Whereupon, without an instant's hesitation, he exchanged the hog for the
she-goat.

All went well for another half-hour. The young madam with her long horns
greatly amused Gudbrand, who laughed at her pranks till his sides ached.
In fact, too, the goat pulled him along; but, when one is on the wrong
side of forty, one soon gets tired of scrambling over the rocks; and so
the farmer, happening to meet a shepherd feeding his flock, traded his
she-goat for a ewe. 'I'll have just as much milk,' mused he, 'from that
animal as from the other, and, at least, she will keep quiet, and not
worry either my wife or me.'

Gudbrand was right, in one respect, for there is nothing more gentle
than a ewe. This one had no tricks; she neither capered nor butted with
her head, but she stood perfectly still and bleated all the time.
Finding herself separated from her companions, she wanted to rejoin
them, and the more Gudbrand tugged at her tether, the more piteously she
baaed.

'Deuce take the silly brute!' shouted Gudbrand; 'she's as obstinate and
whimpering as my neighbor's wife. Who'll rid me of this bawling,
bellowing little beast? I must get clear of her, at any price.'

'It's a bargain, if you choose, neighbor,' said a country fellow who was
just passing, with a fat goose under his arm. 'Here, take this fine
bird, instead; she's worth two of that ugly sheep that's going to split
its throat in less than an hour, anyhow.'

'Done!' said Gudbrand; 'a live goose is as good as a dead ewe, any day;'
and so he took the goose in exchange.