arth, and
thought what a pleasant dream that was about the dying horse, and the
golden shoes he had inherited.

Suddenly a hand seized the beetle, and pressed him, and turned him
round and round.

The gardener's little son and a companion had come to the hot-bed, had
espied the beetle, and wanted to have their fun with him. First he was
wrapped in a vine leaf, and then put into warm trousers-pocket. He
cribbled and crabbled about there with all his might; but he got a
good pressing from the boy's hand for this, which served as a hint to
him to keep quiet. Then the boy went rapidly towards the great lake
that lay at the end of the garden. Here the beetle was put in an old
broken wooden shoe, on which a little stick was placed upright for a
mast, and to this mast the beetle was bound with a woollen thread. Now
he was a sailor, and had to sail away.

The lake was not very large, but to the beetle it seemed an ocean; and
he was so astonished at its extent, that he fell over on his back and
kicked out with his legs.

The little ship sailed away. The current of the water seized it; but
whenever it went too far from the shore, one of the boys turned up
his trousers and went in after it, and brought it back to the land.
But at length, just as it went merrily out again, the two boys were
called away, and very harshly, so that they hurried to obey the
summons, ran away from the lake, and left the little ship to its fate.
Thus it drove away from the shore, farther and farther into the open
sea: it was terrible work for the beetle, for he could not get away in
consequence of being bound to the mast.

Then a fly came and paid him a visit.

"What beautiful weather!" said the fly. "I'll rest here, and sun
myself. You have an agreeable time of it."

"You speak without knowing the facts," replied the beetle. "Don't you
see that I'm a prisoner?"

"Ah! but I'm not a prisoner," observed the fly; and he flew away
accordingly.

"Well, now I know the world," said the beetle to himself. "It is an
abominable world. I'm the only honest person in it. First, they refuse
me my golden shoes; then I have to lie on wet linen, and to stand in
the draught; and, to crown all, they fasten a wife upon me. Then, when
I've taken a quick step out into the world, and found out how one can
have it there, and how I wished to have it, one of those human boys
comes and ties me up, and leaves me to the mercy of the wild waves,
while the emperor's favou