` Mother , I have seen such a wonderful man , ' said a little boy one day , as he entered a hut in Lapland , bearing in his arms the bundle of sticks he had been sent out to gather . ` Have you , my son ; and what was he like ? ' asked the mother , as she took off the child 's sheepskin coat and shook it on the doorstep . ` Well , I was tired of stooping for the sticks , and was leaning against a tree to rest , when I heard a noise of ` sh - ` sh , among the dead leaves . I thought perhaps it was a wolf , so I stood very still . But soon there came past a tall man -- oh ! twice as tall as father -- with a long red beard and a red tunic fastened with a silver girdle , from which hung a silver-handled knife . Behind him followed a great dog , which looked stronger than any wolf , or even a bear . But why are you so pale , mother ? ' ` It was the Stalo , ' replied she , her voice trembling ; ` Stalo the man-eater ! You did well to hide , or you might never had come back . But , remember that , though he is so tall and strong , he is very stupid , and many a Lapp has escaped from his clutches by playing him some clever trick . ' Not long after the mother and son had held this talk , it began to be whispered in the forest that the children of an old man called Patto had vanished one by one , no one knew whither . The unhappy father searched the country for miles round without being able to find as much as a shoe or a handkerchief , to show him where they had passed , but at length a little boy came with news that he had seen the Stalo hiding behind a well , near which the children used to play . The boy had waited behind a clump of bushes to see what would happen , and by-and-by he noticed that the Stalo had laid a cunning trap in the path to the well , and that anybody who fell over it would roll into the water and drown there . And , as he watched , Patto 's youngest daughter ran gaily down the path , till her foot caught in the strings that were stretched across the steepest place . She slipped and fell , and in another instant had rolled into the water within reach of the Stalo . As soon as Patto heard this tale his heart was filled with rage , and he vowed to have his revenge . So he straightway took an old fur coat from the hook where it hung , and putting it on went out into the forest . When he reached the path that led to the well he looked hastily round to be sure that no one was watching him , then laid himself down as if he had been caught in the snare and had rolled into the well , though he took care to keep his head out of the water .
Very soon he heard a ` sh - ` sh of the leaves , and there was the XXXXX pushing his way through the undergrowth to see what chance he had of a dinner .
Lapland Lapp Mother Patto Stalo day heart man-eater one whither