“You killed my grandmother, not me,” said Little Claus. “Now I have sold her and got a bushel of money for her.”
“That was really a good deal,” Big Claus said and hurried home. He took an axe and immediately killed his old grandmother, laid her in his wagon, and drove into town to the drug store, and asked the druggist if he wanted to buy a dead body.
“Who is it, and where have you gotten it?” asked the druggist.
“It’s my grandmother,” said Big Claus. “I’ve killed her for a bushel of money!”
“God save us!” said the druggist. “You’re out of your mind! Don’t say something like that, or you’ll lose your head!”
Then the druggist told him sternly what a terrible thing he had done, and what a dreadful person he was, and that he should be punished. Big Claus became so frightened that he ran out and sprang into his wagon, whipped the horses, and hurried home, but the druggist and all the other people thought he was crazy, and therefore let him go wherever he wanted.
“You’re going to pay for this!” said Big Claus when he was out on the road. “Yes, you’re going to pay for this, Little Claus!” And when he got home he took the biggest sack he could find and went over to Little Claus and said, “You’ve fooled me again. First I killed my horses, then my old grandmother! It’s all your fault, but you’ll never fool me again.” Then he took Little Claus by the waist and put him into the sack, threw the sack on his back, and yelled, “Now I’m going to drown you!”
It was a long walk to the river, and Little Claus was not so easy to carry. The road went right by the church. The organ was playing, and people were singing so beautifully inside. Big Claus set the sack holding Little Claus right beside the church door. He thought that it might be a good idea to go in and hear a hymn before he went any further. After all, Little Claus would not be able to get out, and all the people were inside the church. So he went in.
“Oh no! Oh no!” sighed Little Claus inside the sack. He turned and twisted but it was impossible for him to loosen the rope. Just then an old, old shepherd with grey hair and a big walking stick came by. He was driving a herd of cattle in front of him, and they ran into the sack Little Claus was in and tipped it over.
“Oh poor me!” Little Claus sighed, “I’m so young, and I’m already going to heaven!”
“And poor me,” said the shepherd, “who’s so old and can’t get there yet.”
“Open the sack,” shouted Little Claus, “take my place, and you’ll soon be in heaven!”
“Yes, I would really like that,” said the shepherd and untied the sack for Little Claus, who jumped out at once.
“Will you take care of the animals?” asked the old man, and climbed into the sack. Little Claus tied it up and went on his way with the cows and oxen.
A little later Big Claus came out of the church, took the sack on his back again, and thought it had become lighter because the old shepherd wasn’t more than half as heavy as Little Claus. “How light he’s become! It must be because I listened to a hymn.” He went to the river, which was wide and deep, threw the sack with the old shepherd into the water, and shouted after him, “So there! You won’t fool me again!” because he thought it was Little Claus, of course.
Then he went home, but when he got to the crossroads, he met Little Claus, who was herding his cattle.
“What’s this!” said Big Claus, “Didn’t I drown you?”
“Sure,” said Little Claus. “You threw me in the river about half an hour ago, you know.”
“But where did you get all those nice cattle?” asked Big Claus.
“They’re sea cattle,” Little Claus said. “I’ll tell you the whole story, and thank you for drowning me. Now I’m on top of things, and I’m really rich, I can tell you. I was so afraid when I was inside the sack, and the wind was blowing around my ears when you threw me off the bridge into the cold water. I sank right to the bottom, but I didn’t even get bumped because the most lovely, softest grass grows down there. I fell on that, and right away the sack opened, and the loveliest girl, wearing white clothes and a green wreath on her wet hair, took my hand. She said, ‘Are you Little Claus? Here are a few cattle for you to start with, and a mile up the road is a whole herd that I want to give you!’ Then I saw that the river was a big highway for the people of the sea. They walked and drove down there on the bottom, all the way from the ocean up the countryside to where the river ends. It was so beautiful with flowers and the freshest grass, and the fish that swam in the water slipped by my ears just like the birds do in the air here. What splendid people they were and what fine cattle were grazing in the fields and ditches there!”
“But then why did you come back up here again right away?” asked Big Claus, “I wouldn’t have done that if it was so lovely there.”
“Well,” said Little Claus, “it was clever of me, you see. You heard that the mermaid told me that a mile up the road there was a whole herd of cattle for me. And by road she meant the river, of course, because there’s nothing else she can walk on. But I know how the river winds around, first this way, then that, a really roundabout way, you know. So it’s much shorter to come up here on land and go straight across to the river again. I save almost a half mile by doing that and will get to my herd quicker.”
“Oh, you’re a lucky man!” said Big Claus, “Do you think I would get a herd of sea cattle too if I went down to the bottom of the river?”
“Well, I would think so,” said Little Claus, “but I can’t carry you in the sack all the way to the river because you’re too heavy for me. If you’ll go there yourself and climb into the sack, I will throw you in with the greatest pleasure.”
“Oh, thank you!” Big Claus said, “but if I don’t get a herd of sea cattle when I get down there, I will beat you up for sure, you know.”
“Oh no! Don’t be so mean to me!” And they went to the river. When the cattle, who were thirsty, saw the water, they ran as fast as they could to get down to drink.
“Look how they are hurrying,” said Little Claus, “They are yearning to get down to the bottom again.”
“Well, help me first,” said Big Claus, “otherwise I’ll beat you up!” and he crawled into the big sack, which had
