So, hastily picking up the goose, he overtook the Fool, and
pressed it into his arms, saying, "Dear friend, pardon a passing ill
humour, of which I sincerely repent. Are we not partners in good luck
and ill? I was wrong, dear friend; and, in token of my penitence, the
goose shall be yours alone. And here are a few plums with which you
may refresh yourself by the wayside. As for me, I will hasten on to
the next farm, and see if I can beg a bottle of wine to wash down the
dinner, and drink to our good-fellowship." And before the Fool could
thank him, the Knave was off like the wind.
By and by the farmer and his men came up, and found the Fool eating
the plums, with the goose on the grass beside him.
They hurried him off to the justice, where his own story met with no
credit. The woman of the next farm came up also, and recognized him
for the man who had begged at her door the day she lost a ham and two
new loaves. In vain he said that these things also had been given to
his friend. The friend never appeared; and the poor Fool was whipped
and put in the stocks.
Towards evening the Knave hurried up to the village green, where his
friend sat doing penance for the theft.
"My dear friend," said he, "what do I see? Is such cruelty possible?
But I hear that the justice is not above a bribe, and we must at any
cost obtain your release. I am going at once to pawn my own boots and
cloak, and everything about me that I can spare, and if you have
anything to add, this is no time to hesitate.
Pages:
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128