"What noise is that in the Cook-house?" Mell asked a groom.
"The Cook's son is going out to fight," said the groom, "and he is striking the pot-lids with the ladles to let everyone in the Cook-house know how fierce he is."
"And who is the Cook's son going to fight?" asked Mell the Hen-wife's son.
"He is going to fight a great Champion that has come up from the sea in a boat that moves itself . This Champion demands that the King pay tribute to him. And the King has offered his daughter and half his kingdom to the youth who will go down to the sea-shore and defeat this Champion. And to-day the Cook's son is going out to make trial."
And while the groom was saying all this the Cook's son came out of the Cook-house. His big face was all gray. His knees were knocking each other. The breast
