“I’ll do that, indeed,” said the tailor, “and welcome.”

He brought his spade and shovel, and he made a hole, and he asked the old white horse to go down into it so that he could see if it would fit him.  The white horse went down into the hole, but when he tried to come up again, he was not able.

“Make a place for me now,” said the white horse, “by which I can come up out of the hole here, whenever I am hungry.”

“I will not,” said the tailor; “remain where you are until I come back, and I’ll lift you up.”

The tailor went forward next day, and the fox met him.

“God save you,” said the fox.

“God save you,” said the tailor.

“Where are you going?” said the fox.

“I’m going to Dublin, to try to make a court for the king.”

“Would you make a place for me where I can hide?” said the fox.  “The rest of the foxes are always beating me, and they will not allow me to eat anything with them.”

“I’ll do that for you,” said the tailor.

He took his axe and his saw, and he made a thing like a crate, and he told the fox to get into it so that he could see whether it would fit him.  The fox went into it, and when the tailor had him down, he shut him in.  When the fox was satisfied at last that he had a nice place of it within, he asked the tailor to let him out, and the tailor answered that he would not.

“Wait there until I come back again,” said he.

The tailor went forward the next day, and he had not walked very far when he met a lion; and the lion greeted him.

“God save you,” said the lion.

“God save you,” said the tailor.

“Where are you going?” said the lion.

“I’m going to Dublin to make a court for the king if I am able to make it,” said the tailor.

“If you were to make a plough for me,” said the lion, “I and the other lions could be ploughing and harrowing until we’d have a bit to eat in the harvest.”

“I’ll do that for you,” said the tailor.

He brought his axe and his saw, and he made a plough.  When the plough was made he put a hole in the beam of it, and got the lion to go in under the plough so that he might see if he was any good as a ploughman.  He placed the lion’s tail in the hole he had made for it, and then clapped in a peg, and the lion was not able to draw out his tail again.

“Loose me now,” said the lion, “and we’ll fix ourselves and go ploughing.”

The tailor said he would not loose him until he came back himself.  He left him there then, and he came to Dublin.

When he arrived, he engaged workmen and began to build the court.  At the end of the day he had the workmen put a great stone on top of the work.  When the great stone was raised up, the tailor put some sort of contrivance under it, that he might be able to throw it down as soon as the giants came near to it.  The workpeople then went home, and the tailor went in hiding behind the big stone.