“Bless me!” said Gluck again; “what is that?” He looked again into all the corners and cupboards, and then began turning round, and round, as fast as he could in the middle of the room, thinking there was somebody behind him, when the same voice struck again on his ear.  It was singing now very merrily, “Lala-lira-la;” no words, only a soft running, effervescent melody, something like that of a kettle on the boil.  Gluck looked out of the window.  No, it was certainly in the house.  Upstairs, and downstairs.  No, it was certainly in that very room, coming in quicker time, and clearer notes, every moment.  “Lala-lira-la.”  All at once it struck Gluck that it sounded louder near the furnace.  He ran to the opening, and looked in:  yes, he saw right; it seemed to be coming, not only out of the furnace, but out of the pot.  He uncovered it, and ran back in a great fright, for the pot was certainly singing!  He stood in the farthest corner of the room, with his hands up, and his mouth open, for a minute or two, when the singing stopped, and the voice became clear and pronunciative.

“Hollo!” said the voice.

Gluck made no answer.

“Hollo!  Gluck, my boy,” said the pot again.

Gluck summoned all his energies, walked straight up to the crucible, drew it out of the furnace, and looked in.  The gold was all melted, and its surface as smooth and polished as a river; but instead of reflecting little Gluck’s head, as he looked in, he saw meeting his glance from beneath the gold the red nose and sharp eyes of his old friend of the mug, a thousand times redder and sharper than ever he had seen them in his life.

“Come, Gluck, my boy,” said the voice out of the pot again, “I’m all right; pour me out.”

But Gluck was too much astonished to do anything of the kind.

“Pour me out, I say,” said the voice rather gruffly.

Still Gluck couldn’t move.

“Will you pour me out?” said the voice passionately.  “I’m too hot.”

By a violent effort, Gluck recovered the use of his limbs, took hold of the crucible, and sloped it so as to pour out the gold.  But instead of a liquid stream, there came out, first, a pair of pretty little yellow legs, then some coat tails, then a pair of arms stuck akimbo, and, finally, the well-known head of his friend the mug; all which articles, uniting as they rolled out, stood up energetically on the floor, in the shape of a little golden dwarf, about a foot and a half high.

“That’s right!” said the dwarf, stretching out first his legs, and then his arms, and then shaking his head up and down, and as far round as it would go, for five minutes without stopping; apparently with the view of ascertaining if he were quite correctly put together, while Gluck stood contemplating him in speechless amazement.  He was dressed in a stashed doublet of spun gold, so fine in its texture, that the prismatic colours gleamed over it, as if