lessly as he did, and
therefore did not lose so heavily. But the more he lost, the more he
gained--which was quite in accordance with the promise he had obtained
from the Glassmanikin. He had wished always to have as much money in
his pockets as there was in Fat Ezekiel's, and it was to him he lost
most of his money. No matter whether he lost twenty or thirty guilders
on a single throw, there they were again in his pocket as soon as
Ezekiel had gathered them from the table.

[Illustration: Peter gambling at the Inn.]

But gradually he brought his debauchery and gambling to a degree worse
than that of the vilest character in the Black Forest; and he was
more often dubbed Gambling-Peter than Dance-Emperor, for he was at
the gambling table nearly the whole week through. Meanwhile his
glass-business was going rapidly to rack and ruin, and it was all due
to Peter's folly. He manufactured glass as fast as it could be made;
but with the glass-factory he had not bought the secret how to manage
it. In the end he had so much glass on hand that he did not know what
to do with it; and he was forced to sell it at half its value to
pedlars in order to find the money wherewith to pay his workpeople. One
evening while returning home from the tavern, despite all the wine he
had drunk to keep up his spirits, he could not help contemplating with
terror and grief the ruin of his fortunes. All at once he noticed that
somebody was walking at his side; he looked round, and behold--it was
the Glassmanikin. He flew at once into a furious passion, bewailing his
bad luck and cursing the little man as the cause of all his misfortune.
"What am I to do now with my horses and carts?" he said. "Of what use
to me is my factory and all my glass? Even when I was a miserable
charcoal-burner, I was happier, and did not have all these worries.
Now, I am expecting any day to see the bailiffs in my factory to sell
me up in order to pay my debts."

"So-ho?" rejoined the Glassmanikin. "So-ho? Then I am to be blamed for
your misfortunes? Is this your gratitude for all my kindness to you?
Did I not warn you not to make such foolish wishes. You wished to
become a glass-blower, without having the slightest idea how to sell
your glass. Did I not tell you not to wish too hastily? Common-sense,
Peter, Wisdom, that was what you lacked."

"Bother your Common-sense and Wisdom!" cried the other. "I am as clever
a fellow as anyone else--and what is more I will prove it