"Which is the near ox?" asked the girl with a serious frown.
"Git-ap! Haw! That one there," said the old man.
"And this one is the off ox?"
"Yep."
"Well, suppose you sat here where I do; would this one be the near ox and that one the off ox, then?"
"Nope. Be just same."
"Then the near ox isn't always the nearest one to a person, at all? That ox there is always the near ox?"
"Yep, always. 'Cause when you drive 'em a-foot you always walk on the left side."
"Well, I never knew that before."
After studying them in silence for a while, she said, "Do you think they are happy?"