Peter Christen Asbjørnsen

“ But if there was any one who tried and could not, he was to have three stripes cut out of his back, and salt rubbed in; and sure it was that there were many sore backs in that kingdom, for lovers and wooers came from north and south, and east and west, thinking it nothing at all to make a king's daughter laugh; and brave fellows they were some of them too; but for all their tricks and capers, there sat the princess, just as sad and serious as she had been before. ”

“ So when he came to the king's grange, and said he wished to make the princess laugh, the king thought it might not be so unlikely after all. "But Heaven help you," he said, "if you don't make her laugh. We are for cutting the stripes broader and broader for every one that tries." ”

“ He was a schoolmaster, and a wonderful figure of fun besides; he was lopsided, for he had one leg shorter than the other, and one moment he was as little as a boy, and in another, when he stood on his long leg, he was as tall and long as a Troll. ”