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The children, full of pity, at once took tight hold of the little

man, and pulled against the eagle so long that at last he let his

booty go. As soon as the dwarf had recovered from his first

fright he cried with his shrill voice: 'Could you not have done

it more carefully! You dragged at my brown coat so that it is all

torn and full of holes, you clumsy creatures!' Then he took up a

sack full of precious stones, and slipped away again under the

rock into his hole. The girls, who by this time were used to his

ingratitude, went on their way and did their business in town.