Grimms' Fairy Tales

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He rode on, and after a while it seemed to him that he heard a voice in
the sand at his feet. He listened, and heard an ant-king complain: 'Why
cannot folks, with their clumsy beasts, keep off our bodies? That stupid
horse, with his heavy hoofs, has been treading down my people without
mercy!' So he turned on to a side path and the ant-king cried out to
him: 'We will remember you--one good turn deserves another!'

The path led him into a wood, and there he saw two old ravens standing
by their nest, and throwing out their young ones. 'Out with you, you
idle, good-for-nothing creatures!' cried they; 'we cannot find food for
you any longer; you are big enough, and can provide for yourselves.'
But the poor young ravens lay upon the ground, flapping their wings, and
crying: 'Oh, what helpless chicks we are! We must shift for ourselves,
and yet we cannot fly! What can we do, but lie here and starve?' So the
good young fellow alighted and killed his horse with his sword, and gave
it to them for food. Then they came hopping up to it, satisfied their
hunger, and cried: 'We will remember you--one good turn deserves