The Magician's Show Box and Other Stories

There was once a boy, named Gaspar whose uncle made voyages to China and brought him home chessmen, queer toys, porcelain vases, embroidered skullcaps and all kinds of fine things. He gave him such grand descriptions of foreign countries and costumes, that Gaspar was not at all satisfied to live in a small village, where the people dressed in the most commonplace way. At school he was always covering his slate with pictures of Turks wearing turbans as large as small mosques or Chinese with queues several yards long, and shoes that turned up to their knees.