scattered the hay about. All the cattle and the sheep came together to
eat and to drink, and the little man stood and counted them. He
counted the oxen, he counted the goats, and then he counted the sheep.
He counted them once, and his eyes began to flash. He counted them
twice, and he began to grind his teeth. He counted them a third time,
made sure that one was missing, and then he flew into a violent rage,
rushed across the yard and into the hut, and gave Sunrise a terrific
blow on the head.

Sunrise shook his head as if a fly had settled on it. Then he jumped
suddenly and caught the end of the long beard of the little old man,
and set to pulling him this way and that, round and round the hut, as
if his beard was a rope. Phew! how the little man roared.

Sunrise laughed, and tugged him this way and that, and mocked him,
crying out, "If you do not know the ford, it is better not to go into
the water," meaning that the little fellow had begun to beat him
without finding out who was the stronger.

The little old man, one yard high, with a beard seven yards long,
began to pray and to beg,--

"O man of power, O great and mighty bogatir, have mercy upon me. Do
not kill me. Leave me my soul to repent with."

Sunrise laughed, and dragged the little fellow out into the yard,
whirled him round at the end of his beard, and brought him to a great
oak trunk that lay on the ground. Then with a heavy iron wedge he
fixed the end of the little man's beard firmly in the oaken trunk,
and, leaving the little man howling and lamenting, went back to the
hut, set it in order again, saw that the sheep was cooking as it
should, and then lay down in peace to wait for the coming of his
brothers.

Evening and Midnight rode home, leapt from their horses, and came into
the hut to see how the little man had dealt with their brother. They
could hardly believe their eyes when they saw him alive and well,
without a bruise, lying comfortably on the bench.

He sat up and laughed in their faces.

"Well, brothers," says he, "come along with me into the yard, and I
think I can show you that headache of yours. It's a good deal stronger
than it is big, but for the time being you need not be afraid of it,
for it's fastened to an oak timber that all three of us together could
not lift."

He got up and went into the yard. Evening and Midnight followed him
with shamed faces. But when they came to the oaken timber the little
man was not there. Long