When the old woman came back with her apron full of flax and saw that the straw ox had gone she ran home as fast as she could. There stood the ox in the yard with the wolf stuck fast to him. [Illustration: "THEN CAME THE FOX, WITH MANY GEESE RUNNING BEFORE HIM"] "Husband, husband! Come here at once!" she cried. "The ox has brought home a wolf; what shall we do?" So the old man came as fast as he could, pulled the wolf off the ox, tied him up, and threw him into the cellar. The next morning when the old woman went out into the field to gather flax she again took the straw ox with her, and again she left it standing alone near the edge of the forest. A fox came out of the woods, and said to the ox: "Who are you?" "I am an ox all smeared with tar, And filled with straw, as oxen are," replied the ox. "Oh," said the fox, "I need some tar to smear my coat so that the dogs cannot catch me." "Help yourself," said the ox. The fox put up his paws to take the tar, and his paws stuck fast. He pulled and he tugged, and he tugged and he pulled, and the more he pulled and tugged, the faster he stuck, and he could not get away. Then the ox dragged the fox to the old house on the edge of the forest. When the old woman came back with her apron full of flax and saw that the straw ox had gone she ran home as fast as she could. There stood the ox with the fox stuck fast to him. "Husband, husband! Come here at once!" she cried. "The ox has brought home a fox; what shall we do?" So the old man came as fast as he could, pulled the fox off the ox, tied him up, and threw him into the cellar. The next morning when the woman came back with her apron full of flax and saw that the ox had gone and she had run home as fast as she could, there stood the ox with a rabbit stuck fast to him. And the old man threw the rabbit into the cellar. The next morning the old man said: "Now we will see what will come of all of this." So he took his knife and sat down by the cellar door and began to make the knife sharp and bright. "What are you doing, old man?" asked the bear. "I am making my knife sharp and bright so as to cut up your coat and make a nice warm jacket for the old woman to keep her warm this winter." "Oh," said the bear. "Do not cut up my coat. Let me go, and I will bring you some nice, sweet honey to eat." "Very well," said the old man, "see to it that you do." So the old man let the bear go. Then he sat down again and began to make his knife sharp and bright. "What are you doing, old man?" asked the wolf. "I am making my knife sharp and bright so as to cut up your coat to make me a fine fur cap," said the old man. "Oh," said the wolf. "Do not cut up my coat. Let me go and I will bring you some sheep." "Very well," said the old man, "see to it that you do." So the old man let the wolf go. Then he sat down again with his knife in his hand. "What are you doing, old man?" asked the fox.