Eating Match With TheTroll

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There was once a farmer who had three sons. The farmer was in bad shape. He was poor and old as well as feeble, and his sons wouldn't give him a hand with anything around the farm. To this farm belonged a large and very good forest, and there the father wanted the boys to chop wood and see about paying off some of the debt.

At last he convinced them to help, and the eldest went out to the forest to chop wood first.  When he had made his way into the forest, and had started chopping, a shaggy big fir tree of a came up to him. "If you're chopping in my forest, I'm going to kill you!" said the Troll. When the boy heard that, he flung aside his ax and headed for home again as fast as he could.

He got home clean out of breath, and told them what had happened to him. His disappointed father said he was nothing but chicken-hearted. The Trolls had never scared him from chopping wood when he was young, he said. On the next day the second son set out to the forest and he fared just like the first. When he had struck the fir tree a few blows with his ax, the Troll came up to him and said," If you're chopping in my forest, I'm going to kill you!" The boy hardly dared look at him. He flung aside his ax and took to his heels just like his brother and just as fast. When he came home again, his father became angry and said that the Trolls had never scared him when he was young. 

On the third day wanted to set out. "You?" said the two eldest. "You'll certainly manage it.  You have never even been beyond the front door!"  Askeladden didn’t have much to say, he just asked for as big a lunch as possible to take with him. His mother had no curds, so she hung the cauldron over the fire to curdle a little cheese for him. This he put in his knapsack and set out on his way. When he had been chopping for a little while, the Troll came to him and said: "If you're chopping in my forest, I'm going to kill you!" Askeladden who had a plan, ran over to his knapsack to get the cheese, and squeezed it until the whey squirted out of it. "If you don't hold your tongue," he shrieked to the Troll, "I'll squeeze you the way I'm squeezing the water out of this white stone!" "Oh no dear fellow, spare me!" said the Troll. "I'll help you to chop!" Well on that condition the boy promised he would spare him. 

The Troll was clever at chopping, so they managed to fell and cut many piles of wood during the day. As evening was drawing into night the Troll said," Now you can come home with me. My house is closer than yours." Askeladden went along, and when they came to the Troll's home, the troll started to make a fire in the hearth and he told Askeladden to fetch water for the porridge pot. The two iron buckets were so big and heavy that he couldn't so much as budge them. So Askeladden said, "It's not worth taking along these thimbles. I'm going to fetch the whole well!" "No, my dear fellow," said the Troll. "I can't lose my well. You make the fire and I'll go after the water." When he came back with the water, they cooked up a huge pot of porridge. "If it's the same to you," said Askeladden, "let's have an eating match!" "Oh, yes!” Replied the Troll, for this was one thing he felt he could always hold his own on. They both sat down at the table, but Askeladden snuck over and took the knapsack while the troll was not looking and he tied it in front of him. Each time he took a bite of the food he scooped more into the knapsack than he ate himself. When the knapsack was full, he took up his knife and ripped a gash in it. 

The Troll looked at him, but didn't say anything. When they had eaten a good while longer, the Troll put down his spoon.  “Now I can't manage anymore," he said "You must eat!" said Askeladden. "I'm barely half full yet. Do as I did and cut a hole in your stomach, then you can eat as much as you wish!" "But doen't that hurt dreadfully?" asked the Troll. "Oh, nothing to speak of," replied the boy. So the Troll did as the boy said, and then as you can probably guess that was the end of the troll. Askeladden took all the silver and gold to be found in the trolls mountain, and little by little he carried it all home. The youngest son proved to be the bravest of all the farmers sons, and rich enough to pay off all of his dept.