Page:Tales from the Fjeld.djvu/84

62 little dog got so weary and so hungry, and it fell to yelping and howling: "Bow-wow, bow-wow," it cried out. Just at that very moment up came Greylegs, trotting and trotting. He too thought he should get a fat steak, and he too made a spring—head over heels down into the pitfall.



When it was getting on towards grey dawn in the morning, down fell snow, with a north wind, and it grew so cold that the little dog stood and froze, and shivered and shook; it was so weary and hungry, "Bow-wow, bow-wow, bow-wow," it called out, and barked and yelped and howled. Then up came a bear, tramping and tramping along, and thought to himself how he could get a morsel for breakfast at the very top of the morning, and so he thought and thought among the boughs and branches till he too went bump—head over heels down into the pitfall.

So when it got a little farther on in the morning, an old beggar wife came walking by, who toddled from farm to farm with a bag on her back. When she set eyes on the little dog that stood there and howled, she couldn't help going near to look and see if any wild beasts had fallen into the pit during the night. So she crawled up on her knees and peeped down into it.