Part 12 (1/2)
When they crossed the last bridge and pa.s.sed through the last gateway into the inner courtyard of Kronborg, Greta stopped in surprise. ”Oh, Anna, it's so large and so beautiful.” Then, just to show that she wasn't really afraid of climbing, she asked, ”Tante Elsie, do you suppose we could climb to the top of one of the towers?”
”Yes, I think so.”
From the little balcony on the tower they looked out over the ocean.
”Is that an island across the water?” asked Greta.
”Oh, no, Greta. That is Sweden, only three miles away. In the olden days, Kronborg was a fortress that guarded the entrance to the Baltic Sea. All the s.h.i.+ps that came from the North Sea into the Kattegat and then into the Baltic had to pa.s.s this point of land, and every s.h.i.+p that went by here had to pay money to Denmark. Up here in this very tower there were guards who watched all the s.h.i.+ps to see that every one stopped and paid for the privilege of going past this point. In those days, Kronborg was the most important castle in Denmark.”
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE MOAT AROUND KRONBORG]
”Don't they have to pay this money now?”
”No. About a hundred years ago Denmark stopped asking for this payment.
s.h.i.+ps that are going to the Baltic Sea can now go through the Kiel Ca.n.a.l in Germany, instead of going all the way around Denmark,” explained Anna's mother.
As they walked down the narrow, winding stairs, Anna suddenly exclaimed, ”Oh, Mother, we forgot to tell Greta why Kronborg is still an important castle.”
”Maybe she already knows.”
”No, I don't. Please tell me, Anna.”
”According to an old, old story, Holger the Dane sleeps in the dungeon that is deep below this tower. If Denmark is ever in trouble of any kind, he will awake and come to her rescue.”
”I've heard of Holger the Dane, of course,” said Greta, ”but I thought he was just an imaginary person.”
”He's no more imaginary than a Nisse,” said Anna, with a twinkle in her eye.
Greta hated to leave Kronborg, but when Anna told her that they were going to see even finer castles than this one, she was willing to go.
After driving about fifteen miles, they turned off the main road and drove down a long avenue of beech trees. At the end of this avenue there was a large white building, with a four-cornered tower rising from the center.
”This is Fredensborg Palace, where the King and Queen live in the autumn,” said Anna. ”The King comes here for the hunting season.”
”Can we go inside this palace?” asked Greta. ”I would love to see the Queen's own room.”
”Of course you would, little Margrete,” said Tante Elsie. ”We will ask the guide to show us the Queen's apartments.”
It seemed to Greta that the guide took them through miles and miles of rooms. Even then, he showed them only a part of the two hundred and seventy rooms. The palace was much larger than it looked from the front, for it was very long.
”Surely this isn't the _Queen's_ room,” said Greta, as she stood in the doorway of the large, sunny bedroom.
”Why not, Greta?” asked Anna in surprise.
”Why, I thought it would be a very grand room, with furniture of gold.”
Tante Elsie laughed. ”Oh, Greta, you forget that the King and Queen of Denmark are people of simple tastes. This is a beautiful room, and it shows that the Queen likes lovely things. But it also shows that she does not spend money just to make a grand display.”
”Perhaps the young lady would like to see the ballroom,” said the guide.
”I think she will find that it is all that she imagined and really fit for a queen.”
[Ill.u.s.tration: FREDERIKSBORG CASTLE]