第58章 Tritill, Litill, And The Birds(2)

The young man walked on till he reached the open space in the wood, where he stopped for dinner.In a moment all the birds in the world seemed flying round his head, and he crumbled some of his bread for them and watched them as they darted down to pick it up.When they had cleared off every crumb the largest bird with the gayest plumage said to him: 'If you are in trouble and need help say, "My birds, come to me!" and we will come.' Then they flew away.

Towards evening the young man reached the cave where his brothers had met their deaths, and, like them, he thought it would be a good place to sleep in.Looking round, he saw some pieces of the dead men's clothes and of their bones.The sight made him shiver, but he would not move away, and resolved to await the return of the ogress, for such he knew she must be.

Very soon she came striding in, and he asked politely if she would give him a night's lodging.She answered as before, that he might stay on condition that he should do any work that she might set him to next morning.So the bargain being concluded, the young man curled himself up in his corner and went to sleep.

The dirt lay thicker than ever on the floor of the cave when the young man took the spade and began his work.He could not clear it any more than his brothers had done, and at last the spade itself stuck in the earth so that he could not pull it out.The youth stared at it in despair, then the old beggar's words flashed into his mind, and he cried: 'Tritill, Tritill, come and help me!'

And Tritill stood beside him and asked what he wanted.The youth told him all his story, and when he had finished, the old man said:

'Spade and shovel do your duty,' and they danced about the cave till, in a short time, there was not a speck of dust left on the floor.

As soon as it was quite clean Tritill went his way.

With a light heart the young man awaited the return of the ogress.

When she came in she looked carefully round, and then said to him:

'You did not do that quite alone.However, as the floor is clean Iwill leave your head on.'

The following morning the ogress told the young man that he must take all the feathers out of her pillows and spread them to dry in the sun.But if one feather was missing when she came back at night his head should pay for it.'

The young man fetched the pillows, and shook out all the feathers, and oh! what quantities of them there were! He was thinking to himself, as he spread them out carefully, how lucky it was that the sun was so bright and that there was no wind, when suddenly a breeze sprang up, and in a moment the feathers were dancing high in the air.At first the youth tried to collect them again, but he soon found that it was no use, and he cried in despair: 'Tritill, Litill, and all my birds, come and help me!'

He had hardly said the words when there they all were; and when the birds had brought all the feathers back again, Tritill, and Litill, and he, put them away in the pillows, as the ogress had bidden him.

But one little feather they kept out, and told the young man that if the ogress missed it he was to thrust it up her nose.Then they all vanished, Tritill, Litill, and the birds.