"Oh," answered Gudbrand, "but so-so; I cannot boast of my luck, neither can I exactly complain of it." He then began to relate all that he had done from first to last.
"You'll meet with a warm reception when you get home to your wife," said his neighbor. "God help you, I would not be in your place."
"I think things might have been much worse," said Gudbrand; "but whether they are good or bad, I have such a gentle wife that she will never say a word, let me do what I may."
"Yes, that I know," answered his neighbor; "but I do not think she will be so gentle in this instance."
"Shall we lay a wager?" said Gudbrand of the Mountain-side. "I have got a hundred dollars in my chest at home; will you venture the like sum?"
"Yes, I will," replied the neighbor, and they wagered accordingly, and remained till evening drew on, when they set out together for Gudbrand's house; having agreed that the neighbor should stand outside and listen, while Gudbrand went in to meet his wife.
"Good-evening," said Gudbrand.
"Good-evening," said his wife, "thank God thou art there."
Yes, there he was. His wife then began asking him how he had fared in the town.
"So-so," said Gudbrand: "I have not much to boast of; for when I reached the town there was no one who would buy the cow, so I changed it for a horse."