s_, and the
smallest schooner _The Flea_. Little Lasse put all the twelve into the
water, and they floated as splendidly and as proudly as any great ship
over the waves of the ocean.

And now the ships must sail round the world. The great island over there
was Asia; that large stone Africa; the little island America; the small
stones were Polynesia; and the shore from which the ships sailed out was
Europe. The whole fleet set off and sailed far away to other parts of
the world. The ships of the line steered a straight course to Asia, the
frigates sailed to Africa, the brigs to America, and the schooners to
Polynesia. But Little Lasse remained in Europe, and threw small stones
out into the great sea.

Now, there was on the shore of Europe a real boat, father's own, a
beautiful white-painted boat, and Little Lasse got into it. Father and
mother had forbidden this, but Little Lasse forgot. He thought he should
very much like to travel to some other part of the world.

'I shall row out a little way--only a very little way,' he thought. The
pea-shell boats had travelled so far that they only looked like little
specks on the ocean. 'I shall seize _Hercules_ on the coast of Asia,'
said Lasse, 'and then row home again to Europe.'

He shook the rope that held the boat, and, strange to say, the rope
became loose. Ditsch, ratsch, a man is a man, and so Little Lasse manned
the boat.

Now he would row--and he could row, for he had rowed so often on the
steps at home, when the steps pretended to be a boat and father's big
stick an oar. But when Little Lasse wanted to row there were no oars to
be found in the boat. The oars were locked up in the boat-house, and
Little Lasse had not noticed that the boat was empty. It is not so easy
as one thinks to row to Asia without oars.

What could Little Lasse do now? The boat was already some distance out
on the sea, and the wind, which blew from land, was driving it still
further out. Lasse was frightened and began to cry. But there was no one
on the shore to hear him. Only a big crow perched alone in the birch
tree; and the gardener's black cat sat under the birch tree, waiting to
catch the crow. Neither of them troubled themselves in the least about
Little Lasse, who was drifting out to sea.

Ah! how sorry Little Lasse was now that he had been disobedient and got
into the boat, when father and mother had so often forbidden him to do
so! Now it was too late, he could not get back to la