How Malice Cheated Madame Bouqui 171


 ,You can have bean soup, beans and rice, bean salad,
bean loaf, and still more beans,, the woman explained.
 *Aye! This is really a beautiful idea. Bean soup, baked
beans, bean salad, bean loaf, and still more beans. One
minute now. Why can't I put some dried goat meat with
the beans?, Bouqui asked.
 -Yes, you can mix any kind of meat with the beans,-
 the woman said.
 *Aye-aye-aye! Beans with goat meat. My wife will be
 very proud of me for doing such a beautiful business. When
 she hears about those wonderful beans she'll forget all about
 the vegetables that were stolen from me.. He got on the
 donkey's bare back, and the woman handed him the bag
 of red beans. He threw the bag across his shoulder and
 off he started for home.-Hey-ya, bourrique!' he shouted,
 shaking his legs.
 When he arrived home Bouqui threw the bag of beans
 on the ground, jumped down from the donkey, and rushed
 into the house to tell Madame Bouqui of the good bargain
 he had made. -Oh-oh,, he grunted to her, <I never knew
 that people in the city knew how to cheat. An old man
 offered to help me sell my vegetables. He told me to turn
 around and said that when he signaled me to look back
 everything would be sold. I did that, but for a long time he
 never signaled me. So I turned around anyway, and to my
 surprise the old man had gone and taken everything with
 him.)
 Oh. good God, my father! she exclaimed.' Bouqui, how
 could you stand so stupidly and let somebody carry all the
 vegetables away from you?-