‘Good morning,’ said the jackal, ‘I am so glad to see you. I have been looking for you everywhere.’
‘For me?’ answered the sheep, in an astonished voice; ‘but we have never met before!’
‘No; but I have heard of you. Oh! you don’t know what fine things I have heard! Ah, well, some people have all the luck!’
‘You are very kind, I am sure,’ answered the sheep, not knowing which way to look. ‘Is there any way in which I can help you?’
‘There is something that I had set my heart on, though I hardly like to propose it on so short an acquaintance; but from what people have told me, I thought that you and I might keep house together comfortably, if you would only agree to try. I have several fields belonging to me, and if they are kept well watered they bear wonderful crops.’
‘Perhaps I might come for a short time,’ said the sheep, with a little hesitation; ‘and if we do not get on, we can but part company.’
‘Oh, thank you, thank you,’ cried the jackal; ‘do not let us lose a moment.’ And he held out his paw in such an inviting manner that the sheep got up and trotted beside him till they reached home.
‘Now,’ said the jackal, ‘you go to the well and fetch the water, and I will pour it into the trenches that run between the patches of corn.’ And as he did so he sang lustily. The work was very hard, but the sheep did not grumble, and by-and-by was rewarded at seeing the little green heads poking themselves through earth. After that the hot sun ripened them quickly, and soon harvest time was come. Then the grain was cut and ground and ready for sale.
When everything was complete, the jackal said to the sheep:
‘Now let us divide it, so that we can each do what we like with his share.’