98 The Greedy Youngster. with it, he was a little rough and careless again. The house got almost out of shape, and all the joists creaked ; he was very near dragging down the whole palace. When the porridge was nearly ready, they sent him out to call the people home from the fields. He shouted so that the mountains and hills around rang with echoes, but the people did not come quick enough for him. He came to blows with them, and killed twelve of them. " You have killed twelve men," said the king ; " and you eat for many times twelve ; but how rr.any do you work for ? " " For many times twelve as well," answered the youngster. When he had finished his porridge, he was to go into the barn to thrash. He took one of the rafters from the roof and made a flail out of it, and when the roof was about to fall in, he took a big pine tree with branches and all and put it up instead of the rafter. So he went on thrashing the gram and the straw and the hay all together. This was doing more damage than good, for the corn and the chaff flew about together, and a cloud of dust arose over the whole palace. When he had nearly finished thrashing, enemies came into the country, as a war was coming on. So the king told the youngster that he should take men with him to go and mcet the enemy and fight them, for the king thought they would surely kili him. No, he would not have any men with him to be cut to pieces ; he would fight by himself, answered the youngster. "So much the better," thought the king ; " the sooner I shall get rid of him ; but he must have a proper club." They sent for the smith ; he forged a club which weighed a hundredweight. "A very nice thing to crack nuts with," said the youngster. So the smith made one of three hundredweight. "It would do very well for hammering nails into boots," was the answer. Well, the smith could not make a bigger one with the men he had. So the youngster set out for the smithy himself, and made a club that weighed five tons, and it took a hundred men to turn it on the anvil. " That one might do for lack of a better," thought the youngcter. Ile wanted next a bag with some provisionsj they
