Folk Tales Every Child Should Know

so much as a crumb in the house, either of meat or bread, so he went to his brother to ask him for something to keep Christmas with, in God'

k you to do, I'll give yo

d he would do anything

said the rich brother, "an

er; so he took the flitch and set off. He walked the whole day,

de, and the first thing he saw was an old, old man, with a long whit

aid the man wi

ther are you going so

f I only knew the right w

our flitch, for meat is scarce in Hell; but, mind you don't sell it unless you get the hand-quern which stands behin

he other for his good advice, and ga

the devils, great and small, came swarming up to him like ants ro

hristmas dinner; but since you have all set your hearts on it, I suppose I must give it

rt with his quern. When the man got out into the yard, he asked the old woodcutter how he was to handle the quern; and after he had learned how to use

e have I sat hour after hour waiting and watching, without so

I had to go a long way first for one thing, and then

they had got everything that was nice for Christmas fare. He had only to speak the word, and the quern ground out what he wante

see the quern is a good one, and the mi

ends and kin to his house, and gave a great feast. Now, when his rich brother saw all that was on the table, and all th

that he came and asked for a morsel of food in God's name, and now he gives

l's name, have you

et the cat out of the bag. But later on in the evening, when he had got a drop t

, he got it; but he had to pay three hundred dollars for it, and his brother bargained to keep it till hay-harvest, for he thought, if I keep it till then, I can make it grind meat and drink that

o out into the hay-field and toss, while the mowers cut the grass, and he would stay at home and ge

broth, and grind t

the quern went on grinding, and in a little while the broth rose so high that the man was like to drown. So he threw open the kitchen door and ran into the parlour, but it wasn't long before the quern had ground the parlour full too, and it was only at the risk

eld tossing hay, thought it a long t

we may as well go. Maybe he finds it hard work

gs, and broth, and bread, all running and dashing, and splashing together in a stream, and the master himself running before them for his li

s, to his brother's house, and begged him for God's s

e, the whole parish will be swa

aking it back till the other paid

ground so much gold that he covered it with plates of gold; and as the farm lay by the sea-side, the golden house gleamed and glistened far away over the sea. All who sailed b

ted to see the quern; and the first thi

; "I should just think it co

arting with the quern; but the skipper begged and prayed so hard that at last he let him have it, but he had to pay many, many thousand dollars for it. Now, when the skipper had got the quern on his back, he soon made off with it, for

nd grind both

full, he wished to stop the quern, but whichever way he turned it, and however much he tried, it was no go

the sea, and grinds away at this ver