Ah! what would
I not give for such a cow!"
"Well," said the Peasant, "such an advantage you may soon enjoy; I will
exchange my cow for your horse."
To this Hans consented with a thousand thanks, and the Peasant, swinging
himself upon the horse, rode off in a hurry.
Hans now drove his cow off steadily before him, thinking of his lucky
bargain in this wise: "I have a bit of bread, and I can, as often as I
please, eat with it butter and cheese, and when I am thirsty I can milk
my cow and have a draught: and what more can I desire?"
As soon, then, as he came to an inn he halted, and ate with great
satisfaction all the bread he had brought with him for his noonday and
evening meals, and washed it down with a glass of beer, to buy which he
spent his two last farthings. This over, he drove his cow farther, but
still in the direction of his mother's village. The heat meantime became
more and more oppressive as noontime approached, and just then Hans came
to a common which was an hour's journey across. Here he got into such a
state of heat that his tongue clave to the roof of his mouth, and he
thought to himself: "This won't do; I will just milk my cow, and refresh
myself." Hans, therefore tied her to a stump of a tree, and, having no
pail, placed his leathern cap below, and set to work, but not a drop of
milk could he squeeze out. He had placed himself, too, very awkwardly,
and at last the impatient cow gave him such a kick on the head that he
tumbled over on the ground, and for a long time knew not where he was.
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