reat joy, demanded--

"How can we repay you? What shall we give you?"

The saint would not, however, take anything, and the more the couple
pressed him the more firmly he declined. Brother Merry, who had been
looking on, came to his side, and, nudging him, said--

"Take something; take something. We want it badly enough."

At length the peasant brought a lamb, which he desired the saint to
accept, but he declined it still. Then Brother Merry jogged his side,
and said--

"Take it, you foolish fellow; take it. We want it badly enough."

At last the saint said--

"Well, I'll take the lamb, but I shall not carry it. You must carry
it."

"There's no great hardship in that," cried Brother Merry. "I can
easily do it;" and he took it on his shoulder.

After that they went on till they came to a wood, and Brother Merry,
who was very hungry, and found the lamb a heavy load, called out to
the saint--

"Hallo! here is a nice place for us to dress and eat the lamb."

"With all my heart," replied his companion; "but I don't understand
anything of cooking, so do you begin, and I will walk about until it
is ready. Don't begin to eat until I return. I will take care to be
back in time."

"Go your ways," said Brother Merry; "I can cook it well enough. I'll
soon have it ready."

The saint wandered away, while Brother Merry lighted the fire, killed
the lamb, put the pieces into the pot, and boiled them. In a short
time the lamb was thoroughly done, but the saint had not returned; so
Merry took the meat up, carved it, and found the heart.

"That is the best part of it," said he; and he kept tasting it until
he had finished it.

At length the saint came back, and said--

"I only want the heart. All the rest you may have, only give me that."

Then Brother Merry took his knife and fork, and turned the lamb about
as if he would have found the heart, but of course he could not
discover it. At last he said, in a careless manner--

"It is not here."

"Not there? Where should it be, then?" said the saint.

"That I don't know," said Merry; "but now I think of it, what a couple
of fools we are to look for the heart of a lamb. A lamb, you know, has
not got a heart."

"What?" said the saint; "that's news, indeed. Why, every beast has a
heart, and why should not the lamb have one as well as the rest of
them?"

"No, certainly, comrade, a lamb has no heart. Only reflect, and it
will occur to you that it really has not."

"W