Half-a-Cock obeyed.  It rolled in the gold, took all that stuck to its wing and its foot, and swallowed as much as it could hold.  It took the road it had followed the first day and when it had arrived near the house it called the mistress and said:  “Strike now, be not afraid to kill me.”  His mistress began to strike until Half-a-Cock called from beneath the mat: 

“Enough now.  Roll the mat.”

She obeyed and saw the earth all shining with gold.

* * * * *

At the time when Half-a-Cock returned from his pilgrimage the two women owned a dog in common.  The foolish one seeing that her companion had received much money said to her: 

“We will divide the dog between us.”

The wise woman answered:  “We can’t do anything with it.  Let it live, I will give you my half.  Keep it for yourself.  I have no need of it.”

The foolish one said to the dog, “Go on a pilgrimage as Half-a-Cock did and bring me some gold.”

The dog started to carry out the commands of his mistress.  She began her journey in the morning and came to a fountain.  As she was thirsty she started to drink.  As she stopped she saw in the middle of the fountain a yellow stone.  She took it in her mouth and ran back home.  When she reached the house she called her mistress and said to her: 

“Get ready the mats and the rods, you see that I have come back from the pilgrimage.”

The foolish one prepared the mats under which the dog ran as soon as she heard the voice of her mistress and said, “Strike gently.”  The woman seized the rods and struck with all the force possible.  The dog cried out to her a long while for her to stop the blows.  Her mistress refused to stop until the animal was cold.  She lighted up the mats and found the dog dead with the yellow stone in its mouth.

* * * * *

STRANGE MEETINGS

Once upon a time a man was on a journey and he met a mare who grazed in the meadow.  She was thin, lean, and had only skin and bone.  He went on until he came to a place where he found a mare which was fat, although she did not eat.  He went on further until he met a sheep which kicked against a rock till evening to pass the night there.  Advancing he met a serpent which hung in a hole from which it could not get out.  Farther on, he saw a man who played with a ball, and his children were old men.  He came to an old man who said to him: 

“I will explain all that to you.  The lean mare which you saw represents the rich man whose brothers are poor.  The fat mare represents the poor man whose brothers are rich.  The serpent which swings unable to enter nor to leave the hole is the picture of the word which once spoken and heard can never go back.  The sheep which kicks against the rock to pass the night there, is the man who has an evil house.  The one whose children you saw aged while he was playing ball, what does he represent?  That is the man who has taken a pretty wife and does not grow old.  His children have taken bad ones.”