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in the most fashionable street in the city stood a fineold house； the wall around it had bits of glass worked intoit， so that when the sun or the moon shone it looked as if itwere covered with diamonds．that was a sign of wealth， and there was great wealth inside． it was said that the mer－chant was a man rich enough to put two barrels of gold intohis best parlor and could even put a barrel of gold pieces，as a savings bank against the future， outside the door of theroom where his little son was born．
when the baby arrived in the rich house， there was great joy from the cellar up to the garret；and up there， there was still greater joy an hour or two later． the ware－houseman and his wife lived in the garret， and there， too，at the same time， a little son arrived，given by our lord，brought by the stork， and exhibited by the mother．and there， too， was a barrel outside the door，quite accidental－ly； but it was not a barrel of gold—it was a barrel of sweepings．
the rich merchant was a very kind，fine man．his wife， delicate and always dressed in clothes of high quali－ty，was pious and， besides，was kind and good to the poor．everybody rejoiced with these two people on now having a little son who would grow up and be rich and hap－py， like his father． when the little boy was baptized he was called felix， which in latin means"lucky，" and thishe was， and his parents were even more so．
the warehouseman， a fellow who was really good to the core， and his wife， an honest and industrious woman，were well liked by all who knew them． how lucky they were to have their little boy； he was called peer．
the boy on the first floor and the boy in the garret each received the same amount of kisses from his parentsand just as much sunshine from our lord； but still theywere placed a little differently—one downstairs， and oneup．peer sat the highest，way up in the garret， and he had his own mother for a nurse；little felix had a strangerfor his nurse， but she was good and honest—that was written in her service book． the rich child had a prettybaby carriage， which was pushed about by his elegantly dressed nurse； the child from the garret was carried in thearms of his own nither，both when she was in her sunday clothes and when she had her everyday things on， and hewas just as happy．
both children soon began to observe things； they were growing， and both could show with their hands how tall they were， and say single words in their mother tongue．they were equally handsome， petted，and equallyfond of sweets． as they grew up， they both got an equalamount of pleasure out of the merchant's horses and car－riages．felix was allowed to sit by the coachman， alongwith his nurse， and look at the horses； he would fancyhimself driving．peer was allowed to sit at the garret win－dow and look down into the yard when the master and mistress went out to drive；and when they had left， hewould place two chairs，one in front of the other， up there in the room， and so he would drive himself； he wasthe real coachman—that was a little more than fancying himself to be the coachman．
they got along splendidly， these two； yet it was notuntil they were two years old that they spoke to each oth－er．felix was always elegantly dressed in silk and velvet，with bare knees， after the english style．"the poor childwill freezer！"said the family in the garret．peer had trousers that came down to his ankles， but one day his clothes were torn right across his knees， so that he got asmuch of a draft and was just as much undressed as the merchant's delicate little boy．felix came along with hismother and was about to go out through the gate when peer came along with his and wanted to go in．
"give little peer your hand，"said the merchant'swife．"you two should talk to each other．"
and one said，"peer！"and the other said，"felix！"yes， and that was all they said at that time．
the rich lady coddled her boy，but there was one who coddled peer just as much， and that was his grandmother．
she was weak－sighted， and yet she saw much more in little peer than his father or mother could see； yes， more thanany person could．
"the sweet child，"she said，"is surely going to get on in the world．he was born with a gold apple in his hand； i can see it even with my poor sight．why， there is the shining apple！" and she kissed the child's little hand．his parents could see nothing，and neither could peer；but as he grew to have more understanding， he liked to believe it．
"that is such a story， such a fairy tale， that grand- mother tells！"said the parents．
yes， grandmother could tell stories， and peer wasnever tired of hearing always the same ones．she taught him a psalm and the lord's prayer as well， and he could say it， not as gabble but as words that meant something；
she explained every single sentence in it to him． he gave particular thought to what grandmother said about the words，"give us this day our daily bread"； he was to un-derstand that it was necessary for one to get wheat bread，for another to get black bread； one must have a great housewhen he had many people in his employ； another， in small circumstances， could live quite as happily in a little roomin the garret．"so each person has what he calls 'daily bread．'"
peer， of course， had his good daily bread—and the most delightful days， too， but they were not to last forever．the sad years of war began； the young men were to goaway， and the older men as well． peer's father was amongthose who were called in； and soon afterward it was heard that he had been one of the first to fall in battle against thesuperior enemy．
there was bitter grief in the little room in the garret．the mother cried； the grandmother and little peer cried；
and every time one of the neighbors came up to see them， they talked about"papa， and then they cried all together．
the widow， meanwinle， was given permission to stay in hergarret flat，rent-free，during the first year，and afterward she was to pay only a small rent． the grandmother stayed with the mother， who supported herself by washing forseveral"single， elegant gentlemen，"as she called them．peer had neither sorrow nor want． he had plenty of food and drink， and grandmother told him stories， such strangeand wonderful ones about the wide world ，that he asked her，one day， if the two of them might not go to foreign lands some sunday and return home as prince and princess， wearing gold crowns．
"i am too old for that，"said grandmother，"and youmust first learn a good many things and become big and strong； but you must always be a good and affectionate child—as you are now．"
peer rode around the room on hobbyhorses； he had two such horses． but the mer- chant's son had a real live horse； it was so small that it might well have been called a baby horse， which， in fact， peer called it， and it never could become any bigger．fe－ lix rode it in the yard； yes， and he even rode it outside the gate，when his father and a riding master from the king's stable were with him．for the first half－hour， peer had not liked his horses and hadn't ridden them， for they were not real； and then he had asked his mother why he could not have a real horse like little felix had， and his mother had said，"felix lives down onthe first floor， close by the stables， but you live high upunder the roof． one cannot have horses up in the garret ex－cept like those you have． you should ride on them．"
and so now peer rode—first to the chest of drawers，the great mountain with its many treasures；both peter'ssunday clothes and his mother's were there， and there were the shining silver dollars that she laid aside for rent；then he rode to the stove，which he called the black bear；it slept all summer long，but when winter came it had to be useful， to warm the room and cook the meals．
peer had a godfather who usually came there every sunday during the winter and got a good warm meal．
things had gone wrong for him， said the mother and the grandmother． he had begun as a coachman．he had been drinking and had fallen asleep at his post， and that neither a soldier nor a coachman should do． he then had become acabman and driven a cab， or sometimes a carriage， and of－ten for very elegant people．but now he drove a garbage wagon and went from door to door， swinging his rattle， "snurre－rurre－ud！"and from all the houses came the ser－ vantgirls and housewives with their buckets full， and turned these into the wagon；rubbish and junk， ashes and sweep－ings， were all thrown in．
one day peer came down from the garret after his mother had gone to town． he stood at the open gate， andthere outside was godfather with his wagon．"would you like to take a drive？" he asked． yes， peer was willing to indeed，but only as far as the corner． his eyes shone as he sat on the seat with codfather and was allowed to hold the whip．peer drove with real live horses，drove right to the corner． then his mother came along； she looked rather du－ bious， for it was not very nice to see her own little son rid-ing on a garbage wagon．she told him to get down at once．
still，she thanked godfather；but at home she forbade peer to drive with him again．
one day he again went down to the gate． there was no codfather there to tempt him with a drive， but therewere other temptations． three or four small street urchinswere down in the gutter，poking about to see what they could find that had been lost or had hidden itself there．frequently they had found a button or a copper coin，but frequently， too， they had cut themselves on a broken bot－ tle， or pricked themselves with a pin， which just now was the case．peer simply had to join them， and when he got down among the gutter stones he found a silver coin．
another day he was again down digging with the other boys； they only got dirty fingers ； he found a gold ring， andthen，with sparkling eyes， showed off his lucky find；whereupon the others threw dirt at him and called himlucky peer．they wouldn't permit him to be with them any more when they poked in the gutter．
back of the merchant's yard there was some low ground that was to be filled up for building lots；graveland ashes were carted and dumped out there，great heaps of it． godfather helped deliver it in his wagon， but peerwas not allowed to drive with him． the street urchins dug in the heaps， dug with a stick and with their bare hands；they always found one thing or another that seemed worth picking up．
then little peer came along． they saw him and cried，"get away from here，lucky peer！"and when， despite this， he came closer， they threw lumps of dirt athim． one of these struck against his wooden shoe and crumbled to pieces． something shining rolled out， and peer picked it up； it was a little heart made of amber． heran home with it． the other boys did not notice that even when they threw dirt at him he was a child of luck．
the silver coin he had found was put away in his savings bank． the ring and the amber heart were shown to the merchant's wife downstairs， because the mother want-ed to know if they were lost articles that should be returned to the police．
how the eyes of the merchant's wife shone on see－ing the ring！ it was her own engagement ring， one that she bad lost three years before！ that's how long it hadlain in the gutter． peer was well rewarded， and the money rattled in his little box． the amber heart was a cheap thing， the lady said；peer might just as well keep that．
at night the amber heart lay on the bureau，and the grandmother lay in bed．
"my， what is it that burns so！" she said．"it looksas if a small candle is lighted there．"she got up to see，and it was the little heart of amber—yes，grandmother， with her weak sight，frequently saw more than anyone else could see．she had her own thoughts about it．the next morning she took a narrow，strong ribbon，drew it through the opening at the top of the heart， and put it around her little grandson's neck．
"you must never take it off， except to put a new ribbon into it， and you must not show it to the other boys， either， for then they would take it from you， andyou would get a stomachache！"that was the only painful sickness little peer had known so far． there was a strange power， too， in that heart． grandmother showed him that when she rubbed it with her hand， and a little straw wasput next to it， the straw seemed to be alive and was drawn to the heart of amber and would not let go．

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