Atondido Stories
“Come with me, Kubik, and my daughter, Kachenka, will
give you a more beautiful ring than any your father or brothers
have ever seen.”
Kubik hesitated, but at last not to hurt the frog’s feelings he
agreed. “But if your daughter Kachenka looks like you,” he
thought to himself, “Heaven help me, for she’ll be a pretty dear
price to pay for a farm!”
The frog led him to a deep valley at one side of which rose a
high rocky cliff that was honey-combed with caverns. The frog
hopped into one of these and called out:
“Kachenka, my child, where are you? Here is Kubik come to
woo you and to beg a betrothal gift. Bring out your little box of
rings.”
Instantly a second frog appeared dragging a heavy jewel cas-
ket. Kachenka, alas, was a hundred times uglier than her mother.
Her legs were crooked, her face was all covered with spots, and
when she spoke her voice was hoarse and croaking.
For a moment Kubik shivered and turned away in disgust,
but only for a moment until he remembered that it wasn’t Ka-
chenka’s fault that she was a frog.
The two frogs put the casket before him and opened it and
Kubik saw that it was filled with a collection of the rarest and
most beautiful rings in the world.
“Make your own choice, Kubik,” the old frog said.
Kubik selected as plain a ring as there was, for he was
ashamed to take one of the handsomest.
“Not that one!” the old frog said, “unless you want your
brothers to laugh at you.”
Thereupon she herself picked out the ring that had the big-
gest diamond of them all, wrapped it up carefully in paper, and
handed it to Kubik.
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