Page:Grimm's Fairy Tales.djvu/349

Rh hearing this went up and said, "What is all this noise about?" "Oh!" said Pee-wit, "my neighbours will make me burgomaster against my will; and when I told them I would not agree, they put me into this cask, and are going to throw me into the lake." "I should like very well to be burgomaster, if I were you," said the shepherd. "Open the cask, then," said the other, "and let me out, and get in yourself, and they will make you burgomaster instead of me." No sooner said than done; the shepherd was in, Pee-wit was out: and as there was nobody to take care of the shepherd's flock, Pee-wit drove it off merrily towards his own house.

When the neighbours came out of the alehouse they rolled the cask on, and the shepherd began to cry out, "I will be burgomaster now; I will be burgomaster now." "I dare say you will, but you shall take a swim first," said a neighbour, as he gave the cask the last push over into the lake. This done, away they went home merrily, leaving the shepherd to get out as well as he could.

But as they came in at one side of the village, who should they meet coming in by the other way but Pee-wit, driving a fine flock of sheep and lambs before him! "How came you here?" cried all with one voice. "Oh! the lake is enchanted," said he; "when you threw me in I sunk deep and deep into the water, till at last I came to the bottom; there I knocked out the bottom of the cask, and then I found myself in a beautiful meadow, with fine flocks grazing upon it; so I chose a few for myself, and here I am." "Cannot we have some too?" said they. "Why not? there are hundreds and thousands left; you have nothing to do but to jump in, and fetch them out."

So they all agreed they would dive for sheep; the justice first, then his clerk, then the constables, and then