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Page 74
Certainly she was never more known as the Snarling Princess.
THE LITTLE PARSNIP-MAN.
(_Freely adapted from the German._)
WHAT PETER FOUND IN THE PAN--AN UGLY SMILE--THE WIDOW'S RECKONINGS--REST
BY RUSHLIGHT.
[Illustration]
On a cold winter's evening it is very cosy to sit by a warm hearth,
where the fire crackles pleasantly, and the old saucepan, which Mother
has set on the fire, sings monotonously to itself between-whiles.
On such a night the wind howled in the street without, beat upon the
window-panes, and rustled through the trees, which stood, tall and
leafless, in the big garden over the way.
Little Peter did not trouble his head on the subject. He sat indoors on
a little footstool, near the fire, and close also to his mother, who was
busy cutting up parsnips for next day's dinner.
Peter paid great attention as his mother took a well-boiled parsnip out
of the saucepan, scraped it, cut it, and laid the pieces on a clean
white dish.
His mother's thoughts were elsewhere. She looked sad and pensive. Only
from time to time she nodded across the dish towards her little Peter,
and when he got up and came and laid his head in her lap, she gently
smoothed his fair hair from his brow, and then she smiled too.
[Illustration]
Peter had no idea that his mother was sad. He had got another parsnip
out of the pan, and wanted to scrape it all by himself; but he was not
very skilful, and he worked so slowly that in the end his mother had to
finish it for him.
The next thing he did was to upset the saucepan; the parsnips fell out,
and Peter began to count them.
All at once he gave a cry that made his mother jump. He had found a
parsnip-root that looked exactly like a little man. It had a regular
head of its own, with a long nose, its body was short, and it had two
shrivelled stringy little legs; arms it had none.
"That's a little Parsnip-man," said his mother, when Peter showed it to
her.
"A Parsnip-man?" muttered Peter below his breath, and he gazed
doubtfully at the odd-looking root in his hand.
It seemed to him that the little man was smiling at him; but with a very
ugly kind of smile.
Suddenly the stove gave such a loud crack, that Peter let the parsnip
fall out of his hands with a start.
"What's the matter?" asked his mother, as Peter buried his face in her
arms; for he began to feel frightened.
"The little Parsnip-man grinned so nastily at me, and such a loud noise
came out of the stove--and I let him fall!" His mother laughed at him.
"You've been dreaming," said she. "The little man could not smile if he
tried. The Parsnip-mannikins are only roots in the day-time, you know.
It is at midnight, when you have long, long been asleep, and the church
clock strikes twelve, that they come to life. Then away they all go to
the great cave where the queen dwells in state, and here they hold high
festival. There they dance, sing, play, and eat out of golden dishes.
But as soon as the clock strikes one, all is over, and the Parsnip-men
are only roots once more.
"But you've fallen asleep," she added. "Come, my child, and I'll put you
to bed. You are tired, are you not?"
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