"
So when the fifth in turn had sat for eight days, she heard plainly some
one inside the egg screeching for "Herring and soup! Porridge and milk!"
And so she made a hole in it; but instead of a gosling out came a baby,
but it was awfully ugly, and had a big head and a tiny little body. The
first thing it screamed out for, as soon as it put its head outside the
egg, was "Herring and soup! Porridge and milk!" And so they called it
"the greedy youngster."
Ugly as he was, they were fond of him at first; but before long he
became so greedy that he ate up all the meat they had. When they boiled
a dish of soup or a pot of porridge which they thought would be
sufficient for all six, he finished it all by himself. So they would not
have him any longer.
"I have not had a decent meal since this changeling crept out of the
eggshell," said one of them, and when the youngster heard that they were
all of the same opinion, he said he was quite willing to go his way; "if
they did not want him, he was sure he did not want them," and with that
he left the place.
After a long time he came to a farm where the fields were full of
stones, and he went in and asked for a situation. They wanted a labourer
on the farm, and the farmer put him to pick up stones from the field.
Yes, the youngster went to work and picked up the stones, some of which
were so big that they would make many cartloads; but whether they were
big or small, he put them all into his pocket.
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