HAVE you ever seen an old wooden cupboardquite black with age， and ornamented with carvedfoliage and curious figures? Well， just such acupboard stood in a parlor， and had been left to thefamily as a legacy by the GREat-grandmother. Itwas covered from top to bottom with carved rosesand tulips; the most curious scrolls were drawnupon it， and out of them peeped little stags'heads， with antlers. In the middle of the cupboard door was the carved figure of a man mostridiculous to look at. He grinned at you， for no one could call it laughing. He had goat's legs，little horns on his head， and a long beard; the children in the room always called him， “Majorgeneral-field-sergeant-commander Billy-goat's-legs.” It was certainly a very difficult name topronounce， and there are very few who ever receive such a title， but then it seemedwonderful how he came to be carved at all; yet there he was， always looking at the tableunder the looking-glass， where stood a very pretty little shepherdess made of china. Hershoes were gilt， and her dress had a red rose or an ornament. She wore a hat， and carried acrook， that were both gilded， and looked very bright and pretty. Close by her side stood alittle chimney-sweep， as black as coal， and also made of china. He was， however， quite asclean and neat as any other china figure; he only represented a black chimney-sweep， andthe china workers might just as well have made him a prince， had they felt inclined to do so.He stood holding his ladder quite handily， and his face was as fair and rosy as a girl's;indeed， that was rather a mistake， it should have had some black marks on it. He and theshepherdess had been placed close together， side by side; and， being so placed， theybecame engaged to each other， for they were very well suited， being both made of the samesort of china， and being equally fragile. Close to them stood another figure， three times aslarge as they were， and also made of china. He was an old Chinaman， who could nod hishead， and used to pretend that he was the grandfather of the shepherdess， although hecould not prove it. He however assumed authority over her， and therefore when “Major-general-field-sergeant-commander Billy-goat's-legs” asked for the little shepherdess to be hiswife， he nodded his head to show that he consented. “You will have a husband，” said the oldChinaman to her， “who I really believe is made of mahogany. He will make you a lady of Major-general-field-sergeant-commander Billy-goat's-legs. He has the whole cupboard full of silverplate， which he keeps locked up in secret drawers.”
“I won't go into the dark cupboard，” said the little shepherdess. “I have heard that he haseleven china wives there already.”
“then you shall be the twelfth，” said the old Chinaman. “To-night as soon as you hear arattling in the old cupboard， you shall be married， as true as I am a Chinaman;” and then henodded his head and fell asleep.
then the little shepherdess cried， and looked at her sweetheart， the china chimney-sweep. “I must entreat you，” said she， “to go out with me into the wide world， for wecannot stay here.”
“I will do whatever you wish，” said the little chimney-sweep; “let us go immediately： Ithink I shall be able to maintain you with my profession.”
“If we were but safely down from the table!” said she; “I shall not be happy till we arereally out in the world.”
then he comforted her， and showed her how to place her little foot on the carved edge andgilt-leaf ornaments of the table. He brought his little ladder to help her， and so theycontrived to reach the floor. But when they looked at the old cupboard， they saw it was all inan uproar. The carved stags pushed out their heads， raised their antlers， and twisted theirnecks. The major-general sprung up in the air; and cried out to the old Chinaman， “They arerunning away! they are running away!” The two were rather frightened at this， so theyjumped into the drawer of the window-seat. Here were three or four packs of cards not quitecomplete， and a doll's theatre， which had been built up very neatly. A comedy was beingperformed in it， and all the queens of diamonds， clubs， and hearts，， and spades， sat inthe first row fanning themselves with tulips， and behind them stood all the knaves， showingthat they had heads above and below as playing cards generally have. The play was about twolovers， who were not allowed to marry， and the shepherdess wept because it was so like herown story. “I cannot bear it，” said she， “I must get out of the drawer;” but when theyreached the floor， and cast their eyes on the table， there was the old Chinaman awake andshaking his whole body， till all at once down he came on the floor， “plump.” “The oldChinaman is coming，” cried the little shepherdess in a fright， and down she fell on one knee.
“I have thought of something，” said the chimney-sweep; “let us get into the GREat pot-pourri jar which stands in the corner; there we can lie on rose-leaves and lavender， andthrow salt in his eyes if he comes near us.”
“No， that will never do，” said she， “because I know that the Chinaman and the pot-pourri jar were lovers once， and there always remains behind a feeling of good-will betweenthose who have been so intimate as that. No， there is nothing left for us but to go out intothe wide world.”
“Have you really courage enough to go out into the wide world with me?” said thechimney-sweep; “have you thought how large it is， and that we can never come back hereagain?”
“Yes， I have，” she replied.
When the chimney-sweep saw that she was quite firm， he said， “My way is through thestove and up the chimney. Have you courage to creep with me through the fire-box， and theiron pipe? When we get to the chimney I shall know how to manage very well. We shall soonclimb too high for any one to reach us， and we shall come through a hole in the top out intothe wide world.” So he led her to the door of the stove.
“It looks very dark，” said she; still she went in with him through the stove and throughthe pipe， where it was as dark as pitch.