The giant, determined to get hold of the magic ball, hardly slept the night. At dawn, he went to gather all the leaves and one by one let each droplet of dew slide into his cup. It was a time consuming task and even after using all these leaves, he only filled about less than a quarter of his cup.

          The nymph did things a little differently than the giant. The night before, she had left a piece of cloth on the grass and by morning the cloth was wet. She just wrung the cloth in the cup and in no time at all, was able to fill up the cup. She excitedly, brought it to her teacher who complimented her on her cleverness. Meanwhile, the giant was still gathering leaves and was very upset when he found that he had lost the contest.

          The giant, as a consolation prize, received an ax from the hermit. This was the beginning of an eternal struggle, for the giant very much desired the ball, for it had magic powers. He stalked the nymph, and threatening her but she was not bothered by him for she was aware of the giant's tricks and teased him return. Finally the giant flung his ax at the nymph, desperate to get hold of the ball, he missed her and tried again. The nymph tossed her ball into the air to deter the ax, and when these two objects collided, they created a bolt of lightning. The light blinded the giant momentarily and the nymph took this time to escape.