Page:The disobedient kids and other Czecho-Slovak fairy tales.pdf/36



He was afraid of her and at last consented. Therefore one day, he said to the children with a sad heart. "Take your little baskets and come with me to the woods to pick strawberries". They jumped with joy and at once taking their little baskets, they went most happily with their father to the woods.

When they were deep in the forest, the father led them to an open place where there were many berries, in fact the place was red with the luscious fruit.

"Now, dear ones," he said, "Pick all the berries you please, while I am away. As long as you hear me cutting wood, you will know that I am near by."

The children began eagerly to pick berries, and the father went a little ways on, where he bound his mallet on a tree. It swung back and forth in the wind, hitting the tree and making a noise like the cutting of wood. When this had been done, the father returned home, leaving the children in the woods.

When John and Mary had their baskets full of berries, and had eaten their fill, they began to think of looking for their father. They went to the place where they heard the sound of the swinging mallet, but they saw nothing of their lather, only the mallet hitting against the trees. This mallet was a big hammer which he used for driving in the wedges to split the logs.