I will watch the flocks myself to-night in your stead . ' Then he went out to spend the night with the flocks . When midnight struck the wolves howled and the dogs barked , and the wolves spoke in their own tongue , saying : ` Shall we come in and work havoc , and you too shall eat flesh ? ' And the dogs answered in their tongue : ` Come in , and for once we shall have enough to eat . ' Now amongst the dogs there was one so old that he had only two teeth left in his head , and he spoke to the wolves , saying : ` So long as I have my two teeth still in my head , I will let no harm be done to my master . ' All this the master heard and understood , and as soon as morning dawned he ordered all the dogs to be killed excepting the old dog . The farm servants wondered at this order , and exclaimed : ` But surely , sir , that would be a pity ? ' The master answered : ` Do as I bid you ' ; and made ready to return home with his wife , and they mounted their horses , her steed being a mare . As they went on their way , it happened that the husband rode on ahead , while the wife was a little way behind . The husband 's horse , seeing this , neighed , and said to the mare : ` Come along , make haste ; why are you so slow ? ' And the mare answered : ` It is very easy for you , you carry only your master , who is a thin man , but I carry my mistress , who is so fat that she weights as much as three . ' When the husband heard that he looked back and laughed , which the wife perceiving , she urged on the mare till she caught up with her husband , and asked him why he laughed . ` For nothing at all , ' he answered ; ` just because it came into my head . ' She would not be satisfied with this answer , and urged him more and more to tell her why he had laughed . But he controlled himself and said : ` Let me be , wife ; what ails you ? I do not know myself why I laughed . ' But the more he put her off , the more she tormented him to tell her the cause of his laughter . At length he said to her : ` Know , then , that if I tell it you I shall immediately and surely die . ' But even this did not quiet her ; she only besought him the more to tell her . Meanwhile they had reached home , and before getting down from his horse the man called for a coffin to be brought ; and when it was there he placed it in front of the house , and said to his wife : ` See , I will lay myself down in this coffin , and will then tell you why I laughed , for as soon as I have told you I shall surely die . '
So he lay down in the coffin , and while he took a last look around him , his old dog came out XXXXX the farm and sat down by him , and whined .
As amongst at from in on that to while with