` Well , put this ring on your finger , and then you wo n't forget . ' ` Very well , ' replied the boy , and went home . The next morning , as he was at breakfast , his mother said to him , ` Child , where did you get that ring ? ' ' A woman gave it to me yesterday , and she told me , father , to tell you that she wanted her forfeit , and when was she to have it ? ' Then his father burst into tears and said , ` If she comes again you must say to her that your parents bid her take her forfeit at once , and depart . ' At this they both began to weep afresh , and his mother kissed him , and put on his new clothes and said , ` If the woman bids you to follow her , you must go , ' but the boy did not heed her grief , he was so pleased with his new clothes . And when he went out , he said to his play-fellows , ` Look how smart I am ; I am going away with my aunt to foreign lands . ' At that moment the ogress came up and asked him , ` Did you give my message to your father and mother ? ' ` Yes , dear aunt , I did . ' ` And what did they say ? ' ` Take it away at once ! ' So she took him . But when dinner-time came , and the boy did not return , his father and mother knew that he would never come back , and they sat down and wept all day . At last Halfman rose up and said to his wife , ` Be comforted ; we will wait a year , and then I will go to the ogress and see the boy , and how he is cared for . ' ` Yes , that will be the best , ' said she . The year passed away , then Halfman saddled his horse , and rode to the place where the ogress had found him sleeping . She was not there , but not knowing what to do next , he got off his horse and waited . About midnight she suddenly stood before him . ` Halfman , why did you come here ? ' said she . '
I have a question I want XXXXX ask you . '
If So as at before for into on that to