m all the glories down
there, in the Christmas-bedecked homes. Then it will go fast enough!

FAIRY. Do you think so?

ELF. I know the young. Here's my ring--and now to business!

FAIRY. Is it right to play with human destiny?

ELF. We only play with human beings, their destinies we do not control.
Soon or late, the boy will go out into the world, and he is better
equipped than many who have faced life before him. When his journey is
over, we can discuss the subject more at length. Are you ready?

FAIRY. [Going toward post.] Immediately. [Fairy disappears.]

ELF. Then I'll whistle. [Disappears behind the other post.]

[Pehr comes down steps leading from top of tower.]

PEHR. Who's there?

FAIRY. [Appears suddenly, dressed in white.] Your godmother, Pehr. Don't
you know me?

PEHR. Ah! you are the one who caught me in your arms that time, when I
fell from the tower. What do you want of me to-day?

FAIRY. I want to give you a Christmas gift.

PEHR. A gift? What is that?

FAIRY. Something that gives one pleasure.

PEHR. Pleasure?

FAIRY. Fulfillment of one's wishes.

PEHR. Wishes! Now I begin to understand.

FAIRY. When standing out there on the balcony, have you never felt as if
something were drawing you--sort of enticing you down?

PEHR. Yes, that I have felt. You see the black streak over there, where
light and darkness meet? In the daytime it looks different; and when the
wind blows, it moves.

FAIRY. The forest.

PEHR. What is it like in the forest?

FAIRY. It is cool and delightful.

PEHR. That's well! Thither I am drawn, sometimes, so powerfully that I
want to rush through the tower window and soar, like the birds in the
air!

FAIRY. Beyond the borders of the forest?

PEHR. Is there something beyond?

FAIRY. There lies the world.

PEHR. The world! What is that?

FAIRY. Would you like to see it?

PEHR. Is it pleasant?

FAIRY. Some say it is; the majority say it is not. Come over here and
I will show you some pictures from that checkered panorama which people
call life. [Transparency curtain.]

Do you see the great house on the square, where all the windows are
lighted? The rich man lives there. Now look into the rooms. On the table
there is a lighted Christmas-tree laden with all kinds of gifts: the
golden fruits of the tropics from across the seas; earth's hidden
treasures, to which people bend the knee and which in their dazzling
settings reflect the lights. But, do you see t