“She is not to be seen at all,”they said;“she lives in a large copper castle,surrounded by walls and towers.No one but the king himself can pass in or out,for there has been a prophecy that she will marry a common soldier,and the king cannot bear to think of such a marriage.”
“I should like very much to see her,”thought the soldier;but he could not obtain permission to do so.However,he passed a very pleasant time;went to the theatre,drove in the king's garden,and gave a great deal of money to the poor,which was very good of him;he remembered what it had been in olden times to be without a shilling.Now he was rich,had fine clothes,and many friends,who all declared he was a fine fellow and a real gentleman,and all this gratified him exceedingly.But his money would not last forever;and as he spent and gave away a great deal daily,and received none,he found himself at last with only two shillings left.So he was obliged to leave his elegant rooms,and live in a little garret under the roof,where he had to clean his own boots,and even mend them with a large needle.None of his friends came to see him,there were too many stairs to mount up.One dark evening,he had not even a penny to buy a candle;then all at once he remembered that there was a piece of candle stuck in the tinder-box,which he had brought from the old tree,into which the witch had helped him.
He found the tinder-box,but no sooner had he struck a few sparks from the flint and steel,than the door flew open and the dog with eyes as big as teacups,whom he had seen while down in the tree,stood before him,and said,“What orders,master?”
“Hallo,”said the soldier;“well this is a pleasant tinder-box,if it brings me all I wish for.”
“Bring me some money,”said he to the dog.
He was gone in a moment,and presently returned,carrying a large bag of coppers in his month.The soldier very soon discovered after this the value of the tinder-box.If he struck the flint once,the dog who sat on the chest of copper money made his appearance;if twice,the dog came from the chest of silver;and if three times,the dog with eyes like towers,who watched over the gold.The soldier had now plenty of money;he returned to his elegant rooms,and reappeared in his fine clothes,so that his friends knew him again directly,and made as much of him as before.
After a while he began to think it was very strange that no one could get a look at the princess.“Every one says she is very beautiful,”thought he to himself;“but what is the use of that if she is to be shut up in a copper castle surrounded by so many towers.Can I by any means get to see her.Stop!where is my tinder-box?”Then he struck a light,and in a moment the dog,with eyes as big as teacups,stood before him.
“It is midnight,”said the soldier,“yet I should very much like to see the princess,if only for a moment.”
The dog disappeared instantly,and before the soldier could even look round,he returned with the princess.She was lying on the dog's back asleep,and looked so lovely,that every one who saw her would know she was a real princess.The soldier could not help kissing her,true soldier as he was.Then the dog ran back with the princess;but in the morning,while at breakfast with the king and queen,she told them what a singular dream she had had during the night,of a dog and a soldier,that she had ridden on the dog's back,and been kissed by the soldier.
“That is a very pretty story,indeed,”said the queen.So the next night one of the old ladies of the court was set to watch by the princess's bed,to discover whether it really was a dream,or what else it might be.
