er, who did not know how to get rid
of him, gave in.

The husband spent all his time in hunting, and the family had never
had so much meat before; but the man, who had seen for himself how
poor they were, noticed with amazement that they did not seem to care
about it, or to be hungry. 'They must get food from somewhere,' he
thought, and one morning, when he pretended to be going out to hunt,
he hid in a thicket to watch. Very soon they all left the house
together, and walked to the other hut, which the girl's husband saw
for the first time, as it was hid in a hollow. He followed, and
noticed that each one went up to the redbreast, and shook him by the
claw; and he then entered boldly and shook the bird's claw too. The
whole party afterwards sat down to dinner, after which they all
returned to their own hut.

The next day the husband declared that he was very ill, and could not
eat anything; but this was only a pretence so that he might get what
he wanted. The family were all much distressed, and begged him to tell
them what food he fancied.

'Oh! I could not eat any food,' he answered every time, and at each
answer his voice grew fainter and fainter, till they thought he
would die from weakness before their eyes.

[Illustration: 'WAKE UP, MY GRANDSON, IT IS TIME TO GO HOME']

'There must be _some_ thing you could take, if you would only say what
it is,' implored his wife.

'No, nothing, nothing; except, perhaps--but of course that is
impossible!'

'No, I am sure it is not,' replied she; 'you shall have it, I
promise--only tell me what it is.'

'I think--but I could not ask you to do such a thing. Leave me alone,
and let me die quietly.'

'You shall _not_ die,' cried the girl, who was very fond of her
husband, for he did not beat her as most girls' husbands did.
'Whatever it is, I will manage to get it for you.'

'Well, then, I _think_, if I had that--redbreast, nicely roasted, I
could eat a little bit of his wing!'

* * * * *

The wife started back in horror at such a request; but the man turned
his face to the wall, and took no notice, as he thought it was better
to leave her to herself for a little.

Weeping and wringing her hands, the girl went down to her mother. The
brothers were very angry when they heard the story, and declared that,
if any one were to die, it certainly should not be the robin. But all
that night the man seemed getting weaker and weaker, and at l