26 Fairy Tales

much have liked to run away, but her wicked
little eyes seemed to draw him forward, so
that he was obliged to enter; and then he
stood still, shaking, for sitting with his back
against the wall, and sound asleep, was a
great man, as big as any of the giants
Roéschen had in her picture-book, and very
dreadful to look at.

The woman sat down on a three-legged
stool, and laughed till the tears streamed
down her face.

“He is big, is he not? And with such
an appetite that when he is hungry he
sticks at nothing. I call him Big Fool,
for when he is not hungry he is sleepy,
and as the work has to be done, somebody
else has got to do it. Thou art come in
the nick of time, for he did not keep the
last boy very long, and I was beginning
to wonder where I should pick up another.
It is strange, is it not, that with such a
good master and mistress no one should
care to come to the house! And thou wilt
like to begin work at once? Well, well,