Page:Czechoslovak fairy tales.djvu/238

 His wife, meantime, was anxiously awaiting him. She, poor soul, was suffering the pangs of hunger, thirst, and bodily pain. There wasn’t a mouthful of bread in the house, nor a cent of money.

As Lukas entered the room, he said: “Weep no more, dear wife. Here is your little Marishka. But before you kiss the child, take out the christening gift that you will find tucked away in her clothes. From it you will know what an excellent godmother she has.”

The wife reached into the clothes and pulled out not one ducat but a whole handful of ducats!

“Oh!” she gasped and in her surprise she dropped the ducats and they rolled about in the straw that littered the wretched floor.

“Husband! Husband! Who gave you so much money? Just look!”

“I have already looked and at first when I saw them I was more surprised than you are. Now let me tell you where they come from.”

So Lukas related to his wife all that had happened at the christening. In conclusion he said: “When I saw the old woman was really gone, I started home. On the way curiosity overcame me and I drew out the christening present and instead of one ducat I