IN a house in Copenhagen， not far from the king's new market， a very large party hadassembled， the host and his family expecting， no doubt， to receive invitations in return. Onehalf of the company were already seated at the card-tables， the other half seemed to bewaiting the result of their hostess's question， “Well， how shall we amuse ourselves?”
Conversation followed， which， after a while， began to prove very entertaining. Amongother subjects， it turned upon the events of the middle ages， which some personsmaintained were more full of interest than our own times. Counsellor Knapp defended thisopinion so warmly that the lady of the house immediately went over to his side， and bothexclaimed against Oersted's Essays on Ancient and Modern Times， in which the preference isgiven to our own. The counsellor considered the times of the Danish king， Hans，1 as thenoblest and happiest.
the conversation on this topic was only interrupted for a moment by the arrival of anewspaper， which did not， however， contain much worth reading， and while it is still goingon we will pay a visit to the ante-room， in which cloaks， sticks， and goloshes were carefullyplaced. Here sat two maidens， one young， and the other old， as if they had come and werewaiting to accompany their mistresses home; but on looking at them more closely， it couldeasily be seen that they were no common servants. Their shapes were too graceful， theircomplexions too delicate， and the cut of their dresses much too elegant. They were twofairies. The younger was not Fortune herself， but the chambermaid of one of Fortune'sattendants， who carries about her more trifling gifts. The elder one， who was named Care，looked rather gloomy; she always goes about to perform her own business in person; forthen she knows it is properly done. They were telling each other where they had been duringthe day. The messenger of Fortune had only transacted a few unimportant matters; forinstance， she had preserved a new bonnet from a shower of rain， and obtained for anhonest man a bow from a titled nobody， and so on; but she had something extraordinaryto relate， after all.
“I must tell you，” said she， “that to-day is my birthday; and in honor of it I have beenintrusted with a pair of goloshes， to introduce amongst mankind. these goloshes have theproperty of making every one who puts them on imagine himself in any place he wishes， orthat he exists at any period. Every wish is fulfilled at the moment it is expressed， so that foronce mankind have the chance of being happy.”
“No，” replied Care; “you may depend upon it that whoever puts on those goloshes will bevery unhappy， and bless the moment in which he can get rid of them.”
“What are you thinking of?” replied the other. “Now see; I will place them by the door;some one will take them instead of his own， and he will be the happy man.”
This was the end of their conversation.
What Happened to the Counsellor
IT was late when Counsellor Knapp， lost in thought about the times of King Hans， desiredto return home; and fate so ordered it that he put on the goloshes of Fortune instead of hisown， and walked out into the East Street. Through the magic power of the goloshes， he wasat once carried back three hundred years， to the times of King Hans， for which he had beenlonging when he put them on. Therefore he immediately set his foot into the mud and mire ofthe street， which in those days possessed no pavement.
“Why， this is horrible; how dreadfully dirty it is!” said the counsellor; “and the wholepavement has vanished， and the lamps are all out.”
the moon had not yet risen high enough to penetrate the thick foggy air， and all theobjects around him were confused together in the darkness. At the nearest corner， a lamphung before a picture of the Madonna; but the light it gave was almost useless， for he onlyperceived it when he came quite close and his eyes fell on the painted figures of the Mother andChild.
“That is most likely a museum of art，” thought he， “and they have forgotten to takedown the sign.”
Two men， in the dress of olden times， passed by him.
“What odd figures!” thought he; “they must be returning from some masquerade.”
Suddenly he heard the sound of a drum and fifes， and then a blazing light from torchesshone upon him. The counsellor stared with astonishment as he beheld a most strangeprocession pass before him. First came a whole troop of drummers， beating their drums verycleverly; they were followed by life-guards， with longbows and crossbows. The principalperson in the procession was a clerical-looking gentleman. The astonished counsellor askedwhat it all meant， and who the gentleman might be.
“That is the bishop of Zealand.”
“Good gracious!” he exclaimed; “what in theworld has happened to the bishop? what can he bethinking about?” Then he shook his head and said， “It cannot possibly be the bishop himself.”
While musing on this strange affair， and withoutlooking to the right or left， he walked on throughEast Street and over Highbridge Place. The bridge，which he supposed led to Palace Square， wasnowhere to be found; but instead， he saw a bankand some shallow water， and two people， whosat in a boat.
“Does the gentleman wish to be ferried over the Holm?” asked one.