fter Ole-Luk-Oie was gone, and Hjalmar looked at them in
the morning, they were as wretched and as awkward as ever.

TUESDAY

As soon as Hjalmar was in bed, Ole-Luk-Oie touched, with his
little magic wand, all the furniture in the room, which immediately
began to chatter, and each article only talked of itself.

Over the chest of drawers hung a large picture in a gilt frame,
representing a landscape, with fine old trees, flowers in the grass,
and a broad stream, which flowed through the wood, past several
castles, far out into the wild ocean. Ole-Luk-Oie touched the
picture with his magic wand, and immediately the birds commenced
singing, the branches of the trees rustled, and the clouds moved
across the sky, casting their shadows on the landscape beneath them.
Then Ole-Luk-Oie lifted little Hjalmar up to the frame, and placed his
feet in the picture, just on the high grass, and there he stood with
the sun shining down upon him through the branches of the trees. He
ran to the water, and seated himself in a little boat which lay there,
and which was painted red and white. The sails glittered like
silver, and six swans, each with a golden circlet round its neck,
and a bright blue star on its forehead, drew the boat past the green
wood, where the trees talked of robbers and witches, and the flowers
of beautiful little elves and fairies, whose histories the butterflies
had related to them. Brilliant fish, with scales like silver and gold,
swam after the boat, sometimes making a spring and splashing the water
round them, while birds, red and blue, small and great, flew after him
in two long lines. The gnats danced round them, and the cockchafers
cried "Buz, buz." They all wanted to follow Hjalmar, and all had
some story to tell him. It was a most pleasant sail. Sometimes the
forests were thick and dark, sometimes like a beautiful garden, gay
with sunshine and flowers; then he passed great palaces of glass and
of marble, and on the balconies stood princesses, whose faces were
those of little girls whom Hjalmar knew well, and had often played
with. One of them held out her hand, in which was a heart made of
sugar, more beautiful than any confectioner ever sold. As Hjalmar
sailed by, he caught hold of one side of the sugar heart, and held
it fast, and the princess held fast also, so that it broke in two
pieces. Hjalmar had one piece, and the princess the other, but
Hjalmar's was the largest. At each castle stood little pri