" Well
satisfied to have found a purchaser on his own terms, the man at once
proceeded as he was desired, and on arriving at the house he threw down
his load before the door. "What is all this?" demanded the master. "I
have not ordered any wood." "Perhaps not," said the man; "but the person
behind me has bought it, and desired me to bring it hither." The
stranger had now come up, and, saluting the master of the house, told
him who he was, and explained that, since he could not ascertain where
his house was situated by inquiries of people in the streets, he had
adopted this expedient, which had succeeded. The master praised the
young man's ingenuity, and led him into the house.
When the several members of the family, together with the stranger, were
assembled round the dinner-table, the master of the house, in order to
test the stranger's ingenuity, desired his guest to carve a dish
containing five chickens, and to distribute a portion to each of the
persons who were present--namely, the master and mistress, their two
daughters and two sons, and himself. The young stranger acquitted
himself of the duty in this manner: One of the chickens he divided
between the master and the mistress; another between the two daughters;
the third between the two sons; and the remaining two he took for his
own share.
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