The wind had turned , and the boat had drifted out with one wind and drifted in with another while Little Lasse slept , and what Lasse thought was frizzling in a frying-pan was the low murmur of the waves as they washed against the stones on the shore . But he was not altogether wrong , for the clear blue sea is like a great pan in which God 's sun all day makes cakes for good children . Little Lasse rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and looked around him . Everything was the same as before ; the crow in the birch tree , the cat on the grass , and the pea-shell fleet on the shore . Some of the ships had foundered , and some had drifted back to land . Hercules had come back with its cargo from Asia , The Flea had arrived from Polynesia , and the other parts of the world were just where they were before . Little Lasse did not know what to think . He had so often been in that grotto in the ` Land of Nod ' and did not know what tricks dreams can play . But Little Lasse did not trouble his head with such things ; he gathered together his boats and walked up the shore back to the house . His brother and sister ran to meet him , and called out from the distance , ` Where have you been so long , Lasse ? Come home and get some bread-and-butter . ' The kitchen door stood open , and inside was heard a strange frizzling . The gardener was near the gate , watering the dill and parsley , the carrots and parsnips . ` Well , ' he said , ` where has Little Lasse been so long ? ' Little Lasse straightened himself up stiff , and answered : ' I have sailed round the world in a pea-shell boat . ' ` Oh ! ' said the gardener . He has forgotten Dreamland . But you have not forgotten it ; you know that it exists . You know the beautiful grotto and the bright silver walls whose lustre never fades , the sparkling diamonds which never grow dim , the music which never ceases its low , soft murmur through the sweet evening twilight .
The airy fairy fancies of happy XXXXX never grow old ; they , like the glorious stars above us , are always young .
Asia Dreamland Hercules Lasse Nod day frying-pan grotto parsnips pea-shell