Suddenly another beggarman stood before him, and this one was
still taller and uglier than the first. When the lad saw how very tall
and ugly and long he was, he began to scream again.
"Now, don't you be afraid of me," said the beggar, "I'll do you no harm.
I came only to beg for a penny."
"Oh dear, oh dear!" said the lad. "I have only two pennies, and with
them I was going to the town to buy clothes. If I had only met you
sooner, then--"
"It's worse for me than for you," said the beggarman. "I have no penny,
and a bigger body and less clothing."
"Well, you may have it," said the lad. So he went away farther, till he
got weary, and then he sat down to rest; but he had scarcely sat down
when a third beggarman came to him. This one was so tall and ugly and
long that the lad had to look up and up, right up to the sky. And when
he took him all in with his eyes, and saw how very, very tall and ugly
and ragged he was, he fell a-screeching and screaming again.
[Illustration: The lad had to look up, right up into the sky]
"Now, don't you be afraid of me, my lad," said the beggarman, "I'll do
you no harm, for I am only a beggarman, who begs you for a penny."
"Oh dear, oh dear!" said the lad. "I have only one penny left, and with
it I was going to the town to buy clothes. If I had only met you sooner,
then--"
"As for that," said the beggarman, "I have no penny at all, that I
haven't, and a bigger body and less clothes, so it is worse for me than
for you.
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