Part 16

"What!" said Great Claus, "is he not dead? I must go and see about this myself." So he took the measure over to Little Claus himself.

"I say, where did you get all that money?" asked he, his eyes big and round with amazement at what he saw.

"It was grandmother you killed instead of me," said Little Claus. "I have sold her and got a bushel of money for her."

"That's being well paid, indeed," said Great Claus, and he hurried home, took an ax and killed his own old grandmother.

He then put her in a carriage and drove off to the town where the apothecary lived, and asked him if he would buy a dead person.

"Who is it and where did you get him?" asked the apothecary.

"It is my grandmother, and I have killed her so as to sell her for a bushel of money."

"Heaven preserve us!" cried the apothecary. "You talk like a madman. Pray don't say such things, you may lose your head." And he told him earnestly what a horribly wicked thing he had done, and that he deserved punishment. Great Claus was so frightened that he rushed out of the shop, jumped into his cart, whipped up his horse, and galloped home through the wood. The apothecary and all the people who saw him thought he was mad, and so they let him drive away.

"You shall be paid for this!" said Great Claus, when he got out on the highroad. "You shall be paid for this, Little Claus!"

Directly after he got home, Great Claus took the biggest sack he could find and went over to Little Claus.

"You have deceived me again," he said. "First I killed my horses, and then my old grandmother. That is all your fault; but you shall never have the chance to trick me again." And he seized Little Claus around the body and thrust him into the sack; then he threw the sack over his back, calling out to Little Claus, "Now I'm going to the river to drown you."

It was a long way that he had to travel before he came to the river, and Little Claus was not light to carry. The road came close to the church, and the people within were singing beautifully. Great Claus put down his sack, with Little Claus in it, at the church door. He thought it would be a very good thing to go in and hear a psalm before he went further, for Little Claus could not get out. So he went in.

"O dear! O dear!" moaned Little Claus in the sack, and he turned and twisted, but found it impossible to loosen the cord. Then there came by an old drover with snow-white hair and a great staff in his hand. He was driving a whole herd of cows and oxen before him, and they jostled against the sack in which Little Claus was confined, so that it was upset.

"O dear," again sighed Little Claus, "I'm so young to be going directly to the kingdom of heaven!"

"And I, poor fellow," said the drover, "am so old already, and cannot get there yet."

"Open the sack," cried Little Claus, "and creep into it in my place, and you'll be there directly."

"With all my heart," said the drover, and he untied the sack for Little Claus, who crept out at once. "You must look out for the cattle now," said the old man, as he crept in. Then Little Claus tied it up and went his way, driving the cows and the oxen.

In a little while Great Claus came out of the church. He took the sack upon his shoulders and thought as he did so that it had certainly grown lighter since he had put it down, for the old cattle-drover was not more than half as heavy as Little Claus.

"How light he is to carry now! That must be because I have heard a psalm in the church."

He went on to the river, which was both deep and broad, threw the sack containing the old drover into the water, and called after him, thinking it was Little Claus, "Now lie there! You won't trick me again!"

He turned to go home, but when he came to the place where there was a crossroad he met Little Claus driving his cattle.

"What's this?" cried he. "Haven't I drowned you?"

"Yes," said Little Claus, "you threw me into the river, half an hour ago."

"But where did you get all those fine cattle?" asked Great Claus.

"These beasts are sea cattle," said Little Claus, "and I thank you heartily for drowning me, for now I'm at the top of the tree. I'm a very rich man, I can tell you. But I was frightened when you threw me into the water huddled up in the sack. I sank to the bottom immediately, but I did not hurt myself, for the grass is beautifully soft down there. I fell upon it, and the sack was opened, and the most beautiful maiden in snow-white garments and a green wreath upon her hair took me by the hand, and said to me, 'Have you come, Little Claus? Here are cattle for you, and a mile further up the road there is another herd!'

"Then I saw that she meant the river and that it was the highway for the sea folk. Down at the bottom of it they walk directly from the sea, straight into the land where the river ends. Lovely flowers and beautiful fresh grass were there. The fishes which swam there glided about me like birds in the air. How nice the people were, and what fine herds of cattle there were, pasturing on the mounds and about the ditches!"

"But why did you come up so quickly then?" asked Great Claus. "I shouldn't have done that if it was so fine down there."

"Why, that was just my cunning. You know, I told you that the mermaid said there was a whole herd of cattle for me a mile further up the stream. Well, you see, I know how the river bends this way and that, and how long a distance it would have been to go that way. If you can come up on the land and take the short cuts, driving across fields and down to the river again, you save almost half a mile and get the cattle much sooner."

"Oh, you are a fortunate man!" cried Great Claus. "Do you think I could get some sea cattle if I were to go down to the bottom of the river?"

"I'm sure you would," said Little Claus. "But I cannot carry you. If you will walk to the river and creep into a sack yourself, I will help you into the water with a great deal of pleasure."

"Thanks!" said Great Claus. "But if I do not find sea cattle there, I shall beat you soundly, you may be sure."

"Oh! do not be so hard on me."

And so they went together to the river. When the cows and oxen saw the water, they ran to it as fast as they could. "See how they hurry!" cried Little Claus. "They want to get back to the bottom again."

"Yes, but help me first or I'll thrash you," said Great Claus. He then crept into a big sack, which had been lying across the back of one of the cows. "Put a big stone in or I'm afraid I shan't sink."

"Oh, that'll be all right," said Little Claus, but he put a big stone into the sack and gave it a push. Plump! and there lay Great Claus in the river. He sank at once to the bottom.

"I'm afraid he won't find the cattle," said Little Claus. Then he drove homeward with his herd.

NOTES

THE STORKS

PAGE 29. On account of the ravages it makes among noxious animals, the stork is a privileged bird wherever it makes its home. In cities it is sometimes trained to act as scavenger. In Denmark, Holland, and Germany it is always a welcome guest. Boxes are placed upon roofs in the hope that nests may be made in them, for it is considered a sign of good fortune to have a stork's nest on one's roof.

The stork is noted for its great affection for its young and especially for the care it is said to give to its parents in their old age. It has no song, and is in no sense a bird to love, though it may become quite tame.

PAGE 37. The nurses in that country tell the children that the stork brings the little new babies.

THE WILD SWANS

PAGE 56. _Fata Morgana_ (fae'ta mor gae'nae): a singular appearance, or phenomenon, similar to the mirage of the desert; images of objects distorted or multiplied into fanciful shapes. This phenomenon was so called because it was looked upon as the work of a fata, or fairy, called Morgana. The phenomenon has been remarked chiefly at the Strait of Messina, between Italy and Calabria.

WHAT THE GOODMAN DOES IS ALWAYS RIGHT

PAGE 220. _in the country_: here means in Denmark.

THE SWINEHERD

PAGE 263. "Ah! thou dearest Augustine, All is gone, gone, gone."

THE METAL PIG

PAGE 269. _piazza_ (pe aet's[.a]): in Italy, a square, or open space, surrounded by buildings.

PAGE 271. _Palazzo degli Uffizi_ (pae laet's[=o] d[=a]l'y[=e] oef f[=e]t'se): one of the chief art galleries of the world. _Palazzo_ is the Italian word for "palace."

PAGE 272. _Medici_ (m[)e]d'[+e] ch[=e]): the name of a Florentine family.

PAGE 275. _Galileo_ is called the Father of Modern Science. He made a number of most important scientific discoveries. To him is attributed the saying in regard to the earth, when under trial for the supposed heresy of believing in its motion, "_It moves_, nevertheless."

_Dante_ was the greatest of Italian poets.

_Alfieri_ and _Machiavelli_ were authors.

Opposite the grave of Galileo is the tomb of _Michelangelo_, on which stand his bust and three figures, representing sculpture, painting, and architecture. Close by is a monument to Dante, whose body is buried at Ravenna. On this monument Italy is represented as pointing to the colossal statue of Dante, while Poetry mourns his loss. A few steps farther on is Alfieri's monument, which is adorned with laurel, the lyre, and dramatic masks; Italy weeps over his grave. Machiavelli is the last in this group of celebrated men.

EVERYTHING IN ITS RIGHT PLACE

PAGE 329. _Thespis_: a dramatic writer of the sixth century. He is called the Father of the Greek Drama.

* * * * *

Transcriber's Notes:

Diactritical symbols are rendered thus:

[)x] breve above [=x] macron above [.x] dot above [+x] tack above

Obvious punctuation errors repaired.

Page 26, "sushine" changed to "sunshine" (warm sunshine, while)