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 Meanwhile the countryman reached his home, and told his wife of the ring.

"Now, good wife," said he, "here is the ring; our fortune is made. Of course we must consider the matter well; then, when we have made up our minds as to what is best, we can express some very big wish as I turn the ring on my finger."

"Suppose," said the woman, "we were to wish for a nice farm; the land we have now is so small as to be almost useless."

"Yes," said the husband; "but, on the other hand, if we work hard and spend little for a year or two we might be able to buy as much as we want. Then we could get something else with the wishing-ring."

So it was agreed. For a year the man and his wife worked hard. Harvest came, and the crops were splendid. At the end of the year they were able to buy a nice farm, and still had some money left.

"There," said the man, "we have the land, and we still have our wish."

"Well," said his wife, "we could do very well with a horse and a cow."

"They are not worth wishing for," said he; "we can get them as we got the land."