83 Hans in Luck

Hans had served his master for seven years, so he said to him, “Master,
my time is up; now I should be glad to go back home to my mother; give
me my wages.” The master answered, “You have served me faithfully and
honestly; as the service was so shall the reward be;” and he gave Hans
a piece of gold as big as his head. Hans pulled his handkerchief out of
his pocket, wrapped up the lump in it, put it on his shoulder, and set
out on the way home. As he went on, always putting one foot before the other, he saw a
horseman trotting quickly and merrily by on a lively horse. “Ah!” said
Hans quite loud, “what a fine thing it is to ride! There you sit as on
a chair; you stumble over no stones, you save your shoes, and get on,
you don’t know how.”

The rider, who had heard him, stopped and called out, “Hollo! Hans, why
do you go on foot, then?”

“I must,” answered he, “for I have this lump to carry home; it is true
that it is gold, but I cannot hold my head straight for it, and it
hurts my shoulder.”

“I will tell you what,” said the rider, “we will exchange: I will give
you my horse, and you can give me your lump.”

“With all my heart,” said Hans, “but I can tell you, you will have to
crawl along with it.”

The rider got down, took the gold, and helped Hans up; then gave him
the bridle tight in his hands and said, “If you want to go at a really
good pace, you must click your tongue and call out, “Jup! Jup!”

Hans was heartily delighted as he sat upon the horse and rode away so
bold and free. After a little while he thought that it ought to go
faster, and he began to click with his tongue and call out, “Jup! Jup!”
The horse put himself into a sharp trot, and before Hans knew where he
was, he was thrown off and lying in a ditch which separated the field
from the highway. The horse would have gone off too if it had not been
stopped by a countryman, who was coming along the road and driving a
cow before him. Hans got his limbs together and stood up on his legs again, but he was
vexed, and said to the countryman, “It is a poor joke, this riding,
especially when one gets hold of a mare like this, that kicks and
throws one off, so that one has a chance of breaking one’s neck. Never
again will I mount it. Now I like your cow, for one can walk quietly
behind her, and have, over and above, one’s milk, butter and cheese
every day without fail. What would I not give to have such a cow.”
“Well,” said the countryman, “if it would give you so much pleasure, I
do not mind giving the cow for the horse.” Hans agreed with the
greatest delight; the countryman jumped upon the horse, and rode
quickly away. Hans drove his cow quietly before him, and thought over his lucky
bargain. “If only I have a morsel of bread—and that can hardly fail
me—I can eat butter and cheese with it as often as I like; if I am
thirsty, I can milk my cow and drink the milk. Good heart, what more
can I want?”

When he came to an inn he made a halt, and in his great content ate up
what he had with him—his dinner and supper—and all he had, and with his
last few farthings had half a glass of beer. Then he drove his cow
onwards along the road to his mother’s village. As it drew nearer mid-day, the heat was more oppressive, and Hans found
himself upon a moor which it took about an hour to cross. He felt it
very hot and his tongue clave to the roof of his mouth with thirst. “I
can find a cure for this,” thought Hans; “I will milk the cow now and
refresh myself with the milk.” He tied her to a withered tree, and as
he had no pail he put his leather cap underneath; but try as he would,
not a drop of milk came. And as he set himself to work in a clumsy way,
the impatient beast at last gave him such a blow on his head with its
hind foot, that he fell on the ground, and for a long time could not
think where he was. By good fortune a butcher just then came along the road with a
wheel-barrow, in which lay a young pig. “What sort of a trick is this?”
cried he, and helped the good Hans up. Hans told him what had happened. The butcher gave him his flask and said, “Take a drink and refresh
yourself. The cow will certainly give no milk, it is an old beast; at
the best it is only fit for the plough, or for the butcher.” “Well,
well,” said Hans, as he stroked his hair down on his head, “who would
have thought it? Certainly it is a fine thing when one can kill a beast
like that at home; what meat one has! But I do not care much for beef,
it is not juicy enough for me. A young pig like that now is the thing
to have, it tastes quite different; and then there are the sausages!”

“Hark ye, Hans,” said the butcher, “out of love for you I will
exchange, and will let you have the pig for the cow.” “Heaven repay you
for your kindness!” said Hans as he gave up the cow, whilst the pig was
unbound from the barrow, and the cord by which it was tied was put in
his hand. Hans went on, and thought to himself how everything was going just as
he wished; if he did meet with any vexation it was immediately set
right. Presently there joined him a lad who was carrying a fine white
goose under his arm. They said good morning to each other, and Hans
began to tell of his good luck, and how he had always made such good
bargains. The boy told him that he was taking the goose to a
christening-feast. “Just lift her,” added he, and laid hold of her by
the wings; “how heavy she is—she has been fattened up for the last
eight weeks. Whoever has a bit of her when she is roasted will have to
wipe the fat from both sides of his mouth.” “Yes,” said Hans, as he
weighed her in one hand, “she is a good weight, but my pig is no bad
one.”

Meanwhile the lad looked suspiciously from one side to the other, and
shook his head. “Look here,” he said at length, “it may not be all
right with your pig. In the village through which I passed, the Mayor
himself had just had one stolen out of its sty. I fear—I fear that you
have got hold of it there. They have sent out some people and it would
be a bad business if they caught you with the pig; at the very least,
you would be shut up in the dark hole.”

The good Hans was terrified. “Goodness!” he said, “help me out of this
fix; you know more about this place than I do, take my pig and leave me
your goose.” “I shall risk something at that game,” answered the lad,
“but I will not be the cause of your getting into trouble.” So he took
the cord in his hand, and drove away the pig quickly along a by-path. The good Hans, free from care, went homewards with the goose under his
arm. “When I think over it properly,” said he to himself, “I have even
gained by the exchange; first there is the good roast-meat, then the
quantity of fat which will drip from it, and which will give me
dripping for my bread for a quarter of a year, and lastly the beautiful
white feathers; I will have my pillow stuffed with them, and then
indeed I shall go to sleep without rocking.