Page:Hansel and Gretel and other stories.djvu/237

THE THREE MAGIC GIFTS On hearing this the tailor knew the truth, and how he had turned out his three sons without just cause. "Wait a minute," he cried. "You ungrateful brute! to chase you away is not sufficient punishment; I will brand you first, so that you'll be ashamed to show yourself among honest tailors." He ran and fetched his razor, soaped the goat's head, then shaved it as smooth as his hand. And because the yard measure seemed too honourable a weapon, he seized the whip instead, and lashed the goat till she bounded off in terror.

The tailor, all alone in his house, moped and fell into a melancholy condition. Gladly would he have had his sons back, but he had no idea what had become of them.

The eldest became apprenticed to a carpenter; he served his time diligently, and when his time was up, his master made him a present of a little table, which was made of ordinary wood, but had one peculiarity. If you put it down anywhere and said, "Little table, lay yourself," the good little table was at once covered with a clean cloth, a plate, knife and fork, dishes with boiled and roast meat, and a big bumper of red wine that did your heart good to look at, it sparkled so. The young fellow thought, "With this you will live in plenty all your life," and went to see the world, never troubling about whether an inn were good or bad. If it did not please him he didn't go in, but took his table into a wood 233