offended you!" cried the poor fellow from above. "Look at me; see, my mouth is as dry as a chip! Look at my face and hands—the flesh is gone from them, and the bones only are left! Have mercy upon me!"
The magician whispered a few words, and the peasant stopped in his circular motion, and remained still in the air.
"It is all very well to ask my pardon; but what will you promise to give me if I let you down?"
"All that you ask for," cried the poor peasant; and he put his hands together as in supplication, and knelt down in the air.
"Will you give me your sweetheart?" demanded the magician. "I want her for my wife. If you will promise to give her to me, I will let you come down once more to the earth."
The peasant was silent for a moment. Thought he to himself: "When I am once more on the ground. I'll see what can be done." He therefore called out to the magician,—
"Oh, master! you ask a great sacrifice from me; but if it cannot be otherwise, let it be as you will."
Hereupon the magician blew upon him, and he came down to the ground. Oh, how happy he was when he felt that he could walk, and that the wind had no more power over him!
