Page:Tales and Legends from the Land of the Tzar.djvu/270

254 tub, which he filled with milk, and waited, hoping to see a young man make his appearance. He waited an hour, and then another, yet nothing came. He looked into the tub, but only saw all the bones swimming about on the surface, and those were burnt almost black.

The wife was getting rather impatient, so she sent one of her servants round to the smithy to ask,—

"Whether her husband would be ready soon?"

The unfortunate blacksmith could only say in reply that,—

"Her husband had wished her and all at home a long life, and asked them to remember his name."

When the wife heard this, she knew that the blacksmith had burnt her husband to ashes, and had not made him young again. She flew into a great rage, and ordered her servants to run to the smithy, seize the blacksmith, and lead him to the gallows.

No sooner said than done. The servants ran into the smithy, caught hold of the unfortunate blacksmith, and dragged him to the gallows.

Just as they were on their way, who should overtake them but the young fellow who had lived with the blacksmith as workman—in other words, the devil.

"Whither are they taking you, master?" he asked.

"They want to hang me," replied the blacksmith; and then he told the devil all that had happened.

"Well, uncle," the evil spirit whispered, "I am no other than the painting of the devil on the smithy door, but as you treated me so shamefully I changed myself into a man, and vowed to pay you out. How-