, which
they called Peter. It was the prettiest little creature they had ever
seen--so beautiful and so wise that it understood everything that was
said to it, and so gentle and so full of play that both the man and his
wife came to be as fond of it as if it had been their own child.

One day the man said to his wife, 'I wonder, now, whether our parish
clerk could teach Peter to talk; in that case we could not do better
than adopt him as our son, and let him inherit all that we possess.'

'Well, I don't know,' said his wife, 'our clerk is tremendously learned,
and knows much more than his Paternoster, and I could almost believe
that he might be able to teach Peter to talk, for Peter has a
wonderfully good head too. You might at least ask him about it.'

Off went the man to the clerk, and asked him whether he thought he could
teach a bull-calf that they had to speak, for they wished so much to
have it as their heir.

The clerk was no fool; he looked round about to see that no one could
overhear them, and said, 'Oh, yes, I can easily do that, but you must
not speak to anyone about it. It must be done in all secrecy, and the
priest must not know of it, otherwise I shall get into trouble, as it is
forbidden. It will also cost you something, as some very expensive books
are required.'

That did not matter at all, the man said; they would not care so very
much what it cost. The clerk could have a hundred dollars to begin with
to buy the books. He also promised to tell no one about it, and to bring
the calf round in the evening.

He gave the clerk the hundred dollars on the spot, and in the evening
took the calf round to him, and the clerk promised to do his best with
it. In a week's time he came back to the clerk to hear about the calf
and see how it was thriving. The clerk, however, said that he could not
get a sight of it, for then Peter would long after him and forget all
that he had already learned. He was getting on well with his learning,
but another hundred dollars were needed, as they must have more books.
The peasant had the money with him, so he gave it to the clerk, and went
home again with high hopes.

In another week the man came again to learn what progress Peter had made
now.

'He is getting on very well,' said the clerk.

'I suppose he can't say anything yet?' said the man.

'Oh, yes,' said the clerk, 'he can say "Moo" now.'

'Do you think he will get on with his learning?' asked the peasant.

'