So Ib and Christina took leave of each other. People
already called them "the betrothed," and at parting the girl showed
Ib the two nuts, which she had taken care of ever since the time
that they lost themselves in the wood; and she told him also that
the little wooden shoes he once carved for her when he was a boy,
and gave her as a present, had been carefully kept in a drawer ever
since. And so they parted.
After Ib's confirmation, he remained at home with his
mother, for he had become a clever shoemaker, and in summer managed
the farm for her quite alone. His father had been dead some time,
and his mother kept no farm servants. Sometimes, but very seldom,
he heard of Christina, through a postillion or eel-seller who was
passing. But she was well off with the rich innkeeper;
