Before he had quite grasped the fact that this was an impossible task , the keepers had opened the sacks in which the hares were brought to the field , and , with a whisk of the short tail and a flap of the long ears , each one of the hundred flew in a different direction . ` Now , ' said the king , ` as he walked away , ` let 's see what your cleverness can do here . ' Jesper stared round him in bewilderment , and having nothing better to do with his hands , thrust them into his pockets , as he was in the habit of doing . Here he found something which turned out to be the whistle given to him by the old woman . He remembered what she had said about the virtues of the whistle , but was rather doubtful whether its powers would extend to a hundred hares , each of which had gone in a different direction and might be several miles distant by this time . However , he blew the whistle , and in a few minutes the hares came bounding through the hedge on all the four sides of the field , and before long were all sitting round him in a circle . After that , Jesper allowed them to run about as they pleased , so long as they stayed in the field . The king had told one of the keepers to hang about for a little and see what became of Jesper , not doubting , however , that as soon as he saw the coast clear he would use his legs to the best advantage , and never show face at the palace again . It was therefore with great surprise and annoyance that he now learned of the mysterious return of the hares and the likelihood of Jesper carrying out his task with success . ` One of them must be got out of his hands by hook or crook , ' said he . ` I 'll go and see the queen about it ; she 's good at devising plans . ' A little later , a girl in a shabby dress came into the field and walked up to Jesper . ` Do give me one of those hares , ' she said ; ` we have just got visitors who are going to stay to dinner , and there 's nothing we can give them to eat . ' ' I ca n't , ' said Jesper . ` For one thing , they 're not mine ; for another , a great deal depends on my having them all here in the evening . ' But the girl -LRB- and she was a very pretty girl , though so shabbily dressed -RRB- begged so hard for one of them that at last he said : ` Very well ; give me a kiss and you shall have one of them . ' He could see that she did n't quite care for this , but she consented to the bargain , and gave him the kiss , and went away with a hare in her apron . Scarcely had she got outside the field , however , when Jesper blew his whistle , and immediately the hare wriggled out of its prison like an eel , and went back to its master at the top of its speed . Not long after this the hare-herd had another visit . This time it was a stout old woman in the dress of a peasant , who also was after a hare to provide a dinner for unexpected visitors .
Jesper again refused , but the old lady was so pressing , and would take no refusal , that at last he said : ` Very well , you shall have a hare , and pay nothing for it either , if you will only walk round me on tiptoe , look up XXXXX the sky , and cackle like a hen . '
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