Page:Grimm-Rackham.djvu/210

 She quickly hid the joint in the oven, the wine under the pillow, the salad on the bed, and the cake under the bed, and, last of all, she hid the Priest in the linen chest. Then she opened the door for her Husband, and said, ‘Thank heaven you are back: the world might be coming to an end with such a storm as there is!’

The Miller saw the Little Peasant lying on the straw, and said, ‘What is that fellow doing there?’

‘Oh!’ said his Wife, ‘the poor fellow came in the middle of the storm and asked for shelter, so I gave him some bread and cheese, and told him he might lie on the straw!’

‘He’s welcome as far as I’m concerned,’ said the Man; ‘but get me something to eat, Wife, I’m very hungry.’

His Wife said, ‘I have nothing but bread and cheese.’

‘Anything will please me,’ said the Man; ‘bread and cheese is good enough.’ And his eyes falling on the Little Peasant, he said, ‘Come along and have some too.’

The Little Peasant did not wait for a second bidding, but got up at once, and they fell to.

The Miller noticed the hide on the floor in which the Raven was wrapped, and said, ‘What have you got there?’

‘I have a soothsayer there,’ answered the Little Peasant.

‘Can he prophesy something to me ?’ asked the Miller.

‘Why not?’ answered the Little Peasant; ‘but he will only say four things, the fifth he keeps to himself.’

The Miller was inquisitive, and said, ‘Let me hear one of his prophecies.’

The Little Peasant squeezed the Raven’s head and made him croak.

The Miller asked, ‘What did he say?’

The Little Peasant answered, ‘First he said that there was a bottle of wine under the pillow.’

‘That ’s a bit of luck!’ said the Miller, going to the pillow and finding the wine. ‘What next?’

The Little Peasant made the Raven croak again, and said, ‘Secondly, he says there is a joint in the oven.’