close-fitting cap, and telling him that he would
certainly die if he removed it, he turned him
out of his palace into the wide, wide world.
The lad now bethought himself of the gifts
which he had received from the marble statue,
and first taking out the rod, required a straight
road to the nearest house. The trees of the
forest at once opened, so as to leave a broad
highway; passing along this, he came to the
garden of a king's palace, where a gardener,
who was hard at work, asked him why he did
not work too. He explained that there was
something wrong in his head, which kept
people from employing him; but the gardener
thought he was good enough to work for his
board and lodging, if he required no wages;
and engaged him accordingly.

The cap, which he was compelled to wear,
was not becoming, but, nevertheless, the king's
daughter was favourably impressed with his
appearance, and, on learning that he was the
gardener's new assistant, said that he should
bring her a nosegay on the following day. The
magical seeds now had their use, for, sowing
them, he was able to supply the princess for
three days with beautiful flowers, the fragrance
of which filled the palace. Indeed, the
bouquet on the third day was so surpassingly
gorgeous that the princess declared she would
marry none but the gardener's assistant.

The youth now felt that he could rather die
than wear the cap any longer; and, drawing
the necessary supplies from his purse, he
bought a watch and a mirror, and taking them
into the garden, laid himself under a tree.
Then, deliberately taking off the cap, he looked
steadily into the mirror, and counted the
minutes on the watch. Finding, at the end of
three minutes, that his face did not become
paler, or give any other sign of approaching
death, he perceived that the magician's warning
had merely been intended to frighten him,
and ran to the princess, with his cap still off, as
delighted to accept her offered hand as the king
was to find a son-in-law with a gold-mine on his
head.

The marriage of the princess to a stranger
was, however, displeasing to the sons of
neighbouring sovereigns, who had wooed her in vain;
uniting their forces against the common foe,
they invaded the kingdom on all sides, but were
soon repelled by an army five million strong,
which the youth raised with the magic rod.
Peace restored, the king abdicated in favour of
his son-in-law, the lad with the golden hair.

The first story is the one to which the
greatest number of parallels drawn from
familiar sources may be found. The particular
trick played on the giant is however not common;
neither is the endowment of the hero
with cannibal propensities. It will be observed
that he not only kills, but partially eats the
three magicians. This peculiarity seems to point
to people wilder than the Italians.

The manner in which the ogre is tricked by
the youngster in the second story is common
enough, a parallel being readily found in Grimm's
stories. But the compact between the lad and
the master is remarkable. How is it that personages
whose very atmosphere is trickery, find
themselves so completely bound by a verbal
agreement, that neither of them dreams of
escaping from its conditions, but both submit
without a struggle to the penalty they have
incurred? It seems to us that there is some gap
in the story; that something has been lost which
would explain the impossibility of a breach of
the extraordinary contract.

Of all the three stories, the last is the most
pleasing. It contains in a singular manner the
element of " curiosity punished" with that of
the acquisition of magical gifts: though the
gifts are less distinct than in many other
tales, the virtue of the rod being so great that
the power of the rest becomes superfluous, and
is only used for a purpose for which preternatural
aid is scarcely required. We ought also
to know something more about those singular
statues, who are able to confer what is little
short of omnipotence, yet cannot release
themselves from durance vile.

FAREWELL SERIES OF READINGS

BY
MR. CHARLES DICKENS.

MESSRS. CHAPPELL AND Co. beg to announce
that, knowing it to be the determination of MR.
DICKENS finally to retire from Public Reading soon
after his return from America, they (as having been
honoured with his confidence on previous occasions)
made proposals to him while he was still in the
United States achieving his recent brilliant successes
there, for a final FAREWELL SERIES OF READINGS in
this country. Their proposals were at once accepted by
MR. DICKENS, in a manner highly gratifying to them.

The Series will commence in the ensuing autumn,
and will comprehend, besides London, some of the
chief towns in England, Ireland, and Scotland.
It is scarcely necessary for MESSRS. CHAPPELL AND
Co. to add that any announcement made in connexion
with these FAREWELL READINGS will be strictly
adhered to, and considered final; and that on no
consideration whatever will MR. DICKENS be induced to
appoint an extra night in any place in which he shall
have been once announced to read for the last time.
All communications to be addressed to MESSRS.
CHAPPELL AND Co., 50, New Bond-street, London, W.

Just published, bound in cloth, price 5s. 6.d.,
THE NINETEENTH VOLUME.