Once upon a time there lived in the same village two men bearing the very same name ; one of them chanced to possess four horses, the other had only one horse; so, hy Way of distinguishing them from each other, the proprietor of four horses was called " Great Claus," and he who owned but one horse was known as " Little Claus." And now we shall relate their true and veritable history.

All the week long Little Claus had to plough for Great Claus, and to lend him his one horse, and in return Great Claus lent him his four horses, but only for one day in the week, and that day was Sunday. Hurrah ! a proud man then was Little Claus ; and how he brandished his whip over his five horses ! for all five were his, he thought, for this one day at least. And the sun shone so brightly, and all the bells in the church-tower were ringing, the people were dressed in their best and walking to church, and as they passed they looked at Little Claus, who was driving his five horses, and he was so pleased that he kept cracking his whip again and again, crying out the while " Hip, hip, hurrah ! five fine horses, and all of them mine !"

" You must not say that," observed Great Claus ; " oiilj one of the horses is yours ; you know that well enough."

But when another party of church-goers passed close by him, Little Claus quite forgot that he had been told he must not say so, and cried out again, " Hip, hip, hurrah ! five fine horses, all mine !"

" Did not I tell you to hold your tongue ? " exclaimed Great Claus, very angrily. " If you say that again, I'll give your one horse such a blow on the forehead as shall strike him dead on the spot, and then there'll soon be an end to your boasting about your five fine horses."

" Oh, but I'll never say it again, indeed I won't ! " said Little Claus, and he quite intended to keep his word. But presently some more people came by, and when they nodded a friendly " good morning " to him he was so delighted, and it seemed to him such a grand thing to have five horses to plough his bit of a field, that he really could not contain himself; he flourished his whip aloft and shouted out, " Hip, hip, hurrah ! five fine horses, every one of them mine ! "

" I'll soon cure you of that !" cried Great Claus, in a fury, and, taking up a large stone, he flung it at the head of Little Claus' horse so heavy was the stone that the poor creature fell down dead.

" Alas, now I have no horses at all ! " cried Little Claus, and he began to weep. As soon as he had recovered himself a little, he set to work to flay the skin off his dead horse, dried the skin thoroughly in the air, and then putting it into a sack, he slung the sack across his shoulders, and set out on his way to the nearest town, intending to sell the skin.

He had a long way to go, and the road led him through a large and thickly-grown wood. And here a violent tempest burst forth ; the clouds, the rain, and the dark firs, bowed to and fro by the wind, so bewildered poor Claus that he lost his path, and before he could recover it evening had darkened into night ; he could neither return homewards nor get on to the town.

However, not far off stood a large farm-house; the window-shutters were closed, but Little Claus could see lights shining out through the creaks. " Perhaps I may get shelter there," thought he, so he went up to the house, and knocked at the door.

The farmer's wife came and opened it to him, but when she heard what he wanted, she very obligingly told him he must go and ask elsewhere ; he shouldn't come into her house ; her good man was from home, and she couldn't be receiving strangers in his absence.

" Well, then, I must sleep outside, tinder this stormy sky," replied Little Claus, and the farmer's wife shut the door in his face.

Close by stood a hay-stack, and between it and the house there was a little pent-house with a flat straw roof.

" I'll get up there," said Little Claus to himself, on perceiving this ; " it will make me a capital bed. Only I do hope the stork yonder may not take it into his head to fly down and bite my legs." For a stork had made his nest on the roof, and had mounted guard beside the nest, as wide awake as could be, although it was night.

So Little Claus crept up on the pent-house, and there he turned and twisted about till he had made himself a right comfortable couch. The window-shutters did not close properly at the top, so that from his high and airy position he could see all that went on in the room.

There he saw a large table spread with bread and wine, roast meat and fried fish ; the farmer's wife and the sexton sat at table no one else was there: the farmer's wife was pouring out a glass of wine for the sexton, who meantime was eagerly helping himself to a large slice of the fish; he happened to be particularly fond of fish.

" Too bad, really, to keep it all to themselves ! " sighed Little Claus. " If they would but give me a little, wee morsel!" and he stretched out his head as near to the window as he could. Oh, what a magnificent cake he could see now ! Why, this was quite a banquet !

Presently he heard the sound of hoof-tramps approaching from the road. It was the farmer riding home.

A regularly good-hearted fellow was this farmer, but he had one peculiar weakness, namely, that he never could endure to see a sexton the sight made him half mad. Now, the sexton of the neighbouring town happened to be first cousin to his wife, and they were old playmates and good friends ; so, this evening, knowing that the farmer would be from home, he had come to pay his cousin a visit, and the good woman, being very pleased to see him, had brought out all the choice things in her larder wherewith to regale him. But now, as, while they were sitting together so comfortably, they heard the tramp of the farmer's horse, they both started up, and the woman bade the sexton creep into a large empty chest that stood in a corner of the room. He did so, for he knew that the poor farmer would be almost driven wild if he came in and saw a sexton standing unexpectedly before him. And the farmer's wife then made a great bustle to hide all the wine and the dishes inside her baking-oven, for fear her husband, if he saw the table spread with them, should ask for whom she had been preparing such a grand entertainment.

" Oh dear ! oh dear ! " sighed Little Claus from his couch on the pent-house, when he saw the feast all put on one side.

" Anybody up there?" inquired the farmer, on hearing the voice ; and he looked up and perceived Little Claus. " Why are you lying there? Come down into the house with me."

And Little Claus explained that he had lost his way, and asked the farmer if he would not give him shelter for the night.

" To be sure I will," replied the good-natured man. " Come in quickly, and let's have something to eat."

The woman received them both with a great show of welcome, covered one end of the long table, and brought out a large dish of oatmeal. The farmer set to with a capital appetite, but Little Claus could not eat for thinking of the good roast meat, the fish, the wine, and the delicious cake which he had seen stowed away inside the oven.

He had put his sack containing the horse's skin under the table, and now, as he could not relish the oatmeal porridge, he began trampling the sack under his feet till the dry skin creaked aloud.

" Hush ! " muttered Little Claus, as if speaking to his sack, but at the same moment he trod upon it again, so as to make it creak louder than before.

" What have you got in your sack?" asked the farmer.

" Oh! I've got a little conjuror there," replied Little Claus, " and he says we are not to be eating oatmeal porridge any longer, for he has conjured a feast of beef-steak, fried fish, and cake into the oven on purpose for us."

" A conjuror, did you say?" exclaimed the farmer, and up he got in a vast hurry to look into the oven and see whether the conjuror had spoken truly And there, to be sure, were fish, and steak, and cake ; the conjuror had been as good as his word. The farmer's wife durst not utter a syllable of explanation ; almost as much bewildered as her husband, she eet the viands on the table, and the farmer and his guest began with a hearty appetite to eat of the good cheer before them.

Presently Little Claus trampled on his sack again, and again made the skin creak.

" What does your conjuror say now?'' asked the farmer.

" He says," replied Little Claus, " that he has also conjured three bottles of wine here for us; you will find them standing just in the corner of the oven." So the woman was now obliged to bring out the wine that she had concealed, and the farmer poured himself out a glass and began to think it would be a fine thing to have such a capital conjuror as this.

" A right proper sort of conjuror, this of yours!" observed he, at last. " I should rather like to see him : will he let me, do you think?"

" Oh, of course," returned Little Claus ; " my conjuror will do anything I ask him. That you will, won't you?" asked he, again treading on his sack. " Didn't you hear him say ' Yes ? ' But I warn you, he will look somewhat dark and unpleasing; after all, it is scarcely worth while to see him!"

" Oh, I shall not be afraid, what will he look like?"

" Why, he will appear for all the world just like a sexton."

" A sexton ! " repeated the farmer, " that is a pity ! Yon must know that I cannot endure the sight of a sexton ; but no matter, since I shall know that it is not a real sexton, but only your conjuror, I shall not care about it. Oh, I've plenty of courage only don't let him come too near me !"

" Well, I'll speak to my conjuror about it again," said Little Claus, and he trod on his skin till it went "creak, creak, creak," and bent his ear down, as though to listen.

" What does he say now?"

" He says he will transport himself into yonder chest in the corner; you have only to lift up the lid, and there you will see him ; but you must mind and shut the lid close down again."

" Will you help me to hold up the lid ? it is very heavy," said the farmer, and he went up to the chest wherein his wife had concealed the real sexton, who sat with his limbs huddled up, trembling, and holding his breath, lest he should be discovered certainly in no very comfortable state.

The farmer gently raised the lid of the chest and peeped under it. " Ugh !" cried he, and immediately started back in affright. " Oh dear ! oh dear ! I saw him, he looked exactly like our sexton in the town oh, how horrible !"

However, he sat down at table again, and began to drink glass after glass of wine, by way of recovering from the shock. The wine soon revived his fallen courage. Neither he nor his guest ever thought of going to bed ; there they sat, talking and feasting till late in the night.

"Did you ever see your conjuror before?" inquired the farmer of Claus.

"Not I," replied Little Claus, "I should never have thought of asking him to show himself, if you had not proposed it. He knows he is not handsome ; he does not wish to obtrude himself into any company ; he talks to me, and I to him, and isn't that enough ?"

" Oh, indeed, it is !" rejoined the farmer, quickly. Then, after a minute's hesitation, he went on, " Do you know, I should like very much to have your conjuror; would you mind selling him to me ? Name your own price ; I don't care if I give you a whole bushelful of silver on the spot."

" Oh, how can you ask such a thing ? " exclaimed Little Claus, " such a useful, such a faithful servant as he is to me how could I think of parting with him ? Why, he's worth his weight in gold ten times over."

" I can't offer you gold," replied the farmer, " but I should like so very much to have him ! that is, provided he would never show his ugly self to me again."

" Oh, no fear of that," said Little Claus ; " and really, since you have been so kind as to give me shelter tonight, I do not think I can refuse you any request. I will let you have my conjuror for a bushel of silver, only the bushel must be crammed full, you know."

" Certainly it shall," answered the farmer ; " and the chest yonder too, you shall have that into the bargain ; I don't want it to remain an hour longer in the house ; it will always be reminding me of the odious sexton-face I saw inside it."

So the bargain was struck, and Little Claus gave the fanner his sack, with the dry skin in it, and received instead a whole bushel of silver. The farmer also gave him a large wheel-barrow, wherewith to convey home his money and his chest.

" Farewell ! " said Little Claus, and away he drove the wheel-barrow, the unfortunate sexton still lying concealed in the chest.

On the opposite side of the wood flowed a broad, deep river; the current was so strong that no one could swim against it, go a bridge had lately been built over it. Little Claus took his way over the bridge, but stopped short in the middle of it, saying, very loud, on purpose that the man in the chest might hear him, " Now, what on earth can be the use of this great tumble-down chest to me? and it's as heavy, too, as if it were filled with stones ; it quite tires me out. I'll fling it out into the river ; if it chooses to float homewards to me, well and good; if not, it may let it alone; all the same to me."

And he lifted the chest as though intending to throw it into the water.

" Oh, pray, don't do that ! " cried the sexton in the chest. " Let me get out first, pray."

"Holloa I" exclaimed Little Claus; "is the chest bewitched ? If so, the sooner it's off my hands the better."

" Oh, no, no!" cried the sexton. " Let me out, and I'll give you another whole bushel of money."

" Ah, that's quite another matter," said Little Claus ; and he immediately set down the chest, and lifted the lid. Out crept the sexton, greatly to his own satisfaction. He kicked the empty chest into the water, and then took Little Claus to his house with him, where he gave him the bushel of money, as agreed. Little Claus had now a wheel-barrow full of money.

" Certainly, I must own I have been well paid for my horse's skin," said he to himself, as he entered his own little room, and overturned all his money in a great heap on the floor. " It will vex Great Claus, I'm afraid, when he finds out how rich my horse's skin has made me."

And now he sent a little boy to Great Claus to borrow a measure of him.

" What can he want with a measure, I wonder ? " thought Great Clans, and he cunningly smeared the bottom of the measure with clay, hoping that some part of whatever was measured might cleave to the clay. And, accordingly, when the measure was returned to him, he discovered three silver coins sticking at the bottom.

" Fine doings, upon my word ! " exclaimed Great Claus, in amazement ; and off he set forthwith to the house of his namesake. " Where did you get all that money ? " thundered he.

"Oh, I got it by my horse's skin, which I sold yesterday," was the reply.

" Really ? " exclaimed Great Claus. " What, are horses' skins so dear as that ? Who would have thought it ? " And he ran quickly home, took an axe, and struck all his four horses on the head with it, then flayed off the skins, and drove into the town.

" Skins, skins ! who will buy skins ? " cried he, as he passed through the streets.

All the shoemakers and tanners in the town came running up to him, and asked his price.

" I will have a bushelful of money for each," replied Great Claus.

" Are you mad? " cried they. " Do you think we reckon our money by bushels ? "

" Skins, fresh skins ! who will buy skins ? " shouted he again ; and still, to all who asked how much he wanted for them, he replied, " A bushelful of money."

" The rude boor ! he is trying to make fools of us," declared one of his customers at last, in very great wrath.

" Skins, fresh skins, fine fresh skins ! " cried they all, mimicking him. " Out of the town with him, the great ass ! or he shall have no skin left on his own shoulders." And Great Claus was ignominiously thrust out of the town, and returned home in no very good humour.

" Little Claus shall pay for this," muttered he. " Sleep soundly this night, Little Claus, for you will hardly wake again."

It so chanced that Little Claus' grandmother died that same evening ; she had always been very cross and ill-natured to him in her lifetime, but now, on finding her dead, he felt really sorry for her. He laid the dead woman in his own warm bed, in hopes that the warmth might bring her to life again; for his own part, he thought he could spend the night in a chair in a corner of the room he had often done so before.

About midnight the door opened, and Great Claus, his axe in his hand, came in. He knew well where Little Claus' bed was wont to stand; he went straight up to it, and struck the dead grandmother a violent blow on the forehead.

" There's for you," cried he; " now you'll never make a fool of me again." And herewith he went out of the room and returned home.

" What a very wicked man he is ! " sighed Little Claus. " So he wanted to kill me. It was a good thing that old grandmother was dead already, or that blow would have hurt her very much."

The next day, in the evening, he met Great Claus in a lane near the village. Great Claus started back, and stared at him. " What, aren't you dead ? I thought I killed you last night."

" Yes, you wicked man ! " replied Little Claus, " I know you came into my room intending to kill me, but my grandmother, not I, was lying in the bed ; it was she that you struck with your pick-axe, and you deserve to be hanged for it."

" And are you going to tell people about it ? " said Great Claus. " That you never shall ! " He was carrying a very large sack ; he sefzed Little Claus by the waist and thrust him into the sack, crying out, " I will drown you at once, and that will be the end of your tale-telling."

But he had a long way to walk before he reached the river, and Little Claus was by no means a light burden. The road led past the church, the organ was playing, for the service had just begun. Among the congregation Great Claus saw a man he wanted to speak to. " Little Claus cannot get out of the sack by himself," thought he, " and no one can help him, for all the people are in church. I can just go in and call that man back into the porch for a minute." So he set down the heavy sack and ran into church.

" Oh dear! oh dear ! " sighed Little Claus inside the sack; he turned and twisted in vain, it was not possible for him to get the string loose. Just then a very, very old cattle-driver passed by, his hair white as snow, and with a stout staff in his hand; he was driving a large herd of cows and bullocks before him, many more than he, feeble as he was, could manage. One of them rushed up against the sack and turned it over and over.

" Oh, help me, pray ! " cried Little Claus. " I am so young to die ; help me out of the sack."

" What, is there a man in the sack ? " and the ancient cattle - driver bent down, though with some difficulty, and untied the string. " The bullock has not hurt you, I hope ? " But Little Claus sprang out so briskly as showed he was not hurt, and set himself immediately to rooting up the withered stump of a tree which stood by the roadside, and which he rolled into the sack, then, tying the string, he placed the sack exactly as Great Claus had left it. The cattle had, meantime, passed on.

" Will you not drive these cattle home to the village for me ? " asked the old man. " I am so weary, and I want to go into church so much."

" Right gladly will I help you since you have helped me," replied Little Claus, and he took the cattle-driver's goad from his hand, and followed the herd in his stead.

Presently Great Claus came running back again; he took up the sack, and again flung it across his shoulders, thinking, " How much lighter the burden seems now ; it always does one good to rest for ever so short a time." So on he trudged to the river, flung the sack out into the water, and shouted after it, " There now, Little Clans, you shall never cheat me anymore ! "

He then turned homewards, but, on passing a spot where several roads crossed, whom should he meet but Little Claus himself, with his herd of cattle !

" How comes this ? " exclaimed Great Claus. " Is it really you? Did not I drown you, then, after all?"

" I believe you meant to drown me," said Little Claus; till you threw me into the river just half an hour ago, did you not?"

" But how did you come by all these beautiful cattle ? " asked Great Claus, in utter amazement, his eyes wandering admiringly from one to another of the herd.

" These are sea-cattle," said Little Claus. Ah, I'll tell you the whole story ! I am really much obliged to you for drowning me ; it has made me richer than ever, as you may see. I was so frightened when I lay in the sack, and the wind whistled so uncomfortably into my ears, when you threw me down from the bridge into the cold water. I sank to the bottom at once, but I was not hurt, for I was received by the softest, freshest grass. Immediately the sack was opened, and the most beautiful young girl you can imagine, clad in snow-white robes, and with a green wreath in her wet hair, took me by the hand, saying, " Are you Little Claus ? Here are some cattle of yours, and a mile farther up the road, another and larger herd is grazing, and I will give thee that herd also.' And then I understood that the river was a sort of high-road for the people of the sea, and that on it they walked and drove to and fro, from the sea far up into the land, where the river rises, and thence back to the sea again. And no place can be more beautiful than it is at the bottom of the water; the prettiest flowers and the freshest grass grow there ; and the fishes swimming in the water slipped to and fro about my ears, just as birds flutter about us up here, in the air. And such gaily-dressed people I saw there, and such a multitude of cattle grazing in pastures inclosed with hedges and ditches ! "

" Then, why were you in such a hurry to come up again ? " inquired Great Claus. " I shouldn't have done so, not I, when I found It so pleasant there."

" Ah ! " rejoined Little Claus ; " that was so cleverly done on my part ! Did not I tell you that the sea-lady told me that a mile up the road and by the road she could only mean the river, she can't come into our land-roads there was another and larger herd of cattle for me ? But I knew that the river makes a great many turns and windings, and therefore I thought I'd just spare myself half a mile of the way by taking the short cut across the land. So here I am, you see, and I shall soon get to my sea-cattle ! "

" Oh, what I lucky fellow you are ! " exclaimed Great Claus. " Don't you think that I might have some cattle given to me too, if I went down to the bottom of the river ? "

" How can I tell ? " asked Little Claus, in reply.

" You envious scoundrel ! you want to keep all the beautiful sea-cattle for yourself, I warrant ! " cried Great Claus. " Either you will carry me to the water's edge, and throw me over, or I will take out my great knife and kill you. Make your choice ! "

" Oh no ! please don't be so angry," entreated Little Claus. " I cannot carry you in the sack to the river ; you are too heavy for me ; but if you will walk there yourself, and then creep into the sack, I will throw you over with all the pleasure in the world."

" But if, when I get to the bottom, I find no sea-cattle for me, I shall kill you all the same when I come back remember that ! " said Great Claus ; and to this arrangement Little Claus made no objection. They walked together to the river. As soon as the thirsty cattle saw the water, they ran on as fast as they could, eagerly crowding against each other, and all wanting to drink first.

" Only look at my sea-cattle ! " said Little Claus. " See how they are longing to be at the bottom of the river."

" That's all very well," said Great Claus, " but you must help me first." And he quickly crept into the great sack, which had lain stretched across the shoulders of one of the oxen. " Put a heavy stone in with me," snid Great Claus, " else, perhaps, I shall not sink to the bottom."

" No fear of that," replied Little Claus. However, he put a large stone into the sack, tied the strings, and pushed the sack into the water plump ! there it fell, straight to the bottom.

" I am much afraid he will not find his sea-cattle," observed Little Claus, and he drove his own herd quietly home to the village.