It was so big , and fat , and fine a horse that Cinderlad had never seen one like it before , and a saddle and bridle lay upon it , and a complete suit of armor for a knight , and everything was of copper , and so bright that it shone again . `` Ha , ha ! it is thou who eatest up our hay then , '' thought the boy ; `` but I will stop that . '' So he made haste , and took out his steel for striking fire , and threw it over the horse , and then it had no power to stir from the spot , and became so tame that the boy could do what he liked with it . So he mounted it and rode away to a place which no one knew of but himself , and there he tied it up . When he went home again his brothers laughed and asked how he had got on . `` You did n't lie long in the barn , if even you have been so far as the field ! '' said they . `` I lay in the barn till the sun rose , but I saw nothing and heard nothing , not I , '' said the boy . `` God knows what there was to make you two so frightened . '' `` Well , we shall soon see whether you have watched the meadow or not , '' answered the brothers , but when they got there the grass was all standing just as long and as thick as it had been the night before . The next St. John 's eve it was the same thing , once again : neither of the two brothers dared to go to the outlying field to watch the crop , but Cinderlad went , and everything happened exactly the same as on the previous St. John 's eve : first there was a rumbling and an earthquake , and then there was another , and then a third : but all three earthquakes were much , very much more violent than they had been the year before . Then everything became still as death again , and the boy heard something chewing outside the barn door , so he stole as softly as he could to the door , which was slightly ajar , and again there was a horse standing close by the wall of the house , eating and chewing , and it was far larger and fatter than the first horse , and it had a saddle on its back , and a bridle was on it too , and a full suit of armor for a knight , all of bright silver , and as beautiful as anyone could wish to see . `` Ho , ho ! '' thought the boy , `` is it thou who eatest up our hay in the night ? but I will put a stop to that . '' So he took out his steel for striking fire , and threw it over the horse 's mane , and the beast stood there as quiet as a lamb . Then the boy rode this horse , too , away to the place where he kept the other , and then went home again . `` I suppose you will tell us that you have watched well again this time , '' said the brothers . `` Well , so I have , '' said Cinderlad .
So they went there again , and there the grass was , standing as high and as thick as it had been before , but that did not make them any kinder to XXXXX .
Cinderlad John before earthquake earthquakes fire ho mane night third