things were
a hundred times worse and wilder than ever; for now what he had he had
without end.

One day, when he and a great party of roisterers were shouting and
making merry, he brought out his earthen-ware pot to show them the
wonders of it; and to prove its virtue he gave to each guest whatever he
wanted. "What will you have?"--"A handful of gold."--"Put your hand in
and get it!"--"What will you have?"--"A fistful of pearls."--"Put
your fist in and get them!"--"What will you have?"--"A necklace of
diamonds."--"Dip into the jar and get it." And so he went from one
to another, and each and every one got what he asked for, and such a
shouting and hubbub those walls had never heard before.

Then the young man, holding the jar in his hands, began to dance and to
sing: "O wonderful jar! O beautiful jar! O beloved jar!" and so on, his
friends clapping their hands, and laughing and cheering him. At last,
in the height of his folly, he balanced the earthen jar on his head, and
began dancing around and around with it to show his dexterity.

Smash! crash! The precious jar lay in fifty pieces of the stone floor,
and the young man stood staring at the result of his folly with bulging
eyes, while his friends roared and laughed and shouted louder than ever
over his mishap. And again his treasure and his gay life were gone.

But what had been hard for him to do before was easier now. At the end
of a week he was back at the old man's house, rapping on the door.
This time the old man asked him never a word, but frowned as black as
thunder.

"I know," said he, "what has happened to you. If I were wise I should
let you alone in your folly; but once more I will have pity on you and
will help you, only this time it shall be the last." Once more he led
the way to the stone room, where were the iron candlestick and the
magic carpet, and with him he took a good stout cudgel. He stood the
candlestick in the middle of the room, and taking three candles from his
pouch, thrust one into each branch. Then he struck a light, and lit the
first candle. Instantly there appeared a little old man, clad in a long
white robe, who began dancing and spinning around and around like a top.
He lit the second candle, and a second old man appeared, and round and
round he went, spinning like his brother. He lit the third candle, and
a third old man appeared. Around and around and around they spun and
whirled, until the head spun and whirled to look at them