"Brother who hast pierced a steel shield with a steel spear, do you
understand what the King said?"

"Rascal! how can I know what he says when I am not in the same room with
him? What did he say?"

"He has commanded them to bake bread in one-and-twenty ovens and to make
one-and-twenty kettles of soup. If we eat it all, we can take his
daughter; otherwise, not."

The brother who devoured all the meal that seven millstones, ground
said: "Fear not, I will eat everything that comes to hand, and then cry,
'Little father, I die of hunger.'"

When the King saw the hungry man eat he screamed: "May he perish! I
shall certainly meet defeat at his hands."

Again he called his people to him and said, "Kindle a great fire, strew
it with ashes and cover it with blankets. When they come in in the
evening they will be consumed, all seven of them."

The brother with the sharp ears said: "Brother who hast pierced a steel
shield with a steel spear, do you understand what the King said?"

"No; how can I know what he said?"

"He said, 'Kindle a fire, strew it with ashes, and cover it with
blankets, and when they come in in the evening they will be consumed,
all seven of them.'"