When all was finished, he laid plow, horse, and harrow over his shoulders and carried them home as easily as though they were a truss of hay.
When he reached the house, he saw his mother sitting on a bench in the courtyard.
“Oh, who is this frightful monster of a man?” she cried.
“That is our son,” said her husband.
“I cannot believe that,” replied the woman, “for our child was a tiny little thing,” and she begged the young giant to go away.
However, he did not take any notice of what she said, for, after feeding the horse in the stable, he came into the kitchen and sat himself down upon the edge of the dresser.
“Mother, mother,” he said, “I am so hungry. Give me my dinner.”
“Here it is,” said his mother, and set two enormous dishes of smoking stew upon the table.
It would have been enough to last the husbandman and his wife for eight whole days, but the giant ate it all up in five minutes, and then asked if they could give him more. But the woman shook her head, and said they had no more in the house.
“Mother,” he said, “I am fainting with hunger. That was a mere bite.”