The Little Glass Man, and Other StoriesHauff, Wilhelm
Science
The Little Glass Man, and Other Stories
Hauff, Wilhelm
Children's stories
Suddenly there was a stir, the door had opened and a fairy came in
dressed in the bluest of blues. Gogul Mogul went up to her; she came
to the table and ate a sandwich; then he led her by the hand to the
upper end of the room, where Fairy Queen and the other grand fairies
rose to receive her. They talked of her long absence, then of other
things. But I was not listening; I was watching Gogul Mogul, who had
come back to the refreshment table, where, all the fairies having been
helped, he proceeded to help himself. I have seen school-boys in bun
shops, and school-girls settling down to a feast of chocolate creams;
in these I have sometimes joined myself. But never before, never since,
did I see the like of Gogul Mogul. Sandwich after sandwich, tart after
tart, he put into his mouth; there was no choosing, no hesitation, no
pause, till every bit of the food off the dishes had gone. And then--it
sounds nonsense, and no one will believe it possible who has not seen
it done--he turned up the cloth at one end of the table, then at the
other, and went on rolling and rolling it up over plates and dishes and
glasses and flagons, till there was nothing left but a small napkin,
which he squeezed into the breast-pocket slit of his tight green
clothes.
I looked up and straight at the moon, who seemed to be smiling. 'Is it
a dream,' I thought, 'is it a practical joke, or is it really a meeting
of the Women's Gossip Revival Society, as they said downstairs?'
The Blue Fairy was now sitting on the platform, all the other fairies
too had taken seats. Gogul Mogul, the wonderful Gogul Mogul, who well
deserved the title of Food Destroyer to Her Majesty, sauntered up to
the platform, where he sat down by the side of Fairy Queen.
Fairy Queen then rose and said: 'This night being the Full Moon
we have met as usual to hear what the fairies have to report about
children's books and child-readers; how the children have liked the
stories, and what they think of them. But as the Blue Fairy has just
arrived from Germany, where she has been so long, I propose to call on
her to tell us some of her adventures.'
There was a great clapping of hands at this. Gogul Mogul stood up,
bowed to the Blue Fairy, and said: 'A feast of reason and a flow of
soul!' at which there was renewed clapping of hands.
The Blue Fairy hesitated, she fingered the gold spangles of her dress,
she shook back her curls. Then she began:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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