The villager said, "As you please"; and they both went to the court.
The town trader said to the judge:

"This fellow took my son with him to the river, and when I asked where
the boy was, he said that a bird had carried him off."

"What have you to say?" said the judge to the village trader.

"I told the father that I took the boy with me, and that a bird had
carried him off," said the village trader.

"But where in the world are there birds strong enough to carry off
boys?" said the judge.

"I have a question to ask you," answered the village trader. "If birds
cannot carry off boys, can mice eat plows?"

"What do you mean by that?" asked the judge.

"I left my good plow with this man. When I came for it he told me that
the mice had eaten it. If mice eat plows, then birds carry off boys;
but if mice cannot do this, neither can birds carry off boys. This man
says the mice ate my plow."

[Illustration]

The judge said to the town trader, "Give back the plow to this man,
and he will give your son back to you."

And the two traders went out of the court, and by night-time one had