In a small crevice in a rock, the eldest son saw an old woman who was spinning with a spindle.
The old woman saw the eldest son at the same time and saw that the eldest son was sweating and breathing hard running after the foals.
The old woman shook her head. “Come here and take rest. I will comb your hair while you rest.”
The boy lay there in the crevice and did not follow the foals while the old woman combed his hair.
As it was about to be evening, the eldest son was sad. “I do not want to go to the king’s palace. I could not follow the foals all day. I might as well go home.”
The old woman looked sly. “At disk the king’s foals will go back to the palace through this way. You can go with them back to the palace.” The old woman shook her head. “No one else will know that you did not follow the foals all throughout the day.”
The eldest son was shocked. “But the king wanted to know what the foals ate and drank for the entire day. What can I tell the king?”
The old woman gave the eldest son a bottle of water and some moss. “Tell the king that this is what the foals ate and drank for today.”
The eldest son agreed to this and went back to the king with the seven foals.
The king waved at the eldest son and nodded fervently. “Did you follow the foals all through the day? What did they eat and drink?”
The eldest son gave the bottle of water and the moss to the king.
On seeing it, the king immediately realized that the eldest son was lying.
The king was angry with the eldest son and punished the eldest son and then sent the eldest son back to his home.
Adapted from the Norwegian Folktales
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