When he reached the stump of the old tree which he had himself hewn
down, he noticed a man sitting beside it, with a face as gloomy as a
rainy day.
Johnny asked politely what ailed him, and the man answered:
"I suffer from a thirst I cannot quench. Cold water disagrees with
me, and though I have, it is true, emptied a barrel of wine, it was no
more to me than a single drop of water upon a hot stone."
You can think how pleased Johnny was to hear these words. He took
the man to the King's cellar, where he seated himself before the huge
barrels, and drank and drank till, at the end of the day, not a drop
of wine was left.
Then Johnny claimed his bride, but the King could not make up his mind
to give his daughter to "a ne'er-do-weel" who went by such a name as
"Simpleton."
So he made fresh excuses, and said that he would not give her up until
the young man had found someone who could eat up a mountain of bread
in a single day.
So the young man had no choice but to set out once more for the wood.
And again he found a man sitting beside the stump of the tree. He was
very sad and hungry-looking, and sat tightening the belt round his
waist.
"I have eaten a whole ovenful of bread," he said sadly, "but when one
is as hungry as I am, such a meal only serves to make one more hungry
still.
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