Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 21, 1910.djvu/257

 Collectanea. 221

and is angry at him. Afterwards he asks the man where he is going. The man tells the owner of the vineyard his trouble. " If that is so," says the owner of the vineyard, " ask your Luck what remedy there is for my vineyard, for, in spite of everything I do, the fruit is bitter. I grafted it ; it did no good. I set out new shoots ; it did no good. When you return, bring me an answer ; I will do you what kindness I can in return." The man promises, and goes on his way.

He goes, and goes, and he comes to a kiosk and a palace. He enters, and he sees a beautiful young woman walking about inside the gate. She asks the man, — "Brother, what are you doing here ? " The man tells her his story. The young woman replies, — " I have great good luck, much property and goods ; but I have a grief, so that my days and nights are passed in sorrow. If you will ask your Luck for a remedy for me, I will share all my riches with you." The man promised, and went on his way.

He went, and went, and, lo ! and behold ! there was his Luck, lying on the top of a mountain ! He gives a salaam, and sits down beside him. He complains to him about himself (about his plight), and then he asks all the questions he had promised to ask, and receives the answer to each. " Now let us be going," says he. "You go ahead, and I will follow," says Luck.

The man sets out, and, coming first to the young woman, he says, — " Your remedy is to marry some brave fellow, and then your sorrow and grief will be over."

He comes to the vineyard. He calls the owner of the vine- yard, and says, — " In the stream from which you water your vine- yard there is gold ore. Bits of gold come with the water ; the trees absorb these, and the fruit becomes bitter. Either draw your water from another stream, or dig out the ore, and your fruit will taste sweet."

The man then comes to the lion and sits down beside him, and tells him how he found his Luck, and all about the vineyard- owner, and about the young woman. The lion enquires, — " Didn't the young woman do you any kindness ? " The man replied, — " She said, — " Come marry me, and let us enjoy together the goodness of God." But I did not consent." The lion asks, — " What kindness did the owner of the vineyard do to