The appointed day arrived and likewise the farmer and the hog, which being placed upon the scales presented an attractive picture, at least from the standpoint of those who like pork. The dealer seemed well pleased.
“My wife said it was a shame for me to sell this hog,” said the farmer as the dealer started to adjust the scales, “she said she wanted that hog’s head for ‘sowse.’”
“Oh! she did,” said the dealer, “well, I will make her a present of it.”
The butcher immediately proceeded to decapitate the hog and wrapping the head up in coarse brown paper, handed it over to the delighted farmer who was overwhelmed at such unexpected generosity. The butcher then weighing the hog, figured a moment on a slip of paper and turning to the till counted out the amount coming for the meat at the agreed upon rate.
When the farmer handed the hog’s head to his much surprised spouse she inquired:
“How much did the hog weigh?”
“It didn’t seem to weigh up as much as I expected,” said the farmer. “I thought it would weigh twenty-five or thirty pounds more than it did.”
The woman looked at her husband suspiciously.
“Did the butcher weigh the hog before or after he cut off the head?”
“He weighed it afterwards.”