So he and his boy said farewell to the dame and
started off. They had not gone far when they met a number of girls
coming from the town.
"Look!" said one of them. "Did you ever see such stupid fellows? They
are walking when one of them might be riding."
When the miller heard this he bade the boy get up on the ass, while he
tramped along merrily by its side. Soon they came to a number of old
men standing by the side of the road talking together.
"Look at that," said one of them, "Look at that young rascal riding,
while his poor father has to walk. Get down, you idle fellow, and let
your father ride."
Upon this the son got down from the ass, and the miller took his
place. They had not gone very far when they met two women coming home
from market.
"You lazy old man!" they cried at once. "How dare you ride when your
poor little boy is walking and can hardly keep pace with you?"
Then the miller, who was a good-natured man, took his son up behind
him, and in this way they went to the town.
"My good fellow," said a townsman whom they met, "is that ass your
own?"
"Yes," replied the miller.
"I should not have thought so, by the way you load him," said the man.
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