Page:Danish fairy and folk tales.djvu/107



N a certain town there once lived two families, each of which consisted of a man, his wife, and a grown son. When the one man's wife and the other wife's man died, the remaining couple was married, and thus the two boys came to live together. The man's son took care of the cows and a bull which was so large and savage that every one was afraid of him. The boy never had anything but dry bread-crusts to eat; but one day the bull asked him if he did not feel hungry. The boy told him he did. "Stroke my back, then," said the bull. The boy complied, receiving at once a butter-cake and a large piece of sausage which tasted splendidly. In the evening, when he returned home, he was unable to eat his supper, and his step-mother asked him, therefore, if the bull had not already given him some. This he denied, however.

The next day she sent her own son along to the pastures, and told him to watch and see if his step-brother received anything from the bull. It