ng before down came the oak.

When that was done, Jack pulled out his spade, and fitted it to its
handle.

"Dig away!" said he to the spade; and so the spade began to dig and
delve till the earth and rock flew out in splinters, and so he had the
well soon dug out, you may think.

And when he had got it as big and deep as he chose, Jack took out his
walnut and laid it in one corner of the well, and pulled the plug of
moss out.

"Trickle and run," said Jack; and so the nut trickled and ran, till the
water gushed out of the hole in a stream, and in a short time the well
was brimful.

Then Jack had felled the oak which shaded the King's palace, and dug a
well in the palace-yard, and so he got the Princess and half the
kingdom, as the King had said; but it was lucky for Peter and Paul that
they had lost their ears, else they had heard each hour and day how
every one said, "Well, after all, Jack wasn't so much out of his mind
when he took to wondering."

172

For the next story from the Norse group the
translation by H. L. Braekstad is used. It is
better known under the more familiar title of
the Dasent version, "Why the Sea Is Salt."
Braekstad's translation of the Asbjoernsen and
Moe stories, illustrated by Norwegian artists,
appeared in two volumes called _Round the Yule
Log_ and _Fairy Tales from the North_. The
story of the magic hand-mill is the story of
how an evil brother violated the Christmas
spirit and how his curse was turned into good
fortune for his better-disposed relative. The
naive idea of the common folk as to the devil's
home is especially interesting, as is the
acceptance of the fact that a Christmas
celebration includes a fine open fire of wood,
even in a place of unusual warmth. But perhaps
we should remember that in Norse mythology the
evil place would be associated with intense
cold. Of more importance, however, is the fact
that the magic quern brings not good but
disaster to those who try to use it in the
service of greed.

THE QUERN AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA

Once upon a time in the old, old days there were two brothers, one of
whom was rich and the other poor. When Christmas Eve came the poor
brother had not a morsel in the house, neither of meat nor bread; and so
he went to his rich brother and a