“Ah, well, you understand what you’re about,” said the woman. Then she
embraced him, and paid no attention to the strangers, nor did she notice the
sack.
“I got a cow in exchange for the horse.”
“Thank Heaven,” said she. “Now we shall have plenty of milk, and
butter, and cheese on the table. That was a capital exchange.”
“Yes, but I changed the cow for a sheep.”
“Ah, better still!” cried the wife. “You always think of everything; we
have just enough pasture for a sheep. Ewe’s milk and cheese, woollen
Jeanets and stockings! The cow could not give all these, and her hair only
falls off. How you think of everything!”
“But I changed away the sheep for a goose.”
“Then we shall have roast goose to eat this year. You dear old man, you
are always thinking of something to please me. This is delightful. We can
let the goose walk about with a string tied to her leg, so she will be fatter
still before we roast her.”
“But I gave away the goose for a fowl.”
“A fowl! Well, that was a good exchange,” replied the woman. “The fowl
will lay eggs and hatch them, and we shall have chickens; we shall soon
have a poultry-yard. Oh, this is just what I was wishing for.”
“Yes, but I exchanged the fowl for a sack of shrivelled apples.”
“What! I really must give you a kiss for that!” exclaimed the wife. “My
dear, good husband, now I’ll tell you something. Do you know, almost as
soon as you left me this morning, I began to think of what I could give you
nice for supper this evening, and then I thought of fried eggs and bacon,
with sweet herbs; I had eggs and bacon, but I wanted the herbs; so I went
over to the schoolmaster’s: I knew they had plenty of herbs, but the
schoolmistress is very mean, although she can smile so sweetly. I begged
her to lend me a handful of herbs. ‘Lend!’ she exclaimed, ‘I have nothing to
lend; nothing at all grows in our garden, not even a shrivelled apple; I could
