, that morning. He looked back upon how he had been
living all this time. He felt so homesick about his wife at first, that
he could not remain in the house and was unable to eat, drink sleep, or
work. So he went to the inn, where they wished him joy because his wife
had brought him such good luck, and this had pleased him; and when
others stopped talking about it, he would renew the subject; and
the innkeeper would take him along to fairs, target-shootings and
pleasure-parties. One could not help but admit it was all very pleasant
and entertaining, and the folks would say: "There goes Hansei, whose
wife is the crown prince's nurse." Wherever he went they showed him
great respect, and it's very pleasant to be received with respect
wherever you go. Before allowing him to sit down, the hostess would
always wipe off the chair with her apron, and considered it a pleasure
to do so. At last, a happy thought occurred to him, and he still held
fast to it. He would be the very man to keep an inn, and his wife would
be the best hostess from one end of the land to the other. She would
know how to talk to the people; and, after all, what is there
pleasanter in the world than keeping an inn?

Hansei was so long in getting up that the grandmother came to the door
and asked: "Is anything the matter? Are you sick?"

"Oh no, God forbid. I'm coming directly," replied Hansei. He soon came
and, in a kindly tone, said: "Good-morning. Is the child hearty?"

"Yes. All's well, thank God," said the grandmother. She was always the
same, whether Hansei was rude and taciturn, or talkative and
confidential.

During her daughter's absence, she had never interfered with him but
once, and then she had said: "You're the husband and the father, and
should know what to do, and what to let alone." She knew very well that
if she attempted to induce Hansei to give up his free life and his
comrades, he would be less likely to do so, if it were only to avoid
the appearance of being ruled by the old woman.

"Will you be at home at noon, or are you going across the field."

"I'll stay at home," said he, "I want to split wood. We'll clear up
things and make it look tidy about the house, by the time she returns."

The grandmother nodded a pleasant assent. Hansei would gladly have said
more, but he always thought that another ought to speak first, and so
he sat there, stuffing potato after potato into his mouth, just as if
every one were an answer he had re