No More Learning

The paper boat rocked up and down, and
turned itself round sometimes so quickly that the tin soldier
trembled; yet he remained firm; his countenance did not change; he
looked straight before him, and shouldered his musket. Suddenly the
boat shot under a bridge which formed a part of a drain, and then it
was as dark as the tin soldier's box.

"Where am I going now? " thought he. "This is the black goblin's
fault, I am sure. Ah, well, if the little lady were only here with
me in the boat, I should not care for any darkness. "

Suddenly there appeared a great water-rat, who lived in the drain.

"Have you a passport? " asked the rat, "give it to me at once. " But
the tin soldier remained silent and held his musket tighter than ever.
The boat sailed on and the rat followed it. How he did gnash his teeth
and cry out to the bits of wood and straw, "Stop him, stop him; he has
not paid toll, and has not shown his pass. " But the stream rushed on
stronger and stronger. The tin soldier could already see daylight
shining where the arch ended. Then he heard a roaring sound quite
terrible enough to frighten the bravest man. At the end of the
tunnel the drain fell into a large canal over a steep place, which
made it as dangerous for him as a waterfall would be to us. He was too
close to it to stop, so the boat rushed on, and the poor tin soldier
could only hold himself as stiffly as possible, without moving an
eyelid, to show that he was not afraid. The boat whirled round three
or four times, and then filled with water to the very edge; nothing
could save it from sinking. He now stood up to his neck in water,
while deeper and deeper sank the boat, and the paper became soft and
loose with the wet, till at last the water closed over the soldier's
head. He thought of the elegant little dancer whom he should never see
again, and the words of the song sounded in his ears--

"Farewell, warrior! ever brave,
Drifting onward to thy grave. "


Then the paper boat fell to pieces, and the soldier sank into
the water and immediately afterwards was swallowed up by a great fish.
Oh how dark it was inside the fish! A great deal darker than in the
tunnel, and narrower too, but the tin soldier continued firm, and
lay at full length shouldering his musket. The fish swam to and fro,
making the most wonderful movements, but at last he became quite
still. After a while, a flash of lightning seemed to pass through him,
and then the daylight approached, and a voice cried out, "I declare
here is the tin soldier. " The fish had been caught, taken to the
market and sold to the cook, who took him into the kitchen and cut him
open with a large knife. She picked up the soldier and held him by the
waist between her finger and thumb, and carried him into the room.
They were all anxious to see this wonderful soldier who had
travelled about inside a fish; but he was not at all proud. They
placed him on the table, and--how many curious things do happen in the
world! --there he was in the very same room from the window of which he
had fallen, there were the same children, the same playthings,
standing on the table, and the pretty castle with the elegant little
dancer at the door; she still balanced herself on one leg, and held up
the other, so she was as firm as himself. It touched the tin soldier
so much to see her that he almost wept tin tears, but he kept them
back. He only looked at her and they both remained silent. Presently
one of the little boys took up the tin soldier, and threw him into the
stove. He had no reason for doing so, therefore it must have been
the fault of the black goblin who lived in the snuff-box. The flames
lighted up the tin soldier, as he stood, the heat was very terrible,
but whether it proceeded from the real fire or from the fire of love
he could not tell. Then he could see that the bright colors were faded
from his uniform, but whether they had been washed off during his
journey or from the effects of his sorrow, no one could say. He looked
at the little lady, and she looked at him. He felt himself melting
away, but he still remained firm with his gun on his shoulder.
Suddenly the door of the room flew open and the draught of air
caught up the little dancer, she fluttered like a sylph right into the
stove by the side of the tin soldier, and was instantly in flames
and was gone. The tin soldier melted down into a lump, and the next
morning, when the maid servant took the ashes out of the stove, she
found him in the shape of a little tin heart. But of the little dancer
nothing remained but the tinsel rose, which was burnt black as a
cinder.




THE TINDER-BOX

A soldier came marching along the high road: "Left, right--left,
right. " He had his knapsack on his back, and a sword at his side; he
had been to the wars, and was now returning home.

As he walked on, he met a very frightful-looking old witch in
the road. Her under-lip hung quite down on her breast, and she stopped
and said, "Good evening, soldier; you have a very fine sword, and a
large knapsack, and you are a real soldier; so you shall have as
much money as ever you like. "

"Thank you, old witch," said the soldier.

"Do you see that large tree," said the witch, pointing to a tree
which stood beside them. "Well, it is quite hollow inside, and you
must climb to the top, when you will see a hole, through which you can
let yourself down into the tree to a great depth. I will tie a rope
round your body, so that I can pull you up again when you call out
to me. "

"But what am I to do, down there in the tree? " asked the soldier.

"Get money," she replied; "for you must know that when you reach
the ground under the tree, you will find yourself in a large hall,
lighted up by three hundred lamps; you will then see three doors,
which can be easily opened, for the keys are in all the locks. On
entering the first of the chambers, to which these doors lead, you
will see a large chest, standing in the middle of the floor, and
upon it a dog seated, with a pair of eyes as large as teacups. But you
need not be at all afraid of him; I will give you my blue checked
apron, which you must spread upon the floor, and then boldly seize
hold of the dog, and place him upon it. You can then open the chest,
and take from it as many pence as you please, they are only copper
pence; but if you would rather have silver money, you must go into the
second chamber. Here you will find another dog, with eyes as big as
mill-wheels; but do not let that trouble you. Place him upon my apron,
and then take what money you please. If, however, you like gold
best, enter the third chamber, where there is another chest full of
it. The dog who sits on this chest is very dreadful; his eyes are as
big as a tower, but do not mind him. If he also is placed upon my
apron, he cannot hurt you, and you may take from the chest what gold
you will. "

"This is not a bad story," said the soldier; "but what am I to
give you, you old witch? for, of course, you do not mean to tell me
all this for nothing. "

"No," said the witch; "but I do not ask for a single penny. Only
promise to bring me an old tinder-box, which my grandmother left
behind the last time she went down there. "

"Very well; I promise. Now tie the rope round my body. "

"Here it is," replied the witch; "and here is my blue checked
apron. "

As soon as the rope was tied, the soldier climbed up the tree, and
let himself down through the hollow to the ground beneath; and here he
found, as the witch had told him, a large hall, in which many
hundred lamps were all burning. Then he opened the first door. "Ah! "
there sat the dog, with the eyes as large as teacups, staring at him.

"You're a pretty fellow," said the soldier, seizing him, and
placing him on the witch's apron, while he filled his pockets from the
chest with as many pieces as they would hold. Then he closed the
lid, seated the dog upon it again, and walked into another chamber,
And, sure enough, there sat the dog with eyes as big as mill-wheels.

"You had better not look at me in that way," said the soldier;
"you will make your eyes water;" and then he seated him also upon
the apron, and opened the chest. But when he saw what a quantity of
silver money it contained, he very quickly threw away all the
coppers he had taken, and filled his pockets and his knapsack with
nothing but silver.

Then he went into the third room, and there the dog was really
hideous; his eyes were, truly, as big as towers, and they turned round
and round in his head like wheels.

"Good morning," said the soldier, touching his cap, for he had
never seen such a dog in his life. But after looking at him more
closely, he thought he had been civil enough, so he placed him on
the floor, and opened the chest. Good gracious, what a quantity of
gold there was! enough to buy all the sugar-sticks of the
sweet-stuff women; all the tin soldiers, whips, and rocking-horses
in the world, or even the whole town itself There was, indeed, an
immense quantity. So the soldier now threw away all the silver money
he had taken, and filled his pockets and his knapsack with gold
instead; and not only his pockets and his knapsack, but even his cap
and boots, so that he could scarcely walk.

He was really rich now; so he replaced the dog on the chest,
closed the door, and called up through the tree, "Now pull me out, you
old witch. "

"Have you got the tinder-box? " asked the witch.

"No; I declare I quite forgot it. " So he went back and fetched the
tinderbox, and then the witch drew him up out of the tree, and he
stood again in the high road, with his pockets, his knapsack, his cap,
and his boots full of gold.

"What are you going to do with the tinder-box? " asked the soldier.

"That is nothing to you," replied the witch; "you have the
money, now give me the tinder-box. "

"I tell you what," said the soldier, "if you don't tell me what
you are going to do with it, I will draw my sword and cut off your
head. "

"No," said the witch.

The soldier immediately cut off her head, and there she lay on the
ground. Then he tied up all his money in her apron, and slung it on
his back like a bundle, put the tinderbox in his pocket, and walked
off to the nearest town. It was a very nice town, and he put up at the
best inn, and ordered a dinner of all his favorite dishes, for now
he was rich and had plenty of money.

The servant, who cleaned his boots, thought they certainly were
a shabby pair to be worn by such a rich gentleman, for he had not
yet bought any new ones. The next day, however, he procured some
good clothes and proper boots, so that our soldier soon became known
as a fine gentleman, and the people visited him, and told him all
the wonders that were to be seen in the town, and of the king's
beautiful daughter, the princess.

"Where can I see her? " asked the soldier.

"She is not to be seen at all," they said; "she lives in a large
copper castle, surrounded by walls and towers. No one but the king
himself can pass in or out, for there has been a prophecy that she
will marry a common soldier, and the king cannot bear to think of such
a marriage. "

"I should like very much to see her," thought the soldier; but
he could not obtain permission to do so. However, he passed a very
pleasant time; went to the theatre, drove in the king's garden, and
gave a great deal of money to the poor, which was very good of him; he
remembered what it had been in olden times to be without a shilling.
Now he was rich, had fine clothes, and many friends, who all
declared he was a fine fellow and a real gentleman, and all this
gratified him exceedingly. But his money would not last forever; and
as he spent and gave away a great deal daily, and received none, he
found himself at last with only two shillings left. So he was
obliged to leave his elegant rooms, and live in a little garret
under the roof, where he had to clean his own boots, and even mend
them with a large needle. None of his friends came to see him, there
were too many stairs to mount up. One dark evening, he had not even
a penny to buy a candle; then all at once he remembered that there was
a piece of candle stuck in the tinder-box, which he had brought from
the old tree, into which the witch had helped him.

He found the tinder-box, but no sooner had he struck a few
sparks from the flint and steel, than the door flew open and the dog
with eyes as big as teacups, whom he had seen while down in the
tree, stood before him, and said, "What orders, master? "

"Hallo," said the soldier; "well this is a pleasant tinderbox,
if it brings me all I wish for. "

"Bring me some money," said he to the dog.

He was gone in a moment, and presently returned, carrying a
large bag of coppers in his month. The soldier very soon discovered
after this the value of the tinder-box. If he struck the flint once,
the dog who sat on the chest of copper money made his appearance; if
twice, the dog came from the chest of silver; and if three times,
the dog with eyes like towers, who watched over the gold. The
soldier had now plenty of money; he returned to his elegant rooms, and
reappeared in his fine clothes, so that his friends knew him again
directly, and made as much of him as before.

After a while he began to think it was very strange that no one
could get a look at the princess. "Every one says she is very
beautiful," thought he to himself; "but what is the use of that if she
is to be shut up in a copper castle surrounded by so many towers.
Can I by any means get to see her. Stop! where is my tinder-box? " Then
he struck a light, and in a moment the dog, with eyes as big as
teacups, stood before him.

"It is midnight," said the soldier, "yet I should very much like
to see the princess, if only for a moment. "

The dog disappeared instantly, and before the soldier could even
look round, he returned with the princess. She was lying on the
dog's back asleep, and looked so lovely, that every one who saw her
would know she was a real princess. The soldier could not help kissing
her, true soldier as he was. Then the dog ran back with the
princess; but in the morning, while at breakfast with the king and
queen, she told them what a singular dream she had had during the
night, of a dog and a soldier, that she had ridden on the dog's
back, and been kissed by the soldier.

"That is a very pretty story, indeed," said the queen. So the next
night one of the old ladies of the court was set to watch by the
princess's bed, to discover whether it really was a dream, or what
else it might be.

The soldier longed very much to see the princess once more, so
he sent for the dog again in the night to fetch her, and to run with
her as fast as ever he could. But the old lady put on water boots, and
ran after him as quickly as he did, and found that he carried the
princess into a large house. She thought it would help her to remember
the place if she made a large cross on the door with a piece of chalk.
Then she went home to bed, and the dog presently returned with the
princess. But when he saw that a cross had been made on the door of
the house, where the soldier lived, he took another piece of chalk and
made crosses on all the doors in the town, so that the lady-in-waiting
might not be able to find out the right door.

Early the next morning the king and queen accompanied the lady and
all the officers of the household, to see where the princess had been.

"Here it is," said the king, when they came to the first door with
a cross on it.

"No, my dear husband, it must be that one," said the queen, pointing
to a second door having a cross also.

"And here is one, and there is another! " they all exclaimed; for
there were crosses on all the doors in every direction.

So they felt it would be useless to search any farther. But the
queen was a very clever woman; she could do a great deal more than
merely ride in a carriage. She took her large gold scissors, cut a
piece of silk into squares, and made a neat little bag. This bag she
filled with buckwheat flour, and tied it round the princess's neck;
and then she cut a small hole in the bag, so that the flour might be
scattered on the ground as the princess went along. During the
night, the dog came again and carried the princess on his back, and
ran with her to the soldier, who loved her very much, and wished
that he had been a prince, so that he might have her for a wife. The
dog did not observe how the flour ran out of the bag all the way
from the castle wall to the soldier's house, and even up to the
window, where he had climbed with the princess. Therefore in the
morning the king and queen found out where their daughter had been,
and the soldier was taken up and put in prison. Oh, how dark and
disagreeable it was as he sat there, and the people said to him,
"To-morrow you will be hanged. " It was not very pleasant news, and
besides, he had left the tinder-box at the inn. In the morning he
could see through the iron grating of the little window how the people
were hastening out of the town to see him hanged; he heard the drums
beating, and saw the soldiers marching. Every one ran out to look at
them, and a shoemaker's boy, with a leather apron and slippers on,
galloped by so fast, that one of his slippers flew off and struck
against the wall where the soldier sat looking through the iron
grating. "Hallo, you shoemaker's boy, you need not be in such a
hurry," cried the soldier to him. "There will be nothing to see till I
come; but if you will run to the house where I have been living, and
bring me my tinder-box, you shall have four shillings, but you must
put your best foot foremost. "

The shoemaker's boy liked the idea of getting the four
shillings, so he ran very fast and fetched the tinder-box, and gave it
to the soldier. And now we shall see what happened. Outside the town a
large gibbet had been erected, round which stood the soldiers and
several thousands of people. The king and the queen sat on splendid
thrones opposite to the judges and the whole council. The soldier
already stood on the ladder; but as they were about to place the
rope around his neck, he said that an innocent request was often
granted to a poor criminal before he suffered death. He wished very
much to smoke a pipe, as it would be the last pipe he should ever
smoke in the world. The king could not refuse this request, so the
soldier took his tinder-box, and struck fire, once, twice, thrice,--and
there in a moment stood all the dogs;--the one with eyes as big as
teacups, the one with eyes as large as mill-wheels, and the third,
whose eyes were like towers. "Help me now, that I may not be
hanged," cried the soldier.

And the dogs fell upon the judges and all the councillors;
seized one by the legs, and another by the nose, and tossed them
many feet high in the air, so that they fell down and were dashed to
pieces.

"I will not be touched," said the king. But the largest dog seized
him, as well as the queen, and threw them after the others. Then the
soldiers and all the people were afraid, and cried, "Good soldier, you
shall be our king, and you shall marry the beautiful princess. "

So they placed the soldier in the king's carriage, and the three
dogs ran on in front and cried "Hurrah! " and the little boys
whistled through their fingers, and the soldiers presented arms. The
princess came out of the copper castle, and became queen, which was
very pleasing to her. The wedding festivities lasted a whole week, and
the dogs sat at the table, and stared with all their eyes.




THE TOAD

The well was deep, and therefore the rope had to be a long one; it
was heavy work turning the handle when any one had to raise a
bucketful of water over the edge of the well. Though the water was
clear, the sun never looked down far enough into the well to mirror
itself in the waters; but as far as its beams could reach, green
things grew forth between the stones in the sides of the well.

Down below dwelt a family of the Toad race. They had, in fact,
come head-over-heels down the well, in the person of the old
Mother-Toad, who was still alive. The green Frogs, who had been
established there a long time, and swam about in the water, called
them "well-guests. " But the new-comers seemed determined to stay where
they were, for they found it very agreeable living "in a dry place,"
as they called the wet stones.

The Mother-Frog had once been a traveller. She happened to be in
the water-bucket when it was drawn up, but the light became too strong
for her, and she got a pain in her eyes. Fortunately she scrambled out
of the bucket; but she fell into the water with a terrible flop, and
had to lie sick for three days with pains in her back. She certainly
had not much to tell of the things up above, but she knew this, and
all the Frogs knew it, that the well was not all the world. The
Mother-Toad might have told this and that, if she had chosen, but
she never answered when they asked her anything, and so they left
off asking.

"She's thick, and fat and ugly," said the young green Frogs;
"and her children will be just as ugly as she is. "

"That may be," retorted the mother-Toad, "but one of them has a
jewel in his head, or else I have the jewel. "

The young frogs listened and stared; and as these words did not
please them, they made grimaces and dived down under the water. But
the little Toads kicked up their hind legs from mere pride, for each
of them thought that he must have the jewel; and then they sat and
held their heads quite still. But at length they asked what it was
that made them so proud, and what kind of a thing a jewel might be.

"Oh, it is such a splendid and precious thing, that I cannot
describe it," said the Mother-Toad. "It's something which one
carries about for one's own pleasure, and that makes other people
angry. But don't ask me any questions, for I shan't answer you. "

"Well, I haven't got the jewel," said the smallest of the Toads;
she was as ugly as a toad can be. "Why should I have such a precious
thing? And if it makes others angry, it can't give me any pleasure.
No, I only wish I could get to the edge of the well, and look out;
it must be beautiful up there. "

"You'd better stay where you are," said the old Mother-Toad,
"for you know everything here, and you can tell what you have. Take
care of the bucket, for it will crush you to death; and even if you
get into it safely, you may fall out. And it's not every one who falls
so cleverly as I did, and gets away with whole legs and whole bones.

"Quack! " said the little Toad; and that's just as if one of us
were to say, "Aha! "

She had an immense desire to get to the edge of the well, and to
look over; she felt such a longing for the green, up there; and the
next morning, when it chanced that the bucket was being drawn up,
filled with water, and stopped for a moment just in front of the stone
on which the Toad sat, the little creature's heart moved within it,
and our Toad jumped into the filled bucket, which presently was
drawn to the top, and emptied out.

"Ugh, you beast! " said the farm laborer who emptied the bucket,
when he saw the toad. "You're the ugliest thing I've seen for one
while. " And he made a kick with his wooden shoe at the toad, which
just escaped being crushed by managing to scramble into the nettles
which grew high by the well's brink.
Here she saw stem by stem, but
she looked up also; the sun shone through the leaves, which were quite
transparent; and she felt as a person would feel who steps suddenly
into a great forest, where the sun looks in between the branches and
leaves.

"It's much nicer here than down in the well! I should like to stay
here my whole life long! " said the little Toad. So she lay there for
an hour, yes, for two hours. "I wonder what is to be found up here? As
I have come so far, I must try to go still farther. " And so she
crawled on as fast as she could crawl, and got out upon the highway,
where the sun shone upon her, and the dust powdered her all over as
she marched across the way.

"I've got to a dry place now, and no mistake," said the Toad.
"It's almost too much of a good thing here; it tickles one so. "

She came to the ditch; and forget-me-nots were growing there,
and meadow-sweet; and a very little way off was a hedge of whitethorn,
and elder bushes grew there, too, and bindweed with white flowers. Gay
colors were to be seen here, and a butterfly, too, was flitting by.
The Toad thought it was a flower which had broken loose that it
might look about better in the world, which was quite a natural
thing to do.

"If one could only make such a journey as that! " said the Toad.
"Croak! how capital that would be. "

Eight days and eight nights she stayed by the well, and
experienced no want of provisions. On the ninth day she thought,
"Forward! onward! " But what could she find more charming and
beautiful? Perhaps a little toad or a few green frogs. During the last
night there had been a sound borne on the breeze, as if there were
cousins in the neighborhood.

"It's a glorious thing to live! glorious to get out of the well,
and to lie among the stinging-nettles, and to crawl along the dusty
road. But onward, onward! that we may find frogs or a little toad.
We can't do without that; nature alone is not enough for one. " And
so she went forward on her journey.

She came out into the open field, to a great pond, round about
which grew reeds; and she walked into it.

"It will be too damp for you here," said the Frogs; "but you are
very welcome! Are you a he or a she? But it doesn't matter; you are
equally welcome. "

And she was invited to the concert in the evening--the family
concert; great enthusiasm and thin voices; we know the sort of
thing. No refreshments were given, only there was plenty to drink, for
the whole pond was free.

"Now I shall resume my journey," said the little Toad; for she
always felt a longing for something better.

She saw the stars shining, so large and so bright, and she saw the
moon gleaming; and then she saw the sun rise, and mount higher and
higher.

"Perhaps after all, I am still in a well, only in a larger well. I
must get higher yet; I feel a great restlessness and longing. " And
when the moon became round and full, the poor creature thought, "I
wonder if that is the bucket which will be let down, and into which
I must step to get higher up? Or is the sun the great bucket? How
great it is! how bright it is! It can take up all. I must look out,
that I may not miss the opportunity. Oh, how it seems to shine in my
head! I don't think the jewel can shine brighter. But I haven't the
jewel; not that I cry about that--no, I must go higher up, into
splendor and joy! I feel so confident, and yet I am afraid. It's a
difficult step to take, and yet it must be taken. Onward, therefore,
straight onward! "

She took a few steps, such as a crawling animal may take, and soon
found herself on a road beside which people dwelt; but there were
flower gardens as well as kitchen gardens. And she sat down to rest by
a kitchen garden.

"What a number of different creatures there are that I never knew!
and how beautiful and great the world is! But one must look round in
it, and not stay in one spot. " And then she hopped into the kitchen
garden. "How green it is here! how beautiful it is here! "

"I know that," said the Caterpillar, on the leaf, "my leaf is
the largest here. It hides half the world from me, but I don't care
for the world. "

"Cluck, cluck! " And some fowls came. They tripped about in the
cabbage garden. The Fowl who marched at the head of them had a long
sight, and she spied the Caterpillar on the green leaf, and pecked
at it, so that the Caterpillar fell on the ground, where it twisted
and writhed.

The Fowl looked at it first with one eye and then with the
other, for she did not know what the end of this writhing would be.

"It doesn't do that with a good will," thought the Fowl, and
lifted up her head to peck at the Caterpillar.

The Toad was so horrified at this, that she came crawling straight
up towards the Fowl.

"Aha, it has allies," quoth the Fowl. "Just look at the crawling
thing! " And then the Fowl turned away. "I don't care for the little
green morsel; it would only tickle my throat. " The other fowls took
the same view of it, and they all turned away together.

"I writhed myself free," said the Caterpillar. "What a good
thing it is when one has presence of mind! But the hardest thing
remains to be done, and that is to get on my leaf again. Where is it? "

And the little Toad came up and expressed her sympathy. She was
glad that in her ugliness she had frightened the fowls.

"What do you mean by that? " cried the Caterpillar. "I wriggled
myself free from the Fowl. You are very disagreeable to look at.
Cannot I be left in peace on my own property? Now I smell cabbage; now
I am near my leaf. Nothing is so beautiful as property. But I must
go higher up. "

"Yes, higher up," said the little Toad; "higher-up! She feels just
as I do; but she's not in a good humor to-day. That's because of the
fright. We all want to go higher up. " And she looked up as high as
ever she could.

The stork sat in his nest on the roof of the farm-house. He
clapped with his beak, and the Mother-stork clapped with hers.

"How high up they live! " thought the Toad. "If one could only
get as high as that! "

In the farm-house lived two young students; the one was a poet and
the other a scientific searcher into the secrets of nature. The one
sang and wrote joyously of everything that God had created, and how it
was mirrored in his heart. He sang it out clearly, sweetly, richly, in
well-sounding verses; while the other investigated created matter
itself, and even cut it open where need was. He looked upon God's
creation as a great sum in arithmetic--subtracted, multiplied, and
tried to know it within and without, and to talk with understanding
concerning it; and that was a very sensible thing; and he spoke
joyously and cleverly of it. They were good, joyful men, those two.

"There sits a good specimen of a toad," said the naturalist. "I
must have that fellow in a bottle of spirits. "

"You have two of them already," replied the poet. "Let the thing
sit there and enjoy its life. "

"But it's so wonderfully ugly," persisted the first.

"Yes, if we could find the jewel in its head," said the poet, "I
too should be for cutting it open. '

"A jewel! " cried the naturalist. "You seem to know a great deal
about natural history. "

"But is there not something beautiful in the popular belief that
just as the toad is the ugliest of animals, it should often carry
the most precious jewel in its head? Is it not just the same thing
with men? What a jewel that was that Aesop had, and still more,
Socrates! "

The Toad did not hear any more, nor did she understand half of
what she had heard. The two friends walked on, and thus she escaped
the fate of being bottled up in spirits.

"Those two also were speaking of the jewel," said the Toad to
herself. "What a good thing that I have not got it! I might have
been in a very disagreeable position. "

Now there was a clapping on the roof of the farm-house.
Father-Stork was making a speech to his family, and his family was
glancing down at the two young men in the kitchen garden.

"Man is the most conceited creature! " said the Stork. "Listen
how their jaws are wagging; and for all that they can't clap properly.
They boast of their gifts of eloquence and their language! Yes, a fine
language truly! Why, it changes in every day's journey we make. One of
them doesn't understand another. Now, we can speak our language over
the whole earth--up in the North and in Egypt. And then men are not
able to fly, moreover. They rush along by means of an invention they
call 'railway;' but they often break their necks over it. It makes
my beak turn cold when I think of it. The world could get on without
men. We could do without them very well, so long as we only keep frogs
and earth-worms. "

"That was a powerful speech," thought the little Toad. "What a
great man that is yonder! and how high he sits! Higher than ever I saw
any one sit yet; and how he can swim! " she cried, as the Stork
soared away through the air with outspread pinions.

And the Mother-Stork began talking in the nest, and told about
Egypt and the waters of the Nile, and the incomparable mud that was to
be found in that strange land; and all this sounded new and very
charming to the little Toad.

"I must go to Egypt! " said she. "If the Stork or one of his
young ones would only take me! I would oblige him in return. Yes, I
shall get to Egypt, for I feel so happy! All the longing and all the
pleasure that I feel is much better than having a jewel in one's
head. "

And it was just she who had the jewel. That jewel was the
continual striving and desire to go upward--ever upward. It gleamed in
her head, gleamed in joy, beamed brightly in her longing.

Then, suddenly, up came the Stork. He had seen the Toad in the
grass, and stooped down and seized the little creature anything but
gently. The Stork's beak pinched her, and the wind whistled; it was
not exactly agreeable, but she was going upward--upward towards
Egypt--and she knew it; and that was why her eyes gleamed, and a spark
seemed to fly out of them.

"Quunk! --ah! "

The body was dead--the Toad was killed! But the spark that had
shot forth from her eyes; what became of that?

The sunbeam took it up; the sunbeam carried the jewel from the
head of the toad. Whither?

Ask not the naturalist; rather ask the poet. He will tell it
thee under the guise of a fairy tale; and the Caterpillar on the
cabbage, and the Stork family belong to the story. Think! the
Caterpillar is changed, and turns into a beautiful butterfly; the
Stork family flies over mountains and seas, to the distant Africa, and
yet finds the shortest way home to the same country--to the same roof.
Nay, that is almost too improbable; and yet it is true. You may ask
the naturalist, he will confess it is so; and you know it yourself,
for you have seen it.

But the jewel in the head of the toad?

Seek it in the sun; see it there if you can.

The brightness is too dazzling there. We have not yet such eyes as
can see into the glories which God has created, but we shall receive
them by-and-by; and that will be the most beautiful story of all,
and we shall all have our share in it.




THE TOP AND BALL

A whipping top and a little ball lay together in a box, among
other toys, and the top said to the ball, "Shall we be married, as
we live in the same box? "

But the ball, which wore a dress of morocco leather, and thought
as much of herself as any other young lady, would not even
condescend to reply.

The next day came the little boy to whom the playthings
belonged, and he painted the top red and yellow, and drove a
brass-headed nail into the middle, so that while the top was
spinning round it looked splendid.

"Look at me," said the top to the ball. "What do you say now?
Shall we be engaged to each other? We should suit so well; you spring,
and I dance. No one could be happier than we should be. "

"Indeed! do you think so? Perhaps you do not know that my father
and mother were morocco slippers, and that I have a Spanish cork in my
body. "

"Yes; but I am made of mahogany," said the top. "The major himself
turned me. He has a turning lathe of his own, and it is a great
amusement to him. "

"Can I believe it? " asked the ball.

"May I never be whipped again," said the top, "if I am not telling
you the truth. "

"You certainly know how to speak for yourself very well," said the
ball; "but I cannot accept your proposal. I am almost engaged to a
swallow. Every time I fly up in the air, he puts his head out of the
nest, and says, 'Will you? ' and I have said, 'Yes,' to myself
silently, and that is as good as being half engaged; but I will
promise never to forget you. "

"Much good that will be to me," said the top; and they spoke to
each other no more.

Next day the ball was taken out by the boy. The top saw it
flying high in the air, like a bird, till it would go quite out of
sight. Each time it came back, as it touched the earth, it gave a
higher leap than before, either because it longed to fly upwards, or
from having a Spanish cork in its body. But the ninth time it rose
in the air, it remained away, and did not return. The boy searched
everywhere for it, but he searched in vain, for it could not be found;
it was gone.

"I know very well where she is," sighed the top; "she is in the
swallow's nest, and has married the swallow. "

The more the top thought of this, the more he longed for the ball.
His love increased the more, just because he could not get her; and
that she should have been won by another, was the worst of all. The
top still twirled about and hummed, but he continued to think of the
ball; and the more he thought of her, the more beautiful she seemed to
his fancy.

Thus several years passed by, and his love became quite old. The
top, also, was no longer young; but there came a day when he looked
handsomer than ever; for he was gilded all over.