up my
three years' earnings, and have it all safe in my pocket."

"How much may it come to?" said the mannikin.

"Three whole crowns," replied the countryman.

"I wish you would give them to me," said the other. "I am very poor."

Then the good man pitied him, and gave him all he had; and the dwarf
said--

"As you have such a kind heart, I will grant you three wishes--one for
each crown,--so choose whatever you like."

The countryman rejoiced at his luck, and said--

"I like many things better than money. First, I will have a bow that
will bring me down everything I shoot at; secondly, a fiddle that will
set every one dancing that hears me play upon it; and, thirdly, I
should like to be able to make every one grant me whatever I ask."

The dwarf said he should have his three wishes, gave him the bow and
the fiddle, and went his way.

Our honest friend journeyed on his way too, and if he was merry
before, he was now ten times more so. He had not gone far before he
met an old Jew. Close by them stood a tree, and on the topmost twig
sat a thrush, singing away most joyfully.

"Oh what a pretty bird!" said the Jew. "I would give a great deal of
my money to have such a one."

"If that's all," said the countryman, "I will soon bring it down."

He took up his bow, off went his arrow, and down fell the thrush into
a bush that grew at the foot of the tree. The Jew, when he saw that he
could have the bird, thought he would cheat the man, so he put his
money into his pocket again, and crept into the bush to find the
prize. As soon as he had got into the middle, his companion took up
his fiddle and played away, and the Jew began to dance and spring
about, capering higher and higher in the air. The thorns soon began to
tear his clothes, till they all hung in rags about him, and he himself
was all scratched and wounded, so that the blood ran down.

"Oh, for heaven's sake!" cried the Jew. "Mercy, mercy, master! Pray
stop the fiddle! What have I done to be treated in this way?"

"What hast thou done? Why, thou hast shaved many a poor soul close
enough," said the other. "Thou art only meeting thy reward;" and he
played up another tune yet merrier than the first.

Then the Jew began to beg and pray, and at last he said he would give
plenty of his money to be set free. He did not, however, come up to
the musician's price for some time, so he danced him along brisker and
brisker. The higher the Jew danced, the higher he bi