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OLE-LUK-OIE, THE SANDMAN
Hans Christian Andersen
HERE is nobody in all the world who
can tell so many stories as Ole-Luk-oie !
And such stories as he can tell !
When night is drawing on, and the
children are sitting round the table as
good as possible or on their little
footstools, in walks Ole Shut-eyes. He comes so quietly
up the stairs that nobody hears him; and, puff! he
sends a shower of milk into their eyes in such fine spray
as to be invisible; but they can’t keep their eyes open
after it, and so they never see him. He steals behind
them and breathes upon their necks, making their heads
as heavy as lead; but he never hurts them; he does it
all from kindness to the children. He only wants them
to be quiet, and the best way to make them quiet is to
have them in bed; when they are settled there, he can
tell them his stories.
Then as soon as the children are asleep, Ole Shut-eyes
seats himself upon their beds. He is well dressed; his
clothes are all of silk; but it is impossible to say what
color they are, for it shimmers green, red and blue
every time he turns. He has an umbrella under his
arm, one with pictures on it, and this he holds over
the good children, and then they dream the most delight-
ful stories all night long. The other umbrella has no
pictures on it, and he holds this one over the children
who have been naughty, and then they sleep heavily
till the morning and have no dreams at all.
I am now going to tell you about a little boy to whom
Ole-Luk-oie went every night for a whole week. His
name was Hjalmar.
As soon as Hjalmar was in bed on Tuesday night,
Ole Shut-eyes touched all the furniture in the room with
his little wooden wand, and everything began to talk.
There was a big picture in a gilt frame hanging over
the chest of drawers. In it one saw tall, old trees, flowers
growing in the grass, and a great piece of water, with
a river flowing from it round behind a wood, past many
castles and away to the open sea.
Ole-Luk-oie touched the picture with his wand, and
the birds in it began to sing, the branches of the trees
moved, and the clouds scudded along; you could see
their shadows passing over the landscape.
Now Ole-Luk-oie lifted little Hjalmar up close to the
frame, and Hjalmar put his leg right into the picture
among the long grass, and there he stood; the sun
shone down upon him through the branches of the
trees. He ran to the water and got into a little boat
which lay there; it was painted red and white, and the
sails shone like silver. Six swans, all with golden
crowns round their necks, and a shining silver star upon
their heads, drew the boat past the dark green woods
where the trees told stories; and the flowers told other
stories about the pretty little elves, and all that the
butterflies had told them.
Beautiful fish with gold and silver scales swam after
the boat; every now and then they sprang out of the
water and back again with a splash. Red and blue
birds, large and small, flew in two long lines behind
them; the gnats buzzed, and the may-bugs boomed;
they all wanted to go with Hjalmar, and each of them
had a story to tell.
That was a sailing trip indeed! Now the woods
were thick and dark, now they were like beautiful
gardens full of sunshine and flowers, and among them
were castles of glass and marble. Princesses stood upon
the balconies, and they were all little girls whom Hjalmar
knew and used to play with.
They stretched out their hands, each one holding the
most beautiful sugar pig, which any cakewoman could
sell. Hjalmar took hold of one end of a pig as he sailed
by, and the princess held the other tight, and each had
a share, she the smaller and Hjalmar the bigger ! Little
princes stood sentry by each castle; they saluted with
golden swords and showered down sugar plums and
tin soldiers; they were princes indeed.
Now he sailed through a wood, now through great
halls, or right through a town; he passed through the
one where his nurse lived, she who used to carry him
about when he was quite a little boy and who was so
fond of him. She nodded and waved her hand to
him, and sang a pretty little song which she had written
herself and sent to Hjalmar:
“I dream of thee for many an hour,
Hjalmar, my own, my sweeting;
My kisses once fell like a shower,
Thy brow and red cheeks greeting.
“Mine ear thy first formed word addressed;
Thy last must be in parting.
May you on earth by Heaven be blessed.
Angel, from Heavenward darting!”
All the birds sang too, the flowers danced upon their
stalks, and the old trees nodded, just as if Ole-Luk-oie
were telling them stories.
“Til tell you what!” said Ole Shut-eyes, when he came
to Hjalmar on Thursday night, “don’t be frightened,
and I will show you a little mouse.” And he stretched
out his hand with the tiny little animal in it. “It
has come to invite you to a wedding. There are two
little mice who intend to be married to-night. They
live under the floor of your mother’s pantry, which
they say is the most delightful home.”
“But how can I get through a little mouse hole in
the floor!” said Hjalmar.
“Leave that to me” said Ole-Luk-oie. ‘Til soon make
you small enough!”
Then he touched Hjalmar with his wand, and he
quickly grew smaller and smaller; at last he was not as
tall as one’s finger.
“Now you may borrow the tin soldier’s clothes; I
think they’ll just fit you, and it looks so smart to have
on a uniform when one’s in company.”
“Yes, indeed !” said Hjalmar, and in a moment he
was dressed like the grandest tin soldier.
“Be so good as to take a seat in your mother’s
thimble/* said the little mouse, **and I shall have the
honor of drawing you !”
” Heavens! are you going to take that trouble your-
self, young lady!” said Hjalmar, and off they drove to
the mouse’s wedding.
First they went down under the floor into a long
passage, which was just high enough for them to drive
through, and the whole passage was lighted up with
touch-wood.
“Isn’t there a delicious smell here!” said the mouse
who was drawing him. “The whole passage has been
smeared over with bacon fat ! Nothing could be nicer.”
Then they came to the bridal hall, where all the
little lady mice stood on the right whispering and
giggling, as if they were making fun of each other, and
on the left stood all the gentlemen mice stroking their
whiskers with their paws. The bridal pair
stood in the middle of the room, in the
hollow rind of a cheese, kissing each other.
More and more visitors poured in, and the bridal
pair took their place in the doorway, so that one
could get neither in nor out. The whole room, like
the passage, was smeared with bacon fat. There were
no other refreshments, but for dessert a pea was pro-
duced, in which one of the little mice of the family had
bitten the name of the bridal pair; that is to say, the
first letter of it, and this was something quite extraor-
dinary.
All the mice said it was a delightful wedding, and the
conversation most entertaining.
And then Hjalmar drove home again. He had been
in very grand company, but in order to get there he
had been obliged to shrink wonderfully, to make him-
self small enough to get into the uniform of a tin soldier.
