`` I 'm not such a fool , '' screamed the dwarf . `` Do n't you see that cursed fish is trying to drag me in ? '' The little man had been sitting on the bank fishing , when unfortunately the wind had entangled his beard in the line ; and when immediately afterward a big fish bit , the feeble little creature had no strength to pull it out ; the fish had the upper fin , and dragged the dwarf toward him . He clung on with all his might to every rush and blade of grass , but it did n't help him much ; he had to follow every movement of the fish , and was in great danger of being drawn into the water . The girls came up just at the right moment , held him firm , and did all they could to disentangle his beard from the line ; but in vain , beard and line were in a hopeless muddle . Nothing remained but to produce the scissors and cut the beard , by which a small part of it was sacrificed . When the dwarf perceived what they were about he yelled to them : `` Do you call that manners , you toad-stools ! to disfigure a fellow 's face ? It was n't enough that you shortened my beard before , but you must now needs cut off the best bit of it . I ca n't appear like this before my own people . I wish you 'd been in Jericho first . '' Then he fetched a sack of pearls that lay among the rushes , and without saying another word he dragged it away and disappeared behind a stone . It happened that soon after this the mother sent the two girls to the town to buy needles , thread , laces , and ribbons . Their road led over a heath where huge boulders of rock lay scattered here and there . While trudging along they saw a big bird hovering in the air , circling slowly above them , but always descending lower , till at last it settled on a rock not far from them . Immediately afterward they heard a sharp , piercing cry . They ran forward , and saw with horror that the eagle had pounced on their old friend the dwarf , and was about to carry him off . The tender-hearted children seized hold of the little man , and struggled so long with the bird that at last he let go his prey . When the dwarf had recovered from the first shock he screamed in his screeching voice : `` Could n't you have treated me more carefully ? You have torn my thin little coat all to shreds , useless , awkward hussies that you are ! ''
Then he took a bag XXXXX precious stones and vanished under the rocks into his cave .
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