Man and beast!
I will feast
All the day!"
'Whether the gnat flew for a long or a short time no one knows. Anyhow it came to a reddish mound. This was a heap of bricks. Some time ago a hut stood here, but the hut had been burnt down; its brick stove had fallen to pieces, and now stood in view—a heap of fragments. The gnat looked at the mound and thought: "This is a fine portion; it will just suit my appetite." It flew with all its might, settled on a brick, then flew on to another, and tried to drive its proboscis into it. The gnat held the brick fast, and fought with its proboscis the best it could; but it found it hard. Brick was brick, you know; it was not soft stuff. The gnat raced from place to place. It tried the brick in every way, but without avail.
'"No," thought the gnat, "this does not please me; it is not worth while troubling about." It moved on again, and flew away. It flew on and blew its own trumpets—
' "Fi-fo-fum!
Here I come!
I will slay
Man and beast!
I will feast