Raw JSON
{
"cleanup_version": "v3",
"cleanup_mode": "child_simplification",
"source_file": "story.json",
"source_v1_file": "story_v1.json",
"source_sha256": "8c81ec0a5cf14e98a155b5c7641c8647544d992afa21e0c7086b23af572b5cff",
"source_v1_sha256": "d18a4dc552d28e7e48d2106081ccca4523b7b250b43a43b4adc88cbddbbdd658",
"source_title": "Strong Hans",
"tts_title": "Strong Hans",
"speech_safe_title": "Strong Hans",
"kind": "story",
"canonical_url": "https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~spok/grimmtmp/126.txt",
"slug": "strong-hans",
"story_dirname": "126-strong-hans",
"section_slug": null,
"title": "Strong Hans",
"author": null,
"publisher_label": null,
"source_version": null,
"content_type": null,
"language": null,
"summary": null,
"clean_summary": null,
"body": [
"There were once a man and a woman who had an only child, and lived quite alone in a solitary valley. It came to pass that the mother once went into the wood to gather branches of fir, and took with her little Hans, who was just two years old. As it was spring-time, and the child took pleasure in the many-colored flowers, she went still further onwards with him into the forest. Suddenly two robbers sprang out of the thicket, seized the mother and child, and carried them far away into the black forest, where no one ever came from one year's end to another. The poor woman urgently begged the robbers to set her and her child free, but their hearts were made of stone, they would not listen to her prayers and entreaties, and drove her on farther by force. After they had worked their way through bushes and briars for about two miles, they came to a rock where there was a door, at which the robbers knocked and it opened at once. They had to go through a long dark passage, which burnt on the hearth. On the wall hung swords, sabres, and other deadly weapons which gleamed in the light, and in the midst stood a black table at which four other robbers were sitting gambling, and the captain sat at the head of it. As soon as he saw the woman he came and spoke to her, and told her to be at ease and have no fear, they would do nothing to hurt her, but she must look after the housekeeping, and if she kept everything in order, she should not fare ill with them. Thereupon they gave her something to eat, and showed her a bed where she might sleep with her child. The woman stayed many years with the robbers, and Hans grew tall and strong. His mother told him stories, and taught him to read an old book of tales about knights which she found in the cave. When Hans was nine years old, he made himself a strong club out of a branch of fir, hid it behind the bed, and then went to his mother and said, dear mother, pray tell me who is my father. I must and will know. His mother was silent and would not tell him, that he might not become home-sick. Moreover she knew that the godless robbers would not let him go away, but it almost broke her heart that Hans should not go to his father. In the night, when the robbers came home from their robbing expedition, Hans brought out his club, stood before the captain, and said, I now wish to know who my father is, and if you do not tell me at once I will strike you down. Then the captain laughed, and gave Hans such a box on the ear that he rolled under the table. Hans got up again, held his tongue, and thought, I will wait another year and then try again, perhaps I shall do better then. When the year was over, he brought out his club again, rubbed the dust off it, looked at it well, and said, it is a stout strong club. At night the robbers came home, drank one jug of wine after another, and their heads began to be heavy. Then Hans brought out his club, placed himself before the captain, and asked him who his father was. But the captain again gave him such a vigorous box on the ear that Hans rolled under the table. However, it was not long before he was up again, and so beat the captain and the robbers with his club, that they could no longer move either their arms or their legs. His mother stood in a corner full of admiration for his bravery and strength. When Hans had done his work, he went to his mother, and said, now I have shown myself to be in earnest, but now I must also know who my father is. Dear Hans, answered the mother, come, we will go and seek him until we find him. She took from the captain the key to the entrance-door, and Hans fetched a great meal-sack and packed into it gold and silver, and whatsoever else he could find that was beautiful, until it was full, and then he took it on his back. They left the cave, but how Hans did open his eyes when he came out of the darkness into daylight, and saw the green forest, and the flowers, and the birds, and the morning sun in the sky. He stood there and wondered at everything just as if he were not quite right in the head. His mother looked for the way home, and when they had walked for a couple of hours, they got safely into their lonely valley and to their little house. The father was sitting in the doorway. He wept for joy when he recognized his wife and heard that Hans was his son, for he had long regarded them both as dead. But Hans, although he was not twelve years old, was a head taller than his father. They went into the little room together, but Hans had scarcely put his sack on the bench by the stove, than the whole house began to crack - the bench broke down and then the floor, and the heavy sack fell through into the cellar. God save us, cried the father, what's that. Now you have broken our little house to pieces. Don't let that turn your hair grey, dear father, answered Hans. There, in that sack, is more than is wanting for a new house. The father and Hans at once began to build a new house, to buy cattle and land, and to keep a farm. Hans ploughed the fields, and when he followed the plough and pushed it into the ground, the bullocks had scarcely any need to draw. The next spring, Hans said, keep all the money and have made for me a walking-stick that weighs a hundred-weight, that I may go a-traveling. When the stick was ready, he left his father's house, went forth, and came to a deep, dark forest. There he heard something crunching and cracking, looked round, and saw a fir-tree which was wound round like a rope from the bottom to the top, and when he looked upwards he saw a great fellow who had laid hold of the tree and was twisting it like a willow-wand. Hullo, cried Hans, what are you doing up there. The fellow replied, I got some faggots together yesterday and am twisting a rope for them. That is what I like, thought Hans, he has some strength, and he called to him, leave that alone, and come with me. The fellow came down, and he was taller by a whole head than Hans, and Hans was not little. Your name is now fir-twister, said Hans to him. Thereupon they went further and heard something knocking and hammering with such force that the ground shook at every stroke. Shortly afterwards they came to a mighty rock, before which a giant was standing and striking great pieces of it away with his fist. When Hans asked what he was doing, he answered, at night, when I want to sleep, bears, wolves, and other vermin of that kind come, which sniff and snuffle about me and won't let me rest, so I want to build myself a house and lay myself inside it, so that I may have some peace. Oh indeed, thought Hans, I can make use of this one also, and said to him, leave your house-building alone, and go with me. You shall be called rock-splitter. The man consented, and they all three roamed through the forest, and wherever they went the wild beasts were terrified, and ran away from them. In the evening they came to an old deserted castle, went up into it, and laid themselves down in the hall to sleep. The next morning Hans went into the garden. It had run quite wild, and was full of thorns and brambles. And as he was thus walking round about, a wild boar rushed at him, he, however, gave it such a blow with his club that it fell directly. He took it on his shoulders and carried it in, and they put it on a spit, roasted it, and enjoyed themselves. Then they arranged that each day, in turn, two should go out hunting, and one should stay at home, and cook nine pounds of meat for each of them. Fir-twister stayed at home the first, and Hans and rock-splitter went out hunting. When fir-twister was busy cooking, a little shrivelled-up old mannikin came to him in the castle, and asked for some meat. Be off, you sneaking imp, he answered, you need no meat. But how astonished fir-twister was when the little insignificant dwarf sprang up at him, and belabored him so with his fists that he could not defend himself, but fell on the ground and gasped for breath. The dwarf did not go away until he had thoroughly vented his anger on him. When the two others came home from hunting, fir-twister said nothing to them of the old mannikin and of the blows which he himself had received, and thought, when they stay at home, they may just try their chance with the little scrubbing-brush, and the mere thought of that gave him pleasure already. The next day rock-splitter stayed at home, and he fared just as fir-twister had done, being very ill-treated by the dwarf because he was not willing to give him any meat. When the others came home in the evening, fir-twister saw clearly what he had suffered, but both kept silence, and thought, Hans also must taste some of that soup. Hans, who had to stay at home the next day, did his work in the kitchen as it had to be done, and as he was standing skimming the pan, the dwarf came and without more ado demanded a piece of meat. Then Hans thought, he is a poor wretch, I will give him some of my share, that the others may not run short, and handed him a bit. When the dwarf had devoured it, he again asked for some meat, and good-natured Hans gave it to him, and told him it was a handsome piece, and that he was to be content with it. But the dwarf begged again for the third time. You are shameless, said Hans, and gave him none. Then the malicious dwarf wanted to spring on him and treat him as he had treated fir-twister and rock-splitter, but he had chosen the wrong man. Hans, without exerting himself much, gave him a couple of blows which made him jump down the castle steps. Hans was about to run after him, but fell right over, flat on his face. When he rose up again, the dwarf had got the start of him. Hans hurried after him as far as the forest, and saw him slip into a hole in the rock. Hans now went home, but he had marked the spot. When the two others came back, they were surprised that Hans was so well. He told them what had happened, and then they no longer concealed how it had fared with them. Hans laughed and said, it served you quite right. Why were you so mean with your meat. It is a disgrace that you who are so big should have let yourselves be beaten by the dwarf. Thereupon they took a basket and a rope, and all three went to the hole in the rock into which the dwarf had slipped, and let Hans and his club down in the basket. When Hans had reached the bottom, he found a door, and when he opened it a maiden was sitting there who was lovely as any picture, nay, so beautiful that no words can express it, and by her side sat the dwarf and grinned at Hans like a sea-cat. She, however, was bound with chains, and looked so mournfully at him that Hans felt great pity for her, and thought to himself, you must deliver her out of the power of the wicked dwarf, and gave him such a blow with his club that he fell down dead. Immediately the chains fell from the maiden, and Hans was enraptured with her beauty. She told him she was a king's daughter whom a savage count had stolen away from her home, and imprisoned there among the rocks, because she would have nothing to say to him. The count, however, had set the dwarf as a watchman, and he had made her suffer misery and vexation enough. And now Hans placed the maiden in the basket and had her drawn up. The basket came down again, but Hans did not trust his two companions, and thought, they have already shown themselves to be false, and told me nothing about the dwarf. Who knows what design they may have against me. So he put his club in the basket, and it was lucky he did, for when the basket was half-way up, they let it fall again, and if Hans had really been sitting in it he would have been killed. But now he did not know how he was to work his way out of the depths, and when he turned it over and over in his mind he found no counsel. It is indeed sad, said he to himself, that I have to waste away down here, and as he was thus walking backwards and forwards, he once more came to the little chamber where the maiden had been sitting, and saw that the dwarf had a ring on his finger which shone and sparkled. Then he drew it off and put it on, and when he turned it round on his finger, he suddenly heard something rustle over his head. He looked up and saw spirits of the air hovering above, who told him he was their master, and asked what his desire might be. Hans was at first struck dumb, but afterwards he said that they were to carry him up again. They obeyed instantly, and it was just as if he had flown up himself. But when he had arrived there, he found no one in sight. Fir-twister and rock-splitter had hurried away, and had taken the beautiful maiden with them. But Hans turned the ring, and the spirits of the air came and told him that the two were on the sea. Hans ran and ran without stopping, until he came to the sea-shore, and there far, far out on the water, he perceived a little boat in which his faithless comrades were sitting, and in fierce anger he leapt, without thinking what he was doing, club in hand into the water, and began to swim, but the club, which weighed a hundredweight, dragged him deep down until he was all but drowned. Then in the very nick of time he turned his ring, and immediately the spirits of the air came and bore him as swift as lightning into the boat. He swung his club and gave his wicked comrades the reward they merited and threw them into the water, and then he sailed with the beautiful maiden, who had been in the greatest alarm, and whom he delivered for the second time, home to her father and mother, and married her, and all rejoiced exceedingly."
],
"body_text": "There were once a man and a woman who had an only child, and lived quite alone in a solitary valley. It came to pass that the mother once went into the wood to gather branches of fir, and took with her little Hans, who was just two years old. As it was spring-time, and the child took pleasure in the many-colored flowers, she went still further onwards with him into the forest. Suddenly two robbers sprang out of the thicket, seized the mother and child, and carried them far away into the black forest, where no one ever came from one year's end to another. The poor woman urgently begged the robbers to set her and her child free, but their hearts were made of stone, they would not listen to her prayers and entreaties, and drove her on farther by force. After they had worked their way through bushes and briars for about two miles, they came to a rock where there was a door, at which the robbers knocked and it opened at once. They had to go through a long dark passage, which burnt on the hearth. On the wall hung swords, sabres, and other deadly weapons which gleamed in the light, and in the midst stood a black table at which four other robbers were sitting gambling, and the captain sat at the head of it. As soon as he saw the woman he came and spoke to her, and told her to be at ease and have no fear, they would do nothing to hurt her, but she must look after the housekeeping, and if she kept everything in order, she should not fare ill with them. Thereupon they gave her something to eat, and showed her a bed where she might sleep with her child. The woman stayed many years with the robbers, and Hans grew tall and strong. His mother told him stories, and taught him to read an old book of tales about knights which she found in the cave. When Hans was nine years old, he made himself a strong club out of a branch of fir, hid it behind the bed, and then went to his mother and said, dear mother, pray tell me who is my father. I must and will know. His mother was silent and would not tell him, that he might not become home-sick. Moreover she knew that the godless robbers would not let him go away, but it almost broke her heart that Hans should not go to his father. In the night, when the robbers came home from their robbing expedition, Hans brought out his club, stood before the captain, and said, I now wish to know who my father is, and if you do not tell me at once I will strike you down. Then the captain laughed, and gave Hans such a box on the ear that he rolled under the table. Hans got up again, held his tongue, and thought, I will wait another year and then try again, perhaps I shall do better then. When the year was over, he brought out his club again, rubbed the dust off it, looked at it well, and said, it is a stout strong club. At night the robbers came home, drank one jug of wine after another, and their heads began to be heavy. Then Hans brought out his club, placed himself before the captain, and asked him who his father was. But the captain again gave him such a vigorous box on the ear that Hans rolled under the table. However, it was not long before he was up again, and so beat the captain and the robbers with his club, that they could no longer move either their arms or their legs. His mother stood in a corner full of admiration for his bravery and strength. When Hans had done his work, he went to his mother, and said, now I have shown myself to be in earnest, but now I must also know who my father is. Dear Hans, answered the mother, come, we will go and seek him until we find him. She took from the captain the key to the entrance-door, and Hans fetched a great meal-sack and packed into it gold and silver, and whatsoever else he could find that was beautiful, until it was full, and then he took it on his back. They left the cave, but how Hans did open his eyes when he came out of the darkness into daylight, and saw the green forest, and the flowers, and the birds, and the morning sun in the sky. He stood there and wondered at everything just as if he were not quite right in the head. His mother looked for the way home, and when they had walked for a couple of hours, they got safely into their lonely valley and to their little house. The father was sitting in the doorway. He wept for joy when he recognized his wife and heard that Hans was his son, for he had long regarded them both as dead. But Hans, although he was not twelve years old, was a head taller than his father. They went into the little room together, but Hans had scarcely put his sack on the bench by the stove, than the whole house began to crack - the bench broke down and then the floor, and the heavy sack fell through into the cellar. God save us, cried the father, what's that. Now you have broken our little house to pieces. Don't let that turn your hair grey, dear father, answered Hans. There, in that sack, is more than is wanting for a new house. The father and Hans at once began to build a new house, to buy cattle and land, and to keep a farm. Hans ploughed the fields, and when he followed the plough and pushed it into the ground, the bullocks had scarcely any need to draw. The next spring, Hans said, keep all the money and have made for me a walking-stick that weighs a hundred-weight, that I may go a-traveling. When the stick was ready, he left his father's house, went forth, and came to a deep, dark forest. There he heard something crunching and cracking, looked round, and saw a fir-tree which was wound round like a rope from the bottom to the top, and when he looked upwards he saw a great fellow who had laid hold of the tree and was twisting it like a willow-wand. Hullo, cried Hans, what are you doing up there. The fellow replied, I got some faggots together yesterday and am twisting a rope for them. That is what I like, thought Hans, he has some strength, and he called to him, leave that alone, and come with me. The fellow came down, and he was taller by a whole head than Hans, and Hans was not little. Your name is now fir-twister, said Hans to him. Thereupon they went further and heard something knocking and hammering with such force that the ground shook at every stroke. Shortly afterwards they came to a mighty rock, before which a giant was standing and striking great pieces of it away with his fist. When Hans asked what he was doing, he answered, at night, when I want to sleep, bears, wolves, and other vermin of that kind come, which sniff and snuffle about me and won't let me rest, so I want to build myself a house and lay myself inside it, so that I may have some peace. Oh indeed, thought Hans, I can make use of this one also, and said to him, leave your house-building alone, and go with me. You shall be called rock-splitter. The man consented, and they all three roamed through the forest, and wherever they went the wild beasts were terrified, and ran away from them. In the evening they came to an old deserted castle, went up into it, and laid themselves down in the hall to sleep. The next morning Hans went into the garden. It had run quite wild, and was full of thorns and brambles. And as he was thus walking round about, a wild boar rushed at him, he, however, gave it such a blow with his club that it fell directly. He took it on his shoulders and carried it in, and they put it on a spit, roasted it, and enjoyed themselves. Then they arranged that each day, in turn, two should go out hunting, and one should stay at home, and cook nine pounds of meat for each of them. Fir-twister stayed at home the first, and Hans and rock-splitter went out hunting. When fir-twister was busy cooking, a little shrivelled-up old mannikin came to him in the castle, and asked for some meat. Be off, you sneaking imp, he answered, you need no meat. But how astonished fir-twister was when the little insignificant dwarf sprang up at him, and belabored him so with his fists that he could not defend himself, but fell on the ground and gasped for breath. The dwarf did not go away until he had thoroughly vented his anger on him. When the two others came home from hunting, fir-twister said nothing to them of the old mannikin and of the blows which he himself had received, and thought, when they stay at home, they may just try their chance with the little scrubbing-brush, and the mere thought of that gave him pleasure already. The next day rock-splitter stayed at home, and he fared just as fir-twister had done, being very ill-treated by the dwarf because he was not willing to give him any meat. When the others came home in the evening, fir-twister saw clearly what he had suffered, but both kept silence, and thought, Hans also must taste some of that soup. Hans, who had to stay at home the next day, did his work in the kitchen as it had to be done, and as he was standing skimming the pan, the dwarf came and without more ado demanded a piece of meat. Then Hans thought, he is a poor wretch, I will give him some of my share, that the others may not run short, and handed him a bit. When the dwarf had devoured it, he again asked for some meat, and good-natured Hans gave it to him, and told him it was a handsome piece, and that he was to be content with it. But the dwarf begged again for the third time. You are shameless, said Hans, and gave him none. Then the malicious dwarf wanted to spring on him and treat him as he had treated fir-twister and rock-splitter, but he had chosen the wrong man. Hans, without exerting himself much, gave him a couple of blows which made him jump down the castle steps. Hans was about to run after him, but fell right over, flat on his face. When he rose up again, the dwarf had got the start of him. Hans hurried after him as far as the forest, and saw him slip into a hole in the rock. Hans now went home, but he had marked the spot. When the two others came back, they were surprised that Hans was so well. He told them what had happened, and then they no longer concealed how it had fared with them. Hans laughed and said, it served you quite right. Why were you so mean with your meat. It is a disgrace that you who are so big should have let yourselves be beaten by the dwarf. Thereupon they took a basket and a rope, and all three went to the hole in the rock into which the dwarf had slipped, and let Hans and his club down in the basket. When Hans had reached the bottom, he found a door, and when he opened it a maiden was sitting there who was lovely as any picture, nay, so beautiful that no words can express it, and by her side sat the dwarf and grinned at Hans like a sea-cat. She, however, was bound with chains, and looked so mournfully at him that Hans felt great pity for her, and thought to himself, you must deliver her out of the power of the wicked dwarf, and gave him such a blow with his club that he fell down dead. Immediately the chains fell from the maiden, and Hans was enraptured with her beauty. She told him she was a king's daughter whom a savage count had stolen away from her home, and imprisoned there among the rocks, because she would have nothing to say to him. The count, however, had set the dwarf as a watchman, and he had made her suffer misery and vexation enough. And now Hans placed the maiden in the basket and had her drawn up. The basket came down again, but Hans did not trust his two companions, and thought, they have already shown themselves to be false, and told me nothing about the dwarf. Who knows what design they may have against me. So he put his club in the basket, and it was lucky he did, for when the basket was half-way up, they let it fall again, and if Hans had really been sitting in it he would have been killed. But now he did not know how he was to work his way out of the depths, and when he turned it over and over in his mind he found no counsel. It is indeed sad, said he to himself, that I have to waste away down here, and as he was thus walking backwards and forwards, he once more came to the little chamber where the maiden had been sitting, and saw that the dwarf had a ring on his finger which shone and sparkled. Then he drew it off and put it on, and when he turned it round on his finger, he suddenly heard something rustle over his head. He looked up and saw spirits of the air hovering above, who told him he was their master, and asked what his desire might be. Hans was at first struck dumb, but afterwards he said that they were to carry him up again. They obeyed instantly, and it was just as if he had flown up himself. But when he had arrived there, he found no one in sight. Fir-twister and rock-splitter had hurried away, and had taken the beautiful maiden with them. But Hans turned the ring, and the spirits of the air came and told him that the two were on the sea. Hans ran and ran without stopping, until he came to the sea-shore, and there far, far out on the water, he perceived a little boat in which his faithless comrades were sitting, and in fierce anger he leapt, without thinking what he was doing, club in hand into the water, and began to swim, but the club, which weighed a hundredweight, dragged him deep down until he was all but drowned. Then in the very nick of time he turned his ring, and immediately the spirits of the air came and bore him as swift as lightning into the boat. He swung his club and gave his wicked comrades the reward they merited and threw them into the water, and then he sailed with the beautiful maiden, who had been in the greatest alarm, and whom he delivered for the second time, home to her father and mother, and married her, and all rejoiced exceedingly.",
"clean_body": [
"There were once a man and a woman who had an only child, and lived quite alone in a solitary valley. It came to pass that the mother once went into the wood to gather branches of fir, and took with her little Hans, who was just two years old. As it was spring-time, and the child took pleasure in the many-colored flowers, she went still further onwards with him into the forest. Suddenly two robbers sprang out of the thicket, seized the mother and child, and carried them far away into the black forest, where no one ever came from one year's end to another. The poor woman urgently begged the robbers to set her and her child free, but their hearts were made of stone, they would not listen to her prayers and entreaties, and drove her on farther by force. After they had worked their way through bushes and briars for about two miles, they came to a rock where there was a door, at which the robbers knocked and it opened at once. They had to go through a long dark passage, which burnt on the hearth. On the wall hung swords, sabres, and other deadly weapons which gleamed in the light, and in the midst stood a black table at which four other robbers were sitting gambling, and the captain sat at the head of it. As soon as he saw the woman he came and spoke to her, and told her to be at ease and have no fear, they would do nothing to hurt her, but she must look after the housekeeping, and if she kept everything in order, she should not fare ill with them. Thereupon they gave her something to eat, and showed her a bed where she might sleep with her child. The woman stayed many years with the robbers, and Hans grew tall and strong. His mother told him stories, and taught him to read an old book of tales about knights which she found in the cave. When Hans was nine years old, he made himself a strong club out of a branch of fir, hid it behind the bed, and then went to his mother and said, dear mother, pray tell me who is my father. I must and will know. His mother was silent and would not tell him, that he might not become home-sick. Moreover she knew that the godless robbers would not let him go away, but it almost broke her heart that Hans should not go to his father. In the night, when the robbers came home from their robbing expedition, Hans brought out his club, stood before the captain, and said, I now wish to know who my father is, and if you do not tell me at once I will strike you down. Then the captain laughed, and gave Hans such a box on the ear that he rolled under the table. Hans got up again, held his tongue, and thought, I will wait another year and then try again, perhaps I shall do better then. When the year was over, he brought out his club again, rubbed the dust off it, looked at it well, and said, it is a stout strong club. At night the robbers came home, drank one jug of wine after another, and their heads began to be heavy. Then Hans brought out his club, placed himself before the captain, and asked him who his father was. But the captain again gave him such a vigorous box on the ear that Hans rolled under the table. However, it was not long before he was up again, and so beat the captain and the robbers with his club, that they could no longer move either their arms or their legs. His mother stood in a corner full of admiration for his bravery and strength. When Hans had done his work, he went to his mother, and said, now I have shown myself to be in earnest, but now I must also know who my father is. Dear Hans, answered the mother, come, we will go and seek him until we find him. She took from the captain the key to the entrance-door, and Hans fetched a great meal-sack and packed into it gold and silver, and whatsoever else he could find that was beautiful, until it was full, and then he took it on his back. They left the cave, but how Hans did open his eyes when he came out of the darkness into daylight, and saw the green forest, and the flowers, and the birds, and the morning sun in the sky. He stood there and wondered at everything just as if he were not quite right in the head. His mother looked for the way home, and when they had walked for a couple of hours, they got safely into their lonely valley and to their little house. The father was sitting in the doorway. He wept for joy when he recognized his wife and heard that Hans was his son, for he had long regarded them both as dead. But Hans, although he was not twelve years old, was a head taller than his father. They went into the little room together, but Hans had scarcely put his sack on the bench by the stove, than the whole house began to crack - the bench broke down and then the floor, and the heavy sack fell through into the cellar. God save us, cried the father, what's that. Now you have broken our little house to pieces. Don't let that turn your hair grey, dear father, answered Hans. There, in that sack, is more than is wanting for a new house. The father and Hans at once began to build a new house, to buy cattle and land, and to keep a farm. Hans ploughed the fields, and when he followed the plough and pushed it into the ground, the bullocks had scarcely any need to draw. The next spring, Hans said, keep all the money and have made for me a walking-stick that weighs a hundred-weight, that I may go a-traveling. When the stick was ready, he left his father's house, went forth, and came to a deep, dark forest. There he heard something crunching and cracking, looked round, and saw a fir-tree which was wound round like a rope from the bottom to the top, and when he looked upwards he saw a great fellow who had laid hold of the tree and was twisting it like a willow-wand. Hullo, cried Hans, what are you doing up there. The fellow replied, I got some faggots together yesterday and am twisting a rope for them. That is what I like, thought Hans, he has some strength, and he called to him, leave that alone, and come with me. The fellow came down, and he was taller by a whole head than Hans, and Hans was not little. Your name is now fir-twister, said Hans to him. Thereupon they went further and heard something knocking and hammering with such force that the ground shook at every stroke. Shortly afterwards they came to a mighty rock, before which a giant was standing and striking great pieces of it away with his fist. When Hans asked what he was doing, he answered, at night, when I want to sleep, bears, wolves, and other vermin of that kind come, which sniff and snuffle about me and won't let me rest, so I want to build myself a house and lay myself inside it, so that I may have some peace. Oh indeed, thought Hans, I can make use of this one also, and said to him, leave your house-building alone, and go with me. You shall be called rock-splitter. The man consented, and they all three roamed through the forest, and wherever they went the wild beasts were terrified, and ran away from them. In the evening they came to an old deserted castle, went up into it, and laid themselves down in the hall to sleep. The next morning Hans went into the garden. It had run quite wild, and was full of thorns and brambles. And as he was thus walking round about, a wild boar rushed at him, he, however, gave it such a blow with his club that it fell directly. He took it on his shoulders and carried it in, and they put it on a spit, roasted it, and enjoyed themselves. Then they arranged that each day, in turn, two should go out hunting, and one should stay at home, and cook nine pounds of meat for each of them. Fir-twister stayed at home the first, and Hans and rock-splitter went out hunting. When fir-twister was busy cooking, a little shrivelled-up old mannikin came to him in the castle, and asked for some meat. Be off, you sneaking imp, he answered, you need no meat. But how astonished fir-twister was when the little insignificant dwarf sprang up at him, and belabored him so with his fists that he could not defend himself, but fell on the ground and gasped for breath. The dwarf did not go away until he had thoroughly vented his anger on him. When the two others came home from hunting, fir-twister said nothing to them of the old mannikin and of the blows which he himself had received, and thought, when they stay at home, they may just try their chance with the little scrubbing-brush, and the mere thought of that gave him pleasure already. The next day rock-splitter stayed at home, and he fared just as fir-twister had done, being very ill-treated by the dwarf because he was not willing to give him any meat. When the others came home in the evening, fir-twister saw clearly what he had suffered, but both kept silence, and thought, Hans also must taste some of that soup. Hans, who had to stay at home the next day, did his work in the kitchen as it had to be done, and as he was standing skimming the pan, the dwarf came and without more ado demanded a piece of meat. Then Hans thought, he is a poor wretch, I will give him some of my share, that the others may not run short, and handed him a bit. When the dwarf had devoured it, he again asked for some meat, and good-natured Hans gave it to him, and told him it was a handsome piece, and that he was to be content with it. But the dwarf begged again for the third time. You are shameless, said Hans, and gave him none. Then the malicious dwarf wanted to spring on him and treat him as he had treated fir-twister and rock-splitter, but he had chosen the wrong man. Hans, without exerting himself much, gave him a couple of blows which made him jump down the castle steps. Hans was about to run after him, but fell right over, flat on his face. When he rose up again, the dwarf had got the start of him. Hans hurried after him as far as the forest, and saw him slip into a hole in the rock. Hans now went home, but he had marked the spot. When the two others came back, they were surprised that Hans was so well. He told them what had happened, and then they no longer concealed how it had fared with them. Hans laughed and said, it served you quite right. Why were you so mean with your meat. It is a disgrace that you who are so big should have let yourselves be beaten by the dwarf. Thereupon they took a basket and a rope, and all three went to the hole in the rock into which the dwarf had slipped, and let Hans and his club down in the basket. When Hans had reached the bottom, he found a door, and when he opened it a maiden was sitting there who was lovely as any picture, nay, so beautiful that no words can express it, and by her side sat the dwarf and grinned at Hans like a sea-cat. She, however, was bound with chains, and looked so mournfully at him that Hans felt great pity for her, and thought to himself, you must deliver her out of the power of the wicked dwarf, and gave him such a blow with his club that he fell down dead. Immediately the chains fell from the maiden, and Hans was enraptured with her beauty. She told him she was a king's daughter whom a savage count had stolen away from her home, and imprisoned there among the rocks, because she would have nothing to say to him. The count, however, had set the dwarf as a watchman, and he had made her suffer misery and vexation enough. And now Hans placed the maiden in the basket and had her drawn up. The basket came down again, but Hans did not trust his two companions, and thought, they have already shown themselves to be false, and told me nothing about the dwarf. Who knows what design they may have against me. So he put his club in the basket, and it was lucky he did, for when the basket was half-way up, they let it fall again, and if Hans had really been sitting in it he would have been killed. But now he did not know how he was to work his way out of the depths, and when he turned it over and over in his mind he found no counsel. It is indeed sad, said he to himself, that I have to waste away down here, and as he was thus walking backwards and forwards, he once more came to the little chamber where the maiden had been sitting, and saw that the dwarf had a ring on his finger which shone and sparkled. Then he drew it off and put it on, and when he turned it round on his finger, he suddenly heard something rustle over his head. He looked up and saw spirits of the air hovering above, who told him he was their master, and asked what his desire might be. Hans was at first struck dumb, but afterwards he said that they were to carry him up again. They obeyed instantly, and it was just as if he had flown up himself. But when he had arrived there, he found no one in sight. Fir-twister and rock-splitter had hurried away, and had taken the beautiful maiden with them. But Hans turned the ring, and the spirits of the air came and told him that the two were on the sea. Hans ran and ran without stopping, until he came to the sea-shore, and there far, far out on the water, he perceived a little boat in which his faithless comrades were sitting, and in fierce anger he leapt, without thinking what he was doing, club in hand into the water, and began to swim, but the club, which weighed a hundredweight, dragged him deep down until he was all but drowned. Then in the very nick of time he turned his ring, and immediately the spirits of the air came and bore him as swift as lightning into the boat. He swung his club and gave his wicked comrades the reward they merited and threw them into the water, and then he sailed with the beautiful maiden, who had been in the greatest alarm, and whom he delivered for the second time, home to her father and mother, and married her, and all rejoiced exceedingly."
],
"clean_text": "There were once a man and a woman who had an only child, and lived quite alone in a solitary valley. It came to pass that the mother once went into the wood to gather branches of fir, and took with her little Hans, who was just two years old. As it was spring-time, and the child took pleasure in the many-colored flowers, she went still further onwards with him into the forest. Suddenly two robbers sprang out of the thicket, seized the mother and child, and carried them far away into the black forest, where no one ever came from one year's end to another. The poor woman urgently begged the robbers to set her and her child free, but their hearts were made of stone, they would not listen to her prayers and entreaties, and drove her on farther by force. After they had worked their way through bushes and briars for about two miles, they came to a rock where there was a door, at which the robbers knocked and it opened at once. They had to go through a long dark passage, which burnt on the hearth. On the wall hung swords, sabres, and other deadly weapons which gleamed in the light, and in the midst stood a black table at which four other robbers were sitting gambling, and the captain sat at the head of it. As soon as he saw the woman he came and spoke to her, and told her to be at ease and have no fear, they would do nothing to hurt her, but she must look after the housekeeping, and if she kept everything in order, she should not fare ill with them. Thereupon they gave her something to eat, and showed her a bed where she might sleep with her child. The woman stayed many years with the robbers, and Hans grew tall and strong. His mother told him stories, and taught him to read an old book of tales about knights which she found in the cave. When Hans was nine years old, he made himself a strong club out of a branch of fir, hid it behind the bed, and then went to his mother and said, dear mother, pray tell me who is my father. I must and will know. His mother was silent and would not tell him, that he might not become home-sick. Moreover she knew that the godless robbers would not let him go away, but it almost broke her heart that Hans should not go to his father. In the night, when the robbers came home from their robbing expedition, Hans brought out his club, stood before the captain, and said, I now wish to know who my father is, and if you do not tell me at once I will strike you down. Then the captain laughed, and gave Hans such a box on the ear that he rolled under the table. Hans got up again, held his tongue, and thought, I will wait another year and then try again, perhaps I shall do better then. When the year was over, he brought out his club again, rubbed the dust off it, looked at it well, and said, it is a stout strong club. At night the robbers came home, drank one jug of wine after another, and their heads began to be heavy. Then Hans brought out his club, placed himself before the captain, and asked him who his father was. But the captain again gave him such a vigorous box on the ear that Hans rolled under the table. However, it was not long before he was up again, and so beat the captain and the robbers with his club, that they could no longer move either their arms or their legs. His mother stood in a corner full of admiration for his bravery and strength. When Hans had done his work, he went to his mother, and said, now I have shown myself to be in earnest, but now I must also know who my father is. Dear Hans, answered the mother, come, we will go and seek him until we find him. She took from the captain the key to the entrance-door, and Hans fetched a great meal-sack and packed into it gold and silver, and whatsoever else he could find that was beautiful, until it was full, and then he took it on his back. They left the cave, but how Hans did open his eyes when he came out of the darkness into daylight, and saw the green forest, and the flowers, and the birds, and the morning sun in the sky. He stood there and wondered at everything just as if he were not quite right in the head. His mother looked for the way home, and when they had walked for a couple of hours, they got safely into their lonely valley and to their little house. The father was sitting in the doorway. He wept for joy when he recognized his wife and heard that Hans was his son, for he had long regarded them both as dead. But Hans, although he was not twelve years old, was a head taller than his father. They went into the little room together, but Hans had scarcely put his sack on the bench by the stove, than the whole house began to crack - the bench broke down and then the floor, and the heavy sack fell through into the cellar. God save us, cried the father, what's that. Now you have broken our little house to pieces. Don't let that turn your hair grey, dear father, answered Hans. There, in that sack, is more than is wanting for a new house. The father and Hans at once began to build a new house, to buy cattle and land, and to keep a farm. Hans ploughed the fields, and when he followed the plough and pushed it into the ground, the bullocks had scarcely any need to draw. The next spring, Hans said, keep all the money and have made for me a walking-stick that weighs a hundred-weight, that I may go a-traveling. When the stick was ready, he left his father's house, went forth, and came to a deep, dark forest. There he heard something crunching and cracking, looked round, and saw a fir-tree which was wound round like a rope from the bottom to the top, and when he looked upwards he saw a great fellow who had laid hold of the tree and was twisting it like a willow-wand. Hullo, cried Hans, what are you doing up there. The fellow replied, I got some faggots together yesterday and am twisting a rope for them. That is what I like, thought Hans, he has some strength, and he called to him, leave that alone, and come with me. The fellow came down, and he was taller by a whole head than Hans, and Hans was not little. Your name is now fir-twister, said Hans to him. Thereupon they went further and heard something knocking and hammering with such force that the ground shook at every stroke. Shortly afterwards they came to a mighty rock, before which a giant was standing and striking great pieces of it away with his fist. When Hans asked what he was doing, he answered, at night, when I want to sleep, bears, wolves, and other vermin of that kind come, which sniff and snuffle about me and won't let me rest, so I want to build myself a house and lay myself inside it, so that I may have some peace. Oh indeed, thought Hans, I can make use of this one also, and said to him, leave your house-building alone, and go with me. You shall be called rock-splitter. The man consented, and they all three roamed through the forest, and wherever they went the wild beasts were terrified, and ran away from them. In the evening they came to an old deserted castle, went up into it, and laid themselves down in the hall to sleep. The next morning Hans went into the garden. It had run quite wild, and was full of thorns and brambles. And as he was thus walking round about, a wild boar rushed at him, he, however, gave it such a blow with his club that it fell directly. He took it on his shoulders and carried it in, and they put it on a spit, roasted it, and enjoyed themselves. Then they arranged that each day, in turn, two should go out hunting, and one should stay at home, and cook nine pounds of meat for each of them. Fir-twister stayed at home the first, and Hans and rock-splitter went out hunting. When fir-twister was busy cooking, a little shrivelled-up old mannikin came to him in the castle, and asked for some meat. Be off, you sneaking imp, he answered, you need no meat. But how astonished fir-twister was when the little insignificant dwarf sprang up at him, and belabored him so with his fists that he could not defend himself, but fell on the ground and gasped for breath. The dwarf did not go away until he had thoroughly vented his anger on him. When the two others came home from hunting, fir-twister said nothing to them of the old mannikin and of the blows which he himself had received, and thought, when they stay at home, they may just try their chance with the little scrubbing-brush, and the mere thought of that gave him pleasure already. The next day rock-splitter stayed at home, and he fared just as fir-twister had done, being very ill-treated by the dwarf because he was not willing to give him any meat. When the others came home in the evening, fir-twister saw clearly what he had suffered, but both kept silence, and thought, Hans also must taste some of that soup. Hans, who had to stay at home the next day, did his work in the kitchen as it had to be done, and as he was standing skimming the pan, the dwarf came and without more ado demanded a piece of meat. Then Hans thought, he is a poor wretch, I will give him some of my share, that the others may not run short, and handed him a bit. When the dwarf had devoured it, he again asked for some meat, and good-natured Hans gave it to him, and told him it was a handsome piece, and that he was to be content with it. But the dwarf begged again for the third time. You are shameless, said Hans, and gave him none. Then the malicious dwarf wanted to spring on him and treat him as he had treated fir-twister and rock-splitter, but he had chosen the wrong man. Hans, without exerting himself much, gave him a couple of blows which made him jump down the castle steps. Hans was about to run after him, but fell right over, flat on his face. When he rose up again, the dwarf had got the start of him. Hans hurried after him as far as the forest, and saw him slip into a hole in the rock. Hans now went home, but he had marked the spot. When the two others came back, they were surprised that Hans was so well. He told them what had happened, and then they no longer concealed how it had fared with them. Hans laughed and said, it served you quite right. Why were you so mean with your meat. It is a disgrace that you who are so big should have let yourselves be beaten by the dwarf. Thereupon they took a basket and a rope, and all three went to the hole in the rock into which the dwarf had slipped, and let Hans and his club down in the basket. When Hans had reached the bottom, he found a door, and when he opened it a maiden was sitting there who was lovely as any picture, nay, so beautiful that no words can express it, and by her side sat the dwarf and grinned at Hans like a sea-cat. She, however, was bound with chains, and looked so mournfully at him that Hans felt great pity for her, and thought to himself, you must deliver her out of the power of the wicked dwarf, and gave him such a blow with his club that he fell down dead. Immediately the chains fell from the maiden, and Hans was enraptured with her beauty. She told him she was a king's daughter whom a savage count had stolen away from her home, and imprisoned there among the rocks, because she would have nothing to say to him. The count, however, had set the dwarf as a watchman, and he had made her suffer misery and vexation enough. And now Hans placed the maiden in the basket and had her drawn up. The basket came down again, but Hans did not trust his two companions, and thought, they have already shown themselves to be false, and told me nothing about the dwarf. Who knows what design they may have against me. So he put his club in the basket, and it was lucky he did, for when the basket was half-way up, they let it fall again, and if Hans had really been sitting in it he would have been killed. But now he did not know how he was to work his way out of the depths, and when he turned it over and over in his mind he found no counsel. It is indeed sad, said he to himself, that I have to waste away down here, and as he was thus walking backwards and forwards, he once more came to the little chamber where the maiden had been sitting, and saw that the dwarf had a ring on his finger which shone and sparkled. Then he drew it off and put it on, and when he turned it round on his finger, he suddenly heard something rustle over his head. He looked up and saw spirits of the air hovering above, who told him he was their master, and asked what his desire might be. Hans was at first struck dumb, but afterwards he said that they were to carry him up again. They obeyed instantly, and it was just as if he had flown up himself. But when he had arrived there, he found no one in sight. Fir-twister and rock-splitter had hurried away, and had taken the beautiful maiden with them. But Hans turned the ring, and the spirits of the air came and told him that the two were on the sea. Hans ran and ran without stopping, until he came to the sea-shore, and there far, far out on the water, he perceived a little boat in which his faithless comrades were sitting, and in fierce anger he leapt, without thinking what he was doing, club in hand into the water, and began to swim, but the club, which weighed a hundredweight, dragged him deep down until he was all but drowned. Then in the very nick of time he turned his ring, and immediately the spirits of the air came and bore him as swift as lightning into the boat. He swung his club and gave his wicked comrades the reward they merited and threw them into the water, and then he sailed with the beautiful maiden, who had been in the greatest alarm, and whom he delivered for the second time, home to her father and mother, and married her, and all rejoiced exceedingly.",
"tts_chunks": [
"There were once a man and a woman who had an only child, and lived quite alone in a solitary valley. It came to pass that the mother once went into the wood to gather branches of fir, and took with her little Hans, who was just two years old. As it was spring-time, and the child took pleasure in the many-colored flowers, she went still further onwards with him into the forest. Suddenly two robbers sprang out of the thicket, seized the mother and child, and carried them far away into the black forest, where no one ever came from one year's end to another. The poor woman urgently begged the robbers to set her and her child free, but their hearts were made of stone, they would not listen to her prayers and entreaties, and drove her on farther by force.",
"After they had worked their way through bushes and briars for about two miles, they came to a rock where there was a door, at which the robbers knocked and it opened at once. They had to go through a long dark passage, which burnt on the hearth. On the wall hung swords, sabres, and other deadly weapons which gleamed in the light, and in the midst stood a black table at which four other robbers were sitting gambling, and the captain sat at the head of it. As soon as he saw the woman he came and spoke to her, and told her to be at ease and have no fear, they would do nothing to hurt her, but she must look after the housekeeping, and if she kept everything in order, she should not fare ill with them.",
"Thereupon they gave her something to eat, and showed her a bed where she might sleep with her child. The woman stayed many years with the robbers, and Hans grew tall and strong. His mother told him stories, and taught him to read an old book of tales about knights which she found in the cave. When Hans was nine years old, he made himself a strong club out of a branch of fir, hid it behind the bed, and then went to his mother and said, dear mother, pray tell me who is my father. I must and will know. His mother was silent and would not tell him, that he might not become home-sick. Moreover she knew that the godless robbers would not let him go away, but it almost broke her heart that Hans should not go to his father.",
"In the night, when the robbers came home from their robbing expedition, Hans brought out his club, stood before the captain, and said, I now wish to know who my father is, and if you do not tell me at once I will strike you down. Then the captain laughed, and gave Hans such a box on the ear that he rolled under the table. Hans got up again, held his tongue, and thought, I will wait another year and then try again, perhaps I shall do better then. When the year was over, he brought out his club again, rubbed the dust off it, looked at it well, and said, it is a stout strong club. At night the robbers came home, drank one jug of wine after another, and their heads began to be heavy. Then Hans brought out his club, placed himself before the captain, and asked him who his father was.",
"But the captain again gave him such a vigorous box on the ear that Hans rolled under the table. However, it was not long before he was up again, and so beat the captain and the robbers with his club, that they could no longer move either their arms or their legs. His mother stood in a corner full of admiration for his bravery and strength. When Hans had done his work, he went to his mother, and said, now I have shown myself to be in earnest, but now I must also know who my father is. Dear Hans, answered the mother, come, we will go and seek him until we find him.",
"She took from the captain the key to the entrance-door, and Hans fetched a great meal-sack and packed into it gold and silver, and whatsoever else he could find that was beautiful, until it was full, and then he took it on his back. They left the cave, but how Hans did open his eyes when he came out of the darkness into daylight, and saw the green forest, and the flowers, and the birds, and the morning sun in the sky. He stood there and wondered at everything just as if he were not quite right in the head. His mother looked for the way home, and when they had walked for a couple of hours, they got safely into their lonely valley and to their little house. The father was sitting in the doorway.",
"He wept for joy when he recognized his wife and heard that Hans was his son, for he had long regarded them both as dead. But Hans, although he was not twelve years old, was a head taller than his father. They went into the little room together, but Hans had scarcely put his sack on the bench by the stove, than the whole house began to crack - the bench broke down and then the floor, and the heavy sack fell through into the cellar. God save us, cried the father, what's that. Now you have broken our little house to pieces. Don't let that turn your hair grey, dear father, answered Hans. There, in that sack, is more than is wanting for a new house. The father and Hans at once began to build a new house, to buy cattle and land, and to keep a farm.",
"Hans ploughed the fields, and when he followed the plough and pushed it into the ground, the bullocks had scarcely any need to draw. The next spring, Hans said, keep all the money and have made for me a walking-stick that weighs a hundred-weight, that I may go a-traveling. When the stick was ready, he left his father's house, went forth, and came to a deep, dark forest. There he heard something crunching and cracking, looked round, and saw a fir-tree which was wound round like a rope from the bottom to the top, and when he looked upwards he saw a great fellow who had laid hold of the tree and was twisting it like a willow-wand. Hullo, cried Hans, what are you doing up there. The fellow replied, I got some faggots together yesterday and am twisting a rope for them.",
"That is what I like, thought Hans, he has some strength, and he called to him, leave that alone, and come with me. The fellow came down, and he was taller by a whole head than Hans, and Hans was not little. Your name is now fir-twister, said Hans to him. Thereupon they went further and heard something knocking and hammering with such force that the ground shook at every stroke. Shortly afterwards they came to a mighty rock, before which a giant was standing and striking great pieces of it away with his fist. When Hans asked what he was doing, he answered, at night, when I want to sleep, bears, wolves, and other vermin of that kind come, which sniff and snuffle about me and won't let me rest, so I want to build myself a house and lay myself inside it, so that I may have some peace.",
"Oh indeed, thought Hans, I can make use of this one also, and said to him, leave your house-building alone, and go with me. You shall be called rock-splitter. The man consented, and they all three roamed through the forest, and wherever they went the wild beasts were terrified, and ran away from them. In the evening they came to an old deserted castle, went up into it, and laid themselves down in the hall to sleep. The next morning Hans went into the garden. It had run quite wild, and was full of thorns and brambles. And as he was thus walking round about, a wild boar rushed at him, he, however, gave it such a blow with his club that it fell directly. He took it on his shoulders and carried it in, and they put it on a spit, roasted it, and enjoyed themselves.",
"Then they arranged that each day, in turn, two should go out hunting, and one should stay at home, and cook nine pounds of meat for each of them. Fir-twister stayed at home the first, and Hans and rock-splitter went out hunting. When fir-twister was busy cooking, a little shrivelled-up old mannikin came to him in the castle, and asked for some meat. Be off, you sneaking imp, he answered, you need no meat. But how astonished fir-twister was when the little insignificant dwarf sprang up at him, and belabored him so with his fists that he could not defend himself, but fell on the ground and gasped for breath. The dwarf did not go away until he had thoroughly vented his anger on him.",
"When the two others came home from hunting, fir-twister said nothing to them of the old mannikin and of the blows which he himself had received, and thought, when they stay at home, they may just try their chance with the little scrubbing-brush, and the mere thought of that gave him pleasure already. The next day rock-splitter stayed at home, and he fared just as fir-twister had done, being very ill-treated by the dwarf because he was not willing to give him any meat. When the others came home in the evening, fir-twister saw clearly what he had suffered, but both kept silence, and thought, Hans also must taste some of that soup.",
"Hans, who had to stay at home the next day, did his work in the kitchen as it had to be done, and as he was standing skimming the pan, the dwarf came and without more ado demanded a piece of meat. Then Hans thought, he is a poor wretch, I will give him some of my share, that the others may not run short, and handed him a bit. When the dwarf had devoured it, he again asked for some meat, and good-natured Hans gave it to him, and told him it was a handsome piece, and that he was to be content with it. But the dwarf begged again for the third time. You are shameless, said Hans, and gave him none. Then the malicious dwarf wanted to spring on him and treat him as he had treated fir-twister and rock-splitter, but he had chosen the wrong man.",
"Hans, without exerting himself much, gave him a couple of blows which made him jump down the castle steps. Hans was about to run after him, but fell right over, flat on his face. When he rose up again, the dwarf had got the start of him. Hans hurried after him as far as the forest, and saw him slip into a hole in the rock. Hans now went home, but he had marked the spot. When the two others came back, they were surprised that Hans was so well. He told them what had happened, and then they no longer concealed how it had fared with them. Hans laughed and said, it served you quite right. Why were you so mean with your meat. It is a disgrace that you who are so big should have let yourselves be beaten by the dwarf.",
"Thereupon they took a basket and a rope, and all three went to the hole in the rock into which the dwarf had slipped, and let Hans and his club down in the basket. When Hans had reached the bottom, he found a door, and when he opened it a maiden was sitting there who was lovely as any picture, nay, so beautiful that no words can express it, and by her side sat the dwarf and grinned at Hans like a sea-cat. She, however, was bound with chains, and looked so mournfully at him that Hans felt great pity for her, and thought to himself, you must deliver her out of the power of the wicked dwarf, and gave him such a blow with his club that he fell down dead. Immediately the chains fell from the maiden, and Hans was enraptured with her beauty.",
"She told him she was a king's daughter whom a savage count had stolen away from her home, and imprisoned there among the rocks, because she would have nothing to say to him. The count, however, had set the dwarf as a watchman, and he had made her suffer misery and vexation enough. And now Hans placed the maiden in the basket and had her drawn up. The basket came down again, but Hans did not trust his two companions, and thought, they have already shown themselves to be false, and told me nothing about the dwarf. Who knows what design they may have against me. So he put his club in the basket, and it was lucky he did, for when the basket was half-way up, they let it fall again, and if Hans had really been sitting in it he would have been killed.",
"But now he did not know how he was to work his way out of the depths, and when he turned it over and over in his mind he found no counsel. It is indeed sad, said he to himself, that I have to waste away down here, and as he was thus walking backwards and forwards, he once more came to the little chamber where the maiden had been sitting, and saw that the dwarf had a ring on his finger which shone and sparkled. Then he drew it off and put it on, and when he turned it round on his finger, he suddenly heard something rustle over his head. He looked up and saw spirits of the air hovering above, who told him he was their master, and asked what his desire might be. Hans was at first struck dumb, but afterwards he said that they were to carry him up again.",
"They obeyed instantly, and it was just as if he had flown up himself. But when he had arrived there, he found no one in sight. Fir-twister and rock-splitter had hurried away, and had taken the beautiful maiden with them. But Hans turned the ring, and the spirits of the air came and told him that the two were on the sea. Hans ran and ran without stopping, until he came to the sea-shore, and there far, far out on the water, he perceived a little boat in which his faithless comrades were sitting, and in fierce anger he leapt, without thinking what he was doing, club in hand into the water, and began to swim, but the club, which weighed a hundredweight, dragged him deep down until he was all but drowned.",
"Then in the very nick of time he turned his ring, and immediately the spirits of the air came and bore him as swift as lightning into the boat. He swung his club and gave his wicked comrades the reward they merited and threw them into the water, and then he sailed with the beautiful maiden, who had been in the greatest alarm, and whom he delivered for the second time, home to her father and mother, and married her, and all rejoiced exceedingly."
],
"speech_safe_body": [
"There were once a man and a woman who had an only child, and lived quite alone in a solitary valley. It came to pass that the mother once went into the wood to gather branches of fir, and took with her little Hans, who was just two years old. As it was spring-time, and the child took pleasure in the many-colored flowers, she went still further onwards with him into the forest. Suddenly two robbers sprang out of the thicket, seized the mother and child, and carried them far away into the black forest, where no one ever came from one year's end to another. The poor woman urgently begged the robbers to set her and her child free, but their hearts were made of stone, they would not listen to her prayers and entreaties, and drove her on farther by force.",
"After they had worked their way through bushes and briars for about two miles, they came to a rock where there was a door, at which the robbers knocked and it opened at once. They had to go through a long dark passage, which burnt on the hearth. On the wall hung swords, sabres, and other deadly weapons which gleamed in the light, and in the midst stood a black table at which four other robbers were sitting gambling, and the captain sat at the head of it. As soon as he saw the woman he came and spoke to her, and told her to be at ease and have no fear, they would do nothing to hurt her, but she must look after the housekeeping, and if she kept everything in order, she should not fare ill with them.",
"Thereupon they gave her something to eat, and showed her a bed where she might sleep with her child. The woman stayed many years with the robbers, and Hans grew tall and strong. His mother told him stories, and taught him to read an old book of tales about knights which she found in the cave. When Hans was nine years old, he made himself a strong club out of a branch of fir, hid it behind the bed, and then went to his mother and said, dear mother, pray tell me who is my father. I must and will know. His mother was silent and would not tell him, that he might not become home-sick. Moreover she knew that the godless robbers would not let him go away, but it almost broke her heart that Hans should not go to his father.",
"In the night, when the robbers came home from their robbing expedition, Hans brought out his club, stood before the captain, and said, I now wish to know who my father is, and if you do not tell me at once I will strike you down. Then the captain laughed, and gave Hans such a box on the ear that he rolled under the table. Hans got up again, held his tongue, and thought, I will wait another year and then try again, perhaps I shall do better then. When the year was over, he brought out his club again, rubbed the dust off it, looked at it well, and said, it is a stout strong club. At night the robbers came home, drank one jug of wine after another, and their heads began to be heavy. Then Hans brought out his club, placed himself before the captain, and asked him who his father was.",
"But the captain again gave him such a vigorous box on the ear that Hans rolled under the table. However, it was not long before he was up again, and so beat the captain and the robbers with his club, that they could no longer move either their arms or their legs. His mother stood in a corner full of admiration for his bravery and strength. When Hans had done his work, he went to his mother, and said, now I have shown myself to be in earnest, but now I must also know who my father is. Dear Hans, answered the mother, come, we will go and seek him until we find him.",
"She took from the captain the key to the entrance-door, and Hans fetched a great meal-sack and packed into it gold and silver, and whatsoever else he could find that was beautiful, until it was full, and then he took it on his back. They left the cave, but how Hans did open his eyes when he came out of the darkness into daylight, and saw the green forest, and the flowers, and the birds, and the morning sun in the sky. He stood there and wondered at everything just as if he were not quite right in the head. His mother looked for the way home, and when they had walked for a couple of hours, they got safely into their lonely valley and to their little house. The father was sitting in the doorway.",
"He wept for joy when he recognized his wife and heard that Hans was his son, for he had long regarded them both as dead. But Hans, although he was not twelve years old, was a head taller than his father. They went into the little room together, but Hans had scarcely put his sack on the bench by the stove, than the whole house began to crack - the bench broke down and then the floor, and the heavy sack fell through into the cellar. God save us, cried the father, what is that. Now you have broken our little house to pieces. Do not let that turn your hair grey, dear father, answered Hans. There, in that sack, is more than is wanting for a new house. The father and Hans at once began to build a new house, to buy cattle and land, and to keep a farm.",
"Hans ploughed the fields, and when he followed the plough and pushed it into the ground, the bullocks had scarcely any need to draw. The next spring, Hans said, keep all the money and have made for me a walking-stick that weighs a hundred-weight, that I may go a-traveling. When the stick was ready, he left his father's house, went forth, and came to a deep, dark forest. There he heard something crunching and cracking, looked round, and saw a fir-tree which was wound round like a rope from the bottom to the top, and when he looked upwards he saw a great fellow who had laid hold of the tree and was twisting it like a willow-wand. Hullo, cried Hans, what are you doing up there. The fellow replied, I got some faggots together yesterday and am twisting a rope for them.",
"That is what I like, thought Hans, he has some strength, and he called to him, leave that alone, and come with me. The fellow came down, and he was taller by a whole head than Hans, and Hans was not little. Your name is now fir-twister, said Hans to him. Thereupon they went further and heard something knocking and hammering with such force that the ground shook at every stroke. Shortly afterwards they came to a mighty rock, before which a giant was standing and striking great pieces of it away with his fist. When Hans asked what he was doing, he answered, at night, when I want to sleep, bears, wolves, and other vermin of that kind come, which sniff and snuffle about me and will not let me rest, so I want to build myself a house and lay myself inside it, so that I may have some peace.",
"Oh indeed, thought Hans, I can make use of this one also, and said to him, leave your house-building alone, and go with me. You shall be called rock-splitter. The man consented, and they all three roamed through the forest, and wherever they went the wild beasts were terrified, and ran away from them. In the evening they came to an old deserted castle, went up into it, and laid themselves down in the hall to sleep. The next morning Hans went into the garden. It had run quite wild, and was full of thorns and brambles. And as he was thus walking round about, a wild boar rushed at him, he, however, gave it such a blow with his club that it fell directly. He took it on his shoulders and carried it in, and they put it on a spit, roasted it, and enjoyed themselves.",
"Then they arranged that each day, in turn, two should go out hunting, and one should stay at home, and cook nine pounds of meat for each of them. Fir-twister stayed at home the first, and Hans and rock-splitter went out hunting. When fir-twister was busy cooking, a little shrivelled-up old mannikin came to him in the castle, and asked for some meat. Be off, you sneaking imp, he answered, you need no meat. But how astonished fir-twister was when the little insignificant dwarf sprang up at him, and belabored him so with his fists that he could not defend himself, but fell on the ground and gasped for breath. The dwarf did not go away until he had thoroughly vented his anger on him.",
"When the two others came home from hunting, fir-twister said nothing to them of the old mannikin and of the blows which he himself had received, and thought, when they stay at home, they may just try their chance with the little scrubbing-brush, and the mere thought of that gave him pleasure already. The next day rock-splitter stayed at home, and he fared just as fir-twister had done, being very ill-treated by the dwarf because he was not willing to give him any meat. When the others came home in the evening, fir-twister saw clearly what he had suffered, but both kept silence, and thought, Hans also must taste some of that soup.",
"Hans, who had to stay at home the next day, did his work in the kitchen as it had to be done, and as he was standing skimming the pan, the dwarf came and without more ado demanded a piece of meat. Then Hans thought, he is a poor wretch, I will give him some of my share, that the others may not run short, and handed him a bit. When the dwarf had devoured it, he again asked for some meat, and good-natured Hans gave it to him, and told him it was a handsome piece, and that he was to be content with it. But the dwarf begged again for the third time. You are shameless, said Hans, and gave him none. Then the malicious dwarf wanted to spring on him and treat him as he had treated fir-twister and rock-splitter, but he had chosen the wrong man.",
"Hans, without exerting himself much, gave him a couple of blows which made him jump down the castle steps. Hans was about to run after him, but fell right over, flat on his face. When he rose up again, the dwarf had got the start of him. Hans hurried after him as far as the forest, and saw him slip into a hole in the rock. Hans now went home, but he had marked the spot. When the two others came back, they were surprised that Hans was so well. He told them what had happened, and then they no longer concealed how it had fared with them. Hans laughed and said, it served you quite right. Why were you so mean with your meat. It is a disgrace that you who are so big should have let yourselves be beaten by the dwarf.",
"Thereupon they took a basket and a rope, and all three went to the hole in the rock into which the dwarf had slipped, and let Hans and his club down in the basket. When Hans had reached the bottom, he found a door, and when he opened it a maiden was sitting there who was lovely as any picture, nay, so beautiful that no words can express it, and by her side sat the dwarf and grinned at Hans like a sea-cat. She, however, was bound with chains, and looked so mournfully at him that Hans felt great pity for her, and thought to himself, you must deliver her out of the power of the wicked dwarf, and gave him such a blow with his club that he fell down dead. Immediately the chains fell from the maiden, and Hans was enraptured with her beauty.",
"She told him she was a king's daughter whom a savage count had stolen away from her home, and imprisoned there among the rocks, because she would have nothing to say to him. The count, however, had set the dwarf as a watchman, and he had made her suffer misery and vexation enough. And now Hans placed the maiden in the basket and had her drawn up. The basket came down again, but Hans did not trust his two companions, and thought, they have already shown themselves to be false, and told me nothing about the dwarf. Who knows what design they may have against me. So he put his club in the basket, and it was lucky he did, for when the basket was half-way up, they let it fall again, and if Hans had really been sitting in it he would have been killed.",
"But now he did not know how he was to work his way out of the depths, and when he turned it over and over in his mind he found no counsel. It is indeed sad, said he to himself, that I have to waste away down here, and as he was thus walking backwards and forwards, he once more came to the little chamber where the maiden had been sitting, and saw that the dwarf had a ring on his finger which shone and sparkled. Then he drew it off and put it on, and when he turned it round on his finger, he suddenly heard something rustle over his head. He looked up and saw spirits of the air hovering above, who told him he was their master, and asked what his desire might be. Hans was at first struck dumb, but afterwards he said that they were to carry him up again.",
"They obeyed instantly, and it was just as if he had flown up himself. But when he had arrived there, he found no one in sight. Fir-twister and rock-splitter had hurried away, and had taken the beautiful maiden with them. But Hans turned the ring, and the spirits of the air came and told him that the two were on the sea. Hans ran and ran without stopping, until he came to the sea-shore, and there far, far out on the water, he perceived a little boat in which his faithless comrades were sitting, and in fierce anger he leapt, without thinking what he was doing, club in hand into the water, and began to swim, but the club, which weighed a hundredweight, dragged him deep down until he was all but drowned.",
"Then in the very nick of time he turned his ring, and immediately the spirits of the air came and bore him as swift as lightning into the boat. He swung his club and gave his wicked comrades the reward they merited and threw them into the water, and then he sailed with the beautiful maiden, who had been in the greatest alarm, and whom he delivered for the second time, home to her father and mother, and married her, and all rejoiced exceedingly."
],
"speech_safe_text": "There were once a man and a woman who had an only child, and lived quite alone in a solitary valley. It came to pass that the mother once went into the wood to gather branches of fir, and took with her little Hans, who was just two years old. As it was spring-time, and the child took pleasure in the many-colored flowers, she went still further onwards with him into the forest. Suddenly two robbers sprang out of the thicket, seized the mother and child, and carried them far away into the black forest, where no one ever came from one year's end to another. The poor woman urgently begged the robbers to set her and her child free, but their hearts were made of stone, they would not listen to her prayers and entreaties, and drove her on farther by force.\n\nAfter they had worked their way through bushes and briars for about two miles, they came to a rock where there was a door, at which the robbers knocked and it opened at once. They had to go through a long dark passage, which burnt on the hearth. On the wall hung swords, sabres, and other deadly weapons which gleamed in the light, and in the midst stood a black table at which four other robbers were sitting gambling, and the captain sat at the head of it. As soon as he saw the woman he came and spoke to her, and told her to be at ease and have no fear, they would do nothing to hurt her, but she must look after the housekeeping, and if she kept everything in order, she should not fare ill with them.\n\nThereupon they gave her something to eat, and showed her a bed where she might sleep with her child. The woman stayed many years with the robbers, and Hans grew tall and strong. His mother told him stories, and taught him to read an old book of tales about knights which she found in the cave. When Hans was nine years old, he made himself a strong club out of a branch of fir, hid it behind the bed, and then went to his mother and said, dear mother, pray tell me who is my father. I must and will know. His mother was silent and would not tell him, that he might not become home-sick. Moreover she knew that the godless robbers would not let him go away, but it almost broke her heart that Hans should not go to his father.\n\nIn the night, when the robbers came home from their robbing expedition, Hans brought out his club, stood before the captain, and said, I now wish to know who my father is, and if you do not tell me at once I will strike you down. Then the captain laughed, and gave Hans such a box on the ear that he rolled under the table. Hans got up again, held his tongue, and thought, I will wait another year and then try again, perhaps I shall do better then. When the year was over, he brought out his club again, rubbed the dust off it, looked at it well, and said, it is a stout strong club. At night the robbers came home, drank one jug of wine after another, and their heads began to be heavy. Then Hans brought out his club, placed himself before the captain, and asked him who his father was.\n\nBut the captain again gave him such a vigorous box on the ear that Hans rolled under the table. However, it was not long before he was up again, and so beat the captain and the robbers with his club, that they could no longer move either their arms or their legs. His mother stood in a corner full of admiration for his bravery and strength. When Hans had done his work, he went to his mother, and said, now I have shown myself to be in earnest, but now I must also know who my father is. Dear Hans, answered the mother, come, we will go and seek him until we find him.\n\nShe took from the captain the key to the entrance-door, and Hans fetched a great meal-sack and packed into it gold and silver, and whatsoever else he could find that was beautiful, until it was full, and then he took it on his back. They left the cave, but how Hans did open his eyes when he came out of the darkness into daylight, and saw the green forest, and the flowers, and the birds, and the morning sun in the sky. He stood there and wondered at everything just as if he were not quite right in the head. His mother looked for the way home, and when they had walked for a couple of hours, they got safely into their lonely valley and to their little house. The father was sitting in the doorway.\n\nHe wept for joy when he recognized his wife and heard that Hans was his son, for he had long regarded them both as dead. But Hans, although he was not twelve years old, was a head taller than his father. They went into the little room together, but Hans had scarcely put his sack on the bench by the stove, than the whole house began to crack - the bench broke down and then the floor, and the heavy sack fell through into the cellar. God save us, cried the father, what is that. Now you have broken our little house to pieces. Do not let that turn your hair grey, dear father, answered Hans. There, in that sack, is more than is wanting for a new house. The father and Hans at once began to build a new house, to buy cattle and land, and to keep a farm.\n\nHans ploughed the fields, and when he followed the plough and pushed it into the ground, the bullocks had scarcely any need to draw. The next spring, Hans said, keep all the money and have made for me a walking-stick that weighs a hundred-weight, that I may go a-traveling. When the stick was ready, he left his father's house, went forth, and came to a deep, dark forest. There he heard something crunching and cracking, looked round, and saw a fir-tree which was wound round like a rope from the bottom to the top, and when he looked upwards he saw a great fellow who had laid hold of the tree and was twisting it like a willow-wand. Hullo, cried Hans, what are you doing up there. The fellow replied, I got some faggots together yesterday and am twisting a rope for them.\n\nThat is what I like, thought Hans, he has some strength, and he called to him, leave that alone, and come with me. The fellow came down, and he was taller by a whole head than Hans, and Hans was not little. Your name is now fir-twister, said Hans to him. Thereupon they went further and heard something knocking and hammering with such force that the ground shook at every stroke. Shortly afterwards they came to a mighty rock, before which a giant was standing and striking great pieces of it away with his fist. When Hans asked what he was doing, he answered, at night, when I want to sleep, bears, wolves, and other vermin of that kind come, which sniff and snuffle about me and will not let me rest, so I want to build myself a house and lay myself inside it, so that I may have some peace.\n\nOh indeed, thought Hans, I can make use of this one also, and said to him, leave your house-building alone, and go with me. You shall be called rock-splitter. The man consented, and they all three roamed through the forest, and wherever they went the wild beasts were terrified, and ran away from them. In the evening they came to an old deserted castle, went up into it, and laid themselves down in the hall to sleep. The next morning Hans went into the garden. It had run quite wild, and was full of thorns and brambles. And as he was thus walking round about, a wild boar rushed at him, he, however, gave it such a blow with his club that it fell directly. He took it on his shoulders and carried it in, and they put it on a spit, roasted it, and enjoyed themselves.\n\nThen they arranged that each day, in turn, two should go out hunting, and one should stay at home, and cook nine pounds of meat for each of them. Fir-twister stayed at home the first, and Hans and rock-splitter went out hunting. When fir-twister was busy cooking, a little shrivelled-up old mannikin came to him in the castle, and asked for some meat. Be off, you sneaking imp, he answered, you need no meat. But how astonished fir-twister was when the little insignificant dwarf sprang up at him, and belabored him so with his fists that he could not defend himself, but fell on the ground and gasped for breath. The dwarf did not go away until he had thoroughly vented his anger on him.\n\nWhen the two others came home from hunting, fir-twister said nothing to them of the old mannikin and of the blows which he himself had received, and thought, when they stay at home, they may just try their chance with the little scrubbing-brush, and the mere thought of that gave him pleasure already. The next day rock-splitter stayed at home, and he fared just as fir-twister had done, being very ill-treated by the dwarf because he was not willing to give him any meat. When the others came home in the evening, fir-twister saw clearly what he had suffered, but both kept silence, and thought, Hans also must taste some of that soup.\n\nHans, who had to stay at home the next day, did his work in the kitchen as it had to be done, and as he was standing skimming the pan, the dwarf came and without more ado demanded a piece of meat. Then Hans thought, he is a poor wretch, I will give him some of my share, that the others may not run short, and handed him a bit. When the dwarf had devoured it, he again asked for some meat, and good-natured Hans gave it to him, and told him it was a handsome piece, and that he was to be content with it. But the dwarf begged again for the third time. You are shameless, said Hans, and gave him none. Then the malicious dwarf wanted to spring on him and treat him as he had treated fir-twister and rock-splitter, but he had chosen the wrong man.\n\nHans, without exerting himself much, gave him a couple of blows which made him jump down the castle steps. Hans was about to run after him, but fell right over, flat on his face. When he rose up again, the dwarf had got the start of him. Hans hurried after him as far as the forest, and saw him slip into a hole in the rock. Hans now went home, but he had marked the spot. When the two others came back, they were surprised that Hans was so well. He told them what had happened, and then they no longer concealed how it had fared with them. Hans laughed and said, it served you quite right. Why were you so mean with your meat. It is a disgrace that you who are so big should have let yourselves be beaten by the dwarf.\n\nThereupon they took a basket and a rope, and all three went to the hole in the rock into which the dwarf had slipped, and let Hans and his club down in the basket. When Hans had reached the bottom, he found a door, and when he opened it a maiden was sitting there who was lovely as any picture, nay, so beautiful that no words can express it, and by her side sat the dwarf and grinned at Hans like a sea-cat. She, however, was bound with chains, and looked so mournfully at him that Hans felt great pity for her, and thought to himself, you must deliver her out of the power of the wicked dwarf, and gave him such a blow with his club that he fell down dead. Immediately the chains fell from the maiden, and Hans was enraptured with her beauty.\n\nShe told him she was a king's daughter whom a savage count had stolen away from her home, and imprisoned there among the rocks, because she would have nothing to say to him. The count, however, had set the dwarf as a watchman, and he had made her suffer misery and vexation enough. And now Hans placed the maiden in the basket and had her drawn up. The basket came down again, but Hans did not trust his two companions, and thought, they have already shown themselves to be false, and told me nothing about the dwarf. Who knows what design they may have against me. So he put his club in the basket, and it was lucky he did, for when the basket was half-way up, they let it fall again, and if Hans had really been sitting in it he would have been killed.\n\nBut now he did not know how he was to work his way out of the depths, and when he turned it over and over in his mind he found no counsel. It is indeed sad, said he to himself, that I have to waste away down here, and as he was thus walking backwards and forwards, he once more came to the little chamber where the maiden had been sitting, and saw that the dwarf had a ring on his finger which shone and sparkled. Then he drew it off and put it on, and when he turned it round on his finger, he suddenly heard something rustle over his head. He looked up and saw spirits of the air hovering above, who told him he was their master, and asked what his desire might be. Hans was at first struck dumb, but afterwards he said that they were to carry him up again.\n\nThey obeyed instantly, and it was just as if he had flown up himself. But when he had arrived there, he found no one in sight. Fir-twister and rock-splitter had hurried away, and had taken the beautiful maiden with them. But Hans turned the ring, and the spirits of the air came and told him that the two were on the sea. Hans ran and ran without stopping, until he came to the sea-shore, and there far, far out on the water, he perceived a little boat in which his faithless comrades were sitting, and in fierce anger he leapt, without thinking what he was doing, club in hand into the water, and began to swim, but the club, which weighed a hundredweight, dragged him deep down until he was all but drowned.\n\nThen in the very nick of time he turned his ring, and immediately the spirits of the air came and bore him as swift as lightning into the boat. He swung his club and gave his wicked comrades the reward they merited and threw them into the water, and then he sailed with the beautiful maiden, who had been in the greatest alarm, and whom he delivered for the second time, home to her father and mother, and married her, and all rejoiced exceedingly.",
"speech_safe_chunks": [
"There were once a man and a woman who had an only child, and lived quite alone in a solitary valley. It came to pass that the mother once went into the wood to gather branches of fir, and took with her little Hans, who was just two years old. As it was spring-time, and the child took pleasure in the many-colored flowers, she went still further onwards with him into the forest. Suddenly two robbers sprang out of the thicket, seized the mother and child, and carried them far away into the black forest, where no one ever came from one year's end to another. The poor woman urgently begged the robbers to set her and her child free, but their hearts were made of stone, they would not listen to her prayers and entreaties, and drove her on farther by force.",
"After they had worked their way through bushes and briars for about two miles, they came to a rock where there was a door, at which the robbers knocked and it opened at once. They had to go through a long dark passage, which burnt on the hearth. On the wall hung swords, sabres, and other deadly weapons which gleamed in the light, and in the midst stood a black table at which four other robbers were sitting gambling, and the captain sat at the head of it. As soon as he saw the woman he came and spoke to her, and told her to be at ease and have no fear, they would do nothing to hurt her, but she must look after the housekeeping, and if she kept everything in order, she should not fare ill with them.",
"Thereupon they gave her something to eat, and showed her a bed where she might sleep with her child. The woman stayed many years with the robbers, and Hans grew tall and strong. His mother told him stories, and taught him to read an old book of tales about knights which she found in the cave. When Hans was nine years old, he made himself a strong club out of a branch of fir, hid it behind the bed, and then went to his mother and said, dear mother, pray tell me who is my father. I must and will know. His mother was silent and would not tell him, that he might not become home-sick. Moreover she knew that the godless robbers would not let him go away, but it almost broke her heart that Hans should not go to his father.",
"In the night, when the robbers came home from their robbing expedition, Hans brought out his club, stood before the captain, and said, I now wish to know who my father is, and if you do not tell me at once I will strike you down. Then the captain laughed, and gave Hans such a box on the ear that he rolled under the table. Hans got up again, held his tongue, and thought, I will wait another year and then try again, perhaps I shall do better then. When the year was over, he brought out his club again, rubbed the dust off it, looked at it well, and said, it is a stout strong club. At night the robbers came home, drank one jug of wine after another, and their heads began to be heavy. Then Hans brought out his club, placed himself before the captain, and asked him who his father was.",
"But the captain again gave him such a vigorous box on the ear that Hans rolled under the table. However, it was not long before he was up again, and so beat the captain and the robbers with his club, that they could no longer move either their arms or their legs. His mother stood in a corner full of admiration for his bravery and strength. When Hans had done his work, he went to his mother, and said, now I have shown myself to be in earnest, but now I must also know who my father is. Dear Hans, answered the mother, come, we will go and seek him until we find him.",
"She took from the captain the key to the entrance-door, and Hans fetched a great meal-sack and packed into it gold and silver, and whatsoever else he could find that was beautiful, until it was full, and then he took it on his back. They left the cave, but how Hans did open his eyes when he came out of the darkness into daylight, and saw the green forest, and the flowers, and the birds, and the morning sun in the sky. He stood there and wondered at everything just as if he were not quite right in the head. His mother looked for the way home, and when they had walked for a couple of hours, they got safely into their lonely valley and to their little house. The father was sitting in the doorway.",
"He wept for joy when he recognized his wife and heard that Hans was his son, for he had long regarded them both as dead. But Hans, although he was not twelve years old, was a head taller than his father. They went into the little room together, but Hans had scarcely put his sack on the bench by the stove, than the whole house began to crack - the bench broke down and then the floor, and the heavy sack fell through into the cellar. God save us, cried the father, what is that. Now you have broken our little house to pieces. Do not let that turn your hair grey, dear father, answered Hans. There, in that sack, is more than is wanting for a new house. The father and Hans at once began to build a new house, to buy cattle and land, and to keep a farm.",
"Hans ploughed the fields, and when he followed the plough and pushed it into the ground, the bullocks had scarcely any need to draw. The next spring, Hans said, keep all the money and have made for me a walking-stick that weighs a hundred-weight, that I may go a-traveling. When the stick was ready, he left his father's house, went forth, and came to a deep, dark forest. There he heard something crunching and cracking, looked round, and saw a fir-tree which was wound round like a rope from the bottom to the top, and when he looked upwards he saw a great fellow who had laid hold of the tree and was twisting it like a willow-wand. Hullo, cried Hans, what are you doing up there. The fellow replied, I got some faggots together yesterday and am twisting a rope for them.",
"That is what I like, thought Hans, he has some strength, and he called to him, leave that alone, and come with me. The fellow came down, and he was taller by a whole head than Hans, and Hans was not little. Your name is now fir-twister, said Hans to him. Thereupon they went further and heard something knocking and hammering with such force that the ground shook at every stroke. Shortly afterwards they came to a mighty rock, before which a giant was standing and striking great pieces of it away with his fist. When Hans asked what he was doing, he answered, at night, when I want to sleep, bears, wolves, and other vermin of that kind come, which sniff and snuffle about me and will not let me rest, so I want to build myself a house and lay myself inside it, so that I may have some peace.",
"Oh indeed, thought Hans, I can make use of this one also, and said to him, leave your house-building alone, and go with me. You shall be called rock-splitter. The man consented, and they all three roamed through the forest, and wherever they went the wild beasts were terrified, and ran away from them. In the evening they came to an old deserted castle, went up into it, and laid themselves down in the hall to sleep. The next morning Hans went into the garden. It had run quite wild, and was full of thorns and brambles. And as he was thus walking round about, a wild boar rushed at him, he, however, gave it such a blow with his club that it fell directly. He took it on his shoulders and carried it in, and they put it on a spit, roasted it, and enjoyed themselves.",
"Then they arranged that each day, in turn, two should go out hunting, and one should stay at home, and cook nine pounds of meat for each of them. Fir-twister stayed at home the first, and Hans and rock-splitter went out hunting. When fir-twister was busy cooking, a little shrivelled-up old mannikin came to him in the castle, and asked for some meat. Be off, you sneaking imp, he answered, you need no meat. But how astonished fir-twister was when the little insignificant dwarf sprang up at him, and belabored him so with his fists that he could not defend himself, but fell on the ground and gasped for breath. The dwarf did not go away until he had thoroughly vented his anger on him.",
"When the two others came home from hunting, fir-twister said nothing to them of the old mannikin and of the blows which he himself had received, and thought, when they stay at home, they may just try their chance with the little scrubbing-brush, and the mere thought of that gave him pleasure already. The next day rock-splitter stayed at home, and he fared just as fir-twister had done, being very ill-treated by the dwarf because he was not willing to give him any meat. When the others came home in the evening, fir-twister saw clearly what he had suffered, but both kept silence, and thought, Hans also must taste some of that soup.",
"Hans, who had to stay at home the next day, did his work in the kitchen as it had to be done, and as he was standing skimming the pan, the dwarf came and without more ado demanded a piece of meat. Then Hans thought, he is a poor wretch, I will give him some of my share, that the others may not run short, and handed him a bit. When the dwarf had devoured it, he again asked for some meat, and good-natured Hans gave it to him, and told him it was a handsome piece, and that he was to be content with it. But the dwarf begged again for the third time. You are shameless, said Hans, and gave him none. Then the malicious dwarf wanted to spring on him and treat him as he had treated fir-twister and rock-splitter, but he had chosen the wrong man.",
"Hans, without exerting himself much, gave him a couple of blows which made him jump down the castle steps. Hans was about to run after him, but fell right over, flat on his face. When he rose up again, the dwarf had got the start of him. Hans hurried after him as far as the forest, and saw him slip into a hole in the rock. Hans now went home, but he had marked the spot. When the two others came back, they were surprised that Hans was so well. He told them what had happened, and then they no longer concealed how it had fared with them. Hans laughed and said, it served you quite right. Why were you so mean with your meat. It is a disgrace that you who are so big should have let yourselves be beaten by the dwarf.",
"Thereupon they took a basket and a rope, and all three went to the hole in the rock into which the dwarf had slipped, and let Hans and his club down in the basket. When Hans had reached the bottom, he found a door, and when he opened it a maiden was sitting there who was lovely as any picture, nay, so beautiful that no words can express it, and by her side sat the dwarf and grinned at Hans like a sea-cat. She, however, was bound with chains, and looked so mournfully at him that Hans felt great pity for her, and thought to himself, you must deliver her out of the power of the wicked dwarf, and gave him such a blow with his club that he fell down dead. Immediately the chains fell from the maiden, and Hans was enraptured with her beauty.",
"She told him she was a king's daughter whom a savage count had stolen away from her home, and imprisoned there among the rocks, because she would have nothing to say to him. The count, however, had set the dwarf as a watchman, and he had made her suffer misery and vexation enough. And now Hans placed the maiden in the basket and had her drawn up. The basket came down again, but Hans did not trust his two companions, and thought, they have already shown themselves to be false, and told me nothing about the dwarf. Who knows what design they may have against me. So he put his club in the basket, and it was lucky he did, for when the basket was half-way up, they let it fall again, and if Hans had really been sitting in it he would have been killed.",
"But now he did not know how he was to work his way out of the depths, and when he turned it over and over in his mind he found no counsel. It is indeed sad, said he to himself, that I have to waste away down here, and as he was thus walking backwards and forwards, he once more came to the little chamber where the maiden had been sitting, and saw that the dwarf had a ring on his finger which shone and sparkled. Then he drew it off and put it on, and when he turned it round on his finger, he suddenly heard something rustle over his head. He looked up and saw spirits of the air hovering above, who told him he was their master, and asked what his desire might be. Hans was at first struck dumb, but afterwards he said that they were to carry him up again.",
"They obeyed instantly, and it was just as if he had flown up himself. But when he had arrived there, he found no one in sight. Fir-twister and rock-splitter had hurried away, and had taken the beautiful maiden with them. But Hans turned the ring, and the spirits of the air came and told him that the two were on the sea. Hans ran and ran without stopping, until he came to the sea-shore, and there far, far out on the water, he perceived a little boat in which his faithless comrades were sitting, and in fierce anger he leapt, without thinking what he was doing, club in hand into the water, and began to swim, but the club, which weighed a hundredweight, dragged him deep down until he was all but drowned.",
"Then in the very nick of time he turned his ring, and immediately the spirits of the air came and bore him as swift as lightning into the boat. He swung his club and gave his wicked comrades the reward they merited and threw them into the water, and then he sailed with the beautiful maiden, who had been in the greatest alarm, and whom he delivered for the second time, home to her father and mother, and married her, and all rejoiced exceedingly."
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{
"term": "Hans",
"hint": "Hahns",
"reason": "German name, often pronounced with a nasal 'a' sound."
},
{
"term": "sack",
"hint": "sack",
"reason": "Standard English pronunciation."
},
{
"term": "bench",
"hint": "bench",
"reason": "Standard English pronunciation."
},
{
"term": "stove",
"hint": "stove",
"reason": "Standard English pronunciation."
},
{
"term": "cellar",
"hint": "seh-lair",
"reason": "Standard English pronunciation."
},
{
"term": "father",
"hint": "fah-ther",
"reason": "Standard English pronunciation."
},
{
"term": "grey",
"hint": "gray",
"reason": "Spelling variation for 'gray'."
},
{
"term": "fir-twister",
"hint": "FIR-twister",
"reason": "Compound word with hyphenation."
},
{
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}
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"before": "That is what I like, thought Hans, he has some strength, and he called to him, leave that alone, and come with me. The fellow came down, and he was taller by a whole head than Hans, and Hans was not little. Your name is now fir-twister, said Hans to him. Thereupon they went further and heard something knocking and hammering with such force that the ground shook at every stroke. Shortly afterwards they came to a mighty rock, before which a giant was standing and striking great pieces of it away with his fist. When Hans asked what he was doing, he answered, at night, when I want to sleep, bears, wolves, and other vermin of that kind come, which sniff and snuffle about me and won't let me rest, so I want to build myself a house and lay myself inside it, so that I may have some peace.",
"after": "That is what I like, thought Hans, he has some strength, and he called to him, leave that alone, and come with me. The fellow came down, and he was taller by a whole head than Hans, and Hans was not little. Your name is now fir-twister, said Hans to him. Thereupon they went further and heard something knocking and hammering with such force that the ground shook at every stroke. Shortly afterwards they came to a mighty rock, before which a giant was standing and striking great pieces of it away with his fist. When Hans asked what he was doing, he answered, at night, when I want to sleep, bears, wolves, and other vermin of that kind come, which sniff and snuffle about me and won't let me rest, so I want to build myself a house and lay myself inside it, so that I may have some peace.",
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"There were once a man and a woman who had an only child, and lived quite alone in a solitary valley. It came to pass that the mother once went into the wood to gather branches of fir, and took with her little Hans, who was just two years old. As it was spring-time, and the child took pleasure in the many-colored flowers, she went still further onwards with him into the forest. Suddenly two robbers sprang out of the thicket, seized the mother and child, and carried them far away into the black forest, where no one ever came from one year's end to another. The poor woman urgently begged the robbers to set her and her child free, but their hearts were made of stone, they would not listen to her prayers and entreaties, and drove her on farther by force.",
"After they had worked their way through bushes and briars for about two miles, they came to a rock where there was a door, at which the robbers knocked and it opened at once. They had to go through a long dark passage, which burnt on the hearth. On the wall hung swords, sabres, and other deadly weapons which gleamed in the light, and in the midst stood a black table at which four other robbers were sitting gambling, and the captain sat at the head of it. As soon as he saw the woman he came and spoke to her, and told her to be at ease and have no fear, they would do nothing to hurt her, but she must look after the housekeeping, and if she kept everything in order, she should not fare ill with them.",
"Thereupon they gave her something to eat, and showed her a bed where she might sleep with her child. The woman stayed many years with the robbers, and Hans grew tall and strong. His mother told him stories, and taught him to read an old book of tales about knights which she found in the cave. When Hans was nine years old, he made himself a strong club out of a branch of fir, hid it behind the bed, and then went to his mother and said, dear mother, pray tell me who is my father. I must and will know. His mother was silent and would not tell him, that he might not become home-sick. Moreover she knew that the godless robbers would not let him go away, but it almost broke her heart that Hans should not go to his father.",
"In the night, when the robbers came home from their robbing expedition, Hans brought out his club, stood before the captain, and said, I now wish to know who my father is, and if you do not tell me at once I will strike you down. Then the captain laughed, and gave Hans such a box on the ear that he rolled under the table. Hans got up again, held his tongue, and thought, I will wait another year and then try again, perhaps I shall do better then. When the year was over, he brought out his club again, rubbed the dust off it, looked at it well, and said, it is a stout strong club. At night the robbers came home, drank one jug of wine after another, and their heads began to be heavy. Then Hans brought out his club, placed himself before the captain, and asked him who his father was.",
"But the captain again gave him such a vigorous box on the ear that Hans rolled under the table. However, it was not long before he was up again, and so beat the captain and the robbers with his club, that they could no longer move either their arms or their legs. His mother stood in a corner full of admiration for his bravery and strength. When Hans had done his work, he went to his mother, and said, now I have shown myself to be in earnest, but now I must also know who my father is. Dear Hans, answered the mother, come, we will go and seek him until we find him.",
"She took from the captain the key to the entrance-door, and Hans fetched a great meal-sack and packed into it gold and silver, and whatsoever else he could find that was beautiful, until it was full, and then he took it on his back. They left the cave, but how Hans did open his eyes when he came out of the darkness into daylight, and saw the green forest, and the flowers, and the birds, and the morning sun in the sky. He stood there and wondered at everything just as if he were not quite right in the head. His mother looked for the way home, and when they had walked for a couple of hours, they got safely into their lonely valley and to their little house. The father was sitting in the doorway.",
"He wept for joy when he recognized his wife and heard that Hans was his son, for he had long regarded them both as dead. But Hans, although he was not twelve years old, was a head taller than his father. They went into the little room together, but Hans had scarcely put his sack on the bench by the stove, than the whole house began to crack - the bench broke down and then the floor, and the heavy sack fell through into the cellar. God save us, cried the father, what is that. Now you have broken our little house to pieces. Do not let that turn your hair grey, dear father, answered Hans. There, in that sack, is more than is wanting for a new house. The father and Hans at once began to build a new house, to buy cattle and land, and to keep a farm.",
"Hans ploughed the fields, and when he followed the plough and pushed it into the ground, the bullocks had scarcely any need to draw. The next spring, Hans said, keep all the money and have made for me a walking-stick that weighs a hundred-weight, that I may go a-traveling. When the stick was ready, he left his father's house, went forth, and came to a deep, dark forest. There he heard something crunching and cracking, looked round, and saw a fir-tree which was wound round like a rope from the bottom to the top, and when he looked upwards he saw a great fellow who had laid hold of the tree and was twisting it like a willow-wand. Hullo, cried Hans, what are you doing up there. The fellow replied, I got some faggots together yesterday and am twisting a rope for them.",
"That is what I like, thought Hans, he has some strength, and he called to him, leave that alone, and come with me. The fellow came down, and he was taller by a whole head than Hans, and Hans was not little. Your name is now fir-twister, said Hans to him. Thereupon they went further and heard something knocking and hammering with such force that the ground shook at every stroke. Shortly afterwards they came to a mighty rock, before which a giant was standing and striking great pieces of it away with his fist. When Hans asked what he was doing, he answered, at night, when I want to sleep, bears, wolves, and other vermin of that kind come, which sniff and snuffle about me and will not let me rest, so I want to build myself a house and lay myself inside it, so that I may have some peace.",
"Oh indeed, thought Hans, I can make use of this one also, and said to him, leave your house-building alone, and go with me. You shall be called rock-splitter. The man consented, and they all three roamed through the forest, and wherever they went the wild beasts were terrified, and ran away from them. In the evening they came to an old deserted castle, went up into it, and laid themselves down in the hall to sleep. The next morning Hans went into the garden. It had run quite wild, and was full of thorns and brambles. And as he was thus walking round about, a wild boar rushed at him, he, however, gave it such a blow with his club that it fell directly. He took it on his shoulders and carried it in, and they put it on a spit, roasted it, and enjoyed themselves.",
"Then they arranged that each day, in turn, two should go out hunting, and one should stay at home, and cook nine pounds of meat for each of them. Fir-twister stayed at home the first, and Hans and rock-splitter went out hunting. When fir-twister was busy cooking, a little shrivelled-up old mannikin came to him in the castle, and asked for some meat. Be off, you sneaking imp, he answered, you need no meat. But how astonished fir-twister was when the little insignificant dwarf sprang up at him, and belabored him so with his fists that he could not defend himself, but fell on the ground and gasped for breath. The dwarf did not go away until he had thoroughly vented his anger on him.",
"When the two others came home from hunting, fir-twister said nothing to them of the old mannikin and of the blows which he himself had received, and thought, when they stay at home, they may just try their chance with the little scrubbing-brush, and the mere thought of that gave him pleasure already. The next day rock-splitter stayed at home, and he fared just as fir-twister had done, being very ill-treated by the dwarf because he was not willing to give him any meat. When the others came home in the evening, fir-twister saw clearly what he had suffered, but both kept silence, and thought, Hans also must taste some of that soup.",
"Hans, who had to stay at home the next day, did his work in the kitchen as it had to be done, and as he was standing skimming the pan, the dwarf came and without more ado demanded a piece of meat. Then Hans thought, he is a poor wretch, I will give him some of my share, that the others may not run short, and handed him a bit. When the dwarf had devoured it, he again asked for some meat, and good-natured Hans gave it to him, and told him it was a handsome piece, and that he was to be content with it. But the dwarf begged again for the third time. You are shameless, said Hans, and gave him none. Then the malicious dwarf wanted to spring on him and treat him as he had treated fir-twister and rock-splitter, but he had chosen the wrong man.",
"Hans, without exerting himself much, gave him a couple of blows which made him jump down the castle steps. Hans was about to run after him, but fell right over, flat on his face. When he rose up again, the dwarf had got the start of him. Hans hurried after him as far as the forest, and saw him slip into a hole in the rock. Hans now went home, but he had marked the spot. When the two others came back, they were surprised that Hans was so well. He told them what had happened, and then they no longer concealed how it had fared with them. Hans laughed and said, it served you quite right. Why were you so mean with your meat. It is a disgrace that you who are so big should have let yourselves be beaten by the dwarf.",
"Thereupon they took a basket and a rope, and all three went to the hole in the rock into which the dwarf had slipped, and let Hans and his club down in the basket. When Hans had reached the bottom, he found a door, and when he opened it a maiden was sitting there who was lovely as any picture, nay, so beautiful that no words can express it, and by her side sat the dwarf and grinned at Hans like a sea-cat. She, however, was bound with chains, and looked so mournfully at him that Hans felt great pity for her, and thought to himself, you must deliver her out of the power of the wicked dwarf, and gave him such a blow with his club that he fell down dead. Immediately the chains fell from the maiden, and Hans was enraptured with her beauty.",
"She told him she was a king's daughter whom a savage count had stolen away from her home, and imprisoned there among the rocks, because she would have nothing to say to him. The count, however, had set the dwarf as a watchman, and he had made her suffer misery and vexation enough. And now Hans placed the maiden in the basket and had her drawn up. The basket came down again, but Hans did not trust his two companions, and thought, they have already shown themselves to be false, and told me nothing about the dwarf. Who knows what design they may have against me. So he put his club in the basket, and it was lucky he did, for when the basket was half-way up, they let it fall again, and if Hans had really been sitting in it he would have been killed.",
"But now he did not know how he was to work his way out of the depths, and when he turned it over and over in his mind he found no counsel. It is indeed sad, said he to himself, that I have to waste away down here, and as he was thus walking backwards and forwards, he once more came to the little chamber where the maiden had been sitting, and saw that the dwarf had a ring on his finger which shone and sparkled. Then he drew it off and put it on, and when he turned it round on his finger, he suddenly heard something rustle over his head. He looked up and saw spirits of the air hovering above, who told him he was their master, and asked what his desire might be. Hans was at first struck dumb, but afterwards he said that they were to carry him up again.",
"They obeyed instantly, and it was just as if he had flown up himself. But when he had arrived there, he found no one in sight. Fir-twister and rock-splitter had hurried away, and had taken the beautiful maiden with them. But Hans turned the ring, and the spirits of the air came and told him that the two were on the sea. Hans ran and ran without stopping, until he came to the sea-shore, and there far, far out on the water, he perceived a little boat in which his faithless comrades were sitting, and in fierce anger he leapt, without thinking what he was doing, club in hand into the water, and began to swim, but the club, which weighed a hundredweight, dragged him deep down until he was all but drowned.",
"Then in the very nick of time he turned his ring, and immediately the spirits of the air came and bore him as swift as lightning into the boat. He swung his club and gave his wicked comrades the reward they merited and threw them into the water, and then he sailed with the beautiful maiden, who had been in the greatest alarm, and whom he delivered for the second time, home to her father and mother, and married her, and all rejoiced exceedingly."
],
"child_friendly_title": "Strong Hans",
"child_friendly_body": [
"Once there was a man and a woman who lived all alone in a quiet valley. One day, the mother went into the woods to pick fir branches. She took her little son, Hans, who was just two years old. It was spring, and the flowers were so pretty. The child wanted to see them, so she walked deeper into the forest. Suddenly, two robbers jumped out from the bushes! They grabbed the mother and the baby and ran far away into the dark woods. The poor woman begged them to let her and her child go, but the robbers were very mean. They did not listen to her sweet words. They pushed her on, and she had to go with them.",
"After they walked through the bushes for a long time, they found a big rock with a door. The robbers knocked, and the door opened right away. They walked down a dark, long hallway. There was a warm fire on the hearth. On the wall, there were shiny swords and spears that looked very bright. In the middle of the room, there was a black table. Four other robbers were sitting there, playing a game. The captain sat at the head of the table. When he saw the woman, he walked over to her. He spoke in a kind voice and told her not to be afraid. He said they would not hurt her. He asked her to take care of the house and keep everything tidy. If she did a good job, they would treat her well.",
"They gave her some food and showed her a soft bed where she could sleep with her baby. The woman stayed with the robbers for a long time, and Hans grew to be very tall and strong. His mother told him stories and taught him to read an old book about brave knights. When Hans was nine years old, he made a strong club from a fir branch and hid it behind his bed. Then he went to his mother and said, \"Dear mother, please tell me who my father is. I really want to know.\" His mother stayed quiet so he would not feel sad. She knew the robbers would not let him go, and it broke her heart to keep him away from his father.",
"One night, when the robbers came back from their trip, Hans got his big stick. He stood right in front of the captain. He said, \"I want to know who my father is. If you don't tell me right now, I will hit you.\" The captain just laughed. He gave Hans a loud slap on the ear. Hans fell right under the table. He got up and stayed quiet. He thought, \"I will wait another year. Maybe I will do better then.\" When the year was over, Hans got his stick again. He brushed off the dust and looked at it. He said, \"It is a strong, sturdy stick.\" At night, the robbers came home. They drank a lot of wine. Their heads felt very heavy. Then Hans got his stick. He stood in front of the captain and asked, \"Who is my father?",
"But the captain hit Hans hard on the ear. Hans rolled under the table. He got up quickly. Then he hit the captain and the robbers with his big stick. They could not move their arms or legs at all. His mother stood in the corner and clapped her hands. She was so proud of him. When Hans was done, he went to his mother. He said, \"Now I have shown I am brave. But I want to know who my father is.\" \"Come, my dear Hans,\" said his mother. \"We will go and find him until we do.",
"She took the key from the captain. Hans grabbed a big sack and packed it with gold and silver, and anything else that looked beautiful. He filled it all the way up and put it on his back. They left the cave behind. Hans opened his eyes so wide when he stepped into the bright daylight. He saw the green forest, the pretty flowers, and the birds singing in the trees. The morning sun smiled down on him. He stood there and looked at everything, feeling a little bit amazed. His mother found the path home. After walking for a couple of hours, they reached their quiet valley and their cozy little house. The father was sitting in the doorway, waiting for them.",
"He cried happy tears when he saw his wife and heard that Hans was his son. He had thought they were gone forever. Hans was not even twelve years old, but he was already taller than his father. They went into the small room together. Hans put his big sack on the bench by the stove. Suddenly, the house began to shake. The bench broke, and then the floor gave way. The heavy sack fell right through into the cellar.\n\n\"Oh no!\" cried the father. \"What is happening? Now you have broken our little house.\"\n\n\"Do not worry, dear father,\" Hans said gently. \"The sack has more than enough to build a new house.\"\n\nThe father and Hans worked hard to build a new home. They bought land and cattle to keep a happy farm.",
"Hans worked in the fields. When he pushed the heavy plow, the strong oxen hardly had to pull. The next spring, Hans asked his father to keep the money. Instead, he wanted a special walking stick that was very heavy. He wanted to go on a big trip. When the stick was ready, Hans left his home. He walked until he reached a deep, dark forest. Suddenly, he heard a loud crunching sound. He looked around and saw a fir tree that looked like a twisted rope. He looked up and saw a big man holding the tree. The man was twisting it like a piece of candy. \"Hello!\" cried Hans. \"What are you doing up there?\" The man smiled and said, \"I gathered some sticks yesterday, and now I am making a rope for them.",
"That is what I like,\" thought Hans. \"He has some strength.\" He called out, \"Leave that alone, and come with me.\"\n\nThe fellow came down. He was taller by a whole head than Hans, and Hans was not little. \"Your name is now Fir-Twister,\" said Hans to him.\n\nThereupon they went further and heard something knocking and hammering with such force that the ground shook at every stroke. Shortly afterwards, they came to a mighty rock. A giant was standing before it, striking great pieces of it away with his fist.\n\nWhen Hans asked what he was doing, the giant answered, \"At night, when I want to sleep, bears and wolves come. They sniff and snuffle about me and will not let me rest. So, I want to build myself a house and lay inside it, so that I may have some peace.",
"Oh, I can use him too,\" thought Hans. \"Leave your house-building alone and come with me. I will call you Rock-Splitter.\" The man agreed. They walked through the forest together. The wild animals were scared and ran away. At night, they found an old, empty castle. They went inside and slept in the big hall. The next morning, Hans looked in the garden. It was overgrown with tall thorns and bushes. As he walked around, a wild boar charged at him. Hans hit it with his club, and it fell down. He put the boar on his shoulders and carried it inside. They roasted it and had a wonderful feast.",
"Then they made a plan. Every day, two of them would go out hunting. The third one would stay home and cook nine pounds of meat for everyone. Fir-twister stayed home the first day. Hans and Rock-splitter went out to find food.\n\nWhile Fir-twister was busy cooking, a tiny, old man with a wrinkled face came to the castle. He asked for some meat. \"Go away!\" Fir-twister said. \"You do not need any food.\"\n\nBut he was so surprised when the little dwarf suddenly jumped up! The dwarf hit him with his fists. Fir-twister could not fight back. He fell to the floor and could not catch his breath. The dwarf stayed there until he felt better.",
"When the two brothers came home from hunting, Fir-twister did not tell them about the little man or the blows he had taken. He thought, \"While they stay at home, they can try their luck with the little scrubbing brush.\" The very thought made him happy. The next day, Rock-splitter stayed at home, and he had a hard time, just like Fir-twister. The dwarf was mean to him because he would not give him any food. When the brothers came home in the evening, Fir-twister could see how badly Rock-splitter had been treated. But they stayed quiet and thought, \"Hans must taste some of that soup, too.",
"Hans had to stay home the next day. He worked hard in the kitchen. He was standing by the pan when the dwarf came. He asked for a piece of meat. Hans felt sorry for him. He thought, \"He is poor. I will give him some of my food.\" He gave the dwarf a small piece. The dwarf ate it quickly. Then he asked for more. Hans was kind. He gave him another piece. He said, \"This is a nice piece. You should be happy with it.\" But the dwarf asked for a third time. Hans got angry. He said, \"No!\" and gave him nothing. The dwarf tried to hurt Hans, but he had picked the wrong person.",
"Hans didn't have to try very hard. He gave the dwarf a few gentle pushes. The dwarf jumped right down the castle steps. Hans wanted to run after him, but he tripped and fell flat on his face. When he stood up, the dwarf was already gone. Hans ran after him all the way to the forest. He saw the dwarf slip into a hole in the rock. Hans went home, but he remembered exactly where the hole was.\n\nWhen his friends came back, they were so happy to see that Hans was safe and sound. He told them what happened, and then they finally told him the truth about their trip. Hans laughed and said, \"That serves you right! You were so mean with your food. It is a shame that you, who are so big, let a tiny dwarf beat you.",
"They grabbed a basket and a rope. Then, all three of them went to the big hole in the rock where the dwarf had fallen. They lowered Hans and his big stick down into the basket. When Hans reached the bottom, he saw a door. He opened it and found a lovely girl sitting there. She was as pretty as a painting, and she was so beautiful that words cannot say it. Beside her sat the dwarf, and he grinned at Hans like a grumpy cat. But the girl was tied up with chains. She looked at Hans with sad eyes, and Hans felt very sorry for her. He thought, \"I must save her from the bad dwarf.\" So, he hit the dwarf hard with his stick. The dwarf fell down and did not move. The chains fell off the girl at once, and Hans was happy to see her beautiful smile.",
"She told him she was a king's daughter. A bad count had taken her away from her home. He put her in a dark place among the rocks because she would not talk to him. The count had a tiny dwarf watch her. The poor girl was very sad and lonely. Hans put the girl in a basket. He had it pulled up high. The basket came back down, but Hans did not trust the men. He thought, \"They have been mean to me before. They did not tell me about the dwarf. They might want to hurt me.\" So, Hans put his big wooden club in the basket. It was a very good idea. When the basket was halfway up, the men let it fall down. If Hans had been sitting in it, he would have been hurt very badly.",
"But now he did not know how to get out of the deep hole. He thought and thought, but he could not find a way. It is very sad, he said to himself, that I have to stay down here. He walked back and forth in the dark. Then he came to the little room where the maiden had sat. He saw that the dwarf had a shiny ring on his finger. Hans took the ring and put it on his own finger. When he turned it round, he suddenly heard a soft rustle above his head. He looked up and saw little spirits of the air floating there. They told him he was their master and asked what he wanted. Hans was surprised at first, but then he asked them to carry him up again.",
"They did as they were told right away. It was as if Hans had flown up there by himself. But when he got there, he could not see anyone. The helpers had run away fast. They had taken the beautiful girl with them. Hans turned the ring. The air spirits came and told him that the two were on the sea. Hans ran and ran without stopping. He ran until he reached the sea-shore. Far out on the water, he saw a little boat. His friends were sitting in it. Hans was very angry. He did not think about what he was doing. He held his club and jumped into the water. He began to swim. But the club was very heavy. It pulled him down deep into the water. He almost drowned.",
"Then, just in time, he turned his ring. Suddenly, the spirits of the air came and carried him away like a flash of lightning. He swung his big club and gave his bad friends the punishment they deserved. He tossed them into the water. Then, he sailed away with the beautiful maiden. She had been so scared, but now she was safe. He took her home to her father and mother. He married her, and everyone was very, very happy."
],
"child_friendly_text": "Once there was a man and a woman who lived all alone in a quiet valley. One day, the mother went into the woods to pick fir branches. She took her little son, Hans, who was just two years old. It was spring, and the flowers were so pretty. The child wanted to see them, so she walked deeper into the forest. Suddenly, two robbers jumped out from the bushes! They grabbed the mother and the baby and ran far away into the dark woods. The poor woman begged them to let her and her child go, but the robbers were very mean. They did not listen to her sweet words. They pushed her on, and she had to go with them.\n\nAfter they walked through the bushes for a long time, they found a big rock with a door. The robbers knocked, and the door opened right away. They walked down a dark, long hallway. There was a warm fire on the hearth. On the wall, there were shiny swords and spears that looked very bright. In the middle of the room, there was a black table. Four other robbers were sitting there, playing a game. The captain sat at the head of the table. When he saw the woman, he walked over to her. He spoke in a kind voice and told her not to be afraid. He said they would not hurt her. He asked her to take care of the house and keep everything tidy. If she did a good job, they would treat her well.\n\nThey gave her some food and showed her a soft bed where she could sleep with her baby. The woman stayed with the robbers for a long time, and Hans grew to be very tall and strong. His mother told him stories and taught him to read an old book about brave knights. When Hans was nine years old, he made a strong club from a fir branch and hid it behind his bed. Then he went to his mother and said, \"Dear mother, please tell me who my father is. I really want to know.\" His mother stayed quiet so he would not feel sad. She knew the robbers would not let him go, and it broke her heart to keep him away from his father.\n\nOne night, when the robbers came back from their trip, Hans got his big stick. He stood right in front of the captain. He said, \"I want to know who my father is. If you don't tell me right now, I will hit you.\" The captain just laughed. He gave Hans a loud slap on the ear. Hans fell right under the table. He got up and stayed quiet. He thought, \"I will wait another year. Maybe I will do better then.\" When the year was over, Hans got his stick again. He brushed off the dust and looked at it. He said, \"It is a strong, sturdy stick.\" At night, the robbers came home. They drank a lot of wine. Their heads felt very heavy. Then Hans got his stick. He stood in front of the captain and asked, \"Who is my father?\n\nBut the captain hit Hans hard on the ear. Hans rolled under the table. He got up quickly. Then he hit the captain and the robbers with his big stick. They could not move their arms or legs at all. His mother stood in the corner and clapped her hands. She was so proud of him. When Hans was done, he went to his mother. He said, \"Now I have shown I am brave. But I want to know who my father is.\" \"Come, my dear Hans,\" said his mother. \"We will go and find him until we do.\n\nShe took the key from the captain. Hans grabbed a big sack and packed it with gold and silver, and anything else that looked beautiful. He filled it all the way up and put it on his back. They left the cave behind. Hans opened his eyes so wide when he stepped into the bright daylight. He saw the green forest, the pretty flowers, and the birds singing in the trees. The morning sun smiled down on him. He stood there and looked at everything, feeling a little bit amazed. His mother found the path home. After walking for a couple of hours, they reached their quiet valley and their cozy little house. The father was sitting in the doorway, waiting for them.\n\nHe cried happy tears when he saw his wife and heard that Hans was his son. He had thought they were gone forever. Hans was not even twelve years old, but he was already taller than his father. They went into the small room together. Hans put his big sack on the bench by the stove. Suddenly, the house began to shake. The bench broke, and then the floor gave way. The heavy sack fell right through into the cellar.\n\n\"Oh no!\" cried the father. \"What is happening? Now you have broken our little house.\"\n\n\"Do not worry, dear father,\" Hans said gently. \"The sack has more than enough to build a new house.\"\n\nThe father and Hans worked hard to build a new home. They bought land and cattle to keep a happy farm.\n\nHans worked in the fields. When he pushed the heavy plow, the strong oxen hardly had to pull. The next spring, Hans asked his father to keep the money. Instead, he wanted a special walking stick that was very heavy. He wanted to go on a big trip. When the stick was ready, Hans left his home. He walked until he reached a deep, dark forest. Suddenly, he heard a loud crunching sound. He looked around and saw a fir tree that looked like a twisted rope. He looked up and saw a big man holding the tree. The man was twisting it like a piece of candy. \"Hello!\" cried Hans. \"What are you doing up there?\" The man smiled and said, \"I gathered some sticks yesterday, and now I am making a rope for them.\n\nThat is what I like,\" thought Hans. \"He has some strength.\" He called out, \"Leave that alone, and come with me.\"\n\nThe fellow came down. He was taller by a whole head than Hans, and Hans was not little. \"Your name is now Fir-Twister,\" said Hans to him.\n\nThereupon they went further and heard something knocking and hammering with such force that the ground shook at every stroke. Shortly afterwards, they came to a mighty rock. A giant was standing before it, striking great pieces of it away with his fist.\n\nWhen Hans asked what he was doing, the giant answered, \"At night, when I want to sleep, bears and wolves come. They sniff and snuffle about me and will not let me rest. So, I want to build myself a house and lay inside it, so that I may have some peace.\n\nOh, I can use him too,\" thought Hans. \"Leave your house-building alone and come with me. I will call you Rock-Splitter.\" The man agreed. They walked through the forest together. The wild animals were scared and ran away. At night, they found an old, empty castle. They went inside and slept in the big hall. The next morning, Hans looked in the garden. It was overgrown with tall thorns and bushes. As he walked around, a wild boar charged at him. Hans hit it with his club, and it fell down. He put the boar on his shoulders and carried it inside. They roasted it and had a wonderful feast.\n\nThen they made a plan. Every day, two of them would go out hunting. The third one would stay home and cook nine pounds of meat for everyone. Fir-twister stayed home the first day. Hans and Rock-splitter went out to find food.\n\nWhile Fir-twister was busy cooking, a tiny, old man with a wrinkled face came to the castle. He asked for some meat. \"Go away!\" Fir-twister said. \"You do not need any food.\"\n\nBut he was so surprised when the little dwarf suddenly jumped up! The dwarf hit him with his fists. Fir-twister could not fight back. He fell to the floor and could not catch his breath. The dwarf stayed there until he felt better.\n\nWhen the two brothers came home from hunting, Fir-twister did not tell them about the little man or the blows he had taken. He thought, \"While they stay at home, they can try their luck with the little scrubbing brush.\" The very thought made him happy. The next day, Rock-splitter stayed at home, and he had a hard time, just like Fir-twister. The dwarf was mean to him because he would not give him any food. When the brothers came home in the evening, Fir-twister could see how badly Rock-splitter had been treated. But they stayed quiet and thought, \"Hans must taste some of that soup, too.\n\nHans had to stay home the next day. He worked hard in the kitchen. He was standing by the pan when the dwarf came. He asked for a piece of meat. Hans felt sorry for him. He thought, \"He is poor. I will give him some of my food.\" He gave the dwarf a small piece. The dwarf ate it quickly. Then he asked for more. Hans was kind. He gave him another piece. He said, \"This is a nice piece. You should be happy with it.\" But the dwarf asked for a third time. Hans got angry. He said, \"No!\" and gave him nothing. The dwarf tried to hurt Hans, but he had picked the wrong person.\n\nHans didn't have to try very hard. He gave the dwarf a few gentle pushes. The dwarf jumped right down the castle steps. Hans wanted to run after him, but he tripped and fell flat on his face. When he stood up, the dwarf was already gone. Hans ran after him all the way to the forest. He saw the dwarf slip into a hole in the rock. Hans went home, but he remembered exactly where the hole was.\n\nWhen his friends came back, they were so happy to see that Hans was safe and sound. He told them what happened, and then they finally told him the truth about their trip. Hans laughed and said, \"That serves you right! You were so mean with your food. It is a shame that you, who are so big, let a tiny dwarf beat you.\n\nThey grabbed a basket and a rope. Then, all three of them went to the big hole in the rock where the dwarf had fallen. They lowered Hans and his big stick down into the basket. When Hans reached the bottom, he saw a door. He opened it and found a lovely girl sitting there. She was as pretty as a painting, and she was so beautiful that words cannot say it. Beside her sat the dwarf, and he grinned at Hans like a grumpy cat. But the girl was tied up with chains. She looked at Hans with sad eyes, and Hans felt very sorry for her. He thought, \"I must save her from the bad dwarf.\" So, he hit the dwarf hard with his stick. The dwarf fell down and did not move. The chains fell off the girl at once, and Hans was happy to see her beautiful smile.\n\nShe told him she was a king's daughter. A bad count had taken her away from her home. He put her in a dark place among the rocks because she would not talk to him. The count had a tiny dwarf watch her. The poor girl was very sad and lonely. Hans put the girl in a basket. He had it pulled up high. The basket came back down, but Hans did not trust the men. He thought, \"They have been mean to me before. They did not tell me about the dwarf. They might want to hurt me.\" So, Hans put his big wooden club in the basket. It was a very good idea. When the basket was halfway up, the men let it fall down. If Hans had been sitting in it, he would have been hurt very badly.\n\nBut now he did not know how to get out of the deep hole. He thought and thought, but he could not find a way. It is very sad, he said to himself, that I have to stay down here. He walked back and forth in the dark. Then he came to the little room where the maiden had sat. He saw that the dwarf had a shiny ring on his finger. Hans took the ring and put it on his own finger. When he turned it round, he suddenly heard a soft rustle above his head. He looked up and saw little spirits of the air floating there. They told him he was their master and asked what he wanted. Hans was surprised at first, but then he asked them to carry him up again.\n\nThey did as they were told right away. It was as if Hans had flown up there by himself. But when he got there, he could not see anyone. The helpers had run away fast. They had taken the beautiful girl with them. Hans turned the ring. The air spirits came and told him that the two were on the sea. Hans ran and ran without stopping. He ran until he reached the sea-shore. Far out on the water, he saw a little boat. His friends were sitting in it. Hans was very angry. He did not think about what he was doing. He held his club and jumped into the water. He began to swim. But the club was very heavy. It pulled him down deep into the water. He almost drowned.\n\nThen, just in time, he turned his ring. Suddenly, the spirits of the air came and carried him away like a flash of lightning. He swung his big club and gave his bad friends the punishment they deserved. He tossed them into the water. Then, he sailed away with the beautiful maiden. She had been so scared, but now she was safe. He took her home to her father and mother. He married her, and everyone was very, very happy.",
"child_friendly_chunks": [
"Once there was a man and a woman who lived all alone in a quiet valley. One day, the mother went into the woods to pick fir branches. She took her little son, Hans, who was just two years old. It was spring, and the flowers were so pretty. The child wanted to see them, so she walked deeper into the forest. Suddenly, two robbers jumped out from the bushes! They grabbed the mother and the baby and ran far away into the dark woods. The poor woman begged them to let her and her child go, but the robbers were very mean. They did not listen to her sweet words. They pushed her on, and she had to go with them.",
"After they walked through the bushes for a long time, they found a big rock with a door. The robbers knocked, and the door opened right away. They walked down a dark, long hallway. There was a warm fire on the hearth. On the wall, there were shiny swords and spears that looked very bright. In the middle of the room, there was a black table. Four other robbers were sitting there, playing a game. The captain sat at the head of the table. When he saw the woman, he walked over to her. He spoke in a kind voice and told her not to be afraid. He said they would not hurt her. He asked her to take care of the house and keep everything tidy. If she did a good job, they would treat her well.",
"They gave her some food and showed her a soft bed where she could sleep with her baby. The woman stayed with the robbers for a long time, and Hans grew to be very tall and strong. His mother told him stories and taught him to read an old book about brave knights. When Hans was nine years old, he made a strong club from a fir branch and hid it behind his bed. Then he went to his mother and said, \"Dear mother, please tell me who my father is. I really want to know.\" His mother stayed quiet so he would not feel sad. She knew the robbers would not let him go, and it broke her heart to keep him away from his father.",
"One night, when the robbers came back from their trip, Hans got his big stick. He stood right in front of the captain. He said, \"I want to know who my father is. If you don't tell me right now, I will hit you.\" The captain just laughed. He gave Hans a loud slap on the ear. Hans fell right under the table. He got up and stayed quiet. He thought, \"I will wait another year. Maybe I will do better then.\" When the year was over, Hans got his stick again. He brushed off the dust and looked at it. He said, \"It is a strong, sturdy stick.\" At night, the robbers came home. They drank a lot of wine. Their heads felt very heavy. Then Hans got his stick. He stood in front of the captain and asked, \"Who is my father?",
"But the captain hit Hans hard on the ear. Hans rolled under the table. He got up quickly. Then he hit the captain and the robbers with his big stick. They could not move their arms or legs at all. His mother stood in the corner and clapped her hands. She was so proud of him. When Hans was done, he went to his mother. He said, \"Now I have shown I am brave. But I want to know who my father is.\" \"Come, my dear Hans,\" said his mother. \"We will go and find him until we do.",
"She took the key from the captain. Hans grabbed a big sack and packed it with gold and silver, and anything else that looked beautiful. He filled it all the way up and put it on his back. They left the cave behind. Hans opened his eyes so wide when he stepped into the bright daylight. He saw the green forest, the pretty flowers, and the birds singing in the trees. The morning sun smiled down on him. He stood there and looked at everything, feeling a little bit amazed. His mother found the path home. After walking for a couple of hours, they reached their quiet valley and their cozy little house. The father was sitting in the doorway, waiting for them.",
"He cried happy tears when he saw his wife and heard that Hans was his son. He had thought they were gone forever. Hans was not even twelve years old, but he was already taller than his father. They went into the small room together. Hans put his big sack on the bench by the stove. Suddenly, the house began to shake. The bench broke, and then the floor gave way. The heavy sack fell right through into the cellar.\n\n\"Oh no!\" cried the father. \"What is happening? Now you have broken our little house.\"\n\n\"Do not worry, dear father,\" Hans said gently. \"The sack has more than enough to build a new house.\"\n\nThe father and Hans worked hard to build a new home. They bought land and cattle to keep a happy farm.",
"Hans worked in the fields. When he pushed the heavy plow, the strong oxen hardly had to pull. The next spring, Hans asked his father to keep the money. Instead, he wanted a special walking stick that was very heavy. He wanted to go on a big trip. When the stick was ready, Hans left his home. He walked until he reached a deep, dark forest. Suddenly, he heard a loud crunching sound. He looked around and saw a fir tree that looked like a twisted rope. He looked up and saw a big man holding the tree. The man was twisting it like a piece of candy. \"Hello!\" cried Hans. \"What are you doing up there?\" The man smiled and said, \"I gathered some sticks yesterday, and now I am making a rope for them.",
"That is what I like,\" thought Hans. \"He has some strength.\" He called out, \"Leave that alone, and come with me.\"\n\nThe fellow came down. He was taller by a whole head than Hans, and Hans was not little. \"Your name is now Fir-Twister,\" said Hans to him.\n\nThereupon they went further and heard something knocking and hammering with such force that the ground shook at every stroke. Shortly afterwards, they came to a mighty rock. A giant was standing before it, striking great pieces of it away with his fist.\n\nWhen Hans asked what he was doing, the giant answered, \"At night, when I want to sleep, bears and wolves come. They sniff and snuffle about me and will not let me rest. So, I want to build myself a house and lay inside it, so that I may have some peace.",
"Oh, I can use him too,\" thought Hans. \"Leave your house-building alone and come with me. I will call you Rock-Splitter.\" The man agreed. They walked through the forest together. The wild animals were scared and ran away. At night, they found an old, empty castle. They went inside and slept in the big hall. The next morning, Hans looked in the garden. It was overgrown with tall thorns and bushes. As he walked around, a wild boar charged at him. Hans hit it with his club, and it fell down. He put the boar on his shoulders and carried it inside. They roasted it and had a wonderful feast.",
"Then they made a plan. Every day, two of them would go out hunting. The third one would stay home and cook nine pounds of meat for everyone. Fir-twister stayed home the first day. Hans and Rock-splitter went out to find food.\n\nWhile Fir-twister was busy cooking, a tiny, old man with a wrinkled face came to the castle. He asked for some meat. \"Go away!\" Fir-twister said. \"You do not need any food.\"\n\nBut he was so surprised when the little dwarf suddenly jumped up! The dwarf hit him with his fists. Fir-twister could not fight back. He fell to the floor and could not catch his breath. The dwarf stayed there until he felt better.",
"When the two brothers came home from hunting, Fir-twister did not tell them about the little man or the blows he had taken. He thought, \"While they stay at home, they can try their luck with the little scrubbing brush.\" The very thought made him happy. The next day, Rock-splitter stayed at home, and he had a hard time, just like Fir-twister. The dwarf was mean to him because he would not give him any food. When the brothers came home in the evening, Fir-twister could see how badly Rock-splitter had been treated. But they stayed quiet and thought, \"Hans must taste some of that soup, too.",
"Hans had to stay home the next day. He worked hard in the kitchen. He was standing by the pan when the dwarf came. He asked for a piece of meat. Hans felt sorry for him. He thought, \"He is poor. I will give him some of my food.\" He gave the dwarf a small piece. The dwarf ate it quickly. Then he asked for more. Hans was kind. He gave him another piece. He said, \"This is a nice piece. You should be happy with it.\" But the dwarf asked for a third time. Hans got angry. He said, \"No!\" and gave him nothing. The dwarf tried to hurt Hans, but he had picked the wrong person.",
"Hans didn't have to try very hard. He gave the dwarf a few gentle pushes. The dwarf jumped right down the castle steps. Hans wanted to run after him, but he tripped and fell flat on his face. When he stood up, the dwarf was already gone. Hans ran after him all the way to the forest. He saw the dwarf slip into a hole in the rock. Hans went home, but he remembered exactly where the hole was.\n\nWhen his friends came back, they were so happy to see that Hans was safe and sound. He told them what happened, and then they finally told him the truth about their trip. Hans laughed and said, \"That serves you right! You were so mean with your food. It is a shame that you, who are so big, let a tiny dwarf beat you.",
"They grabbed a basket and a rope. Then, all three of them went to the big hole in the rock where the dwarf had fallen. They lowered Hans and his big stick down into the basket. When Hans reached the bottom, he saw a door. He opened it and found a lovely girl sitting there. She was as pretty as a painting, and she was so beautiful that words cannot say it. Beside her sat the dwarf, and he grinned at Hans like a grumpy cat. But the girl was tied up with chains. She looked at Hans with sad eyes, and Hans felt very sorry for her. He thought, \"I must save her from the bad dwarf.\" So, he hit the dwarf hard with his stick. The dwarf fell down and did not move. The chains fell off the girl at once, and Hans was happy to see her beautiful smile.",
"She told him she was a king's daughter. A bad count had taken her away from her home. He put her in a dark place among the rocks because she would not talk to him. The count had a tiny dwarf watch her. The poor girl was very sad and lonely. Hans put the girl in a basket. He had it pulled up high. The basket came back down, but Hans did not trust the men. He thought, \"They have been mean to me before. They did not tell me about the dwarf. They might want to hurt me.\" So, Hans put his big wooden club in the basket. It was a very good idea. When the basket was halfway up, the men let it fall down. If Hans had been sitting in it, he would have been hurt very badly.",
"But now he did not know how to get out of the deep hole. He thought and thought, but he could not find a way. It is very sad, he said to himself, that I have to stay down here. He walked back and forth in the dark. Then he came to the little room where the maiden had sat. He saw that the dwarf had a shiny ring on his finger. Hans took the ring and put it on his own finger. When he turned it round, he suddenly heard a soft rustle above his head. He looked up and saw little spirits of the air floating there. They told him he was their master and asked what he wanted. Hans was surprised at first, but then he asked them to carry him up again.",
"They did as they were told right away. It was as if Hans had flown up there by himself. But when he got there, he could not see anyone. The helpers had run away fast. They had taken the beautiful girl with them. Hans turned the ring. The air spirits came and told him that the two were on the sea. Hans ran and ran without stopping. He ran until he reached the sea-shore. Far out on the water, he saw a little boat. His friends were sitting in it. Hans was very angry. He did not think about what he was doing. He held his club and jumped into the water. He began to swim. But the club was very heavy. It pulled him down deep into the water. He almost drowned.",
"Then, just in time, he turned his ring. Suddenly, the spirits of the air came and carried him away like a flash of lightning. He swung his big club and gave his bad friends the punishment they deserved. He tossed them into the water. Then, he sailed away with the beautiful maiden. She had been so scared, but now she was safe. He took her home to her father and mother. He married her, and everyone was very, very happy."
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