Page:Tales of old Lusitania.djvu/185

Rh reached the king's palace, and asked to see the king; and when the king granted it an audience, it proudly presented his majesty with the bag of money. The king was glad to receive it, and then ordered the chick to be taken to the poultry yard, shut up in the hen-coop, and to be fed and well treated. But as soon as the chick found itself a prisoner in such a narrow space, it began to cry aloud, and from its wiry dungeon began to crow:

But finding that no attention was paid to its cry, it opened its mouth wide and let out the fox it had swallowed, who soon made a meal of the other cocks and hens.

The king's servants immediately went and told his majesty what had happened, and the king commanded that the chick should be shut up in a cupboard; but when it was there, it began to sing as before:

But as they did not bring the money bag, it threw up the pine tree, which fell on the cups and glasses that were kept in the cupboard, which were all smashed into a thousand pieces.