“Yes， certainly I will，” replied the landlord; and， pouring out a glass of mead， hecarried it out to the dead grandmother， who sat upright in the cart. “Here is a glass of meadfrom your grandson，” said the landlord. The dead woman did not answer a word， but satquite still. “Do you not hear?” cried the landlord as loud as he could; “here is a glass of meadfrom your grandson.”
Again and again he bawled it out， but as she did not stir he flew into a passion， andthrew the glass of mead in her face; it struck her on the nose， and she fell backwards out ofthe cart， for she was only seated there， not tied in.
“Hallo!” cried Little Claus， rushing out of the door， and seizing hold of the landlord bythe throat; “you have killed my grandmother; see， here is a GREat hole in her forehead.”
“Oh， how unfortunate，” said the landlord， wringing his hands. “This all comes of myfiery temper. Dear Little Claus， I will give you a bushel of money; I will bury yourgrandmother as if she were my own; only keep silent， or else they will cut off my head， andthat would be disaGREeable.”
So it happened that Little Claus received another bushel of money， and the landlord buriedhis old grandmother as if she had been his own. When Little Claus reached home again， heimmediately sent a boy to GREat Claus， requesting him to lend him a bushel measure. “How isthis?” thought Great Claus; “did I not kill him? I must go and see for myself.” So he went toLittle Claus， and took the bushel measure with him. “How did you get all this money?” askedGreat Claus， staring with wide open eyes at his neighbor's treasures.
“You killed my grandmother instead of me，” said Little Claus; “so I have sold her for abushel of money.”
“That is a good price at all events，” said GREat Claus. So he went home， took a hatchet，and killed his old grandmother with one blow. Then he placed her on a cart， and drove into thetown to the apothecary， and asked him if he would buy a dead body.
“Whose is it， and where did you get it?” asked the apothecary.
“It is my grandmother，” he replied; “I killed her with a blow， that I might get a bushel ofmoney for her.”
“Heaven preserve us!” cried the apothecary， “you are out of your mind. Don't say suchthings， or you will lose your head.” And then he talked to him seriously about the wickeddeed he had done， and told him that such a wicked man would surely be punished. GREatClaus got so frightened that he rushed out of the surgery， jumped into the cart， whippedup his horses， and drove home quickly. The apothecary and all the people thought him mad，and let him drive where he liked.
“You shall pay for this，” said GREat Claus， as soon as he got into the highroad， “thatyou shall， Little Claus.” So as soon as he reached home he took the largest sack he could findand went over to Little Claus. “You have played me another trick，” said he. “First， I killed allmy horses， and then my old grandmother， and it is all your fault; but you shall not make afool of me any more.” So he laid hold of Little Claus round the body， and pushed him into thesack， which he took on his shoulders， saying， “Now I'm going to drown you in the river.
He had a long way to go before he reached the river， and Little Claus was not a very lightweight to carry. The road led by the church， and as they passed he could hear the organplaying and the people singing beautifully. GREat Claus put down the sack close to the church-door， and thought he might as well go in and hear a psalm before he went any farther. LittleClaus could not possibly get out of the sack， and all the people were in church; so in he went.
“Oh dear， oh dear，” sighed Little Claus in the sack， as he turned and twisted about;but he found he could not loosen the string with which it was tied. Presently an old cattledriver， with snowy hair， passed by， carrying a large staff in his hand， with which he drove alarge herd of cows and oxen before him. They stumbled against the sack in which lay LittleClaus， and turned it over. “Oh dear，” sighed Little Claus， “I am very young， yet I am soongoing to heaven.”
“And I， poor fellow，” said the drover， “I who am so old already， cannot get there.”
“Open the sack，” cried Little Claus; “creep into it instead of me， and you will soon bethere.”
“With all my heart，” replied the drover， opening the sack， from which sprung Little Clausas quickly as possible. “Will you take care of my cattle?” said the old man， as he crept intothe bag.
“Yes，” said Little Claus， and he tied up the sack， and then walked off with all the cowsand oxen.
When GREat Claus came out of church， he took up the sack， and placed it on hisshoulders. It appeared to have become lighter， for the old drover was not half so heavy asLittle Claus.
“How light he seems now，” said he. “Ah， it is because I have been to a church.” So hewalked on to the river， which was deep and broad， and threw the sack containing the olddrover into the water， believing it to be Little Claus. “There you may lie!” he exclaimed; “youwill play me no more tricks now.” Then he turned to go home， but when he came to a placewhere two roads crossed， there was Little Claus driving the cattle. “How is this?” said GREatClaus. “Did I not drown you just now?”
“Yes，” said Little Claus; “you threw me into the river about half an hour ago.”