Then the boy said, “Dry your eyes, I will tell you what to do.”
He took the little dwarf by the hand and they ran to the house of the crossest giant in the land. They persuaded the giant to come and look at the rocking-chair and mend it, for he was very clever about such things.
The giant made the chair as good as new; then he turned to the little boy and said fiercely, “I have not had a good meal to-day. I will just eat you up!”
Then the chair grew very angry. It grew so large suddenly that the giant could sit in it, and it said,
“Come have a ride, and rock to and fro;
I am sure I know where you want to go!”
The giant forgot how hungry he was and he sat down in the chair. The chair rocked him down to the river and threw him in.
He was not drowned, of course, but he was awfully scared, and the chair rocked back to the little dwarf.
The little boy had many rides in the chair after that, but he took the little dwarf with him, so that they would be sure to remember the time, and not stay out after midnight.