clear and transparent it felt itself after it--indeed, quite
young again in its old age; but the slip of paper committed to its
charge, that was lost in the washing. The bottle was now filled with
seeds. Such contents were new to it. Well stopped up and wrapped up it
was, and it could see neither a lantern nor a candle, not to mention
the sun or the moon. "One ought to see something when one goes on a
journey," thought the bottle; but it did not, however, until it
reached the place it was going to, and was there unpacked.

"What trouble these people abroad have taken about it!" was remarked;
"yet no doubt it is cracked." But it was not cracked. The bottle
understood every word that was said, for they were spoken in the
language it had heard at the furnace, at the wine merchant's, in the
wood, and on board ship--the only right good old language, one which
could be understood. The bottle had returned to its own country, and
in its joy had nearly jumped out of the hands that were holding it. It
scarcely observed that the cork had been removed, its contents shaken
out, and itself put away in the cellar to be kept and forgotten. But
home is dearest, even in a cellar. It had enough to think over, and
time enough to think, for it lay there for years; but at last one day
folks came down there to look for some bottles, and took this one with
them.

Outside, in the garden, there were great doings; coloured lamps hung
in festoons; paper lanterns, formed like large tulips, gave forth
their subdued light. It was also a charming evening; the air was calm
and clear; the stars began, one after the other, to shine in the deep
blue heavens above; while the round moon looked like a pale
bluish-grey ball, with a golden border encircling it.

There were also some illuminations in the side walks, at least enough
to let people see their way; bottles with lights in them were placed
here and there among the hedges; and amidst these stood the bottle we
know, the one that was destined to end as the mere neck of a bottle
and the glass of a bird-cage. At the period just named, however, it
found everything so exquisitely charming. It was again among flowers
and verdure, again surrounded by joy and festivity; it again heard
singing and musical instruments, and the hum and buzz of a crowd of
people, especially from that part of the gardens which were most
brilliantly illuminated. It had a good situation itself, and stood
there useful and happy, be