upon it, and it opened to him just as it had done for Claus. Down he went into the pit, and there sat the little old manikin, just as he had done from the very first.
"How do you find yourself, Hans?" said the little old manikin.
Oh, Hans found himself very well. Might he have some of the money that stood around the room in the sacks?
Yes, that he might; only remember to take the best away with him.
Prut! teach a dog to eat sausages. Hans would see that he took the best, trust him for that. So he filled the bags full of gold, and never touched the silver – for, surely, gold is better than anything else in the world, says Hans to himself. So, when he had filled his two bags with gold, and had shaken the pieces well down, he flung the one over one shoulder, and the other over the other, and then he had as much as he could carry. As for the staff of witch-hazel, he let it lie where it was, for he only had two hands and they were both full.
But Hans never got his two bags of gold away from the vault, for just as he was leaving – bang! came the stone together, and caught him as though he was a mouse in the door; and that was an end of him. That happened because he left the witch-hazel behind.
That was the way in which Claus came to lose his magic staff; but that did not matter much, for he had enough to live on and to spare. So he married the daughter of the Herr Baron (for he might marry whom he chose, now that he was rich), and after that he lived as happy as a fly on the warm chimney.
Now, this is so – it is better to take a little away at a
time and carry your staff with you, than to
take all at once and leave it behind.
VENTURESOME BOLDNESS
A tailor came a-walking by,
The fire of courage in his eye.
"Where are you going Sir?" Said I.
"I slew a mouse
In our house
Where other tailors live," said he,
"And not a Jack
Among the pack
Would dare to do the like; pardie!
Therefore, I'm going out to try
If there be greater men that I;
Or in the land
As bold a hand
At wielding brand as I, you see!"
The tailor came a-limping by
With woful face and clothes awry
And all his courage gone to pie.
"I met a knight
In armor bright
And bade him stand and draw," said he;
"He straightaway did
As he was bid,
And treated me outrageously.
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