voice grew fainter and fainter, till they thought he would
die from weakness before their eyes.

'There must be some thing you could take, if you would only say what it
is,' implored his wife.

'No, nothing, nothing; except, perhaps--but of course that is
impossible!'

'No, I am sure it is not,' replied she; 'you shall have it, I
promise--only tell me what it is.'

'I think--but I could not ask you to do such a thing. Leave me alone,
and let me die quietly.'

'You shall not die,' cried the girl, who was very fond of her husband,
for he did not beat her as most girls' husbands did. 'Whatever it is, I
will manage to get it for you.'

'Well, then, I think, if I had that--redbreast, nicely roasted, I could
eat a little bit of his wing!'

The wife started back in horror at such a request; but the man turned
his face to the wall, and took no notice, as he thought it was better to
leave her to herself for a little.

Weeping and wringing her hands, the girl went down to her mother. The
brothers were very angry when they heard the story, and declared that,
if any one were to die, it certainly should not be the robin. But all
that night the man seemed getting weaker and weaker, and at last, quite
early, the wife crept out, and stealing to the hut, killed the bird, and
brought him home to her husband.

Just as she was going to cook it her two brothers came in. They cried
out in horror at the sight, and, rushing out of the hut, declared they
would never see her any more. And the poor girl, with a heavy heart,
took the body of the redbreast up to her husband.

But directly she entered the room the man told her that he felt a great
deal better, and that he would rather have a piece of bear's flesh, well
boiled, than any bird, however tender. His wife felt very miserable to
think that their beloved redbreast had been sacrificed for nothing, and
begged him to try a little bit.

'You felt so sure that it would do you good before,' said she, 'that I
can't help thinking it would quite cure you now.' But the man only flew
into a rage, and flung the bird out of the window. Then he got up and
went out.

Now all this while the ball had been rolling, rolling, rolling to the
old grandmother's hut on the other side of the world, and directly it
rolled into her hut she knew that her grandson must be dead. Without
wasting any time she took a fox skin and tied it round her forehead, and
fastened another round her waist, as witches a