Little Claus and Big Claus by Hans Christian Andersen ( 1835 ) N a village there once lived two men who had the same name . They were both called Claus . one of them had four horses , but the other had only one ; so to distinguish them , people called the owner of the four horses , “ Great Claus , ” and he who had only one , “ Little Claus . ” Now we shall hear what happened to them , for this is a true story . Through the whole week , Little Claus was obliged to plough for Great Claus , and lend him his one horse ; and once a week , on a Sunday , Great Claus lent him all his four horses . Then how Little Claus would smack his whip over all five horses , they were as good as his own on that one day . The sun shone brightly , and the church bells were ringing merrily as the people passed by , dressed in their best clothes , with their prayer - books under their arms . They were going to hear the clergyman preach . They looked at Little Claus ploughing with his five horses , and he was so proud that he smacked his whip , and said , “ Gee - up , my five horses . ” “ You must not say that , ” said Big Claus ; “ for only one of them belongs to you . ” But Little Claus soon forgot what he ought to say , and when any one passed he would call out , “ Gee - up , my five horses ! ” “ Now I must beg you not to say that again , ” said Big Claus ; “ for if you do , I shall hit your horse on the head , so that he will drop dead on the spot , and there will be an end of him . ” “ I promise you I will not say it any more , ” said the other ; but as soon as people came by , nodding to him , and wishing him “ Good day , ” he became so pleased , and thought how grand it looked to have five horses ploughing in his field , that he cried out again , “ Gee - up , all my horses ! ” “ I ’ ll gee - up your horses for you , ” said Big Claus ; and seizing a hammer , he struck the one horse of Little Claus on the head , and he fell dead instantly . “ Oh , now I have no horse at all , ” said Little Claus , weeping . But after a while he took off the dead horse ’ s skin , and hung the hide to dry in the wind . Then he put the dry skin into a bag , and , placing it over his shoulder , went out into the next town to sell the horse ’ s skin . He had a very long way to go , and had to pass through a dark , gloomy forest . Presently a storm arose , and he lost his way , and before he discovered the right path , evening came on , and it was still a long way to the town , and too far to return home before night . Near the road stood a large farmhouse . The shutters outside the windows were closed , but lights shone through the crevices at the top . “ I might get permission to stay here for the night , ” thought Little Claus ; so he went up to the door and knocked . The farmer ’ s wife opened the door ; but when she heard what he wanted , she told him to go away , as her husband would not allow her to admit strangers . “ Then I shall be obliged to lie out here , ” said Little Claus to himself , as the farmer ’ s wife shut the door in his face . Near to the farmhouse stood a large haystack , and between it and the house was a small shed , with a thatched roof . “ I can lie up there , ” said Little Claus , as he saw the roof ; “ it will make a famous bed , but I hope the stork will not fly down and bite my legs ;” for on it stood a living stork , whose nest was in the roof . So Little Claus climbed to the roof of the shed , and while he turned himself to get comfortable , he discovered that the wooden shutters , which were closed , did not reach to the tops of the windows of the farmhouse , so that he could see into a room , in which a large table was laid out with wine , roast meat , and a splendid fish . The farmer ’ s wife and the sexton were sitting at the table together ; and she filled his glass , and helped him plenteously to fish , which appeared to be his favorite dish . “ If I could only get some , too , ” thought Little Claus ; and then , as he stretched his neck towards the window he spied a large , beautiful pie , — indeed they had a glorious feast before them . At this moment he heard some one riding down the road , towards the farmhouse . It was the farmer returning home . He was a good man , but still he had a very strange prejudice , — he could not bear the sight of a sexton . If one appeared before him , he would put himself in a terrible rage . In consequence of this dislike , the sexton had gone to visit the farmer ’ s wife during her husband ’ s absence from home , and the good woman had placed before him the best she had in the house to eat . When she heard the farmer coming she was frightened , and begged the sexton to hide himself in a large empty chest that stood in the room . He did so , for he knew her husband could not endure the sight of a sexton . The woman then quickly put away the wine , and hid all the rest of the nice things in the oven ; for if her husband had seen them he would have asked what they were brought out for . “ Oh , dear , ” sighed Little Claus from the top of the shed , as he saw all the good things disappear . “ Is any one up there ? ” asked the farmer , looking up and discovering Little Claus . “ Why are you lying up there ? Come down , and come into the house with me . ” So Little Claus came down and told the farmer how he had lost his way and begged for a night ’ s lodging . “ All right , ” said the farmer ; “ but we must have something to eat first . ” The woman received them both very kindly , laid the cloth on a large table , and placed before them a dish of porridge . The farmer was very hungry , and ate his porridge with a good appetite , but Little Claus could not help thinking of the nice roast meat , fish and pies , which he knew were in the oven . Under the table , at his feet , lay the sack containing the horse ’ s skin , which he intended to sell at the next town . Now Little Claus did not relish the porridge at all , so he trod with his foot on the sack under the table , and the dry skin squeaked quite loud . “ Hush ! ” said Little Claus to his sack , at the same time treading upon it again , till it squeaked louder than before . “ Hallo ! what have you got in your sack ! ” asked the farmer . “ Oh , it is a conjuror , ” said Little Claus ; “ and he says we need not eat porridge , for he has conjured the oven full of roast meat , fish , and pie . ” “ Wonderful ! ” cried the farmer , starting up and opening the oven door ; and there lay all the nice things hidden by the farmer ’ s wife , but which he supposed had been conjured there by the wizard under the table . The woman dared not say anything ; so she placed the things before them , and they both ate of the fish , the meat , and the pastry . Then Little Claus trod again upon his sack , and it squeaked as before . “ What does he say now ? ” asked the farmer . “ He says , ” replied Little Claus , “ that there are three bottles of wine for us , standing in the corner , by the oven . ” So the woman was obliged to bring out the wine also , which she had hidden , and the farmer drank it till he became quite merry . He would have liked such a conjuror as Little Claus carried in his sack . “ Could he conjure up the evil one ? ” asked the farmer . “ I should like to see him now , while I am so merry . ” “ Oh , yes ! ” replied Little Claus , “ my conjuror can do anything I ask him , — can you not ? ” he asked , treading at the same time on the sack till it squeaked . “ Do you hear ? he answers ’ Yes , ’ but he fears that we shall not like to look at him . ” “ Oh , I am not afraid . What will he be like ? ” “ Well , he is very much like a sexton . ” “ Ha ! ” said the farmer , “ then he must be ugly . Do you know I cannot endure the sight of a sexton . However , that doesn ’ t matter , I shall know who it is ; so I shall not mind . Now then , I have got up my courage , but don ’ t let him come too near me . ” “ Stop , I must ask the conjuror , ” said Little Claus ; so he trod on the bag , and stooped his ear down to listen . “ What does he say ? ” “ He says that you must go and open that large chest which stands in the corner , and you will see the evil one crouching down inside ; but you must hold the lid firmly , that he may not slip out . ” “ Will you come and help me hold it ? ” said the farmer , going towards the chest in which his wife had hidden the sexton , who now lay inside , very much frightened . The farmer opened the lid a very little way , and peeped in . “ Oh , ” cried he , springing backwards , “ I saw him , and he is exactly like our sexton . How dreadful it is ! ” So after that he was obliged to drink again , and they sat and drank till far into the night . “ You must sell your conjuror to me , ” said the farmer ; “ ask as much as you like , I will pay it ; indeed I would give you directly a whole bushel of gold . ” “ No , indeed , I cannot , ” said Little Claus ; “ only think how much profit I could make out of this conjuror . ” “ But I should like to have him , ” said the fanner , still continuing his entreaties . “ Well , ” said Little Claus at length , “ you have been so good as to give me a night ’ s lodging , I will not refuse you ; you shall have the conjuror for a bushel of money , but I will have quite full measure . ” “ So you shall , ” said the farmer ; “ but you must take away the chest as well . I would not have it in the house another hour ; there is no knowing if he may not be still there . ” So Little Claus gave the farmer the sack containing the dried horse ’ s skin , and received in exchange a bushel of money — full measure . The farmer also gave him a wheelbarrow on which to carry away the chest and the gold . “ Farewell , ” said Little Claus , as he went off with his money and the great chest , in which the sexton lay still concealed . on one side of the forest was a broad , deep river , the water flowed so rapidly that very few were able to swim against the stream . A new bridge had lately been built across it , and in the middle of this bridge Little Claus stopped , and said , loud enough to be heard by the sexton , “ Now what shall I do with this stupid chest ; it is as heavy as if it were full of stones : I shall be tired if I roll it any farther , so I may as well throw it in the river ; if it swims after me to my house , well and good , and if not , it will not much matter . ” So he seized the chest in his hand and lifted it up a little , as if he were going to throw it into the water . “ No , leave it alone , ” cried the sexton from within the chest ; “ let me out first . ” “ Oh , ” exclaimed Little Claus , pretending to be frightened , “ he is in there still , is he ? I must throw him into the river , that he may be drowned . ” “ Oh , no ; oh , no , ” cried the sexton ; “ I will give you a whole bushel full of money if you will let me go . ” “ Why , that is another matter , ” said Little Claus , opening the chest . The sexton crept out , pushed the empty chest into the water , and went to his house , then he measured out a whole bushel full of gold for Little Claus , who had already received one from the farmer , so that now he had a barrow full . “ I have been well paid for my horse , ” said he to himself when he reached home , entered his own room , and emptied all his money into a heap on the floor . “ How vexed Great Claus will be when he finds out how rich I have become all through my one horse ; but I shall not tell him exactly how it all happened . ” Then he sent a boy to Great Claus to borrow a bushel measure . “ What can he want it for ? ” thought Great Claus ; so he smeared the bottom of the measure with tar , that some of whatever was put into it might stick there and remain . And so it happened ; for when the measure returned , three new silver florins were sticking to it . “ What does this mean ? ” said Great Claus ; so he ran off directly to Little Claus , and asked , “ Where did you get so much money ? ” “ Oh , for my horse ’ s skin , I sold it yesterday . ” “ It was certainly well paid for then , ” said Great Claus ; and he ran home to his house , seized a hatchet , and knocked all his four horses on the head , flayed off their skins , and took them to the town to sell . “ Skins , skins , who ’ ll buy skins ? ” he cried , as he went through the streets . All the shoemakers and tanners came running , and asked how much he wanted for them . “ A bushel of money , for each , ” replied Great Claus . “ Are you mad ? ” they all cried ; “ do you think we have money to spend by the bushel ? ” “ Skins , skins , ” he cried again , “ who ’ ll buy skins ? ” but to all who inquired the price , his answer was , “ a bushel of money . ” “ He is making fools of us , ” said they all ; then the shoemakers took their straps , and the tanners their leather aprons , and began to beat Great Claus . “ Skins , skins ! ” they cried , mocking him ; “ yes , we ’ ll mark your skin for you , till it is black and blue . ” “ Out of the town with him , ” said they . And Great Claus was obliged to run as fast as he could , he had never before been so thoroughly beaten . “ Ah , ” said he , as he came to his house ; “ Little Claus shall pay me for this ; I will beat him to death . ” Meanwhile the old grandmother of Little Claus died . She had been cross , unkind , and really spiteful to him ; but he was very sorry , and took the dead woman and laid her in his warm bed to see if he could bring her to life again . There he determined that she should lie the whole night , while he seated himself in a chair in a corner of the room as he had often done before . During the night , as he sat there , the door opened , and in came Great Claus with a hatchet . He knew well where Little Claus ’ s bed stood ; so he went right up to it , and struck the old grandmother on the head . thinking it must be Little Claus . “ There , ” cried he , “ now you cannot make a fool of me again ;” and then he went home . “ That is a very wicked man , ” thought Little Claus ; “ he meant to kill me . It is a good thing for my old grandmother that she was already dead , or he would have taken her life . ” Then he dressed his old grandmother in her best clothes , borrowed a horse of his neighbor , and harnessed it to a cart . Then he placed the old woman on the back seat , so that she might not fall out as he drove , and rode away through the wood . By sunrise they reached a large inn , where Little Claus stopped and went to get something to eat . The landlord was a rich man , and a good man too ; but as passionate as if he had been made of pepper and snuff . “ Good morning , ” said he to Little Claus ; “ you are come betimes to - day . ” “ Yes , ” said Little Claus ; “ I am going to the town with my old grandmother ; she is sitting at the back of the wagon , but I cannot bring her into the room . Will you take her a glass of mead ? but you must speak very loud , for she cannot hear well . ” “ Yes , certainly I will , ” replied the landlord ; and , pouring out a glass of mead , he carried it out to the dead grandmother , who sat upright in the cart . “ Here is a glass of mead from your grandson , ” said the landlord . The dead woman did not answer a word , but sat quite still . “ Do you not hear ? ” cried the landlord as loud as he could ; “ here is a glass of mead from your grandson . ” Again and again he bawled it out , but as she did not stir he flew into a passion , and threw the glass of mead in her face ; it struck her on the nose , and she fell backwards out of the cart , for she was only seated there , not tied in . “ Hallo ! ” cried Little Claus , rushing out of the door , and seizing hold of the landlord by the throat ; “ you have killed my grandmother ; see , here is a great hole in her forehead . ” “ Oh , how unfortunate , ” said the landlord , wringing his hands . “ This all comes of my fiery temper . Dear Little Claus , I will give you a bushel of money ; I will bury your grandmother as if she were my own ; only keep silent , or else they will cut off my head , and that would be disagreeable . ” So it happened that Little Claus received another bushel of money , and the landlord buried his old grandmother as if she had been his own . When Little Claus reached home again , he immediately sent a boy to Great Claus , requesting him to lend him a bushel measure . “ How is this ? ” thought Great Claus ; “ did I not kill him ? I must go and see for myself . ” So he went to Little Claus , and took the bushel measure with him . “ How did you get all this money ? ” asked Great Claus , staring with wide open eyes at his neighbor ’ s treasures . “ You killed my grandmother instead of me , ” said Little Claus ; “ so I have sold her for a bushel of money . ” “ That is a good price at all events , ” said Great Claus . So he went home , took a hatchet , and killed his old grandmother with one blow . Then he placed her on a cart , and drove into the town to the apothecary , and asked him if he would buy a dead body . “ Whose is it , and where did you get it ? ” asked the apothecary . “ It is my grandmother , ” he replied ; “ I killed her with a blow , that I might get a bushel of money for her . ” “ Heaven preserve us ! ” cried the apothecary , “ you are out of your mind . Don ’ t say such things , or you will lose your head . ” And then he talked to him seriously about the wicked deed he had done , and told him that such a wicked man would surely be punished . Great Claus got so frightened that he rushed out of the surgery , jumped into the cart , whipped up his horses , and drove home quickly . The apothecary and all the people thought him mad , and let him drive where he liked . “ You shall pay for this , ” said Great Claus , as soon as he got into the highroad , “ that you shall , Little Claus . ” So as soon as he reached home he took the largest sack he could find and went over to Little Claus . “ You have played me another trick , ” said he . “ First , I killed all my horses , and then my old grandmother , and it is all your fault ; but you shall not make a fool of me any more . ” So he laid hold of Little Claus round the body , and pushed him into the sack , which he took on his shoulders , saying , “ Now I ’ m going to drown you in the river . He had a long way to go before he reached the river , and Little Claus was not a very light weight to carry . The road led by the church , and as they passed he could hear the organ playing and the people singing beautifully . Great Claus put down the sack close to the church - door , and thought he might as well go in and hear a psalm before he went any farther . Little Claus could not possibly get out of the sack , and all the people were in church ; so in he went . “ Oh dear , oh dear , ” sighed Little Claus in the sack , as he turned and twisted about ; but he found he could not loosen the string with which it was tied . Presently an old cattle driver , with snowy hair , passed by , carrying a large staff in his hand , with which he drove a large herd of cows and oxen before him . They stumbled against the sack in which lay Little Claus , and turned it over . “ Oh dear , ” sighed Little Claus , “ I am very young , yet I am soon going to heaven . ” “ And I , poor fellow , ” said the drover , “ I who am so old already , cannot get there . ” “ Open the sack , ” cried Little Claus ; “ creep into it instead of me , and you will soon be there . ” “ With all my heart , ” replied the drover , opening the sack , from which sprung Little Claus as quickly as possible . “ Will you take care of my cattle ? ” said the old man , as he crept into the bag . “ Yes , ” said Little Claus , and he tied up the sack , and then walked off with all the cows and oxen . When Great Claus came out of church , he took up the sack , and placed it on his shoulders . It appeared to have become lighter , for the old drover was not half so heavy as Little Claus . “ How light he seems now , ” said he . “ Ah , it is because I have been to a church . ” So he walked on to the river , which was deep and broad , and threw the sack containing the old drover into the water , believing it to be Little Claus . “ There you may lie ! ” he exclaimed ; “ you will play me no more tricks now . ” Then he turned to go home , but when he came to a place where two roads crossed , there was Little Claus driving the cattle . “ How is this ? ” said Great Claus . “ Did I not drown you just now ? ” “ Yes , ” said Little Claus ; “ you threw me into the river about half an hour ago . ” “ But wherever did you get all these fine beasts ? ” asked Great Claus . “ These beasts are sea - cattle , ” replied Little Claus . “ I ’ ll tell you the whole story , and thank you for drowning me ; I am above you now , I am really very rich . I was frightened , to be sure , while I lay tied up in the sack , and the wind whistled in my ears when you threw me into the river from the bridge , and I sank to the bottom immediately ; but I did not hurt myself , for I fell upon beautifully soft grass which grows down there ; and in a moment , the sack opened , and the sweetest little maiden came towards me . She had snow - white robes , and a wreath of green leaves on her wet hair . She took me by the hand , and said , ’ So you are come , Little Claus , and here are some cattle for you to begin with . About a mile farther on the road , there is another herd for you . ’ Then I saw that the river formed a great highway for the people who live in the sea . They were walking and driving here and there from the sea to the land at the , spot where the river terminates . The bed of the river was covered with the loveliest flowers and sweet fresh grass . The fish swam past me as rapidly as the birds do here in the air . How handsome all the people were , and what fine cattle were grazing on the hills and in the valleys ! ” “ But why did you come up again , ” said Great Claus , “ if it was all so beautiful down there ? I should not have done so ? ” “ Well , ” said Little Claus , “ it was good policy on my part ; you heard me say just now that I was told by the sea - maiden to go a mile farther on the road , and I should find a whole herd of cattle . By the road she meant the river , for she could not travel any other way ; but I knew the winding of the river , and how it bends , sometimes to the right and sometimes to the left , and it seemed a long way , so I chose a shorter one ; and , by coming up to the land , and then driving across the fields back again to the river , I shall save half a mile , and get all my cattle more quickly . ” “ What a lucky fellow you are ! ” exclaimed Great Claus . “ Do you think I should get any sea - cattle if I went down to the bottom of the river ? ” “ Yes , I think so , ” said Little Claus ; “ but I cannot carry you there in a sack , you are too heavy . However if you will go there first , and then creep into a sack , I will throw you in with the greatest pleasure . ” “ Thank you , ” said Great Claus ; “ but remember , if I do not get any sea - cattle down there I shall come up again and give you a good thrashing . ” “ No , now , don ’ t be too fierce about it ! ” said Little Claus , as they walked on towards the river . When they approached it , the cattle , who were very thirsty , saw the stream , and ran down to drink . “ See what a hurry they are in , ” said Little Claus , “ they are longing to get down again , ” “ Come , help me , make haste , ” said Great Claus ; “ or you ’ ll get beaten . ” So he crept into a large sack , which had been lying across the back of one of the oxen . “ Put in a stone , ” said Great Claus , “ or I may not sink . ” “ Oh , there ’ s not much fear of that , ” he replied ; still he put a large stone into the bag , and then tied it tightly , and gave it a push . “ Plump ! ” In went Great Claus , and immediately sank to the bottom of the river . “ I ’ m afraid he will not find any cattle , ” said Little Claus , and then he drove his own beasts homewards .