But, lo and behold, when the crow came to search for the corn, it had rolled so far into the crack in the tree that he could not reach it with his beak nor with his claw.
So the poor crow flew off through the forest until he met a woodman and he said:
“Caw, caw! Man, Man! Cut tree, I can’t get the grain of corn To save my life from the farmer’s wife!”
So the crow flew and flew until at last he reached the palace of the king. There were the king and the queen, walking in the courtyard. So the crow flew down to the king and said:
“Caw, caw! King, King! Kill man! Man won’t cut tree; I can’t get the grain of corn To save my life from the farmer’s wife!”
So the crow pulled at the royal robes of the queen, and said:
“Caw, caw! Queen, Queen! Coax king, King won’t kill man; Man won’t cut tree; I can’t get the grain of corn To save my life from the farmer’s wife!”
“No, no,” said the queen. “I never coax the king to do anything against his will.”
So the crow was very angry and he flew and flew until he met a snake, and he said to the snake:
“Caw, caw! Snake, Snake! Bite queen; Queen won’t coax king; King won’t kill man; Man won’t cut tree; I can’t get the grain of corn To save my life from the farmer’s wife!”
“Hiss-ss! Hiss-ss!” hissed the snake. “I will not bite the queen.”
“Caw, caw! Stick, Stick! Beat snake! Snake won’t bite queen; Queen won’t coax king; King won’t kill man; Man won’t cut tree; I can’t get the grain of corn To save my life from the farmer’s wife!”
So the crow flew on until he saw the fire, and said:
“Caw, caw! Fire, Fire! Burn stick; Stick won’t beat snake; Snake won’t bite queen; Queen won’t coax king; King won’t kill man; Man won’t cut tree; I can’t get the grain of corn To save my life from the farmer’s wife!”
So the crow flew and flew until he saw some water, and he said:
“Caw, caw! Water, Water! Quench fire; Fire won’t burn stick; Stick won’t beat snake; Snake won’t bite queen; Queen won’t coax king; King won’t kill man; Man won’t cut tree; I can’t get the grain of corn To save my life from the farmer’s wife!”
But the water ran along as fast as possible and refused to quench the fire.
So the crow flew on until he met an ox, and said:
“Caw, caw! Ox, Ox! Drink water; Water won’t quench fire; Fire won’t burn stick; Stick won’t beat snake; Snake won’t bite queen; Queen won’t coax king; King won’t kill man; Man won’t cut tree; I can’t get the grain of corn To save my life from the farmer’s wife!”