THE PARSON AND THE CLERK Once upon a time there was a parson, who was such a bully, that he screamed out a long way off, when anybody came driving against him in the main road : " Out of the way, out of the way ! Here comes the parson himself ! " One day, when he was driving along and carrying on in this way, he met the king. " Out of my way, out of my way !" he shouted, ever so far off. But the king drove straight on and took no notice of him, so that time the parson had to pull his horse on one side. When the king came alongside him, he said : " To-morrow, you will have to appear at the palace, and if you cannot answer the three questions which I will ask you, you shall lose both your gown and your collar, for your pride's sake." That was something different to what the parson was used to. He could bawl and shout and carry on terribly, but to bother his brains with problems and answers was out of the question, So he went to the clerk, who they said had a much smarter tongue than
