The Little Glass Man, and Other StoriesHauff, Wilhelm
Science
The Little Glass Man, and Other Stories
Hauff, Wilhelm
Children's stories
'Pride will have a fall,' answered the little man of the pine wood,
rather more kindly. 'What a singular race you are, you men! It is
but rarely that one is contented with the condition in which he was
born and bred, and I would lay a wager that if you were a glass
manufacturer, you would wish to be a timber merchant, and if you were
a timber merchant you would take a fancy to the ranger's place, or the
residence of the bailiff. But no matter for that; if you promise to
work hard, I will get you something better to do. It is my practice
to grant three wishes to those born on a Sunday, who know how to find
me out. The first two are quite free from any condition, the third I
may refuse, should it be a foolish one. Now, therefore, Peter, say your
wishes; but mind you wish something good and useful.'
'Hurrah!' shouted Peter; 'you are a capital glass man, and justly do
people call you the treasure-keeper, for treasures seem to be plentiful
with you. Well, then, since I may wish what my heart desires, my
first wish is that I may be able to dance better than the king of the
dancing-room, and to have always as much money in my pocket as fat
Hezekiel.'
'You fool!' replied the little man angrily, 'what a paltry wish is
this, to be able to dance well and to have money for gambling. Are you
not ashamed of this silly wish, you blockish Peter? Would you cheat
yourself out of good fortune? What good will you and your poor mother
reap from your dancing well? What use will money be to you, which,
according to your wish, is only for the public-house, there to be spent
like that of the wretched king of the dancing-room? And then you will
have nothing for the whole week and starve. Another wish is now left
free to you; but have a care to desire something more rational.'
Peter scratched himself behind his ears, and said, after some
hesitation, 'Now I wish for the finest and richest glass factory in the
Schwarzwald, with everything appertaining to it, and money to carry it
on.'
'Is that all?' asked the little man, with a look of anxiety; 'is there
nothing else, Peter?'
'Why you might add a horse and chaise.'
'Oh, you stupid Peter!' cried the little man, while he flung his
glass pipe against a thick pine so that it broke in a hundred pieces.
'Horses? a carriage? Sense, I tell you, sense--common sense and
judgment you ought to have wished for, but not a horse and chaise.
Come, come, don't be so sad, we will do all we can to make it turn out
for the best, even as it is, for the second wish is on the whole not
altogether foolish. A good glass factory will support its man; but you
ought to have wished for judgment and sense in addition; a horse and
chaise would come as a matter of course.'
'But, Mr. Schatzhauser,' replied Peter, 'I have another wish left, and
might very well wish for sense, if I am so much in need of it, as you
seem to think.'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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