One morning Gahan went to his mother and started crying. "What is it you want?" she said. "I want some money," Gahan replied. "You know we are not that rich, I can't spare any money. What do you want the money for?" she asked. "I want it to buy corn. Give me some money please. I really need to buy corn," wept Gahan and by this time he was weeping so hard that his mother couldn't cope.
"There you go," his mother said as she placed a few pennies in Gahan's hand. Immediately he went out to buy some corn but then a hen started eating it and Gahan started weeping again. The woman who owned the hen happened to be watching.
"What is it you want?" she snarled. "I want my corn," answered Gahan with tears in his eyes. "How can I give you the corn if the hen has eaten all of it?" "I want my corn. The hen or the corn. The hen or the corn."
He started crying again. The lady was so fed up with Gahan that she gave him the hen. After all she had lots of hens and one wasn't going to make a big difference.
Feeling much happier now, Gahan started heading home with the hen. On his way he had to pass a field where sheep were gazing. One little lamb was attracted to the hen's feathers and pounced on it. The hen was badly hurt and couldn't move. Again Gahan started crying so loud that the shepherd who was at the other side of the field came over to see what the fuss was all about.
"What is it you want?" he asked. "I want my hen," cried Gahan. "There you can take your hen," said the shepherd as he handed over the dead hen. "But the hen is dead. I had a living hen. I want my hen. The hen or the lamb. The hen or the lamb," he wept. "I can't do anything about it," the shepherd said, as he did not want to give Gahan the lamb. "Of course you can," said 6atian, "Either a living hen or your lamb. If you don't give me what I want, I will report you to the police," Gahan said.
The shepherd was afraid of this and immediately gave Gahan his wonderful lamb. Gahan was now extremely happy with his new pet. However the lamb was very heavy to carry in his hands and he was also tired of walking and crying. On his way, along came a man on a horse. 6ahan stopped him and asked him if he could ride on the horse's back.
The man accepted. Gahan climbed on the horse's back but, before doing so, he tied his lamb with a rope to the horse's tail. The horse did not like the idea of this at all and started kicking with its hind legs. This was too much for the lamb and it died on the spot and Gahan had nothing to do except start crying again. "What is it you want?"
asked the man. "I want my lamb," Gahan said. "There it is. You can have it," the man answered. "But your horse has killed it! I want my lamb. The lamb or the horse. The lamb or the horse," Gahan wept. "I will not give you my horse. Go away or I will hit you with this whip." "If you do that, then you will have committed two crimes, killing my
lamb and hitting a child. How dare you? That is a criminal offence," replied Gahan.
The man realised that Gahan was not joking and that if he refused he would be in big trouble with the authorities. The man had no alternative but to give Gahan the horse.
By now 6ahon was even happier than before because he enjoyed riding horses. On his way he met a beggar who begged for some pennies. Gahan told him that once he had had some pennies but that he had bought corn with them and that then he had had a hen and a lamb and a horse.
Then looked in the beggar's hot. "You do have a few coins," he remarked. "Well yes but not enough for me to buy dinner," the beggar said. "It's a pity you haven't got more," Gahan observed. "Why? What would you have done if I had had more money?" inquired the beggar.
"Well, you could have given me some pennies and, in return, I would have given you the horse. In this way I would return home with my money and tell my mother that I had eaten corn and got her money back," Gahan argued. "Would you like to have these pennies in return for the horse then?" asked the beggar. "Yes. Why not?" answered 6ahan as he handed over the horse to the beggar. The beggar grabbed the horse and was quickly out of sight. Gahan went home with his pennies. His mother was surprised when Gahan gave her the money.
"Why didn't you get the corn?" she wanted to know. "Well, I did and I got a hen and a lamb and a horse," answered Gahan. "Where are they now?" she asked. "Oh it's a long story," said Gahan as he narrated the whole story. As Gahan was telling his mother what happened to him she was so angry and she fainted and poor Gahan thought that his mother had fainted because she was so happy that he had brought back all her money.
