But one day he heard a strange noise at his feet , and when he looked down to see what it could be , he saw a stone-cutter driving tools into his surface . Even while he looked a trembling feeling ran all through him , and a great block broke off and fell upon the ground . Then he cried in his wrath : ` Is a mere child of earth mightier than a rock ? Oh , if I were only a man ! ' And the mountain spirit answered : ` Your wish is heard . A man once more you shall be ! ' And a man he was , and in the sweat of his brow he toiled again at his trade of stone-cutting . His bed was hard and his food scanty , but he had learned to be satisfied with it , and did not long to be something or somebody else . And as he never asked for things he had not got , or desired to be greater and mightier than other people , he was happy at last , and heard the voice of the mountain spirit no longer . -LSB- From Japanische Mahrchen . -RSB- The Gold-Bearded Man Once upon a time there lived a great king who had a wife and one son whom he loved very much . The boy was still young when , one day , the king said to his wife : ' I feel that the hour of my death draws near , and I want you to promise that you will never take another husband but will give up your life to the care of our son . ' The queen burst into tears at these words , and sobbed out that she would never , never marry again , and that her son 's welfare should be her first thought as long as she lived . Her promise comforted the troubled heart of the king , and a few days after he died , at peace with himself and with the world . But no sooner was the breath out of his body , than the queen said to herself , ` To promise is one thing , and to keep is quite another . ' And hardly was the last spadeful of earth flung over the coffin than she married a noble from a neighbouring country , and got him made king instead of the young prince . Her new husband was a cruel , wicked man , who treated his stepson very badly , and gave him scarcely anything to eat , and only rags to wear ; and he would certainly have killed the boy but for fear of the people . Now by the palace grounds there ran a brook , but instead of being a water-brook it was a milk-brook , and both rich and poor flocked to it daily and drew as much milk as they chose . The first thing the new king did when he was seated on the throne , was to forbid anyone to go near the brook , on pain of being seized by the watchmen . And this was purely spite , for there was plenty of milk for everybody .
For some days no one dared venture near the banks of the stream , but XXXXX length some of the watchmen noticed that early in the mornings , just at dawn , a man with a gold beard came down to the brook with a pail , which he filled up to the brim with milk , and then vanished like smoke before they could get near enough to see who he was .
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