Page:The Folk-Lore Journal Volume 1 1883.djvu/233

Rh said, "Eyes are coming, Mariquita, but they are not thine, thine will come later" So she said to the little old man, "Throw them away, daddy, they are cat's eyes." The following day, they sent to buy a nosegay more beautiful than the others, with birds singing on the top of it, and the little old man went to the palace to sell it. Estefania came out to buy it, and said to her mother, "Now we have no more eyes, what shall we do? for I must have the nosegay." Her mother said to her, "Dost thou not remember that we kept Mariquita's eyes in a glass; we will see if they are sweet yet." Estefania said, "So long ago, they must be rotten." They went to look for them, and found them the same as when they had taken them out; so they gave them to him for the nosegay. Before the little old man got home, the serpent said, "Eyes are coming, Mariquita, and they are thine!" So when he arrived she was well pleased, and said, "These, daddy, are really my eyes." She took them and gave them to the serpent. The serpent licked the sockets, put the eyes in again, and if beautiful they were before, much more beautiful were they afterwards.

The next day the serpent said, "Let us go to the palace. Take this bag of gold ounces, and as the king takes his afternoon nap with Estefania, and has his guards at the door, thou must throw a handful of ounces to the soldiers, and while they are busy in gathering them up, thou must cry at the door, 'Sister mine, Florita!' I will answer, 'What wilt thou, sweetheart?' Thou wilt say—

Thou wilt fling another handful of ounces to the guards, and while they pick them up we will escape."

They did so one day, but the king, who had seen and heard all, gave orders to his guards to seize Mariquita and the serpent when they came again. But the guards, busied with picking up the ounces, took no notice of the king's orders. The third day, the king himself got behind the door to seize them, since he could not get his guards to do it, even though he threatened to cut their heads off. When they came the third time, and said the same things, and were running away, the king took hold of Mariquita by her clothes and stopped her. "What is this, maiden," said he, "what wert thou saying?" Therewith the serpent spoke up for her and said: "It is that the wife that your