Page:Popular Tales and Romances of the Northern Nations (Volume 2).djvu/84

ornament and comfort. He choose the most cheerful looking one amongst them for his sleeping room; here he found a soft couch, the windows were towards the yard of the tavern, and he could hear every loud word that was spoken there. He lighted the candles, brought out his supper, and eat with as much comfort and ease, as if he had been in his old lodgings at Bremen. A big bellied bottle protected him from thirst. As long as his teeth were employed he found no time to think of the spectre. If he heard a noise at a distance, and fear called out, “Listen! there comes the ghost!” “Courage,” answered nonsense! “the cats are fighting!” But after supper when the feelings of hunger and thirst no longer occupied his attention, he listened to every noise, and fear whispered three anxious thoughts into his ears, before courage could find one answer. To secure him from any sudden attack, he locked and bolted the door, sat down on a stone bench at the window, opened it and looked out, to divert his mind, on the starry heavens, and at the silvery moon. The street below him grew