THE LITTLE MARE
mention to his father the offer of the two hundred dollars which had been made him.
Shortly afterwards there was a horse-market in town, and the farmer now said to his son: "Go and make the mare look pretty; I wish to take her to the market." Hans was very sorry, and asked his father if he would not allow him to take the mare to the market. His father, however, desired to go himself. "Then father must ask three hundred dollars for her," said Hans. "You must be mad, boy," answered his father; "I know myself the value of the horse. She is not worth even one hundred dollars." Now Hans told that some one had made him an offer of two hundred. "Then you are a great fool," said his father, giving him a good box on his ear. He mounted the mare and rode away to the market-place. He was thinking, however, of what Hans had said, and when any one inquired how much he asked for the mare, he answered, briskly: "Three hundred dollars." The buyers laughed at him and said that was a large price for such an old jade, worth not even one hundred. The farmer did not lower the price, however, and at length an old one-eyed man came up to him; he did not haggle about the price, but paid it at once and took the mare. The farmer went home, and was well pleased with the profit he had made. Hans wept, however, and was very sorry. The next morning, when his father looked for him, he was not to be found. "He has run after the
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