Amrie:
“A painted fire has no heat;
A broken knife has no point.”
Suddenly, John snapped his fingers. “Now I have one,” and he sang,—
“What has no head and yet has feet?
What without sugar, still tastes sweet?”
Amrie could not guess, and John sang:
“Without head, the yard measure has feet;
And the kiss of thy lips is always sweet.”
They entered the door of the first inn they came to, and as John called for coffee, Amrie said:
“How beautifully is every thing ordered in this world! Here are people who have furnished a house with chairs and tables and benches; in the kitchen burns the fire, and there is coffee and milk and sugar, and a beautiful service for the table, and all for us, as though we had ordered it; then, as we go further we shall find the same; it is exactly as in a fairy tale,—‘Table be covered.’”
“But this belongs to it,” said John, taking a handful of money from his pocket. “Without this we could get nothing.”
“Ah, yes,” said Amrie, “upon these little wheels one can roll through the world. But tell me, John, did you ever in your life taste such good coffee: and this fresh, white bread! But you have ordered too much of it; what can we do with it? I can take the bread with me, but the coffee! Oh! what a good breakfast it would give many poor persons. We must leave it, and you must pay for it!”