Big Hark was very strong, though he was not very big. He threw his arms around Merrimeg and dragged her away from Little Hark and hauled her along to the cave and pulled her into it. Before she knew it her arms were bound up tight with tough vines which Big Hark had snatched down from the wall.
Big Hark made her sit down on the floor with her back against the wall, and he and Little Hark stood before her. Little Hark looked at his father and said:
This meant, in the private language of the Echo Dwarfs, “What are you going to do with her?”
“Lokspit meegs,” said Big Hark, “doomdog askbiddle beddagog diskorfunjax krissmuss.”
This meant, “I am going to keep her here for seven Christmases, for you to practice your echo lessons on.”
“Snexterbean?” asked Little Hark. This meant, “What then?”
“Lokspit snexter,” said Big Hark, “flambilly noformikin beskeem.” This meant, as you may imagine, “I am then going to give her to the Fire Bubbles at the back of the cave.”
Merrimeg tried to get her arms loose, and cried out:
Big Hark nudged Little Hark, reminding him to practice his echo, and Little Hark said:
“All right, then, I will!” cried Merrimeg, and she struggled to her feet and started to run towards the mouth of the cave. But Big Hark caught her and held her, and she cried out:
“Go!” said Little Hark, echoing her words, and Merrimeg cried:
Now Little Hark should have said “Let me!” But he forgot all about echoing her words, and he shouted out two words of his own.
“Run back!” he cried, and this was what gave Merrimeg her chance to escape. For Big Hark was so angry at Little Hark’s forgetting to echo back Merrimeg’s own words, and calling back words of his own instead, which was strictly forbidden, that he let go of Merrimeg and turned round on Little Hark and shook his finger at him and shouted, “Let me! Oxtragob borgs, gooblik!” and boxed Little Hark’s ears with all his might and main.
Little Hark broke out crying, and Merrimeg dashed away into the dark at the back of the cave, and ran on faster and faster into the darkness. Pretty soon she heard Big Hark shout out something in his own language, and she knew that he was running after her. So she ran on faster than before, and in a moment she struck against a wall in the dark, and feeling it with her hands she turned a corner and saw something which almost made her stop breathing.