Mother Holle, part 1 · page 21 2101‘I will give thee the art to brew a hundred lasts of malt in one brewing.’102So, for teaching that art, the old hag got her eye back, and they both went away by different roads.103But when Minnikin had walked a short distance, it seemed to him that it might be worth while to see what his ship could do; so he took it out of his pocket, and first he put one foot into it, and then the other, and no sooner had he put one foot into the ship than it became much larger, and when he set the other foot into it, it grew as large as ships that sail on the sea.104Then Minnikin said: ‘Now go over fresh water and salt water, over high hills and deep dales, and do not stop until thou comest to the King’s palace.’105And in an instant the ship went away as swiftly as any bird in the air till it got just below the King’s palace, and there it stood still.106From the windows of the King’s palace many persons had seen Minnikin come sailing thither, and had stood to watch him; and they were all so astounded that they ran down to see what manner of man this could be who came sailing in a ship through the air.107But while they were running down from the King’s palace, Minnikin had got out of the ship and had put it in his pocket again; for the moment he got out of it, it once more became as small as it had been when he got it from the old woman, and those who came from the King’s palace could see nothing but a ragged little boy who was standing down by the sea-shore.108The King asked where he had come from, but the boy said he did not know, nor yet could he tell them how he had got there, but he begged very earnestly and prettily for a place in the King’s palace.109If there was nothing else for him to do, he said he would fetch wood and water for the kitchen-maid, and that he obtained leave to do.checked by a teacher1 2← previousFarmer Weatherbeardnext →Mother Holle, part 2↑ back to The Red Fairy BookThis page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg540/44/page/2/