“You’re apt to strain your eyesight.” When he saw the chest brimful of silver, he threw away all his coppers and filled both his pockets and knapsack with silver alone. “Don’t you look at me like that.” The soldier set him on the witch’s apron. Alas and alack! There sat the dog with eyes as big as mill wheels. He shut up the chest, set the dog back on it, and made for the second room. “You’re a nice fellow,” the soldier said, as he shifted him to the witch’s apron and took all the coppers that his pockets would hold. Ugh! There sat a dog glaring at him with eyes as big as saucers. Now he threw open the first door he came to. The soldier climbed up to the hole in the tree and let himself slide through it, feet foremost down into the great hall where the hundreds of lamps were burning, just as the witch had said. “Here it is,” said the witch, “and here’s my blue checked apron.” All I ask is for you to fetch me an old tinder box that my grandmother forgot the last time she was down there.” “But what do you get out of all this, you old witch? I suppose that you want your share.” Just set him on my apron and he’ll do you no harm as you help yourself from the chest to all the gold you want.” The only hitch is that there on the money-chest sits a dog, and each of his eyes is as big as the Round Tower of Copenhagen. You can have all the gold you can carry if you go into the third room. Set the dog on my apron while you line your pockets with silver. There sits a dog and his eyes are as big as mill wheels. “But if silver suits you better, then go into the next room. Then you can open the chest and take out as many pieces of money as you please. Snatch up that dog and set him on my apron. I’ll give you my blue checked apron to spread out on the floor. On it sits a dog, and his eyes are as big as saucers. “If you walk into the first room, you’ll see a large chest in the middle of the floor. Each door has a key in it, so you can open them all. It is very bright there, because more than a hundred lamps are burning. When you touch bottom you’ll find yourself in a great hall. “What would I do deep down under that tree?” the soldier wanted to know. I’ll tie a rope around your middle, so that when you call me I can pull you up again.” Climb to the top of the trunk and you’ll find a hole through which you can let yourself down deep under the tree. “See that big tree.” The witch pointed to one near by them. “That’s very kind, you old witch,” said the soldier. Aren’t you every inch a soldier! And now you shall have money, as much as you please.” “What a fine sword you’ve got there, and what a big knapsack. On the road he met a witch, an ugly old witch, a witch whose lower lip dangled right down on her chest. There came a soldier marching down the high road-one, two! one, two! He had his knapsack on his back and his sword at his side as he came home from the wars.
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