Page:Russian Fairy Book (N. H. Dole).djvu/34

18 the old dame and said to her: "You were clever enough to spin and weave this cloth, you must be clever enough to make some shirts out of it."

"Sovereign, it was not I who spun and wove this cloth," said the old dame; "it is the work of my adopted daughter."

"Well, let her make them," he said.

The woman went home and told Vasilisa all about this.

"I knew," said Vasilisa, "that this work of my hands would not suit them."

She shut herself in her room and took hold of the work. She sewed steadily without once letting it out of her hands, and soon a dozen shirts were ready.

The dame took the shirts to the Tsar and Vasilisa washed her face and hands, combed her hair, dressed herself, and sat down at the window, waiting to see what would happen. Presently one of the Tsar's servants came into the old dame's yard and said: "Our sovereign Tsar wishes to see the clever artist who has made him the shirts and to reward her from his own hands."

Vasilisa went and showed herself before the eyes of the Tsar. When he saw the fair young