They said that the hatchet and saw were only made of wood, and that
both were broken. He took them home.
Next day the Waternick went about his work, while Mrs. Waternick
was busy outside the hut. The children looked at the cups on the
shelves. The cups were tilted up. So the girl lifted one of them. And
she heard the words: "God speed you!" She lifted another, and the
same greeting came again. So she kept on lifting the cups till she
had lifted all of them. Human souls had been imprisoned under those
cups. Now the hag came into the room and she saw that all the cups
had been lifted. She began to curse, and she said that the children
would certainly get a good thrashing when the old man came home.
The children often felt lonely; they thought of their mother and
wondered if she were still alive, and what they could do to get
away. So they decided that the next day, when the hag was sleeping,
they would try how far they could get.
"If only we could get as far as home, it would be all right then."
In the morning the girl had to comb Mrs. Waternick's hair and dress
her in her smart dress. When she had finished, Mrs. Waternick had a
sleep. Now the children took to their heels; they were as quick as
ravens, trying to get away before Mrs. Waternick should wake. Being
swift of foot, they reached the shore. They leapt out and ran straight
on again. Of course they heard the hag screeching behind them, but they
were on dry land, so they thought: "We needn't care for anything now."
The hag soon stopped her pursuit. The children were tired, so they
lay down under a tree in the forest and fell asleep. As they were
sleeping, somebody woke them up. It was the forester. They told him
that they were afraid of falling into the Waternick's hands again. But
the forester told them not to be afraid, and asked how they came
there. The children told him everything just as it had happened.
Now, the forester remembered that he had heard of a widow who had
lost her children. So he thought that these must be the children. He
said nothing, but he told his wife to get them some food, and asked
the children to sit down and eat. The children thought the food was
very nice, so he asked them what they were accustomed to eat. They
said they were accustomed to eat flowers. So they ate plenty.
The forester decided to do all he could to get the children home. At
last it was discovered where their mother lived, and so the children
came back to her, and they lived with her until they died.