So the shepherd took the treasure and built himself a house . He married a wife , and they lived in great peace and happiness , and he was acknowledged to be the richest man , not only of his native village , but of all the country-side . He had flocks of sheep , and cattle , and horses without end , as well as beautiful clothes and jewels . One day , just before Christmas , he said to his wife : ` Prepare everything for a great feast , to-morrow we will take things with us to the farm that the shepherds there may make merry . ' The wife obeyed , and all was prepared as he desired . Next day they both went to the farm , and in the evening the master said to the shepherds : ` Now come , all of you , eat , drink , and make merry . I will watch the flocks myself to-night in your stead . ' Then he went out to spend the night with the flocks . When midnight struck the wolves howled and the dogs barked , and the wolves spoke in their own tongue , saying : ` Shall we come in and work havoc , and you too shall eat flesh ? ' And the dogs answered in their tongue : ` Come in , and for once we shall have enough to eat . ' Now amongst the dogs there was one so old that he had only two teeth left in his head , and he spoke to the wolves , saying : ` So long as I have my two teeth still in my head , I will let no harm be done to my master . ' All this the master heard and understood , and as soon as morning dawned he ordered all the dogs to be killed excepting the old dog . The farm servants wondered at this order , and exclaimed : ` But surely , sir , that would be a pity ? ' The master answered : ` Do as I bid you ' ; and made ready to return home with his wife , and they mounted their horses , her steed being a mare . As they went on their way , it happened that the husband rode on ahead , while the wife was a little way behind . The husband 's horse , seeing this , neighed , and said to the mare : ` Come along , make haste ; why are you so slow ? ' And the mare answered : ` It is very easy for you , you carry only your master , who is a thin man , but I carry my mistress , who is so fat that she weights as much as three . ' When the husband heard that he looked back and laughed , which the wife perceiving , she urged on the mare till she caught up with her husband , and asked him why he laughed . ` For nothing at all , ' he answered ; ` just because it came into my head . ' She would not be satisfied with this answer , and urged him more and more to tell her why he had laughed .
But he controlled himself and XXXXX : ` Let me be , wife ; what ails you ?
Prepare barked came howled prepared said struck take understood urged