Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1916-1918, 1918-02-15
The Cleuer Cheese
NJ aker

OnCe upon Llme tncTe l1VeO, III a
little straw hut, poor cheese-maker
and his wife. They made good cheeses
and sold them whenever they could !;
but they lived in lonely spot, and few
people passed by that way, so that
they made but slender living. Now
it CHANGED one day that, when the good
wife came to count the cheeses, she
found that there were six missing, al
though she had not sold any or given
them away.
So she said to her husband, Some
thief has stolen six cheeses IN the
night"
Good" said the husband.
Bad" said the wife.
Good, l tell you!" cried the hus-
band. 1--WE will watch tonight and
catch the thief, and tomorrow we will
take him before the judge and ask that
he be forced to pay us twice the value
of the cheeses."
Good said the wife. What a
clever fellow you are!"
ooh, l have not a pumpkin on my
shoulders said the husband, chuck
ling.
Accordingly, the husband and wife
concealed themselves under the bed
the next night and watched to see
what would happen. About midnight
the door opened softly, and in came
a large brown monkey. He looked
all about, and, seeing no one, he went
to the cheese cupboard, took three Of
the finest cheeses, and made off. The
wife was for following him; but the
husband said, mo, let us wait and see
If he comes again"
So they waited, and sure enough the
monkey returned in few minutes,
and, taking three more cheeses, went
off again. This time the man fol-
lowed him. Holding the cheeses care
fully in his arms, the monkey took his
way through the woods till he came
to the mouth of a cave, into which he
ran.
The cheese-maker slipped noiseless-
ly after him. They went through a
dark, winding passage, which led to
a vaulted chamber followed in the
solid rock Here the monkey entered,
while the man concealed himself be-
hind point of rock and peeped after
him. The room was full of monkeys;
and at the farther end sat the monkey
king, on throne made of huge mass
of gold. The cheese-maker stared at
that, for he had never seen such a
sight. When the monkey king saw
the cheese, he howled with delight,
seized the largest one, and gobbled
it up.
When the cheese-maker saw that, he
turned about and went home again;
for he needed to see no more, having
a head on his shoulders, and not a
pumpkin.
How now" asked his wife. "You
come back without the cheeses?''
Hold your tongue, good wife," he
said. knowledge is better than
cheese"
Truly" said the wife, scornfully.
ct must be a fine knowledge to be
worth six of my best cheeses."
The next night the man hid himself
behind the door of the hut, and, when
the monkey thief appeared, he sprang
out and caught him by his long tail.
Here, wife!" he cried, bring me
your shears, that / may cut off this
fellows tail for a rope to beat him
with"
"Ai, ait" screamed the monkey. do
not cut off my handsome tail! Spare
me, and will give you whatever you
wish"
do you mean it? asked the cheese
maker, giving the tail twist.
"Ai, all" said the monkey. 81 swear
it upon my honor"
Then said the cheese-maker, "go
and bring me lump of gold from the
-, o,c To-
you shall have your freedom and
cheese besides"
The monkey, glad to escape so cas-
lily, FASTENED away, and soon returned
with the lump of gold.
What do you want of this yellow
stuff" he asked. 1T is fit only to
make chains Of"
well, l may want to make chain
some day." replied the cheese-maker.
1.-The door will be locked after this"
he added; but, whenever your master
wants cheese, you know how to get it,
1t happened in this way, that the
cheese-maker and his wife grew very
rich; for the monkeys constantly
came to buy cheese, and they always
paid for it with heavy Jumps of gold.
Soon the straw hut disappeared, and
in it's stead a stately house Of stone,
with gardens and terraces about 1t.
The cheese.maker wore velvet coat
and his wife Haunted about in satin
gown: but still they never failed to
make their cheeses twice a week.
"Why do you still make cheese?"
asked the fine visitors who came to
see them, idling in gilded coaches.
But the cheese-maker had but one an
swer for them all: Because l have
head On my shoulders, and not a pump
kim Laura T. Richards.
TILE NljEEN ne LNI ANN