work over and over again. I shall follow thy example. I will go on, and I
shall be rewarded.'
“It was Easter morning-the church bells were ringing. The sun was
careering in the heavens. Under a burning fever the alchemist had watched
all night: he had boiled and cooled-mixed and distilled. I heard him sigh
like a despairing creature; I heard him pray; I perceived that he held his
breath in his anxiety. The lamp had gone out-he did not seem to notice it. I
blew on the red-hot cinders; they brightened up, and shone on his chalky-
white face, and tinged it with a momentary brightness. The eyes had almost
closed in their deep sockets; now they opened wider-wider-as if they were
about to spring forth.
“Look at the alchemical glass! There is something sparkling in it! It is
glowing, pure, heavy! He lifted it with a trembling hand. He cried with
trembling lips, 'Gold-gold!' He staggered, and seemed quite giddy at the
sight. I could have blown him away,” said the wind; “but I only blew in the
ruddy fire, and followed him through the door in to where his daughters
were freezing. His dress was covered with ashes; they were to be seen in his
beard, and in his matted hair. He raised his head proudly, stretched forth his
rich treasure in the fragile glass, and 'Won-won! gold!' he cried, as he held
high in the air the glass that glittered in the dazzling sunshine. But his hand
shook, and the alchemical glass fell to the ground, and broke into a
thousand pieces. The last bubble of his prosperity had burst. Wheugh-
wheugh! And I darted away from the alchemist's castle.
“Later in the year, during the short days, when fogs come with their damp
drapery, and wring out wet drops on the red berries and the leafless trees, I
came in a hearty humour, sent breezes aloft to clear the air, and began to
sweep down the rotten branches. That was no hard work, but it was a useful
one. There was sweeping of another sort within Borreby Castle, where
Waldemar Daae dwelt. His enemy, Ové Ramel, from Basnæs, was there,
with the mortgage bonds upon the property and the dwelling-house, which
he had purchased. I thundered against the cracked window-panes, slammed
the rickety doors, whistled through the cracks and crevices, 'Wheu-gh!' Herr
