“Faith, it is!” said he. “Come, we’ll go to the wise woman at once,” and off they went.
When they climbed the hill they found the wise woman sitting in her cottage doorway. “Good evening, missis,” said the lad, “I reckon I’ve fetched you the right thing this time.”
The wise woman looked at them both and wiped her spectacles. Then she said, “Can you tell me what it is that has first no legs, and afterward two legs, and ends with four legs?”
The lad scratched his head, and thought and thought and thought, but he couldn’t tell.
At last the lass whispered in his ear, “It’s a tadpole.”
Then he turned to the wise woman and said, “Perhaps it might be a tadpole.”
The wise woman nodded her head. “That’s right,” said she, “and you’ve got your bottle of brains already.”
“Where?” asked he, looking about and feeling in his pockets.
“In your wife’s head,” she answered. “The only cure for a simpleton is a good wife to look after him, and that you’ve got. So good evening to you.”
She nodded to them, and got up and went into the house. Then they walked home together, and he never wanted to buy a bottle of brains again, for his wife had enough for both of them.