Anyone have an idea why the young couple put the cow (calf?) in a cart? I read somewhere that they were bringing it to market to sell, but why not let it walk to market instead of pushing it along in a cart? Silly question maybe, but I found it puzzling.
shareImagine they were sparing the cow any loss of weight. Just a guess.
shareIt's an interesting question. I can't say I noticed this detail myself. But it may be some sort of allusion to another work by Breugel, now known as Netherlandish Proverbs. That painting is chock-full of literal depictions of proverbs of the day, mostly illustrating people's foolishness. See it here:
http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/bruegel/proverbs.jpg
So, it could be that the young couple putting the calf in the cart were enacting some proverb similiar to "putting the horse before the cart," or such.
It's a fine line between clever and stupid.
If the animal is closed in a barn all the time it's not used to walking, it's really hard to make it walk again. It's much easier to pull the cart. When the woman was leaving with her husband's body, she tried but she couldn't make the calf walk. Then another man took over, he had to drag it by the tail.
share
The reason the calf was in a cart is because calves are difficult to control when allowed to walk, so putting it in a cart makes life easier for the owners. Also, it was probably a long way to market, which would be difficult for a young animal to walk.
I imagine that they are raising a calf for veal. Therefore they don't want it to get any physical exercise whatsoever, which might make the meat less tender. It's kind of like the way farmers use containment facilities for veal-calves today.
Pretend something clever is written here.