The boy raised hishands towards the smiling children, and then the Pig ran off withhim through the open vestibule.
  "Thank you, thank you, you beautiful animal," said the little boy,caressing the Metal Pig as it ran down the steps.
  "Thanks to yourself also," replied the Metal Pig; "I have helpedyou and you have helped me, for it is only when I have an innocentchild on my back that I receive the power to run. Yes; as you see, Ican even venture under the rays of the lamp, in front of the pictureof the Madonna, but I may not enter the church; still from without,and while you are upon my back, I may look in through the open door.Do not get down yet, for if you do, then I shall be lifeless, as youhave seen me in the Porta Rosa."
  "I will stay with you, my dear creature," said the little boy.So then they went on at a rapid pace through the streets ofFlorence, till they came to the square before the church of SantaCroce. The folding-doors flew open, and light streamed from thealtar through the church into the deserted square. A wonderful blazeof light streamed from one of the monuments in the left-side aisle,and a thousand moving stars seemed to form a glory round it; eventhe coat-of-arms on the tomb-stone shone, and a red ladder on a bluefield gleamed like fire. It was the grave of Galileo. The monumentis unadorned, but the red ladder is an emblem of art, signifyingthat the way to glory leads up a shining ladder, on which the prophetsof mind rise to heaven, like Elias of old. In the right aisle of thechurch every statue on the richly carved sarcophagi seemed endowedwith life. Here stood Michael Angelo; there Dante, with the laurelwreath round his brow; Alfieri and Machiavelli; for here side byside rest the great men- the pride of Italy. The church itself is verybeautiful, even more beautiful than the marble cathedral atFlorence, though not so large. It seemed as if the carved vestmentsstirred, and as if the marble figures they covered raised theirheads higher, to gaze upon the brightly colored glowing altar wherethe white-robed boys swung the golden censers, amid music and song,while the strong fragrance of incense filled the church, andstreamed forth into the square. The boy stretched forth his handstowards the light, and at the same moment the Metal Pig startedagain so rapidly that he was obliged to cling tightly to him. The windwhistled in his ears, he heard the church door creak on its hingesas it closed, and it seemed to him as if he had lost his senses-then a cold shudder passed over him, and he awoke.
  It was morning; the Metal Pig stood in its old place on thePorta Rosa, and the boy found he had slipped nearly off its back. Fearand trembling came upon him as he thought of his mother; she hadsent him out the day before to get some money, he had not done so, andnow he was hungry and thirsty. Once more he clasped the neck of hismetal horse, kissed its nose, and nodded farewell to it. Then hewandered away into one of the narrowest streets, where there wasscarcely room for a loaded donkey to pass. A great iron-bound doorstood ajar; he passed through, and climbed up a brick staircase,with dirty walls and a rope for a balustrade, till he came to anopen gallery hung with rags. From here a flight of steps led down to acourt, where from a well water was drawn up by iron rollers to thedifferent stories of the house, and where the water-buckets hungside by side. Sometimes the roller and the bucket danced in the air,splashing the water all over the court. Another broken-downstaircase led from the gallery, and two Russian sailors running downit almost upset the poor boy. They were coming from their nightlycarousal. A woman not very young, with an unpleasant face and aquantity of black hair, followed them. "What have you brought home?"