I see that I must, thought the Wolf; and prosecuting his journey farther,
he came to the habitation of a second shepherd.
“Come, Shepherd!” he began stoutly, “I have a proposal to make to you.
You know me, who I am, and how I live. You know that if I choose to exert
my energies, I can dine and sup upon the heart’s blood of every sheep and
lamb under your care. Very well: now mark me; if you bestow on me half a
dozen sheep every twelvemonth, I pledge you my word that I will look for
no more. And only think what a fine thing it will be for you to purchase
the safety of your entire flock at the beggarly price of half a dozen
sheep!”
“Half a dozen sheep!” cried the Shepherd, bursting into a derisive laugh;
“why, that’s equal to a whole flock!”
“Well, well, I am reasonable,” said the Wolf; “give me five.”
“Surely you are joking,” said the Shepherd. “Why, if I were in the habit
of sacrificing to Pan, I don’t think I should offer him more than five
sheep the whole year round.”
“Four, then, my dear friend,” urged the Wolf, coaxingly; “you won’t think
four too many?”
“Ah,” returned the Shepherd, with a sly glance from the corner of his
eye, “don’t you wish you may get them?”
The selfish scoundrel, how he mocks me! thought the Wolf. “Will you
promise me three, or even two?”
“Not even one--not the ghost of one!” replied the Shepherd, emphatically.
“A pretty protector of my flock I should prove myself, truly, to
surrender it piecemeal into the claws of my inveterate enemy! Take
yourself off, my fine fellow, before you chance to vex me!”