"You give me room; I must get home as quickly as possible."
Thus for a long time they disputed. A third peasant saw it, and said:—
"If you are in such a hurry, then each of you give way a little."[1]
XXIII
THE PEASANT AND THE HORSE
A Peasant went to town to get oats for his Horse. As soon as he got out of the village, the Horse wanted to return home. The Peasant lashed the Horse with his whip.
The horse started up, but in regard to the Peasant it thought:—
"The fool! Where is he driving me? We should be better off at home."
Before they reached the city the Peasant noticed that the mud made the going hard for the Horse, so he turned him upon the wood-block pavement; but the Horse refused to go upon the pavement.
The Peasant lashed the Horse again, and twitched at the reins. The animal turned off upon the pavement, and said to himself:—
"Why did he turn me off upon the pavement; it only breaks my hoofs. It is hard here under my feet."
The Peasant drove up to the shop, bought his oats, and went home. When he reached home he gave the Horse the oats. The Horse began to eat, and said to himself:—
"What stupid things men are! They only love to show their mastery over us, but their intelligence is less than ours. Why did he take so much trouble to-day? Where did he go and drive me? We had no sooner got there than we returned home. It would have been bet-
- ↑ This appears in a slightly different form in Count Tolstoï's "Novaya Azbuka." There the one who is in the greatest haste is advised to give in.
