Page:Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales (1888).djvu/506

 thought of all the gold this man possessed, it made them hungry and thirsty for even a little of it.

He said that he had been ill with ague, owing to a broken place in the wall near his miserable straw bed. A loose stone had fallen down and left a large hole. On the floor lay a stocking stuck full of gold pieces, and he kept fumbling in his ragged pockets, where more gold had been sewn by his clumsy, trembling fingers.

“He is ill, insane, a friendless idiot,” said the preacher, “and suffering from anxiety and evil dreams. I cannot point him out as lost for ever.”

Hastily they escaped from the miser’s room, and stood before the dormitory of the House of Correction, where the prisoners were sleeping in long rows near to each other. Presently, like a wild beast, one of them started up in his sleep, and uttered a terrible cry. With his elbow, his bedfellow gave him a terrible blow in the ribs, and then turned round and was asleep again quickly. But others were not so overcome with sleep; the cry had awaked them, and one of them called out, “Hold your jaw and go to sleep; you go on like this every night.”

“Every night!” he exclaimed, “yes, every night he howls like this and torments me. Many times have I committed some wrong or other, owing to the passionate temper with which I was born. I have been brought here twice by this wicked temper, but I have felt that my punishment was just.”

“Only one sin have I not confessed. The last time I found myself free I was employed by a former master, who believed that I had at last learnt to control my wicked temper, and he was right, At least I thought so.”

“But one morning I lighted a match and carelessly threw it out on the thatched roof, under my window, for I thought it had burnt out, but the heat seized the straw, as it often seizes me, and the roof was soon in a blaze. With help I managed to rescue the house property and the animals, and no living creature was burnt as I thought, for my master and the family were absent, excepting a pigeon who flew right into the fire. I had forgotten the poor house dog, who was chained up, and when it was too late to save him, I heard his howls, and they sound in my ears still, whether I am asleep or awake. And sometimes in my sleep the dog comes to me. He is very large, with thick, shaggy fur, then he lies upon me, howls and squeezes me till I am nearly choked.”

“And now just listen to the end. You can all sleep and snore the whole night without waking, but I can sleep for only a short quarter of an hour at a time; and once when the dog came to me in that dreadful manner I was only half awake, and I thought it was my bedfellow choking me.”

“My hot blood was roused, I threw myself upon him and slew him with one blow of my bare fist in his face.”

“‘That dreadful, wicked rage again!’ cried every one, while the other prisoners threw themselves upon him, wrestled with him, bent him down in a curve till his head touched his knees, and then bound him so tightly that the blood seemed ready to burst from his eyes and from every pore.”

“You are murdering the unfortunate man!” cried the preacher, and