The landlord went upstairs; but it had now grown dark, so he groped his way to the fireplace, and there sure enough was ‘Nina,’ the donkey, lying down, and as he stroked her he said, ‘What fine soft hair you’ve got, Nina!’
Presently the servant brought the lights; and when he saw the dirty old worn-out donkey, and understood what a trick the miller had played off on him, it may be imagined how furious he was.
The next day, as soon as the courts were opened, he went before the judge, and told all the tale. Then the miller came too, and told his; but the judge examined the documents, and pronounced that the miller was in the right; for his part of the contract was that he was to deliver over ‘Nina,’ and he had delivered over ‘Nina.’ There was no evidence that any other ‘Nina’ was intended but ‘Nina’ the donkey, and so the miller remained in undisputed possession of the mill.
And that is the truth, for it actually happened as I have told you.
[1] ‘Quella,’ in the original, lends itself better to the purposed misunderstanding of the story, meaning ‘that one,’ ‘such an one as that!’ in the feminine gender; and the master would think the servant said it in contempt because he spoke of a miller’s daughter. [↑]
THE GOOD GRACE OF THE HUNCHBACK.[1]
A mother and daughter lived alone in a cottage. The mother was old and came to die; the daughter was turned out of house and home.[2] An ugly hunchback, who was a tailor, came by and said—
‘What is your name, my pretty girl?’