He looked at Peer， and Peer looked at him; Peer was a king's child with a crown of gold. This evening brought thetwo children into closer relationship with one another.
A few days later，when they met each other at home in the yard，Felix went up to Peer and told him he had seen him when he was a prince. He knew very well that he was not a prince any longer， but then he had worn a prince's clothes and a gold crown."I shall wear them again on Sunday，"said Peer.
Felix did not see him Sunday， but he thought about it the whole evening.He would have liked very much to have been in Peer's place; he had not heard Miss Frandsen'swarning that the road of the theater was a thorny one and that jealousy grew along it; nor did Peer know this yet， buthe would very soon learn it.
His young companions，the dancing children，were not all so good as they ought to be， although they often played angels and had wings on them. There was a little girl， Malle Knallerup，who always—when she was dressedas a page， and Peer was a page—stepped maliciously on the side of his foot， so as to dirty his stockings. Therewas a wicked boy who always was sticking pins in his back; and one day he ate Peer's sandwiches—by mis-take; but that was impossible， for Peer had meat balls onhis sandwiches， and the other boy had only bread withoutbutter; he could not have made a mistake.
It would be impossible to recite all the annoyances that Peer endured in two years，and the worst was yet to come.
There was a ballet per- formed called The Vampire.
In it the smallest dancing children were dressed as bats， wore gray，knitted tights that fitted snugly to their bodies;
black gauze wings were stretched from their shoulders.
They were to run on tiptoe， as if they were light enough to fly， and then they wete to whirl around on the floor.
Peer could do this especially well;but his trousers and jacket，all of one piece，were old and worn and could not stand the strain.So just as he whirled around before the eyes of all the people， there was a rip right down his back， straight from his neck down to where the legs are fastenedin， and all of his short， white shirt could be seen. Allthe people laughed.Peer felt it and，knew what had hap- pened; he whirled and whirled， but it grew worse andworse.People laughed louder and louder;the other vam- pires laughed with them，and whirled into him，and all the more dreadfully when the people clapped and shouted， "Bravo!"
"That is for the ripped vampire!"said the dancing chil-dren.And from then on they always called him Rippy.
Peer cried. Miss Frandsen comforted him."It is only jealousy，"she said; and now Peer knew what jealousywas.
Besides the dancing school， they had a regular school at the theater where the cinldren were taught arithmetic and writing，history and geography—yes， and they even had a teacher in religion， for it is not enough to know how to dance;there is something more important in the world than wearing out dancing shoes. Here， too， Peer was quick， the very quickest of all， and got plenty of good marks;but hisfellow students still called him Rippy. They were only teas- ing him;but at last he could not stand it any longer，and he swung and hit one of the boys， so that he was black and blue under the left eye and had to have grease paint on it in the evening when he appeared in the ballet.Peer got a scolding from the dancing master，and a worse one from the sweeping woman， for it was her son he had"given asweeping."
Ⅳ
A good many thoughts went through little Peer's head. And one Sunday， when he was dressed in his bestclothes， he went out without saying a word about it to hismother or his grandmother， not even to Miss Frandsen， who always gave him good advice; he went straight to the or-chestra conductor; he thought this man was the most impor- tant one there was outside the ballet. Cheerfully he stepped in and said，"I am at the dancing school， but there is so much jealousy there，and so I would rather be a player or a singer， if you would help me， please."
"Have you a voice?"asked the conductor， and looked quite pleasantly at him."Seems to me I know you. Where have I seen you before? Wasn't it you who was ripped down the back?" And now he laughed. But Peer grew red;he was surely no longer Lucky Peer， as his grandmother had called him.He looked down at his feet and wished he were far away.
"Sing me a song!"said the conductor."Come now，cheer up， my boy!"And he tapped him under the chin，and Peer looked up into his kind eyes and sang a song， "Mercy for Me，"which he had heard at the theater，in the opera Robert le Diable.
"That is a difficult song，but you did it pretty well，"
said the conductor."You have an excellent voice—as long as it doesn't rip in the back!"And he laughed and calledhis wife. She also had to hear Peer sing， and she nodded her head and said something in a foreign tongue.Just at that moment the singing master of the theater came in;itwas really to him Peer should have gone if he wanted to be a singer; now the singing master came to him，quite acci- dentally， as it were; he also heard him sing"Mercy for Me，" but he did not laugh， and he did not look so kindlyat him as the conductor and his wife; still it was decided that Peer should have singing lessons.
"Now he is on the right track，"said Miss Frandsen.