Miscellanea

and was to be with him to the las

time, but merely narrate circumstantially the wonderful ev

blue room, and Harriet

ht the same. Poor Edmund's hand (she recognized it by the sapphire ring) seemed to float in the air before her; and even after she awoke, she still seemed to see it floating towards the door, and then coming back again, till it vanished altogether. She had seen it again now in her sleep. I sat sil

t! Ther

of my interruption. I said that the day was past when I would sacrifice my peace or my duty to her whims; and she ventured no remonstrance when I announced that I intended to follow the hand so long as it moved, and discover the meaning of the apparition. I then flew down-stairs and out into the garden, where it still gleamed, and commenced a slow movement towards the gate. But my flight had been observed, Nelly, by Robert, our old butler. I

e matter, M

?" I said. "Come her

hat?"

thing?" I said. "N

d Robert, decidedly; "i

e, was slowly re-advancing. If it were fancy, why did it not vanish? I

y, do you se

know it by the sapphire ring. It is surrounded by a pale light, and moves slowly. My sister has seen it t

ared for the i

ster Edmund to you as loved him, and is his sister, who am I that I should laugh? My mother had a cousin (many a time has she told me the s

y with pleasure; but no time is to be lost now. I mean to

hick shoes, and come quietly down to this door. I'll

" I said; "this light

e there again; and the

w?" whispered the

aid; "it i

; "I will keep c

d faster, increasing to a good walking pace, passing over the garden-gate and leading us on till I completely lost knowledge of our position; but still w

s gone over a gate-we mu

a tone of the

and let us turn back while we can! You've had sore affliction;

othing that he should die, if truth could save him? You may go b

oothingly. "Go on, and the Lord be with you!

aid. "It is mo

, and I heard a

s that?

as my pistol. Go gently, my dear young lad

over a buildin

e!" he return

id. "Here we are. Wha

to me, and whi

e no noise! We are in Farmer Par

terror ca

ht. One may bear one's own troubles, but

, and I held the lantern whilst he unfastened the door. The

corner," I said. "There see

spered. "I know the place. Sit

rewood, pausing now and then to ask, "Is it here still?" At last he asked n

nk has be

ne, and went back again. At last a smothered sound made me

orothy, keep away. Have yo

s were covered with earth. He had only

! It ha

e, keeping one

er you were good and

ogether-"It has g

d's hand is in this handkerchief. It has

, "Let m

dear lady, you must not-cannot

urn, I holding the lantern in one hand, and with the other clinging to his arm (for the apparition that had been my gui

oo

othing,"

r lantern,"

ng but the dog-

said, "the dog has

t time left us in which to profit by it, supposing, as I fully believed, that it was the first step to the vin

innocent as I am; and God forgive us a

He has a lodging close by the prison: I have the address. At eight o'clock to-morrow

ld silver watch and bro

ty minutes

u will get something to eat, Robert, and put the

Harriet at the door. I pushed her b

ood in Thomas Parker's barn. I am going up to town with him at once, to put the m

e in the (what must have been) anxious interval of our absence, for some painful enough reflection, and my announcement

not been for Mr. Manners being found there, I should have sworn that Parker had done it. Dolly! I saw him that night. He came in and helped. And once I saw him look at Mr. Manners with such a stra

ng in agony on th

t too late: but we must not wa

ang up

shall not go with you. I am not worthy,

o soul go out or come into the house till I return, or some gos

and (as if anxious to crowd into this one occasion all the long-withheld offices of sisterly kindness) came in with her arms full of a beautiful set of sables that belonged to her-cloak, cuffs, muff, e

sweet face does look out of those gr

death. Moreover, hers was one of those shallow minds that seem instinctively to escape by any avenue from a painful subject; and by t

e all righ

ss, always the same, like an enchanted drive; then the endless suburbs, and at last the streets where people lounged in corners and stopped the way, as if every second of time were not worth a king's ransom; and sedan-chairs trotted lightly home from gay parties as if life were not one long tragedy. Once the way was stopped, once we lost it. That mista

, this is

) Robert explained to him the nature of our errand, and

, "you must come u

come quickly. Let us go to the king. Let us do somet

good Dr. Penn could persuade me that I should only be a hindrance, that he would d

trust me. To obey is

ll his landlady-"a good woman," he said: "I have known her long." Then

o'clock. Five

le that Dr. Penn had lighted, and at a framed piece of embroidery, representing Abra

s, fat cheeks, and a fat wedding-ring, stood curtseying at the door. I said,

nd bringing an air of comfort over the dreary little parlour. Then she was gone for a little bit, and I felt a little more lonely and weary; and then I heard that cheerful clatter, commonly so grateful to feminine exh

and take some tea. We all have our tro

ough all my troubles I had never felt as I felt it now that it had come. I fairly

m, I have

e. She brought down pillows, covered them with a red shawl, and propped me up till the horsehair sofa became an easy couch,

ome warm water and wash your hands and face an

t sleep,

th was not t

something to mak

wallow a sleeping-draught and be laid easily upon the sof

to your cheeks, miss, and I will say you

king in my head as the sleeping-

irds sing a

y when I awoke, and only then, I believe, from the mesmeric influence of being gazed at. Eleano

efore either of us could speak, and, oddly enough, one of the first things he said was (twitching my cloak with the quaint curiosity of a man very

unity of revenge was too strong, and he had murdered him. His first idea had been flight, and being unable to drag the ring from Edmund's hand, which was swollen, he had cut it off, and thrown the body into the ditch. On hearing of the finding of the body, and of poor George's position, he determined to brave it out, with what almost fatal success we have seen. He dared not then sell the ring, and so buried it in his barn. Two

friend, who know it so

e of things has its advantages. Perhaps, having known together such real affliction, we cannot now afford to be disturbed by the petty vexations and worthless misunderstandings that form the troubles of smoother lives. Perhaps, having been all but so awfully parted, we can never afford, in this

SM

e down and settled on a brass knob of the fender, which the councillor's housekeeper had polish

er. If I were a little harder, I should be a cinder, not to say a coal. Decidedly my present pos

ng advantage of a draught under the door, he rose upwards and ali

the Smut, "made on purpose for me. But s

his nose, but mortal. It was not made of brass; it would not (as the cabi

individual of my position (almost, as I may say, a coal) should

thing on his nose. He put up his hand and rubbed the place. In an instant the

ra

ey, and there are many Smuts in the world. Let

CR

rick too. But it is not always the biggest

it set the other way, the Dust was blown out of it. The Crick was of a

end, cherish you, and house you, you poor fragile Dust. You are my wife.

s heart, this last as

me always," s

id the Dust, who spo

round to the west, and the Crick was emptied in a moment. In the

filled again. This is the greatest misfo

reater misfortune was in store. The owner of the wall was a ca

n time saves nine, however." And so saying he slapped a lu

nt back to the east, an

. "You have taken anoth

not answer, for he

eal life, and cannot f

BROT

er in the largest end of the same Pod. When they were little, flat, skinny, green things, they regarded the Pod in which they were born w

ld hold so tight. But in due time the Peas became large and round and

others. "Where shall we go to, when we enter

able. You will then lie quiet for the winter, and in the spring you will come up and flower, and bear pods as I have done.

verything in the future career of their

y fell, not into the south border, but into the

venture," said

er Sweet-peas, and a brown pape

are together

m the bag on the floor. The seedsman picked him u

aid he; "I shall fin

ot find him; for the truth is, that he had been put by mis

own shortly, and when we come up we

n the bag with him, and when he could not fi

shall find each ot

No. 1 was sown in a cosy little garden near a cosy little cottage in

blossomed, and the first thing each did when he op

er was not there; and soon a beautiful girl, who came int

were all white ones, and had no scent whatever. He had b

e was sunburnt but handsome, and he was picking flowers

sy little cottage in a cosy little garden. He opened the door and went into a room where a beautiful girl was arranging some flowers that lay on the table. When she

arden flower, and must have been sown by accident

ong the rest on the table, an

d in hand in the sunshin

ed," said the young man; "and now, to look b

at we feel," sai

ave married some one else, and that we might never meet again. But in spite of everything I couldn't q

y happy, but just a little anxious, for the lovers had f

fading before we have ever fully bloomed, and after this we do not know what will happen to us. But the young girl is

GRINE'S WON

LERS, AND THE EN

ed on

e latter part of his absence from home had been spent not only in a foreign country, but i

tter, that his arms were safe and sound in his coat-sleeves, that he had no wooden legs, and that they might feel him all over for wounds as hard as they liked. O

en they burst (with more or less attention to etiquette) into the dining-room with the dessert, were in f

ldren with a claim on his good nature that he was particularly indulgent to his young cou

al, Cousin? What's it

d Cousin Peregrin

o?" inquired t

ina, and you know I've just come f

six voi

rink nothi

lots of old C

adies with half th

house with bells ha

like the people

wear a

t the last question raised a roar of laughter

us all ab

o-comic countenance, and

rdly begin much before the birth of Confucius, but as that happened in or about the year 550 b.c., you will still h

onounce that last word properly you can do more than many emine

ed a little maid on Cousin Peregr

pulated a young gentleman, fresh fr

dren, it is that they are apt to puzzle them with paradoxes. Ev

gs are and what are not wonderful. The Boy Hunters young gentleman fell headlong into the qua

saw before, and which you don't understand. Like as if you saw a lot of giant

in China which surprised me very much, which I had never seen before, and which, I give you my word, I don't understand to this hour, but which I have no doubt was not in the least wonderful to the poor half-naked Chinaman who did it

ou, yes!" cried the c

thing you thought w

onderful was a conjuring tri

?" said the little maid o

ater and fish out of a seemingly empty shawl is not so marvellous if the conjurer has a well-draped table near him from behind which he can get such things, or even good wide sleeves to hide them in. But my poor conjurer was almost naked, and the bit of carpet, about the size of this hearthrug, which he carried with him, did not seem capable of holding glass bowls of water, most certainly. Besides which he shook it, and spread it o

rer a bit more firs

s in the day for the few small coins which the bystanders chose to give him. He was a very merry fellow, and all the time he was about his performance he kept m

, with loads of merchandise, or boxes of tea, or bars of silver, which th

n the tea-boxes," wh

n more of the world than Bessy; "not a picture, a figure dressed in silk; and

stop, Cousin Pereg

ted women toddling awkwardly along, with children-also cramp-footed-toddling awkwardly after them, dressed in all the colours of the rainbow, and with their poor little arms stuck out at right angles with their bodies, to help them to keep th

ver see how he did this particular feat. He used to do it with no clothes on except a pair of short trousers, for in the hot season, you must know, the lower classes of Chinese g

asked several impatient

th a ball of thread, which he swallowed next, and by and by he used to draw the thread

usin Pe

successively all the twelve needles. Then he opened his mouth, that you might ascertain that they were not there, and you certainly could not see them. He next swallowed a little ball of thread, not much bigger than a pea. This being done, he seemed to be very uneasy (as well he might be!), and he made fearful faces and violent gestures, and stamped on the ground, and muttered in

the young gentleman

what,

ou thought

Peregrine. "Don't y

if that's all you thought wonderful, now I want you to t

ne. "What I am going to tell you about now happened in the country. It was

o be there, Cou

days to go up and see Pekin. Therefore I was n

e river-boats. If the wind were favourable, we sailed; if we went with the stream-

ith a horse-Cou

d them and pulled us along. It was not a quick way of travelling, as you may believe, and

d fields-

hina is enormous, and the Chinese are very economical in using their land to produce food, and as they are not great meat-eaters-as we are-their fields are mostly ploughe

e any of th

and suspicion, and perhaps from some other reasons; but the Chinese and Japanese villagers who see strangers for the first time, and have lived quiet country lives out of the way of polit

en have those funny smashed

n; and the Tartar women always leave their own beautiful little feet uninjured. Well, the m

lage men we

itable to have no tail! For I must tell you that pigtails are sometimes cut off-as a degradation-when a man has committed some crime. But as soon as he can, he gets the barber to put him on a false pigtail, as a closely-cropped convict might wear a wig. They roll

showed something to that

glish, so they chattered like magpies to each other, and laughed like children or Chinamen-for the Chinese are very fond of a jo

t your han

et had stroked these very carefully, I perceived that they had never seen gloves bef

bari

time to go on and catch up my boat, which was floating sluggishly down the winding stream of the Peiho, I resolved on one final effect, like the last scene of a dramatic performance. Making vigorous signs and noises, to intimate that something was co

over each other. They thought I was skinning my hands. I 'smiled superior,' as I

grine, weren't t

ystery is probably to this day as unsolved to them as the trick of the ball of

blot upon

y narrow-eyed acquaintance, but when I had nearly regained my boat I could still see them in their blu

ne, you said in your letters that it was very cold in the north of China. If Chinamen know nothing about gloves, how can they kee

tonished a most respectable old China gentleman by my gloves. I will tel

dden up to this point to meet us. We had hired a little cart to convey our baggage, and I was sitting on my pony watching the lading up of the cart, when a dear old Chinaman, dressed in blue wadded

alking about?

turn down any lower than my wrists, he touched my hands softly, and made courteous signs, indicating that he was about to do me a good turn. Having signalled a polite disapprobation of the imperfect nature of my sleeves, he drew my attention to his own deep wide ones. Turning them back so as to expose the hands, the fine fur lining lay like a rich trimming above his wrist

not be restrained, and he broke into fits of delighted laughter, in which the horse-boys, the

f his. He looked anxious. I put my hand in my pocket, and drew out my gloves. He st

the silk-robe

the horse-boys

crowd louder still, and finally the old gentleman doubled hi

ne thing better than being

ha! ha!' they crie

, waving a well-gloved h

HE GREAT S

ed on

drew it had been nearly

y nothing o

draw it if he

ay the cloth, and he would have a bit of the table left clear for him, because he was in the middle of putting in the drowning men, and wanted to get them in before lunc

it very well, and he made

it very naturally, and he draws a great deal better than

all to them on their right hand and on their left. And I believe they were great waves like the wave in Robinson

I don't believe there a

Alfred's shipwreck was only an English shipwr

. He's been in foreign coun

ts, one of which represented Robinson Crusoe cowering under a huge wave, which towered far above his head, and threatened to overwhelm him. This wave Maggie had declared to be

when evening arrived the two children carried the book down wit

ve been at sea: isn't t

t sea: aren't there sometimes wa

e, examining the wood-cut; "but making allowance for

n triumphantly. "Maggie laughed a

bottle-green glass, like the glass mountain in the fairy tale, or shining mountains of phosphorescent light-meeting you as if, they would overwhelm you, passing under you, and tossing you like the old woman in the blanket, and then running away behind you as

as a man, Cou

men piled one upo

dren should choose this subject to tease

a comical one, but that it was remarkable that the children should have star

's mouth. A few people only had been saved. They had spent many days in an open boat in great suffering, and the particular question discussed a

deck, even if the captain was still in bed. Don't talk to me, Peregrine! You would say black is white for the sake

flat!" int

emence, "but there were no Welsh hills and valleys to block the view of castaway

sin Peregrine had replied; "and hills of water are qu

sy in the doorway, with the old fat, brown-calf-bound Robinson Crusoe under her arm. It opened without the sligh

of her brother's judgment. She was apt to think rather highly of

ery, very big, Cousin, they

and turn her about so that she meets the wave in the right w

dful if they didn

dn't meet one of these waves in the

ttling himself with two or three seve

ther story so soon, Peregrine," said Mamma, "but now I feel selfish, f

it, Cousin

beginning, I must explain to you that this vessel was one of those whose captains accepted the instruments offered by the Board of Trade to any ship tha

teorological

overhead or the currents in the sea. Now I must tell you that there had been a good deal of talk about currents of warm water in the Southern Ocean, like the Gulf Stream of the Atlantic, which keeps t

you know,

sea, and putting the thermometer into it. Bu

ways put it into Baby's bath when he had fit

the water of the sea got nearly thirty degrees

ight?" Maggie inquired doubt

vations' every hour or two, and it was at twelve o'cl

s a 'co

ry heavy, and the night was very dark. I tried the heat of the water for the last time that evening, and having bade good-night to the officer whose watch was just over, I stayed for a few minutes to talk to the officer whose watch was just beginning, before going below to go to bed. We were standing aft, and, fortunately for

n by the rigging you woul

k was swept off in less than a minute. The bull kept his f

ll! wha

for him on deck. When this comber broke over us it tore up the bull's house, and carried it overboard, b

you

ng and everybody about. So we all had to set to work to bale out water, and mop up our bed-rooms; and as the wave had also put out what lights there were, we had to work in the d

you ever

am thankfu

t's very, v

ast to keep myself steady, and with the sherry in one pocket and my wine-glass in another to keep them steady,

uch very big waves really,"

mma, smiling, "and I am much obliged to you for correcting my ignorance. I don't wish to beli

may be his the next; and cowardice and cold-heartedness are the last sins that can be laid at Jack Tar's door as a rule. But I will finish my story by telling the children what happene

n Marryat, Cousin P

he's a soldier captain," s

y a fellow-passenger, who popped in to cry, 'There's a man overboard!' 'Who?' shouted I as I jumped up. 'Giovanni,' he replied as he vanished, leaving me to follow him on deck as quickly as possible. Now, Fred, picture to yourself a grey morning, the damp deck of our vessel being rapidly crowded with everybo

they?" whis

for days, hovering, swooping, and whirling those great white win

they follo

ame now, as we knew, after poor Giovanni, whose curly black head kept d

ne! Didn't the capt

r away behind. And heavy as the sea was, they were lowering a boat when I got

ope he g

any doubt about it, Maggie. He might have had the ship's crew bodi

me!" sa

being upset, and the men got in without mishap. Then they laid themselves t

Cousin P

they had crossed the first water-mountains, and gone down into the water-valleys beyond,

g I ever said," crie

ee the man they were risking their lives to save. Those c

did yo

he boat, and as they were so high up the men in the boat could see them. So the men on the masts kept their eyes on Giovanni, and

ey save

when they went away, you may believe we cheer

vanni? and did h

d change his clothes till he had helped to haul up the boat. With his white teeth shining through a broad grin, he told us in his broken English that he had been overboard every

ber washed hi

ly had a very narrow escape. A less active swimmer might easily have been drowned.

nasty albatross

ot a piece of spoilt pork. However, they set their beautiful wings, and went their

RINE'S TRAVE

OF

ed on

ove our neighbour, whether he's a n

inly,

such rueful tones that Cousin Peregrine burst out laughing and said,

playing-no, of the cockatoo's screaming and our playing prisoners' base, and he kept our ball once, and now he has complained of poo

day, Fred, He took the fence into your nasty neighbou

ere!" cried Fred; "I wish he understo

tantinople, that is eviden

n Constantinople, Co

I am happy t

you glad,

s the loveliest city on earth,

what it

you say Ponto n

ad seen much less of the world than I have seen since; but even now I remember nothing in my travels with greater deli

know much," sai

" said Maggie, "so you c

from the Sea of Marmora to the Black Sea, which is farther north. This narrow piece of water going westward out of the Bosphorous is called the Golden Horn. Constantinople-which is built, like Rome, on hills-rises above the shores of the Bosphorus and on both sides of the Golden Horn. The part of it which is south of the Golden Horn is called Stamboul,

lived a

in a house looking into

o horrid things with their dead people, like those Chinese y

y nice order, as a rule. For the sake of a water-colour sketch I made in one, I was very glad that the upright headstones were tumbling about in all directions, it took away the look of stiffness and monotony; but I am bound to say that the graves looked neglected as well as picturesque. The cemetery at Pera h

and here it is. I've had my middle finger on

ing, because a thick white mist hung in front of us like a veil resting on the sea. We were near the mouth of the Bosphorus when the sun broke out, the white mist

r? Are the houses bu

eautifully the shapes of the mosques and minarets break the uniformity of the mass of houses, nor how the gay colours, the white and the gold, shone like gems against a cloudless blue sky when the mist rose. No princess in an Eastern f

ery beautiful when

y are picturesque, and made doubly so by the fact that in them you meet people

shops in th

. But in the other streets there are a few, such as sweetmeat shops and coffee shops, where the old T

Turks wore

ved, and wear the turban. Most modern Turks, Government officials, and so forth, shave off their beards and whiskers, and wear short ha

n't allowed to go out, ar

China. If they are ungraceful on foot, matters are not much better when they ride. Sitting astride a donkey (for they do not use side-saddles), a Turkish lady is about as comical an object as you could wish to behold, though I have no doubt she is quite unconscious of looking anything but dignified, as she presses on to her shopping in the Bazaar, screaming to the half-naked Arab donkey-boy to urge on her steed with his st

s, I suppose," said Maggie thoughtfully; "a

streets, Maggie. I am sure I wish with all my heart I could take you children through it. You would think yourselves i

Do the Turks have very wonde

s, but Turkish pipes have stems several feet long, made of various kinds of wood, and these and the amber mouth-pieces, which are often of very great value, and enriched with jewels, make the pipe-seller's wares ornamental as well as useful. Nor can our gunsmiths' shops compete for picturesqueness with the Bazaar devoted to arms, of all sorts and kinds, elaborately mounted, decorated, sheathed, and jewelled. Turkey and Persian carpets and rugs are common enough in England now, and you know how handsome they are. Turbans, and even fezes, you will allow to look prettier than English hats. Then some of the shops display things that one does not see at all at home, such as the gl

aggie; "streets full of beautiful shoes,

so, Ma

ought perhaps it was a place that shut up to

g up of gates. You know the people who own the shops do not live in them, and as most valuable mercha

ndon watchmen, Cousin? With nightcaps, a

object is not (like policemen) to find robbers and misdoers, but to frighten them away. Just as the old Charlies used to spring their wooden rattles that the thieves might get out of their way, so the

en fires in Co

upon securing their pay for the help they give; and when, to crown all, the sufferers themselves are generally of the belief that what is to happen will happen, and that there is very little use in trying to avert calamity-you may believe that a fire, once started, spreads no

fire whilst y

ich they show in what quarter of the city the fire is. At night the signalling is done by lamps. There is an old Genoese tower between Pera and Galata which has been made into a fire-tower. The one at Stamboul I think is modern. These buildings are tall-like light-houses-so that the signals can be seen from all parts of Constantinople, and so that the men stationed on them have the whole city in

e are fir

trumpery one which was carried on men's shoulders. Indeed, until the streets are mu

who carried t

are echoed by the formidable-looking band which follows, waving long poles armed with hooks, &c., for pulling down houses to stop the progress of the flames. On the heels of these figu

citing," said Fred,

who had the air of having heard quite enough on the subject; "now tell us abo

ation of Constantinople is more numerous and powerful, and

hey belong

tresses. They are more like troops o

ves them th

treets, there are so many dogs that they are all half-starved. They are very fierce, and have as a rule a great disli

carry a lantern-ex

andle inside. With one of these in one hand and a heavy stone or stick in the ot

orrible

f you were there. They are hal

lost and starving dogs

s, but not of lost ones. That reminds me why I said Ponto had not liv

ought you said the Turkish d

llous sagacity. In the Quarter in which he was born, there he must live, and there (if he wishes to die peaceably) he must die. If he

e his own part of the

of my own knowledge that he does. Jack did, tho

was J

overed with scars from fights with each other, they do not make much of what good looks they have. However, Jack was rather less wild and wolfish-looking than most of his fri

was a P

and again we tried to deceive him about the limits of his Quarter, and get him into another one unawares. He never was misled. But later on, as he grew tame, less fearful of things in general, and more unwilling to quit us when we were out together, he sometimes strayed beyond his bounds, not because he was deceived as to his limits, but he ventured on the risk for our sakes. Even th

t you take

ill-treated after our departure, but I sometimes have a heart-sore suspicion that we may have raised dreams in his doggish heart never again to be realized. If he were at all like other dogs (and the more we knew of him the more companionable he became), he must have waited many a long hour in patient faithfulness at our deserted threshold. He must have felt his own importance as a dog with a

d truly think so,

l dog. He belonged to Pera, where Europeans live, so there is a strong probabilit

nice lived in your hou

e so,

think we could teach Ponto

my brother-officer was of his flowers. I am sorry to say that Dash had a fancy for the gayer garden, and for some time my good-tempered neighbour bore patiently with his inroads, and with a sigh buried the beef-bone that Dash had picked among the mignonette at the roots of a magnificent rose which he often alluded to as 'John Hopper,' and seemed to treat as a friend. Mr. Hopper certainly throve on Dash's bones, but unfortunately Dash took to applying them himself to the roots of plants for which I believe that bone manure is not recommended. When he made a ho

you manag

rden. But after a plentiful application of, 'How dare you, Sir? Go back' (pointing), 'go back to your garden. If this gentleman catches you here again, he'll grind your bones to make John Hopper's bread. That's a good dog. No! Down! Stay where you are!'-Dash began to understand. It took many a wistful gaze of his brown eyes before he fully comprehended what I mean

must try and teach Ponto

ink he will learn his neighbourly duties, and if he does do so as well as Dash did-whatever you may thin

CES OF V

h botanist, Linn?us, to a race of plants which are in reality by no

now where to put them in his system; so he gave them an appendi

of Palms is very large. About five hundred different spec

who live in countries too cold for them to grow in, than to those whose home, like theirs, is in the tropics. The name Palm (Latin, Palma) is supposed to have been applied to them from a likeness in

owned with wreaths of palm, which is said to have been chosen as a symbol of victory, because of the elasticity with which it rises after the pressure of

s"-the word "palmer" records the fact that he who returned from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land was known, not only by the cockle-shell on his gown, but by the staff of palm on which he leant. St. Gre

t is now comparatively rare. Jericho was known as "the city of palm-trees" in the time of Moses (Deut. xxxiv. 3). It is alluded to again in the times of the Judges (Judges i. 11; iii. 13), and it bore th

w of this tree, which bore her name, that she summoned Barak out of Kedesh-naphtali. Bethany means "the House of Dates," and the br

s of Vegetation, whose graceful and stately forms approve

ine, oil, wax, flour, sugar, salt, thread, utensils, weapons, habitations, and food"-a goodly list of the necessaries of life, to which one may add

parts of the world where the climate is adapted

from the East; but they abound in the tropics of the West, and some sp

extends now over all tropical countries. The cocoa-nut palm begins to bear fruit in from s

beauty and beneficence, mark this ro

-is eaten raw and cooked. It produces oil, and is used in the manufacture of stearine candles. It is also used to make marine soap, which will lather in salt water. Th

(Theobroma cacao), which is cultivated la

hom?opathic pillules are formed from sugar. It is possible to see chemists make pills from boluses to globules, but the Malay Indians are said jealously to keep the process of "

palm which we import most li

e fruit of one of the most beautifu

een ostrich-feather-like leaves, which rise from thirty to forty feet high." The fruit is as big as a man's head. Two or three milli

hose fruit is about the size of an ostrich-

beautiful are short-stemmed and creeping; whilst others fling giant arms from tree to tree of the tropical forests, now drooping to the ground, and then climbing up again in very luxuriance of growth. Many

t support their own weight, have a proverbial fame, and are in great request for the manu

long. Astrocaryum murumura is edible. The pulp of the fruit is said to be like that of a melon, and it has a musky odour. It is a native of tropical America, and ab

alm wine, and from the Princes of Vegetation i

word of those which we associate with Palm Sunday-the wi

h the hedges afford, are not even distantly related to the Princes of Vegetation, though we call them palms. They are called palms simply f

m that was done on the cross, worshipping and welcoming Him with song into the Church, as the people did our Lord into the city of Jerusalem. It is called Palm Sunday for because

before Palm Sunday. They then parade the streets with a palm, or its substitute, a large tree of the willow kind (Salix caprea), in blossom, ornam

more word to be said in their praise which may endear this noble race to

o or three shillings to two or three pounds. Latania borbonica and Ph?nix reclinata are good and cheap. Sandy-peaty soil, with a little leaf-mould, is what they like, and this should be renewed (with a larger pot) every second year. Thus, with the most moderate care, and an occasional sponging, or a stand-out in a soft shower, the exiled Princ

LE W

ees never grow big, woods that are to grown-up woods as children to grown-up people

hat of copse or coppice, and it brings with it remembrances of the fresh beauty of spring days, on which-sheltered by the light copse-wood from winds that are st

r with favourite copses, or miniature pine-forests. Perhaps some of them would like to know why these little woods ne

e growth which shoots up when the principal trunk of the tree has been cut down, but they are generally little merely because they are young, and are cut down for use before they have ti

e is from eighty to a hundred years. The flower comes out before the leaves, which are late, like those of the oak. The bunches of seed-vessels, or "ash-keys," as they are fancifully called, were pickled in salt and water and eaten in old times. The Gre

five years old the ash makes good walking-sticks, crates to pack glass and china in, hoops, basket handles, fences, and hurdles. Croquet-mallets are also made of ash. At twelve or fourteen it is strong

and both in the States and in Canada the

wood is soft, it is very durable in water. Virgil speaks of it as being used for boats. It is highly valued in Holland for piles, and it is said that the famous bridge of the Rialto at Venice is built on piles of al

port the banks. Alder-coppices are very valuable to the makers of-gunpowder! Every five or six years the little alders ar

of damp situations. It has also a white soft wood, used by the turner an

e is a curious old Highland superstition that the Cross of Christ was

even or eight years for faggots, and at

. There may be those whose minds are not quite clear about wych-elms and sycamores, but the

ers on British agriculture count it among the four timber trees

for house furniture. It is employed also by carriage-makers and turners, and for various small articles, from rolling-pins to croquet-balls. The dried leaves are used in Switzerland to fill beds with, and very nice such beds must be! Long ago they were used for this purpose in England. Evelyn says that they remain sweet and elastic for seven or eight years, by which time a straw mattress would have become hard and musty. They have a pleasant resto

tance, means a beech, and was applied to books because the old German bookbinders used beech-wood instead of paste-board for the sides of thick volumes. Beech-wood is especially good for fuel. Only the sycamore, the Scotch pine, and the ash give out more heat and light when they burn. Beech-nuts-or beech-mast, as it

ay-maker) it offers an irresistible surface for cutting names and dates. Upon its branches and beneath its shadow grow many fungi, several of which are eatable. Truffles are found there; those underground dainties whic

-forests are beech-hedges. They cut a

inghamshire. They are chiefly grown for th

ntal purposes-all come from one red-leaved beech, a sort of freak

. It bends and breaks not under the wildest winds, it thrives on poor soil, and defies mist and cold. So varied are its uses that it has been said that the Scotch Highlander makes everything of birch, from houses to candles, and beds to ropes! The North American Indians and the Laplanders apply it almost as universally as the Chinese use paper. The wigwams or huts of the Nort

o six years old, and at ten to twelve for faggot-wood, poles, fencing, and bark for the tanners. Birch-spray (that is, the twigs and leaves) is used for smoking hams and herrings, and for brooms to sweep grass. It is also used to make

own in "little woods" for hop-poles, fence-wood, and h

lour, esteemed a beauty in some countries." It would be entertaining to know if

n treated so will live a hundred years. With a single stem, Mr. Loudon assures us, it would live much longer. Filbert-hazels are a variety with longer nuts. Hazels are cultivated not only for the nuts, but for corf-rods,[1] hoops, fencing, &c., and hazel-cha

eceived the crack-jaw title of Rhabdomancy. Having tried our own hand at Rhabdomancy, we are able to say that the freaks of the divining-rod

and throve thereafter. The wood of full-grown larch-trees is very valuable. To John, Duke of Athol, Scotland is indebted for the introduction of larch plantations on an enormous scale. He is said to have planted 6500 acres of mountain-ground with these valuable trees, which not only bring in heavy returns as timber, but so enrich the ground on which they grow, by the decayed spicula or spines which fall from them, as to increase its value in the course of some years

and in heat and wet, under water and above ground. It yields good turpentine, but trees that have been tapped to procure this are of no use afterwards for building purposes. The larch is said not to make good masts for ships, but its durability in all varieties of temp

they may "spindle up" and become tall before they grow thick

, the venerable age it will attain, and its historical associations, we have no s

s earlier years postpones profit to the planter, it does so little harm to other wood grown with it (being in this res

&c., depends on many circumstances, and is fixed by differe

liable than other trees t

ver at from twelve to thirty years old.

h on poor soils. It is valuable as a protection for other tree

runks are used for the masts of ships. "In the north of Russia and in Lapland the outer bark is used, like that of the birch, for covering huts, for lining them inside, and as a substitute for cork for floating the

f tar are procured from the Scotch pine.

are grown in "little

native of Scotland, has only been planted and c

r. An amusing story was sent to Mr. Loudon by the Duke of Bedford, in reference to

must pardon me if I humbly remonstrate against your orders, but I cannot possibly do what you desire; it would at once destroy the young plantation; and, moreover, it would be seriously injurious to my reputation as a planter.' My grandfather, who was of an impetuous and decided character, but always just, instantly replied, 'Do as I d

cies of willow are so numerous that we

specially for small ware, cricket-bats and toys. Full-grown willows of all kinds are pic

held by cultivators that the poorer the soil in which they are grown the oftener these willows should be cut over. "In a good soil a coppice of this species will produce the greatest return in p

on the leaves of the willo

akes a large crop of young shoots spring out, giving a shock-headed eff

the Cam are well known. They are small islands plan

tch and German system. Let any ingenious little prowler in an osier-bed get two thickish willow-rods and fasten them at the ends with a bit of wire, so as to make two hoops. These hoops are then to intersect each other half-way up, one being perpendicular, to form the handle and the bottom of the basket

one fancies that a rough sort of basket-making might almost be devised out of one's own he

TNO

t used for carrying coals o

Y-

E AND NE

morning star,

rom the East, a

, who from her

slip and the p

il

and yet I suppose very few May-days come round on which we are not disposed to wonder why our ancestors di

lly must have a painfully large proportion of dis

ve a May-bush round the nursery-window, duly gathered before sunrise. "Pretty Bessy," our nursemaid, can do anything with flowers, from a cowslip ball to a growing forget-me-not garland. The girls are apt pupils, and pride themselves on their birthday wreaths. The boys are admirably adapted for May sweeps. Clatter

and makes it impossible to keep

her winter clothes, and would probably catch cold even then. It is not improbable that it will rain, and it is possible that it may snow. Worse than all, the

The truth is that one reason why we find the weather less pleasant, and the flowers fewer than o

explain what Old Style and New Style-

know when you have stayed the proper time? In one of two ways. Either you will count twenty-four hours on the clock, or you will sta

on of this is that the Sun does not go by the Clock in making the days and nights. Sometimes he spends rather more than twenty-four hou

s each. The Sun makes 365 days, 5 hours, 48

rence between the Sun and the Clock would bring it up to a year. So that if you went by the Clock you would say, "It is fifteen hundre

to a serious error for other people some day. So Julius C?sar thought he would pull the Clock and the Sun together by adding one day every four years to the Clock's year to make up for the odd hours

mber the

ays hath

une, and

th twenty-e

est have

eap Year, a

days are tw

the Old Style

time over her years than the Sun. After more than sixteen hundred years the small mistake was becoming serious, and Pope Gregory XIII decided that we must not have so many leap years. F

little mistake to correct, we had to leave eleven days out of count. In Russia, where our new Princess comes from, they have not got it yet. The New Style was begun in England on September the 2nd. Th

eptember the 14th! I hope their birthday presents did not drop through because his Majesty George the Second had

e, and therefore in colder weather. May-day in the Old Style would have come this year about the middle of the month; and as years rolled on it would have been kept later and later in the summer, and

ring, and, thanks to Pope Gregory's clever arrang

oor enjoyment, the early days of the year seem, like the early hours of the day, to have an exquisite freshness peculiarly their own. Then the month of May, as a whole, i

ging months May

and in fairest

aily dressed, and with a retinue of maids of honour. The Winter Queen was a man or boy dressed in woman's clothes of the warmest kind-"woollen hood, fur tippet," &c. Fiddles and flutes were played before the May Queen and her followers, whilst the Queen of Winter and her troop marched to the sound of

ather, and her fairer rival when the season was

ptain of one band hath the name and appearance of Winter, is clothed in skins of beasts, and he and his band armed with fire-forks. They fling about ashes, by way of prolonging the reign of Winter; wh

at the doors of houses and cattle-sheds, and these were not hawthorn blossoms, but the flowers of the kingcup, or marsh marigold. Crosses made of sprays of m

a corruption of "Flora's Day." People wore hawthorn in their hats, and danced hand-in-hand t

his season. Others, perhaps, have a different, if not an older source. One custom was certainly common to both nations. When the f

ccompanied with music and the blowing of horns, where they broke down branches from the trees, and adorned them with nosegays and crowns of flowers. This done, they returned homewards with their booty about the time of sunrise, and made their doors and win

the Eton boys were allowed to go out at four o'clock in the morning to gather May to dress

n some country places, consisted of strewing the

king the neighbours' doors with May if they were

the girls of the neighbourhood. Each tree had a meaning (well known

is a curious record that "Henry II., wishing to recompense the clerks of Bazoche for their good services in quelling an insurrection in Guienne, offered them money; but they would only accept the permission granted them by the king, of cutting in the royal woods such trees as they might choose for the planting of the May-a privilege which existed at the commencement of the French Revolut

o transplant, and very lovely when they are old. It is not to be regr

aking of this in 1682, adds, "A stranger would go nigh to imagine that they were all signs of ale-sellers, and that all houses were ale-houses," referring to the old custom of a bunch of

been cowslips, which the green fields

painted in spiral lines of colour. The Welsh Maypoles seem to have been made from birch-trees, elms were used in Cornwall, and young oa

the Maypoles were not always honestly come by! However, the Puritan writers (from whose bitter and detailed complaints we learn most of what we know about the early English May-day customs) are certainly prejudiced, and perhaps not quite trustworth

A quainter vengeance seems to have sometimes followed the trespass. Honesty was at a discount. What had been once stolen was liable to be re-stolen. There seems to have been great rivalry among the villages as to which had the best Maypole. The happy parish which could boast the finest was not left at ease in its

y fun. Another Puritan writer says, "They have twentie or fortie yoke of oxen, every oxe having a s

horse's more delicate nerves! Their broad moist noses; their large, liquid eyes, and, doubtless, a cer

ions. It was an old custom to give the waggoner a r

to which the boys made a pilgrimage in procession every May-day with May-gads in

nly four years old, was given to Sir Isaac Newton to make a stand for his telescope, and another seems

rformed sword-dances and sang appropriate doggerels in costume. The characters represented at one time or another were Maid Marian or the May Queen, Robin Hood or Lord of the May, Friar Tuck, Will Scarlet, Little John Stokesley, Tom the Piper, Mad Moll and her Husband, Mutch, the

an fair as

Mutch, and

morris-dancing at May-time does not seem to date earlier than Henry V

g the su

er and t

ly "fourth goth al the court, both most and lest, to fetche the flowrès fresh, and braunch

vant who could find a branch in full blossom might claim a dish of cream for breakfast. The milkmaids who supplied London and other places used to dress themselves gaily on May-day and go round from house to house performing a dance, and receiving gratuities from their customers. On their heads-instead of a milk-pail-they carried a curious trophy, called the "Milkmaids' Garland," made of silver or pewter jugs, cups, and

is a "May drink" (said to be very nice) made by putting woodruff into white Rhine wine, in the proportion

en's costume is very simple. A wicker-work frame of an extinguisher shape, thickly covered with green, is supported by the man who carries it, and who peeps through a hole left for the purpose. May-day has become the Sweeps'

he old ceremony, but rather a minor manifestation of "Town and Gown" feeling, that the town boys jeer the choristers, and in return are pelted with rotten eggs. The origin of this special Oxford custom is said to be a requiem which was sung on the tower for the soul of Henry VII., founder of the College. In the villages girls used to carry round May-garlands. The party consisted of four children. Two g

, Lords and Ladies, and Jack-in-the-green Primrose, bear traces of h

ggs. Old custom gave these young rogues the privilege of drenching with water fro

ht; and on May-day the young maids of every parish carry about their pari

call up the old maids." There was once a custom in Lynn for the workhouse children to be allowed to go o

dressed as the "May Lady," before which they set a table with wine and

pposed to strengthen weakly children. Girls divined for dreams of their future husbands with a sprig of hawthorn gathered before dusk on May-eve, and carried home in the mouth without speaking. Hawthorn rods

ay-day the O'Donoghue, a popular prince of by-gone days, returns from the land o

n a turf left in the centre of a square trench which had been dug for the purpose. Some custard was poured out by way of libation. Every one then took a cake of oatmeal, on which nine knobs had been pinched up before baking, and turning his face to the fire threw the knobs over his shoulder, some as offerings to the supposed guardians of the flock, and the rest in propitiation of beasts and birds of pr

vert. Those who played had to wear leaves of the hornbeam-tree, and these were to be kept fresh, under penalty of a

n the 1st of May as well as on the 1st of April hardly deserv

base, by the round rim of which the garland was carried; the flower-peak towering above, and the gay streamers depending below. Against this erection (not unlike the "mistletoe boughs" of the North of England) was fastened a gaily-dressed doll. The bearers were two little girls, who acted as maids of honour to the May Queen. Mr. Cuthbert Bede describes her Majesty as he saw her twenty years ago. She wore a white frock, and a bonnet with a white veil. A wreath of real flowers lay on the bonnet. She carried a pocket-handkerchief bag and a parasol (the latter being regarded as a special mark of dignity). An "Odd Fellows'" ribbon

every village street in Huntingdonshire on May-day, and adds, that not only ribbons and flowers were attached to t

hristmas, and the verses which children sing

cestershire children would

Maypole, tr

Maypole w

and

p a

our New

o assemble outside the prison walls on May-day and join with them in song

of Spring, anxiety for the coming harvests of the fruits of the earth, and that sense of exhilaration and hopefulness which the most exquisite of seasons naturally brings-brings more strongly perhaps in the youth of a nation, in those earlier stage

kind from which we can easily get a whole holiday. We should do well to try oftener than we do. Wreaths do not become us, and we have allowed our joints to grow too stiff for Maypole dancing. But we who used to sigh for whole holidays can give them! We can prepare the cakes and cream, and provide ribbons for the Maypole, and show how garland

r her drawing-room should undoubtedly await Mamma when she comes down to breakfast, and I heartily wish her as abundant a variety as Mr. Cuthbert Bede saw on the Huntingdonshire garland. That Nurse should have a bunch of May is only her due; and of course the nursery must be decorated. Long strips of coloured calico form good ribbons for the Maypole. Bows and arrows are easily made. It is also easy to cut one's fingers in notching the arrows. When you are tired of dancing, you can be Robin Hood's merry men, and shoot. When all the arrows are lost, and you have begun to quarrel about the target, it will be well to hang up an old doll and throw balls at her nose. Dressing-up is,

rumpets will impart to the ceremonies; but they may require to be reminded that Eton men i

to keep our feast on the 12th of May-May-day, Old Style. If the Clerk of the Weather Office is unkind on both these days, give up out-door fun at once, and prepare for a fancy-ball in the nursery; all

e breakfast knows how very seldom he is kept in by bad weather. For one day when it rains very early there are three or four when it rains later. But we wait till the world has got dirty, and the air full of the smoke of thousands of breakfasts, and clouds are beginning to gather, and then

he old alderman of Lynn's kindly benefaction. To beg leave for the children of the workhouse to gather May-day nosegays for you, and to give them a May feast afterwards, would be to give pleasure of a ki

flowrès fresh" is indeed the

ugh beds of Drosera bathed in perpetual dew-then, dear children, restrain the natural impulse to grub everything up and take the whole flora of the neighbourhood home in your pinafores. In the first place, you can't. In the second place, it would be very hard on other pe

UM, MARGA

amed after one of her most popular books-Aunt Judy's Tales; and Aunt

o consideration of the value of her own time could induce her to deal summarily with what one may call her magazine children, and her correspondents were of all ages and acquirements, from

ecord of her life will ever be made public. I need hardly disclaim any thought of expressing an opinion on her natural powers, or the value of those labours from which she rests; but whatever of good there was in them she devoted with re

to copy what our present friends may fancy to be innate peculiarities of our own character. The conviction of this truth, and of the strong influence which little details of lives we admire have in forming our characters in childhood,

o-worship for Elizabeth Smith, whose precocious and unusual acquirements she was stirred to emulate, and whose enthusiasm for Klopstock she caught. The fly-leaf of her copy of the Smith Remains bears (in her han

d gold raised and burnished as in the old models. I do not know when she first saw specimens of the old illuminations, for which she had always the deepest admiration, but it was in a Dante fever that she had resolved to write beautifully, because fine penmanship had been among the accomplishments of the great Italian poet. How well she succeeded her friends and her printers knew to their comfort! To Dante she dedicated some of her best efforts in this art. In 1826, when she was

nd after her marriage. She never sketched much in colour, but her pencil-drawings are amongst the most valuable legacies she has left us. T

os des Sch?nen

but her old music-books and memories of lo

itted the privilege of foreign travel-for which she so often longed-her sea-spoils have been gathered from all shores by those who loved her; and there are sea-weeds yet in press sent by Aunt Judy friends from Tasmania, which gave pl

with Dr. Harvey (author of the Phycologia Britannica, &c.) she corresponded for ten years before they met. Like herself, he combined a playful and poetical fancy with the scientific

emselves. In this also she had many helpers, and the collection, which had swelled to about four hundred, was published last year. Amateur bookbindin

rybody else shrank. And amongst our neighbours in the village, those with whom, day after day, time after time, she would plead "the Lord's controversy," were those with whom every one else had failed. Some old village would-be sceptic, half shame-faced, half conceited, who had not prayed for half a lifetime, or been

d lover of "beasts" can hardly exist. The household pets were about her to the end;

sick-room, and her interests never narrowed to the fretful circle of mere invalid fears and fancies. The strong sense of humour, which never

ure delight in

y mother's tastes and acquirements may have for h

ven us to His glory, to lose petty cares, ignoble pleasures, and small grievances, in the joy of studying His great works, to be good to His creatures, to be truthful beyond fear or flattery, to be pure of

th's Remains shows my mother to have been only eleven years old when she got it, and though she worked and stu

n as vigorous as ever, stole the cunning from her hand, and the use of her limbs and voice, through t

ights for which she longed in vain, and who are spared the cross she bore so patiently, are helpe

t was a great favou

en so many a g

many lands

o many boo

so many vis

d yet inevi

n, and we must y

the unfeeling

ining of unp

ul, and vain re

Him Who is

transcends o

pe and frust

vision and

all longings

TNO

f the beautiful upon ea

F THE K

from the

ODUC

ke may be abated, and I may hear myself speak; and open your ears, that you may be entertained by the tales that I shall tell you. Shut your

er a wise man, nor precisely

verb? 'No one so wise but he has some folly to spare.' Moreover, in his foolishness the

ous. Though be it far from me, O children, as a man of years and p

Jew money-lend

is the

he Nine Hundred and Nin

ja was v

elf, saying: "It costs no more to wish for a thousand p

for a thousand pieces of gold.

of the Khoja was a satisfaction to him. When he heard what the Khoja said he chuckled to himself, saying, "Truly this Khoja is a funny fel

gold pieces into a purse, and dropped the purse down the K

ed up the purs

for the fulfilment of my desire

count the coins. When he got to the nine hundred and ninety-ninth, and had satisfied

the Khoj

old piece in a thousand? Without doubt it is an oversight, and he who sent these will send th

h he knocked, and entering, said, "Good-day, Khoja Effendi. May I ask you to

t likely that you would throw gold down my chimney? These p

oja! You said, 'I will not take one less than a thousand,' wherefore I pu

Khoja, "but I have accepted the go

lender now bec

," he cried. "The Cadi Effen

eseem a Khoja like myself to go through the public street

not that trouble you. I will s

O money-lender, that a Khoja like myself should appear in these rag

Jew. "For I have a pelisse made of the most bea

rode through the streets with a serene countenance, the J

teous tones, "Help, O most noble Dispenser of Justice! This Khoja has stole

s. But when I counted the pieces I found one short. Then I said, 'The bountiful giver of these will certainly send the other also.' So I accepted what was given to me. Bu

deed true that they are mine. The mule a

claim to my turban next, or to the Sultan's horses." A

d the mule and the fur pelisse, as well as th

hoja at the M

fendi went to a marriage feas

e slipped in whilst honours and compliments were being paid on the arrival of some grander guests. Even those

him to be seated) he slipped out and ran home, where he put on the splendid fur pelisse which h

er of the feast came out also to meet him with other guests, saluting him and saying, "Welcome, O most learned Khoja!"

to the right hand nor to th

end of the table, crying, "Plea

d not speak, and the guests stood round him,

the dish, saying, in a tone of respect, "O most worthy and honourable pelisse! be good enough to partake of

and what do you mean by offering food to a

e the pelisse has commanded such respect at your hands, i

he Khoja'

hood were gathered together and ready for mi

suade him to climb the largest of these mulberry-trees,

ried, "O Khoja, here is indeed a tre

nd said, "You are in error, my children

said, "We

who am an old man, could

of you to climb the tree before our eyes, that we may bel

off his slippers as the children had anticipated; and t

to steal his slippers, the Kh

you not leave your slippers on the ground? What

it is good to be provided against everyt

hoja and the

here appeared in the world three Sages, who

ssed through the country of the Sultan Ala-ed-Deen, who desi

thing wanting to you but that you should embrace the faith and become Turks, and r

question shall be asked by each of us, and if they are able to answer these questions, we will embrace your faith

he learned men and counsellors of his kingdom, and the S

kingdom, and am I the ruler of it; and is there not indeed one man of my

d no one who could answer these questions

hed a Tatar in all haste to summon Nasr-ed-

, who at once rose up, saddled his donkey, took a stick in

eived it in return. Then he was shown where to sit, and being seated, and having made a prayer for the Padi

ces of the case, and the Khoja cried, "W

id: "My question, most worshipful Effendi,

hesitation, pointed with his sti

e my donkey's foot is placed-th

now that?" as

"measure for yourself. If you find it wrong one

said: "O Khoja Effendi, how many star

ed the Khoja, "as there

ow that?" aske

, "count for yourself. If there is a hair too

e wise man, "have you indeed co

ed the Khoja, "have you indeed

ful Effendi! Be pleased now to hear my question, and if you can answer it, we

Khoja, "as there are ha

ow that?" aske

e me, count for yours

for you to count, and to prove

t pull out a hair from your beard, and then one from my donkey's tail, and then another from your beard, a

ly announced himself as a convert to the Padisha's wishes. The other two Sages followed his e

became disciple

he Khoja'

he house of the Khoja to ask

replied the Khoja, who was

e donkey brayed l

ou say cannot be true, for I can hear you

ndi. "Is it possible that you believe a donkey

The Khoj

g washed her husband's gown, hu

ired to his garden, where he saw, as he belie

s it you who steal my fruit?

ierced his gown through the middle. Then without waiting to see the result he

perceiving that what he had hit was his own gown, he seated him

escape. If I had been inside it, I sh

oja and the Fa

of Ramadan was approaching, Khoja Nasr-ed-Deen took

myself with a vase into which I will drop a stone every day. When there are thirty pebbles in the vase, I

th the Khoja dropped a stone into the va

e child, having observed the pebbles in the vase, went out and gathered

with certain of his neighbours, who said to him, "Be good enoug

ran to his house, emptied the vase, and began to count the stones

Khoja, "they will call me a fool. Even h

nd said, "It is the full forty-

re only thirty days in a complete month, an

moderation. If you look into the vase, you will find that acco

e Khoja an

o the Khoja's house, an

and after collecting all that he could carr

he few things which were left of his property, he p

the door of the thief's

u want?" sa

e, aren't we?" said the Khoja. "I'

d of Prey and t

th his wife to wash cloth

to begin, when a black bird of prey swooped suddenly down, and snatchi

. "Make haste, I beseech you, and catch that

wants it more than we do, poor fellow! Our cloth

e Khoja and

one day, "how do you kn

Khoja," replied the good woman, "I know t

cut wood. It was in the winter, and after he had worked

m dead. If this is the case, however, I have no business to be on my feet, much less to be

and they fell upon the Khoj

hem from the place

for you that you have found a donkey who

-A Penny

the barber to have his head shaved, and when it was done, the barber held out the mirror to

old the Khoja b

head, he perceived that the crown was completely bald. But he sa

ffendi went again

he looked in the mirror as bef

opped him, saying, "Most worshipful

said the Khoja; "will not on

-The Kho

filled the office of Cadi had

, and one of them said, "This f

er; "that is not true. He bit his own ear

d the first man; "wherefore the li

e Khoja; "but come back to-mor

isturbed, that he might try if he could bite his own ear. Taking the ear in his f

ts the Khoja lost his balance and

a linen cloth, and the men coming before him related their

ng is easy enough, and you can fall and

The Khoja

to rest he was disturbed by a man making a gr

and light a candle, that I may discover

What have we to do with street bra

d taking the bed-quilt, he threw it round his sh

a fine quilt floating from the Khoja's shoulders, cam

felt thoroughly chilled,

id his wife: "what

in the noise than you

out, O Khoja?"

," he replied; "for when the man g

e Khoja and

n Effendi was in his house

ed out from an

se to give alms when he was so well beyond reach of the mendicant's importunities, he would not state hi

n to beg, crying, "The Inciter of Compassion move thee to enable me to purchase food f

lied the Khoja, turni

the upper room the Khoja turned round and dismissed him, sayi

ar, "why did you not tell

oja, "why did you call me

Khoja Turne

him, and seeing an apricot-tree laden with delicious fruit,

icots the owner of the garde

oing up there,

n you imagine me to be. Do you not see that I am

ou sing," said

d; but the noise he made was so unc

said he. "I never heard a night

gster," said the Khoja demurely, "bu

a's Donkey and Th

den, but on the way there he had business which obliged

the saddle, went about his affairs. But he had hardly turned his back w

donkey with his stick. Then, dragging the saddle from the poor beast's back, he put it on his own s

-A Ladde

the Khoja was desirous to enter, but t

place, where he put the ladder against the garden-wall, and having climbed t

ng about in ca

he to the Khoja. "An

ing hastily back to the wall, and throwin

"that answer will not do. This is

the Khoja gravely, "if you do not kno

Cat and the K

her man, was fond of some

sh, his wife always gave it away to a certain friend of hers, and whe

ry day that we may have a good supper, and you put no

it, O Khoja!"

s seat, and taking the axe pro

g with the axe, Kh

"The sort of cat who steals two pennyworth of live

The Cadi'

ell asleep. The Khoja, having gone out for a walk, passed by the spot and saw the

ich material, and the Khoja took it

one. Thereupon he called his officers and commanded them, saying:

, and at last the officers took hi

ame you by what belongs to me? W

on of passers-by in the public gardens. His ferejeh was half off his back, and I said within myself, 'This valuable ferejeh will certainly be stolen, whilst he to whom it belongs is sleeping the sleep of

aid the Cadi hastily; "though there is

till the man claims

he d

.-The T

rowed a big pan of hi

he put a smaller pan insi

is?" said t

hoja. "It is the child of your big

r laughed in

"a sensible man like myself need

oja! The pan is a very good pan.

pan as well as his own

o himself, "Doubtless something else will come back in it." But after he had waited two-three-four-and five d

o the door with

health be better than that of our departed friend, w

d the neighbour, "You know wel

had had a child," said the Khoja; "it see

he Day of

bout among the buyers and sellers, a man came up to him an

eplied the Khoja. "I d

The Khoja

p the Khoja dreamed that he

e ten. Then he said, "Let there be nineteen!" And vehemently contending for nineteen he awoke. But when he was awake and found that ther

.-The O

m, and see what he will say." So they came to the Khoja and said, "The moon is on the wan

up and make stars of

e Short Pie

that it was too short. He tried a second time, but still it was not long enough, and he spoiled his turban, and l

up, and a man came forward and began to bid. Another man bid

rascal of a muslin has cheated me and put me to infinite inconvenience,"

d whispered, "Take care what you are about, brot

Khoja Peeps I

cided to cut off a certain branch from a tree that belonge

s girdle, he climbed the tree, and the branch he desired being firm an

out and said, "O stupid man! What are you doing? When the

than from me, who am a Khoja?" said Nasr-ed-Deen Effendi

anch gave way, and the

e jumped up, and ran after

moment when the branch was cut through I fell to the ground. Now, therefore, s

replied the man. "The day of death is am

pass to the moment. Tell me now how long I have to live." And as he would not release him, but kept crying, "How much time have I

d the Khoja, and he lay down, and s

and having observed him, they brought a bier and laid

which it was difficult to pass, and the bearers of the bie

mpatient, raised his head from the bier, and said, "T

.-The T

ent to Sur-Hissar he saw a group

country the moon may be seen as large as a plate, and no one troubles his he

The Khoja

the people. But once upon a time he became very lazy about this,

ing down on the congregation assembled to listen to him, he stretched

nd replied with one voice, "We do not

ignantly, and gathering his robe about him,

r in dismay, for the Khoja

t our ignorance is an offence to his learning. Wherefore, if he comes

in into the pulpit, from which he co

he began, "wha

is mouth the congregation cried out with

gging his shoulders, and lifting his eyebrows, he left th

sel, and said, "Let him come once more, and we will not lose our sermon this time. If he a

he had cried as before, "O Brethren! do ye know what I am about to

d beneath him, as he prepared to take his departure. "Then tho

Khoja and t

a certain desert plain a troop of horsem

adi's ferejeh which I wear." And in much alarm he hastened towards a cemetery which he had perceived to be near.

nd by they came into the cemetery, and one o

n; and he said to the Khoja, "What are you

uried here. If you saw me on the plain as I used to appear in life, w

The Ox Tr

found that a strange ox had got into the enclosure. The Khoja took a thick

Turk driving the ox, which

unning after the ox, belaboured it soundly. "O man!"

hoja, "and don't meddle with what doesn'

The Khoja

ged to take a journey he resolved to

mself, "I will ride my camel instead of going on foot; the journey will then be

rown off and severely hurt. The people of the caravan coming to his assistance

ndignation, "O Muslims! you do not know what care I have taken of this camel, and th

ed, most worthy Effendi, we coul

it must be spared. But it shall have no home with me. I am about to d

e tore the furniture and trappings furiously from its bac

foot, carrying the camel's f

-An Open

was abundantly supplied. He picked some herbs, and pulled up some turnips, and got a little of everything

oing here?" sai

good excuse, he said, "A very strong wind blew during t

ut who plucked these herbs

nto this place I clutched with both hands at the first things I could lay

; "but who put these in

the Khoja replied; "I was thin

he Spurtin

very hot and thirsty. By and by he perceived a fountai

d out the stopper, on which the water rushed out with veheme

use of your running so madly that they ha

-Well-me

urning home he met a party o

d he. "Pray come home with me

t accepting the invitation, and they

mselves he went to the upper room. "Wife," said he, "I have br

the house? Is there any rice? Have you brought anythi

oja. Then taking the empty bowl in h

deed. You are indeed most welcome, and if there had been butter or rice, or anyt

Khoja and the

ng by the banks of a river, came to a certai

ing the river, and they agreed with the Khoja that he sh

the blind men safely across; but as he was helping the tenth, the man lost his foot

posite shore set up a lamentable wail,

pay than you expect

he End of

had a lamb which he brought u

make a feast of it. So they came to the Khoja and begged him earnest

orrow is the end of the world. What will you do with this

man was in earnest. So they lighted the fire and roasted the lamb, and had an

together, but the Khoja would not accompany them, so they left th

thes and put them on to the fire where the

s returned and found the

has burnt our clothes? Ala

w the world comes to an end, you know.

The Dog o

the tombs. As he strolled along he per

stick and made up his mind to chastise the intruder. But the d

ceived that the dog was about to attack him, and that

rb yourself," sai

e Khoja and

ding to a certain place to give public instruction, when he

mounted, and got up again with

e Mullas, "why do y

ed the Khoja; "for when I ride in the usual fashion, if you walk behind me

tudents and th

i met a party of students

is," said he, "and if it is agreeabl

nts, and the Khoja, beguiling the way with smart sayings and

tered his house, where-being in a mischievous mood-he said to his wife, "O wife, go down and sen

nd said, "The Khoja has

out?" cried the students

I tell you," said

he is," said

" repeated

iterated th

his head out of the window and cried, "Neither you nor my wife have any sense in your heads. Don't you se

e Khoja and

the Khoja and became h

d supper they la

e Khoja was lazy, and pretended not to o

oja!" crie

matter?" sai

the light's gone o

hing," sai

he guest: "do get up and see if

cat? If it is really as dark as you say how ca

-The Wis

oking in his garden, when a certa

ot like to lend him his beast; but as he was also a man of s

about to befall him. If he foresees good luck for this journey all will be well, and you could not have a

inquire of him,"

he only smoked another pipe in his garden, and then returned to the man, who was

di, ever to experience such misfortune as

oresee?" inquir

ing bones, long marches, and

foolish, and sneaked

a went back

The Khoja

with a caravan, when they halted for the night at a c

remember which was his own horse, and he was much afr

he seized his bow and arrow, and

ied the men; "wha

I am determined to kill somebody's hor

h man untied his own horse as quic

new that the one

ting his right foot into the stirrup,

up backwards, Khoj

ong," said the Khoja, "but th

Khoja on th

d-Deen went to see the Bey, and th

been mounted on a horse which would not move out of a snail's pace. He sa

e rest of the party galloped off with all speed to

his clothes and folded them neatly together, and put them on the s

d the Bey's palace all the guests were assembled, and presently the Bey perceived him and cried

me?" answered the Khoja; "it carried me through the

s," thought the Bey to himself, and he invited

which the Bey had ridden the day before, and the Bey seated himself o

ery one rode off as usual, and

to stir out of a foot's pace, and when he arr

a, "is it not through you that I was

d you no worse than he served me. But perhaps your Eminence

ja's Donkey bray

nd threw his woollen pelisse on the donkey's back til

e woollen pelisse from the donkey's back, and went o

come out just in time to see his pelis

as afraid of being caught, and, throwing the pelisse

he Khoja's

son there was a scarcit

e washed himself all over with the exception of his left leg

te the customary prayers he

e people, "why do you pray

," said the Khoja; "it has not p

s Would Be Mo

he Bey. He therefore took three of them, and putting them on a fine tray, he car

k the present in good part, and gav

ake something else to the Bey, and having so

palace he met a ma

g with all those b

ent them to the Bey

acceptable, I should

as he went the man's words troubled

way all the beetroots, he put two or three figs in their place,

he Bey was not

s me by the gift of a few worthless figs?

him out. But as he ran, instead of cursing his ill

of the Bey; "for what, O Khoja, do you retu

I met a man who persuaded me, saying, "Figs would be more acceptable," so I brought figs; and you have cast them at my head. But there were few of them, and the

r and the One

oose to be cooked. He was ab

. If the smell of it were to be trusted it was a most delicious bird! At last the

goose before Timur the King, who, when he had ex

e. And then in a voice of thunder h

vity. "If your Majesty does not believe me, be good enough to let your eyes be

r of geese at the fountain, and t

his drummers and said, "March towards yonder founta

ey rattled away so heartily that all the gee

how is this? All your gee

ks," replied the Khoja. "If you were to eat one of the

Khoja Rewar

and the Khoja dismounted to ease his beast. At this moment they came within sight of

have fallen in, but that the frogs set up such a terrific croaking at its approa

anting in grateful

hrowing a handful of coins into the water. "D

Khoja reproac

was carrying his fowls in a

he began to fee

ambled out. One ran one way, and another another; but the Khoja contrived to keep up with the cock, which he drove before him with h

y fine bird, did you?" said he. "And yet what a wiseacre you are! You know when it's day be

, but waddled on with hoars

how is it you could not foresee that you were to be driven to market? Thus-and thus!" And turnin

9.-Har

om the village who made the

with all honour and hospitality, and

again; but the Khoja had forgott

eplied. The Khoja entertained him as befo

ome men who desired to

e you?"

the man who brought

but that did not hinder the arrival o

ou?" said

ighbours of the man who brou

ir host; and he set a bowl

, O Khoja?" c

soup of the hare-soup

he Khoja o

who were going a-fishing, and he beca

e net into the sea, the K

nking of, Effendi?"

e Khoja; "I was thi

A Desire

s so exceedingly broad that one could certain

ja kept thinking; "I should exceedingly l

pt saying to himself, "I certainl

efore the house, and a

d himself between the cow's horns. "It is just as I thought," said he; bu

spot she found him lying senseless. After some time he

not less fortunate than other men. I have

oja and the Inc

barber. At every stroke the man cut his head with the razor

e Khoja lo

on on half my head, I'll keep the other half for flax;

TNO

ous teacher, and someti

RLING P

pted from t

the young queen lay in state, wrapped in a shroud of gold all embroidered with flowers, and with so sweet a smile upon her face that she looked like one who dreams happy dreams in sleep, the sorrowing king took the child in his arms, an

one but himself should have a voice in the management of his child, and the fairy godmother, who was accustomed to the utmost deferen

degree dipped in his little finger and said "Hem." And after this the water always proved to be of the right temperature, and did the young princess no harm whatever. The king himself on these occasions always dropped-with much state-a few drops of exquisite scent into the bath, from a golden flask studded with diamonds. The chief lady-in-waiting brought the baby, wrapped in gorgeous robes, and put it into the bath.

rsation in every corner of the palace where the king was likely to overhear it, and the courtiers rivalled each

eedingly self-willed, and with no tho

ace. Thus it came about that the child grew daily more and more wilful and capricious. Do what every one would, it was impossible to please her, and as she was allowed to fly into a rage about the most trifling matters, an

two old court ladies, whose nerves were not so strong as they had been, and who feared to betray themselves, were obliged to employ a celebrated professor of cosmetics to paint smiles on their faces that

atiently,-"She will be a queen," said he to himself, "and it is fit that she should have a will of her own." The king h

nt in their views, and the future queen was known amo

also heir to the throne of a large kingdom-many princes sought her hand in marriage. But th

lace. One of these, which looked out on to the forest, was her fav

owards the wood without snarling in he

f her annoya

hich she leaned to eke out the failing strength of her own limbs. The wood-wife was both feared and hated by the people, amongst whom she bore the character of a very malicious witch. The king's daughter hated not only her, but her tumble-down house,

h, and even the Snarling Princess was obliged to submit

resolution. Back she went, and some irresistible power always seemed to draw her to the window

to turn the old woman by force out of her cottage. The king, who was just and uprigh

was swept away as fast as possible, and by the princess's wish a pretty summer-house was built on the spot where it had

distinct rages; first with her court ladies, secondly with her dressmaker, thirdly with

of the green fir-tops in the evening breeze annoyed her: "Why should pine-trees have needles instead of leaves?" she asked angrily; and then she grumbled be

m, it seemed to her that the stones took dwarf-like shapes, and glared about them with weird elfin faces. The princess seemed rooted to the spot. An invisible power appeared to draw

snarled with every gust of wind, as the princess had hardly ever done in her most ill-tempered moments. And as her limbs stiffened under their magical transformation, the hideous figure of the wood-wife might have been seen hovering round the charmed circle, her arms half

rly vain, the poor old king fell into a state of the deepest melancholy, and spent m

aughter's voice!" said he; "especially when she was the least bit in the world-" He did not like to finish the sentence, but sat down under the tree and wept bitterly. And for every tear he s

id a voice, from a hol

ks?" said

Three-legged Wood-wife, whom you so unjustly sacrificed to your daughter's caprices. But I have had a hand in her education after all! For twelve months has

ine-tree became a princess once mor

, and the enchanted stones became bats, and they

wards married a very charming pri

ver more known as th

TLE PAR

pted from t

-AN UGLY SMILE-THE WIDOW'S

where the fire crackles pleasantly, and the old saucepan, which Moth

upon the window-panes, and rustled through the trees, whic

oors on a little footstool, near the fire, and close also to his

ll-boiled parsnip out of the saucepan, scraped it,

e nodded across the dish towards her little Peter, and when he got up and came and laid his

the pan, and wanted to scrape it all by himself; but he was not very skilful,

the saucepan; the parsnips fell o

looked exactly like a little man. It had a regular head of its own, with a long nose

man," said his mother, wh

w his breath, and he gazed doubtfull

le man was smiling at him; but

crack, that Peter let the parsnip

r, as Peter buried his face in her a

e, and such a loud noise came out of the stove-

e long, long been asleep, and the church clock strikes twelve, that they come to life. Then away they all go to the great cave where the queen dwells in state, and here they

d. "Come, my child, and I'll put you

took him into the bedroom and lighted the rushlight. Then she undressed him and p

nt was due, or she may have been reflecting that Peter's jacket was past further patching. In either case she began to count over in her mind a certain small stock of savings which she had laid by in a money-box, and to puzzle her poor head what she should turn her hand to next to earn the wherewithal to buy the boy some dec

stroke of twelve. She put her sewing away in her work-basket, and carried the saucepan and the dish of parsnips into the sc

parsnip which Peter had let fall. Po

t in the morning, when I l

re the rushlight burned dimly. Then with one passing glance a

l her cares and troubles

T MIDNIGHT-THE HOLE IN THE WALL-AMONG THE PARSNI

self suddenly twitched by the arm. He rolled over, rubbed his eyes, and the

a long yellow coat, and a little green hat on his

d. "We must be off. But wrap u

ed little Peter. "Into the c

's stopping at home. But do be

in, and little Peter, slipped out of bed after him. The little Parsnip-man helped hi

and blew on it. Immediately there was a rustli

p-man caught one, and

he other," he

ough to carry me," s

ou!" said the lit

when he was fairly astride he sat the mouse as if it had been made

rdly seized the ears of the mouse (for want of reins)

sudden it beca

for the mouse galloped on, an

ip-man replied at his side. "Don't be frighten

from the cellar, and were now in the street. The wind had fallen, and there wa

of the little Parsnip-man riding besi

man himself was reposing, for he never moved when the mice and their riders went by. They rode to the end of the stree

he Parsnip-man, jumpi

re leisurely, and t

ant lamp gave a feeble glimmer. The Parsnip-man whistled

ed upwards to a hole in the wall of the old house. Peter then perceived that something was moving highe

voice. "The chimes have sounded once

e. Peter did so, and held fast by the little man's neck, who climbed nimbly

and, which he turned on Peter's face, and then nodded to him in a f

through long dark passages, and then they began to go down-stairs. Peter count

re now at the bottom of the steps, and walking on level ground. The further they

it disclosed a knob, on which he pressed. Then he put out his la

lustres of crystal, with thousands and thousands of wax tapers, whose flames were reflected from the mirrors suspended round the room, hung from the roof. Strange music shook the walls, and to the time of this music hundreds and hun

ittle Parsnip-men who had brought him so far led him

" whispered one of

verings and gilded arms. Once or twice Peter nearly slipped, so polished was the floor. From time to t

d by a canopy hung with purple. It was something like the throne Peter once saw when his aunt took him with

rone on which was seated a little girl in a snow-white dress. On her head she wore a little gold crown, from which hung a long transparent vei

g with delight; and as she took his hand, he saw that she was n

n she beckoned to the Parsnip-men, and said, "You have got everythi

of blue silk, turned up with fur, and trimmed with precious stones. Besides this there were knee-breeches of the same material, slashed with white and fringed with g

n fixed upon Mary. He fancied she looked bi

he little men; "and you, Peter," she added, "go

could not get over his amazement at the style and tone in

ever mind, Peter: we shall soon be at home again. Wha

m to take off his things and dress himself in his new-finery. Some of them then brought a long mirror, in which Pete

the Queen, who looked him well ove

r doll, Mary?" sai

plied she. "It would not do

queen very long

al years,"

ogether only yesterday," said

to him, and was pulling a b

e clear tone of the bell which the Queen

the dancing st

arm," said Mary. "We're g

ves in two long rows, down the centre of which the Queen and her companion now pa

s, and hither and thither among them flitted curious birds of many hues. As in the first hall, crystal lustres with wax tapers descended from the roof, and in the middle of the room, to which they now advanced, was a long table covered with a white table-cloth, and laid out with gold and silver plate of

wanted to stop every moment, but Ma

e stood. It was covered by a canopy of yellow silk, and under this was a table more richly laid out than the

r's arm and sat down on one of the seats, a

to observe the Parsnip-men as they passed by in

silver dishes, which they set down on the long table, and having cut them up handed them round to the guests. Others po

hich had a particularly inviting smell. Mary cut a piece off and put it on to Peter's golden plat

reat relish, and soon disp

it, too, if I may," said he. And as he spoke Mary

eeth shone through her lips. "Don't be afraid of empty

me to Mamma," said Peter, biti

sweetmeats, saying, "Put as many of these into your poc

rned. He shouted aloud for joy, and swung his legs b

g together the same as ever, sha'n't we? I shall bring my le

m, and whispered in a frightened voic

nd laughing at the long table, and in the silence the sound

st of wind blew through the banqueting-r

MOTHER-THE PARSNIP-MAN

petrified with terror, Mary

"We must get away from here." Then she

't know where I am. Take me with you, Mar

y rep

till he knocked against the corner of the table. Terror

dear?" said his mo

I am so frightened! Mary has run away a

was standing by the bed where poor Peter was sitting straigh

your own little bed," said his m

little, and looked round h

re?" he asked, still

nywhere else, you kn

ok me away, and I rode on the

still dreaming. There, get

adfully patched and darned," said Peter, in a lamentable tone. "And I have broug

out into the arm-chair by the breakfast-table, and began to pour out some coffee for him. And she put the Parsnip-man (who had been lying all n

es. It looked exactly the same

ully. "She is the Queen of the Parsnip-men, you

it next time she comes,"

s on it. It was addressed to herself, and beside the address was written, "Three pounds enclosed." Having given a small sum to the messenger for his tr

iously to her side, in her arms and exclaimed with delight,

oney, Mother?" all she could say was, "I wish I kne

thought-"Mother won't believe me, I know. But who can the

LD'S

German of

ldren lived together like brother and sister; they only played where they could play together, and were of one heart and of one soul. But one day, when Gertrude had gone out alone to pick flowers beyond the cast

ful green spot, a brook bubbled under the trees, where he had often sat with Gertrude, floating little boats of nutshell

ly as those who used to come to my uncle's castle, I wo

uck so fast between two branches of a tree that it could not move, whilst a snake was gliding toward

ich he spoke-"a thousand thanks! And now, since you have saved my life, wish for whatever

once that the raven was an encha

knight with a helmet and a sh

ood near him, and his hobby-horse became a proud charger, which, to show that it was no gh

eam. Soon, however, a new life seemed to wake within him; he swung himself on to his horse

easts or else knights, who, like himself, roved about the country delighting to find any one with whom they could do

he reached the summit, he saw from afar a little maiden, who sat playing with her doll before the castle gate, an

ter!" but the child believed him not. And when he sprang from his horse to kiss her, and his armour, sword, and spurs rattle

and learnt from her that she had bought Gertrude from the gipsies. But when he begged that she would let him take his dear little cousin away with him, she cons

your Cousin Walter. Do you no longer love

ht from head to foot, and th

lay hide-and-seek, as we used to do, his armour would shine, and his spurs rattle, and I should know where he was directly. If I wanted to go to school with him, he could not sit by me on the little benches at the little tables. Then what could a poor child like me do for s

took leave of them both, mounted his horse, and rode away; but the

om a tree called "Walter! Walter!" and when

ou have another wish, speak, and it shall be granted; bu

ooner said that he might have another wish than he interrupted i

e battlements, there stood by the queen a wonderfully beautiful princess, tall and slim and stately; and this was-his Gertrude! Then the boy, ta

were not so happy as they should have been. If Walter said to her, "Come, Gertrude, and we'll run races, an

ain, "Oh! but that would never do for a princess; I should leave my tra

or a mad dog came after them, Gertrude must snatch Walter up in her arms, and run off with him, for she was so much bigger th

feet. Then, as before, a voice called out of the tree, "Walter! Walter!" And when the boy looked up, the raven was sitting on a

ore he answered: "Ah! let us both

children as before, played together more happily

rom heaven, who took them both in his arms and carried them away-away to the celestial gardens of Paradise, where they are yet toge

ND TH

ATIC D

French of

tis P

ac

a

ch Gre

man H

ch Hig

oss

n Peasan

h Peasa

n Peasa

sh Peasa

s seated at the back, leaning her elbow o

er

pid century, which succumbs to the coward sweetness of an inglorious peace. After forty years of forced repose brighter days seemed at last to have returned to me. Twice did I unfurl the ol

e: rise from your graves and shame your degenerate successors. Up! up! Bid some remembe

e ri

ispute the world of the living with me if you w

mon the Dead when it is in

th God; they have but

eace, for I pay no attention to them. I go forward, and

o me, you shall hear the Dead themselves, and see if they agree with you. (Turns to the Dead.

Dead

long time since Austerli

ipsic, where the great German race broke t

u were left u

am proud

mself to his country. We others have done just the same. If

Paris, where great Russia went to retur

sh people for the threats of the camp at Boulogne. I dro

erlitz, where the great French nation was avenged on Brunswick and Souwar

equals, in whatever dre

died for our country

rs. The hatreds of earth do

join

ed, let us tell each other what we u

e of ground in the steppes a

r by farming a piece of ground whic

wife on the piece of l

rted my sister. It seems that we were all four of the

Czar spoke, a

ament voted for w

es cried, "To arm

all, what have we against each other? Where was the quarrel between our respective ploughsh

ame to destr

nate self, and other labourers like you and me.

soaking ou

riend, and that of brave men like you. Curs

d be the cont

Your very wives would disown you. (The Dead gaze

nts with her hand to the stage ent

ur Veile

front of the stage she lifts her veil, and is seen

ight I go to rest weeping, because I have had no news of you; and every morning I awake dreading to receive it. We were so happy! We lived so comfortably together! and now I sit at our little

s to one side of the stage. The

friends. She is repeating

ur enemies. Child that I was to speak of killing, not knowing what it meant! And now, when will you return? What have they done with you, dear Father? What has become of that revered head, which my lips never approached but with respect? Perhaps at this very moment it is dragged,

I yet hear the last farewell he

af is driven before the wind. Perhaps at this moment you are stretched upon an armful of bloody straw, and other hands than mine dress your glorious wounds. Ah, miserable me! of what does my tend

! I recognize the words her sweet vo

them you come and take them away from us that you may send them to death. And we, miserable women! must encourage them to die if we would not have them dishonoured. Poor dear boy! so strong! so handsome! so good to his mother! Ah! if there

her face i

rings towards her.) It is I, Mother, it is I! (She raises he

daughter's veil). Good h

e's veil). It is not sh

is not for us that they are weeping; perhaps it is for som

nd Nature has but one language in all countries. (To WAR.) As for you, go and sound your trump

mber 2, 1805. The battle of Leipsic, August 16

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