IV. A HEAD IN DIFFICULTY. A RECITATION.

A MOST UNUSUAL JOURNEY

Every inhabitant of Copenhagen knows what the entrance to the
Frederiks Hospital is like, but as some non-residents in all probability may
read this story, we will give a short description ot it.

The hospital is separated from the street by a very high railing, the
solid iron bars of which are so wide apart, that, as the story goes, some
of the very thin students have squeezed themselves through and paid their
little visits into the town. The part of the body which was found most
difficult to get through was the head, and consequently the small heads
were here, as is often the case in this world, the most lucky.

66

THE GALOSHES OF FORTUNE

This will suffice as an introduction.

One of the young students, of whom we need only say that he had
big head, was on duty this evening ; the rain was pouring down, but
spite of these two obstacles he must try to get out, if only for a

quarter of an hour. He did not
think it was worth while to take the
lodge-keeper into his confidence,
when he could slip between the
bars.

There lay the galoshes which
the watchman had forgotten — he
little thought they were the galoshes
of fortune — they would come in
very handy in this weather, and so
he put them on. The question
was now whether he could squeeze
himself through the bars, a thing
he had never tried before.

There he stood. " I wish I
could get my head through!" he
said, and the next moment his head,
big as it was, slipped easily and safely
through the bars, all thanks to the
galoshes. He had still to get his
bodv through, but there he stood in
a ti.v.
"I 'm too fat!" he said; "I thought my head would have been the
worst! I sha'n't be able to get through."

He then attempted to pull back his head quickly, but all ot no avail.
He could move his neck comfortably, but that was all. His lirst feeling
was one of anger, next he felt his spirits sinking below zero. The galoshes
of fortune had brought him into this terrible fix, and unfortunately he never
thought of wishing himself free; he only tried to extricate himself, but was
not able to move from the spot. The rain was pouring down, and not a
living being was to be seen in the street. He could not reach the bell;
how was he to get loose? He foresaw that he might be kept there till, the
early morning, when they would have to send for a smith to get the bars
filed through, but that would take some time, and in the meantime the
boys of the Blue School opposite would be about and stirring, and all
the inhabitants of Nyboder^ would be passing and see him standing in the
pillory ; there would be such a crowd of people as had not been seen since
the giant agave was shown last year.

"Ugh! the blood is rushing to my head! I shall go mad! Yes, I

The sailors' quarter in Copenhagen.

THE GALOSHES OF FORTUNE 67

am going out of mv mind! Oh, that I were free again! I should then
be all right."

That is what he should have said sooner, tor the very next moment
after he had expressed the wish, his head was free, and he rushed back
quite dazed with the fright the galoshes of fortune had given him.

We must not imagine that this was the end t)f the matter, no — there
were worse things still to come.

The night passed and the tollowing day as well, but no messenger
came for the galoshes.

In the evening an entertainment was to be given in the little theater in
Kannike lane. The house was crammed; among the recitations was a
new poem, which we will listen to. The title was : —

GRANNY'S SPECTACLES

My Granny's wisdom 's known to great and small :

In olden days, I have no doubt at all,

They would have burned her for a witch. For she

Knows everything that happens ; she can see

Right into next year — aye, and farther, too:

But, tell you </// she knows — no, that she will not do.

I wonder what will happen here next year I

The great events I 'd like to see — to hear

All that's in store for me, for Art, for King,

And Country ; but, alas ! one cannot bring

My Granny to disclose such things as these.

Yet one day I did plague her so, and tease.

That she relented, after I had got

A scolding (for she loves me I) which was rather hot !

"For once your wish I '11 gratify," said she.

And handed me her spectacles. "Now see!

You must find out a place — no matter where —

A place where many people go, and there

Stand where you best can overlook the throng.

Put on my glasses; then you'll see ere long

The people like a pack of cards laid out.

From them you may foretell the future without doubt."

I thanketl my Granny, and ran off to see

It I could find where that strange place could be.

"Where many people go?" The Promenade"?

'T is chilly there! The High Street's quite as bad.

And muddy too! The Theater, then"? Why, this

Is just the thing for me — an evening's bliss!

Well, here I am ! I first salute all here.

Permit me through my Granny's "specs" to peer.

That I may see — no, do not run away! —

It like a pack ot cards you look. I may

68 THE GALOSHES OF FORTUNE

Foretell the future thus. Do you assent?

No answer! Then your silence is consent.

By way of recompense, with you I '11 share

The hidden secrets which the wondrous cards lay bare.

Now we shall see what fate the cards foretell
For you, for me, tor King and Country. Well!

(He puts on the jptrtcifks.)
Yes, it 's quite true I — Ah, that 's a funny sight I
I only wish that you could see it quite
As well as 1 1 But what a lot of beaux.
And Queens of Hearts I Of these there are long rows.
The black ones over there are Clubs and Spades —
I soon shall see them all, both men and maids I
The Oueen of Spades, I see, has only eyes
For one, the Knave of Diamonds — a prize!
Oh, this inpection makes my head turn quite !
There 's such a heap of money here to-night.
And strangers, too, from far across the seas!
Yes, but we do not wish to know such things as these
Of Nobles and of Commons! — Well, "The Times" —
But that I must not breathe of in my rhymes !
To injure that great paper I 've no wish.
So I '11 not take the best bone from the dish!
The theater, then V The latest play ? But no !
The manager's my friend: 't is better so!

The future that awaits me "? Ah ! one's fate
Concerns oneself: one learns it soon or late.
What 's this I see"? In truth, I hardly know;
You '11 see it when it happens. On I go !
Who 's happiest among us here just now ?
That I can tell you easily. I trow

The happiest is . No, it might emlxirrass.

And possibly the others it might harass !
Well — will this gentleman live longer than
The lady"? That 't were ruder still to scan!

Shall I, then, tell of '? No! of ? No! of ? No

Of '? Ah! I hardly know myself wh:it I should show!

So easy 't is to wound, I 'm quite put out.

Yet wait! I '11 tell you what you think about

My powers of prophecy- — no pains I '11 spare!

You think — I beg your pardon ? Everywhere

You think that, as my promise I have broke,

My undertaking only ends in smoke.

And so I hold my peace, most honored sirs and dames:

I '11 own you may be right — but trust that no one blames.

The poem was excellently recited, and the reciter met with a great
success. Among the audience was the student from the hospital, who
appeared to have forgotten his adventure of the night before; he had

THE GALOSHES OF FORTUNE

69

put on the galoshes because they had not been called for, and as the
streets were very dirty he thought they would be of great service to him.

He liked the poem very much.

The idea took his fancy; he thought he would like to have a pair of
spectacles of that sort; if one used them properly one might perhaps look
right into people's hearts. That would really be more interesting, he
thought, than to see what was going to happen next year, for one
was sure to get to know that — but about the other matter one could
never get to know anything. "I can just imagine to myself all the
gentlemen and ladies in the front row. It one could only look straight
into their hearts! — there would, of course, have to be st)me opening
to see through, as if you were looking into a shop. How my eyes would
like to roam about in these shops !

"In yon lady's heart I should no doubt find a large millinery establish-
ment! The next lady's is empty, but it would be none the worse for a
little cleaning; but there are sure to be some shops of stability! Alas,
yes! " he sighed, "I know of one where everything is genuine, but there is
already a shopman there, and he is the only useless thing in the whole
shop !

"From some of them I should hear, 'Please walk in!' Yes, I should
like to step inside, just as a beautiful, fleeting thought passes through the
heart! "

This was sufficient for the galoshes; the student disappeared altogether,
and a most unusual journey began through the hearts of the spectators in
the front row. The first heart he entered was that of a lady, but he
thought he had suddenly been
transported to an orthopitdic
institution, which they call the
place where the doctors take
away human deformities and
make people straight ; he was
in the room where the plaster
casts of the deformed limbs
hang on the walls, but with
this difference, that at the insti-
tution the casts are taken when the patients arrive, but in this
they were taken and preserved after the worthy people were gone,
were the casts of female friends, their bodily and mental defects,
were here preserved.

He quickly passed into another female heart ; this appeared to him like
a large sacred church, where the white dove of innocence was hovering
over the high altar. He would gladly have gone down on his knees, but
he had to proceed farther on his way to the next heart. He still heard the
tones of the organ, and felt as if he himself had become a new and better

heart

They
which

70 THE GALOSHES OF FORTUNE

man, and was worthy to enter the next sanctuary, which showed him a
poor garret with a sick mother ; but through the open window shone
God's warm sun, and from the little wooden box on the roof hung lovely
roses, while two azure blue-birds sang of the joys of childhood, and the
sick mother prayed for blessings on her daughter.

He next crept on all fours through a well-stocked butcher's shop : it
was meat and nothing but meat he came across ; it was the heart of a rich,
respectable man, whose name was sure to be found in the director)'.

He then entered the heart of this man's wife : it was an old dilapitated
dove-cote; the husband's portrait was used as a weather-cock, which was
connected with the doors in such a way that they opened and shut as the
husband veered round.

Afterward he entered a glass cabinet, like the one we have in Rosen-
berg Castle, only the glass magnified everything to an incredible degree.
In the middle of the floor sat a Dalai Lama, the insignificant "I" of the
person surprised at seeing his own greatness.

Then he fancied himself in a narrow needle-case, full of sharp needles,
and he could not help thinking it must be the heart of an old maid ; but
that was not the case ; it was quite a young officer, with manv orders, a
man of spirit and heart, as they said.

The poor student came out of the last heart in the row in quite a
confused condition ; he was not able to collect his thoughts and could only
believe it must have been his too vivid imagination which had run away
with him.

"Good gracious!" he sighed, "I must have a tendency to madness!
Besides, it is insufferably hot in here! the blood is rushing to my head!"
And now he remembered his great adventure of the previous evening ;
how his head had stuck fast between the iron railings of the hospital.
"That 's where I must have caught it!" he thought. "I must do some-
thing at once. A Russian bath would be a good thing. I wish I were
lying on the uppermost shelf of one."

And so he found himself lying on the uppermost shelf in a vapor
bath, but he was lying with all his clothes on, in his boots and with the
galoshes on ; the hot drops of water from the ceiling were dripping onto
his face.

"Ugh ! " he cried, and sprang down from the shelf to get a shower-bath.
The attendant uttered a loud cry on seeing a person with all his clothes on
in the bath.

The student had, however, sufficient presence of mind to whisper
to him: "It is a wager"; but the first thing he did when he got to
his own room was to get a large blister on the back of his neck, and
another down his back, in order to draw out the madness. Next morn-
ing his back was quite raw ; and that was all he gained by the galoshes of
fortune.

THE GALOSHES OF FORTUNE 71