A wooden cupboard stood in the room of a house. It was beautifully carved with tulips and deer. On the upper part was carved the sky with clouds and birds flying. In the middle was carved a satyr, a little man with a long beard, two tiny horns and a goat’s legs. The children in the house called him Billygoat-legs.
Opposite the cupboard a large mirror hung on the wall. On the other side was a table with some pretty decoration pieces. On one side stood a tiny shepherdess made of china in a pink dress, with a golden bonnet, shoes and crook. She wore a bright red rose around her neck.
Next to her was another little china figure: a chimney-sweep holding his brush and a ladder. His clothes were sooty, but his handsome face was clean. They loved each other dearly.
An old Chinaman shared the table with them. He could nod his head and looked very important because he was larger than the other two. He was a little bossy and kept a fatherly eye on the shepherdess.
Billygoat-legs waited till everyone in the house had gone out and then asked the shepherdess to marry him. The Chinaman looked pleased and nodded his head. “You should marry him, my dear,” advised the Chinaman, “The cupboard is made of fine, strong mahogany! You’ll be well off.”
“But I don’t wish to marry him,” protested the shepherdess, “And I can’t live inside a dark cupboard!”
But the Chinaman said sternly, “Tonight when everyone is asleep, you will marry Billygoat-legs and that’s final.” The shepherdess wept quietly as she turned to the chimney-sweep. “Shall we run away?” she asked him. The chimney-sweep had waited for a long time for her and so he agreed readily without any objection.
He helped her climb down the leg of the table, using his ladder till they had safely reached the floor.
Old Billygoat-legs awoke and yelled, “They are escaping! Stop them!” The two ran into the doll’s house and hid inside it, waiting to see what would happen.
When they peeped out, they saw the Chinaman trying to follow them! The two of them, terrified that he would catch them, ran to the stove with a large chimney overhead. The chimney-sweep opened the stove door and helped the shepherdess into it. Then he used the ladder to climb all the way up the chimney, till they finally saw the sky from the roof.
Exhausted with the long climb, they sat down to rest. The night sky gleamed with stars and below them they could see the roofs of the town houses. It all looked so vast that it frightened the little shepherdess.
“I want my little table!” she wept, “Please take me back, O dear!”
The chimney-sweep tried to soothe her but failed. She just kept weeping.
So, he had to finally help her down the chimney into the dark stove again. Standing inside the door they waited and listened. There was no sound. He pushed open the door and they peeped out. The Chinaman lay on the floor! His head had fallen off.
The shepherdess was upset seeing the Chinaman broken. “They’ll put the head back tomorrow. He’ll be fine,” said the chimney-sweep, comforting her.
Feeling better, the shepherdess went up the table leg with his help and soon they were back in their old places on the table.
The next morning, when the maid came to clean the room, she found the Chinaman on the floor. She glued his head on and put him back on the table. He was looking exactly the same.
“Not quite,” thought the chimney-sweep, “He doesn’t nod his head any more.”
And that was a good thing, for when Billygoat-legs asked him for the shepherdess’ hand again, the Chinaman could not nod. That meant that Billygoat-legs did not get permission to marry her! The shepherdess was delighted and she and the chimney-sweep lived together happily ever after.
