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THE SHADOW
In the hot countries the sun burns very strongly ; there the people become quite mahogany brown, and in the very hottest countries they are even burned into negroes. But this time it was only to the hot countries that a learned man out of the cold regions had come. He thought he could roam about there just as he had been accustomed to do at home ; but he soon altered his opinion. He and all sensible people had to remain at home, where the window-shutters and doors were shut all daj^ long, and it looked as if all the inmates were asleep or had gone out. The narrow street with the high houses in which he lived was, however, built in such a way that the sun shone upon it from morning till evening ; it was really quite unbearable ! The learned man from the cold regions was a young man and a clever man : it seemed to him as if he was sitting in a glowing oven that exhausted him greatly, and he became quite thin ; even his Shadow shrivelled up and became much smaller than it had been at home ; the sun even told upon it, and it did not recover till the evening, when the sun went down. It was really a pleasure to see this. So soon as a light was brought into the room the Shadow stretched itself quite up the wall, farther even than the ceiling, so tall did it make itself ; it was obliged to stretch to get strength again. The learned man went out into the balcony to stretch himself, and as soon as the stars came out in the beautiful clear sky, he felt himself reviving. On all the balconies in the streets—and in the hot countries there is a balcony to every window—people now appeared, for one must breathe fresh air, even if one has got used to being mahogany ; then it became lively above and below ; the shoemakers and tailors and everybody sat below in the street; then tables and chairs were brought out, and candles burned, yes, more than a thousand candles ; one talked and another sang, and the people walked to and fro ; carriages drove past, mules trotted, ' Kling-ling-ling ! J for they had bells on their harness ; dead people were buried with solemn songs ; the church bells rang, and it was |
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