THE COVETOUS MAN
glass of beer and wine which he had with every meal; this, no doubt, was the reason why she was as stout as when she first arrived. But how could he watch her? The groom advised him to knock the bottom out of a hogshead and creep into it; when the bottom had been replaced the man could watch his wife by peeping through the bung-hole. He then told the woman of this plan.
When the wife came into the cellar she went from one end to the other, soliloquizing: "That hogshead needs a good cleaning." She called the girls and bid them bring some hot water, and when they came they were ordered to clean and shake the hogshead well. The girls did their best, and when they had finished their work the man was so scalded and blistered that there was hardly any skin left on his body. He remained sick for over four weeks. While he was confined to his bed it happened that a couple of cows belonging to the groom's parents died, and as their owners were very good and honest people, the covetous man's wife gave them two fine cows from her husband's stable to show how thankful she was for his kindness to her.
When her husband arose and missed his two best cows he became so vexed as to declare that he would lie down and die. His wife sent for a coffin and had him placed in it, and now every one thought him dead and gone. But on the day of his burial, when his coffin was lowered into the grave, he became terribly frightened and shouted to be set free, prom-
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