But here , with the full tide of summer around him , he could hardly accept his own explanation , and felt that he must have been the plaything or sport of some magician . Near him , in the full sunlight , were the traces of a dead fire , and when he drew close to it he saw that what he had taken for ashes was really fine silver dust , and that the half burnt firewood was made of gold . Oh , how lucky Hans thought himself ; but where should he get a sack to carry his treasure home before anyone else found it ? But necessity is the mother of invention : Hans threw off his fur coat , gathered up the silver ashes so carefully in it that none remained behind , laid the gold sticks on top , and tied up the bag thus made with his girdle , so that nothing should fall out . The load was not , in point of fact , very heavy , although it seemed so to his imagination , and he moved slowly along till he found a safe hiding-place for it . In this way Hans suddenly became rich -- rich enough to buy a property of his own . But being a prudent man , he finally decided that it would be best for him to leave his old neighbourhood and look for a home in a distant part of the country , where nobody knew anything about him . It did not take him long to find what he wanted , and after he had paid for it there was plenty of money left over . When he was settled , he married a pretty girl who lived near by , and had some children , to whom on his death-bed he told the story of the lord of the underworld , and how he had made Hans rich . -LRB- Ehstnische Marchen . -RRB- THE HISTORY OF DWARF LONG NOSE It is a great mistake to think that fairies , witches , magicians , and such people lived only in Eastern countries and in such times as those of the Caliph Haroun Al-Raschid . Fairies and their like belong to every country and every age , and no doubt we should see plenty of them now -- if we only knew how . In a large town in Germany there lived , some couple of hundred years ago , a cobbler and his wife . They were poor and hard-working . The man sat all day in a little stall at the street corner and mended any shoes that were brought him . His wife sold the fruit and vegetables they grew in their garden in the Market Place , and as she was always neat and clean and her goods were temptingly spread out she had plenty of customers . The couple had one boy called Jem . A handsome , pleasant-faced boy of twelve , and tall for his age . He used to sit by his mother in the market and would carry home what people bought from her , for which they often gave him a pretty flower , or a slice of cake , or even some small coin . One day Jem and his mother sat as usual in the Market Place with plenty of nice herbs and vegetables spread out on the board , and in some smaller baskets early pears , apples , and apricots .
Jem cried his wares at the top XXXXX his voice : ` This way , gentlemen !
about at before for in of on out to with