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 came to an inn . Here he got down , and going straight to the landlord , he said to him : ` My good man , I must ask you to stable this donkey for me . Be sure you give the poor beast plenty of oats and hay , but beware of saying the word `` Bricklebrit '' to him , for if you do I can promise you will regret it . Take this heavy sack , too , and put it carefully away for me . ' The landlord , who was no fool , on receiving this strange warning , and seeing the precious stones sparkling through the canvas of the sack , was most anxious to see what would happen if he used the forbidden word . So he gave Antonio an excellent dinner , with a bottle of fine old wine , and prepared a comfortable bed for him .
As soon XXXXX he saw the poor simpleton close his eyes and had heard his lusty snores , he hurried to the stables and said to the donkey ` Bricklebrit , ' and the animal as usual poured out any number of precious stones .
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