“Aha! insects!” said the maiden. “Get up! a human being has come to fight you.”
The giant opened his eyes, and seeing the lad, exclaimed:
“What a delicious breakfast this morning!”
“Get up, monster!” said the lad. “Let us see whom fortune will favor—you or me.”
They prepared their bows and arrows.
“You shoot first,” said the giant to the lad.
“Not I,” said the lad; “you shoot first.”
The giant shot, but the lad avoided the arrow very cleverly, and it passed by without hurting him. It was now his turn. He took aim and shot the giant through the heart, nailing him to the ground; and then he cut off his head.
Leaving the body of the giant there, the lad went a little farther, and to his great surprise saw another giant asleep with his head in the lap of another beautiful maiden, whose beauty surpassed even that of the moon. She was working with her needle, and before her a golden hen and a golden weasel were playing in a golden basin. The maiden, seeing the lad, said to him:
“Human being! the snake on its belly, and the bird with its wing could not come here. How could you venture to come?”