theRE was once a regular student， who lived ina garret， and had no possessions. And there wasalso a regular huckster， to whom the housebelonged， and who occupied the ground floor. Agoblin lived with the huckster， because atChristmas he always had a large dish full of jam，with a GREat piece of butter in the middle. Thehuckster could afford this; and therefore the goblinremained with the huckster， which was very cunning of him.
One evening the student came into the shop through the back door to buy candles andcheese for himself， he had no one to send， and therefore he came himself; he obtained whathe wished， and then the huckster and his wife nodded good evening to him， and she was awoman who could do more than merely nod， for she had usually plenty to say for herself. Thestudent nodded in return as he turned to leave， then suddenly stopped， and began readingthe piece of paper in which the cheese was wrapped. It was a leaf torn out of an old book， abook that ought not to have been torn up， for it was full of poetry.
“Yonder lies some more of the same sort，” said the huckster： “I gave an old woman afew coffee berries for it; you shall have the rest for sixpence， if you will.”
“Indeed I will，” said the student; “give me the book instead of the cheese; I can eat mybread and butter without cheese. It would be a sin to tear up a book like this. You are a cleverman; and a practical man; but you understand no more about poetry than that caskyonder.”
This was a very rude speech， especially against the cask; but the huckster and thestudent both laughed， for it was only said in fun. But the goblin felt very angry that any manshould venture to say such things to a huckster who was a householder and sold the bestbutter. As soon as it was night， and the shop closed， and every one in bed except thestudent， the goblin stepped softly into the bedroom where the huckster's wife slept， andtook away her tongue， which of course， she did not then want. Whatever object in the roomhe placed his tongue upon immediately received voice and speech， and was able to express itsthoughts and feelings as readily as the lady herself could do. It could only be used by oneobject at a time， which was a good thing， as a number speaking at once would have causedGREat confusion. The goblin laid the tongue upon the cask， in which lay a quantity of oldnewspapers.
“Is it really true，” he asked， “that you do notknow what poetry is?”
“Of course I know，” replied the cask： “poetry issomething that always stand in the corner of anewspaper， and is sometimes cut out; and I mayventure to affirm that I have more of it in me thanthe student has， and I am only a poor tub of thehuckster's.”
then the goblin placed the tongue on the coffeemill; and how it did go to be sure! Then he put iton the butter tub and the cash box， and they all expressed the same opinion as the waste-paper tub; and a majority must always be respected.
“Now I shall go and tell the student，” said the goblin; and with these words he wentquietly up the back stairs to the garret where the student lived. He had a candle burning still，and the goblin peeped through the keyhole and saw that he was reading in the torn book，which he had brought out of the shop. But how light the room was! From the book shot fortha ray of light which GREw broad and full， like the stem of a tree， from which bright raysspread upward and over the student's head. Each leaf was fresh， and each flower was like abeautiful female head; some with dark and sparkling eyes， and others with eyes that werewonderfully blue and clear. The fruit gleamed like stars， and the room was filled with sounds ofbeautiful music. The little goblin had never imagined， much less seen or heard of， any sight soglorious as this. He stood still on tiptoe， peeping in， till the light went out in the garret. Thestudent no doubt had blown out his candle and gone to bed; but the little goblin remainedstanding there nevertheless， and listening to the music which still sounded on， soft andbeautiful， a sweet cradle-song for the student， who had lain down to rest.
“This is a wonderful place，” said the goblin; “I never expected such a thing. I should liketo stay here with the student;” and the little man thought it over， for he was a sensible littlespirit. At last he sighed， “but the student has no jam!” So he went down stairs again into thehuckster's shop， and it was a good thing he got back when he did， for the cask had almostworn out the lady's tongue; he had given a description of all that he contained on one side，and was just about to turn himself over to the other side to describe what was there， whenthe goblin entered and restored the tongue to the lady. But from that time forward， thewhole shop， from the cash box down to the pinewood logs， formed their opinions from thatof the cask; and they all had such confidence in him， and treated him with so muchrespect， that when the huckster read the criticisms on theatricals and art of an evening， theyfancied it must all come from the cask.
But after what he had seen， the goblin could no longer sit and listen quietly to the wisdomand understanding down stairs; so， as soon as the evening light glimmered in the garret， hetook courage， for it seemed to him as if the rays of light were strong cables， drawing himup， and obliging him to go and peep through the keyhole; and， while there， a feeling ofvastness came over him such as we experience by the ever-moving sea， when the stormbreaks forth; and it brought tears into his eyes. He did not himself know why he wept， yet akind of pleasant feeling mingled with his tears. “How wonderfully glorious it would be to sit withthe student under such a tree;” but that was out of the question， he must be content tolook through the keyhole， and be thankful for even that.