AT a rich merchant's house there was achildren's party， and the children of rich and GREatpeople were there. The merchant was a learnedman， for his father had sent him to college， and hehad passed his examination. His father had been atfirst only a cattle dealer， but always honest andindustrious， so that he had made money， and hisson， the merchant， had managed to increase hisstore. Clever as he was， he had also a heart; but there was less said of his heart than of hismoney. All descriptions of people visited at the merchant's house， well born， as well asintellectual， and some who possessed neither of these recommendations.
Now it was a children's party， and there was children's prattle， which always is spokenfreely from the heart. Among them was a beautiful little girl， who was terribly proud; but thishad been taught her by the servants， and not by her parents， who were far too sensiblepeople.
Her father was groom of the Chambers， which is a high office at court， and she knew it. “I am a child of the court，” she said; now she might just as well have been a child of thecellar， for no one can help his birth; and then she told the other children that she was well-born， and said that no one who was not well-born could rise in the world. It was no use toread and be industrious， for if a person was not well-born， he could never achieveanything. “And those whose names end with 'sen，'” said she， “can never be anything at all.We must put our arms akimbo， and make the elbow quite pointed， so as to keep these 'sen'people at a GREat distance.” And then she stuck out her pretty little arms， and made theelbows quite pointed， to show how it was to be done; and her little arms were very pretty，for she was a sweet-looking child.
But the little daughter of the merchant became very angry at this speech， for her father'sname was Petersen， and she knew that the name ended in “sen，” and therefore she said asproudly as she could， “But my papa can buy a hundred dollars' worth of bonbons， and givethem away to children. Can your papa do that?”
“Yes; and my papa，” said the little daughter of the editor of a paper， “my papa can putyour papa and everybody's papa into the newspaper. All sorts of people are afraid of him， mymamma says， for he can do as he likes with the paper.” And the little maiden lookedexceedingly proud， as if she had been a real princess， who may be expected to look proud.
But outside the door， which stood ajar， was a poor boy， peeping through the crack ofthe door. He was of such a lowly station that he had not been allowed even to enter the room.He had been turning the spit for the cook， and she had given him permission to stand behindthe door and peep in at the well-dressed children， who were having such a merry time within;and for him that was a GREat deal. “Oh， if I could be one of them，” thought he， and then heheard what was said about names， which was quite enough to make him more unhappy. Hisparents at home had not even a penny to spare to buy a newspaper， much less could theywrite in one; and worse than all， his father's name， and of course his own， ended in “sen，”and therefore he could never turn out well， which was a very sad thought. But after all， hehad been born into the world， and the station of life had been chosen for him， therefore hemust be content.
And this is what happened on that evening.
Many years passed， and most of the children became grown-up persons.
there stood a splendid house in the town， filled with all kinds of beautiful and valuableobjects. Everybody wished to see it， and people even came in from the country round to bepermitted to view the treasures it contained.
Which of the children whose prattle we have described， could call this house his own?One would suppose it very easy to guess. No， no; it is not so very easy. The house belongedto the poor little boy who had stood on that night behind the door. He had really becomesomething GREat， although his name ended in “sen，”—for it was Thorwaldsen.
And the three other children—the children of good birth， of money， and of intellectualpride，—well， they were respected and honored in the world， for they had been wellprovided for by birth and position， and they had no cause to reproach themselves with whatthey had thought and spoken on that evening long ago， for， after all， it was mere “children'sprattle.”