Page:Fairy tales and other stories (Andersen, Craigie).djvu/360

348 And the Gutter said he was right.

But the young girl at the garret window stood there with gleaming eyes, with the hue of health on her cheeks, and folded her thin hands over the pea blossom, and thanked Heaven for it.

'I,' said the Gutter, 'stand up for my own pea.' THE MONEY-PIG

the nursery a number of toys lay strewn about: high up, on the wardrobe, stood the Money-box, it was of clay in the shape of a little pig; of course the pig had a slit in its back, and this slit had been so enlarged with a knife that whole dollar-pieces could slip through; and, indeed, two such had slipped into the box, besides a number of pence. The Money-pig was stuffed so full that it could no longer rattle, and that is the highest point a Money-pig can attain. There it stood upon the cupboard, high and lofty, looking down upon everything else in the room. It knew very well that what it had in its stomach would have bought all the toys, and that's what we call having self-respect.

The others thought of that too, even if they did not exactly express it, for there were many other things to speak of. One of the drawers was half pulled out, and there lay a great handsome Doll, though she was somewhat old, and her neck had been mended. She looked out and said,—

'Shall we now play at men and women, for that is always something?'

And now there was a general uproar, and even the framed prints on the walls turned round and showed that there was a wrong side to them; but they did not do it to protest against the proposal.

It was late at night; the moon shone through the window-frames and gave free light. Now the game was about to begin, and all, even the children's Go-Cart, which certainly belonged to the coarser playthings, were invited to take part in the sport.