er burst with laughter when she saw it.

"'Shall I be crowned now?' asked the fire-tongs; so the broom
found another wreath for the tongs.

"'They were only common people after all,' thought the matches.
The tea-urn was now asked to sing, but she said she had a cold, and
could not sing without boiling heat. They all thought this was
affectation, and because she did not wish to sing excepting in the
parlor, when on the table with the grand people.

"In the window sat an old quill-pen, with which the maid generally
wrote. There was nothing remarkable about the pen, excepting that it
had been dipped too deeply in the ink, but it was proud of that.

"'If the tea-urn won't sing,' said the pen, 'she can leave it
alone; there is a nightingale in a cage who can sing; she has not been
taught much, certainly, but we need not say anything this evening
about that.'

"'I think it highly improper,' said the tea-kettle, who was
kitchen singer, and half-brother to the tea-urn, 'that a rich
foreign bird should be listened to here. Is it patriotic? Let the
market-basket decide what is right.'

"'I certainly am vexed,' said the basket; 'inwardly vexed, more
than any one can imagine. Are we spending the evening properly?
Would it not be more sensible to put the house in order? If each
were in his own place I would lead a game; this would be quite another
thing.'

"'Let us act a play,' said they all. At the same moment the door
opened, and the maid came in. Then not one stirred; they all
remained quite still; yet, at the same time, there was not a single
pot amongst them who had not a high opinion of himself, and of what he
could do if he chose.

"'Yes, if we had chosen,' they each thought, 'we might have
spent a very pleasant evening.'

"The maid took the matches and lighted them; dear me, how they
sputtered and blazed up!

"'Now then,' they thought, 'every one will see that we are the
first. How we shine; what a light we give!' Even while they spoke
their light went out.

"What a capital story," said the queen, "I feel as if I were
really in the kitchen, and could see the matches; yes, you shall marry
our daughter."

"Certainly," said the king, "thou shalt have our daughter." The
king said thou to him because he was going to be one of the family.
The wedding-day was fixed, and, on the evening before, the whole
city was illuminated. Cakes and sweetmeats were thrown among the
people. The street boys stood on tiptoe and sho