ain for the brothers, for they were sure
there was no escape for them. The youngest of them, indeed, asked where
Esben was, but the others said that that little fool could scarcely keep
himself in clothes, and it was not to be expected that he could help
them. Not one of them thought it worth while to look for Esben, but he
soon came along of himself.

'Well, what's the matter now?' said he.

'Oh, what's the use of telling you?' said the brothers. 'You can't help
us, at any rate.'

'Ah! who knows that?' said Esben. 'I have helped you before.'

In the end the brothers told him about the coverlet which, when one
touched it, sounded so that it could be heard over eight kingdoms. Esben
thought that this was the worst errand that he had had yet, but he could
not do worse than fail, and so he would make the attempt.

He again took his little white stick, set himself on it, and said,

Fly quick, my little stick, Carry me across the stream.

Next moment he was across the river and beside the witch's house. It was
evening, and the door was locked, but he knew the way down the chimney.
When he had got into the house, however, the worst yet remained to do,
for the coverlet was on the bed in which the witch lay and slept. He
slipped into the room without either she or her daughter wakening; but
as soon as he touched the coverlet to take it it sounded so that it
could be heard over eight kingdoms. The witch awoke, sprang out of bed,
and caught hold of Esben. He struggled with her, but could not free
himself, and the witch called to her daughter, 'Come and help me; we
shall put him into the little dark room to be fattened. Ho, ho! now I
have him!'

Esben was now put into a little dark hole, where he neither saw sun nor
moon, and there he was fed on sweet milk and nut-kernels. The daughter
had enough to do cracking nuts for him, and at the end of fourteen days
she had only one tooth left in her mouth; she had broken all the rest
with the nuts. In this time however, she had taken a liking to Esben,
and would willingly have set him free, but could not.

When some time had passed the witch told her daughter to go and cut a
finger off Esben, so that she could see whether he was nearly fat enough
yet. The daughter went and told Esben, and asked him what she should do.
Esben told her to take an iron nail and wrap a piece of skin round it:
she could then give her mother this to bite at.

The daughter did so, but when the witc