` Get up , my grandson , you have fasted long enough . Have the good spirits visited you , and granted you the strength and wisdom that you desire ? ' ` Some of them have come , and have given me a portion of both , ' answered the boy , ` but many have stayed away from me . ' ` Then , ' said she , ` you must fast ten days more . ' So the boy lay down again on the buffalo skins , and fasted for ten days , and at the end of that time he turned his face to the wall , and fasted for twenty days longer . At length the witch called to him , and said : ` Come and eat something , my grandson . ' At the sound of her voice the boy got up and ate the food she gave him . When he had finished every scrap she spoke as before : ` Tell me , my grandson , have not the good spirits visited you all these many days that you have fasted ? ' ` Not all , grandmother , ' answered he ; ` there are still some who keep away from me and say that I have not fasted long enough . ' ` Then you must fast again , ' replied the old woman , ` and go on fasting till you receive the gifts of all the good spirits . Not one must be missing . ' The boy said nothing , but lay down for the third time on the buffalo skins , and fasted for twenty days more . And at the end of that time the witch thought he was dead , his face was so white and his body so still . But when she had fed him out of the bowl he grew stronger , and soon was able to sit up . ` You have fasted a long time , ' said she , ` longer than anyone ever fasted before . Surely the good spirits must be satisfied now ? ' ` Yes , grandmother , ' answered the boy , ` they have all come , and have given me their gifts . ' This pleased the old woman so much that she brought him another basin of food , and while he was eating it she talked to him , and this is what she said : ` Far away , on the other side of the great river , is the home of the Bad One . In his house is much gold , and what is more precious even than the gold , a little bridge , which lengthens out when the Bad One waves his hand , so that there is no river or sea that he can not cross . Now I want that bridge and some of the gold for myself , and that is the reason that I have stolen so many boys by means of my ball .
I have tried XXXXX teach them how to gain the gifts of the good spirits , but none of them would fast long enough , and at last I had to send them away to perform simple , easy little tasks .
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