Hans Christian Andersen

“ The highest were so very small; smaller than the least rose-bud, when it is drawn like a mere dot upon the paper.
In the midst of the hall stood a large tree, with luxuriant pendent branches; and golden apples, large and small, hung like oranges between the green leaves. This was the Tree of Knowledge, of whose fruit Adam and Eve had eaten. From every leaf a red gleaming dew-drop was falling: it was as if the tree shed tears of blood.
“Now let us get into the boat,” said the Fairy; “we will refresh ourselves on the heaving water. ”

“ There, too, blooms the Garden of Paradise. If he be good and holy, he may enter its beautiful pearl gates and be a dweller in it for ever and ever: but should his head and heart be still full of sin, then he will sink with the coffin deeper than ever sank the Garden of Paradise; and every thousand years only shall I come to fetch him, that he may either sink still deeper, or dwell in the star—in that bright sparkling star there yonder! ”

“ Ellie could now see the dead bird quite well—it was a swallow. Its pretty wings were pressed close to its body, and its feet and head drawn back under the feathers.
“The poor bird is certainly frozen to death,” said Ellie; and she was heartily sorry for the poor animal, for she loved birds dearly, because they had sung to her the whole summer long.
But the mole gave it a push with his foot, and said, “There is an end of all his fine singing now! It really must be a wretched existence to be a bird! Thank heaven, my children won’t be birds. ”

“ The little fishes that swam below in the water had probably seen the toad, and heard what she said; for they put up their heads that they might have a look at the little maiden. As soon as they had seen her, they were touched by her beauty, and they were very sorry that such a charming little damsel should become the prey of a nasty toad. They therefore assembled round the green stem on which the leaf grew where Ellie was, and gnawed it in two with their teeth; and now leaf and Ellie, slowly and gently, floated down the stream, far away out of reach of the toad. ”

“ You have only to bind yourself on firmly with your girdle, and off we will fly far away from the hateful mole and his dark chamber, over mountain and valley, to those beautiful lands where the sun shines much more warmly than here; where ceaseless summer reigns, and bright flowers are always blooming. Take courage, and fly with me, good little Ellie ”

“ The very first thing they heard in this world when the cover was taken off the box, was, “Leaden Soldiers!” These words were uttered by a little boy who clapped his hands for joy; they had been given him because it was his birthday, and he now set them out upon the table. One soldier was exactly a counterpart of the other; a single one only was somewhat different from the rest—he had but one leg. He had been cast the last of all, and there was not lead enough left; yet he stood on his one leg quite as firmly as the others on two; and it is this very soldier whose fate is so remarkable. ”

“ He hurried about with fire and sword; his soldiers trampled down the corn in the fields, and burned the houses of the peasants, so that the red flame seemed to lick the leaves off the trees, and the fruit hung roasted from the black and scorched boughs. Many a poor mother hid herself, with her little naked baby, behind the smoking walls, and the soldiers searched for them till they found both herself and her child, and then began their cruel joy. Wicked spirits could not have done more shocking things than they did; but the king thought this was just as it should be. ”

“ The ladder went straight up into heaven, and the angels with their broad wings ascended and descended upon it. Yea, all that had happened in this world lived and moved on the window-panes; but such beautiful glass-painting as this could only be produced by Time.
The Fairy smiled, and led the Prince into a high, and spacious hall, whose walls seemed transparent, and were covered with paintings: there were thousands of happy beings, whose faces were radiant with beauty, and who laughed and sang so that their voices formed a wondrous harmony. ”

“ They were the fields and meadows which he called a green board.
“It was unpolite of me to depart without taking leave of your mother and brothers,” said the Prince.
“If one sleeps, it is excusable,” answered the East Wind; and now they flew on still more quickly. One could hear it by the tops of the trees; when they passed over them, all the leaves and the branches rustled: one could hear it on the sea, and on the lakes; for wherever they flew, the waves rose higher, and the tall ships bent low down to the water like swans. ”

“ That is your temptation—that is sin to you. For a hundred years must I repeat the call to you every evening. With each evening that you resist the temptation will your moral strength increase, till at last you will not give it a thought. This evening will be the first trial—remember I have given you warning!”
And the Fairy led him to a large hall of white transparent lilies; and the yellow stamina of the lilies were little golden harps, which gave forth a music as of stringed instruments and flutes. ”

“ At that time the young Prince believed all this; but by degrees, as he grew older and wiser, he saw very well that the glory of the Garden of Paradise must be a very different sort of thing.
“Oh, why did Eve pluck the fruit from the tree of knowledge? Why did Adam eat of what was forbidden? I ought to have been there, and then it would not have happened! Never should sin have entered into the world!” ”

“ Sophie was now quite happy, and begged Ida’s flowers to make use of her bed after the ball, as she, for her part, did not at all mind sleeping one night in the drawer.
But the flowers said: “We are very much obliged to you indeed; but we shall not live so long, for to-morrow we shall be quite withered. But now tell little Ida that she must bury us down in her garden near her canary-bird; there we shall appear again next summer, and grow more beautiful than we were this year.” ”

“ The swallow flew with Ellie to one of these flowers, and set her down on a broad leaf; but how astonished was Ellie when she saw that in the flower a little mannikin was sitting, as delicate and transparent as glass. He wore a small golden crown on his head, and the most beautiful bright wings on his shoulders; and he was not a whit larger than Ellie herself. This was the sylph of the flower. In each flower dwelt such a little man with his wife ”

“ But no swallow came; he was, no doubt, enjoying the warm sunshine far away in the green wood.
As autumn approached, Ellie was ready with her wedding-things.
“In four weeks you will be married,” said the old field-mouse; but Ellie wept, and said she would not have the tiresome mole for a husband.
“Fiddle de dee!” answered the field-mouse. “Don’t be refractory, or I shall give you a bite with my sharp teeth; is not your future husband a very handsome man? Even the Queen has not such a dress of beautiful velvet fur to show as he has! ”

“ He was a very charming youth.
“Why do these flowers look so faded?” asked she again, showing him a withered nosegay.
“Don’t you know what ails them?” answered he; “your flowers have been all night at a ball, and that’s the reason they all hang their heads.”
“Flowers cannot dance!” exclaimed little Ida.
“Certainly they can! When it is dark, and we are all asleep, then they dance about right merrily. They have a ball almost every night!” said the youth.
“May children go to the flowers’ ball too?” asked little Ida.
“Yes,” answered the youth. “Little tiny daisies, and lilies of the valley.” ”

“ If you will, set off to-morrow with me; but this much must I tell you, no human being was ever there since Adam and Eve’s time. You know them, of course, from the Bible history?”
“Yes, to be sure,” said the Prince.
“When they were driven away, the Garden of Paradise sank into the earth; but it retained its warm sunshine, its genial air, and all its glory. The Queen of the Fairies lives there; there lies the Island of Bliss, which Death can never reach, and where life is so very beautiful. Seat yourself to-morrow on my back, and I will take you with me; I think we shall be able to manage it. ”

“ He rushed towards her; forgot his vow, forgot it even on the very first evening; and again she beckoned and smiled.
The air, the spicy air around grew still more balmy; and the harps sounded more deliciously; and it seemed as if the millions of laughing faces in the hall, where the tree grew, nodded and said, “One should know all! Man is Lord of the Earth.” And it was no longer tears of blood that dropped from the leaves of the Tree of Knowledge, but red, shining stars ”

“ The only two who did not move from their places were the leaden Soldier and the little Dancer; she remained in her graceful position on tip-toe with outstretched arms; and he stood just as firm on his one leg, and never took his eyes from off her even for a moment.
Now the clock struck twelve. Suddenly the cover of the snuff-box flew open; but there was no snuff in it. No, out sprung a little black Magician, for it was a conjuring- box. “Soldier!” cried the Magician, “will you keep your eyes to yourself?”
But the leaden Soldier pretended that he did not hear. ”

“ And he led her towards the door of the stove.
“It looks quite black,” said she; but still she went with him, and on through all the intricacies of the interior, and through the flues, where a pitchy darkness reigned.
“We are now in the chimney,” said he; and behold, behold, above us is shining the loveliest star!”
It was a real star in the sky that shone straight down upon them, as if to show the way. They climbed and they crept higher and higher. It was a frightful way; but he lifted her up, he held her, and showed her the best places on which to put her little porcelain feet ”

“ They have grown on stalks, high up in the air, and then they have leave given them to jump from their stems, they move their leaves as if they were wings, and so fly about; and as they always behave well, they are allowed to flutter hither and thither by day, instead of sitting quietly on their stems, till at last real wings grow out of their leaves. Why, you have seen it often enough yourself. However, it may be that the flowers in the Botanic Garden did not know that there was such merry-making in the King’s palace of a night, and so have never been there. ”

“ However, here sits a dog upon the chest, with a pair of eyes as large as mill-wheels; but that you need not mind either: put the dog on the apron, and take as much silver as you please. But if you would rather have gold, you must go into the third chamber, and then you can take as much as you can carry. But the dog that guards this money-chest has eyes as large as the Round Tower [1] at Copenhagen. That’s a dog for you who can see! But you need not mind him: put him on my apron, and take as many gold pieces out of the chest as you please; the dog won’t do you any harm. ”

“ She now brought the bird some water in a leaf, which he drank; and he told her how he had hurt his wings with some brambles so much that he was not able to fly away to the warm countries with his companions, but had fallen exhausted to the earth, and had lost all power of recollection, so that it did not know how it had come there.
The little swallow remained here the whole winter, and Ellie tended him and liked him better and better every day; but she told the mole and the field-mouse nothing of the matter, for she knew very well that neither of them could bear the poor bird. ”

“ She mounted on the back of the swallow, supported her feet on his wings, fastened herself by her girdle to a strong feather, and flew away with him high over woods and lakes, over valley and mountain. When they passed over icy or snowy glaciers, Ellie often felt cold; but then she crept under the feathers of the bird, covered herself all over, and only put out her head to admire all the wonders below her.
At last they arrived in the warm countries. There the sun shone brighter than with us ”

“ He was already so near that to stop was impossible; the boat shot forward; the poor leaden Soldier stood as upright as he could, for no one could say of him that he had even winked his eyes. The boat whirled round three, four times, and was filled with water up to the very edge. Sink it must. The soldier was up to his neck in water: deeper and deeper sank the boat, and looser and looser became the paper. At last the water went over the Soldier’s head; he thought of the pretty little Dancer that he was never to see again, and the words of the song,
O warrior! ”

“ And the Sweep gazed fixedly upon her, and then said, “My way lies up the chimney. Have you really courage to go with me through the stove, and to creep through all the flues? We shall then get into the main flue, after which I am not at a loss what to do. Up we mount, then, so high that they can never reach us; and at the top is an opening that leads out into the world.” ”

“ Then there came a small white butterfly, and after fluttering about a long time, settled at last on her leaf, because Ellie pleased him; she, too, was glad of the visit; for she knew it would be impossible for the toad to overtake her now. The country she passed through was very beautiful; and the sun shone on the water, making it glitter like gold. It now entered her head to take off her girdle, and bind one end of it to the butterfly, and the other to the leaf ”