安徒生童话具有诗意的美，因其童话作品中描写现实中又具有浪漫的情怀。
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安徒生童话全集英文版篇一
THE PRINCESS ON THE PEA
THERE was once a Prince who wanted to marry a princess; but she was to be a real princess. So he travelled about , all through the world , to find a real one , but everywhere there was something in the way. There were princesses enough, but whether they were real princesses he could not quite make out : there was always something that did not seem quite right. So he came home again, and was quite sad; for he wished so much to have a real princess.
One evening a terrible storm came on. It lightened and thundered, the rain streamed down; it was quite fearful! Then there was a knocking at the town-gate, and the old King went out to open it .
It was a Princess who stood outside the gate . But , mercy! How she looked, from the rain and the rough weather! The water ran down her hair and her clothes; it ran in at the points of her shoes, and out at the heels; and yet she declared that she was a real princess .
“Yes , we will soon find that out , ” thought the old Queen. But she said nothing, only went into the bedchamber, took all the bedding off, and put a pea on the bottom of the bedstead ; then she took twenty mattresses and laid them upon the pea, and then twenty eider-down quilts upon the mattresses . On this the Princess had to lie all night . In the morning she was asked how she had slept .
“Oh, miserably!” said the Princess. “I scarcely closed my eyes all night long. Goodness knows what was in my bed . I lay upon something hard , so that I am black and blue all over . It is quite dreadful ! ”
Now they saw that she was a real princess, for through the twenty mattresses and the twenty eider-down quilts she had felt the pea. No one but a real princess could be so tender-skinned.
So the Prince took her for his wife, for now he knew that he had a true princess and the pea was put in the museum, and it is still to be seen there, unless somebody has carried it off .
Look you , this is a true story .
安徒生童话全集英文版篇二
GREAT CLAUS AND LITTLE CLAUS
THERE lived two men in one village, and they had the same name ---- each was called Claus; but one had four horses, and the other only a single horse. To distinguish them from each other, folks called him who had four horses Great Claus, and the one who had only a single horse Little Claus . Now we shall hear what happened to each of them, for this is a true story .
The whole week through, Little Claus was obliged to plough for Great Claus, and to lend him his one horse; then Great Claus helped him out with all his four, but only once a week , and that was on Sunday . Hurrah ! How Little Claus smacked his whip over all five horses, for they were as good as his own on that one day. The sun shone gaily , and all the bells in the steeples were ringing; the people were all dressed in their best, and were going to church, with their hymn-books under their arms, to hear the clergyman preach, and they saw Little Claus ploughing with five horses; but he was so merry that he smacked his whip again and again, and cried, “Gee up, all my five!”
“You must not talk so,” said Great Claus, “for only one horse is yours . ”
But when any one passed Little Claus forgot that he was not to say this, and he cried, “Gee up, all my horses!”
“Now, I must beg of you to stop that,” cried Great Claus, “for if you say it again, I shall hit your horse on the head, so that it will fall down dead, and then it will be all over with him.”
“I will certainly not say it any more,” said Little Claus.
But when people came by soon afterwards , and nodded “ good day ” to him , he became very glad , and thought it looked very well, after all, that he had five horses to plough his field; and so he smacked his whip again, and cried , “Gee up , all my horses ! ”
“I'll ‘gee up’ your horses ! ” said Great Claus . And he took a mallet and hit the only horse of Little Claus on the head , so that it fell down , and was dead immediately .
“Oh , now I haven't any horse at all !” said Little Claus, and began to cry.
Then he flayed the horse , and let the hide dry in the wind, and put it in a sack and hung it over his shoulder, and went to the town to sell his horse's skin.
He had a very long way to go, and was obliged to pass through a great dark wood , and the weather became dreadfully bad . He went quite astray , and before he got into the right way again it was evening, and it was too far to get home again or even to the town before nightfall.
Close by the road stood a large farm-house . The shutters were closed outside the windows, but the light could still be seen shining out over them.
“I may be able to get leave to stop here through the night , ” thought Little Claus ; and he went and knocked . The farmer' s wife opened the door; but when she heard what he wanted she told him to go away, declaring that her husband was not at home, and she would not receive strangers .
“Then I shall have to lie outside , ” said Little Claus . And the farmer's wife shut the door in his face.
Close by stood a great haystack, and between this and the farm-house was a little outhouse thatched with straw.
“Up there I can lie,” said Little Claus, when he looked up at the roof , “that is a capital bed . I suppose the stork won' t fly down and bite me in the legs . ” For a living stork was standing on the roof, where he had his nest .
Now Little Claus climbed up to the roof of the shed, where he lay, and turned round to settle himself comfortably . The wooden shutters did not cover the windows at the top, and he could look straight into the room. There was a great table, with the cloth laid, and wine and roast meat and a glorious fish upon it . The farmer' s wife and the parish-clerk were seated at table, and nobody besides. She was filling his glass, and he was digging his fork into the fish, for that was his favourite dish.
“If one could only get some too ! ”thought Little Claus, as he stretched out his head towards the window. Heavens! What a glorious cake he saw standing there! Yes , certainly , that was a feast .
Now he heard some one riding along the high road. It was the woman's husband, who was coming home. He was a good man enough, but he had the strange peculiarity that he could never bear to see a clerk . If a clerk appeared before his eyes he became quite wild . And that was the reason why the clerk had gone to the wife to wish her good day , because he knew that her husband was not at home ; and the good woman therefore put the best fare she had before him. But when they heard the man coming they were frightened, and the woman begged the clerk to creep into a great empty chest which stood in the comer; and he did so, for he knew the husband could not bear the sight of a clerk . The woman quickly hid all the excellent meat and wine in her baking-oven; for if the man had seen that , he would have been certain to ask what it meant .
“Oh, dear!” sighed Little Claus, up in his shed, when he saw all the good fare put away .
“Is there any one up there?” asked the farmer; and he looked up at Little Claus. “Why are you lying there? Better come with me into the room.”
And Little Claus told him how he had lost his way, and asked leave to stay there for the night.
“Yes, certainly,” said the peasant, “but first we must have something to live on .”
The woman received them both in a very friendly way , spread the cloth on a long table , and gave them a great dish of porridge . The farmer was hungry , and ate with a good appetite; but Little Claus could not help thinking of the capital roast meat, fish, and cake, which he knew were in the oven. Under the table, at his feet, he had laid the sack with the horse' s hide in it ; for we know that he had come out to sell it in the town. He could not relish the porridge, so he trod upon the sack, and the dry skin inside crackled quite loudly .
“Hush,” said Little Claus to his sack; but at the same time he trod on it again, so that it crackled much louder than before .
“Why, what have you in your sack?” asked the farmer .
“Oh, that's a magician,” answered Little Claus. “He says we are not to eat porridge, for he has conjured the oven full of roast meat , fish , and cake . ”
“Wonderful!” cried the farmer; and he opened the oven in a hurry, and found all the dainty provisions which his wife had hidden there, but which, as he thought, the wizard had conjured forth. The woman dared not say anything, but put the things at once on the table; and so they both ate of the meat , the fish , and the cake . Now Little Claus again trod on his sack, and made the hide creak .
“What does he say now? ” said the farmer.
“He says , ” replied Claus , “ that he has conjured three bottles of wine for us, too, and that they are also standing there in the oven . ”
Now the woman was obliged to bring out the wine which she had hidden, and the farmer drank it and became very merry . He would have been very glad to own such a conjuror as Little Claus had there in the sack .
“Can he conjure the demon forth?” asked the farmer. “I should like to see him, for now I am merry.”
“Oh, yes.” said Little Claus, “my conjuror can do any thing that I ask of him. ---- Can you not?” he added, and trod on the hide , so that it crackled . He says ‘Yes . ’ But the demon is very ugly to look at : we had better not see him.”
“Oh , I' m not at all afraid . Pray , what will he look like?”
“Why, he'll look the very image of a parish-clerk . ”
“Ha!” said the farmer, “ that is ugly! You must know, I can' t bear the sight of a clerk . But it doesn't matter now, for I know that he's a demon, so I shall easily stand it. Now I have courage, but he must not come too near me . ”
“Now I will ask my conjuror,” said Little Claus; and he trod on the sack and held his ear down .
“What does he say?”
“He says you may go and open the chest that stands in the corner, and you will see the demon crouching in it; but you must hold the lid so that he doesn't slip out . ”
“Will you help me to hold him?” asked the farmer. And he went to the chest where the wife had hidden the real clerk , who sat in there and was very much afraid . The farmer opened the lid a little way and peeped in underneath it .
“Ugh ! ” he cried , and sprang backward . “Yes , now I've seen him, and he looked exactly like our clerk. Oh, that was dreadful ! ”
Upon this they must drink . So they sat and drank until late into the night .
“You must sell me that conjuror,” said the farmer. “Ask as much as you like for him. I'll give you a whole bushel of money directly . ”
“No, that I can't do,” said Little Claus: “only think how much use I can make of this conjuror.”
“Oh, I should so much like to have him!” cried the farmer; and he went on begging.
“Well , ” said Little Claus , at last , “as you have been so kind as to give me shelter for the night , I will let it be so . You shall have the conjuror for a bushel of money; but I must have the bushel heaped up . ”
“That you shall have,” replied the farmer. “But you must take the chest yonder away with you . I will not keep it in my house an hour. One cannot know ---- perhaps he may be there still . ”
Little Claus gave the farmer his sack with the dry hide in it, and got in exchange a whole bushel of money, and that heaped up . The farmer also gave him a big truck , on which to carry off his money and chest .
“Farewell!” said Little Claus ; and he went off with his money and the big chest , in which the clerk was still sitting.
On the other side of the wood was a great deep river. The water rushed along so rapidly that one could scarcely swim against the stream. A fine new bridge had been built over it. Little Claus stopped on the centre of the bridge, and said quite loud , so that the clerk could hear it ,
“Ho, what shall I do with this stupid chest? It's as heavy as if stones were in it . I shall only get tired if I drag it any farther, so I'll throw it into the river: if it swims home to me, well and good; and if it does not, it will be no great matter .”
And he took the chest with one hand, and lifted it up a little, as if he intended to throw it into the river.
“No ! Stop it !” cried the clerk from within the chest; “let me out first !”
“Ugh!” exclaimed Little Claus, pretending to be frightened, “he' s in there still ! I must make haste and throw him into the river, that he may be drowned . ”
“Oh , no , no !” screamed the clerk . “I'll give you a whole bushel-full of money if you'll let me go . ”
“Why, that's another thing!” said Little Claus; and he opened the chest .
The clerk crept quickly out, pushed the empty chest into the water, and went to his house, where Little Claus received a whole bushel-full of money . He had already received one from the farmer, and so now he had his truck loaded with money .
“See , I've been well paid for the horse , ” he said to himself when he had got home to his own room, and was emptying all the money into a heap in the middle of the floor. “That will vex Great Claus when he hears how rich I have grown through my one horse ; but I won' t tell him about it outright . ”
So he sent a boy to Great Claus to ask for a bushel measure .
“What can he want with it?” thought Great Claus . And he smeared some tar underneath the measure, so that some part of whatever was measured should stick to it . And thus it happened; for when he received the measure back, there were three new three-penny pieces adhering thereto .
“What's this?” cried Great Claus; and he ran off at once to Little Claus. “Where did you get all that money from?”
“Oh, that's for my horse's skin. I sold it yesterday evening. ”
“That's really being well paid,” said Great Claus. And he ran home in a hurry, took an axe, and killed all his four horses; then he flayed them, and carried off their skins to the town .
“Hides ! Hides ! Who'll buy any hides?” he cried through the streets .
All the shoemakers and tanners came running, and asked how much he wanted for them.
“A bushel of money for each !” said Great Claus .
“Are you mad?” said they . “Do you think we have money by the bushel?”
“Hides! Hides!” he cried again; and to all who asked him what the hides would cost he replied, “A bushel of money . ”
“He wants to make fools of us,” they all exclaimed. And the shoemakers took their straps, and the tanners their aprons , and they began to beat Great Claus .
“Hides !Hides !” they called after him, jeeringly . “Yes , we' 11 tan your hide for you till the red broth runs down . Out of the town with him !” And Great Claus made the best haste he could , for he had never yet been thrashed as he was thrashed now .
“Well,” said he when he got home, “Little Claus shall pay for this . I'll kill him for it . ”
安徒生童话英文篇一
欢乐家庭the HAPPY FAMILY
Really， the largest GREen leaf in this country is a dockleaf; if one holds it before one， it is like a whole apron， and if one holds it over one's head in rainy weather， it is almost as good as an umbrella， for it is so immensely large. The burdock never grows alone， but where there grows one there always grow several： it is a great delight， and all this delightfulness is snails' food. The great white snails which persons of quality in former times made fricassees of， ate， and said， "Hem， hem! how delicious!" for they thought it tasted so delicate——lived on dockleaves， and therefore burdock seeds were sown.
Now， there was an old manor-house， where they no longer ate snails， they were quite extinct; but the burdocks were not extinct， they GREw and grew all over the walks and all the beds; they could not get the mastery over them——it was a whole forest of burdocks. Here and there stood an apple and a plum-tree， or else one never would have thought that it was a garden; all was burdocks， and there lived the two last venerable old snails.
they themselves knew not how old they were， but they could remember very well that there had been many more; that they were of a family from foreign lands， and that for them and theirs the whole forest was planted. They had never been outside it， but they knew that there was still something more in the world， which was called the manor-house， and that there they were boiled， and then they became black， and were then placed on a silver dish; but what happened further they knew not; or， in fact， what it was to be boiled， and to lie on a silver dish， they could not possibly imagine; but it was said to be delightful， and particularly genteel. Neither the chafers， the toads， nor the earth-worms， whom they asked about it could give them any information——none of them had been boiled or laid on a silver dish.
the old white snails were the first persons of distinction in the world， that they knew; the forest was planted for their sake， and the manor-house was there that they might be boiled and laid on a silver dish.
Now they lived a very lonely and happy life; and as they had no children themselves， they had adopted a little common snail， which they brought up as their own; but the little one would not grow， for he was of a common family; but the old ones， especially Dame Mother Snail， thought they could observe how he increased in size， and she begged father， if he could not see it， that he would at least feel the little snail's shell; and then he felt it， and found the good dame was right.
One day there was a heavy storm of rain.
"Hear how it beats like a drum on the dock-leaves!" said Father Snail.
"there are also rain-drops!" said Mother Snail. "And now the rain pours right down the stalk! You will see that it will be wet here! I am very happy to think that we have our good house， and the little one has his also! There is more done for us than for all other creatures， sure enough; but can you not see that we are folks of quality in the world? We are provided with a house from our birth， and the burdock forest is planted for our sakes! I should like to know how far it extends， and what there is outside!"
"there is nothing at all，" said Father Snail. "No place can be better than ours， and I have nothing to wish for!"
"Yes，" said the dame. "I would willingly go to the manorhouse， be boiled， and laid on a silver dish; all our forefathers have been treated so; there is something extraordinary in it， you may be sure!"
"the manor-house has most likely fallen to ruin!" said Father Snail. "Or the burdocks have grown up over it， so that they cannot come out. There need not， however， be any haste about that; but you are always in such a tremendous hurry， and the little one is beginning to be the same. Has he not been creeping up that stalk these three days? It gives me a headache when I look up to him!"
"You must not scold him，" said Mother Snail. "He creeps so carefully; he will afford us much pleasure——and we have nothing but him to live for! But have you not thought of it? Where shall we get a wife for him? Do you not think that there are some of our species at a GREat distance in the interior of the burdock forest?"
"Black snails， I dare say， there are enough of，" said the old one. "Black snails without a house——but they are so common， and so conceited. But we might give the ants a commission to look out for us; they run to and fro as if they had something to do， and they certainly know of a wife for our little snail!"
"I know one， sure enough——the most charming one!" said one of the ants. "But I am afraid we shall hardly succeed， for she is a queen!"
"That is nothing!" said the old folks. "Has she a house?"
"She has a palace!" said the ant. "The finest ant's palace， with seven hundred passages!"
"I thank you!" said Mother Snail. "Our son shall not go into an ant-hill; if you know nothing better than that， we shall give the commission to the white gnats. They fly far and wide， in rain and sunshine; they know the whole forest here， both within and without."
"We have a wife for him，" said the gnats. "At a hundred human paces from here there sits a little snail in her house， on a gooseberry bush; she is quite lonely， and old enough to be married. It is only a hundred human paces!"
"Well， then， let her come to him!" said the old ones. "He has a whole forest of burdocks， she has only a bush!"
And so they went and fetched little Miss Snail. It was a whole week before she arrived; but therein was just the very best of it， for one could thus see that she was of the same species.
And then the marriage was celebrated. Six earth-worms shone as well as they could. In other respects the whole went off very quietly， for the old folks could not bear noise and merriment; but old Dame Snail made a brilliant speech. Father Snail could not speak， he was too much affected; and so they gave them as a dowry and inheritance， the whole forest of burdocks， and said——what they had always said——that it was the best in the world; and if they lived honestly and decently， and increased and multiplied， they and their children would once in the course of time come to the manor-house， be boiled black， and laid on silver dishes. After this speech was made， the old ones crept into their shells， and never more came out. They slept; the young couple governed in the forest， and had a numerous progeny， but they were never boiled， and never came on the silver dishes; so from this they concluded that the manor-house had fallen to ruins， and that all the men in the world were extinct; and as no one contradicted them， so， of course it was so. And the rain beat on the dock-leaves to make drum-music for their sake， and the sun shone in order to give the burdock forest a color for their sakes; and they were very happy， and the whole family was happy; for they， indeed were so.
安徒生童话英文篇二
A CHEERFUL TEMPER
by Hans Christian Andersen
《安徒生童话》共由163篇故事组成，其中的《小人鱼》、《丑小鸭》、《卖火柴的'小女孩》、《拇指姑娘》都是我们爱看的童话。
安徒生童话英文版篇一
THE ELFIN HILL
A FEW large lizards were running nimbly about in the clefts of an old tree. They could understand one another very well, for they spoke the lizard language. "What a buzzing and a rumbling there is in the elfin hill," said one of the lizards.
"I have not been able to close my eyes for two nights on account of the noise; I might just as well have had the toothache, for that always keeps me awake."
"There is something going on within there," said the other lizard; "they propped up the top of the hill with four red posts, till cock-crowthis morning, so that it is thoroughly aired, and the elfin girls have learnt new dances; there is something."
"I spoke about it to an earth-worm of my acquaintance," said a third lizard; "the earth-worm had just come from the elfin hill, where he has been groping about in the earth day and night. He has heard a great deal; although he cannot see, poor miserable creature, yet he understands very well how to wriggle and lurk about. They expect friends in the elfin hill, grand company, too; but who they are the earth-worm would not say, or, perhaps, he really did not know. All the will-o'-the-wisps are ordered to be there to hold a torch dance, as it is called. The silver and gold which is plentiful in the hill will be polished and placed out in the moonlight."
"Who can the strangers be?" asked the lizards; "what can the matter be? Hark, what a buzzing and humming there is!"
Just at this moment the elfin hill opened, and an old elfin maiden, hollow behind, came tripping out; she was the old elf king's housekeeper, and a distant relative of the family; therefore she wore an amber heart on the middle of her forehead. Her feet moved very fast, "trip, trip;" good gracious, how she could trip right down to the sea to the night-raven.
"You are invited to the elf hill for this evening," said she; "but will you do me a great favor and undertake the invitations? you oughtto do something, for you have no housekeeping to attend to as I have. We are going to have some very grand people, conjurors, who have always something to say; and therefore the old elf king wishes to make a great display."
"Who is to be invited?" asked the raven.
"All the world may come to the great ball, even human beings, if they can only talk in their sleep, or do something after our fashion. But for the feast the company must be carefully selected; we can only admit persons of high rank; I have had a dispute myself with the elf king, as he thought we could not admit ghosts. The merman and his daughter must be invited first, although it may not be agreeable to them to remain so long on dry land, but they shall have a wet stone to sit on, or perhaps something better; so I think they will not refuse this time. We must have all the old demons of the first class, with tails, and the hobgoblins and imps; and then I think we ought not to leave out the death-horse, or the grave-pig, or even the church dwarf, although they do belong to the clergy, and are not reckoned among our people; but that is merely their office, they are nearly related to us, and visit us very frequently."
"Croak," said the night-raven as he flew away with the invitations.
The elfin maidens we're already dancing on the elf hill, and they danced in shawls woven from moonshine and mist, which look very pretty to those who like such things. The large hall within the elf hill was splendidly decorated; the floor had been washed with moonshine, and the walls had been rubbed with magic ointment, so that they glowed like tulip-leaves in the light. In the kitchen were frogs roasting on the spit, and dishes preparing of snail skins, with children's fingers in them, salad of mushroom seed, hemlock, noses and marrow of mice, beer from the marsh woman's brewery, and sparkling salt-petre wine from the grave cellars. These were all substantial food. Rusty nails and church-window glass formed the dessert. The old elf king had his gold crown polished up with powdered slate-pencil; it was like that used by the first form, and very difficult for an elf king to obtain. In the bedrooms, curtains were hung up and fastened with the slime of snails; there was, indeed, a buzzing and humming everywhere.
"Now we must fumigate the place with burnt horse-hair and pig's bristles, and then I think I shall have done my part," said the elf man-servant.
"Father, dear," said the youngest daughter, "may I now hear who our high-born visitors are?"
"Well, I suppose I must tell you now," he replied; "two of my daughters must prepare themselves to be married, for the marriages certainly will take place. The old goblin from Norway, who lives in the ancient Dovre mountains, and who possesses many castles built of rock and freestone, besides a gold mine, which is better than all, so it is thought, is coming with his two sons, who are both seeking a wife. The old goblin is a true-hearted, honest, old Norwegian graybeard; cheerful and straightforward. I knew him formerly, when we used to drink together to our good fellowship: he came here once to fetch his wife, she is dead now. She was the daughter of the king of the chalk-hills at Moen. They say he took his wife from chalk; I shall be delighted to see him again. It is said that the boys are ill-bred, forward lads, but perhaps that is not quite correct, and they will become better as they grow older. Let me see that you know how to teach them good manners."
"And when are they coming?" asked the daughter.
"That depends upon wind and weather," said the elf king; "they travel economically. They will come when there is the chance of a ship. I wanted them to come over to Sweden, but the old man was not inclined to take my advice. He does not go forward with the times, and that I do not like."
Two will-o'-the-wisps came jumping in, one quicker than the other, so of course, one arrived first. "They are coming! they are coming!" he cried.
"Give me my crown," said the elf king, "and let me stand in the moonshine."
The daughters drew on their shawls and bowed down to the ground. There stood the old goblin from the Dovre mountains, with his crown of hardened ice and polished fir-cones. Besides this, he wore a bear-skin, and great, warm boots, while his sons went with their throats bare and wore no braces, for they were strong men.
"Is that a hill?" said the youngest of the boys, pointing to the elf hill, "we should call it a hole in Norway."
"Boys," said the old man, "a hole goes in, and a hill stands out; have you no eyes in your heads?"
Another thing they wondered at was, that they were able without trouble to understand the language.
"Take care," said the old man, "or people will think you have not been well brought up."
Then they entered the elfin hill, where the select and grand company were assembled, and so quickly had they appeared that they seemed to have been blown together. But for each guest the neatest and pleasantest arrangement had been made. The sea folks sat at table in great water-tubs, and they said it was just like being at home. All behaved themselves properly excepting the two young northern goblins; they put their legs on the table and thought they were all right.
"Feet off the table-cloth!" said the old goblin. They obeyed, but not immediately. Then they tickled the ladies who waited at table, with the fir-cones, which they carried in their pockets. They took off their boots, that they might be more at ease, and gave them to the ladies to hold. But their father, the old goblin, was very different; he talked pleasantly about the stately Norwegian rocks, and told fine tales of the waterfalls which dashed over them with a clattering noise like thunder or the sound of an organ, spreading their white foam on every side. He told of the salmon that leaps in the rushing waters, while the water-god plays on his golden harp. He spoke of the bright winter nights, when the sledge bells are ringing, and the boys run with burning torches across the smooth ice, which is so transparent that they can see the fishes dart forward beneath their feet. He described everything so clearly, that those who listened could see it all; they could see the saw-mills going, the men-servants and the maidens singing songs, and dancing a rattling dance,- when all at once the old goblin gave the old elfin maiden a kiss, such a tremendous kiss, and yet they were almost strangers to each other.
Then the elfin girls had to dance, first in the usual way, and then with stamping feet, which they performed very well; then followed the artistic and solo dance. Dear me, how they did throw their legs about! No one could tell where the dance begun, or where it ended, nor indeed which were legs and which were arms, for they were all flying about together, like the shavings in a saw-pit! And then they spun round so quickly that the death-horse and the grave-pig became sick and giddy, and were obliged to leave the table.
"Stop!" cried the old goblin," is that the only house-keeping they can perform? Can they do anything more than dance and throw about their legs, and make a whirlwind?"
"You shall soon see what they can do," said the elf king. And then he called his youngest daughter to him. She was slender and fair as moonlight, and the most graceful of all the sisters. She took a white chip in her mouth, and vanished instantly; this was her accomplishment. But the old goblin said he should not like his wife to have such an accomplishment, and thought his boys would have the same objection. Another daughter could make a figure like herself follow her, as if she had a shadow, which none of the goblin folk ever had. The third was of quite a different sort; she had learnt in the brew-house of the moor witch how to lard elfin puddings with glow-worms.
"She will make a good housewife," said the old goblin, and then saluted her with his eyes instead of drinking her health; for he did not drink much.
Now came the fourth daughter, with a large harp to play upon; and when she struck the first chord, every one lifted up the left leg (for the goblins are left-legged), and at the second chord they found they must all do just what she wanted.
"That is a dangerous woman," said the old goblin; and the two sons walked out of the hill; they had had enough of it. "And what can the next daughter do?" asked the old goblin.
"I have learnt everything that is Norwegian," said she; "and I will never marry, unless I can go to Norway."
Then her youngest sister whispered to the old goblin, "That is only because she has heard, in a Norwegian song, that when the world shall decay, the cliffs of Norway will remain standing like monuments; and she wants to get there, that she may be safe; for she is so afraid of sinking."
"Ho! ho!" said the old goblin, "is that what she means? Well, what can the seventh and last do?"
"The sixth comes before the seventh," said the elf king, for he could reckon; but the sixth would not come forward.
"I can only tell people the truth," said she. "No one cares for me, nor troubles himself about me; and I have enough to do to sew my grave clothes."
So the seventh and last came; and what could she do? Why, she could tell stories, as many as you liked, on any subject.
