THERE is nobody in the whole world who knows so many stories as
Ole-Luk-Oie, or who can relate them so nicely.
In the evening while the children are seated at the tea table or in
their little chairs, very softly he comes up the stairs, for he walks in
his socks. He opens the doors without the slightest noise and throws a
small quantity of very fine dust in the little ones' eyes (just enough
to prevent them from keeping them open), and so they do not see him.
Then he creeps behind them and blows softly upon their necks till their
heads begin to droop.
But Ole-Luk-Oie does not wish to hurt them. He is very fond of children
and only wants them to be quiet that he may tell them pretty stories,
and he knows they never are quiet until they are in bed and asleep.
Ole-Luk-Oie seats himself upon the bed as soon as they are asleep. He is
nicely dressed; his coat is made of silken stuff, it is impossible to
say of what color, for it changes from green to red and from red to blue
as he turns from side to side. Under each arm he carries an umbrella.
One of them, with pictures on the inside, he spreads over good children,
and then they dream the most charming stories. But the other umbrella
has no pictures, and this he holds over the naughty children, so that
they sleep heavily and wake in the morning without having dreamed at
all.
Now we shall hear how Ole-Luk-Oie came every night during a whole week
to a little boy named Hjalmar, and what it was that he told him. There
were seven stories, as there are seven days in the week.