He went to the maiden, and wept.
‘What are you weeping for?’
‘Your father has told me to fill the jar with poppy-seed; and if I don’t, he will cut off my head.’
She said, ‘Fear not.’ She went outside and gave a whistle, and the mice came as many as all the blades of grass and the leaves.
And they asked, ‘What do you want, mistress?’
‘Gather the poppy-seed and fill the jar.’ [[126]]
And the mice came and picked up the grains of poppy-seed one by one, and filled the jar.
The Devil saw it. ‘You’re a clever chap. Here is one more task for you: drain the marsh, and plough it, and sow it, and to-morrow bring me roasted maize. And if you do not, I shall cut your head off.’
He went to the maiden and wept. ‘Your father has told me to drain the marsh, and give him roasted maize to-morrow.’
‘Fear not.’