ON the world it's always going up and down; andnow I can't go up any higher!“ So said Ole thetower-keeper. ”Most people have to try both the upsand the downs; and， rightly considered， we allget to be watchmen at last， and look down upon lifefrom a height.“
Such was the speech of Ole， my friend， the oldtower-keeper， a strange， talkative old fellow，who seemed to speak out everything that came intohis head， and who for all that had many a seriousthought deep in his heart. Yes， he was the child ofrespectable people， and there were even some who said that he was the son of a privycouncillor， or that he might have been. He had studied， too， and had been assistant teacherand deputy clerk; but of what service was all that to him? In those days he lived in the clerk'shouse， and was to have everything in the house—to be at free quarters， as the saying is;but he was still， so to speak， a fine young gentleman. He wanted to have his boots cleanedwith patent blacking， and the clerk could only afford ordinary GREase; and upon that pointthey split. One spoke of stinginess， the other of vanity， and the blacking became the blackcause of enmity between them， and at last they parted.
This is what he demanded of the world in general， namely， patent blacking， and he gotnothing but GREase. Accordingly， he at last drew back from all men， and became a hermit;but the church tower is the only place in a great city where hermitage， office and bread can befound together. So he betook himself up thither， and smoked his pipe as he made his solitaryrounds. He looked upward and downward， and had his own thoughts， and told in his ownway of what he read in books and in himself. I often lent him books—good books; and youmay know by the company he keeps. He loved neither the English governess novels nor theFrench ones， which he called a mixture of empty wind and raisin-stalks： he wantedbiographies， and descriptions of the wonders of， the world. I visited him at least once ayear， generally directly after New Year's day， and then he always spoke of this and that whichthe change of the year had put into his head.
I will tell the story of three of these visits， and will reproduce his own words whenever Ican remember them. First Visit
AMONG the books which I had lately lent Ole， was one which had GREatly rejoiced andoccupied him. It was a geological book， containing an account of the boulders.
“Yes， they're rare old fellows， those boulders!” he said; “and to think that we shouldpass them without noticing them! And over the street pavement， the paving stones， thosefragments of the oldest remains of antiquity， one walks without ever thinking about them. Ihave done the very thing myself. But now I look respectfully at every paving-stone. Manythanks for the book! It has filled me with thought， and has made me long to read more onthe subject. The romance of the earth is， after all， the most wonderful of all romances. It's apity one can't read the first volume of it， because it is written in a language that we don'tunderstand. One must read in the different strata， in the pebble-stones， for each separateperiod. Yes， it is a romance， a very wonderful romance， and we all have our place in it. Wegrope and ferret about， and yet remain where we are; but the ball keeps turning， withoutemptying the ocean over us; the clod on which we move about， holds， and does not let usthrough. And then it's a story that has been acting for thousands upon thousands of yearsand is still going on. My best thanks for the book about the boulders. Those are fellowsindeed! They could tell us something worth hearing， if they only knew how to talk. It's really apleasure now and then to become a mere nothing， especially when a man is as highly placed asI am. And then to think that we all， even with patent lacquer， are nothing more than insectsof a moment on that ant-hill the earth， though we may be insects with stars and garters，places and offices! One feels quite a novice beside these venerable million-year-old boulders.On last New Year's eve I was reading the book， and had lost myself in it so completely， that Iforgot my usual New Year's diversion， namely， the wild hunt to Amager. Ah， you don'tknow what that is!
“the journey of the witches on broomsticks is well enough known—that journey is taken onSt. John's eve， to the Brocken; but we have a wild journey， also which is national andmodern， and that is the journey to Amager on the night of the New Year. All indifferent poetsand poetesses， musicians， newspaper writers， and artistic notabilities，—I mean those whoare no good，—ride in the New Year's night through the air to Amager. They sit backwards ontheir painting brushes or quill pens， for steel pens won't bear them—they're too stiff. As Itold you， I see that every New Year's night， and could mention the majority of the riders byname， but I should not like to draw their enmity upon myself， for they don't like people totalk about their ride to Amager on quill pens. I've a kind of niece， who is a fishwife， andwho， as she tells me， supplies three respectable newspapers with the terms of abuse andvituperation they use， and she has herself been at Amager as an invited guest; but she wascarried out thither， for she does not own a quill pen， nor can she ride. She has told me allabout it. Half of what she said is not true， but the other half gives us information enough.When she was out there， the festivities began with a song; each of the guests had writtenhis own song， and each one sang his own song， for he thought that the best， and it was allone， all the same melody. Then those came marching up， in little bands， who are only busywith their mouths. There were ringing bells that rang alternately; and then came the littledrummers that beat their tattoo in the family circle; and acquaintance was made with thosewho write without putting their names， which here means as much as using GREase instead ofpatent blacking; and then there was the beadle with his boy， and the boy was worst off， forin general he gets no notice taken of him; then， too， there was the good street sweeperwith his cart， who turns over the dust-bin， and calls it 'good， very good， remarkablygood.' And in the midst of the pleasure that was afforded by the mere meeting of these folks，there shot up out of the great dirt-heap at Amager a stem， a tree， an immense flower， agreat mushroom， a perfect roof， which formed a sort of warehouse for the worthycompany， for in it hung everything they had given to the world during the Old Year. Out of thetree poured sparks like flames of fire; these were the ideas and thoughts， borrowed fromothers， which they had used， and which now got free and rushed away like so manyfireworks. They played at 'the stick burns，' and the young poets played at 'heart-burns，' andthe witlings played off their jests， and the jests rolled away with a thundering sound， as ifempty pots were being shattered against doors. 'It was very amusing!' my niece said; infact， she said many things that were very malicious but very amusing， but I won't mentionthem， for a man must be good-natured， and not a carping critic. But you will easily perceivethat when a man once knows the rights of the journey to Amager， as I know them， it's quitenatural that on the New Year's night one should look out to see the wild chase go by. If in theNew Year I miss certain persons who used to be there， I am sure to notice others who arenew arrivals; but this year I omitted taking my look at the guests， I bowled away on theboulders， rolled back through millions of years， and saw the stones break loose high up inthe north， saw them drifting about on icebergs， long before Noah's ark was constructed，saw them sink down to the bottom of the sea， and re-appear with a sand-bank， with thatone that peered forth from the flood and said， 'This shall be Zealand!' I saw them become thedwelling-place of birds that are unknown to us， and then become the seat of wild chiefs ofwhom we know nothing， until with their axes they cut their Runic signs into a few of thesestones， which then came into the calendar of time. But as for me， I had gone quite beyondall lapse of time， and had become a cipher and a nothing. Then three or four beautiful fallingstars came down， which cleared the air， and gave my thoughts another direction. You knowwhat a falling star is， do you not? The learned men are not at all clear about it. I have my ownideas about shooting stars， as the common people in many parts call them， and my idea isthis： How often are silent thanksgivings offered up for one who has done a good and nobleaction! The thanks are often speechless， but they are not lost for all that. I think thesethanks are caught up， and the sunbeams bring the silent， hidden thankfulness over the headof the benefactor; and if it be a whole people that has been expressing its gratitude througha long lapse of time， the thankfulness appears as a nosegay of flowers， and at length falls inthe form of a shooting star over the good man's grave. I am always very much pleased when Isee a shooting star， especially in the New Year's night， and then find out for whom the gift ofgratitude was intended. Lately a gleaming star fell in the southwest， as a tribute ofthanksgiving to many—many! 'For whom was that star intended?' thought I. It fell， nodoubt， on the hill by the Bay of Flensborg， where the Dannebrog waves over the graves ofSchleppegrell， Lasloe， and their comrades. One star also fell in the midst of the land， fellupon Soro， a flower on the grave of Holberg， the thanks of the year from a great many—thanks for his charming plays!