"I am going to be Something, and to do something of use,"
said the oldest of five brothers.
There is no need for my
position to be a very high one, if only I
am able to do some good, which will be
something. I will be a brickmaker,
everyone has to have bricks, and I will
certainly be doing something."
Something very little, though," said
the second brother; "It is as good as
nothing it is work which might be done
by a machine. It would be better to be a
builder, as I am going to be. A man gets
a position, he becomes a townsman, puts
up his sign, and has a work-place for his
men ; so will be a builder. If all goes
well, in time I may be the head of a
business and have my workmen under me
That is something, in my opinion."
"To me that is nothing at all," said the
third ; "truly it is no position. There are
a great number of persons in a town far
higher than a builder. You may be an
upright man. but even as a chief builder
32
you will never be in the best society. I
have a better idea than that. I will be a
designer of buildings, which will give me
a place among those who have money
and brains, and take an interest in art. I
will certainly have to make a start from
the very lowest position as a builder's
workman or a woodworker’s boy with a
paper hat on my head, though I now have
a silk hat. I will have to get beer for the
workmen, but I will put up with it, because
to me it will only be a play which later,
when my time is at an end, will be over,
and I will go my way, and everything in
the past will be nothing to me. I will go
to the Training School, where they will
give me teaching in how to make designs,
and I will become a designer of buildings.
That is something ; it is, in fact, more
than something. The King may take note
of me, and I may get some letters after
my name, and I will put up buildings as
others have done before me. By this there
will be something to keep me in memory
for ever, and is not that enough to make
one happy?
"Not in my opinion," said the fourth ;
" I will never go in the footsteps of others,
only copying what they have done. I
33
will be a man of brains, and become
greater than all of you together. I will
make the discovery of a new way of
building, and I will put forward ideas for
building houses right for the weather
conditions, with material readily got in
the country, and so in harmony with the
qualities of our nation and the developments
of our time."
"But if the weather conditions and the
materials are not quite right," said the
fifth brother, " that would be very sad
for you, and have a bad effect on your
work. The special qualities of a nation
may be given so much attention that they
become unnatural, and the developments
of a time may get out of control, as young
things frequently do. It is clear to me that
not one of you will ever be anything
important, whatever your hopes may be
now. But do what seems best to you. I
will not be like you. I am going to keep
out of all these things, and say where, in
my opinion, you are wrong. In every act
there is some error, something not right,
and it will be my business to see what it
is and give an account of it ; that will be
‘ something,’ in my opinion." And he
34
kept his word and became an expert on
the errors of others.
Everyone said of this fifth brother,
" There is something in him, certainly;
he has good brains, but he does nothing."
And for that reason they were certain he
was something !
"Now, you see, this is a little story which
will never come to an end ; as long as there
is an earth, there will be men like these
five brothers. And what was the outcome ?
Were they all nothing or something ?
We will give you an account of all of them.
The oldest brother, the brickmaker,
after a short time made the discovery that
for every brick he made he got a small
bit of copper money ; and that a number
of these, if placed one on another, may
be changed into a bit of bright silver
money; and that when a person has
enough of these in his hands, wherever
he goes, to get bread, meat, or clothing,
the door is open to him and he is able
to get everything he has need for. So you
see the value of bricks. Some of the
bricks, however, came to bits or got broken,
but he had a use even for these. On the
high slope of earth which made a wall at
the edge of the sea, a poor woman named
35
Margaret had a desire to make a house for
herself, so all the broken bricks were
given to her, and a small number of
unbroken ones with them, because the
oldest brother had a kind heart, though he
was only a brickmaker. The poor woman
made herself a little house : it was small
and narrow, and the window was not
straight, the door was somewhat low, and
the dry grass on the roof might have been
put on better. But it kept out the wind
and the rain, and from inside it was
possible to see far over the sea, which
sometimes came violently in over the
sea-wall and sent salt water with great
force over the little house. But it was a
strong building and was to be seen for
years after the man who had given the
bricks for it was dead and put under the
earth.
The second brother had a better
knowledge of building than poor Margaret,
because he had given some time to learning
it. When his training came to an end, he
put his. little bag on his back, and went
off on a journey, with a song on his lips.
After he came back, he became one of the
chief builders in the town of his birth;
he put up house after house, a complete
36
street of them, and they were certainly
an ornament to the town. In a short time
these houses put up a small house for
the builder himself. But how is it possible
for houses to put up a house ? If you put
the question to the houses, they would not
be able to give you an answer ; but the
townsmen would see how it was possible
and say : " Certainly the street put up his
house for him." It was small enough,
and the floor was of earth ; but when he
and the girl he got married to were
dancing on the floor it seemed to him as
smooth as if it had been polished, and from
every stone in the wall there seemed to
come flowers like those we see worked in
bright colours on cloth. It was truly a
beautiful house, and in it were a happy
man and woman. The flag of the Builders'
Society was waving before it, and the
workmen and builders’ boys gave loud
cries of " Hurrah!" He had got his position,
he had made himself something, and at
last he came to his death, which was
' something ' in addition.
Now we come to the designer, the third
brother, who had made a start as a
woodworker’s boy and gone running about
the town with a paper hat on his head,
37
but later went to the Training School and
by degrees came to be a designer of
buildings and an important man. The
houses of the new street may have put up
a house for his brother, the builder, but
the street got its name from the designer,
and the most beautiful house in the street
became his property. That was something,
and he was something, because he had a
number of letters after his name. His sons
and daughters were able to take the credit
of being ' of good birth,' and when he was
dead their mother was looked on as a
person of note, and that was ' something.'
His name was still kept on the last house
in the street, and, as the name of the
street, was on everybody’s lips. Yes,
this was ' something ' in addition.
And what about the man of brains,
the fourth brother who had said he would
make something quite new ? He made an
attempt to put up a high building himself,
but it came down, and he came down with
it, and his neck was broken. However, his
body was taken to its last resting-place
with great respect, with music and flags
and flowers ; and three public talks Were
given about him, every one longer than the
one before. This would have given him
38
great pleasure when he was living, and so
would the verses about him in the newspapers,
because nothing made him so happy
as being talked about. A building was
put up in memory of him over the place
where his dead body was resting under
the earth. It was only one floor high, but
that was ‘ something.’ Now he was dead,
like the three other brothers.
The youngest, the expert on the errors
of others, went on living longer than any
of them, and that was quite right,
because it gave him the chance of having
the last word, which was a very important
thing to him. The general opinion was
that he had a good brain. At last his
end came, and after his death he went to
the doors of the Happy Land. The dead
go through these doors in twos ; so, there
he was waiting to be let in with another,
who was no other than the old woman,
Margaret, from the house on the sea-wall.
" It is clearly for purposes of comparison
that I and this unhappy thing have come
here at the same time," said he to himself.
" Well, now, who are you, my good
woman ?" he said out loud. " Are you
another desiring to get in here ?"
And the old woman gave her answer
39
only be because they are kind."
" And how did you come away from the
earth ?" he said, without much interest.
It seemed to him necessary to say something,
because waiting there made him
tired.
" Well, it’s hard to say," was her
answer. " In my last years on earth I was
ill and unhappy, and I was unable to get
out of bed at all in the cold weather.
Last winter was a cruel winter, but I have
got over it all now. For some days the
wind was quite quiet, but it was very
cold; the ice was all over the water as
40
far as one was able to see. All the townsmen
were out on the ice, and they say
there was dancing and drinking and
pleasure-making. The sound of beautiful
music came into my poor little room where
I was in bed.
When it was getting near nightfall, and
the moon was up, but still not very bright,
I took a look from my bed out over the
Wide sea, and there, where the sky and
sea were joined together, was a strange
white cloud. I kept my eyes on it from
my bed till I saw a little black mark in
the middle of it, which by degrees got
greater and greater, and then I was
conscious of what was about to take place
— I am old and experienced, and though
that sign is not frequently seen I was
conscious what it was, and was shaking
with fear. Twice in my existence I had
seen this same thing, and I was certain
that there would be very bad weather —
thunder and rain and a sudden high sea,
which would overcome the poor things
who were now out on the ice, drinking,
and dancing, and having a happy time.
Young and old, all the town was there;
who was to make them conscious of their
41
danger, if nobody saw the sign or had the
power of reading it, as I had ?
So great was my fear that it made me
stronger than I had been for some time. I
got out of bed and went to the window;
I was so tired and feeble that it was
impossible for me to go any farther ; but
I was able to get the window open. I
saw the townsmen outside running and
jumping about on the ice; I saw the
beautiful flags waving in the wind; the
cries of the boys and the songs of the young
men and girls came to my ears. All were
so happy ; but there was the white
cloud with the black mark getting nearer
to them ! I gave as loud a cry as I was able,
but I was so far away that it did not come
to anyone’s ears. In a short time the
wind would get up, the ice would be
broken to bits, and all who were on it
would go under and come to their end in
the water. They were unconscious of my
cries, and to go to them was quite out of
my power. Oh, if only I might get them
safely on land ! Then came the thought,
as if from God, that it would be better to
put fire to my bed and let the house be
burned down than to let so great a number
of persons come to a cruel end. I got a
42
light, and in a minute or two the flames
went up as a danger-sign to them. I was
able to get as far as the door, but then I
had a fall and was unable to get up again.
The flames came out in my direction,
their light dancing on the window, and
they went high over the roof.
Everybody on the ice saw the fire and
came running as quickly as possible to
give help to a poor ill Woman who, so it
seemed to them, was being burned to death.
There was not one who did not come to
my help. I Was conscious of their footsteps,
and at the same time there came
to my ears a noise of wind and a sound
like the firing of great guns. A mass
of water was lifting the ice covering,
and it was broken up into a thousand bits.
But everybody had got to the sea-wall,
where the flames were all round me. I
had them all safe ; but I was overcome
by the cold and my fear, and so I have
come up here. It is said the doors are
open to poor things like me, and I have
now no house on earth ; but I have little
hope that that will give me a right to go
in here."
Then the doors came open, and a
Winged Being took the old woman in.
43
When she went, a blade of dry grass came
to the floor -- a blade from the bed which
she had put on fire as a danger-sign to
the persons on the ice. It had been
changed into the brightest gold which
was getting longer and longer and twisting
itself into the forms of beautiful flowers
and fruit.
" See," said the Being, pointing to the
strange blade, "this is what the poor
woman had with her. But what have you
got ? I am certain that you have done
nothing; you have not even made one
brick. Even if it was possible for you to
go back and make at least that much, it is
probable that, when made, the brick
would not be of any use if the work had
not been done with a good heart, which
is something. But it is not in your power
to go back to earth, and I am unable to
do anything for you."
Then the poor old woman from the
house on the sea-wall put in a good word
for him. She said, " His brother gave me
all the bricks with which I made my poor
little house, and that was a very kind
thing to do for a poor woman like me. Is
it not possible that all those broken bits,
put together, may be taken as one brick
44
for him ? It would be a kind act ; he is in
need of it now ; and this is the place
Where kind acts come from."
"Then," said the Winged Being, " it is
to your brother, whose trade was looked
on as the lowest of all, and whose good
acts seemed of so little value to you, that
you are in debt for this. You will not be
sent away. You may take up your position
here outside and give thought to your way
of living down on earth. But you may not
come inside till you have done one good
act, which for you will be truly ' something '."
" It seems to me that I would have been
able to put that into better words," was
the expert's thought ; but he did not say
it out loud, which for him was ‘ something,’
after all.
-----
1 One of the twelve men who went with Christ.
It is the Roman Catholic belief that he was made
Keeper of the Keys to the Happy Land.
- 45 -
LITTLE CLAUS AND GREAT CLAUS
In a small country town there were at one time two men who had the same name -- Claus. ...
(more) . . .
It was very cold and almost dark at nightfall on the last day of the old year, and the snow was falling quickly.
In the
cold and the dark, a poor little girl with
her head and feet uncovered was going
through the streets. It is true that she
had had on some shoes when she came
away from her house, but they were of no
use to her because of their great size.
They had, in fact, been her mother’s, and
the poor little girl had been unable to
keep them on her feet when she was
running to get out of the way of two
carriages which were coming down the
street much more quickly than they had
any business to do. One of her shoes she
never saw again, and a boy took the other
and went off with it, saying that he would
be able to make use of it as a baby’s bed
when he himself had a family. So the
little girl went on with her uncovered feet,
which were quite red and blue from the
cold. She had a number of matches in a
bit of an old dress, and one box of them
attempt to keep herself Warm. She had
put her little feet under her, but she was
unable to keep off the cold, and fear
kept her from going to her father’s house
because she had got nothing in exchange
for her matches and was unable to take
back any money. Her father would
certainly give her a whipping; and, in
addition, it was almost as cold in the house
as it was here, because they had no cover
but the roof, through which the Wind
came with a great noise, though the
greatest holes had been stopped up with
dry grass and bits of old clothing. Her
little hands Were almost stiff with the
cold. Ah! Possibly a burning match
might be some good, if she was able to
take it out of the box and get it lighted by
rubbing it against the wall, so that she
might get her fingers warm. She took one
out -- it made a strange noise while it was
burning. It gave a warm bright light, like
a little wax-light, while she put her hand
over it. It was truly a surprising and
beautiful light. It seemed to the little
girl as if she was seated by a great iron
heater with polished brass feet and a brass
ornament. The fire was burning and seemed
so beautifully warm that the little girl put
out her feet as if to get them warm, when
suddenly the flame of the match went out,
the picture went from view, and she had
only the rest of the half-burned match in
her hand.
She gave another match a rub on the
wall. There was a burst of flame, and in
its light she seemed to be able to see
through the wall and into the room on the
other side of it. The table was covered
with a table-cloth as white as snow, and on
it were a number of plates for food, and a
steaming goose full of apples and dry
fruits. And it was even stranger when the
goose, jumping down from the table,
came across the floor to the little girl
with a knife and fork in its chest. Then
the match went out, and she was unable
to see anything but the thick, wet, cold
wall before her.
She got another match lighted, and then
she seemed to be seated under a beautiful
Christmas—tree. It was higher and had
more beautiful ornaments than the one
she had seen through the glass door at the
house of the well-off tradesman. Thousands
of wax—lights were burning on the green
branches, and coloured pictures, like
those which she had seen in the store-windows,
were looking down on it all. The
little girl put out her hand in their direction,
and the match went out.
The Christmas lights went up higher and
higher till they seemed to her to be like
the stars in the sky. Then she saw at star
coming down with a bright line of fire at
the back of it. "Somebody is on his
death-bed," was the little girl's thought ;
because her mother's old mother, the only
person who had ever had any love for
her and who was now dead, had said to
her that when a star came down, somebody’s
soul2 was going up to God.
She gave another match a rub on the
wall, and there was a bright light round
her; in the middle of the light her
mother's mother came into view, clear
and bright, but kind and loving. The
little girl gave a cry : " Oh, please take me
with you ; I am certain that you will go
away when the match is all burned ; you
will suddenly go from view like the warm
fire, the cooked goose, and the great,
beautiful Christmas-tree." And she quickly
went on lighting all the matches, because
she had a strong desire to keep the old
woman there. And the matches gave a
light which was brighter than the middle
of the day, and the old woman had
never seemed to be so great or so beautiful.
She took the little girl in her arms, and
together they went up to the bright sky
far over the earth, where there was no
cold, or need of food, or pain, because they
were with God.
In the early morning the poor little girl
was seen resting against the wall with
white face and smiling mouth ; she had
come to her death through the cold on the
last night of the old year ; and the New
Year's sun came up, its light falling on the
little dead body. The little girl was still
seated, stiff in death, gripping in her hand
the matches, one box of which was used up.
" She was doing her best to get warm,"
said some; but it was not possible for
anyone to get even an idea of the beautiful
things she had seen or the happy existence
she had been taken to on New Year’s
day.
-----
1. goose -- A sort of great farm-bird which is made fat for the table.
2. soul -- Inner self, for which, in the Christian belief,
there is no death.
Far out in the sea, where the water is as
blue as the bluest flower, and as clear as
the clearest glass, it is very, very deep -- so
deep in fact that it would not be possible
for any ship’s hook to get down to the
bed of the sea, and a number of high
churches placed one on another would not
get from the sea-bed to the top of the
waves. There is the land of the Sea King.
Get out of your mind the idea that there is
nothing on the bed of the sea but yellow
sand. No, there are the strangest flowers
and plants there, the leaves and stems of
which are so readily bent that they are
put into motion by the smallest waves in
the water. Fishes great and small go
slipping between the branches like birds
among the trees here on land. In the
deepest place of all is the great house of
the Sea King. Its walls are made of red
sea-stone, and the long pointed windows
are the clearest yellow jewels. The roof
is formed of shells1 which may be seen
. . .
(more) . . .
75
-----
1. shell -- The hard outer coverings of sea-animals.