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 252 And he answered, "I should like this water to be turned into wine and belong to me."

The angel made the sign of the cross with his staff, and lo!—instead of water, there flowed wine in the stream. Casks were being made, wine was being poured into them; people were seen working, and a village arose. The angel left the eldest brother there and said, "Now you have what you wished for, stop and live here."

Then the angel took the two younger brothers, and went with them farther on. They soon came to a field in which an enormous number of pigeons were feeding. There the angel asked the second brother,—

"What would you like to have?"

And he answered, "I should like all these pigeons to be changed into sheep and belong to me."

The angel made the sign of the cross with his staff over the field, and in an instant all the pigeons became sheep. A dairy appeared in which some women were milking the ewes, others were measuring the milk, collecting cream, making cheeses, and melting fat; there was also a slaughter-house in which meat was dressed, weighed, and money received; people were busy everywhere, and a village sprang up on the spot. Hereupon the angel said to the second brother, "Here you have what you wished for."