“Is that gold you have tied up there?” asked the man.
“Yes, it is.”
“I would like to see a lump of gold as big as that.”
Jack untied the handkerchief and showed the gold to the man. When the man saw it his eyes glittered and his mouth worked.
“Listen,” said he to Jack, “I am a good-natured sort of a fellow. I am almost home and you have still a long way to go. Give me the gold and you shall have my horse in exchange, and then you can ride along as proud as a king, and I will do the trudging.”
That seemed to Jack a fine bargain. He thanked the man and gave him the gold, and then he mounted the horse. The man put a switch in his hand and said, “If he does not go along fast enough just touch him with this and he will go faster.” Then he tied up the gold in a great hurry, and made off with it.
As for Jack he rode along holding his head high and glancing about him. “How proud mother will be to see me come riding up to the door like a nobleman,” thought he. “How much better to ride with my head in the air than to trudge along in the dust.”
After awhile Jack thought he would like to go faster, and he gave the horse a cut with the switch. But the nag was a lively one. When it felt the switch it kicked up its heels, and away it went, jolting and bumping. Jack held on as long as he could, and then he fell off into a ditch full of stinging nettles. Luckily a man passing by stopped the horse and brought it back to him. The man was leading a cow by a rope.
“That was a nasty fall you had,” said he.
“Yes,” answered Jack. “Now I see that a horse is a tricky animal. A man gave him to me for a lump of gold I was carrying, and he seemed quiet enough then.”