Chapter 150 177. The Language of Animals and Curious Wives

Once upon a time there was a young married man who could no longer support himself in the place where he had lived, so he moved to another country to serve a priest.One day, while working in the fields, he found a large bundle of mushrooms and brought it to his master.The priest said to him, "Go back to that place tomorrow, dig where the mushrooms used to be, and bring me what you find." The farmer went to dig there and found two adders.He killed them and brought them to the master.Two eels had been brought to the priest that day, so he said to the servant, "Give the young man something to eat, and fry those two thin eels for him."

But the maid did something wrong: she fried the adder and gave it to the farmer.Farmers ate them and loved them. In the kitchen were the priest's dog and a she-cat, and when the farmer had eaten the adder he heard them talking.The dog said, "I should eat more meat than you." The cat said, "No. I should eat more meat." "I went out with my master," said the Dog, "and you stayed at home. So I should eat more meat than you." "If you go out with your master, it's because that's your job," said the Cat, "just as it's my job to stay at home."

The farmer understood that after eating the meat of the adder, he gained the ability to understand the language of animals. He went to the barn to feed the mules and heard them talking. "For me," said the mule who was leading the rein, "give me more barley than you, for I will be pulling the cart and running." And the other mule said, "Give me as much barley as I give you, because I have loads." When the farmers heard this, they divided the barley into equal shares. "Look, he did the right thing, what did I tell you?" said the second mule. The farmer came back and met the she-cat, who said to him, "Listen, I know you can understand us when we talk. You see, the priest can't find the adder now, and the maid has told him that because of a mistake , she gave you the viper. Now the master wants to know if you have the gift of understanding the language of animals, for he has read about it in a magic book, and he will ask you, and you will answer no, He will keep asking, and you will keep saying no, because if you tell him, you will die, and the power will be passed on to the master.

Being so warned, the peasant would say nothing to the priest, whatever questions he asked him, until the priest got tired and let him go.On the way, he met a herd of sheep.The shepherds were desperate because every night they lost several sheep. "How much will you give me if I keep the sheep from getting lost again?" asked the farmer.The shepherd replied, "When we see that the sheep are no longer lost, we will give you a saddled mare and a young female mule." The farmer then stayed with the flock, and at night he slept On the haystack outside.In the middle of the night, he heard voices, a pack of wolves barking at the dogs: "Oh, Vito buddy!"

The Shepherds replied "Oh Brother Cora!" "Can we catch the sheep?" "No, you cannot," answered the dogs, "the shepherd is sleeping outside." For eight days, the peasants slept outside, and heard the dogs warning the wolves not to approach; thus, they never found any less sheep in the morning.On the ninth day, he had the shepherd dogs who had become traitors killed and used new dogs to guard the flock.At night, the wolves barked again: "Oh, man Vito, can we come?" The new dogs replied "Yes, come on, your friend has been killed, we will yell, and people will come." Fire on you."

The next day the shepherds gave the farmer a saddled mare and a young mule, and he set off again.When he got home, his wife asked him, "Whose animals do they belong to?" "Ours," he replied. "Then how did you get them?" But the husband kept silent and explained nothing to her There was a fair in a nearby town, and the farmer decided to go with his wife.Both of them rode on a saddled mare, followed by the mother mule. "Mom, wait for me!" said the mother mule.The mare said, "Come on, how easy you are, I have two more on my back!" Hearing these words, the farmer laughed.The wife was curious and asked him, "Why are you laughing?"

The husband said, "That's all. No reason." "Tell me why you laugh, or I'll dismount and go home." The husband replied, "Well, I will tell you when we get to Santo." They came to Santo and the wife started asking again, "Now tell me why you're laughing. Well, why are you laughing?" He replied, "I'll tell you when I get back." Therefore, the wife no longer thought of going to the market, but just wanted to go home immediately.As soon as she got home, she immediately said, "Tell me now." "Go and fetch the confessor," said the husband, "and I will tell you."

The wife put on a veil, called Father Chanmei in a hurry, and then ran to take him home. As the husband waited for the confessor, he thought: "Now I have to tell her, and then I will die. My life is miserable! But first I will confess and then take communion, so I can die in peace. " Thinking so, he threw some bran to the hen.The hens gathered to eat the chaff, but the rooster jumped up, flapped its wings and flew to their heads, driving all the hens away. The farmer asked the rooster, "Why don't you let the hens eat?" The rooster answered, "The hens shall do as I will, though there are many of them; not as you have but one wife, and cannot but obey her, and now you must tell her that you understand us, and die .”

The farmer thought for a while, and then said to the rooster, "You have more brains than I do." He took the strap, wet it, made sure it was pliable, and waited.The wife came back and said "Now here comes the confessor: tell me what you were laughing at." The husband took the belt and started beating her until she was half dead.The priest came and asked, "Who wants to repent?" "My wife." The priest saw through his intentions and left.After a while, the wife woke up, and the husband said to her, "Did you hear what I should say to you, wife?"

"I don't want to know anything," she replied. From this day on, she became less curious. (Province of Agrigento)