said. "Now show me what you have got." 

 Then the old man opened the bag. First he pulled out a pretty little kitten with her mother, an old grey cat. 

 "Very nice," said the old woman, "but we can't cook them." 

 "You cooked the hens," said the old man. 

 Then he pulled out a pillow case full of hay. 

 "Quite nice," said the old woman, "but we can't cook it." 

 "You cooked the cabbages," said the old man. 

 Then he pulled out a box full of pieces of broken glass. 

 "Beautiful!" said the old woman, "but we can't eat it." 

 "You ate the marmalade fast enough," said the old man. 

 Then the old woman said, "If you go on talking so foolishly I shall be very cross. Turn that cat and her kitten out at once, burn the hay, and throw the broken glass out of the window." 

 "And what shall I do with the bag?" said the old man. 

 "You can do just as you please with the bag," said the old woman; "I am going to bed." 

 And off she went. 

 The old man opened the door and turned out the cat and her kitten. Then he burnt the hay a little bit at a time on the fire, and threw the broken glass out of the window. 

 After doing this he sat down in his chair to think. "What shall I do with the bag?" he said to himself. "My wife said I might do what I pleased with it. Perhaps I had better burn it." 

 So he cut it in pieces with a knife, and burnt the pieces on the fire. 

 Burnt the pieces on the fire.

 In the morning when the old woman came downstairs to breakfast she looked on the nail for the bag, but of course it was not there. 

 Prev. P 14/15 next