theRE were once five peas in one shell， theywere GREen， the shell was green， and so theybelieved that the whole world must be green also，which was a very natural conclusion. The shellgrew， and the peas grew， they accommodatedthemselves to their position， and sat all in a row.The sun shone without and warmed the shell， andthe rain made it clear and transparent; it was mildand agreeable in broad daylight， and dark at night， as it generally is; and the peas as theysat there grew bigger and bigger， and more thoughtful as they mused， for they felt theremust be something else for them to do.
“Are we to sit here forever?” asked one; “shall we not become hard by sitting so long? Itseems to me there must be something outside， and I feel sure of it.”
And as weeks passed by， the peas became yellow， and the shell became yellow.
“All the world is turning yellow， I suppose，” said they，—and perhaps they were right.
Suddenly they felt a pull at the shell; it was torn off， and held in human hands， thenslipped into the pocket of a jacket in company with other full pods.
“Now we shall soon be opened，” said one，—just what they all wanted.
“I should like to know which of us will travel furthest，” said the smallest of the five; “weshall soon see now.”
“What is to happen will happen，” said the largest pea.
“Crack” went the shell as it burst， and the five peas rolled out into the bright sunshine.There they lay in a child's hand. A little boy was holding them tightly， and said they were finepeas for his pea-shooter. And immediately he put one in and shot it out.
“Now I am flying out into the wide world，” said he; “catch me if you can;” and he wasgone in a moment.
“I，” said the second， “intend to fly straight to the sun， that is a shell that lets itself beseen， and it will suit me exactly;” and away he went.
“We will go to sleep wherever we find ourselves，” said the two next， “we shall still berolling onwards;” and they did certainly fall on the floor， and roll about before they got intothe pea-shooter; but they were put in for all that. “We shall go farther than the others，” saidthey.
“What is to happen will happen，” exclaimed the last， as he was shot out of the pea-shooter; and as he spoke he flew up against an old board under a garret-window， and fellinto a little crevice， which was almost filled up with moss and soft earth. The moss closed itselfround him， and there he lay， a captive indeed， but not unnoticed by God.
“What is to happen will happen，” said he to himself.
Within the little garret lived a poor woman， who went out to clean stoves， chop wood intosmall pieces and perform such-like hard work， for she was strong and industrious. Yet sheremained always poor， and at home in the garret lay her only daughter， not quite grown up，and very delicate and weak. For a whole year she had kept her bed， and it seemed as if shecould neither live nor die.
“She is going to her little sister，” said the woman; “I had but the two children， and itwas not an easy thing to support both of them; but the good God helped me in my work，and took one of them to Himself and provided for her. Now I would gladly keep the other thatwas left to me， but I suppose they are not to be separated， and my sick girl will very soongo to her sister above.” But the sick girl still remained where she was， quietly and patiently shelay all the day long， while her mother was away from home at her work.
Spring came， and one morning early the sun shone brightly through the little window，and threw its rays over the floor of the room. just as the mother was going to her work， thesick girl fixed her gaze on the lowest pane of the window—“Mother，” she exclaimed， “whatcan that little GREen thing be that peeps in at the window? It is moving in the wind.”
the mother stepped to the window and half opened it. “Oh!” she said， “there is actually alittle pea which has taken root and is putting out its GREen leaves. How could it have got intothis crack? Well now， here is a little garden for you to amuse yourself with.” So the bed ofthe sick girl was drawn nearer to the window， that she might see the budding plant; and themother went out to her work.
“Mother， I believe I shall get well，” said the sick child in the evening， “the sun has shonein here so brightly and warmly to-day， and the little pea is thriving so well： I shall get onbetter， too， and go out into the warm sunshine again.”
“God grant it!” said the mother， but she did not believe it would be so. But she proppedup with the little stick the GREen plant which had given her child such pleasant hopes of life，so that it might not be broken by the winds; she tied the piece of string to the window-silland to the upper part of the frame， so that the pea-tendrils might twine round it when it shotup. And it did shoot up， indeed it might almost be seen to grow from day to day.