hereupon he put on a long black garment that looked like a monk’s cowl, and stuck a gray beard on his chin. when at last he was quite unrecognizable, he took the sack in which the crabs had been, went into the church, and ascended the pulpit. the clock in the tower was just striking twelve; when the last stroke had sounded, he cried with a loud and piercing voice, "hearken, sinful men, the end of all things has come! the last day is at hand! hearken! hearken! whosoever wishes to go to heaven with me must creep into the sack. i am peter, who opens and shuts the gate of heaven. behold how the dead outside there in the churchyard, are wandering about collecting their bones. come, come, and creep into the sack; the world is about to be destroyed!" the cry echoed through the whole village. the parson and clerk who lived nearest to the church, heard it first, and when they saw the lights which were moving about the churchyard, they observed that something unusual was going on, and went into the church. they listened to the sermon for a while, and then the clerk nudged the parson and said, "it would not be amiss if we were to use the opportunity together, and before the dawning of the last day, find an easy way of getting to heaven." "to tell the truth," answered the parson, "that is what i myself have been thinking, so if you are inclined, we will set out on our way." "yes," answered the clerk, "but you, the pastor, have the precedence, i will follow." so the parson went first, and ascended the pulpit where the master opened his sack. the parson crept in first, and then the clerk. the master immediately tied up the sack tightly, seized it by the middle, and dragged it down the pulpit-steps, and whenever the heads of the two fools bumped against the steps, he cried, "we are going over the mountains." then he drew them through the village in the same way, and when they were passing through puddles, he cried, "now we are going through wet clouds." and when at last he was dragging them up the steps of the castle, he cried, "now we are on the steps of heaven, and will soon be in the outer court." when he had got to the top, he pushed the sack into the pigeon-house, and when the pigeons fluttered about, he said, "hark how glad the angels are, and how they are flapping their wings!" then he bolted the door upon them, and went away.