s,
and went fast asleep.

The sun was high in the heavens when the two children awoke. They were
cold; but in the neighbourhood of this resting-place, on the hill, the
sun shone through the trees, and there they thought they would warm
themselves; and from there Ib fancied they would be able to see his
parents' house. But they were far away from the house in question, in
quite another part of the forest. They clambered to the top of the
rising ground, and found themselves on the summit of a slope running
down to the margin of a transparent lake. They could see fish in great
numbers in the pure water illumined by the sun's rays. This spectacle
was quite a sudden surprise for them; but close beside them grew a nut
bush covered with the finest nuts; and now they picked the nuts, and
cracked them, and ate the delicate young kernels, which had only just
become perfect. But there was another surprise and another fright in
store for them. Out of the thicket stepped a tall old woman; her face
was quite brown, and her hair was deep black and shining. The whites
of her eyes gleamed like a negro's; on her back she carried a bundle,
and in her hand she bore a knotted stick. She was a gipsy. The
children did not at once understand what she said. She brought three
nuts out of her pocket, and told them that in these nuts the most
beautiful, the loveliest things were hidden; for they were
wishing-nuts.

Ib looked at her, and she seemed so friendly, that he plucked up
courage and asked her if she would give him the nuts; and the woman
gave them to him, and gathered some more for herself, a whole
pocketful, from the nut bush.

And Ib and Christine looked at the wishing-nuts with great eyes.

"Is there a carriage with a pair of horses in this nut?" he asked.

"Yes, there's a golden carriage with two horses," answered the woman.

"Then give me the nut," said little Christine.

And Ib gave it to her, and the strange woman tied it in her
pocket-handkerchief for her.

"Is there in this nut a pretty little neckerchief, like the one
Christine wears round her neck?" inquired Ib.

"There are ten neckerchiefs in it," answered the woman. "There are
beautiful dresses in it, and stockings, and a hat with a veil."

"Then I will have that one too," cried little Christine.

And Ib gave her the second nut also. The third was a little black
thing.

"That one you can keep," said Christine; "and it is a pretty one too."

"What is in it?" in