It seemed to himlike turning over the leaves of a book. And now there stood before himan old peasant woman, who had come from Soroe where the grass grows inthe market-place. She had a green linen apron thrown over her head andshoulders, and it was quite wet, as if it had been raining heavily."Yes, that it has," said she, and then, just as she was going totell him a great many pretty stories from Holberg's comedies, andabout Waldemar and Absalom, she suddenly shrunk up together, andwagged her head as if she were a frog about to spring. "Croak," shecried; "it is always wet, and as quiet as death in Soroe." Then littleTuk saw she was changed into a frog. "Croak," and again she was an oldwoman. "One must dress according to the weather," said she. "It iswet, and my town is just like a bottle. By the cork we must go in, andby the cork we must come out again. In olden times I had beautifulfish, and now I have fresh, rosy-cheeked boys in the bottom of thebottle, and they learn wisdom, Hebrew and Greek."
  "Croak." How it sounded like the cry of the frogs on the moor,or like the creaking of great boots when some one is marching,- alwaysthe same tone, so monotonous and wearing, that little Tuk at lengthfell fast asleep, and then the sound could not annoy him. But evenin this sleep came a dream or something like it. His little sisterGustava, with her blue eyes, and fair curly hair, had grown up abeautiful maiden all at once, and without having wings she couldfly. And they flew together over Zealand, over green forests andblue lakes.
  "Hark, so you hear the cock crow, little Tuk. 'Cock-a-doodle-doo.'The fowls are flying out of Kjoge. You shall have a large farm-yard.You shall never suffer hunger or want. The bird of good omen shallbe yours, and you shall become a rich and happy man; your houseshall rise up like King Waldemar's towers, and shall be richly adornedwith marble statues, like those at Prastoe. Understand me well; yourname shall travel with fame round the world like the ship that wasto sail from Corsor, and at Roeskilde,- Don't forget the names ofthe towns, as King Hroar said,- you shall speak well and clearlylittle Tuk, and when at last you lie in your grave you shall sleeppeacefully, as-"
  "As if I lay in Soroe," said little Tuk awaking. It was brightdaylight, and he could not remember his dream, but that was notnecessary, for we are not to know what will happen to us in thefuture. Then he sprang out of bed quickly, and read over his lesson inthe book, and knew it all at once quite correctly. The old washerwomanput her head in at the door, and nodded to him quite kindly, and said,"Many thanks, you good child, for your help yesterday. I hope all yourbeautiful dreams will come true."
  Little Tuk did not at all know what he had dreamt, but One abovedid.
  THE END.
  1872
  FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN
  OLE THE TOWER-KEEPER
  by Hans Christian Andersen
  "IN the world it's always going up and down; and now I can't go upany higher!" So said Ole the tower-keeper. "Most people have to tryboth the ups and the downs; and, rightly considered, we all get tobe watchmen at last, and look down upon life from a height."
  Such was the speech of Ole, my friend, the old tower-keeper, astrange, talkative old fellow, who seemed to speak out everything thatcame into his head, and who for all that had many a serious thoughtdeep in his heart. Yes, he was the child of respectable people, andthere were even some who said that he was the son of a privycouncillor, or that he might have been. He had studied, too, and hadbeen assistant teacher and deputy clerk; but of what service was allthat to him?