To this the young man willingly agreed , and turned over and went to sleep again . In the morning , the ogress bade him sweep the dust out of the cave , and to have it clean before her return in the evening , otherwise it would be the worse for him . Then she left the cave . The young man took the spade , and began to clean the floor of the cave , but try as he would to move it the dirt still stuck to its place . He soon gave up the task , and sat sulkily in the corner , wondering what punishment the ogress would find for him , and why she had set him to do such an impossible thing . He had not long to wait , after the ogress came home , before he knew what his punishment was to be ! She just gave one look at the floor of the cave , then dealt him a blow on the head which cracked his skull , and there was an end of him . Meanwhile his next brother grew tired of staying at home , and let his parents have no rest till they had consented that he also should be given some food and some new boots , and go out to see the world . On his road , he also met the two old beggars , who prayed for a little of his bread and milk , but this young man had never been taught to help other people , and had made it a rule through his life to keep all he had to himself . So he turned a deaf ear and finished his dinner . By-and-by he , too , came to the cave , and was bidden by the ogress to clean the floor , but he was no more successful than his brother , and his fate was the same . Anyone would have thought that when the old people had only one son left that at least they would have been kind to him , even if they did not love him . But for some reason they could hardly bear the sight of him , though he tried much harder to make them comfortable than his brothers had ever done . So when he asked their leave to go out into the world they gave it at once , and seemed quite glad to be rid of him . They felt it was quite generous of them to provide him with a pair of new boots and some bread and milk for his journey . Besides the pleasure of seeing the world , the youth was very anxious to discover what had become of his brothers , and he determined to trace , as far as he could , the way that they must have gone . He followed the road that led from his father 's cottage to the hill , where he sat down to rest , saying to himself : ' I am sure my brothers must have stopped here , and I will do the same . ' He was hungry as well as tired , and took out some of the food his parents had given him . He was just going to begin to eat when the old man appeared , and asked if he could not spare him a little . The young man at once broke off some of the bread , begging the old man to sit down beside him , and treating him as if he was an old friend .
At last the stranger rose , and said XXXXX him : ` If ever you are in trouble call me , and I will help you .
as before by for into off on than through to