Jutland - Tinsel for the gold

"But they went very far, and of eight daughters only three returned to
their mother, and these came wailing, 'We only went a short way from
the door, when the terrible eel-spearer came and killed our five
sisters.' 'They will come back[14] again,' said the eel-mother. 'No,'

said the daughters, 'for he skinned them, cut them in pieces, and
fried them.' 'They will come again,' repeated the mother. 'Impossible,
for he ate them.' 'They will come again,' still persisted the
eel-mother. 'But he drank brandy after he had eaten them,' said the
daughter. 'Did he? Oh! oh! then they will never come again,' howled
the mother. 'Brandy buries eels.'

"And therefore one must always drink a little brandy after that dish,"
said the eel-man.

And this story made a great impression on little Jörgen, and partly
influenced his life. He took the tinsel for the gold. He also wished
to go "a little way up the stream"—that is to say, to go away in a
ship to see the world—and his mother said as the eel-mother had done.

"There are many bad men—eel-spearers." But a little way beyond the
sand-hills, and a little way on the heath, he was allowed to go, he
begged so hard. Four happy days, however—days that seemed the
brightest among his childish years, turned up: he was to go to a large
meeting. What pleasure, although it was to a funeral!