Itis moving in the wind."
  The mother stepped to the window and half opened it. "Oh!" shesaid, there is actually a little pea which has taken root and isputting out its green leaves. How could it have got into this crack?Well now, here is a little garden for you to amuse yourself with."So the bed of the sick girl was drawn nearer to the window, that shemight see the budding plant; and the mother went out to her work.
  "Mother, I believe I shall get well," said the sick child in theevening, "the sun has shone in here so brightly and warmly to-day, andthe little pea is thriving so well: I shall get on better, too, and goout into the warm sunshine again."
  "God grant it!" said the mother, but she did not believe itwould be so. But she propped up with the little stick the greenplant which had given her child such pleasant hopes of life, so thatit might not be broken by the winds; she tied the piece of string tothe window-sill and to the upper part of the frame, so that thepea-tendrils might twine round it when it shot up. And it did shootup, indeed it might almost be seen to grow from day to day.
  "Now really here is a flower coming," said the old woman onemorning, and now at last she began to encourage the hope that her sickdaughter might really recover. She remembered that for some time thechild had spoken more cheerfully, and during the last few days hadraised herself in bed in the morning to look with sparkling eyes ather little garden which contained only a single pea-plant. A weekafter, the invalid sat up for the first time a whole hour, feelingquite happy by the open window in the warm sunshine, while outsidegrew the little plant, and on it a pink pea-blossom in full bloom. Thelittle maiden bent down and gently kissed the delicate leaves. Thisday was to her like a festival.
  "Our heavenly Father Himself has planted that pea, and made itgrow and flourish, to bring joy to you and hope to me, my blessedchild," said the happy mother, and she smiled at the flower, as ifit had been an angel from God.
  But what became of the other peas? Why the one who flew out intothe wide world, and said, "Catch me if you can," fell into a gutteron the roof of a house, and ended his travels in the crop of apigeon. The two lazy ones were carried quite as far, for they alsowere eaten by pigeons, so they were at least of some use; but thefourth, who wanted to reach the sun, fell into a sink and lay therein the dirty water for days and weeks, till he had swelled to a greatsize.
  "I am getting beautifully fat," said the pea, "I expect I shallburst at last; no pea could do more that that, I think; I am themost remarkable of all the five which were in the shell." And the sinkconfirmed the opinion.
  But the young maiden stood at the open garret window, withsparkling eyes and the rosy hue of health on her cheeks, she foldedher thin hands over the pea-blossom, and thanked God for what He haddone.
  "I," said the sink, "shall stand up for my pea."
  THE END.
  1872
  FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN
  THE PEN AND THE INKSTAND
  by Hans Christian Andersen
  IN a poet's room, where his inkstand stood on the table, theremark was once made, "It is wonderful what can be brought out of aninkstand. What will come next? It is indeed wonderful."
  "Yes, certainly," said the inkstand to the pen, and to the otherarticles that stood on the table; "that's what I always say. It iswonderful and extraordinary what a number of things come out of me.It's quite incredible, and I really don't know what is coming nextwhen that man dips his pen into me. One drop out of me is enough forhalf a page of paper, and what cannot half a page contain?