Page 169.
“KURT HOPED THE GIANTESS MIGHT BE ASLEEP.”
He hardly knew which to take first, so he decided to begin with the most difficult one, and, cautiously stretching forth his hand, laid hold of the bird, which sat on its perch with its head tucked under its wing, thinking to put it in his pocket. But, unfortunately, he grasped it too roughly, and immediately the bird began to screech so loudly, that the whole cave shook and trembled.
In an instant the giantess sprang from her bed, caught hold of Kurt, threw him down on the ground, and tied his hands and feet firmly with ropes.
“Ha! ha!” she laughed. “Here is another one! What fools they all are, to think they could outwit me! But this one will do nicely for my Christmas dinner when I have fed him up a little.” And with these words, and despite his loud cries and remonstrances, she trundled him into a small cave at the back. “And you need not fear that I shall starve you,” she grinned maliciously, “for I want you to get nice and fat; at present you are so thin, you are not worth eating.” So saying, she ran out of the cave and hurried down to the shore, hoping to catch some of the crew, and so fill her larder still further.
But no sooner did the men see the monster running down to the shore, than they rowed back to the ship with all their might, and, lifting the anchor, set sail at once, and were soon out of sight
When the men returned home and described the awful ogress who had raced down to the shore to catch them, the king feared there was but little hope that Kurt would ever be heard of again. But after a few days, Conrad began to think that if he had gone, he would have managed more cleverly than Kurt, so he asked the king if he would fit out a ship for him and let him try his luck.
The king, anxious to recover his treasures, at once agreed; and full of hope, feeling quite sure his skill and cleverness would not fail him, Conrad started on his journey.
But, alas! he was no more lucky than his elder brother. When he got to the cave, he also found the giantess asleep, and, after considering which of the three treasures he should take first, he decided for the sword.
“The bird may make a noise if it sees me,” he thought, “whereas if I have the sword, should the giantess awake, I will kill her, and then secure all three treasures.”