They walked on a little further , till the prince thought he heard the grinding of a saw-mill , as if dozens of saws were working together , but his guide observed , ` The grandmother is sleeping soundly ; listen how she snores . ' When they had climbed a hill which lay before them the prince saw in the distance the house of his master , but it was so surrounded with buildings of all kinds that the place looked more like a village or even a small town . They reached it at last , and found an empty kennel standing in front of the gate . ` Creep inside this , ' said the master , ` and wait while I go in and see my grandmother . Like all very old people , she is very obstinate , and can not bear fresh faces about her . ' The prince crept tremblingly into the kennel , and began to regret the daring which had brought him into this scrape . By-and-by the master came back , and called him from his hiding-place . Something had put out his temper , for with a frown he said , ` Watch carefully our ways in the house , and beware of making any mistake , or it will go ill with you . Keep your eyes and ears open , and your mouth shut , obey without questions . Be grateful if you will , but never speak unless you are spoken to . ' When the prince stepped over the threshold he caught sight of a maiden of wonderful beauty , with brown eyes and fair curly hair . ` Well ! ' the young man said to himself , ` if the old fellow has many daughters like that I should not mind being his son-in-law . This one is just what I admire ' ; and he watched her lay the table , bring in the food , and take her seat by the fire as if she had never noticed that a strange man was present . Then she took out a needle and thread , and began to darn her stockings . The master sat at table alone , and invited neither his new servant nor the maid to eat with him . Neither was the old grandmother anywhere to be seen . His appetite was tremendous : he soon cleared all the dishes , and ate enough to satisfy a dozen men . When at last he could eat no more he said to the girl , ` Now you can pick up the pieces , and take what is left in the iron pot for your own dinner , but give the bones to the dog . ' The prince did not at all like the idea of dining off scraps , which he helped the girl to pick up , but , after all , he found that there was plenty to eat , and that the food was very good .
During the meal he stole many glances at the maiden , and would even have spoken XXXXX her , but she gave him no encouragement .
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