granted that you have been in the country, and seen a
very old farmhouse with a thatched roof, and mosses and small plants
growing wild upon the thatch. There is a stork's nest on the summit of
the gable; for we can't do without the stork. The walls of the house
are sloping, and the windows are low, and only one of the latter is
made so that it will open. The baking-oven sticks out of the wall like
a little fat body. The elder tree hangs over the paling, and beneath
its branches, at the foot of the paling, is a pool of water in which a
few ducks are disporting themselves. There is a yard-dog too, who
barks at all comers.

Just such a farmhouse stood out in the country; and in this house
dwelt an old couple--a peasant and his wife. Small as was their
property, there was one article among it that they could do
without--a horse, which made a living out of the grass it found by
the side of the high-road. The old peasant rode into the town on this
horse; and often his neighbours borrowed it of him, and rendered the
old couple some service in return for the loan of it. But they thought
it would be best if they sold the horse, or exchanged it for something
that might be more useful to them. But what might this _something_ be?

"You'll know that best, old man," said the wife. "It is fair-day
to-day, so ride into town, and get rid of the horse for money, or make
a good exchange: whichever you do will be right to me. Ride to the
fair."

And she fastened his neckerchief for him, for she could do that better
than he could; and she tied it in a double bow, for she could do that
very prettily. Then she brushed his hat round and round with the palm
of her hand, and gave him a kiss. So he rode away upon the horse that
was to be sold or to be bartered for something else. Yes, the old man
knew what he was about.

The sun shone hotly down, and not a cloud was to be seen in the sky.
The road was very dusty, for many people who were all bound for the
fair were driving, or riding, or walking upon it. There was no shelter
anywhere from the sunbeams.

Among the rest, a man was trudging along, and driving a cow to the
fair. The cow was as beautiful a creature as any cow can be.

"She gives good milk, I'm sure," said the peasant. "That would be a
very good exchange--the cow for the horse.

"Hallo, you there with the cow!" he said; "I tell you what--I fancy a
horse costs more than a cow, but I don't care for that; a cow would be
more us