off with only looking after one cow, instead of having, as now, to feed
and litter and water two."

Well, Gudbrand thought his wife talked right good sense, so he set off
at once with the cow on the way to town to sell her; but when he got to
the town, there was no one who would buy his cow.

"Well, well, never mind," said Gudbrand, "at the worst, I can only go
back home with my cow. I've both stable and tether for her, and the road
is no farther out than in." And with that he began to toddle home with
his cow.

But when he had gone a bit of the way, a man met him who had a horse to
sell. Gudbrand thought 'twas better to have a horse than a cow, so he
traded with the man. A little farther on he met a man walking along and
driving a fat pig before him, and he thought it better to have a fat pig
than a horse, so he traded with the man. After that he went a little
farther, and a man met him with a goat, so he thought it better to have
a goat than a pig, and he traded with the man who owned the goat. Then
he went on a good bit till he met a man who had a sheep, and he traded
with him too, for he thought it always better to have a sheep than a
goat. After a while he met a man with a goose, and he traded away the
sheep for the goose; and when he had walked a long, long time, he met a
man with a cock, and he traded with him, for he thought in this wise,
"Tis surely better to have a cock than a goose."

Then he went on till the day was far spent, and he began to get very
hungry, so he sold the cock for a shilling, and bought food with the
money, for, thought Gudbrand-on-the-Hillside, "Tis always better to save
one's life than to have a cock."