Opening, part 38 · page 21 2101When they got to the bottom Hans saw a large number of rooms lit by many lamps and full of beautiful things.102While he was looking round the old man said to him:103'Now you know what you have to do.104You must keep these rooms clean, and strew sand on the floor every day.105Here is a table where you will always find food and drink, and there is your bed.106You see there are a great many suits of clothes hanging on the wall, and you may wear any you please; but remember that you are never to open this locked door.107If you do ill will befall you.108Farewell, for I am going away again and cannot tell when I may return.109No sooner had the old man disappeared than Hans sat down to a good meal, and after that went to bed and slept until the morning.110At first he could not remember what had happened to him, but by-and-by he jumped up and went into all the rooms, which he examined carefully.111'How foolish to bid me to put sand on the floors,' he thought, 'when there is nobody here by myself!112I shall do nothing of the sort.'113And so he shut the doors quickly, and only cleaned and set in order his own room.114And after the first few days he felt that that was unnecessary too, because no one came there to see if the rooms where clean or not.115At last he did no work at all, but just sat and wondered what was behind the locked door, till he determined to go and look for himself.1 2← previousOpening, part 37next →Opening, part 39↑ back to The Orange Fairy BookThis page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3027/38/page/2/