Page:Tales of old Lusitania.djvu/186

170 The king then ordered the chick to be confined in the stable, but here it began to cry aloud and sing for its money bag as before; and, as the king seemed determined not to deliver up the coins, the chickling in revenge opened its mouth and ejected the wolf, who killed and ate up the horses.

The king, in despair, had the troublesome chick shut up inside an oil jar; but the chickling threw up the owl, and the bird drank up the oil.

The king was now fairly puzzled what else to do to keep the chick quiet and out of mischief; and after much consideration, determined to kill it by baking it. He ordered the oven to be heated, and the little creature to be put inside and baked; but even inside the oven this saucy bird began to cry and sing aloud, and then began to pour out of its mouth all the water it had drunk from the river. The water completely swamped the oven, put out the fire, and even the palace itself soon began to be flooded, the water reaching up to the very windows. But the king, wringing his hands in consternation and despair, ordered that the bag of money should be returned to the dreadful chick, and that it should be sent away at once, before it had time to throw up all the water it had drunk from the river.

The chick then returned home very contented, carrying the bag of money in its beak.

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