Page:Hans Andersen's fairy tales (Robinson).djvu/299

 HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES evening; they will be so proud and so pleased when they hear that I am to marry the Turkish prophet! And mind you tell them a very pretty story, for they are exceedingly fond of stories; my mother likes them to be very moral and aristocratic, and my father likes them to be merry, so as to make him laugh.'

'Yes, I shall bring no other bridal present than a tale,' replied the merchant's son; and here they parted, but not before the Princess had given her lover a sabre all covered with gold. He knew excellently well what use to make of this present.

So he flew away, bought a new dressing-gown, and then sat down in the wood to compose the tale which was to be ready by Saturday, and certainly he found composition not the easiest thing in the world.

At last he was ready, and at last Saturday came.

The King, the Queen, and the whole court were waiting tea for him at the Princess's palace. The suitor was received with much ceremony.

'Will you not tell us a story?' asked the Queen; 'a story that is instructive and full of deep meaning.'

'But let it make us laugh,' said the King.

'With pleasure,' replied the merchant's son; and now you must hear his story:

There was once a bundle of matches, who were all extremely proud of their high descent, for their genealogical tree, that is to say, the tall fir-tree, from which each of them was a splinter, had been a tree of great antiquity, and distinguished by his height from all the other trees of the forest. The matches were now lying on the mantlepiece, between a tinderbox and an old iron saucepan, and to these two they often 250