“The way to the rich man’s house led through a very thick wood, and while the Strawberry-Girl was going through this wood a little old man stepped from a hollow tree and stood in the path before her.
“‘Aha!’ says he, ‘I find you alone at last. Where are you going, and what have you got?’
THE LITTLE OLD MAN DISCOVERS THE STRAWBERRY-GIRL
“‘I am carrying some strawberries to your master,’ says the Strawberry-Girl, who imagined that the rich man was everybody’s master.
“‘My master!’ cries the little old man; ‘my master! But if he were my master, and I wanted to get rid of him, I’d not get in your path, for every berry in your basket is rank poison.’
“‘Well, anyhow, they are red,’ says the stupid Strawberry-Girl.
“‘So they are,’ says the little old man. ‘But if you want to kill your master carry them to him.’
“‘Oh, I don’t want to kill him,’ says the Strawberry-Girl. ‘He pays too well.’