A Man ordered some fine thread from a Spinner. The Spinner spun it for him, but the Man said that the thread was not good, and that he wanted the finest thread he could get. The Spinner said: "If this is not fine enough, take this!" and she pointed to an empty space. He said that he did not see any. The Spinner said: "You do not see it, because it is so fine. I do not see it myself." The Fool was glad, and ordered some more thread of this kind, and paid her for what he got. THE PARTITION OF THE INHERITANCE A Father had two Sons. He said to them: "When I die, divide everything into two equal parts." When the Father died, the Sons could not divide without quarrelling. They went to a Neighbour to have him settle the matter. The Neighbour asked them how their Father had told them to divide. They said: "He ordered us to divide everything into two equal parts." The Neighbour said: "If so, tear all your garments into two halves, break your dishes into two halves, and cut all your cattle into two halves!" The Brothers obeyed their Neighbour, and lost everything. THE MONKEY A Man went into the woods, cut down a tree, and began to saw it. He raised the end of the tree on a stump, sat astride over it, and began to saw. Then he drove a wedge into the split that he had sawed, and went on sawing; then he took out the wedge and drove it in farther down. A Monkey was sitting on a tree and watching him. When the Man lay down to sleep, the Monkey seated herself astride the tree, and wanted to do the same; but when she took out the wedge, the tree sprang back and caught her tail. She began to tug and to cry. The Man woke up, beat the Monkey, and tied a rope to her. THE MONKEY AND THE PEASE A Monkey was carrying both her hands full of pease. A pea dropped on the ground; the Monkey wanted to pick it up, and dropped twenty peas. She rushed to pick them up and lost all the rest. Then she flew into a rage, swept away all the pease and ran off. THE MILCH COW A Man had a Cow; she gave each day a pot full of milk. The Man invited a number of guests. To have as much milk as possible, he did not milk the Cow for ten days. He thought that on the tenth day the Cow would give him ten pitchers of milk. But the Cow's milk went back, and she gave less milk than before. THE DUCK AND THE MOON A Duck was swimming in the pond, trying to find some fish, but she did not find one in a whole day. When night came, she saw the Moon in the water; she thought that it was a fish, and plunged in to catch the Moon. The other ducks saw her do it and laughed at her. That made the Duck feel so ashamed and bashful that when she saw a fish under the Water, she did not try to catch it, and so died of hunger. THE WOLF IN THE DUST A Wolf wanted to pick a sheep out of a flock, and stepped into the wind, so that the dust of the flock might blow on him. The Sheep Dog saw him, and said: "There is no sense, Wolf, in your walking in the dust: it will make your eyes ache."