till the fire had caught its head, and it was
too late for it to escape. Then the young man, who had been watching,
ran home to his master.

'You have been away a long while,' said the herdsman. 'Where are the
cattle?'

The young man gasped, and seemed as if he was unable to speak. At last
he answered:

'It is always the same story! The oxen are--gone--gone!'

'G-g-gone?' cried the herdsman. 'Scoundrel, you lie!'

'I am telling you the exact truth,' answered the young man. 'Directly
we came to the meadow they grew so wild that I could not keep them
together. Then the big ox broke away, and the others followed till they
all disappeared down a deep hole into the earth. It seemed to me that I
heard sounds of bellowing, and I thought I recognised the voice of the
golden horned ox; but when I got to the place from which the sounds had
come, I could neither see nor hear anything in the hole itself, though
there were traces of a fire all round it.'

'Wretch!' cried the herdsman, when he had heard this story, 'even if you
did not lie before, you are lying now.'

'No, master, I am speaking the truth. Come and see for yourself.'

'If I find you have deceived me, you are a dead man, said the herdsman;
and they went out together.

'What do you call that?' asked the youth. And the herdsman looked and
saw the traces of a fire, which seemed to have sprung up from under the
earth.

'Wonder upon wonder,' he exclaimed, 'so you really did speak the truth
after all! Well, I cannot reproach you, though I shall have to pay
heavily to my royal master for the value of that ox. But come, let us
go home! I will never set you to herd cattle again, henceforward I will
give you something easier to do.'

'I have thought of exactly the thing for you,' said the herdsman as they
walked along, 'and it is so simple that you cannot make a mistake. Just
make me ten scythes, one for every man, for I want the grass mown in one
of my meadows to-morrow.'

At these words the youth's heart sank, for he had never been trained
either as a smith or a joiner. However, he dared not say no, but smiled
and nodded.

Slowly and sadly he went to bed, but he could not sleep, for wondering
how the scythes were to be made. All the skill and cunning he had shown
before was of no use to him now, and after thinking about the scythes
for many hours, there seemed only one way open to him. So, listening
to make sure that all was still, he stole away to his parents