answered the dwarf; "i was going to split the tree to get a little wood for cooking. the little bit of food that one of us wants gets burnt up directly with thick logs; we do not swallow so much as you coarse, greedy folk. i had just driven the wedge safely in, and everything was going as i wished; but the wretched wood was too smooth and suddenly sprang asunder, and the tree closed so quickly that i could not pull out my beautiful white beard; so now it is tight in and i cannot get away, and the silly, sleek, milk-faced things laugh! ugh! how odious you are!"