Celts -- Folklore; Fairy tales; Fairy tales -- Great Britain; Folklore -- Great Britain; Tales -- Great Britain
"Thou needst not be swearing that thou didst not come here; I know that
thou didst come, and that it was thou that took it out; but I will know
it from thee when thou goest home, if it was thou that ate the butter,"
said the fox.
Off they went, and when they got home he hung the wolf by his hind legs,
with his head dangling below him, and he had a dab of the butter and he
put it under the wolf's mouth, as if it was out of the wolf's belly that
it came.
"Thou red thief!" said he, "I said before that it was thou that ate the
butter."
They slept that night, and on the morrow when they rose the fox said:
"Well, then, it is silly for ourselves to be starving to death in this
way merely for laziness; we will go to a town-land, and we will take a
piece of land in it."
They reached the town-land, and the man to whom it belonged gave them a
piece of land the worth of seven Saxon pounds.
It was oats that they set that year, and they reaped it and they began
to divide it.
"Well, then," said the fox, "wouldst thou rather have the root or the
tip? thou shalt have thy choice."
"I'd rather the root," said the wolf.
Then the fox had fine oaten bread all the year, and the other one had
fodder.
On the next year they set a crop; and it was potatoes that they set, and
they grew well.
"Which wouldst thou like best, the root or the crop this year?" said the
fox.
"Indeed, thou shalt not take the twist out of me any more; I will have
the top this year," quoth the wolf.
"Good enough, my hero," said the fox.
Thus the wolf had the potato tops, and the fox the potatoes. But the
wolf used to keep stealing the potatoes from the fox.
"Thou hadst best go yonder, and read the name that I have in the hoofs
of the grey mare," quoth the fox.
Away went the wolf, and he begun to read the name; and on a time of
these times the white mare drew up her leg, and she broke the wolf's
head.
"Oh!" said the fox, "it is long since I heard my name. Better to catch
geese than to read books."
He went home, and the wolf was not troubling him any more.
But the Russet Dog found his match at last, as I shall tell you.
One day the fox was once going over a loch, and there met him a little
bonnach, and the fox asked him where he was going. The little bonnach
told him he was going to such a place.
"And whence camest thou?" said the fox.
"I came from Geeogan, and I came from Cooaigean, and I came from the
slab of the bonnach stone, and I came from the eye of the quern, and I
will come from thee if I may," quoth the little bonnach.
"Well, I myself will take thee over on my back," said the fox.
"Thou'lt eat me, thou'lt eat me," quoth the little bonnach.
"Come then on the tip of my tail," said the fox.
"Oh no! I will not; thou wilt eat me," said the little bonnach.
"Come into my ear," said the fox.
"I will not go; thou wilt eat me," said the little bonnach.
"Come into my mouth," said the fox.
"Thou wilt eat me that way at all events," said the little bonnach.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account