but then what a
pleasure had he in his next visit to the convent; not only Uncle
Gottlieb to see, but all the beautiful and wonderful things which he had
brought back from the Frankfort Fair, and his own present to receive
too, which the kind uncle had not forgotten amid all his bustle and
business. This was no less than a knife--the first that Hans had ever
possessed of his own. It had a pretty stag's-horn handle and a green
leather sheath, so that, stuck in his girdle, it looked quite like that
of a real woodsman or hunter, and made Hans not a little proud.

Then what wonderful things had not his uncle to relate of the large and
rich city of Frankfort. Of all the beautiful works in gold and silver
with which the shops were filled; of the grand old hall where the
Emperors were elected and the chapel in which they were crowned; and
then of the curious people called Jews, who live in such numbers in one
part of the city, who did not worship Christ or the virgin, and were the
same people whom he had heard about in the stories of Jacob and Joseph.
Long after his usual time did Hans stay listening to all these matters,
and it was nightfall ere he got back again to his mother's cottage with
his present to her of a piece of fine cloth for a new head coif, which
Father Gottlieb sent her.

For many days Hans could think of nothing but his new knife, and well
pleased was he to show it to his young companions, many of whom had
never before seen so polished a piece of iron. In his herb-gatherings
for his mother, too, how useful it was to him in cutting through the
tough stalks of some of the plants and in digging up the roots; and what
fine things it enabled him to cut and carve for his mother,--new comb
for her flax amongst other things, and a spoon to stir her pots of dye.

He grew very expert in using his knife, and cutting and carving with it
almost put out of his head his dearly beloved letters that he had taken
such pains to learn.

It happened, however, one day, that after having been some hours out on
the hills, behind his mother's cottage, collecting a quantity of acorns
and oak-galls, which his mother required to make her black dye or ink, a
very violent storm came on, which obliged him to take shelter under a
large spreading beech tree, behind whose trunk he crept while the wind
and hail beat fiercely down. The storm lasted long, and to amuse himself
Hans began to exercise his carving powers upon the smooth bark of t