一個小錢包
人生百味
There was once an old man and an old woman. The old woman had a hen and the old man had a rooster； the old woman’s hen laid two eggs a day and she ate a great many， but she would not give the old man a single one. One day the old man lost patience and said： “Listen， old crony， you live as if you were in 1）clover， give me a couple of eggs so that I can at least have a taste of them.”
“No indeed！” replied the old woman， who was very 2）avaricious. “If you want eggs， beat your rooster so that he may lay eggs for you， and then eat them； I flogged my hen， and just see how she lays now.”
The old man， being stingy and greedy， listened to the old woman’s talk， angrily seized his rooster， gave him a sound thrashing and said： “There， now， lay some eggs for me or else go out of the house， I won’t feed you for nothing any longer.” As soon as the rooster escaped from the old man’s hands it ran off down the high-road. While thus pursuing its way， 3）lo and behold！ It found a little purse with two half-pennies. Taking it in its beak， the bird turned and went back toward the old man’s house. On the road it met a carriage containing a gentleman and several ladies. The gentleman looked at the rooster， saw a purse in its bill， and said to the driver： “Get down and see what this rooster has in its beak.”
The driver hastily jumped from his box， took the little purse from the rooster’s bill， and gave it to his master. The gentleman put it in his pocket and drove on. The rooster was very angry and ran after the carriage， repeating continually： “Kikeriki， sir， Kikerikak， to me the little purse give back.”
The enraged gentleman said to the coachman as they passed a well： “Take that impudent rooster and throw it into the well.”The coachman seized the rooster， and flung it down the well. The rooster began to swallow the water， and drank and drank till it had swallowed all the water in the well. Then it flew out and again ran after the carriage， calling： “Kikeriki， sir， Kikerikak， to me the little purse give back.” When the gentleman saw this， he was perfectly amazed. When he reached home he told the cook to take the rooster， throw it on the coals burning upon the hearth， and push a big stone in front of the opening in the chimney. When the rooster saw this new injustice， it began to spit out the water it had swallowed till it had poured all the water from the well upon the burning coals. Then the rooster gave the stone a push， came out safe and sound， ran to the gentleman’s window， screaming： “Kikeriki， sir， Kikerikak， to me the little purse give back.”