oment. How long he dozed, he could not tell, but when his
eyes fell next upon the apple-tree, he saw that the yellow moth was no
longer sitting on the branch, and was still more startled to discover
that the beautiful golden apple on that branch had also disappeared. He
could not doubt that a theft had been committed, but if the concealed
watchman had related the affair, people would have thought him mad, for
even a child might know that a moth could not carry away a golden apple.
In the morning there was again a great uproar when it was discovered
that another apple was missing without any of the guards having seen a
trace of the thief. But Sharpeye went to the king again and said, "It is
true that I have seen as little of the thief as your guards; but if
there is a skilful magician in or near the town, let me know, and I hope
with his aid to catch the thief to-night." As soon as he learned where
the magician lived, he went straight to him. The two men consulted what
was best to be done, and at length Sharpeye cried out, "I have hit upon
a plan. Can you make a woven net so strong by magic that the thread will
hold the most powerful creature fast, and then we can chain up the thief
so that he cannot escape again?" The magician said it was possible, and
took three large spiders, which he made so strong by sorcery that no
creature could escape from their meshes, and put them in a little box,
which he gave to Sharpeye, saying, "Place these spiders wherever you
like, and point with your finger where they shall spin their net, and
they will immediately spin a cage round the prisoner, which only
Mana's[8] power can loosen; and I will come to your aid myself, if
needful."

Sharpeye hid the box in his bosom, and crept back to his tree to wait
the upshot of the affair. He saw the yellow moth fluttering round the
apple-tree at the same time as the day before; but it waited much longer
before settling on a branch which bore a large golden apple. Sharpeye
immediately slid down from his tree, went up to the golden apple-tree,
set a ladder against it, and climbed up carefully, so as not to scare
the moth, and set each of his small weavers on separate branches. One
spider was a few spans above the moth, a second to the right, and a
third to the left, and then Sharpeye drew lines with his finger
backwards and forwards round the moth, which sat motionless with raised
wings. At sunset the watcher was back in his hiding-place in the tree,