anne lisbeth's complexion was like peaches and cream; her eyes were bright, her teeth shiny white; she was young, gay, and beautiful to look upon; her steps were light and her mind was even lighter. what would come of all this? "that awful brat," people said about her baby; and indeed he wasn't pretty, so he was left with the ditchdigger's wife.
anne lisbeth went into service in the count's castle. there she sat in a magnificent room, dressed in silk and velvet; not a breath of wind was allowed to blow on her nor anyone to speak a harsh word to her. she was nurse to the count's child, who was as beloved as a prince, beautiful as an angel. how she loved him!
her own child was provided for in the ditchdigger's house, where his wife's temper boiled over more often than her pot. sometimes the child was left alone all day long, and cried; but what nobody hears doesn't bother anyone! he cried himself to sleep, and in sleep there is neither hunger nor thirst; sleep is such a good invention!
"ill weeds grow fast," says the proverb, and anne lisbeth's boy did indeed shoot up rapidly. it was as if he had taken root in the ditchdigger's household; his mother had paid for his upbringing and considered herself well rid of him. she was a city lady now, was well provided for, and whenever she went out she was beautifully dressed; but she never went to see her son at the ditchdigger's; that was too far from the city, and there was no reason for her to go there, anyway; the boy was theirs, and now, they decided, it was time for him to earn his keep; so he found work tending mads jensen's red cow.
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