The Complete Fairy Tales & Other Stories
By Hans Christian Andersen - online book

Oxford Complete Illustrated Edition all his stories written between 1835 and 1872.

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	337
	HOLGER THE DANE
	' In Denmark there lies an old castle named Kronborg. It lies close by the Ore Sound, where the great ships pass through by hundreds every day—English, Russian, and likewise Prussian ships. And they salute the old castle with cannons—" Boom ! ' And the castle answers again with cannons " Boom ! ' for that's what the cannons say instead of " Good day " and " Thank you ! " In winter no ships sail there, for the whole sea is covered with ice quite across to the Swedish coast; but it has quite the look of a high road. There wave the Danish flag and the Swedish flag, and Danes and Swedes say " Good day' and "Thank you ! " to each other, not with cannons, but with a friendly grasp of the hand ; and one gets white bread and biscuits from the other—for strange fare tastes