And pushing aside a rock , he saw a deep hole , so deep that he could not see to the bottom . Then they dragged a basket out of the house , and tied a rope to it . ` Get in , and wrap this blanket round your head , ' said they ; ` and , whatever happens , do n't uncover it till you get to the bottom . ' Then they bade him farewell , and he curled himself up in the basket . Down , down , down he went ; would he ever stop going ? But when the basket did stop , the young man forgot what he had been told , and put his head out to see what was the matter . In an instant the basket moved , but , to his horror , instead of going down , he felt himself being drawn upwards , and shortly after he beheld the faces of the old women . ` You will never see your wife and son if you will not do as you are bid , ' said they . ` Now get in , and do not stir till you hear a crow calling . ' This time the young man was wiser , and though the basket often stopped , and strange creatures seemed to rest on him and to pluck at his blanket , he held it tight till he heard the crow calling . Then he flung off the blanket and sprang out , while the basket vanished in the sky . He walked on quickly down the track that led to the hut , when , before him , he saw his wife with his little son on her back . ` Oh ! there is father at last , ' cried the boy ; but the mother bade him cease from idle talking . ` But , mother , it is true ; father is coming ! ' repeated the child . And , to satisfy him , the woman turned round and perceived her husband . Oh , how glad they all were to be together again ! And when the wind whistled through the forest , and the snow stood in great banks round the door , the father used to take the little boy on his knee and tell him how he caught salmon in the Land of the Sun . How the Stalos Were Tricked -LSB- From the Journal of the Anthropological Institute . -RSB-
` Mother , I have seen such a wonderful man , ' said a little boy one day , as he entered a hut in Lapland , bearing XXXXX his arms the bundle of sticks he had been sent out to gather .
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