So the lad went back to the North Wind and scolded
him, and said the ram was worth nothing, and he must
have his rights for the meal.
“Well!” said the North Wind, “I’ve
nothing else to give you but that old stick in the
corner yonder; but it’s a stick of such a kind
that if you say, ’Stick, stick! lay on! it lays
on till you say,—’Stick, stick! now
stop!’”
So the lad thanked the North Wind and went his way,
and as the road was long, he turned in this night
also to the landlord; but as he could guess pretty
well how things stood as to the cloth and the ram,
he lay down at once on the bench and began to snore,
as if he were asleep. Now the landlord who thought
surely the stick must be worth something, hunted up
one which was like it, and when he heard the lad snore
he was going to exchange the two; but, just as the
landlord was about to take it, the lad called out,—
“Stick, stick! lay on!”
So the stick began to beat the landlord, till he jumped
over chairs and tables and benches, and yelled and
roared,—
“Oh my, oh my! bid the stick be still, else
it will beat me to death. You shall have back
both your cloth and your ram.”
When the lad thought the landlord had had enough,
he said, “Stick, stick! now stop!”
Then he took the cloth and put it into his pocket,
and went home with his stick in his hand, leading
the ram by a cord tied around its horns; and so he
got his rights for the meal he had lost.
Once on a time there was a King who had seven sons.
Six of them were stout, brave lads, but the youngest
was the cinderlad, you must know; and he went about
by himself neither saying nor doing much. Best
of all he liked to sit by the hearth and watch the
glowing cinders, so they called him Boots, and thought
little of him.
Now, when the Princes were grown up, the six were
to set off to fetch brides for themselves. As
for Boots, they would not be seen with him, so he
was to stay at home; but the others were to bring back
a bride for him, if any could be found willing to
marry such a one. The King gave the six the finest
clothes you ever set eyes upon, so fine that the light
gleamed from them a long way off; and each had his
horse, which cost many, many hundred dollars, and
so they set off. Now, when they had been to many
palaces, and seen many princesses, they came to a king
who had six daughters. Such lovely king’s
daughters they had never seen, and so they asked them
to be their brides, and when they had got them, they
set off home again. But they quite forgot that
they were to bring back a bride for Boots, their brother,
who was staying at home.
When they had gone a good bit on their way, they passed
close by a steep hillside, like a wall, where was
a giant’s house. Out came the giant and
set his eyes upon them, and turned them all into stone,
princes, princesses and all. Now, the king waited
and waited for his six sons, but so long as he waited
so long they stayed away; so he fell into great grief,
and said he would never know what it was to be happy
again.
