"'No, no,' cried the raven, 'don't shoot me, don't shoot me, and I'll help you.'
"'Well,' said Boots, 'I never heard of anyone who boasted he had eaten roast raven, and since you are so eager to save your life, I may just as well spare it.'
"So he threw down his gun, and the raven came flying down to him, and said,
"'Here, up on this fell there is a baby troll walking up and down, for he has lost his way and can't get down again. I will help you up, and then you can lead him home, and ask a boon which will stand you in good stead. When you get to the troll's house he will offer you all the grandest things he has, but you should not heed them a pin. Mind you take nothing else but the little grey ass which stands behind the stable door.'
"Then the raven took Boots on his back and flew up on the hill with him, and put him off there. When he had gone about on it a bit, he heard the baby troll howling and whining, because it couldn't get down again. So the lad talked kindly to it, and they got the best friends in the world, and he said he would help it down and guide it to the old troll's house, that it mightn't lose itself on the way back. Then they went to the raven, and he took them both on his back, and carried them off the hill troll's house.
"And when the old troll saw his baby, he was so glad he was beside himself, and told Boots he might come indoors and take whatever he chose, because he had freed his child. Then they offered him both gold and silver, and all that was rare and costly; but the lad said he would rather have a horse than anything else. Yes, he should have a horse, the troll said, and off they went to the stable. It was full of the grandest horses, whose coats shone like the sun and moon; but Boots thought they were all too big for him. So he peeped behind the stable door, and when he set eyes on the little grey ass that stood there, he said,
"'I'll take this one. It will suit me to a T, and if I fall off I shall be no farther from the ground than that —— high.'
"The old troll did not at all like to part with his ass, but as he had given his word he had to stand by it. So Boots got the ass, and saddle, and bridle, and all that belonged to it, and then he set off. They travelled through wood and field, and over fells and wide wastes. So when they had gone farther than far, the ass asked Boots if he saw anything.
"'No, I see naught else than a hill, which looks blue in the distance,' said Boots.
"'Oh,' said the ass, 'that hill we have to pass through.'