g a nosegay, in the center of which
the wax taper was to be placed. It was to stand on a green writing table
in a very pleasant room, where there were many books scattered about and
splendid paintings on the walls.

The owner of the room was a poet and a man of intellect. Everything he
thought or wrote was pictured around him. Nature showed herself to him
sometimes in the dark forests, sometimes in cheerful meadows where the
storks were strutting about, or on the deck of a ship sailing across the
foaming sea, with the clear, blue sky above, or at night in the
glittering stars.

"What powers I possess!" said the lamp, awaking from its dream. "I could
almost wish to be melted down; but no, that must not be while the old
people live. They love me for myself alone; they keep me bright and
supply me with oil. I am as well off as the picture of the Congress, in
which they take so much pleasure." And from that time it felt at rest in
itself, and not more so than such an honorable old lamp really deserved
to be.

[Illustration]

THE SHEPHERDESS AND THE CHIMNEY SWEEP

HAVE you ever seen an old wooden cabinet, quite worn black with age, and
ornamented with all sorts of carved figures and flourishes?

Just such a one stood in a certain parlor. It was a legacy from the
great-grandmother, and was covered from top to bottom with carved roses
and tulips. The most curious flourishes were on it, too; and between
them peered forth little stags' heads, with their zigzag antlers. On the
door panel had been carved the entire figure of a man, a most ridiculous
man to look at, for he grinned--you could not call it smiling or
laughing--in the drollest way. Moreover, he had crooked legs, little
horns upon his forehead, and a long beard.

The children used to call him the "crooked-legged
field-marshal-major-general-corporal-sergeant," which was a long, hard
name to pronounce. Very few there are, whether in wood or in stone, who
could get such a title. Surely to have cut him out in wood was no
trifling task. However, there he was. His eyes were always fixed upon
the table below, and toward the mirror, for upon this table stood a
charming little porcelain shepherdess, her mantle gathered gracefully
about her and fastened with a red rose. Her shoes and hat were gilded,
and her hand held a shepherd's crook; she was very lovely. Close by her
stood a little chimney sweep, also of porcelain. He was as clean and
neat as any other