“Oh, never mind,” said Ib; “we will go home to my father’s house. It is
here in the wood.” So they went on, but the road led them out of the way;
no house could be seen, it grew dark, and the children were afraid. The
solemn stillness that reigned around them was now and then broken by the
shrill cries of the great horned owl and other birds that they knew nothing
of. At last they both lost themselves in the thicket; Christina began to cry,
and then Ib cried too; and, after weeping and lamenting for some time, they
stretched themselves down on the dry leaves and fell asleep.
The sun was high in the heavens when the two children woke. They felt
cold; but not far from their resting-place, on a hill, the sun was shining
through the trees. They thought if they went there they should be warm, and
Ib fancied he should be able to see his father’s house from such a high spot.
But they were far away from home now, in quite another part of the forest.
They clambered to the top of the rising ground, and found themselves on
the edge of a declivity, which sloped down to a clear transparent lake. Great
quantities of fish could be seen through the clear water, sparkling in the
sun’s rays; they were quite surprised when they came so suddenly upon
such an unexpected sight.
Close to where they stood grew a hazel-bush, covered with beautiful nuts.
They soon gathered some, cracked them, and ate the fine young kernels,
which were only just ripe. But there was another surprise and fright in store
for them. Out of the thicket stepped a tall old woman, her face quite brown,
and her hair of a deep shining black; the whites of her eyes glittered like a
Moor’s; on her back she carried a bundle, and in her hand a knotted stick.
She was a gypsy. The children did not at first understand what she said. She
drew out of her pocket three large nuts, in which she told them were hidden
the most beautiful and lovely things in the world, for they were wishing
nuts. Ib looked at her, and as she spoke so kindly, he took courage, and
asked her if she would give him the nuts; and the woman gave them to him,
and then gathered some more from the bushes for herself, quite a pocket
full. Ib and Christina looked at the wishing nuts with wide open eyes.
“Is there in this nut a carriage, with a pair of horses?” asked Ib.
