no idea that they were the galoshes of Fortune, he did know that they would
stand him in good stead out in the rain. So he pulled them on. Now the
question was whether he could squeeze between the bars, a trick that he had
never tried before. There he stood, facing the fence.
“I wish to goodness I had my head through,” he said, and though his head
was much too large and thick for the space, it immediately slipped through
quickly and with the greatest of ease. The galoshes saw to that. All he had
to do now was to squeeze his body through after his head, but it wouldn't
go. “Uff!” he panted, “I'm too fat. I thought my head would be the worst
difficulty. No, I shall never get through.”
He quickly attempted to pull his head back again, but it couldn't be done.
He could move his neck easily, but that was all. First his anger flared up.
Then his spirits dropped down to zero. The galoshes of Fortune had gotten
him in a terrible fix, and unluckily it did not occur to him to wish his way
out of it. No, instead of wishing he struggled and strove, but he could not
budge from the spot. The rain poured down; not a soul could be seen in the
street; and he could not reach the bell by the gate. How could he ever get
free? He was certain he would have to stay there till morning, and that they
would have to send for a blacksmith to file through the iron bars. It would
take time. All the boys in the school across the way would be up and shout,
and the entire population of “Nyboder,” where all the sailors lived, would
turn out for the fun of seeing the man in a pillory. Why, he would draw a
bigger crowd than the one that went to see the championship wrestling
matches last year.
“Huff!” he panted, “the blood's rushing to my head. I'm going mad! Yes,
I'm going mad! Oh, if I were only free again, and out of this fix, then I
would be all right again.”
This was what he ought to have said in the first place. No sooner had he
said it than his head came free, and he dashed indoors, still bewildered by
the fright that the galoshes of Fortune had given him. But don't think that
this was the end of it. No! The worst was yet to come.
