" So, turning to her child she said, "Run out,
deary, and put up the horse."
"Ah!" said Gudbrand, "but you see I have not the horse after all, for
when I got a bit farther on the road, I traded it for a pig."
"Think of that, now!" said the wife. "You did just as I should have done
myself; a thousand thanks! Now I can have a bit of bacon in the house to
set before people when they come to see me, that I can. What do we want
with a horse? People would only say we had got so proud that we couldn't
walk to church. Go out, child, and put up the pig in the sty."
"But I have not the pig either," said Gudbrand, "for when I got a little
farther on, I traded it for a goat."
"Dear me!" cried the wife, "how well you manage everything! Now I think
it over, what should I do with a pig? People would only point at us and
say 'Yonder they eat up all they have.' No, now I have a goat, and I
shall have milk and cheese, and keep the goat too. Run out, child, and
put up the goat."
"Nay, but I haven't the goat either," said Gudbrand, "for a little
farther on I traded it away and got a fine sheep instead!"
"You don't say so!" cried his wife, "why, you do everything to please
me, just as if I had been with you. What do we want with a goat? If I
had it I should lose half my time in climbing up the hills to get it
down.
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