"Well, Knut, have you seen any fish to-day?"
"Oh, yes! I've seen plenty; but the birds ate the fish and Mr. Peterman shot the birds."
"Too bad, Knut. We have nothing for dinner but two herring, four little potatoes and a half-slice of bread."
"No matter, Grandmother; you eat that. I am invited to The Ridge for dinner and I shall bring you a bit of cheese in my pocket if I can."
"Don't take the short cut through Kiikkala Forest, Knut; there are elves there, and three troll-kings,—the Mountain King, the Snow King and the Forest King. Go, rather, along the shore,—that way is safer; only there you must look out for the mermaids."
"But it is a long way around by the shore, Grandmother, and I haven't had anything to eat since yesterday."
"Well, go whichever way you will then, but don't think about food. That leads one into temptation."
"No, Grandmother. I shall think about the next Catechism examination, and study hard as I go along."
Knut started on his way, thinking about the Catechism, but when he came to the beginning of the short cut, he thought: "Surely I should be a goose if I, with such an empty stomach, should walk seven miles instead of half that."
And so he turned off into the short cut through Kiikkala Forest and determined to hear himself say the Catechism while he was going through the woods.