Page:Chinese Fairy Book (Richard Wilhelm).djvu/44

24 Note: "The Panther" in this tale is in reality the same beast as "the talking silver fox" in No. 48, and the fairy-tale is made up of motives to be found in "Little Red Riding-Hood," "The Wolf and the the [sic] Seven Kids," and "The Vagabonds."

NCE upon a time there was a widow, who had a child. And the child was a kind-hearted boy of whom every one was fond. One day he said to his mother: "All the other children have a grandmother, but I have none. And that makes me feel very sad!"

"We will hunt up a grandmother for you," said his mother. Now it once happened that an old beggar-woman came to the house, who was very old and feeble. And when the child saw her, he said to her: "You shall be my grandmother!" And he went to his mother and said: "There is a beggar-woman outside, whom I want for my grandmother!" And his mother was willing and called her into the house; though the old woman was very dirty. So the boy said to his mother: "Come, let us wash grandmother!" And they washed the woman. But she had a great many burrs in her hair, so they picked them all out and put them in a jar, and they filled the whole jar. Then the grandmother said: "Do not throw them away, but bury them in the garden. And you must not dig them up again before the great flood comes."

"When is the great flood coming?" asked the boy. "When the eyes of the two stone lions in front of the prison grow red, then the great flood will come," said the grandmother.