matter down, \u201che should be put in a cask stuck all\nround with nails, and dragged behind three wild horses.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d said Bearskin, \u201cyou have spoken for yourself. For I killed\nthe dragon up on the hill behind the town, and you stole the glory of\nthe doing.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is not so,\u201d said the steward, \u201cfor it was I who brought home the\nthree heads of the dragon in my own hand, and how can that be with the\nrest?\u201d\n\nThen Bearskin stepped to the wall, where hung the three heads of the\ndragon. He opened the mouth of each. \u201cAnd where are the tongues?\u201d said\nhe.\n\nAt this the steward grew as pale as death, nevertheless he still spoke\nup as boldly as ever: \u201cDragons have no tongues,\u201d said he. But Bearskin\nonly laughed; he untied his handkerchief before them all, and there were\nthe three tongues. He put one in each mouth, and they fitted exactly,\nand after that no one could doubt that he was the hero who had really\nkilled the dragon. So when the wedding came it was Bearskin, and not the\nsteward, who married the princess; what was done to him you may guess\nfor yourselves.\n\nAnd so they had a grand wedding, but in the very midst of the feast one\ncame running in and said there was a great brown bear without, who would\ncome in, willy-nilly. Yes, and you have guessed it right, it was the\ngreat she-bear, and if nobody else was made much of at that wedding you\ncan depend upon it that she was.\n\nAs for the king, he was satisfied that the princess had married a great\nhero. So she had, only he was the miller\u2019s son after all, though the\nking knew no more of that than my grandfather\u2019s little dog, and no more\ndid anybody but the wise man for the matter of that, and he said nothing\nof it, for wise folk don\u2019t tell all they know.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n                              Two O\u2019clock\u00b7\n\n\n                   The _Black Cock_ crowed;\n                     The _Moon_ was bright;\n                   The _Red Cock_ answered\n                     Through the night. [Sidenote: \u25cf]\n\n                   _Big Gretchen_, sleeping,\n                     Turned in bed,\n                   And tossed her arms\n                     Above her head. [Sidenote: \u263d]\n\n                   The old _Hound_ stretched.\n                     And, breathing deep,\n                   He settled down\n                     Again to sleep. [Sidenote: \u25cb]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: The Water of Life.]\n\n                                  II.\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was an old king who had a faithful servant. There\nwas nobody in the whole world like him, and this was why: around his\nwrist he wore an armlet that fitted as close as the skin. There were\nwords on the golden band; on one side they said:\n\n               \u201cWHO THINKS TO WEAR ME ON HIS ARM\n               MUST LACK BOTH GUILE AND THOUGHT OF HARM.\u201d\n\nAnd on the other side they said:\n\n                   \u201cI AM FOR ONLY ONE AND HE\n                   SHALL BE AS STRONG AS TEN CAN BE.\u201d\n\nAt last the old king felt that his end was near, and he called the\nfaithful servant to him and besought him to serve and aid the young king\nwho was to come as he had served and aided the old king who was to go.\nThe faithful servant promised that which was asked, and then the old\nking closed his eyes and folded his hands and went the way that those\nhad travelled who had gone before him.\n\nWell, one day a stranger came to that town from over the hills and far\naway. With him he brought a painted picture, but it was all covered with\na curtain so that nobody could see what it was.\n\nHe drew aside the curtain and showed the picture to the young king, and\nit was a likeness of the most beautiful princess in the whole world; for\nher eyes were as black as a crow\u2019s wing, her cheeks were as red as\napples, and her skin as white as snow. Moreover, the picture was so\nnatural that it seemed as though it had nothing to do but to open its\nlips and speak.\n\nThe young king just sat and looked and looked. \u201cOh me!\u201d said he, \u201cI will\nnever rest content until I have such a one as that for my own.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen listen!\u201d said the stranger, \u201cthis is a likeness of the princess\nthat lives over beyond the three rivers. A while ago she had a wise bird\non which she doted, for it knew everything that happened in the world,\nso that it could tell the princess whatever she wanted to know. But now\nthe bird is dead, and the princess does nothing but grieve for it day\nand night. She keeps the dead bird in a glass casket, and has promised\nto marry whoever will bring a cup of water from the Fountain of Life, so\nthat the bird may be brought back to life again.\u201d That was the story the\nstranger told, and then he jogged on the way he was going, and I, for\none, do not know whither it led.\n\nBut the young king had no peace or comfort in life for thinking of the\nprincess who lived over beyond the three rivers. At last he called the\nfaithful servant to him. \u201cAnd can you not,\u201d said he, \u201cget me a cup of\nthe Water of Life?\u201d\n\n\u201cI know not, but I will try,\u201d said the faithful servant, for he bore in\nmind what he had promised to the old king.\n\nSo out he went into the wide world, to seek for what the young king\nwanted, though the way there is both rough and thorny. On he went and\non, until his shoes were dusty, and his feet were sore, and after a\nwhile he came to the end of the earth, and there was nothing more over\nthe hill. There he found a little tumbled-down hut, and within the hut\nsat an old, old woman with a distaff, spinning a lump of flax.\n\n\u201cGood-morning, mother,\u201d said the faithful servant.\n\n\u201cGood-morning, son,\u201d says the old woman, \u201cand where are you travelling\nthat you have come so far?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d says the faithful servant, \u201cI am hunting for the Water of Life,\nand have come as far as this without finding a drop of it.\u201d\n\n\u201cHoity, toity,\u201d says the old woman, \u201cif that is what you are after, you\nhave a long way to go yet. The fountain is in the country that lies east\nof the Sun and west of the Moon, and it is few that have gone there and\ncome back again, I can tell you. Besides that there is a great dragon\nthat keeps watch over the water, and you will have to get the better of\nhim before you can touch a drop of it. All the same, if you have made up\nyour mind to go you may stay here until my sons come home, and perhaps\nthey can put you in the way of getting there, for I am the Mother of the\nFour Winds of Heaven, and it is few places that they have not seen.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: The young king looks upon y^e beautiful picture which the\nstranger showeth him.]\n\nSo the faithful servant came in and sat down by the fire to wait till\nthe Winds came home.\n\nThe first that came was the East Wind; but he knew nothing of the Water\nof Life and the land that lay east of the Sun and west of the Moon; he\nhad heard folks talk of them both now and then, but he had never seen\nthem with his own eyes.\n\nThe next that came was the South Wind, but he knew no more of it than\nhis brother, and neither did the West Wind for the matter of that.\n\nLast of all came the North Wind, and dear, dear, what a hubbub he made\noutside of the door, stamping the dust off of his feet before he came\ninto the house.\n\n\u201cAnd do you know where the Fountain of Life is, and the country that\nlies east of the Sun and west of the Moon?\u201d said the old woman.\n\nOh, yes, the North Wind knew where it was. He had been there once upon a\ntime, but it was a long, long distance away.\n\n\u201cSo; good! then perhaps you will give this lad a lift over there\nto-morrow,\u201d said the old woman.\n\nAt this the North Wind grumbled and shook his head; but at last he said\n\u201cyes,\u201d for he is a good-hearted fellow at bottom, is the North Wind,\nthough his ways are a trifle rough perhaps.\n\nSo the next morning he took the faithful servant on his back, and away\nhe flew till the man\u2019s hair whistled behind him. On they went and on\nthey went and on they went, until at last they came to the country that\nlay east of the Sun and west of the Moon; and they were none too soon\ngetting there either, I can tell you, for when the North Wind tumbled\nthe faithful servant off his back he was so weak that he could not have\nlifted a feather.\n\n\u201cThank you,\u201d said the faithful servant, and then he was for starting\naway to find what he came for.\n\n\u201cStop a bit,\u201d says the North Wind, \u201cyou will be wanting to come away\nagain after a while. I cannot wait here, for I have other business to\nlook after. But here is a feather; when you want me, cast it into the\nair, and I will not be long in coming.\u201d\n\nThen away he bustled, for he had caught his breath again, and time was\nnone too long for him.\n\nThe faithful servant walked along a great distance until, by and by, he\ncame to a field covered all over with sharp rocks and white bones, for\nhe was not the first by many who had been that way for a cup of the\nWater of Life.\n\n[Illustration: The North Wind flies with y^e Faithful Servant.]\n\nThere lay the great fiery dragon in the sun, sound asleep, and so the\nfaithful servant had time to look about him. Not far away was a great\ndeep trench like a drain in a swampy field; that was a path that the\ndragon had made by going to the river for a drink of water every day.\nThe faithful servant dug a hole in the bottom of this trench, and there\nhe hid himself as snugly as a cricket in the crack in the kitchen floor.\nBy and by the dragon awoke and found that he was thirsty, and then\nstarted down to the river to get a drink. The faithful servant lay as\nstill as a mouse until the dragon was just above where he was hidden;\nthen he thrust his sword through its heart, and there it lay, after a\nturn or two, as dead as a stone.\n\nAfter that he had only to fill the cup at the fountain, for there was\nnobody to say nay to him. Then he cast the feather into the air, and\nthere was the North Wind, as fresh and as sound as ever. The North Wind\ntook him upon its back, and away it flew until it came home again.\n\nThe faithful servant thanked them all around\u2014the Four Winds and the old\nwoman\u2014and as they would take nothing else, he gave them a few drops of\nthe Water of Life, and that is the reason that the Four Winds and their\nmother are as fresh and young now as they were when the world began.\n\nThen the faithful servant set off home again, right foot foremost, and\nhe was not as long in getting there as in coming.\n\nAs soon as the king saw the cup of the Water of Life he had the horses\nsaddled, and off he and the faithful servant rode to find the princess\nwho lived over beyond the three rivers. By and by they came to the town,\nand there was the princess mourning and grieving over her bird just as\nshe had done from the first. But when she heard that the king had\nbrought the Water of Life she welcomed him as though he were a flower in\nMarch.\n\nThey sprinkled a few drops upon the dead bird, and up it sprang as\nlively and as well as ever.\n\nBut now, before the princess would marry the king she must have a talk\nwith the bird, and there came the hitch, for the Wise Bird knew as well\nas you and I that it was not the king who had brought the Water of Life.\n\u201cGo and tell him,\u201d said the Wise Bird, \u201cthat you are ready to marry him\nas soon as he saddles and bridles the Wild Black Horse in the forest\nover yonder, for if he is the hero who found the Water of Life he can do\nthat and more easily enough.\u201d\n\nThe princess did as the bird told her, and so the king missed getting\nwhat he wanted after all. But off he went to the faithful servant. \u201cAnd\ncan you not saddle and bridle the Wild Black Horse for me?\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cI do not know,\u201d said the faithful servant, \u201cbut I will try.\u201d\n\nSo off he went to the forest to hunt up the Wild Black Horse, the saddle\nover his shoulder and the bridle over his arm. By and by came the Wild\nBlack Horse galloping through the woods like a thunder gust in summer,\nso that the ground shook under his feet. But the faithful servant was\nready for him; he caught him by the mane and forelock, and the Wild\nBlack Horse had never had such a one to catch hold of him before.\n\n[Illustration: The young King bringeth y^e cup of water of life to the\nbeautiful Queen.]\n\nBut how they did stamp and wrestle: Up and down and here and there,\nuntil the fire flew from the stones under their feet. But the Wild Black\nHorse could not stand against the strength of ten men, such as the\nfaithful servant had, so by and by he fell on his knees, and the\nfaithful servant clapped the saddle on his back and slipped the bridle\nover his ears.\n\n\u201cListen now,\u201d says he; \u201cto-morrow my master, the king, will ride you up\nto the princess\u2019s house, and if you do not do just as I tell you, it\nwill be the worse for you; when the king mounts upon your back you must\nstagger and groan, as though you carried a mountain.\u201d\n\nThe horse promised to do as the other bade, and then the faithful\nservant jumped on his back and away to the king, who had been waiting at\nhome for all this time.\n\nThe next day the king rode up to the princess\u2019s castle, and the Wild\nBlack Horse did just as the faithful servant told him to do; he\nstaggered and groaned, so that everybody cried out, \u201cLook at the great\nhero riding upon the Wild Black Horse!\u201d\n\nAnd when the princess saw him she also thought that he was a great hero.\nBut the Wise Bird was of a different mind from her, for when the\nprincess came to talk to him about marrying the king he shook his head.\n\u201cNo, no,\u201d said he, \u201cthere is something wrong here, and the king has\nbaked his cake in somebody else\u2019s oven. He never saddled and bridled the\nWild Black Horse by himself. Listen, you must say to him that you will\nmarry nobody but the man who wears such and such a golden armlet with\nthis and that written on it.\u201d\n\nSo the princess told the king what the Wise Bird had bidden her to say,\nand the king went straightway to the faithful servant.\n\n\u201cYou must let me have your armlet,\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cAlas, master,\u201d said the faithful servant, \u201cthat is a woful thing for\nme, for the one and only way to take the armlet off of my wrist is to\ncut my hand from off my body.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo!\u201d says the king, \u201cthat is a great pity, but the princess will not\nhave me without the armlet.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen you shall have it,\u201d says the faithful servant; but the king had to\ncut the hand off, for the faithful servant could not do it himself.\n\n[Illustration: The Faithful Servant gives y^e young Kind y^e golden\nbracelet from his wrist as the other desires. \u00b6]\n\nBut, bless your heart! the armlet was ever so much too large for the\nking to wear! Nevertheless he tied it to his wrist with a bit of ribbon,\nand off he marched to the princess\u2019s castle.\n\n\u201cHere is the armlet of gold,\u201d said he, \u201cand now will you marry me!\u201d\n\nBut the Wise Bird sat on the princess\u2019s chair. \u201cHut! tut!\u201d says he, \u201cit\ndoes not fit the man.\u201d\n\nYes, that was so; everybody who was there could see it easily enough;\nand as for marrying him, the princess would marry nobody but the man who\ncould wear the armlet.\n\nWhat a hubbub there was then! Every one who was there was sure that the\narmlet would fit him if it fitted nobody else. But no; it was far too\nlarge for the best of them. The faithful servant was very sad, and stood\nback of the rest, over by the wall, with his arm tied up in a napkin.\n\u201cYou shall try it too,\u201d says the princess; but the faithful servant only\nshook his head, for he could not try it on as the rest had done, because\nhe had no hand. But the Wise Bird was there and knew what he was about;\n\u201cSee now,\u201d says he, \u201cmaybe the Water of Life will cure one thing as well\nas another.\u201d\n\nYes, that was true, and one was sent to fetch the cup. They sprinkled it\non the faithful servant\u2019s arm, and it was not twice they had to do it,\nfor there was another hand as good and better than the old.\n\nThen they gave him the armlet; he slipped it over his hand, and it\nfitted him like his own skin.\n\n\u201cThis is the man for me,\u201d says the princess, \u201cand I will have none\nother;\u201d for she could see with half an eye that he was the hero who had\nbeen doing all the wonderful things that had happened, because he said\nnothing about himself.\n\nAs for the king\u2014why, all that was left for him to do was to pack off\nhome again; and I, for one, am glad of it.\n\nAnd this is true; the best packages are not always wrapped up in blue\npaper and tied with a gay string, and there are better men in the world\nthan kings and princes, fine as they seem to be.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n                             Three O\u2019clock\u00b7\n\n\n         The _Rooms_ were cold, the _Hearth_ was grey:\n         Asleep in the ashes the _Kobold_ lay.\n               The _Board-Floor_ creaked, [Sidenote: \u25cb]\n               The _Grey-Mouse_ squeaked,\n         And the _Kobold_ dreamed its ear he tweaked.\n\n         He wrinkled up\n           His _Forehead_ and _Nose_, [Sidenote: K\u260aP; \u263e\u2648\ufe0e, des.]\n         And smiled in his sleep,\n           And curled his _Toes_. [Sidenote: \u263e]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: How One turned his Trouble to some account.]\n\n                                  III.\n\n\nThere was a soldier marching along the road\u2014left, right! left, right! He\nhad been to the wars for five years, so that he was very brave, and now\nhe was coming home again. In his knapsack were two farthings, and that\nwas everything that he had in the world. All the same, he had a rich\nbrother at home, and that was something to say.\n\nSo on he tramped until he had come to his rich brother\u2019s house.\n\n\u201cGood-day, brother,\u201d said he, \u201cand how does the old world treat you.\u201d\n\nBut the rich brother screwed up his face and rubbed his nose, for he was\nnone too glad to see the other. \u201cWhat!\u201d said he, \u201cand is the Pewter\nPenny back again?\u201d That was the way that he welcomed the other to his\nhouse.\n\n\u201cTut! tut!\u201d says the brave soldier; \u201cand is not this a pretty way to\nwelcome a brother home to be sure! All that I want is just a crust of\nbread and a chance to rest the soles of my feet back of the stove a\nlittle while.\u201d\n\nOh, well! if that was all that he wanted, he might have his supper and a\nbed for the night, but he must not ask for any more, and he must jog on\nin the morning and never come that way again.\n\nWell, as no more broth was to be had from that dish, the soldier said\nthat he would be satisfied with what he could get; so into the house he\ncame.\n\nOver by the fire was a bench, and on the bench was a basket, and in the\nbasket were seven young ducks that waited where it was warm until the\nrest were hatched. The soldier saw nothing of these; down he sat, and\nthe little young ducks said \u201cpeep!\u201d and died all at once. Up jumped the\nsoldier and over went the beer mug that sat by the fire so that the beer\nran all around and put out the blaze.\n\nAt this the rich brother fell into a mighty rage. \u201cSee!\u201d said he, \u201cyou\nnever go anywhere but you bring Trouble with you. Out of the house\nbefore I make this broom rattle about your ears!\u201d\n\nAnd so the brave soldier had to go out under the blessed sky again.\n\u201cWell! well!\u201d said he, \u201cthe cream is all sour over yonder for sure and\ncertain! All the same it will better nothing to be in the dumps, so\nwe\u2019ll just sing a bit of a song to keep our spirits up.\u201d So the soldier\nbegan to sing, and by and by he heard that somebody was singing along\nwith him.\n\n\u201cHalloa, comrade!\u201d said he, \u201cwho is there?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d said a voice beside him, \u201cit is only Trouble.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd what are you doing there, Trouble?\u201d said the soldier.\n\nOh! Trouble was only jogging along with him. They had been friends and\ncomrades for this many a bright day, for when had the soldier ever gone\nanywhere that Trouble had not gone along with him?\n\nThe brave soldier scratched his head. \u201cYes, yes,\u201d says he; \u201cthat is all\nvery fine; but there must be an end of the business. See! yonder is one\nroad and here is another; you may go that road and I will go this, for I\nwant no Trouble for a comrade.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, no!\u201d says Trouble, \u201cI will never leave you now; you and I have been\ncomrades too long for that!\u201d\n\nVery well! the soldier would see about that. They should go to the king,\nfor things had come to a pretty pass if one could not choose one\u2019s own\ncomrades in this broad world, but must, willy-nilly, have Trouble always\njogging at one\u2019s heels.\n\nSo off they went\u2014the soldier and Trouble\u2014and by and by they came to the\ngreat town and there they found the king.\n\n\u201cWell, and what is the trouble now?\u201d said the king.\n\nTrouble indeed! Why, it was thus and so, here was that same Trouble\ntramping around at the soldier\u2019s heels and would go wherever he went.\nNow, the soldier would like to know whether one had no right to choose\none\u2019s own comrades\u2014that was the business that had brought him to the\nking!\n\n[Illustration: The Brave Soldier bringeth his Trouble to y^e town along\nwith him.]\n\nWell, the king thought and thought and puzzled and puzzled, but that nut\nwas too hard for him to crack, so he sent off for all of his wise\ncouncillors to see what they had to say about the matter.\n\nSo, when they had all come together the king told them that things were\nthus and so, and thus and so, and now he would like to know what they\nall thought about it.\n\nThen the wise councillors began to talk and talk, and one said one thing\nand another another. After a while they fell to arguing with loud\nvoices, and then they grew angry and began talking all at once, and last\nof all they came to fisticuffs. Then you should have heard what a racket\nthey made! for they buffeted and cuffed one another until the hair flew\nas thick as dust in the mill.\n\nThat was the kind of prank that Trouble played them.\n\nNow the king had a daughter, and the princess was as pretty a lass as\none could find were he to hunt for seven summer days. When she heard all\nthe hubbub she came to see what it was about, for that is the way with\nall of us, and of women folk more than any. And the king told her all\nabout it; how the soldier had come to that town to get rid of Trouble,\nand how he had done nothing but bring it with him.\n\n\u201cPerhaps,\u201d said she, \u201cTrouble might leave him if he were married.\u201d\n\nAt this the king fell into a mighty fume, for no man likes to have a\nwoman tell him to do thus and so when things are in a pickle. He should\nlike to know what the princess meant by coming and pouring her broth\ninto their pot! If that was her notion she might help the soldier\nherself. Married he should be, and _she_ should be his wife\u2014that was\nwhat the king said.\n\nSo the soldier and the princess were married, and then the king had them\nboth put into a great chest and thrown into the sea\u2014but there was room\nin the chest for Trouble, and he went along with them.\n\nWell, they floated on and on and on for a great long time, until, at\nlast, the chest came ashore at a place where three giants lived.\n\nThe three giants were sitting on the shore fishing. \u201cSee, brothers,\u201d\nsaid the first one of them, \u201cyonder is a great chest washed up on the\nshore.\u201d So they went over to where it was, and then the second giant\ntook it on his shoulder and carried it home. After that they all three\nsat down to supper.\n\nJust then the soldier\u2019s nose began to itch and tickle, so that, for the\nlife of him, he could not help sneezing.\n\n\u201cAt-tchew!\u201d\u2014and there it was.\n\n[Illustration: Here^\u2020 the Brave Soldier brings his trouble before the\nking to find if it shall follow him wherever he goes.]\n\n\u201cHark, brothers!\u201d said the third giant, \u201cyonder is somebody in the\nchest!\u201d\n\nSo the three giants came and opened the chest, and there were the\nsoldier and the princess. Trouble was there too, but the giants saw\nnothing of him.\n\nThey bound the soldier with strong cords so that they might have him to\neat for breakfast in the morning.\n\nAnd now what was to be done with the princess?\n\n\u201cSee, brothers,\u201d said the first giant, \u201cI am thinking that a wife will\nabout fit my needs. This lass will do as well as any, and, as I found\nher, I will just keep her.\u201d\n\n\u201cPrut! how you talk!\u201d said the second giant, \u201cdo you think that nobody\nis to marry in the wide world but you? Who was it brought the lass to\nthe house I should like to know! No; I will marry her myself.\u201d\n\n\u201cStop!\u201d said the third giant. \u201cYou are both going too fast on that road.\nI thought of a wife long before either of you. Who was it found that the\nlass was in the house, I should like to know!\u201d\n\nAnd so they talked and talked until they fell to quarrelling, and then\nto blows. Over they rolled, cuffing and slapping, until each one killed\nthe other two, so that they all lay as dead as fishes. And that was an\nend of them.\n\n\u201cSee, now,\u201d said Trouble to the soldier, \u201cwho can say that I have done\nnothing for you? I tell you, comrade, that I am a good friend of yours,\nand love you as though you were my born brother. Listen! over yonder in\nthe field is a great stone under which the giants have hidden stacks and\nstacks of money. Go and borrow a cart and two horses, and I will go with\nyou and show you where it is.\u201d\n\nWell, you may guess that that was a song that pleased the soldier. Off\nhe went and borrowed a cart and two horses. Then he and Trouble went\ninto the field together, and Trouble showed him where the stone was\nwhere the treasure lay.\n\nThe soldier rolled the stone over, and there, sure enough, lay bags and\nbags, all full of gold and silver money.\n\nDown he went into the pit and began bringing up the money and loading it\ninto the cart. After a while he had brought it all but one bag full.\n\n\u201cSee, Trouble,\u201d said he, \u201cmy back is nearly broken with carrying the\nmoney. There is still one bag down there yet; go down like a good lad\nand bring it up for me.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: The three Giants fight one another like fury.]\n\nOh, yes! Trouble would do that much for the soldier, for had they not\nbeen comrades for many and one bright, blessed days? Down he went into\nthe pit, and then you may believe that the soldier was not long in\nrolling the stone into its place. So there was Trouble as tight as a fly\nin a bottle.\n\nAfter that the soldier went back home again with great contentment\u2014as I\nwould have done had I ridden home upon a cart full of gold and silver,\nall of which belonged to me. He had left one bag of money, but then it\nwas worth that much to be rid of Trouble.\n\nAfter that the soldier built a ship and loaded it with the money. Then\nhe and the princess sailed away to the king\u2019s house, for they thought\nthat maybe the king would like them better now that Trouble had left\nthem and money had come.\n\nWhen the king saw what a great boatload of gold and silver the soldier\nhad brought home with him he was as pleased as pleased could be. He\ncould not make enough of the brave soldier; he called him son, and\nwalked about the streets with him arm in arm, so that the folks might\nsee how fond he was of his son-in-law. Besides that he gave him half of\nthe kingdom to rule over, so that the soldier and the princess lived\ntogether as snugly as a couple of mice in the barn when threshing is\ngoing on.\n\nWell, one day a neighbor came to the rich brother and said, \u201cDear! dear!\nbut the world is easy with your brother, the soldier!\u201d\n\nAt this the rich brother pricked up his ears. \u201cHow is that?\u201d said he\u2014\u201cmy\nbrother, the soldier? How comes the world to be easy with him, I should\nlike to know?\u201d\n\nOh, the neighbor could not tell him that; all that he knew was that the\nsoldier was living over yonder with a princess for his wife, and more\ngold and silver money than a body could count in a week.\n\nWell, well, this would never do! The rich brother must pick up\nacquaintance with the soldier again, now that he was rising in the\nworld. So he put on his blue Sunday coat and his best hat, and away he\nwent to the soldier\u2019s house.\n\nWell, the soldier was a good-natured fellow, and bore grudges against\nnobody, so he shook hands with his brother, and they sat down together\nby the stove. Then the rich brother wanted to know all about\neverything\u2014how came it that the other was so well off in the world?\n\nOh, there was no secret about that; it happened thus and so. And then\nthe soldier told all about it. After that the other went home, but there\nwas a great buzzing in his head, I can tell you!\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d says he to himself, \u201cI will go over yonder to the giants\u2019 house,\nand will let Trouble out from under the stone. Then he will come here to\nmy brother and will turn things topsy-turvy, and I will get the bag of\nmoney that was left there.\u201d\n\nSo, off he went until he came to the place where Trouble lay under the\nstone. He rolled the stone over, and\u2014whisk! clip!\u2014out popped Trouble\nfrom the hole. \u201cAnd so you were leaving me here to be starved, were\nyou?\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cOh, dear friend Trouble! it was not I, it was my brother, the soldier!\u201d\n\nOh, well, that was all one to Trouble; now that he was out he would stay\nwith the man who let him out, and there was an end of it. \u201cSo bring\nalong the bag of gold,\u201d says he, \u201cfor it is high time that we were going\nhome.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: The rich man takes home money and trouble.]\n\nSo the rich brother took the bag of gold over his shoulder, and the two\nwent home together; and if anybody was down in the mouth, it was the\nrich brother.\n\nAnd now everything went wrong with him, for Trouble dogged his heels\nwherever he went. At last his patience could hold out no longer, and he\nbegan to cudgel his brains to find some way to get rid of the other. So\none day he says,\n\n\u201cCome, Trouble, we will go out into the forest this morning and cut some\nwood.\u201d\n\nWell, that suited Trouble as well as anything else, so off they went\ntogether, arm in arm. By and by they came to the forest, and there the\nman cut down a great tree. Then he split open the stump, and drove a\nwedge into it. So it came dinner-time, and then Trouble and he ate\ntogether.\n\n\u201cSee now, Trouble,\u201d said the man, \u201cthey tell me that you can go anywhere\nin all of the world.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said Trouble, \u201cthat is so.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd could you go into that tree that I have split yonder?\u201d\n\nOh, yes; Trouble could do that well enough.\n\nIf that was so the man would like to see him do it, that he would.\n\nOh, Trouble would do that and more, too, for a friend\u2019s asking. So he\nmade himself small and smaller, and so crept into the cleft in the log\nas easily as though he had been a mouse. But, no sooner was he snugly\nthere than the man seized his axe and knocked out the wedge, and there\nwas Trouble as safe as safe could be. He might beg and beg, but no, the\nman was deaf in that ear. He shouldered his axe and off he went, leaving\nTrouble where he was.\n\nDear me! that was a long time ago; or else some busybody must have let\nTrouble out of that log, for I know very well that he is stumping about\nthe world nowadays.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n                             Four O\u2019clock\u00b7\n\n\n The _Air_ grew chill, the _Sky_ was grey; [Sidenote: K\u260aP. \u264a\ufe0e des.]\n    [Sidenote: \u25cf] [Sidenote: \u263d]\n   The _Black Cock_ crowed, and far away\n   Another answered. In a dream\n   The _Kobold_ drank thick clotted _Cream_,\n   And chased _Roast-Goose_. He woke and sighed,\n   And turned upon his other side.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: How three went out into the Wide World. HP:\u2014]\n\n                                  IV.\n\n\nThere was a woman who owned a fine grey goose. \u201cTo-morrow,\u201d said she, \u201cI\nwill pluck the goose for live feathers, so that I may take them to\nmarket and sell them for good hard money.\u201d\n\nThis the goose heard, and liked it not. \u201cWhy should I grow live feathers\nfor other folks to pluck?\u201d said she to herself. So off she went into the\nwide world with nothing upon her back but what belonged to her.\n\nBy and by she came up with a sausage.\n\n\u201cWhither away, friend?\u201d said the Grey Goose.\n\n\u201cOut into the wide world,\u201d said the Sausage.\n\n\u201cWhy do you travel that road?\u201d said the Grey Goose.\n\n\u201cWhy should I stay at home?\u201d said the Sausage. \u201cThey stuff me with good\nmeat and barley-meal over yonder, but they only do it for other folk\u2019s\nfeasting. That is the way with the world.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, that is true,\u201d said the Grey Goose; \u201cand I too am going out into\nthe world, for why should I grow live feathers for other folk\u2019s\nplucking? So let us travel together, as we are both of a mind.\u201d\n\nWell, that suited the Sausage well enough, so off they went, arm in arm.\n\nBy and by they came up with a cock.\n\n\u201cWhither away, friend?\u201d said the Grey Goose and the Sausage.\n\n\u201cOut into the wide world,\u201d said the Cock.\n\n\u201cWhy do you travel that road?\u201d said the Grey Goose and the Sausage.\n\n\u201cWhy should I stay at home?\u201d said the Cock. \u201cEvery day they feed me with\nbarley-corn, but it is only that I may split my throat in the mornings,\ncalling the lads to the fields and the maids to the milking. That is the\nway with the world.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, that is true,\u201d said the Grey Goose; \u201cwhy should I grow live\nfeathers for other folk\u2019s picking?\u201d\n\nAnd\u2014\n\n\u201cYes, that is true,\u201d said the Sausage, \u201cwhy should I be stuffed with\nmeat and barley-meal for other folk\u2019s feasting?\u201d\n\nSo the three being all of a mind, they settled to travel the same road\ntogether.\n\nWell, they went on and on and on, until, at last, they came to a deep\nforest, and, by and by, whom should they meet but a great red fox.\n\n\u201cWhither away, friends?\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cOh, we are going out into the wide world,\u201d said the Grey Goose, the\nSausage, and the Cock.\n\n\u201cAnd why do you travel that road?\u201d said the Fox.\n\nOh, there was nothing but tangled yarn at home: the Grey Goose grew live\nfeathers for other folk\u2019s picking, the Sausage was stuffed for other\nfolk\u2019s feasting, and the Cock crowed in the morn for other folk\u2019s\nwaking. That was the way of the world over yonder, and so they had left\nit.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said the Fox, \u201cthat is true; so come with me into the deep\nforest, for there every one can live for himself! and nobody else.\u201d\n\nSo they all went into the forest together, for the Fox\u2019s words pleased\nthem very much.\n\n\u201cAnd now,\u201d said the Fox to the Grey Goose, \u201cyou shall be my wife,\u201d for\nhe had never had a sweetheart before, and even a Grey Goose is better\nthan none.\n\n\u201cAnd what is to become of us?\u201d said the Sausage and the Cock.\n\n\u201cYou and I shall be dear friends,\u201d said the Great Red Fox. Thereat the\nCock and the Sausage were content, for it took but little to satisfy\nthem.\n\nWell, everything was just as the Great Red Fox had said it should be:\nthe Goose kept her own feathers, the Sausage was stuffed for its own\ngood, the Cock crowed for its own ears, and everything was as smooth as\nrich cream. Moreover, the Great Red Fox and the Grey Goose were husband\nand wife, and the Great Red Fox and the Sausage and the Cock were dear\nfriends.\n\n[Illustration: The Grey Goose goes out into the wide world, where she\nand a discontented Sausage meet the Cock and the Fox.]\n\nOne morning says the Great Red Fox to the Grey Goose, \u201cNeighbor Cock\nmakes a mighty hubbub with his crowing!\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, that is so,\u201d said the Grey Goose; for she always sang the same\ntune as the Great Red Fox, as a good wife should.\n\n\u201cThen,\u201d said the Great Red Fox, \u201cI will go over and have a talk with\nhim.\u201d\n\nSo off he packed, and by and by he came to Neighbor Cock\u2019s house. Rap!\ntap! tap! he knocked at the door, and who should look out of the window\nbut the Cock himself.\n\n\u201cSee, Neighbor Cock,\u201d said the Great Red Fox, \u201cyou make a mighty hubbub\nwith that crowing of yours.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat may be so, and that may not be so,\u201d said the Cock; \u201call the same,\nthe hubbub is in my own house.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is good,\u201d said the Great Red Fox, \u201cbut one should not trouble\none\u2019s neighbors, even in one\u2019s own house; so, if it suits you, we will\nhave no more crowing.\u201d\n\n\u201cI was made for crowing, and crow I must,\u201d said the Cock.\n\n\u201cYou must crow no more,\u201d said the Great Red Fox.\n\n\u201cI must crow,\u201d said the Cock.\n\n\u201cYou must not crow,\u201d said the Great Red Fox.\n\n\u201cI must crow,\u201d said the Cock. And that was the last of it for\u2014snip!\u2014off\nwent its head, and it crowed no more. Nevertheless, he had the last\nword, and that was some comfort. After that the Great Red Fox ate up the\nCock, body and bones, and then he went home again.\n\n\u201cWill Neighbor Cock crow again?\u201d said the Grey Goose.\n\n\u201cNo; he will crow no more,\u201d said the Fox; and that was true.\n\nBy and by came hungry times, with little or nothing in the house to eat.\n\u201cLook!\u201d said the Great Red Fox, \u201cyonder is Neighbor Sausage, and he has\nplenty.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, that is true,\u201d said the Grey Goose.\n\n\u201cAnd one\u2019s friend should help one when one is in need,\u201d said the Great\nRed Fox.\n\n\u201cYes, that is true,\u201d said the Grey Goose again.\n\nSo off went the Great Red Fox to Neighbor Sausage\u2019s house. Rap! tap!\ntap! he knocked at the door, and it was the Sausage himself who came.\n\n\u201cSee,\u201d said the Fox, \u201cthere are hungry times over at our house.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: The Great Red Fox goes to call on neighbour Cock at his\nhouse because he will crow in the morn. \u00b6]\n\n[Illustration: The Great Red Fox calls upon the Sausage.]\n\n\u201cI am sorry for that,\u201d said the Sausage; \u201cbut hungry times will come to\nthe best of us.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is so,\u201d said the Great Red Fox, \u201cbut, all the same, you must help\nme through this crack. One would be in a bad pass without a friend to\nturn to.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut see,\u201d said the Sausage, \u201call that I have is mine, and it is inside\nof me at that.\u201d\n\n\u201cNevertheless, I must have some of it,\u201d said the Great Red Fox.\n\n\u201cBut you can\u2019t have it,\u201d said the Sausage.\n\n\u201cBut I must have it,\u201d said the Great Red Fox.\n\n\u201cBut you can\u2019t have it,\u201d said the Sausage.\n\nAnd so they talked and talked and talked, but the end came at last, for\none cannot talk forever to an empty stomach. Snip! snap! and the Sausage\nwas down the Great Red Fox\u2019s throat, and there was an end of it. And now\nthe Fox had all that his friend had to give him, and so he went back\nhome again.\n\n[Illustration: The Great Red Fox rests softly at home.]\n\n\u201cDid Neighbor Sausage give you anything?\u201d said the Grey Goose.\n\n\u201cOh, yes; he gave me all that he had with him,\u201d said the Great Red Fox;\nand that also was very true.\n\nAfter that the world went around for a while as easily as a greased\nwheel. But one day the Great Red Fox said to the Grey Goose: \u201cSee now,\nmy bones grow sore by lying on the hard stones.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is a great pity,\u201d said the Grey Goose; \u201cand if the hard stones\nwere only soft, I, for one, would be glad.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said the Great Red Fox, \u201cthat is good; but soft talking makes\nthem none the easier to lie upon. Could you not spare me a few of your\nfeathers?\u201d\n\n\u201cA few feathers indeed!\u201d said the Grey Goose, \u201cit was not for this that\nI left the ways of the world over yonder. If you must have feathers you\nmust pluck them from your own back.\u201d\n\n\u201cPrut!\u201d said the Great Red Fox, \u201chow you speak! A wife should do all\nthat she can to make the world soft for her husband.\u201d\n\nThen you should have heard the Grey Goose talk and talk. But it was no\nuse; when times are hard with one, one\u2019s wife should help to feather the\nnest\u2014that was what the Great Red Fox said.\n\nSnip! snap! crunch! cranch! and off went the Grey Goose\u2019s head. After\nthat the Fox ate her up, body and bones, and there was an end of her.\nThen he lay upon soft feathers and slept easily.\n\nNow this is true that I tell you: when a great red fox and a grey goose\nmarry, and hard times come, one must make it soft for the other\u2014mostly\nit is the grey goose who does that.\n\nAlso I would have you listen to this: some folks say that it is not so,\nbut _I_ tell you that the ways of the world are the ways of the world,\neven in the deep forest.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: K. P.]\n\n\n                             Five O\u2019clock\u00b7\n\n\n The sleepy _Maid_ comes stumbling down\n The _Stairs_, while buttoning her _Gown_,\n And pokes the fire with a frown.\n\n Up in a rage the _Kobold_ flies, [Sidenote: \u25cb]\n And blows the _Ashes_ in her eyes;\n \u201c_Plague on the Fire!_\u201d poor _Gretchen_ cries. [Sidenote: Sol. below]\n\n        \u00b7       \u00b7       \u00b7       \u00b7       \u00b7\n\n The _Goodman_ turned about in _Bed_, [Sidenote: \u263e]\n And from the _Pillow_ raised his _Head_\n \u201c_Wife, Wife, its five o\u2019clock!_\u201d he said.\n                                     K.P.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: The Clever Student and the Master of Black Arts \u00b6: HP:]\n\n                                   V.\n\n\nThe wood-chopper\u2019s son was not content to follow in the steps of his\nfather, and to do nothing better than make fagots all the days of his\nlife. So off he went to the great school at the capital, and there he\nstudied and studied until he became the cleverest student in all of the\nworld. But of this his father thought nothing, for he had no care to\nknow more than he could see in front of his nose.\n\n\u201cI can speak sixteen languages,\u201d said the Clever Student, \u201cI am a\nmaster-hand at geometry and astronomy, and I know quite as much of black\nart as the Great Master himself.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut can you chop wood?\u201d said the wood-chopper, \u201cand can you bind the\nfagots?\u201d\n\nNo; the Clever Student knew nothing of that trade, but there were better\neggs in Luck\u2019s nest than wood-chopping. He knew enough of the black art\nto be able to change himself into a fine, dapple-gray nag whenever he\nchose, and by no more than the turning of a word or two. That he would\ndo, and the old wood-chopper should take him to the town and sell him\nfor fifty dollars.\n\n\u201cBut there is one thing you must remember,\u201d said the Clever Student,\n\u201cyou must take the bridle from off my head when you sell me, for so long\nas it is on me I must, willy-nilly, remain a horse. The Great Master of\nBlack Arts would like nothing better than to catch me in such a trap as\nthat, for his books tell him that he is to have bad luck through me, and\nhe has been after me for this many a day.\u201d\n\nThe wood-chopper promised to remember all that the Clever Student told\nhim, and then the other went around back of the house and changed\nhimself into a fine, dapple-gray horse. The wood-chopper slipped a\nbridle over the nag\u2019s nose and a leg over his back, and then off he rode\ntowards the town.\n\nOn and on they jogged till they came to where two roads crossed, and\nthere stood one who looked no better than he should. This was the Great\nMaster of Black Arts himself; but of that the wood-chopper knew nothing\nat all.\n\n\u201cHow do you find yourself, friend?\u201d said the Master of Black Arts to the\nwood-chopper; \u201cthat is a fine horse that you have there, to be sure. Is\nhe for sale now?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said the wood-chopper, \u201cthe nag is for sale, and fifty dollars\nwill buy him\u2014only the bridle does not go along with the horse.\u201d\n\nGood! The wood-chopper might keep the bridle and welcome; but palm to\npalm for a true sale, and here was the money.\n\nSo they shook hands, and then the Master of Black Arts counted out the\nmoney, and the wood-chopper pocketed it, and he had never rubbed his\nfingers over so much in all of his life before.\n\nThen, as quick as a wink, the Master of Black Arts drew a bridle out of\nhis pocket. It was as thin as a wire and as light as silk, yet I tell\nyou the truth when I say that if he had ever slipped it over the nose of\nthe Clever Student it would have been an ill thing for him.\n\nBut the Student had his eyes open, and his wits about him. No sooner had\nhis father taken the bridle off of him than\u2014whisk! pop!\u2014he changed\nhimself into a pigeon and away he flew till the wind whistled behind\nhim.\n\nBut the Master of Black Arts knew a trick as good as that, that he did.\nWhisk! pop!\u2014and he became a hawk, and away he flew after the pigeon, and\nall that the wood-chopper could do was to stand and look after them\u2014But\nhe had the fifty dollars in his pocket, and that was something and more\nor less.\n\nOn and on flew the two, and if the pigeon flew fast, why, the hawk flew\nfaster.\n\n[Illustration: A Princess walks beside y^e water, into whose basket\nleaps y^e ring.]\n\nBy and by they came to the shore of a great sea. And that was a good\nthing for the Clever Student, for, just as the hawk was about to grip\nhim, he dropped to the water and became a little fish, and away he swam.\n\nBut the Master of Black Arts knew a trick as good as that. Down to the\nwater he dropped and became a pike, and after the little fish he swam\ntill the water boiled behind him.\n\nOn and on they swam, and if the little fish swam fast, why, the great\npike swam faster. On and on they swam till they came to a place where a\nbeautiful princess, as white and as red as milk and rose leaves, was\nwalking along beside the shore gathering pretty shells into a little\nbasket. And that was a good thing for the Clever Student, for just as\nthe Master of Black Arts was about to catch him he changed himself into\na ruby ring and jumped out of the sea and into the basket of the\nprincess, and there he was safe and sound.\n\nPresently the princess looked down into the basket, and there lay the\nring. \u201cWhat a pretty ring!\u201d said she. \u201cAnd how came it here?\u201d\n\nShe slipped it upon her finger, and it fitted as though it had been made\nfor nobody in the world but her. As for the Clever Student, he liked to\nbe there, I can tell you, for he thought that he had never seen such a\npretty lass.\n\nWell, by and by the princess had gathered all of the shells that she\nwanted, and then she went back home again.\n\nWhen she had come there and to her own little room, all of a sudden a\ntall, good-looking young fellow stood before her. That was the Clever\nStudent, who had changed himself back into his own true shape again. At\nfirst the princess was ever so frightened, but the Student talked to her\nso pleasantly that she began after a while to think that she had never\nseen such a nice, clever young fellow. So they passed the time very\npleasantly together until evening drew near, and then the Student had to\ngo.\n\nBut the Master of Black Arts was not at the end of his tricks yet.\n\nAnd the Clever Student knew that as well as he knew anything.\n\n\u201cSee, now,\u201d said he to the princess, \u201cthe Master will be coming after me\nbefore long. When he comes he will ask for the ruby ring, and he must\nhave it, but I have a trick in my head to meet that.\u201d\n\nHe cut off a lock of his hair and then pricked his arm till it bled.\nWith the blood he wet the hair, and by his arts he made of it a ruby\nring so like what he himself had been that even the princess herself\ncould not have told the one from the other. After that he changed\nhimself into a necklace of carbuncles, and the princess was just as fond\nof it as she had been of the ring.\n\n[Illustration: The Clever Scholar remains a Ruby Ring no longer, having\nregained his own true shape. \u00b6]\n\nSure enough, it happened just as the Clever Student had foretold. Before\na great while the Master of Black Arts came along and on his arm he\ncarried a basket. Rap! tap! tap! he knocked at the door of the king\u2019s\nhouse. Down went one and asked him what he wanted.\n\nOh! he only wanted to see the king; he had something for him here in the\nbasket. So he was shown up to where the king was, and then he opened the\nbasket and in it was a little black hen.\n\n\u201cOnly a little black hen!\u201d you say? Wait; you should hear all before you\nspeak!\n\nThe Master of Black Arts stood the little black hen on the table.\n\u201cHickety-pickety!\u201d said he, and before the king knew what to think of it\nthe little black hen had laid an egg all of pure silver. And that hen\nwas worth the having.\n\nAs for the king, bless me! but he was glad to have such a hen as that.\nIf the master wanted anything that the king could give him, he had only\nto ask for it and it was as good as his.\n\n\u201cSo; good!\u201d says the Black Master, \u201cthen there is a little ruby ring\nthat the princess wears and that I have taken a fancy to; if I may have\nthat it will be all that I ask for.\u201d\n\nOh! if that was all that he wanted he should have it and welcome, that\nwas what the king said. So the pretty princess was sent for, and the\nking asked her if she would give the Master of Black Arts the ruby ring\nthat she wore.\n\n\u201cOh, yes!\u201d says the princess, \u201che shall have that and welcome, for I\nhave grown tired of it long ago.\u201d So she gave it to him, and off he went\non the same path that he had come.\n\nAs soon as he had reached home, he put the ring into a mortar and ground\nit up until it was as fine as flour in the mill.\n\n\u201cThere!\u201d said he to himself, \u201cthat is an end of the Clever Student at\nany rate.\u201d\n\nAfter that he went back to his books again and began to read them, and\nthen he soon found how he had been tricked by the Clever Student.\n\nThe princess and the Clever Student were sitting together. \u201cSee, now,\u201d\nsaid the Student, \u201cthe Master of Black Arts will be coming this way\nagain in a little while. He will be wanting the necklace of carbuncles,\nand you will have to let him have it. But I have a trick for his trick\nyet, so that perhaps we will get the better of him in the end.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: The Master of Black Arts bringeth a curious little Black\nHen to the King. \u00b6\u204b]\n\nSo the Clever Student did as he had done before; he pricked his arm till\nit bled, and with the blood he wet a lock of his hair. Then by his arts\nhe changed the lock of hair into just such a necklace of carbuncles as\nhe himself had been. After that he changed himself into a pearl\near-drop, and the princess hung him in her ear, and there he dangled.\n\nSure enough; by and by came along the Master of Black Arts with another\nbasket. And you may believe that they did not let him cool his toes by\nlong standing outside the door. He opened his basket, and in it was a\nwhite drake.\n\n\u201cOnly a white drake!\u201d you say? Yes, yes; but just wait for a little!\n\nThe Master of Black Arts stood the drake on the table and said,\n\u201cSpickety-lickety!\u201d\n\n\u201cQuack! quack!\u201d said the drake, and every time it said \u201cquack\u201d a gold\npiece dropped from its mouth.\n\nHui! if the king was pleased with the little black hen, you can guess\nhow glad he was to have such a drake as that! All that the Master of\nBlack Arts had to do was to ask for what he wanted, and he might have it\nif the king had it to give.\n\n\u201cGood!\u201d says the Master of Black Arts; \u201cthen the princess has a necklace\nof carbuncles that I have taken a fancy to; if I may have that I will be\nsatisfied.\u201d\n\nSo the princess was sent for without waiting any longer, and would she\nlet the Master have the necklace of carbuncles that she wore around her\nneck?\n\n\u201cYes, indeed!\u201d says the princess, \u201cthat I will! I have grown sick and\ntired of it long ago.\u201d So she took it off of her neck and gave it to the\nMaster of Black Arts, and off he went with it.\n\nWhen he came home he put the necklace into the mortar, just as he had\ndone the ring, and ground it up and ground it up until it was as fine as\nthe dust on the shelf. There! he thought, that is an end of the Clever\nStudent at any rate.\n\nThen he went back to his books, and it was not long before he found that\nhe had been tricked again.\n\n\u201cI can make no more changes,\u201d said the Student, \u201cfor I am nearly at the\nend of my arts. The Black Master will be wanting your ear-drop when he\ncomes, but, instead of giving it to him, throw it against the wall as\nhard as you can. After that we shall have to trust to good Mother Luck.\u201d\n\nIt was not long before the Master of Black Arts came with his basket on\nhis arm, just as he had done twice before; he opened the basket, and\nthere was a grey goose.\n\n\u201cOnly a grey goose!\u201d you say? Wait a moment, and you shall see that it\nwas not like any grey goose in our town!\n\nThe Master of Black Arts stood the grey goose on the table;\n\u201cFlickety-whickety!\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cCackle! cackle!\u201d said the grey goose, and every time it said \u201ccackle\u201d a\nbright diamond dropped on the table.\n\nWhen the king saw that he rubbed his hands and rubbed his hands, and\ncould not say enough of thanks to the Master of Black Arts. And what\nwould the Master have now? He had only to ask and it was his.\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d says the Master of Black Arts, \u201cthe princess has a pearl ear-drop\nthat I have taken a liking to; if I may have that I will be quite\nsatisfied.\u201d\n\nSo the princess was sent for, and this time she was not so willing to\nlet the Master have what he wanted. She wept and begged, and begged and\nwept; but it was all to no purpose; the Master of Black Arts wanted the\npearl ear-drop, and the Master of Black Arts must have it\u2014that was what\nthe king said. So at last the princess took the pearl ear-drop out of\nher ear, but, instead of giving it to the Master, she threw it against\nthe wall as hard as she was able, just as the Clever Student had told\nher to do.\n\nAnd then what do you think happened? Why, the Student turned himself\ninto a ripe melon, so that when it struck the wall it burst open and the\nseeds that were inside were scattered all over the floor.\n\nBut the Master of Black Arts knew a trick as good as that. He changed\nhimself into a great red cock, and began pecking away at the seeds,\ngobbling them up as fast as he could. By and by he looked around, and\nnot another seed could he see, whereupon he hopped up on a chair and,\nshutting his eyes and flapping his wings, he crowed \u201ccock-a-doodle-do!\u201d\n\nBut listen! One melon-seed had rolled into a crack in the floor, and the\ncock had not seen it. That was a bad thing for him, for while his eyes\nwere shut and he was crowing \u201ccock-a-doodle-do!\u201d the Clever Student\nchanged himself from the melon-seed into a great fox. Up he jumped\u2014snip!\nsnap!\u2014and off flew the cock\u2019s head, and there was an end of it and of\nthe Master of Black Arts.\n\nAfter that the Student turned himself into his own true shape again.\nThen he and the princess told the king all about the business, and when\nthe king heard how fond the princess was of the lad, he said that there\nwas only one thing to be done, and that was to call in the minister.\n\n[Illustration: What happened to the Master of Black Arts after all his\ntricks.]\n\nSo the Student was married to his dear princess, and that is what comes\nof book-learning.\n\nAfter the wedding was all over, and the fiddlers had gone home, the\nClever Student set out for his father\u2019s house in a fine coach drawn by\nsix beautiful horses. There was the old man, making fagots in the forest\nback of the house, just as he had always done. At first he would not\nbelieve that the great lord in the coach was his own son. \u201cNo, no,\u201d says\nhe; \u201cand is it becoming in a fine spark from the great town to come here\nand make sport of a poor old wood-chopper. I know very well that my son\nis nothing but a poor student.\u201d But at last he got the whole matter\nthrough his head, and then he was so glad that he kissed his son on both\ncheeks, and asked him whether he had not always said that it was better\nfor his boy to study books than to make fagots. For this is true:\neverything happens for the best when Luck strokes one the right way.\n\nSo the fagot-maker went back with his son to the fine house that the lad\nlived in, now that he had married a princess.\n\nThere everything was made easy for him, and he always had a warm corner\nto sit in back of the stove.\n\nAnd that is the end of this story.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n                              Six O\u2019clock\u00b7\n\n\n                                 K. P.\n\n\n               The _Door_ is open, [Sidenote: Sol above.]\n                 The _Dew_ is bright;\n               Forgotten now [Sidenote: \u25cf]\n                 Is the lonesome _Night_,\n               And the _Starling_ whistles,\n                 \u201c_All is right_.\u201d\n\n               The _House-wife_ moves\n                 With her briskest tread\n               The _Chairs_ are set,\n                 And the _Table_ spread [Sidenote: \u263d]\n               With _Honey_ and _Eggs_\n               And _Cream_ and _Bread_.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: The Princess Golden-Hair _and the_ Great Black Raven.]\n\n                                  VI.\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a king who had three daughters, the two elder\nwere handsome enough, but the youngest, whose name was Golden-Hair, was\nthe prettiest maiden to be found within the four ends of the earth.\n\nOne day the king went out hunting with all his people. Towards evening\nhe found himself in the forest at a place where he had never been\nbefore, and where he was not able to tell the north from the south, nor\nthe east from the west, for he was lost. He wandered up and down and\nhere and there, but the farther he went the less able he was to find the\nroad home again. As he wandered thus he came to a place where a great\nraven, as black as the soot in the chimney, and with eyes that glowed\nlike two coals of fire, sat in the middle of the path in front of him.\n\n\u201cWhither away, king?\u201d said the Great Black Raven.\n\n\u201cThat I cannot tell,\u201d said the king, \u201cfor I am lost.\u201d\n\n\u201cSee now,\u201d said the Raven, \u201cI will show you the way out of the forest,\nif you will give me your youngest daughter to be my wife.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, no,\u201d said the king, \u201cI can never do such a thing as that, for my\ndaughter is as dear to me as the apple of my eye.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well, then,\u201d said the Raven, \u201coff I go, and then there will be no\ngetting out of the forest for you, but here you will have to stay as\nlong as you live.\u201d\n\nNow one will do much before one will stay in a dark forest forever, and\nthough it was a bad piece of business to be sure, the king promised at\nlast that if the Raven would show him the way home again, it should have\nthe Princess Golden-Hair for its wife, though it was a pity for the\ngirl, and that was the truth. So the Raven flapped on ahead of the king,\nand showed him the way out of the forest.\n\n\u201cTo-morrow,\u201d it said, \u201cI will come for my bride.\u201d\n\nSure enough, when the next morning came, there was the Great Black Raven\nsitting outside of the castle gateway waiting for the Princess\nGolden-Hair to be sent to him.\n\nBut it was not the princess whom he got after all; for the king had bade\nthem dress the swineherd\u2019s daughter in the princess\u2019s dress, and it was\nshe who went to the Great Black Raven. \u201cA Great Black Raven,\u201d said the\nking to himself, \u201cwill never be able to tell a swineherd\u2019s daughter from\na real princess.\u201d\n\nWell, the Raven took the swineherd\u2019s daughter on its back and away it\nflew over woods and meadows, hills and valleys, until by and by it came\nto a rude little hut that stood on the tip top of a great bleak hill.\nAnd not a living soul was there, only a great number of birds of\ndifferent kinds.\n\nIn the hut was a table, and on the table stood a golden goblet of red\nwine, a silver cup of white wine, and an earthenware jug full of bitter\nbeer.\n\n\u201cThis is our home,\u201d said the Raven; \u201cand now will my dear one drink\nrefreshment after her long journey?\u201d\n\nYes, indeed; the swineherd\u2019s daughter would do that, for she was weary\nafter her ride through the air. So she went to the table and took a good\ndrink of the beer, \u201cfor,\u201d said she to herself, \u201cthe golden goblet and\nthe silver cup are too fine for the likes of me.\u201d\n\nThen the Raven knew that she was no true princess to be contented with\nbitter beer out of an earthenware jug when she could have good red wine\nfrom a golden goblet. \u201cCome,\u201d said he, \u201chome we go again, for you are\nnot the bride I seek!\u201d Therewith he took her upon his back once more,\nand away they flew over hill and valley till they had come back to the\nking\u2019s castle again.\n\n\u201cSee,\u201d said the Raven, \u201cthis is not the one I want. Let me have my true\nbride or you will suffer for it.\u201d\n\nAt this the king was frightened. \u201cVery well,\u201d said he, \u201ccome to-morrow\nand you shall have your true bride.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: The King being lost in y^e Forest meets with the Great\nBlack Raven.]\n\nWell, when the next morning came, there was the Raven waiting outside of\nthe castle gateway. But, after all, it was not the princess that he got,\nfor the king had ordered that the steward\u2019s daughter should be dressed\nin the princess\u2019s dress, \u201cfor surely,\u201d said he to himself, \u201cshe is a\ngood enough bride for a Great Black Raven.\u201d\n\nSo the Raven took her on his back and away he flew till he had come to\nthe little hut on top of the bleak hill. There stood the golden goblet,\nthe silver cup, and the earthenware jug just as they had done before.\nAnd now would not the dear maiden drink a drop after her long journey?\n\nYes, indeed, that she would; so she took a good, hearty drink of the\nwhite wine in the silver cup, \u201cfor,\u201d said she to herself, \u201csilver is\nnone too good for a steward\u2019s daughter.\u201d\n\nBut the Raven saw very well that she was no true princess, or she would\nnever have been contented with the silver cup. \u201cCome,\u201d said he, \u201chome we\ngo again, for you are not the bride I seek.\u201d So he took her on his back\nonce more and away he flew to the king\u2019s castle. \u201cSee how you treat me,\u201d\nsaid he to the king, \u201cyou promise me one bride and give me another.\nTo-morrow morning I will come for the true one again, and if I do not\nget her this time you will suffer for it, for I will pick out your eyes\nand tear down your castle about your ears!\u201d And away he flew.\n\nAnd now the king was terribly frightened, and saw that there must be no\ntrickery this time. So the next morning when the Raven came it was the\nPrincess Golden-Hair herself whom he got and none other. Up he took her\non his back and away he flew with her. As for the princess, she did\nnothing but weep and weep, so that when they came to the little hut on\ntop of the bleak hill, she was glad enough to drink a drop for\nrefreshment\u2019s sake. She never looked at the earthen jug or the silver\ncup, but going straight to the golden goblet she wet her lips with the\ngood red wine.\n\nAnd then what do you think happened? Why, the hut grew and grew until it\nchanged into a splendid castle all built of pure silver and gold, and\nall of the many birds outside changed into men and women servants. As\nfor the Great Black Raven, it was a Raven no longer, but the handsomest\nprince in all of the world, and the only thing black about him was the\nlong curling locks of his hair. He kissed the Princess Golden-Hair and\nsaid: \u201cNow, indeed, have I found my true bride and none other. You have\nfreed me and my castle and all of my people from enchantment, which no\none but a real princess could do. For my wicked step-mother laid spells\nupon us which could only be broken when a real princess drank out of the\ngolden goblet.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: Princess Golden-Hair, being a true princess, drinketh\nfrom the golden cup & touches neither y^e silver nor y^e clay. \u00b6]\n\nThen they were married, and a fine wedding they had of it, I can tell\nyou.\n\nWell, a year passed by, and the princess was as happy as the days were\nlong; but at the end of the twelve months she began to long to see her\nfather and her sisters again. So she spoke of her longing to the Raven\nprince, but he only shook his head. No; he would not hear of her going,\nfor he felt that nothing but misfortune would come of it.\n\nBut the princess begged and begged so prettily that at last the prince\nsaid she might go if she would be contented to stay only three days.\nThen he gave her a napkin of the finest linen, and told her that\nwhenever she wanted anything, she had only to spread the napkin and wish\nand it would be there. But there was one thing she must not wish for,\nand that was for him himself, for of that misfortune would come for sure\nand certain.\n\nSo off the princess went to her father\u2019s house, and a fine sight she\nmade of it, I can tell you; for she rode in a golden coach drawn by four\nmilk-white horses, so that every one she passed stopped and looked after\nher, and the little boys cried \u201cHi!\u201d and ran along beside.\n\nHer father and her sisters wondered what fine lady it was that was\ncoming to the castle, and when the coach stopped they came out to look.\nDear, dear, but the king was glad to see her; as for her two sisters,\nthey grew as green as grass with envy, for when they heard where she\ndwelt, and what a fine castle it was, all built of pure gold and silver,\nand what a handsome prince it was that she had for a husband, they were\nready to burst with spite, for each felt that she might have had all\nthis for herself if the Raven prince had only chosen her instead of\nGolden-Hair. So when the princess had told them all about what had\nhappened, they only nodded and winked at one another as though they did\nnot believe a word of it.\n\n\u201cYes, yes,\u201d said they, \u201cit is all very well to talk about your handsome\nprince; but why did he not come along with you, we should like to know?\u201d\n\nThe princess could not tell them that; but she could bring him quickly\nenough whenever she chose, for all that she had to do was to spread her\nnapkin and wish and he would be there. She would show them that what she\nhad said was true, had her prince not forbidden her.\n\nBut the envious sisters only jeered and laughed as though all that the\nprincess said was the best jest in the world.\n\nNow one can bear anything better than laughter. So the end of the matter\nwas that the princess spread the linen napkin on the floor and wished\nthat the Raven prince might be with them.\n\n[Illustration: Princess Golden-Hair cometh to Death\u2019s door where sits\nDeath\u2019s aged Grandmother spinning flax within.]\n\nNo sooner had she wished it than there he stood; but he looked at no one\nbut her. \u201cDid I not tell you that misfortune would come of it if you\nwished for me?\u201d said he. \u201cNow, I must leave you and go where you are not\nlikely ever to see me again.\u201d\n\nThen the princess would have spoken, but he gave her no time for that.\nHe snatched up the napkin, and, becoming a Raven once more, he flew\nthrough the open window and across the tree-tops and was gone. At the\nsame time her golden coach vanished, and, the coachman and footmen\nbecame so many birds and flew away, so that not one of her fine things\nwas left.\n\nThe poor princess wept and cried for a whole day and a whole night. But\nat the end of that time she dried her eyes, and, tucking up her skirts,\nstarted off into the wide world to find her dear prince again.\n\nWell, she travelled on and on and on for more days than she could count,\nand till she had been over nearly all of the world, but in all that time\nshe could learn no news of the prince nor of whither he had gone. At\nlast one day, about nightfall, she came to a little hut in a deep\nforest, and in the hut sat an old woman with hair as white as snow.\n\n\u201cWhat do you want, child?\u201d said the old woman; \u201cdo you not know that\nthis is Death\u2019s house, and that if he returns and finds you here he will\nkill you? I tell you that he spares neither the young nor the old, the\nplain nor the handsome. As for me, I am his grandmother.\u201d\n\nBut all this was one to the princess, and went in at one ear and out of\nthe other; she could no longer drag one foot after the other, so there\nshe must stay even if Death should find her when he came home.\n\nThen she told Death\u2019s grandmother all that had happened to her, and\nDeath\u2019s grandmother took pity on her because she was so pretty and so\ntired. She gave the princess something to eat and then hid her in the\ntall clock that stood in the corner, so that Death might not find her\nwhen he came home.\n\nBy and by in came Death and hung up his great scythe behind the door.\n\u201cHu-u-u-u!\u201d cried he, \u201cI smell Christian blood in the house for sure.\u201d\n\n\u201cChristian blood, indeed!\u201d said his grandmother, \u201cas though a Christian\nwould come to this house if he had anywhere else to go! But now I think\nof it, a crow flew overhead to-day, and dropped a bone down the chimney.\nI threw it out as soon as I could, but perhaps that is what you smell.\u201d\n\nSo Death said nothing more, but sat down to supper and ate heartily, for\nhe had had a long journey that day.\n\n\u201cSee,\u201d said his grandmother, \u201cI had a dream to-day. A princess is out in\nthe world hunting for her Raven sweetheart, and cannot tell where to\nfind him.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is easy enough to tell,\u201d said Death; \u201che lives in a great castle\nthat stands at the end of the earth on a high hill of smooth glass.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is good,\u201d said Death\u2019s grandmother, \u201cbut I dreamed that after she\nfound where he lived, she was too weary to journey thither.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is easy enough, too,\u201d said Death; \u201cout in the forest yonder stands\nmy pale horse tied to an oak-tree. If she could only find the horse and\nloose the bridle and mount his back he would take her there quickly\nenough, for he can travel more rapidly than the north wind.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, yes, that is all very well,\u201d said Death\u2019s grandmother, \u201cbut I had\na third dream; I thought that when she came to the smooth hill of glass\nshe did not know how to climb to the top; what is the answer to that?\u201d\n\n\u201cPrut!\u201d said Death, \u201cthat is easy to tell. Over by the glass hill are\nseven birds fighting in the tree-top for an old hat. If she will throw a\nstone in the midst of them they will drop the hat and fly away. It is\nWish\u2019s own hat, and if she will put it on her head and wish herself at\nthe top of the hill, she will be there quickly enough, I can tell you.\u201d\n\nAfter that Death put on his cloak and took up his scythe and was off\nlike a whirlwind, for he has little time to spare for talking, folks\nsay. Then Death\u2019s grandmother opened the clock, and the princess came\nout and thanked her and went her way.\n\nShe hunted here and there through the forest until, sure enough, she\nfound Death\u2019s great pale horse tied to an oak-tree. She loosened the\nbridle and mounted upon his back, and away they went till the chips and\nthe stones flew behind them. So they soon came to the high hill of\nsmooth glass that stood at the end of the earth, and there, on top of\nit, was the castle of the prince.\n\nThe princess dismounted from the pale horse, and away he galloped home\nagain.\n\nThen the princess hunted for the birds that Death said fought for Wish\u2019s\nhat, and presently she heard them making a great hubbub, and, looking\nup, saw them in the tree-top above her, fighting for the old hat, just\nas Death said they would be doing. She picked up a stone and threw it in\nthe midst of them, and they dropped the hat and flew away screaming.\nThen she put on the hat and wished herself at the top of the hill, and\nthere she was as quick as a wink.\n\nNow, her shoes were worn into holes by long journeying, and her clothes\nwere torn to threads and tatters by the brambles through which she had\npassed, and hung fluttering all about her, and she looked for all the\nworld like nothing else than a common beggar-maid, except for her golden\nhair. So it was that when she knocked at the door of the prince\u2019s\ncastle, and the porter came and opened it and heard that she wanted to\nsee the prince, he snapped his fingers and laughed. All the same he told\nher that the cook wanted a serving wench in the kitchen, and that she\nmight have the place if she liked; if that did not suit her she might be\njogging the way that she had come.\n\nWell, there was nothing for it but for the princess to serve in the\nkitchen or to go away again. So she bound up her hair in a tattered\nkerchief so that the beautiful golden tresses might not be seen, and\ndown she went to serve the cook.\n\nThe prince\u2019s dinner was cooking at the fire, and the princess was to\nwatch it so that it might not be burned. So she watched it, and as she\nwatched it she wept.\n\n\u201cWhy do you weep, hussy?\u201d said the cook.\n\n\u201cAh me!\u201d said the princess, \u201conce I ate with my love and drank with my\nlove and lived by his side. If he did but know to what I have come how\nhis heart would ache!\u201d\n\nAfter that the dinner was served, but, while nobody was looking, the\nprincess plucked a strand of her golden hair and laid it upon a white\nnapkin and the napkin upon an empty plate. Over all she placed a silver\ncover, and when the Raven prince lifted it there lay the strand of\ngolden hair. \u201cWhere did this come from?\u201d said he. But nobody could tell\nhim that.\n\nThe next day the same thing happened; the princess watched the dinner,\nand as she watched she wept.\n\n\u201cWhy do you weep, hussy?\u201d said the cook. And thereto the princess\nanswered as she had done before: \u201cAh me! once I ate with my love and\ndrank with my love and lived by his side. If he did but know to what I\nhave come, how his heart would ache!\u201d\n\nThen, while nobody was looking, she plucked another strand of golden\nhair and the prince found it as he had done the other, and no one could\ntell him whence it came.\n\n[Illustration: The Princess finds her Prince.]\n\nThe third day the same thing happened as had happened twice before: the\nprincess watched and wept, and when nobody was looking plucked a third\nstrand of golden hair and sent it to the prince as she had the others.\n\nThen the prince sent for the cook. \u201cWho has been serving this and that\nwith my dinner?\u201d said he.\n\nThe cook shook his head, for he knew nothing, but perhaps the new\nserving wench could tell, for she wept and said things that none of them\nunderstood. When the prince heard this he sent for her, and the princess\ncame and stood before him. He looked at her and knew her, for her golden\nhair shone through a hole in the ugly head-dress that she wore. Then he\nreached out his hand and snatched it off of her head, and her golden\nhair fell down all about her shoulders until it reached the floor. Then\nhe took her in his arms and kissed her, and that was the end of all of\nher troubles.\n\nAfter that they had a grand time at the castle; every one who came had\nall that he could eat, and wine and beer flowed like water. I, too, was\nthere, but I brought nothing away with me in my pockets.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n                             Seven O\u2019clock\u00b7\n\n\n            Around about, [Sidenote: \u2609\u260c\u2295E3\u00b026\u2032.]\n            Around about,\n    The _Kobold_ played and in and out;\n    He peeped in every _Pot_ and _Pail_,\n    And grinned, and pulled the _Pussy\u2019s_ tail.\n\n    Big clumsy _Gretchen_, washing up [Sidenote: _Clear, pleasant._]\n    The _Breakfast-dishes_, dropped a _Cup_;\n    It fell upon the _Kobold\u2019s Toe_,\n    And made him hop it hurt him so.\n\n      K.P. del.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: Cousin Greylegs, y^e Great Red Fox and Grandfather Mole.]\n\n                                  VII.\n\n\nIn those days the Great Red Fox and Cousin Greylegs, the wolf, were\ngreat cronies, and whenever you would see one you might be sure the\nother was not far away. The Great Red Fox was a master-hand at roguery,\nand Cousin Greylegs, the wolf, came close behind him. That was how they\nmade their living.\n\nBy and by they fell out, so that they were never good friends again, and\nthis was how it happened.\n\nThere was to be a great fair, and the world and his wife and the little\ndog behind the stove were to be there.\n\n\u201cWe will go too,\u201d says the pair of scamps; so off they went.\n\nBy and by they came to an inn where the windows were red with the good\nthings cooking in the kitchen\u2014green geese and ducks and chickens, and\nsausages, and cabbage, and onions, and all the nice things you can think\nof. But the two rogues had no money, and one cannot buy something with\nnothing out in the wide world. But they found a ladder against the side\nof the wall, and climbed up into the loft above and lay in the hay.\n\nDear, dear, how nice the good things did smell down in the kitchen! \u201cMy\ngoodness!\u201d says Cousin Greylegs, \u201cbut I would like to have a taste of\nthem.\u201d\n\nAs for the Great Red Fox, he had been nursing his wits all the time, and\nnow he had a trick hatched. So down he climbed from the loft the same\nway he had climbed up; and nobody saw him, for he took good care of\nthat. Over he went to the stables where the horses stood munching away\nat the corn in the mangers. He loosened a bridle here and a bridle there\nuntil not one of the nags was fastened where he belonged; then he\nslipped back into the loft once more. By and by began the kicking and\nthe squealing over at the stable; out ran the landlord and all the other\nfolks with him, and not a soul was left in the kitchen. Then brother\nGreylegs and the Great Red Fox came down and helped themselves, and\nwhile they were about it the Great Red Fox stuffed a fistful of\nhazel-nuts into his pocket.\n\nAfter a while the landlord and the rest of them came from the stable;\nbut nothing was left for them of the good things but the leavings.\n\nAs for Cousin Greylegs and the Great Red Fox, why, they lay up in the\nloft among the straw, and ate and ate until they could eat no more.\n\nBy and by there came along somebody else on his way to the fair, and it\nwas a rich corn-factor who made his money by buying corn cheap, and\nselling it dear to poor folks, so that he was as great a rogue as the\ntwo scamps up yonder in the loft. With him he brought a whole bag of\nmoney; but it bought him no supper that night, for all the good things\nhad been stolen, and the corn-factor had to be contented with what\npickings he could get. As for the bag of money, he put that in a great\nchest in the corner, and there he left it for safe-keeping.\n\nNow up in the loft where the two rogues lay was a cowhide, which the\nlandlord used for making straps and thongs and such like things. What\ndoes the Great Red Fox do but whip out his needle and thread and sew the\ncowhide fast to Cousin Greylegs\u2019 Jacket, though Cousin Greylegs knew no\nmore of that than a mouse in a barrel. Then by and by the Great Red Fox\nwas up to another of his tricks. \u201cSee,\u201d says he, \u201chere I have a\npocketful of hazel-nuts, and I am for cracking one.\u201d\n\n\u201cTut, tut, brother,\u201d says Cousin Greylegs, \u201cyou must crack no nuts\nhere.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut I must crack a nut,\u201d says the Great Red Fox.\n\n\u201cBut you must not,\u201d says Cousin Greylegs.\n\n\u201cBut I must,\u201d says the Great Red Fox, and so he did.\n\n\u201cHark!\u201d says the landlord; \u201cyonder is somebody up in the loft cracking\nthe nuts that we were to have had for supper; it is a good beating he\nshall have for the trick he has been playing upon us.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: Cousin Greylegs and the Great Red Fox go together to y^e\nfair. \u00b6 ):(]\n\nWhen Cousin Greylegs heard this he did not stop to tarry or to think;\ndown he jumped from the loft, and away he scampered as fast as he could\nlay foot to the ground; but with him went the cowhide which the Great\nRed Fox had sewed fast to his jacket.\n\n\u201cHi!\u201d bawled the landlord, \u201cthere is the thief who stole our supper, and\nhe is taking my cowhide into the bargain.\u201d\n\nOff they all scampered after Cousin Greylegs and the cowhide. The\ncorn-factor first of all.\n\nAs for Cousin Greylegs, why, he laid down to the running as though he\nhad never been born for anything else. But it is hard work running with\na cowhide flapping about one\u2019s legs, so they caught him just over the\nhill, and then, dear, dear, what a drubbing they gave him.\n\nBut as soon as everybody was safe away after Cousin Greylegs and the\ncowhide, the Great Red Fox came down from the loft, and marched off with\nthe corn-factor\u2019s money without anybody being about to say \u201cNo\u201d to him.\n\nOff he went as happy as a cricket, until he came to the cross-roads over\nthe hill and back of the woods, and who should he see sitting there but\nCousin Greylegs rubbing the places that smarted the most.\n\n\u201cHi!\u201d says the Great Red Fox, \u201cand is that you, Cousin Greylegs? Why, I\nhave been looking up and down, over hill and over hollow for you. Here\nis a whole bag of money that I found at the inn over yonder, and if it\nwasn\u2019t for the trick that I played you, there was never a penny of it\nthat would have come into our pockets.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo!\u201d says Cousin Greylegs. \u201cWell, that was a different matter;\u201d and he\nswallowed the drubbing he had had, for it was to be share and share\nalike with the money, and that was a salve for sore bones. So off they\nwent together arm in arm.\n\nBy and by they came to another inn. \u201cWe\u2019ll stop here,\u201d says Cousin\nGreylegs, \u201cand have another bite to eat before we go any farther.\u201d And\nthat suited the Great Red Fox well enough, so in they went, and gave the\nbag of money into the landlord\u2019s keeping, and Cousin Greylegs ordered a\nsupper fit for a lord.\n\nBut the Great Red Fox had his wits about him all this time, for he was\nnot one to be caught napping when the sun was up. \u201cYes, yes,\u201d says he to\nhimself, \u201cCousin Greylegs is up to some of his tricks, sure enough;\nwe\u2019ll put a stopper in the bottle before the luck has dribbled out.\u201d So\nwhile Cousin Greylegs was pottering about in the kitchen down-stairs,\nseeing that the cooking was done to his mind, the Great Red Fox took a\nbag like the one they brought with them, and filled it full of old rusty\nnails and bits of iron. Off he marched with it to the landlord. \u201cSee,\u201d\nsays he, \u201cCousin Greylegs will come asking for a bag by and by; here it\nis, give it to him and he will be satisfied.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: Cousin Greylegs steals away from the inn, carrying off a\nbag full of this & that with him.]\n\nSure enough, when the supper was over and the Great Red Fox was snoring\nin front of the fire, for all the world as though he were sound asleep,\noff packed Cousin Greylegs to the landlord. \u201cLook,\u201d says he, \u201cthat bag\nthat the Great Red Fox left here, just hand it over to me, will you? for\nI must be jogging. As for the Great Red Fox, you may let him have his\nsleep out.\u201d\n\nYes, that was all right, and the landlord knew nothing about the tricks\nof the two rogues, so he handed over the bag of rusty nails and bits of\niron. And Cousin Greylegs never once thought of looking to see, for the\nbits of iron jingled, and the sound was enough for him, for that is the\nway with folks out in the world.\n\nAs for the Great Red Fox, he waited until Cousin Greylegs was well away\non his own business, then off he stepped along the road that led the\nother way, and it was the bag of gold and silver money he carried with\nhim.\n\n\nBut that is not all of the story; for listen: There was a poor old blind\nmole who lived in the ground because he had nowhere else to go, and that\nwas his home. But the Great Red Fox thought nothing of him. On he\ncame\u2014tramp! tramp! tramp!\u2014and would have trodden right on the roof of\nthe mole\u2019s house. \u201cBrother Fox,\u201d cried Grandfather Mole, \u201clook where you\nare treading, or you will have the roof down about my ears.\u201d\n\n\u201cPooh!\u201d says the Great Red Fox, \u201cwhen one has been sharp enough to trick\nsuch a keen blade as Cousin Greylegs, one is not going to step out of\none\u2019s way for a little gray mole as blind as charity:\u201d and so he was for\ngoing straight ahead.\n\nBut up jumped Grandfather Mole and caught hold of him, and then he felt\nthe bag of gold and silver money the Great Red Fox carried. \u201cHi!\u201d says\nhe, \u201cand here is a new card in the game.\u201d So he held on to the Great Red\nFox and began to bawl with all his might and main, \u201cHelp, good folks!\nhelp! here is the Great Red Fox stealing my bag of gold and silver\nmoney!\u201d\n\n\u201cHush! hush!\u201d said the Great Red Fox, for he was for having as little\nsaid about the bag of money as need be, \u201clet me go and I will promise to\ntread on nobody\u2019s house.\u201d But no, it was easier to get into that hole\nthan it was to get out again, for Grandfather Mole held on and bawled\nfor help louder than ever. \u201cHelp! help! here is one robbing a poor blind\nmole of all he has in the world!\u201d That was the way he kept up the song,\nand he made such a hubbub that the folks came running and hauled them\nboth up before the Master Judge to see what he had to say about the\nbusiness.\n\n[Illustration: The Great Red Fox meets y^e old, blind Mole.]\n\n\u201cThe bag of money is mine,\u201d said the Great Red Fox.\n\n\u201cYes, good! but where did you get it?\u201d says the judge, and that was a\nquestion easier asked than answered.\n\n\u201cSee now,\u201d says Grandfather Mole, \u201cit is easy enough to talk, for breath\nis cheap in this town, but the thing is to put it to trial and find out\nwho is telling the truth. We\u2019ll build a fire and try who can stand it\nthe longest, and that will show the right in this matter as clear as a\nmorning in hay-season.\u201d\n\nWell, that suited the fox well enough, \u201cfor,\u201d says he to himself, \u201cit is\na pretty business if I can\u2019t stand a scorching as long as an old blind\nmole;\u201d and so that business was settled.\n\nOut they all went, and it was Grandfather Mole who was to try the\nburning first of all. So they fetched sticks and twigs and covered him\nall over with them, and then set fire to them.\n\nDear, dear, but it was a fine blaze that went up, but the mole had his\nwits about him; for as soon as he felt the heat of the fire he began\ndigging down into the ground with all his might and main, so that not a\nspark touched him.\n\n\u201cDo you burn, Grandfather Mole?\u201d says the Great Red Fox.\n\n\u201cNo!\u201d bawled Grandfather Mole. So they just threw on another armful of\ntwigs.\n\nBy and by the Great Red Fox says again: \u201cDo you burn, Grandfather Mole?\u201d\nfor he thought by this time that the mole must be as scorched as an old\nshoe under the stove.\n\nBut Grandfather Mole was ready for him. \u201c_No!!_\u201d he bawled, louder than\never.\n\nDear, dear, but here was a strange happening; all the same, the Great\nRed Fox threw on wood and threw on wood, until the blaze went up like a\nchimney afire. \u201cAnd _now_ do you burn, Grandfather Mole?\u201d says he.\n\n\u201cNO!!!\u201d bawled Grandfather Mole until you might have thought his throat\nwould have split with the noise he made.\n\nSo they let the fire go out, and up came Grandfather Mole out of the\nground looking as fresh and as sharp as a green gooseberry.\n\nAnd now it was the Great Red Fox\u2019s turn; and they heaped the sticks and\ntwigs over him as they had done over Grandfather Mole, and then set fire\nto them.\n\n\u201cDo you burn?\u201d says Grandfather Mole after a bit.\n\n\u201cNO!!!\u201d bawled the Great Red Fox, as though his throat was made of\nleather.\n\nSo they threw on more sticks and twigs, but the Great Red Fox just shut\nhis teeth and grinned, for he was bound that he would stand as much of a\nburning as an old blind mole.\n\n[Illustration: The Great Red Fox beareth all that he can.]\n\n\u201cDo you burn now?\u201d says Grandfather Mole.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d says the Great Red Fox, but his voice was as small as peas in\nMarch. So they threw on another armful of wood, and the fire grew hotter\nand hotter.\n\n\u201cAnd do you burn now?\u201d says Grandfather Mole.\n\n\u201c_Thunder and lightning, yes!_\u201d bawled the Great Red Fox, and out he\njumped and away he scampered, smoking like a charcoal kiln.\n\nSo all he gained by his roguery was a burnt skin and nothing to show for\nit; and that has happened more than once to rogues whose wits are so\nsharp that they cut their own fingers with them.\n\nNow in our town we do not make puddings without plums, or tell a story\nwithout rhyme or reason, but if you wish to find any meaning in these\nwords, you must put on your spectacles and look for it for yourself,\neven though the tale stands all legs and no head, as the man in the moon\nsaid about his grandmother\u2019s tongs.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n                             Eight O\u2019clock\u00b7\n\n\n              The _Sun_ in the _Sky_ [Sidenote: _Grows warmer_]\n              Is not yet high,\n        And the _Grasses_ are wet by the _Pool_.\n              With hop and jump,\n              By _Hedge_ and _Stump_, [Sidenote: \u2648\ufe0e]\n        The _Children_ are going to _School_.\n\n                                    K. P.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: One Good Turn Deserves Another.]\n\n                                 VIII.\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a lad who was a fisherman, and every morning\nhe shouldered his net, and went down to the river to catch fish to sell\nin the town.\n\nOne morning as he walked beside the edge of the water, he came upon a\ngreat tall stork caught in a trap that had been set for the water-rats.\n\nIt was a tender heart that the young fisherman had under his jacket, so\nwhen he saw Father Longlegs in such a pickle he waded out into the\nwater, among the reeds and arrowheads to where the other was, and\nloosened the noose from about his leg.\n\nThe storks bring good-luck to folks some people say, and that was what\nhappened to the young fisherman.\n\n\u201cOne good turn deserves another,\u201d says Father Longlegs; \u201ccross your\nheart three times, cast your net into the water yonder, and see what you\ncatch.\u201d So the lad did as he was told, and when he drew his net to the\nshore, there was just one fish in it.\n\nYes; just one fish, but that was worth the catching, I can tell you, for\nthe scales were all of pure silver and gold, so that it glistened like\nthe moon on smooth ice, and it was most wonderful to see.\n\n\u201cThere,\u201d says the stork; \u201cand now if you have your wits about you, it is\nyour fortune that you have caught out of the water. Take the fish up to\nthe king\u2019s castle and show it to nobody but the king. When he sees it he\nwill want to have it for his own and will be for buying it, but there is\nonly one price you must ask for it, and that is to have the princess for\nyour wife.\u201d That was what the stork said, and then he spread his wings\nand flew away over the house-tops.\n\nSo the lad wrapped the fish up in a clean white napkin and laid it in a\nwicker basket, and then off he marched to the king\u2019s castle to try his\nluck there, as the stork had said.\n\nRap! tap! tap! he knocked at the door.\n\nWell, and what did he want?\n\nOh, he had brought a fish that he had caught over at the river yonder,\nbut he would show it to nobody but the king himself.\n\nNo, it did no good for them to ask and to question and to talk; what he\nhad said he had said. So at last they had to take him up-stairs, and\nthere was the king sitting upon a golden throne with a golden crown upon\nhis head and a golden sceptre in his hand.\n\n\u201cWell, and why do you wish to see me?\u201d That was what the king said.\n\nIt was no word that the lad spoke with his tongue, but he just unfolded\nthe napkin, and showed the king what he had brought in the wicker\nbasket.\n\nWhen the king saw the gold and silver fish, he thought he had never seen\nanything so wonderful in all of his life before. Then it was just as the\nstork had said. He must and would have the fish, no matter what it cost;\nand what would the lad take for it?\n\nWhy, the body over at the river yonder, who had put the lad up to\ncatching the fish, had told him that there was only one price to be\nasked for it. Now, if the king would let him have the princess for his\nwife, he might have the fish and welcome; for _that_ was the price, and\nthe long and the short of it.\n\nWell, the king hemmed and hawed, but he did not speak the little word\n\u201cno;\u201d and after a while he said he would send for the princess, and see\nwhat she had to say about it. So the princess came, and she was a beauty\nI can tell you, for the very sight of her was enough to make one\u2019s heart\nmelt inside of one, like a lump of butter in the oven. And as for the\nwits of her, why, she was just as smart as she was pretty (which is\nsaying much and a little over), and that is why the king had sent for\nher, for he wanted to get the gold and silver fish without paying the\nprice for it.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d says the princess when the king had told her all. \u201cI am ready\nenough to marry the lad, only he must promise to do one thing first.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: Father Longlegs, the Stork, puts the Fisher Lad in y^e\nway of catching a strange fish in his nets. \u00b6]\n\nDear, dear, how the lad\u2019s heart jumped inside of him at that. He was\nwilling enough to promise whatever was asked, for he would do anything\nto marry the princess, now that he had seen how pretty she was.\n\n\u201cVery well, then,\u201d said the princess, \u201cjust bring me the key of\nwish-house and I will marry you.\u201d\n\n\u201cThere,\u201d said the king, \u201cthat is a bargain; go and bring the key of\nwish-house and you shall marry the princess; and you may just leave the\nfish here until you come back again. And don\u2019t show your face about here\nwithout the key, if you wish to keep your head upon your shoulders.\u201d\n\nSo off went the lad from the king\u2019s castle, with nothing at all in his\npocket and ill-luck astride of his back. Down he went to the river as\nstraight as he could walk, and there stood Father Stork gazing down into\nthe water and looking as wise as our minister on Sunday. See now, thus\nand so and thus and so had happened, and the stork had gotten him into a\npretty scrape over at the castle by putting him up to asking such a\nprice for his herring; that was what the lad said.\n\n\u201cPrut!\u201d says the stork, \u201cbreak no bones over that furrow; ill-luck\nalways comes before good-luck, and rain before the little flowers; what\nis worth having is worth working for. Just get upon my back and I will\ncarry you to where the queen of the birds lives; if anybody can put you\nin the way of finding the key of wish-house she will be the one.\u201d So the\nstork bent his red legs and up the lad got upon his back. Then Father\nLonglegs spread his wings and away he flew, and on and on, over field\nand fallow, over valley and mountain, over forest and over stream.\n\nAfter they had gone so far that the lad thought the end of the world\ncould not be a great way off, they came to a grand house, all built of\nred brick, that stood on a high hill, and that was where the queen of\nthe birds lived. The stork flew straight to the house, and there was the\nqueen of the birds walking in the garden.\n\nThe stork told everything from first to last, and that now what they\nwanted to know was, whether the queen of the birds could tell them where\nthe key of wish-house was to be found.\n\nNo, the queen did not know that herself, but she would call all of the\nbirds of the heavens and of the earth, and perhaps there would be some\none among them that could tell.\n\nA little silver whistle hung about her neck; she put it to her lips and\nblew upon it so shrilly that it made a body\u2019s ear ring to listen to it,\nand the birds of the heavens and of the earth came flying from far and\nnear until the air was as full of them as a sunbeam is full of motes on\nsweeping-day.\n\nThe queen of the birds asked them one and all, from tom-tit to the wild\nswan, if they could tell where the key of wish-house was to be found;\nbut not a single one of them knew.\n\nAfter all the rest had spoken there came flying an old eagle, so old\nthat he was as grey as the ashes upon the hearth, and he was six times\nas big as any of the rest. He had come from the other end of nowhere,\nand that is a long way off, as even simple Jack can tell you; that was\nwhat had kept him such a time in the coming.\n\nAnd was it the key of wish-house that they were talking about? Oh, yes;\nthe old eagle knew where the key of wish-house was as well as he knew\nhis bread-and-butter, for the old Grey Master that lives on the iron\nmountain had it hanging back of the kitchen door, and the eagle had seen\nit there more than once.\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d says the queen of the birds; \u201cthen here is a lad who has\ncome out into the world hunting for that key, a good-hearted fellow who\nhelped Father Stork out of a tight place over at the river yonder, where\nhe had been caught in a trap set for the water-rats. Now can you not\nhelp him to find what he wants?\u201d\n\nWell, the old eagle did not say no, for one good turn deserves another;\nso he took the lad on his back at the root of his wings and away he\nflew.\n\nOne would have thought that the red-legged stork had flown far, but it\nwas nothing at all to the journey that the eagle took. On and on he flew\nfor such a long way that I, for one, could never find words to tell you\nhow far away it was.\n\nAll the same, every journey must have an ending. And at last they came\nto a great iron mountain the sides of which were as smooth as the face\nof a looking-glass; so it was a good thing for the lad that he had a\ngreat grey eagle to carry him up to the top, and that is the truth.\n\nThere on the top of the mountain lay a green meadow, so wide that the\neye could not see to the other end of it. And in the middle of the\nmeadow stood a tall castle; that was where the Grey Master lived who\nkept the key of wish-house back of the kitchen door.\n\n\u201cThis is all the farther I can carry you just now,\u201d says the eagle; \u201cbut\nhere is a feather, when you are ready to come away just throw it up into\nthe air, and I will not be long in coming.\u201d\n\nThe lad thanked the eagle for the help he had had, and then he put the\nfeather in the lining of his hat.\n\nAfter that the eagle went one way and the lad went the other, and that\nwas towards the castle where the Grey Master lived.\n\nOff he stepped right foot foremost, and by and by he came to a little\nstream of water that ran along through the meadow. But just in the\nmiddle of the brook lay a great stone, that choked the stream so that it\ncould hardly crawl around it.\n\n\u201cHere is a body in trouble as well as myself,\u201d said the lad, and he\nstooped and rolled away the great round stone so that the brook might\nflow smoothly and freely.\n\n\u201cOne good turn deserves another,\u201d said the brook. \u201cLook in the place\nwhere the great round stone lay and you will find a little red pebble;\nso long as you keep that pebble in your mouth you will be as strong as\nten common men.\u201d\n\nWell, the lad hunted until he found the pebble, and then he thanked the\nbrook and jogged along the way he was going.\n\nBy and by he came to an apple-tree, and it was so loaded down with\napples that the branches were bent to the very ground.\n\n\u201cHere is another body weighed down by the cares of the world,\u201d said the\nlad. So he shook some of the apples off and cut props to put under the\nbranches, that they might not be broken by the load.\n\n\u201cOne good turn deserves another,\u201d said the apple-tree. \u201cLook under my\nroots and you will find a golden apple; while you keep that in your\nbosom neither fire nor water can harm you, for it is an apple from the\ntree of life.\u201d\n\nWell, the lad found the apple under the roots of the tree, and then he\nsaid \u201cthank you,\u201d and went on his way.\n\nBy and by he came to a place where he heard a great hubbub over the\nhedge; he looked and there he saw that it was a black cock and a red\ncock fighting for dear life, and the red cock was having the worst of\nit, for it was nearly dead already.\n\n\u201cHere is another who is having the worst of the fight,\u201d said the lad,\nand he jumped over the hedge, and drove away the black cock with the\nstaff he held in his hand.\n\n\u201cOne good turn deserves another,\u201d said the red cock. \u201cI know what you\nhave come hither to find, and I will give you a bit of advice that will\nbe worth the having. When the Grey Master asks you what you want, tell\nhim it is to watch his black cattle for one night. If you do that he\nmust give you whatsoever you ask for. And listen; this is what you must\ndo to watch the cattle. When you open the stable door there will come\nout three-and-twenty black cows, and after them a black bull breathing\nfire and smoke. Him you must catch by the horns and must hold him fast\nuntil the cock crows in the morning. But you must have the strength of\nten men to do that.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: The Fisher Lad cometh to the Grey Master\u2019s house.]\n\nWell, the lad thanked the cock for the advice he had given, and then he\nwent on his way and up to the castle where the Grey Master lived.\n\nHe knocked at the door, and it was the Grey Master himself who came and\nopened it. He was a head and shoulders taller than other men, was the\nGrey Master, and he had but one eye, which gleamed and glistened like\nthe dog-star in January. Beside him flew two black ravens with eyes as\nred as coals of fire.\n\n\u201cAnd what is it that you want?\u201d said the Grey Master.\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d said the lad, \u201cI have come from over in the brown world yonder,\nand I want to watch your black cattle for one night, that is all I am\nafter.\u201d\n\nWhen the Grey Master heard what the lad said, he frowned until his one\neye shone like lightning. \u201cVery well,\u201d said he, \u201cyou shall have a chance\nand a try at what you want, but if you fail your head shall be cut off\nand hung up over the gate yonder.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is not so pleasant to think of,\u201d said the lad; \u201call the same, I\nwill have a try and see what I can do.\u201d So in he came, and he and the\nGrey Master sat down to supper together.\n\nBy and by, when the lad had eaten all that he wanted the Grey Master\ntold him it was time to go about the business he had come for. So off\nwent the lad to the stable where the four-and-twenty black cattle stood\nall in a row. He opened the door, and out they ran helter-skelter and as\nfast as they could push, and\u2014whisk! pop!\u2014soon as they came out of the\ndoor each cow changed into a black crow and flew around and around the\nlad\u2019s head as though it would beat his eyes out. Last of all came the\nblack bull, and the lad was ready and waiting for him.\n\nHe clapped the red pebble into his mouth, and then he was as strong as\nten common men. He caught the bull by the horns, and it might puff out\nfire and smoke, as it chose, for it could do him no harm because of the\napple of life which he carried in his bosom.\n\nHow the bull did pitch and toss, and bellow and roar, to be sure, but it\nwas all for no use, the lad held on like hunger, until by and by the\nbull stopped struggling and stood as quiet as a lamb. But the lad held\nfast to the bull\u2019s horns, and all the time the black crows flew about\nhis head, but never once so much as touched him.\n\nAt last a cock crew, and then they all changed again into cows, and the\nlad drove them back into the stable once more, and there they were.\n\nBy and by came the Grey Master. \u201cWell,\u201d said he, \u201cand did you watch the\nblack cattle?\u201d\n\nOh, yes, the lad had watched them, and it was no such hard task to do;\nthere they were in the stable yonder, safe and sound.\n\nThen you should have seen what a sour face the Master pulled over the\nbusiness! All the same, he had to pay the lad; so what did he want for\nhis wages?\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d said the lad, \u201cit is little that I want. If you will let me have\nthe key that hangs back of the kitchen door I will be satisfied.\u201d So the\nGrey Master had to go and get it for him, though he would rather have\ngiven him one of his eye-teeth.\n\nOff marched the lad with what he had come for, and that is more than\nmost of us get. But the Grey Master was not for letting him off so easy\nas all that, I can tell you, for the more he thought over the business\nthe less he liked to give up the key of wish-house.\n\nSo after a while he took down the Sword of Sharpness which hung against\nthe wall, slipped his feet into the Shoes of Speed that stood in the\ncorner, took a peep into the Book of Knowledge which lay upon the shelf,\nto see which way the lad had gone, and then set off after him hot-foot,\nto get back what he had given away.\n\nJust as the lad got to where the apple-tree stood he looked over his\nshoulder, and there he saw the Grey Master coming over the hills.\n\n\u201cAnd where shall I go now,\u201d says he.\n\n\u201cOne good turn deserves another,\u201d said the apple-tree; \u201cjust come under\nmy branches.\u201d\n\nThe lad did as he was told, and the apple-tree drooped its branches\nabout him, until one could see neither hide nor hair of him.\n\nBy and by up came the Grey Master puffing and blowing. \u201cApple-tree,\u201d\nsays he, \u201cdid you see the fisher-lad come by this way?\u201d\n\nNo, the apple-tree had seen nobody go past that place. So back went the\nMaster home again to have another look into his Book of Knowledge. There\nhe saw as clear as day what sort of trick had been played upon him. Off\nhe started again after the lad at such a rate that the ground smoked\nunder his feet.\n\nBut the lad had lost no time either, so that when he looked over his\nshoulder and saw the Grey Master coming across the hills behind him, he\nhad gone as far as the brook.\n\n\u201cOne good turn deserves another,\u201d said the brook, and it made itself\nsmall and smaller, so that the lad stepped over without wetting so much\nas the sole of his foot. Then it spread itself out again three times as\nbroad as before. Presently up came the Master, fuming like a pot on the\nfire.\n\n\u201cBrook,\u201d says he, \u201cdid you see the fisher-lad go by this way?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said the brook; \u201cthere he is just on the other side.\u201d And there\nhe was sure enough.\n\nThe Grey Master never stopped to take off his shoes and stockings, but\ninto the water he splashed as fast as he could go. Just as he reached\nthe middle of the stream the brook began to swell, and grew large and\nlarger until it carried away the Grey Master like a cork in the gutter,\nand there was an end of him.\n\nAfter that the lad went on without hurrying any more than he chose,\nuntil he came to the side of the mountain. He took the eagle\u2019s feather\nfrom out his cap and threw it up in the air, and there was the eagle\nbefore he had time to grow tired of waiting.\n\nHe sat him upon the eagle\u2019s back, and away they flew, and on and on\nwithout stopping until they came to the house where the queen of the\nbirds lived. There was Father Longlegs (the stork) waiting for them. He\ntook his turn of carrying the lad, and when they stopped it was just\nover beyond the king\u2019s castle.\n\nBut the lad had been out into the world, and had learned a thing or two.\n\n\u201cSee now,\u201d says he, \u201cit was hasty cooking that burned the broth;\u201d and so\nhe would not go up to the castle with his key of wish-house without\nfirst trying what door he could unlock with it himself. He took it out\nof his pocket and struck it a rap or two upon the ground.\n\n\u201cI should like,\u201d says he, \u201cto have golden clothes upon my back, and to\nhave a golden horse and a golden greyhound that shall chase a golden\nhare.\u201d That was what he said, and he did not have to say it twice; for\nbefore he could wink there they were standing beside him just as he\nwanted. He leaped upon his horse and away he rode after the greyhound\nand the golden hare.\n\nHow the people in the castle did stare when they saw him riding past!\nThe princess herself ran to the window to see the fine sight, and as for\nthe king, he sent six of his knights posting after the fisher-lad, for\nhe thought that it was some great lord who had come into those parts.\n\n[Illustration: The Grey Master is caught in the stream and is swept\naway, but y^e Fisher Lad crosses it dry-shod. ):(]\n\nBy and by the lad came to a thicket, and there he jumped off of his\nhorse and rapped upon the ground with his key.\n\n\u201cI wish to be as I was before,\u201d says he, and then he was the poor\nfisher-lad and nothing else. As for the golden clothes, the golden\nhorse, the golden greyhound, and the golden hare, they went back to\nNomansland whither they had come; and when the king\u2019s people came riding\nup there was nobody but a lad in rags and tatters whistling into a key.\n\nThey hunted up and they hunted down, but they could find neither sign\nnor trace of the golden rider and the golden horse. So after a while\nthey had to ride back to the castle without them.\n\n\u201cYou should have brought the lad who blew upon the key,\u201d said the\nprincess.\n\nThe next day the lad rapped upon the ground with his key again.\n\n\u201cI should like to have,\u201d says he, \u201ca golden coach drawn by six\nmilk-white horses, with coachman and footman and out-riders dressed in\nclothes of gold and silver.\u201d\n\nThat was what he said; and there they were just as he wanted. Into the\ncoach he got, and off he rode down by the king\u2019s castle.\n\nDear, dear, how the folks did stare, to be sure! This time the king sent\ntwelve knights after the golden coach, for he thought it must be a king\nor a prince for certain who rode by in such style.\n\nPretty soon the lad came to a woods, and there he jumped out of the\ncoach and rapped upon the ground with his key.\n\n\u201cI want to be just as I was before,\u201d says he; and, sure enough, he was.\n\nUp clattered the twelve knights on their horses, and there sat the lad\nin rags and tatters whistling upon his key.\n\nThe twelve knights hunted high and hunted low, and not another soul\ncould they find, and so they had to ride back to the castle again.\n\n\u201cSee now,\u201d said the princess, \u201cdid I not say that you should have\nbrought the lad who blew upon the key?\u201d\n\nThe next day the lad went out and rapped upon the ground for the third\ntime.\n\n\u201cI should like,\u201d said he, \u201cto have a splendid castle all built of silver\nand gold, such as nobody ever saw before.\u201d\n\nThat was what he said, and before the words had left his tongue just\nsuch a great castle grew up out of nothing like a soap-bubble.\n\n[Illustration: The Princess finds the Fisher Lad with the key of Luck\u2019s\nhouse. \u00b6]\n\nThe king chanced to look out of the window just then, and there was the\ngreat splendid gold and silver castle. He took off his spectacles and\nrubbed them and rubbed them, but there was the castle just the same as\never.\n\nHe bade them saddle the horses, and he and the princess, and all of the\ncourt besides, rode away to find out who it was that had built such a\nfine castle all in one night.\n\nBut the lad saw them coming, and rapped upon the ground with his key. \u201cI\nshould like,\u201d said he, \u201cfor things to be just as they were before;\u201d and\npuff! away went the castle like the light of a candle when one blows it\nout.\n\nUp came the king and the princess and all the court, and not a speck of\nthe grand castle could they find, but only a lad in rags and tatters who\nsat upon a great round stone and whistled upon a key.\n\nBut the princess was a lass who could see through a millstone with a\nhole in it. So soon as she set eyes upon him she knew the whole business\nfrom beginning to end. Up she marched to him, before them all, and took\nhim by the hand. \u201cNow I will marry you,\u201d said she, \u201cfor I see that you\nhave brought the key of wish-house with you;\u201d and there she was as wise\nas ever. For there be many kings and princes in the world, but I have\nnever yet heard of any one except the fisher-lad who had the key of\nwish-house. Have you?\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n                             Nine O\u2019clock\u00b7\n\n\n         The _School-bell_ rings; [Sidenote: \u2609]\n           The _Children_ all\n         Must answer to\n           The _Master\u2019s_ call. [Sidenote: _Cloudy and warm._]\n\n         The _Master_ has\n           A crooked _Nose_;\n         He whips the _Boys_,\n           And puffs, and blows;\n\n         He makes them stand\n           And walk by _Rule_,\n         And bow before\n           They leave the _School_.\n\n                 K.P.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: The White Bird.]\n\n                                  IX.\n\n\nOnce there was a king, who, as time went on, found himself waxing old in\nyears and feeble in body, so he began to think of giving up the cares of\ngovernment and of taking his ease for as much of life as was left him.\nBut here was the trouble: there were three princes, and each one of them\nwas just as clever as the other two, so that the old king could not tell\nwhich to choose as the right one to sit in his place. He thought and\nthought and thought, until at last he plucked an apple off of his\nthinking-tree, as folks say. All three of the princes should go out into\nthe world, and whichever of them should fetch back an apple from the\nTree of Happiness should rule over all of the kingdom. And I speak the\ntruth when I say that the apple was cheap enough even at that price.\n\nSo off went the three to seek for what they wanted. They travelled along\nwithout let or stay until towards evening they came to a place where two\nhouses stood, the one on the one side of the road and the other on the\nother.\n\nOne of them was as fine a house as a body ever saw. Every window was lit\nup by the warm fires and the bright lights within, and even out on the\nhigh-road one could hear the merry times the folks were having; laughing\nand singing and clinking their glasses together. As for the good things\ncooking in the kitchen, why it was enough to make one hungry just to\nsmell the steam of them. Over the door was a sign, and on the sign was\nwritten,\n\n                   \u201cWHO ENTERS HERE SHALL HAVE WHAT\n                   HE LIKES AND PAY NOTHING FOR IT.\u201d\n\nThe other house was a poor, mean, little, tumble-down hut, as silent as\ndeath, and with never a spark of light or fire shining at the windows.\nThere was also a sign over the door, and on the sign was written,\n\n                  \u201cWHO ENTERS HERE SHALL HAVE WHAT HE\n                  NEEDS AND PAY WHAT HE CAN.\u201d\n\n\u201cYonder is the place for us,\u201d said the older brothers, and they pointed\nwith their thumbs to the grand house, where there was good company with\nplenty to eat and drink and nothing to pay.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d says the youngest of the three, \u201cthat is all very well, but I\nwould rather pay for what I need than get what I like for nothing.\u201d\n\nDear, dear, how the two did laugh at the one to be sure! but all the\nsame, the one held to what he had said, and so at last the two flew into\na huff. \u201cGo your way,\u201d said they, \u201cand we will go ours.\u201d And into the\ngrand house they went. There they gave themselves up to ease and\ncomfort, and it was a merry time they had of it, I can tell you.\n\nBut the youngest brother went over to the little dark house and knocked\nupon the door, and it was opened by a poor old man whose head and beard\nwere as white as the snow, and whose clothes hung about him all in tags\nand tatters.\n\n\u201cCome in and welcome,\u201d said he, \u201cfor you are the first who has been here\nfor twenty-seven ages;\u201d and that is a long time, as anybody knows\nwithout the telling.\n\nBut in the little house there was no wood to make a fire, and there was\nno water to boil in the pot. So the prince took the axe and went out and\nchopped an armful of wood, and then he took the pot and filled it at the\nwell.\n\nOut in the stable stood a white cow with silver horns; but there was\nnever a straw for it to lie upon, and never a bit of hay for it to eat.\nSo the prince shook down a bed for it, and then he filled the rack with\nhay and left it munching away for dear life.\n\nOut in the yard was a red cock and a white hen, but though they\nscratched and scratched it was never a grain that they found. So the\nprince threw them a handful of barley and left them pecking away at it,\nas though they had not seen the like for a week of Sundays.\n\n[Illustration: The Prince knocks at the door of the poor, mean, little\nhouse and not the great, rich one. \u00b6]\n\nAfter he had done all these things, he and the old man sat down to\nsupper together, and, if it was not of the finest, why the prince had a\ngood appetite, and one can have no better sauce to a crust than that.\n\nThe prince stayed all night, and the next morning he was for jogging on\nhis way. But before he went he offered the old man what money he had,\nbecause anybody could read the sign over the door.\n\nBut the old man shook his head. \u201cNo, no,\u201d said he, \u201cyou have paid your\nscore. You have given what you can, and you shall have what you need.\nHere is a little book, and in it you may read whatever you wish to know.\nGo out into the stable and you will find a barley straw back of the\nwhite cow\u2019s ear. Take that with you, for you will need it. Look in the\nmanger and you will find an egg that the white hen has laid; take it\nwith you also, for it is worth the having.\u201d\n\nThen he said good-bye and shut the door, and that was the last the\nprince saw of him.\n\nThe prince went to the stable, and there he found the barley straw and\nthe egg, just as the old man had said, and off he marched with them.\n\nHe went to the grand house over the way and called his brothers, but\nthey only came to the windows and laughed and jeered at him. \u201cNo, no,\u201d\nsaid they, \u201cwe are going no farther along the road, for we know very\nwell when the world is smooth with us. The Fruit of Happiness can bring\nus nothing better than what we have at hand.\u201d\n\nAnd so the young prince had to trudge away by himself. But what to do\nwith the straw and the egg he knew no more than my grandmother\u2019s cat. So\nhe opened his little book, and this was what it said between the leaves:\n\n\u201c_Mount the straw and ride it whither it takes you._\u201d\n\n\u201cSo,\u201d said the prince; \u201cthat would be a strange thing to do for sure and\ncertain. All the same, an easy task is worth the trying;\u201d so he just\nflung his leg over the straw and\u2014whisk! pop!\u2014there he was, astride of a\ngreat splendid horse with smooth hair as yellow as gold.\n\nThat straw was a straw worth having!\n\nAnd the best part of the matter was that the prince had no need to draw\nthe bridle-rein either to the right or to the left; for the yellow horse\ntook the bit in his teeth and away he pounded so that the ground smoked\nunder his hoofs, and the wind whistled back of the prince\u2019s ears. By and\nby they came to a great sandy desert place where not a twig or a leaf\nwas to be seen, but only white bones scattered here and there, for the\nprince was not the first by many who had tried to cross that desert to\nthe Tree of Happiness.\n\n[Illustration: The Prince finds y^e three giants sleeping under the tree\nof life & snoring away like everything. \u00b6]\n\nBut he had better luck than the others, for the yellow horse carried him\nalong like the wind, and on and on until at last he came within sight of\nthe Tree of Happiness. There sat three terrible giants, an old giant and\nhis two sons, and alongside of each lay a great iron club with sharp\nspikes in the end of it. But all three sat with their eyes shut,\nsleeping away as though they would never awaken. And that was a good\nthing for the prince, for he had never seen such terrible,\nwicked-looking creatures as the old giant and his two sons. He leaped\nfrom off the back of the yellow horse, and there it was, nothing but a\nbarley straw. He put it in his pocket and took out his Book of Knowledge\nand opened it. This was what it said:\n\n\u201c_Fear not the giants, for they will not awake; but touch neither the\ngolden fruit nor the silver fruit, for they are not for you._\u201d\n\nWhen the prince read what the Book of Knowledge said, he knew that it\nwas so. Up he marched to the Tree of Happiness as bold as bold could be,\nand the giants snored away so that the leaves shook.\n\nThere hung three apples; the first was of gleaming gold, the second was\nof shining silver, and the third was just a poor, weazened, shrivelled\nthing, that looked as though there were not three drops of juice in it.\n\n\u201cPrut!\u201d says the prince, \u201cit can never be that I have travelled all this\nway for nothing in the world but a dead apple. After all, it must be the\ngolden fruit that I am to take, in spite of what the Book of Knowledge\nsaid; for if happiness is to be found in anything, it is to be found in\nsuch as it.\u201d\n\nSo he reached up his hand and plucked the golden apple, and then\u2014hi!\nwhat a hubbub, for the Tree of Happiness began to clamor and call as\nthough every leaf on it had become a tongue to speak with.\n\n\u201cHelp! help!\u201d it cried. \u201cHere is one coming to rob us of our golden\nfruit!\u201d\n\nUp jumped the three giants, and each one snatched up his iron club and\ncame at the prince as though to put an end to him without any more talk\nover the business. But the prince begged and prayed and prayed and\nbegged that they would spare his life.\n\n\u201cListen,\u201d said the old giant; \u201cif you will promise to bring us the Sword\nof Brightness that shines in the darkness and cuts whatsoever the edge\nis turned against, we will not only spare your life, but give you the\nFruit of Happiness into the bargain.\u201d That was what the old giant said,\nand the others agreed to it; for if they could once lay hand upon such a\nsword as that they would be masters of all the world.\n\nWell, the prince promised that he would get them the Sword of\nBrightness, for one will promise much before one will be knocked on the\nhead with an iron club; and then the giant let him go, and glad enough\nhe was to get away.\n\nOff he went back of the hill. He drew out his barley straw and threw his\nleg over it, and there he sat astride of his yellow horse again.\n\n\u201cI should like,\u201d said he, \u201cto be carried to where I can find the Sword\nof Brightness that shines in the darkness and cuts whatever its edge is\nturned against.\u201d That was all that he had to say, and away clattered the\nyellow horse over stock and stone so that the ground smoked beneath his\nhoofs. On they went and on they went for a great long while, until at\nlast they came to a tall castle as black as your hat, and there was\nwhere the Sword of Brightness was to be found. In front of the castle\ngate lay two great fiery dragons, with smoke coming up out of their\nnostrils instead of the breath of life, and all over their bodies were\nbrazen scales that shone like gold in the sunlight. But both dragons\nwere sound asleep.\n\nInside of the court-yard were many and one fierce soldiers armed in\nshining armor and each with a battle-axe or a sword or an iron club\nlying beside him; but they too were as sound asleep as the dragon.\n\nDown jumped the prince from the great yellow horse, and there was the\nbarley straw again. He took out the Book of Knowledge from his pocket,\nand this was what it said:\n\n\u201c_Fear not the dragons nor the fierce soldiers, for they will not\nawaken; but take only the old leathern scabbard with the sword._\u201d\n\nSo up walked the prince as bold as brass, and the soldiers and the\ndragons said never a word, but just snored away so that the windows\nrattled. Into the castle he walked, and nobody said \u201cNo\u201d to him. There\nsat an old man, as wicked as sin and as grey as the ashes in the hearth.\nHe never moved a hair, only his little red eyes turned here and there,\nand were never still for a wink. A great keen sword lay on the table in\nfront of him, and the light on the blade was like the bright flash of\nlightning. The prince took the sword up from the table, and the little\nold man looked at him, but said never a word, good or bad.\n\nOn the wall hung three scabbards; one was of gold studded all over with\nprecious stones; another of silver that gleamed like the light of the\nmoon in frosty weather; and the third was of nothing but old, shabby,\nworm-eaten leather that looked as though they had just fetched it down\nfrom the dusty garret.\n\n\u201cIt would be a pity,\u201d said the prince, \u201cto put such a fine sword into\nsuch a poor scabbard. I\u2019ll not choose the gold because of what happened\nto me over at the Tree of Happiness yonder, but surely silver is none\ntoo good for the Sword of Brightness.\u201d\n\nSo he took down the silver scabbard and thrust the sword into it, and\ntherewith dipped his spoon into the wrong pot again; for, no sooner had\nhe sheathed the sword in the silver scabbard than the old gray man began\nto thump on the table in front of him and to bawl at the top of his\nvoice, \u201cHelp! help! here is one come to steal our Sword of Brightness.\u201d\n\nAt this the soldiers outside woke up and began to clash and rattle with\ntheir battle-axes and swords and iron clubs, and the dragons began to\nroar and send up clouds of smoke like a chimney afire.\n\nIn ran the soldiers, and were for putting an end to the prince without\nanother word being said, but he begged and prayed and prayed and begged\nthat his life might be spared, just as he had done with the giants over\nyonder at the Tree of Happiness.\n\n\u201cListen,\u201d says the old grey man at last; \u201cif you will promise to bring\nme the White Bird from the black mountain, I will not only spare your\nlife, but will give you the Sword of Brightness into the bargain.\u201d\n\nYes, the prince would get the White Bird if anybody in the world could\nget it. And thereupon they let him go, and glad enough he was to get\naway.\n\nBack of the hedge he threw his leg over the barley straw.\n\n\u201cI would like,\u201d said he, \u201cto be taken to where I can find the White Bird\nthat lives on the black mountain;\u201d and away thundered the yellow horse,\nlike a storm in June.\n\nIf it was far that they travelled before, it was farther that they\ntravelled this time. But at last they came to the black mountain, and\nthe prince jumped off the nag and thrust the straw into his pocket.\n\nThere was not a blade of grass nor a bit of green to be seen on the\nhill, but only a great lot of round, black stones scattered from top to\nbottom. That was all that was left of the lads who had come that way\nbefore to find the White Bird.\n\n[Illustration: The Prince finds the sword of brightness where sits an\nold man. \u2225]\n\nOn the top of the mountain sat an old witch with golden hair, and in her\nhand was the White Bird. The prince opened his Book of Knowledge, and\nthere he read that if one would gain the White Bird one would have to\ncatch the witch by her golden hair, for then she would be compelled to\ngrant whatever was asked of her; only he would have to be very careful\nin his doings, for if the witch caught sight of him upon the black hill\nshe would change him into a stone just as she had all the rest who had\ncome that way.\n\nBut how was he to climb the hill without the witch seeing him? That was\nwhat the prince would like to know. So he turned over another leaf of\nthe Book of Knowledge, and there it was all in plain black and white.\nThis was what it said:\n\n\u201c_Crack the egg of the white hen and put on the cap._\u201d\n\nThe prince cracked the egg, and, sure enough, inside of it was a little\ncap of feathers. He put on the feather cap and\u2014whisk!\u2014as quick as a wink\nhe was changed into a titmouse, which is the least of all the birds in\nthat land.\n\nHe spread his wings and flew and flew and flew, until he was close\nbehind the witch where she sat on the black mountain. He took off his\ncap and there he was in his own shape again. He caught the old witch by\nher golden hair and held her fast. And you should have heard how she\nscreamed and scolded, and you should have seen how she twisted and\nturned!\n\nBut the prince just held fast, and she could make nothing of it for all\nher trying.\n\n\u201cAnd what do you want, that you come here to torment me?\u201d said she at\nlast.\n\n\u201cI want the White Bird,\u201d said the prince; \u201cand I will be satisfied with\nnothing else.\u201d It was all to no purpose that the old witch stormed and\nscolded, for what he had said he had said, and he would be satisfied\nwith nothing else. So at last, willy-nilly, she had to give him what he\nasked for.\n\nThe prince took it in his hands, and it was a white bird no longer, but\nthe prettiest lass that ever a body\u2019s eyes looked upon, with cheeks as\nred as roses and a skin as white as snow.\n\nBut still the prince held tight to the old witch\u2019s hair, and now what\nelse was it he was wanting.\n\nWhy, before he would let her go, she must change all the round stones\nback again into the lads of flesh and blood they had been before.\n\nSo the old witch had to do that also, and there stood so many good stout\nlads in the place of the hard, round stones.\n\nBut still the prince held fast to her golden hair. And what else was it\nhe was wanting?\n\nWhy, this! The old witch must promise to do no harm to him or to anybody\nelse who should come that way. The old witch had to promise. And then he\nlet go of her hair, and you can guess what a rage she was in.\n\nBut the prince cared nothing for that, for he had found what he came\nfor.\n\nHe took the barley straw out of his pocket and threw his leg over it.\nThen he took the princess up behind him on the great yellow horse, and\naway he clattered, leaving the witch scolding behind him.\n\nAfter a while he came to the black castle; there he took out his Book of\nKnowledge, for now that he had the White Bird he could not bear to think\nof giving her up; and this was what the book said:\n\n\u201c_Take the White Bird to the old grey man and he will give you the Sword\nof Brightness, turn the edge against him and against the fierce soldiers\nand against the two dragons, and then ride away with your White Bird._\u201d\n\nSo up he rode to the black castle, and the fiery dragons let him pass\nwhen they saw that the White Bird rode behind him. The old grey man gave\nthe lad the Sword of Brightness quickly enough, for the White Bird was\nworth that and a great deal more, I can tell you.\n\nAs soon as the prince had hold of the Sword of Brightness, he turned the\nkeen edge of the blade against the wicked old man and the soldiers and\nthe dragons; off flew their heads, and there they lay as dead as red\nherrings in a box.\n\nThen he thrust the Sword of Brightness into the leathern scabbard, for\nhe had learned a grain or two of wisdom by this time, and away he rode\nwith the White Bird sitting behind him.\n\nOn they rode and on they rode until they came to the desert place and\nthe Tree of Happiness. And then the prince took out his Book of Wisdom\nand turned over the leaves, for he was of no mind to give up the Sword\nof Brightness if he could help doing so.\n\n\u201c_Turn the edge of the blade against the three giants._\u201d\n\nThus said the book, and the lad did so, and there they lay all three of\nthem as dead as stocks.\n\nI know that this is true which I tell, because since then there have\nbeen no cruel giants to keep a body from getting a taste of the Fruit of\nHappiness now and then, if a body chooses to travel that far to find it.\nBut that is neither here nor there, and what I have to tell is this:\n\nThe young prince rode away towards home with the White Bird sitting\nbehind him, the Sword of Brightness hanging by his side, and the Fruit\nof Happiness in his pocket.\n\nBy and by he came to the place where the two houses stood, the one on\nthe one side of the road, and the one on the other, and there he took\nout his Book of Knowledge to have a peep at it, and this was what it\nsaid:\n\n\u201c_Buy no black sheep._\u201d\n\n\u201cPrut!\u201d says the prince, \u201cwhat should I want with black sheep I should\nlike to know?\u201d\n\nBy and by he met a great crowd, and in the midst of all the rest were\nhis two brothers with their hands tied behind them with stout ropes.\n\nAnd what were they going to do with the two? That was what the prince\nwould like to know.\n\n\u201cWhy,\u201d said those who held them, \u201cthey have spent all their money at the\ngreat house over yonder, and have run up a score for good things\nbesides, and now they are packing off to prison because they cannot pay\nwhat they owe.\u201d\n\n\u201cCome, come,\u201d says the prince, \u201clet them go and I will pay their\nreckoning;\u201d and so he did, and that was what the Book of Wisdom meant by\nbuying black sheep.\n\nAfter that they all stepped away homeward, right foot foremost; for\nsince the young prince had brought the Fruit of Happiness along with\nhim, there was no need of the other brothers going to look for it.\n\nBy and by they felt weary and sat down by the roadside to rest, and as\nthey sat there the youngest prince fell asleep. While he slept the elder\nbrothers stole away the Sword of Brightness and the Fruit of Happiness.\nThen they wakened him and made him strip off his fine clothes, and gave\nhim a parcel of rags and tatters fit for no one but a beggar, and he had\nto put them on or go without.\n\nAs for the White Bird, they made her vow and swear that she would say\nnothing of all this. Then off they marched with her and with the Sword\nof Brightness, and left the prince with never a stitch or a thread that\nwas worth the having.\n\n\u201cSee,\u201d said they, as soon as they came home, \u201cnot only have we brought\nthe Fruit of Happiness, but the Sword of Brightness and the White Bird\ninto the bargain.\u201d\n\nAs for the youngest brother, they told the king that he had stopped over\nat the tavern yonder, and had spent all his money in eating and\ndrinking, just as they themselves had really done.\n\n[Illustration: The Prince sits down beside y^e garden-gate and only one\nknoweth him.]\n\nBut the White Bird did nothing but weep and weep, and neither this\nbrother nor that could draw the Sword of Brightness from its leathern\nscabbard. And when the king came to taste the Fruit of Happiness, it was\nas bitter as gall. So, after all, the two gained nothing by what they\nhad done.\n\nBut the young prince was not for giving up all that he had lost, without\ntrying to get what he could back again. Off he marched in his rags and\ntatters until he came to the castle where the king, his father, lived.\nUp he stepped to the door and knocked, but nobody would let him in\nbecause he looked like nothing but a beggar. So down he sat beside the\ngate of the castle garden, since he could not come into the house.\n\nAfter a while the folks came out, one by one and two by two, to walk in\nthe garden and take the air, and all the time the prince sat there and\nnobody knew him.\n\nLast of all came the old king, and with him walked the White Bird. The\nking was for passing the lad by as all the rest had done. But as soon as\nthe White Bird saw him, she knew who he was and ran to him and threw her\narms around his neck and kissed him.\n\n\u201cHere is my own sweetheart,\u201d said she, \u201cand he has come back to me\nagain.\u201d\n\nThe prince told the king all that had happened from beginning to end,\nand how it really was he who had found the White Bird, the Sword of\nBrightness, and the Fruit of Happiness.\n\n\u201cYes, yes,\u201d says the king, \u201cthat is all very well, but it is just the\ntale that your brothers tell; now can you draw the Sword of Brightness\nfrom the leathern scabbard?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, yes,\u201d said the prince, \u201cI can do that easily enough.\u201d So the sword\nwas brought and\u2014whisk!\u2014he whipped the blade out of the scabbard so that\nthe light of it dazzled the eyes of everybody that looked upon it.\n\nThen the king saw what had happened as plain as the nose on his face,\nand was for punishing the elder brothers as they deserved, but nobody\ncould find them, for as soon as they heard that the youngest prince had\ncome home again they packed off without waiting to learn more news.\n\nAnd why do I call this the story of the White Bird? Listen: any Tom or\nJake or Harry might have found the Sword of Brightness or the Fruit of\nHappiness; but you may depend upon it that nobody but a real prince\ncould ever have found the White Bird.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n                              Ten O\u2019clock\u00b7\n\n\n        The _Children_ drone [Sidenote: \u2653\ufe0e]\n        In sing-song tone,\n  The _Master\u2019s_ shoes creak on the _Floor_.\n        They\u2019re baking _Pies_\n        At _Home_, and _Flies_ [Sidenote: _Good weather for farming._]\n  Buzz in and out the open _Door_.\n\n        The _Beds_ are made;\n        The _Pans_ are laid\n  Out in the pleasant _Sun_ to dry.\n        Good _Gretchen_ takes\n        Some _Dough_, and makes,\n  For little _John_, a _Saucer Pie_. [Sidenote: KP]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: How the Good Gifts were used by Two.]\n\n                                   X.\n\n\nThis is the way that this story begins:\n\nOnce upon a time there was a rich brother and a poor brother, and the\none lived across the street from the other.\n\nThe rich brother had all of the world\u2019s gear that was good for him and\nmore besides; as for the poor brother, why, he had hardly enough to keep\nsoul and body together, yet he was contented with his lot, and\ncontentment did not sit back of the stove in the rich brother\u2019s house;\nwherefore in this the rich brother had less than the poor brother.\n\nNow these things happened in the good old times when the saints used to\nbe going hither and thither in the world upon this business and upon\nthat. So one day, who should come travelling to the town where the rich\nbrother and the poor brother lived, but Saint Nicholas himself.\n\nJust beside the town gate stood the great house of the rich brother;\nthither went the saint and knocked at the door, and it was the rich\nbrother himself who came and opened it to him.\n\nNow, Saint Nicholas had had a long walk of it that day, so that he was\nquite covered with dust, and looked no better than he should. Therefore\nhe seemed to be only a common beggar; and when the rich brother heard\nhim ask for a night\u2019s lodging at his fine, great house, he gaped like a\ntoad in a rain-storm. What! Did the traveller think that he kept a free\nlodging-house for beggars? If he did he was bringing his grist to the\nwrong mill; there was no place for the likes of him in the house, and\nthat was the truth. But yonder was a poor man\u2019s house across the street,\nif he went over there perhaps he could get a night\u2019s lodging and a crust\nof bread. That was what the rich brother said, and after he had said it\nhe banged to the door, and left Saint Nicholas standing on the outside\nunder the blessed sky.\n\nSo now there was nothing for good Saint Nicholas to do but to go across\nthe street to the poor brother\u2019s house, as the other had told him to do.\nRap! tap! tap! he knocked at the door, and it was the poor brother who\ncame and opened it for him.\n\n\u201cCome in, come in!\u201d says he, \u201ccome in and welcome!\u201d\n\nSo in came Saint Nicholas, and sat himself down behind the stove where\nit was good and warm, while the poor man\u2019s wife spread before him all\nthat they had in the house\u2014a loaf of brown bread and a crock of cold\nwater from the town fountain.\n\n\u201cAnd is that all that you have to eat?\u201d said Saint Nicholas.\n\nYes; that was all that they had.\n\n\u201cThen, maybe, I can help you to better,\u201d said Saint Nicholas. \u201cSo bring\nme hither a bowl and a crock.\u201d\n\nYou may guess that the poor man\u2019s wife was not long in fetching what he\nwanted. When they were brought the saint blessed the one and passed his\nhand over the other.\n\nThen he said, \u201cBowl be filled!\u201d and straightway the bowl began to boil\nup with a good rich meat pottage until it was full to the brim. Then the\nsaint said, \u201cBowl be stilled!\u201d and it stopped making the broth, and\nthere stood as good a feast as man could wish for.\n\nThen Saint Nicholas said, \u201cCrock be filled!\u201d and the crock began to\nbubble up with the best of beer. Then he said, \u201cCrock be stilled!\u201d and\nthere stood as good drink as man ever poured down his throat.\n\nDown they all sat, the saint and the poor man and the poor man\u2019s wife,\nand ate and drank till they could eat and drink no more, and whenever\nthe bowl and the crock grew empty, the one and the other became filled\nat the bidding.\n\n[Illustration: Saint Nicholas knocks at the rich man\u2019s door but finds\nonly a chill welcome & cold faring.]\n\nThe next morning the saint trudged off the way he was going, but he left\nbehind him the bowl and the crock, so that there was no danger of hunger\nand thirst coming to that house.\n\nWell, the world jogged along for a while, maybe a month or two, and life\nwas as easy for the poor man and his wife as an old shoe. One day the\nrich brother said to _his_ wife. \u201cSee now, Luck seems to be stroking our\nbrother over yonder the right way; I\u2019ll just go and see what it all\nmeans.\u201d\n\nSo over the street he went, and found the poor man at home. Down he sat\nback of the stove and began to chatter and talk and talk and chatter,\nand the upshot of the matter was that, bit by bit, he dragged out the\nwhole story from the poor man. Then nothing would do but he must see the\nbowl and the crock at work. So the bowl and the crock were brought and\nset to work and\u2014Hui!\u2014how the rich brother opened his eyes when he saw\nthem making good broth and beer of themselves.\n\nAnd now he must and would have that bowl and crock. At first the poor\nbrother said \u201cNo,\u201d but the other bargained and bargained until, at last,\nthe poor man consented to let him have the two for a hundred dollars. So\nthe rich brother paid down his hundred dollars, and off he marched with\nwhat he wanted.\n\nWhen the next day had come, the rich brother said to his wife, \u201cNever\nyou mind about the dinner to-day. Go you into the harvest-field, and I\nwill see to the dinner.\u201d So off went the wife with the harvesters, and\nthe husband stayed at home and smoked his pipe all the morning, for he\nknew that dinner would be ready at the bidding. So when noontide had\ncome he took out the bowl and the crock, and, placing them on the table,\nsaid, \u201cBowl be filled! crock be filled!\u201d and straightway they began\nmaking broth and beer as fast as they could.\n\nIn a little while the bowl and the crock were filled, and then they\ncould hold no more, so that the broth and beer ran down all over the\ntable and the floor. Then the rich brother was in a pretty pickle, for\nhe did not know how to bid the bowl and the crock to stop from making\nwhat they were making. Out he ran and across the street to the poor\nman\u2019s house, and meanwhile the broth and beer filled the whole room\nuntil it could hold no more, and then ran out into the gutters so that\nall the pigs and dogs in the town had a feast that day.\n\n\u201cOh, dear brother!\u201d cried the rich man to the poor man, \u201cdo tell me what\nto do or the whole town will soon be smothered in broth and beer.\u201d\n\nBut, no; the poor brother was not to be stirred in such haste; they\nwould have to strike a bit of a bargain first. So the upshot of the\nmatter was that the rich brother had to pay the poor brother another\nhundred dollars to take the crock and the bowl back again.\n\n[Illustration: Saint Nicholas blesses the poor man\u2019s crock and bowl with\nfood and drink.]\n\nSee, now, what comes of being covetous!\n\nAs for the poor man, he was well off in the world, for he had all that\nhe could eat and drink, and a stockingful of money back of the stove\nbesides.\n\nWell, time went along as time does, and now it was Saint Christopher who\nwas thinking about taking a little journey below. \u201cSee, brother,\u201d says\nSaint Nicholas to him, \u201cif you chance to be jogging by yonder town, stop\nat the poor man\u2019s house, for there you will have a warm welcome and\nplenty to eat.\u201d\n\nBut when Saint Christopher came to the town, the rich man\u2019s house seemed\nso much larger and finer than the poor man\u2019s house, that he thought that\nhe would ask for lodging there.\n\nBut it fared the same with him that it had with Saint Nicholas. Prut!\nDid he think that the rich man kept free lodgings for beggars?\nAnd\u2014bang!\u2014the door was slammed in his face, and off packed the saint\nwith a flea in his ear.\n\nOver he went to the poor man\u2019s house, and there was a warm welcome for\nhim, and good broth and beer from the bowl and the crock that Saint\nNicholas had blessed. After he had supped he went to bed, where he slept\nas snug and warm as a mouse in the nest.\n\nThen the good wife said to the husband, \u201cSee, now, the poor fellow\u2019s\nshirt is none too good for him to be wearing. I\u2019ll just make him another\nwhile he is sleeping, so that he\u2019ll have a decent bit of linen to wear\nin the morning.\u201d\n\nSo she brought her best roll of linen out of the closet, and set to work\nstitching and sewing, and never stopped till she had made the new shirt\nto the last button. The next morning, when the saint awoke, there lay\nthe nice, new, clean shirt, and he put it on and gave thanks for it.\n\nBefore he left the house the poor man took him aside, and emptied the\nstockingful of silver money on the table, and bade the saint take what\nhe wanted, \u201cfor,\u201d says he, \u201ca penny or two is never amiss in the great\nworld.\u201d\n\nAfter that it was time for the traveller to be jogging; but before he\nwent he said, \u201cSee, now, because you have been so kind and so good to a\npoor wayfarer, I will give you a blessing; whatever you begin doing this\nmorning, you shall continue doing till sunset.\u201d So saying, he took up\nhis staff and went his way.\n\n[Illustration: The Poor Man welcomes Saint Christopher to his house.]\n\nAfter Saint Christopher had gone the poor man and his wife began talking\ntogether as to what would be best for them to be doing all of the day,\nand one said one thing and the other said the other, but every plug was\ntoo small for the hole, as we say in our town, for nothing seemed to fit\nthe case.\n\n\u201cCome, come,\u201d said the good woman, \u201chere we are losing time that can\nnever be handled again. While we are talking the matter over I will be\nfolding the linen that is left from making the shirt.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd I,\u201d said the good man, \u201cwill be putting the money away that the\nholy man left behind him.\u201d\n\nSo the wife began folding the linen into a bundle again, and the man\nbegan putting away the money that he had offered in charity. Thus they\nbegan doing, and thus they kept on doing; so that by the time that the\nevening had come the whole house was full of fine linen, and every tub\nand bucket and mug and jug about the place was brimming with silver\nmoney. As for the good couple, their fortune was made, and that is the\nheart of the whole matter in four words.\n\nThat night who should come over from across the street but the rich\nbrother, with his pipe in his mouth and his hands in his pockets. But\nwhen he saw how very rich the poor man had become all of a sudden, and\nwhat a store of fine linen and silver money he had, he was so\nwonder-struck that he did not know whither to look and what to think.\n\nDear heart\u2019s sake alive! Where did all these fine things come from? That\nwas what he should like to know.\n\nOh! there was nothing to hide in the matter, and the poor man told all\nabout what had happened.\n\nAs for the rich brother, when he found how he had shut his door in the\nface of good-fortune, he rapped his head with his knuckles because he\nwas so angry at his own foolishness. However, crying never mended a torn\njacket, so he made the poor brother promise that if either of the saints\ncame that way again, they should be sent over to his house for a night\u2019s\nlodging, for it was only fair and just that he should have a share of\nthe same cake his brother had eaten.\n\nSo the poor brother promised to do what the other wanted, and after that\nthe rich brother went back home again.\n\nWell, a year and a day passed, and then, sure enough, who should come\nalong that way but both the saints together, arm in arm. Rap! tap! tap!\nthey knocked at the poor man\u2019s door, for they thought that where they\nhad had good lodging before they could get it again. And so they could\nand welcome, only the poor brother told them that his rich brother\nacross the street had asked that they should come and lodge at the fine\nhouse when they came that way again.\n\n[Illustration: The rich man spreads a feast for the Saints.]\n\nThe saints were willing enough to go to the rich brother\u2019s house, though\nthey would rather have stayed with the other. So over they went, and\nwhen the rich brother saw them coming he ran out to meet them, and shook\neach of them by the hand, and bade them to come in and sit down back of\nthe stove where it was warm.\n\nBut you should have seen the feast that was set for the two saints at\nthe rich brother\u2019s house! I can only say that I never saw the like, and\nI only wish that I had been there with my legs under the table. After\nsupper they were shown to a grand room, where each saint had a bed all\nto his very own self, and before they were fairly asleep the rich man\u2019s\nwife came and took away their old shirts, and laid a shirt of fine\ncambric linen in the place of each. When the next morning came and the\nsaints were about to take their leave, the rich brother brought out a\ngreat bag of golden money, and bade them to stuff what they would of it\ninto their pockets.\n\nWell, all this was as it should be, and before the two went on their way\nthey said that they would give the same blessing to him and his wife\nthat they had given to the other couple\u2014that whatsoever they should\nbegin doing that morning, that they should continue doing until sunset.\n\nAfter that they put on their hats and took up their staffs, and off they\nplodded.\n\nNow the rich brother was a very envious man, and was not contented to do\nonly as well as his brother had done, no indeed! He would do something\nthat would make him even richer than counting out money for himself all\nday. So down he sat back of the stove and began turning the matter over\nin his mind, and rubbing up his wits to make them the brighter.\n\nIn the meantime the wife said to herself, \u201cSee, now, I shall be folding\nfine cambric linen all day, and the pigs will have to go with nothing to\neat. I have no time to waste in feeding them, but I\u2019ll just run out and\nfill their troughs with water at any rate.\u201d\n\nSo out she went with a bucketful of water which she began pouring into\nthe troughs for the pigs. That was the first thing she did, and after\nthat there was no leaving off, but pour water she must until sunset.\n\nAll this while the man sat back of the stove, warming his wits and\nsaying to himself, \u201cShall I do this? shall I do that?\u201d and answering\n\u201cNo\u201d to himself every time. At last he began wondering what his wife was\ndoing, so out he went to find her. Find her he did, for there she was\npouring out water to the pigs. Then if anybody was angry it was the rich\nman. \u201cWhat!\u201d cried he, \u201cand is this the way that you waste the gifts of\nthe blessed saints?\u201d.\n\nSo saying, he looked around, and there lay a bit of a switch on the\nground near by. He picked up the bit of a switch and struck the woman\nacross the shoulders with it, and that was the first thing that he began\ndoing. After that he had to keep on doing the same.\n\nSo the woman poured water and poured water, and the man stood by and\nbeat her with the little switch until there was nothing left of it, and\nthat was what they did all day.\n\nAnd what is more, they made such a hubbub that the neighbors came to see\nwhat was going forward. They looked and laughed and went away again, and\nothers came, and there stood the two\u2014the woman pouring water and the man\nbeating her with the bit of a switch.\n\nWhen the evening came, and they left off their work, they were so weary\nthat they could hardly stand; and nothing was to show for it but a\nbroken switch and a wet sty, for even the blessed saints cannot give\nwisdom to those who will have none of it, and that is the truth.\n\nAnd such is the end of this story, with only this to tell: Tommy Pfouce\ntells me that there are folks, even in these wise times, who, if they\ndid all day what they began in the morning, would find themselves at\nsunset doing no better work than pouring pure water to pigs.\n\nThat is the small kernel to this great nut.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n                            Eleven O\u2019clock\u00b7\n\n\n    The _Cook_ undoes the _Oven Door_; [Sidenote: _Hot and dusty._]\n      The _Kobold_ smells the baking _Pies_;\n      Licking his _Lips_, with glistening _Eyes_,\n    He hops across the _Floor_. [Sidenote: K\u2295P.]\n\n    Our fat, old _Betty_ sweats and blows;\n      She does not see how near he stands,\n      And when she bangs the _Door, Good Lands_!\n    It\u2019 most cuts off his _Nose_.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: How Boots befooled the King.]\n\n                                  XI.\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a king who was the wisest in all of the\nworld. So wise was he that no one had ever befooled him, which is a rare\nthing, I can tell you. Now, this king had a daughter who was as pretty\nas a ripe apple, so that there was no end to the number of the lads who\ncame asking to marry her. Every day there were two or three of them\ndawdling around the house, so that at last the old king grew tired of\nhaving them always about.\n\nSo he sent word far and near that whoever should befool him might have\nthe princess and half of the kingdom to boot, for he thought that it\nwould be a wise man indeed who could trick him. But the king also said,\nthat whoever should try to befool him and should fail, should have a\ngood whipping. This was to keep all foolish fellows away.\n\nThe princess was so pretty that there was no lack of lads who came to\nhave a try for her and half of the kingdom, but every one of these went\naway with a sore back and no luck.\n\nNow, there was a man who was well off in the world, and who had three\nsons; the first was named Peter, and the second was named Paul. Peter\nand Paul thought themselves as wise as anybody in all of the world, and\ntheir father thought as they did.\n\nAs for the youngest son, he was named Boots. Nobody thought anything of\nhim except that he was silly, for he did nothing but sit poking in the\nwarm ashes all of the day.\n\nOne morning Peter spoke up and said that he was going to the town to\nhave a try at befooling the king, for it would be a fine thing to have a\nprincess in the family. His father did not say no, for if anybody was\nwise enough to befool the king, Peter was the lad.\n\nSo, after Peter had eaten a good breakfast, off he set for the town,\nright foot foremost. After a while he came to the king\u2019s house and\u2014rap!\ntap! tap!\u2014he knocked at the door.\n\nWell; what did he want?\n\nOh! he would only like to have a try at befooling the king.\n\nVery good; he should have his try. He was not the first one who had been\nthere that morning, early as it was.\n\nSo Peter was shown in to the king.\n\n\u201cOh, look!\u201d said he, \u201cyonder are three black geese out in the\ncourt-yard\u201d\n\nBut no, the king was not to be fooled so easily as all that. \u201cOne goose\nis enough to look at at a time,\u201d said he; \u201ctake him away and give him a\nwhipping!\u201d\n\nAnd so they did, and Peter went home bleating like a sheep.\n\nOne day Paul spoke up. \u201cI should like to go and have a try for the\nprincess, too,\u201d said he.\n\nWell, his father did not say no, for, after all, Paul was the more\nclever of the two.\n\nSo off Paul went as merrily as a duck in the rain. By and by he came to\nthe castle, and then he too was brought before the king just as Peter\nhad been.\n\n\u201cOh, look!\u201d said he, \u201cyonder is a crow sitting in the tree with three\nwhite stripes on his back!\u201d\n\nBut the king was not so silly as to be fooled in that way. \u201cHere is a\nJack,\u201d said he, \u201cwho will soon have more stripes on his back than he\nwill like. Take him away and give him his whipping!\u201d\n\nThen it was done as the king had said, and Paul went away home bawling\nlike a calf.\n\nOne day up spoke Boots. \u201cI should like to go and have a try for the\npretty princess, too,\u201d said he.\n\n[Illustration: Peter goes to the castle to befool the king, dressed in\nhis finest clothes.]\n\nAt this they all stared and sniggered. What! he go where his clever\nbrothers had failed, and had nothing to show for the trying but a good\nbeating? What had come over the lout! Here was a pretty business, to be\nsure! That was what they all said.\n\nBut all of this rolled away from Boots like water from a duck\u2019s back. No\nmatter, he would like to go and have a try like the others. So he begged\nand begged until his father was glad to let him go to be rid of his\nteasing, if nothing else.\n\nThen Boots asked if he might have the old tattered hat that hung back of\nthe chimney.\n\nOh, yes, he might have that if he wanted it, for nobody with good wits\nwas likely to wear such a thing.\n\nSo Boots took the hat, and after he had brushed the ashes from his shoes\nset off for the town, whistling as he went.\n\nThe first body whom he met was an old woman with a great load of\nearthenware pots and crocks on her shoulders.\n\n\u201cGood-day, mother,\u201d said Boots.\n\n\u201cGood-day, son,\u201d said she.\n\n\u201cWhat will you take for all of your pots and crocks?\u201d said Boots.\n\n\u201cThree shillings,\u201d said she.\n\n\u201cI will give you five shillings if you will come and stand in front of\nthe king\u2019s house, and do thus and so when I say this and that,\u201d said\nBoots.\n\nOh, yes! she would do that willingly enough.\n\nSo Boots and the old woman went on together, and presently came to the\nking\u2019s house. When they had come there, Boots sat down in front of the\ndoor and began bawling as loud as he could\u2014\u201cNo, I will not! I will not\ndo it, I say! No, I will not do it!\u201d\n\nSo he kept on, bawling louder and louder until he made such a noise\nthat, at last, the king himself came out to see what all of the hubbub\nwas about. But when Boots saw him he only bawled out louder than ever,\n\u201cNo, I will not! I will not do it, I say!\u201d\n\n\u201cStop! stop!\u201d cried the king, \u201cwhat is all this about?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy,\u201d said Boots, \u201ceverybody wants to buy my cap, but I will not sell\nit! I will not do it, I say!\u201d\n\n\u201cBut, why should anybody want to buy such a cap as that?\u201d said the king.\n\n\u201cBecause,\u201d said Boots, \u201cit is a fooling cap and the only one in all of\nthe world.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: Paul comes home again from the king\u2019s castle with no\nluck. \u00b6]\n\n\u201cA fooling cap!\u201d said the king. For he did not like to hear of such a\ncap as that coming into the town. \u201cHum-m-m-m! I should like to see you\nfool somebody with it. Could you fool that old body yonder with the pots\nand the crocks?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, yes! that is easily enough done,\u201d said Boots, and without more ado\nhe took off his tattered cap and blew into it. Then he put it on his\nhead again and bawled out, \u201cBreak pots! break pots!\u201d\n\nNo sooner had he spoken these words than the old woman jumped up and\nbegan breaking and smashing her pots and crocks as though she had gone\ncrazy. That was what Boots had paid her five shillings for doing, but of\nit the king knew nothing. \u201cHui!\u201d said he to himself, \u201cI must buy that\nhat from the fellow or he will fool the princess away from me for sure\nand certain.\u201d Then he began talking to Boots as sweetly as though he had\nhoney in his mouth. Perhaps Boots would sell the hat to him?\n\nOh, no! Boots could not think of such a thing as selling his fooling\ncap.\n\nCome, come; the king wanted that hat, and sooner than miss buying it he\nwould give a whole bag of gold money for it.\n\nAt this Boots looked up and looked down, scratching his head. Well, he\nsupposed he would have to sell the hat some time, and the king might as\nwell have it as anybody else. But for all that he did not like parting\nwith it.\n\nSo the king gave Boots the bag of gold, and Boots gave the king the old\ntattered hat, and then he went his way.\n\nAfter Boots had gone the king blew into the hat and blew into the hat,\nbut though he blew enough breath into it to sail a big ship, he did not\nbefool so much as a single titmouse. Then, at last, he began to see that\nthe fooling cap was good on nobody else\u2019s head but Boots\u2019s; and he was\nnone too pleased at that, you may be sure.\n\nAs for Boots, with his bag of gold he bought the finest clothes that\nwere to be had in the town, and when the next morning had come he\nstarted away bright and early for the king\u2019s house. \u201cI have come,\u201d said\nhe, \u201cto marry the princess, if you please.\u201d\n\nAt this the king hemmed and hawed and scratched his head. Yes; Boots had\nbefooled him sure enough, but, after all, he could not give up the\nprincess for such a thing as that. Still, he would give Boots another\nchance. Now, there was the high-councillor, who was the wisest man in\nall of the world. Did Boots think that he could fool him also?\n\nOh, yes! Boots thought that it might be done.\n\n[Illustration: The old woman smashes pots and things at Boots\u2019 bidding.\n)(]\n\nVery well; if he could befool the high-councillor so as to bring him to\nthe castle the next morning against his will, Boots should have the\nprincess and the half of the kingdom; if he did not do so he should have\nhis beating.\n\nThen Boots went away, and the king thought that he was rid of him now\nfor good and all.\n\nAs for the high-councillor, he was not pleased with the matter at all,\nfor he did not like the thought of being fooled by a clever rogue, and\ntaken here and there against his will. So when he had come home, he\narmed all of his servants with blunderbusses, and then waited to give\nBoots a welcome when he should come.\n\nBut Boots was not going to fall into any such trap as that! No indeed!\nnot he! The next morning he went quietly and bought a fine large\nmeal-sack. Then he put a black wig over his beautiful red hair, so that\nno one might know him. After that he went to the place where the\nhigh-councillor lived, and when he had come there he crawled inside of\nthe sack, and lay just beside the door of the house.\n\nBy and by came one of the maid servants to the door, and there lay the\ngreat meal-sack with somebody in it.\n\n\u201cAch!\u201d cried she, \u201cwho is there?\u201d\n\nBut Boots only said, \u201cSh-h-h-h-h!\u201d\n\nThen the serving maid went back into the house, and told the\nhigh-councillor that one lay outside in a great meal-sack, and that all\nthat he said was, \u201cSh-h-h-h-h!\u201d\n\nSo the councillor went himself to see what it was all about. \u201cWhat do\nyou want here?\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cSh-h-h-h-h!\u201d said Boots, \u201cI am not to be talked to now. This is a\nwisdom-sack, and I am learning wisdom as fast as a drake can eat peas.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd what wisdom have you learned?\u201d said the councillor.\n\nOh! Boots had learned wisdom about everything in the world. He had\nlearned that the clever scamp who had fooled the king yesterday was\ncoming with seventeen tall men to take the high-councillor, willy-nilly,\nto the castle that morning.\n\nWhen the high-councillor heard this he fell to trembling till his teeth\nrattled in his head. \u201cAnd have you learned how I can get the better of\nthis clever scamp?\u201d said he.\n\nOh, yes! Boots had learned that easily enough.\n\n[Illustration: The Councilor finds one in the Sack who teaches him\nwisdom. \u00b6]\n\nSo, good! then if the wise man in the sack would tell the\nhigh-councillor how to escape the clever rogue, the high-councillor\nwould give the wise man twenty dollars.\n\nBut no, that was not to be done; wisdom was not bought so cheaply as the\nhigh-councillor seemed to think.\n\nWell, the councillor would give him a hundred dollars then.\n\nThat was good! A hundred dollars were a hundred dollars. If the\ncouncillor would give him that much he might get into the sack himself,\nand then he could learn all the wisdom that he wanted, and more besides.\n\nSo Boots crawled out of the sack, and the councillor paid his hundred\ndollars and crawled in.\n\nAs soon as he was in all snug and safe, Boots drew the mouth of the sack\ntogether and tied it tightly. Then he flung sack, councillor, and all\nover his shoulder, and started away to the king\u2019s house, and anybody who\nmet them could see with half an eye that the councillor was going\nagainst his will.\n\nWhen Boots came to the king\u2019s castle he laid the councillor down in the\ngoose-house, and then he went to the king.\n\nWhen the king saw Boots again, he bit his lips with vexation. \u201cWell,\u201d\nsaid he, \u201chave you fooled the councillor?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, yes!\u201d says Boots, \u201cI have done that.\u201d\n\nAnd where was the councillor now?\n\nOh, Boots had just left him down in the goose-house. He was tied up safe\nand sound in a sack, waiting till the king should send for him.\n\nSo the councillor was sent for, and when he came the king saw at once\nthat he had been brought against his will.\n\n\u201cAnd now may I marry the princess?\u201d said Boots.\n\nBut the king was not willing for him to marry the princess yet; no! no!\nBoots must not go so fast. There was more to be done yet. If he would\ncome to-morrow morning he might have the princess and welcome, but he\nwould have to pick her out from among fourscore other maids just like\nher; did he think that he could do that?\n\nOh, yes! Boots thought that that might be easy enough to do.\n\nSo, good! then come to-morrow; but he must understand that if he failed\nhe should have a good whipping, and be sent packing from the town.\n\nSo off went Boots, and the king thought that he was rid of him now, for\nhe had never seen the princess, and how could he pick her out from among\neighty others?\n\nBut Boots was not going to give up so easily as all that! No, not he! He\nmade a little box, and then he hunted up and down until he had caught a\nlive mouse to put into it.\n\nWhen the next morning came he started away to the king\u2019s house, taking\nhis mouse along with him in the box.\n\nThere was the king, standing in the doorway, looking out into the\nstreet. When he saw Boots coming towards him he made a wry face. \u201cWhat!\u201d\nsaid he, \u201care you back again?\u201d\n\nOh, yes! Boots was back again. And now if the princess was ready he\nwould like to go and find her, for lost time was not to be gathered\nagain like fallen apples.\n\nSo off they marched to a great room, and there stood eighty-and-one\nmaidens, all as much alike as peas in the same dish.\n\nBoots looked here and there, but, even if he had known the princess, he\ncould not have told her from the others. But he was ready for all that.\nBefore any one knew what he was about, he opened the box, and out ran\nthe little mouse among them all. Then what a screaming, and a hubbub\nthere was! Many looked as though they would have liked to swoon, but\nonly one of them did so. As soon as the others saw what had happened,\nthey forgot all about the mouse, and ran to her and fell to fanning her\nand slapping her hands and chafing her temples.\n\n\u201cThis is the princess,\u201d said Boots.\n\nAnd so it was.\n\nAfter that the king could think of nothing more to set Boots to do, so\nhe let him marry the princess as he had promised, and have half of the\nkingdom to boot.\n\nThat is all of this story.\n\nOnly this: It is not always the silliest one that sits kicking his feet\nin the ashes at home.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n                            Twelve O\u2019clock\u00b7\n\n\n   The _Dial_ marks the hour of _Noon_; [Sidenote: \u2609 enters]\n   The _Men_ will come to _Dinner_ soon,\n   And _Gretchen_ takes the _Beer-Mugs_ down\n   Into the _Cellar_, cool and brown.\n\n   The _Bread_ is cut, the _Soup_ is hot, [Sidenote: _Dry and Hot._]\n   The _Cabbage_ simmers in the _Pot_;\n   The _Mistress_ scolds a clumsy _Maid_,\n   And _Towzer_ dozes in the _Shade_.\n\n                                 K.P.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: The Step-mother.]\n\n                                  XII.\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a man who was well off in the world so far as\ngood things were concerned; but all the flesh and blood that belonged to\nhim was a daughter, for his wife was dead, and he lived alone.\n\nOne day he went away from home and was gone for a long, long time, and\nwhen he came back again he brought a new wife with him, for that was the\nbusiness that he had been about. As for the woman, she was as wicked as\nshe was handsome, and as handsome as she was wicked, and whichever of\nthe two one said of her one spoke the truth; for, though she was the\nmost beautiful woman in all of the land, she was as great a witch as\never turned over the leaves of the black book with the red letters in\nit.\n\nAt first things went as smoothly in the rich man\u2019s house as butter and\neggs, for the Step-mother was forever petting and caressing the man\u2019s\ndaughter, and could not make enough of her. But that was only for a\nwhile, for as the maid grew in years she grew prettier and prettier,\nuntil there was none like her in all of that land.\n\nOne day the Step-mother and the step-daughter walked together in the\nfields, for it was in the spring-time, the weather was pleasant, and the\ngrass was fresh and green. Two crows sat on a flowering thorn.\n\n\u201cLook,\u201d says one crow, \u201cyonder go two beauties.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d says the other, \u201cbut when you talk of good looks, the old one is\nto the young one as a cabbage is to a rose.\u201d\n\nThen, \u201cCaw! caw!\u201d they both cried, and flapped their wings and flew\naway.\n\nThat was what the two crows said; and though the maiden knew nothing,\nthe Step-mother could tell what passed between them as well as could be,\nfor she had eaten a bite of the white snake, and knew all that the birds\nand the beasts said to one another. So her heart grew bitter with hatred\nand envy, and she began to cudgel her brains for some means to put the\ngirl out of the way. That night she made a ball of hollow gold and wrote\nthis and that upon it, which nobody but herself could read. The next day\nshe and the girl walked in the fields again, and when nobody was near\nthe wicked Step-mother took the golden ball out of her pocket.\n\n\u201cSee,\u201d said she, \u201chere is a new plaything for you.\u201d She threw it upon\nthe ground, and it rolled and rolled and rolled, and, whether she liked\nit or not, the maiden had to follow wherever it went. On and on rolled\nthe ball, for no matter how fast the girl ran she could not catch it. By\nand by she came to a dark, lonesome place, where was a great, deep pit.\nInto the pit rolled the golden ball, and the poor girl had to follow. So\ninto the pit she fell, and there she lay, for the sides were as smooth\nas glass, and one would have to have feet like a fly to climb from the\nbottom to the top.\n\nAs for the witch Step-mother, she was well content with what she had\ndone, for the two crows sat on the thorn-tree. And\u2014\n\n\u201cLook,\u201d said the first, \u201cyonder goes the beauty.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is the truth that you speak,\u201d said the second. \u201cFor the other\nfollowed the golden ball and fell into the deep pit!\u201d And then they\nclapped their wings and away they flew.\n\nBut the poor girl lay in the deep pit all alone, and cried and cried.\n\nSuddenly a little door opened\u2014click! clack!\u2014and there was a little grey\nman no higher than a body\u2019s knee, but with a long white beard that\ntouched the ground.\n\n\u201cHi!\u201d says he to the step-daughter, \u201cand how came you here in the pit?\u201d\n\nThe girl told him all from beginning to end, and the little man listened\nto every word.\n\n\u201cSee, now,\u201d said he, when she had ended her story. \u201cSince you are here\nin the deep pit and cannot get out, you shall be the queen of all the\nlittle men like myself, and we shall serve you, for you are the most\nbeautiful maiden that ever my eyes looked upon.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: The Step-daughter follows y^e golden ball in spite of\nherself. )(]\n\nSo there the maiden lived for many a long day, and the little man and\nothers like him brought her rich food and wine, and covered all the\ninside of the pit with jewels and with gold, so that it was most\nsplendid to see. And every day the maiden grew more and more beautiful.\n\nOne day the young king of that country went a-hunting, and all of his\ncourt with him, and four-and-twenty hounds besides. They came riding by\nthe pit where the maiden sat, and there the hounds stopped and began to\nwhimper and to howl, for they knew very well that human flesh and blood\nwas down below.\n\n\u201cListen to the hounds,\u201d says the king; \u201cthere is somebody fallen into\nthe pit; now who will go down and bring the unfortunate up again?\u201d\n\nAt this everybody looked at his neighbor, but nobody said, \u201cI will go.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d said the king, \u201cthen I myself will go down into the pit, if\nno one else dares to venture.\u201d\n\nSo the others lowered the king into the pit, and when he reached the\nbottom you can guess how he stared and how he wondered; but he had no\neyes for the jewels and gold that covered the walls; he had often seen\nthe like of them, but never in all of his days had he beheld such a\nbeauty as the maiden he found there.\n\nThen the people above hauled them up together, and the king set her upon\na milk-white horse, and then they all rode away to the palace, for that\nwas where he was to take her. There they dressed her in splendid clothes\nand put a golden crown upon her head, and then she and the king were\nmarried. Around her neck he hung a golden chain and a locket, and in the\nlocket was a picture of himself; on her finger he slipped a ring, and\nwithin were secret words which nobody but he and she knew.\n\nOne day the wicked Step-mother was walking in the fields, and the two\ncrows sat on the thorn-tree.\n\n\u201cLook,\u201d says the first crow, \u201cyonder goes the beauty.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d says the second, \u201cbut she is only as a cabbage to a rose when\ncompared to the lass who followed the golden ball down into the pit, and\nwho has married the handsome young king over at the castle yonder.\u201d\n\nThen, \u201cCaw! caw!\u201d they cried, and flapped their wings and flew away.\n\nAs for the Step-mother, her heart was ready to burst with anger and with\nspite. Home she went and began to think of what she should do to put her\nstep-daughter out of the way again.\n\n[Illustration: The Young King goeth down into the pit and bringeth up\ny^e maiden.]\n\nShe took some dough and some feathers, and of them she made an old hen\nand six chicks. She put them in the oven and baked them, and when she\ndrew them out again they were all of pure gold. But the strangest of all\nwas, that when she set them upon the table the little golden hen\nstrutted and clucked, and the chicks cried, \u201cPeep! peep!\u201d and followed\nat her heels.\n\nThen the woman clad herself in a strange dress, so that no one might\nknow who she was. She hid a long, keen silver pin in her bosom, and off\nshe set for the castle with the golden hen and the golden chickens in a\nbasket wrapped up in a white napkin.\n\nShe set her basket on the ground under the palace window, and when the\nfolks within saw the little clucking hen and her chicks, all made of\npure gold that shone in the sunlight, they could not look enough.\n\nOff ran one and told the queen, who came and looked and looked, and\nwondered and wondered, until by and by she longed for the golden hen and\nthe golden chickens as she had never longed for anything in all of her\nlife before. So she called one of her maids, and sent her down to ask\nthe strange woman the price of her golden chickens.\n\n\u201cPrut!\u201d says the wicked witch of a Step-mother, \u201cwho are you that you\nshould come to talk with me? If the young queen would buy my wares she\nmust come and bargain with me herself.\u201d\n\nSo down went the young queen to the wicked Step-mother; \u201cAnd what is the\nprice of your hen and chicks, my good woman,\u201d said she, for she did not\nknow the other, because of the strange dress in which she was clad.\n\n\u201cOh! it is little or nothing I ask for my hen and chickens,\u201d said the\nwicked Step-mother to the beautiful queen. \u201cIf you will give me a kiss\ndown in the garden back of the rose-tree yonder, you may have the\nchickens and welcome.\u201d\n\nOh, yes; the queen was willing enough to pay the price, if that was all\nthe woman wanted. So off they went back of the rose-tree, she and the\nStep-mother. There the witch drew out the silver pin from her bosom, and\nas she kissed the queen she thrust the pin deep into her head. Then\nquick as a wink the queen was changed into a white dove and flew away\nover the tree-tops.\n\nOff went the Step-mother, and was as pleased with what she had done this\ntime as with what she had done that time; for the two crows sat on the\nthorn-tree, and the first crow said to the second crow, \u201cYonder goes the\nbeauty.\u201d And the second crow said to the first, \u201cYes, there is none to\ncompare with her now that the young queen has been changed to a white\ndove.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: The Step-mother bringeth mischief upon the Young Queen by\nsundry magic spells.]\n\nAt the king\u2019s castle they hunted for the queen high, and they hunted for\nthe queen low, but could find neither thread nor hair of her. As for the\nwhite dove, it had flown in at a window, and there the little cook-boy\nfound it, and caught it and sold it to the cook for a penny. So the\nbeautiful white dove sat over the kitchen window, and did nothing but\nmourn from the dawn to the gloaming.\n\nOne day the folk in the kitchen were talking together. The king was\nlying sick abed and dying of a broken heart because his beautiful young\nqueen was nowhere to be found. That was what they said, and the white\nbird heard every word of it.\n\nThe next morning when they came to the kitchen there was a beautiful\nsweet cake lying upon a white napkin, and on the cake were written these\nwords:\n\n\u201cBreak this, my king, and ease thy sorrow.\u201d\n\nThey took the sweet cake to the king where he lay, and he broke it as\nthe words told him to. Within it he found the ring which he had given to\nthe queen, inside of which were written words which no one but he and\nshe knew.\n\n\u201cWhere did this come from?\u201d said he; but nobody could tell him.\n\n\u201cWhere the ring came from,\u201d said he, \u201cthere will the queen be found.\u201d\nAnd up he got from his bed and dressed himself, and ate his breakfast\nwith a cheerful face.\n\nThey talked about what had happened down in the kitchen, and the white\ndove heard it all.\n\nNext morning there, on a fine linen napkin, lay another cake like the\nfirst, and on it was written:\n\n\u201cBreak this, my king, and be comforted.\u201d\n\nThey took it up to the king as they had done the first. And the king\nsnatched it like a hungry man. He broke the cake, and there was the\nnecklace and the locket that he had given the queen.\n\n\u201cWhere did this come from?\u201d said he.\n\nBut they could tell him no more about that than about the other.\n\nAll the same, they talked about it down in the kitchen, and the white\ndove heard what was said.\n\nBut that night the little cook-boy hid in the closet to watch, for he\nwanted to see who it was that brought the cakes that they took up-stairs\nto the king. So he watched and watched, and by and by the clock struck\ntwelve. And when the last stroke sounded the dove flew down from over\nthe window, and as soon as it lit upon the floor it was the white dove\nno longer, but the queen herself. She made a sweet cake of sugar and of\nflour, and in it she put a feather as white as silver. Then she became\nthe white dove again, and flew back over the window where she had sat\nbefore.\n\n[Illustration: The Young King caresses y^e white dove.]\n\nThe next morning they found the third cake lying upon a white napkin,\nand on the cake was written:\n\n\u201cBreak this, my king, for the time has come.\u201d\n\nThey took it up to the king and he broke it, and there was the white\nfeather.\n\nThen the king called everybody that was in the castle, and asked each\none in turn if he or she could tell where the sweet cake had come from.\nBut no; nobody knew, until last of all they questioned the kitchen-boy.\n\n\u201cOh, yes,\u201d said he, \u201cI know who it was that brought the cake. Last night\nthe white dove in the kitchen flew down from over the window and became\nthe queen herself; she made the sweet cake and laid it upon the white\nnapkin, for I saw her do it with my own eyes.\u201d\n\nUp they brought the white dove from the kitchen, and the king took it in\nhis own hands and held it up to his bosom, and stroked it and caressed\nit.\n\n\u201cIf thou art my queen,\u201d said he, \u201cwhy dost thou not speak to me?\u201d\n\nBut the dove answered never a word, and the king stroked it and stroked\nit.\n\nBy and by he felt something, and when he came to look it was the head of\nthe silver pin. He drew it forth, and there stood the young queen again\nin her own true shape.\n\nShe told everything that had happened to her from the first to the last,\nand how her Step-mother had treated her. Then, hui! but the king was\nangry! He sent a great lot of soldiers off to the father\u2019s house to\nbring the Step-mother to the castle so that she might be punished for\nher wickedness. But she was not to be caught as easily as a sparrow in a\nrain-storm; she jumped upon a broom straw, and\u2014puff!\u2014away she flew up\nthe chimney, and that was the last that anybody saw of her so far as\never I heard.\n\nBut they brought the father over to the king\u2019s castle, where he sat in\nthe warmest corner and had the best that was to be had.\n\nThat is all of this story, and if you see a blind mouse run across the\nfloor throw your cap over it and catch it, for it is yours.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n                              One O\u2019clock\u00b7\n\n\n           The _Kobold_ lies, [Sidenote: _Hazy. Very pleasant._]\n           And blinks his _Eyes_,\n       Under the _Grape-vine_ leaves.\n           The _Chickens_ scratch\n           In a sunny _Patch_,\n       And the _Sparrows_ fight on the _Eaves_.\n\n           The _Bee-Hive_ hums;\n           The _House-wife_ comes,\n       And looks outside the _Door_.\n           The speckled _Chick_\n           Hops in, to pick [Sidenote: K.P. des.]\n       The _Crumbs_ from off the _Floor_.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: Master Jacob.]\n\n                                 XIII.\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a man whose name was just Master Jacob and\nnothing more.\n\nAll that Master Jacob had in the world was a good fat pig, two black\ngoats, a wife, and a merry temper\u2014which was more than many a better man\nthan he had, for the matter of that.\n\n\u201cSee, now,\u201d says Master Jacob, \u201cI will drive the fat pig to the market\nto-morrow; who knows but that I might strike a bit of a sale.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo,\u201d says Master Jacob\u2019s wife, for she was of the good sort, and always\nnodded when he said \u201cyes,\u201d as the saying goes.\n\nNow there were three rogues in the town over the hill, who lived in\nplenty; one was the priest, one was the provost, and one was the master\nmayor; and which was the greatest rogue of the three it would be a hard\nmatter to tell, but perhaps it was the priest.\n\n\u201cSee, now,\u201d says the priest to the other two, \u201cMaster Jacob, who lives\nover yonder way, is going to bring his fat pig to market to-morrow. If\nyou have a mind for a trick, we will go snacks in what we win, and each\nof us will have a rib or two of bacon hanging in the pantry, and a\nstring or so of sausages back in the chimney without paying so much as a\nbrass button for them.\u201d\n\nWell, of course that was a tune to which the others were willing to\ndance. So the rogue of a priest told them to do thus and so, and to say\nthis and that, and they would cheat Master Jacob out of his good fat pig\nas easily as a beggar eats buttered parsnips.\n\nSo the next morning off starts Master Jacob to the market, driving his\nfat pig before him with a bit of string around the leg of it. Down he\ncomes into the town, and the first one whom he meets is the master\npriest.\n\n\u201cHow do you find yourself, Master Jacob?\u201d says the priest, \u201cand where\nare you going with that fine, fat dog?\u201d\n\n\u201cDog!\u201d says Master Jacob, opening his eyes till they were as big and as\nround as saucers. \u201cDog! Prut! It is as fine a pig as ever came into this\ntown, I would have you know.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat!\u201d says the priest. \u201cDo you try to tell me that that is a pig, when\nI can see with both of my ears and all of my eyes that it is a great,\nfat dog?\u201d\n\n\u201cI say it is a pig!\u201d says Master Jacob.\n\n\u201cI say it is a dog!\u201d says the priest.\n\n\u201cI say it is a pig!\u201d says Master Jacob.\n\n\u201cI say it is a dog!\u201d says the priest.\n\n\u201cI say it is a pig!\u201d says Master Jacob.\n\nJust then who should come along but the provost, with his hands in his\npockets and his pipe in his mouth, looking as high and mighty as though\nhe owned all of that town and the sun and the moon into the bargain.\n\n\u201cLook, friend,\u201d says the priest. \u201cWe have been saying so and so and so\nand so, just now. Will you tell me, _is_ that a pig, or _is_ it a dog?\u201d\n\n\u201cPrut!\u201d says the provost, \u201chow you talk, neighbor! Do you take me for a\nfool I should like to know? Why, it is as plain as the nose on your face\nthat it is a great, fat dog.\u201d\n\n\u201cI say it is a pig!\u201d bawled Master Jacob.\n\n\u201cI say it is a dog!\u201d says the provost.\n\n\u201cI say it is a pig!\u201d says Master Jacob.\n\n\u201cI say it is a dog!\u201d says the provost.\n\n\u201cI say it is a pig!\u201d says Master Jacob.\n\n\u201cCome, come,\u201d says the priest, \u201clet us have no high words over the\nmatter. No, no; we will take it to the mayor. If he says that it is a\npig we two will give you ten shillings; and if he says it is a dog, you\nwill give the animal to us as a penance.\u201d\n\nWell, Master Jacob was satisfied with that, for he was almost certain\nthat it was a pig. So off they marched to the mayor\u2019s house. There the\npriest told all about the matter, for he was used to talking. \u201cAnd now,\u201d\nsays he, \u201c_is_ it a pig, or _is_ it a dog?\u201d\n\n[Illustration: Master Jacob comes to y^e town with his fine, fat pig and\nthere falls in with the Priest and the Provost.]\n\n\u201cWhy,\u201d says the mayor, \u201cI wish I may be choked to death with a string of\nsausages if it is not a dog, and a big dog and a fat dog into the\nbargain.\u201d\n\nSo there was an end of the matter, and Master Jacob had to march off\nhome without his pig and with no more in his pockets than he had before.\nAll the same, he saw what kind of trick had been played on him, and,\nsays he to himself, \u201cWhat is sauce for the goose is sauce for the\ngander. If one can pipe another can whistle; I\u2019ll just try a bit of a\ntrick myself.\u201d So he went to his wife and told her that he had a mind to\ndo thus and so, and that she must do this and that; for he thought of\ntrying his hand at a little trickery as well as other folks.\n\nNow, as I told you before, Master Jacob had two goats, both of them as\nblack as the inside of your hat at midnight; moreover, they were as like\nas two spoons in the same dish; for no one could have told them apart\nunless he had lived with them year in and year out, rainy weather and\nclear, as Master Jacob had done.\n\nWell, the next day Master Jacob tied a rope around the neck of one of\nthe goats, took down a basket from the wall, and started off to the town\nover the hill, leading his goat behind him. By and by he came to the\nmarket place and began buying many and one things, until his basket was\nas full as it could hold. After a while whom should he see coming along\nbut the priest and the provost and the mayor, walking arm in arm as bold\nas you please.\n\n\u201cHalloa, Master Jacob,\u201d said they, \u201cand what have you there?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe blessed saints only know that,\u201d said Master Jacob. \u201cIt may be a\nblack cat for all that I know; it _was_ a black goat when I left home\nthis morning.\u201d\n\nAnd what was Master Jacob going to do with his little black goat? That\nwas what they should like to know.\n\n\u201cOh,\u201d said Master Jacob, \u201cI am about to send my little black goat on an\nerrand; if you will wait you shall see for yourselves.\u201d\n\nThen what did he do but hang the basket around the goat\u2019s neck. \u201cGo home\nto your mistress,\u201d said he, \u201cand tell her to boil the beef and cabbage\nfor dinner to-day; and, stop! tell her to go to Neighbor Nicholas\u2019s\nhouse and borrow a good big jug of beer, for I have a masterful thirst\nthis morning.\u201d Then he gave the goat a slap on the back, and off it went\nas though the ground were hot under it. But whether it ever really went\nhome or not, I never heard.\n\n[Illustration: Master Jacob takes his black goat to town.]\n\nAs for the priest, the provost, and the mayor, you may guess how they\ngrinned at all of this. Good land sake\u2019s alive! And did Master Jacob\nreally mean to say that the little black goat would tell the mistress\nall that?\n\nOh, yes; that it would. It was a keen blade, that little black goat, and\nif they would only come home with him, Master Jacob would show them.\n\nSo off they all went, Master Jacob and the priest and the provost and\nthe mayor, and after a while they came to Master Jacob\u2019s house. Yes,\nsure enough, there was a black goat feeding in the front yard, and how\nshould the priest and the provost and the mayor know that it was not the\nsame one that they had seen at the market-place! And just then out came\nMaster Jacob\u2019s wife. \u201cCome in, Jacob,\u201d says she, \u201cthe cabbage and the\nmeat are all ready. As for the beer, Neighbor Nicholas had none to\nspare, so I just borrowed a jugful of Neighbor Frederick, and it is as\ngood as the other for certain and sure.\u201d\n\nDear, dear! how the three cronies did open their eyes when they heard\nall of this! They would like to have such a goat as that, indeed they\nwould. Now, if Master Jacob had a mind to sell his goat, they would give\nas much as twenty dollars for it.\n\nOh, no; Master Jacob could not think of selling his nice little, dear\nlittle black goat for twenty dollars.\n\nFor thirty, then.\n\nNo; Master Jacob would not sell his goat for thirty dollars, either.\n\nWell, they would give as much as forty.\n\nNo; forty dollars was not enough for such a goat as that.\n\nSo they bargained and bargained till the upshot of the matter was that\nthey paid Master Jacob fifty dollars, and marched off with the goat as\npleased as pleased could be.\n\nWell, the three rogues were not long in finding out what a trick had\nbeen played upon them, I can tell you. So, in a day or two, whom should\nMaster Jacob see coming down the road but the priest, the provost, and\nthe master mayor, and anybody could see with half an eye that they were\nin an awful fume.\n\n\u201cHi!\u201d says Master Jacob, \u201cthere will be hot water boiling presently.\u201d In\nhe went to his good wife. \u201cHere,\u201d says he, \u201ctake this bladder of blood\nthat we were going to make into pudding, and hide it under your apron,\nand then when I do this and that, you do thus and so.\u201d\n\nPresently in came the priest, the provost, and the mayor, bubbling and\nsizzling like water on slake lime. \u201cWhat kind of a goat was that that\nyou sold us?\u201d bawled they, as soon as they could catch their breaths.\n\n\u201cMy black goat,\u201d says Master Jacob.\n\nThen look! He would run on no errands, and would do nothing that it was\ntold. It was of no more use about the house than five wheels to a wagon.\nNow Master Jacob might just go and put his hat on and come along with\nthem, for they were about to take him away to prison.\n\n\u201cBut stop a bit,\u201d says Master Jacob. \u201cDid you say \u2018by the great horn\nspoon,\u2019 when you told the goat to do this or that?\u201d\n\nNo; the cronies had done nothing of the kind, for Master Jacob had said\nnothing about a great horn spoon when he sold them the goat.\n\n\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you remind me?\u201d says Master Jacob to his good wife.\n\n\u201cI didn\u2019t think of it,\u201d says she.\n\n\u201cYou didn\u2019t?\u201d says he.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d says she.\n\n\u201cThen take that!\u201d says he, and he out with a great sharp knife and\njabbed it into the bladder under her apron, so that the blood ran out\nlike everything.\n\n\u201cUgh!\u201d says the good wife, and then fell down and lay quite still, just\nfor all the world as though she were dead.\n\nWhen the three cronies saw this, they gaped like fish out of water. Just\nlook now! Master Jacob had gone and killed his good wife, and all for\nnothing at all. Dear, dear! what a hasty temper the man had. Now he had\ngotten himself into a pretty scrape, and would have to go before the\njudge and settle the business with him.\n\n\u201cTut! tut!\u201d says Master Jacob, \u201cthe broth is not all in the ashes yet.\nPerhaps I am a bit hasty, but we will soon mend this stocking.\u201d\n\nSo he went to the closet in the corner of the room, and brought out a\nlittle tin horn. He blew a turn or two over his wife, whereat she\nsneezed, and then sat up as good and as sound as ever.\n\nAs for the priest and the provost and the mayor, they thought that they\nhad never seen anything so wonderful in all of their lives before. They\nmust and would have that tin horn if it was to be had; now, how much\nwould Master Jacob take for it, money down?\n\nOh, Master Jacob did not want to part with his horn; all the same, if he\nhad to sell it, he would just as lief that they should buy it as\nanybody. So they bargained and bargained, and the end of the matter was\nthat they paid down another fifty dollars and marched off with the\nlittle tin horn, blowing away at it for dear life.\n\nBy and by they came home, and there stood the goat, nibbling at the\ngrass in front of the house and thinking of no harm at all. \u201cSo!\u201d says\nthe provost, \u201cwas it you that would do nothing for us without our\nsaying, \u2018By the great horn spoon?\u2019 Take that then!\u201d And he fetched the\ngoat a thwack with his heavy walking-staff so that it fell down, and lay\nwith no more motion than a stone. \u201cThere,\u201d says he, \u201cthat business is\ndone; and now lend me the horn a minute, brother, till I fetch him back\nagain.\u201d\n\nWell, he blew and he blew, and he blew and he blew, till he was as red\nin the face as a cherry, but the goat moved never so much as a single\nhair. Then the priest took a turn at the horn, but he had no better luck\nthan the provost. Last of all the mayor had a try at it; but he might as\nwell have blown the horn over a lump of dough for all the answer he had\nfor his blowing.\n\nThen it began to work into their heads that they had been befooled\nagain. Phew! what a passion they were in. I can only say that I am glad\nthat I was not in Master Jacob\u2019s shoes. \u201cWe\u2019ll put him in prison right\naway,\u201d said they, and off they went to do as they said.\n\nBut Master Jacob saw them coming down the road, and was ready for them\nthis time too. He took two pots and filled them with pitch, and over the\ntop of the pitch he spread gold and silver money, so that if you had\nlooked into the pots you would have thought that there was nothing in\nthem but what you saw on the top. Then he took the pots off into the\nlittle woods back of the house. Now in the woods was a great deep pit,\nand all around the pit grew a row of bushes, so thick that nothing was\nto be seen of the mouth of the hole.\n\nBy and by came the priest and the mayor and the provost to Master\nJacob\u2019s house, puffing and blowing and fuming.\n\nRap! rap! tap! they knocked at the door, but nobody was there but Master\nJacob\u2019s wife.\n\nWas Master Jacob at home? That was what they wanted to know, for they\nhad a score to settle with him.\n\nOh, Master Jacob\u2019s wife did not know just where he was, but she thought\nthat he was in the little woods back of the house yonder, gathering\nmoney.\n\nPhew! and did money grow so near to the house as all that? This was a\nmatter to be looked into, for if money was to be gathered they must have\ntheir share. So off they went to the woods, hot-foot.\n\nYes; there was Master Jacob, sure enough, and what was more, he was\ncarrying two pots, one on each arm.\n\n\u201cHi! Master Jacob, and what have you there?\u201d said they.\n\n\u201cOh, nothing much,\u201d says Master Jacob.\n\nYes; that was all very good, but they would like to look into those pots\nthat he was carrying; that was what the three cronies said.\n\n[Illustration: The Priest, the Provost and the Master Mayor blow and\nblow the little tin trumpet over y^e black goat. \u00b6]\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d says Master Jacob, \u201cyou may look into the pots if you choose;\nall the same, I will tell you that they are both full of pitch, and that\nthere is only just a little money scattered over the top.\u201d\n\nYes, yes; that was all very well, but the three cronies knew the smell\nof money from the smell of pitch. See now, they had been fooled twice\nalready, and were not to be caught again. Now, where did Master Jacob\nget that money, that was what they wanted to know.\n\n\u201cOh,\u201d says Master Jacob, \u201cI cannot tell you that; if you want to gather\nmoney you will have to look for it yourselves. But you must not go too\nnear to those thick bushes yonder, for there is a deep pit hidden there,\nand you will be sure to fall into it.\u201d\n\nWhen the priest and the provost and the mayor heard this, they nudged\none another with their elbows and winked with one eye. They knew how\nmuch of that cheese to swallow. They would just take a look at this\nwonderful pit, for they thought that the money was hidden in the bushes\nfor sure and certain. So off they went as fast as they could lay foot to\nthe ground.\n\n\u201cJust you stay here,\u201d said the priest to the others, \u201cwhile I go and see\nwhether there really is a pit as he said.\u201d For he thought to himself\nthat he would go and gather a pocketful of the money before it would be\nshare and share with his comrades. So, into the thicket he jumped,\nand\u2014plump!\u2014he fell into the great, deep pit; and there was an end of\nnumber one.\n\nBy and by the others grew tired of tarrying. \u201cI\u2019ll go and see what he is\nwaiting for,\u201d says the provost. For he thought to himself, \u201cHe is\nfilling his pockets, and I might as well have my share.\u201d So, into the\nthicket he jumped, and\u2014plump!\u2014he fell into the great, deep pit; and\nthere was an end of number two.\n\nAs for the mayor, he waited and waited. \u201cWhat a fool am I,\u201d said he at\nlast, \u201cto sit here twiddling my thumbs while the two rogues yonder are\nfilling their pockets without me. It is little or nothing but the scraps\nand the bones that I will come in for.\u201d\n\nSo the upshot of the matter was that he too ran and jumped into the\nthicket, and heels over head into the great, deep pit, and there was an\nend of number three. And if Master Jacob ever helped them out, you may\ndepend upon it that he made them promise to behave themselves in time to\ncome.\n\n[Illustration: Master Jacob with his two pots meets the three cronies in\nthe woods.]\n\nAnd this is true that I tell you: it would have been cheaper for them to\nhave bought their pork in the first place, for, as it was, they paid a\npretty penny for it.\n\nAs for Master Jacob and his good wife, they had a hundred dollars in\ngood hard money, and if they did not get along in the world with that,\nwhy I, for one, want nothing more to do with them.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n                              Two O\u2019clock\u00b7\n\n\n They shake the _Bread-Crumbs_\n   Out of the _Door_,\n They scrub the _Table_,\n   And sand the _Floor_; [Sidenote: _Some thunder._] [Sidenote: _Clear._]\n\n They shoo out the _Chickens_,\n   And _Cats_, and all,\n And say \u201c_Run, Johnnie,\n   And play with your Ball_.\u201d\n\n                         K.P.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: Peterkin and the Little Grey Hare.]\n\n                                  XIV.\n\n\nThere was a man who died and left behind him three sons, and nothing but\ntwo pennies to each. So, as there was little to be gained by scraping\nthe dish at home, off they packed to the king\u2019s house, where they might\nfind better faring. The two elder lads were smart fellows enough; as for\nPeterkin, he was the youngest\u2014why, nobody thought much of him.\n\nSo off they went\u2014tramp! tramp! tramp!\u2014all three together. By and by they\ncame to a great black forest where little was to be seen either before\nor behind them.\n\nThere old Father Hunger met them, and that was the worse for them, for\nthere was nothing at all to eat. They looked here and there, and, after\na while, what should they come across but a little grey hare caught in a\nsnare.\n\nThen, if anybody was glad, it was the two elder brothers. \u201cHere is\nsomething to stay our stomachs,\u201d said they.\n\nBut Peterkin had a soft heart in his breast. \u201cSee, brothers,\u201d said he,\n\u201clook how the poor thing turns up its eyes. Sure it would be a pity to\ntake its life, even though our stomachs do grumble a bit.\u201d\n\nBut the two elder brothers were deaf in that ear. They had gone without\ntheir dinners long enough, and they were no such foolish fellows as to\nthrow it away, now that it had come to them.\n\nBut Peterkin begged and begged, until, at last, the two said that they\nwould let the Little Grey Hare go free if he would give them the two\npennies that he had in his pocket.\n\nWell, Peterkin let them have the pennies, and they let the hare go, and\nglad enough it was to get away, I can tell you.\n\n\u201cSee, Peterkin,\u201d it said, speaking as plainly as a Christian, \u201cyou shall\nlose nothing by this. When you are in a tight place, whistle on your\nfingers\u2014thus\u2014and perhaps help will come to you.\u201d\n\nThen it thumped its feet on the ground and away it scampered.\n\nAs for Peter\u2019s brothers, they laughed and laughed. A fool and his money\nwere soon parted, said they. How could a little grey hare help him, they\nshould like to know?\n\nAfter a while they came to the town, where Peterkin\u2019s brothers took up\ntheir lodgings at a good inn. As for Peterkin, he had to go and sleep in\nthe straw, for one cannot spend money and have it both. So while the\nbrothers were eating broth with meat in it, Peterkin went with nothing.\n\n\u201cI wonder,\u201d said he, \u201cif the Little Grey Hare can help me now.\u201d So he\nwhistled on his fingers, just as it had told him.\n\nThen who should come hopping and skipping along but the Little Grey Hare\nitself. \u201cWhat do you want, Peterkin?\u201d it said.\n\n\u201cI should like,\u201d said Peterkin, \u201cto have something to eat.\u201d\n\n\u201cNothing easier than that,\u201d said the Little Grey Hare; and before one\ncould wink twice a fine feast, fit for a king, was spread out before\nhim, and he fell to as though he had not eaten a bite for seven years.\n\nAfter that he slept like a flat stone, for one can sleep well even in\nthe straw, if one only has a good supper within one.\n\nWhen the next morning had come, the two elder brothers bought them each\na good new coat with brass buttons. Peterkin they said would have to go\nas he was, for patches and tatters were good enough for such a\nspendthrift.\n\nBut Peterkin knew a way out of that hole. Back of the house he went, and\nthere he blew on his fingers.\n\n\u201cWhat will you have?\u201d said the Little Grey Hare.\n\n\u201cI should like,\u201d said Peterkin, \u201cto have a fine new suit of clothes, so\nthat I can go to the king\u2019s house with my brothers and not be ashamed.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf that is all that you want,\u201d said the Hare, \u201cit is little enough;\u201d\nand there lay the finest suit of clothes that Peterkin had ever seen,\nfor it was all of blue silk sewed with golden threads. So Peterkin\ndressed himself in his fine clothes, and you may guess how his brothers\nstared when they saw him.\n\n[Illustration: Peterkin\u2019s brothers marvel at the fine clothes that the\nhare gave him.]\n\nOff they all went to the king\u2019s house, and there was the king feeding\nhis chickens; for that was all the work he had upon his hands, and an\neasy life he led of it. The king looked at Peterkin, and thought that he\nhad never seen such fine clothes. Did they want service? Well, the king\nthought that he might give it to them. The oldest brother might tend the\npigs, the second might look after the cows. But as for Peterkin, he was\nso spruce and neat that he might stay in the house and open the door\nwhen folks knocked. That was what his fine clothes did for him.\n\nSo Peterkin had the soft feathers in that nest, for he sat in the warm\nchimney all day, and had the scraping of the pipkins when good things\nhad been cooked.\n\nWell, things went quietly enough for a while, but the elder brothers\nkept up a great buzzing in their heads, I can tell you; for one does not\nlike to see another step in front of one, and that is the truth.\n\nSo, one day, who should come to the king but the two elder brothers.\nPerhaps, said they, the king did not know it, but there was a giant over\nyonder who had a grey goose that laid a golden egg every day of her\nlife. Now Peterkin had said more than once, and over and over again,\nthat he was man enough to get the grey goose for the king whenever the\nking wanted it. You can guess how this tickled the king\u2019s ears. Off he\nsent for Peterkin, and Peterkin came.\n\nHui! how Peterkin opened his eyes when he heard what the king wanted. He\nhad never said that he could get the giant\u2019s goose; he vowed and swore\nthat he had not. But it was to no purpose that he talked, the king\nwanted the grey goose, and Peterkin would have to get it for him. He\nmight have three days for the business, and that was all. Then, if he\nbrought the grey goose, he should have two bags of gold money; if he did\nnot bring it he should pack off to the prison.\n\nSo Peterkin left the king, and if anybody was down in the mouth in all\nof the world it was Peterkin.\n\n\u201cPerhaps,\u201d said he, \u201cthe Little Grey Hare can help me.\u201d So he blew a\nturn or two on his fingers, and the Little Grey Hare came hopping and\nskipping up to him.\n\nWhat was Peterkin in the dumps about now? That was what it wanted to\nknow.\n\nWhy, the king wanted him to get such and such a grey goose from over at\nthe giant\u2019s house, and Peterkin knew no more about it than a red herring\nin a box; that was the trouble.\n\n\u201cOh, well,\u201d says the Little Grey Hare, \u201cmaybe that can be cured; just go\nto the king and ask for this and that and the other thing, and we will\nsee what can be done about the business.\u201d\n\nSo off went Peterkin to the king; perhaps he could get the grey goose\nafter all, but he must have three barrels of soft pitch, and a bag of\nbarley-corn, and a pot of good tallow.\n\nThe king let him have all that he wanted, and then the Little Grey Hare\ntook Peterkin and the three barrels of soft pitch and the bag of\nbarley-corn and the pot of good tallow on its back, and off it went till\nthe wind whistled behind Peterkin\u2019s ears.\n\n(Now that was a great load for a little grey hare; but I tell the story\nto you just as Time\u2019s Clock told it to me.)\n\nAfter a while they came to a river, and then the Little Grey Hare said:\n\n\u201cBrother Pike! Brother Pike! Here are folks would like to cross the wide\nriver.\u201d\n\nThen up came a great river pike, and on his back he took Peterkin and\nthe Little Grey Hare and the three barrels of pitch and the sack of\nbarley-corn and the pot of good tallow, and away he swam till he had\nbrought them from this side to that.\n\n(Now that was a great load for a river pike to carry; but as Time\u2019s\nClock told the story to me I tell it to you.)\n\nThen the Little Grey Hare went on and on again until it came to a high\nhill, and on the top of the high hill was a great house; that was where\nthe giant lived.\n\nThen Peterkin took the soft pitch and made a wide pathway of it. After\nthat he smeared his feet all over with the tallow, so that he stuck to\nthe soft pitch no more than water sticks to a cabbage leaf. Then he\nshouldered his bag of barley-corn and went up to the giant\u2019s castle, and\nhunted around and hunted around until he had found where the grey goose\nwas; and it was in the kitchen and would not come out. But Peterkin had\na way to bring it; he scattered the barley-corn all about, and when the\ngrey goose saw that, it came out quickly enough and began to eat the\ngrains as fast as it could gobble. But Peterkin did not give it much\ntime for this, for up he caught it, and off he went as fast as he could\nscamper.\n\nThen the grey goose flapped its wings and began squalling. \u201cMaster!\nmaster! Here I am! here I am! It is Peterkin who has me!\u201d\n\nOut ran the giant with his great iron club, and after Peterkin he came\nas fast as he could lay foot to the ground. But Peterkin had the\nbuttered side of the cake this time, for he ran over the pitch road as\neasily as though it were made of good stones; that was because his boots\nwere smeared with tallow. As for the giant, he stuck to it as a fly\nsticks to the butter, so that it was very slow travelling that he made\nof it.\n\nThen the hare took Peterkin up on its back, and away it scampered till\nthe wind whistled behind his ears. When it had come to the river it\nsaid:\n\n\u201cBrother Pike! Brother Pike! Here are folks would like to cross the wide\nriver.\u201d\n\nThen the pike took them on its back and away they went. But it was a\ntight squeeze through that crack, I can tell you, for they had hardly\nleft the shore when up came the giant, fuming and boiling like water in\nthe pot.\n\n\u201cIs that you, Peterkin?\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cYes; it is I,\u201d said Peterkin.\n\n\u201cAnd did you steal my grey goose?\u201d said the giant.\n\n\u201cYes; I stole your grey goose,\u201d said Peterkin.\n\n\u201cAnd what would you do if you were me and I were you?\u201d said the giant.\n\n\u201cI would do what I could,\u201d said Peterkin.\n\nAfter that the giant went back home, shaking his head and talking to\nhimself.\n\nSo the king got the grey goose, and was as glad as glad could be. And\nPeterkin got the bags of gold, and was glad also. Thus there were two in\nthe world pleased at the same time.\n\nAnd now the king could not make too much of Peterkin. It was Peterkin\nhere and Peterkin there, till Peterkin\u2019s brothers were as sour as bad\nbeer over the matter.\n\nSo, one day, they came buzzing in the king\u2019s ear again; perhaps the king\ndid not know it, but that same giant had a silver bell, and every time\nthat the bell was rung a good dinner was spread ready for the eating.\nNow, Peterkin had been saying to everybody that he could get that bell\nfor the king just as easily as he had gotten the grey goose. At this the\nking pricked up his ears, for it tickled them to hear such talk. He sent\nfor Peterkin to come to him, and Peterkin came. He vowed and swore that\nhe had said nothing about getting the giant\u2019s bell. But it was of no\nuse; he only wasted his breath. The king wanted the silver bell, and the\nking must have it. Peterkin should have three days in which to get it.\nIf he brought it at the end of that time, he should have half of the\nkingdom to rule over. If he did not bring it he should have his ears\nclipped; so there was an end of that talk.\n\n[Illustration: Peterkin, with y^e help of the hare, carries off the\nGiant\u2019s goose. \u2014(]\n\nIt was a bad piece of business, but off Peterkin went and blew on his\nfingers, and up came the Little Grey Hare.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said the Little Grey Hare, \u201cand what is the trouble with us\nnow?\u201d\n\nWhy, the king wanted a little silver bell that was over at the giant\u2019s\nhouse, and he had to go and get it for him; that was the trouble with\nPeterkin.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d says the Little Grey Hare, \u201cthere is no telling what one can do\ntill one tries; just get a little wad of tow and come along, and we will\nsee what we can make of it.\u201d\n\nSo Peterkin got the wad of tow, and then he sat him on the Little Grey\nHare\u2019s back, and away they went till the wind whistled behind his ears.\nWhen they came to the river the Little Grey Hare called on the pike, and\nup it came and carried them over as it had done before. By and by they\ncame to the giant\u2019s house, and this time the giant was away from home,\nwhich was a lucky thing for Peterkin.\n\nPeterkin climbed into the window, and hunted here and there till he had\nfound the little silver bell. Then he wrapped the tow around the\nclapper, but, in spite of all that he could do, it made a jingle or two.\nThen away he scampered to the Little Grey Hare. He mounted on its back,\nand off they went.\n\nBut the giant heard the jingle of the little silver bell, and home he\ncame as fast as his legs could carry him.\n\nHe hunted here and there till he found the track of Peterkin, then after\nhim he went, three miles at a step.\n\nWhen he came to the river, there was Peterkin, just out of harm\u2019s way.\n\n\u201cIs that you, Peterkin?\u201d bawled the giant.\n\n\u201cYes; it is I,\u201d said Peterkin.\n\n\u201cAnd have you stolen my silver bell?\u201d said the giant.\n\n\u201cYes; I have stolen your silver bell,\u201d said Peterkin.\n\n\u201cAnd have you stolen my grey goose too?\u201d said the giant.\n\nYes; Peterkin had stolen that too.\n\n\u201cAnd what would you do if you were me and I were you?\u201d said the giant.\n\n\u201cI would do what I could,\u201d said Peterkin.\n\nAt this the giant went back home, grumbling and muttering to himself,\nand if Peterkin had been by it would have been bad for Peterkin.\n\n[Illustration: Peterkin bringeth y^e little silver bell of the Giant to\nthe King. |]\n\nDear, dear! but the king was glad to get the silver bell; as for\nPeterkin, he was a great man now, for he ruled over half of the kingdom.\n\nBut now the two elder brothers were less pleased than ever before; they\ngrumbled and talked together until the upshot of the matter was that\nthey went to the king for the third time. Peterkin had been bragging and\ntalking again. This time he had said that the giant over yonder had a\nsword of such a kind that it gave more light in the dark than fourteen\ncandles, and that he could get the sword as easily as he had gotten the\ngrey goose and the little silver bell.\n\nAfter that nothing would satisfy the king but for Peterkin to go and get\nthe sword. Peterkin argued and talked, and talked and argued, but it was\nfor no good; he might have talked till the end of all things. The king\nwanted the sword, and the king must have it. If Peterkin could bring it\nto him in three days\u2019 time he might have the princess for his wife; if\nhe came back empty-handed he should have a good thong of skin cut off of\nhis back from top to bottom; that was what the king said.\n\nSo there was nothing for it but for Peterkin to whistle on his fingers\nfor the Little Grey Hare once more.\n\n\u201cAnd what is it this time?\u201d said the Little Grey Hare.\n\nWhy, the king wanted such and such a kind of sword, and Peterkin must go\nand get it for him; that was the trouble.\n\nWell, well; there might be a hole in this hedge as well as another. But\nthis time Peterkin must borrow one of the princess\u2019s dresses and her\ngolden comb; then one might see what could be done.\n\nSo Peterkin went to the king and said that he must have the dress and\nthe comb, and the king let him have them. Then he mounted on the Little\nGrey Hare and\u2014whisk!\u2014away they went as fast as before.\n\nWell, they crossed the river and came to the giant\u2019s house once more.\nThere Peterkin dressed himself in the princess\u2019s dress, and combed his\nhair with her golden comb; and as he combed his hair it grew longer and\nlonger, and the end of the matter was that he looked for all the world\nlike as fine and strapping a lass as ever a body saw. Then he went up to\nthe giant\u2019s house, and\u2014rap! tap! tap!\u2014he knocked at the door as bold as\nbrass. The giant was in this time, and he came and opened the door\nhimself. But when he saw what he thought was a fine lass, he smiled as\nthough he had never eaten anything in all his life but soft butter.\n\nPerhaps the pretty lass would come in and sit down for a bit; that was\nwhat he said to Peterkin.\n\n[Illustration: Peterkin as a girl combs the Giant\u2019s hair.]\n\nOh, yes! that suited Peterkin; of course he would come in. So in he\ncame, and then he and the giant sat down to supper together. After they\nhad eaten as much as they could the giant laid his head in Peterkin\u2019s\nlap, and Peterkin combed his hair and combed his hair, until he fell\nfast asleep and began to snore so that he made the cinders fly up the\nchimney.\n\nThen Peterkin rose up softly and took down the Sword of Light from the\nwall. After that he went out on tiptoes and mounted the Little Grey\nHare, and away they went till the chips flew behind them.\n\nBy and by the giant opened his eyes and saw that Peterkin was gone, and,\nwhat was more, his Sword of Light was gone also. Then what a rage he was\nin! Off he went after Peterkin and the Little Grey Hare, seven miles at\na step. But he was just a little too late, though there was no room to\nspare between Peterkin and him, and that is the truth.\n\n\u201cIs that you, Peterkin?\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cYes; it is I,\u201d said Peterkin.\n\n\u201cAnd have you stolen my Sword of Light?\u201d said the giant.\n\nOh, yes; Peterkin had done that.\n\n\u201cAnd what would you do if you were me and I were you?\u201d said the giant.\n\n\u201cI would drink the river dry and follow after,\u201d said Peterkin.\n\n\u201cThat is good,\u201d said the giant. So he laid himself down and drank and\ndrank and drank, until he drank so much that he burst with a great\nnoise, and there was an end of him!\n\nThe king was so pleased with the Sword of Light that it seemed as though\nhe could not look at it and talk about it enough. As for Peterkin, he\ngot the princess for his wife, and that pleased him also, you may be\nsure. The princess was pleased too, for Peterkin was a good, smart,\ntight bit of a lad, and that is what the girls like. So it was that\neverybody was pleased except the two elder brothers, who looked as sour\nas green gooseberries. But now Peterkin was an apple that hung too high\nfor them to reach, and so they had to let him alone.\n\nThe next day after the wedding, whom should Peterkin come across but the\nLittle Grey Hare.\n\n\u201cSee, Peterkin,\u201d it said, \u201cI have done much for you; will you do a\nlittle for me?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, indeed, that I will,\u201d said Peterkin.\n\n\u201cThen take the Sword of Light and cut off my head and feet,\u201d said the\nLittle Grey Hare.\n\nNo, no; Peterkin could never do such a thing as that; that would be a\npretty way to treat a good friend.\n\nBut the Little Grey Hare begged and begged and begged, until at last\nPeterkin did as he asked; he cut off his head and his feet. Then who\nshould stand before him but a handsome young prince, with yellow hair\nand blue eyes. That was what the Little Grey Hare had been all the time,\nonly the giant had bewitched him.\n\nAs for Peterkin\u2014well, this is the way of it; the youngest will step\nahead of the others sometimes.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n                             Three O\u2019clock\u00b7\n\n\n The _Peddler-Man_ is at the _Door_;[Sidenote: _Make hay._] [Sidenote:\n    \u2610\u2646\u2609]\n It\u2019s _Weeks_ since he was here before.\n He gives our little _John_ a _Toy_,\n And says he is a fine, big _Boy_.\n The _Mistress_ buys some _Flower Seeds_,\n And _Gretchen_ gets some _Pins_ and _Beads_.\n\n                             K.P.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: Mother Hildegarde.]\n\n                                  XV.\n\n\nOnce upon a time there lived a king who had an only daughter, and the\nprincess was more handsome than I can tell you. But the queen had been\ndead for so long that the king began to think about marrying a second\ntime. So the upshot of the matter was that by and by there came a\nstep-mother into the house, and a step-sister besides, for the new queen\nhad a daughter of her own. And that was a sorrowful thing for the\nprincess.\n\nAt first the new queen was kind enough to the poor girl; but before long\nthere were other cakes baking in that oven, for the step-mother began\nsaying to herself: \u201cSee, now, if this hussy were out of the way my own\ndear girl would be the first in the land, and might, in time, have the\nkingdom for her very own.\u201d So, in the end, the poor princess found but\nlittle peace in the same house with the woman and her daughter.\n\nOne day the step-mother, the step-sister, and the pretty princess sat\ntogether in the castle garden beside a deep cistern of water. By the\ncistern hung a silver cup for the use of those who wished to drink. And\nas they sat there the princess grew thirsty, and would have taken the\ncup to quench her thirst, but the step-mother stopped her.\n\n\u201cSee, now,\u201d said she, \u201cif you must drink you will have to stoop to the\nwater, for the silver cup is too good for such as you.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas!\u201d said the poor princess, \u201cthe time was when a cup of gold was not\ntoo good for me!\u201d And thereupon she began to weep as though her heart\nwould break. But there was no help for it; if she would drink she must\nstoop for it; so down she knelt and began to drink from the deep water\nwithout any thought or fear of harm.\n\nBut as the princess thus stooped and drank, the wicked step-mother came\nbehind her without her knowing it, and gave her a push so that she fell\nheadlong into the cistern and sank to the bottom. After that the\nstep-mother and the step-sister went back to the castle again, rejoicing\nand thinking that now they were rid of the princess for good and all,\nand that the step-sister would be the first in all of the land.\n\nBut in this they counted black chicks before they were hatched; for when\nthe princess sank down to the bottom of the cistern, she found herself\nin a great wide meadow, all covered over with bright flowers, as many as\nthere are stars in the sky at night.\n\nAcross this meadow she went on and on and on; but never a single soul\ndid she see until at last she came to a great, fine house that stood all\nalone by itself, without another to be seen, near or afar. In the\ndoorway of the house stood an old woman, whom the princess saw very\nplainly was not like common folk.\n\nAnd she was right, for the old woman was none other than Mother\nHildegarde, who is so wise that she knows almost as much as Father Time\nhimself. Thus it was that she knew all about the princess, and who she\nwas and whence she came, without the asking. \u201cListen,\u201d said she, \u201cI will\ngive you food and lodging, and will pay you well if you will serve me\nfaithfully for the space of a year and a day.\u201d\n\nThat the princess was willing enough to do, for she was both tired and\nhungry; so into the house she went to serve Mother Hildegarde for a year\nand a day.\n\nBut it was no common work that the princess did, I can tell you; for\nlisten: When she blew the bellows that the fire might blaze the\nbrighter, the wind swept over the great brown world so that every\nwindmill turned around and around from Jacob Pfennigdrummel\u2019s to the\nshores of the great black sea at the north end of the earth; and when\nshe sprinkled the clothes, the blessed rain came tumbling down till all\nthe gutters ran with water so that little folk had either to stay home\nfrom school or to go thither under great, wide umbrellas.\n\n[Illustration: The Princess cometh into a wonderful country and to the\nhouse of a strange old woman. \u00b6]\n\nBut of all this the pretty princess knew nothing whatever, but only\nthought that she blew the fire and sprinkled the clothes. And that is\noften the way of the world\u2014at least, so Tommy Pfouce tells me.\n\nWell, one day Mother Hildegarde said to the princess: \u201cSee, now; I am\ngoing off on a journey, and it may be a while before I am back again.\nHere are the keys of all of the house, and you are free to go wherever\nyou choose. Only here is a black key that unlocks a little room into\nwhich you must not go; for if you do I will be sure to know it, and\nill-luck will be certain to happen to you.\u201d Then off she went, and the\nprincess was left all alone.\n\nThe first day the lass went here, and the second day she went there, and\nthe third day she had gone everywhere except into the little room where\nMother Hildegarde had told her not to go; and she never wanted anything\nin all of her life as much as she wanted just to peep into that little\nroom.\n\n\u201cI wonder,\u201d said she to herself\u2014\u201cI wonder what harm there could be in it\nif I were only to take one little peep?\u201d So the upshot of the matter was\nthat she went there just to look at the outside of the door.\n\n\u201cI wonder,\u201d said she, \u201cif the key will fit the lock?\u201d\n\nYes; it did fit it.\n\n\u201cI wonder,\u201d said she, \u201cif the key will turn the bolt?\u201d\n\nYes; it did turn it.\n\n\u201cI wonder,\u201d said she, \u201cwhether it would do any harm just to peep into\nthe room?\u201d\n\nAnd she did peep into it.\n\nBelieve me or not, all the same I tell you the truth when I say that\nthere was not one thing in the room but a covered jar, that stood in the\nmiddle of the floor. Of course the princess must have just one peep into\nthe jar, for as she had gone as far as she had, there could be no more\nharm in this than in the other. So she went to the jar and took off the\nlid and peeped into it.\n\nAnd what do you think was in it? Nothing but water!\n\nBut as the princess looked into the water she saw Mother Hildegarde as\nthough she were a great way off, and the Mother Hildegarde whom she saw\nin the water was looking at nobody in all of the world but her. As soon\nas the princess saw what she saw, she clapped down the lid of the jar\nagain; but she clapped it down just a moment too late, for a lock of\nhair fell down over her face, and one single hair touched the water in\nthe jar.\n\n[Illustration: The Princess looks into that which she should not have\ndone.]\n\nYes; only one single hair. But when the princess looked she saw that\nevery lock upon her head was turned to pure gold. Then if anybody in all\nof the world was frightened it was the poor princess. She twisted up the\nhair upon the top of her head and bound her kerchief about it so that it\nwas all hidden; but all the same the hair was there, and could never be\nchanged from the gold again.\n\nJust then who should come walking into the house but Mother Hildegarde\nherself. \u201cHave you obeyed all that I have told you?\u201d said she.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said the princess, but all the same she was so frightened that\nher knees knocked together.\n\n\u201cDid you go into the little room?\u201d said Mother Hildegarde.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said the princess; but her heart beat so that she could hardly\nspeak.\n\nThen Mother Hildegarde snatched the kerchief off of the princess\u2019s head,\nand her golden hair came tumbling down all about her shoulders,\nglittering, so that it was the finest sight that you could see between\nhere and Nomansland.\n\n\u201cThen how came your hair to be like that?\u201d said Mother Hildegarde.\n\n\u201cI do not know,\u201d said the princess; and then she began crying and\nsobbing as though her heart would break.\n\n\u201cSee now,\u201d said Mother Hildegarde; \u201cyou have served me well for all of\nthe time that you have been with me, therefore I will have pity upon\nyou, only you must tell me the truth. Did you go into the little room\nwhile I was away?\u201d\n\nBut for all that Mother Hildegarde spoke ever so kindly the princess\ncould not bring herself to speak the truth.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said she.\n\n\u201cThen how came your hair to be like that?\u201d said Mother Hildegarde.\n\n\u201cI do not know,\u201d said the princess.\n\nAt this Mother Hildegarde frowned till her eyes burned like sparks of\nfire. She caught the princess by the arm and struck her staff upon the\nground, and away they flew through the air till the wind whistled behind\nthem. So by and by they came to a great forest, out of which there was\nno path to be found either to the east or the west or the north or the\nsouth.\n\n[Illustration: The Princess dwells in the oak-tree where y^e wild\npigeons come to feed her.]\n\n\u201cSee now,\u201d said Mother Hildegarde, \u201cbecause you have been faithful in\nyour labor with me I will give you still another chance. But if you do\nnot answer me truthfully this time, I will leave you alone here in the\nforest, and will take away your speech so that you will be as dumb as\nthe beasts of the field. Did you go into the little room?\u201d\n\nBut still the princess hardened her heart and answered \u201cNo.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen how came your hair to be like that?\u201d said Mother Hildegarde.\n\n\u201cI do not know,\u201d said the princess.\n\nThen Mother Hildegarde went away, and left the princess alone in the\nforest as she had promised to do; and not only that, but she took away\nthe princess\u2019s speech, so that she was quite dumb. So in the forest the\nprincess dwelt for a long, long time, and there she would have died of\nhunger, only that Mother Hildegarde still cared for her and sent the\nwood-pigeons to feed her, which they did from day to day and from week\nto week and from month to month. As for the princess, she lived in the\nbranches of the trees, for she was afraid of the wild beasts that roamed\nthrough the wood.\n\nBy and by her clothes became nothing but rags and tatters, and then she\nhad to weave her beautiful hair about her, so that she was clad all from\nhead to foot in her golden tresses, and in them alone.\n\nWell, one time it happened that a young king came riding into the forest\nto hunt the wild boars, and many of his people came along with him. Some\nof those who rode on before came suddenly to where a great flock of\nwood-pigeons flew about in the tree-tops above them. But when they\nlooked up, you may guess how wonder-struck they were when they saw that\nthe pigeons were feeding a beautiful maiden who sat in the branches\nabove, clad all in her golden hair. Back they rode to the young king and\ntold him all that they had seen, and up he came as fast as he could\nride. There he saw the maiden and how beautiful she was, and he called\nto her to come down. But she only shook her head, for she could not\nspeak, and she was ashamed of being found where she was. Then the young\nking, seeing that she would not come down from the branches to him,\nclimbed up himself and brought her.\n\nHe wrapped his cloak about her and set her on his horse in front of him,\nand then he and all that were with him rode away out of the dark forest\nand under the blue sky, until they had come to the king\u2019s castle. But\nall the time the princess did nothing but weep and weep, for she could\nnot speak a single word. The young king gave her to his mother to care\nfor, who was none too glad to have such a dumb maiden brought into the\nhouse, even though the lass was as pretty as milk and rose leaves.\n\n[Illustration: Mother Hildegarde carries ye baby away from the castle of\nthe king.]\n\nBut the young king cared nothing whatever for what his mother thought\nabout the matter, for the more he looked at the princess, the more\nbeautiful she appeared in his eyes. So the end of the matter was that he\nmarried her, even though she had not a word to say for herself.\n\nWell, time went on and on, till one day the storks that lived on the\ncastle roof brought a baby boy to the poor dumb princess, whereat\neverybody was as glad as glad could be.\n\nBut their gladness was soon changed to sadness, for that night, when\nevery one in the king\u2019s house was fast and sound asleep, Mother\nHildegarde came softly into the princess\u2019s room. She gave her back her\nspeech for the time being, and then she said, \u201cI will still have pity\nupon you. If you will only tell me the truth you shall have your speech\nagain, and all will go well with you. But if you tell me a falsehood\nonce more, still greater troubles will come upon you. Now tell me, did\nyou go into the little room?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said the princess, for still she could not bring herself to\nconfess to Mother Hildegarde.\n\n\u201cThen how came your hair to be like that?\u201d\n\n\u201cI do not know,\u201d said the princess.\n\nSo Mother Hildegarde took away her speech once more.\n\nAfter that she smeared the mouth of the princess with blood, and then,\nwrapping the baby in her mantle, she carried it away with her, leaving\nthe mother weeping alone.\n\nYou can guess what a hubbub there was the next morning in the castle,\nwhen they came and found that the baby was gone, and that the princess\u2019s\nmouth was smeared with blood. \u201cSee,\u201d said the king\u2019s mother, \u201cwhat did I\ntell you from the very first. Do you not see that you have brought a\nwicked witch into the house, and that she has killed her own child?\u201d\n\nBut the king would listen to no such words as these, for it seemed to\nhim that the princess was too beautiful and too good to do such a wicked\nthing.\n\nAfter a time there came another baby to the princess, and once more\nMother Hildegarde came to her and said, \u201cDid you go into the little\nroom?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said the princess.\n\n\u201cThen how came your hair to be like that?\u201d\n\n\u201cI do not know,\u201d said the princess.\n\nSo Mother Hildegarde took this baby away as she had done the other, and\nleft the princess with her lips smeared with blood.\n\nAnd now every one of the king\u2019s household began to mutter and to whisper\nto his neighbor, and the king had nothing to say, but only left the room\nsilently, for his heart was like heavy lead within his breast. Still he\nwould not hear of harm coming to the princess, no matter what had\nhappened.\n\nIn time there came a third baby, but still the princess could not soften\nher heart, and Mother Hildegarde took it away as she had done the\nothers. This time the king could do nothing to save the princess, for\nevery one cried out upon her that she was a wicked witch who killed her\nchildren, and that she should be burned at the stake, as was fitting for\nsuch a one. So a great pile of fagots was built out in the castle\ncourt-yard, and the princess was brought out and tied to a stake that\nstood in the midst. Then they lit the pile of fagots, and it began to\ncrackle and burn around her where she stood.\n\nThen suddenly, Mother Hildegarde stood beside her in the midst of the\nfire. In her arms she held the princess\u2019s youngest baby, and the others\nstood, one upon one side and the other upon the other, and held on to\nher skirts.\n\nShe gave the princess her speech again, and then she said, \u201cNow, tell\nme, did you go into the little room?\u201d\n\nEven yet the princess would have answered \u201cNo;\u201d but when she saw her\nchildren standing in the midst of the fire with her, her heart melted\naway within her.\n\n\u201cYes!\u201d she cried, \u201cI went in and I saw.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd how came your hair to be like that?\u201d said Mother Hildegarde.\n\n\u201cAlas!\u201d said the princess, \u201cI gazed upon that which I should not have\ngazed upon, and looked into that which I should not have looked into,\nand one hair touched the water and all was turned to gold.\u201d\n\nThen Mother Hildegarde smiled till her face shone as white as the moon.\n\u201cThe truth is better late than not at all,\u201d said she; \u201cand if you had\nbut spoken in the first place, I would have freely forgiven you.\u201d As she\nspoke a shower of rain fell down from the sky, and the fire of the\nfagots was quenched.\n\nAnd now you can guess what joy there was in the king\u2019s castle when every\none knew all that had happened, and it was seen how the right thing had\ncome about at last, though it was the toss of a farthing betwixt this\nand that. Even the king\u2019s mother was glad enough when she came to know\nthat it was a real princess whom her son had married after all.\n\nAnd now listen to what happened in the end.\n\nThey gave a great feast, and everybody was asked to come from far and\nnear. Then who should come travelling along with the others, as grand as\nyou please, but the wicked step-mother and step-sister of the princess.\n\nDear, dear, how they stared and goggled when they saw who the young\nqueen really was, and that the poor princess had married the richest and\ngreatest king in all of the land!\n\nTheir hearts were so filled with envy that they swelled and swelled\nuntil they burst within them, and they fell down dead, and there was an\nend of them.\n\nThus it is that everything turns out right in the long run\u2014that is in\nfairy tales.\n\nBut, after all, if the princess had only told the truth in the first\nplace, she would never have gotten in all this peck of trouble.\n\nAnd then who knows what Mother Hildegarde would have done for her, for\nshe is a strange woman, is Mother Hildegarde.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n                             Four O\u2019clock\u00b7\n\n\n Bare-necked _Gretchen_ combs her hair [Sidenote: \u2609K.P.\u260b _Warm and\n    Dusty._]\n   At the _Looking-Glass_.\n This is _Grease_, and these are _Beads_\n   She takes to early _Mass_.\n\n Her _Water-Pitcher_, blue and white,\n   Has got a broken _Nose_,\n And both the _Stockings_ that she wears\n   Are ravelled at the _Toes_.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: Which is Best?]\n\n                                  XVI.\n\n\nThere was a rich man who lived on a hill, and a poor man who lived down\nin the valley, and they were brothers, the one was older and the other\nyounger. The one lived in a grand house and the other in a little,\nrickety, tumble-down hut, and the one was covetous and greedy and the\nother was kind and merciful. All the same, it was a merry life that the\npoor brother led of it, for each morning when he took a drink he said,\n\u201cThank Heaven for clear water;\u201d and when the day was bright he said,\n\u201cThank Heaven for the warm sun that shines on us all;\u201d and when it was\nwet it was, \u201cThank Heaven for the gentle rain that makes the green grass\ngrow.\u201d\n\nOne day the poor brother was riding in the forest, and there he met the\nrich brother, and they jogged along the way together. The one rode upon\na poor, old, spavined, white horse, and the other rode upon a fine,\nprancing steed.\n\nBy and by they met an old woman, and it was all that she could do to\nhobble along the way she was going.\n\n\u201cDear, good, kind gentlemen,\u201d said she, \u201cdo help a poor old body with a\npenny or two, for it is nothing I have in the world, and life sits heavy\non old shoulders.\u201d\n\nThe rich brother was for passing along as though he heard never a word\nof what she said, but the poor brother had a soft heart, and reined in\nhis horse.\n\n\u201cIt is only three farthings that I have in the world,\u201d said he; \u201cbut\nsuch as they are you are welcome to them,\u201d and he emptied his purse into\nher hand.\n\n\u201cYou shall not have the worst of the bargain,\u201d said the old woman; \u201chere\nis something that is worth the having,\u201d and she gave him a little black\nstone about as big as a bean. Then off she went with what he had given\nher.\n\n\u201cSee, now,\u201d said the rich brother, \u201cthat is why you are so poor as\nhardly to be able to make both ends meet in the world.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat may be so, or may not be so,\u201d said the poor brother; \u201call the\nsame, mercy is better than greed.\u201d\n\nHow the elder did laugh at this, to be sure! \u201cWhy, look,\u201d says he, \u201chere\nI am riding upon a grand horse with my pockets full of gold and silver\nmoney, and there you are astride of a beast that can hardly hobble along\nthe road, and with never a copper bit in your pocket to jingle against\nanother.\u201d\n\nYes; that was all true enough; nevertheless, the younger brother stuck\nto it that mercy was better than greed, until, at last, the other flew\ninto a mighty huff.\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d says he, \u201cI will wager my horse against yours that I am\nright, and we will leave it to the first body we meet to settle the\npoint.\u201d\n\nWell, that suited the poor brother, and he was agreed to do as the other\nsaid.\n\nSo by and by they met a grand lord riding along the road with six\nservants behind him; and would he tell whether mercy or greed were the\nbest for a body in this world?\n\nThe rich lord laughed and laughed. \u201cWhy,\u201d said he, \u201cgreed is the best,\nfor if it were otherwise, and I had only what belonged to me, I should\nnever be jogging along through the world with six servants behind me.\u201d\n\nSo off he rode, and the poor brother had to give up his horse to the\nother, who had no more use for it than I have for five more fingers.\n\u201cAll the same,\u201d says the poor brother, \u201cmercy is better than greed.\u201d\nGoodness! what a rage the rich brother fell into, to be sure! \u201cThere is\nno teaching a simpleton,\u201d said he; \u201cnevertheless, I will wager all the\nmoney in my purse against your left eye that greed is better than mercy,\nand we will leave it to the next body we meet, since you are not content\nwith the other.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: Having been thrice adjudged in the wrong, the poor man is\nleft by the rich man blind upon the highway.]\n\nThat suited the younger brother well enough, and on they jogged until\nthey met a rich merchant driving a donkey loaded with things to sell.\nAnd would he judge between them whether mercy or greed were the best for\na body?\n\n\u201cPoof!\u201d says the merchant, \u201cwhat a question to ask! All the world knows\nthat greed is the best. If it were not for taking the cool end of the\nbargain myself, and leaving the hot end for my neighbor to hold, it is\nlittle or nothing that I should have in the world to call my own.\u201d And\noff he went whither he was going.\n\n\u201cThere,\u201d says the rich brother, \u201cnow perhaps you will be satisfied;\u201d and\nhe put out the poor man\u2019s left eye.\n\nBut no, the other still held that mercy was better than greed; and so\nthey made another wager of all the rich man had in the world against the\npoor man\u2019s right eye.\n\nThis time it was a poor ploughman whom they met, and would he tell\nwhether mercy or greed were the best?\n\n\u201cPrut!\u201d said he, \u201cany simpleton can tell that greed is the best, for all\nthe world rides on the poor man\u2019s shoulders, and he is able to bear the\nburden the least of all.\u201d\n\nThen the rich man put out the poor man\u2019s right eye; \u201cfor,\u201d says he, \u201ca\nbody deserves to be blind who cannot see the truth when it is as plain\nas a pikestaff.\u201d\n\nBut still the poor man stuck to it that mercy was the best. So the rich\nman rode away and left him in his blindness.\n\nAs all was darkness to his eyes, he sat down beside the road at the\nfirst place he could find, and that was underneath the gallows where\nthree wicked robbers had been hung. While he sat there two ravens came\nflying, and lit on the gallows above him. They began talking to one\nanother, and the younger brother heard what they said, for he could\nunderstand the speech of the birds of the air and of the beasts of the\nfield, just as little children can, because he was innocent.\n\nAnd the first raven said to the second raven, \u201cYonder, below, sits a\nfellow in blindness, because he held that mercy was better than greed.\u201d\n\nAnd the second raven said to the first, \u201cYes, that is so, but he might\nhave his sight again if he only knew enough to spread his handkerchief\nupon the grass, and bathe his eyes in the dew which falls upon it from\nthe gallows above.\u201d\n\nAnd the first raven said to the second, \u201cThat is as true as that one and\none make two; but there is more to tell yet, for in his pocket he\ncarries a little black stone with which he may open every door that he\ntouches. Back of the oak-tree yonder is a little door; if he would but\nenter thereat he would find something below well worth the having.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: The poor man touches the door with y^e stone.]\n\nThat was what the two ravens said, and then they flapped their wings and\nflew away.\n\nAs for the younger brother, you can guess how his heart danced at what\nhe heard. He spread his handkerchief on the grass, and by and by, when\nnight came, the dew fell upon it until it was as wet as clothes on the\nline. He wiped his eyes with it, and when the dew touched the lids they\nwere cured, and he could see as well and better than ever.\n\nBy and by the day broke, and he lost no time in finding the door back of\nthe oak-tree. He touched the lock with the little black stone, and the\ndoor opened as smoothly as though the hinges were greased. There he\nfound a flight of steps that led down into a pit as dark as a beer\nvault. Down the steps he went, and on and on until, at last, he came to\na great room, the like of which his eyes had never seen before. In the\ncentre of the room was a statue as black as ink; in one hand it held a\ncrystal globe which shone with a clear white light, so that it dazzled\none\u2019s eyes to look upon it; in the other hand it held a great diamond as\nbig as a hen\u2019s egg. Upon the breast of the statue were written these\nwords in letters of gold:\n\n                         \u201cWHAT THOU DESERVEST\n                         THAT THOU SHALT HAVE.\u201d\n\nOn three sides of the room sat three statues, and at the feet of each\nstatue stood a heavy chest:\n\nThe first statue was of gold, and over its head were written these\nwords:\n\n     \u201cWHO CHOOSES HERE TAKES THE BEST THAT THE EARTH HAS TO GIVE.\u201d\n\nThe second statue was of silver, and over its head was written these\nwords:\n\n           \u201cWHO CHOOSES HERE TAKES WHAT THE RICH MAN LOVES.\u201d\n\nThe third statue was of dull lead, and over its head was written:\n\n             \u201cWHO CHOOSES HERE TAKES WHAT HE SHOULD HAVE.\u201d\n\nThe man touched the chest at the feet of the golden statue with the\nlittle black stone. And\u2014click! clack!\u2014up flew the lid, and the chest was\nfull of all kinds of precious stones.\n\n\u201cPugh!\u201d says the younger brother; \u201cand if this is the best that the\nworld has to give, it is poor enough.\u201d And he shut down the lid again.\n\nHe touched the chest at the feet of the silver statue with his little\nblack stone, and it was full of gold and silver money.\n\n\u201cPish!\u201d says he; \u201cand if this is what the rich man loves, why, so do not\nI.\u201d And he shut down the lid again.\n\nLast of all he touched the chest at the feet of the leaden statue.\n\n[Illustration: The poor man finds that which is the best. \u00b6]\n\nIn it was a book, and the letters on it said that whoever read within\nwould know all that was worth the knowing. Beside the book was a pair of\nspectacles, and whoever set them astride of his nose might see the truth\nwithout having to rub the glasses with his pocket-handkerchief. But the\nbest of all in the chest was an apple, and whoever ate of it would be\ncured of sorrow and sickness.\n\n\u201cHi!\u201d said the younger brother, \u201cbut these are worth the having, for\nsure and certain.\u201d And he put the spectacles upon his nose and the apple\nand the book in his pocket. Then off he went, and the spectacles showed\nhim the way, although it was as crooked as sin and as black as night.\n\nSo by and by he came out into the blessed sunlight again, and at the\nsame place where he had gone in.\n\nOff he went to his own home as fast as his legs could carry him, and you\ncan guess how the rich brother stared when he saw the poor brother back\nin that town again, with his eyesight as good as ever.\n\nAs for the poor brother, he just turned his hand to being a doctor; and\nthere has never been one like him since that day, for not only could he\ncure all sickness with his apple, but he could cure all sorrow as well.\nMoney and fame poured in on him; and whenever trouble lit on his\nshoulders he just put on his spectacles and looked into the business,\nand then opened the book of wisdom and found how to cure it. So his life\nwas as happy as the day was long; and a body can ask for no more than\nthat in this world here below.\n\nOne day the rich brother came and knocked at the other\u2019s door. \u201cWell,\nbrother,\u201d says he, \u201cI am glad to see you getting along so well in the\nworld. Let us let bygones be bygones and live together as we should, for\nI am sorry for what I did to you.\u201d\n\nWell, that suited the younger brother well enough; he bore no malice\nagainst the other, for all that had been done had turned out for the\nbest. All the same, he was more sure than ever now that mercy was better\nthan greed.\n\nThe elder brother twisted up his face at this, as though the words were\nsour; all the same, he did not argue the question, for what he had come\nfor was to find why the world had grown so easy with the other all of a\nsudden. So in he came, and they lit their pipes and sat down by the\nstove together.\n\nHe was a keen blade, was the elder brother, and it was not long before\nhe had screwed the whole story out of the other.\n\n[Illustration: The rich man findeth that which he deserveth.]\n\n\u201cDear, dear, dear!\u201d said he, \u201cI only wish I could find a black pebble\nlike that one of yours.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt would do you no good if you had it,\u201d said the younger brother, \u201cfor\nI have brought away all that is worth the having. All the same, if you\nwant my black pebble now you are welcome to it.\u201d\n\nDid the elder brother want it! Why, of course he wanted it, and he could\nnot find words enough to thank the younger.\n\nOff he went, hot-foot, to find the door back of the oak-tree; \u201cFor,\u201d\nsaid he to himself, \u201cI will bring something back better worth the having\nthan a musty book, an old pair of spectacles, and a red apple.\u201d\n\nHe touched the door with the black stone, and it opened for him just as\nit had for the younger brother.\n\nDown the steps he went, and on and on and on, until by and by he came to\nthe room where the statues were. There was the black statue holding out\nthe crystal ball and the diamond as big as a hen\u2019s egg, and there sat\nthe golden statue and the silver statue and the leaden statue, just as\nthey had sat when the younger brother had been there, only there was\nnothing in the chest at the feet of the leaden statue.\n\nThe rich brother touched the lock of the chest in front of the silver\nstatue. Up flew the lid, and there lay all the gold and silver money.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d says he, \u201cthat is what the rich man loves, sure enough.\nNevertheless, there may be something else that is better worth the\nhaving.\u201d So he let the money lay where it was.\n\nHe touched the chest in front of the golden statue. Up flew the lid, and\nhe had to blink and wink his eyes because the precious stones dazzled\nthem so.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d says he, \u201cthis is the best the world has to give, and there is no\ngainsaying that; all the same, there may be something better worth the\nhaving than these.\u201d\n\nSo he looked all about the room, until he saw the golden letters on the\nbreast of the black statue that stood in the middle. First he read the\nwords:\n\n                         \u201cWHAT THOU DESERVEST\n                         THAT THOU SHALT HAVE.\u201d\n\nAnd then he saw the great diamond that the statue held in its left hand.\n\n\u201cWhy,\u201d said he, \u201cit is as plain as daylight that I deserve this precious\nstone, for not being so simple as my brother, and taking what I could\nfind without looking for anything better.\u201d\n\nSo up he stepped and took the diamond out of the statue\u2019s hand.\n\nCrash!\u2014and all was darkness, darker than the darkest midnight; for, as\nquick as a wink, the black statue let the crystal globe of light fall\nfrom its right hand upon the stone floor, where it broke into ten\nthousand pieces.\n\nAnd now the rich brother might wander up and wander down, but wander as\nhe chose he could never find his way out of that place again, for the\ndarkness shut him in like a blanket.\n\nSo, after all, mercy and temperance were better in the long run than\ngreed and covetousness, in spite of what the great lord and the rich\nmerchant and the poor ploughman had said.\n\nMaybe I have got this story twisted awry in the telling; all the same,\nTommy Pfouce says that it is a true-enough story, if you put on your\nspectacles and look at it from the right side.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n                             Five O\u2019clock\u00b7\n\n\n _Pussy-Cat_, _Pussy-Cat_ what do you dream,\n   Sleeping out there in the _Sun_?\n The _Red Cow_ and _White Cow_ are out in the _Lane_;\n   I guess that the _Milking_ is done. [Sidenote: \u263e\u2019s pl. Const.]\n      [Sidenote: \u2609 K.P. \u2295]\n\n _Pussy-Cat_, _Pussy-Cat_ open your _Eyes_,\n   And see what your _Kitten_\u2019s about;\n She\u2019s found a great _Rat-Hole_ that\u2019s close to the _Step_,\n And is watching for him to come out.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: The Simpleton _and his_ Little Black Hen.]\n\n                                 XVII.\n\n\nThere were three brothers left behind when the father died. The two\nelder, whose names were John and James, were as clever lads as ever ate\npease with a fork.\n\nAs for the youngest, his name was Caspar, he had no more than enough\nsense to blow his potatoes when they were hot. Well, when they came to\ndivide things up between themselves, John and James contrived to share\nall of the good things between them. As for Caspar, \u201cwhy, the little\nblack hen is enough for him,\u201d says John and James, and that was all the\nbutter he got from that churn.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll take the little black hen to the fair,\u201d says Caspar, \u201cand there\nI\u2019ll sell her and buy me some eggs. I\u2019ll set the eggs under the\nminister\u2019s speckled hen, and then I\u2019ll have more chicks. Then I\u2019ll buy\nme more eggs and have more chicks, and then I\u2019ll buy me more eggs and\nhave more chicks, and after that I\u2019ll be richer than Uncle Henry, who\nhas two cows and a horse, and will marry my sweetheart into the\nbargain.\u201d So off he went to the fair with the black hen under his arm,\nas he had promised himself to do.\n\n\u201cThere goes a goose to the plucking,\u201d says John and James, and then they\nturned no hairs grey by thinking any more about the case.\n\nAs for him, why, he went on and on until he came to the inn over the\nhill not far from the town, the host of which was no better than he\nshould be, and that was the long and the short of it.\n\n\u201cWhere do you go with the little black hen, Caspar?\u201d says he.\n\n\u201cOh,\u201d says Caspar, \u201cI take it to the fair to sell it and buy me some\neggs. I\u2019ll set the eggs under the minister\u2019s speckled hen, and then I\u2019ll\nhave more chicks. Then I\u2019ll buy me more eggs and have more chicks, and\nthen I\u2019ll buy me more eggs and have more chicks, and after that I\u2019ll be\nricher than Uncle Henry, who has two cows and a horse, and will marry my\nsweetheart into the bargain.\u201d\n\nPrut! And why should Caspar take his hen to the fair? That was what the\nlandlord said. It was a silly thing to tramp to the river for water\nbefore the well was dry at home. Why, the landlord had a friend over\nyonder who would give ten pennies to one that he could get at the fair\nfor his black hen. Now, had Caspar ever heard tell of the little old\ngentleman who lived in the old willow-tree over yonder?\n\nNo, Caspar had never heard tell of him in all of his life. And there was\nno wonder in that, for no more had anybody else, and the landlord was\nonly up to a bit of a trick to get the little black hen for himself.\n\nBut the landlord sucked in his lips\u2014\u201c_tsch_\u201d\u2014so! Well, that was a pity,\nfor the little old gentleman had said, time and time again, that he\nwould give a whole bagful of gold and silver money for just such a\nlittle black hen as the one that Caspar carried under his arm.\n\nDear, dear! How Caspar\u2019s eyes did open at this, to be sure. Off he\nstarted for the willow-tree. \u201cHere\u2019s the little black hen,\u201d said he,\n\u201cand I\u2019ll sell her for a bagful of gold and silver money.\u201d But nobody\nanswered him; and you may be sure of that, for there was nobody there.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d says Caspar, \u201cI\u2019ll just tie the hen to the tree here, and you\nmay pay me to-morrow.\u201d So he did as he had said, and off he marched.\nThen came the landlord and took the hen off home and had it for his\nsupper; and there was an end of that business.\n\nAn end of that business? No, no; stop a bit, for we will not drive too\nfast down the hill. Listen: there was a wicked robber who had hidden a\nbag of gold and silver money in that very tree; but of that neither\nCaspar nor the landlord knew any more than the chick in the shell.\n\n\u201cHi!\u201d says Caspar, \u201cit is the wise man who gets along in the world.\u201d But\nthere he was wrong for once in his life, Tommy Pfouce tells me.\n\n\u201cAnd did you sell your hen?\u201d says John and James.\n\nOh, yes; Caspar had done that.\n\nAnd what had he got for it?\n\n[Illustration: The cunning landlord telleth Caspar where to take his hen\nto sell it for a good price.]\n\nOh, just a bag of gold and silver money, that was all. He would show it\nto them to-morrow, for he was to go and get it then from the old\ngentleman who lived in the willow-tree over yonder by the inn over the\nhill.\n\nWhen John and James heard that they saw as plain as the nose on your\nface that Caspar had been bitten by the _fool dog_.\n\nBut Caspar never bothered his head about that; off he went the next day\nas grand as you please. Up he marched to the willow-tree, but never a\nsoul did he find there; for why, there was nobody.\n\nRap! tap! tap! He knocked upon the tree as civil as a beggar at the\nkitchen door, but nobody said, \u201cCome in!\u201d\n\n\u201cLook,\u201d says he, \u201cwe will have no dilly-dallying; I want my money and I\nwill have it,\u201d and he fetched a kick at the tree that made the bark fly.\nBut he might as well have kicked my grandfather\u2019s bedpost for all the\ngood he had of it. \u201cOh, very well!\u201d says he, and off he marched and\nbrought the axe that stood back of the stable door.\n\nHui! how the chips flew! for Caspar was bound to get to the bottom of\nthe business. So by and by the tree lay on the ground, and there was the\nbag of gold and silver money that the wicked robber had hidden. \u201cSo!\u201d\nsays Caspar, \u201cbetter late than never!\u201d and off he marched with it.\n\nBy and by whom should he meet but John and James. Bless me, how they\nstared! And did Caspar get all of that money for one little black hen?\n\nOh, yes; that he had.\n\nAnd where did he get it?\n\nOh! the little old man in the willow-tree had paid it to him.\n\nSo, good! that was a fine thing, and it should be share and share alike\namong brothers; that was what John and James said, and Caspar did not\nsay \u201cNo;\u201d so down they all sat on the grass and began counting it out.\n\n\u201cThis is mine,\u201d said John.\n\n\u201cAnd this is mine,\u201d said James.\n\n\u201cAnd this is mine,\u201d said John.\n\n\u201cAnd this is mine,\u201d said James.\n\n\u201cAnd where is mine?\u201d says Caspar. But neither of the others thought of\nhim because he was so simple.\n\nJust then who should come along but the rogue of a landlord. \u201cHi! and\nwhere did you get all that?\u201d says he.\n\n[Illustration: Caspar findeth money in the willow-tree.]\n\n\u201cOh,\u201d says Caspar, \u201cthe little old man in the willow-tree paid it to me\nfor my little black hen.\u201d\n\nYes, yes, the landlord knew how much of that cake to eat. He was not to\nhave the wool pulled over his eyes so easily. See, now, he knew very\nwell that thieving had been done, and he would have them all up before\nthe master mayor for it. So the upshot of the matter was that they had\nto take him in to share with them.\n\n\u201cThis is mine,\u201d says the landlord.\n\n\u201cAnd this is mine,\u201d says John.\n\n\u201cAnd this is mine,\u201d says James.\n\n\u201cAnd where do I come in?\u201d says poor Caspar. But nobody thought of him\nbecause he was so simple.\n\nJust then came along a company of soldiers\u2014tramp! tramp! tramp!\u2014and\nthere they found them all sharing the money between them, except Caspar.\n\n\u201cHi!\u201d says the captain, \u201chere are a lot of thieves, and no mistake!\u201d and\noff he marched them to the king\u2019s house, which was finer than any in our\ntown, and as big as a church into the bargain.\n\nAnd how had they come by all that money? that was what the king would\nlike to know.\n\nAs for the three rogues, they sang a different tune now than they had\nwhistled before.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s none of mine, it\u2019s his,\u201d said the landlord, and he pointed to\nJohn.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s none of mine, it\u2019s his,\u201d said John, and he pointed to James.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s none of mine, it\u2019s his,\u201d said James, and he pointed to Caspar.\n\n\u201cAnd how did you get it?\u201d says the king.\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d says Caspar, \u201cthe little old man in the willow-tree gave it to me\nfor my little black hen;\u201d and then he told the whole story without\nmissing a single grain.\n\nBeside the king sat the princess, who was so serious and solemn that she\nhad never laughed once in all her life. So the king had said, time and\ntime again, that whoever should make her laugh should have her for his\nwife. Now, when she heard Caspar\u2019s story, and how he came in behind all\nthe rest, so that he always had the pinching, like the tail of our cat\nin the crack of the door, she laughed like everything, for she could not\nhelp it. So there was the fat in the fire, for Caspar was not much to\nlook at, and that was the truth. Dear, dear, what a stew the king was\nin, for he had no notion for Caspar as a son-in-law. So he began to\nthink about striking a bargain. \u201cCome,\u201d says he to Caspar, \u201chow much\nwill you take to give up the princess instead of marrying her?\u201d\n\nWell, Caspar did not know how much a princess was worth. So he scratched\nhis head and scratched his head, and by and by he said that he would be\nwilling to take ten dollars and let the princess go.\n\nAt this the king boiled over into a mighty fume, like water into the\nfire. What! did Caspar think that ten dollars was a fit price for a\nprincess!\n\nOh, Caspar had never done any business of this kind before. He had a\nsweetheart of his own at home, and if ten dollars was too much for the\nprincess he would be willing to take five.\n\nSakes alive! what a rage the king was in! Why, I would not have stood in\nCaspar\u2019s shoes just then\u2014no, not for a hundred dollars. The king would\nhave had him whipped right away, only just then he had some other\nbusiness on hand. So he paid Caspar his five dollars, and told him that\nif he would come back the next day he should have all that his back\ncould carry\u2014meaning a whipping.\n\n[Illustration: The three share the money amongst them.]\n\nAs for Caspar and his brothers and the rogue of a landlord, they thought\nthat the king was talking about dollars. So when they had left the\nking\u2019s house and had come out into the road again, the three rogues\nbegan to talk as smooth and as soft as though their words were buttered.\n\nSee, now, what did Caspar want with all that the king had promised him;\nthat was what they said. If he would let them have it, they would give\nhim all of their share of the money he had found in the willow-tree.\n\n\u201cAh, yes,\u201d says Caspar, \u201cI am willing to do that. For,\u201d says he to\nhimself, \u201can apple in the pocket is worth three on the tree.\u201d And there\nhe was right for once in his life.\n\nWell, the next day back they all tramped to the king\u2019s house again to\nget what had been promised to Caspar.\n\nSo! Caspar had come back for the rest, had he?\n\nOh, yes, he had come back again; but the lord king must know that he had\nsold all that had been promised to him to these three lads for their\nshare of the money he had found in the willow-tree over yonder.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d says the landlord, \u201cone part of what has been promised is mine.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd one part of it is mine,\u201d says John.\n\n\u201cStop a bit, brother,\u201d says James; \u201cremember, one part of it is mine\ntoo.\u201d\n\nAt this the king could not help laughing, and that broke the back of his\nanger.\n\nFirst of all he sent the landlord for his share, and if his back did not\nsmart after he had it, why, it was not the fault of those who gave it to\nhim. By and by he came back again, but he said nothing to the others of\nwhat had been given to him; but all the same he grinned as though he had\nbeen eating sour gooseberries. Then John went, and last of all James,\nand what they got satisfied them, I can tell you.\n\nAfter that the king told Caspar that he might go into the other room and\nfill his pockets with money for what he had given up to the others; so\nhe had the cool end of that bargain, and did not burn his fingers after\nall.\n\nBut the three rogues were not satisfied with this. No, indeed! Caspar\nshould have his share of the smarting, see if he shouldn\u2019t! So back they\nwent to the king\u2019s house one fine day, and said that Caspar had been\ntalking about the lord king, and had said that he was no better than an\nold hunks. At this the king was awfully angry. And so off he sent the\nothers to fetch Caspar along so that he might settle the score with him.\n\nWhen the three came home, there was Caspar lying on a bench in the sun,\nfor he could take the world easy now, because he was so rich.\n\n\u201cCome along, Caspar,\u201d said they, \u201cthe king wants to see you over at his\nhouse yonder.\u201d\n\nYes, yes, but there was too much hurrying in this business, for it was\nover-quick cooking that burned the broth. If Caspar was to go to the\nking\u2019s house he would go in fitting style, so they would just have to\nwait till he found a horse, for he was not going to jog it afoot; that\nwas what Caspar said.\n\n[Illustration: The three rogues lend Caspar sundry things so that he may\ngo to the king\u2019s castle.]\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d says the landlord, \u201cbut sooner than you should lose time in the\nwaiting, I will lend you my fine dapple-grey.\u201d\n\nBut where was the bridle to come from? Caspar would have them know that\nhe was not going to ride a horse to the king\u2019s house without a good\nbridle over the nag\u2019s ears.\n\nOh, John would lend him the new bridle that he bought in the town last\nweek; so that was soon settled.\n\nBut how about the saddle?\u2014that was what Caspar wanted to know\u2014yes, how\nabout the saddle? Did they think that he was going to ride up to the\nking\u2019s house with his heels thumping against the horse\u2019s ribs as though\nhe were no better than a ploughman?\n\nOh, James would lend him a saddle if that was all he wanted.\n\nSo off they went, all four of them, to the king\u2019s house.\n\nThere was the king, walking up and down, and fussing and fuming with\nanger till he was all of a heat.\n\n\u201cSee, now,\u201d says he, as soon as he saw Caspar, \u201cwhat did you call me an\nold hunks for?\u201d\n\n\u201cI didn\u2019t call you an old hunks,\u201d said Caspar.\n\n\u201cYes, you did,\u201d said the king.\n\n\u201cNo, I didn\u2019t,\u201d said Caspar.\n\n\u201cYes, you did,\u201d said the king, \u201cfor these three lads told me so.\u201d\n\n\u201cPrut!\u201d said Caspar, \u201cwho would believe what they say? Why, they would\njust as lief tell you that this horse and saddle and bridle belong to\nthem.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd so they do!\u201d bawled the three rogues.\n\n\u201cSee there, now,\u201d said Caspar.\n\nThe king scratched his head, for here was a tangled knot, for certain.\n\u201cYes, yes,\u201d said he, \u201cthese fellows are fooling either Caspar or me, and\nwe are both in the same tub, for the matter of that. Take them away and\nwhip them!\u201d So it was done as he said, and that was all that they got\nfor their trouble.\n\nWit and Luck are not always hatched in the same nest, says Tommy Pfouce,\nand maybe he is right about it, for Caspar married his sweetheart, and\nif she did not keep his money for him, and himself out of trouble, she\nwould not have been worth speaking of, and I, for one, would never have\ntold this story.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n                              Six O\u2019clock\n\n\n        Little _John_ and _Eliza_ [Sidenote: K.P. des.]\n          Went down to the _Mill_,\n        But now it has stopped,\n          And the _Hopper_ is still;\n\n        So _John_ and _Eliza_ [Sidenote: _Cool for the season._]\n          Come _Home_ to their _Tea_,\n        And both are as hungry,\n          As hungry can be.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: The Swan Maiden. H.P.]\n\n                                 XVIII.\n\n\nOnce there was a king who had a pear-tree which bore four-and-twenty\ngolden pears. Every day he went into the garden and counted them to see\nthat none were missing.\n\nBut, one morning, he found that a pear had been taken during the night,\nand thereat he was troubled and vexed to the heart, for the pear-tree\nwas as dear to him as the apple of his eye. Now, the king had three\nsons, and so he called the eldest prince to him.\n\n\u201cSee,\u201d said he, \u201cif you will watch my pear-tree to-night, and will find\nme the thief who stole the pear, you shall have half of my kingdom now,\nand the whole of it when I am gone.\u201d\n\nYou can guess how the prince was tickled at this: oh, yes, he would\nwatch the tree, and if the thief should come he should not get away\nagain as easily.\n\nWell, that night he sat down beside the tree, with his gun across his\nknees, to wait for the coming of the thief.\n\nHe waited and waited, and still he saw not so much as a thread or a\nhair. But about the middle of the night there came the very prettiest\nmusic that his ears had ever heard, and before he knew what he was about\nhe was asleep and snoring until the little leaves shook upon the tree.\nWhen the morning came and he awoke, another pear was gone, and he could\ntell no more about it than the man in the moon.\n\nThe next night the second son set out to watch the pear-tree. But he\nfared no better than the first. About midnight came the music, and in a\nlittle while he was snoring till the stones rattled. When the morning\ncame another pear was gone, and he had no more to tell about it than his\nbrother.\n\nThe third night it was the turn of the youngest son, and he was more\nclever than the others, for, when the evening came, he stuffed his ears\nfull of wax, so that he was as deaf as a post. About midnight, when the\nmusic came, he heard nothing of it, and so he stayed wide awake. After\nthe music had ended he took the wax out of his ears, so that he might\nlisten for the coming of the thief. Presently there was a loud clapping\nand rattling, and a white swan flew overhead and lit in the pear-tree\nabove him. It began picking at one of the pears, and then the prince\nraised his gun to shoot at it. But when he looked along the barrel it\nwas not a swan that he saw up in the pear-tree, but the prettiest girl\nthat he had ever looked upon.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t shoot me, king\u2019s son! Don\u2019t shoot me!\u201d cried she.\n\nBut the prince had no thought of shooting her, for he had never seen\nsuch a beautiful maiden in all of his days. \u201cVery well,\u201d said he, \u201cI\nwill not shoot, but, if I spare your life, will you promise to be my\nsweetheart and to marry me?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat may be as may be,\u201d said the Swan Maiden. \u201cFor listen! I serve the\nwitch with three eyes. She lives on the glass hill that lies beyond the\nseven high mountains, the seven deep valleys, and the seven wide rivers;\nare you man enough to go that far?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, yes,\u201d said the prince, \u201cI am man enough for that and more too.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is good,\u201d said the Swan Maiden, and thereupon she jumped down from\nthe pear-tree to the earth. Then she became a swan again, and bade the\nking\u2019s son to mount upon her back at the roots of her wings. When he had\ndone as she had told him, she sprang into the air and flew away, bearing\nhim with her.\n\nOn flew the swan, and on and on, until, by and by, she said, \u201cWhat do\nyou see, king\u2019s son?\u201d\n\n\u201cI see the grey sky above me and the dark earth below me, but nothing\nelse,\u201d said he.\n\nAfter that they flew on and on again, until, at last, the Swan Maiden\nsaid, \u201cWhat do you see now, king\u2019s son?\u201d\n\n[Illustration: The Swan carries the Prince over the hills and far away.\nHP.]\n\n\u201cI see the grey sky above me and the dark earth below me, but nothing\nelse,\u201d said he.\n\nSo once more they flew on until the Swan Maiden said, for the third\ntime, \u201cAnd what do you see by now, king\u2019s son?\u201d\n\nBut this time the prince said, \u201cI see the grey sky above me and the dark\nearth below me, and over yonder is a glass hill, and on the hill is a\nhouse that shines like fire.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is where the witch with three eyes lives,\u201d said the Swan Maiden;\n\u201cand now listen: when she asks you what it is that you came for, ask her\nto give you the one who draws the water and builds the fire; for that is\nmyself.\u201d\n\nSo, when they had come to the top of the hill of glass, the king\u2019s son\nstepped down to the ground, and the swan flew over the roof.\n\nRap! tap! tap! he knocked at the door, and the old witch herself came\nand opened it.\n\n\u201cAnd what do you want here?\u201d said she.\n\n\u201cI want the one who draws the water and builds the fire,\u201d said the\nprince.\n\nAt this the old witch scowled until her eyebrows met.\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d said she, \u201cyou shall have what you want if you can clean my\nstables to-morrow between the rise and the set of the sun. But I tell\nyou plainly, if you fail in the doing, you shall be torn to pieces body\nand bones.\u201d\n\nBut the prince was not to be scared away with empty words. So the next\nmorning the old witch came and took him to the stables where he was to\ndo his task. There stood more than a hundred cattle, and the stable had\nnot been cleaned for at least ten long years.\n\n\u201cThere is your work,\u201d said the old witch, and then she left him.\n\nWell, the king\u2019s son set to work with fork and broom and might and main,\nbut\u2014prut!\u2014he might as well have tried to bale out the great ocean with a\nbucket.\n\nAt noontide who should come to the stable but the pretty Swan Maiden\nherself.\n\n\u201cWhen one is tired, one should rest for a while,\u201d said she; \u201ccome and\nlay your head in my lap.\u201d\n\nThe prince was glad enough to do as she said, for nothing was to be\ngained by working at that task. So he laid his head in her lap, and she\ncombed his hair with a golden comb till he fell fast asleep. When he\nawoke the Swan Maiden was gone, the sun was setting, and the stable was\nas clean as a plate. Presently he heard the old witch coming, so up he\njumped and began clearing away a straw here and a speck there, just as\nthough he were finishing the work.\n\n[Illustration: The Prince comes to the old, three eyed Witch\u2019s house.]\n\n\u201cYou never did this by yourself!\u201d said the old witch, and her brows grew\nas black as a thunder-storm.\n\n\u201cThat may be so, and that may not be so,\u201d said the king\u2019s son, \u201cbut you\nlent no hand to help; so now may I have the one who builds the fire and\ndraws the water?\u201d\n\nAt this the old witch shook her head. \u201cNo,\u201d said she, \u201cthere is more to\nbe done yet before you can have what you ask for. If you can thatch the\nroof of the stable with bird feathers, no two of which shall be of the\nsame color, and can do it between the rise and the set of sun to-morrow,\nthen you shall have your sweetheart and welcome. But if you fail your\nbones shall be ground as fine as malt in the mill.\u201d\n\nVery well; that suited the king\u2019s son well enough. So at sunrise he\narose and went into the fields with his gun; but if there were birds to\nbe shot, it was few of them that he saw; for at noontide he had but two,\nand they were both of a color. At that time who should come to him but\nthe Swan Maiden.\n\n\u201cOne should not tramp and tramp all day with never a bit of rest,\u201d said\nshe; \u201ccome hither and lay your head in my lap for a while.\u201d\n\nThe prince did as she bade him, and the maiden again combed his hair\nwith a golden comb until he fell asleep. When he awoke the sun was\nsetting, and his work was done. He heard the old witch coming, so up he\njumped to the roof of the stable and began laying a feather here and a\nfeather there, for all the world as though he were just finishing his\ntask.\n\n\u201cYou never did that work alone,\u201d said the old witch.\n\n\u201cThat may be so, and that may not be so,\u201d said the prince; \u201call the\nsame, it was none of your doing. So now may I have the one who draws the\nwater and builds the fire?\u201d\n\nBut the witch shook her head. \u201cNo,\u201d said she, \u201cthere is still another\ntask to do before that. Over yonder is a fir-tree; on the tree is a\ncrow\u2019s nest, and in the nest are three eggs. If you can harry that nest\nto-morrow between the rising and the setting of the sun, neither\nbreaking nor leaving a single egg, you shall have that for which you\nask.\u201d\n\nVery well; that suited the prince. The next morning at the rising of the\nsun he started off to find the fir-tree, and there was no trouble in the\nfinding I can tell you, for it was more than a hundred feet high, and as\nsmooth as glass from root to tip. As for climbing it, he might as well\nhave tried to climb a moonbeam, for in spite of all his trying he did\nnothing but slip and slip. By and by came the Swan Maiden as she had\ncome before.\n\n[Illustration: The Swan Maiden helps y^e young Prince.]\n\n\u201cDo you climb the fir-tree?\u201d said she.\n\n\u201cNone too well,\u201d said the king\u2019s son.\n\n\u201cThen I may help you in a hard task,\u201d said she.\n\nShe let down the braids of her golden hair, so that it hung down all\nabout her and upon the ground, and then she began singing to the wind.\nShe sang and sang, and by and by the wind began to blow, and, catching\nup the maiden\u2019s hair, carried it to the top of the fir-tree, and there\ntied it to the branches. Then the prince climbed the hair and so reached\nthe nest. There were the three eggs; he gathered them, and then he came\ndown as he had gone up. After that the wind came again and loosed the\nmaiden\u2019s hair from the branches, and she bound it up as it was before.\n\n\u201cNow, listen,\u201d said she to the prince: \u201cwhen the old witch asks you for\nthe three crow\u2019s eggs which you have gathered, tell her that they belong\nto the one who found them. She will not be able to take them from you,\nand they are worth something, I can tell you.\u201d\n\nAt sunset the old witch came hobbling along, and there sat the prince at\nthe foot of the fir-tree. \u201cHave you gathered the crow\u2019s eggs?\u201d said she.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said the prince, \u201chere they are in my handkerchief. And now may I\nhave the one who draws the water and builds the fire?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said the old witch, \u201cyou may have her; only give me my crow\u2019s\neggs.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said the prince, \u201cthe crow\u2019s eggs are none of yours, for they\nbelong to him who gathered them.\u201d\n\nWhen the old witch found that she was not to get her crow\u2019s eggs in that\nway, she tried another, and began using words as sweet as honey. Come,\ncome, there should be no hard feeling between them. The prince had\nserved her faithfully, and before he went home with what he had come for\nhe should have a good supper, for it is ill to travel on an empty\nstomach.\n\nSo she brought the prince into the house, and then she left him while\nshe went to put the pot on the fire, and to sharpen the bread-knife on\nthe stone door-step.\n\nWhile the prince sat waiting for the witch, there came a tap at the\ndoor, and whom should it be but the pretty Swan Maiden.\n\n\u201cCome,\u201d said she, \u201cand bring the three eggs with you, for the knife that\nthe old witch is sharpening is for you, and so is the great pot on the\nfire, for she means to pick your bones in the morning.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: The witch and y^e woman of honey & meal.]\n\nShe led the prince down into the kitchen; there they made a figure out\nof honey and barley-meal, so that it was all soft and sticky; then the\nmaiden dressed the figure in her own clothes and set it in the\nchimney-corner by the fire.\n\nAfter that was done, she became a swan again, and, taking the prince\nupon her back, she flew away, over hill and over dale.\n\nAs for the old witch, she sat on the stone door-step, sharpening her\nknife. By and by she came in, and, look as she might, there was no\nprince to be found.\n\nThen if anybody was ever in a rage it was the old witch; off she went,\nstorming and fuming, until she came to the kitchen. There sat the woman\nof honey and barley-meal beside the fire, dressed in the maiden\u2019s\nclothes, and the old woman thought that it was the girl herself. \u201cWhere\nis your sweetheart?\u201d said she; but to this the woman of honey and\nbarley-meal answered never a word.\n\n\u201cHow now! are you dumb?\u201d cried the old witch; \u201cI will see whether I\ncannot bring speech to your lips.\u201d She raised her hand\u2014_slap!_\u2014she\nstruck, and so hard was the blow that her hand stuck fast to the honey\nand barley-meal. \u201cWhat!\u201d cried she, \u201cwill you hold me?\u201d\u2014_slap!_\u2014she\nstruck with the other hand, and it too stuck fast. So there she was,\nand, for all that I know, she is sticking to the woman of honey and\nbarley-meal to this day.\n\nAs for the Swan Maiden and the prince, they flew over the seven high\nmountains, the seven deep valleys, and the seven wide rivers, until they\ncame near to the prince\u2019s home again. The Swan Maiden lit in a great\nwide field, and there she told the prince to break open one of the\ncrow\u2019s eggs. The prince did as she bade him, and what should he find but\nthe most beautiful little palace, all of pure gold and silver. He set\nthe palace on the ground, and it grew and grew and grew until it covered\nas much ground as seven large barns. Then the Swan Maiden told him to\nbreak another egg, and he did as she said, and what should come out of\nit but such great herds of cows and sheep that they covered the meadow\nfar and near. The Swan Maiden told him to break the third egg, and out\nof it came scores and scores of servants all dressed in gold and silver\nlivery.\n\nThat morning, when the king looked out of his bedroom window, there\nstood the splendid castle of silver and gold. Then he called all of his\npeople together, and they rode over to see what it meant. On the way\nthey met such herds of fat sheep and cattle that the king had never seen\nthe like in all of his life before; and when he came to the fine castle,\nthere were two rows of servants dressed in clothes of silver and gold,\nready to meet him. But when he came to the door of the castle, there\nstood the prince himself. Then there was joy and rejoicing, you may be\nsure! only the two elder brothers looked down in the mouth, for since\nthe young prince had found the thief who stole the golden pears, their\nfather\u2019s kingdom was not for them. But the prince soon set their minds\nat rest on that score, for he had enough and more than enough of his\nown.\n\nAfter that the prince and the Swan Maiden were married, and a grand\nwedding they had of it, with music of fiddles and kettle-drums, and\nplenty to eat and to drink. I, too, was there; but all of the good red\nwine ran down over my tucker, so that not a drop of it passed my lips,\nand I had to come away empty.\n\nAnd that is all.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n                             Seven O\u2019clock\u00b7\n\n\n The _Work_ is over for the _Day_; [Sidenote: K.P. del. \u2323 _Grows cool._]\n The _Sky_ is pale, and far away\n The _Village Children_ shout at _Play_.\n\n Now from his _Hole_ the _Toad_ comes out,\n And blinks his _Eyes_, and hops about,\n And likes the pleasant _Air_, no doubt.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: The Three Little Pigs _and the_ OGRE.]\n\n                                  XIX.\n\n\nThere were three nice, fat little pigs. The first was small, the second\nwas smaller, and the third was the smallest of all. And these three\nlittle pigs thought of going out into the woods to gather acorns, for\nthere were better acorns there than here.\n\n\u201cThere\u2019s a great ogre who lives over yonder in the woods,\u201d says the\nbarn-yard cock.\n\n\u201cAnd he will eat you up, body and bones,\u201d says the speckled hen.\n\n\u201cAnd there will be an end of you,\u201d says the black drake.\n\n\u201cIf folks only knew what was good for them, they would stay at home and\nmake the best of what they had there,\u201d said the old grey goose who laid\neggs under the barn, and who had never gone out into the world or had\nhad a peep of it beyond the garden-gate.\n\nBut no; the little pigs would go out into the world, whether or no;\n\u201cfor,\u201d said they, \u201cif we stay at home because folks shake their heads,\nwe will never get the best acorns that are to be had;\u201d and there was\nmore than one barley-corn of truth in that chaff, I can tell you.\n\nSo out into the woods they went.\n\nThey hunted for acorns here and they hunted for acorns there, and by and\nby whom should the smallest of all the little pigs meet but the great,\nwicked ogre himself.\n\n\u201cAha!\u201d says the great, wicked ogre, \u201cit is a nice, plump little pig that\nI have been wanting for my supper this many a day past. So you may just\ncome along with me now.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, Master Ogre,\u201d squeaked the smallest of the little pigs in the\nsmallest of voices\u2014\u201coh, Master Ogre, don\u2019t eat me! There\u2019s a bigger pig\nback of me, and he will be along presently.\u201d\n\nSo the ogre let the smallest of the little pigs go, for he would rather\nhave a larger pig if he could get it.\n\nBy and by came the second little pig. \u201cAha!\u201d says the great, wicked\nogre, \u201cI have been wanting just such a little pig as you for my supper\nfor this many a day past. So you may just come along with me now.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, Master Ogre,\u201d said the middle-sized pig, in his middle-sized voice,\n\u201cdon\u2019t take me for your supper; there\u2019s a bigger pig than I am coming\nalong presently. Just wait for him.\u201d\n\nWell, the ogre was satisfied to do that; so he waited, and by and by,\nsure enough, came the largest of the little pigs.\n\n\u201cAnd now,\u201d says the great, wicked ogre, \u201cI will wait no longer, for you\nare just the pig I want for my supper, and so you may march along with\nme.\u201d\n\nBut the largest of the little pigs had his wits about him, I can tell\nyou. \u201cOh, very well,\u201d says he; \u201cif I am the shoe that fits there is no\nuse in hunting for another; only, have you a roasted apple to put in my\nmouth when I am cooked? for no one ever heard of a little pig brought on\nthe table without a roast apple in its mouth.\u201d\n\nNo; the ogre had no roasted apple.\n\nDear, dear! that was a great pity. If he would wait for a little while,\nthe largest of the little pigs would run home and fetch one, and then\nthings would be as they should.\n\nYes, the ogre was satisfied with that. So off ran the little pig, and\nthe ogre sat down on a stone and waited for him.\n\nWell, he waited and he waited and he waited and he waited, but not a tip\nof a hair of the little pig did he see that day, as you can guess\nwithout my telling you.\n\nAnd Tommy Pfouce tells me that the great, wicked ogre is not the only\none who has gone without either pig or roast apple, because when he\ncould get the one he would not take it without the other.\n\n[Illustration: The Ogre meets the three little pigs in the forest,\nwhither they went to gather acorns.]\n\n\u201cAnd now,\u201d says the cock and the speckled hen and the black drake and\nthe old grey goose who laid her eggs under the barn, and had never been\nout into the world beyond the garden-gate\u2014\u201cand now perhaps you will run\nout into the world and among ogres no more. Are there not good enough\nacorns at home?\u201d\n\nPerhaps there were; but that was not what the three little pigs thought.\n\u201cSee, now,\u201d said the smallest of the three little pigs, \u201cif one is\nafraid of the water, one will never catch any fish. I, for one, am going\nout into the woods to get a few acorns.\u201d\n\nSo out into the woods he went, and there he found all of the acorns that\nhe wanted. But, on his way home, whom should he meet but the great,\nwicked ogre.\n\n\u201cAha!\u201d says the ogre, \u201cand is that you?\u201d\n\nOh, yes, it was nobody else; but had the ogre come across three fellows\ntramping about in the woods down yonder?\n\nNo, the ogre had met nobody in the woods that day.\n\n\u201cDear, dear,\u201d says the smallest little pig, \u201cbut that is a pity, for\nthose three fellows were three wicked robbers, and they have just hidden\na meal-bag full of money in that hole up in the tree yonder.\u201d\n\nYou can guess how the ogre pricked up his ears at this, and how he\nstared till his eyes were as big as saucers.\n\n\u201cJust wait,\u201d said he to the smallest little pig, \u201cand I will be down\nagain in a minute.\u201d So he laid his jacket to one side and up the tree he\nclimbed, for he wanted to find that bag of money, and he meant to have\nit.\n\n\u201cDo you find the hole?\u201d says the smallest of the little pigs.\n\nYes; the ogre had found the hole.\n\n\u201cAnd do you find the money?\u201d says the smallest of the little pigs.\n\nNo; the ogre could find no money.\n\n\u201cThen good-bye,\u201d says the smallest of the little pigs, and off he\ntrotted home, leaving the ogre to climb down the tree again as he chose.\n\n\u201cAnd now, at least, you will go out into the woods no more,\u201d says the\ncock, the speckled hen, the black drake, and the grey goose.\n\nOh, well, there was no telling what the three little pigs would do yet,\nthey would have to wait and see.\n\nOne day it was the middle-sized little pig who would go out into the\nwoods, for he also had a mind to taste the acorns there.\n\nSo out into the woods the middle-sized little pig went, and there he had\nall the acorns that he wanted.\n\nBut by and by the ogre came along. \u201cAha!\u201d says he. \u201cNow I have you for\nsure and certain.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: The Ogre climbs the tree for the money that he believes\nto be there.]\n\nBut the middle-sized little pig just stood and looked at a great rock\njust in front of him, with all of his might and main. \u201cSh-h-h-h-h-h!\u201d\nsays he, \u201cI am not to be talked to or bothered now!\u201d\n\nHoity-toity! Here was a pretty song, to be sure! And why was the\nmiddle-sized pig not to be talked to? That was what the ogre should like\nto know.\n\nOh, the middle-sized little pig was looking at what was going on under\nthe great rock yonder, for he could see the little folk brewing more\nbeer than thirty-seven men could drink.\n\nSo! Why, the ogre would like to see that for himself.\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d says the middle-sized little pig, \u201cthere is nothing easier\nthan to learn that trick! just take a handful of leaves from yonder bush\nand rub them over your eyes, and then shut them tight and count fifty.\u201d\n\nWell, the ogre would have a try at that. So he gathered a handful of the\nleaves and rubbed them over his eyes, just as the middle-sized pig had\nsaid.\n\n\u201cAnd now are you ready?\u201d said the middle-sized little pig.\n\nYes; the ogre was ready.\n\n\u201cThen shut your eyes and count,\u201d said the middle-sized little pig.\n\nSo the ogre shut them as tightly as he could and began to count, \u201cOne,\ntwo, three, four, five,\u201d and so on; and while he was counting, why, the\nlittle pig was running away home again.\n\nBy and by the ogre bawled out \u201c_Fifty!!!_\u201d and opened his eyes, for he\nwas done. Then he saw not more, but less, than he had seen before, for\nthe little pig was not there.\n\nAnd now it was the largest of the three little pigs who began to talk\nabout going out into the woods to look for acorns.\n\n\u201cYou had better stay at home and take things as they come. The crock\nthat goes often to the well gets broken at last;\u201d that was what the\ncock, the speckled hen, the black drake, and the grey goose said; and\nthey thought themselves very wise to talk as they did.\n\nBut no; the little pig wanted to go out into the woods, and into the\nwoods the little pig would go, ogre or no ogre.\n\nAfter he had eaten all of the acorns that he wanted he began to think of\ngoing home again, but just then the ogre came stumping along. \u201cAha!\u201d\nsays he, \u201cwe have met again, have we?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said the largest of the three little pigs, \u201cwe have. And I want\nto say that I could find no roast apple at home, and so I did not come\nback again.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: The Ogre shuts his eyes and counts fifty]\n\nYes, yes, that was all very fine; but they should have a settling of old\nscores now. The largest of the three little pigs might just come along\nhome with the ogre, and to-morrow he should be made into sausages; for\nthere was to be no trickery this time, so there was an end of the\nmatter.\n\nCome, come! the ogre must not be too testy. There was such a thing as\nhaving too much pepper in the pudding\u2014that was what the largest of the\nlittle pigs said. If it were sausages that the ogre was after, maybe the\npig could help him. Over home at the farm yonder was a storehouse filled\nwith more sausages and good things than two men could count. There was a\nwindow where the ogre could just squeeze through. Only he must promise\nto eat what he wanted and to carry nothing away with him.\n\nWell, the ogre promised to eat all he wanted in the storehouse, and then\noff they went together.\n\nBy and by they came to the storehouse at the farm, and there, sure\nenough, was a window, and it was _just_ large enough for the ogre to\nsqueeze through without a button to spare in the size.\n\nDear, dear! how the ogre did stuff himself with the sausages and\npuddings and other good things in the storehouse.\n\nBy and by the little pig bawled out as loud as he could, \u201c_Have you had\nenough yet?_\u201d\n\n\u201cHush-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh!\u201d says the ogre, \u201cdon\u2019t talk so loud, or you\u2019ll\nbe rousing the folks and having them about our ears like a hive of\nbees.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d bawled the little pig, louder than before, \u201cbut tell me, _have_\nyou had enough yet?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, yes,\u201d says the ogre, \u201cI have had almost enough, only be still\nabout it!\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well!\u201d bawled the little pig, as loud as he could, \u201cif you have\nhad enough, and if you have eaten all of the sausages and all of the\npuddings you can stuff, it is about time that you were going, for here\ncomes the farmer and two of his men to see what all the stir is about.\u201d\n\nAnd, sure enough, the farmer and his men were coming as fast as they\ncould lay foot to the ground.\n\nBut when the ogre heard them coming, he felt sure that it was time that\nhe was getting away home again, and so he tried to get out of the same\nwindow that he had gotten in a little while before. But he had stuffed\nhimself with so much of the good things that he had swelled like\neverything, and there he stuck in the storehouse window like a cork in a\nbottle, and could budge neither one way nor the other; and that was a\npretty pickle to be in.\n\n\u201cOho!\u201d says the farmer, \u201cyou were after my sausages and my puddings,\nwere you? Then you will come no more.\u201d\n\nAnd that was so; for when the farmer and his men were done with the ogre\nhe never went into the woods again, for he could not.\n\nAs for the three little pigs, they trotted away into the woods every day\nof their lives, for there was nobody nowadays to stop them from\ngathering all the acorns that they wanted.\n\n[Illustration: The Ogre sticks fast in the window.]\n\nNow, don\u2019t you believe folks when they say that this is _all_ stuff and\nnonsense that I have been telling you; for if you turn it upside down\nand look in the bottom of it you will find that there is more than one\ngrain of truth there; that is if you care to scratch among the chaff for\nit. And that is the end of this story.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n                             Eight O\u2019Clock\u00b7\n\n\n           The little _Bats_ fly [Sidenote: _Cooler winds._]\n                 About in the _Sky_,\n           And the _Kobold_\u2019s wide awake.\n                 The great black _Trees_ [Sidenote: \u25cf]\n                 Are stirred in the _Breeze_,\n           And a curious _Sound_ they make.\n\n           The _Plays_ are done, [Sidenote: \u263d]\n             And the _Prayers_ are said,\n           And the _Children_ are snugly\n             Tucked in _Bed_. [Sidenote: K.P.]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: The Staff and The Fiddle.]\n\n                                  XX.\n\n\n_The wind of heaven blows the chips and the straws together._\n\nThere was a fiddler, a tinker, and a shoemaker jogging along the road,\nbut whatever brought them in company is more than I am able to tell you.\nAll the same, there they were, and, after all, that is the kernel of the\nnut.\n\nThe fiddler was as merry a little toad as ever a body could wish to see;\nas for the tinker and the shoemaker, why, they were as sour as bad beer.\n\nWell, they plodded along, all three of them, until by and by they came\nto a cross-road, and there sat an old body begging; \u201cDear, good, kind\ngentlemen, give a poor old woman a penny or two. Do now.\u201d\n\n\u201cPooh!\u201d says the tinker and the shoemaker, and off they walked with\ntheir noses in the air as though they were hunting for flies up yonder.\n\nAs for the fiddler, he had another kind of a heart under his jacket;\n\u201cCome,\u201d says he, \u201cwe are all chicks in the same puddle.\u201d So he gave the\nold woman all that he had, which was only two pennies.\n\n\u201cA cake for a pie,\u201d said the old woman; \u201cand what would you like to have\nin the way of a wish? for all that you have to do is to ask, and it\nshall be granted.\u201d\n\nThis old woman was a famous wise one, I can tell you, though the fiddler\nknew nothing of that.\n\nThe fiddler thought and thought, but there was little that he had to\nwish for; nevertheless, since they were in the way of asking and giving,\nand seeing that his body was none of the largest, he would like to have\nit for a wish that whenever he should say, \u201cRub-a-dub-dub,\u201d the staff in\nhis hand would up and fight for him.\n\nSo! and was that all that he wanted? Then it was granted and welcome,\nfor it was little enough.\n\nAfter that they said, \u201cGood-morning,\u201d and the fiddler went one way and\nthe old woman the other.\n\nSo the three companions plodded along together until, by and by, night\ncame, and there they were, in a deep forest, with branches over their\nheads and not a peep out from under the trees, no matter where they\nmight look; and that was not the pleasantest thing for them, I can tell\nyou. But by and by they saw a light, and then the world looked up with\nthem again. So they hurried along more rapidly, and presently came to\nthe house where the light was shining; and, after all, it was not much\nto look at.\n\nRap, tap, tap! they knocked at the door, but nobody came; so they opened\nit for themselves and walked in.\n\nNo; there was no one at home, but there was a table spread with a\nsmoking hot supper, and places for three. Down they sat without waiting\nfor the bidding, for their hunger was as sharp as vinegar.\n\nWell, they ate and they ate and they ate until they could eat no more,\nand then they turned around and roasted their toes at the warm fire.\n\nThat was all very well and good, but by and by all the wood was burned,\nand then who was to go out into the dark forest and fetch another\narmful?\n\n\u201cNot I,\u201d says the tinker.\n\n\u201cNot I,\u201d says the shoemaker.\n\nAnd so it fell to the lot of the fiddler, and off he went.\n\nBut many a one spills the milk-mug to save the water-jug, and so it was\nwith the tinker and the shoemaker; for, while they sat warming their\nshins at the fire and rubbing their hands over their knees, in walked an\nugly little troll no taller than a yard-stick, but with a head as big as\na cabbage, and a good stout cudgel twice as long as himself in his hand;\nas for his eyes, why, they were as big as your mother\u2019s teacups.\n\n[Illustration: The Fiddler gives the old woman all that he has in his\npurse. \u00b6):(\u204b]\n\n\u201cI want something to eat,\u201d says he.\n\n\u201cYou\u2019ll get nothing here,\u201d says the tinker and the shoemaker.\n\n\u201cYes, but I will,\u201d says the little manikin.\n\n\u201cNo, but you will not,\u201d says the tinker and the shoemaker.\n\n\u201cThat we\u2019ll see,\u201d says the manikin; whereupon he spat upon his hands,\nsnatched up his club, and, without more ado, fell upon the tinker and\nthe shoemaker, and began beating them with all his might and main. My\ngoodness, you should have seen how they hopped about like two peas on a\ndrum-head, and you should have heard how they bellowed and bawled for\nmercy! But the little ugly troll never stopped until he was too tired to\ndrub them any more; then he went away whither he had come, and all that\nthe two fellows could do was to rub the places that smarted the most.\n\nBy and by in came the fiddler with his armful of wood, but never a word\ndid the tinker and the shoemaker say, for they had no notion of telling\nhow such a little manikin had dusted the coats of two great hulking\nfellows like themselves; only the next day they thought that it would be\nwell to rest where they were, for their bones were too sore to be\njogging. So they lolled around the house all day, and found everything\nthat they wanted to eat in the cupboards.\n\nAfter supper there was more wood to be brought in from the forest, and\nthis time it was the tinker and the shoemaker who went to fetch it, for\nthey had settled it between them that the fiddler was to have a taste of\nthe same broth that they had supped.\n\nSure enough, by and by in came the ugly little troll with the great long\ncudgel.\n\n\u201cI want something to eat,\u201d says he.\n\n\u201cThere it is, brother,\u201d says the fiddler, \u201chelp yourself.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is you who shall wait on me,\u201d says the ugly little troll.\n\n\u201cTut!\u201d says the fiddler, \u201chow you talk, neighbor; have you no hands of\nyour own?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou shall wait on me,\u201d says the manikin.\n\n\u201cI shall not,\u201d says the fiddler.\n\n\u201cThat we will see,\u201d says the manikin, and he spat upon his hands and\ngripped his cudgel.\n\n\u201cHi!\u201d says the fiddler, \u201cand is that the game you are playing? Then,\nrub-a-dub-dub!\u201d says he.\n\n[Illustration: The Fiddler gives the word & the staff falls to drubbing\nthe Dwarf as he deserves.]\n\nPop!\u2014up jumps his staff from the corner where he had stood it, and then\nyou should have seen the dust fly! This time it was the manikin who\nhopped over the chairs and begged and bawled for mercy. As for the\nfiddler, he stood by with his hands in his pockets and whistled. By and\nby the manikin found the door, and out he jumped with the fiddler at his\nheels. But the fiddler was not quick enough, for, before he could catch\nhim, the little troll popped into a great hole in the ground like a frog\ninto a well; and there was an end to that business.\n\nAfter a while the tinker and the shoemaker came back from the forest\nwith their load of wood, and then how the fiddler did laugh at them, for\nhe saw very well how the wind had been blowing with them. As for him, he\nwas all for following the little manikin into the hole in the ground; so\nthey hunted here and they hunted there, until they found a great basket\nand a rope, and then the tinker and the shoemaker lowered the fiddler\nand his staff down into the pit.\n\nDown he went ever so deep until he reached the bottom, and there he\nfound a great room. The first body whom he saw was a princess as pretty\nas a ripe apple, but looking, oh, so sad! at being in such a place. The\nnext he saw was the ugly little troll, who sat in the corner and growled\nlike our cat when the dog comes into the kitchen.\n\n\u201cSo!\u201d says the fiddler, \u201cthere you are, are you? Then it is\nrub-a-dub-dub again.\u201d And this time before the drubbing was stopped it\nwas all over with the troll.\n\nAnd then who was glad but the pretty princess. She flung her arms around\nthe merry little fiddler\u2019s neck, and gave him a right good smacking kiss\nor two, and that paid a part of the score, I can tell you. Then they sat\ndown and the pretty princess told him all about how the troll had\ncarried her off a year and more ago, and had kept her in this place ever\nsince. After that she took a pure gold ring off of her finger and broke\nit in two; half of it was for the fiddler and half of it was for her;\nfor they were sweethearts now, and the ring was to be a love-token.\n\nThen the fiddler put the princess into the basket, and the two fellows\nabove hauled her up. By and by down came the basket again, and now it\nwas the fiddler\u2019s turn. \u201cSuppose,\u201d says he, \u201cthat they are up to some of\ntheir tricks!\u201d So he tumbled a great stone into the basket in the place\nof himself. Sure enough, when the basket was about half-way up, down it\ncame tumbling, for the rogues above had cut the rope, and if the fiddler\nhad been there in the place of the stone, it would have been all over\nwith him.\n\n[Illustration: The Fiddler finds y^e Princess in the cavern of the\nDwarf.]\n\nThen if anybody was ever down in the dumps the fiddler was the fellow.\nFor there he was down in the pit, and he could no more get out of his\npickle than a toad out of the cellar window. After he had been there for\never so long a time, he saw a pretty little fiddle that hung back of the\ncupboard. \u201cAha!\u201d says he, \u201cthere is some butter to the crust after all;\nand now we will just have a bit of a jig to cheer us up a little.\u201d So\ndown he sat and began to play.\n\nAnd then what do you think happened? Why, up popped a little fellow no\nhigher than your knee and as black as your hat!\n\n\u201cWhat do you want, master?\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cSo,\u201d said the fiddler, \u201cand is that the tune we play? Well, I should\nlike to get out of this pit, that I should.\u201d\n\nNo sooner said than done, for he had hardly time to pick up his staff\nand tuck the fiddle under his arm, when\u2014whisk!\u2014he was up above as quick\nas a wink.\n\n\u201cHi!\u201d said he, \u201cbut this is a pretty fiddle to own and no mistake!\u201d and\noff he went, right foot foremost.\n\nAfter a while he came to the town where the king lived, and there was a\ngreat buzzing and gossip, and this was why: all the folks were talking\nabout how the tinker and the shoemaker had brought back the princess\nfrom the ugly little troll, and of how the king had promised that\nwhoever did that was to have her for his wife and half of the kingdom to\nboot; but here were two lads, and the question was who was to have her.\nFor before they had left the pit over yonder, the tinker and the\nshoemaker had made the princess vow and promise that she would say\nnothing about how they had treated the fiddler, and now each fellow was\nsaying that he had brought her up out of the troll\u2019s den.\n\nAnd the princess did nothing but sit and cry and cry; but, as for\nmarrying, she vowed and declared that she would not do that till she had\na pair of slippers of pure gold, and a real diamond buckle on each\nslipper; and nobody in all of the town was able to make the kind that\nshe wanted.\n\nWhen the fiddler heard all this he went straight to a shoemaker\u2019s shop.\n\u201cWill you take a journeyman shoemaker?\u201d says he.\n\n\u201cWhat can you do?\u201d says the master shoemaker.\n\n\u201cI can make a pair of slippers such as the princess wants, only I must\nhave a room all to myself to make them in,\u201d says the fiddler.\n\nWhen the master shoemaker heard this, he was not long in making up his\nmind, so the bargain was closed and that settled the business.\n\n[Illustration: The Fiddler and the little, black mannikin.]\n\nAs soon as the fiddler was alone he drew out his fiddle and began to\nplay a bit of a jig, and there stood the little black fellow, just as he\nhad done before.\n\n\u201cWhat do you want?\u201d says he.\n\n\u201cI should like,\u201d said the fiddler, \u201cto have a pair of slippers such as\nthe princess asks for, but I only want one buckle to the pair, and that\nmust be made of real diamonds.\u201d\n\nOh! that was an easy thing to have, and there were the slippers just as\nthe fiddler had ordered.\n\n\u201cBut there is only one buckle,\u201d says the master shoemaker.\n\n\u201cTut!\u201d says the fiddler, \u201cturn no hairs grey for that, brother. Just\ntell the princess that the fiddler has the other, and matters will be as\nsmooth as cream.\u201d\n\nWell, the master shoemaker did as the fiddler said, and you may guess\nhow the princess opened her pretty eyes when she heard that her\nsweetheart was thereabouts. Nothing would suit her but that she must see\nthat journeyman shoemaker. But when they sent to fetch him, he was gone.\n\nAnd now the shoemaker and the tinker began to talk again; the princess\nhad been promised to the man who saved her from the troll, and so she\nmust and should choose one of them. But no; the princess was not ready\nyet; she would never marry till she had a pair of gloves of the finest\nsilk, all embroidered with silver and pearls and with a ruby clasp at\nthe wrist of each.\n\nAnd now came the same dance with a different tune, for nobody was to be\nfound in all of the town who could make such a pair of gloves as she\nwanted. By and by the matter came to the fiddler\u2019s ears, and off he set\nto the glover\u2019s shop. And did the glover want an apprentice?\n\nYes, the glover wanted an apprentice, but he must know first what the\nother could do.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said the fiddler, \u201cif I have a room all to myself, I can make a\npair of gloves such as the princess asks for.\u201d And after that he was not\nleft to kick his toes in the cold.\n\nAs soon as he was alone, he drew out his fiddle and struck up an air,\nand there stood the little black man again.\n\n\u201cI would like,\u201d said the fiddler, \u201cto have a pair of gloves such as the\nprincess asks for. But there must be only one clasp to the wrist, and\nthat made all of pure rubies.\u201d That is what he said, and there were the\ngloves without his having to ask twice for them.\n\n\u201cBut there is only one clasp,\u201d said the glover.\n\n\u201cNever mind that,\u201d said the wonderful apprentice; \u201cjust tell the\nprincess that the fiddler had the other, and she will be satisfied.\u201d\n\nAs for the princess, she sent off post-haste for the lad who had made\nher gloves. But she was behindhand this time too, for, when those whom\nshe sent came to the glover\u2019s house, they found nobody there but the cat\nand the kettle, and the master glover, for the fiddler was gone.\n\nAnd now the tinker and the shoemaker began again; the princess had her\ngloves, and she must and should choose one or the other of them.\n\nBut no. First of all the princess must have a fine dress all of white\nsilk with both sleeves looped up with pearls as big as marbles.\n\nBut there was nobody to make such a dress as that in all of the town,\ntill the fiddler went to the master tailor and offered himself as a\njourneyman workman. Then the dress came quickly enough, and with only\nthe tune of a fiddle. But the loop of pearls on one sleeve was missing.\n\n\u201cAnd that will never do in the wide world,\u201d says the tailor.\n\n\u201cOh,\u201d says the fiddler, \u201cthat is nothing; just tell the princess that\nthe fiddler has the other, and she will be satisfied.\u201d\n\nWell, the tailor did as he said, and when the princess heard who had the\npearl loop, she was satisfied, just as the fiddler had said she would\nbe.\n\nBy and by the tinker and the shoemaker began again; the princess must\nchoose one or the other of them. And now there was nothing left for her\nto do but to say \u201cYes.\u201d She felt sure that the fiddler would be on hand\nat the right time, and so a day was fixed for choosing whom she would\nmarry.\n\nIt was not long before the fiddler heard of that, for news flies fast.\nOff he went by himself and played a turn or two on his fiddle.\n\n\u201cAnd what do you want now?\u201d says the little manikin.\n\n\u201cThis time,\u201d said the fiddler, \u201cI want a splendid suit of clothes for\nmyself, all of silver and gold; besides that, I want a hat with a great\nfeather in it and a fine milk-white horse.\u201d\n\nSo; good! Well, he could have those things easily enough, and there they\nwere.\n\nSo the fiddler dressed himself in his fine clothes, and then, when it\nwas about time for the princess to make her choice, he mounted upon his\ngreat milk-white horse and set off for the king\u2019s house with his staff\nacross the saddle in front of him.\n\nBut you should have seen how the people looked as he rode along the\nstreet, for they had never laid eyes upon such a fine sight in all of\ntheir lives before. Up he rode to the castle, and when he knocked at the\ndoor they did not keep him waiting long out in the cold, I can tell you.\n\nThere they all sat at dinner, the tinker on one side of the princess and\nthe shoemaker on the other. But when they saw the fiddler in his grand\nclothes, they thought that he was some great nobleman for sure and\ncertain, for neither the princess nor the two rogues knew who he was.\nThe folks squeezed together along the bench and made room for him; so he\nleaned his staff in the corner and down he sat, just across the table\nfrom the princess.\n\nBy and by he asked the princess if she would drink a glass of red wine\nwith him.\n\nYes, the princess would do that.\n\nSo the fiddler drank, and then what did he do but drop his half of the\nring that the princess had given him into the cup, before he passed it\nacross to her.\n\nThen the princess drank, but something bobbed against her lips; and when\nshe came to look\u2014lo and behold!\u2014there was the half of her ring.\n\nAnd if anybody in all of the world was glad, it was the princess at that\nvery moment. Up she stood before them all; \u201cThere is my sweetheart,\u201d\nsays she, \u201cand I will marry him and no one else.\u201d\n\nAs for the fiddler, he just said, \u201cRub-a-dub-dub,\u201d and up jumped the\nstaff and began to thump and bang the tinker and the shoemaker until\nthey scampered away for dear life, and there was an end of them so far\nas I know, for if you would like to know what happened to them\nafterwards, you will have to ask some one else.\n\nThe king was ever so glad to have the fiddler for a son-in-law in the\nplace either of the tinker or the shoemaker, for he was a much\nbetter-looking lad. Besides, the others had done nothing but brew\ntrouble and worriment ever since they had come into the house.\n\nAfter that there was a grand wedding. I too was there at the feasting,\nbut I got nothing but empty sausage and wind pudding, and so I came away\nagain.\n\nAnd that is the end of this story.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n                             Nine O\u2019clock\u00b7\n\n\n        When all are wrapped in _Slumbers_ sweet, [Sidenote: \u25cb]\n          About the _House_, with stealthy _Tread_,\n          With flowered _Gown_, and night-capped _Head_,\n        _Dame Margery_ goes, in _Stocking Feet_.\n\n        She stops and listens at the _Doors_; [Sidenote: \u263e]\n          She sees that every thing is right,\n          And safe, and quiet for the _Night_,\n        Then goes to _Bed_, and sleeps, and snores.\n\n                                            K.P.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: How the Princess\u2019s Pride was broken.]\n\n                                  XXI.\n\n\nThere was a princess who was as pretty as a picture, and she was so\nproud of that that she would not so much as look at a body; all the\nsame, there was no lack of lads who came a-wooing, and who would have\nliked nothing so much as to have had her for a sweetheart because she\nwas so good-looking. But, no, she would have nothing to do with any of\nthem; this one was too young and that one was too old; this one was too\nlean and that one was too fat; this one was too little and that one was\ntoo big; this one was too dark and that one was too fair. So there was\nnever a white sheep in the whole flock, as one might say.\n\nNow there was one came who was a king in his own country, and a fine one\nat that. The only blemish about him was a mole on his chin; apart from\nthat he was as fresh as milk and rose leaves.\n\nBut when the princess saw him she burst out laughing; \u201cWho would choose\na specked apple from the basket?\u201d said she; and that was all the cake\nthe prince bought at that shop, for off he was packed.\n\nBut he was not for giving up, not he; he went and dressed himself up in\nrags and tatters; then back he came again, and not a soul knew him.\n\nRap! tap! rap!\u2014he knocked at the door, and did they want a stout lad\nabout the place?\n\nWell, yes; they were wanting a gooseherd, and if he liked the place he\nmight have it.\n\nOh, that fitted his wants like a silk stocking, and the next day he\ndrove the geese up on the hill back of the king\u2019s house, so that they\nmight eat grass where it was fresh and green. By and by he took a golden\nball out of his pocket and began tossing it up and catching it, and as\nhe played with it the sun shone on it so that it dazzled one\u2019s eyes to\nlook at it.\n\nThe princess sat at her window, and it was not long before she saw it, I\ncan tell you. Dear, dear, but it was a pretty one, the golden ball. The\nprincess would like to have such a plaything, that she would; so she\nsent one of the maids out to ask whether the gooseherd had a mind to\nsell it.\n\nOh, yes, it was for sale, and cheap at that; the princess should have it\nfor the kerchief which she wore about her neck.\n\nPrut! but the lad was a saucy one; that was what the princess said. But,\nafter all, a kerchief was only a kerchief; fetch the gooseherd over and\nshe would give it to him, for she wanted the pretty golden ball for her\nown, and she would have it if it were to be had.\n\nBut, no; the gooseherd would not come at the princess\u2019s bidding. If she\nwanted to buy the golden ball she must come up on the hill and pay him,\nfor he was not going to leave his flock of geese, and have them waddling\ninto the garden perhaps; that is what the gooseherd said. So the upshot\nof the matter was that the princess went out with her women, and gave\nthe lad the kerchief up on the hill behind the hedge, and brought back\nthe golden ball with her for her own.\n\nAs for the gooseherd he just tied the kerchief around his arm so that\neverybody might see it; and all the folks said, \u201cHi! that is the\nprincess\u2019s kerchief.\u201d\n\nThe next day, when he drove his flock of geese up on the hill, he took a\nsilver looking-glass and a golden comb out of his pocket and began to\ncomb his hair, and you should have seen how the one and the other\nglistened in the sun.\n\nIt took the princess no longer to see the comb and the looking-glass\nthan it had the golden ball, and then she must and would have them. So\nshe sent one to find whether the lad was of a mind to sell them, for she\nthought that she had never seen anything so pretty in all of her life\nbefore.\n\n[Illustration: The Royal gooseherd playeth with the golden ball.]\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said he, \u201cI will sell them, but the princess must come up on the\nhill back of the hedge and give me the necklace she wears about her\nneck.\u201d\n\nThe princess made a sour enough face at this, but, as the gooseherd\nwould take nothing more nor less than what he had said, she and her\nmaids had to tuck up their dresses and go up on the hill; there she paid\nhim his price, and brought home the silver looking-glass and the golden\ncomb.\n\nThe lad clasped the necklace about his throat, and, dear, dear, how all\nthe folks did goggle and stare. \u201cSee,\u201d said they, \u201cthe princess has been\ngiving the gooseherd the necklace from about her own throat.\u201d\n\nThe third day it was a new thing the gooseherd had, for he brought out a\nmusical box with figures on it, dressed up, and looking for all the\nworld like real little men and women. He turned the handle, and when the\nmusic played it was sweeter than drops of honey. And all the while the\nlittle men and women bowed to one another and went through with a dance,\nfor all the world as though they knew what they were about, and were\ndoing it with their own wits.\n\nGood gracious! how the princess did wonder at the pretty musical box!\nShe must and would have it at any price; but this time it was\nfive-and-twenty kisses that the lad was wanting for his musical box, and\nhe would take nothing more nor less than just that much for it.\nMoreover, she would have to come up on the hillside and give them to\nhim, for he could not leave his geese even for five-and-twenty kisses.\n\nBut you should have seen what a stew the princess was in at this!\nFive-and-twenty kisses, indeed! And did the fellow think that it was for\nthe likes of her to be kissing a poor gooseherd? He might keep his\nmusical box if that was the price he asked for it; that was what she\nsaid.\n\nAs for the lad, he just played the music and played the music, and the\nmore the princess heard and saw the more she wanted it. \u201cAfter all,\u201d\nsaid she, at last, \u201ca kiss is only a kiss, and I will be none the poorer\nfor giving one or two of them; I\u2019ll just let him have them, since he\nwill take nothing else.\u201d So off she marched, with all of her maidens, to\npay the gooseherd his price, though it was a sour face she made of it,\nand that is the truth.\n\nNow, somebody had been buzzing in the king\u2019s ear, and had told him that\nthe gooseherd over yonder was wearing the princess\u2019s kerchief and her\ngolden necklace, and folks said she had given them to him of her own\nfree will.\n\n[Illustration: The King peeps over the hedge and sees what is going on\nupon the other side.]\n\n\u201cWhat!\u201d says the king, \u201cis that so? her kerchief! golden necklace! we\nwill have to look into this business.\u201d So off he marched, with his\nlittle dog at his heels, to find out what he could about it. Up the hill\nhe went to where the gooseherd watched his flock; and when he came near\nthe hedge where the kissing was going on, he heard them\ncounting\u2014\u201cTwenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three\u2014\u201d and he wondered what in\nthe world they were all about. So he just peeped over the bushes, and\nthere he saw the whole business.\n\nMercy on us! what a rage he was in! So; the princess would turn up her\nnose at folks as good as herself, would she? And here she was kissing\nthe gooseherd back of the hedge. If he was the kind she liked she should\nhave him for good and all.\n\nSo the minister was called in, and the princess and the gooseherd were\nmarried then and there, and that was the end of the business. Then off\nthey were packed to shift for themselves in the wide world, for they\nwere not to live at the king\u2019s castle, and that was the long and the\nshort of it.\n\nBut the lad did nothing but grumble and growl, and seemed as sore over\nhis bargain as though he had been trying to trick a Jew. What did he\nwant with a lass for a wife who could neither brew nor bake nor boil\nblue beans? That is what he said. All the same, they were hitched to the\nsame plough, and there was nothing for it but to pull together the best\nthey could. So off they packed, and the poor princess trudged after him\nand carried his bundle.\n\nSo they went on until they came to a poor, mean little hut. There she\nhad to take off her fine clothes and put on rags and tatters; and that\nwas the way she came home.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said the gooseherd one day, \u201cit\u2019s not the good end of the\nbargain that I have had in marrying; all the same, one must make the\nbest one can of a crooked stick when there is none other to be cut in\nthe hedge. It is little or nothing you are fit for; but here is a basket\nof eggs, and you shall take them to the market and sell them.\u201d\n\nSo off the poor princess went to the great town, and stood in the corner\nof the market with her eggs. By and by there came along a tipsy\ncountryman\u2014tramp! tramp! tramp! As for the basket of eggs, he minded\nthem no more than so many green apples. Smash! and there they lay on the\nground, and were fit for nothing but to patch broken promises, as we say\nin our town.\n\nThen how the poor princess did wring her hands and cry and cry, for she\nwas afraid to go home to her husband, because of the hard words he would\nbe sure to fling at her. All the same, there was no other place for her\nto go; so back she went.\n\n[Illustration: The Princess taketh her eggs to the market.]\n\n\u201cThere!\u201d said he, \u201cI always knew that you were good for nothing but to\nlook at, and now I am more sure of it than ever. The china pitcher was\nnever fit to send to the well, and it was a rainy day for me when I\nmarried such a left-handed wife;\u201d that was what the gooseherd said. All\nthe same, the princess should try again; this time she should take a\nbasket of apples to the market to sell; for whatever happened she could\nnot break them; so off she went again.\n\nWell, by and by came a fellow driving swine, and there sat the princess\nin the way; that was bad luck for her, for over tumbled the basket, and\nthe apples went rolling all about the street. When the drove had passed\nthere was not a single apple to be seen, for the pigs had eaten every\none of them. So there was nothing for the princess but to go home\ncrying, with her apron to her eyes.\n\n\u201cYes, yes,\u201d said the gooseherd, \u201cit is as plain as reading and writing\nand the nose on your face that you are just fit for nothing at all! All\nthe same, we\u2019ll make one more try to mend the crack in your luck. The\nking up in the castle yonder is married and is going to give a grand\nfeast. They are wanting a body in the kitchen to draw the water and chop\nthe wood; and you shall go and try your hand at that; and see, here is a\nbasket; you shall take it along and bring home the kitchen scrapings for\nsupper.\u201d\n\nSo off went the princess to the castle kitchen, and there she drew the\nwater and chopped the wood for the cook. After her work was done she\nbegged so prettily for the kitchen scrapings that the cook filled her\nbasket full of the leavings from the pots and the pans, for they were\nabout having a grand dinner up-stairs and the king was going to bring\nhome his wife that day.\n\nBy and by it was time for her to be going home, so she picked up her\nbasket and off she went. Just outside stood two tall soldiers. \u201cHalt!\u201d\nsaid they. And was she the lass who had been chopping the wood and\ndrawing the water for the cook that day? Yes? Then she must go along\nwith them, for she was wanted up-stairs. No; it did no good for her to\nbeg and to pray and to cry and to wring her hands, and it mattered\nnothing if her good man was waiting for her at home. She had been sent\nfor, and she must go, willy-nilly. So she had only just time to fling\nher apron over her basket of kitchen scrapings, and off they marched\nher.\n\nThere sat the king on his golden throne, dressed all in splendid golden\nrobes, and with a golden crown glittering upon his head. But the poor\nprincess was so frightened that she neither looked at anything nor saw\nanything, but only stood there trembling.\n\n\u201cWhat have you under your apron?\u201d said the king. But to this the\nprincess could not answer a single word. Then somebody who stood near\nsnatched away her apron, and there was the basket full of kitchen\nscrapings, and all the time the princess stood so heart-struck with\nshame that she saw nothing but the cracks in the floor.\n\nBut the king stepped down from his golden throne, dressed all in his\ngolden robes, just as he was, and took the princess by the hand. \u201cAnd do\nyou not know me?\u201d said he; \u201clook! I am the gooseherd.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: The Princess knoweth the Young King.]\n\nAnd so he was! She could see it easily enough now, but that made her\nmore ashamed than ever.\n\nAnd listen: the king had more to tell her yet. He was the tipsy\ncountryman and had knocked over her basket of eggs himself, and more\nthan that he was the swineherd who had driven his pigs over her basket\nof apples so that they were spilled on the ground. But the princess only\nbowed her head lower and lower, for her pride was broken.\n\n\u201cCome,\u201d says the king, \u201cyou are my own sweetheart now;\u201d and he kissed\nher on the cheek and seated her beside himself, and if the princess\ncried any more the king wiped away her tears with his own\npocket-handkerchief. As for the poor and rough clothes in which she was\ndressed, he thought nothing of them, for they were nothing to him.\n\nThat is the end of this story, for everything ends aright in a story\nworth the telling.\n\nBut if the princess was proud and haughty before, she never was again;\nand that is the plain truth, fresh from the churn and no hairs in it,\nand a lump of it is worth spreading your bread with, I can tell you.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n                              Ten O\u2019clock\u00b7\n\n\n   Out of the _Cupboard_ [Sidenote: \u25cb]\n     The _Kobold_ takes\n   Some bits of the _Morning\n     Griddle-Cakes_.\n\n   The _Windows_ rattle, [Sidenote: _Cold and windy._] [Sidenote: \u263e]\n     The _North Wind_ blows,\n   But the _Ashes_ are warm\n     Between his _Toes_. [Sidenote: K.P.]\n\n   The little grey _Mouse_ [Sidenote: \u25cf]\n     Looks out of the _Wall_,\n   And wishes he had\n     The _Crumbs_ that fall.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: How Two _went into_ Partnership.]\n\n                                 XXII.\n\n\nThis was the way of it.\n\nUncle Bear had a pot of honey and a big cheese, but the Great Red Fox\nhad nothing but his wits.\n\nThe fox was for going into partnership, for he says, says he, \u201ca head\nfull of wits is worth more than a pot of honey and a big cheese,\u201d which\nwas as true as gospel, only that wits cannot be shared in partnership\namong folks, like red herring and blue beans, or a pot of honey and a\nbig cheese.\n\nAll the same, Uncle Bear was well enough satisfied, and so they went\ninto partnership together, just as the Great Red Fox had said. As for\nthe pot of honey and the big cheese, why, they were put away for a rainy\nday, and the wits were all that were to be used just now.\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d says the fox, \u201cwe\u2019ll rattle them up a bit;\u201d and so he did,\nand this was how.\n\nHe was hungry for the honey, was the Great Red Fox. \u201cSee, now,\u201d said he,\n\u201cI am sick to-day, and I will just go and see the Master Doctor over\nyonder.\u201d\n\nBut it was not the doctor he went to; no, off he marched to the\nstorehouse, and there he ate part of the honey. After that he laid out\nin the sun and toasted his skin, for that is pleasant after a great\ndinner.\n\nBy and by he went home again.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d says Uncle Bear, \u201cand how do you feel now?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, well enough,\u201d says the Great Red Fox.\n\n\u201cAnd was the medicine bitter?\u201d says Uncle Bear.\n\n\u201cOh, no, it was good enough,\u201d says the Great Red Fox.\n\n\u201cAnd how much did the doctor give you?\u201d says Uncle Bear.\n\n\u201cOh, about one part of a pot full,\u201d says the Red Fox.\n\nDear, dear! thinks Uncle Bear, that is a great deal of medicine to take,\nfor sure and certain.\n\nWell, things went on as smoothly as though the wheels were greased,\nuntil by and by the fox grew hungry for a taste of honey again; and this\ntime he had to go over yonder and see his aunt. Off he went to the\nstorehouse, and there he ate all the honey he wanted, and then, after he\nhad slept a bit in the sun, he went back home again.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d says Uncle Bear, \u201cand did you see your aunt?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, yes,\u201d says the Great Red Fox, \u201cI saw her.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd did she give you anything?\u201d says Uncle Bear.\n\n\u201cOh, yes, she gave me a trifle,\u201d says the Great Red Fox.\n\n\u201cAnd what was it she gave you?\u201d says Uncle Bear.\n\n\u201cWhy, she gave me another part of a pot full, that was all,\u201d says the\nGreat Red Fox.\n\n\u201cDear, dear! but that is a queer thing to give,\u201d says Uncle Bear.\n\nBy and by the Great Red Fox was thinking of honey again, and now it was\na christening he had to go to. Off he went to the pot of honey, and this\ntime he finished it all and licked the pot into the bargain.\n\nAnd had everything gone smoothly at the christening? That was what Uncle\nBear wanted to know.\n\n\u201cOh, smoothly enough,\u201d says the Great Red Fox.\n\n\u201cAnd did they have a christening feast?\u201d says Uncle Bear.\n\n\u201cOh, yes, they had that,\u201d says the Great Red Fox.\n\n\u201cAnd what did they have?\u201d says Uncle Bear.\n\n\u201cOh, everything that was in the pot,\u201d says the Great Red Fox.\n\n\u201cDear, dear,\u201d says Uncle Bear, \u201cbut they must have been a hungry set at\nthat christening.\u201d\n\nWell, one day Uncle Bear says, \u201cWe\u2019ll have a feast and eat up the pot of\nhoney and the big cheese, and we\u2019ll ask Father Goat over to help us.\u201d\n\nThat suited the Great Red Fox well enough, so off he went to the\nstorehouse to fetch the pot of honey and the cheese; as for Uncle Bear\nhe went to ask Father Goat to come and help them eat up the good things.\n\n[Illustration: The Great Red Fox goeth to the storehouse and helps\nhimself to the good things. \u00b6]\n\n\u201cSee, now,\u201d says the Great Red Fox to himself, \u201cthe pot of honey and the\nbig cheese belong together, and it is a pity to part them.\u201d So down he\nsat without more ado, and when he got up again the cheese was all inside\nof him.\n\nWhen he came home again there was Father Goat toasting his toes at the\nfire and waiting for supper; and there was Uncle Bear on the back\ndoor-step sharpening the bread-knife.\n\n\u201cHi!\u201d says the Great Red Fox, \u201cand what are you doing here, Father\nGoat?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am just waiting for supper, and that is all,\u201d says Father Goat.\n\n\u201cAnd where is Uncle Bear?\u201d says the Great Red Fox.\n\n\u201cHe is sharpening the bread-knife,\u201d says Father Goat.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d says the Great Red Fox, \u201cand when he is through with that he is\ngoing to cut your tail off.\u201d\n\nDear, dear! but Father Goat was in a great fright; that house was no\nplace for him, and he could see that with one eye shut; off he marched,\nas though the ground was hot under him. As for the Great Red Fox, he\nwent out to Uncle Bear; \u201cThat was a pretty body you asked to take supper\nwith us,\u201d says he; \u201chere he has marched off with the pot of honey and\nthe big cheese, and we may sit down and whistle over an empty table\nbetween us.\u201d\n\nWhen Uncle Bear heard this he did not tarry, I can tell you; up he got\nand off he went after Father Goat. \u201cStop! stop!\u201d he bawled, \u201clet me have\na little at least.\u201d\n\nBut Father Goat thought that Uncle Bear was speaking of his tail, for he\nknew nothing of the pot of honey and the big cheese; so he just knuckled\ndown to it, and away he scampered till the gravel flew behind him.\n\nAnd this was what came of that partnership; nothing was left but the\nwits that the Great Red Fox had brought into the business; for nobody\ncould blame Father Goat for carrying the wits off with him, and one\nmight guess that without the telling.\n\nNow, as the pot of honey and big cheese were gone, something else must\nbe looked up, for one cannot live on thin air, and that is the truth.\n\n\u201cSee, now,\u201d says the Great Red Fox, \u201cFarmer John over yonder has a\nstorehouse full of sausages and chitterlings and puddings, and all sort\nof good things. As nothing else is left of the partnership we\u2019ll just\nchurn our wits a bit, and see if we can make butter with them, as the\nsaying goes;\u201d that was what the Great Red Fox said, and it suited Uncle\nBear as well as anything he ever heard; so off they marched arm in arm.\n\n[Illustration: The Fox tells Father Goat a strange story.]\n\nBy and by they came to Farmer John\u2019s house, and nobody was about, which\nwas just what the two rogues wanted; and, yes, there was the storehouse\nas plain as the nose on your face, only the door was locked. Above was a\nlittle window just big enough for the Great Red Fox to creep into,\nthough it was up ever so high. \u201cJust give me a lift up through the\nwindow yonder,\u201d says he to Uncle Bear, \u201cand I will drop the good things\nout for you to catch.\u201d\n\nSo Uncle Bear gave the Great Red Fox a leg up, and\u2014pop!\u2014and there he was\nin the storehouse like a mouse in the cheese-box.\n\nAs soon as he was safe among the good things he bawled out to Uncle\nBear, \u201cWhat shall it be first, sausages or puddings?\u201d\n\n\u201cHush! hush!\u201d said Uncle Bear.\n\n\u201cYes, yes,\u201d bawled the Red Fox louder than ever, \u201conly tell me which I\nshall take first, sausages or puddings?\u201d\n\n\u201cSh-h-h-h!\u201d said Uncle Bear, \u201cif you are making such a noise as that you\nwill have them about our ears; take the first that comes and be quick\nabout it.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, yes,\u201d bawled the fox as loud as he was able; \u201cbut one is just as\nhandy as another, and you must tell me which I shall take first.\u201d\n\nBut Uncle Bear got neither pudding nor sausage, for the Great Red Fox\nhad made such a hubbub that Farmer John and his men came running, and\nthree great dogs with them.\n\n\u201cHi!\u201d said they, \u201cthere is Uncle Bear after the sausages and puddings;\u201d\nand there was nothing for him to do but to lay foot to the ground as\nfast as he could. All the same, they caught him over the hill, and gave\nhim such a drubbing that his bones ached for many a long day.\n\nBut the Great Red Fox only waited until all the others were well away on\ntheir own business, and then he filled a bag with the best he could lay\nhis hands on, opened the door from the inside, and walked out as though\nit were from his own barn; for there was nobody to say \u201cNo\u201d to him. He\nhid the good things away in a place of his own, and it was little of\nthem that Uncle Bear smelt. After he had gathered all this, Master Fox\ncame home, groaning as though he had had an awful drubbing; it would\nhave moved a heart of stone to hear him.\n\n\u201cDear, oh dear! what a drubbing I have had,\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cAnd so have I,\u201d said Uncle Bear, grinning over his sore bones as though\ncold weather were blowing snow in his teeth.\n\n\u201cSee, now,\u201d said the Great Red Fox, \u201cthis is what comes of going into\npartnership, and sharing one\u2019s wits with another. If you had made your\nchoice when I asked you, your butter would never have been spoiled in\nthe churning.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: Uncle Bear and the Great Red Fox visit the farmer\u2019s\nstorehouse.]\n\nThat was all the comfort Uncle Bear had, and cold enough it was too. All\nthe same, he is not the first in the world who has lost his dinner, and\nhad both the drubbing and the blame into the bargain.\n\nBut things do not last forever, and so by and by the good things from\nFarmer John\u2019s storehouse gave out, and the Great Red Fox had nothing in\nthe larder.\n\n\u201cListen,\u201d says he to Uncle Bear, \u201cI saw them shaking the apple-trees at\nFarmer John\u2019s to-day, and if you have a mind to try the wits that belong\nto us, we\u2019ll go and bring a bagful apiece from the storehouse over\nyonder at the farm.\u201d\n\nYes, that suited Uncle Bear well enough; so off they marched, each of\nthem with an empty bag to fetch back the apples. By and by they came to\nthe storehouse, and nobody was about. This time the door was not locked,\nso in the both of them went and began filling their bags with apples.\nThe Great Red Fox tumbled them into his bag as fast as ever he could,\ntaking them just as they came, good or bad; but Uncle Bear took his time\nabout it and picked them all over, for since he had come there he was\nbound to get the best that were to be had.\n\nSo the upshot of the matter was that the Great Red Fox had his bag full\nbefore Uncle Bear had picked out half a score of good juicy apples.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll just peep out of the window yonder,\u201d says the Great Red Fox, \u201cand\nsee if Farmer John is coming.\u201d But in his sleeve he said to himself,\n\u201cI\u2019ll slip outside and turn the key of the door on Uncle Bear, for\nsomebody will have to carry the blame of this, and his shoulders are\nbroader and his skin tougher than mine; he will never be able to get out\nof that little window.\u201d So up he jumped with his bag of apples, to do as\nhe said.\n\nBut listen! A hasty man drinks hot broth. And so it was with the Great\nRed Fox, for up in the window they had set a trap to catch rats. But he\nknew nothing of that; out he jumped from the window\u2014click! went the trap\nand caught him by the tail, and there he hung.\n\n\u201cIs Farmer John coming?\u201d bawled Uncle Bear, by and by.\n\n\u201cHush! hush!\u201d said the Great Red Fox, for he was trying to get his tail\nout of the trap.\n\nBut the boot was on the other leg now. \u201cYes, yes,\u201d bawled Uncle Bear,\nlouder than before, \u201cbut tell me, is Farmer John coming?\u201d\n\n\u201cSh-h-h-h!\u201d says the Great Red Fox.\n\n\u201cNo, no,\u201d bawled Uncle Bear, as loud as he could, \u201cwhat I want to know\nis, is Farmer John coming?\u201d\n\n[Illustration: The Bear & the Fox go to farmer John\u2019s again.]\n\nYes, he was, for he had heard the hubbub, and here he was with a lot of\nhis men and three great dogs.\n\n\u201cOh, Farmer John,\u201d bawled the Great Red Fox, \u201cdon\u2019t touch me, I am not\nthe thief. Yonder is Uncle Bear in the pantry, he is the one.\u201d\n\nYes, yes, Farmer John knew how much of that cake to eat; here was the\nrogue of a fox caught in the trap, and the beating was ready for him.\nThat was the long and the short of it.\n\nWhen the Great Red Fox heard this, he pulled with all his might and\nmain. Snap! went his tail and broke off close to his body, and away he\nscampered with Farmer John, the men and the dogs close to his heels. But\nUncle Bear filled his bag full of apples, and when all hands had gone\nracing away after the Great Red Fox, he walked quietly out of the door\nand off home.\n\nAnd that is how the Great Red Fox lost his tail in the trap.\n\nWhat is the meaning of all this? Why, here it is: When a rogue and\nanother cracks a nut together, it is not often the rogue who breaks his\nteeth by trying to eat the hulls. And this too: But when one sets a trap\nfor another, it is a toss of a copper whether or no it flies up and\npinches his own fingers.\n\nIf there is anything more left in the dish you may scrape it for\nyourself.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n                            Eleven O\u2019clock\u00b7\n\n\n            Who goes about the _House_ when all\n              Are sleeping but the _Clock_,\n            And no one hears it, all alone, [Sidenote: \u263d]\n              Still saying tick-a-tock? [Sidenote: \u26b2\u260a K.P.]\n\n            It is not _Gretchen_ goes about,\n              She\u2019s snoring in her _Bed_;\n            It\u2019s not the _Hound_ that goes about\n              He never lifts his _Head_;\n\n            It is the _Wind_ that goes about, [Sidenote: \u263e]\n              And sighs around the _House_,\n            And never wakes the toothless _Hound_,\n              Or stops the gnawing _Mouse_.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: King Stork.]\n\n                                 XXIII.\n\n\nThere was a drummer marching along the high-road\u2014forward march!\u2014left,\nright!\u2014tramp, tramp, tramp!\u2014for the fighting was done, and he was coming\nhome from the wars. By and by he came to a great wide stream of water,\nand there sat an old man as gnarled and as bent as the hoops in a cooper\nshop. \u201cAre you going to cross the water?\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d says the drummer, \u201cI am going to do that if my legs hold out to\ncarry me.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd will you not help a poor body across?\u201d says the old man.\n\nNow, the drummer was as good-natured a lad as ever stood on two legs.\n\u201cIf the young never gave a lift to the old,\u201d says he to himself, \u201cthe\nwide world would not be worth while living in.\u201d So he took off his shoes\nand stockings, and then he bent his back and took the old man on it, and\naway he started through the water\u2014splash!\n\nBut this was no common old man whom the drummer was carrying, and he was\nnot long finding that out, for the farther he went in the water the\nheavier grew his load\u2014like work put off until to-morrow\u2014so that, when he\nwas half-way across, his legs shook under him and the sweat stood on his\nforehead like a string of beads in the shop-window. But by and by he\nreached the other shore, and the old man jumped down from his back.\n\n\u201cPhew!\u201d says the drummer, \u201cI am glad to be here at last!\u201d\n\nAnd now for the wonder of all this: The old man was an old man no\nlonger, but a splendid tall fellow with hair as yellow as gold. \u201cAnd who\ndo you think I am?\u201d said he.\n\nBut of that the drummer knew no more than the mouse in the haystack, so\nhe shook his head, and said nothing.\n\n\u201cI am king of the storks, and here I have sat for many days; for the\nwicked one-eyed witch who lives on the glass hill put it upon me for a\nspell that I should be an old man until somebody should carry me over\nthe water. You are the first to do that, and you shall not lose by it.\nHere is a little bone whistle; whenever you are in trouble just blow a\nturn or two on it, and I will be by to help you.\u201d\n\nThereupon King Stork drew a feather cap out of his pocket and clapped it\non his head, and away he flew, for he was turned into a great, long,\nred-legged stork as quick as a wink.\n\nBut the drummer trudged on the way he was going, as merry as a cricket,\nfor it is not everybody who cracks his shins against such luck as he had\nstumbled over, I can tell you. By and by he came to the town over the\nhill, and there he found great bills stuck up over the walls. They were\nall of them proclamations. And this is what they said:\n\nThe princess of that town was as clever as she was pretty; that was\nsaying a great deal, for she was the handsomest in the whole world.\n(\u201cPhew! but that is a fine lass for sure and certain,\u201d said the\ndrummer.) So it was proclaimed that any lad who could answer a question\nthe princess would ask, and would ask a question the princess could not\nanswer, and would catch the bird that she would be wanting, should have\nher for his wife and half of the kingdom to boot. (\u201cHi! but here is luck\nfor a clever lad,\u201d says the drummer.) But whoever should fail in any one\nof the three tasks should have his head chopped off as sure as he lived.\n(\u201cHo! but she is a wicked one for all that,\u201d says the drummer.)\n\nThat was what the proclamation said, and the drummer would have a try\nfor her; \u201cfor,\u201d said he, \u201cit is a poor fellow who cannot manage a wife\nwhen he has her\u201d\u2014and he knew as much about that business as a goose\nabout churning butter. As for chopping off heads, he never bothered his\nown about that; for, if one never goes out for fear of rain one never\ncatches fish.\n\nOff he went to the king\u2019s castle as fast as he could step, and there he\nknocked on the door, as bold as though his own grandmother lived there.\n\n[Illustration: The Drummer carries the Old Body across the River.]\n\nBut when the king heard what the drummer had come for, he took out his\npocket-handkerchief and began to wipe his eyes, for he had a soft heart\nunder his jacket, and it made him cry like anything to see another\ncoming to have his head chopped off, as so many had done before him. For\nthere they were, all along the wall in front of the princess\u2019s window,\nlike so many apples.\n\nBut the drummer was not to be scared away by the king\u2019s crying a bit, so\nin he came, and by and by they all sat down to supper\u2014he and the king\nand the princess. As for the princess, she was so pretty that the\ndrummer\u2019s heart melted inside of him, like a lump of butter on the\nstove\u2014and that was what she was after. After a while she asked him if he\nhad come to answer a question of hers, and to ask her a question of his,\nand to catch the bird that she should set him to catch.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said the drummer, \u201cI have come to do that very thing.\u201d And he\nspoke as boldly and as loudly as the clerk in church.\n\n\u201cVery well, then,\u201d says the princess, as sweet as sugar candy, \u201cjust\ncome along to-morrow, and I will ask you your question.\u201d\n\nOff went the drummer; he put his whistle to his lips and blew a turn or\ntwo, and there stood King Stork, and nobody knows where he stepped from.\n\n\u201cAnd what do you want?\u201d says he.\n\nThe drummer told him everything, and how the princess was going to ask\nhim a question to-morrow morning that he would have to answer, or have\nhis head chopped off.\n\n\u201cHere you have walked into a pretty puddle, and with your eyes open,\u201d\nsays King Stork, for he knew that the princess was a wicked enchantress,\nand loved nothing so much as to get a lad into just such a scrape as the\ndrummer had tumbled into. \u201cBut see, here is a little cap and a long\nfeather\u2014the cap is a dark-cap, and when you put it on your head one can\nsee you no more than so much thin air. At twelve o\u2019clock at night the\nprincess will come out into the castle garden and will fly away through\nthe air. Then throw your leg over the feather, and it will carry you\nwherever you want to go; and if the princess flies fast it will carry\nyou as fast and faster.\u201d\n\n\u201cDong! Dong!\u201d The clock struck twelve, and the princess came out of her\nhouse; but in the garden was the drummer waiting for her with the\ndark-cap on his head, and he saw her as plain as a pikestaff. She\nbrought a pair of great wings which she fastened to her shoulders, and\naway she flew. But the drummer was as quick with his tricks as she was\nwith hers; he flung his leg over the feather which King Stork had given\nhim, and away he flew after her, and just as fast as she with her great\nwings.\n\n[Illustration: Thus the Princess cometh forth from the Castle at twelve\no\u2019clock at night.]\n\nBy and by they came to a huge castle of shining steel that stood on a\nmountain of glass. And it was a good thing for the drummer that he had\non his cap of darkness, for all around outside of the castle stood fiery\ndragons and savage lions to keep anybody from going in without leave.\n\nBut not a thread of the drummer did they see; in he walked with the\nprincess, and there was a great one-eyed witch with a beard on her chin,\nand a nose that hooked over her mouth like the beak of a parrot.\n\n\u201cUff!\u201d said she, \u201chere is a smell of Christian blood in the house.\u201d\n\n\u201cTut, mother!\u201d says the princess, \u201chow you talk! do you not see that\nthere is nobody with me?\u201d For the drummer had taken care that the wind\nshould not blow the cap of darkness off of his head, I can tell you. By\nand by they sat down to supper, the princess and the witch, but it was\nlittle the princess ate, for as fast as anything was put on her plate\nthe drummer helped himself to it, so that it was all gone before she\ncould get a bite.\n\n\u201cLook, mother!\u201d she said, \u201cI eat nothing, and yet it all goes from my\nplate; why is that so?\u201d But that the old witch could not tell her, for\nshe could see nothing of the drummer.\n\n\u201cThere was a lad came to-day to answer the question I shall put to him,\u201d\nsaid the princess. \u201cNow what shall I ask him by way of a question?\u201d\n\n\u201cI have a tooth in the back part of my head,\u201d said the witch, \u201cand it\nhas been grumbling a bit; ask him what it is you are thinking about, and\nlet it be that.\u201d\n\nYes; that was a good question for sure and certain, and the princess\nwould give it to the drummer to-morrow, to see what he had to say for\nhimself. As for the drummer, you can guess how he grinned, for he heard\nevery word that they said.\n\nAfter a while the princess flew away home again, for it was nearly the\nbreak of day, and she must be back before the sun rose. And the drummer\nflew close behind her, but she knew nothing of that.\n\nThe next morning up he marched to the king\u2019s castle and knocked at the\ndoor, and they let him in.\n\nThere sat the king and the princess, and lots of folks besides. Well,\nhad he come to answer her question? That was what the princess wanted to\nknow.\n\nYes; that was the very business he had come about.\n\nVery well, this was the question, and he might have three guesses at it;\nwhat was she thinking of at that minute?\n\n[Illustration: The Drummer helps himself to the good things, though no\none can see him.]\n\nOh, it could be no hard thing to answer such a question as that, for\nlasses\u2019 heads all ran upon the same things more or less; was it a fine\nsilk dress with glass buttons down the front that she was thinking of\nnow?\n\nNo, it was not that.\n\nThen, was it of a good stout lad like himself for a sweetheart, that she\nwas thinking of?\n\nNo, it was not that.\n\nNo? Then it was the bad tooth that had been grumbling in the head of the\none-eyed witch for a day or two past, perhaps.\n\nDear, dear! but you should have seen the princess\u2019s face when she heard\nthis! Up she got and off she packed without a single word, and the king\nsaw without the help of his spectacles that the drummer had guessed\nright. He was so glad that he jumped up and down and snapped his fingers\nfor joy. Besides that he gave out that bonfires should be lighted all\nover the town, and that was a fine thing for the little boys.\n\nThe next night the princess flew away to the house of the one-eyed witch\nagain, but there was the drummer close behind her just as he had been\nbefore.\n\n\u201cUff!\u201d said the one-eyed witch, \u201chere is a smell of Christian blood, for\nsure and certain.\u201d But all the same, she saw no more of the drummer than\nif he had never been born.\n\n\u201cSee, mother,\u201d said the princess, \u201cthat rogue of a drummer answered my\nquestion without winking over it.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo,\u201d said the old witch, \u201cwe have missed for once, but the second time\nhits the mark; he will be asking you a question to-morrow, and here is a\nbook that tells everything that has happened in the world, and if he\nasks you more than that he is a smart one and no mistake.\u201d\n\nAfter that they sat down to supper again, but it was little the princess\nate, for the drummer helped himself out of her plate just as he had done\nbefore.\n\nAfter a while the princess flew away home, and the drummer with her.\n\n\u201cAnd, now, what will we ask her that she cannot answer?\u201d said the\ndrummer; so off he went back of the house, and blew a turn or two on his\nwhistle, and there stood King Stork.\n\n\u201cAnd what will we ask the princess,\u201d said he, \u201cwhen she has a book that\ntells her everything?\u201d\n\nKing Stork was not long in telling him that; \u201cJust ask her so and so and\nso and so,\u201d said he, \u201cand she would not dare to answer the question.\u201d\n\nWell, the next morning there was the drummer at the castle all in good\ntime; and, had he come to ask her a question? that was what the princess\nwanted to know.\n\nOh, yes, he had come for that very thing.\n\nVery well, then, just let him begin, for the princess was ready and\nwaiting, and she wet her thumb, and began to turn over the leaves of her\nBook of Knowledge.\n\nOh, it was an easy question the drummer was going to ask, and it needed\nno big book like that to answer it. The other night he dreamed that he\nwas in a castle all built of shining steel, where there lived a witch\nwith one eye. There was a handsome bit of a lass there who was as great\na witch as the old woman herself, but for the life of him he could not\ntell who she was; now perhaps the princess could make a guess at it.\n\nThere the drummer had her as tight as a fly in a bottle, for she did not\ndare to let folks know that she was a wicked witch like the one-eyed\none; so all she could do was to sit there and gnaw her lip. As for the\nBook of Knowledge, it was no more use to her than a fifth wheel under a\ncart.\n\nBut if the king was glad when the drummer answered the princess\u2019s\nquestion, he was twice as glad when he found she could not answer his.\n\nAll the same, there is more to do yet, and many a slip betwixt the cup\nand the lip. \u201cThe bird I want is the one-eyed raven,\u201d said the princess;\n\u201cNow bring her to me if you want to keep your head off of the wall\nyonder.\u201d\n\nYes; the drummer thought he might do that as well as another thing. So\noff he went back of the house to talk to King Stork of the matter.\n\n\u201cLook,\u201d said King Stork, and he drew a net out of his pocket as fine as\na cobweb and as white as milk; \u201ctake this with you when you go with the\nprincess to the one-eyed witch\u2019s house to-night, throw it over the\nwitch\u2019s head, and then see what will happen; only when you catch the\none-eyed raven you are to wring her neck as soon as you lay hands on\nher, for if you don\u2019t it will be the worse for you.\u201d\n\nWell, that night off flew the princess just as she had done before, and\noff flew the drummer at her heels, until they came to the witch\u2019s house,\nboth of them.\n\n\u201cAnd did you take his head this time?\u201d said the witch.\n\nNo, the princess had not done that, for the drummer had asked such and\nsuch a question, and she could not answer it; all the same, she had him\ntight enough now, for she had set it as a task upon him that he should\nbring her the one-eyed raven, and it was not likely he would be up to\ndoing that. After that the princess and the one-eyed witch sat down to\nsupper together, and the drummer served the princess the same trick that\nhe had done before, so that she got hardly a bite to eat.\n\n\u201cSee,\u201d said the old witch when the princess was ready to go, \u201cI will go\nhome with you to-night, and see that you get there safe and sound.\u201d So\nshe brought out a pair of wings, just like those the princess had, and\nset them on her shoulders, and away both of them flew with the drummer\nbehind. So they came home without seeing a soul, for the drummer kept\nhis cap of darkness tight upon his head all the while.\n\n\u201cGood-night,\u201d said the witch to the princess, and \u201cGood-night\u201d said the\nprincess to the witch, and the one was for going one way and the other\nthe other. But the drummer had his wits about him sharply enough, and\nbefore the old witch could get away he flung the net that King Stork had\ngiven him over her head.\n\n\u201cHi!\u201d but you should have been there to see what happened; for it was a\ngreat one-eyed raven, as black as the inside of the chimney, that he had\nin his net.\n\nDear, dear, how it flapped its wings and struck with its great beak! But\nthat did no good, for the drummer just wrung its neck, and there was an\nend of it.\n\nThe next morning he wrapped it up in his pocket-handkerchief and off he\nstarted for the king\u2019s castle, and there was the princess waiting for\nhim, looking as cool as butter in the well, for she felt sure the\ndrummer was caught in the trap this time.\n\n\u201cAnd have you brought the one-eyed raven with you?\u201d she said.\n\n\u201cOh, yes,\u201d said the drummer, and here it was wrapped up in this\nhandkerchief.\n\nBut when the princess saw the raven with its neck wrung, she gave a\ngreat shriek and fell to the floor. There she lay and they had to pick\nher up and carry her out of the room.\n\nBut everybody saw that the drummer had brought the bird she had asked\nfor, and all were as glad as glad could be. The king gave orders that\nthey should fire off the town cannon, just as they did on his birthday,\nand all the little boys out in the street flung up their hats and caps\nand cried, \u201cHurrah! Hurrah!\u201d\n\nBut the drummer went off back of the house. He blew a turn or two on his\nwhistle, and there stood King Stork. \u201cHere is your dark-cap and your\nfeather,\u201d says he, \u201cand it is I who am thankful to you, for they have\nwon me a real princess for a wife.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: The Drummer catches y^e one-eyed raven.]\n\n\u201cYes, good,\u201d says King Stork, \u201cyou have won her, sure enough, but the\nnext thing is to keep her; for a lass is not cured of being a witch as\nquickly as you seem to think, and after one has found one\u2019s eggs one\nmust roast them and butter them into the bargain. See now, the princess\nis just as wicked as ever she was before, and if you do not keep your\neyes open she will trip you up after all. So listen to what I tell you.\nJust after you are married, get a great bowl of fresh milk and a good,\nstiff switch. Pour the milk over the princess when you are alone\ntogether, and after that hold tight to her and lay on the switch, no\nmatter what happens, for that is the only way to save yourself and to\nsave her.\u201d\n\nWell, the drummer promised to do as King Stork told him, and by and by\ncame the wedding-day. Off he went over to the dairy and got a fresh pan\nof milk, and out he went into the woods and cut a stout hazel switch, as\nthick as his finger.\n\nAs soon as he and the princess were alone together he emptied the milk\nall over her; then he caught hold of her and began laying on the switch\nfor dear life.\n\nIt was well for him that he was a brave fellow and had been to the wars,\nfor, instead of the princess, he held a great black cat that glared at\nhim with her fiery eyes, and growled and spat like anything. But that\ndid no good, for the drummer just shut his eyes and laid on the switch\nharder than ever.\n\nThen\u2014puff!\u2014instead of a black cat it was like a great, savage wolf, that\nsnarled and snapped at the drummer with its red jaws; but the drummer\njust held fast and made the switch fly, and the wolf scared him no more\nthan the black cat had done.\n\nSo out it went, like a light of a candle, and there was a great snake\nthat lashed its tail and shot out its forked tongue and spat fire. But\nno; the drummer was no more frightened at that than he had been at the\nwolf and the cat, and, dear, dear! how he dressed the snake with his\nhazel switch.\n\nLast of all, there stood the princess herself. \u201cOh, dear husband!\u201d she\ncried, \u201clet me go, and I will promise to be good all the days of my\nlife.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d says the drummer, \u201cand that is the tune I like to hear.\u201d\n\nThat was the way he gained the best of her, whether it was the bowl of\nmilk or the hazel switch, for afterwards she was as good a wife as ever\nchurned butter; but what did it is a question that you will have to\nanswer for yourself. All the same, she tried no more of her tricks with\nhim, I can tell you. And so this story comes to an end, like everything\nelse in the world.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n                            Twelve O\u2019clock\u00b7\n\n\n        _Hist! Hark!_ [Sidenote: \u25cf]\n        The _Watch-dogs_ bark.\n        The _Fire_ is covered.\n          The _Bricks_ grow cold;\n        In the warmest _Corner\u2019s_\n          The brown _Kobold_. [Sidenote: \u263d]\n        He sits quite still,\n          And his _Eyes_ are bright.\n        The _Clock_ strikes twelve;\n          \u2019Tis the dead of _Night_.\n        Snuggle down closer [Sidenote: \u2653\ufe0e _Look out for frost._]\n          Into your _Bed_,\n        And pull the _Coverlets_\n          Over your _Head_.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: The Best that Life has to give.]\n\n                                 XXIV.\n\n\nThere was a blacksmith who lived near to a great, dark pine forest. He\nwas as poor as charity soup; but dear knows whether that was his fault\nor not, for he laid his troubles upon the back of ill-luck, as everybody\nelse does in our town.\n\nOne day the snow lay thick all over the ground, and hunger and cold sat\nin the blacksmith\u2019s house. \u201cI\u2019ll go out into the forest,\u201d says he, \u201cand\nsee whether I cannot get a bagful of pine-cones to make a fire in the\nstove.\u201d So off he stumped, but could find no cones, because they were\nall covered up with white. On into the woods he went, farther and\nfarther and deeper and deeper, until he came to a high hill, all of bare\nrock. There he found a clear place and more pine-cones scattered over\nthe ground than a body could count. He filled his basket, and it did not\ntake him long to do that.\n\nBut he was not to get his pine-cones for nothing: click! clack!\u2014a great\ndoor opened in the side of the hill, and out stepped a little dwarf, as\nugly as ugly could be, for his head was as big as a cabbage, his hair as\nred as carrots, and his eyes as green as a snake\u2019s.\n\n\u201cSo,\u201d said he, \u201cyou are stealing my pine-cones, are you? And there are\nnone in the world like them. Look your last on the sunlight, for now you\nshall die.\u201d\n\nDown fell the blacksmith on his knees. \u201cAlas!\u201d said he, \u201cI did not know\nthat they were your pine-cones. I will empty them out of my sack and\nfind some elsewhere.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said the dwarf, \u201cit is too late to do that now. But listen, you\nmight hunt the world over, and find no such pine-cones as these; so we\nwill strike a bit of a bargain between us. You shall go in peace with\nyour pine-cones if you will give me what lies in the bread-trough at\nhome.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, yes,\u201d said the blacksmith, \u201cI will do that gladly.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d said the dwarf, \u201cI will come for my pay at the end of seven\ndays,\u201d and back he went into the hill again, and the door shut to behind\nhim.\n\nOff went the blacksmith, chuckling to himself. \u201cIt is the right end of\nthe bargain that I have this time,\u201d said he.\n\nBut, bless you! he talked of that horse before he had looked into its\nmouth, as my Uncle Peter used to say. For, listen: while his wife sat at\nhome spinning, she wrapped the baby in a blanket and laid it in the\nbread-trough, because it was empty and as good as a cradle. And that was\nwhat the dwarf spoke of, for he knew what had been done over at the\nblacksmith\u2019s house.\n\nBut the blacksmith was as happy as a cricket under the hearth; on he\nplodded, kicking up the soft snow with his toes; but all the time the\nbasket of pine-cones kept growing heavier and heavier.\n\n\u201cCome,\u201d said he, at last, \u201cI can carry this load no farther, some of the\npine-cones must be left behind.\u201d So he opened the basket to throw a\nparcel of them out. But\u2014\n\nHi! how he did stare! for every one of those pine-cones had turned to\npure silver as white as the frost on the window-pane. After that he was\nfor throwing none of them away, but for carrying all of them home, if he\nbroke his back at it, and upon that you may depend.\n\n\u201cAnd I had them all for nothing,\u201d said he to his wife; \u201cfor the dwarf\ngave them to me for what was in the bread-trough, and I knew very well\nthat there was nothing there.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas,\u201d said she, \u201cwhat have you done! the baby is sleeping there, and\nhas been sleeping there all the morning.\u201d\n\nWhen the blacksmith heard this he scratched his head, and looked up and\nlooked down, for he had burned his fingers with the hot end of the\nbargain after all. All the same, there was nothing left but to make the\nbest that he could of it. So he took two or three of the silver\npine-cones to the town and bought plenty to eat, and plenty to drink,\nand warm things to wear into the bargain.\n\n[Illustration: The blacksmith takes y^e dwarf\u2019s pine-cones.]\n\nAt the end of seven days up came the dwarf and knocked at the\nblacksmith\u2019s house.\n\n\u201cWell, and is the baby ready?\u201d said he, \u201cfor I have come to fetch it.\u201d\n\nBut the blacksmith\u2019s wife begged and prayed and prayed and begged that\nthe baby might be spared to her. \u201cLet us keep it for seven years at\nleast,\u201d said she, \u201cfor what can you want with a young baby in the\nhouse?\u201d\n\nYes, that was very true. Young babies were troublesome things to have\nabout the house, and the woman might keep it for seven years since she\nwas anxious to do so. So off went the dwarf, and the woman had what she\nwanted, for seven years is a long time to put off our troubles.\n\nBut at the end of that time up came the dwarf a second time.\n\n\u201cWell, is the boy ready now?\u201d said he, \u201cfor I have come to take him.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, yes,\u201d says the woman, \u201cthe boy is yours, but why not leave him for\nanother seven years, for he is very young to be out in the world yet?\u201d\n\nYes, that was true, and so the dwarf put off taking him for seven years\nlonger.\n\nBut when it had passed, back he came again, and this time it did no good\nfor his mother and father to beg and pray, for he had put off his\nbargain long enough, and now he was for having what was his.\n\n\u201cAll the same,\u201d says he to the blacksmith, \u201cif you will come after five\nyears to the place in the woods where you saw me, you shall have your\nson, if you choose to take him.\u201d And off he went with the lad at his\nheels.\n\nWell, after five years had passed, the blacksmith went into the forest\nto find the dwarf and to bring back his son again.\n\nThere was the dwarf waiting for him, and in his hand he held a basket.\n\u201cWell, neighbor,\u201d says he, \u201cand have you come to fetch your son again?\u201d\n\nYes, that was what the blacksmith wanted.\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d says the dwarf, \u201chere he is, and all that you have to do is\nto take him.\u201d He opened the basket, and inside was a wren, a thrush, and\na dove.\n\n\u201cBut which of the three is the lad?\u201d says the blacksmith.\n\n\u201cThat is for you to tell, neighbor,\u201d says the dwarf.\n\nThe blacksmith looked and looked, and first he thought it might be the\nwren, and then he thought it might be the thrush, and then he thought it\nmight be the dove. But he was afraid to choose any one of the three,\nlest he should not be right in the choosing. So he shook his head and\nsighed, and was forced at last to go away with empty hands.\n\nOut by the edge of the forest sat an old woman spinning flax from a\ndistaff.\n\n\u201cWhither away, friend?\u201d said she, \u201cand why do you wear such a sorrowful\nface?\u201d\n\nThe blacksmith stopped and told her the whole story from beginning to\nend. \u201cTut!\u201d said the old woman, \u201cyou should have chosen the dove, for\nthat was your son for sure and certain.\u201d\n\n\u201cThere!\u201d said the blacksmith, \u201cif I had only known that in the first\nplace it would have saved me so much leg wear,\u201d and back he went,\nhot-foot, to find the dwarf and to get his son again.\n\nThere was the dwarf waiting for him with a basket on his arm, but this\ntime it was a sparrow and a magpie and a lark that were in it, and the\nblacksmith might take which of the three he liked, for one of them was\nhis own son.\n\n[Illustration: The blacksmith chooses y^e raven and runs away with it.\n\u00b6):(\u204b]\n\nThe man looked and looked, and could make nothing of it, so all that he\ncould do was to shake his head and turn away again with empty hands.\n\nOut by the edge of the forest sat the old woman spinning. \u201cPrut!\u201d says\nshe, \u201cyou should have chosen the lark, for it was your son for sure and\ncertain. But listen; go back and try again; look each bird in the eyes,\nand choose where you find tears; for nothing but the human soul weeps.\u201d\n\nBack went the man into the forest for the third time, and there was the\ndwarf just as before, only this time it was a sparrow and a jackdaw and\na raven that he had in his basket.\n\nThe man looked at each of the three in turn, and there were tears in the\nraven\u2019s eyes.\n\n\u201cThis is the one I choose,\u201d said he, and he snatched it and ran. And it\nwas his son and none other whom he held.\n\nAs for the dwarf, he stood and stamped his feet and tore his hair, but\nthat was all he could do, for one must abide by one\u2019s bargain, no matter\nwhat happens.\n\nYou can guess how glad the father and the mother were to have their son\nback home again. But the lad just sat back of the stove and warmed his\nshins, and stared into the Land of Nowhere, without doing a stroke of\nwork from morning till night. At last the father could stand it no\nlonger, for, though one is glad to have one\u2019s own safe under the roof at\nhome, it is another thing to have one\u2019s own doing nothing the livelong\nday but sit back of the stove and eat good bread and meat; for the\nsilver pine-cones were gone by this time, and good things were no more\nplentiful in the blacksmith\u2019s house than they had been before.\n\n\u201cCome!\u201d says he to lazy-boots one day, \u201cis there nothing at all that you\ncan do to earn the salt you eat?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, yes,\u201d said the lad, \u201cI have learned many things, and one over at\nthe dwarf\u2019s house yonder, for the dwarf is a famous blacksmith.\u201d So out\nhe came from behind the stove, and brushed the ashes from his hair, and\nwent out into the forge.\n\n\u201cGive me a piece of iron,\u201d says he, \u201cand I will show you a trick or two\nworth the knowing.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d says the blacksmith, \u201cyou shall have the iron; all the same I\nknow that it is little or nothing that you know about the hammer and the\ntongs.\u201d\n\nBut the young fellow answered nothing. He made a bed of hot coals, and\nlaid the iron in it.\n\n\u201cHere,\u201d said he to his father, \u201cdo you blow the bellows till I come\nback, and be sure that you do not stop for so much as a wink, or else\nall will be spoiled.\u201d So he gave the handle into the blacksmith\u2019s hand\nand off he went.\n\nThe old man blew the bellows and blew the bellows, but the dwarf over in\nthe forest knew what was being done as well as though he stood in the\nforge. He was not for letting the lad steal his tricks if he could help\nit. So he changed himself into a great fly, and came and lit on the\nblacksmith\u2019s neck, and bit him till the blood ran; but the blacksmith\njust shut his eyes tight, and grinned and bore it, and blew the bellows\nand blew the bellows.\n\nBy and by the lad came in, and the fly flew away. He drew the iron out\nof the fire, and dipped it in the water, and what do you think it was?\nWhy, a golden tree with a little golden bird sitting in the branches,\nwith bright jewels for its eyes.\n\nThe lad drew a little silver wand from his pocket, and gave the tree a\ntap, and the bird began to hop from branch to branch, and to sing so\nsweetly that it made one\u2019s heart stand still to listen to it.\n\nAs for the blacksmith, he just stood and gaped and stared, with his\nmouth and eyes as wide open as if they never would shut again.\n\nNow there was no king in that country, but a queen who lived in a grand\ncastle on a high hill, and was as handsome a one as ever a body\u2019s eyes\nlooked upon.\n\n\u201cHere,\u201d says the lad to his father, \u201ctake this up to the queen at the\ncastle yonder, and she will pay you well for it.\u201d Then he went and sat\ndown back of the stove again, and toasted his shins and stared at\nnothing at all.\n\nUp went the blacksmith to the queen\u2019s castle with the golden bird and\nthe golden tree wrapped up in his pocket-handkerchief. Dear, dear, how\nthe queen did look and listen and wonder, when she saw how pretty it\nwas, and heard how sweetly the little golden bird sang. She called her\nsteward and bade him give the blacksmith a whole bag of gold and silver\nmoney for it, and off went the man as pleased as pleased could be.\n\nAnd now they lived upon the very best of good things over at the\nblacksmith\u2019s house; but good things cost money, and by and by the last\npenny was spent of what the queen had given him, and nothing would do\nbut for the lad to go out and work a little while at the forge. So up he\ngot from back of the stove, and out he went into the forge. He made a\nbed of coals and laid the iron upon it.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d says he to his father, \u201cdo you blow the bellows till I come\nback,\u201d and off he went.\n\nWell, the old man took the handle and blew and blew, but the dwarf knew\nwhat was going on this time, just as well as he had done before. He\nchanged himself into a fly, and came and lit on the blacksmith\u2019s neck,\nand dear, dear, how he did bite! The blacksmith shut his eyes and\ngrinned, but at last he could bear it no longer. He raised his hand and\nslapped at the fly, but away it flew with never a hair hurt.\n\nIn came the lad and drew the iron out of the fire and plunged it into\nthe water, and there it was a beautiful golden comb that shone like\nfire. But the lad was not satisfied with that. \u201cYou should have done as\nI told you,\u201d said he, \u201cand have stopped at nothing; for now the work is\nspoiled.\u201d\n\nThe blacksmith vowed and declared that he had not stopped from blowing\nthe bellows, but the lad knew better than that; for there should have\nbeen a golden looking-glass as well as the comb. The one was of no use\nwithout the other, for when one looked in the golden looking-glass, and\ncombed one\u2019s hair with the golden comb, one grew handsomer every day,\nand the lad had intended both for the queen.\n\n\u201cAll the same,\u201d said the old man, \u201cI will take the golden comb up to the\ncastle;\u201d and it did no good for the lad to shake his head and say no.\n\u201cFor,\u201d says the father, \u201cold heads are wise heads; and the queen will\nlike this as well as the other.\u201d So up to the castle he would go, and up\nto the castle he went.\n\nBut when the queen saw the golden comb her brows grew as black as a\nthunder-storm. \u201cWhere is the looking-glass?\u201d said she; and though the\nold man vowed and declared that no looking-glass belonged with the comb,\nshe knew a great deal better. So, now, the blacksmith might have his\nchoice; he should either bring her the looking-glass that belonged to\nthe golden comb or bring her that which was the best in all the world.\nIf he did neither of these he should be thrown into a deep pit full of\ntoads and vipers.\n\nBack went the old man home again and told the lad all that had happened\nfrom beginning to end. And then he wanted to know what he should do to\nget himself out of his pickle.\n\n[Illustration: The blacksmith brings y^e wonderful little bird and tree\nto y^e Queen.]\n\nWell, it was no easy task to make what the queen wanted; all the same,\nthe lad would try what he could do. So he rolled up his sleeves and out\nhe went into the forge and laid a piece of iron upon the bed of hot\ncoals.\n\nThis time he would not trust the old man to blow the bellows for him,\nbut took the handle into his own hand and blew and blew.\n\nThe dwarf knew what was happening this time as well as before. He\nchanged himself into a fly and came and sat on the lad\u2019s forehead, and\nbit until the blood ran down into his eyes and blinded him; but the lad\nblew the bellows and blew the bellows.\n\nFirst the fire burned red, and then it burned white, and then it burned\nblue, and after that the work was done.\n\nThen the young man raised his hand and struck the fly and killed it, and\nthat was an end of the dwarf for good and all.\n\nWhat he had made he dipped into the water and it was a gold ring,\nnothing less nor more. He took a sharp knife and drew charms upon it,\nand inside of the circle he wrote these words:\n\n                  \u201cWHO WEARS THIS SHALL HAVE THE BEST\n                      THAT THE WORLD HAS TO GIVE.\u201d\n\n\u201cHere,\u201d said the lad to his father, \u201ctake this up to the queen, for it\nis what she wants, and there is nothing better in the world.\u201d\n\nOff marched the old man and gave the ring to the queen, and she slipped\nit on her finger.\n\nThat was how the blacksmith saved his own skin; but the poor queen did\nnothing but just sit and look out of the window, and sigh and sigh.\n\nAfter a while she called her steward to her and bade him go over and\ntell the blacksmith\u2019s son to come to her.\n\nThere sat the lad back of the stove. \u201cPrut!\u201d said he, \u201cshe must send a\nbetter than you if she would have me come to her.\u201d So the steward had\njust to go back to the castle again and tell the queen what the lad had\nsaid.\n\nThen the queen called her chief minister to her. \u201cDo you go,\u201d said she,\n\u201cand bid the lad come to me.\u201d\n\nThere sat the lad back of the stove. \u201cPrut!\u201d said he, \u201cshe must send a\nbetter than you if she would have me come to her.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: The Young Smith forges the best that Life has to give.]\n\nOff went the minister and told the queen what he had said, and the queen\nsaw as plain as the nose on her face that she must go herself if she\nwould have the lad come at her bidding.\n\nThere sat the lad back of the stove. And would he come with her now?\n\nYes, indeed, that he would. So he slipped from behind the stove and took\nher by the hand, and they walked out of the house and up to her castle\non the high hill, for that was where he belonged now. There they were\nmarried, and ruled the land far and near. For it is one thing to be a\nblacksmith of one kind, and another thing to be a blacksmith of another\nkind, and that is the truth, whether you believe it or not.\n\nAnd did the queen really get the best in the world? Bless your heart, my\ndear, wait until you are as old as I am, and have been married as long,\nand you will be able to answer that question without the asking.\n\n\n[Illustration: The End.]\n\n\n           HIC LIBER CAPITE NOSTRO FACTUS EST MANUQUE NOSTRA\n\n                 RIDEANT HOMINUM STULTITIAS STULTI, SED\n                     NE, QUOD IN STULTITIIS HOMINUM\n                          HOMINIS ALIQUID EST,\n                             OMNIA IN LEVI\n                                HABEAMUS\n                                   *\n\n[Illustration]\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                          TRANSCRIBER\u2019S NOTES\n\n\n 1. Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling.\n 2. Archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings retained as printed.\n 3. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.\n 4. Superscripts are denoted by a caret before a single superscript\n      character, e.g. M^r.","title":"The Wonder Clock; or, four & twenty marvellous Tales: being one for each hour of the day","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":76578}