I was sitting with my flocks one night when I heard the sound of crying. I got up and followed the sound, and what did I find but a giant who had hurt his foot trying to uproot an oak.

He wanted me to bind his foot, and I did, and now he has rewarded me in the most astonishing way! He has given me a loaf of bread. At first I thought it was a mean gift to give a hungry child, because it was too hard to eat. But it’s a better gift than bread, because every time I bite it, a piece of gold falls off, and rolls to my feet!

The Orphan Herd-Boy in The Giants and the Herd-Boy, Yellow Fairy Book. Painting by Paula Modersohn-Becker.