her shoulder, and went out in the fields with the hay-mowers to mow. But the man was to do the work in the house. He thought he would churn the butter first of all, but when he had churned a while, he became thirsty and went down into the cellar to draw some beer. While he was busy filling the bowl, he heard that the pig had got into the room above. Away he ran up the cellar stairs with the tap in his hand, just to see the pig didn't upset the churn, but when he saw that the pig had already knocked the churn over, and stood there licking up the fine cream, which was running over the floor, he got so furiously wild that he forgot the beer-barrel and turned round on the pig. He got hold of it in the doorway and gave it such a tremendous kick, that it killed the poor pig on the spot. All at once he remembered the tap he had in his hand, but when he went down into the cellar, all the beer had run out of the barrel. He then went into the larder, and found cream enough to fill the churn again, and so he commenced churning once more, for butter he would have by dinner-time. When he had churned some time he recollected that the cow, which they kept at home, hadn't been let out of the cow-house, and hadn't had a straw of hay or anything to drink, although it was late in the day. He thought it was too far to take the cow to the field where she generally grazed, so it struck him he would put her on the roof; the cottage had a turf-roof, and there was a splendid crop of grass growing there. The cottage lay close to a steep little hill, and if he placed a plank between this and the roof, he thought he could easily get the cow up there. But he could not leave the chum very well, because the baby was crawling about on the floor and he thought the child might easily upset it. He took therefore the churn on his back and went out, but he thought he had better water the cow first, before he put her on the roof. So he took a bucket to get some water from the well ; but as he stooped down to pull the bucket up, all the cream ran out of the churn over his neck and down into the well. It would soon be dinner-time, and still he hadn't got any butter, so he thought he had better boil the porridge for dinner, and
Page:Round the Yule Log.djvu/66
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42
The Man who was going to Mind the House.