[1] Cf. The House that Jack built.
III
The Countryman and the Merchant
A countryman caught a pheasant, and was carrying it home to cook it for himself and his wife.
Suddenly the pheasant spoke like a man, and said: ‘Let me go, goodman, and I shall repay you.’
The countryman was astonished, and asked:
‘What could you do for me?’
The pheasant replied: ‘You are an old man, and must soon die; when you are dead, I shall gather together all the birds of the air, and follow you to the grave. Since the world began, no king ever had such an honour paid to him at his funeral.’
The countryman was pleased at the offer, and set the pheasant free. When he reached home, he told his wife what had happened, and, although she scolded him at first for letting the bird go, yet she was pleased when the pheasant sent, every morning, birds to ask after the old man’s health.