At the door of the house he met the giant . ` Hast thou thatched the byre , king 's son ? ' ' I have thatched it . ' ` Well , since thou hast been so active to-day , I have something else for thee ! Beside the loch thou seest over yonder there grows a fir tree . On the top of the fir tree is a magpie 's nest , and in the nest are five eggs . Thou wilt bring me those eggs for breakfast , and if one is cracked or broken , thy blood shall pay for it . ' Before it was light next day , the king 's son jumped out of bed and ran down to the loch . The tree was not hard to find , for the rising sun shone red on the trunk , which was five hundred feet from the ground to its first branch . Time after time he walked round it , trying to find some knots , however small , where he could put his feet , but the bark was quite smooth , and he soon saw that if he was to reach the top at all , it must be by climbing up with his knees like a sailor . But then he was a king 's son and not a sailor , which made all the difference . However , it was no use standing there staring at the fir , at least he must try to do his best , and try he did till his hands and knees were sore , for as soon as he had struggled up a few feet , he slid back again . Once he climbed a little higher than before , and hope rose in his heart , then down he came with such force that his hands and knees smarted worse than ever . ` This is no time for stopping , ' said the voice of the giant 's daughter , as he leant against the trunk to recover his breath . ` Alas ! I am no sooner up than down , ' answered he . ` Try once more , ' said she , and she laid a finger against the tree and bade him put his foot on it . Then she placed another finger a little higher up , and so on till he reached the top , where the magpie had built her nest . ` Make haste now with the nest , ' she cried , ` for my father 's breath is burning my back , ' and down he scrambled as fast as he could , but the girl 's little finger had caught in a branch at the top , and she was obliged to leave it there . But she was too busy to pay heed to this , for the sun was getting high over the hills .
` Listen to me , ' she XXXXX .
caught cried find laid put ran said scrambled smarted thatched