Golden Treasure

"

"He plays before kings and emperors," said the state musician. "That was never my good luck, but at least he was my pupil, and he hasn't forgotten his old master."

"My husband dreamed," said his mother, "that Peter came home from the war with a silver cross on his chest. Well, he does wear a cross now, but it's not a decoration earned in the war; it's an order of knighthood. If his father had only lived to see it!"

"Famous!" said the fire drum, and everybody in his home town said the same. Peter, the red-haired boy of the drummer - Peter, whom they had seen wearing wooden shoes as a youngster, and seen as a drummer boy playing at dances - was now famous.

"He played to us before he played before the kings," said the mayor's wife. "Once upon a time he was crazy about our Lotte; he always aimed high! How my husband laughed when he learned that nonsense! Now Lotte is a councilor's wife."

Yes, there was a golden treasure hidden in the heart and soul of the poor child who as a little drummer boy had beaten "Forward!" to troops supposed to retreat; in his breast was a golden treasure indeed, the gift of music. It resounded from his violin as if an organ were inside, as if all the elves of Midsummer Eve danced along its strings, and one could hear the song of the throstle and the human voice together; his playing enraptured people's hearts, and carried his name throughout all lands, like a great fire, a fire of inspiration. "And he's so handsome, too!" said the young ladies and the old ones as well. Yes, the oldest lady bought herself an album for the locks of celebrities, just so she could beg for a tress from the young violinist's abundant and beautiful hair - a treasure, a golden treasure.

And the son returned to the drummer's humble dwelling, as handsome as a prince, happier than a king, his eyes bright, his face like sunshine. He held his mother in his arms, and she kissed his warm mouth and wept as happily as one can weep with joy. He greeted every old piece of furniture in the room, the chest of drawers with the teacups and flower vases on it and the little cot where he had slept as a child.