Let us think of the moving-day that is notmarked in the calendar."
  THE END.
  1872
  FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN
  OLE-LUK-OIE, THE DREAM-GOD
  by Hans Christian Andersen
  THERE is nobody in the world who knows so many stories asOle-Luk-Oie, or who can relate them so nicely. In the evening, whilethe children are seated at the table or in their little chairs, hecomes up the stairs very softly, for he walks in his socks, then heopens the doors without the slightest noise, and throws a smallquantity of very fine dust in their eyes, just enough to preventthem from keeping them open, and so they do not see him. Then hecreeps behind them, and blows softly upon their necks, till theirheads begin to droop. But Ole-Luk-Oie does not wish to hurt them,for he is very fond of children, and only wants them to be quietthat he may relate to them pretty stories, and they never are quietuntil they are in bed and asleep. As soon as they are asleep,Ole-Luk-Oie seats himself upon the bed. He is nicely dressed; his coatis made of silken stuff; it is impossible to say of what color, for itchanges from green to red, and from red to blue as he turns fromside to side. Under each arm he carries an umbrella; one of them, withpictures on the inside, he spreads over the good children, and thenthey dream the most beautiful stories the whole night. But the otherumbrella has no pictures, and this he holds over the naughtychildren so that they sleep heavily, and wake in the morning withouthaving dreamed at all.
  Now we shall hear how Ole-Luk-Oie came every night during awhole week to the little boy named Hjalmar, and what he told him.There were seven stories, as there are seven days in the week.MONDAY
  MONDAY
  "Now pay attention," said Ole-Luk-Oie, in the evening, whenHjalmar was in bed, "and I will decorate the room."
  Immediately all the flowers in the flower-pots became large trees,with long branches reaching to the ceiling, and stretching along thewalls, so that the whole room was like a greenhouse. All thebranches were loaded with flowers, each flower as beautiful and asfragrant as a rose; and, had any one tasted them, he would havefound them sweeter even than jam. The fruit glittered like gold, andthere were cakes so full of plums that they were nearly bursting. Itwas incomparably beautiful. At the same time sounded dismal moans fromthe table-drawer in which lay Hjalmar's school books.
  "What can that be now?" said Ole-Luk-Oie, going to the table andpulling out the drawer.
  It was a slate, in such distress because of a false number inthe sum, that it had almost broken itself to pieces. The pencil pulledand tugged at its string as if it were a little dog that wanted tohelp, but could not.
  And then came a moan from Hjalmar's copy-book. Oh, it was quiteterrible to hear! On each leaf stood a row of capital letters, everyone having a small letter by its side. This formed a copy; under thesewere other letters, which Hjalmar had written: they fancied theylooked like the copy, but they were mistaken; for they were leaning onone side as if they intended to fall over the pencil-lines.
  "See, this is the way you should hold yourselves," said thecopy. "Look here, you should slope thus, with a graceful curve."
  "Oh, we are very willing to do so, but we cannot," saidHjalmar's letters; "we are so wretchedly made."
  "You must be scratched out, then," said Ole-Luk-Oie.
  "Oh, no!" they cried, and then they stood up so gracefully itwas quite a pleasure to look at them.
  "Now we must give up our stories, and exercise these letters,"said Ole-Luk-Oie; "One, two- one, two- " So he drilled them tillthey stood up gracefully, and looked as beautiful as a copy couldlook. But after Ole-Luk-Oie was gone, and Hjalmar looked at them inthe morning, they were as wretched and as awkward as ever.TUESDAY
  TUESDAY
  As soon as Hjalmar was in bed, Ole-Luk-Oie touched, with hislittle magic wand, all the furniture in the room, which immediatelybegan to chatter, and each article only talked of itself.
  Over the chest of drawers hung a large picture in a gilt frame,representing a landscape, with fine old trees, flowers in the grass,and a broad stream, which flowed through the wood, past severalcastles, far out into the wild ocean. Ole-Luk-Oie touched thepicture with his magic wand, and immediately the birds commencedsinging, the branches of the trees rustled, and the clouds movedacross the sky, casting their shadows on the landscape beneath them.Then Ole-Luk-Oie lifted little Hjalmar up to the frame, and placed hisfeet in the picture, just on the high grass, and there he stood withthe sun shining down upon him through the branches of the trees. Heran to the water, and seated himself in a little boat which lay there,and which was painted red and white. The sails glittered likesilver, and six swans, each with a golden circlet round its neck,and a bright blue star on its forehead, drew the boat past the greenwood, where the trees talked of robbers and witches, and the flowersof beautiful little elves and fairies, whose histories the butterflieshad related to them. Brilliant fish, with scales like silver and gold,swam after the boat, sometimes making a spring and splashing the waterround them, while birds, red and blue, small and great, flew after himin two long lines. The gnats danced round them, and the cockchaferscried "Buz, buz." They all wanted to follow Hjalmar, and all hadsome story to tell him. It was a most pleasant sail. Sometimes theforests were thick and dark, sometimes like a beautiful garden, gaywith sunshine and flowers; then he passed great palaces of glass andof marble, and on the balconies stood princesses, whose faces werethose of little girls whom Hjalmar knew well, and had often playedwith. One of them held out her hand, in which was a heart made ofsugar, more beautiful than any confectioner ever sold. As Hjalmarsailed by, he caught hold of one side of the sugar heart, and heldit fast, and the princess held fast also, so that it broke in twopieces. Hjalmar had one piece, and the princess the other, butHjalmar's was the largest. At each castle stood little princesacting as sentinels. They presented arms, and had golden swords, andmade it rain plums and tin soldiers, so that they must have beenreal princes.
  Hjalmar continued to sail, sometimes through woods, sometimes asit were through large halls, and then by large cities. At last he cameto the town where his nurse lived, who had carried him in her armswhen he was a very little boy, and had always been kind to him. Shenodded and beckoned to him, and then sang the little verses she hadherself composed and set to him,-
  "How oft my memory turns to thee,
  My own Hjalmar, ever dear!