"We must have coal," said the farmers to the wagoner.
"But the roads are very bad," replied the wagoner. "I never saw
them worse."
"We can not wait for the roads to dry," said the farmers, "for
without a fire we should take cold. Besides, we should have to eat
uncooked food."
So the wagoner went into the country with a load of coal. He had
not gone far when his wagon stuck fast in the mud.
"What am I to do now?" he asked himself. "I ought to have known
better than to start out."
"Get up!" he cried to his horses. "Get up there, you lazy brutes!
Pull out of here!"
The horses struggled hard, but they could not start the load.
"Hey there!" he called to a man who was working in a field near
by. "Come and help us out of this mud-hole."
The man in the field had been watching the poor horses as they
pulled with all their strength. He was angry at the wagoner for
beating them so cruelly.
"Put your shoulder to the wheel," he called back. "When you have
done all you can to help yourself, I shall be willing to help
you."
The wagoner climbed down, muttering to himself, "I don't want to
get down into this mud."
He put his shoulder to the wheel, pushed long and steadily while
the horses pulled. Slowly the load began to move. Before long it
was on firm ground.
The wagoner climbed up to his seat and called back to the man who
was working in the field, "My load is out, but no thanks to you."
The man replied, "You took my advice and put your shoulder to the
wheel; that is what brought you out."