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Rh But the wife was not satisfied with this answer, and she pressed him again and again to tell her why he had laughed.

But he excused himself, and said,—

"Let me alone, wife! What is the matter with you? I do not know myself why I laughed."

But the more he denied her the more she insisted upon his telling her what he had been laughing at. At last the husband said to her,—

"Know then, that if I tell you the reason, I shall instantly die."

The woman, however, did not care for that, but urged him to tell her notwithstanding.

Meanwhile they had reached home. The husband ordered a coffin to be made immediately, and when it was ready he had it placed before the house, and said to his wife,—

"See now, I now lay me down in this coffin, and then tell you why I laughed; but as soon as I have told you I shall die."

The husband lay down in the coffin, and looked around him for the last time. And there came the old dog from the farmyard, and sat down at his head and whined. The husband seeing this, said to his wife,—

"Bring a piece of bread and give it to this dog."

The wife brought out a piece of bread, and threw it