The Turks, when they saw such a sight in the air, jumped sohigh that their slippers flew about their ears. It was easy to believeafter this that the princess was really going to marry a Turkishangel.
  As soon as the merchant's son had come down in his flying trunk tothe wood after the fireworks, he thought, "I will go back into thetown now, and hear what they think of the entertainment." It wasvery natural that he should wish to know. And what strange thingspeople did say, to be sure! every one whom he questioned had adifferent tale to tell, though they all thought it very beautiful.
  "'I saw the Turkish angel myself," said one; "he had eyes likeglittering stars, and a head like foaming water."
  "He flew in a mantle of fire," cried another, "and lovely littlecherubs peeped out from the folds."
  He heard many more fine things about himself, and that the nextday he was to be married. After this he went back to the forest torest himself in his trunk. It had disappeared! A spark from thefireworks which remained had set it on fire; it was burnt to ashes! Sothe merchant's son could not fly any more, nor go to meet his bride.She stood all day on the roof waiting for him, and most likely sheis waiting there still; while he wanders through the world tellingfairy tales, but none of them so amusing as the one he related aboutthe matches.
  THE END.
  1872
  FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN
  THE GARDEN OF PARADISE
  by Hans Christian Andersen
  THERE was once a king's son who had a larger and more beautifulcollection of books than any one else in the world, and full ofsplendid copper-plate engravings. He could read and obtain informationrespecting every people of every land; but not a word could he find toexplain the situation of the garden of paradise, and this was justwhat he most wished to know. His grandmother had told him when hewas quite a little boy, just old enough to go to school, that eachflower in the garden of paradise was a sweet cake, that the pistilswere full of rich wine, that on one flower history was written, onanother geography or tables; so those who wished to learn theirlessons had only to eat some of the cakes, and the more they ate,the more history, geography, or tables they knew. He believed it allthen; but as he grew older, and learnt more and more, he became wiseenough to understand that the splendor of the garden of paradisemust be very different to all this. "Oh, why did Eve pluck the fruitfrom the tree of knowledge? why did Adam eat the forbidden fruit?"thought the king's son: "if I had been there it would never havehappened, and there would have been no sin in the world." The gardenof paradise occupied all his thoughts till he reached hisseventeenth year.
  One day he was walking alone in the wood, which was his greatestpleasure, when evening came on. The clouds gathered, and the rainpoured down as if the sky had been a waterspout; and it was as dark asthe bottom of a well at midnight; sometimes he slipped over the smoothgrass, or fell over stones that projected out of the rocky ground.Every thing was dripping with moisture, and the poor prince had nota dry thread about him. He was obliged at last to climb over greatblocks of stone, with water spurting from the thick moss. He beganto feel quite faint, when he heard a most singular rushing noise,and saw before him a large cave, from which came a blaze of light.In the middle of the cave an immense fire was burning, and a noblestag, with its branching horns, was placed on a spit between thetrunks of two pine-trees. It was turning slowly before the fire, andan elderly woman, as large and strong as if she had been a man indisguise, sat by, throwing one piece of wood after another into theflames.
  "Come in," she said to the prince; "sit down by the fire and dryyourself."
  "There is a great draught here," said the prince, as he seatedhimself on the ground.
  "It will be worse when my sons come home," replied the woman; "youare now in the cavern of the Winds, and my sons are the four Windsof heaven: can you understand that?"