168

The Jewish Girl 171

The Thorny Road of Honour 176

The Old Gravestone 180

The Old Bachelor's Nightcap 184

The Marsh King's Daughter 196

The Last Dream of the Old Oak Tree. A Christmas Tale 238

The Bell-deep 244

The Puppet Showman 247

The Pigs 251

Anne Lisbeth 254

Charming 265

In the Duck-yard 272

The Girl who Trod on the Loaf 277

A Story from the Sand-dunes 285

The Bishop of Boerglum and his Warriors 316

The Snow Man 323

Two Maidens 328

The Farmyard Cock and the Weathercock 330

The Pen and Inkstand 332

The Child in the Grave 334

Soup on a Sausage-Peg 339

The Stone of the Wise Men 353

The Butterfly 367

In the Uttermost Parts of the Sea 369

The Phoenix Bird 371

* * * * *

WHAT THE MOON SAW.

[Illustration: MY POST OF OBSERVATION.]

INTRODUCTION.

It is a strange thing, that when I feel most fervently and most
deeply, my hands and my tongue seem alike tied, so that I cannot
rightly describe or accurately portray the thoughts that are rising
within me; and yet I am a painter: my eye tells me as much as that,
and all my friends who have seen my sketches and fancies say the same.

I am a poor lad, and live in one of the narrowest of lanes; but I do
not want for light, as my room is high up in the house, with an
extensive prospect over the neighbouring roofs. During the first few
days I went to live in the town, I felt low-spirited and solitary
enough. Instead of the forest and the green hills of former days, I
had here only a forest of chimney-pots to look out upon. And