“Strip, strap, strull,

Will the pail soon be full?”

“Strip, strap, strull, Will the pail soon be full?”

But the noise of the milking prevented his being understood. After this the master of the house came into the cow-byre and said, “That cow shall be killed tomorrow.”

Then Thumbling was so alarmed that he cried out in a clear voice, “Let me out first, for I am shut up inside her.” The master heard that quite well, but did not know from whence the voice came.

“Where art thou?” asked he.

“In the black one,” answered Thumbling, but the master did not understand what that meant, and went out.