"Wulnoth," he said, "I am Osth the berserker and the giant,"--and truly he was a gigantic man,--"and Wyborga the Wise has bidden me to teach thee if thou wilt be taught; but the time will be long and the work hard, for he who would gain experience must gain it at hard cost, and he who would conquer others must conquer self." Then said Wulnoth, "For how long must I learn, Osth?" and the berserker replied, "Until thou art perfect." Then did Edgiva come to Wulnoth and place her arms round his neck, and call him her good Wulnoth, and bid him go; and Wyborga promised that each new moon he should come and see them in the cave. So Wulnoth consented and went away with Osth into the high mountain, along the goats' road, which is hard to climb and weary to walk. And there in a cave the boy dwelt with the wild man, and he drank no wine nor milk, but only the clear water of the stream. And he ate wild fruit and goat's flesh; and each morning Osth set him to roll great stones up the hill, and as fast as he got them to the top they rolled down again, until at length he cried in anger-- "Of what use is this, Osth? The stones will not remain at the top, and if they did they are no use there," but to that Osth only grunted, and said he that would succeed must labor. "It shall not be my fault if I do not succeed," thought Wulnoth, and he set to work again, and rolled the stones all day long though he could not see any use in it, until one day the giant said to him-- "Seest thou yon oak tree, Wulnoth? Canst pull off a branch at one wrench?" "Neither I nor any man could do that," answered Wulnoth; but the berserker said-- "Try." So Wulnoth went to the oak, and he took a firm grip on a branch and pulled, and lo, the branch came away. "Whence have I got this strength?" cried the youth in wonder. And the giant answered, "Rolling stones. Each stone added a little, and each little joined the rest, until thou canst do this. Thou must learn another lesson now." So Osth set him to leap the precipices and to descend from point to point, until he was as surefooted as the goat, and then one day he bade him strip and wrestle. Now Wulnoth wrestled hard, but he could not throw the giant, and each time the giant threw him so that he lost heart, and said-- "What use wrestling with thee, O Osth? I shall never conquer thee." But the giant answered with a grunt-- "He who would succeed must labor," and again Wulnoth was silenced. And one day there came a bear, and the giant said, "Canst wrestle with yonder honey-finder, Wulnoth?" "Nay," said Wulnoth. "Neither can any man." But Osth answered, "Go and try." So Wulnoth went to the bear, and the honey-finder rose up and opened wide his paws. But Wulnoth took a good grip and squeezed his ribs, and threw him down, so that the honey-finder got up and ran off grunting. And Wulnoth said-- "Whence have I got this cunning?" "Through being thrown by me," answered Osth. "Thou must learn another lesson now."