Atondido Stories
She sang her merry little song as usual and the goats trotted
cheerfully along.
She found her mother vexed with her, for she had wanted to
reel yesterday’s yarn and had discovered that the spindle was
not full.
“What were you doing yesterday,” she scolded, “that you
didn’t spin your stint?”
Betushka hung her head. “Forgive me, mother. I danced too
long.” Then she showed her mother today’s spindle and said:
“See, today I more than made up for yesterday.”
Her mother said no more but went to milk the goats and Be-
tushka put away the spindle. She wanted to tell her mother her
adventure, but she thought to herself: “No, I’ll wait. If the beauti-
ful lady comes again, I’ll ask her who she is and then I’ll tell
mother.” So she said nothing.
On the third morning she drove the goats as usual to the
birch wood. The goats went to pasture and Betushka, sitting
down under a tree, began to spin and sing. When the sun point-
ed to noon, she laid her spindle on the grass, gave the goats a
mouthful of bread, gathered some strawberries, ate her lunch-
eon, and then, giving the crumbs to the birds, she said cheerily:
“Today, my little goats, I will dance for you!”
She jumped up, folded her arms, and was about to see
whether she could move as gracefully as the beautiful maiden,
when the maiden herself stood before her.
“Let us dance together,” she said. She smiled at Betushka,
put her arm about her, and as the music above their heads began
to play, they whirled round and round with flying feet. Again
Betushka forgot the spindle and the goats. Again she saw noth-
ing but the beautiful maiden whose body was lithe as a willow
shoot. Again she heard nothing but the enchanting music to
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