{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_64134/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_64134","id":"gutenberg_64134","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/64134","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Short Stories","Flemings -- Folklore","Folklore -- Belgium","Tales -- Flanders"],"text":"CHRISTMAS TALES OF FLANDERS\n\n [Illustration]\n\n\n KEEP THIS BOOK CLEAN\n\n [Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n CHRISTMAS\n TALES OF\n FLANDERS\n\n ILLUSTRATED BY\n JEAN DE BOSSCHERE\n\n [Illustration]\n\n NEW YORK: DODD, MEAD & COMPANY\n MCMXVII\n\n\n\n\n PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN AT THE COMPLETE PRESS\n WEST NORWOOD, LONDON, S.E.\n\n [Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\n\nThe Christmas Tales of Flanders presented in this volume are popular\nfables and legends current in Flanders and Brabant, which have for\ncenturies been told to children throughout Belgium. Their origin is\ndoubtful, as all literature handed down by oral tradition must be. A\ngood many of these stories are found in a different guise in the legends\nof other nations. \u201cSeppy\u201d is closely akin to the rhyme of \u201cThe Old Man\nwho lived in the Wood\u201d; and the prototypes of others will be readily\nrecognized; but all of them have peculiar Flemish traits. They have the\npicturesqueness characteristic of the country which produced such a\nglorious school of painting, and the freshness of their presentation is\na high tribute to the creative imagination of the Flanders folk.\nSometimes they are primitive to a degree, and in such tales as \u201cSimple\nJohn\u201d and \u201cThe Boy who always said the Wrong Thing,\u201d the storyteller\nattributes the most elementary and artless mentality to his heroes, so\nas to explain the extravagant adventures he relates. These tales occupy\nfor the Flemish the place nursery rhymes take in England, and as the\nnursery rhymes have been collected in England at various times and in\ndifferent forms and guises, so the Flemish folk-tales have also been\ncollected in various ways and in various parts of Flanders. Messrs.\nDemont and Decock produced a book entitled \u201cZoo Vertellen de Vlamingen,\u201d\nfrom which collection a good many of these stories are taken. Others\ncame from the \u201cBrabantsch Segenboak,\u201d which J. Teiclinck wrote for the\nFlemish Academy. They were translated by M. C. O. Morris and are here\npublished for the first time in English.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n PAGE\n\nTHE RICH WOMAN AND THE POOR WOMAN 1\n\nTHE STORY OF SEPPY 8\n\nTHE ENCHANTED APPLE-TREE 14\n\nTHE CONVENT FREE FROM CARE 18\n\nTHE WITCHES\u2019 CELLAR 21\n\nTHE BOY WHO ALWAYS SAID THE WRONG THING 25\n\nHOP-O\u2019-MY-THUMB 29\n\nTHE EMPEROR\u2019S PARROT 36\n\nTHE LITTLE BLACKSMITH VERHOLEN 42\n\nBALTEN AND THE WOLF 61\n\nTHE MERMAID 69\n\nTHE STORY OF THE LITTLE HALF-COCK 75\n\nTHE DWARF AND THE BLACKSMITH 81\n\nPERCY THE WIZARD, NICKNAMED SNAIL 86\n\nSIMPLE JOHN 94\n\nTHE TWO CHICKENS OR THE TWO EARS 100\n\nTHE WONDERFUL FISH 105\n\nTHE FRYING-PAN 115\n\nFARMER BROOM, FARMER LEAVES, AND FARMER IRON 118\n\nLITTLE LODEWYK AND ANNIE THE WITCH 123\n\nTHE GIANT OF THE CAUSEWAY 126\n\nTHE KEY-FLOWER 134\n\nTHE OGRE 136\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nLIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS\n\n\nIN COLOUR\n\n _Facing\n page_\n\nTHE SEA-MONSTERS AND THE FISHERMAN _Frontispiece_\n\nTHE RICH WOMAN AND THE POOR WOMAN: THE TWO FARMS AT CHRISTMAS EVE 2\n\nTHE ENCHANTED APPLE-TREE 16\n\nTHE WITCHES\u2019 CELLAR 24\n\nHOP-O\u2019-MY-THUMB AND THE ROBBERS 30\n\nTHE DEVIL BEATEN THREE TIMES 52\n\nTHE PROCESSION 58\n\nTHE MERMAID, THE MOTHER, AND HER DAUGHTER 74\n\nTHE DWARF\u2019S FEAST 84\n\nSIMPLE JOHN, THE HORSE, THE COW, AND THE PIG 94\n\nTHE THREE FARMERS AND THEIR HOUSES 118\n\nTHE GIANT, HIS DAUGHTER, AND THE KNIGHT 132\n\n\nIN BLACK AND WHITE AND IN TWO COLOURS\n\n PAGE\n\nST. PETER AND THE TWO WOMEN 1\n\nSHE SENT THE BEGGAR AWAY, WISHING HIM GOD-SPEED 2\n\nTHE NEIGHBOURS CAME TO SAY GOOD DAY 3\n\nSHE WAS DISGUSTED WITH HERSELF 4\n\nTRY AS SHE WOULD, SHE WAS OBLIGED TO GO ON CUTTING 5\n\nTHE RICH WOMAN\u2019S SCISSORS 7\n\nSEPPY WORKING IN THE FIELDS 8\n\nHOWEVER, THE PRIEST HAD A GLASS 9\n\nSEPPY WAS VERY ANGRY WITH THE PIG 10\n\nSHE GRADUALLY SLIPPED TO THE EDGE OF THE SLOPING ROOF 11\n\nSEPPY WAS DRAWN UP THE CHIMNEY 13\n\nTHE DEATH, MISERY, THE OLD MAN, AND THE TREE 14\n\nTHE VILLAGE URCHINS CAME AND STOLE THEM OFF THE TREE 15\n\n\u201cHERE IS HALF A LOAF, TAKE IT; IT IS ALL I HAVE\u201d 16\n\nTHE DEATH HANGING IN THE TREE 17\n\nTWO MONKS OF THE CONVENT 18\n\nHOW MANY COWS\u2019 TAILS WOULD IT TAKE...? 19\n\nWHAT IS THE DEPTH OF THE SEA 20\n\nJOHN TWIST AND THE WITCHES 21\n\nRUBBING IT ON HIS FACE AND HANDS 22\n\nDREW THE PEAK OF HIS CAP OVER HIS EYES 23\n\nTHE PIG TRAVELLED VERY QUICKLY 24\n\nTHE MILL, TONY, AND HIS MOTHER\u2019S HOUSE 25\n\n\u201cI SHALL BE IN A BAD WAY\u201d 25\n\nHE THEN CAME TO THE CHURCH 26\n\nTHE STORY OF THE BOY WHO ALWAYS SAID THE WRONG THING 27\n\nTHE BOY RUNNING AWAY 28\n\nHOP-O\u2019-MY-THUMB AND A DUCK 29\n\nLOOKING UP HE ESPIED A LITTLE LADY 29\n\nHOP-O\u2019-MY-THUMB THREW THEM SOME CRUMBS 31\n\nPOOR LITTLE ANT 32\n\nTHE STORY OF HOP-O\u2019-MY-THUMB 33\n\nTHE CAPTAIN, THE PEASANT, THE PARROT, AND THE EMPEROR 36\n\nHE GAVE HIM BACK THE PARROT AS GALLANTLY AS HE COULD 37\n\nHE KICKED AND STRUGGLED VIOLENTLY 38\n\nA PEASANT WAS FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO CATCH IT 39\n\nTHE PARROT 41\n\nTHE BLACKSMITH VERHOLEN AND A DEVIL 42\n\nA GENTLE KNOCKING AT THE DOOR 43\n\nTHE SHOE WAS TRIED ON 44\n\nHE WISHED 45\n\nOPEN THE DOOR, SMITH 46\n\nTHE LITTLE BLACKSMITH WAS SEATED ON A LOW STOOL 47\n\nREST A WHILE IN THIS CHAIR 48\n\nCLIMBED UP THE TREE LIKE A CAT 49\n\nAS MUCH COAL AS HE COULD WISH 51\n\nORDERED THEM TO BURN THE DEVIL\u2019S FEET 52\n\n\u201cI WILL MAKE MYSELF AS TALL AS THE TOWER\u201d 53\n\nIT WAS NOT A MESSENGER FROM HELL 54\n\nHE WAS DRESSED IN DEEP BLACK 55\n\n\u201cLET THAT GOOD FELLOW HAVE A GLIMPSE OF HEAVEN\u201d 57\n\n\u201cOOH! BOO! MY POOR HEAD!\u201d 58\n\nMILK-AND-HONEY AVENUE 60\n\nBALTEN, THE BARREL, AND THE WOLF 61\n\nTHE WOLF STARED AT JACK 62\n\n\u201cBALTEN, POUR! BALTEN, POUR!\u201d 63\n\nTHE LADDER BECAME YET HIGHER 65\n\nONE HAS A PAW BROKEN 66\n\nTHEY PUT HIM INTO AN EMPTY BARREL 67\n\nBALTEN AND THE WOLF 68\n\nTHE MERMAID AND THE CHILD 69\n\nSHE FELL ON HER KNEES 70\n\nEVERY MORNING THE MERMAID LOOKED IN AT THE WINDOW 71\n\nA NUMBER OF LITTLE GIRLS AND BOYS 73\n\nTHE MERMAID, THE MOTHER, AND HER DAUGHTER 74\n\nTHE HALF-COCK, THE TWO FOXES, AND THE TWO ROBBERS 75\n\n\u201cI WILL ENCHANT HIM\u201d 76\n\nTHEY IMMEDIATELY MOUNTED TWO HORSES 77\n\nTHE HALF-COCK 78\n\nTHE WATER JOINED THE OTHER LODGERS 79\n\nTHE BLACKSMITH, THE DWARF, AND HIS HAT 81\n\n\u201cTHIS LITTLE FELLOW CANNOT HARM ME\u201d 82\n\nTHEY WANTED TO FIND OUT HOW IT WAS DONE 83\n\nANOTHER SET OF VERY FINE MATERIAL 84\n\nTHE DWARF DISAPPEARED 85\n\nTHE WIZARD, THE TURKEY, AND THE COUNTESS 86\n\nTHE NECESSARY INGREDIENTS FOR A NICE HOTCHPOTCH 87\n\n\u201cIF I COULD DISCOVER THE THIEF\u201d 88\n\nONE OF THEM WHISPERED TO THE OTHERS 89\n\nTO OFFER HIM PART OF THEIR SAVINGS 90\n\nTHREW IT TO SOME GEESE AND TURKEYS 91\n\nTHE COUNTESS HAD TWO DISHES PLACED BEFORE HIM 92\n\nTHE SNAIL 93\n\nSIMPLE JOHN 94\n\nTHE BRUSSELS MARKET 95\n\n\u201cLIVER, KIDNEYS, SAUSAGES\u201d 96\n\nTHE EXCHANGES OF SIMPLE JOHN 97\n\nTHE TWO CHICKENS 100\n\nTHE FIRST THING HE DID WAS TO TAKE UP HIS KNIFE 101\n\nTHE COUSIN AND THE KNIFE 102\n\nBEMOANING HER FATE AND REPROACHING THE ALMIGHTY 104\n\nTHE FISHERMAN, THE FISH, THE SEA-KING, AND SUSIE GRILL 105\n\nSTOOD UP ON ITS TAIL 106\n\nA LOVELY HOUSE WITH LOFTY TOWERS 107\n\nSHE COUNTED IT WITHOUT CEASING 109\n\n\u201cI AM NOT DISSATISFIED WITH WHAT YOU HAVE DONE\u201d 110\n\nHE SOON CAUGHT THE FISH 111\n\nA MIGHTY SEA-KING 113\n\nIN FRONT OF THE BATHING-MACHINE 114\n\nTHE COBBLER AND HIS WIFE 115\n\nTHE FRYING-PAN 116\n\nNEITHER OF THEM WANTED TO RETURN THE FRYING-PAN 117\n\nTHE THREE FARMERS 118\n\nHE BURST IT OPEN 119\n\nTHE WOLF WENT IN AND SAT DOWN 120\n\nFARMER BROOM AND FARMER LEAVES CAME OUT ALIVE 121\n\nDANCING FARMERS 122\n\nLODEWYK AND HIS CARDS 123\n\nLODEWYK 124\n\nANNIE THE WITCH ALWAYS CAME TO BLOW THEM DOWN 125\n\nTHE GIANT AND FIVE HIGHWAYMEN 126\n\nHE NEVER LEFT HIS CASTLE EXCEPT TO INFLICT PUNISHMENT 127\n\nSHE VENTURED TO TAKE A LITTLE WALK 128\n\nTOOK HER FATHER\u2019S HAND 129\n\nHE WAS NO MORE THAN THREE FEET HIGH 130\n\nLED BY TWO PAGES 131\n\nABOUT MIDNIGHT A TERRIBLE STORM AROSE 132\n\nSHE RAN UP TO THE TOWER 133\n\nHE LET FALL THE BUNCH OF KEYS 135\n\nRIPE NUTS IN THEIR CUPS 136\n\nI FILLED MY POCKETS 137\n\nI SAW SOMETHING WHITE 138\n\nCOULD I DARE TO KNOCK? 139\n\nBEHIND THOSE TWO LARGE TUBS 141\n\n\u201cI SMELL HUMAN FLESH\u201d 141\n\nI SAW HIS BODY 142\n\nI WAS PERCHED THERE ON THE TOP OF THE TREE 144\n\n\u201cI HAVE JUST FALLEN DOWN THE CHIMNEY\u201d 145\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration: ST. PETER AND THE TWO WOMEN]\n\n\n\n\nTHE RICH WOMAN AND THE POOR WOMAN\n\n\nOn a cold winter night, thousands of years ago, St. Peter took one of\nhis occasional walks on earth. Towards nightfall he knocked at a rich\npeasant\u2019s door. The farmer\u2019s wife was busy making pancakes in her cosy\nkitchen. Her little chubby baby was watching her as she poured the\nbatter into the frying-pan. She spied the stranger through the window,\nand said to herself, \u201cThis fellow is attracted by the good smell, but I\ndo not waste my pancakes on strangers.\u201d She sent the beggar away,\nwishing him God-speed.\n\nHe went on his way, and presently arrived at a mud cabin, where a poor\nwidow lived with her six children. On hearing the old man begging her to\nhave pity on him for God\u2019s sake, she opened the door and bade him stay\nthe night in her little hut. \u201cNight is falling,\u201d she said; \u201cit is\nbitterly cold, stay with us, and you shall have my bedroom. I will doze\nin a chair near the fire.\u201d The stranger gratefully accepted her offer,\nand after having supped, retired to bed.\n\nBefore leaving the next day, he thanked the good woman, and said to her,\n\u201cListen, little mother: as you welcomed me in your house, I give you a\nwish; ask anything you like and you shall have it.\u201d The good woman\nthought at once of an unfinished roll of cloth which her dead husband\nwas weaving a little before his death. Without further hesitation, she\nanswered, \u201cMy good man, as you are so kind and so powerful, grant that\nthe work which I begin the first thing in the morning may continue all\nday.\u201d \u201cIt shall be as you wish,\u201d said the stranger, as he bade her\ngood-bye. Her six children accompanied him to the outskirts of the\nvillage, where they bade him God-speed.\n\n[Illustration: SHE SENT THE BEGGAR AWAY, WISHING HIM GOD-SPEED]\n\nVery early the next day the busy little woman began to measure the piece\nof cloth, which was about twelve yards long. Marvellous to relate, she\nmeasured and measured, and she found that when she had measured a\ncertain length of cloth the pattern, texture, and designs changed. She\nthen cut it off carefully and rolled it up, and thus as the day advanced\nshe had rolls of cloth of every imaginable shade, design, and material.\nThey filled the whole cabin to the rafters; there was scarcely room to\n\n\n[Illustration: THE RICH WOMAN AND THE POOR WOMAN: THE TWO FARMS AT\nCHRISTMAS EVE]\n\nwhen he said, \u201cWoman, I can give you nothing in return for your kind\nhospitality, but I grant that the first work you undertake to-morrow\nwill last all day.\u201d Then he went on his way.\n\nThe woman was overwhelmed with joy. \u201cTo-morrow we shall be very rich,\u201d\nshe said to her husband. \u201cI shall be more cunning than my neighbour; I\nshall count money all day. I shall not waste a minute; I shall get up at\nmidnight, for before daybreak I must make some bags to pour our fortune\ninto.\u201d\n\nAll that night she never closed her eyes; on the stroke of midnight she\nsprang from her bed, and seizing the scissors she began to cut out the\nbags. But strange to say, she cut and cut until all the stuff was in\nfragments. Try as she would, she was obliged to go on cutting; she\nseized linen, shirts, sheets, tablecloths, napkins, handkerchiefs; even\nthe window curtains did not escape. Then it was the turn of the\nwardrobe. Throwing it open, she took out her husband\u2019s wedding suit.\n\u201cLook!\u201d she said, as she cut off his coat-tails, \u201cthese will make two\nmore bags. Here are strings for the bags,\u201d she added, snipping off her\nbest bonnet-strings. She went on cutting without a pause. By night she\nhad cut up everything except the clothes she was wearing. Her husband\nlooked on at this terrible scene, howling with rage, while his wife\nsighed and cried with vexation. There was nothing left; her husband only\nmanaged to save the shirt he was wearing by running up the stairs as\nmidnight struck.\n\nThe news of this disaster spread like wild-fire far and wide, but no one\npitied the woman.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration: SEPPY WORKING IN THE FIELDS]\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF SEPPY WHO WISHED TO MANAGE HIS OWN HOUSE\n\n\nSeppy and Bella lived together in a very small house. There was only one\nroom, which served as kitchen, bedroom, and stable for the animals.\n\nAll they possessed was a pig, a cow, and some hens. The pig lay on some\nstraw between two stakes in one corner of the room, the cow was tied up\nto a wooden trough in another corner, the hens roosted on the rafters.\n\nIt was not a happy household; quarrels were frequent, and Seppy was\nalways finding fault with Bella. When he came in from his work at midday\nthe potatoes were either too hot or too cold, the soup too thick or too\nthin, and he reproached Bella bitterly, declaring that she lived a life\nof idleness, while he worked like a slave in the fields.\n\nThese scenes became so frequent that Bella grew tired of this\ncat-and-dog life.\n\nOne day, when he began to grumble as usual, she defied him, insisting\nthat the next morning they should change places: she would go to work\nlike a slave in the fields, while he should stay at home to do the\ncooking. \u201cHe will soon see,\u201d she said, \u201cthat when all the work has been\ndone properly, there is no time for twiddling one\u2019s thumbs.\u201d\n\nVery early next morning Bella started off with a sack and a scythe to\ncut grass for the animals.\n\nSeppy remained at home and took off his coat, saying to himself, \u201cI will\nshow her how clever I am.\u201d\n\nIt was a Wednesday, the day for butter-making. Seppy put the churn on\nthe three-legged stool in the middle of the room, poured in the milk,\nand began to churn gaily. He heard the milk beating against the sides of\nthe churn, and whistled happily as he worked.\n\nPresently he heard the stout village priest tramping up the road. He\nstopped at Seppy\u2019s cottage, put his head in at the door and asked for a\nglass of water, being very hot and red in the face from having walked so\nfar.\n\n[Illustration: HOWEVER, THE PRIEST HAD A GLASS]\n\n\u201cWater is very dangerous; wouldn\u2019t you rather have a small jug of beer?\u201d\nsaid Seppy. He left the churn and went to the beer-barrel which stood on\nthree bricks in a corner of the room, as far as possible from the fire.\nThe barrel had not been tapped. Seppy found the key and set about\npiercing the bung, using his shoe instead of a hammer. He gave such a\nheavy blow that he pierced right through the barrel. The beer ran all\nover the floor. However, the priest had a glass, and, much refreshed, he\nwished Seppy good day and went on his way.\n\n\u201cIt is too bad to lose all this beer,\u201d said Seppy. He turned the empty\nbarrel on end, mopped up the beer with a cloth and squeezed it into the\nbarrel, and so succeeded in saving a little.\n\nMeanwhile the pig, attracted by the smell of the beer, set to work to\nlap it up greedily until he could not swallow another drop.\n\nSeppy was very angry with the pig and gave him a blow, but as it showed\nno inclination to lie down, he hit it so hard that it rushed out of the\ndoor and fell into the well. Now the well was very deep, and Seppy tried\nto drag the pig out, but in vain, and it was drowned.\n\n\u201cThe beer is spilt and the pig is drowned,\u201d thought Seppy; \u201cif any\nmisfortune overtakes the cow, or I fail to churn the milk into butter, I\nshall be for ever disgraced in Bella\u2019s eyes.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: SEPPY WAS VERY ANGRY WITH THE PIG]\n\nHe then remembered that the cow had had nothing to eat, and that he had\nto prepare the soup before Bella came back. \u201cNow I\u2019m going to work\nmethodically,\u201d he said; \u201cI will hang the stock-pot over the fire, then\ntake Molly to graze in the field, and then finish making the butter.\u201d\n\nThe fire soon burnt up. When he led the cow outside he couldn\u2019t find any\ngrass near the house, but he saw some growing on the roof! Choosing the\nspot where the roof sloped very low, he succeeded after frantic efforts\nin hoisting Molly on to the roof. He was re-entering the house when it\noccurred to him that Molly might slip off the roof into the well and be\ndrowned. He went to the well, cut the rope off the bucket and tied it\nround the cow\u2019s horns, throwing the other end down the chimney. He then\nran into the house, caught the end of the rope and tied it round his\nleg.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d he said, \u201cthe cow cannot escape however much she may want to, and\nSeppy will have made the butter and soup before midday.\u201d\n\nThe cream again lashed the sides of the churn, but Seppy had no longer\nthe heart to sing; he was thinking about the spilt beer and the poor\ndrowned pig.\n\nMeanwhile the cow grazed on the roof. The earth not\n\n[Illustration: SHE GRADUALLY SLIPPED TO THE EDGE OF THE SLOPING ROOF]\n\nbeing very firm, she gradually slipped to the edge of the sloping roof.\nSuddenly, alackaday! she rolled off. As the result of her fall, Seppy\nwas drawn up the chimney, where the soup was boiling over the fire.\n\nPoor Seppy hung head downwards as far up the chimney as Molly was off\nthe roof. To add to his misfortunes he had overturned the stool on which\nstood the churn, and so upset all the cream over the floor.\n\nWhen Bella came home at midday, the first thing that met her eye was the\ncow, which being half strangled was dying outside the door. She quickly\ncut the rope with her scythe. Imagine her horror when on entering the\ncottage she found her husband hanging head downwards, dipping into the\nstock-pot.\n\n[Illustration: SEPPY WAS DRAWN UP THE CHIMNEY, WHERE THE SOUP WAS\nBOILING OVER THE FIRE]\n\nSeppy never grumbled again. From henceforth Bella busied herself with\nher household duties. Seppy worked in the fields as before.\n\n Seppy said to the pots, he said to the pans,\n And likewise to the stools,\n That men who try to do women\u2019s work\n Are all a parcel of fools.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: THE DEATH, MISERY, THE OLD MAN, AND THE TREE]\n\nTHE ENCHANTED APPLE-TREE\n\n\nOnce upon a time there lived an old woman whose name was Misery.\n\nHer one and only possession was an apple-tree, and even this caused her\nmore pain than pleasure. When the apples were ripe, the village urchins\ncame and stole them off the tree.\n\nThis went on year after year, when one day an old man, with a long white\nbeard, knocked at Misery\u2019s door. \u201cOld woman,\u201d he begged, \u201cgive me a\ncrust of bread.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou, too, are a poor miserable creature,\u201d said Misery, who, although\nshe had nothing herself, was full of compassion for others. \u201cHere is\nhalf a loaf, take it; it is all I have, eat it in peace, and may it\nrefresh you.\u201d\n\n\u201cAs you have been so kind,\u201d said the old fellow, \u201cI will grant you a\nwish.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d sighed the old woman, \u201cI have only one desire, that is, that any\none who touches my apple-tree may stick to it until I set them free. The\nway my apples are stolen from me is past all bearing.\u201d\n\n\u201cYour wish is granted,\u201d said the old fellow, and he went away.\n\n[Illustration: THE VILLAGE URCHINS CAME AND STOLE THEM OFF THE TREE]\n\n[Illustration: \u201cHERE IS HALF A LOAF, TAKE IT; IT IS ALL I HAVE\u201d]\n\nTwo days later Misery went to look at her tree; she found hanging and\nsticking to the branches a crowd of children, servants, mothers who had\ncome to rescue their children, fathers who had tried to save their\nwives, two parrots who had escaped from their cage, a cock, a goose, an\nowl, and other birds, not to mention a goat. When she saw this\nextraordinary sight, she burst out laughing, and rubbed her hands with\ndelight. She let them all remain hanging on the tree some time before\nshe released them.\n\nThe thieves had learnt their lesson, and never stole the apples again.\n\nSome time passed by, when one day some one again knocked at old Misery\u2019s\ndoor.\n\n\u201cCome in,\u201d she cried.\n\n\u201cGuess who I am,\u201d said a voice. \u201cI am old Father Death himself. Listen,\nlittle mother,\u201d he continued. \u201cI think that you and your old dog have\nlived long enough; I have come to fetch you both.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: THE ENCHANTED APPLE-TREE]\n\n\u201cYou are all-powerful,\u201d said Misery. \u201cI do not oppose your will, but\nbefore I pack up, grant me one favour. On the tree yonder there grow the\nmost delicious apples you have ever tasted. Don\u2019t you think it would be\na pity to leave them, without gathering one?\u201d\n\n\u201cAs you ask me so graciously, I will take one,\u201d said Death, whose mouth\nwas watering as he walked towards the tree. He climbed up to the topmost\nbranches to gather a large rosy apple, but directly he touched it, the\nwretch remained glued to the tree by his long bony hand. Nothing could\ntear him off, in spite of his struggles.\n\n\u201cThere you are, old tyrant, hanging high and dry,\u201d said Misery.\n\nAs a result of Death hanging on the tree, no one died. If persons fell\ninto the water they were not drowned; if a cart ran over them they did\nnot even notice it; they did not die even if their heads were cut off.\n\nAfter Death had hung, winter and summer, for ten long years on the tree,\nthrough all weathers, the old woman had pity on him, and allowed him to\ncome down on condition that she should live as long as she liked.\n\nThis, Father Death agreed to, and that is why men live longer than the\nsparrows, and why Misery is always to be found in the world, and will\ndoubtless remain until the end of time.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration: TWO MONKS OF THE CONVENT]\n\n\n\n\nTHE CONVENT FREE FROM CARE\n\n\nOnce when the Emperor Charles V was travelling in the country, he saw a\nconvent, and in passing by a little door he read this strange\ninscription:\n\n\u201cHere you live without a care.\u201d\n\nThe Emperor was very surprised and could scarcely believe his eyes.\n\n\u201cIt seems to me an impossibility,\u201d he thought; \u201cdoes some one really\nexist on earth who is free from care? As Emperor I am overwhelmed with\ntroubles, while here in this convent, which is a little kingdom in\nitself, one would have nothing to worry about. I cannot believe it.\u201d\n\nImmediately on setting foot in the village inn, the Emperor sent the\nhostess to fetch the Abbot of this singular convent.\n\nYou can imagine what a state of mind the latter was in when he heard he\nwas summoned to the Emperor\u2019s presence.\n\n\u201cWhat have I done to displease him,\u201d he asked himself. On the way he\nexamined his conscience over and over again, and he could think of no\nfault of which he was guilty. \u201cI am in troubled waters; I must steer my\nway through,\u201d he said.\n\nWhen he was in the Emperor\u2019s presence, the latter expressed his\nastonishment at what he had read.\n\nThe Abbot now knew why he had been summoned, and smiled. \u201cSir,\u201d said he,\n\u201cdoes that astonish you? However, it is very simple; we eat, we drink,\nwe sleep, and worry over nothing.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, Reverend Abbot, that state of things must come to an end,\u201d said\nthe Emperor, \u201cand in order that you may have your share of trouble, I\ncommand you to bring me to-morrow the answers to the three following\nquestions:\n\n\u201cFirst, What is the depth of the sea?\n\n\u201cSecondly, How many cows\u2019 tails would it take to measure the distance\nbetween the earth and the sun?\n\n\u201cThirdly, What am I thinking about?\n\n[Illustration: HOW MANY COWS\u2019 TAILS WOULD IT TAKE TO MEASURE THE\nDISTANCE BETWEEN THE EARTH AND THE SUN?]\n\n\u201cTry to please me or I shall exact a penalty from you.\u201d\n\nOn hearing these words, the Abbot returned to his convent with a heavy\nheart. From that moment he knew no peace. He cudgelled his brains as to\nwhat answer he could make to the Emperor.\n\nWhen the little bell of the abbey rang, summoning the monks to prayer in\nthe chapel, the Abbot continued to pace his garden. He was so deep in\nthought that he was quite oblivious of what was taking place around him.\nEven if a thunderbolt had fallen at his feet, he would not have noticed\nit.\n\n\u201cWhat a horrible thing,\u201d he thought. \u201cIs it possible that such a\nmisfortune has overtaken me? I cannot possibly answer. Who can save the\nsituation? Perhaps our shepherd could; he has a very lively imagination;\nbut talk of the devil----\u201d\n\nAt that identical moment the shepherd appeared, leading his flock. He\nwas very surprised to see the Abbot, who was always without a care,\nmeditating in solitude.\n\nWhat could have happened?\n\nWithout further ado he went to him, and asked him what was troubling him\nso deeply.\n\n\u201cYes, I deserve to be pitied,\u201d said the Abbot, and he told him what had\nhappened.\n\n\u201cWhy are you tormenting yourself over a little thing like that?\u201d the\nshepherd laughingly replied. \u201cLeave it to me, and all will be well.\nTo-morrow I will come here and dress myself in your robe, and I will\nturn the tables on him.\u201d\n\nAt first the Abbot demurred, but in the end he yielded, and the matter\nwas settled.\n\n[Illustration: \u201cWHAT IS THE DEPTH OF THE SEA?\u201d]\n\nThe next day the shepherd went boldly to find the Emperor.\n\n\u201cWell, Reverend Abbot,\u201d the Emperor said with serenity, \u201chave you found\nout the answers?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, certainly, sire.\u201d\n\n\u201cSpeak, I am listening.\u201d\n\n\u201cSire, the sea is as deep as a stone\u2019s throw.\n\n\u201cTo measure the distance between the earth and the sun, you only need\none cow\u2019s tail, if it is long enough.\n\n\u201cDo you wish to know, sire, what you are thinking? Well, at this moment,\nyou think, sire, that the Abbot of the convent is in your presence, and\nit is only his shepherd.\u201d\n\nThe Emperor laughed so heartily that if he has not stopped laughing he\nis laughing still.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration: JOHN TWIST AND THE WITCHES]\n\n\n\n\nTHE WITCHES\u2019 CELLAR\n\n\nJohn Twist was courting a young girl who lived alone with her widowed\nmother.\n\nHis friends warned him that they were both witches, and that he ought to\nbe very cautious, but he refused to believe them. One day, however, he\ndetermined to discover if it were true.\n\nThat day when he visited his fianc\u00e9e, he pretended to be very tired, and\nafter having chatted a while with the two women, he tipped his chair\nagainst the wall, drew down the peak of his cap over his eyes, in order\nto see what took place without appearing to do so, and feigned sleep.\n\n\u201cI think he is sleeping soundly,\u201d the mother said to her daughter.\n\n\u201cI will make certain,\u201d said the girl. She called him softly by name. The\nyoung man apparently heard nothing, and never moved a muscle.\n\nThe two women were quite reassured. The mother put on a beautiful red\ndress, and her daughter dressed herself in her best clothes. They then\nremoved two bricks from the back of the stove, took out a little jar of\npomade and rubbed it on their faces and hands.\n\nWhen they had put everything carefully back in its place, they went\nout.\n\nThen John Twist got up, and creeping as quietly as a mouse to the door,\nspied through the keyhole.\n\n\u201cOver hedges and fences, towards Spain, into the cellar,\u201d he heard them\nsay, and at the same moment they disappeared from view.\n\n\u201cI must find out what it all means,\u201d said the lover. He went to the\nstove, took out the jar of pomade from its hiding-place, and after\nrubbing it on his face and hands, said, \u201cThrough hedges and fences,\ntowards Spain, into the cellar.\u201d\n\nHe was immediately lifted off his feet, and found himself flying through\nthe air like a bird. He very quickly arrived in a cellar in Spain. There\nhe saw the two witches, in a company composed of all nationalities. They\nall appeared to be mad. Some wore stove-pipes or saucepans instead of\nhats. Some were half man, half frog or stag. In one corner, mysterious\ndishes were in course of preparation, under the direction of a crow in\nspectacles, who was holding the recipe in his claw.\n\n[Illustration: RUBBING IT ON HIS FACE AND HANDS]\n\nJohn Twist was in a deplorable condition. His clothes were torn to\nribbons, and his skin was grazed all over.\n\n\u201cHow is it that you have arrived in such a tattered state,\u201d said his\nfianc\u00e9e.\n\n\u201cI said, \u2018Through hedges and fences,\u2019\u201d replied John Twist; \u201cyou may not\nbelieve me, but I assure you I have left half my clothing and skin\nhanging on thorn-bushes and palings.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou ought to have said, \u2018Over hedges and fences,\u2019\u201d said the girl.\n\nThe subject was then dropped.\n\nThe company then sat down to eat tarts and drink wine out\n\n[Illustration: DREW THE PEAK OF HIS CAP OVER HIS EYES, IN ORDER TO SEE\nWHAT TOOK PLACE]\n\nof large goblets. A witch, in a large hat, with two black cats in\nattendance, organized games. John Twist was so tired that he fell into a\ndeep sleep. When he awoke the entire company had vanished, with the\nexception of an old man who was seated at a little table with a bottle\nof wine before him, at the entrance to the cellar.\n\n\u201cWhere are the two ladies I know?\u201d asked John Twist.\n\n\u201cGone,\u201d he replied.\n\n\u201cHow shall I return home?\u201d asked John uneasily.\n\n\u201cThere is one way,\u201d said the little man; \u201cride astride this pig, and he\nwill take you home, but you must not utter a word on the way.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, if that is all,\u201d said John, \u201cI know how to hold my tongue.\u201d\n\nSo saying, he got on the pig\u2019s back, and they started.\n\n[Illustration: THE PIG TRAVELLED VERY QUICKLY]\n\nThe pig travelled very quickly, obstacles were nothing to him. He leapt\nover hedges and ditches, until they reached a river twenty feet wide.\n\n\u201cWe shall never arrive on the opposite bank,\u201d thought John Twist, but\nthe thought had hardly occurred to him, when w-whip--the pig landed on\nthe other side.\n\n\u201cThat was a splendid jump,\u201d said John Twist. But, alack, the words were\nhardly out of his mouth before he was struggling in the water.\n\nHow he succeeded in getting out again, I am sure I do not know.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration: THE WITCHES\u2019 CELLAR]\n\n[Illustration: THE MILL, TONY, AND HIS MOTHER\u2019S HOUSE]\n\n\n\n\nTHE BOY WHO ALWAYS SAID THE WRONG THING\n\n\nTony was a very foolish, stupid boy. One morning his mother sent him to\nfetch a hundredweight of flour from the mill.\n\nKnowing how silly he was, she said to him, \u201cTony, you will say to\nyourself all the way there, a hundredweight of flour, a hundredweight of\nflour.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well, mother,\u201d he replied, and, slinging a sack over his shoulder,\nhe walked off to the mill.\n\nPresently he reached a field where he saw a peasant sowing. When the\nlatter heard him say \u201cA hundredweight of flour\u201d instead of \u201cGood\nmorning,\u201d he shouted to him, half in anger, \u201cI shall be in a bad way if\nthis piece of ground only yields a hundredweight of flour; say rather, I\nwish you a thousand.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: \u201cI SHALL BE IN A BAD WAY\u201d]\n\n\u201cAll right, I will say that,\u201d said Tony, and he repeated, as he went on\nhis way, \u201cI wish you a thousand.\u201d After a time he saw a shepherd and his\ndog struggling with a wolf. The man, thinking that Tony hoped he would\nbe attacked by a thousand wolves, cried out angrily, \u201cWhat, you\ngood-for-nothing! Say rather, May the devil fly away with him.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: HE THEN CAME TO THE CHURCH ... ON TURNING THE CORNER HE\nSAW A HOUSE ON FIRE]\n\n\u201cGood, I will say that,\u201d answered Tony, and with these words on his lips\nhe arrived at a cemetery where at that moment a corpse was being buried.\n\n\u201cMay the devil fly away with him,\u201d said Tony.\n\nThe mourners were very indignant. \u201cWretched boy,\u201d said the sexton, \u201csay\nrather, God rest his soul.\u201d\n\n\u201cAll right,\u201d said Tony. He then repeated incessantly, \u201cGod rest his\nsoul.\u201d\n\nA passer-by who was dragging a dog to the river heard him, and cried,\n\u201cWhat! his soul, foolish boy! Say rather, Get out of the way, horrid\nanimal.\u201d\n\n\u201cGood,\u201d said Tony, and he repeated the new refrain.\n\n[Illustration: THE STORY OF THE BOY WHO ALWAYS SAID THE WRONG THING]\n\nHe then came to the church, and at that moment a newly married pair came\nout. When the bridegroom heard this strange greeting, he gave him a\nsounding box on the ears. \u201cThere, I\u2019ll teach you manners, you vulgar\nlittle boy,\u201d he said; \u201cwhy don\u2019t you say, It is a beautiful sight?\u201d\n\nOn turning the corner of a street he saw a house on fire. Tony stopped a\nmoment and said, \u201cIt is a beautiful sight.\u201d\n\nThe people who were bringing pails of water to put out the fire cried\nangrily, \u201cSay rather, I wish it were out.\u201d\n\n\u201cAll right, I will,\u201d said Tony. He walked on. He was now only two\nminutes from the mill; the smithy was the last house he had to pass.\n\nThe blacksmith had not begun his work at the usual time that day. He had\nspent over a quarter of an hour trying to light his fire and had only\nhalf succeeded.\n\n\u201cI wish it were out,\u201d he heard some one say.\n\n\u201cRascal!\u201d shouted the smith. \u201cHow dare you make fun of a good Christian\nman?\u201d He seized his hammer and rushed outside. But Tony had such a holy\nterror of this grimy man that he ran away as fast as his legs could\ncarry him, and is probably still running, in which case, no doubt, he\nhas met with many adventures on the way.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration: HOP-O\u2019-MY-THUMB AND A DUCK]\n\n\n\n\nHOP-O\u2019-MY-THUMB\n\n\nHop-o\u2019-my-Thumb was a tiny little fellow about as tall as your thumb.\n\nHe and his mother lived in a little hut made of dried leaves.\n\nThe little fellow was very fond of pancakes, and on Christmas Eve he\nbegged his mother to make a dozen.\n\nThe latter replied, \u201cOh, Hop-o\u2019-my-Thumb, my son, I have no butter,\nwood, or milk, and we are too poor to buy such things.\u201d\n\nHop-o\u2019-my-Thumb was very sad and sat down on a stool by the fire, while\nhis mother went to fetch water from the stream.\n\nSuddenly he heard some one call him, and looking up he espied a little\nlady standing at his elbow.\n\n[Illustration: LOOKING UP HE ESPIED A LITTLE LADY]\n\nAt first he was too much astonished to speak, but after a few seconds he\nblurted out, \u201cWho are you, little lady?\u201d She replied, \u201cHop-o\u2019-my-Thumb,\nI am your fairy godmother, and because you are sad, and your mother is\nso poor, for this day I grant you the strength to do anything you may\nwish.\u201d So saying, she vanished.\n\nAt first Hop-o\u2019-my-Thumb thought he had been dreaming, and in order to\ndetermine whether his fairy godmother had really paid him a visit, he\ndecided to put her words to the test. He seized his cap and ran to the\nmiller\u2019s.\n\n\u201cMiller,\u201d said Hop-o\u2019-my-Thumb, \u201cmy mother would so like to make\npancakes on Christmas Eve, but we have no flour. Won\u2019t you give us a\nlittle?\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, Hop-o\u2019-my-Thumb,\u201d said the miller, \u201cif you can carry this\nflour-bin away you can have it.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo you mean that I can have whatever I can carry?\u201d asked\nHop-o\u2019-my-Thumb.\n\nThe miller nodded his assent, and Hop-o\u2019-my-Thumb crawled under the mill\nand carried it and the entire contents home.\n\nAfterwards he went to the butter merchant. \u201cBoss,\u201d he said, \u201cmy mother\nwould so like to make pancakes, but she has not a scrap of butter.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, all right, Hop-o\u2019-my-Thumb,\u201d said the boss, \u201cif you can carry this\nkeg it is yours.\u201d\n\n\u201cAh! thank you,\u201d replied Hop-o\u2019-my-Thumb. In a second he was under the\nkeg, which moved off as if it had two legs.\n\nFrom thence he went to a wealthy farmer who had been lopping his trees\nthe day before.\n\n\u201cFarmer,\u201d said Hop-o\u2019-my-Thumb, \u201ccan I have a little bundle of wood, my\nmother wants to make pancakes.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, it is you, little Hop-o\u2019-my-Thumb,\u201d said the farmer. \u201cYou can have\nthe whole stack if you can carry it.\u201d\n\n\u201cI shall be ever grateful,\u201d said Hop-o\u2019-my-Thumb, and sliding under the\nstack he carried it home.\n\nThey now only lacked milk. Hop-o\u2019-my-Thumb went to the milkman, and\nmaking a like request was given permission to carry away a whole can.\n\n\nII\n\nWhen the pancakes had been fried, and mother and son had enjoyed\nthemselves to the full, the farmer who had given them\n\n[Illustration: HOP-O\u2019-MY-THUMB AND THE ROBBERS]\n\nthe milk came to ask Hop-o\u2019-my-Thumb\u2019s mother if her son could take his\ncows to graze the next day.\n\n[Illustration: HOP-O\u2019-MY-THUMB THREW THEM SOME CRUMBS]\n\nNext morning Hop-o\u2019-my-Thumb went off to the field, taking a large\npancake with him. On the way he came to a stream which was too wide for\nhim to jump.\n\nFortunately some ducks were swimming about. Hop-o\u2019-my-Thumb, who was a\nsharp little fellow, threw them some crumbs of pancake, which they\nswallowed greedily.\n\nIn recognition of his kindness the largest duck took him on his back and\nswam towards the opposite bank of the stream. In midstream he let poor\nlittle Hop-o\u2019-my-Thumb fall into the water. However, after giving the\nducks a few more crumbs he was landed safely on the other side on the\nback of another duck.\n\nHop-o\u2019-my-Thumb, tired by his walk and wet through, lay down in the\ngrass to rest. Presently an ant ran over the back of his hand. This so\nannoyed Hop-o\u2019-my-Thumb that he caught it and killed it.\n\nNo sooner had he done so than he heard some one calling him. He\nrecognized the voice of his fairy godmother, and looking up saw her in\nthe grass.\n\nThis time she looked angrily at him. \u201cOh, Hop-o\u2019-my-Thumb,\u201d she said, \u201cI\nam much disappointed in you. Up till now I have protected you because\nyou are such a little thing, but after your cruelty to the poor little\nant I withdraw my protection, and for one day you must suffer as do\nother little things.\u201d She then disappeared into the ground.\n\nHop-o\u2019-my-Thumb was very ashamed of himself, and, feeling very\nmiserable, fell asleep.\n\nSoon after a cow which was grazing in the field came up and swallowed\nthe little fellow.\n\n[Illustration: POOR LITTLE ANT]\n\nIn the evening when the animals were driven into the shed, and the\nmilkmaid waited to milk the greedy cow, she heard some one singing:\n\n \u201cThis cow swallowed me at dawn,\n Here I feel so nice and warm.\u201d\n\nThe maid was much frightened and ran to tell the farmer. The latter came\nto listen and he heard the same thing.\n\n \u201cThis cow swallowed me at dawn,\n Here I feel so nice and warm.\u201d\n\n\u201cI bet you ten to one it is Hop-o\u2019-my-Thumb,\u201d said the farmer. \u201cThere is\nonly one thing to be done; we must slaughter the cow in order to rescue\nhim.\u201d\n\nWhile the animal was being cut up, a poor woman passed and begged the\nfarmer to give her a small piece of meat.\n\nAs luck would have it she received the very piece in which\nHop-o\u2019-my-Thumb was embedded. She put her present into her basket and\nwent her way. Suddenly Hop-o\u2019-my-Thumb began to sing:\n\n \u201cThis cow swallowed me at dawn,\n Here I feel so nice and warm.\u201d\n\n[Illustration:\n\nI. THE KEG MOVED AS IF IT HAD LEGS\nII. HE CARRIED IT HOME\nIII. MOTHER AND SON ENJOYED THEMSELVES\nIV. SWALLOWED THE LITTLE FELLOW\nV. STUCK THE POINT INTO THE SOLDIER\u2019S LEG\nVI. WAS PUSHED THROUGH THE VENTILATOR\n]\n\n\u201cLord have mercy, this place is haunted,\u201d cried the poor woman, and,\nflinging away the bag, she ran for her life.\n\nHop-o\u2019-my-Thumb was greatly pleased and crawled out of the piece of\nmeat.\n\nAt that moment he saw a soldier who had had too much to drink staggering\nalong, so he quickly hid himself in a mole-hole. The soldier fell down\non the hole and went to sleep.\n\nHop-o\u2019-my-Thumb pulled his knife out of his pocket and stuck the point\ninto the soldier\u2019s leg. The latter bounded on to his feet, stamped\nsavagely on the hole, and returned home.\n\nHop-o\u2019-my-Thumb was now a prisoner; the soldier had stamped the ground\nso hard that it was impossible to get out. He heard people coming down\nthe road, and on overhearing their conversation, concluded they were\nrobbers. He cried out, \u201cCaptain, if you will let me out of this hole, I\nwill follow you and be your faithful servant.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat is this whispering I hear?\u201d said the captain.\n\nEvery one listened attentively, and finally they were able to catch what\nlittle Hop-o\u2019-my-Thumb was saying. They scraped the earth away, and\nHop-o\u2019-my-Thumb appeared. He was at once enrolled as a member of the\nband.\n\nThe same night the robbers went to a provision shop. Hop-o\u2019-my-Thumb was\npushed through the ventilator, and handed a number of cheeses through\nthis opening. He then went to the cellar where the eggs were stored, but\nhe made such a noise that the servant jumped out of bed to see what was\nhappening. Quick as lightning, Hop-o\u2019-my-Thumb crept under an egg. The\nservant was about to crush the egg with his foot, when the clock struck\nmidnight. Hop-o\u2019-my-Thumb felt himself lifted into the air. He was drawn\nout through the cellar window, and presently found himself at the door\nof his mother\u2019s cottage. He knew that his fairy godmother had saved him,\nand from that day forward he never did anything to forfeit her\nprotection.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration: THE CAPTAIN, THE PEASANT, THE PARROT, AND THE EMPEROR]\n\n\n\n\nTHE EMPEROR\u2019S PARROT\n\n\nOne day a parrot belonging to the Emperor Charlemagne escaped from its\ncage and could nowhere be found.\n\nThe Emperor, who was very fond of this parrot, which was a lovely bird,\nand could talk very well, promised a handsome reward for its recovery.\n\nA peasant was fortunate enough to catch it one morning. \u201cWhat luck to be\nable to see the Emperor,\u201d he said, \u201cand to be assured of being well\nreceived.\u201d\n\nWithout further delay he talked the matter over with Caroline, his wife,\nin order to settle what he should wear and how he should behave at\nCourt.\n\nHe decided to start on his journey the following Sunday.\n\nHe carefully brushed his wedding suit before putting it on, and thus in\nhis Sunday best, with shining boots and chimney-pot hat, he set out for\nthe Flemish town, carrying the parrot.\n\nOn his arrival at Ghent, he boldly entered the palace. Suddenly a loud\nvoice cried, \u201cStop, peasant, do not approach a step nearer.\u201d\n\nIt was the captain of the guard who tried to prevent our hero from\nentering.\n\n[Illustration: HE GAVE HIM BACK THE PARROT AS GALLANTLY AS HE COULD]\n\nThe peasant was not to be so easily deterred and said determinedly, \u201cI\ndemand an audience with the Emperor.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat have you to say to him?\u201d asked the captain.\n\n\u201cI am bringing back the Emperor\u2019s parrot,\u201d the peasant replied, and\nproudly drawing his coat-tails on one side he showed the cage containing\nthe bird.\n\n\u201cOh, that somewhat alters the case,\u201d replied the captain, who knew that\nthe Emperor was searching for the bird and would reward the finder\nhandsomely. \u201cNevertheless,\u201d he continued, \u201cI shall not permit you to\npass unless you promise to give me half the reward.\u201d\n\n\u201cI agree,\u201d said the peasant, and he went in.\n\nWhen he was in the Emperor\u2019s presence he gave him back the parrot as\ngallantly as he could. The Emperor was overjoyed to have his favourite\nbird again, and gave orders that the promised reward should be given to\nthe peasant. But our hero said, \u201cMay I be allowed to make a\nsuggestion?\u201d\n\n\u201cCertainly,\u201d said the Emperor; \u201cask what you will.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well, instead of giving me money, I beg you to give me a couple of\nblows.\u201d\n\nAt first the Emperor and his courtiers were much astonished, and then\nthey burst out laughing.\n\nThey naturally thought the man was joking, but seeing that he was quite\nserious and insisted, the Emperor gave him the two blows he desired.\n\nThe little peasant bowed respectfully and left the hall with a smile on\nhis face. When a good distance away he could still hear the courtiers\nlaughing. With an indifferent air he passed the gateway, having\napparently quite forgotten his promise to the captain of the guard.\n\n\u201cHallo! my good man,\u201d cried the captain, \u201cwhere are you off to in such a\nhurry?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am going home,\u201d he replied.\n\n\u201cYes, but do you not remember that in order to gain an entrance you\npromised me half your reward?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is true, you are right,\u201d said the peasant, and turning round quite\nclose to the captain, he gave him such a blow in the face that he saw\nstars. I leave you to imagine the captain\u2019s anger.\n\n[Illustration: HE KICKED AND STRUGGLED VIOLENTLY]\n\n\u201cScamp, good-for-nothing,\u201d he cried. \u201cI will pay you out for this.\nArrest this vulgar person,\u201d he ordered, \u201cand lock him up in the prison.\u201d\n\nOur peasant, however, had no intention of being led like a lamb to the\nslaughter. He kicked and struggled violently, and made such an uproar in\nthe guard-room that the Emperor heard it.\n\nThe latter soon arrived on the scene and was struck dumb on hearing that\nthe peasant had had the effrontery to strike a\n\n[Illustration: A PEASANT WAS FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO CATCH IT]\n\nsuperior officer in the face. It was too much. The Emperor told the\npeasant what a very serious offence he had committed in flouting the\nmilitary authority.\n\n\u201cSir,\u201d said the good man, \u201cI have in no way flouted the authority of the\nguard.\u201d\n\n\u201cCome, come,\u201d said the Emperor, \u201chow can you deny it, when you have even\ndared to strike the captain?\u201d\n\n\u201cSir, if I did it, it was at his own request,\u201d replied the man coolly.\n\n\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d\n\n\u201cSir, I could only obtain audience of your Majesty after having promised\nto give half my reward to the captain. Did I not receive two blows as\nreward, and ought I not to give him one of them? That is the whole\nmatter; let your Majesty judge for himself.\u201d\n\nOn hearing these words the Emperor turned to his courtiers and said, \u201cI\nbelieve this peasant to be blessed with more than ordinary intelligence,\nand that he could render us great service in State affairs.\u201d\n\nOur hero returned home, and after a few days was summoned to the Court\nto take up an important office.\n\nThe captain of the guard, on the contrary, was dismissed in disgrace.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration: THE BLACKSMITH VERHOLEN AND A DEVIL]\n\n\n\n\nTHE LITTLE BLACKSMITH VERHOLEN\n\n\nThe little blacksmith was seated on a low stool with his elbows on his\nanvil, a prey to gloomy thoughts.\n\nIndeed, things were going very badly for him. He, who was formerly the\nmerry wag of the village, scarcely dared to go out for fear of meeting\nhis friends and acquaintances, whose indiscreet questions made him blush\nwith shame.\n\nGone were the days when his anvil rang merrily under the blows of ten\nworkmen from dawn till often far into the night. Gone also the days when\nthe savoury smell of ham and sausages pervaded the house, and his cellar\nwas well stocked with barrels of delightful Brussels beer. The workmen\nhad all left; there was now barely enough work for one. There was dearth\nin the kitchen, and Smith\u2019s brewer lived at the bottom of a brick well,\nunder the walnut-tree in front of his door.\n\nHe had lost all his customers. It was useless to give him work, as he\nhad no money with which to procure the necessary materials. Of iron\nthere were a few rusty scraps in the corners. Of coal there was hardly\nenough to heat the oven for an hour, and he was unable to buy any more.\n\n[Illustration: A GENTLE KNOCKING AT THE DOOR]\n\nYes! the village urchins spoke true when they sang outside his window in\nthe evening:\n\n Smith Verholen,\n Smith Verholen,\n Without wood and without coal,\n Without iron and without lead,\n Ah! is Smith Verholen dead?\n\nDead! No, he did not wish to die, however miserable he felt, for that\nwould mean the end of all things, and one is dead such a long time!\n\nHe loved to live and to let live, and he still retained a grain of faith\nin the old proverb, \u201cWhile there is life there is hope.\u201d\n\nWhen evening fell, Smith, who for obvious reasons had no thoughts of\nsupper, was aroused from his dreams by a gentle knocking at the door.\n\nNo, that could not be an urchin playing him a trick, or a customer, as\nevery one in the village knew of his distress. A stranger perhaps?\n\nSmith got up, opened the door, and saw an old man carrying a carpenter\u2019s\nbag and leading a donkey, on which sat a young woman, feeding her little\nbaby. By force of habit, Smith said, \u201cWhat can I do for you, my friend?\u201d\n\n\u201cSmith,\u201d replied the old man, \u201cI know it is a late hour to trouble you;\nbut we have come a very long way, and we have still a very long way to\ntravel to-night. My donkey has cast a shoe; I beg you to shoe the beast\nat once, that we may continue our journey.\u201d\n\n\u201cI would do so with pleasure, my friend,\u201d said the blacksmith, \u201cbut I am\nvery much afraid I have not a horseshoe left. You have no doubt noticed\nhow poverty-stricken I am. However, come along.\u201d\n\nHe immediately began to search right and left to see if he could\ndiscover a small piece of iron.\n\n\u201cPerhaps I shall find enough to shoe your donkey, and then I shall be\nvery pleased to do what you ask.\u201d He then turned to the young woman, who\nhad dismounted, and said, \u201cRest yourself in the kitchen. If there is\nbread and milk in the larder, I pray you eat it. I possess very little,\nbut what I have is at your service.\u201d\n\nSmith unearthed an old shoe from a heap of old iron; the donkey was soon\ntied up to the brake, and the fire was soon blazing with the help of the\nbellows. The shoe was tried on, put back into the fire, and then on to\nthe anvil to round it with a stroke of the hammer, and everything was in\norder.\n\n[Illustration: THE SHOE WAS TRIED ON]\n\n\u201cWhat do I owe you, Smith?\u201d asked the old man.\n\nThe blacksmith, who had noticed the stranger\u2019s poor clothing and\ndowntrodden shoes, shrugged his shoulders, and thought to himself, \u201cCan\nI ask payment for such a small service from these poor creatures who\nhave a long journey before them? I should be ashamed to do so, although\nI have not a penny to bless myself with.\u201d\n\nHe answered, \u201cYou owe me nothing, my friend; I do it for you for pity\u2019s\nsake.\u201d\n\nThe old man\u2019s eyes shone with a strange light, and in a solemn voice he\nsaid, \u201cAs you have helped me for the love of God, I grant you three\nwishes. Whatever you may ask of my wife, little child, and I, we will\ngrant you.\u201d\n\n\u201cThree wishes,\u201d thought the smith; \u201cno matter what I wish it will be\ngranted. These poor creatures so miserably clothed have the power to\ngrant them. Who can they be?\u201d\n\nOnly half credulous, he wished that any one who sat in his chair should\nbe unable to get up without his consent; that any one who had the\naudacity to climb up his walnut-tree should not come down unless he\nwished it; and, lastly, that anything that was in his purse should\nremain in it unless he wished otherwise.\n\n\u201cYou might have wished for Heaven, and you wish for such childish\nthings, but never mind, your wishes are granted. Adieu, and once again\nthank you for your kindness.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: HE WISHED]\n\nIn the darkening twilight, the trio set forth, and the smith standing at\nhis threshold saw luminous circles shining round their heads. He then\nshut the door, locked it, and went to the kitchen to rest on the couch\nhe had placed there. He had hardly taken off his coat when--tap, tap,\ntap--three short but loud knocks sounded at the door.\n\n\u201cWho is there?\u201d asked the smith rather crossly.\n\nNo answer, but soon afterwards another knock.\n\n\u201cAll right, who is there?\u201d the smith cried louder.\n\n\u201cRat-tat-tat.\u201d Again the short hard blows rang on the wood, and only\nafter asking \u201cWho is it?\u201d for the third time did Smith receive an\nanswer.\n\n\u201cOpen the door, Smith. He who is before your door brings you happiness\nand riches!\u201d\n\nAs soon as the door was opened, the night air wafted in a strong smell\nof burning phosphorus, and a gentleman dressed in black from head to\nfoot, limping heavily with one foot, came into the kitchen.\n\nThe gentleman had strange pointed ears, and a green light shone in his\neyes.\n\n\u201cSmith,\u201d began the stranger, \u201cI know that poverty stares you in the\nface; you, who knew prosperity and plenty, must find life insupportable\nnow that your larder is bare. You deserve a better fate. Solely out of\ncompassion for you I have journeyed a hundred thousand miles. I bring\nyou, if you will accept them at my hands, prosperity, riches, and\nhappiness. Come\u201d--so saying, the sombre man drew a piece of parchment\nfrom his pocket--\u201cput your signature to this paper, and for seven years\nyou will have as much iron and coal as you need to employ twenty\nworkmen.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: OPEN THE DOOR, SMITH]\n\nSmith thought, \u201cYou are the Devil himself, or my name\u2019s not Smith. It is\nnot merely for the pleasure of possessing my signature that you will\ngive me a seven years\u2019 supply of iron and coal. You have something up\nyour sleeve.\u201d\n\nIn order to find out, he asked to read the document. There he found\nwritten in black and white, that after seven years the Devil would be\nmaster of Smith\u2019s most treasured possession, his immortal soul.\n\nHowever, our Smith was not unduly alarmed. \u201cIf I accept,\u201d he thought, \u201cI\nam saved and shall be able to laugh in the face of those who have\ndespised me. If, on the other hand, I refuse, one day I shall kill\nmyself in my despair, and I shall be in the\n\n[Illustration: THE LITTLE BLACKSMITH WAS SEATED ON A LOW STOOL]\n\nhands of the little black gentleman. The best thing to do is to sign the\nagreement. Later on I shall discover a means of saving my soul from\nHell.\u201d\n\nWithout further hesitation, he put his name to the paper, and even\nbefore the Devil departed, the miraculous took place.\n\nHis fire lighted itself, and a delicious joint of beef was roasting on\nthe spit. On the table he found a large jug of foaming beer, all kinds\nof pastries, and, better than all, half a dozen carts drawn up at the\ndoor of the forge, from which about twenty workmen were silently\nunloading coal, wood, iron, lead, zinc, and even copper. They carried\neverything into the forge.\n\nFrom early morning the forge again trembled under the strokes of the\nhammer. They often resounded even after the village slept.\n\nMeanwhile the days flew by, days became weeks, weeks months, and months\nyears. Before Smith had had time to think about it, the seven years had\npassed, and the Devil came to claim poor Smith\u2019s soul.\n\n\u201cHallo! Listen to me, Smith Verholen.\n\n Don\u2019t you remember that for seven years\u2019 iron and coal\n You sold to me your immortal soul?\u201d\n\nSmith was as unperturbed as though he were serving a customer. \u201cHallo!\nGood morning,\u201d he cried, laughing. \u201cHow are you? You appear to be well\nfed, for you have a face like a butcher\u2019s, and calves like a groom.\u201d\n\nThe fallen angel was visibly impatient at this nonsense, and answered\nsharply, \u201cYou know what you sold to my master seven years ago. No more\nshuffling, follow me at once to Hell.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow should I have forgotten our agreement?\u201d said Smith. \u201cHow could you\nthink me guilty of such a thing? I am a man of honour, as I am about to\nconvince you. Only I cannot go with you in my working clothes, and\nwithout washing my hands and brushing my hair. A moment\u2019s patience. Rest\na while in this chair. I shall be with you directly.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: REST A WHILE IN THIS CHAIR]\n\n[Illustration: CLIMBED UP THE TREE LIKE A CAT]\n\nThe Devil, quite unsuspecting, sat down on the chair, and waited. A few\nminutes later Smith reappeared in his best clothes.\n\n\u201cHallo! old fellow, have you rested long enough?\u201d he asked. \u201cI am quite\nready to start.\u201d\n\nWith a broad grin on his face, he watched the Devil\u2019s vain efforts to\nrise.\n\n\u201cOh, what has happened?\u201d said the Devil. \u201cIt seems to me that black\nmagic is also practised here. I cannot rise from this chair.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, my friend,\u201d said Smith, with the most innocent look, \u201cit is a\nlittle joke of my own. Do you know what it means? That you will remain\nthere at my pleasure.\u201d\n\nThe Devil made frantic efforts to rise, but all in vain; he was at\nSmith\u2019s mercy, and was as though screwed to the chair. This was hardly\nto his liking, and when he saw Smith heating an iron bar, and glancing\nat him significantly from time to time, he decided that his best course\nwas to take it quietly.\n\n\u201cSmith,\u201d he began in pleading tones, \u201clisten to me. I will give you\niron, wood, and coal for another seven years, but for the love of God\nlet me get out of this chair.\u201d\n\n\u201cI accept; you are free,\u201d replied the other, rubbing his hands, and the\nDevil departed.\n\n[Illustration: AS MUCH COAL AS HE COULD WISH]\n\nNow the blacksmith Verholen had as much iron and coal as he could wish.\nFrom dawn till evening the anvil shook under the strokes of the hammer.\nAgain the days flew by, became weeks, months, then years, and one fine\nmorning the same Devil came to Smith\u2019s door, and cried in thundering\ntones, \u201cHallo! How now! Smith Verholen.\n\n Don\u2019t you remember that for seven years\u2019 iron and coal\n You sold to me your immortal soul?\u201d\n\n\u201cHa ha! there you are again,\u201d said our friend, and he immediately took\noff his leather apron in preparation for a start. \u201cYou are a little\nlater than the appointed time. I have such splendid walnuts, I should\nlike to gather a little basketful to nibble on the way. I have heard\nthat devils like nuts. Would you gather me a basketful, as you can climb\nso well? Come, will you do it?\u201d\n\nThe Evil Spirit, seeing no cause for suspicion, climbed up the tree like\na cat.\n\nWhen Smith returned, he cried in jeering tones, \u201cHallo! are you coming\ndown? Have you not gathered enough nuts? I am quite ready to start, you\nknow.\u201d\n\nThe little black gentleman, in spite of all his efforts, could not climb\ndown from the branches. They closed round him as though they had taken\nroot. Smith summoned his workmen and ordered them to burn the Devil\u2019s\nfeet with hot irons. When the martyrdom had continued some minutes, the\nDevil shouted to Smith:\n\n\u201cI implore you to make them stop. I will give you iron and coal for yet\nanother seven years, if only you will let me climb down from this tree.\nOoh! Ooh! my poor toes.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are free as air,\u201d answered Smith; and the Devil fled away as though\npursued by a devil himself.\n\n[Illustration: ORDERED THEM TO BURN THE DEVIL\u2019S FEET WITH HOT IRONS]\n\nThe years soon sped away, and this time Lucifer, accompanied by many\nother devils, came to fetch Smith\u2019s soul. He was dressed in deep black,\nas though in mourning for his mother.\n\nSmith greeted this important person very humbly, and exclaimed, \u201cBravo!\nbravo! I am very pleased at the prospective honour of travelling with\nsuch an august person. I am extremely sensible of this great favour.\u201d\n\n\n[Illustration: THE DEVIL BEATEN THREE TIMES]\n\n\u201cCome, be quick; I have no time to waste in idle words,\u201d the Devil\nreplied. \u201cYou are awaited in my kingdom, where you will be treated with\nthe honour you deserve! Ahem! If you think you can trick me as you did\nthe other devil, you are very mistaken. Up you get, forward march!\u201d\n\n\u201cSire,\u201d replied Smith very quietly, \u201cI have heard say that you possess\nthe power to make yourself as big as you like. I should like to know if\nit is true, as I never believe such foolish tales.\u201d\n\n\u201cI most assuredly can,\u201d said Satan with great dignity, \u201cand to prove my\nwords I will make myself as tall as the tower of the village church.\u201d\n\nHe immediately grew so tall that he went through the roof, sparks\ndarting from his eyes, and lighting up the countryside: houses, gardens,\nfields, and pasture land.\n\n\u201cI must admit it is truly marvellous, but could you make yourself small\nenough to go into my purse?\u201d\n\n\u201cI can easily do that,\u201d replied Satan, and in a trice he was in the\nlittle purse, the little enchanted purse, which was immediately shut and\nplaced on the anvil.\n\n[Illustration: \u201cI WILL MAKE MYSELF AS TALL AS THE TOWER\u201d]\n\n\u201cHa ha! You did not bargain for that, did you, my friend?\u201d said Smith.\n\u201cNow you will receive a few gentle blows with the hammer.\u201d Hearing this,\nall the devils flew away in disorder.\n\nHe summoned all his workmen, and each in turn pounded Lucifer with their\nhammer, so gently, so very gently, until the prisoner promised never to\ntorment Smith again. On the other hand, he promised that he should\nalways receive his supplies of coal, iron, and wood from Hell.\n\nWith a red-hot nail Smith burnt a little hole in the purse. \u201cSssst\u201d it\nhissed, and the Devil made his escape and disappeared.\n\nAgain days became weeks, months, and years, and one day it was not a\nmessenger from Hell who came to the forge, but Death, who is no\nrespecter of persons, and Smith left the earth.\n\nHe was now in a strange land, the land up above. He found himself before\na forked road. On the left he saw a wide, well-kept road with an avenue\nof trees and flowering shrubs. To the right a rough and narrow path\novergrown with brambles and thorns. The wide road descended, and the\nnarrow path seemed to ascend a mountain side in the direction of Heaven.\nSmith chose the wide road, and presently arrived before a high and\ngloomy gateway, on which was written in letters of fire, \u201cHell.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: IT WAS NOT A MESSENGER FROM HELL]\n\n\u201cI am curious to see what it is like in there,\u201d thought Smith, and he\ndeliberately pulled the bell.\n\n\u201cWho is there?\u201d said a voice from behind the door.\n\n\u201cOnly a poor blacksmith who has just died.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat is your name?\u201d\n\n\u201cJohn James Francis Lewis William Verholen.\u201d\n\nHe had hardly uttered the word Verholen, when the door-keeper began to\nscream so loudly that all the devils, including Lucifer himself, ran to\nsee what was the matter. All he could say was, \u201cSmith Verholen is there;\nthe terrible Smith Verholen.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: HE WAS DRESSED IN DEEP BLACK]\n\n[Illustration: \u201cLET THAT GOOD FELLOW HAVE A GLIMPSE OF HEAVEN\u201d]\n\nThen hundreds of evil spirits trembled and shivered so violently that\nthe door creaked on its rusty hinges, and the windows of Hell rattled.\n\n\u201cIf that is the state of things, I shall never succeed in getting\ninside,\u201d said Smith, and he decided to retrace his steps, and to take\nthe narrow path.\n\nAfter walking some hours, he arrived before a splendid castle surmounted\nwith high pointed turrets, and surrounded by a high wall, in which was a\nwhite carved doorway, on which was written in luminous letters, \u201cThis is\nthe Gate of Paradise. Here enter the good and wise.\u201d\n\nWithout hesitation, Smith decided to try his luck with the inhabitants\nof Heaven. He very carefully wiped his hands on his leather apron, and\nthen knocked at the door. After a few minutes the grill in the door was\nopened, and an old man\u2019s bearded face appeared. He asked in a pleasant\nbut severe voice, \u201cYour name?\u201d\n\n\u201cJohn James Francis Lewis William Verholen,\u201d our pilgrim replied, as he\nhad done at the Gate of Hell.\n\n\u201cSmith Verholen,\u201d cried St. Peter indignantly, \u201cyou are reckless\nboldness personified. How dare you come here? You sold your soul to the\nDevil. Your place is in the nethermost Hell.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat was my own idea, but they refused me admission. As I have come\nsuch a long way, I beseech you, good St. Peter, let me at least look\nthrough a crack in the door to catch a glimpse of the Divine radiance.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou shall never enter here,\u201d said St. Peter, and he was about to close\nthe grill, when a voice behind him said, \u201cLittle Peter, let that good\nfellow have a glimpse of Heaven.... I know him, he is very good-hearted.\nHe gave shelter to Mary and me when we were fleeing into Egypt.\u201d\n\nSt. Peter did not altogether approve, but dared not oppose St. Joseph\u2019s\nwishes. He half opened the door, and Verholen put his head through the\ncrack and looked in. As quick as thought our pilgrim threw his leather\napron inside, and uttered all kinds of strange cries, such as \u201cOoh! boo!\nooh! my poor head, you are crushing it. Ooh! ooh! my ear, my neck, my\nnose.\u201d He pushed the door with his shoulder, and before St. Peter could\nstop him, he was seated on his leather apron, and cried, \u201cHere I am,\nsitting on my own property, my friend. No one can turn me out.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: \u201cOOH! BOO! MY POOR HEAD\u201d]\n\nSt. Joseph laughed heartily, and St. Peter himself was forced to\nacknowledge that Smith had played his part well.\n\nSo Smith remained in Heaven and had as much work to do as on earth. He\nhad to repair the swords, breastplates, helmets, and shields which the\narchangels wore when they amused themselves by punishing the devils who\nbecame too bold.\n\nThis work was a pleasant pastime for Smith. In his spare moments he\nchatted a little with old friends he met in Paradise,\n\n[Illustration: THE PROCESSION]\n\nhumble and simple folk like himself, such as the Girl without Hands,\nHop-o\u2019-my-Thumb, Little Red Riding Hood, the Babes in the Wood,\nSnowdrop, and Puss in Boots.\n\nThere was one thing which very much displeased Smith. He enjoyed the\nrice pudding with plenty of sugar, which was served in golden plates and\neaten with silver spoons, and the heavenly scones with butter spread\nthickly. But he never had a drop to drink, never a hand at \u201cwhist\u201d or\n\u201cbridge.\u201d He found that dull, so dull that sometimes he secretly wished\nhimself back on earth, among his friends and acquaintances in his own\nvillage in Brabant.\n\nIt was Easter Eve, the bells of Heaven were ringing for the great feast.\nSt. Peter came to Smith, and said to him, \u201cAs you are aware, Smith,\nto-morrow we f\u00eate the Lord\u2019s Resurrection. On this occasion, the\nheavenly host goes forth in procession. All the saints and all the elect\ntake part. I know you are very strong. Will you carry the large flag and\nwalk at the head of the procession? You will go out by the principal\ngate, mount the fortifications, and continue straight ahead to the end\nof the Milk-and-Honey Avenue. Directly you hear the sound of the cannon,\nyou will turn round. Every one in the procession will do the same, and,\nretracing their steps, re-enter Heaven.\u201d\n\n\u201cDear me,\u201d thought Smith, \u201cthat may be my opportunity for returning to\nearth.\u201d He placed himself in St. Peter\u2019s hands and promised to do his\nbest.\n\nEaster dawned, High Mass was over, and the procession set forth. Right\nin front walked our Smith bearing the flag, then followed a countless\nhost of cherubim, seraphim, and other angels led by St. Michael, seated\non the flaming horse which drew Elisha\u2019s chariot; then dressed in\nglittering armour, all mounted on flaming chargers, St. Martin, St.\nGeorge, St. Victor, St. Maurice, St. Sebastian. All these had been\nwarriors on earth. Then came the martyrs, confessors, hermits, and\npilgrims--more than tongue could number; then followed the Blessed\nVirgin surrounded by seraphim; and, lastly, Our Lord Himself clothed in\npapal robes, under a golden canopy.\n\nSmith did exactly as he was told; he went out by the Great Gate, mounted\nthe fortifications of Heaven. He walked with great dignity and with\nmeasured tread until he reached the Milk-and-Honey Avenue. Then\nsuddenly, \u201cboom\u201d the canon sounded, and was answered by all the echoes\nof Heaven. Smith turned round, all the procession did likewise and\nre-entered Paradise. When our standard-bearer found he was the last\nbefore the gate, he signed to an angel in front of him and begged him to\nhold the flag for a moment; he then turned round and disappeared to the\nleft.\n\n[Illustration: MILK-AND-HONEY AVENUE]\n\nIn a few hours he found himself on earth once more before the door of\nhis smithy.\n\nNo one in Heaven grieved at his departure. Smith recommenced his happy\nlife on earth, and from the words of the song which is still sung by\nFlemish children, one may conclude he is still alive.\n\n Smith Verholen, Smith Verholen,\n For seven years received wood and coal,\n Iron, lead and copper,\n From the devil Lucifer.\n Smith Verholen may burn, may be knocked on the head,\n But Smith Verholen is never dead.\n\n[Illustration: BALTEN, THE BARREL, AND THE WOLF]\n\n\n\n\nBALTEN AND THE WOLF\n\n\nLong, long ago, when the animals were able to speak, two brothers called\nJack and Balten lived in a little hut in a dense and gloomy forest in\nFlanders.\n\nNeedless to say they were very poor or they would not have lived in this\nlonely wood.\n\nOne day, Jack was sitting at the window plaiting a whip, while Balten\nwas at the fire preparing their supper. Suddenly a wolf rushed into the\nhouse with his mouth wide open and ran towards Jack. The latter, seeing\nhis danger, looked to his brother for help. He had an inspiration and\ncried loudly: \u201cBalten, pour! Balten, pour!\u201d Balten understood what Jack\nmeant. Quick as lightning he seized the saucepan and poured the boiling\nsoup over the wolf.\n\nThe wolf fled out of the door howling with pain, for his back was\nterribly burnt, while Jack and Balten, having recovered from their\nfright, laughing heartily, watched him run off into the distance.\n\nWhen the wolf, half dead with pain and shame, heard peals of laughter\nbehind him, he turned round and shouted to them:\n\n\u201cAh, ruffians, good-for-nothings and scoundrels, you are much amused,\nbut wait; whichever one of you I see first I shall devour!\u201d So saying he\ndisappeared among the trees.\n\n[Illustration: THE WOLF STARED AT JACK]\n\nShortly afterwards Jack went to gather acorns for their little pig. He\nwas deep in the forest, when suddenly he saw a wolf a few yards in front\nof him, watching him from among the bushes.\n\nJack was very much frightened, especially as he saw scars on the wolf\u2019s\nback, and thus immediately recognized him as the one they had so\nshamefully handled. The wolf stared at Jack, and on recognizing him\nsprang at him, crying:\n\n\u201cOh, ruffian, good-for-nothing! You are one of the scoundrels who\ntreated me so badly that I dare not show my face anywhere. Wait! I shall\nat once make mincemeat of you.\u201d\n\nThe wolf was about to spring at Jack, but the latter, seeing that to\nfight would be useless, climbed like a cat up the nearest tree. There he\nwas high and dry and out of his enemy\u2019s reach, as he fondly imagined.\nBut the wolf was not to be thwarted; smothering his rage he disappeared\nbehind the bushes.\n\n\u201cI will stay quietly here,\u201d thought Jack. \u201cI must be on my guard against\nthis wretch. I lose nothing by waiting.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: \u201cBALTEN, POUR! BALTEN, POUR!\u201d]\n\nHe was right, for in five minutes the wolf returned accompanied by a\ndozen wolves as bad as himself.\n\n\u201cHa ha, scoundrel,\u201d he cried, \u201cyou will not escape me this time! If you\nthink you are safe you are greatly mistaken, you know. We shall have you\ndown in no time.\u201d\n\nWhat did the wolf do?\n\nHe planted himself firmly near the tree trunk and formed the base of a\nladder for his companions. They seemed quite accustomed to this trick,\nfor another wolf immediately climbed on the shoulders of the first. Then\na third and fourth followed his example.\n\nAt first Jack was very much amused at the idea of such a ladder and\nroared with laughter. But he soon realized that it was no joke, but a\nvery serious matter. The ladder of wolves became so high that Jack,\nfrightened out of his wits, had to climb into the topmost branches of\nthe tree.\n\nThe ladder became yet higher!\n\n\u201cHave you caught him?\u201d cried the first wolf.\n\n\u201cA little higher,\u201d replied the topmost wolf.\n\n\u201cDo not let him escape,\u201d shouted the first wolf, \u201cfor it is a tasty\nmorsel and we shall enjoy it. It is such a long time since I have eaten\nany that I quite forget the taste of human flesh.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo do I,\u201d said another wolf; whereupon they all laughed.\n\nJack was in no laughing mood; he was so frightened that he had cold\nshivers down his spine.\n\n[Illustration: THE LADDER BECAME YET HIGHER]\n\n\u201cOh, heavens!\u201d he thought, \u201cwhat a terrible death to be eaten alive!\nWhat will my poor brother say when I fail to return? I have no means of\ndefending myself, not even boiling soup.\u201d\n\nThe wolf which was to reach him had already begun to ascend; he heard\nhim grunting and panting. In his distress Jack had an inspiration and\nbegan to shout at the top of his voice: \u201cBalten, pour! Balten, pour!\u201d\n\nThis had a curious effect. The first wolf, who supported all the others\non his shoulders and who knew by experience what \u201cBalten, pour!\u201d meant,\nbelieved that Balten was behind the tree ready to throw boiling soup on\nhis back. He leapt aside as quick as lightning and ran like a hare. At\nthe same time all the wolves fell down one on top of the other, howling\nfiercely. One had a paw broken, another a crushed foot, and a third had\nhis head smashed in.\n\n[Illustration: ONE HAD A PAW BROKEN]\n\nAll swore at their cowardly comrade, who had organized the undertaking\nand then so treacherously deserted them. Those of them who were still\nable to run chased the coward and soon caught him.\n\n\u201cOh! that is the way we were to help you get the man out of the tree.\nYour intention was to do us all a bad turn.\u201d\n\nThey all set on to the unhappy wretch, who only made good his escape\nafter having all his skin torn off and losing an ear.\n\nJack, now recovered from his fright, was a spectator of this scene and\nlaughed long and loud. \u201cWhat a curious result my crying \u2018Balten, pour!\u2019\nhad,\u201d he thought, and he returned home.\n\nMore than a year passed and neither Jack nor Balten had met the famous\nwolf.\n\nThe time came when Jack had to take the little pig, now well fattened,\nto market. After selling it, he was on his way home, when he was\nattacked by robbers. They stole his money and knocked him about. Not\nsatisfied with this, they put him into an empty barrel, which they found\nby the roadside, and nailed down the lid.\n\nPoor Jack was now a prisoner and could not imagine how he could ever\nhope to escape. There was only one aperture, through which he could\nhardly squeeze his hand.\n\n[Illustration: THEY PUT HIM INTO AN EMPTY BARREL]\n\nHowever, he did not despair. \u201cTime cures everything,\u201d he thought; \u201cI\nhave been in greater danger!\u201d\n\nFor several hours he was thinking and meditating in the barrel. Suddenly\nhe heard a sniff quite close to him. He looked out and saw the wolf, the\nfamous wolf with scars on his back!\n\nJack watched him, and as soon as the animal\u2019s tail was within his reach,\nhe seized it through the hole in the barrel and cried as loud as ever he\ncould:\n\n\u201cBalten, pour! Balten, pour!\u201d\n\nThis shout again had the desired effect: the wolf, mad with fear, fled,\ndragging the barrel after him. Jack held tightly on to his tail,\nshouting all the time as loudly as before: \u201cBalten pour! Balten, pour!\u201d\n\nThe louder he shouted, the faster ran the wolf. The barrel crashed and\nbanged against the trees, it cracked and finally broke. The ribs fell in\nand Jack found himself once more on his feet, none the worse except for\na few bruises.\n\nThe wolf ran on and on. Perhaps he is running still?\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration: THE MERMAID AND THE CHILD]\n\n\n\n\nTHE MERMAID\n\n\nLong ago, in a little hut by the seashore, there lived a fisherman\u2019s\nwidow with her only child.\n\nThe water had a wonderful fascination for the little girl. Nothing\ndelighted her more than playing on the golden sands, where the tide\nwashed up thousands of shells. She ran gaily with her small naked feet\ninto the water, jumping over the little waves, which came rolling in\nfrom the deep like little white horses.\n\nThe mother, who still grieved in secret the loss of her husband, who had\nbeen snatched from her by the cruel sea, looked on sadly at her child\u2019s\nplay. She dreaded that the sea would steal from her her one and only\nremaining treasure.\n\n\u201cMy child,\u201d she besought her each morning, \u201cdo not go beyond the\nsand-hills. The sea is wicked and cunning, my darling. It swallowed up\nyour dear father; do not go near the treacherous water.\u201d\n\nHowever, she was not able constantly to watch her little girl, and it so\nhappened that one day she awaited her in vain. She searched for her\neverywhere, ran up and down the sand-hills, questioning all the\nfishermen she met, but in vain! No one could give her tidings of the\nlittle girl.\n\nWhen evening fell, and the sun had sunk like a ball of fire into the\nsea, the poor mother returned to her home in the blackest despair.\n\nPresently she heard a voice singing. The voice rose from the waves as\nthey lashed the sand-hills. She looked up and saw a mermaid with plaited\nhair, and a crown of coral and pearls, standing waist-high in the water.\n\nThe words of her song were:\n\n Under a roof of sparkling water\n In a crystal palace,\n My little loved ones play.\n\n[Illustration: SHE FELL ON HER KNEES]\n\nOn hearing this, the widow thought that her child might be among the\nlittle loved ones. She fell on her knees, and implored the mermaid to\ntell her if she had seen the little girl who played on the sands every\nday. \u201cYes, I certainly know where she is,\u201d replied the mermaid, \u201cshe\ngrows and prospers with thousands of other children in my crystal palace\nat the bottom of the deep blue sea. She is happier than any child on\nearth.\u201d\n\nWith a fresh outburst of weeping the mother begged the mermaid to\nrestore to her her child. The water queen answered her that she was\ntouched by her grief, but that the sea never returned alive the mortals\nit took away. The only thing she could do for the poor mother was to\nallow her to descend with her to her watery palace in order to see her\nchild.\n\n\u201cWill you have the courage,\u201d she added doubtfully, \u201cto follow me on the\nmighty ocean for a hundred hours towards the West, and to dive with me\nwhere the sea is deepest, far down beneath the waves?\u201d\n\n\u201cI have the courage,\u201d answered the mother; \u201cI am ready to follow you.\u201d\n\nThen the mermaid swam ashore near the sand-hill. She\n\n[Illustration: EVERY MORNING THE MERMAID LOOKED IN AT THE WINDOW]\n\ntold the widow to seat herself on her green and scaly fish\u2019s tail, then\nshe swam away faster than the fastest ship over the surface of the\nwater. The boundless sea was soon plunged in the darkness of night as\nthey continued their journey towards the West.\n\nAt length a ray of light was visible on the bosom of the ocean, and\npresently they came to an archway of coral, which they entered. \u201cHere we\nare,\u201d said the mermaid, \u201ctake a deep breath into your lungs; courage, we\nare going to dive.\u201d\n\nThe dive was much quicker than the voyage over the ocean, and in a few\nseconds they found themselves in the most marvellous palace that mortal\neyes have ever beheld. It was exactly as the mermaid had described it.\n\nThe roof was of sparkling water.\n\nThe building of crystal, flooded with a golden light.\n\nThe mother paid no heed to these splendours. She looked around on every\nside in the hope of discovering her beloved child. The mermaid led her\ninto a hall framed with silver, to a glass door, behind which they saw a\nnumber of little girls and boys playing happily together. The mother was\nallowed to look as long as she pleased, but was forbidden to enter the\nroom.\n\n[Illustration: A NUMBER OF LITTLE GIRLS AND BOYS]\n\nAt first she could not see her child, but afterwards discovered her\namong a group of merry children. She was in blooming health, and was\nenjoying herself every bit as much as her companions.\n\nThe mother was very unhappy, and begged the mermaid to allow her to live\nin her palace, as she could not bear to be far away from her little\ngirl. Her request was granted, and every day she would look with\nlonging eyes through the glass door. She implored the mermaid daily on\nbended knee to allow her to return home with her child, but in vain.\n\nOne day she took pity on her, and said, \u201cI will give you back your\nchild, but on one condition.\u201d\n\n\u201cAsk what you will,\u201d said the mother; \u201cI am willing to do anything\npossible.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou must weave me a cloak of your own hair,\u201d said the mermaid. \u201cHere is\na pot of ointment which will make your hair grow again.\u201d\n\nThe mother immediately set to work; she continued without a pause day\nand night.\n\nEvery morning the mermaid looked in at the window of her room to see\nwhat progress she had made. She could only make half a cloak, as she had\nused all her hair. She begged the mermaid to be satisfied with this, but\nin vain; she was immovable and demanded that the work should be\ncompleted.\n\nAt length, after sad years of waiting, the wonderful cloak was finished.\nThe mermaid was delighted with it, and the little girl, now a young\nmaiden, was restored to her mother.\n\nThe mermaid ordered a beautiful rounded barque, inlaid with shells, and\nwith a brazen pelican as figure-head. Four mermaids were harnessed to\nit, and took the mother and her child across the mighty deep, back to\ntheir own home, where they lived happily ever after.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration: THE MERMAID, THE MOTHER, AND HER DAUGHTER]\n\n[Illustration: THE HALF-COCK, THE TWO FOXES, AND THE TWO ROBBERS]\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF THE LITTLE HALF-COCK\n\n\nJohnny and Molly lived in a little hut in the forest. When their parents\ndied they were left quite alone in the world, and had to divide their\nheritage between them. They were dreadfully poor and possessed nothing\nbut two hens and a cock.\n\nThe puzzle was how to divide these animals into equal shares.\n\nAt last Molly said, \u201cLet us cut the cock in two, and have half each.\u201d\nThis was done; Johnny had the part with the head, and Molly had the tail\nend.\n\nMolly plucked her portion of the cock, and put it into the saucepan.\n\nSuddenly Johnny\u2019s godmother, who was a fairy, appeared down the chimney.\n\u201cListen,\u201d she said to her godson, \u201cyou must not put your half into the\nsaucepan; I will enchant him, and he will do anything you wish.\u201d\n\nOn saying which the fairy thrust her wand in the cinders, murmured some\nstrange words, and then touched the head of the Half-cock with her wand.\n\nThe clock struck midnight.\n\n\u201cGood-bye,\u201d said the fairy, and she disappeared up the chimney.\n\n\u201cThat is all very well,\u201d said Johnny to his sister, \u201cbut what are we\ngoing to do with the Half-cock now?\u201d\n\nMolly, who was the cleverer of the two, thought to herself, \u201cIf we had\nmoney we should have everything we want.\u201d She said, \u201cSend him to Mr.\nBrauncastle\u2019s to fetch three bags of silver.\u201d\n\nThe cock started off immediately.\n\nOn the way he met two robbers, who were much surprised, and said to him,\n\u201cLittle Half-cock, where are you running to?\u201d\n\n\u201cTo Mr. Brauncastle\u2019s,\u201d he replied.\n\n[Illustration: I WILL ENCHANT HIM]\n\n\u201cMay we go with you?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, hide yourselves under my wings.\u201d\n\nThe robbers settled themselves as comfortably as they could under the\nHalf-cock\u2019s wings.\n\nA little farther on they overtook two foxes.\n\n\u201cLittle Half-cock, where are you going?\u201d they asked.\n\n\u201cTo Mr. Brauncastle\u2019s castle.\u201d\n\n\u201cMay we come with you?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, hide yourselves under my wings.\u201d\n\nIn less than a second the foxes had joined the robbers.\n\nAt length the Little Half-cock came to a large pond which was equally\ninquisitive.\n\n\u201cLittle Half-cock, where are you running so quickly?\u201d asked the water.\n\n\u201cTo Mr. Brauncastle\u2019s castle.\u201d\n\n\u201cMay I come with you?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, hide under my wings.\u201d Drip, drip--the water joined the other\nlodgers.\n\nRing-a-ding-ding! The Half-cock rang at the castle door.\n\n[Illustration: THEY IMMEDIATELY MOUNTED TWO HORSES]\n\n\u201cTell your master that I want three bags of silver.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat an impertinent creature!\u201d thought the servant who answered the\ndoor. He took the message to his master. The latter replied, \u201cPut the\nLittle Half-cock into the chicken-run with the hens.\u201d This was done.\n\nWhen night fell the Half-cock said to the foxes, \u201cMy good fellows, come\nout from under my wings, and eat all the hens.\u201d\n\nThere was no need to tell them twice; they set to work with a will,\nfeathers flew in all directions, and before you could count three they\nhad eaten the lot. When the servant went to the chicken-run the next\nmorning, he was horrified, and said to his master in a trembling voice,\n\u201cAll the hens have been eaten. The Little Half-cock is roosting on the\nrafters, crying, \u2018Cock-a-doodle-do! Cock-a-doodle-do!\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, put him into the stable,\u201d said his master. The servant did so,\nbut the next night the Little Half-cock set the robbers at liberty. They\nimmediately mounted two horses, and in the twinkling of an eye they\ngalloped off.\n\n\u201cNow I know what to expect,\u201d the servant said the next day, as he wiped\nthe perspiration from his brow. \u201cThis time the wretched thief shall not\nescape me.\u201d\n\nThe Little Half-cock was shut up in a red-hot oven. Now it was the\nwater\u2019s turn to escape, and the fire was immediately put out.\n\nThe next day the water had risen to the first story, and the Little\nHalf-cock was swimming courageously on the surface, crowing as loudly as\never he could.\n\n\u201cGive him three bags of silver as quickly as ever you can,\u201d said Mr.\nBrauncastle; \u201cget rid of him or he will ruin me and all my family.\u201d\n\nThe Little Half-cock went away and gave the money to his master.\n\nJohnny and Molly were now rich, very rich.\n\nThey are very happy and get on well together; the Little Half-cock lives\nwith them, and is their best friend.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration: THE WATER JOINED THE OTHER LODGERS]\n\n[Illustration: THE BLACKSMITH, THE DWARF, AND HIS HAT]\n\n\n\n\nTHE DWARF AND THE BLACKSMITH\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a poor blacksmith who had no possessions\nother than his wife and six children. He worked like a nigger from morn\nto night, and it was all he could do to make both ends meet at the end\nof each year.\n\nOne day he went to see a dying friend who lived some distance from the\nvillage, and it was very late when he returned home. On the way the road\nwound round a hill, at the foot of which lay a wood. As he turned the\ncorner of the road he heard a strange sound. In front of him, surrounded\nby an embankment crowned with willow-trees, was a field flooded by\nmoonlight, where several little men with long beards were disporting\nthemselves. They were throwing their red caps in the air, and catching\nthem very skilfully on their toes.\n\nOur blacksmith, who was not the bravest of mortals, dared not go on, and\nhid himself behind a large tree among the bushes. After he had been\nthere some time there was a sudden silence, and quick as lightning all\nthe little dwarfs disappeared into the hill. On peering round him, the\nblacksmith discovered that one dwarf remained behind. He seemed to be\nlooking for something. He saw him put his arm into a crack in the rock\nseveral times and draw it out.\n\n\u201cThis little fellow cannot harm me,\u201d thought the smith; \u201cI should very\nmuch like to know what he is looking for.\u201d Treading cautiously, he\napproached the dwarf. He discovered that the dwarf\u2019s hat had fallen into\nthe crack, and that his arm was not long enough to reach it. He\nimmediately pulled it out and handed it to him.\n\nThe little fellow thanked the smith, and said, \u201cYou will be rewarded for\nwhat you have done for me to-day. We had a feast here to-day, during\nwhich we are obliged to wear our caps on our heads. If I had lost mine I\nshould not have been able to attend the feasts for seven years.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: \u201cTHIS LITTLE FELLOW CANNOT HARM ME\u201d]\n\nIt goes without saying that the smith related his strange adventures to\nhis wife, and they were very curious to know how the dwarf would reward\nthem.\n\nEvery night before going to bed the blacksmith prepared the work which\nhe and his apprentice would begin the first thing in the morning.\n\nPicture his surprise the next day, when he found that the work had been\ndone during the night, and by such skilled hands that there was no fault\nto find with it. His assistant, still serving his apprenticeship, was\nincapable of such work. Who the clever workman could be he failed to\ndiscover.\n\n[Illustration: THEY WANTED TO FIND OUT HOW IT WAS DONE]\n\nWhen the same thing happened the following night, the smith and his wife\ndecided to keep watch. They wanted to find out how it was done.\n\nThe mystery was soon cleared up. Towards midnight, the smith, looking\nthrough the chinks in the boards of the attic, saw the little dwarf\nwhose hat he had restored to him come in. The little fellow immediately\nset to work, and worked without a pause till morning. It was splendid to\nsee how quickly he did it, and during this time he did more work than\nthe smith and his assistant could do in half a day.\n\nThis went on for some time. The smith sent away his assistant, although\nhis custom had increased, and he earned much money, so that he and his\nwife and children enjoyed good times, and saved a large sum.\n\n[Illustration: ANOTHER SET OF VERY FINE MATERIAL]\n\nThe smith and his wife very often watched the dwarf at his work, and\nthey consulted together to see in what way they could reward his\nkindness. One day his wife said, \u201cI have an idea; didn\u2019t you notice last\ntime that his clothes looked rather shabby? I shall make him another set\nof very fine material.\u201d This was done. The wife made the dwarf a set of\nclothes fit for a prince, and in the evening it was folded neatly and\nplaced on a chair in the smithy. The smith and his wife went into the\nattic to see what would happen.\n\nThe dwarf was delighted with the clothes. He unfolded them and examined\nthem one by one, and his smiling face showed how pleased he was. He put\nthe garments on, and when he was dressed, he put on his little red hat\ndecorated with a feather.\n\nHe was as proud as a peacock, and greatly pleased with\n\n[Illustration: THE DWARF\u2019S FEAST]\n\nhimself. At length he turned to the door and disappeared, this time\nwithout doing a stroke of work.\n\nThe blacksmith never saw the little imp again. The work prepared\novernight was no longer finished in the morning. The smith was obliged\nto do the work himself, but his two eldest sons could help him now, and\nso, thanks to the dwarf, they were always able to keep the wolf from the\ndoor.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration: THE WIZARD, THE TURKEY, AND THE COUNTESS]\n\n\n\n\nPERCY THE WIZARD NICKNAMED SNAIL\n\n\nLong ago, when women spun at their spinning-wheels, there lived a man\nwho was nicknamed Snail.\n\nSnail was very fond of a glass, and his wife had a weakness for\nhotchpotch.\n\nEvery week Percy Snail took the thread his wife had spun to market. His\nwife never scolded him for losing a few pennies, or being muddle-headed\non the way back, provided he brought all the necessary ingredients for a\nnice hotchpotch.\n\nOne day he sold the thread at a high price. He was in good spirits; all\nthe way home he rattled the money in his pocket, thinking, \u201cTo-day I\nshall be able to have more than one glass.\u201d He went into every little\nwayside inn he passed, in order to see where the best liquor was sold.\nLittle by little his money began to disappear, until he had scarcely any\nleft, and he realized at the same time that he was rather intoxicated.\nHe stumbled along the road as well as he could, and on putting his hand\nin his pocket, found, to his great surprise, that he had only five\nfarthings.\n\nHe counted them over and over again until he was forced to\n\n[Illustration: THE NECESSARY INGREDIENTS FOR A NICE HOTCHPOTCH]\n\nbelieve his eyes. The worst of it was that he had quite forgotten his\nwife\u2019s favourite dish. He continued his way meditating and calculating,\nand quite unconsciously entered another inn. In a second his last\nfarthing was in the innkeeper\u2019s pocket.\n\nHe suddenly felt very tired and fell asleep with his head on the table.\nWhen he awoke he felt better, and his head was clearer. He considered\nwhat he had better do. He dared not return home as he knew what a warm\nwelcome he would have! He could not stay in the inn as he had spent all\nhis money, and innkeepers do not give credit. Although undecided, he was\nabout to leave the inn, when the innkeeper, pleased to have a chat so\nearly in the evening, told him that the countess who lived at the\nneighbouring castle had had a ring set with diamonds stolen.\n\nThe wealthy lady, who set great value on the ring, had promised a reward\nof a hundred crowns to the finder.\n\n\u201cWell, upon my soul,\u201d thought Percy, contemplating his empty glass,\n\u201cthat would be a stroke of luck for me; if I could discover the thief, I\nshould be saved.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: IF I COULD DISCOVER THE THIEF]\n\nWithout answering the innkeeper, he got up, went off at once to the\ncastle, and introduced himself as a wizard.\n\nThe countess promised him a hundred crowns if in three days he succeeded\nin discovering the thief. If he failed to do so, he would be sent away\nin disgrace.\n\nThe first day he searched all the nooks and crannies in the garden for\nthe lost jewel. He ferreted in every bush and ditch, turned over every\nmole-hill, but in vain. Quite by chance, while he was feeling in the\nmoss and the grass, he saw three servants talking excitedly together.\nVery ashamed at the thought that these men should have witnessed his\nuseless and ridiculous search, Snail passed by them still in a bent\nposition, but at the same time glanced defiantly at them.\n\n[Illustration: ONE OF THEM WHISPERED TO THE OTHERS]\n\nNow a strange thing happened. He had hardly turned his back on the three\nmen when one of them whispered to the others, so low that Percy was\nunable to hear what they were saying, \u201cBeware, my friends, be careful\nwhat you say. This strange wizard looked at us as though he were\nwatching us; has he already discovered the thief?\u201d\n\nIn the evening, after Percy Snail had had his supper, the countess\nordered a valet to show him to his room. Percy was very depressed; one\nday had passed without his having discovered a single clue. He sank into\na chair with a deep sigh, and as the servant was leaving the room,\nmuttered under his breath, \u201cPoor fellow! That is one of the three.\u201d\n\nWhen the servant heard this he was very frightened. He rushed downstairs\nand said to his comrades, \u201cMy friends, we are lost, this stranger has\ndiscovered everything.\u201d He told them what he had heard. From that moment\nthey avoided Percy.\n\nThe second day he searched in the attics and cellars of the castle, but\ncould not find the ring. As chance would have it, in the evening the\ncountess ordered another valet to show Percy Snail to his room. He was\nmore depressed than ever, and flung himself down on the bed, saying to\nhimself, \u201cPoor fellow, you are to be pitied! That is already the second,\nand still nothing.\u201d\n\nThe valet, who listened attentively, repeated these words to his\naccomplices. \u201cThe wretch has certainly discovered all. I bet my life\nthat to-morrow he will tell the countess everything. We shall then be\nimprisoned as well as lose our good places.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: TO OFFER HIM PART OF THEIR SAVINGS]\n\nAfter a long discussion, they decided to confess all to the wizard, to\nimplore him not to betray them to the countess, and to offer him part of\ntheir savings.\n\nThis was done. They explained their position to Percy Snail, handed him\nthe diamond ring, and the sum of money agreed on between them.\n\n\u201cAre you convinced now,\u201d said Snail, taking leave of them, \u201cthat your\nsin will always find you out? I discovered your villainy during the\nfirst hour I passed in the castle. I will keep silence this time, but\nbeware if I find you out again.\u201d\n\nPercy Snail, full of cunning, procured a little lump of paste; in it he\nconcealed the ring, and threw it to some geese and turkeys which were\nfeeding near by.\n\n\u201cIk, kih, ih-kih!\u201d said a fat turkey, and \u201cslok,\u201d the little lump of\npaste was swallowed.\n\nAn hour or two afterwards Percy asked for the countess.\n\n[Illustration: THREW IT TO SOME GEESE AND TURKEYS]\n\n\u201cNoble lady,\u201d he said, \u201cdisabuse your mind of all suspicion against your\nservants. That black turkey is the thief.\u201d\n\nThe bird was promptly seized and killed.\n\nYou can imagine every one\u2019s astonishment when the ring was discovered.\n\nSnail thought he would immediately receive the promised reward of a\nhundred crowns, but he was rudely mistaken.\n\nThe countess suspected that she was dealing with a rogue. In order to be\nquite satisfied on this point she decided to put him to a second test.\n\n\u201cI am lost in admiration at your ability,\u201d she said in a forced manner.\n\u201cI beg you not to go without giving me another proof of your skill.\u201d\n\nSnail, who knew full well what she meant, was very ill at ease. However,\nhe boldly replied, \u201cMadam, I am yours to command, one proof more or less\nis nothing to me.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: THE COUNTESS HAD TWO DISHES PLACED BEFORE HIM]\n\nIn the evening, when seated at table for supper, the countess had two\ndishes placed before him, one on the top of the other.\n\nThey fitted so exactly that no one could suspect that a little snail had\nbeen placed between them.\n\n\u201cWizard,\u201d said the countess, \u201clisten to me; if you can tell me what lies\nbetween these two dishes, I will give you fifty crowns over and above\nthose you were promised! If, however, you do not know, you will be\nturned out of the castle, after receiving as many lashes with the whip\nas you would have received crowns.\u201d\n\nYou can imagine how his heart sank within him. He was struck dumb, and\ncould not hide his confusion. He was over an hour cudgelling his brains\nfor an answer, but without success. He dared not open his lips for fear\nof guessing wrong.\n\nHe thought of his wife, and the whipping that awaited him, and his\ncourage slipped away from him. He strained every nerve in his agitation.\n\n\u201cWell, poor Snail, poor Snail,\u201d he sighed.\n\nImagine his surprise when the countess said, \u201cI am beaten, my friend, I\nam beaten. It is a snail....\u201d\n\nShe lifted off the top dish. The insect was lying dead on the lower\ndish.\n\nOur wizard\u2019s joy was boundless. He received the hundred and fifty\ncrowns, and ran home with all speed.\n\nFor a whole week he continued to indulge himself with little glasses,\nand his wife ate hotchpotch every day to the honour and glory of the\nworthy Snail, who by a stroke of good fortune had become such a clever\nwizard.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration: SIMPLE JOHN]\n\n\n\n\nSIMPLE JOHN\n\n\nSimple John had served his master, a cowkeeper, for seven years, when\nthe latter being overwhelmed by misfortunes was obliged to dismiss his\nservants. Having no money with which to reward John for his faithful\nservice, he proposed to give him the one remaining horse in his stables.\n\nJohn, who had sometimes driven in the horses from the field on Sunday\nevenings when the grooms were at the inn, jumped for joy at the\nsuggestion. He thanked his master with all his heart, and led the beast\nfrom the stable. He set out on his journey home to his parents\u2019 hut,\nsinging:\n\n \u201cYou set out on foot, you return on horseback.\u201d\n\nIn about half an hour he reached a cross-road, where he saw a peasant\nwith a cow harnessed to a plough working in his field.\n\n\u201cWhat a strange and useful beast,\u201d thought John, as he pulled up his\nhorse. \u201cTell me, man,\u201d he cried to the peasant, \u201cis that animal strong\nenough for such hard work?\u201d\n\n\u201cIf she chooses,\u201d replied the other. \u201cI wager she can pull as well as\nthe best horse, and not only can she draw the plough, but she gives\nmilk, which my wife churns into excellent cheeses,\n\n[Illustration: SIMPLE JOHN, THE HORSE, THE COW AND THE PIG]\n\nthat make one\u2019s mouth water. If one day we wish to get rid of her we\nshall take her to the Brussels market, and any one will be pleased to\ngive us a bag of silver for her.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: THE BRUSSELS MARKET]\n\n\u201cGood gracious,\u201d said John, \u201cmy mother should certainly have such a\nwonderful beast, but as it would cost a bag of silver, I am afraid we\nshall never have one. If only I could exchange my horse for one!--but no\none would do so.\u201d\n\n\u201cOho,\u201d thought the peasant, who already scented a bargain, \u201ca horse in\nexchange for my old worn-out cow, that would be splendid. Listen to me,\nmy friend,\u201d he continued; \u201cas you seem such a good fellow I am willing\nto give you my cow in exchange for your horse. Tell me you are not\njoking, and that the horse really belongs to you?\u201d\n\n\u201cCertainly,\u201d answered John, \u201cto whom should it belong? I have served the\nsame master for seven years, and have received this horse in lieu of\nwages.\u201d\n\nJohn was in the seventh heaven. \u201cHow pleased my mother will be,\u201d he\ncried, and went on his way without further delay.\n\nSoon after his path lay between two fields of ripe corn; suddenly a\nstrange sound arrested him, \u201cUgh, ugh,\u201d and immediately afterwards a\nfarm hand came in sight with a willow twig in his hand, driving a pig\ndown the winding path.\n\n\u201cWell, well,\u201d said John, \u201cwhat a pretty creature, what funny, roguish\neyes, and what a curious corkscrew tail! Tell me what that pretty beast\nis called.\u201d\n\n\u201cThis one?\u201d said the boy. \u201cTell me first what you call the animal you\nare leading, and then I will tell you what kind of pig mine is.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is a cow,\u201d said John. \u201cShe gives milk, which is churned into\ncheeses. I bought it for nothing. I only gave my horse, which I received\nas reward for seven years\u2019 service.\u201d\n\n\u201cGood,\u201d replied the other. \u201cYou only gave a horse in exchange for your\ncow. Well, my beast makes its owner\u2019s fortune, and is certainly worth\nmore than a cow. If he finds something to nibble he rapidly becomes as\nfat as butter. Then he is slaughtered and cut open. It is incredible\nwhat comes out of him: liver, kidneys, ears, trotters, sausages,\nblack-puddings, ham, bacon, and carbonades. You can make brushes with\nhis bristles. Of course such an animal costs more than a foolish cow.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: \u201cLIVER, KIDNEYS, SAUSAGES\u201d]\n\n\u201cOh, dear!\u201d sighed John, when he heard this, \u201cthat is a lot of money. It\nis quite beyond the likes of me.\u201d\n\n\u201cListen,\u201d said the other; \u201cas you seem so anxious to have the\nanimal--well, because it is you, and to give you pleasure, I will\nexchange it for your cow.\u201d\n\n\u201cHurrah!\u201d cried John, \u201cmother will be pleased.\u201d He was more overjoyed\nthan ever. Then he went on his way, driving the pig.\n\nHe soon reached the outskirts of the village, and was at once startled\nby a hoarse voice, which cried unceasingly:\n\n \u201cAny knives or scissors to grind.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: THE EXCHANGES OF SIMPLE JOHN]\n\nWhrr, whrrr. John drew near and was struck dumb with amazement when he\nsaw a wonderful machine, whirring round, at which a man was seated,\nshouting as he worked.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said the man, \u201cyou are looking so attentively at my grindstone;\nwould you like to learn the trade?\u201d\n\n\u201cIsn\u2019t it too difficult?\u201d said John.\n\n\u201cNot really difficult; a clever boy like you would learn in no time.\nYes, yes, my lad, it is a merry trade, and pays well. If you know your\njob, your grindstone works unceasingly and turns merrily all day long.\nAh, my lad, if grindstones were not so expensive, every one would be\nable to earn a living.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh,\u201d said John, \u201care these stones so dear? What did the one you are\nusing cost?\u201d\n\n\u201cHalf a dozen pigs would pay for it. If you would like one, I have\nanother which I would give you for your pig, in which case your fortune\nis made.\u201d He showed him a fine large grindstone which lay at the bottom\nof his cart.\n\n\u201cMy fortune is made,\u201d said John; \u201cI will willingly give my pig in\nexchange for this stone.\u201d\n\nHe shouldered the stone and walked on. Unfortunately it was very heavy,\nand being very hot, John stooped down to drink at a stream without\nputting down his load. He managed very well, when suddenly the stone\nslipped and fell into deep water.\n\n\u201cEverything considered,\u201d said John, \u201cit is just as well it has happened;\nthe weight was breaking my back, and I shall be home all the sooner.\u201d\n\nHe shouted joyously and ran towards the house.\n\n\u201cLittle mother,\u201d he cried, \u201cI have had great luck; I exchanged a horse\nfor a cow, a cow for a pig, and a pig for a grindstone. The stone was\nvery heavy, and I lost it. Now I have nothing to carry, nothing to look\nafter. Mother, I am the happiest John in the whole world.\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration: THE TWO CHICKENS]\n\n\n\n\nTHE TWO CHICKENS OR THE TWO EARS\n\n\nOne day a parish priest had invited a relative to luncheon and wished to\ngive him something nice to eat. He ordered two tender young chickens to\nbe killed and plucked.\n\nIn the morning, before celebrating Mass, he said to his servant:\n\n\u201cCook the two chickens for lunch and prepare them as nicely as possible,\nas my cousin is very fond of his food.\u201d\n\n\u201cAll right, your Reverence,\u201d replied the servant.\n\nWhen the chickens were roasted, wanting to know if they were done to a\nturn, she cut off a piece of the wing.\n\n\u201cIt wants another five minutes,\u201d she thought; she then took another\nlittle piece. That so whetted her appetite that she continued to take\npickings until nearly all the chicken had disappeared.\n\n\u201cOne is worse than useless,\u201d she thought, so the second chicken\ndisappeared after the other.\n\nCrying bitterly she went to find the cousin.\n\n\u201cOh, sir! oh, sir!\u201d she cried.\n\n\u201cWhat is the matter, Catherine, a misfortune? Has his Reverence caught\nmeasles?\u201d he asked.\n\n[Illustration: THE FIRST THING HE DID WAS TO TAKE UP HIS KNIFE]\n\n\u201cWorse than that, sir,\u201d sighed Catherine. \u201cI must tell you everything.\nThe vicar has been so strange lately. Sometimes when he returns from the\nchurch and finds a visitor awaiting him, without saying a word he begins\nto sharpen his knife and then cuts off both his ears. You must be on\nyour guard if he seizes his knife when he comes in.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe will not catch me napping,\u201d replied the cousin.\n\nThe words were hardly out of his mouth when the priest appeared. The\nfirst thing he did was to take up his knife. He was very hungry and\nwanted his luncheon at once.\n\n\u201cI will be off,\u201d thought the cousin, and he ran like a hare.\n\n\u201cCan you tell me why the wretched man has run away?\u201d the priest asked\nthe servant.\n\n\u201cHe has stolen the two fat chickens and thought it wiser to disappear.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat! stolen my chickens!\u201d cried the priest.\n\n\u201cHallo! Hallo!\u201d he shouted as loud as ever he could, \u201cat least leave me\none.\u201d\n\nOf course the priest meant one chicken, but his cousin, thinking that it\nwas a question of his ears, shouted back:\n\n\u201cNo, no, I prefer to keep them both.\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nTHE WONDERFUL FISH\n\n[Illustration: BEMOANING HER FATE AND REPROACHING THE ALMIGHTY]\n\n[Illustration: THE FISHERMAN, THE FISH, THE SEA-KING, AND SUSIE GRILL]\n\n\n\n\nTHE WONDERFUL FISH\n\n\nAmid the sand-hills in Flanders not far from La Panne there lived a\nfisherman named Tintelentyn. He was very poor; he worked from morning\ntill night and very often spent half the night wading in the water with\nhis shrimping-net.\n\nHe had not been able to save enough money to build a little house.\nMeanwhile he and his idle wife, Susie Grill, lived in an old\nbathing-machine which they had received in exchange for some shrimps.\n\nFisherman Tintelentyn was a good man and never complained of his hard\nlot. His wife, on the contrary, who considered she had married beneath\nher, lay in the grass in front of the machine day after day bemoaning\nher fate and reproaching the Almighty for not giving her the riches\nenjoyed by her friends and acquaintances.\n\nPoor Tintelentyn received the full brunt of her bad temper. In spite of\nhis hard work she reproached him with being stupid and lazy.\n\nSusie Grill being in a temper, the good man, despite an unfavourable\ntide, took up his nets and went to the sea. He cast his nets in despair.\nHe was doomed to disappointment, for on drawing in his nets he only\nfound some shells, seaweed, and starfish; not a single shrimp nor even a\nlittle crab.\n\nHe was very downhearted and perplexed, when suddenly he saw something\nred shining in one of his nets. On closer examination he saw that the\nred thing was alive; it was a fish, which seemed to be looking at him\nwith its silvery eyes.\n\n\u201cPoor little fish,\u201d the good man said in pitying tones, \u201cI am sorry to\nhave caught you. You are too pretty and too rare to fry. However, I dare\nnot throw you back into the sea, for Susie Grill will be so angry if I\nreturn empty-handed.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: STOOD UP ON ITS TAIL]\n\nImagine Tintelentyn\u2019s amazement when the pretty fish, which he held in\nthe hollow of his hand, stood up on its tail and began to speak in a\npiping voice:\n\n \u201cLittle fisherman Tintelentyn,\n Do not fry my bright red skin.\n I beg you throw me back into the sea,\n And all you may wish you shall have from me.\u201d\n\nWithout hesitation and with never a thought of reward, the fisherman\nthrew the strange fish into the waves. He was about to cast his nets for\nthe second time when he saw his wife coming towards him with her arms\nakimbo. She immediately began to rail against him:\n\n \u201cTintelentyn, you stupid man,\n What shall we put in the frying-pan\n If you throw back into the sea\n The only fish you caught for me;\n If you prefer poverty all your life,\n You can go and find another wife.\u201d\n\nAt first the poor man was too much astonished to answer. When he\nrecovered, he tried to excuse himself, telling her that the fish he had\ncaught was no ordinary fish, that he had looked at him so sadly and had\nimplored him so gently and with promises of reward to give him his\nfreedom. His wife became still more furious. \u201cWhat!\u201d she cried, \u201cthat\nfish would have made our fortune. You had only to make a wish and we\nshould have been saved from this misery. You have thrown this wonderful\nfish back into the sea without even asking for a good catch of shrimps.\nYou are an ass! Cast back your nets and wish for a large and beautiful\nhouse with turrets, such as the wealthy live in. It must have marble\nsteps and be well furnished. If you do not catch the fish again, I shall\nrun away and you will never see me again.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: A LOVELY HOUSE WITH LOFTY TOWERS]\n\nWhen the good man drew in his nets again, he found the red fish. When he\nlet it wriggle in the palm of his hand, it again looked at him with\npleading eyes and spoke in a very piping voice:\n\n \u201cLittle fisherman Tintelentyn,\n Do not fry my bright red skin.\n I beg you throw me back into the sea,\n And all you may wish you shall have from me.\u201d\n\nThe fisherman cast a frightened glance towards his wife, who was seated\non the dry sand. Then with much hesitation he said:\n\n \u201cO little fish so red and fine,\n You shall live, O little fish mine;\n But Susie Grill my wife desires\n A lovely house with lofty towers,\n Everything of the best must be,\n O little fish, will you help me?\u201d\n\nThe fish stood up on its tail and said:\n\n \u201cSusie Grill, she is neither mad nor shy,\n What she has wished for is now close by.\u201d\n\nThe fisherman threw the fish back into the sea and turned homewards. Oh!\nhow wonderful! There on the highest sand-hill, where the bathing-machine\nhad stood, was a beautiful house. He could hardly wait to collect his\nnets, he was so anxious to know whether this time his wife would receive\nhim more amiably.\n\nProud as a peacock she awaited him on the marble steps:\n\n\u201cWell, Grilly,\u201d he asked, \u201care you pleased with me?\u201d\n\n\u201cListen,\u201d she replied, \u201cit is true I now live in a beautiful house with\nturrets, a marble staircase and rooms exquisitely furnished, but I have\nno money. Go back to the sea ... catch the fish again and ask him to\ngive us as much money as the richest man on the coast between Ostend and\nDunkirk. Woe betide you if you return without it!\u201d\n\nThe good man again returned to the sea, and when he had caught the fish\nand the latter again asked for his freedom, the fisherman answered, much\nembarrassed at asking yet another favour:\n\n \u201cO little fish so red and fine,\n You shall live, O little fish mine;\n But Susie Grill my wife\n Wants to lead an easy life,\n Heaps of silver and gold.\n You will think her very bold.\n But little fish, never mind,\n O little fish to her be kind.\u201d\n\nAgain the fish arose and replied:\n\n \u201cSusie Grill is neither shy nor bold,\n She shall have riches and wealth untold.\u201d\n\nWhen Tintelentyn returned, he found his wife in her bedroom seated\nbefore a large chest overflowing with gold. She counted it without\nceasing, arranging it in piles of a hundred on the table. Before the\nchest was another brimful of silver. She told her husband that she was\ngoing to Bruges the next morning to buy a coach and four and to engage a\nstaff of servants. Her _chef_ was to be a master of his art, he must\nout-rival the Count of Flanders\u2019 _chef_.\n\n[Illustration: SHE COUNTED IT WITHOUT CEASING]\n\n\u201cWell, are you happy now, little wife?\u201d Tintelentyn murmured.\n\n\u201cWell, to be truthful, no,\u201d his wife replied. \u201cI have mentioned the\nCount of Flanders\u2019 _chef_. How foolish I am, as we can have anything we\ndesire--why should I not wish to be the Countess of Flanders? Now I know\nfor what purpose I was born. I shall sit on the throne. I shall be a\nqueen. Go back as quickly as you can to the sea. Tell the fish what I\nwish, and do not forget to add that you will accept some high position\nat my court.\u201d\n\nWhen the fisherman cast his net, he noticed that the sky was overcast on\nthe horizon. The waves became more angry than before and a strong breeze\nwas blowing. However, he soon caught the fish and said to him:\n\n \u201cO little fish, so red and fine,\n I\u2019ll not harm you, little fish mine;\n But Susie Grill, O little fish,\n Has yet once more another wish.\n Fish, dear little fish, I beg you help me,\n Now Countess of Flanders she would be.\u201d\n\nStanding up on his tail the fish replied:\n\n \u201cIf Susie Grill thinks it her destiny\n Countess of Flanders she shall be.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: \u201cI AM NOT DISSATISFIED WITH WHAT YOU HAVE DONE\u201d]\n\nTintelentyn could hardly believe his eyes, when instead of arriving at\nthe house he lived in up to an hour ago he found himself in front of a\npalace, with pointed towers so high that they seemed to disappear into\nthe clouds. He saw knights and ladies going in and coming out, and\ngrooms in rich liveries. He dared not go in dressed in his ragged\nfisherman\u2019s clothes. Suddenly his wife appeared at an open window with a\ncrown on her head and a sceptre in her hand. She signed to him to\napproach:\n\n\u201cMy man,\u201d she said with great importance, \u201cI am not dissatisfied with\nwhat you have done. I even feel disposed to reward you handsomely. I\nrequire a cup-bearer. Well, I will appoint you to this post on condition\nthat you return\n\n[Illustration: HE SOON CAUGHT THE FISH]\n\nonce again to the sea and obtain me yet another great honour.\u201d\n\n\u201cGood gracious, wife,\u201d exclaimed the good man, \u201care you not overwhelmed\nwith honours? You are richer than the richest man between Ostend and\nDunkirk, you hold the title of Countess of Flanders, you wear a crown\nand sceptre, what more can you possibly desire?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are an innocent,\u201d laughed Susie Grill. \u201cIs there not a sky above my\nhead, and is there not a God who reigns in the sky? Go quickly to the\nsea, catch the red fish. Ask him to make me as powerful as God. If you\ndare to return without obtaining my wish, you will be hanged.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: A MIGHTY SEA-KING]\n\nThis time Tintelentyn did not hurry. He felt as though his legs were\nweighted with lead. He stumbled along as though he had been drinking.\nThe sea was rougher than he had ever seen it. A storm was coming up from\nthe west. The wind whistled among the sand-hills, driving the sand\nbefore it. Distant thunder rolled and lightning flashed. For the last\ntime the red fish let himself be caught.\n\n \u201cLittle Fisherman Tintelentyn,\n Do not fry my bright red skin.\u201d\n\nHe spoke roughly, as though in warning.\n\n \u201cO Tintelentyn, O Tintelentyn,\n Do not commit this awful sin.\u201d\n\nBut the poor fisherman, thinking of the rope which awaited him, said in\na trembling voice:\n\n \u201cO little fish so red and fine,\n Help once again, little fish mine.\n My foolish wife, Susie Grill,\n Bids me ask her latest will.\n Little fish, I beg you pardon me,\n Now powerful as God she wants to be.\u201d\n\nHe had hardly uttered the words when the fish leaped out of his hand and\nin his place appeared a mighty sea-king accompanied by mermaids and\nstrange sea-monsters. These words came from the sea-king\u2019s mouth like a\ncurse:\n\n \u201cSusie Grill, Susie Grill,\n Nevermore shall have her will,\n She loses all in committing such sin,\n This night you will sleep in your old cabin.\u201d\n\nWhen Tintelentyn reached the sand-hill, Susie Grill, dressed in her old\nskirt and ragged blouse, was seated in front of the bathing-machine. She\nwas grumbling about the hard times and the small profits to be drawn\nfrom shrimps.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration: THE COBBLER AND HIS WIFE]\n\n\n\n\nTHE FRYING-PAN\n\n\nOnce upon a time there lived a cobbler who was very fond of pancakes.\nHis wife did not care for them at all. Every time he dared to mention\nhis favourite dish, she replied:\n\n\u201cBut, man, how can I make pancakes? You know quite well we have no\nfrying-pan.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, borrow one from the neighbour,\u201d he replied one day.\n\nHis wife dared not carry her objections any further. She fetched the\nfrying-pan and she fried and fried as though she were frying for the\nwhole village. She fried for so long that the pan became too hot and\nbroke!\n\nNeither of them wanted to return the frying-pan to their neighbour. This\nled to a dispute, and the little house, which was generally so peaceful,\nwas in an uproar.\n\nThe man said that the person who had borrowed the frying-pan should\nreturn it.\n\nHis wife said that as it was borrowed for his benefit, he should\nundertake this unpleasant task.\n\n\u201cListen,\u201d said the cobbler, who was anxious to put an end to the\nquarrel; \u201cI have an idea. We cannot keep our neighbour\u2019s frying-pan for\never. Whichever of us speaks first, on no matter what subject, must take\nback the frying-pan.\u201d\n\n\u201cAgreed,\u201d said his wife. She pursed up her lips and clenched her teeth,\nas much as to say: \u201cWild horses will not drag a word out of me.\u201d\n\nThe next day the neighbours knocked at the door and asked if they could\nhave the frying-pan. Neither vouchsafed an answer. Then they asked the\nwife, and her only reply was to turn her spinning-wheel more vigorously.\nNot a word escaped her lips, except a sound which resembled the noise\nmade by young chicks:\n\n\u201cSjip, sjip, sjip, sjip, sjip.\u201d\n\nThen they asked the cobbler, who replied by hammering so loudly on a\npair of soles that, unable to stand the noise, they shrugged their\nshoulders and went out.\n\nThe same thing happened to the customers.\n\nThe rumour soon spread in the village that the cobbler and his wife had\nbeen bewitched.\n\nThere was no time to be lost; their friends went to the exorcist to free\nthem from the spell.\n\nThe charlatan, with incantations, prepared for the ceremony by crossing\nhimself and sprinkling holy water.\n\nIn spite of all his efforts he was no more successful than the other\nvillagers. He only heard the woman say, \u201cSjip, sjip, sjip,\u201d and the man\ntapping with the hammer.\n\nThe exorcist, now at the end of his resources, took the pail of holy\nwater and emptied the contents over the woman\u2019s head, she being\napparently the most obstinate case.\n\n\u201cHave you finished?\u201d the woman burst out, while the water dripped from\nher body like snow melting off a snow-man.\n\n\u201cDear little wife,\u201d said the cobbler calmly, \u201cyou will take the\nfrying-pan to our neighbour.\u201d\n\nThe good man threw away the shoe he held in his hand and danced for joy.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration: NEITHER OF THEM WANTED TO RETURN THE FRYING-PAN]\n\n[Illustration: THE THREE FARMERS]\n\n\n\n\nFARMER BROOM, FARMER LEAVES, AND FARMER IRON\n\n\nOnce upon a time there were three peasants who lived in the same wood.\n\nThe first had a hut made of broom.\n\nThe second had a hut made of leaves.\n\nThe third had a hut made of iron.\n\nThat is why they were known as Farmer Broom, Farmer Leaves, and Farmer\nIron.\n\nOne cold winter afternoon a wolf came stealthily into the clearing where\nthe three farmers had built their huts. He hid himself behind a thick\nbush and hungrily watched the skaters as they glided over the polished\nsurface of the ice. At twilight, just as Farmer Broom had returned home\nfrom the forest with a faggot of wood, the wolf knocked at his door, and\ncried, \u201cFarmer Broom, Farmer Broom, open the door, my friend; my little\nhands are so cold, and my little feet are frozen.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will not open the door,\u201d Farmer Broom replied gruffly.\n\n\u201cThen I shall break it open.\u201d The wolf hurled himself with such force\nagainst the door that he burst it open, went into the hut, and sat down\nby the fire.\n\nFarmer Broom was about to peel potatoes, and the wolf\n\n[Illustration: THE THREE FARMERS AND THEIR HOUSES]\n\nbegan to repeat in a hoarse voice, \u201cWarm in the stomach, as I shall have\nfat pigs. Warm in the stomach, as I shall have fat pigs.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: HE BURST IT OPEN]\n\n\u201cWhat are you muttering about?\u201d Farmer Broom asked innocently.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d replied the wolf, \u201cyou will be the first! But give me a potato\nat once; I am as hungry as can be.\u201d\n\nFarmer Broom put a potato on the point of his knife, and held it out at\narm\u2019s length to the wolf, but the latter swallowed the potato, the\nknife, and the farmer at a gulp.\n\nThe next day the wolf knocked at Farmer Leaves\u2019 door, just after the\nlatter had returned with a basketful of dead leaves which he had\ncollected from beneath the snow.\n\n\u201cFarmer Leaves, Farmer Leaves, open the door, my dear friend; my little\nfeet are so cold, and my little hands are frozen.\u201d\n\n\u201cI shall not open it,\u201d replied Farmer Leaves.\n\n\u201cThen I shall burst it open,\u201d said the wolf, and thereupon he threw his\nweight against the door, forced it open, went in and sat down by the\nfire.\n\nFarmer Leaves was also about to peel potatoes, and the wolf said in a\ndeep voice, \u201cWarm in the stomach, as I shall have fat pigs. Warm in the\nstomach, as I shall have fat pigs.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat are you mumbling?\u201d asked Farmer Leaves.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said the wolf, \u201cI was saying a little prayer for you, but,\nquick, give me a potato, I am dying of hunger.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: THE WOLF WENT IN AND SAT DOWN]\n\nFarmer Leaves held out his knife with a potato stuck on the end, but\nagain the wolf swallowed the potato, the knife, and the farmer at a\ngulp.\n\nThe third day he went to Farmer Iron. The latter had seen him coming in\nthe distance, as he was entering his hut with a bucketful of water from\nthe well. He placed a large cauldron full of dried peas in the attic.\nThe wolf knocked, and cried, \u201cFarmer Iron, Farmer Iron, open the door,\nmy friend; my little feet are so cold, and my little hands are frozen.\u201d\n\n\u201cI shall not open it,\u201d said Farmer Iron.\n\n\u201cThen I shall burst it open.\u201d\n\n\u201cAll right, burst it open,\u201d said Farmer Iron.\n\nThe wolf made a spring and charged at the door, and dashed himself\nagainst it until his paws were torn and bleeding. He lost so much blood\nthat Farmer Iron ended by taking pity on him, and opened the door.\n\nThe wolf went in and sat down by the fire with Farmer Iron. Very soon he\nbegan to say in a sepulchral voice, \u201cWarm in the stomach, as I shall\nhave fat pigs. Warm in the stomach, as I shall have fat pigs.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: FARMER BROOM AND FARMER LEAVES CAME OUT ALIVE]\n\n\u201cWhat nonsense are you repeating?\u201d asked Farmer Iron in a derisive tone.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said the wolf, \u201cit is a little prayer for you, but give me a\npotato, my stomach feels quite hollow and empty.\u201d\n\nFarmer Iron held out a potato. The wolf was about to swallow it when\nFarmer Iron suddenly pulled a string and upset the cauldron of dried\npeas, which made a great noise as they ran out on the attic floor.\n\n\u201cWhatever is it, whatever is it?\u201d asked the frightened wolf.\n\n\u201cThe police who are tracking you down,\u201d answered Farmer Iron, laughing.\n\u201cThey want to hang you for eating Farmer Broom and Farmer Leaves.\u201d\n\n\u201cGood heavens, Farmer Iron, my friend, tell me where I can hide,\u201d begged\nthe wolf.\n\n\u201cQuick, climb into the attic,\u201d said Farmer Iron. \u201cI will not betray\nyou.\u201d\n\nThe wolf rushed to the ladder. Farmer Iron took a large saucepan of\nboiling water off the fire and put it down at the foot of the ladder.\nThe wolf was in such a hurry that he slipped and fell into the saucepan,\nand was terribly scalded. Farmer Iron pulled him out, cut him open, and,\noh, what joy! Farmer Broom and Farmer Leaves came out alive, each\ncarrying his knife with a potato on the end.\n\nThey all three lifted up the wolf and threw him outside, and each\nreturned to his own hut.\n\nThis is what happened in that wonderful country where after you are dead\nyou live happy ever after.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration: LODEWYK AND HIS CARDS]\n\n\n\n\nLITTLE LODEWYK AND ANNIE THE WITCH\n\n\nLittle Lodewyk built card houses, but Annie the witch always came to\nblow them down.\n\nOne day little Lodewyk grew tired of this and built himself a stone\nhouse. He put in a fireplace and a pump. Now if the witch came she could\nnot blow it down.\n\nSuddenly he heard a knock at the door!\n\n\u201cWho is there?\u201d asked the little man.\n\n\u201cAnnie the witch, open the door,\u201d was the answer.\n\n\u201cWhat can Annie the witch want with me?\u201d\n\n\u201cVery little, nothing but a little fire.\u201d\n\n\u201cI have no fire.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou most certainly have, I saw smoke coming out of the chimney.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen you must squint, my chimney cannot smoke. I have never lighted the\nfire; you must have seen the smoke from my neighbour\u2019s chimney.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, no, I am not to be taken in like that. My eyes are quite straight,\u201d\nand she went off in a huff.\n\nThe next day she came back and again knocked at the door.\n\n\u201cWho is there?\u201d asked little Lodewyk.\n\n\u201cIt is I, my good man, Annie the witch.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat can Annie the witch want with me again?\u201d\n\n\u201cNothing much, only a pail of water.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou know very well I have no water.\u201d\n\n\u201cMost certainly you have water, for I heard it gurgling in the pump.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen you have very strange ears. I have never raised the pump-handle.\nNo doubt the noise you heard came from my neighbour\u2019s house.\u201d\n\n\u201cI warn you that if you refuse to open the door I shall cut off your\nhead.\u201d\n\nLittle Lodewyk was terrified; he put the chain on the door and hid\nhimself up the chimney.\n\nIn spite of this the witch went in and searched for him everywhere, but\nshe could not find him. However, at last she discovered him seated in\nthe chimney, and dragged him down by the hair of his head.\n\n\u201cPut your head on the table that I may cut it off,\u201d commanded the witch,\nopening wide her red eyes.\n\n\u201cWillingly Annie, but tell me how,\u201d said Lodewyk, who had a scheme in\nhis head. \u201cShow what I am to do.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well, place your head like this!\u201d cried Annie the witch, and she\nplaced her large and hideous head quite unsuspectingly on the table.\n\nLodewyk quickly seized his axe and cut off the witch\u2019s head.\n\nThen little Lodewyk calmly fried a herring for his supper and smoked a\npipe.\n\nAnd then there came a pig with a long snout.\n\nAnd the little story has run out.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration: ANNIE THE WITCH ALWAYS CAME TO BLOW THEM DOWN]\n\n[Illustration: THE GIANT AND FIVE HIGHWAYMEN]\n\n\n\n\nTHE GIANT OF THE CAUSEWAY\n\n\nIn olden days there was a feudal castle on the site where now stand the\nCauseway and Giant\u2019s Mount, in the town of Brussels.\n\nA giant lived in this castle who is reputed to have been over nine feet\nhigh.\n\nThis noble giant was generally beloved and esteemed, for in spite of his\ncapricious and brusque character, he was ever ready to exert his\nsuperhuman strength in the defence of the weak. He rebuked the powerful,\nexterminated brigands and robbers, and cleared the roads of highwaymen.\n\nFrom the tower of his castle, which he had built on high ground, he had\na commanding view of the surrounding country.\n\nHe never left his castle except to inflict punishment on the wicked, or\nin order to protect the weak.\n\nHe consecrated all his leisure to his dear and beautiful daughter Helen.\nShe was his only child by his beloved wife, who died in giving her\nbirth.\n\nFrom her childhood Helen was accustomed to a secluded life and had never\nleft the castle grounds. In summer she amused herself with her sewing on\nthe top of the tower.\n\n[Illustration: HE NEVER LEFT HIS CASTLE EXCEPT TO INFLICT PUNISHMENT ON\nTHE WICKED]\n\nOne day, when her father was scouring the country, she ventured to take\na little walk in the Valley of the Brook. She had only taken a few steps\noutside the castle grounds when, on turning the corner of a little path,\nshe found herself face to face with a knight in armour, of comely\nappearance.\n\n[Illustration: SHE VENTURED TO TAKE A LITTLE WALK]\n\nAs soon as the latter saw Helen, he stood still, spellbound by the youth\nand beauty of the young girl. He loved her at first sight, and bewitched\nby her shy, maidenly demeanour, flung himself at her feet. Helen, for\nher part, stood bewildered at these demonstrations of respect and\nadoration.\n\nSuddenly her father appeared, followed by four prisoners he had\ncaptured. He was leading them by a cord. He took in the situation at a\nglance, and said to the knight, who was lost in contemplation of the\nyoung maiden, \u201cHow dare you kneel at my daughter\u2019s feet?\u201d\n\n\u201cSire,\u201d replied the knight, \u201cpardon me, I pray you. I love your\ndaughter, and love has drawn me to her feet.\u201d\n\nHelen trembled, for she had also fallen in love.\n\n\u201cWho are you?\u201d asked the giant.\n\nHe questioned the knight in such a severe manner that the maiden\nshivered, and blushing with shame took her father\u2019s hand, murmuring\nwords only intelligible to him.\n\n\u201cI am Harry of Housestone,\u201d replied the young man; \u201cI was knighted by\nLothario.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is sufficient; be quite frank with me.\u201d\n\n\u201cI see your gentle daughter for the first time. The sight of her fills\nme with a happiness which radiates through all my being. I feel that\nwithout her life is not worth living. If, sire, I am fortunate enough to\nhave won her favour, I pray you to give me her hand.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are worthy to be my son-in-law,\u201d replied the giant. \u201cHowever, I\nhave sworn that I will only give her in marriage to whoever shall be\nable to construct a paved roadway in a single night. The next day at\ndawn he must be able to take her on horseback down the Causeway bordered\nby columns to St. George\u2019s Chapel.\u201d\n\nAfter this speech he glanced ironically at the knight, and taking Helen\nby the hand led her home. As she was about to cross the threshold the\nyoung maiden cast a sad and tender glance at the Knight of Housestone,\nwho was completely disheartened by the giant\u2019s impossible demands.\n\n[Illustration: TOOK HER FATHER\u2019S HAND]\n\n\u201cLet me consider,\u201d said the young lover, suddenly raising his head, \u201cif\nthere is a way to perform this task.\u201d\n\nBut by the time he had estimated the length of the ground and the depth\nof the ravine on which he had to construct a paved way in a single\nnight, and had realized the impossibility of carting the necessary\nstones for the colonnade, he groaned and sighed in dire despair.\n\n\u201cNight is falling,\u201d he cried; \u201cI will try my last resource. I will go\nand see if the miners who work in my uncle\u2019s copper-mines could do this\nwork before dawn.\u201d\n\nHe at once started off to the Sunny Wood; he summoned the overseers and\nasked them if they could build a paved roadway from the Giant\u2019s Castle\nto the town gates in a single night.\n\nThe overseers answered him that it would take at least a year, employing\na thousand workmen a day, to execute such a work.\n\nHarry, in deep dismay, took his homeward road, completely overwhelmed by\nhis misfortunes. On the way he saw a little black-haired man, with a\ntall green hat and white pointed beard, leaning against a tree. He was\nnot more than three feet high. He looked at the young knight with\nflaming eyes.\n\n[Illustration: HE WAS NO MORE THAN THREE FEET HIGH]\n\n\u201cYou look sorrowful, Knight of Housestone; no mortal power can help you\nin your distress ... but if you like I can overcome your difficulties.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, whoever you may be, you are very welcome,\u201d replied the knight,\nholding out his hand. \u201cBut who are you?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am the spirit of the copper-mines your uncle is working. I live in\nthe underground caves, and his excavations are a source of great\nannoyance to me. If you will promise that the mining shall cease, that\nthe galleries and shafts shall be filled in, in order that I and my\ncompanions may live in peace in the bowels\n\n[Illustration: LED BY TWO PAGES]\n\nof the earth, we will this night construct the road and the colonnade\ndemanded by the giant. To-morrow you will marry Helen.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: ABOUT MIDNIGHT A TERRIBLE STORM AROSE]\n\n\u201cI can promise no such thing, for my uncle has a son who is heir to all\nhe possesses.\u201d\n\n\u201cHis son, who was a good-for-nothing, was killed this morning by a\nman-at-arms whom he had had flogged yesterday. You are now your uncle\u2019s\nsole heir.\u201d\n\nAfter saying a prayer for the repose of the soul of his cousin, Harry\nplaced his left hand on the hilt of his sword, and holding out the other\nto the dwarf, he said, \u201cI swear to do as you request immediately after\nmy uncle\u2019s death.\u201d\n\n\u201cEnough,\u201d replied the dwarf, \u201cto-morrow at dawn repair to the spot where\nthe road should begin, and all you will have to do is to fetch your\nbride.\u201d\n\nAbout midnight a terrible storm arose, the wind rooted up the tall\ntrees, and the thunder rolled.\n\nHelen, aroused by these alarming sounds, shaking with fear, got up and\nsought protection in her father\u2019s room.\n\n[Illustration: THE GIANT, HIS DAUGHTER, AND THE KNIGHT]\n\n\u201cDo not be alarmed, my child,\u201d the giant said softly, \u201cit is the devil\nchasing some wild beast of the forest.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut do you not hear the sound of hammers, the rumbling of wheelbarrows,\nand confused noises, as though a crowd of men were at work?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is possible,\u201d replied the giant, looking out of the window; \u201cbut if\nHousestone is attempting to perform the task I set him, he must be mad.\u201d\n\nAs he shut the window again a puff of wind blew out the lamp. At the\nsame moment the storm abated, and all was calm and still as on other\nnights.\n\nHelen had not a moment\u2019s rest. At daybreak she ran up to the tower. Her\nsurprise and joy were boundless when she saw a magnificent archway\nglittering in front of the castle, and beyond it stretched a splendid\nroad, at the end of which she saw Harry of Housestone mounted on a black\nhorse, followed by a beautiful white ambling nag, led by two pages.\n\nOn hearing her joyous cries her father appeared. All the giant had\ndemanded was done. The Knight of Housestone was married to Helen the\nsame day, and on his uncle\u2019s death he faithfully fulfilled his promise\nto the dwarf of the underworld. He ordered the shafts and galleries to\nbe filled up in the copper-mines, and to this day no one has been able\nto discover where they are.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nTHE KEY-FLOWER\n\n\nIn Flanders the cowslip is called the key-flower. The story I am about\nto tell you will explain why it is so named.\n\nA little child died. Its little soul was as innocent and pure as freshly\nfallen snow. As a dove freed after long captivity flies straight into\nthe blue sky, so the little soul flew into God\u2019s Heaven and knocked at\nthe gate.\n\nSt. Peter with his large golden key drew back the heavy lock, half\nopened the door and looked through the crack.\n\nOn seeing who was there, he opened the door wide and welcomed in the new\nlittle angel.\n\nBut behold, when the Saint was about to close the door, he let fall the\nbunch of keys with a thud on the golden threshold. Before he was able to\npick them up they had slipped from the threshold into the fathomless\nblue.\n\nThey fell through space for two or three days and landed in a cemetery\nat the entrance to a little village.\n\nScarcely had they touched the earth, where they sparkled amidst the\ngrass and the flowers, when a beautiful new flower sprang to life which\nhad never been seen on earth before and was therefore without a name.\n\nEarly next morning a little orphan girl went to the cemetery to put\nflowers on her mother\u2019s grave. She soon discovered this strange flower\npoised so proudly on its stalk. She was very surprised to find the\npretty little bell flowers, which were certainly not growing there the\nday before, and which she had never seen.\n\nShe stooped down to examine the plant more closely and was amazed to\nfind in the bushes a bunch of golden keys held together by a gold ring\non which she read the word \u201cHeaven.\u201d\n\nThe discovery of the new flower and the bunch of keys was fully\ndiscussed in the village, and the news spread far and wide. Every one\ncame to see the new flower. They called it the Key of Heaven, by which\nname it has been known ever since.\n\n[Illustration: HE LET FALL THE BUNCH OF KEYS]\n\n[Illustration: RIPE NUTS IN THEIR CUPS]\n\n\n\n\nTHE OGRE\n\n\nThis time I am going to talk about myself, to tell you something that\nreally happened to me. If you do not believe this you must not listen. I\ncan only tell this story to children who are quite sure that I speak the\ntruth.\n\nI was between six and seven years old and still learning my letters at\nschool. One fine Sunday afternoon in September I went with five or six\nof my schoolfellows into the Aulnes wood.\n\nIt was the nut season, and we knew there were a number of nut-trees in\nthe wood.\n\nAfter gathering nuts for some time on the edge of the wood, it happened\nthat in going from tree to tree we gradually separated from each other.\nBefore I became aware of it, I was deep in the wood. There I discovered\na sort of hedge where the nuts grew so plentifully that I could hardly\nbelieve my eyes.\n\nThe spreading branches were weighed down with nuts in bunches of four,\nfive, or even six ripe nuts in their yellow cups, hanging so temptingly.\n\nAt first I ate a good many and had a regular feast. I had never eaten\nsuch nuts! There were no bad ones and no empty shells. When I had eaten\nas many as I wanted, I filled my pockets, all my pockets. First the\npockets of my Sunday coat, then my trouser pockets. I then filled my cap\nand tied some up in my handkerchief. Just as I was thinking that I could\nput in a few more I noticed that it was very still and lonely in the\nwood and that the nuts did not show up so plainly among the leaves.\n\n[Illustration: I FILLED MY POCKETS]\n\nHigh above my head the last rays of the sunset shone among the branches\nof the huge elms, oaks, and poplars. Here and there a bird chirped on\nits nest, and far away towards the sunset I heard the sound of wheels on\nthe road.\n\nI could not hear my companions, but no doubt they were within call, they\ncould not be far off. I put my hands to my mouth and shouted: \u201cHallo!\nJohn! Peter Little Carrots! George!\u201d\n\nI called them all and shouted their names one after the other, shouting\nlouder and louder in all directions. But only the echo answered me. When\nI shouted John, the echo mockingly replied \u201cOhn,\u201d and when I shouted\nGeorge, it replied \u201cOrge.\u201d\n\nSuddenly my heart sank within me, the last rays of light disappeared\nabove my head and with startling rapidity darkness fell among the trees\nand bushes. The darkness seemed to grow out of the ground. The birds\nwere silent. A cold breeze shook the branches, and far, far away a\nlittle bell rang out the Angelus.\n\nI recognized the bell, it was our village bell. I knew that the carriage\nI had heard was the post-cart which was returning from Ternath to\nLennick.\n\nIt was in the direction of these two sounds that I had to find a road,\nhowever. I could not imagine how far I was from the edge of the wood,\nand it was imperative that I should reach the fields before darkness\novertook me.\n\nI started off with my cap full of nuts in one hand and my handkerchief\nfull in the other.\n\nAfter going a few steps, I shouted again, \u201cJohn! Peter!\u201d but this time\neven the echo made no reply and my voice sounded so strangely in my ears\nthat I did not recognize it.\n\nI ran for about an hour and a half, when all at once I felt as though I\nwas bound with ropes and I fell. I was held fast by the long tendrils of\na blackberry-bush which I had not noticed in the gathering darkness.\n\nI dropped my handkerchief and could barely distinguish it in the\ndarkness.\n\nI then shouted again as loudly as ever I could until I lost courage and\ncould shout no more. I dared not, I dared not, because of the terrible\nsilence which seemed to close round me. The silence was so uncanny that\nI distinctly heard the blood coursing through my veins.\n\nI was alone, alone in the vast never-ending forest, lost, strayed, and\nfar from the road when night fell. I thought of home, of my gentle\nmother and my good father. I thought of the terrible anxiety they would\nbe in when I did not return. Feeling my way I sat down on the roots of a\ntree and began to cry....\n\nI then closed my eyes as tightly as ever I could in order to see\nnothing. I meant to sit there and see what would happen, but when I\nraised my eyes to say a short prayer, I saw a soft light piercing\nthrough the roof of branches above my head, which seemed to me like a\nsmiling face trying to throw its silver rays upon me.\n\nIt was the moon; she was rising in the opposite direction to which I had\nseen the last rays of the sinking sun. As my eyes grew accustomed to the\nlight I began to distinguish things around me. At first the tree-trunks,\nsome as thick as my body, others as thick as my head, others as thick as\nmy legs and arms. Then I saw the shrubs and bushes, the flowers in the\ngrass, and the ferns.\n\n[Illustration: I SAW SOMETHING WHITE]\n\nSuddenly I saw something white--a little weasel--which approached very\ncautiously. Had I moved a little twig? Quick as lightning the little\nfellow darted off. I saw him disappearing like a white arrow.\n\nNow I could see I was not so frightened. I got up, emptied my cap and\nput it on my head, determined to try once again to find a path. I\nstarted off in the same direction as the weasel had disappeared. I had\nwalked for about a quarter of an hour when, my heart beating violently,\nI stopped--something like a star shone very low, low among the\nfoliage--no, so low that it could not be a star--it must be either a\nlight from a lantern or a window. Certainly some one must be passing\nwith a light or living in a little house.\n\nHowever far it might be, I decided to walk towards it. I groped on hands\nand knees, keeping out of the way of brambles and bushes. Then it was\neasier walking among the trunks of the tall trees. I was always trying\nto reach the light. Oh, dear! what a long way it was. The moon was\nalready far behind me above the trees. It was a beautiful starlit night.\nFar, far away a church clock struck. I could not tell this time if it\nwere our village clock; it struck nine and still I had not reached the\nlight. Sometimes it grew larger, then it disappeared for some time. I\nwas very frightened. Would it never appear again? Thank heavens! the\nlittle star twinkled once more ... suddenly it was so near that I could\nsee it growing. Now it was as large as an egg--then as large as an\norange--and finally I saw it as large as the face of the moon high among\nthe bushes. Now I could see how the light showed up in a disc on a dark\nsurface. A few steps farther and I found myself outside a little house.\nA light shone through a round opening in the shutter. Under the window\nwas an old broken barrel. There was no sound to be heard in the house.\nCould I dare to knock? Did robbers, a witch, or, worse still, an ogre\nlive there?\n\n[Illustration: COULD I DARE TO KNOCK?]\n\nTo stay out all night was equally dangerous; there might be wolves or\nsavage dogs in the wood, and witches and ogres could soon scent me out.\n\nI tapped on the shutter, and very soon heard footsteps approaching.\n\n\u201cWho knocks so late?\u201d asked an anxious voice.\n\n\u201cI am a little boy from a neighbouring village, I have lost my\ncompanions and have been wandering for three hours in the wood. Please\nopen the door and let me come in.\u201d\n\nI heard the sound of a heavy sigh behind the door and then the voice\nsaid more gently than before:\n\n\u201cOh, my child, do not ask to come in here! Get away as fast as your legs\ncan carry you. I would willingly give you shelter! But my husband is an\nogre. He devours without pity all who fall into his hands.\u201d\n\nHowever, I felt so weary, I was chilled by the cold night air, and the\nloneliness of the wood so terrified me that to be under cover of a roof\nwith human beings I was willing to run all risks.\n\nTo be eaten alive by an ogre was not a very agreeable prospect! But if I\ncontinued to wander about in the woods at night, I ran the danger of\ncoming face to face with this awful man. Perhaps under his own roof I\nshould be in less danger of being eaten.\n\nI begged and implored so earnestly that the woman gave in and opened the\ndoor.\n\n\u201cLittle friend,\u201d the good soul said to me, \u201cyou have not a moment to\nlose. It is nearly ten o\u2019clock, it is at that hour that my husband\nreturns from his first round. Here is a little bread and milk. If you\nare hungry and thirsty, eat and drink! Take good heed of what I am going\nto say to you! Directly you hear a knock at the door, hide yourself in\nthe dark corner by the cupboard behind those two large tubs. If you\nvalue your life do not move a muscle. If my husband finds you, he will\neat you, skin, bones, and all. If you are as quiet as a mouse I may save\nyou, God helping me.\u201d\n\nThe words were scarcely out of her mouth when \u201cbang, bang, bang,\u201d the\ndoor shook under the blows of a heavy fist. A rough voice, at the sound\nof which my blood ran cold, shook the little house.\n\n\u201cGreat heavens! woman! How much longer must I wait before you open the\ndoor?\u201d\n\nBefore the wife had lifted the latch, I was crouching behind the two\ntubs. I made myself as small as possible. I was so terrified that I\nshrank with fear. I shrank more and more, sometimes I felt as small as a\nlittle dog, then as small as a cat, and then as small as a frog!\n\n[Illustration: BEHIND THOSE TWO LARGE TUBS]\n\nDo you know why I was so frightened? While the woman was going towards\nthe door I very quickly lifted the lid of each tub. Oh, horror! what did\nI see inside? One tub was filled with milk, but the other was filled to\nthe brim with human flesh! Hands, feet, heads of little boys about my\nown age, and all were sprinkled with a quantity of coarse salt.\n\nA tread like that of a giant sounded on the hard earth floor of the\nhouse. From between the two tubs I saw the Ogre stop in the middle of\nthe room. His nostrils suddenly dilated as he sniffed around him like a\nhound. His eyes sparkled--he smacked his lips.\n\n\u201cWife,\u201d he burst forth in thunderous tones, \u201cwife, I smell it! There is\nyoung and tender human flesh in the house! Speak! Where is it? My mouth\nwaters.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: I SMELL HUMAN FLESH]\n\nHe took a heavy axe from his belt and brandished it in the air in a\nthreatening manner. His wife denied this. \u201cYou certainly smell human\nflesh,\u201d she answered, \u201cbut you smell the three little boys you put in\nthe brine-tub last Friday. I have not seen a living soul all the blessed\nday.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat!\u201d replied the Ogre, and he began to swear. \u201cThunder and lightning,\ndo you call me a liar? I tell you that I smell a child\u2019s fresh and\nliving flesh.\u201d\n\nI saw him brandish his axe in the air and fling it into the corner\nwhere I was hiding ... oh, horror! the tub of milk was shattered to\natoms. I should certainly have been in his clutches if I had not become\nas small as a frog from terror, and was thus carried down the drain,\nwhich was hidden by the other tub, in the current of milk.\n\nI found myself lying outside the house, my hair and eyes full of cream.\nI was half dazed with alarm, but oh, so glad to be outside! I was much\ncolder now than when I knocked at the door. If only I could find a place\nto rest my weary head. Just in front of me was the empty barrel which I\nhad seen on my arrival at the cottage. The outlet of the drain was\nexactly under the only window. The moonlight enabled me to see inside\nthe barrel. To my great surprise I found it half full of hay. I soon\nmade up my mind. I crawled into the barrel through the bottom, which had\nbeen staved in, drew the hay over me, and, after saying a short prayer,\ntried to sleep.\n\nI slept for some time. When I awoke, my clothes were dried. Very soon I\nheard a strange growling sound not far from my hiding-place. It sounded\nlike the pattering of paws and a dog growling.\n\n[Illustration: I SAW HIS BODY]\n\n\u201cA wolf,\u201d was my first thought, after the Ogre, the wolf which ate\nLittle Red Riding Hood! How should I escape this time?\n\nSuddenly the animal came near and licked the barrel, which had probably\ncontained lard, with its rough tongue.\n\nLooking through the bung-hole, I saw by the light of the moon a large\nand beautiful dog jumping about.\n\nIt suddenly struck me that if I could catch the dog by the tail I would\nask him very politely if he would draw me and my tub away--far, far away\nfrom this terrible house.\n\nThe dog again approached, again I heard his tongue licking the staves. I\nsaw his body exactly opposite the bung-hole--then I spoke to him very\ngently, as gently and as agreeably as I could. I asked him to do what I\nwished. Oh, wonderful to relate, the dog turned round and offered me\nhis tail. I took hold of it and immediately felt myself being drawn\nforward as though I were in a sledge or a boat.\n\nAt first he ran slowly without making a sound, but farther on, about\nfifty or sixty yards from the little house, I was so enjoying this\nmidnight drive that I grew reckless.\n\nI thought we were travelling too slowly. \u201cGee up,\u201d I cried, \u201cGee up,\nlittle fiery steed! Show me how you can gallop. Hallo! Gee up.\u201d\n\nI pulled his tail, and the animal not expecting this movement bolted off\nlike the wind.\n\nHe ran so wildly that the barrel bounded against the trees until, after\na violent blow, it was smashed to pieces. The dog ran off as fast as\never he could.\n\nDear me! How the wood had changed! There was not a star in the sky and\nthe moon had vanished.\n\nEverything was enveloped in a pale grey light. Birds\u2019 song filled the\nair. In the distance, far away outside the wood, a hundred cocks crowed\none after the other.\n\nI again thought of my dear parents. I pictured their agony during the\nlong and terrible night, and my heart beat quickly at the thought of\nbeing with them once more.\n\nI would soon find the road. If only I could discover in which direction\nlay the village.\n\nI heard a bell ringing, \u201cDing, Ding, Ding, Dong.\u201d Was it seven o\u2019clock?\nUnfortunately the wind whistled so loudly in the tree-tops that the\nfirst \u201cDing\u201d seemed to come from the north, while the last seemed to\ncome from the west. What was I to do?\n\nThen I had a happy thought. I chose one of the highest trees, a poplar,\nwhose lower branches hung nearly to the ground. I climbed up like a cat\nfrom bough to bough and reached the top--from there I could see right\nover the wood. On one side I saw fields and meadows as far as the eye\ncould see, and on the other I saw my village, my dear little village.\n\nThe poplar I had climbed was only twenty yards from the edge of the\nwood. It was so high that the topmost branches on which I was perched\nwere much higher than the surrounding trees.\n\nMy village lay there at the bottom, not far from the edge of the wood.\nNot far from the wall of the churchyard was the white house, the white\nhouse where my parents lived. Oh, if I could only be there, how I longed\nto be at home.\n\nBut I was high up above all the other tree-tops, waving my cap so\nvigorously in the air that the few remaining nuts fell out. While I was\nperched there on the top of the tree, it began to sway gently from left\nto right, then backwards and forwards. Then it swayed so violently that\nit passed over the top of first two, then three, and then ten trees. The\nmorning breeze seemed to take pleasure in it, and blew stronger and\nstronger--\u201cwhip, whip--whoop, whoop,\u201d the tree-top swayed out beyond the\ntop of the trees on the edge of the wood.\n\n[Illustration: I WAS PERCHED THERE ON THE TOP OF THE TREE]\n\nOh, dear! it was so amusing! \u201cWhip, whip,\u201d in a huge semicircle over the\ntop of a hundred trees behind me, then in a still wider semicircle in\nfront as far as the first houses of the village. \u201cWhip, whip,\u201d backwards\nfarther and farther, then \u201cwhoop, whoop,\u201d in front as far as farmer Van\nden Eeckhoudt\u2019s farm. Then a few yards farther and I was swaying out\nalmost over my father\u2019s house!\n\nShould I dare, should I take the risk? Could I in leaning all my weight\nmake the top of the tree bend so that the rebound would send me right\nover the house? \u201cWhip, whip--whoop, whoop!\u201d Before I had made up my mind\nI found myself where I wished to be.\n\nI crossed myself, let go my hold, and landed on the edge of the large\nchimney-pot. I fell down the chimney into the stove.\n\nMy mother was making coffee. \u201cMy boy, my boy,\u201d she cried, \u201cwhat an\nanxiety you have been to us. Your father and I have been up all night.\u201d\n\nAt that moment my father came in; he had been hunting round his land in\nsearch of me for the tenth time.\n\n\u201cMy lad,\u201d he said to me, when he succeeded in recognizing me, \u201cwhere\nhave you been and why are you so black?\u201d\n\n\u201cFather,\u201d I answered, \u201cI am black because I have just fallen down the\nchimney into the house. I have come from the Aulnes wood, where I went\nto gather nuts yesterday. The Ogre has not eaten me and the wolf did not\nscent me out. Father, my pockets are full of lovely ripe nuts.\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\n PRINTED AT THE COMPLETE PRESS\n WEST NORWOOD\n LONDON, S.E.","title":"Christmas tales of Flanders","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":27420}