Page:Popular Tales of the Germans (Volume 2).djvu/137

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
NUMBER-NIP.
133

reſting-place ſo tempted the weary glaſs-man, that he immediately ſet his crate upon the upright log, and ſtretched himſelf along on the ſhady ſide among the luxuriant graſs. Here he began to conſider what profit this burden would produce: upon an exact calculation he found that if he ſpent not a ſingle penny at home, but made the induſtrious hand of his wife provide the family with food and cloaths, he ſhould juſt be able to buy an aſs at Smiedberg fair, and lay in a cargo of goods. The idea of transferring the load from his own back to Dapple’s, and walking at his eaſe beſide, ſo delighted his fancy at this moment, when his ſhoulders were raw and ſore, that he could not help carrying on his agreeable reverie. ‘Now when once I have the aſs,’ thinks he, ‘I ſhall ſoon convert it into an horſe; and when I have got the nag ſnug in the ſtable, an acre of ground to grow oats for provender will come in courſe. One acre will ſoon grow to two, two to four,

‘till