The Shepherd was delighted, and got in, and the Little Peasant fastened down the cover upon him. The flock of sheep he took for himself, and drove them off.
Then the Priest went back to the Peasants and told them the mass was said; so they went and rolled the cask into the water.
When it began to roll the Shepherd cried out, ‘I am quite ready to be Bailiff!’
The Peasants thought that it was only the Little Peasant crying out, and they said, ‘Very likely; but you must go and look about you down below first.’ And they rolled the cask straight into the water.
Thereupon they went home, and when they entered the village what was their surprise to meet the Little Peasant calmly driving a flock of sheep before him, as happy as could be. They cried, ‘Why, you Little Peasant, how do you come here again? How did you get out of the water?’
‘ Well,’ said the Little Peasant, ‘I sank deep, deep down till I touched the bottom; then I knocked the head of the cask off, crept out, and found myself in a beautiful meadow in which numbers of lambs were feeding, and I brought this flock back with me.’
The other Peasants said, ‘Are there any more?’
‘Oh yes, plenty,’ answered the Little Peasant, ‘more than we should know what to do with.’
Then the other Peasants planned to fetch some of these sheep for themselves; they would each have a flock.
But the Bailiff said, ‘I go first.’
They all ran together to the water; the sky just then was flecked with little fleecy clouds and they were reflected in the water. When the Peasants saw them, they cried, ‘Why, there they are! We can see the sheep below the water!’
The Bailiff pressed forward, and said, ‘I will be the first to go down to look about me; I will call you if it is worth while.’ So he sprang into the water with a great splash.
