When Christmas came, they cleaned up the house in the best manner, set
everything in order, kindled a fire on the hearth, and as the twilight
approached they went up to the loft, where they remained quite still
and quiet. At length it grew dark; they thought they heard a sound of
whizzing and snorting in the air, such as the swans used to make in
the winter time. There was a hole in the roof over the fireplace,
which might be opened and shut either to let in the light from above,
or to afford a free passage for the smoke. Orm lifted up the lid,
which was covered with a skin, and put out his head. But what a
wonderful sight then presented itself to his eyes! The little islands
around were all lit up with countless blue lights, which moved about
without ceasing, jumped up and down, then skipped to the shore,
assembled together, and came nearer and nearer to the large island
where Orm and Aslog lived. At last they reached it, and arranged
themselves in a circle around a large stone not far from the shore,
and which Orm well knew. But what was his surprise when he saw that
the stone had now completely assumed the form of a man, though a
monstrous and gigantic one! He could clearly perceive that the little
blue lights were borne by Dwarfs whose pale clay-coloured faces, with
their huge noses and red eyes, disfigured too by birds' bills and
owls' eyes, were supported by misshapen bodies, and they tottered and
wabbled about here and there, so that they seemed to be at the same
time merry and in pain.
Pages:
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164