“Tell the truth, at once!”
“No!”
“I will pull your ears.”
“No you won’t; I’ll run away.”
Christian stopped Nils, who tried to make his escape with the marionettes.
“If you tell me the truth,” he said, “I will give you a pretty little horse with a red and gold saddle-cloth.”
“Let me see it.”
“Now,” said Christian, handing him the plaything, which was one of his properties, “speak, brat!”
“Well,” said the child, “this is how it was: I went just now, to light M. Goefle to M. Stenson’s house—you know who I mean, the old man, who, they say, cannot hear anything, who lives in the other court.”
“Yes, I know; go on quickly, and tell the truth, or I will take back my horse.”