"Buy sheep?" said Hodge. "And which way will you bring them home?"
"I shall bring them over this bridge," said Peter.
"No, you shall not," said Hodge.
"Yes, but I will," said Peter.
"You shall not," said Hodge.
"I will," said Peter.
Then they beat with their sticks on the ground as though there had
been a hundred sheep between them.
"Take care!" cried Peter. "Look out that my sheep don't jump on the
bridge."
"I care not where they jump," said Hodge; "but they shall not go over
it."
"But they shall," said Peter.
"Have a care," said Hodge; "for if you say too much, I will put my
fingers in your mouth."
"Will you?" said Peter.
Just then another man of Gotham came from the market with a sack of
meal on his horse. He heard his neigh-bors quar-rel-ing about sheep;
but he could see no sheep between them, and so he stopped and spoke to
them.
"Ah, you foolish fellows!" he cried. "It is strange that you will
never learn wisdom.--Come here, Peter, and help me lay my sack on my
shoul-der."
Peter did so, and the man carried his meal to the side of the bridge.
"Now look at me," he said, "and learn a lesson." And he opened the
mouth of the sack, and poured all the meal into the river.
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