“Yes, that is true,” said the Sausage, “why should I be stuffed with
meat and barley-meal for other folk’s feasting?”
So the three being all of a mind, they settled to travel the same road
together.
Well, they went on and on and on, until, at last, they came to a deep
forest, and, by and by, whom should they meet but a great red fox.
“Whither away, friends?” said he.
“Oh, we are going out into the wide world,” said the Grey Goose, the
Sausage, and the Cock.
“And why do you travel that road?” said the Fox.
Oh, there was nothing but tangled yarn at home: the Grey Goose grew live
feathers for other folk’s picking, the Sausage was stuffed for other
folk’s feasting, and the Cock crowed in the morn for other folk’s
waking. That was the way of the world over yonder, and so they had left
it.
“Yes,” said the Fox, “that is true; so come with me into the deep
forest, for there every one can live for himself! and nobody else.”
So they all went into the forest together, for the Fox’s words pleased
them very much.
“And now,” said the Fox to the Grey Goose, “you shall be my wife,” for
he had never had a sweetheart before, and even a Grey Goose is better
than none.
“And what is to become of us?” said the Sausage and the Cock.
“You and I shall be dear friends,” said the Great Red Fox. Thereat the
Cock and the Sausage were content, for it took but little to satisfy
them.
Well, everything was just as the Great Red Fox had said it should be:
the Goose kept her own feathers, the Sausage was stuffed for its own
good, the Cock crowed for its own ears, and everything was as smooth as
rich cream. Moreover, the Great Red Fox and the Grey Goose were husband
and wife, and the Great Red Fox and the Sausage and the Cock were dear
friends.
[Illustration: The Grey Goose goes out into the wide world, where she
and a discontented Sausage meet the Cock and the Fox.]
One morning says the Great Red Fox to the Grey Goose, “Neighbor Cock
makes a mighty hubbub with his crowing!”
“Yes, that is so,” said the Grey Goose; for she always sang the same
tune as the Great Red Fox, as a good wife should.
“Then,” said the Great Red Fox, “I will go over and have a talk with
him.”
So off he packed, and by and by he came to Neighbor Cock’s house. Rap!
tap! tap! he knocked at the door, and who should look out of the window
but the Cock himself.
“See, Neighbor Cock,” said the Great Red Fox, “you make a mighty hubbub
with that crowing of yours.”
“That may be so, and that may not be so,” said the Cock; “all the same,
the hubbub is in my own house.”
“That is good,” said the Great Red Fox, “but one should not trouble
one’s neighbors, even in one’s own house; so, if it suits you, we will
have no more crowing.”
“I was made for crowing, and crow I must,” said the Cock.
“You must crow no more,” said the Great Red Fox.
“I must crow,” said the Cock.
“You must not crow,” said the Great Red Fox.
“I must crow,” said the Cock. And that was the last of it for—snip!—off
went its head, and it crowed no more. Nevertheless, he had the last
word, and that was some comfort. After that the Great Red Fox ate up the
Cock, body and bones, and then he went home again.
“Will Neighbor Cock crow again?” said the Grey Goose.
“No; he will crow no more,” said the Fox; and that was true.
By and by came hungry times, with little or nothing in the house to eat.
“Look!” said the Great Red Fox, “yonder is Neighbor Sausage, and he has
plenty.”
“Yes, that is true,” said the Grey Goose.
“And one’s friend should help one when one is in need,” said the Great
Red Fox.
“Yes, that is true,” said the Grey Goose again.
So off went the Great Red Fox to Neighbor Sausage’s house. Rap! tap!
tap! he knocked at the door, and it was the Sausage himself who came.
“See,” said the Fox, “there are hungry times over at our house.”
[Illustration: The Great Red Fox goes to call on neighbour Cock at his
house because he will crow in the morn. ¶]
[Illustration: The Great Red Fox calls upon the Sausage.]
“I am sorry for that,” said the Sausage; “but hungry times will come to
the best of us.”
“That is so,” said the Great Red Fox, “but, all the same, you must help
me through this crack. One would be in a bad pass without a friend to
turn to.”
“But see,” said the Sausage, “all that I have is mine, and it is inside
of me at that.”
“Nevertheless, I must have some of it,” said the Great Red Fox.
“But you can’t have it,” said the Sausage.
“But I must have it,” said the Great Red Fox.
“But you can’t have it,” said the Sausage.
And so they talked and talked and talked, but the end came at last, for
one cannot talk forever to an empty stomach. Snip! snap! and the Sausage
was down the Great Red Fox’s throat, and there was an end of it. And now
the Fox had all that his friend had to give him, and so he went back
home again.
[Illustration: The Great Red Fox rests softly at home.]
“Did Neighbor Sausage give you anything?” said the Grey Goose.
“Oh, yes; he gave me all that he had with him,” said the Great Red Fox;
and that also was very true.
After that the world went around for a while as easily as a greased
wheel. But one day the Great Red Fox said to the Grey Goose: “See now,
my bones grow sore by lying on the hard stones.”
“That is a great pity,” said the Grey Goose; “and if the hard stones
were only soft, I, for one, would be glad.”
“Yes,” said the Great Red Fox, “that is good; but soft talking makes
them none the easier to lie upon. Could you not spare me a few of your
feathers?”
“A few feathers indeed!” said the Grey Goose, “it was not for this that
I left the ways of the world over yonder. If you must have feathers you
must pluck them from your own back.”
“Prut!” said the Great Red Fox, “how you speak! A wife should do all
that she can to make the world soft for her husband.”
Then you should have heard the Grey Goose talk and talk. But it was no
use; when times are hard with one, one’s wife should help to feather the
nest—that was what the Great Red Fox said.
Snip! snap! crunch! cranch! and off went the Grey Goose’s head. After
that the Fox ate her up, body and bones, and there was an end of her.
Then he lay upon soft feathers and slept easily.
Now this is true that I tell you: when a great red fox and a grey goose
marry, and hard times come, one must make it soft for the other—mostly
it is the grey goose who does that.
Also I would have you listen to this: some folks say that it is not so,
but _I_ tell you that the ways of the world are the ways of the world,
even in the deep forest.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: K. P.]