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entirely disappears. I will climb up yonder rock."
And he seized hold of the creeping-plants, and the roots of trees--climbed up the moist stones where the
water-snakes were writhing and the toads were croaking--and he gained the summit before the sun had quite
gone down. How magnificent was the sight from this height! The sea--the great, the glorious sea, that dashed
its long waves against the coast--was stretched out before him. And yonder, where sea and sky meet, stood
the sun, like a large shining altar, all melted together in the most glowing colors. And the wood and the sea
sang a song of rejoicing, and his heart sang with the rest: all nature was a vast holy church, in which the trees
and the buoyant clouds were the pillars, flowers and grass the velvet carpeting, and heaven itself the large
cupola. The red colors above faded away as the sun vanished, but a million stars were lighted, a million lamps
shone; and the King's Son spread out his arms towards heaven, and wood, and sea; when at the same moment,
coming by a path to the right, appeared, in his wooden shoes and jacket, the poor boy who had been
confirmed with him. He had followed his own path, and had reached the spot just as soon as the son of the
king had done. They ran towards each other, and stood together hand in hand in the vast church of nature and
of poetry, while over them sounded the invisible holy bell: blessed spirits floated around them, and lifted up
their voices in a rejoicing hallelujah!
THE OLD HOUSE
In the street, up there, was an old, a very old house--it was almost three hundred years old, for that might be
known by reading the great beam on which the date of the year was carved: together with tulips and
hop-binds there were whole verses spelled as in former times, and over every window was a distorted face cut
out in the beam. The one story stood forward a great way over the other; and directly under the eaves was a
leaden spout with a dragon's head; the rain-water should have run out of the mouth, but it ran out of the belly,
for there was a hole in the spout.
All the other houses in the street were so new and so neat, with large window panes and smooth walls, one
could easily see that they would have nothing to do with the old house: they certainly thought, "How long is
that old decayed thing to stand here as a spectacle in the street? And then the projecting windows stand so far
out, that no one can see from our windows what happens in that direction! The steps are as broad as those of a
palace, and as high as to a church tower. The iron railings look just like the door to an old family vault, and
then they have brass tops--that's so stupid!"
On the other side of the street were also new and neat houses, and they thought just as the others did; but at
the window opposite the old house there sat a little boy with fresh rosy cheeks and bright beaming eyes: he
certainly liked the old house best, and that both in sunshine and moonshine. And when he looked across at the
wall where the mortar had fallen out, he could sit and find out there the strangest figures imaginable; exactly
as the street had appeared before, with steps, projecting windows, and pointed gables; he could see soldiers
with halberds, and spouts where the water ran, like dragons and serpents. That was a house to look at; and
there lived an old man, who wore plush breeches; and he had a coat with large brass buttons, and a wig that
one could see was a real wig. Every morning there came an old fellow to him who put his rooms in order, and
went on errands; otherwise, the old man in the plush breeches was quite alone in the old house. Now and then
he came to the window and looked out, and the little boy nodded to him, and the old man nodded again, and
so they became acquaintances, and then they were friends, although they had never spoken to each other--but
Andersen's Fairy Tales 60/87
Andersen's Fairy Tales
that made no difference. The little boy heard his parents say, "The old man opposite is very well off, but he is
so very, very lonely!"
The Sunday following, the little boy took something, and wrapped it up in a piece of paper, went downstairs,
and stood in the doorway; and when the man who went on errands came past, he said to him--
"I say, master! will you give this to the old man over the way from me? I have two pewter soldiers--this is
one of them, and he shall have it, for I know he is so very, very lonely."
And the old errand man looked quite pleased, nodded, and took the pewter soldier over to the old house.
Afterwards there came a message; it was to ask if the little boy himself had not a wish to come over and pay a
visit; and so he got permission of his parents, and then went over to the old house.
And the brass balls on the iron railings shone much brighter than ever; one would have thought they were
polished on account of the visit; and it was as if the carved-out trumpeters--for there were trumpeters, who
stood in tulips, carved out on the door--blew with all their might, their cheeks appeared so much rounder
than before. Yes, they blew--"Trateratra! The little boy comes! Trateratra!"--and then the door opened.
The whole passage was hung with portraits of knights in armor, and ladies in silken gowns; and the armor
rattled, and the silken gowns rustled! And then there was a flight of stairs which went a good way upwards,
and a little way downwards, and then one came on a balcony which was in a very dilapidated state, sure
enough, with large holes and long crevices, but grass grew there and leaves out of them altogether, for the
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