the pedlar said when he had atlast safely got out of Sodom and Gomorrah, as he called it. "Theopen high road is my right place; up there I did not feel at ease."
  The little maid, who was still watching the geese, nodded kindlyto him as he passed through the gate.
  Days and weeks passed, and it was seen that the brokenwillow-branch which the peddlar had stuck into the ground near theditch remained fresh and green- nay, it even put forth fresh twigs;the little goose-girl saw that the branch had taken root, and was verypleased; the tree, so she said, was now her tree. While the tree wasadvancing, everything else at the castle was going backward, throughfeasting and gambling, for these are two rollers upon which nobodystands safely. Less than six years afterwards the baron passed outof his castle-gate a poor beggar, while the baronial seat had beenbought by a rich tradesman. He was the very pedlar they had made funof and poured beer into a stocking for him to drink; but honesty andindustry bring one forward, and now the pedlar was the possessor ofthe baronial estate. From that time forward no card-playing waspermitted there.
  "That's a bad pastime," he said; "when the devil saw the Bible forthe first time he wanted to produce a caricature in opposition toit, and invented card-playing."
  The new proprietor of the estate took a wife, and whom did hetake?- The little goose-girl, who had always remained good and kind,and who looked as beautiful in her new clothes as if she had been alady of high birth. And how did all this come about? That would be toolong a tale to tell in our busy time, but it really happened, andthe most important events have yet to be told.
  It was pleasant and cheerful to live in the old place now: themother superintended the household, and the father looked after thingsout-of-doors, and they were indeed very prosperous.
  Where honesty leads the way, prosperity is sure to follow. The oldmansion was repaired and painted, the ditches were cleaned andfruit-trees planted; all was homely and pleasant, and the floorswere as white and shining as a pasteboard. In the long winter eveningsthe mistress and her maids sat at the spinning-wheel in the largehall; every Sunday the counsellor- this title the pedlar had obtained,although only in his old days- read aloud a portion from the Bible.The children (for they had children) all received the besteducation, but they were not all equally clever, as is the case in allfamilies.
  In the meantime the willow tree near the drawbridge had grown upinto a splendid tree, and stood there, free, and was never clipped."It is our genealogical tree," said the old people to theirchildren, "and therefore it must be honoured."
  A hundred years had elapsed. It was in our own days; the lakehad been transformed into marsh land; the whole baronial seat had,as it were, disappeared. A pool of water near some ruined walls wasthe only remainder of the deep ditches; and here stood a magnificentold tree with overhanging branches- that was the genealogical tree.Here it stood, and showed how beautiful a willow can look if onedoes not interfere with it. The trunk, it is true, was cleft in themiddle from the root to the crown; the storms had bent it a little,but it still stood there, and out of every crevice and cleft, in whichwind and weather had carried mould, blades of grass and flowers sprangforth. Especially above, where the large boughs parted, there wasquite a hanging garden, in which wild raspberries and hart's-tongueferns throve, and even a little mistletoe had taken root, and grewgracefully in the old willow branches, which were reflected in thedark water beneath when the wind blew the chickweed into the corner ofthe pool. A footpath which led across the fields passed close by theold tree. High up, on the woody hillside, stood the new mansion. Ithad a splendid view, and was large and magnificent; its window paneswere so clear that one might have thought there were none there atall. The large flight of steps which led to the entrance looked like abower covered with roses and broad-leaved plants. The lawn was asgreen as if each blade of grass was cleaned separately morning andevening. Inside, in the hall, valuable oil paintings were hanging onthe walls. Here stood chairs and sofas covered with silk and velvet,which could be easily rolled about on castors; there were tableswith polished marble tops, and books bound in morocco with gilt edges.Indeed, well-to-do and distinguished people lived here; it was thedwelling of the baron and his family. Each article was in keeping withits surroundings. "Everything in the right place" was the mottoaccording to which they also acted here, and therefore all thepaintings which had once been the honour and glory of the oldmansion were now hung up in the passage which led to the servants'rooms. It was all old lumber, especially two portraits- onerepresenting a man in a scarlet coat with a wig, and the other alady with powdered and curled hair holding a rose in her hand, each ofthem being surrounded by a large wreath of willow branches. Bothportraits had many holes in them, because the baron's sons used thetwo old people as targets for their crossbows. They represented thecounsellor and his wife, from whom the whole family descended. "Butthey did not properly belong to our family," said one of the boys; "hewas a pedlar and she kept the geese. They were not like papa andmamma." The portraits were old lumber, and "everything in its rightplace." That was why the great-grandparents had been hung up in thepassage leading to the servants' rooms.
  The son of the village pastor was tutor at the mansion. One day hewent for a walk across the fields with his young pupils and theirelder sister, who had lately been confirmed. They walked along theroad which passed by the old willow tree, and while they were on theroad she picked a bunch of field-flowers. "Everything in the rightplace," and indeed the bunch looked very beautiful. At the same timeshe listened to all that was said, and she very much liked to hear thepastor's son speak about the elements and of the great men and womenin history. She had a healthy mind, noble in thought and deed, andwith a heart full of love for everything that God had created. Theystopped at the old willow tree, as the youngest of the baron's sonswished very much to have a flute from it, such as had been cut for himfrom other willow trees; the pastor's son broke a branch off. "Oh,pray do not do it!"