'Alas! my love,' was her answer, 'over there are the garnet
mountains, where the precious stones are found. I long for them so
much that I grow sad whenever I think of them. But who could ever get
them? The birds which fly, perhaps; no mortal could ever reach them.'
'If that is all your trouble,' said the Huntsman, 'I can soon lift
that load from your heart.'
Then he drew her under his cloak, and in a moment they were both
sitting on the mountain. The precious stones were glittering around
them; their hearts rejoiced at the sight of them, and they soon
gathered together some of the finest and largest.
Now the Witch had so managed that the Huntsman began to feel his eyes
grow very heavy.
So he said to the Maiden: 'We will sit down to rest a while, I am so
tired I can hardly stand.'
So they sat down, and he laid his head on her lap and was soon fast
asleep.
As soon as he was asleep, the Maiden slipped the cloak from his
shoulders and put it on her own, loaded herself with the precious
garnets, and wished herself at home.
When the Huntsman had had his sleep out, he woke up and saw that his
beloved had betrayed him, and left him alone on the wild mountain.
'Oh, what treachery there is in the world!' he exclaimed, as he sat
down in grief, and did not know what to do.
Now the mountain belonged to some wild and savage Giants who lived on
it, and before long he saw three of them striding along.
He quickly lay down again and pretended to be fast asleep.
The first one, as he came along, stumbled against him, and said: 'What
kind of earthworm is this?'