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The Wonderful Bird.
239

"My poor child, what shall I get for two such little eggs?"

But the child was sure that he would get a very great deal for the eggs. So the man went with the two little eggs to market. Before the gates of the city he met a stranger, who, as soon as he had seen the eggs, eagerly asked him how much he wanted for them. The man answered,—

"Give me what you like, so that I may buy some bread for myself and my family."

The stranger gave him a gold sequin, and said,—

"Here is one sequin for the eggs, and here is another for yourself if you will tell me where you got them from."

The man told him all; and when the stranger asked him whether he would sell the bird also, he answered that he would for a good price; then they returned together to the poor man's home. When they had arrived, and the stranger had seen the little bird, he said,—

"Here is one hundred gold sequins for the bird."

The man sold it to him for that sum. The stranger then and there killed the bird, pulled off its head, took out the heart, and said,—

"Roast this head and heart for me; I want to eat them."