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.  It did not take him long to finish that job, so he wanted to know what he should do next.

“You will have to get all the stones out of the field,” said the farmer.  “I suppose you can’t be ready before you have commenced?”

But the youngster emptied his pockets and threw all the stones in a heap.  Then the farmer saw that he had finished the work, and he thought he ought to look well after one who was so strong.  He must come in and get something to eat, he said.  The youngster thought so too, and he alone ate what was prepared both for master and servants, and still he was only half satisfied.

“He is the right sort of man for a labourer, but he is a terrible eater, to be sure,” thought the farmer.  “A man like him would eat a poor farmer out of house and home before anybody knew a word about it,” he said.  He had no more work for him; it was best for him to go to the king’s palace.

The youngster set out for the palace, where he got a place at once.  There was plenty of food and plenty of work.  He was to be errand boy, and to help the girls to carry wood and water and do other odd jobs.  So he asked what he was to do first.

“You had better chop some wood in the mean time,” they said.  Yes, he commenced to chop and cut wood till the splinters flew about him.  It was not long before he had chopped up everything in the place, both firewood and timber, both rafters and beams, and when he was ready with it, he came in and asked what he was to do now.

“You can finish chopping the wood,” they said.

“There is no more to chop,” he answered.

That could not be possible, thought the overlooker, and had a look into the wood-shed.  But yes, the youngster had chopped up everything; he had even cut up the timber and planks in the place.  This was vexatious, the overlooker said; and then he told the youngster that he should not taste food until he had gone into the forest and cut just as much timber as he had chopped up for firewood.