When the meal was over the giant lighted his pipe, the bowl of which was as big as a barrel, and asked Fiddlecumdoo if he would kindly favor them with some music. "Certainly," replied the Prince. "Please come into the kitchen," said the giantess, "for then I can listen to the music while I am washing the dishes." The prince did not like to refuse this request, although at home he was not allowed to enter his mother's kitchen; so the giant carried him in and placed him on a high shelf, where Fiddlecumdoo seated himself on a spool of thread and began to play his violin. The big people enjoyed the music very much at first, for the Prince was a capital player. But soon came a disagreeable interruption. About a month before the giant had caught several dancing-bears in the mountains, and, having brought them home, had made them into strings of sausages. These were hanging in graceful festoons from the beams of the kitchen ceiling, awaiting the time when they should be eaten. Now when the dancing-bear sausages heard the music of Fiddlecumdoo's violin, they could not resist dancing; for it is well known that sausages made from real dancing-bears can not remain quiet where there is music. The Prince was playing such a lively tune, that presently the strings of sausage broke away from the ceiling and fell clattering to the floor, where they danced about furiously. Not being able to see where they were going, they bumped against the giant and his wife, thumping them on their heads and backs, and pounding them so severely that the woman became frightened and hid under the table, while the giant started to run away. Seeing their plight, Fiddlecumdoo stopped playing, and at once the sausages fell to the floor and lay still. "That was strange," said the giant, as soon as he could catch his breath; "the bears evidently do not forget how to dance even after they are chopped up into sausage meat. I must beg you to abandon your concert for the present, but before you visit us again we shall have eaten the sausages, and then you may play to your heart's content." "Had I known they were so lively," remarked the giantess, as she crawled from beneath the table, "we should have eaten them before this." "That reminds me that I intended to have stewed polar bears for supper," continued the giant; "so I think I will walk over into Alaska and catch some." "Perhaps the Prince would prefer elephant pie," suggested the lady, "and in that case you might make a run into South America for elephants." "I have no choice in the matter," said the Prince, "never having eaten either. But is it not rather a long journey to Alaska or to South America?" "Not at all!" protested the giant. "I shall enjoy the walk, and can easily be back by sundown. Won't you come with me?" he asked the boy. But Fiddlecumdoo did not like the idea of so long a journey, and begged to be excused. The giantess brought her lord a great bag to put the polar bears in, and he prepared to start.