the bare heath!"

Whilst he so perpetually returned to his own recollections, his
share of news was truly not new, but he was satisfied. Copenhagen
appeared to him a whole world--a royal city; but Sodom and Gomorrah
had more than one street there.

Otto smiled at the earnestness with which he said this.

"Yes, that I know better than thou, my young friend!" continued the
old preacher. "True, the devil does not go about like a roaring
lion, but there he has his greatest works! He is well-dressed, and
conceals his claws and his tail! Do not rely upon thy strength! He
goes about, like the cat in the fable, 'pede suspenso,' sneakingly
and cautiously! It is, after all, with the devil as it is with a
Jutland peasant. This fellow comes to the city, has nothing, runs
about, and cleans shoes and boots for the young gentlemen, and by
this means he wins a small sum of money. He knows how to spare. He
can now hire the cellar of the house in which thou livest, and
there commence some small trade. The trade is successful, very
successful. It goes on so well that he can hire the lower story;
then he gains more profit, and before thou canst look about thee
he buys the whole house. See, that is the way with the Jutland
peasant, and just the same with the devil. At first he gets the
cellar, then the lower story, and at last the whole house!"



CHAPTER XVI