Page:Folk Tales of Beasts and Men.djvu/58

picking up another stone, he squeezed it so hard between his immense fists that he crushed it into a fine powder.

"THE THREE ANIMALS ARE A BEAR, A UNICORN, AND A WILD BOAR"

"Yes, that is hard to do," said Sponsken, "but I think I can go one better. Any oaf, if he be strong enough, can crush a stone to powder, but it requires skill as well as strength to wring the juice out of one. Watch me! So saying, Sponsken adroitly slipped out his piece of cheese, and squeezed it until the whey dripped from between his fingers.

"Marvellous!" said the giant. "I confess myself beaten. Let us go into partnership, for there cannot be two others like us in the whole world."

"Willingly," answered Sponsken, "but what are we to do?"

"Why, as for that," said the giant, "the King of this country has promised his daughter's hand in marriage, and a great treasure besides, to anybody who can destroy three ferocious beasts which are devastating his realm. It seems to me that this is a task we can quite well do together. You, with your quickness and skill, can trap the beasts, and I can kill them with my club. That done, we will divide the spoils."

So it was agreed, and without wasting a moment the two took the wood together. Before very long they reached the King s palace, and sent up a message by one of the lords in waiting that they would like to see His Majesty.

"And do you mean to tell me," asked the King, when he had heard the giant's tale, "that you can overcome the