went
entirely out of the man's mind. But when he was come back to Zealand he
sat down by the meadow where Tiis lake now is, and suddenly recollected
the troll's letter. He felt a great desire to look at it at least, so he
took it out of his pocket and sat a while with it in his hands, when
suddenly there began to dribble a little water out of the seal. The
letter now unfolded itself and the water came out faster and faster, and
it was with the utmost difficulty the poor man was able to save his
life, for the malicious troll had enclosed a whole lake in the letter.

The troll, it is plain, had thought to avenge himself on Kund church by
destroying it in this manner, but God ordered it so that the lake
chanced to run out in the great meadow where it now stands.

THERE ARE SUCH WOMEN.

There was once upon a time a man and his wife, and they wanted to sow
their fields, but they had neither seed nor money to buy it with.
However, they had one cow, and so they decided that the man should drive
it to the town and sell it, so that they might buy seed with the money.
When the time came, however, the woman was afraid to let her husband
take the cow, fearing he would spend the money in drink. So she set off
herself with the cow, and took a hen with her also.

When she was near the town she met a butcher, who said--

"Do you want to sell the cow, mother?"

"Yes," answered she, "I do."

"How much do you want for it?"

"I want a mark for the cow, and you shall have the hen for sixty marks."

"Well," said he, "I have no need of the hen. You can get rid of that
when you come to the town, but I will give you a mark for the cow."

She sold him the cow and got the mark for it, but when she came to the
town she could find no one who would give her sixty marks for a tough
lean hen. So she went back to the butcher and said--

"I cannot get this hen off, master, so you had better take it also with
the cow."

"We will see about it," said the butcher. So he gave her something to
eat, and gave her so much brandy that she became tipsy and lost her
senses, and fell asleep.

When he saw that, the butcher dipped her in a barrel of tar, and then
laid her on a heap of feathers.

When she awoke she found herself feathered all over, and wondered at
herself.

"Is it me or some one else?" said she. "No, it cannot be me. It must be
a strange bird. How shall I find out whether it is me or not? Oh, I
know. When I get home, if the