"Do be reasonable, old lamp," said the wind, puffing away.
  At this moment the moon burst forth from the clouds. "What willyou give the old lamp?" asked the wind.
  "I can give nothing," she replied; "I am on the wane, and no lampshave ever given me light while I have frequently shone upon them." Andwith these words the moon hid herself again behind the clouds, thatshe might be saved from further importunities. Just then a drop fellupon the lamp, from the roof of the house, but the drop explained thathe was a gift from those gray clouds, and perhaps the best of allgifts. "I shall penetrate you so thoroughly," he said, "that youwill have the power of becoming rusty, and, if you wish it, to crumbleinto dust in one night."
  But this seemed to the lamp a very shabby present, and the windthought so too. "Does no one give any more? Will no one give anymore?" shouted the breath of the wind, as loud as it could. Then abright falling star came down, leaving a broad, luminous streak behindit.
  "What was that?" cried the herring's head. "Did not a star fall? Ireally believe it went into the lamp. Certainly, when such high-bornpersonages try for the office, we may as well say 'Good-night,' and gohome."
  And so they did, all three, while the old lamp threw a wonderfullystrong light all around him.
  "This is a glorious gift," said he; "the bright stars havealways been a joy to me, and have always shone more brilliantly than Iever could shine, though I have tried with my whole might; and nowthey have noticed me, a poor old lamp, and have sent me a gift thatwill enable me to see clearly everything that I remember, as if itstill stood before me, and to be seen by all those who love me. Andherein lies the truest pleasure, for joy which we cannot share withothers is only half enjoyed."
  "That sentiment does you honor," said the wind; "but for thispurpose wax lights will be necessary. If these are not lighted in you,your particular faculties will not benefit others in the least. Thestars have not thought of this; they suppose that you and everyother light must be a wax taper: but I must go down now." So he laidhimself to rest.
  "Wax tapers, indeed!" said the lamp, "I have never yet hadthese, nor is it likely I ever shall. If I could only be sure of notbeing melted down!"
  The next day. Well, perhaps we had better pass over the nextday. The evening had come, and the lamp was resting in a grandfather'schair, and guess where! Why, at the old watchman's house. He hadbegged, as a favor, that the mayor and corporation would allow himto keep the street lamp, in consideration of his long and faithfulservice, as he had himself hung it up and lit it on the day he firstcommenced his duties, four-and-twenty years ago. He looked upon italmost as his own child; he had no children, so the lamp was givento him. There it lay in the great arm-chair near to the warm stove. Itseemed almost as if it had grown larger, for it appeared quite to fillthe chair. The old people sat at their supper, casting friendlyglances at the old lamp, whom they would willingly have admitted toa place at the table. It is quite true that they dwelt in a cellar,two yards deep in the earth, and they had to cross a stone passageto get to their room, but within it was warm and comfortable andstrips of list had been nailed round the door. The bed and thelittle window had curtains, and everything looked clean and neat. Onthe window seat stood two curious flower-pots which a sailor, namedChristian, had brought over from the East or West Indies. They were ofclay, and in the form of two elephants, with open backs; they werehollow and filled with earth, and through the open space flowersbloomed. In one grew some very fine chives or leeks; this was thekitchen garden. The other elephant, which contained a beautifulgeranium, they called their flower garden. On the wall hung a largecolored print, representing the congress of Vienna, and all thekings and emperors at once. A clock, with heavy weights, hung on thewall and went "tick, tick," steadily enough; yet it was alwaysrather too fast, which, however, the old people said was better thanbeing too slow. They were now eating their supper, while the oldstreet lamp, as we have heard, lay in the grandfather's arm-chair nearthe stove. It seemed to the lamp as if the whole world had turnedround; but after a while the old watchman looked at the lamp, andspoke of what they had both gone through together,- in rain and infog; during the short bright nights of summer, or in the long winternights, through the drifting snow-storms, when he longed to be at homein the cellar. Then the lamp felt it was all right again. He saweverything that had happened quite clearly, as if it were passingbefore him. Surely the wind had given him an excellent gift. The oldpeople were very active and industrious, they were never idle for evena single hour. On Sunday afternoons they would bring out some books,generally a book of travels which they were very fond of. The oldman would read aloud about Africa, with its great forests and the wildelephants, while his wife would listen attentively, stealing aglance now and then at the clay elephants, which served asflower-pots.
  "I can almost imagine I am seeing it all," she said; and thenhow the lamp wished for a wax taper to be lighted in him, for then theold woman would have seen the smallest detail as clearly as he didhimself. The lofty trees, with their thickly entwined branches, thenaked negroes on horseback, and whole herds of elephants treading downbamboo thickets with their broad, heavy feet.
  "What is the use of all my capabilities," sighed the old lamp,"when I cannot obtain any wax lights; they have only oil and tallowhere, and these will not do." One day a great heap of wax-candleends found their way into the cellar. The larger pieces were burnt,and the smaller ones the old woman kept for waxing her thread. Sothere were now candles enough, but it never occurred to any one to puta little piece in the lamp.
  "Here I am now with my rare powers," thought the lamp, "I havefaculties within me, but I cannot share them; they do not know thatI could cover these white walls with beautiful tapestry, or changethem into noble forests, or, indeed, to anything else they mightwish for." The lamp, however, was always kept clean and shining in acorner where it attracted all eyes. Strangers looked upon it aslumber, but the old people did not care for that; they loved the lamp.One day- it was the watchman's birthday- the old woman approachedthe lamp, smiling to herself, and said, "I will have an illuminationto-day in honor of my old man." And the lamp rattled in his metalframe, for he thought, "Now at last I shall have a light within me,"but after all no wax light was placed in the lamp, but oil as usual.The lamp burned through the whole evening, and began to perceive tooclearly that the gift of the stars would remain a hidden treasureall his life. Then he had a dream; for, to one with his faculties,dreaming was no difficulty. It appeared to him that the old peoplewere dead, and that he had been taken to the iron foundry to be melteddown. It caused him quite as much anxiety as on the day when he hadbeen called upon to appear before the mayor and the council at thetown-hall. But though he had been endowed with the power of fallinginto decay from rust when he pleased, he did not make use of it. Hewas therefore put into the melting-furnace and changed into as elegantan iron candlestick as you could wish to see, one intended to hold awax taper. The candlestick was in the form of an angel holding anosegay, in the centre of which the wax taper was to be placed. It wasto stand on a green writing table, in a very pleasant room; many bookswere scattered about, and splendid paintings hung on the walls. Theowner of the room was a poet, and a man of intellect; everything hethought or wrote was pictured around him. Nature showed herself to himsometimes in the dark forests, at others in cheerful meadows where thestorks were strutting about, or on the deck of a ship sailing acrossthe foaming sea with the clear, blue sky above, or at night theglittering stars. "What powers I possess!"