Page:The Children Who Followed the Piper.djvu/45

WHO FOLLOWED THE PIPER cleaned the cabbages and put them in the pot to boil. Then he looked at the old woman and she nodded to him, and he took down the small piece of bacon that hung from the rafter and he put it in to boil with the cabbages.

And while the pot was boiling the old man and the old woman, Philemon and Baucis, kept telling the strangers they were welcome. The old woman tucked up her skirt and made the table ready for the meal. One leg of the table was short, and Baucis put a piece of a broken jar between this leg and the earthen floor, propping it in this way. Then she asked the guests to bring their couch over to the table.

The only two earthen dishes that the couple had were upon the table, and on these dishes the old woman had put olives and cherries and cheese and eggs that had been toasted in the ashes. And while the guests were eating these good things the old man brought the cabbage and the bacon to them on wooden platters.

Then the old man looked at the old woman and