“Those are not clouds，” replied his fellow-traveller; “they are mountains—large loftymountains—on the tops of which we should be above the clouds， in the pure， free air. Believeme， it is delightful to ascend so high， tomorrow we shall be there.” But the mountains werenot so near as they appeared; they had to travel a whole day before they reached them， andpass through black forests and piles of rock as large as a town. The journey had been sofatiguing that John and his fellow-traveller stopped to rest at a roadside inn， so that theymight gain strength for their journey on the morrow. In the large public room of the inn aGREat many persons were assembled to see a comedy performed by dolls. The showman hadjust erected his little theatre， and the people were sitting round the room to witness theperformance. Right in front， in the very best place， sat a stout butcher， with a great bull-dog by his side who seemed very much inclined to bite. He sat staring with all his eyes， and soindeed did every one else in the room. And then the play began. It was a pretty piece， with aking and a queen in it， who sat on a beautiful throne， and had gold crowns on their heads.The trains to their dresses were very long， according to the fashion; while the prettiest ofwooden dolls， with glass eyes and large mustaches， stood at the doors， and opened andshut them， that the fresh air might come into the room. It was a very pleasant play， not at allmournful; but just as the queen stood up and walked across the stage， the great bull-dog，who should have been held back by his master， made a spring forward， and caught thequeen in the teeth by the slender wrist， so that it snapped in two. This was a very dreadfuldisaster. The poor man， who was exhibiting the dolls， was much annoyed， and quite sadabout his queen; she was the prettiest doll he had， and the bull-dog had broken her headand shoulders off. But after all the people were gone away， the stranger， who came withJohn， said that he could soon set her to rights. And then he brought out his box and rubbedthe doll with some of the salve with which he had cured the old woman when she broke her leg.As soon as this was done the doll's back became quite right again; her head and shoulderswere fixed on， and she could even move her limbs herself： there was now no occasion to pullthe wires， for the doll acted just like a living creature， excepting that she could not speak.The man to whom the show belonged was quite delighted at having a doll who could dance ofherself without being pulled by the wires; none of the other dolls could do this.
During the night， when all the people at the innwere gone to bed， some one was heard to sigh sodeeply and painfully， and the sighing continued forso long a time， that every one got up to see whatcould be the matter. The showman went at once tohis little theatre and found that it proceeded fromthe dolls， who all lay on the floor sighing piteously，and staring with their glass eyes; they all wanted tobe rubbed with the ointment， so that， like thequeen， they might be able to move of themselves.The queen threw herself on her knees， took off herbeautiful crown， and， holding it in her hand， cried， “Take this from me， but do rub myhusband and his courtiers.”
the poor man who owned the theatre could scarcely refrain from weeping; he was sosorry that he could not help them. Then he immediately spoke to John's comrade， andpromised him all the money he might receive at the next evening's performance， if he wouldonly rub the ointment on four or five of his dolls. But the fellow-traveller said he did not requireanything in return， excepting the sword which the showman wore by his side. As soon as hereceived the sword he anointed six of the dolls with the ointment， and they were ableimmediately to dance so gracefully that all the living girls in the room could not help joining inthe dance. The coachman danced with the cook， and the waiters with the chambermaids， andall the strangers joined; even the tongs and the fire-shovel made an attempt， but they felldown after the first jump. So after all it was a very merry night. The next morning John and hiscompanion left the inn to continue their journey through the GREat pine-forests and over thehigh mountains. They arrived at last at such a great height that towns and villages lay beneaththem， and the church steeples looked like little specks between the green trees. They couldsee for miles round， far away to places they had never visited， and John saw more of thebeautiful world than he had ever known before. The sun shone brightly in the blue firmamentabove， and through the clear mountain air came the sound of the huntsman's horn， and thesoft， sweet notes brought tears into his eyes， and he could not help exclaiming， “How goodand loving God is to give us all this beauty and loveliness in the world to make us happy!”
His fellow-traveller stood by with folded hands， gazing on the dark wood and the townsbathed in the warm sunshine. At this moment there sounded over their heads sweet music.They looked up， and discovered a large white swan hovering in the air， and singing as neverbird sang before. But the song soon became weaker and weaker， the bird's head drooped，and he sunk slowly down， and lay dead at their feet.
“It is a beautiful bird，” said the traveller， “and these large white wings are worth a GREatdeal of money. I will take them with me. You see now that a sword will be very useful.”
So he cut off the wings of the dead swan with one blow， and carried them away with him.
they now continued their journey over the mountains for many miles， till they at lengthreached a large city， containing hundreds of towers， that shone in the sunshine like silver. Inthe midst of the city stood a splendid marble palace， roofed with pure red gold， in whichdwelt the king. John and his companion would not go into the town immediately; so theystopped at an inn outside the town， to change their clothes; for they wished to appearrespectable as they walked through the streets. The landlord told them that the king was avery good man， who never injured any one： but as to his daughter， “Heaven defend us!”