The Milkmaid and her Pail

PATTY, the Milkmaid, was going to market carrying her milk in a Pail on her head. As she went along she began calculating what she would do with the money she would get for the milk. "I'll buy some fowls from Farmer Brown," said she, "and they will lay eggs each morning, which I will sell to the parson's wife. With the money that I get from the sale of these eggs I'll buy myself a new dimity frock and a chip hat; and when I go to market, won't all the young men come up and speak to me! Polly Shaw will be that jealous; but I don't care. I shall just look at her and toss my head like this." As she spoke, she tossed her head back, the Pail fell off it and all the milk was spilt. So she had to go home and tell her mother what had occurred.

"Ah, my child," said her mother,

"Do not count your chickens before they are hatched."

From The Milkmaid and her Pail by Aesop, translated by Joseph Jacobs (1894). Public domain.

Check your understanding

1. What was Patty carrying on her head?

A basket of eggsA pail of milkA new hatA bundle of clothes

2. Why did the pail fall off Patty's head?

She tripped on a rockFarmer Brown bumped into herShe tossed her head backA chicken scared her

3. What were the steps in Patty's plan to get a new dress and hat?

4. Why did Patty want to toss her head at Polly Shaw?

5. What does Patty's mother mean when she says, 'Do not count your chickens before they are hatched'?

6. Have you ever been so excited about something in the future that you forgot to pay attention to what you were doing right now? Tell about what happened.