In a few weeks all the country-folk turned their donkeys' heads towards the windmill on the heath. It was a little farther to go, but the Windmiller took custom when it came to him, gave honest measure, and added civil words gratis.
The other Miller was ruined.
"All you can do now is to leave the mill while you can pay the rent, and try another trade," said his friends.
"I won't," said the Miller. "Shall I be turned out of the house where I was born, because the country-folk are fools?"
However, he could not pay the rent, and the landlord found another tenant.
"You must quit," said he to the Miller.
"That I won't," said the Miller, "not for fifty new tenants."
So the landlord sent for the constables, and he was carried out, which is not a dignified way of changing one's residence. But then it is not easy to be obstinate and dignified at the same time.
His wrath against the landlord knew no bounds.
"Was there ever such a brute?" he cried. "Would any man of spirit hold his home at the whim of a landlord? I'll never rent another house as long as I live."