In the morning , when the young man was dressed , the herdsman called to him and said : ` Now listen , and I will tell you what you have to do . ' ` What is it ? ' asked the youth , sulkily . ` Nothing less than to look after two hundred pigs , ' was the reply . ` Oh , I am used to that , ' answered the youth . ` Yes ; but this time you will have to do it properly , ' said the herdsman ; and he took the youth to the place where the pigs were feeding , and told him to drive them to the woods on the side of the mountain . This the young man did , but as soon as they reached the outskirts of the mountain they grew quite wild , and would have run away altogether , had they not luckily gone towards a narrow ravine , from which the youth easily drove them home to his father 's cottage . ` Where do all these pigs come from , and how did you get them ? ' asked the old man in surprise , when his son knocked at the door of the hut he had left only the day before . ` They belong to the king 's chief herdsman , ' answered his son . ` He gave them to me to look after , but I knew I could not do it , so I drove them straight to you . Now make the best of your good fortune , and kill them and hang them up at once . ' ` What are you talking about ? ' cried the father , pale with horror . ` We should certainly both be put to death if I did any such thing . ' ` No , no ; do as I tell you , and I will get out of it somehow , ' replied the young man . And in the end he had his way . The pigs were killed , and laid side by side in a row . Then he cut off the tails and tied them together with a piece of cord , and swinging the bundle over his back , he returned to the place where they should have been feeding . Here there was a small swamp , which was just what he wanted , and finding a large stone , he fastened the rope to it , and sank it in the swamp , after which he arranged the tails carefully one by one , so that only their points were seen sticking out of the water .
When everything was XXXXX order , he hastened home to his master with such a sorrowful face that the herdsman saw at once that something dreadful had happened .
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