The Young Giant

Once upon a time, a farmer had a son who was no bigger than a thumb, and he never grew any bigger. Years passed, and he didn't grow a hair's breadth. One day, when the father was going out to plow, the little one said, "Father, I want to come with you." "You want to come with me?" said the father.

"Stay here. You'll be no use out there, and you might get lost!" Then Thumbling began to cry. To keep the peace, his father put him in his pocket and took him along. Out in the field, he set him down in a freshly cut furrow.

While he was there, a huge giant came over the hill. "Do you see that great monster?" said the father, hoping to frighten the little one into being good. "He's coming to get you!" But the giant had barely taken two strides with his long legs before he was at the furrow.

He carefully picked up little Thumbling with two fingers, looked at him, and without a word went away with him. His father stood there, too terrified to speak, and thought he had lost his child forever.

The giant carried the boy home, fed him, and Thumbling grew tall and strong like a giant. After two years, the old giant took him into the forest to test him. "Pull up a stick for yourself," he said.

The boy was so strong that he tore a young tree out of the ground by the roots. But the giant thought, "We can do better than that," and took him back to feed him for another two years.

When he tested him again, the boy could tear an old tree out of the ground. That still wasn't enough for the giant. He fed him for two more years, and then said, "Now tear up a proper stick for me." The boy tore the strongest oak tree right out of the earth, and it split in half.

To him, it was easy. "Now that's enough," said the giant. "You are perfect." And he took him back to the field where he had found him. His father was there, plowing. The young giant went up to him and said, "Father, do you see what a fine man your son has become?"

The farmer was terrified. "No, you are not my son. I don't want you. Leave me!" "But I am your son. Let me do your work. I can plow as well as you, even better." "No, no, you are not my son. You can't plow.

Go away!" But because he was afraid of this huge man, he let go of the plow and stepped back. Then the youth took the plow and pressed it with one hand. He was so strong that the plow dug deep into the earth. The farmer couldn't bear to see that.

He called out, "If you must plow, don't press so hard. You'll ruin the field." The youth unharnessed the horses and pulled the plow himself. "Go home, Father," he said. "Tell Mother to prepare a big dish of food.

I'll finish the field." So the farmer went home and told his wife to get the food ready. Meanwhile, the youth plowed the entire two-acre field by himself. Then he harnessed himself to the harrow and harrowed the whole field, using two harrows at once.

After that, he went into the forest, pulled up two oak trees, laid them across his shoulders, and hung one harrow and one horse in front and one behind. He carried it all like a bundle of straw to his parents' house.

When he entered the yard, his mother didn't recognize him. "Who is that horribly tall man?" she asked. "That is our son," said the farmer. "No, that can't be our son. We never had such a tall one. Ours was tiny." She called out, "Go away!

We don't want you!" The youth said nothing. He led the horses to the stable, gave them oats and hay, and everything they needed. Then he went into the house, sat down on the bench, and said, "Mother, I'd like something to eat.

Is it ready soon?" She said yes and brought in two huge dishes full of food. It would have been enough for her and her husband for a week. But the youth ate it all and asked if there was more. "No," she said.

"That's all we have." "That was just a taste. I need more." She didn't dare refuse. She put a huge pot full of food on the fire, and when it was ready, she carried it in. "Finally, a few crumbs," he said and ate it all.

But it still wasn't enough to satisfy his hunger. Then he said, "Father, I can see that I'll never get enough to eat here. If you can get me an iron staff that is strong and that I can't break over my knee, I'll go out into the world."

The farmer was happy. He hitched his two horses to the cart and fetched a staff from the smith that was so big and thick that the two horses could barely drag it. The youth laid it across his knee, snap!

He broke it in two like a beanstalk and threw it away. Then the father hitched four horses and brought a bar so long and thick that four horses could just drag it. The son snapped it in two over his knee and threw it away. "Father, this is no use.

You must harness more horses and bring a stronger staff." So the father hitched eight horses and brought a staff so long and thick that eight horses could just carry it. When the son took it in his hand, he broke off a piece from the top and said, "Father, I see you won't be able to get me a staff like I want.

I won't stay with you any longer."

So he left and said he was a blacksmith's apprentice. He came to a village where a greedy blacksmith lived, who never did anyone a kindness and wanted everything for himself. The youth went into the smithy and asked if he needed a journeyman. "Yes," said the smith, looking at him.

He thought, "That's a strong fellow who will strike well and earn his bread." So he asked, "How much wages do you want?" "I don't want any at all," replied the youth. "Only every two weeks, when the other journeymen are paid, I will give you two blows, and you must bear them." The miser was delighted and thought he would save a lot of money.

The next morning, the strange journeyman was to start work. But when the master brought the glowing iron bar and the youth struck his first blow, the iron flew apart, and the anvil sank so deep into the ground that it couldn't be pulled out.

Then the miser became angry and said, "I can't use you. You strike much too hard. What do you want for that one blow?"

"I'll only give you a very small blow," said the youth. He raised his foot and gave the smith a kick that sent him flying over four piles of hay. Then he picked out the thickest iron bar in the smithy for himself, took it as a walking stick, and went on his way.

After walking for a while, he came to a small farm and asked the bailiff if he needed a head servant. "Yes," said the bailiff, "I could use one. You look like a strong fellow who can do some work.

How much wages do you want per year?" The youth replied that he wanted no wages, but every year he would give the bailiff three blows, and the bailiff must bear them. The bailiff was satisfied, for he was also greedy.

The next morning, all the servants were to go into the forest. The others were already up, but the head servant was still in bed. One of them called to him, "Get up! It's time!

We're going into the forest, and you must come with us." "Oh," he said rudely, "just go ahead. I'll be back before any of you." The others went to the bailiff and said that the head servant was still in bed and wouldn't go to the forest.

The bailiff told them to wake him again and tell him to harness the horses. But the head servant said the same thing: "Just go ahead. I'll be back before any of you." And he stayed in bed for two more hours.

Finally, he got up, but first he took two bushels of peas from the loft, made himself some broth, ate it at his leisure, and then harnessed the horses and drove into the forest.

Near the forest, there was a ravine that he had to cross. So he drove the horses on, then stopped, went behind the cart, and took trees and brushwood to make a great barricade so that no horse could get through.

When he entered the forest, the others were just driving out with their loaded carts to go home. He said to them, "Drive on. I'll still get home before you." He didn't drive far into the forest.

He immediately tore two of the largest trees out of the ground, threw them onto his cart, and turned around. When he came to the barricade, the others were still stuck there. "Don't you see?" he said.

"If you had stayed with me, you'd have gotten home just as quickly and had an extra hour of sleep." He wanted to drive on, but his horses couldn't get through the barricade. So he unharnessed them, laid them on top of the cart, took the shafts in his hands, and pulled everything through easily, as if it were full of feathers.

When he had crossed, he said, "See, I got through faster than you," and drove on. The others had to stay where they were.

In the yard, he took one of the trees in his hand and showed it to the bailiff. "Isn't that a fine bundle of wood?" he said. Then the bailiff said to his wife, "This servant is good.

Even if he sleeps long, he's still home before the others." So the head servant worked for the bailiff for a year. When the year was up and the other servants were getting their wages, he said it was time for him to take his pay too.

The bailiff was afraid of the three blows he was supposed to receive. He begged the youth to let him off. He'd rather be the servant and let the youth be the bailiff. "No," said the youth, "I won't be a bailiff. I am the head servant and will stay that way.

But I will take what we agreed upon." The bailiff offered him anything he wanted, but it was no use. The head servant said no to everything. The bailiff didn't know what to do. He asked for a two-week delay to find a way out. The head servant agreed.

The bailiff called all his clerks together to think of a plan. They thought for a long time. Finally, they said, "No one is safe as long as that head servant is around. He can kill a man as easily as a gnat.

You should make him go down the well to clean it. When he is down there, we will roll the millstone that is lying there and throw it on his head. Then he will never see daylight again." The bailiff liked this plan, and the head servant agreed to go down the well.

When he was standing at the bottom, they rolled the largest millstone down on him. They thought they had crushed his skull. But he cried out, "Shush those hens away from the well! They are scratching in the sand up there and throwing grains into my eyes so I can't see." So the bailiff called out, "Shoo, shoo!" as if to frighten the hens.

When the head servant had finished cleaning the well, he climbed up and said, "Look what a beautiful necklace I have now!" And behold, he was wearing the millstone around his neck.

The head servant now wanted his reward. But the bailiff begged for another two-week delay. The clerks met again and advised the bailiff to send the head servant to the haunted mill to grind corn at night. No one had ever returned from there alive in the morning.

The bailiff liked this idea. That evening, he called the head servant and ordered him to take eight bushels of corn to the mill and grind it that night because it was needed. So the head servant went to the loft, put two bushels in his right pocket and two in his left, took four in a bag, half on his back and half on his chest, and went to the haunted mill.

The miller told him that he could grind there during the day, but not at night because the mill was haunted. Everyone who had gone in at night was found dead in the morning. "I'll manage," said the head servant.

"Just go to bed." He went into the mill and poured out the corn. At about eleven o'clock, he went into the miller's room and sat down on a bench. After a while, a door suddenly opened, and a large table came in.

On it, wine and roasted meats placed themselves, and lots of other good food. It all appeared by itself, for no one was carrying it. Then chairs pushed themselves up, but no people came. Suddenly, he saw fingers handling knives and forks and putting food onto plates, but he saw nothing else.

He was hungry, so he sat down at the table and ate with those invisible eaters. When he had had enough and the others had emptied their dishes, he heard all the candles being snuffed out. It became pitch dark. Then he felt something like a slap on the ear.

He said, "If that happens again, I'll strike back." When he received a second slap, he struck out. And so it went all night. He took nothing without returning it, and he paid everything back with interest. He didn't waste his blows. At daybreak, everything stopped.

When the miller got up, he went to see if the youth was still alive. The youth said, "I've eaten my fill. I received some slaps, but I gave some back." The miller was overjoyed.

He said the mill was now freed from the spell and wanted to give the youth a lot of money as a reward. But the youth said, "I won't take any money. I have enough." So he took his meal on his back, went home, and told the bailiff that he had done what was asked and now wanted his agreed reward.

When the bailiff heard this, he was terrified and beside himself. He paced back and forth in the room, and drops of sweat ran down his forehead. He opened the window to get some fresh air.

But before he knew it, the head servant had given him such a kick that he flew through the window into the air, so far away that no one ever saw him again. Then the head servant said to the bailiff's wife, "If he doesn't come back, you'll get the next blow." She cried, "No, no, I can't bear it!" and opened the other window, because sweat was running down her forehead.

Then he gave her such a kick that she flew out too. Since she was lighter, she went even higher than her husband. Her husband called out, "Come to me!" But she replied, "You come to me.

I can't come to you." And they hovered in the air, unable to reach each other. Whether they are still hovering or not, I do not know. But the young giant took his iron bar and went on his way.