I shall soon indeed be a dead man if you do not help me , ' answered Tiidu , ` for my strength is going fast . ' Then the captain seized a rope and flung it out to him , and Tiidu held it between his teeth , while , unseen by the sailors ; he loosed the one tied round his waist . ` Where have you come from ? ' said the captain , when Tiidu was brought up on board the ship . ' I have followed you from the harbour , ' answered he , ` and have been often in sore dread lest my strength should fail me . I hoped that by swimming after the ship I might at last reach Kungla , as I had no money to pay my passage . ' The captain 's heart melted at these words , and he said kindly : ` You may be thankful that you were not drowned . I will land you at Kungla free of payment , as you are so anxious to get there . So he gave him dry clothes to wear , and a berth to sleep in , and Tiidu and his friend secretly made merry over their cunning trick . For the rest of the voyage the ship 's crew treated Tiidu as something higher than themselves , seeing that in all their lives they had never met with any man that could swim for as many hours as he had done . This pleased Tiidu very much , though he knew that he had really done nothing to deserve it , and in return he delighted them by tunes on his pipes . When , after some days , they cast anchor at Kungla , the story of his wonderful swim brought him many friends , for everybody wished to hear him tell the tale himself . This might have been all very well , had not Tiidu lived in dread that some day he would be asked to give proof of his marvellous swimming powers , and then everything would be found out . Meanwhile he was dazzled with the splendour around him , and more than ever he longed for part of the riches , about which the owners seemed to care so little . He wandered through the streets for many days , seeking some one who wanted a servant ; but though more than one person would have been glad to engage him , they seemed to Tiidu not the sort of people to help him to get rich quickly . At last , when he had almost made up his mind that he must accept the next place offered him , he happened to knock at the door of a rich merchant who was in need of a scullion , and gladly agreed to do the cook 's bidding , and it was in this merchant 's house that he first learned how great were the riches of the land of Kungla . All the vessels which in other countries are made of iron , copper , brass , or tin , in Kungla were made of silver , or even of gold . The food was cooked in silver saucepans , the bread baked in a silver oven , while the dishes and their covers were all of gold . Even the very pigs ' troughs were of silver too . But the sight of these things only made Tiidu more covetous than before .
` What is the use of all this wealth XXXXX I have constantly before my eyes , ' thought he , ` if none of it is mine ?
At around for from in lest than that though through