Page:Tales from the Fjeld.djvu/282

260 So the lad said to the cat—

"My dear cat! do, cat, catch the mouse, for the mouse won't gnaw the rope, the rope won't hang the smith, the smith won't hammer the axe, the axe won't chop the yoke, the yoke won't pinch the ox, the ox won't drink up the water, the water won't quench the fire, the fire won't burn the fir, the fir won't fall on the Finn, the Finn won't shoot the bear, the bear won't slay the wolf, the wolf won't tear the fox, the fox won't bite Hairlock, and Hairlock won't come home in good time for tea to-day."

"Well," said the cat, "just give me a drop of milk for my kittens, and then" that's what the cat said; and the lad said, "Yes, she should have it."

So the cat bit mouse, and mouse gnawed rope, and rope hanged smith, and smith hammered axe, and axe chopped yoke, and yoke pinched ox, and ox drank water, and water quenched fire, and fire burnt fir, and fir felled Finn, and Finn shot bear, and bear slew Greylegs, and Greylegs tore fox, and fox bit Hairlock, so that she sprang home and knocked off one of her hind-legs against the barn wall.

So there lay the nanny-goat, and if she's not dead, she limps about on three legs.

But as for Osborn Boots, he said it served her just right, because she would not come home in good time for tea that very day.