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 to him which he did not understand , and the hare immediately became a human being again . ` Well , how do you like to serve me ? ' said the troll , ` and how do you like being a hare ? ' The lad replied that he liked it very well ; he had never been able to go over the ground so quickly before . The troll then showed him the bushel of money that he had already earned , and the lad was well pleased to serve him for another year .
The first day of the second year the boy had the same work to do as on the previous one -- namely , to feed all the wild animals XXXXX the troll 's stable .
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