Presently, when he sat up and looked down at himself, he found that the
dust had caked into a sort of skin over his wet clothes till you could
not see an inch of them, they were so well covered. "Hi, yi!" said he,
"here's a coat o' clay ready made, and a fine one. See now, I'm a clever
fellow this time sure-_ly_, for I've found what I wanted without looking
for it! Wow, but it's a fine feeling to be so smart!"
And he sat and scratched his head, and thought about his own cleverness.
But all of a sudden, round the corner came the squire on horseback, full
gallop, as if the boggles were after him; but the fool had to jump,
even though the squire pulled his horse back on his haunches.
"What the dickens," said the squire, "do you mean by lying in the middle
of the road like that?"
"Well, master," said the fool, "I fell into the water and got wet, so I
lay down in the road to get dry; and I lay down a fool an' got up a wise
man."
"How's that?" said the squire.
So the fool told him about the wise woman and the coat o' clay.
"Ah, ah!" laughed the squire, "whoever heard of a wise man lying in the
middle of the highroad to be ridden over? Lad, take my word for it, you
are a bigger fool than ever," and he rode on laughing.
"Dang it!" said the fool, as he scratched his head. "I've not got the
right sort of coat yet, then." And he choked and spluttered in the dust
that the squire's horse had raised.
So on he went in a melancholy mood till he came to an inn, and the
landlord at his door smoking.
"Well, fool," said he, "thou 'rt fine and dirty."
"Ay," said the fool, "I be dirty outside an' dusty in, but it's not the
right thing yet."
And he told the landlord all about the wise woman and the coat o' clay.
"Hout-tout!" said the landlord, with a wink. "I know what's wrong. Thou
'st got a skin o' dirt outside and all dry dust inside. Thou must
moisten it, lad, with a good drink, and then thou 'lt have a real
all-over coat o' clay."
"Hi," said the fool, "that's a good word."
So down he sat and began to drink. But it was wonderful how much liquor
it took to moisten so much dust; and each time he got to the bottom of
the pot he found he was still dry. At last he began to feel very merry
and pleased with himself.
"Hi, yi!" said he. "I've got a real coat o' clay now outside and
in--what a difference it do make, to be sure. I feel another man now--so
smart."
And he told the landlord he was certainly a wise man now, though he
couldn't speak over-distinctly after drinking so much. So up he got, and
thought he would go home and tell his mother she hadn't a fool for a son
any more.
But just as he was trying to get through the inn-door which would
scarcely keep still long enough for him to find it, up came the landlord
and caught him by the sleeve.
"See here, master," said he, "thou hasn't paid for thy score--where's
thy money?"
"Haven't any!" said the fool, and pulled out his pockets to show they
were empty.
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.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account