Page:Czechoslovak fairy tales.djvu/162

 Then Yanechek said to the third sister: “Now you tell me where my master’s eyes are.”

At first she, too, pretended she didn’t know, but when Yanechek threatened to throw her likewise into the river, she was glad enough to lead him to the cave and pick out two eyes that she said were the right ones.

But when the poor old man tried to look through them, again he cried out in fright: “I see nothing but swirling waters and flashing fins! These are not my eyes! They are fishes’ eyes! Take them out! Take them out!”

When Yanechek saw how the third Yezinka had deceived him, without another word he was ready to serve her as he had served her sisters. But she begged him not to drown her and she said:

“Let me try again, Yanechek, and I’ll find you the right eyes, I promise you I will!”

So Yanechek let her try again and from the very bottom of the heap she picked out two more eyes that she swore were the right ones.

When the old man looked through them, he clapped his hands and said: “These are my own eyes, praise God! Now I can see as well as ever!”

After that the old man and Yanechek lived on hap-