Page:Tales and Legends from the Land of the Tzar.djvu/130

114

once lived an old man with his daughter; a very pretty, gentle, and industrious girl was Mary. Her father was very fond of her, and she was very fond of her father, so that they lived very happily for some time, until it unfortunately occurred to the old man, that Mary must very often find it dull all by herself, with no one to talk to, as they lived rather far from their friends, and as for the old man himself he was out the greater part of the day, so what did he do but get married again. This time, however, he was unfortunate in his choice; the new wife turned out to be a bad-tempered, cruel woman, and, worse still, she had a daughter just like her. Mary's life was now by no means a paradise; both mother and daughter hated her and were jealous of her beauty and sweet temper. The old man gradually saw what a sad mistake he had made, and how poor Mary was disliked. But one day he was more than horrified when his wife told him that she could not and would not have Mary in the same house any longer, and that he was to take her into the forest and leave her there, so that the wild beasts might kill her and eat her up.

It so happened that the old man was very easy, and could be made to do almost anything; his wife