High up in the attic of an old house stood an old dressing table with a dusty mirror. Someone had left three figurines standing on it. One was a shepherdess, the second a chimney sweep, and the third a Chinese man. All three were made of porcelain.
The shepherdess had golden shoes and a golden bonnet, red roses on her dress, and a shepherd’s crook in her hand. There was a gentle smile on her face. She was beautiful! The chimney sweep, who stood next to her, was as black as soot but was otherwise very tidy and well-groomed. He held his ladder in one hand and was also smiling—he seemed by chance to be smiling directly at the shepherdess. However, if you were to watch them for a little while, you would soon see that this was not by chance at all. The two had long since fallen in love.
The third figurine on the table was that of an old man from China, who could shake his head. He claimed to be the shepherdess’s grandfather and said that as such he could decide whom she would marry. He took no notice of the fact that the shepherdess loved the chimney sweep. He had chosen quite a different husband for her.
In the darkest corner of the attic stood an antique cupboard that was decorated with an engraving of a strange man. He was not smiling; he had a horrible grimace on his face. In fact, he looked rather like a devil—he had cloven feet, a long chin, and two strange little horns on his forehead.
“He must surely be hiding an immense fortune in that cupboard,” the old Chinese man said, “he will make an excellent match!”
But the shepherdess protested…
