By this time he was well tired, so he crept up on the window stool, and sat with his legs dangling down into the yard.  The house-dog—­for all dogs have a great enmity to the Nis—­as soon as he saw him began to bark at him, which afforded him much amusement, as the dog could not get up to him.  So he put down first one leg and then the other, and teased the dog, saying—­

“Look at my little leg.  Look at my little leg!”

In the meantime the boy had awoke, and had stolen up behind him, and, while the Nis was least thinking of it, and was going on with his, “Look at my little leg,” the boy tumbled him down into the yard to the dog, crying out at the same time—­

“Look at the whole of him now!”

* * * * *

There lived a man in Thyrsting, in Jutland, who had a Nis in his barn.  This Nis used to attend to his cattle, and at night he would steal fodder for them from the neighbours, so that this farmer had the best fed and most thriving cattle in the country.

One time the boy went along with the Nis to Fugleriis to steal corn.  The Nis took as much as he thought he could well carry, but the boy was more covetous, and said—­

“Oh! take more.  Sure, we can rest now and then!”

“Rest!” said the Nis.  “Rest! and what is rest?”

“Do what I tell you,” replied the boy.  “Take more, and we shall find rest when we get out of this.”

The Nis took more, and they went away with it, but when they came to the lands of Thyrsting, the Nis grew tired, and then the boy said to him—­

“Here now is rest!” and they both sat down on the side of a little hill.

“If I had known,” said the Nis, as they sat.  “If I had known that rest was so good, I’d have carried off all that was in the barn.”

It happened, some time after, that the boy and the Nis were no longer friends, and as the Nis was sitting one day in the granary-window with his legs hanging out into the yard, the boy ran at him and tumbled him back into the granary.  The Nis was revenged on him that very night, for when the boy was gone to bed he stole down to where he was lying and carried him as he was into the yard.  Then he laid two pieces of wood across the well and put him lying on them, expecting that when he awoke he would fall, from the fright, into the well and be drowned.  He was, however, disappointed, for the boy came off without injury.

* * * * *

There was a man who lived in the town of Tirup who had a very handsome white mare.  This mare had for many years belonged to the same family, and there was a Nis attached to her who brought luck to the place.

This Nis was so fond of the mare that he could hardly endure to let them put her to any kind of work, and he used to come himself every night and feed her of the best; and as for this purpose he usually brought a superfluity of corn, both thrashed and in the straw, from the neighbours’ barns, all the rest of the cattle enjoyed the advantage, and they were all kept in exceedingly good condition.