THERE was once a boy named Hansel who had lost his father, mother, and sister. Some people thought that they had been stolen by trolls, but no one knew certainly. Everybody’s house was full, and there was no room for the lonely little boy. “There is nothing for you to do but to go out into the world and seek your fortune,” people said to him; so Hansel put on his little cap and started out.

He walked along the highway until he came to a place where four roads met. The first went through a forest; the second went down a steep hill; the third led over a sunny plain; and the fourth wound up a bleak, rocky mountainside. “When one has nowhere to go, one road is as good as another,” said Hansel to himself, and he looked at each in turn. The sun was warm and the forest looked cool and shady, so he decided to go through the forest.

The road was soft and mossy. There were many flowers along the way. Every little while there were open glades that were red with sweet wild strawberries. He often stopped to pick them, and as he went along, he said to himself, “It isn’t so bad a thing, after all, to have to seek one’s fortune—if I only had a father and mother to go back to after I have found it. Such a pleasant road as this must lead to some beautiful place. Maybe I shall come to a palace. It will be made of gold, of course, and the windows will sparkle like diamonds. I will go around to the smallest back door and ask, ‘Do you want a boy to herd the sheep or the cattle?’ The king’s man will answer, ‘Yes, we do. Come in and we will pay you a silver penny every month.’ I can grow up fast, and some day, when the king’s daughter is crossing the river, she will fall in and I—”

These thoughts were broken in upon by a pitiful noise of a sort that the boy had never heard before. It sounded a little like the crowing of a cock, but it was hoarse and half-stifled. “Some creature is in trouble,” said Hans to himself. “I’ll hurry on and see what it is.” He ran down the road, and every minute the crying sounded louder and more distressed. At last he came to a tiny clearing where a little hut was standing. The door was closed and the owner had evidently gone from home. Not far from the house was a coop, and in the coop was one lone cock.

“Please give me some water,” he begged; “I am dying of thirst.”

“Where shall I find it?” Hansel asked.

“Indeed, I don’t know,” the cock gasped. “The brook said it was tired of having creatures drink it. ‘I don’t drink them,’ it said, ‘and why should I let them drink me?’ and then it ran off downhill as fast as it could go. But do find me some water. I am choking.”

Hansel began to search for water, but not a pool or a pond or a river or a brook or a spring or a swamp could be found. There was not even a drop of dew to carry to the suffering cock, for the sun was warm and even the dew had vanished. Then Hansel went back and said:—

“I have searched the country through, and not a drop of water can I find.”

“Then I shall die,” the cock groaned.

“No, you won’t,” said the boy cheerily, “for I’m going to dig a well for you.”

Hansel looked all around the little place and at last he found a spade. Then he pulled off his jacket and began to dig. The sun grew hotter and hotter, but still he kept at it.

“Have you found water yet?” cried the cock, after a little while.

“Not yet,” answered Hansel, “but the farther I dig, the nearer I am to it,” and he dug faster than ever.

“Have you found it yet?” asked the cock again, a little later.

“The earth is moist,” Hansel answered; but he was now so deep down in the hole that his voice could hardly be heard.

“Have you found it yet?” the cock gasped faintly, after a few minutes. “I can’t stand up any longer. I think I am dying.”

Hansel was now so deep down that he could not hear the cock’s question; but he gave it a good answer, nevertheless, for he climbed out of the well as fast as ever he could. The water was coming in by pailfuls, and he carried his cap all full and dripping to the thirsty cock.

It was not long before the cock was as well as ever. Hansel made a little trench from the well to the coop so that the poor thing should not suffer from thirst again. Then he said:—

“Good-bye, Friend Cock. I must go on my way now, for I am seeking my fortune.”

“But I haven’t thanked you yet,” said the cock. “How shall I pay you for what you have done for me?”

“Oh, I don’t want any pay,” called Hansel over his shoulder, for he was already on his way.

“But I have a gift for you,” cried the cock, and Hansel went back. The cock stretched his neck through the bars of the coop. Something was in his bill.

“This is for you,” he said, and he dropped a little black seed into the boy’s hand. “When you are in trouble, plant that seed.”

“Thank you very much,” said Hansel. “I’ll keep it to remember you by,” and he dropped it into his pocket. “Good-bye again,” he called.

“Oh, but wait a minute,” pleaded the cock. “I have some advice for you.”

“All right,” replied the boy good-naturedly. “What is it? Advice isn’t heavy, and I can carry it in the same pocket with the seed.”

“The first time that a giant asks you a question, be sure to answer ‘Yes.’”

“I hope I’ll not meet any giants, but if I do, I’ll not forget,” Hansel promised. “All good things are three, so good-bye again.”

“Then gifts should be three,” declared the cock, “and the third is yet to come. This is a bit of advice, too. There’s no good fortune down this road. Whoever walks beyond this house comes to trouble. Turn back and choose another way.”

Hansel hesitated, for he remembered how hot and sandy or rocky the other roads looked; but he remembered, too, what his old nurse used to say, “There’s many and many a thing that the beasts and birds know which men and women have yet to learn.”

“I’ll go back,” he said; “and now good-bye for the last time.”

“Good-bye,” called the cock, with a cheery crow. “Don’t lose the seed and don’t forget to say ‘Yes’ to the first question that a giant asks you.”

Then Hansel went back through the forest, and it was not long before he came to the place where the four roads met. “One is as good as another,” he said to himself again, “and I may as well take the second.”

At first it was not an easy road, for it went down a steep hill covered with round stones. The boy had to pick his way among them as gingerly as if they had been eggs. But when he was once at the foot of the hill, it became a very pleasant road, for it went along beside the shore of a pretty lake. The tiny waves rippled up against the yellow sand as if they thought the little lake was a real ocean and themselves real breakers. Pearly shells lay on the shore. Hansel picked up a handful and walked along tossing them up in the air and catching them. Then he began to talk to himself. He said:—

“Nurse used to tell me about the King of the Water World. He lives in a cave far down in the ocean. He wears a crown of pearls and he sits on a throne. The sun never shines there, but the walls of the cave are covered with rubies and emeralds, and they sparkle so that it is as light as day. When I come near his palace, I will ask if he has any work that a boy can do. He will say, ‘Yes, one of my mermaids has been stolen away from me, and I will give you half of my kingdom if you will bring her back.’ Then I will go far and far and farther than far. I will go through groves of coral, over beds of green and blue and yellow sea-mosses. I shall see shells of crimson and silver and gold; but I won’t stop for one of them. I’ll go on and on and on till I come to the den of the sea-monster that stole the mermaid. There’ll be a little hole in her dungeon, and she will stretch out her white hand and beckon me. I’ll kill the dragon and—”

“Meow, meow!” came to his ears; “help me, help me!”

“I know what that is, anyhow,” said the boy to himself; and he called, “Pussy, pussy, what’s the matter? I’m coming to help you. But where are you?” he cried, for no cat was in sight.

“Meow, meow!” wailed the cat, and Hansel began to search for her. Far out in the lake was a tiny green island, and the cries seemed to come from that, though nothing was to be seen on it but a sandy beach, a rock, and a tall tree. Hansel waded out into the lake, but the water grew deep so fast that he had to go back to the shore. Still the pitiful cries continued. The boy threw off his clothes and swam out to the island. Behind the rock lay a heavy bag, tied with seven knots; and it was from the bag that the cries were coming.

“Hold on, pussy, I’ll get you out,” he said, and he set to work to untie the seven knots. Each one was more difficult than the ones before it, but at last the seventh had been untied, and a poor, forlorn, yellow-and-black cat crept out. Hansel stroked her wet fur and rubbed it dry with some bits of dead grass. The cat purred and arched her back and rubbed her head against his hand.

“How did you happen to be in that bag?” he asked.

“Some one gave my master a pretty gray cat,” she replied. “He said he did not want two, and so he tied me up in the bag and threw me into the lake.”

“I’m glad I came along in time to get you out,” said Hansel heartily. “If you will sit on my shoulder, I will swim ashore and carry you.”

The cat sprang eagerly to his shoulder, and he started to swim ashore. At first she was as light as a feather, but before they had gone far from the island, she began to grow heavy. She grew heavier and heavier, but the boy would not throw her off to drown. He struggled on and came at last to the shore, but he was so tired that he could hardly stand. As he lay on the shore resting, the cat scrambled about among the bushes, and seemed to be searching for something.

After a little, the boy cried:—

“Good-bye, pussy, good-bye. When a boy is seeking his fortune, he must seek it,” and he started to go on farther.

“But I haven’t thanked you yet,” cried the cat, running out of the bushes. “What shall I give you for what you have done for me?”

“Oh, I don’t want any reward,” cried Hansel. “I’m glad I got you out.”

“But I have a gift for you,” called the cat, and Hansel went back. The cat dropped a tiny white seed into his hand. “When you are in trouble, plant that,” she said.

“Thank you, thank you,” said Hansel. “I’ll keep it to remember you by,” and he put it into his pocket to lie beside the little black seed. “Good-bye again,” he cried.

“Ah, but wait a minute,” pleaded the cat. “I have some advice for you.”

“I am getting so much advice,” thought Hansel, “that I am afraid I shall be a wise man before I have made my fortune”; but he said aloud, “All right, what is it? I can carry it in another pocket.”

“The second time that a giant asks you a question, be sure to answer, ‘With salt.’”

“With salt, with salt,” repeated the boy. “To the first question I am to answer ‘Yes,’ and to the second I must say, ‘With salt.’ I certainly hope I shan’t meet any giants, but if there’s nothing harder to do than to answer a few questions, I can surely do that. Good-bye again, I’m going on till I find my fortune.”

“But there’s no good fortune down this road,” said the cat. “Whoever passes this lake comes to trouble. Turn back and choose another road.”

The thought of that long, long hill with the rolling stones was not very pleasant, and Hansel hesitated; but the cat looked at him so earnestly that at last he answered:—

“All right, pussy, I’ll go back and I won’t lose the little white seed.”

“And don’t forget to say ‘With salt’ to the second question,” cried the cat.

“No, I won’t. Good-bye, pussy, good-bye.”

Climbing the long hill was not nearly so hard as he had expected, for he had rolled so many of the round stones from the path as he went down. Then, too, the sun was no longer directly overhead. Indeed, the air grew cooler and cooler, and when he came to where the four roads met, it was so cold that he had to blow on his fingers to keep them from being stiff and numb.

“I suppose a boy can seek his fortune whether it is hot or cold,” thought Hansel, and he set off bravely to walk in the third road. This seemed to lead directly across a vast plain; but he could not see very far, for there were thick clouds of dust blowing in little whirlwinds. “All this dust must come from some great city,” thought the boy. “Perhaps I shall come to it before long. I will go straight to the Lord Mayor, and say, ‘Sir Lord Mayor, is there anything for a boy to do to make his fortune?’ He will answer, ‘Yes, one of my ships is all ready to sail. You may sail with her, and if you have anything to venture, perhaps you will make your fortune in one voyage. What have you to send?’ Then I’ll say, ‘Sir Lord Mayor, I have a black seed and a white one.’ No, I forget, if he happens to be a giant, I must say ‘Yes’ to the first question. That will be such nonsense that he will think I am a philosopher, and he will say, ‘I need another counselor, and I’ll take you. You shall have a long red gown and a white wig, and every morning before breakfast you shall have a great piece of red, red gold.’ I will say ‘Thank you, I—’”

Without thinking what he was about, Hansel had been talking aloud; and now the words were fairly blown from his lips, for a great storm had suddenly arisen. Big hailstones beat upon him. He was thrown into the brambles and against the stones. His cap was lost, his clothes were torn, and he was almost exhausted when at last he managed to get into the shelter of a high rock that kept the biting wind from him.

It seemed to him that he had hardly taken three long breaths before he heard a loud buzzing. “Come and help us,” it said; “come and help us.”

“I knew cocks could talk,” thought Hansel in surprise, “and cats can, of course, but I never heard bees talk before. They must be in some great trouble. I can’t do anything to help them, that’s sure, for it is all I can do to get my breath.”

“Come and help us,” buzzed the bees, until Hansel could not bear to hear their pleading any longer and he asked:—

“What is the matter?”

“Our hive is blown over,” they replied. “The storm came up so suddenly that many bees are away, and when they come back, they will not know where to go if the hive is not in its place. Do put it back for us.”

“Surely, I can do so much for them if I am tired,” thought Hansel; and he asked, “Where does your hive belong?”

“On top of this high rock,” they replied.

“I shouldn’t think it would stay there in this wind,” said Hansel to himself, “but I suppose they know best. People say that bees are wise, and maybe they know some way of making it firm.”—“I don’t know whether I can climb the rock in this storm,” he said aloud, “but at least I can try.”

So Hansel took up the beehive carefully and began to climb. It seemed at every step as if the wind would surely blow him away; but he kept on and on, and at last he was at the top of the rock and had put the hive into the place that the bees pointed out. The storm grew worse and worse until it almost seemed as if the rock itself would be blown over.

“I don’t see how your hive is going to stay there,” said Hansel. “The moment I let go, it will fall down and be blown to nobody knows where.”

“Please stay and hold it for us,” the bees pleaded anxiously.

“It’s all I can do to hold my head on my shoulders,” replied Hansel.

But the bees still begged, “Do stay and help us, do help us.”

“All right, I’ll try it,” said Hansel, “but it looks as if the hive and the rock and myself would all blow away together.”

The wind blew as if it feared it would never have another chance and meant to make the best of this one. The rain fell, not in drops, it seemed to Hansel, or in pailfuls, but in whole pondfuls, in oceanfuls. He threw one arm around the hive and the other around a jagged point of rock, and there he clung for dear life. It was a hard pull for the tired boy, but after a while the storm cleared as suddenly as it had arisen. Many of the wandering bees returned and made their way into the hive and were safe. The other bees buzzed a welcome to them, and Hansel could not help being glad that he had saved their home. They clustered around Hansel and buzzed their thanks into his ear. They gave him all the honey he could eat and a fine large piece of comb to carry away with him.

“But where are you going?” they asked.

“Everywhere and nowhere,” answered Hansel. “I haven’t any father or any mother or any place to stay in, and I am going out into the world to seek my fortune.”

“There’s no good fortune to be found on this road,” declared the bees. “You must go back to where the four roads meet and choose another.”

“There are roads enough in the world,” said Hansel with a laugh, “but somehow none of them seem to be the right ones.”

“Every one has his own road,” said the bees. “Some find it in one day, some in two days, and some in three days, but there is surely a road.”

“All right, I’ll go back and try the road uphill,” Hansel said. “Bees are wise, I know. Can you tell me whether I shall find my fortune on that road? The mountain is so steep that I am sure I should break my neck if I had to come down it by night; and then, too, there are no more roads to try.”

“We must not say any more,” buzzed the bees, “but we can make you a gift that will be of help in time of need”; and they brought out from the farthest corner of the hive a tiny seed as yellow as their own honey. “Take good care of this,” they said, “for the time will come when you will have need of it. And there is one thing more; we have some advice for you.”

“I’ve had two pieces already,” rejoined Hansel, laughing, “and yet I don’t seem to be wise enough to find the right road.”

“At least, we can tell you something that will keep you from going where you do not wish to go,” buzzed the bees.

“Thank you kindly,” said Hansel. “I will put it into my jacket pocket with the other pieces. When one has not much else to carry, he can surely carry a piece of advice. What is it, then?”

“To the third question that a giant asks you, be sure to answer, ‘In the land and in the sea,’” replied the bees earnestly. “Do not forget.”

“No, I’ll remember,” Hansel promised. “To the first question I am to say ‘Yes’; to the second, ‘With salt’; and to the third, ‘In the land and in the sea.’ I hope no one will ask me a fourth question, for I’d have to answer that all out of my own wit. Now good-bye. Thank you kindly for the honey and the seed and the bit of advice. I’ll turn back and go up the mountain if I can see to find the road.” He waved his hand in farewell, turned back, and crossed the plain once more.

Before long he was at the place where the four roads met. He could not exactly “choose” which one to take, for there was only one left that he had not tried; but he gazed for at least three minutes at the long, winding way that disappeared in the shadows. He fancied that there was a heavy stone castle at the top of the mountain, but it was fast growing dusky and he could not be sure whether what he saw was not a gray cloud. It was a lonely road to follow in the twilight, and Hansel could not help thinking of the other boys who were safe in their own homes; but he was a stout-hearted little fellow, and he said to himself, “I suppose that if a boy is seeking his fortune, he must seek it; and since the end of the road won’t come to me, why, then, I’ll go to the end of the road.” And he set off bravely to climb the mountain.

The road wound about and went in many zigzags, but at last Hansel was at the top of the mountain. Sure enough, there was a great stone castle that towered up till the battlements really seemed to reach the clouds. Hansel walked timidly up to the gate and knocked. No one answered. He knocked again, for it was so dark and wild on the hill that he began to feel afraid. “If they will only let me come in,” he thought, “and give me a bit of straw to lie on, I don’t care for any grand fortune”; and he knocked a third time.

Then the gate was opened a little way, and a great coarse hand as large as Hansel’s whole body was stretched out and pulled him in through the opening. Of course, the hand belonged to a giant, who was almost as tall as the walls of the castle. The boy ventured to put his head back and take one look at the giant’s face. It would have been frightful enough in any case, for it looked so hateful; but it was especially startling because it had three eyes, one above each ear and one on the top of the head. The giant could see best with that, and now he bent his head over and glared at Hansel with it. This eye was red and fiery, and at its flashing the boy felt as though the lightning was about to strike him. The giant gazed a minute or two and then called:—

“Brothers Humpkin and Lumpkin, here’s a boy.”

“Let’s eat him, Brother Mumpkin,” cried two harsh voices, and immediately two more dreadful giants came shambling out of the castle keep. One had three ears, and the other had three mouths. This third giant was Lumpkin, and he was the most horrible of the three, for he was continually grating his teeth and mumbling his heavy lips.

“We’ll eat him, well eat him,” they cried; but when they caught sight of the boy and saw how small and thin he was, they laughed scornfully.

“He’ll be only a mouthful apiece for us,” said Humpkin. Lumpkin, however, began to feel the boy’s ribs and thighs, pinching him now and then to see if the flesh was firm and solid.

“Maybe he’ll not be so bad,” said Lumpkin. “Well put him into one of the dungeons, and in a day or two we’ll have a feast. These little creatures are small, but they are tender.”

Now one giant would have been enough to frighten anybody, but with three such monsters before him it is no wonder that Hansel was white with terror. Mumpkin held him up by the back of the neck as if he was a kitten and demanded:—

“Do they eat boys in the land of the Pogglywogs?”

If Hansel had answered, “I don’t know,” the giant would probably have retorted, “You’ll find out that we do here,” and perhaps have taken a bite on the instant, but Hansel in all his terror had not forgotten his promise to the cock, and he faltered, “Yes.”

“Listen to that!” cried Humpkin. “Now we’ll know how the Pogglywogs do it, for we must do like them if we want to grow any taller.”

Then Mumpkin gave the boy a pinch to make sure that he was attending and asked in a voice that sounded like distant thunder:—

“How do they eat them?”

“With salt,” answered the boy faintly.

“He says, ‘With salt,’” repeated Mumpkin. “What’s salt? I never saw any. You boy, where do they find salt?”

“In the sea and in the land,” answered the boy.

“‘In the sea and in the land,’” repeated Mumpkin. “There’s one thing sure, we must have some salt, whatever it may be. Humpkin, if you will take the boy to the dungeon, I’ll go out and look the land through for some salt.”

So poor Hansel was taken to the dungeon and left there. Giants are usually dull, and although these monsters wanted him to grow fat, it never entered their stupid heads that they must give him anything to eat. They shut the door, locked and bolted it, and went away, thinking what a dainty morsel would be ready for them when Mumpkin came back with the salt.

“It won’t take him long to find it,” said Humpkin. “That third eye of his can see all there is to see.”

“I wonder where he will go,” said Lumpkin.

“Oh, not farther than the foot of the hill,” declared Humpkin. “There isn’t much land beyond.”

While they were talking, Mumpkin was plunging down the hill. He kicked the great stones from his path as if they were only so many pebbles, and he tore up the bushes and little trees along his way. It was night, of course, but that made no difference, for, as any three-eyed person knows, one who has three eyes can see as well in the night as in the daytime. When he came to the foot of the hill, he looked around at the different roads. He did not know anything about salt and thought it was as likely to grow on trees as anywhere else, so he started to go through the forest. With two eyes he looked at the trees on either side of the way and with the third, the one on the top of his head, he kept close watch of the moon. “I heard once that the moon was made of green cheese,” he said to himself, “and maybe salt is a kind of cheese.”

Now Mumpkin was not at all used to thinking, and he was so tired by this effort that he had to sit down to rest. He fell asleep and slept a long while. He was awakened by a loud “Cock-a-doodle-doo!” directly in front of him. The giant rubbed his three eyes and looked around. A big handsome cock was strutting up and down in the path, looking at the monster as if he were a new kind of worm that might or might not be good to eat.

“Get out of the road!” roared the giant.

“With pleasure,” replied the cock. It gave a little flutter with its wings and in a moment it was resting comfortably on the giant’s left shoulder.

“Yah! Get off!” the giant growled.

“Certainly,” the cock replied, “but if you knew how much I know, you would be glad to have me whisper in your ear.”

“I’ll wring your neck,” roared the giant, and put up his hand to catch the cock; but in a twinkling the bird was on the limb of a tree higher than even a giant could well reach.

“Are you going farther down this road?” the cock asked.

“Yes, I am,” said the giant. “I am going to find salt; but it’s no business of yours.”

“May I give you a bit of advice?” asked the cock politely.

“Keep your advice to yourself,” the giant growled.

“But I have to give it,” said the cock. “That is what I am put here for. It is this: Do not go down this road any farther. There is no salt here, and if you go, something will surely happen to you.”

“Something might happen to you, you stupid little bunch of bill and feathers,” shouted the giant angrily, “but things don’t happen to folk as big as I am, I’ll have you know.” And he started off down the road faster than he had ever walked before in all his life.

For a long while nothing happened except that the trees grew taller and taller; but suddenly the giant heard a growling which sounded louder than any growling that he had ever heard before, and in a moment a dreadful creature came out of the woods. It was a thousand times as big as the giant. Its enormous tail switched from side to side. It walked on four legs, and when it stretched one of them out, the giant saw that it was armed with sharp claws almost as long as his whole body. The creature was covered with a thick growth of yellow-and-black hair which stood on end at the sight of the strange object in the road. It glared at him with horrible great yellow eyes, and then put out one big paw to touch him and rolled him over and over in the dust. Never was a giant so terribly frightened before. The monster tumbled him about and played with him awhile, then gave a great yawn which revealed a vast cavern of a mouth as red as a fiery furnace, and walked away.

The giant lay trembling, but after a time he shook himself and turned toward home. “Salt or no salt, I’ll go no farther,” he declared. “I’ll go home, and I’ll run faster than any giant ever ran before.”

He ran as fast as he could, but somehow he did not get over the ground at all rapidly. It seemed a long way from one tree to another. He was tired and he was thirsty. He stopped at a clear, quiet little pool to get a drink. A beetle sat in the bottom of the pool, looking straight at him. “I never saw a beetle like that in the water before,” growled the giant, and he made an ugly face at it. The beetle did the same, but made no reply. The giant drank what he wanted and went on. It was a long, long way. The sun rose and the sun set many and many a time, but at last the giant was at the gate of the castle.

“Let me in,” he cried. “I tell you, let me in.” He pounded on the gate with all his might, and at last he heard his brothers coming. “I’ll kill them,” he growled, “for keeping me out here,” and he thumped louder than ever. At last Lumpkin opened the gate.

“It is strange, isn’t it,” he said, “that Mumpkin does not come. I suppose he’s found something good to eat, another boy, maybe, and he means to keep it all for himself. I don’t care whether he comes or not, but I want that salt. Ugh! what a horrid beetle that is,” and he crushed it with his foot. This was the end of Mumpkin. The forest was no ordinary forest, of course, but an enchanted wilderness; and whoever went too far in it turned into some wild creature. The giant had not found it out, but he had really been a beetle for a long, long time, and the monster that had given him such a fright was only a playful cat.

The brothers shut the gate and went into the castle again. They were tired of waiting for a mouthful of roasted boy, but they were always afraid that the other race of giants, the Pogglywogs, would become larger than they; and now that they had heard that the Pogglywogs ate salt with their boys, they did not want to taste this one without it.

“I won’t wait any longer,” declared Lumpkin. “I’m going to find some salt, and what’s more, I won’t be so long about it as that stupid lubber.” So the second giant set out to search for salt. When he came to the foot of the mountain, he looked at the three roads and concluded to go on the one that went still farther down. The rolling stones gave him considerable trouble, and more than once he had rather a hard fall because of them. He was half-stunned by the last tumble, and he lay on the ground a minute or two before he tried to get up. When he rose again and looked around him, there stood a cock quietly watching him.

“May I ask,” said the cock politely, “if you intend to go much farther on this road?”

“What’s that to you?” growled Lumpkin, rubbing his bruised elbow and grating his teeth horribly. “I’ll eat you, I will. I always eat cocks.”

“May I give you a bit of advice?” asked the cock.

“No,” the giant thundered. “I can make advice for myself. Get out.”

“But I have to give it,” said the cock quietly. “That is what I am put here for. This is it: Do not go down this road any farther. There is no salt here, and if you go, something will surely happen to you.”

“Something will happen to you!” shouted the giant, and with all three mouths at once he tried to bite the cock’s head off. The cock flew up on the limb of a great tree, far above the head of the giant, and sat there watching as the giant strode off down the hill.

It was not long before he came to a lake. Now the giant had never seen water in that form before. This looked smooth and easy to walk on, so he set out to walk on it instead of on the road. Even near the shore the water was deep, and in a little less than no time the giant was down on his knees in the lake, spluttering and storming and snarling and growling and grating his teeth together as if he meant to eat even the rocks and the sand.

“There are better ways of getting over the water than trying to walk on it,” said a voice pleasantly.

The giant staggered to his feet and looked around.

“Eh?” said he.

“There are better ways of getting over the water than trying to walk on it,” the voice repeated; and now the giant saw that it proceeded from a boat that was coming nearer and nearer. In the boat was a yellow-and-black cat, who bowed politely and sat waiting for him to speak.

“What’s that thing you’re in?” demanded the giant.

“This is a boat,” the cat replied. “With it one can easily go on the water.”

“Get out, I want it,” the giant growled.

The cat’s yellow eyes began to look fiery, but she asked very quietly:—

“Are you sure that you can manage it?”

“Of course I can; I am a hundred times as big as you.”

“But I have a collar around my neck, and you have none.”

“I’ll have one, too,” the giant cried. “Where’s the stuff you make it of?”

“There’s some stuff you might use on the ground on the farther side of that big rock,” said the cat. “See that you make it thick enough.”

The giant picked up a great mass of the stuff. It was lead and it was exceedingly heavy, but he bent it and squeezed it and pulled it and punched it and jammed it and pounded it until he had made a collar big enough to go over his head with only the least bit of crowding. It would have taken at least ten common men to lift it, but the giant put it on without any trouble.

“Bring that boat to me,” he called in a voice that would have frightened most cats out of a year’s growth; but this one only looked at him and slowly rowed the boat up to the shore. Then she sprang out lightly and curled herself up on a warm rock. The giant stepped on the gunwale of the boat with one of his enormous feet. Then he lifted the other foot, and, of course, the boat tipped over just as any other boat would have done, and in a moment the giant lay on the bottom of the lake. His head with the leaden collar was down and his heels were up; and up they stayed, for this was the end of the three-mouthed giant Lumpkin.

“Folk that never use their heads ought not to mind losing them,” said the cat, as she yawned comfortably and stretched herself out to take a nap.

Meanwhile, several events had taken place in the castle of the three giants. Humpkin had more than once gone to the top of the tower and listened first with one ear, then with another, and then with all three; but not a sound could he hear of either Mumpkin or Lumpkin. “I rather think they are killed,” he said, “and I’m glad of it, for now I’ll eat that boy all by myself. I don’t care anything about salt, whatever it may be, and I’ll go straight to the dungeon and get him.”

Now several events had been happening in the dungeon also. At first it was a very white-faced and badly frightened boy who lay there on the damp floor; but as hour after hour passed and no one came to harm him, he began to recover from his fright a little and to look about him to see if there was any way of making his escape. The walls were of stone, the window was far above his head, and the door was evidently locked and bolted. What could he do?

While he sat pondering, he thought he heard a sound on the other side of the wall as if some one was speaking. He could see a tiny crack in the wall, so he lay down on the floor and put his ear to the crack. Then he heard a voice that asked:—

“Who are you?”

“I’m a boy, and my name is Hansel. I came out to seek my fortune. The cock and the cat and the bees wouldn’t let me go on the other roads, and so I came here, and the giants caught me. They say they mean to eat me. Who are you?”

“I am a magician,” the voice replied.

“Then why don’t you tear the castle down or kill the giants or call up an earthquake or do something?” the boy cried. “I always thought magicians could do anything they chose.”

“So they can if they choose something that they can do,” declared the voice. “But even magicians,” he added, “cannot do everything without anything.”

“Can’t you draw a magic circle so the giants can’t touch you?” asked Hansel.

“I could if I had anything to draw it with,” said the magician, “but I haven’t.”

“I haven’t even a crumb of anything to eat,” said Hansel, “and I am hungry as hungry.”

“Haven’t you a bit of bread or a kernel of corn or a grain of wheat about you?”

“Not one. I have only three little seeds of nobody knows what; a black one that a cock gave me; a yellow one that some bees gave me; and a white one that a cat gave me. They’re of no use; they wouldn’t make a mouthful for a sparrow.”

“Maybe they will for a boy, though,” said the magician thoughtfully. “I shouldn’t be in the least surprised if they were magic seeds. At any rate, they are of no use as they are, and you may as well plant them and see what will come up.”

“There’s no earth to plant them in,” said Hansel.

“That’s no matter,” replied the magician. “Magic seeds do not need earth. Just lay one of them down in a corner and say over it:—

So many strange things had come to pass that Hansel was almost afraid to have anything to do with the seeds; but he finally decided to plant the yellow one, and then, if nothing dreadful happened, to plant the black one, and after that, the white. He laid the yellow one down gently, repeated the magician’s spell over it, and turned away. Before he could get across the little room, he felt something touch his shoulder. It was a branch of a tree, and was loaded with bright red apples; another was full of thick slices of bread and butter well sprinkled with sugar; from another hung many little buckets of creamy milk; another was weighted down with cake and gingerbread; another with sugar cookies; and yet another with tender, juicy roast beef and roast chicken. While he stood gazing at all these things, the tree kept on growing; and even before the hungry boy could put out his hand for a single mouthful, it had almost reached the top of the room, and every branch had something good on it.

Hansel threw himself on the floor beside the crack in the wall and told the magician of the amazing thing that had happened. “I wish I could get through this wall,” he said, “so I could give you something to eat. Can’t you dig through it?” he asked eagerly. “Haven’t you any knife?”

“The giants took it away,” replied the magician; “but never mind. Since your seeds are magic seeds, there is hope for us, and I don’t mind going hungry for a while. Be quick and plant another and see what will come of it.”

Hansel planted the tiny black seed, saying over the same magic spell. He did not turn his back this time, you may be sure; but now, although a little shoot came up at once, it grew more slowly, and it was at least ten minutes before it bore any fruit. Even when the fruit appeared, it did not look very valuable, for it was only one pod, long and brown and thick. Hansel told the magician about it, and before he had fairly finished speaking, he heard something drop heavily on the floor behind him. The pod had ripened and burst and the fruit had fallen out—the biggest, sharpest, strongest jackknife that was ever made in all the world.

“Oh, oh!” cried Hansel. “Now, Mr. Magician, I can dig through this wall.”

That would not have been so easily done with any common knife; but this one actually seemed to dig of itself, for whether Hansel was holding it or not, it kept on working and the bits of stone kept on falling. It was not many minutes before the hole was large enough for a boy to creep through; and through it Hansel went with his hands full of bread and butter and gingerbread and roast beef.

If only there had been no giants to fear, the boy and the magician would have had a delightful time together. Even as it was, they had so much to tell that for a little while they forgot all about the third seed. At last the magician thought of it and he said:—

“There is no knowing how soon the giants may come upon us. Hurry back and plant the third seed and see what help that will give us.”

Then Hansel crept back and planted the little white seed. That was even slower than the black one in coming up; but yet it was not many minutes before it was up to Hansel’s knees and had begun to form its fruit. Never was there such fruit seen before. It was perfectly white and round and hard. After a while it fell off, and Hansel in great disappointment carried it to the magician.

“Here it is,” he said, “but it is no good at all. It looks just like a piece of chalk.”

Much to his surprise, the magician clapped his hands and cried:—

“This is best of all. Now we are safe. Come giant or dwarf or troll or demon, they cannot harm us.”

Hansel was afraid the magician had gone mad, but in a moment he understood. The white fruit really was chalk, and in only two or three seconds longer than no time at all, the magician was down on his knees, drawing a magic circle about himself and the boy as fast as ever he could.

“There!” he said, with a deep sigh of relief. “Nothing can hurt us now. There’s something else for you to know. The magic seeds were given to you, and, therefore, you have the right to ask three questions. What is the first?”

It did not take Hansel long to think what he wanted to know, and without a moment’s delay he cried:—

“Please tell me where is the terrible giant with three eyes?”

“He lies dead outside the gate of the castle,” said a voice.

“Where is the one with the three mouths?”

“His feet are in the air, his head in the water, and he is drowned as dead as a stone,” replied the voice.

“And where is the one with the three ears?”

“He stands outside the dungeon and is just about to open the door,” was the reply; and sure enough, the bolts were drawn, the key was turned, and the giant Humpkin strode into the room.

“How did you get here, you young rascal, you?” he roared. “I put you into the other dungeon to wait till I came to eat you. You’ll pay for this, you will.” Humpkin caught him by the arm, or rather, tried to catch him, for the instant the giant put one foot within the circle, something or other struck him a heavy blow. He tried again, and this time he was struck so terribly that he howled with pain and fright and ran for his life, leaving all the doors wide open behind him.

“Come,” cried the magician; “come quick!” He caught the boy by the hand and half dragged him out of the dungeon. “Stay there,” he said when they had come to the courtyard, and he himself ran through the gate of the castle. Then, while Humpkin was half running and half rolling down the mountain, the magician, too, was running as fast as he could go, making a wide chalk mark entirely around the castle. When this was done, he went back into the court, not troubling himself to close the gate, and called to Hansel.

“Come, let’s go up into the tower,” he said, “and see what will happen.”

They climbed to the top of the highest tower and looked around. Pretty soon they saw Humpkin come stumbling up the hill, snarling and growling and by turns rubbing his head and shaking his great fist. “I’ll be there,” he muttered, “and then you’ll pay for this, you will. I’ll eat you both before you can say—‘Oh! Oh!’” he screeched, for again he had touched the magic circle, and a third blow, worse than either of the others, had sent him a quarter of a league from the gate. He tried again and again, but as he made the third attempt, a swarm of bees flew into his face, buzzing and stinging so savagely that they drove him over the cliff. This cliff was so high that he broke into pieces long before he reached the bottom, such small pieces that as yet no one has ever found even one of them.

After the magician and Hansel had seen the last of the giant, they came down from the tower and began to look through the castle. Of course there were, as in every giant’s castle, rooms upon rooms filled from floor to ceiling with silver and gold; there were others fairly crammed with diamonds and rubies and emeralds and pearls.

“You will be the richest boy in the whole land,” said the magician. “You are king, of course.”

“Why, aren’t you going to be king?” asked the boy, with wide-open eyes.

“King? No, not I. I am a magician,” was the proud reply. “Only let me have a quiet tower where no one ever slams the doors or interrupts me when I am making my calculations, and I would not give a fig for all the gold and jewels in the castle. But come, now, and let us go down into the dungeons. There may be some one else shut up there.”

Down into the dungeons they went. The giant’s keys were sticking in the door of the dungeon where the magician had been shut up. Room after room was unlocked, but no one was to be seen.

“We must have been the only prisoners,” said the magician. “There seem to be no more rooms.”

“I thought I saw a little door out of that dark place under the stairs,” Hansel said. “Maybe that’s a room.”

“We’ll see,” said the magician, and he tried key after key, but none of them fitted. “I fancy there’s a touch of magic about this,” he said thoughtfully. “Some magician must have been here and made this lock. There’s one thing sure, what magic has done, magic can undo.”

He drew a circle entirely around the little door and wrote some mysterious figures and signs within it. He had hardly finished the last one before the door flung itself open. There stood a tall, stately man, and by his side was a beautiful woman with her arm thrown closely around a young girl two or three years older than Hansel.

Now comes the strangest part of the whole story and the one that is hardest to believe, for these three people proved to be Hansel’s father and mother and sister. They had really been stolen away by trolls, as their friends thought, and had been put into the dungeon of the giants for safe-keeping. The trolls had been overcome by other trolls who were stronger than they and put to death. The giants were not used to remembering things, and they had forgotten all about their prisoners. Luckily, Hansel’s father had some magic food in his pockets, or else they would have starved long before. There they were, alive and well; and now Hansel, the lonely little boy whom nobody wanted, had a father and mother and sister, a powerful friend, and rooms upon rooms filled with gold and silver from floor to ceiling.

The doors of the castle keep were flung wide open. The sun shone in and the sweet, strong wind blew through and through it until every corner was fresh and pure. Little flowers began to grow in the courtyard. They showed their faces timidly at first, but soon there were great companies of them, bright and cheery and happy as ever flowers could be. Vines ran up the walls and peered over into the very keep of the castle. Some even slipped in through the gratings of the dungeons to see what kind of places they were. Night and day the gates stood open, for there were no enemies to be afraid of. Hansel grew into a tall young man, and he ruled the country so kindly and wisely that the people declared there never was in all the wide world so good a sovereign as their own King Hansel the First.