Read In a Glass Grimmly for Free Online Page B

lamb, little lamb, little lamb.
    Marie had a little lamb whose fleece was black as coal.
    “Stop following me!” shouted Marie.
    Everywhere that Marie went, Marie went, Marie went,
    Everywhere that Marie went the lamb was sure to go.
    “Get away from me!”
    It made the children laugh and play, laugh and play, laugh and play,
    It made the children laugh and play to see the lamb follow.
    “Nobody wants you here!”
    Marie was a tall boy, with a sharp face and bright eyes, and he was the bravest, strongest, funniest boy in the village. If Jack could have been anyone in the world, he would not have been king of the kingdom of Märchen. He would have been king of the boys in the village. He would have been Marie.
    ----
    Wait, you’re telling me that “Marie” is a
boy?
    Yes. You see, in German countries, like the kingdom of Märchen was, boys are often given two names. And sometimes, the second name is Marie, or Maria. There is a famous poet named Rainer Maria Rilke. He is a boy. Well, he was a boy. Now he is dead.
    Anyway, yes, I’m telling you that “Marie” is a boy.
    ----
    One day, Jack’s father called Jack to his side. “Do you know what tomorrow is?”
    Jack nodded. “My birthday.”
    His father asked, “Would you like your gift now?”
    Jack clapped his hands and jumped into his father’s lap. But his father gently pushed him away. “Boy,” he said, “it’s going to be your birthday. I think it’s time you started acting like a man.”
    Jack nodded and slowly crawled down off his father’s lap.
    “Not just a man, Jack. I think it’s time you started acting like your own man. Taking more responsibility. And not following those boys around so much.”
    “I don’t follow them around,” said Jack. “They’re my friends.”
    Jack’s father sighed. “Anyway, money is tight. Perhaps you’ve noticed. You see, the cow—”
    “Milky!” said Jack.
    “Yes, you call her Milky,” his father conceded. “Money is tight because the cow is not giving milk anymore. We have to sell her.”
    “No!” cried Jack.
    “And I’ve decided that your birthday present is the opportunity to be your own man: to take her to market all by yourself, and to sell the cow.”
    “I don’t want to sell Milky!”
    Jack’s father’s face grew dark. “You’ll sell her,” Jack’s father said, “for no less than five gold pieces. You’ll do it all by yourself. It’ll prove that you’re a man—your own man.”
    Jack clenched his jaw.
I’ll be my own man,
he thought.
    “Happy birthday,” said his father.
    ----
    The sun was just beginning to filter through the black pines and a rooster was crowing his head off on a nearby farm and the ragwort and the heather were rustling against each other in the wind when Jack led Milky off of his father’s land and onto the road. He was taking Milky to market all by himself.
    Jack and the cow walked and walked and walked and walked and walked. Milky lowed from time to time, which made Jack sad, but he just kept telling himself, “Today you become your own man. Happy birthday. Today you become your own man. Happy birthday. Today you become your own man . . .”
    As Jack got closer to town, he saw many people on the road: a woman with geese all around her, honking and flapping; a man with a crooked back carrying broomsticks as crooked as he was; a tanner with stiff brown hides clacking with each step.
    As the tanner passed by, he eyed Milky. He slowed his pace. He nodded at Jack.
    Little Jack saw what he was carrying and jerked his head away.
    Those were
cow skins
.
    The tanner shrugged and walked on ahead.
    Jack kept moving toward the market. After a while, he heard a strange sound behind him. It was like a rattling and a clunking and a shouting all at once. It was coming from down the road. Jack turned and looked.
    He could only see a cloud of dust. But he could hear the shouting more clearly now:
    “Potions, elixirs, snake oil, gin!
    Tell me what ails you and give me a