Page:Tales and Legends from the Land of the Tzar.djvu/278

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many years ago there came to the hut of an old peasant a soldier, who asked for a night's lodging.

"Come in, soldier, and welcome! Only you must tell me some stories all through the night, for you have been all over the world, I suppose, and have seen a great number of things and know so much."

"What am I to tell you, fiction or fact?"

"Something that has happened to yourself."

So the soldier began telling the peasant where he had been, how he had lived, and what he had seen and, after talking away for a long time he came to a stop, saying that he had nothing more of interest to tell. But the peasant was not satisfied, and declared that he would not sleep unless the soldier told him more tales.

The soldier thought and thought, and then it suddenly struck him that it would be rather fun to try and deceive the peasant somehow or another as he was rather good at that.

"Master, master!" he cried, "do you know what it is that is lying in the loft by your side?"

"Why, a soldier to be sure. What else?"

"No, you have not guessed right; feel with your hand!