DANISH FAIRY AND FOLK TALES
coachman stop, and sent his servant in, asking him to see whether his shoes were finished.
The servant walked in, greeted, and delivered his errand.
"Whew, whe-ew, whe-e-e-e-e-e-ew!" whistled the shoemaker, who sat on his three-legged chair, battling with the air, and sewing diligently. As the servant could not draw a single word from him by way of answer, he turned to the woman, whose spinning-wheel went so rapidly that sparks flew from it. "How is it," asked he. "that your husband does not answer when I talk to him?" "Tralala-lide-lide-raderade lidelidelidelidelide ralala!" sang the woman at the top of her voice, spinning with all her might and looking straight into his face. The servant saw that there was nothing for him to do but return to his master in the carriage. The two people must have lost their senses!
When he reached the carriage, the squire asked him if the shoes were finished.
"I don't know," replied he; "the shoemaker and his wife must have lost their senses. The man whistles and the woman sings, and those are all the sounds they utter. They would not say as much as one plain word."
The squire alighted to see what had happened to the persons within. "If they pretend to make fun of their customers, I shall teach them manners," said he to himself. "Here they are, and here I come." So he opened the door and walked in.
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