Pekală and Tindală at the Priest's Work
- "We," said Tyndale, "are like brothers to each other. Let's hire ourselves out to the same master and always stay together!"- "Alright," replied Pekale.
And so they hired themselves out to a priest. It was summer, and the priest sent Tyndale to the threshing floor, while Pekale was tasked with herding the cow.
The priest's cow was stubborn and skittish—good heavens, so skittish! It would start grazing, and then suddenly bolt and dash off to the seventh field, the cursed thing! Poor Pekale had to chase after it all day long. By evening, the poor fellow was completely worn out.
But Tyndale didn't have it any easier at the threshing: he had to drive the horses in circles all day without a break. And the priest kept urging him on so much that Tyndale's head was spinning. In the evening, they met at dinner.
- "So, Tyndale, how was your work at the threshing floor?" asked Pekale.
- "Ah, what work! Between you and me, that priest knows nothing about farming! So I ended up sitting around all day. I'm surprised I even managed to walk the horse around the circle once or twice. In short, threshing is just idleness; you can't even earn your keep that way."
- "Well, brother, with the cow it's even worse!" said Pekale. "You might as well bring a pillow from home and sleep from morning till night: the cow grazes, and you have nothing to do!"
- "Really?"
- "Exactly!"
- "Pekale, let's do this: I'll go herd the cow, and you can stay at the threshing floor. Does it really matter where you sleep?"
- "Alright, Tyndale!"
And so they did. The next day, Pekale nearly went mad running in circles after the horses, while Tyndale almost gave up the ghost chasing the cow.
"What a fool this Pekale is!" Tyndale thought to himself.
"No, this Tyndale is impossible!" Pekale said to himself.
And in the evening, when they saw each other, they nearly burst out laughing. Then they thought it over and quit working for the priest.
They figured, sure, the work was easy—but let the priest do it himself.