There was once a lad who went to look for a place . As he went along he met a man , who asked him where he was going . He told him his errand , and the stranger said , ` Then you can serve me ; I am just in want of a lad like you , and I will give you good wages -- a bushel of money the first year , two the second year , and three the third year , for you must serve me three years , and obey me in everything , however strange it seems to you . You need not be afraid of taking service with me , for there is no danger in it if you only know how to obey . ' The bargain was made , and the lad went home with the man to whom he had engaged himself . It was a strange place indeed , for he lived in a bank in the middle of the wild forest , and the lad saw there no other person than his master . The latter was a great troll , and had marvellous power over both men and beasts . Next day the lad had to begin his service . The first thing that the troll set him to was to feed all the wild animals from the forest . These the troll had tied up , and there were both wolves and bears , deer and hares , which the troll had gathered in the stalls and folds in his stable down beneath the ground , and that stable was a mile long . The boy , however , accomplished all this work on that day , and the troll praised him and said that it was very well done . Next morning the troll said to him , ` To-day the animals are not to be fed ; they do n't get the like of that every day . You shall have leave to play about for a little , until they are to be fed again . ' Then the troll said some words to him which he did not understand , and with that the lad turned into a hare , and ran out into the wood . He got plenty to run for , too , for all the hunters aimed at him , and tried to shoot him , and the dogs barked and ran after him wherever they got wind of him . He was the only animal that was left in the wood now , for the troll had tied up all the others , and every hunter in the whole country was eager to knock him over . But in this they met with no success ; there was no dog that could overtake him , and no marksman that could hit him . They shot and shot at him , and he ran and ran . It was an unquiet life , but in the long run he got used to it , when he saw that there was no danger in it , and it even amused him to befool all the hunters and dogs that were so eager after him . Thus a whole year passed , and when it was over the troll called him home , for he was now in his power like all the other animals .
The troll then said some words XXXXX him which he did not understand , and the hare immediately became a human being again .
after along for like of on over than that to