One day the man said to his wife , ' I wonder , now , whether our parish clerk could teach Peter to talk ; in that case we could not do better than adopt him as our son , and let him inherit all that we possess . ' ` Well , I do n't know , ' said his wife , ` our clerk is tremendously learned , and knows much more than his Paternoster , and I could almost believe that he might be able to teach Peter to talk , for Peter has a wonderfully good head too . You might at least ask him about it . ' Off went the man to the clerk , and asked him whether he thought he could teach a bull-calf that they had to speak , for they wished so much to have it as their heir . The clerk was no fool ; he looked round about to see that no one could overhear them , and said , ` Oh , yes , I can easily do that , but you must not speak to anyone about it . It must be done in all secrecy , and the priest must not know of it , otherwise I shall get into trouble , as it is forbidden . It will also cost you something , as some very expensive books are required . ' That did not matter at all , the man said ; they would not care so very much what it cost . The clerk could have a hundred dollars to begin with to buy the books . He also promised to tell no one about it , and to bring the calf round in the evening . He gave the clerk the hundred dollars on the spot , and in the evening took the calf round to him , and the clerk promised to do his best with it . In a week 's time he came back to the clerk to hear about the calf and see how it was thriving . The clerk , however , said that he could not get a sight of it , for then Peter would long after him and forget all that he had already learned . He was getting on well with his learning , but another hundred dollars were needed , as they must have more books . The peasant had the money with him , so he gave it to the clerk , and went home again with high hopes . In another week the man came again to learn what progress Peter had made now . ` He is getting on very well , ' said the clerk . ' I suppose he ca n't say anything yet ? ' said the man . ` Oh , yes , ' said the clerk , ` he can say `` Moo '' now . '
` Do you think he will get on with his XXXXX ? '
fool heir home hopes learning one peasant progress secrecy sight