ittle man's words, but did not believe him
for a moment. In the evening the Hazel-nut child crept on to the roof,
where some storks had built their nest. The storks were fast asleep,
and he climbed on to the back of the father-stork and bound a silk
cord round the joint of one of its wings, then he crept among its soft
downy feathers and fell asleep.

The next morning the storks flew towards the south, for winter was
approaching. The Hazel-nut child flew through the air on the stork's
back, and when he wanted to rest he bound his silk cord on to the
joint of the bird's other wing, so that it could not fly any farther.
In this way he reached the country of the black people, where the
storks took up their abode close to the capital. When the people saw
the Hazel-nut child they were much astonished, and took him with the
stork to the King of the country. The King was delighted with the
little creature and kept him always beside him, and he soon grew so
fond of the little man that he gave him a diamond four times as big as
himself. The Hazel-nut child fastened the diamond firmly under the
stork's neck with a ribbon, and when he saw that the other storks were
getting ready for their northern flight, he untied the silk cord from
his stork's wings, and away they went, getting nearer home every
minute. At length the Hazel-nut child came to his native village; then
he undid the ribbon from the stork's neck and the diamond fell to the
ground; he covered it first with sand and stones, and then ran to get
his parents, so that they might carry the treasure home, for he
himself was not able to lift the great diamond.

[Illustration: The Black King's Gift.]

So the Hazel-nut child and his parents lived in happiness and
prosperity after this till they died.

_THE STORY OF BIG KLAUS AND LITTLE KLAUS_

In a certain village there lived two people who had both the same
name. Both were called Klaus, but one owned four horses and the other
only one. In order to distinguish the one from the other, the one who
had four horses was called Big Klaus, and the one who had only one
horse, Little Klaus. Now you shall hear what befell them both, for
this is a true story.

The whole week through Little Klaus had to plough for Big Klaus, and
lend him his one horse; then Big Klaus lent him his four horses, but
only once a week, and that was on Sunday. Hurrah! how loudly Little
Klaus cracked his whip over all the five horses! for they were