on, a formidable pair of huge slippers met his eye;
they were not, it is true, beautiful, but his own could hold out no
longer; moreover their size was an inducement, for when he had these
upon his feet, people would see, he hoped, that he had cast off the
shoes of childhood. He quickly took off his own slippers, and put on
the others. A walking-stick, also, with a fine lion's head cut upon
the handle, seemed to be standing too idly in the corner; so he seized
it, and hurried from the apartment. He hastened to his own room, put
on his cloak, arranged his paternal turban, placed the dagger in his
girdle, and ran as fast as his feet would carry him, out of the house,
and out of the city. Fear of his old mistress drove him farther and
still farther, until, from fatigue, he could scarcely run any more. He
had never gone so quickly in his life; nay, it appeared to him as if
he could not cease running, for an invisible power seemed propelling
him on. At last he observed that this must be connected with the
slippers, for they would continually shoot forward and bear him along
with them. He endeavored in various ways, to stand still, but could
not succeed; at last, in the greatest distress, he cried out to
himself, as a man calls to his horse, "Wo--wo!" Then the slippers
stopped, and Muck fell exhausted upon the earth.

The slippers were a source of great joy to him. Thus had he, by his
services, gained something that would help him on his way through the
world to seek his fortune. In spite of his joy, he fell asleep through
fatigue; for the body of Little Muck, which had to carry so heavy a
head, could not hold out long. In his dream the little dog appeared to
him, which had assisted him to the slippers in the house of the Frau
Ahavzi, and thus spoke:--

"Dear Muck, thou dost not still rightly understand the use of the
slippers: know that if, in them, thou turnest thyself three times
around upon the heel, thou canst fly wherever thou wilt; and with the
staff thou canst find treasures, for, wherever gold is buried, it will
beat three times upon the earth; where silver, twice."

Thus dreamed Little Muck. When he awoke, he reflected on the singular
vision, and resolved to make the experiment immediately. He put on the
slippers, lifted one foot, and began to turn around upon his heel. But
whoever has attempted to perform this manoeuvre in an enormously wide
slipper, will not wonder that the Little Muck could not succeed,
partic