1872 FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN A STORY by Hans Christian Andersen IN the garden all the apple-trees were in blossom. They hadhastened to bring forth flowers before they got green leaves, and inthe yard all the ducklings walked up and down, and the cat too: itbasked in the sun and licked the sunshine from its own paws. Andwhen one looked at the fields, how beautifully the corn stood andhow green it shone, without comparison! and there was a twittering anda fluttering of all the little birds, as if the day were a greatfestival; and so it was, for it was Sunday. All the bells wereringing, and all the people went to church, looking cheerful, anddressed in their best clothes. There was a look of cheerfulness oneverything. The day was so warm and beautiful that one might well havesaid: "God's kindness to us men is beyond all limits." But insidethe church the pastor stood in the pulpit, and spoke very loudly andangrily. He said that all men were wicked, and God would punish themfor their sins, and that the wicked, when they died, would be castinto hell, to burn for ever and ever. He spoke very excitedly,saying that their evil propensities would not be destroyed, norwould the fire be extinguished, and they should never find rest.That was terrible to hear, and he said it in such a tone ofconviction; he described hell to them as a miserable hole where allthe refuse of the world gathers. There was no air beside the hotburning sulphur flame, and there was no ground under their feet; they,the wicked ones, sank deeper and deeper, while eternal silencesurrounded them! It was dreadful to hear all that, for the preacherspoke from his heart, and all the people in the church were terrified.Meanwhile, the birds sang merrily outside, and the sun was shiningso beautifully warm, it seemed as though every little flower said:"God, Thy kindness towards us all is without limits." Indeed,outside it was not at all like the pastor's sermon. The same evening, upon going to bed, the pastor noticed his wifesitting there quiet and pensive. "What is the matter with you?" he asked her. "Well, the matter with me is," she said, "that I cannot collect mythoughts, and am unable to grasp the meaning of what you said to-dayin church- that there are so many wicked people, and that theyshould burn eternally. Alas! eternally- how long! I am only a womanand a sinner before God, but I should not have the heart to let eventhe worst sinner burn for ever, and how could our Lord to do so, whois so infinitely good, and who knows how the wickedness comes fromwithout and within? No, I am unable to imagine that, although yousay so." It was autumn; the trees dropped their leaves, the earnest andsevere pastor sat at the bedside of a dying person. A pious,faithful soul closed her eyes for ever; she was the pastor's wife. ..."If any one shall find rest in the grave and mercy before ourLord you shall certainly do so," said the pastor. He folded herhands and read a psalm over the dead woman. She was buried; two large tears rolled over the cheeks of theearnest man, and in the parsonage it was empty and still, for itssun had set for ever. She had gone home. It was night. A cold wind swept over the pastor's head; heopened his eyes, and it seemed to him as if the moon was shininginto his room. It was not so, however; there was a being standingbefore his bed, and looking like the ghost of his deceased wife. Shefixed her eyes upon him with such a kind and sad expression, just asif she wished to say something to him. The pastor raised himself inbed and stretched his arms towards her, saying, "Not even you can findeternal rest! You suffer, you best and most pious woman?" The dead woman nodded her head as if to say "Yes," and put herhand on her breast. "And can I not obtain rest in the grave for you?" "Yes," was the answer. "And how?" "Give me one hair- only one single hair- from the head of thesinner for whom the fire shall never be extinguished, of the sinnerwhom God will condemn to eternal punishment in hell." "Yes, one ought to be able to redeem you so easily, you pure,pious woman," he said. "Follow me," said the dead woman. "It is thus granted to us. By myside you will be able to fly wherever your thoughts wish to go.Invisible to men, we shall penetrate into their most secretchambers; but with sure hand you must find out him who is destinedto eternal torture, and before the cock crows he must be found!" Asquickly as if carried by the winged thoughts they were in the greatcity, and from the walls the names of the deadly sins shone in flamingletters: pride, avarice, drunkenness, wantonness- in short, thewhole seven-coloured bow of sin. "Yes, therein, as I believed, as I knew it," said the pastor, "areliving those who are abandoned to the eternal fire." And they werestanding before the magnificently illuminated gate; the broad stepswere adorned with carpets and flowers, and dance music was soundingthrough the festive halls. A footman dressed in silk and velvetstood with a large silver-mounted rod near the entrance. "Our ball can compare favourably with the king's," he said, andturned with contempt towards the gazing crowd in the street. What hethought was sufficiently expressed in his features and movements:"Miserable beggars, who are looking in, you are nothing incomparison to me." "Pride," said the dead woman; "do you see him?" "The footman?" asked the pastor. "He is but a poor fool, and notdoomed to be tortured eternally by fire!" "Only a fool!" It sounded through the whole house of pride: theywere all fools there. Then they flew within the four naked walls of the miser. Lean as askeleton, trembling with cold, and hunger, the old man was clingingwith all his thoughts to his money. They saw him jump up feverishlyfrom his miserable couch and take a loose stone out of the wall; therelay gold coins in an old stocking. They saw him anxiously feeling overan old ragged coat in which pieces of gold were sewn, and his clammyfingers trembled. "He is ill! That is madness- a joyless madness- besieged by fearand dreadful dreams!" They quickly went away and came before the beds of thecriminals; these unfortunate people slept side by side, in longrows. Like a ferocious animal, one of them rose out of his sleep anduttered a horrible cry, and gave his comrade a violent dig in the ribswith his pointed elbow, and this one turned round in his sleep: "Be quiet, monster- sleep! This happens every night!" "Every night!" repeated the other. "Yes, every night he comesand tortures me! In my violence I have done this and that. I wasborn with an evil mind, which has brought me hither for the secondtime; but if I have done wrong I suffer punishment for it. Onething, however, I have not yet confessed. When I came out a littlewhile ago, and passed by the yard of my former master, evil thoughtsrose within me when I remembered this and that. I struck a match alittle bit on the wall; probably it came a little too close to thethatched roof. All burnt down- a great heat rose, such as sometimesovercomes me. I myself helped to rescue cattle and things, nothingalive burnt, except a flight of pigeons, which flew into the fire, andthe yard dog, of which I had not thought; one could hear him howlout of the fire, and this howling I still hear when I wish to sleep;and when I have fallen asleep, the great rough dog comes and placeshimself upon me, and howls, presses, and tortures me. Now listen towhat I tell you! You can snore; you are snoring the whole night, and Ihardly a quarter of an hour!" And the blood rose to the head of theexcited criminal; he threw himself upon his comrade, and beat him withhis clenced fist in the face. "Wicked Matz has become mad again!" they said amongstthemselves. The other criminals seized him, wrestled with him, andbent him double, so that his head rested between his knees, and theytied him, so that the blood almost came out of his eyes and out of allhis pores. "You are killing the unfortunate man," said the pastor, and ashe stretched out his hand to protect him who already suffered toomuch, the scene changed. They flew through rich halls and wretchedhovels; wantonness and envy, all the deadly sins, passed beforethem. An angel of justice read their crimes and their defence; thelatter was not a brilliant one, but it was read before God, Whoreads the heart, Who knows everything, the wickedness that comesfrom within and from without, Who is mercy and love personified. Thepastor's hand trembled; he dared not stretch it out, he did notventure to pull a hair out of the sinner's head. And tears gushed fromhis eyes like a stream of mercy and love, the cooling waters ofwhich extinguished the eternal fire of hell. Just then the cock crowed. "Father of all mercy, grant Thou to her the peace that I wasunable to procure for her!" "I have it now!" said the dead woman. "It was your hard words,your despair of mankind, your gloomy belief in God and His creation,which drove me to you. Learn to know mankind! Even in the wicked onelives a part of God- and this extinguishes and conquers the flame ofhell!" The pastor felt a kiss on his lips; a gleam of light surroundedhim- God's bright sun shone into the room, and his wife, alive,sweet and full of love, awoke him from a dream which God had sent him! THE END.