“Noo, that ain’t,” says he, and he twirled his tail.
“Is that Ned, then?”
“Noo, that ain’t.”
“Well, is that Mark, then?” she asked.
“Noo.” And That twirled That’s tail harder and away That flew.
When the king came in, there were the skeins beautifully spun.
“Well, I see, my dear, that you won’t lose your head tonight.” And he went away and left her locked in the room.
So every day the flax and the food were brought to the girl. And every morning the little black imp would knock at the window and carry away the flax, and every night it would bring back the flax spun. And every night the girl would try the three times to guess the imp’s name, but she could never guess the right one.
At last, the last day had come. And that night when the imp brought back the skeins, he said: