Hardly a day passed without his mother saying to him ; ` What are you doing , you useless creature ? If you were n't too stupid to look after yourself , I would order you to leave the house and never to let me see your face again . ' Every day the youth committed some fresh piece of folly , till at last Masella , losing all patience , gave him a good beating , which so startled Antonio that he took to his heels and never stopped running till it was dark and the stars were shining in the heavens . He wandered on for some time , not knowing where to go , and at last he came to a cave , at the mouth of which sat an ogre , uglier than anything you can conceive . He had a huge head and wrinkled brow -- eyebrows that met , squinting eyes , a flat broad nose , and a great gash of a mouth from which two huge tusks stuck out . His skin was hairy , his arms enormous , his legs like sword blades , and his feet as flat as ducks ' . In short , he was the most hideous and laughable object in the world . But Antonio , who , with all his faults , was no coward , and was moreover a very civil-spoken lad , took off his hat , and said : ` Good-day , sir ; I hope you are pretty well . Could you kindly tell me how far it is from here to the place where I wish to go ? ' -LSB- Illustration : ANTONIO · IS · NOT · AFRAID · OF · THE · OGRE -RSB- When the ogre heard this extraordinary question he burst out laughing , and as he liked the youth 's polite manners he said to him : ` Will you enter my service ? ' ` What wages do you give ? ' replied Antonio . ` If you serve me faithfully , ' returned the ogre , ` I 'll be bound you 'll get enough wages to satisfy you . ' So the bargain was struck , and Antonio agreed to become the ogre 's servant . He was very well treated , in every way , and he had little or no work to do , with the result that in a few days he became as fat as a quail , as round as a barrel , as red as a lobster , and as impudent as a bantam-cock . But , after two years , the lad got weary of this idle life , and longed desperately to visit his home again . The ogre , who could see into his heart and knew how unhappy he was , said to him one day : ` My dear Antonio , I know how much you long to see your mother and sisters again , and because I love you as the apple of my eye , I am willing to allow you to go home for a visit . Therefore , take this donkey , so that you may not have to go on foot ; but see that you never say `` Bricklebrit '' to him , for if you do you 'll be sure to regret it . ' Antonio took the beast without as much as saying thank you , and jumping on its back he rode away in great haste ; but he had n't gone two hundred yards when he dismounted and called out ` Bricklebrit . ' No sooner had he pronounced the word than the donkey opened its mouth and poured forth rubies , emeralds , diamonds and pearls , as big as walnuts .
Antonio gazed in amazement at the sight of such wealth , and joyfully filling a huge sack with the precious stones , he mounted the donkey again and rode on till he XXXXX to an inn .
became came committed go knew liked passed poured pronounced see