“You robber, you, to steal my corn!” Picking up a clod of earth, she threw it at the bird with such good aim that the crow fell to the ground, dropping the grain of corn which rolled into a crack in the tree.
The farmer’s wife ran up to the crow and, seizing him by the tail, she cried; “You, robber, you! give me back my grain of corn, or I will kill you.”
“Caw, caw, caw!” cried the crow. “If you will set me free, I promise to get it for you.”
But, lo and behold, when the crow came to search for the corn, it had rolled so far into the crack in the tree that he could not reach it with his beak nor with his claw.
So the poor crow flew off through the forest until he met a woodman and he said:
“Caw, caw! Man, Man! Cut tree,
I can’t get the grain of corn
To save my life from the farmer’s wife!”
But the woodman refused to cut the tree.
So the crow flew and flew until at last he reached the palace of the king. There were the king and the queen, walking in the courtyard. So the crow flew down to the king and said: