k, so as to
catch everything he let fall; and he did not see the husband and wife
exchanging glances with each other which said, 'That would be a splendid
cock to put with our basket.'

'Have another glass of wine?' suggested the innkeeper, when they had
finished admiring the beauty of the cock, for they pretended not to have
seen the gold or the diamonds. And Father Grumbler, nothing loth, drank
one glass after another, till his head fell forward on the table, and
once more he was sound asleep. Then the woman gently coaxed the cock
from the basket and carried it off to her own poultry yard, from which
she brought one exactly like it, and popped it in its place.

Night was falling when the man awoke, and throwing proudly some grains
of gold on the table to pay for the wine he had drunk, he tucked the
cock comfortably into his basket and set out for home.

His wife and all the children were waiting for him at the door, and as
soon as she caught sight of him she broke out:

'You are a nice man to go wasting your time and your money drinking in
that tavern, and leaving us to starve! Aren't you ashamed of yourself?'

'You don't know what you are talking of,' he answered. 'Money? Why, I
have gold and diamonds now, as much as I want. Do you see that cock?
Well, you have only to say to him, "Show me what you can do, cock," and
something splendid will happen.'

Neither wife nor children were inclined to put much faith in him after
their last experience; however, they thought it was worth trying, and
did as he told them. The cock flew round the room like a mad thing,
and crowed till their heads nearly split with the noise; but no gold or
diamonds dropped on the brick floor--not the tiniest grain of either.

Father Grumbler stared in silence for an instant, and then he began to
swear so loudly that even his family, accustomed as they were to his
language, wondered at him.

At last he grew a little quieter, but remained as puzzled as ever.

'Can I have forgotten the words? But I KNOW that was what he said! And
I saw the diamonds with my own eyes!' Then suddenly he seized the cock,
shut it into the basket, and rushed out of the house.

His heavy wooden shoes clattered as he ran along the road, and he made
such haste that the stars were only just beginning to come out when he
reached the cave of the Holy Man.

'Who is that knocking?' asked a voice from within.

'It is me! It is me! Holy Man! you know! Father--'

'But,