Page:Tales and Legends from the Land of the Tzar.djvu/273

Rh "Clothes! He was all in tatters, and a pair of wings."

"Poor fellow! Well, I have got about forty yards of grey cloth and a ten-rouble note; take them, good man, and give them to my son."

"With pleasure, little mother."

Next morning the old woman gave the soldier the cloth and the money, and wished him a safe journey back; and also begged him to come again soon and tell her how her son was getting on.

She waited and waited for many a week, but the soldier did not return. At last the day arrived when her other son was expected home.

"How are you, mother mine?" he exclaimed, coming into the hut and embracing his mother. "Have you any news?"

"Yes, my boy. Not very long ago, an emigrant from the other world came to stay the night here, and he brought some news of your brother, for they both lived in the same sphere. But he said that the poor fellow had nothing but a pair of wings, so I gave him forty yards of cloth and ten roubles."

"Good gracious, mother, you have given away everything we had; and for what? Just because that man was artful enough to tell you a lot of lies. It really is most astonishing how confiding some people are! I think I will go into the wide world and tell a lot of lies, and see whether, after cheating everybody, I become a very rich man or not. If I succeed, I shall come home again, and then we can live happily together, and have food and money in plenty ever after." S