“Oh， it is a conjuror，” said Little Claus; “and he says we need not eat porridge， for hehas conjured the oven full of roast meat， fish， and pie.”
“Wonderful!” cried the farmer， starting up and opening the oven door; and there lay allthe nice things hidden by the farmer's wife， but which he supposed had been conjured thereby the wizard under the table. The woman dared not say anything; so she placed the thingsbefore them， and they both ate of the fish， the meat， and the pastry.
then Little Claus trod again upon his sack， and it squeaked as before. “What does he saynow?” asked the farmer.
“He says，” replied Little Claus， “that there are three bottles of wine for us， standing inthe corner， by the oven.”
So the woman was obliged to bring out the wine also， which she had hidden， and thefarmer drank it till he became quite merry. He would have liked such a conjuror as Little Clauscarried in his sack. “Could he conjure up the evil one?” asked the farmer. “I should like to seehim now， while I am so merry.”
“Oh， yes!” replied Little Claus， “my conjuror can do anything I ask him，—can you not?”he asked， treading at the same time on the sack till it squeaked. “Do you hear? he answers'Yes，' but he fears that we shall not like to look at him.”
“Oh， I am not afraid. What will he be like?”
“Well， he is very much like a sexton.”
“Ha!” said the farmer， “then he must be ugly. Do you know I cannot endure the sight ofa sexton. However， that doesn't matter， I shall know who it is; so I shall not mind. Nowthen， I have got up my courage， but don't let him come too near me.”
“Stop， I must ask the conjuror，” said Little Claus; so he trod on the bag， and stoopedhis ear down to listen.
“What does he say?”
“He says that you must go and open that large chest which stands in the corner， and youwill see the evil one crouching down inside; but you must hold the lid firmly， that he may notslip out.”
“Will you come and help me hold it?” said the farmer， going towards the chest in which hiswife had hidden the sexton， who now lay inside， very much frightened. The farmer openedthe lid a very little way， and peeped in.
“Oh，” cried he， springing backwards， “I saw him， and he is exactly like our sexton. Howdreadful it is!” So after that he was obliged to drink again， and they sat and drank till far intothe night.
“You must sell your conjuror to me，” said the farmer; “ask as much as you like， I will payit; indeed I would give you directly a whole bushel of gold.”
“No， indeed， I cannot，” said Little Claus; “only think how much profit I could make outof this conjuror.”
“But I should like to have him，” said the fanner， still continuing his entreaties.
“Well，” said Little Claus at length， “you have been so good as to give me a night'slodging， I will not refuse you; you shall have the conjuror for a bushel of money， but I willhave quite full measure.”
“So you shall，” said the farmer; “but you must take away the chest as well. I would nothave it in the house another hour; there is no knowing if he may not be still there.”
So Little Claus gave the farmer the sack containing the dried horse's skin， and received inexchange a bushel of money—full measure. The farmer also gave him a wheelbarrow on whichto carry away the chest and the gold.
“Farewell，” said Little Claus， as he went off with his money and the GREat chest， in whichthe sexton lay still concealed. On one side of the forest was a broad， deep river， the waterflowed so rapidly that very few were able to swim against the stream. A new bridge had latelybeen built across it， and in the middle of this bridge Little Claus stopped， and said， loudenough to be heard by the sexton， “Now what shall I do with this stupid chest; it is as heavyas if it were full of stones： I shall be tired if I roll it any farther， so I may as well throw it in theriver; if it swims after me to my house， well and good， and if not， it will not much matter.”
So he seized the chest in his hand and lifted it up a little， as if he were going to throw itinto the water.
“No， leave it alone，” cried the sexton from within the chest; “let me out first.”