eft him there with little
hope of escape, for, on account of the great drifts of snow from the
mountains, the forest will never be cut down, and, although he should
call night and day, nobody in that neighbourhood ever ventures near
the spot.

Paracelsus, however, found that the phials were such as he had
demanded, and it was by their means that he afterwards became such a
celebrated and distinguished man.

HANS IN LUCK.

Hans had served his master seven years, and at last said to him--

"Master, my time is up; I should like to go home and see my mother, so
give me my wages."

And the master said--

"You have been a faithful and good servant, so your pay shall be
handsome."

Then he gave him a piece of silver that was as big as his head. Hans
took out his pocket-handkerchief, put the piece of silver into it,
threw it over his shoulder, and jogged off homewards. As he went
lazily on, dragging one foot after another, a man came in sight,
trotting along gaily on a capital horse.

"Ah!" said Hans aloud, "what a fine thing it is to ride on horseback!
There he sits as if he were at home in his chair. He trips against no
stones, spares his shoes, and yet gets on he hardly knows how."

The horseman heard this, and said--

"Well, Hans, why do you go on foot, then?"

"Ah!" said he, "I have this load to carry; to be sure, it is silver,
but it is so heavy that I can't hold up my head, and it hurts my
shoulder sadly."

"What do you say to changing?" said the horseman. "I will give you my
horse, and you shall give me the silver."

"With all my heart," said Hans, "but I tell you one thing: you will
have a weary task to drag it along."

The horseman got off, took the silver, helped Hans up, gave him the
bridle into his hand, and said--

"When you want to go very fast, you must smack your lips loud and cry,
'Jip.'"

Hans was delighted as he sat on the horse, and rode merrily on. After
a time he thought he should like to go a little faster, so he smacked
his lips and cried "Jip." Away went the horse full gallop, and before
Hans knew what he was about, he was thrown off, and lay in a ditch by
the wayside, and his horse would have run off if a shepherd, who was
coming by driving a cow, had not stopped it. Hans soon came to
himself, and got upon his legs again. He was sadly vexed, and said to
the shepherd--

"This riding is no joke when a man gets on a beast like this, that
stumbles and flings him off as if