He soon came to a field where a number of men were building a stone wall.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"Why, master," they answered, "there is a cuck-oo in this field, and we are building a wall around it so as to keep the bird from straying away."
"You foolish fellows!" said the sheriff. "Don't you know that the bird will fly over the top of your wall, no matter how high you build it?"
"Why, no," they said. "We never thought of that. How very wise you are!"
The sheriff next met a man who was carrying a door on his back.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"I have just started on a long jour-ney," said the man.
"But why do you carry that door?" asked the sheriff.
"I left my money at home."