It was he who ploughed and sowed and reaped , and if , as happened , occasionally , it was needful to get the work done quickly , the brownie called in some of his friends , and as soon as it was light a host of little dwarfs might have been seen in the fields , busy with hoe , fork or sickle . But by the time the people were about all was finished , and the little fellows had disappeared . And all the payment the brownie ever asked for was a bowl of broth . From the very day of her marriage Barbaik had noted with surprise and rage that things ceased to be done for her as they had been done all the weeks and months before . She complained to Jegu of his laziness , and he only stared at her , not understanding what she was talking about . But the brownie , who was standing by , burst out laughing , and confessed that all the good offices she spoke of had been performed by him , for the sake of Jegu , but that now he had other business to do , and it was high time that she looked after her house herself . Barbaik was furious . Each morning when she was obliged to get up before dawn to milk the cows and go to market , and each evening when she had to sit up till midnight in order to churn the butter , her heart was filled with rage against the brownie who had caused her to expect a life of ease and pleasure . But when she looked at Jegu and beheld his red face , squinting eyes , and untidy hair , her anger was doubled . ` If it had not been for you , you miserable dwarf ! ' she would say between her teeth , ` if it had not been for you I should never have married that man , and I should still have been going to dances , where the young men would have brought me present of nuts and cherries , and told me that I was the prettiest girl in the parish . While now I can receive no presents except from my husband . I can never dance , except with my husband . Oh , you wretched dwarf , I will never , never forgive you ! ' In spite of her fierce words , no one knew better than Barbaik how to put her pride in her pocket when it suited her , and after receiving an invitation to a wedding , she begged the brownie to get her a horse to ride there . To her great joy he consented , bidding her set out for the city of the dwarfs and to tell them exactly what she wanted . Full of excitement , Barbaik started on her journey . It was not long , and when she reached the town she went straight to the dwarfs , who were holding counsel in a wide green place , and said to them , ` Listen , my friends ! I have come to beg you to lend me a black horse , with eyes , a mouth , ears , bridle and saddle . ' She had hardly spoken when the horse appeared , and mounting on his back she started for the village where the wedding was to be held .
At first she was so delighted XXXXX the chance of a holiday from the work which she hated , that she noticed nothing , but very soon it struck her as odd that as she passed along the roads full of people they all laughed as they looked at her horse .
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