lf cannot marry a princess without giving her a present
worthy of her exalted rank. Now there is in the neighboring woods a
Troll, who, they say, is twenty feet high, and who eats a whole ox for
his breakfast. This fine fellow, with his three-cornered hat, his golden
epaulettes, his braided jacket, and his staff, fifteen feet long, would
make a servant indeed worthy of a king. My daughter begs you to make her
this trifling present, after which she will see about giving you her
hand."

"That is not an easy task," answered Thumbling; "but, if it please your
Majesty, I will try."

So saying, he went down to the kitchen, took his stout leather bag, put
in it the magic axe, a loaf of bread, some cheese, and a knife, and
then, throwing all over his shoulder, started off for the woods. Peter
whimpered, but Paul chuckled, thinking that, his brother once gone, he
should never see him back again.

Once fairly in the forest, Thumbling looked around to right and left;
but the grass was so thick that he couldn't see anything, so he began to
sing at the top of his voice,--

"Master Troll, Master Troll!
I defy you to appear!
I must have you, body and soul,
Master Troll, Master Troll!
Show yourself, for I AM HERE!"

"AND I AM HERE!" cried the giant, with a terrible shout. "Wait a minute,
and I will only make a mouthful of you!"

"Don't be in a hurry, my good fellow," replied Thumbling, in a little
squeaking voice, "I have a whole hour to give you."

When the Troll came to the place where Thumbling was, he looked around
on every side, very much astonished at not seeing anything. At last,
lowering his eyes to the ground, he discovered what appeared to be a
little child, sitting on a fallen tree, with a stout leather bag between
his knees.

"Is it you, pigmy, who woke me up from my nap?" growled the Troll,
rolling his great red eyes.

"I am the very one," replied Thumbling, "I have come to take you into my
service."

"He! he!" laughed the giant, who was as stupid as he was big, "that is a
good joke indeed. But I am going to pitch you into that raven's nest I
see up there, to teach you not to make a noise in my forest."

"_Your_ forest!" laughed Thumbling. "It is as much mine as it is yours,
and if you say a word more, I will cut it down in a quarter of an hour."

"Ha! ha!" shouted the giant, "and I should like to see you begin, my
brave fellow."

Thumbling carefully placed the axe on the ground, and