The Job Switch

Once upon a time, a long time ago, there was an old woman and an old man who lived in a little red cabin with a sod roof.

One day the old woman said to the old man:

- You have to go into the forest and collect wood because soon I won't have any wood left and can't cook anything on my stove.

- Oh, it's terrible, the old man scolded himself. Every single day the wood is almost gone so I have to go out into the forest and toil and drag. You have it easy, you, who only have to stand by the stove and stir the pot all day.

- You complain, old man, said the old woman, but I will tell you that my job is much more difficult than yours. I have to cook and watch the goat at the same time.

In this way the old woman and the old man tired every single day for many weeks.
One day the old woman said: - Today I will go out into the forest and collect firewood, then you can cook and guard the goat.

- Yes, it will be fine, said the old man, thinking that it will be done soon and then I will lie down on the grass and rest until the old woman comes home.

And so the old woman went into the forest.
The old man started to cook porridge, but then he remembered that he had to guard the goat too.

But how could he guard the goat and stir the pot at the same time? The old man thought for a long time and finally he got a good idea! He tied a rope around the goat's neck, lifted her onto the sod roof of the cottage and let the end of the rope down the chimney.
Then he tied the rope around his waist and so he could stir the pot while the goat ate grass on the roof.
The old woman could never have come up with this, thought the old man.

But right as it was, nothing better happened than the goat falling from the roof.
And since the old man was stuck at the other end of the rope, he jerked up the chimney.

When the old woman came home from the forest towards evening, the goat was standing outside the cabin and barking, the old man was sitting in the chimney and croaking, and the porridge was completely burnt.

But that old man, he never complained about the old woman again and so they lived happily ever after.