The second piece of property is that club lying on the grass. After
uttering some magic words, the club will immediately begin to hit so
vigorously that a whole army may be crushed to pieces or dispersed.
The words run thus:

'Club, thou marvellous club, who knows
How to strike and smite my foes,
By thine own strength and in God's name
O strike well home and strike again.'

The third piece of property is a cap that renders its wearer
invisible. Now, my good man, you see our difficulty: there are but two
of us, and we are fighting to decide how these three lots may be
divided into two equal parts."

"I can help you," said the fisherman, "provided you will do as I tell
you. Leave the three lots here just as they are--the carpet, the club,
and the magic cap. I will roll a stone from the top of this hill to
the bottom--whoever catches it first shall have two lots for his
share. What do you say?"

"Agreed!" cried the demons, racing after the stone that rolled and
bounded on its way down.

In the meantime the fisherman hastily put on the cap, seized the club,
and sitting down on the carpet, repeated the magic formula without
forgetting a single word.

He was already high up in the air when the demons returned carrying
the stone and calling out to him to come and reward the winner.

"Come down and divide those things between us," they cried after him.

The fisherman's only answer was the magic address to his club. This
enchanted weapon then fell upon them and struck so hard that the
country round echoed to the sound thereof. In the midst of screams and
cries and clouds of dust they escaped at last, and the club, of its
own accord, came back and placed itself at the fisherman's orders. He,
in spite of the rapid motion, sat comfortably on the carpet with the
cap under his arm and the club in his hand. Thus they flew over
forests, under clouds, and so high that seen from the earth they
looked like a tiny white cloud.

Within two or three days they stopped at the king's capital. The
fisherman, with his cap on, descended into the middle of the
courtyard.

The whole place was in confusion and trouble, for the commander of the
foreign army, encouraged by having so easily received such a large sum
of money, had returned to the attack and again held the town in siege,
declaring that he would destroy every house and slay all the
inhabitants, not sparing even the king himself, unless he agreed to
give him his on