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and he felt almost inclined to cry, but he would not let the Hare see it, so he only said,—
“Let us set fire to them at once, then.”
“First listen to me,” said the Hare, “for when the shoes begin to burn I shall run off. When they have quite burnt out, you will find a heap of black ashes, and amongst them you must search carefully, and you will find a pair of sandals that seem not the least burnt or singed. These you must put on, and then stamp hard upon the ground, and it will open, and in front of you, you will see a long dark passage which leads to the underground cavern in which sit Handa and her companions. The sandals will last till you again step out of the passage into the forest, and then they will crumble and fall to pieces as if they had been burnt. So now good-bye. I should not have told you if you had not let me out of the trap.”
“Good-bye, kind Hare, and thank you for telling me,” said Siegfrid, as the Hare ran off.
Then he took a bit of dry wood and set it alight, and placed it under the pile of boots. They soon caught fire, and burnt steadily, but Siegfrid noticed that they made no noise except a