The Crimson Fairy Book, part 26 · page 21 2101“That is nothing but a lie from beginning to end,” said the herdsman.102“No, it is as true as that there is a sun in heaven,” answered the young man.103“Then give me a proof of it,” cried his master.104“Well, come with me,” said the youth.105By this time it was evening and the dusk was falling.106The young man brought the herdsman to the foot of the great rock, but it was so dark you could hardly see.107Still 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.108“Do you hear?” asked the youth.109“Yes, I hear; you have spoken the truth, and I cannot blame you for what has happened.110I must bear the loss as best as I can.”111He turned and went home, followed by the young man, who felt highly pleased with his own cleverness.112“I should not be surprised if the tasks I set you were too difficult, and that you were tired of them,” said the herdsman next morning; “but to-day I have something quite easy for you to do.113You must look after forty oxen, and be sure you are very careful, for one of them has gold-tipped horns and hoofs, and the king reckons it among his greatest treasures.”114The young man drove out the oxen into the meadow, and no sooner had they got there than, like the sheep and the pigs, they began to scamper in all directions, the precious bull being the wildest of all.115As the youth stood watching them, not knowing what to do next, it came into his head that his father’s cow was put out to grass at no great distance; and he forthwith made such a noise that he quite frightened the oxen, who were easily persuaded to take the path he wished.116When they heard the cow lowing they galloped all the faster, and soon they all arrived at his father’s house.checked by a teacher117The old man was standing before the door of his hut when the great herd of animals dashed round a corner of the road, with his son and his own cow at their head.118“Whose cattle are these, and why are they here?” he asked; and his son told him the story.119“Take them back to your master as soon as you can,” said the old man; but the son only laughed, and said:120“No, no; they are a present to you!121They will make you fat!”122For a long while the old man refused to have anything to do with such a wicked scheme; but his son talked him over in the end, and they killed the oxen as they had killed the sheep and the pigs.123Last of all they came to the king’s cherished ox.124The son had a rope ready to cast round its horns, and throw it to the ground, but the ox was stronger than the rope, and soon tore it in pieces.125Then it dashed away to the wood, the youth following; over hedges and ditches they both went, till they reached the rocky pass which bordered the herdsman’s land.126Here the ox, thinking itself safe, stopped to rest, and thus gave the young man a chance to come up with it.127Not knowing how to catch it, he collected all the wood he could find and made a circle of fire round the ox, who by this time had fallen asleep, and did not wake till the fire had caught its head, and it was too late for it to escape.128Then the young man, who had been watching, ran home to his master.1 2← previousThe Crimson Fairy Book, part 25next →The Crimson Fairy Book, part 27↑ back to The Crimson Fairy BookThis page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2435/26/page/2/