I have had to live by my wits. When I first left home, my older brother tried to trap me. He tied me to a tree and left me there to die.

When a shepherd came along, I told him that I had been tied to the tree so that it would straighten my crooked back.

He said he had a crooked back, too, and it could do with some straightening. So he untied me and I tied him in, and then I walked away with his flock!

Trapper Lad in How the Dragon Was Tricked, Pink Fairy Book. Picture by Pere Borrell del Caso.