o him,

"As I let you out of the cupboard, you must let me out of the cask."

At that moment a shepherd passed with a flock of sheep, and the Little
Farmer knowing him to have a great wish to become bailiff himself,
called out with all his might,

"No, I will not, and if all the world asked me, I would not!"

The shepherd, hearing him, came up and asked what it was he would not
do. The Little Farmer answered,

"They want to make me bailiff, if I sit in this cask, but I will not do
it!"

The shepherd said,

"If that is all there is to do in order to become bailiff I will sit in
the cask and welcome." And the Little Farmer answered,

"Yes, that is all, just you get into the cask, and you will become
bailiff." So the shepherd agreed, and got in, and the Little Farmer
fastened on the top; then he collected the herd of sheep and drove them
away. The priest went back to the parish-assembly, and told them the
mass had been said. Then they came and began to roll the cask into the
water, and as it went the shepherd inside called out, "I consent to be
bailiff!"

They thought that it was the Little Farmer who spoke, and they
answered,

"All right; but first you must go down below and look about you a
little," and they rolled the cask into the water.

Upon that the farmers went home, and when they reached the village,
there they met the Little Farmer driving a flock of sheep, and looking
quite calm and contented. The farmers were astonished and cried,

"Little Farmer, whence come you? how did you get out of the water?"

"Oh, easily," answered he, "I sank and sank until I came to the bottom;
then I broke through the cask and came out of it, and there were
beautiful meadows and plenty of sheep feeding, so I brought away this
flock with me."

Then said the farmers, "Are there any left?"

"Oh yes," answered the Little Farmer, "more than you can possibly need."

Then the farmers agreed that they would go and fetch some sheep also,
each man a flock for himself; and the bailiff said, "Me first." And they
all went together, and in the blue sky there were little fleecy clouds
like lambkins, and they were reflected in the water; and the farmers
cried out,

"There are the sheep down there at the bottom."

When the bailiff heard that he pressed forward and said,

"I will go first and look about me, and if things look well, I will call
to you."

And he jumped plump into the water, and they all thought that the noise
h