Directly they sat down , a dozen little servants appeared to wait on them , which they did so cleverly and so quickly that Hans could hardly believe they had no wings . As they did not reach as high as the table , they were often obliged to jump and hop right on to the top to get at the dishes . Everything was new to Hans , and though he was rather bewildered he enjoyed himself very much , especially when the man with the golden crown began to tell him many things he had never heard of before . ` Between Christmas and the New Year , ' said he , ' I often amuse myself by wandering about the earth watching the doings of men and learning something about them . But as far as I have seen and heard I can not speak well of them . The greater part of them are always quarrelling and complaining of each other 's faults , while nobody thinks of his own . ' Hans tried to deny the truth of these words , but he could not do it , and sat silent , hardly listening to what his friend was saying . Then he went to sleep in his chair , and knew nothing of what was happening . Wonderful dreams came to him during his sleep , where the bars of gold continually hovered before his eyes . He felt stronger than he had ever felt during his waking moments , and lifted two bars quite easily on to his back . He did this so often that at length his strength seemed exhausted , and he sank almost breathless on the ground . Then he heard the sound of cheerful voices , and the song of the blacksmiths as they blew their bellows -- he even felt as if he saw the sparks flashing before his eyes . Stretching himself , he awoke slowly , and here he was in the green forest , and instead of the glow of the fire in the underworld the sun was streaming on him , and he sat up wondering why he felt so strange . At length his memory came back to him , and as he called to mind all the wonderful things he had seen he tried in vain to make them agree with those that happen every day . After thinking it over till he was nearly mad , he tried at last to believe that one night between Christmas and the New Year he had met a stranger in the forest , and had slept all night in his company before a big fire ; the next day they had dined together , and had drunk a great deal more than was good for them -- in short , he had spent two whole days revelling with another man . 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 XXXXX his own .
Near as before during for of on than that to