for the piece
of a table, two stools, and a couple of hags of hay, which he had
procured of a Jew, and which, with an odd pot, and a wooden spoon or
two, constituted all his furniture. Then, he had two mouths to feed
instead of one wages to pay; and not much more work done than he could
manage himself. But still--he had dreamed; and dreams, if they are
genuine, fulfill themselves. The money grew--slowly, very slowly, but
still it grew; and Hans pitched upon a secure place, as he thought, to
conceal it in. Alas! poor Hans! He had often in his heart grumbled at
the slowness of his _Handwerks-Bursch_, or journeyman; but the fellow's
eyes had been quick enough, and he proved himself a hand-work's fellow
to some purpose, by clearing out Hans's hiding-place, and becoming a
journeyman in earnest. The fellow was gone one morning; no great
loss--but then the money was gone with him, which _was_ a terrible
loss.

This was more than Hans could bear. He was perfectly cast down,
disheartened, and inconsolable. At first, he thought of running after
the fellow; and, as he knew the scamp could not go far without a
passport, and as Hans had gone the round of the country himself, in the
three years of his _Wandel-Jahre_, as required by the worshipful guild
of tailors, he did not doubt but that he should some day pounce upon the
scoundrel. But then, in the mean time, who was to keep his trade
together? There was the Hippopotamus watching opposite! No! it would not
do! and his neighbor, coming in to condole with him, said--"Cheer up,
man! there is nothing amiss yet. What signify a few dollars? You will
soon get plenty more, with those nimble fingers of yours. You want only
somebody to help you to keep them. You must get a wife! Journeymen were
thieves from the first generation. You must get married!"

"Get married!" thought Hans. He was struck all on a heap at the very
mention of it "Get married! What! fine clothes to go a-wooing in, and
fine presents to go a-wooing with; and parson's fees, and clerk's fees;
and wedding-dinner, and dancing, and drinking; and then, doctor's fees,
and nurse's fees, and children without end! That is ruin!" thought
Hans--"without end!" The fifty dollars and the Buergermeistership--they
might wait till doomsday.

"Well, that is good!" thought Hans, as he took a little more breath.
"They first counseled me to get a light--then went house and all in a
bonfire; next, I must get a journeyman--then went the mone