"
But there was no boiling. So he saw that Peik had been out with his
fooling rods and had cheated him again, and now he would set off at once
and slay him.
When the King came, Peik stood out by the barn door. "Wouldn't it boil?"
he asked.
"No, it would not, and you shall smart for it," said the King, about to
unsheath his knife.
"I can well believe that," said Peik, "for you did not take the block,
too."
"I wish I thought," said the King, "you weren't telling me a pack of
lies."
"I tell you it's because of the block it stands on; it won't boil
without it," said Peik.
"Well, what do you want for it?"
It was well worth three hundred dollars; but for the King's sake it
should go for two. So the King got the block and traveled home with it.
He bade guests again, made a feast, and set the pot on the
chopping-block in the middle of the room. The guests thought he was both
daft and mad, and they went about making game of him, while he cackled
and chattered around the pot, calling out, "Bide a bit! Now it boils,
now it boils in a trice."
But it wouldn't boil a bit more on the block than on the bare floor. So
he saw that Peik had been out with his fooling rods this time, too. Then
he fell a-tearing his hair, and said he would set off at once and slay
the lad. He wouldn't spare him this time, whether or no.
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