No More Learning

"

And he went out of the garden and over the grass-plot of the yard,
into the alder grove; there stood a little six-sided house, with a
poultry-yard and a duck-yard. In the middle of the room sat the old
woman who had the management of the whole, and who knew accurately
about every egg that was laid, and about every chicken that could
creep out of an egg. But she was not the Story of which the man was in
search; that she could attest with a Christian certificate of
baptism and of vaccination that lay in her drawer.

Without, not far from the house, is a hill covered with
red-thorn and broom. Here lies an old grave-stone, which was brought
here many years ago from the churchyard of the provincial town, a
remembrance of one of the most honored councillors of the place; his
wife and his five daughters, all with folded hands and stiff ruffs,
stand round him. One could look at them so long, that it had an effect
upon the thoughts, and these reacted upon the stones, as if they
were telling of old times; at least it had been so with the man who
was in search of the Story.

As he came nearer, he noticed a living butterfly sitting on the
forehead of the sculptured councillor. The butterfly flapped its
wings, and flew a little bit farther, and then returned fatigued to
sit upon the grave-stone, as if to point out what grew there.
Four-leaved shamrocks grew there; there were seven specimens close
to each other. When fortune comes, it comes in a heap. He plucked
the shamrocks and put them in his pocket.

"Fortune is as good as red gold, but a new charming story would be
better still," thought the man; but he could not find it here.

And the sun went down, round and large; the meadow was covered
with vapor. The moor-woman was at her brewing.


It was evening. He stood alone in his room, and looked out upon
the sea, over the meadow, over moor and coast. The moon shone
bright, a mist was over the meadow, making it look like a great
lake; and, indeed, it was once so, as the legend tells--and in the
moonlight the eye realizes these myths.

Then the man thought of what he had been reading in the town, that
William Tell and Holger Danske never really lived, but yet live in
popular story, like the lake yonder, a living evidence for such myths.
Yes, Holger Danske will return again!

As he stood thus and thought, something beat quite strongly
against the window. Was it a bird, a bat or an owl? Those are not
let in, even when they knock. The window flew open of itself, and an
old woman looked in at the man.

"What's your pleasure? " said he. "Who are you? You're looking in
at the first floor window. Are you standing on a ladder? "

"You have a four-leaved shamrock in your pocket," she replied.
"Indeed, you have seven, and one of them is a six-leaved one. "

"Who are you? " asked the man again.

"The Moor-woman," she replied. "The Moor-woman who brews. I was at
it. The bung was in the cask, but one of the little moor-imps pulled
it out in his mischief, and flung it up into the yard, where it beat
against the window; and now the beer's running out of the cask, and
that won't do good to anybody. "

"Pray tell me some more! " said the man.

"Yes, wait a little," answered the Moor-woman. "I've something
else to do just now. " And she was gone.

The man was going to shut the window, when the woman already stood
before him again.

"Now it's done," she said; "but I shall have half the beer to brew
over again to-morrow, if the weather is suitable. Well, what have
you to ask me? I've come back, for I always keep my word, and you have
seven four-leaved shamrocks in your pocket, and one of them is a
six-leaved one. That inspires respect, for that's an order that
grows beside the sandy way; but that every one does not find. What
have you to ask me? Don't stand there like a ridiculous oaf, for I
must go back again directly to my bung and my cask. "

And the man asked about the Story, and inquired if the
Moor-woman had met it in her journeyings.

"By the big brewing-vat! " exclaimed the woman, "haven't you got
stories enough? I really believe that most people have enough of them.
Here are other things to take notice of, other things to examine. Even
the children have gone beyond that. Give the little boy a cigar, and
the little girl a new crinoline; they like that much better. To listen
to stories! No, indeed, there are more important things to be done
here, and other things to notice! "

"What do you mean by that? " asked the man, "and what do you know
of the world? You don't see anything but frogs and Will-o'-the-Wisps! "

"Yes, beware of the Will-o'-the-Wisps," said the Moor-woman,
"for they're out--they're let loose--that's what we must talk about!
Come to me in the moor, where my presence is necessary, and I will
tell you all about it; but you must make haste, and come while your
seven four-leaved shamrocks, for which one has six leaves, are still
fresh, and the moon stands high! "

And the Moor-woman was gone.

It struck twelve in the town, and before the last stroke had
died away, the man was out in the yard, out in the garden, and stood
in the meadow. The mist had vanished, and the Moor-woman stopped her
brewing.

"You've been a long time coming! " said the Moor-woman. "Witches
get forward faster than men, and I'm glad that I belong to the witch
folk! "

"What have you to say to me now? " asked the man. "Is it anything
about the Story? "

"Can you never get beyond asking about that? " retorted the woman.

"Can you tell me anything about the poetry of the future? " resumed
the man.

"Don't get on your stilts," said the crone, "and I'll answer
you. You think of nothing but poetry, and only ask about that Story,
as if she were the lady of the whole troop. She's the oldest of us
all, but she takes precedence of the youngest. I know her well. I've
been young, too, and she's no chicken now. I was once quite a pretty
elf-maiden, and have danced in my time with the others in the
moonlight, and have heard the nightingale, and have gone into the
forest and met the Story-maiden, who was always to be found out there,
running about. Sometimes she took up her night's lodging in a
half-blown tulip, or in a field flower; sometimes she would slip
into the church, and wrap herself in the mourning crape that hung down
from the candles on the altar. "

"You are capitally well-informed," said the man.

"I ought at least to know as much as you," answered the
Moor-woman. "Stories and poetry--yes, they're like two yards of the
same piece of stuff; they can go and lie down where they like, and one
can brew all their prattle, and have it all the better and cheaper.
You shall have it from me for nothing. I have a whole cupboard-full of
poetry in bottles. It makes essences; and that's the best of
it--bitter and sweet herbs. I have everything that people want of
poetry, in bottles, so that I can put a little on my handkerchief,
on holidays, to smell. "

"Why, these are wonderful things that you're telling! " said the
man. "You have poetry in bottles? "

"More than you can require," said the woman. "I suppose you know
the history of 'the Girl who Trod on the Loaf, so that she might not
soil her shoes'? That has been written, and printed too. "

"I told that story myself," said the man.

"Yes, then you must know it; and you must know also that the
girl sank into the earth directly, to the Moor-woman, just as Old
Bogey's grandmother was paying her morning visit to inspect the
brewery. She saw the girl gliding down, and asked to have her as a
remembrance of her visit, and got her too; while I received a
present that's of no use to me--a travelling druggist's shop--a
whole cupboard-full of poetry in bottles. Grandmother told me where
the cupboard was to be placed, and there it's standing still. Just
look! You've your seven four-leaved shamrocks in your pocket, one of
which is a six-leaved one, and so you will be able to see it. "

And really in the midst of the moor lay something like a great
knotted block of alder, and that was the old grandmother's cupboard.
The Moor-woman said that this was always open to her and to every
one in the land, if they only knew where the cupboard stood. It
could be opened either at the front or at the back, and at every
side and corner--a perfect work of art, and yet only an old alder
stump in appearance. The poets of all lands, and especially those of
our own country, had been arranged here; the spirit of them had been
extracted, refined, criticised and renovated, and then stored up in
bottles. With what may be called great aptitude, if it was not
genius the grandmother had taken as it were the flavor of this and
of that poet, and had added a little devilry, and then corked up the
bottles for use during all future times.

"Pray let me see," said the man.

"Yes, but there are more important things to hear," replied the
Moor-woman.

"But now we are at the cupboard! " said the man. And he looked
in. "Here are bottles of all sizes. What is in this one? and what in
that one yonder? "

"Here is what they call may-balm," replied the woman. "I have
not tried it myself. But I have not yet told you the 'more
important' thing you were to hear. THE WILL-O'-THE-WISP'S IN THE TOWN!
That's of much more consequence than poetry and stories. I ought,
indeed, to hold my tongue; but there must be a necessity--a fate--a
something that sticks in my throat, and that wants to come out. Take
care, you mortals! "

"I don't understand a word of all this! " cried the man.

"Be kind enough to seat yourself on that cupboard," she retorted,
"but take care you don't fall through and break the bottles--you know
what's inside of them. I must tell of the great event. It occurred no
longer ago than the day before yesterday. It did not happen earlier.
It has now three hundred and sixty-three days to run about. I suppose
you know how many days there are in a year? "

And this is what the Moor-woman told:

"There was a great commotion yesterday out here in the marsh!
There was a christening feast! A little Will-o'-the-Wisp was born
here--in fact, twelve of them were born all together; and they have
permission, if they choose to use it, to go abroad among men, and to
move about and command among them, just as if they were born
mortals. That was a great event in the marsh, and accordingly all
the Will-o'-the-Wisps, male and female, went dancing like little
lights across the moor. There are some of them of the dog species, but
those are not worth mentioning. I sat there on the cupboard, and had
all the twelve little new-born Will-o'-the-Wisps upon my lap. They
shone like glow-worms; they already began to hop, and increased in
size every moment, so that before a quarter of an hour had elapsed,
each of them looked just as large as his father or his uncle. Now,
it's an old-established regulation and favor, that when the moon
stands just as it did yesterday, and the wind blows just as it blew
then, it is allowed and accorded to all Will-o'-the-Wisps--that is, to
all those who are born at that minute of time--to become mortals,
and individually to exert their power for the space of one year.

"The Will-o'-the-Wisp may run about in the country and through the
world, if it is not afraid of falling into the sea, or of being
blown out by a heavy storm. It can enter into a person and speak for
him, and make all the movements it pleases. The Will-o'-the-Wisp may
take whatever form he likes, of man or woman, and can act in their
spirit and in their disguise in such a way that he can effect whatever
he wishes to do. But he must manage, in the course of the year, to
lead three hundred and sixty-five people into a bad way, and in a
grand style, too. To lead them away from the right and the truth;
and then he reaches the highest point. Such a Will-o'-the-Wisp can
attain to the honor of being a runner before the devil's state
coach; and then he'll wear clothes of fiery yellow, and breathe
forth flames out of his throat. That's enough to make a simple
Will-o'-the-Wisp smack his lips. But there's some danger in this,
and a great deal of work for a Will-o'-the-Wisp who aspires to play so
distinguished a part. If the eyes of the man are opened to what he is,
and if the man can then blow him away, it's all over with him, and
he must come back into the marsh; or if, before the year is up, the
Will-o'-the-Wisp is seized with a longing to see his family, and so
returns to it and gives the matter up, it is over with him likewise,
and he can no longer burn clear, and soon becomes extinguished, and
cannot be lit up again; and when the year has elapsed, and he has
not led three hundred and sixty-five people away from the truth and
from all that is grand and noble, he is condemned to be imprisoned
in decayed wood, and to lie glimmering there, without being able to
move; and that's the most terrible punishment that can be inflicted on
a lively Will-o'-the-Wisp.

"Now, all this I know, and all this I told to the twelve little
Will-o'-the-Wisps whom I had on my lap, and who seemed quite crazy
with joy.

"I told them that the safest and most convenient course was to
give up the honor, and do nothing at all; but the little flames
would not agree to this, and already fancied themselves clad in
fiery yellow clothes, breathing flames from their throats.

"'Stay with us,' said some of the older ones.

"'Carry on your sport with mortals,' said the others.

"'The mortals are drying up our meadows; they've taken to
draining. What will our successors do? '

"'We want to flame; we will flame--flame! ' cried the new-born
Will-o'the-Wisps.

"And thus the affair was settled.

"And now a ball was given, a minute long; it could not well be
shorter. The little elf-maidens whirled round three times with the
rest, that they might not appear proud, but they preferred dancing
with one another.

"And now the sponsors' gifts were presented, and presents were
thrown them. These presents flew like pebbles across the sea-water.
Each of the elf-maidens gave a little piece of her veil.

"'Take that,' they said, 'and then you'll know the higher dance,
the most difficult turns and twists--that is to say, if you should
find them necessary. You'll know the proper deportment, and then you
can show yourself in the very pick of society. '

"The night raven taught each of the young Will-o'-the-Wisps to
say, 'Goo-goo-good,' and to say it in the right place; and that's a
great gift which brings its own reward.

"The owl and the stork--but they said it was not worth mentioning,
and so we won't mention it.

"King Waldemar's wild chase was just then rushing over the moor,
and when the great lords heard of the festivities that were going
on, they sent a couple of handsome dogs, which hunt on the spoor of
the wind, as a present; and these might carry two or three of the
Will-o'-the-Wisps. A couple of old Alpas, spirits who occupy
themselves with Alp-pressing, were also at the feast; and from these
the young Will-o'-the-Wisps learned the art of slipping through
every key-hole, as if the door stood open before them. These Alpas
offered to carry the youngsters to the town, with which they were well
acquainted. They usually rode through the atmosphere on their own back
hair, which is fastened into a knot, for they love a hard seat; but
now they sat sideways on the wild hunting dogs, took the young
Will-o'-the-Wisps in their laps, who wanted to go into the town to
mislead and entice mortals, and, whisk! away they were. Now, this is
what happened last night. To-day the Will-o'-the-Wisps are in the
town, and have taken the matter in hand--but where and how? Ah, can
you tell me that? Still, I've a lightning conductor in my great toe,
and that will always tell me something. "

"Why, this is a complete story," exclaimed the man.

"Yes, but it is only the beginning," replied the woman. "Can you
tell me how the Will-o'-the-Wisps deport themselves, and how they
behave? and in what shapes they have aforetime appeared and led people
into crooked paths? "

"I believe," replied the man, "that one could tell quite a romance
about the Will-o'-the-Wisps, in twelve parts; or, better still, one
might make quite a popular play of them. "

"You might write that," said the woman, "but it's best let alone. "

"Yes, that's better and more agreeable," the man replied, "for
then we shall escape from the newspapers, and not be tied up by
them, which is just as uncomfortable as for a Will-o'-the-Wisp to
lie in decaying wood, to have to gleam, and not to be able to stir. "

"I don't care about it either way," cried the woman. "Let the rest
write, those who can, and those who cannot likewise. I'll grant you an
old bung from my cask that will open the cupboard where poetry's
kept in bottles, and you may take from that whatever may be wanting.
But you, my good man, seem to have blotted your hands sufficiently
with ink, and to have come to that age of satiety that you need not be
running about every year for stories, especially as there are much
more important things to be done. You must have understood what is
going on? "

"The Will-o'-the-Wisp is in town," said the man. "I've heard it,
and I have understood it. But what do you think I ought to do? I
should be thrashed if I were to go to the people and say, 'Look,
yonder goes a Will-o'-the-Wisp in his best clothes! '

"They also go in undress," replied the woman. "The
Will-o'-the-Wisp can assume all kinds of forms, and appear in every
place. He goes into the church, but not for the sake of the service;
and perhaps he may enter into one or other of the priests. He speaks
in the Parliament, not for the benefit of the country, but only for
himself. He's an artist with the color-pot as well as in the
theatre; but when he gets all the power into his own hands, then the
pot's empty! I chatter and chatter, but it must come out, what's
sticking in my throat, to the disadvantage of my own family. But I
must now be the woman that will save a good many people. It is not
done with my good will, or for the sake of a medal. I do the most
insane things I possibly can, and then I tell a poet about it, and
thus the whole town gets to know of it directly. "

"The town will not take that to heart," observed the man; "that
will not disturb a single person; for they will all think I'm only
telling them a story if I say, 'The Will-o'-the-Wisp is in the town,
says the Moor-woman. Take care of yourselves!
'"




THE STORY OF THE WIND

"Near the shores of the great Belt, which is one of the straits
that connect the Cattegat with the Baltic, stands an old mansion
with thick red walls. I know every stone of it," says the Wind. "I saw
it when it was part of the castle of Marck Stig on the promontory. But
the castle was obliged to be pulled down, and the stone was used again
for the walls of a new mansion on another spot--the baronial residence
of Borreby, which still stands near the coast. I knew them well, those
noble lords and ladies, the successive generations that dwelt there;
and now I'm going to tell you of Waldemar Daa and his daughters. How
proud was his bearing, for he was of royal blood, and could boast of
more noble deeds than merely hunting the stag and emptying the
wine-cup. His rule was despotic: 'It shall be,' he was accustomed to
say. His wife, in garments embroidered with gold, stepped proudly over
the polished marble floors. The tapestries were gorgeous, and the
furniture of costly and artistic taste. She had brought gold and plate
with her into the house. The cellars were full of wine. Black, fiery
horses, neighed in the stables. There was a look of wealth about the
house of Borreby at that time. They had three children, daughters,
fair and delicate maidens--Ida, Joanna, and Anna Dorothea; I have
never forgotten their names. They were a rich, noble family, born in
affluence and nurtured in luxury.

"Whir-r-r, whir-r-r! " roared the Wind, and went on, "I did not see
in this house, as in other great houses, the high-born lady sitting
among her women, turning the spinning-wheel. She could sweep the
sounding chords of the guitar, and sing to the music, not always
Danish melodies, but the songs of a strange land. It was 'Live and let
live,' here. Stranger guests came from far and near, music sounded,
goblets clashed, and I," said the Wind, "was not able to drown the
noise. Ostentation, pride, splendor, and display ruled, but not the
fear of the Lord.

"It was on the evening of the first day of May," the Wind
continued, "I came from the west, and had seen the ships overpowered
with the waves, when all on board persisted or were cast shipwrecked
on the coast of Jutland. I had hurried across the heath and over
Jutland's wood-girt eastern coast, and over the island of Funen, and
then I drove across the great belt, sighing and moaning. At length I
lay down to rest on the shores of Zeeland, near to the great house
of Borreby, where the splendid forest of oaks still flourished. The
young men of the neighborhood were collecting branches and brushwood
under the oak-trees. The largest and dryest they could find they
carried into the village, and piled them up in a heap and set them
on fire. Then the men and maidens danced, and sung in a circle round
the blazing pile. I lay quite quiet," said the Wind, "but I silently
touched a branch which had been brought by one of the handsomest of
the young men, and the wood blazed up brightly, blazed brighter than
all the rest. Then he was chosen as the chief, and received the name
of the Shepherd; and might choose his lamb from among the maidens.
There was greater mirth and rejoicing than I had ever heard in the
halls of the rich baronial house. Then the noble lady drove by towards
the baron's mansion with her three daughters, in a gilded carriage
drawn by six horses. The daughters were young and beautiful--three
charming blossoms--a rose, a lily, and a white hyacinth. The mother
was a proud tulip, and never acknowledged the salutations of any of
the men or maidens who paused in their sport to do her honor. The
gracious lady seemed like a flower that was rather stiff in the stalk.
Rose, lily, and hyacinth--yes, I saw them all three. Whose little
lambs will they one day become? thought I; their shepherd will be a
gallant knight, perhaps a prince. The carriage rolled on, and the
peasants resumed their dancing. They drove about the summer through
all the villages near. But one night, when I rose again, the high-born
lady lay down to rise again no more; that thing came to her which
comes to us all, in which there is nothing new. Waldemar Daa
remained for a time silent and thoughtful. 'The loftiest tree may be
bowed without being broken,' said a voice within him. His daughters
wept; all the people in the mansion wiped their eyes, but Lady Daa had
driven away, and I drove away too," said the Wind. "Whir-r-r,
whir-r-r-!

"I returned again; I often returned and passed over the island
of Funen and the shores of the Belt. Then I rested by Borreby, near
the glorious wood, where the heron made his nest, the haunt of the
wood-pigeons, the blue-birds, and the black stork. It was yet
spring, some were sitting on their eggs, others had already hatched
their young broods; but how they fluttered about and cried out when
the axe sounded through the forest, blow upon blow! The trees of the
forest were doomed. Waldemar Daa wanted to build a noble ship, a
man-of-war, a three-decker, which the king would be sure to buy; and
these, the trees of the wood, the landmark of the seamen, the refuge
of the birds, must be felled. The hawk started up and flew away, for
its nest was destroyed; the heron and all the birds of the forest
became homeless, and flew about in fear and anger. I could well
understand how they felt. Crows and ravens croaked, as if in scorn,
while the trees were cracking and falling around them. Far in the
interior of the wood, where a noisy swarm of laborers were working,
stood Waldemar Daa and his three daughters, and all were laughing at
the wild cries of the birds, excepting one, the youngest, Anna
Dorothea, who felt grieved to the heart; and when they made
preparations to fell a tree that was almost dead, and on whose naked
branches the black stork had built her nest, she saw the poor little
things stretching out their necks, and she begged for mercy for
them, with the tears in her eyes. So the tree with the black stork's
nest was left standing; the tree itself, however, was not worth much
to speak of. Then there was a great deal of hewing and sawing, and
at last the three-decker was built. The builder was a man of low
origin, but possessing great pride; his eyes and forehead spoke of
large intellect, and Waldemar Daa was fond of listening to him, and so
was Waldemar's daughter Ida, the eldest, now about fifteen years
old; and while he was building the ship for the father, he was
building for himself a castle in the air, in which he and Ida were
to live when they were married. This might have happened, indeed, if
there had been a real castle, with stone walls, ramparts, and a
moat. But in spite of his clever head, the builder was still but a
poor, inferior bird; and how can a sparrow expect to be admitted
into the society of peacocks?

"I passed on in my course," said the Wind, "and he passed away
also. He was not allowed to remain, and little Ida got over it,
because she was obliged to do so. Proud, black horses, worth looking
at, were neighing in the stable. And they were locked up; for the
admiral, who had been sent by the king to inspect the new ship, and
make arrangements for its purchase, was loud in admiration of these
beautiful horses. I heard it all," said the Wind, "for I accompanied
the gentlemen through the open door of the stable, and strewed
stalks of straw, like bars of gold, at their feet. Waldemar Daa wanted
gold, and the admiral wished for the proud black horses; therefore
he praised them so much. But the hint was not taken, and
consequently the ship was not bought. It remained on the shore covered
with boards,--a Noah's ark that never got to the water--Whir-r-r-r--and
that was a pity.

"In the winter, when the fields were covered with snow, and the
water filled with large blocks of ice which I had blown up to the
coast," continued the Wind, "great flocks of crows and ravens, dark
and black as they usually are, came and alighted on the lonely,
deserted ship. Then they croaked in harsh accents of the forest that
now existed no more, of the many pretty birds' nests destroyed and the
little ones left without a home; and all for the sake of that great
bit of lumber, that proud ship, that never sailed forth. I made the
snowflakes whirl till the snow lay like a great lake round the ship,
and drifted over it. I let it hear my voice, that it might know what
the storm has to say. Certainly I did my part towards teaching it
seamanship.

"That winter passed away, and another winter and summer both
passed, as they are still passing away, even as I pass away. The
snow drifts onwards, the apple-blossoms are scattered, the leaves
fall,--everything passes away, and men are passing away too. But the
great man's daughters are still young, and little Ida is a rose as
fair to look upon as on the day when the shipbuilder first saw her.
I often tumbled her long, brown hair, while she stood in the garden by
the apple-tree, musing, and not heeding how I strewed the blossoms
on her hair, and dishevelled it; or sometimes, while she stood
gazing at the red sun and the golden sky through the opening
branches of the dark, thick foliage of the garden trees. Her sister
Joanna was bright and slender as a lily; she had a tall and lofty
carriage and figure, though, like her mother, rather stiff in back.
She was very fond of walking through the great hall, where hung the
portraits of her ancestors. The women were represented in dresses of
velvet and silk, with tiny little hats, embroidered with pearls, on
their braided hair. They were all handsome women. The gentlemen
appeared clad in steel, or in rich cloaks lined with squirrel's fur;
they wore little ruffs, and swords at their sides. Where would
Joanna's place be on that wall some day? and how would he look,--her
noble lord and husband? This is what she thought of, and often spoke
of in a low voice to herself. I heard it as I swept into the long
hall, and turned round to come out again. Anna Dorothea, the pale
hyacinth, a child of fourteen, was quiet and thoughtful; her large,
deep, blue eyes had a dreamy look, but a childlike smile still
played round her mouth. I was not able to blow it away, neither did
I wish to do so. We have met in the garden, in the hollow lane, in the
field and meadow, where she gathered herbs and flowers which she
knew would be useful to her father in preparing the drugs and mixtures
he was always concocting. Waldemar Daa was arrogant and proud, but
he was also a learned man, and knew a great deal. It was no secret,
and many opinions were expressed on what he did. In his fireplace
there was a fire, even in summer time. He would lock himself in his
room, and for days the fire would be kept burning; but he did not talk
much of what he was doing. The secret powers of nature are generally
discovered in solitude, and did he not soon expect to find out the art
of making the greatest of all good things--the art of making gold?
So he fondly hoped; therefore the chimney smoked and the fire crackled
so constantly. Yes, I was there too," said the Wind. "'Leave it
alone,' I sang down the chimney; 'leave it alone, it will all end in
smoke, air, coals, and ashes, and you will burn your fingers. ' But
Waldemar Daa did not leave it alone, and all he possessed vanished
like smoke blown by me. The splendid black horses, where are they?
What became of the cows in the field, the old gold and silver
vessels in cupboards and chests, and even the house and home itself?
It was easy to melt all these away in the gold-making crucible, and
yet obtain no gold. And so it was. Empty are the barns and
store-rooms, the cellars and cupboards; the servants decreased in
number, and the mice multiplied. First one window became broken, and
then another, so that I could get in at other places besides the door.
'Where the chimney smokes, the meal is being cooked,' says the
proverb; but here a chimney smoked that devoured all the meals for the
sake of gold. I blew round the courtyard," said the Wind, "like a
watchman blowing his home, but no watchman was there. I twirled the
weather-cock round on the summit of the tower, and it creaked like the
snoring of a warder, but no warder was there; nothing but mice and
rats. Poverty laid the table-cloth; poverty sat in the wardrobe and in
the larder. The door fell off its hinges, cracks and fissures made
their appearance everywhere; so that I could go in and out at
pleasure, and that is how I know all about it. Amid smoke and ashes,
sorrow, and sleepless nights, the hair and beard of the master of
the house turned gray, and deep furrows showed themselves around his
temples; his skin turned pale and yellow, while his eyes still
looked eagerly for gold, the longed-for gold, and the result of his
labor was debt instead of gain. I blew the smoke and ashes into his
face and beard; I moaned through the broken window-panes, and the
yawning clefts in the walls; I blew into the chests and drawers
belonging to his daughters, wherein lay the clothes that had become
faded and threadbare, from being worn over and over again. Such a song
had not been sung, at the children's cradle as I sung now. The
lordly life had changed to a life of penury. I was the only one who
rejoiced aloud in that castle," said the Wind. "At last I snowed
them up, and they say snow keeps people warm. It was good for them,
for they had no wood, and the forest, from which they might have
obtained it, had been cut down. The frost was very bitter, and I
rushed through loop-holes and passages, over gables and roofs with
keen and cutting swiftness. The three high-born daughters were lying
in bed because of the cold, and their father crouching beneath his
leather coverlet. Nothing to eat, nothing to burn, no fire on the
hearth! Here was a life for high-born people! 'Give it up, give it
up! ' But my Lord Daa would not do that. 'After winter, spring will
come,' he said, 'after want, good times. We must not lose patience, we
must learn to wait. Now my horses and lands are all mortgaged, it is
indeed high time; but gold will come at last--at Easter. '

"I heard him as he thus spoke; he was looking at a spider's web,
and he continued, 'Thou cunning little weaver, thou dost teach me
perseverance. Let any one tear thy web, and thou wilt begin again
and repair it. Let it be entirely destroyed, thou wilt resolutely
begin to make another till it is completed. So ought we to do, if we
wish to succeed at last. '

"It was the morning of Easter-day. The bells sounded from the
neighboring church, and the sun seemed to rejoice in the sky. The
master of the castle had watched through the night, in feverish
excitement, and had been melting and cooling, distilling and mixing. I
heard him sighing like a soul in despair; I heard him praying, and I
noticed how he held his breath. The lamp burnt out, but he did not
observe it. I blew up the fire in the coals on the hearth, and it
threw a red glow on his ghastly white face, lighting it up with a
glare, while his sunken eyes looked out wildly from their cavernous
depths, and appeared to grow larger and more prominent, as if they
would burst from their sockets. 'Look at the alchymic glass,' he
cried; 'something glows in the crucible, pure and heavy. ' He lifted it
with a trembling hand, and exclaimed in a voice of agitation, 'Gold!
gold! ' He was quite giddy, I could have blown him down," said the
Wind; "but I only fanned the glowing coals, and accompanied him
through the door to the room where his daughter sat shivering. His
coat was powdered with ashes, and there were ashes in his beard and in
his tangled hair. He stood erect, and held high in the air the brittle
glass that contained his costly treasure. 'Found! found! Gold!
gold! ' he shouted, again holding the glass aloft, that it might
flash in the sunshine; but his hand trembled, and the alchymic glass
fell from it, clattering to the ground, and brake in a thousand
pieces. The last bubble of his happiness had burst, with a whiz and
a whir, and I rushed away from the gold-maker's house.

"Late in the autumn, when the days were short, and the mist
sprinkled cold drops on the berries and the leafless branches, I
came back in fresh spirits, rushed through the air, swept the sky
clear, and snapped off the dry twigs, which is certainly no great
labor to do, yet it must be done. There was another kind of sweeping
taking place at Waldemar Daa's, in the castle of Borreby. His enemy,
Owe Ramel, of Basnas, was there, with the mortgage of the house and
everything it contained, in his pocket. I rattled the broken
windows, beat against the old rotten doors, and whistled through
cracks and crevices, so that Mr. Owe Ramel did not much like to remain
there. Ida and Anna Dorothea wept bitterly, Joanna stood, pale and
proud, biting her lips till the blood came; but what could that avail?
Owe Ramel offered Waldemar Daa permission to remain in the house
till the end of his life. No one thanked him for the offer, and I
saw the ruined old gentleman lift his head, and throw it back more
proudly than ever. Then I rushed against the house and the old
lime-trees with such force, that one of the thickest branches, a
decayed one, was broken off, and the branch fell at the entrance,
and remained there. It might have been used as a broom, if any one had
wanted to sweep the place out, and a grand sweeping-out there really
was; I thought it would be so. It was hard for any one to preserve
composure on such a day; but these people had strong wills, as
unbending as their hard fortune. There was nothing they could call
their own, excepting the clothes they wore. Yes, there was one thing
more, an alchymist's glass, a new one, which had been lately bought,
and filled with what could be gathered from the ground of the treasure
which had promised so much but failed in keeping its promise. Waldemar
Daa hid the glass in his bosom, and, taking his stick in his hand, the
once rich gentleman passed with his daughters out of the house of
Borreby. I blew coldly upon his flustered cheeks, I stroked his gray
beard and his long white hair, and I sang as well as I was able,
'Whir-r-r, whir-r-r. Gone away! Gone away! ' Ida walked on one side
of the old man, and Anna Dorothea on the other; Joanna turned round,
as they left the entrance. Why? Fortune would not turn because she
turned. She looked at the stone in the walls which had once formed
part of the castle of Marck Stig, and perhaps she thought of his
daughters and of the old song,--

"The eldest and youngest, hand-in-hand,
Went forth alone to a distant land. "

These were only two; here there were three, and their father with them
also. They walked along the high-road, where once they had driven in
their splendid carriage; they went forth with their father as beggars.
They wandered across an open field to a mud hut, which they rented for
a dollar and a half a year, a new home, with bare walls and empty
cupboards. Crows and magpies fluttered about them, and cried, as if in
contempt, 'Caw, caw, turned out of our nest--caw, caw,' as they had
done in the wood at Borreby, when the trees were felled. Daa and his
daughters could not help hearing it, so I blew about their ears to
drown the noise; what use was it that they should listen? So they went
to live in the mud hut in the open field, and I wandered away, over
moor and meadow, through bare bushes and leafless forests, to the open
sea, to the broad shores in other lands, 'Whir-r-r, whir-r-r! Away,
away! ' year after year. "

And what became of Waldemar Daa and his daughters? Listen; the
Wind will tell us:

"The last I saw of them was the pale hyacinth, Anna Dorothea. She
was old and bent then; for fifty years had passed and she had outlived
them all. She could relate the history. Yonder, on the heath, near the
town of Wiborg, in Jutland, stood the fine new house of the canon. It
was built of red brick, with projecting gables. It was inhabited, for
the smoke curled up thickly from the chimneys. The canon's gentle lady
and her beautiful daughters sat in the bay-window, and looked over the
hawthorn hedge of the garden towards the brown heath. What were they
looking at? Their glances fell upon a stork's nest, which was built
upon an old tumbledown hut. The roof, as far as one existed at all,
was covered with moss and lichen. The stork's nest covered the greater
part of it, and that alone was in a good condition; for it was kept in
order by the stork himself. That is a house to be looked at, and not
to be touched," said the Wind. "For the sake of the stork's nest it
had been allowed to remain, although it is a blot on the landscape.
They did not like to drive the stork away; therefore the old shed was
left standing, and the poor woman who dwelt in it allowed to stay. She
had the Egyptian bird to thank for that; or was it perchance her
reward for having once interceded for the preservation of the nest of
its black brother in the forest of Borreby? At that time she, the
poor woman, was a young child, a white hyacinth in a rich garden. She
remembered that time well; for it was Anna Dorothea.

"'O-h, o-h,' she sighed; for people can sigh like the moaning of
the wind among the reeds and rushes. 'O-h, o-h,' she would say, 'no
bell sounded at thy burial, Waldemar Daa. The poor school-boys did not
even sing a psalm when the former lord of Borreby was laid in the
earth to rest. O-h, everything has an end, even misery. Sister Ida
became the wife of a peasant; that was the hardest trial which
befell our father, that the husband of his own daughter should be a
miserable serf, whom his owner could place for punishment on the
wooden horse. I suppose he is under the ground now; and Ida--alas!
alas! it is not ended yet; miserable that I am! Kind Heaven, grant
me that I may die.