ere, and Hans took the one
after the other, but they all went the same way, every one flying in
splinters at the first stroke. He then looked round for something else
to work with, and found a pair of strong beams lying near. Next he
caught sight of a horse-hide nailed up on the barn-door. With the beams
he made a flail, using the skin to tie them together. The one beam he
used as a handle, and the other to strike with, and now that was all
right. But the barn was too low, there was no room to swing the flail,
and the floors were too small. Hans, however, found a remedy for
this--he simply lifted the whole roof off the barn, and set it down in
the field beside. He then emptied down all the corn that he could lay
his hands on and threshed away. He went through one lot after another,
and it was ll the same to him what he got hold of, so before midday he
had threshed all the squire's grain, his rye and wheat and barley and
oats, all mixed through each other. When he was finished with this, he
lifted the roof up on the barn again, like setting a lid on a box, and
went in and told the squire that the job was done.

The squire opened his eyes at this announcement; and came out to see
if it was really true. It was true, sure enough, but he was scarcely
delighted with the mixed grain that he got from all his crops. However,
when he saw the flail that Hans had used, and learned how he had made
room for himself to swing it, he was so afraid of the strong fellow,
that he dared not say anything, except that it was a good thing he had
got it threshed; but it had still to be cleaned.

'What does that mean?' asked Hans.

It was explained to him that the corn and the chaff had to be separated;
as yet both were lying in one heap, right up to the roof. Hans began
to take up a little and sift it in his hands, but he soon saw that
this would never do. He soon thought of a plan, however; he opened both
barn-doors, and then lay down at one end and blew, so that all the chaff
flew out and lay like a sand-bank at the other end of the barn, and the
grain was as clean as it could be. Then he reported to the squire that
that job also was done. The squire said that that was well; there was
nothing more for him to do that day. Off went Hans to the kitchen, and
got as much as he could eat; then he went and took a midday nap which
lasted till supper-time.

Meanwhile the squire was quite miserable, and made his moan to his wife,
saying that she mu