Page:Slavonic Fairy Tales.djvu/136

 Rh , and pretending to drink the wine, emptied the glass unobserved outside. There was grass growing under the window, and the poison burnt it to the very root. The stepmother was amazed that nothing happened to Ivanushka.

Next day, on his way home, Ivanushka again passed by the stable door. He went in to caress the horse, and observed that, like the day before, the horse was sad, and stood with his head hanging down. He asked the reason, and the horse said,—

"They have baked a poisoned cake for you; take care not to eat it, but throw it away."

It happened exactly as the horse had foretold. Ivanushka threw the cake out of the window, and a dog ate it. In an instant he began to run round and round, and to run his head against the walls; at last he threw himself upon the ground, barked, howled, and died. Ivanushka, as well as ever, went next morning to school.

When the housekeeper found out that it was the horse who had warned Ivanushka, she determined with the consent of the merchant's wife to destroy him; and accordingly she put some poison into a pail of water. If the horse would but drink it, thirty-three carrion crows would come and with their iron beaks tear him into pieces.