صفحة 330 من 626

Then he called to the miser, and said, 'Tell us now, you

vagabond, where you got that gold, or I shall play on for your

amusement only,' 'I stole it,' said the miser in the presence of

all the people; 'I acknowledge that I stole it, and that you

earned it fairly.' Then the countryman stopped his fiddle, and

left the miser to take his place at the gallows.

ASHPUTTEL

The wife of a rich man fell sick; and when she felt that her end

drew nigh, she called her only daughter to her bed-side, and

said, 'Always be a good girl, and I will look down from heaven

and watch over you.' Soon afterwards she shut her eyes and died,

and was buried in the garden; and the little girl went every day

to her grave and wept, and was always good and kind to all about

her. And the snow fell and spread a beautiful white covering over

the grave; but by the time the spring came, and the sun had

melted it away again, her father had married another wife. This

new wife had two daughters of her own, that she brought home with

her; they were fair in face but foul at heart, and it was now a

sorry time for the poor little girl.