eak.'

With this he cut a piece off the beak, and there came a voice which
said, 'Oh, oh, you cut my little finger!'

Next moment Maiden Bright-eye stood there, as lovely and beautiful as he
had seen her when he was home. This was his sister now, he said; and the
whole story now came out of how the other had behaved to her. The wicked
sister was put into a barrel with spikes round it which was dragged
off by six wild horses, and so she came to her end.:But the king was
delighted with Maiden Bright-eye, and immediately made her his queen,
while her brother became his prime minister.

The Merry Wives

From the Danish

There lay three houses in a row, in one of which there lived a tailor,
in another a carpenter, and in the third a smith. All three were
married, and their wives were very good friends. They often talked about
how stupid their husbands were, but they could never agree as to which
of them had the most stupid one; each one stuck up for her own husband,
and maintained that it was he.

The three wives went to church together every Sunday, and had a regular
good gossip on the way, and when they were coming home from church they
always turned into the tavern which lay by the wayside and drank half
a pint together. This was at the time when half a pint of brandy cost
threepence, so that was just a penny from each of them.

But the brandy went up in price, and the taverner said that he must have
fourpence for the half-pint.

They were greatly annoyed at this, for there were only the three of them
to share it, and none of them was willing to pay the extra penny.

As they went home from the church that day they decided to wager with
each other as to whose husband was the most stupid, and the one who, on
the following Sunday, should be judged to have played her husband the
greatest trick should thereafter go free from paying, and each of the
two others would give twopence for their Sunday's half-pint.

Next day the tailor's wife said to her husband, 'I have some girls
coming to-day to help to card my wool there is a great deal to do, and
we must be very busy. I am so annoyed that our watchdog is dead, for in
the evening the young fellows will come about to get fun with the girls,
and they will get nothing done. If we had only had a fierce watchdog he
would have kept them away.'

'Yes,' said the man, 'that would have been a good thing.'

'Listen, good man,' said the wife, 'you must just be the watch