Page:Tales and Legends from the Land of the Tzar.djvu/90

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lived, once upon a time, a Russian peasant, with his wife and two children, a little girl and a wee little boy.

One day the peasant and his wife were getting ready to go to market, so they said to the little girl, who was to stop at home,—

"We are going up to town to market, and will buy you a pretty little handkerchief and a cake but you must promise to be a good girl while we are away; take care of your little brother, and don't go out into the road, but remain in the garden and play."

So saying, they left the hut and went off to market. The little girl took her little brother, and, after putting him on the grass under the window, left him to play with some kittens, while she went to look out of the garden gate at the village children, who were playing about in the road. After having watched them for some time, she thought it would be rather jolly to go and join them in their game. Away she ran, quite forgetting what her parents had said. While she was playing with her companions she noticed some red flamingoes fly into the garden. Now, these creatures had the reputation of stealing very small children, so