" have you come , my boy ? " said the rat . " you are welcome among us ! it was kind of you to come and visit me again so soon . no doubt you are very impatient , i can well imagine it . but you must really be patient a little while longer . my trousseau is not quite complete , but by the time you come again all shall be ready . " when she had said this she offered him egg - shells containing all sorts of food such as rats like . but it looked to the youth like food that had been eaten , and he said that he had no appetite . " if i were only safely away , and up above again , " thought he , but he said nothing . after a time the rat said : " now i think you must surely want to get up above again . i will hurry on the wedding as quickly as i can . and now take this woolen thread along , and when you get up above , you must not turn around , but go straight home , and underway you must keep on repeating : ' short before and long behind ! ' " and with that she laid the woolen thread in his hand . but the youth thought it would be much better to go to the mother in the corner and try to win her daughter . this time his mother again agreed with him , and did not contradict the youth . now he had fine new clothes , and looked so distinguished that it seemed out of the question to her that such a good - looking fellow would be refused . so she furbished him up and tricked him out in the handsomest way , and he himself took out his new shoes and polished them so brightly that you could see yourself in them , and when he had done so he set forth . this time he did not choose the shortest road . he took a roundabout way , the longest he could find , for he did not want to go down to the rat again because he was sick of her eternal wiggling and waggling , and the talk about marriage . the weather and the road were exactly the same as when he had gone before . the sun shone , the swamp and the puddles gleamed , and the youth sang and danced as usual . and in the midst of his skipping and jumping , before he knew it , there he stood at the same crossing which led across the swamp . there he had to jump over a puddle to a clump of grass , unless he wanted to dirty his brightly polished shoes . " kerflop ! " and down he went , and did not stop until he stood once more in the same dark , ugly , dirty hole . at first he was pleased because he could see nothing . but after he had stood there a while , he once more discovered the ugly rat who was so repulsive to him , with the bunch of keys hanging from her tail . 
the wedding .
what will happen now that the youth has returned again ?
what will happen now that the youth has returned again ?