not help thinking they were precious stones made into the form of fruit.  I would have snatched them; but he drew back, and said, “You must know, in the first place, that they are not for you.  You must give them to the three handsomest youths of the city, who then, each according to his lot, will find wives to the utmost of their wishes.  Take them, and success to you!” said he, as he departed, leaving the apples in my open hands.  They appeared to me to have become still larger.  I held them up at once against the light, and found them quite transparent; but soon they expanded upward, and became three beautiful little ladies about as large as middle-sized dolls, whose clothes were of the colors of the apples.  They glided gently up my fingers:  and when I was about to catch them, to make sure of one at least, they had already soared high and far; and I had to put up with the disappointment.  I stood there all amazed and petrified, holding up my hands, and staring at my fingers as if there were still something on them to see.  Suddenly I saw a most lovely girl dance upon the very tips.  She was smaller, but pretty and lively; and as she did not fly away like the others, but remained dancing, now on one finger-point, now on another, I regarded her for a long while with admiration.  And, as she pleased me so much, I thought in the end I could catch her, and made, as I fancied, a very adroit grasp.  But at the moment I felt such a blow on my head that I fell down stunned, and did not awake from my stupor till it was time to dress myself and go to church.

During the service I often called those images to mind, and also when I was eating dinner at my grandfather’s table.  In the afternoon I wished to visit some friends, partly to show myself in my new dress, with my hat under my arm and my sword by my side, and partly to return their visits.  I found no one at home; and, as I heard that they were gone to the gardens, I resolved to follow them, and pass the evening pleasantly.  My way led towards the intrenchments; and I came to the spot which is rightly called the Bad Wall, for it is never quite safe from ghosts there.  I walked slowly, and thought of my three goddesses, but especially of the little nymph, and often held up my fingers in hopes she might be kind enough to balance herself there again.  With such thoughts I was proceeding, when I saw in the wall on my left hand a little gate which I did not remember to have ever noticed before.  It looked low, but its pointed arch would have allowed the tallest man to enter.  Arch and wall had been chiselled in the handsomest way, both by mason and sculptor; but it was the door itself which first properly attracted my attention.  The old brown wood, though slightly ornamented, was crossed with broad bands of brass wrought both in relief and intaglio.  The foliage on these, with the most natural birds sitting in it, I could not sufficiently admire.  But, what seemed most remarkable, no keyhole could be seen,