ad made a good sauce.

He then took a great knife, and, coming up to these poor children,
sharpened it upon a great whetstone which he held in his left hand. He
had already taken hold of one of them when his wife said to him:--

"What need you do it now? Will you not have time enough to-morrow?"

"Hold your prating," said the Ogre; "they will eat the tenderer."

"But you have so much meat already," replied his wife; "here are a calf,
two sheep, and half a pig."

"That is true," said the Ogre; "give them a good supper that they may
not grow thin, and put them to bed."

The good woman was overjoyed at this, and gave them a good supper; but
they were so much afraid that they could not eat. As for the Ogre, he
sat down again to drink, being highly pleased that he had the
wherewithal to treat his friends. He drank a dozen glasses more than
ordinary, which got up into his head and obliged him to go to bed.

The Ogre had seven daughters, who were still little children. These
young Ogresses had all of them very fine complexions; but they all had
little gray eyes, quite round, hooked noses, a very large mouth, and
very long, sharp teeth, set far apart. They were not as yet wicked, but
they promised well to be, for they had already bitten little children.

They had been put to bed early, all seven in one bed, with every one a
crown of gold upon her head. There was in the same chamber a bed of the
like size, and the Ogre's wife put the seven little boys into this bed,
after which she went to bed herself.

Little Thumb, who had observed that the Ogre's daughters had crowns of
gold upon their heads, and was afraid lest the Ogre should repent his
not killing them that evening, got up about midnight, and, taking his
brothers' bonnets and his own, went very softly and put them upon the
heads of the seven little Ogresses, after having taken off their crowns
of gold, which he put upon his own head and his brothers', so that the
Ogre might take them for his daughters, and his daughters for the little
boys whom he wanted to kill.

Things turned out just as he had thought; for the Ogre, waking about
midnight, regretted that he had deferred till morning to do that which
he might have done overnight, and jumped quickly out of bed, taking his
great knife.

"Let us see," said he, "how our little rogues do, and not make two jobs
of the matter."

He then went up, groping all the way, into his daughters' chamber; and,
coming to the b