Page:Tales and Legends from the Land of the Tzar.djvu/176

160 "I shall go and see what all that row is about!"

The Potter went down to the workshop and looked through the key-hole in the door; and there, to his surprise, he saw the little demons hard at work, with the exception of one, who was lame, and limped about doing nothing but looking round him. All at once he noticed the Potter looking through the key-hole, so he took up a handful of clay and threw it through the key-hole, right into the Potter's eye, so that the unfortunate man became blind of one eye, and ran upstairs to his room in a great rage.

Next morning the Evil Spirit came to the Potter, and said,—

"Go, master, and see how many pots I have made in one night!"

The Potter went down and counted one hundred and forty pots standing all in a row.

"Now, master," said the Evil Spirit, "I want you to get me a thousand fathoms of wood, for I intend to bake the pots to-night."

When he had got what he asked for, the Evil Spirit shut himself up at midnight in the workroom, and called for the little demons again, who came in jumping and dancing, and after breaking all the pots they threw them into the fire and burnt them.

When the Potter saw all this through the key-hole, he thought to himself,—

"This man will be the ruin of me. I shall lose all I have in the way of work."

In the morning the Evil Spirit called his master, and said,—

"Look here, master, have I not done my work well?"