10 BIRDS AND MAN 



a man of that remote age, who was born out of 

 his time, and who grew tired of the monotony 

 of his life, even of the society of his wife, who 

 was no whit wiser than the other inhabitants of 

 the village they Uved in. And at last he resolved 

 to go forth and see the world, and bidding his 

 wife and friends farewell he set out on his travels. 

 He travelled far and met with many strange 

 and entertaining adventures, which I must be 

 pardoned for not relating, as this is not a story 

 book. In the end he returned safe and sound 

 to his home, a much richer man than when he 

 started; and opening his pack he spread out 

 before his wife an immense number of gold coins, 

 with scores of precious stones, and trinkets of the 

 greatest value. At the sight of this glittering 

 treasure she uttered a great scream of joy and 

 jumping up rushed from the room. Seeing that 

 she did not return, he went to look for her, and 

 after some searching discovered that she had 

 rushed down to the wine-cellar and knocking 

 open a large cask of wine had jumped into it 

 and drowned herself for pure joy. 



"Thus happily ended his adventures," con- 

 cluded the one-eyed cynic, and they all got up 



