Page:Czech Folk Tales.pdf/40

20 "I can only be cured if I get the suckling of the earth sow."

Víťazko did not wait; he took his beech-tree and set off in quest of the earth sow. He wandered through the country, poor soul! for he did not know where to go, till at last he came to a tower, and there he found Holy Sunday.

"Where are you going?" asked Holy Sunday.

"I am going to the earth sow to get one of her sucklings. My mother is ill, but this will cure her."

"My dear boy, it will be a hard task for you to get that piglet. However, I will help you. Only you must follow my advice exactly."

Víťazko promised that he would follow it exactly. So first she gave him a long, sharp spit, and then she said:

"Go to the stable and take my horse. He will bring you to the place where the earth sow lies buried in the earth. When you have come there you must prick one of her pigs. The pig will squeak, and the sow, hearing it, will start up and run round the earth in a moment. But she won't see you