The stranger looked all about him. “Is not that rice that I see?” he asked, pointing to the kettle.
“Yes, it is rice, but my little dog and cat are hungry also, and not another morsel have we in the house beside that.”
“Nevertheless, it is right that a man should be fed before dumb brutes,” said the stranger. “Give me at least a taste of the rice before you feed them.”
The old man did not know how to refuse him.
“Take some of it, then,” he said, “but leave a little for them, I beg of you.”
At once the stranger dipped into the kettle and began to eat, and he ate so fast that before the old man could stop him, all the rice was gone from the kettle, to the very last grain.
The old man was cut to the heart to think that his guest could have done this. Now his little dog and cat would have to go to bed hungry. All the same, he said nothing. He took up the empty kettle and was about to put it back on the shelf when the stranger said to him, “Fill the kettle with water and hang it over the fire again.”
“Why should I do that?” asked the old man. “Water will not fill our stomachs or satisfy our hunger.”
“Nevertheless, do as I bid you,” said the stranger.