I approached the terrifying man-eater who crouched before the fire. “Peace be with you, grandfather,” I said, and then I asked him for a burning coal. I had to ask. I had no choice. My own fire had gone out.

“Do you want a big lump or a little lump?” he asked.

“Why, what difference would it make?”

“If you have a big lump you must give me a strip of your skin from your ear to your thumb, and if you have a little lump, you must give me a strip from your ear to your little finger.”

One sounded as bad as the other, so I said I would take the big lump. The man-eater cut a strip of skin off me, and I went home again.

Little did I know that he once he had a taste of my blood, he would follow me.

Then again, so did the raven.

Udea in Udea and Her Seven Brothers, The Grey Fairy Book. Illustration by H.J. Ford.