see the
homestead of his new master at some distance, but there were so many
buildings that it looked more like a village or an outlying suburb than
the residence of a single owner. At length they arrived, and found an
empty dog-kennel at the gate. "Creep in there," said the master, "and
lie quiet till I have spoken to my grandmother about you. She is very
self-willed, like most old people, and can't bear a stranger in the
house." The prince crept trembling into the dog-kennel, and began to
repent the rashness that had brought him into such a scrape.

After a time the host came back, called the prince from his
hiding-place, and said with a wry face, "Take good note of the
arrangements of our household, and take care not to go against them, or
you might fare very badly.

"Keep your eyes and ears both open,
But your mouth fast closed for ever,
And obey without a question:
Think whatever it may please you;
Never speak without permission."

When the prince crossed the threshold, his eyes fell upon a young girl
of great beauty, with brown eyes and curly hair. He thought to himself,
"If the old man has many such daughters as this, I should be glad to
become his son-in-law. The maiden is just to my taste." The fair maiden
laid the table without saying a word, set the food upon it, and then
modestly took her place by the hearth, as if she had not observed the
stranger. She took out needles and worsted, and began to knit a
stocking. The master sat down alone at the table, and did not ask either
the man or maid to join him, nor was anything to be seen of the old
grandmother. The Old Boy's appetite was immeasurable, and in a very
short time he had made a clean sweep of everything on the table, though
it would have been plenty for at least a dozen people. When at last he
allowed his jaws to rest, he said to the maiden, "Scrape out what is
left at the bottom of the pot and kettle, and content yourselves with
the fragments, but throw the bones to the dog."

The prince's countenance fell at the idea of this meal from the
scrapings of the kettle, which he was to share with the pretty girl and
the dog. But he soon recovered his spirits when he found a very nice
meal placed on the table from these fragments. During supper he cast
many stolen glances at the maiden, and would have given a great deal if
he could have ventured to speak to her. But whenever he was on the point
of speaking, he met the imploring glance