Then the beautiful lady beamed on the mother and the child, and, taking
a chain and jewel from her neck, she clasped it round the boy's neck,
and said, in musical German with a foreign accent:
"Remember, this is not so much a gift as a token and sign that I will
not forget thee and thy mother, and that I look to see thee and hear
thee again, and to be thy friend."
And as she smiled on him, the whole banqueting-hall--indeed, the whole
world--seemed illuminated to the child.
And he said to his mother as they went home:
"Mother, surely God has sent us an angel at last. But, even for the
angels, we will never forget His dear ravens. Wont old Hans be glad?"
And the mother was glad; for she knew that God who giveth grace to the
lowly had indeed blessed the lad, because all his gifts and honors were
transformed, as always in the lowly heart, not into pride, but into
love.
But when the boy ran eagerly to find old Hans, to show him the jewel
and tell him of the princely promises, Hans was nowhere to be found;
not in the hermit's house, where he was to have met them and shared
their little festive meal, nor at his own stall, nor in the hut in
which he slept.
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