` All right ! ' answered the uncle . Then Mohammed with the Magic Finger picked up a stick and struck the old woman with it , saying , ` Get down , and look after the sheep ; I want to go to sleep . ' ` Oh , certainly ! ' replied she . So Mohammed lay down comfortably under a tree and slept till evening . Towards sunset he woke up and said to the old woman : ` Where are the singing birds which you have got to catch ? ' ` You never told me anything about that , ' replied she . ` Oh , did n't I ? ' he answered . ` Well , it is part of your business , and if you do n't do it , I shall just kill you . ' ` Of course I will catch them ! ' cried she in a hurry , and ran about the bushes after the birds , till thorns pierced her foot , and she shrieked from pain and exclaimed , ` Oh dear , how unlucky I am ! and how abominably this man is treating me ! ' However , at last she managed to catch the seven birds , and brought them to Mohammed , saying , ` Here they are ! ' ` Then now we will go back to the house , ' said he . When they had gone some way he turned to her sharply : ` Be quick and drive the sheep home , for I do not know where their fold is . ' And she drove them before her . By-and-by the young man spoke : ` Look here , old hag ; if you say anything to your son about my having struck you , or about my not being the old shepherd , I 'll kill you ! ' ` Oh , no , of course I wo n't say anything ! '
When they got back , the XXXXX said to his mother : ` That is a good shepherd I 've got , is n't he ? '
birds course foot hurry man part shepherd son uncle woman