Page:Tales from the Fjeld.djvu/422

400 Troll who had the horse, they took both it and the grandest bit; and when they got to the Troll who owned the linden and the bird, they took both the linden and the bird, and set off with them.



So when they had travelled awhile, they came to a field of rye, and the fox said—

"I hear a noise; now you must ride on alone, and I will bide here awhile."

So he plaited himself a dress of rye-straw, and it looked just like some one who stood there and preached. And he had scarcely done that before all three Trolls came flying along, thinking they would overtake them.

"Have you seen any one riding by here with a lovely maiden, and a horse with a gold bit, and a golden bird and a gilded linden-tree?" they all roared out to him who stood there preaching.

"Yes, I heard from my grandmother's grandmother that such a train passed by here; but Lord bless us! that was in the good old time, when my grandmother's grandmother baked cakes for a penny, and gave the penny back again."