介绍:
Once upon a time there was a little boy who had taken cold. He had goneout and got his feet wet; though nobody could imagine how it had happened, forit was quite dry weather. So his mother undressed him, put him to bed, andhad the tea-pot brought in, to make him a good cup of Elderflower tea.
Just at that moment the merry old man came in who lived up a-top of the houseall alone; for he had neither wife nor children--but he liked children verymuch, and knew so many fairy tales, that it was quite delightful.
"Now drink your tea," said the boy&`&s mother; "then, perhaps, you may hear afairy tale."
"If I had but something new to tell," said the old man. "But how did the childget his feet wet?"
"That is the very thing that nobody can make out," said his mother.
"Am I to hear a fairy tale?" asked the little boy.
"Yes, if you can tell me exactly--for I must know that first--how deep thegutter is in the little street opposite, that you pass through in going toschool."
"Just up to the middle of my boot," said the child; "but then I must go intothe deep hole."
"Ah, ah! That&`&s where the wet feet came from," said the old man. "I ought nowto tell you a story; but I don&`&t know any more."
"You can make one in a moment," said the little boy. "My mother says that allyou look at can be turned into a fairy tale: and that you can find a story ineverything."
"Yes, but such tales and stories are good for nothing. The right sort come ofthemselves; they tap at my forehead and say, &`&Here we are."
"Won&`&t there be a tap soon?" asked the little boy. And his mother laughed, putsome Elder-flowers in the tea-pot, and poured boiling water upon them.
"Do tell me something! Pray do!"
"Yes, if a fairy tale would come of its own accord; but they are proud andhaughty, and come only when they choose. Stop!" said he, all on a sudden. "Ihave it! Pay attention! There is one in the tea-pot!"
And the little boy looked at the tea-pot. The cover rose more and more; andthe Elder-flowers came forth so fresh and white, and shot up long branches.Out of the spout even did they spread themselves on all sides, and grew largerand larger; it was a splendid Elderbush, a whole tree; and it reached into thevery bed, and pushed the curtains aside. How it bloomed! And what an odour! Inthe middle of the bush sat a friendly-looking old woman in a most strangedress. It was quite green, like the leaves of the elder, and was trimmed withlarge white Elder-flowers; so that at first one could not tell whether it was a stuff, or a natural green and real flowers.
"What‘s that woman&`&s name?" asked the little boy.
"The Greeks and Romans," said the old man, "called her a Dryad; but that we donot understand. The people who live in the New Booths* have a much better namefor her; they call her &`&old Granny&`&--and she it is to whom you are to payattention. Now listen, and look at the beautiful Elderbush.
* A row of buildings for seamen in Copenhagen.
"Just such another large blooming Elder Tree stands near the New Booths. Itgrew there in the corner of a little miserable court-yard; and under it sat,of an afternoon, in the most splendid sunshine, two old people; an old, oldseaman, and his old, old wife. They had great-grand-children, and were soon tocelebrate the fiftieth anniversary of their marriage; but they could notexactly recollect the date: and old Granny sat in the tree, and looked aspleased as now. `I know the date,&`& said she; but those below did not hear her,for they were talking about old times.
"Yes, can&`&t you remember when we were very little,&`& said the old seaman, andran and played about? It was the very same court-yard where we now are, and westuck slips in the ground, and made a garden.
"&`&I remember it well, said the old woman; I remember it quite well. Wewatered the slips, and one of them was an Elderbush. It took root, put forthgreen shoots, and grew up to be the large tree under which we old folks arenow sitting.
"To be sure,&`& said he. &`&And there in the corner stood a waterpail, where Iused to swim my boats.
"&` but first we went to school to learn somewhat, said she; &`&and then wewere confirmed. We both cried; but in the afternoon we went up the RoundTower, and looked down on Copenhagen, and far, far away over the water; thenwe went to Friedericksberg, where the King and the Queen were sailing about in
their splendid barges.
"But I had a different sort of sailing to that, later; and that, too, formany a year; a long way off, on great voyages.
"Yes, many a time have I wept for your sake,&`& said she. &`&I thought youwere dead and gone, and lying down in the deep waters. Many a night have I gotup to see if the wind had not changed: and changed it had, sure enough; butyou never came. I remember so well one day, when the rain was pouring down in
torrents, the scavengers were before the house where I was in service, and Ihad come up with the dust, and remained standing at the door--it was dreadfulweather--when just as I was there, the postman came and gave me a letter. Itwas from you! What a tour that letter had made! I opened it instantly andread: I laughed and wept. I was so happy. In it I read that you were in warmlands where the coffee-tree grows. What a blessed land that must be! Yourelated so much, and I saw it all the while the rain was pouring down, and Istanding there with the dust-box. At the same moment came someone who embracedme.&
"Yes; but you gave him a good box on his ear that made it tingle!
"But I did not know it was you. You arrived as soon as your letter, and youwere so handsome--that you still are--and had a long yellow silk handkerchiefround your neck, and a bran new hat on; oh, you were so dashing! Good heavens!What weather it was, and what a state the street was in!
"And then we married,&`& said he. &`&Don&`&t you remember? And then we had ourfirst little boy, and then Mary, and Nicholas, and Peter, and Christian.
"&`&Yes, and how they all grew up to be honest people, and were beloved byeverybody.
"&`&And their children also have children,&`& said the old sailor; &`&yes, thoseare our grand-children, full of strength and vigor. It was, methinks aboutthis season that we had our wedding.&`&
"&`&Yes, this very day is the fiftieth anniversary of the marriage,&`& said oldGranny, sticking her head between the two old people; who thought it was theirneighbor who nodded to them. They looked at each other and held one another bythe hand. Soon after came their children, and their grand-children; for they
knew well enough that it was the day of the fiftieth anniversary, and had comewith their gratulations that very morning; but the old people had forgottenit, although they were able to remember all that had happened many years ago.And the Elderbush sent forth a strong odour in the sun, that was just about toset, and shone right in the old people&`&s faces. They both looked sorosy-cheeked; and the youngest of the grandchildren danced around them, andcalled out quite delighted, that there was to be something very splendid that
evening--they were all to have hot potatoes. And old Nanny nodded in the bush,and shouted &`&hurrah!&`& with the rest."
"But that is no fairy tale," said the little boy, who was listening to thestory.
"The thing is, you must understand it," said the narrator; "let us ask oldNanny."
"That was no fairy tale, &`&tis true," said old Nanny; "but now it&`&s coming. Themost wonderful fairy tales grow out of that which is reality; were that notthe case, you know, my magnificent Elderbush could not have grown out of thetea-pot." And then she took the little boy out of bed, laid him on her bosom,
and the branches of the Elder Tree, full of flowers, closed around her. Theysat in an aerial dwelling, and it flew with them through the air. Oh, it waswondrous beautiful! Old Nanny had grown all of a sudden a young and prettymaiden; but her robe was still the same green stuff with white flowers, whichshe had worn before. On her bosom she had a real Elderflower, and in heryellow waving hair a wreath of the flowers; her eyes were so large and bluethat it was a pleasure to look at them; she kissed the boy, and now they wereof the same age and felt alike.
Hand in hand they went out of the bower, and they were standing in thebeautiful garden of their home. Near the green lawn papa&`&s walking-stick wastied, and for the little ones it seemed to be endowed with life; for as soonas they got astride it, the round polished knob was turned into a magnificentneighing head, a long black mane fluttered in the breeze, and four slender yetstrong legs shot out. The animal was strong and handsome, and away they wentat full gallop round the lawn.
"Huzza! Now we are riding miles off," said the boy. "We are riding away tothe castle where we were last year!"
And on they rode round the grass-plot; and the little maiden, who, we know,was no one else but old Nanny, kept on crying out, "Now we are in the country!Don&`&t you see the farm-house yonder? And there is an Elder Tree standingbeside it; and the cock is scraping away the earth for the hens, look, how hestruts! And now we are close to the church. It lies high upon the hill,between the large oak-trees, one of which is half decayed. And now we are bythe smithy, where the fire is blazing, and where the half-naked men are
banging with their hammers till the sparks fly about. Away! away! To thebeautiful country-seat!"
And all that the little maiden, who sat behind on the stick, spoke of, flew byin reality. The boy saw it all, and yet they were only going round thegrass-plot. Then they played in a side avenue, and marked out a little gardenon the earth; and they took Elder-blossoms from their hair, planted them, andthey grew just like those the old people planted when they were children, asrelated before. They went hand in hand, as the old people had done when theywere children; but not to the Round Tower, or to Friedericksberg; no, thelittle damsel wound her arms round the boy, and then they flew far awaythrough all Denmark. And spring came, and summer; and then it was autumn, andthen winter; and a thousand pictures were reflected in the eye and in the
heart of the boy; and the little girl always sang to him, "This you will neverforget." And during their whole flight the Elder Tree smelt so sweet andodorous; he remarked the roses and the fresh beeches, but the Elder Tree had amore wondrous fragrance, for its flowers hung on the breast of the littlemaiden; and there, too, did he often lay his head during the flight.
"It is lovely here in spring!" said the young maiden. And they stood in abeech-wood that had just put on its first green, where the woodroof* at theirfeet sent forth its fragrance, and the pale-red anemony looked so pretty amongthe verdure. "Oh, would it were always spring in the sweetly-smelling Danishbeech-forests!"
* Asperula odorata.
"It is lovely here in summer!" said she. And she flew past old castles ofby-gone days of chivalry, where the red walls and the embattled gables weremirrored in the canal, where the swans were swimming, and peered up into theold cool avenues. In the fields the corn was waving like the sea; in theditches red and yellow flowers were growing; while wild-drone flowers, andblooming convolvuluses were creeping in the hedges; and towards evening themoon rose round and large, and the haycocks in the meadows smelt so sweetly.
"This one never forgets!"
"It is lovely here in autumn!" said the little maiden. And suddenly theatmosphere grew as blue again as before; the forest grew red, and green, andyellow-colored. The dogs came leaping along, and whole flocks of wild-fowlflew over the cairn, where blackberry-bushes were hanging round the oldstones. The sea was dark blue, covered with ships ful
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