I am tired of living with a miser who will not give me enough to eat and drink , ' said he , ` and I am ready to do all you want . ' ` Very good , my son , ' replied the minister , ` you shall have the chance of proving your courage this very night . To-morrow we will settle what your wages are to be . ' Hans was quite content with this proposal , and went straight into the kitchen to begin his work , not knowing that his new master was quite as stingy as his old one . In the hope that his presence might be a restraint upon them , the minister used to sit at the table during his servants ' meals , and would exhort them to drink much and often , thinking that they would not be able to eat as well , and beef was dearer than beer . But in Hans he had met his match , and the minister soon found to his cost that in his case at any rate a full cup did not mean an empty plate . About an hour before midnight , Hans entered the church and locked the door behind him , but what was his surprise when , in place of the darkness and silence he expected , he found the church brilliantly lighted , and a crowd of people sitting round a table playing cards . Hans felt no fear at this strange sight , or was prudent enough to hide it if he did , and , going up to the table , sat down amongst the players . One of them looked up and asked , ` My friend , what are you doing here ? ' and Hans gazed at him for a moment , then laughed and answered , ` Well , if anybody has a right to put that question , it is I ! And if I do not put it , it will certainly be wiser for you not to do so ! ' Then he picked up some cards , and played with the unknown men as if he had known them all his life . The luck was on his side , and soon the money of the other gamblers found its way from their pockets into his . On the stroke of midnight the cock crew , and in an instant lights , table , cards , and people all had vanished , and Hans was left alone . He groped about for some time , till he found the staircase in the tower , and then began to feel his way up the steps . On the first landing a glimmer of light came through a slit in the wall , and he saw a tiny man sitting there , without a head . ` Ho ! ho ! my little fellow , what are you doing there ? ' asked Hans , and , without waiting for an answer , gave him a kick which sent him flying down the stairs .
Then he climbed higher still , and finding XXXXX he went dumb watchers sitting on every landing , treated them as he had done the first .
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