The Best English Fairy Tales / Лучшие английские сказки

She was so frightened that she ran off as fast as she could to her master, and said,

“Sir, sir, the cow is talking!”

But the master said, “Woman, you’re mad!”

However, he went with her into the cow-house, to see what was the matter.

At the moment they came in, Tom cried out, “Don’t bring me any more hay!”

The master was very frightened. And thinking the cow went mad he told his man to kill her. So the cow was killed, and thrown out upon a dunghill.

Tom tried to get out from the cow’s stomach, but that at that moment a hungry wolf jumped out, and swallowed up the whole stomach, with Tom in it and ran away.

Tom cried out, “My good friend, I can show you where you can eat well.”

“Where’s that?” said the wolf.

“In the house of a woodman,” said Tom, describing his father’s house. “You can get into the kitchen and then into the pantry. There you will find cakes, ham, beef, cold chicken, pig, apple-dumplings[26 - apple-dumplings – яблоки, запеченные в тесте], and everything that your heart can wish.

The wolf did not want to be asked twice[27 - The wolf did not want to be asked twice – Волка не надо было просить дважды.]. So that very night he went to the house and got into the kitchen, and then into the pantry[28 - pantry – кладовая для продуктов]. He ate and drank there a lot to the moment when he could not move.

This was just what Tom wanted. He began to cry and shout, making all the noise he could.

“Quiet!” said the wolf, “you’ll wake everybody up in the house.”

“What’s that to me?” said the little man; “you have eaten well, now I want be merry myself”; and he began, singing and shouting as loud as he could.

The woodman and his wife woke up and came closer to the pantry. They saw a wolf was there, and the woodman ran for his axe, and gave his wife a big knife.

“Stay behind,” said the woodman, “and when I have knocked him on the head you must rip him up with the knife.”

Tom heard all this, and cried out, “Father, father! I am here, the wolf has swallowed me.”

And his father said, “Heaven be praised! We have found our dear child again”. The woodman hit the wolf on the head, and killed him on the spot. They cut his body, and set Tom free.