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 178 ASHIEPATTLE AND THE KINGS HARES. the whistle any more than they. Ashiepattle came home driving the flock of hares and there was not a hare missing. The king was In a great rage at the way in which Ashiepattle had made a fool of them all. There was no question about it ; Ashiepattle must lose his life. The queen said the same ; it was best to punish such a scamp right off. But Ashiepattle thought it was neither right nor fair, for he had done nothing but what they had told him to do, and besides, he had only tried to save his back and life as well as he could. So the king said he would pardon him if he could tell so many lies that they filled the large brewing-vat and flowed over. If he could do that he might keep his life. Well, that was neither a long nor a difficult piece of work, said Ashiepattle ; he thought he could master that job. So he began telling them how he had fared from the very first ; he told them about the old woman with her nose in the block and then he would say : " 1 must get on faster with telling lies if the vat is to be full." So he told them about the whistle he had got, and about the housemaid who came to him, and wanted to buy it for a hundred dollars, and about all the kisses she had to give him in the bargain. Then he told them of the princess, how she came to him, and how much she had to kiss him to get the whistle, when nobody saw or heard it over in the wood—" I must get on with these lies if the vat is to be full," said Ashiepattle, — so he told them about the queen, how stingy she was with the money and how liberal she was with kisses, that one could hear the smacks all over the