goosey-gander spread his wings. He had tumbled down on the ice and was
sitting there, dazed. He hadn't grasped the whys and wherefores of all
this confusion, until he caught sight of a little long-legged dog who
ran over the ice with a goose in his mouth.

In a minute the boy was after that dog, to try and take the goose away
from him. He must have heard the goosey-gander call to him: "Have a
care, Thumbietot! Have a care!" But the boy thought that such a little
runt of a dog was nothing to be afraid of and he rushed ahead.

The wild goose that Smirre Fox tugged after him, heard the clatter as
the boy's wooden shoes beat against the ice, and she could hardly
believe her ears. "Does that infant think he can take me away from the
fox?" she wondered. And in spite of her misery, she began to cackle
right merrily, deep down in her windpipe. It was almost as if she had
laughed.

"The first thing he knows, he'll fall through a crack in the ice,"
thought she.

But dark as the night was, the boy saw distinctly all the cracks and
holes there were, and took daring leaps over them. This was because he
had the elf's good eyesight now, and could see in the dark. He saw both
lake and shore just as clearly as if it had been daylight.

Smirre Fox left the ice where it touched the shore. And just as he was
working his way up to the land-edge, the boy shouted: "Drop that goose,
you sneak!"

Smirre didn't know who was calling to him, and wasted no time in looking