asked the old man
in wonder, and his son told him. But when the tale was ended the father
shook his head.

'Give up these bad ways and take them back to your master,' said he.

'No, no,' answered the youth; 'I am not so stupid as that! We will kill
them and have them for dinner.'

'You will lose your life if you do,' replied the father.

'Oh, I am not sure of that!' said the son, 'and, anyway, I will have my
will for once.' And he killed all the sheep and laid them on the grass.
But he cut off the head of the ram which always led the flock and had
bells round its horns. This he took back to the place where they should
have been feeding, for here he had noticed a high rock, with a patch of
green grass in the middle and two or three thick bushes growing on the
edge. Up this rock he climbed with great difficulty, and fastened the
ram's head to the bushes with a cord, leaving only the tips of the horns
with the bells visible. As there was a soft breeze blowing, the bushes
to which the head was tied moved gently, and the bells rang. When all
was done to his liking he hastened quickly back to his master.

'Where are the sheep?' asked the herdsman as the young man ran panting
up the steps.

'Oh! don't speak of them,' answered he. 'It is only by a miracle that I
am here myself.'

'Tell me at once what has happened,' said the herdsman sternly.

The youth began to sob, and stammered out: 'I--I hardly know how to tell
you! They--they--they were so--so troublesome--that I could not manage
them at all. They--ran about in--in all directions, and I--I--ran after
them and nearly died of fatigue. Then I heard a--a noise, which I--I
thought was the wind. But--but--it was the sheep, which, be--before my
very eyes, were carried straight up--up into the air. I stood watching
them as if I was turned to stone, but there kept ringing in my ears the
sound of the bells on the ram which led them.'

'That is nothing but a lie from beginning to end,' said the herdsman.

'No, it is as true as that there is a sun in heaven,' answered the young
man.

'Then give me a proof of it,' cried his master.

'Well, come with me,' said the youth. By this time it was evening and
the dusk was falling. The young man brought the herdsman to the foot of
the great rock, but it was so dark you could hardly see. Still the sound
of sheep bells rang softly from above, and the herdsman knew them to be
those he had hung on the horns of his ram.

'Do you hear