I wish you
had had to run, and had lost the soles of your shoes!" Then he fetched
a sack of pearls that lay among the rushes, and, without saying a word
more, he dragged it away and disappeared behind a stone.
Soon after, the mother sent the two girls to the town to buy cotton,
needles, cord, and tape. The road led them by a heath, scattered over
which lay great masses of rock. There they saw a large bird hovering
in the air; it flew round and round just above them, always sinking
lower and lower, and at last it settled down by a rock not far
distant. Directly after, they heard a piercing, wailing cry. They ran
up, and saw with horror that the eagle had seized their old
acquaintance the dwarf, and was going to carry him off. The
compassionate children instantly seized hold of the little man, held
him fast, and struggled so long that the eagle let his prey go.
When the dwarf had recovered from his first fright, he called out, in
his shrill voice: "Could not you deal rather more gently with me? You
have torn my thin coat all in tatters, awkward, clumsy creatures that
you are!" Then he took a sack of precious stones, and slipped behind
the rock again into his den. The girls, who were used to his
ingratitude, went on their way, and completed their business in the
town. As they were coming home again over the heath, they surprised
the dwarf, who had emptied his sack of precious stones on a little
clean place, and had not thought that any one would come by there so
late.
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