Part 5 (2/2)
”Oh! I like that!” said the princess.
So she went to the learned man by the door, and she spoke to him about the sun and the moon, and about persons out of and in the world, and he answered with wisdom and prudence.
”What a man that must be who has so wise a shadow!” thought she; ”It will be a real blessing to my people and kingdom if I choose him for my consort--I will do it!”
They were soon agreed, both the princess and the shadow; but no one was to know about it before she arrived in her own kingdom.
”No one--not even my shadow!” said the shadow, and he had his own thoughts about it!
Now they were in the country where the princess reigned when she was at home.
”Listen, my good friend,” said the shadow to the learned man. ”I have now become as happy and mighty as any one can be; I will, therefore, do something particular for thee! Thou shalt always live with me in the palace, drive with me in my royal carriage, and have ten thousand pounds a year; but then thou must submit to be called shadow by all and every one; thou must not say that thou hast ever been a man; and once a-year, when I sit on the balcony in the suns.h.i.+ne, thou must lie at my feet, as a shadow shall do! I must tell thee: I am going to marry the king's daughter, and the nuptials are to take place this evening!”
”Nay, this is going too far!” said the learned man; ”I will not have it; I will not do it! it is to deceive the whole country and the princess too! I will tell every thing!--that I am a man, and that thou art a shadow--thou art only dressed up!”
”There is no one who will believe it!” said the shadow; ”be reasonable, or I will call the guard!”
”I will go directly to the princess!” said the learned man.
”But I will go first!” said the shadow, ”and thou wilt go to prison!”
and that he was obliged to do--for the sentinels obeyed him whom they knew the king's daughter was to marry.
”You tremble!” said the princess, as the shadow came into her chamber; ”has anything happened? You must not be unwell this evening, now that we are to have our nuptials celebrated.”
”I have lived to see the most cruel thing that any one can live to see!” said the shadow. ”Only imagine--yes, it is true, such a poor shadow-skull cannot bear much--only think, my shadow has become mad; he thinks that he is a man, and that I--now only think--that I am his shadow!”
”It is terrible!” said the princess; ”but he is confined, is he not?”
”That he is. I am afraid that he will never recover.”
”Poor shadow!” said the princess, ”he is very unfortunate; it would be a real work of charity to deliver him from the little life he has, and, when I think properly over the matter, I am of opinion that it will be necessary to do away with him in all stillness!”
”It is certainly hard!” said the shadow, ”for he was a faithful servant!” and then he gave a sort of sigh.
”You are a n.o.ble character!” said the princess.
The whole city was illuminated in the evening, and the cannons went off with a b.u.m! b.u.m! and the soldiers presented arms. That was a marriage! The princess and the shadow went out on the balcony to show themselves, and get another hurrah!
The learned man heard nothing of all this--for they had deprived him of life.
THE OLD STREET-LAMP.
Have you heard the story about the old street lamp? It is not so very amusing, but one may very well hear it once. It was such a decent old street-lamp, that had done its duty for many, many years, but now it was to be condemned. It was the last evening,--it sat there on the post and lighted the street; and it was in just such a humor as an old figurante in a ballet, who dances for the last evening, and knows that she is to be put on the shelf to-morrow. The lamp had such a fear of the coming day, for it knew that it should then be carried to the town-hall for the first time, and examined by the authorities of the city, who should decide if it could be used or not. It would then be determined whether it should be sent out to one of the suburbs, or in to the country to a manufactory; perhaps it would be sent direct to the ironfounder's and be re-cast; in that case it could certainly be all sorts of things: but it pained it not to know whether it would then retain the remembrance of its having been a street-lamp.
However it might be, whether it went into the country or not, it would be separated from the watchman and his wife, whom it regarded as its family. It became a street-lamp when he became watchman. His wife was a very fine woman at that time; it was only in the evening when she went past the lamp that she looked at it, but never in the daytime.
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