He unhooked

When everything was ready, the boy said goodbye to the witch and set out. He walked through the forest for days without seeing a soul. Only his squirrel friend, his little bear friend, and his little bird friend could be seen. Now and then he stopped to talk to them, but he was always careful not to tell them where he was going.

A few days later, he finally came to the river. On the other side of the river he saw a little house on a hill. He thought that must be the home of the big bad man. But the current was so strong that he did not know how to cross it. To test the speed of the current, he broke off a branch and threw it into the water. The branch seemed to be swept away before it touched the river, and even his magical eyes could not keep up with it. He was a little afraid, but once he made up his mind to do something, he never flinched. He tied the ball to his right foot and bravely began to cross the river. To his surprise, he could stand still in the water. However, a sense of fear still frightened him involuntarily back ashore. After a minute or two he regained his courage and walked towards the centre of the river, but the river was so wide that he became frightened again and retreated to the bank a second time. Then he felt ashamed of his cowardice. He knew very well that the magic ball would help him, and the third time he reached the other side safely.

He unhooked the orb and put it back in his bag, looking carefully around him. The door of the bad man's house was open, and he saw that the roof was supported by heavy wooden beams, and that the pockets of gold and the little bridge were hanging from the ceiling. And he saw the great villain sitting among the treasures eating his lunch, and now and then drinking out of a horn cup. It was obvious that the boy had to make the bad man go away, or he would not be able to steal the gold and the bridge.

What should he do? To attract the big bad guy by making horrible noises as if they were dying of pain? But the big bad doesn't care if he lives or dies! Say his name? The big bad guy is very cunning. He must know the trick. Must think of a better way!

Suddenly an idea came to him and he jumped for joy. "Oh, how stupid of me not to have thought of that before!" He concentrated all his thoughts on controlling the bad guy and made him so hungry that he could not wait for the servant to bring him food.

Sure enough, the villain shouted and said, "You have not brought enough to feed a sparrow. Go and get some more, I'm starving." Then, before the servant could enter the storeroom, he jumped up from his chair, and was rolling, hungry, into the kitchen.

As soon as the kitchen door closed, the boy ran into the room, pulled a bag of gold from the beam, and tucked it under his left arm. Then he took off the bridge and tucked it under his right arm. A normal child would have run away, but he did not move. With the wisdom given to him by the gods, he knew that before he reached the river and built the little bridge, the big bad man would realize that he had lost something and would follow his footsteps. So he made himself thin and small, hid himself in a corner behind a pile of buffalo skins, tore a crack in one of them, and secretly watched what was going on outside.

He had hardly concealed himself when the servant came in. Just then the last bag of gold from the ceiling fell to the floor with a loud crash. The bags were held together by string, and when the boy untied the first bag of gold, the others fell in succession. The servant cried out to his master that someone had stolen the gold and the bridge. The bad man rushed in, almost mad with anger, and told her to go outside and see if there were any footprints, and then follow them after the thief.