stepped the Wonderful
Toymaker. Any one who has lived for thousands and thousands of years
might reasonably be expected to look old, but the Wonderful Toymaker
looked young enough to play with his own toys; when he laughed, the
children felt that they should never feel unhappy again; and when he
came running towards them, turning coach-wheels on the way, they felt
certain that he was only a very little older than themselves. For that
is what happens when a man has been making toys for thousands and
thousands of years.

"My dear children, how pleased I am to see you!" he cried joyfully.
"At last, I shall have some one to play with! Come and look at my two
new tops."

He took them by the hands and raced them across the valley to his
workshop, which was strewn with gold and silver tools with handles made
of rubies; and he took up a gaily painted top and set it spinning by
blowing gently upon it three times. As it spun it began to hum a tune,
and in the tune they could hear every sound that the world
contains,--birds singing and wind whistling, children laughing and
children crying, people talking and people quarrelling, pretty sounds
and ugly sounds, one after another, until the children were spellbound
with astonishment.

"Oh, oh!" cried Princess Petulant, as the top rolled over on its side.
"I never heard anything so beautiful before."

"The top is yours, since you like it," said the Wonderful Toymaker,
handing it to her with a bow. "Now listen to my other new top."

Then he took up another one, made of burnished copper, and gave it a
twist with his fingers, and it began to spin with all its might; and as
it spun round, the song it sang was one that could never be described,
for it was full of the sounds that do not exist at all, the sounds that
are only to be heard in Fairyland when we are lucky enough to go there.
It made the Princess Petulant feel sleepy; but Martin gave a shout of
pleasure when it stopped spinning.

"I like that one much better," he said.

"It is the finest toy I have ever made," said the Wonderful Toymaker;
"and it is yours because you know how to appreciate it. Now, we will
play games!"

They had never played such games in their lives before, nor had they
ever had such a delightful playfellow. He put such feelings of joy and
happiness into their hearts that the little Princess wondered how she
could ever have felt discontented, and Martin never once wanted to stop
and dream. The