the little man standing there, and walked away. Hardly had he begun to hew
down a tree, when his axe slipped and cut his arm, so that he had to go
home at once and have the wound bound up. This was the work of the little
grey man.

Thereupon the second son went into the wood, and the Mother gave him, as
she had given to the eldest, a sweet cake and a bottle of wine. The little
old man met him also, and begged for a small slice of cake and a drink of
wine. But the second son spoke out quite plainly. "What I give to you I
lose myself--be off with you," and he left the little man standing there,
and walked on. Punishment was not long in coming to him, for he had
given but two strokes at a tree when he cut his leg so badly that he had
to be carried home.

Then said the Simpleton: "Father, let me go into the forest and hew wood."
But his Father answered him: "Your brothers have done themselves much
harm, so as you understand nothing about wood-cutting you had better not
try." But the Simpleton begged for so long that at last the Father said:
"Well, go if you like; experience will soon make you wiser." To him the
Mother gave a cake, but it was made with water and had been baked in the
ashes, and with it she gave him a bottle of sour beer. When he came to the
wood the little grey man met him also, and greeted him, and said: "Give me
a slice of your cake and a drink from your bottle; I am so hungry and
thirsty." The Simpleton replied: "I have only a cake that has been baked
in the ashes, and some sour beer, but if that will satisfy you, let us sit
down and eat together." So they sat themselves down, and as the Simpleton
held out his food it became a rich cake, and the sour beer became good
wine. So they ate and drank together, and when the meal was finished, the
little man said: "As you have a good heart and give so willingly a share
of your own, I will grant you good luck. Yonder stands an old tree; hew it