nt off, throwing the shavings down in three rows, and the bear came
and drew them all aside on to the path that led to his den. And the
eldest daughter set out, and she, too, came to the bear's den. And the
bear saw her and said: "O-ho! here's a third little girl come to see me
in my den!" And there they went on living, when one day the eldest
sister said: "Bruin, Bruin, I'll bake some pies, and you take them and
give them to my daddy to eat." "All right," answered the bear, "I'll
take them." And so she popped her youngest sister into a sack, and
said: "Here, Bruin, take this to my daddy, and mind, don't you eat it
yourself on the way!" And the bear took the sack and set off with it to
the old man. And as he went along, he kept saying to himself: "Suppose I
sit down on a stump, and suppose I just eat one little pie!" And the
youngest daughter in the sack heard him and said: "Don't sit down on a
stump, don't! Don't eat a pie, don't!" And the bear thought that this
was the eldest sister, and said to himself: "There now, fancy that! I've
come a long way, and yet she can still hear me!" And he brought the
sack right up to the old man's courtyard, when the dogs all rushed out
and began to bark at him! So he flung down the sack and ran off home.
And the eldest sister asked him: "Did they make you welcome, Bruin, and
give you nice things to eat?" "They didn't give me anything to eat," he
answered, "but their welcome was loud enough."

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

The next day the eldest sister said: "Bruin, take my daddy some more
pies to eat!" And she tied up her other sister in the sack, and the bear
put it on his back and carried it off into the village. And as he went
through the forest he kept saying to himself: "Suppose I sit down on a
stump, and suppose I just eat one little pie!" And the second daughter
said to him from out of the sack: "Don't sit down on a stump, don't!
Don't eat a pie, don't!" And the bear thought: "There now, fancy that!
I've come a long way, and yet she can still hear me, and tells me not to
eat a pie!" And so he reached the old man's courtyard, and when the dogs
went for him that time, they all but worried him to death! So he flung
down the sack and ran off home. And the eldest sister asked him: "Did
they welcome you warmly, Bruin, and give you plenty to eat?" "It was
_such_ a warm welcome, and they gave me so much to eat, that I shan't
forget it in a hurry!" he answered.