THE cock said to the hen,
"It is nutting time, let us go together to the mountains and have a good
feast for once, before the squirrels come and carry all away."
"Yes," answered the hen, "come along; we will have a jolly time
together."
Then they set off together to the mountains, and as it was a fine day
they stayed there till the evening. Now whether it was that they had
eaten so much, or because of their pride and haughtiness, I do not know,
but they would not go home on foot; so the cock set to work to make a
little carriage out of nutshells. When it was ready, the hen seated
herself in it, and said to the cock,
"Now you can harness yourself to it."
"That's all very fine," said the cock, "I would sooner go home on foot
than do such a thing: and I never agreed to it. I don't mind being
coachman, and sitting on the box; but as to drawing it myself, it's
quite out of the question."
As they were wrangling, a duck came quacking,
"You thieving vagabonds, who told you you might go to my mountain? Look
out, or it will be the worse for you!" and flew at the cock with bill
wide open. But the cock was not backward, and he gave the duck a good
dig in the body, and hacked at her with his spurs so valiantly that she
begged for mercy, and willingly allowed herself to be harnessed to the
carriage. Then the cock seated himself on the box and was coachman; so
off they went at a great pace, the cock crying out "Run, duck, as fast
as you can!"
When they had gone a part of the way they met two foot-passengers, a pin
and a needle. They cried "Stop! stop!" and said that it would soon be
blindman's holiday; that they could not go a step farther; that the ways
were very muddy; might they just get in for a little? they had been
standing at the door of the tailors' house of call and had been delayed
because of beer.
The cock, seeing they were slender folks that would not take up a great
deal of room, let them both step in, only they must promise not to tread
on his toes nor on the hen's.
Late in the evening they came to an inn, and there they found that they
could not go any farther that night, as the duck's paces were not good,
she waddled so much from side to side; so they turned in. The landlord
at first made some difficulty; his house was full already, and he
thought they had no very distinguished appearance; at last, however,
when they had made many fine speeches, and had promised him the egg that
the hen had laid on the way, and that he should keep the duck, who laid
one every day, he agreed to let them stay the night; and so they had a
very gay time.
Early in the morning, when it was beginning to grow light, and everybody
was still asleep, the cock waked up the hen, fetched the egg, and made a
hole in it, and they ate it up between them, and put the eggshell on the
hearth. Then they went up to the needle, who was still sleeping, picked
him up by his head, and stuck him in the landlord's chair-cushion, and
having also placed the pin in his towel, off they flew over the hills
and far away. The duck, who had chosen to sleep in the open air, and had
remained in the yard, heard the rustling of their wings, and, waking up,
looked about till she found a brook, down which she swam a good deal
faster than she had drawn the carriage.
A few hours later the landlord woke, and, leaving his feather-bed, began
washing himself; but when he took the towel to dry himself he drew the
pin all across his face, and made a red streak from ear to ear. Then he
went into the kitchen to light his pipe, but when he stooped towards the
hearth to take up a coal the eggshell flew in his eyes.
"Everything goes wrong this morning," said he, and let himself drop,
full of vexation, into his grandfather's chair; but up he jumped in a
moment, crying, "Oh dear!" for the needle had gone into him.
Now he became angry, and had his suspicions of the guests who had
arrived so late the evening before; and when he looked round for them
they were nowhere to be seen.
Then he swore that he would never more harbour such vagabonds, that
consumed so much, paid nothing, and played such nasty tricks into the
bargain.