In the morning early came the King and the Queen, the old court lady and all the officers, to see where it was the princess had been. “Here it is! ” said the King, when he saw the first door with a cross upon it. “No, my dear husband, it is there! ” said the Queen, who descried another door which also showed a cross. “But there is one, and there is one! ”said all, for wherever they looked there were crosses on the doors. So they saw that it would avail them nothing if they searched on.
But the Queen was an exceedingly clever woman, who could do more than ride in a coach. She took her great gold scissors, cut a piece of silk into pieces, and made a neat little bag; this bag she filled with fine wheat flour, and tied it on the princess’ s back; and when that was done, she cut a little hole in the bag, so that the flour would be scattered along all the way which the princess should take.
In the night the dog came again, took the princess on hisback, and ran with her to the soldier, who loved her verymuch, and would gladly have been a prince, so that he might have her for his wife. The dog did not notice at all how the flour ran out in a stream from the castle to the windows of the soldier’s house, where he ran up the wall with the princess. In the morning the King and Queen saw well enough where their daughter had been, and they took the soldier andput him in prison.
There he sat. Oh, but it was dark and disagreeable there! And they said to him. “Tomorrow you shall be hanged.” That was not amusing to hear, and he had left his tinder-box at the inn. In the morning he could see, through the irongreating of the little window, how the people were hurrying out of the town to see him hanged. He heard the drums beat and saw the soldiers marching. All the people were running out , and among them was a shoemaker’s boy with leather apron and slippers, and he galloped so fast that one of his slippers flew off, and came right against the wall where the soldier sat looking throuth the iron grating.
“Halloo, you shoemaker’s boy! You needn’t be in such a hurry,”cried the soldier to him: “it will not begin till I come. But if you will run to where I lived, and bring me my tinder-box, you shall have four shillings; but you must put your best leg foremost.”
The shoemaker’s boy wanted to get the four shillings, so he went and brought the tinder-box, and -well, we shall hear now what happened.
Outside the town a great gallows had been built, and round it stood the soldiers and many hundred thousand people. The King and Queen sat on a splendid throne, opposite to the judges and the whole council. The soldier already stood upon the ladder; but as they were about to putthe rope round his neck, he said that before a poor criminal suffered his punishment an innocent request was always granted to him. He wanted very much to smoke a pipe of tobacco, and it would be the last pipe he should smoke in the world. The King would not say “No” to this; so the soldier took his tinder-box, and struck fire. One-two-three!-and there suddenly stood all the dogs-the one with eyes as big as tea-cups, the one with eyes as large as mill-wheels, and the one whose eyes were as big as the round tower.
“Help me now, so that I may not be hanged,” said the soldier.
And the dogs fell upon the judge and all the council, seized one by the leg and another by the nose, and tossed them all many feet into the air, so that they fell down and were all broken to pieces.
“I won’t!” cried the King; but the biggest dog took him and the Queen, and threw them after the others. Then the soldiers were afraid, and the people cried, “Little soldier, you shall be our king, and marry the beautiful princess!”
So they put the soldier into the king’s coach, and all the three dogs danced in front and cried “Hurrah!” and the boys whistled through their fingers, and the soldiers presented arms. The princess came out of the copper castle, and became queen, and she liked that well enough. The weddinglasted a whole week, and the three dogs sat at the table too, and opened their eyes wider than ever at all they saw.
打火匣
公路上有一个兵在开步走——一，二!一，二!他背着一个行军袋，腰间挂着一把长剑，因为他已经参加过好几次战争，现在要回家去。他在路上碰见一个老巫婆;她是一个非常可憎的人物，她的下嘴唇垂到她的奶上。她说：“晚安，兵士!你的剑真好，你的行军袋真大，你真是一个不折不扣的兵士!现在你喜欢要有多少钱就可以有多少钱了。”
“谢谢你，老巫婆!”兵士说。