"'Oh,' said the boy, 'then I won't have anything else than that old table-cloth on the dresser yonder.'
"'Oh,' said the old witch, 'that you never asked out of your own wits.'
"'Now I must be off,' said the lad, 'to cook the Sunday dinner for the church-goers.'
"'Never mind that,' said the first old hag; 'it will cook itself while you are away. Stop with me, and I will pay you better still. Here have I stood and called and bawled for a hundred years, but no one has ever heeded me but you.'
"The end was he had to go with her to another sister, and when he got there the old hag said he was to be sure and ask for the old sword, which was such that he could put it into his pocket and it became a knife, and when he drew it out it was a long sword again. One edge was black and the other white; and if he smote with the black edge everything fell dead, and if with the white everything came to life again. So when they came over, and the second old witch heard how he had helped her sister across, she said he might have anything he chose to ask for her fare.
"'Oh,' said the lad, 'then I will have nothing else but that old sword which hangs up over the cupboard.'
"'That you never asked out of your own wits,' said the old witch; but for all that he got the sword.
"Then the old hag said again, 'Come on with me to my third sister. Here have I stood and called and bawled for a hundred years, and no one has heeded me but you. Come on to my third sister, and you shall have better pay still.'
"So he went with her, and on the way she told him he was to ask for the old hymn-book; and that was such a book that when any one was sick and the nurse sang one of the hymns, the sickness passed away, and they were well again. Well! when they got across, and the third old witch heard he had helped her sister across, she said he was to have whatever he chose to ask for his fare.
"'Oh,' said the lad, 'then I won't have anything else but granny's old hymn-book.'