"Yes, it is damnable to be always firing at things and never hitting them," said the young man. "But, truly, I'll put restraint on myself, no matter how hard it may be to do it, and not a single shot shall fly out of these barrels as long as you are away from me."
The old man begged him for the gun, but the young man refused to give it up, saying that, without a gun, it would surely cost no self-restraint to refrain from shooting, and that his method of procedure would then lose all its merit.
"That is very true," replied the old man, and, without bidding his companion a second good-by, inasmuch as the first one still held good, he went back reassured, along the path which had been pointed out to him.
The young man stood still, rested the gun on the ground, thrust the ramrod into the barrel, and said:
"It will be difficult to get the charge out, and yet it can't stay in." With that he tossed the gun over his shoulder and walked in the direction of the Justice's oak grove. Just before he got there a drove of heath fowl started up from a narrow strip of borderland, flapping their wings and screaming loudly. In exultation the young man snatched the gun from his shoulder, crying: "Here's my chance to get rid of the shot forthwith!" and took aim. Both barrels went off with a roar, and the birds flew away uninjured. The hunter gazed after them in astonishment and said:
"This time I thought I couldn't have helped hitting something. Well, from now on I shall certainly restrain myself." With that he continued his way through the oak grove to the house.
When he entered the door he saw, sitting at dinner in a high and spacious hall which took up the entire centre of the house, the Justice, his daughter, his farm-hands and maids, and in a resonant, euphonious voice he gave them a friendly greeting. The Justice scrutinized him with care, the daughter with astonishment; as for the men and maids, they did not look at him at all, but went on eating without paying any attention to him. The Hunter approached the master of the estate and inquired about the distance to the nearest city and the way to get there. At first the Justice did not understand his strange-sounding language, but the daughter, without once turning her eyes from the handsome Hunter, helped her father to get the meaning, whereupon he gave the correct information. Only after three repetitions was the Hunter, on his part, able to understand the reply; but he finally succeeded in making out that the city was not to be reached in less than two long hours, and then only by a path which was difficult to find.
The midday heat, combined with the sight of the tidy meal before him and his own hunger, prompted the Hunter to ask the question whether for love or money he could have something to eat and drink and shelter till the cool of evening.
"For money, no!" replied the Justice, "but for love the gentleman may have dinner and supper and a place to rest as long as he wants it." He had a tin plate, as clear and bright as a mirror, a knife, a fork and a spoon, just as bright as the plate, laid upon the table, and pressed his guest to sit down. The latter fell upon the well-cooked ham, the big beans, the eggs and sausages, which constituted the meal, with all the appetite of youth, and discovered that the food of the country, which was everywhere decried as Boeotian, was, on the contrary, not at all bad.
Very little talking was done by the hosts, for peasants do not like to speak while they are eating. Howsoever, the Hunter, on inquiry, managed to find out from the Justice that no man by the name of Schrimbs or Peppel was known anywhere around in that vicinity. The farm-hands and maids, who sat apart from the seats of honor at the other end of the long table, kept absolutely silent and looked only at the dishes out of which they spooned their food into their mouths. After they had finished eating, however, and had wiped their mouths, they stepped up to the Justice, one after the other, and said: "Master, my motto;" whereupon the Justice addressed to each one a proverbial phrase or a biblical passage. Thus to the first man, a red-haired fellow, he said: "Proneness to dispute lights a fire, and proneness to fight sheds blood;" to the second, a slow, fat man: "Go to the ant, thou sluggard, consider her ways and be wise;" to the third, a small, black-eyed, bold-looking customer: "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush." The first maid received the motto: "If you have cattle, take care of them, and if they bring you profit, keep it;" and to the second he said: "Nothing's ever locked so tight but it will some day come to light."