IN a village there once lived two men who had thesame name. They were both called Claus. One ofthem had four horses， but the other had only one;so to distinguish them， people called the owner ofthe four horses， “GREat Claus，” and he who hadonly one， “Little Claus.” Now we shall hear whathappened to them， for this is a true story.
Through the whole week， Little Claus wasobliged to plough for GREat Claus， and lend him his one horse; and once a week， on aSunday， Great Claus lent him all his four horses. Then how Little Claus would smack his whipover all five horses， they were as good as his own on that one day. The sun shone brightly，and the church bells were ringing merrily as the people passed by， dressed in their bestclothes， with their prayer-books under their arms. They were going to hear the clergymanpreach. They looked at Little Claus ploughing with his five horses， and he was so proud thathe smacked his whip， and said， “Gee-up， my five horses.”
“You must not say that，” said Big Claus; “for only one of them belongs to you.” But LittleClaus soon forgot what he ought to say， and when any one passed he would call out， “Gee-up， my five horses!”
“Now I must beg you not to say that again，” said Big Claus; “for if you do， I shall hityour horse on the head， so that he will drop dead on the spot， and there will be an end ofhim.”
“I promise you I will not say it any more，” said the other; but as soon as people cameby， nodding to him， and wishing him “Good day，” he became so pleased， and thought howgrand it looked to have five horses ploughing in his field， that he cried out again， “Gee-up，all my horses!”
“I'll gee-up your horses for you，” said Big Claus; and seizing a hammer， he struck theone horse of Little Claus on the head， and he fell dead instantly.
“Oh， now I have no horse at all，” said Little Claus， weeping. But after a while he took offthe dead horse's skin， and hung the hide to dry in the wind. Then he put the dry skin into abag， and， placing it over his shoulder， went out into the next town to sell the horse's skin.He had a very long way to go， and had to pass through a dark， gloomy forest. Presently astorm arose， and he lost his way， and before he discovered the right path， evening cameon， and it was still a long way to the town， and too far to return home before night. Near theroad stood a large farmhouse. The shutters outside the windows were closed， but lightsshone through the crevices at the top. “I might get permission to stay here for the night，”thought Little Claus; so he went up to the door and knocked. The farmer's wife opened thedoor; but when she heard what he wanted， she told him to go away， as her husband wouldnot allow her to admit strangers. “Then I shall be obliged to lie out here，” said Little Claus tohimself， as the farmer's wife shut the door in his face. Near to the farmhouse stood a largehaystack， and between it and the house was a small shed， with a thatched roof. “I can lie upthere，” said Little Claus， as he saw the roof; “it will make a famous bed， but I hope thestork will not fly down and bite my legs;” for on it stood a living stork， whose nest was in theroof. So Little Claus climbed to the roof of the shed， and while he turned himself to getcomfortable， he discovered that the wooden shutters， which were closed， did not reach tothe tops of the windows of the farmhouse， so that he could see into a room， in which a largetable was laid out with wine， roast meat， and a splendid fish. The farmer's wife and thesexton were sitting at the table together; and she filled his glass， and helped him plenteouslyto fish， which appeared to be his favorite dish. “If I could only get some， too，” thought LittleClaus; and then， as he stretched his neck towards the window he spied a large， beautifulpie，—indeed they had a glorious feast before them.
At this moment he heard some one riding down the road， towards the farmhouse. It wasthe farmer returning home. He was a good man， but still he had a very strange prejudice，—he could not bear the sight of a sexton. If one appeared before him， he would put himself ina terrible rage. In consequence of this dislike， the sexton had gone to visit the farmer's wifeduring her husband's absence from home， and the good woman had placed before him thebest she had in the house to eat. When she heard the farmer coming she was frightened，and begged the sexton to hide himself in a large empty chest that stood in the room. He didso， for he knew her husband could not endure the sight of a sexton. The woman then quicklyput away the wine， and hid all the rest of the nice things in the oven; for if her husband hadseen them he would have asked what they were brought out for.
“Oh， dear，” sighed Little Claus from the top of the shed， as he saw all the good thingsdisappear.
“Is any one up there?” asked the farmer， looking up and discovering Little Claus. “Whyare you lying up there? Come down， and come into the house with me.” So Little Claus camedown and told the farmer how he had lost his way and begged for a night's lodging.
“All right，” said the farmer; “but we must have something to eat first.”
the woman received them both very kindly， laid the cloth on a large table， and placedbefore them a dish of porridge. The farmer was very hungry， and ate his porridge with a goodappetite， but Little Claus could not help thinking of the nice roast meat， fish and pies， whichhe knew were in the oven. Under the table， at his feet， lay the sack containing the horse'sskin， which he intended to sell at the next town. Now Little Claus did not relish the porridgeat all， so he trod with his foot on the sack under the table， and the dry skin squeaked quiteloud. “Hush!” said Little Claus to his sack， at the same time treading upon it again， till itsqueaked louder than before.
“Hallo! what have you got in your sack!” asked the farmer.