The following day, the king sure was delighted to see the results. Instead of letting her go as we both thought, his majesty took her to an even larger chamber stuffed with straw! After telling the girl the details of her execution if she were to fail in a nutshell, the king left her to do her (my) job.

The king sure knew how to crack the whip.

I decided to be early this time as the girl was definitely deep in the doldrums.

Always the eager beaver, I was ready to help her if she had something to give me in exchange for my services. This time she gave me her fake gold necklace.

A little elbow grease, and the job was done even before the cock crowed in the next day.