herself.

One day Ditte spilled a basin of hot milk over herself and was badly
scalded; that cured her of inquisitiveness. Maren put her to bed and
treated her burns with egg-oil and slices of new potato; and it was
some time before Ditte was herself again. But when she was again
about, there was not so much as a scar to be seen. This accident
made Maren famous as a curer of burns and people sought her help for
their injuries. "You're a wise one," said they, and gave her bacon
or fish by way of thanks. "But 'tis not to be wondered at, after
all."

The allusion to the fact that her mother had been a "wise woman" did
not please Maren at all. But the bacon and the herrings came to an
empty cupboard, and--as Soeren said: "Beggars cannot be choosers and
must swallow their pride with their food."

Ditte shot up like a young plant, day by day putting forth new
leaves. She was no sooner in the midst of one difficult situation,
and her troubled grandparents, putting their heads together, had
decided to take strong measures, than she was out of it again and
into something else. It was just like sailing over a flat
bottom--thought Soeren--passing away under one and making room for
something new. The old ones could not help wondering if they
themselves and their children had ever been like this. They had
never thought of it before, having had little time to spend on their
offspring beyond what was strictly necessary; the one had quite
enough to do in procuring food and the other in keeping the home
together. But now they could not _help_ thinking; however much they
had to do, and they marveled much over many things.

"'Tis strange how a bit of a child can open a body's eyes, for all
one's old. Ay, there's a lot to learn," said Maren.

"Stupid," said Soeren. From his tone it could be gathered that he
himself had been thinking the same.

Ditte was indeed full of character. Little as she had had to
inherit, she nevertheless was richly endowed; her first smile
brought joy; her feeble tears, sorrow. A gift she was, born out of
emptiness, thrown up on the beach for the wornout old couple. No one
had done anything to deserve her,--on the contrary, all had done
their utmost to put her out of existence. Notwithstanding, there she
lay one day with blinking eyes, blue and innocent as the skies of
heaven. Anxiety she brought from the very beginning, many footsteps
had trodden round her cradle, and questioning thoughts surrounded
her s