When the eagle had had plenty of food and rest, the old woman plucked a feather out of its tail, and set the man in the feather's place, and then the bird flew away with him, but they did not get to Farmer Weatherbeard's before midnight.
When they got there the Eagle said: `There are a great many dead bodies lying outside the door, but you must not concern yourself about them.The people who are inside the house are all so sound asleep that it will not be easy to awake them; but you must go straight to the table-drawer, and take out three bits of bread, and if you hear anyone snoring, pluck three feathers from his head; he will not waken for that.'
The man did this; when he had got the bits of bread he first plucked out one feather.
`Oof!' screamed Farmer Weatherbeard.
So the man plucked out another, and then Farmer Weatherbeard shrieked `Oof!' again; but when the man had plucked the third, Farmer Weatherbeard screamed so loudly that the man thought that brick and mortar would be rent in twain, but for all that he went on sleeping.And now the Eagle told the man what he was to do next, and he did it.He went to the stable door, and there he stumbled against a hard stone, which he picked up, and beneath it lay three splinters of wood, which he also picked up.He knocked at the stable door and it opened at once.He threw down the three little bits of bread and a hare came out and ate them.He caught the hare.Then the Eagle told him to pluck three feathers out of its tail, and put in the hare, the stone, the splinters of wood and himself instead of them, and then he would be able to carry them all home.
When the Eagle had flown a long way it alighted on a stone.
`Do you see anything?' it asked.
`Yes; I see a flock of crows coming flying after us,' said the man.
`Then we shall do well to fly on a little farther,' said the Eagle, and off it set.
In a short time it asked again, `Do you see anything now?'
`Yes; now the crows are close behind us,' said the man.
`Then throw down the three feathers which you plucked out of his head,' said the Eagle.
So the man did this, and no sooner had he flung them down than the feathers became a flock of ravens, which chased the crows home again.Then the Eagle flew on much farther with the man, but at length it alighted on a stone for a while.
`Do you see anything?' it said.
`I am not quite certain,' said the man, `but I think I see something coming in the far distance.'
`Then we shall do well to fly on a little farther,' said the Eagle, and away it went.
`Do you see anything now?' it said, after some time had gone by.
`Yes; now they are close behind us,' said the man.
`Then throw down the splinters of wood which you took from beneath the gray stone by the stable door,' said the Eagle.The man did this, and no sooner had he flung them down than they grew up into a great thick wood, and Farmer Weatherbeard had to go home for an axe to cut his way through it.So the Eagle flew on a long, long way, but then it grew tired and sat down on a fir tree.
`Do you see anything?' it asked.
`Yes; I am not quite certain,' said the man, `but I think I can catch a glimpse of something far, far away.'
`Then we shall do well to fly on a little farther,' said the Eagle, and it set off again.
`Do you see anything now?' it said after some time had gone by.
`Yes; he is close behind us now,' said the man.
`Then you must fling down the great stone which you took away from the stable door,' said the Eagle.
The man did so, and it turned into a great high mountain of stone, which Farmer Weatherbeard had to break his way through before he could follow them.But when he had got to the middle of the mountain he broke one of his legs, so he had to go home to get it put right.
While he was doing this the Eagle flew off to the man's home with him, and with the hare, and when they had got home the man went to the churchyard, and had some Christian earth laid upon the hare, and then it turned into his son Jack.
When the time came for the fair the youth turned himself into a light-coloured horse, and bade his father go to the market with him.`If anyone should come who wants to buy me,' said he, `you are to tell him that you want a hundred dollars for me; but you must not forget to take off the halter, for if you do I shall never be able to get away from Farmer Weatherbeard, for he is the man who will come and bargain for me.'
And thus it happened.A horse-dealer came who had a great fancy to bargain for the horse, and the man got a hundred dollars for it, but when the bargain was made, and Jack's father had got the money, the horse-dealer wanted to have the halter.
