And his uncle ate them.
When he saw that the uncle did not mean to come near the cask, the serpent crawled out and regained his proper shape.
‘I am thankful I did not kill him,’ he said to his wife; ‘for, after all, he is my brother-in-law, and it would have been a great sin!’
‘Either you kill him or I leave you,’ said she.
‘Well, well!’ sighed the man, ‘to-morrow I will do it.’
The woman let that night go by without doing anything further, but at daybreak she said to her brother, ‘Get up, brother; it is time to take the goats to pasture!’
‘All right,’ cried he.
‘I will come with you, uncle,’ called out the little boy.
‘Yes, come along,’ replied he.
But the mother ran up, saying, ‘The child must not go out in this cold or he will be ill;’ to which he only answered, ‘Nonsense! I am going, so it is no use your talking! I am going! I am! I am!’