Peer was to be Romeo;that was pumped through byMadam.The rehearsals were held at the pharmacist's.They had chocolate and"genii"-that is to say，smallbiscuits.These were sold at the bakery，twelve for a pen-ny，and they were so exceedingly small，and there wereso many，that it was considered witty to call them genii.
"It is an easy matter to make fun，"said HerrGabriel，although he himself often gave nicknames to onething and another.He called the pharmacist's house"Noah's ark，with its clean and unclean beasts"，andthat was only because of the affection which was shown bythat family toward their pet animals.The young lady hadher own cat，Graciosa，which was pretty and soft-skinned;it would lie in the window，in her lap，on hersewing work，or run over the table spread for dinner.Thewife had a poultry yard，a duck yard，a parrot，and ca-nary birds-and Polly could outcry them all together.Twodogs，Flick and Flock，walked about in the living room;they were by no means perfume bottles，and they lay onthe sofa and on the family bed.
The rehearsal began，and it was only interrupted amoment by the dogs slobbering over Madam Gabriel's newgown，but that was out of pure friendship and it did notspot it.The cat also caused a slight disturbance;it in-sisted on giving its paw to Juliet and sitting on her headand wagging its tail.Juliet's tender speeches were divid-ed equally between cat and Romeo.Every word that Peerhad to say was exactly what he wished to say to the phar-macist's daughter.How lovely and charming she was，achild of nature，who，as Madam Gabriel expressed it，was perfect for the role.Peer began to fall in love withher.
There surely was instinct or something even higherin the cat.It perched on Peer's shoulders as if to sym-bolize the sympathy between Romeo and Juliet.With eachsuccessive rehearsal Peer's fervor became stronger，moreapparent;the cat became more confidential，the parrotand the canary birds noisier;Flick and Flock ran in andout.
The evening of the performance came，and Peer wasa perfect Romeo;he kissed Juliet right on her mouth.
"Perfectly natural!"said Madam Gabriel.
"Disgraceful!"said the Councilor，Herr Svendsen，the richest citizen and fattest man in the town.The perspi-ration poured from him;it was warm in the house，andwarm within him as well.Peer found no favor in his eyes."Such a puppy!"he said;"a puppy so long that one couldbreak him in half and make two puppies of him."
Great applause-and one enemy!That was havinggood luck.Yes，Peer was a Lucky Peer.Tired and over-come by the exertions of the evening and the flatteryshown him，he went home to his little room.It was pastmidnight;Madam Gabriel knocked on the wall.
"Romeo!I have some punch for you!"
And the funnel was put through the hole in thedoor，and Peer Romeo held his glass under.
"Good night，Madam Gabriel."
But Peer could not sleep.Everything he had said，and particularly what Juliet had said，buzzed through hishead，and when he finally fell asleep he dreamed of awedding-a wedding with Miss Frandsen!What strangethings one can dream!
Ⅶ
"Now get that play-acting out of your head，"saidHerr Gabriel the next morning，"and let's get busy withsome science.
Peer had come near to thinking like young Madsen，that a fellow was wasting his delightful youth，being shutin and sitting with a book in his hand.But when he satwith his book，there shone from it so many noble andgood thoughts that Peer found himself quite absorbed init.He learned of the world's great men and theirachievements;so many had been the children of poorpeople：Themistocles，the hero，son of a potter;Shake-speare，a poor weaver's boy，who as a young man heldhorses outside the door of the theater，where later he wasthe mightiest man in poetic art of all countries and alltime.He learned of the singing contest at Wartburg，where the poets competed to see who would produce themost beautiful poem-a contest like the old trial of theGrecian poets at the great public feasts.Herr Gabrieltalked of these with especial delight.Sophocles in his oldage had written one of his hest tragedies and won theaward over all the others.In this honor and fortune hisheart broke with joy.Oh，how blessed to die in the midstof one's joy of victory!What could be more fortunate!Thoughts and dreams filled our little friend，but he hadno one to whom he could tell them.They would not beunderstood by young Madsen or by Primus-nor by Madam Gabriel，either she was either in a very good hu-mor，or was the sorrwing mother，in which case she wasdissolved in tears.