Svend Hersleb Grundtvig

“ But he lost no time in looking at them, he had to go right in to the Princess, he said, and in he came.
"Good day, Miss Cheeky!" said Esben, "it's awfully warm in here by you."—"It's no warmer here today than it was yesterday," said the Princess. "What do you use all this heat for?" says Esben, "here it's enough to roast a pig." "Well, yesterday my father roasted eighteen hogs; today we've still only roasted two," said the Princess. "That's good," says Esben, "so I can get this little fowl roasted too," and he pulls the dead crow up out of his pocket. ”

“ And farther in back in the hall sat the King himself on his throne, with his counsellors standing in a circle around him.
"Good day, Your Grace!" said Per and bowed, as nicely as he could. "I'll give you Death and the Devil. You won't get fat off my grace!" said the Princess. Poor Per was gobsmacked by this retort and no longer knew what he should say. So he was done for, he was led out through the other door and strung up on the gallows. ”

“ But that was out of the question; his father and brothers merely laughed at him and said that he could always ride shanks' mare.—"Well, I will go too," said Esben, and so he trotted along after his two stately brothers when they rode off from the farmyard.
When they have come a small part of the way, Esben yells after them: "Hey there! see what I found!"—"What have you found?" said his brothers, yet they turned back, to see what it was; it was just a dead crow he had discovered on the road. ”