Atondido Stories
“Not so, old dog!” the stepmother cried. “It’s rattle-rattle
bones before him and rattle-rattle bones behind him!”
Now when the man came into the cottage, he said: “Wife, give
me a basket and let me empty this table-cloth.”
“What!” she cried. “Do you expect me to give you a basket
for your daughter’s bones?”
But he began to chink the golden ducats and then she got a bas-
ket fast enough.
When she had all the ducats safely put away she said:
“Isn’t it just like you to find a place like that for your Lenka!
But what have you ever done for my poor Dorla? Tomorrow you
will take her out into the world and find a good place for her!”
So she got ready for Dorla a fine new bed and stylish clothes
and as much good food as she could carry. The next day the man
took Dorla out into the mountains and built her a little hut of
two rooms.
Dorla sat in the hut and thought about the good supper she
was going to cook for herself.
In the evening the same old beggar came and said to her:
“May God grant you happiness, my child. Won’t you please
wash my face?”
“Wash your face, indeed!” cried Dorla in a rage. “This is
what I’ll do to you!” And she took a stick and drove the old beg-
gar away.
“Very well!” he muttered. “Very well! Very well!”
Then Dorla cooked herself a fine supper. After she had eaten
every bite of it herself, she lay down on the bed and went sound-
ly to sleep.
At midnight Long Beard knocked at the door and called out:
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