in all directions. The young man could not collect them, try as he would, and he thought to himself that this was the punishment for his laziness in refusing to look after his father’s one cow.
At last, however, the sheep seemed tired of running about, and then the youth managed to gather them together, and drove them, as before, straight to his father’s house.
‘Whose sheep are these, and what are they doing here?’ asked the old man in wonder, and his son told him. But when the tale was ended the father shook his head.
‘Give up these bad ways and take them back to your master,’ said he.
‘No, no,’ answered the youth; ‘I am not so stupid as that! We will kill them and have them for dinner.’
‘You will lose your life if you do,’ replied the father.
‘Oh, I am not sure of that!’ said the son, ‘and, anyway, I will have my will for once.’ And he killed all the sheep and laid them on the grass. But he cut off the head of the ram which always led the flock and had bells round its horns. This he took back to the place where they should have been feeding, for here he had noticed a high rock, with a patch of green grass in the middle and two or three thick bushes growing on the edge. Up this rock he climbed with great difficulty, and fastened the ram’s head to the bushes with a cord, leaving only the tips of the horns with the bells visible. As there was a soft breeze blowing, the bushes to which the head was tied moved gently, and the bells rang. When all was done to his liking he hastened quickly back to his master.
‘Where are the sheep?’ asked the herdsman as the young man ran panting up the steps.
‘Oh! don’t speak of them,’ answered he. ‘It is only by a miracle that I am here myself.’
‘Tell me at once what has happened,’ said the herdsman sternly.
