DEATH AND THE DOCTOR.
'Once on a time there was a lad, who had lived as a servant a long time with a man of the North Country. This man was a master at ale-brewing; it was so out-of-the-way good the like of it was not to be found. So, when the lad was to leave his place and the man was to pay him the wages he had earned, he would take no other pay than a keg of yule-ale. Well! he got it and set off with it, and he carried it both far and long, but the longer he carried the keg the heavier it got, and so he began to look about to see if anyone were coming with whom he might have a drink, that the ale might lessen, and the keg lighten. And after a long, long time, he met an old man with a big beard.
"'Good-day,' said the man.
"'Good-day to you,' said the lad.
"'Whither away?' asked the man.
"'I'm looking after some one to drink with, and get my keg lightened,' said the lad.
"'Can't you drink as well with me as with anyone else?' said the man. 'I have fared both far and wide, and I am both tired and thirsty.'
"'Well! why shouldn't I?' said the lad; 'but tell me, whence do you come, and what sort of man are you?'
"'I am "Our Lord," and come from Heaven,' said the man.
"'Thee will I not drink with,' said the lad; 'for thou makest such distinction between persons here in the world, and sharest rights so unevenly that some get so rich and some so poor. No! with thee I will not drink,' and as he said this he trotted off with his keg again.