ristmas fair, except that such fine, precious things are never to
be seen in a booth. There were all sorts of dolls, and dolls' clothes,
and utensils; little kitchens, parlours, and shops; besides single toys
in abundance. She led me all round to the glass cases, in which these
precious articles were preserved. The first case she soon closed
again, saying: "There is nothing for you, I am sure, there," added she,
"we can find building materials, walls, and towers, houses, palaces,
and churches to put together a large town. That, however, would be no
amusement for me, so we will take something else, that may be equally
amusing for both of us." She then brought out some boxes, in which I
saw some little soldiers placed in layers one over the other, and with
respect to which I was forced to confess that I had never seen any
thing so pretty in my life. She did not leave me time to look closer
into particulars, but took one of the boxes under her arm, while I
caught up the other. "We will go to the golden bridge," said she, "for
that's the best place to play at soldiers. The spears point out the
direction in which the armies should be placed." We had now reached
the shaking, golden bridge, and I could hear the water ripple, and the
fish splash beneath me, as I knelt down to set up my rows of soldiers,
which, as I now saw, were all on horseback. She gloried in being the
queen of the Amazons, as the leader of her host; while I, on the other
hand, found Achilles, and a very fine set of Greek cavalry. The armies
stood face to face, and nothing prettier can be conceived. They were
not flat leaden horsemen like ours, but man and horse were round and
full-bodied, and very finely worked. It was difficult to see how they
were able to balance themselves, for they kept up without having a
stand.

We had both surveyed our armies with great complacency, when she
announced the attack. Besides the soldiers, we had found artillery in
our chests--namely, boxes filled with little balls of polished agate.
With these we were to shoot at each other's forces from a certain
distance, on the express condition, however, that we were not to throw
with greater force than was required to upset the figures, as they were
on no account to be injured. The cannonading began from each side,
and, at first, to the great delight of both of us. But when my
adversary remarked that I took a better aim than she, and that I might
end by winning the ga