Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 26, 1915.djvu/315

Rh "Old Mother," said the Girl, "do not get angry! I'll give you something to buy another Dog with."

And she gave her another jewel.

But on the third day the Cat died!

"Go away from my house, Darling Girlie!" said the Old Woman, "And back you shall never come! I see you belong to rich people, for you have jewels, but what is the use of them to me? I had rather be without them! I am happier in my poverty, for I can live in peace. Since you came worries have cut my heart. Go, Mother's Darling, and take with you all you have brought,—good and bad!"

So the Girl went sadly away from the Old Woman's tiny cottage.

However, before going, she exchanged her rich clothes for some rags that the Old Woman had. For the Old Woman would have given her all the rags she had in her house, would the Girl only be gone the quicker!

And so the Girl, dressed as a poor beggar-woman, went wandering through the thick wood in the hope of finding a path which would take her to the light.

And going on like this, she came upon a sheep-fold. But no one was there; for the owners were three Comrades who were away tending their sheep. So the Girl swept their cottage, tidied the rooms, lighted the fire, and put the copper, with the maize, to boil. Then she washed up the vessels and the buckets which the shepherds used for sheep's milk. Then she hid herself.

The Shepherds, coming in at lunch time, and seeing all the house-work done, were astonished. They looked here and they looked there, but no one could they see.

Then they said:

"Whoever did this, if it is a Boy, he shall be our Brother; if it is a Girl, she shall be our Sister."

So then the Emperor's daughter came forward. She begged them to keep her there, for she was miserable; she had no shelter, not even anything to rest her head upon.

The Shepherds were quite willing to have her, and they showed her what work she would have to do.