1、Children's Prattleby Hans Christian Andersen（1859） AT a rich merchant's house there was achildren's party， and the children of rich and GREatpeople were there. The merchant was a learnedman， for his father had sent him to college， and hehad passed his exami
2、nation. His father had been atfirst only a cattle dealer， but always honest andindustrious， so that he had made money， and hisson， the merchant， had managed to increase hisstore. Clever as he was， he had also a heart； but there was less said of his heart tha
3、n of hismoney. All descriptions of people visited at the merchant's house， well born， as well asintellectual， and some who possessed neither of these recommendations. Now it was a children's party， and there was children's prattle， which always is spokenfre
4、ely from the heart. Among them was a beautiful little girl， who was terribly proud； but thishad been taught her by the servants， and not by her parents， who were far too sensiblepeople. Her father was groom of the Chambers， which is a high office at court，
5、and she knew it.“I am a child of the court，” she said； now she might just as well have been a child of thecellar， for no one can help his birth； and then she told the other children that she was well-born， and said that no one who was not well-born could ris
6、e in the world. It was no use toread and be industrious， for if a person was not well-born， he could never achieveanything.“And those whose names end with 'sen，'” said she，“can never be anything at all.We must put our arms akimbo， and make the elbow quite po
7、inted， so as to keep these 'sen'people at a GREat distance.” And then she stuck out her pretty little arms， and made theelbows quite pointed， to show how it was to be done； and her little arms were very pretty，for she was a sweet-looking child. But the litt
8、le daughter of the merchant became very angry at this speech， for her father'sname was Petersen， and she knew that the name ended in “sen，” and therefore she said asproudly as she could，“But my
