He said to him, “Am I not here in my own home?”
He told him, “No,” and that he might go there for three days.
“Go to such a mountain, and the first house that you will see there will be yours.”
He goes, then, to the mountain, and sees the house, and goes to it. He finds his two brothers at the door cutting wood. He tells them that he is their brother; but they will not believe him. They take him indoors, and he tells his father and mother that he is Malbrouk. They are astonished to see such a big man for seven years’ old. They pass these three days in great delight; and he said to his brothers:
“There is plenty of room at my godfather’s for you too, and you must come with me.”
They go off, then, all three together. When they arrive, the witch was not at all contented. She said to her husband:
“I don’t know. These three men will do us some mischief, and we must kill them.”
Malbrouk did not wish to; but as the witch gave him no rest, he told her that at the end of three days he would kill them. What does the little Malbrouk do? At night their daughters used to put crowns on their heads, and the little Malbrouk and his brothers cotton night-caps. The little Malbrouk says to them:
“We must make an exchange; it is now our turn to have the crowns.”
The girls were just as well pleased, and they gave them to them. One night (old) Malbrouk goes there, and after having felt their heads, when he perceived that they had the night-caps, he kills the three. After the little Malbrouk saw that he woke his brothers, took his godfather’s seven-leagued boots, and goes off, far, far, far away. The witch said to (the old Malbrouk):