Atondido Stories
ducat with which I endow my godchild, you will have enough to
bring her up properly. She will always be a joy and a comfort to
you, and when she grows up she will make a happy marriage.
Now good-by.”
She drew a green wand from her bosom and touched the
earth. Instantly a lovely rosebush appeared, covered with
blooms. At the same moment the old woman vanished.
In bewilderment Lukas looked this way and that but she was
gone. He was so surprised that he didn’t know what had hap-
pened. I really think he would be standing on that same spot to
this day if little Marishka had not begun to cry and by this re-
minded him of home.
His wife, meantime, was anxiously awaiting him. She, poor
soul, was suffering the pangs of hunger, thirst, and bodily pain.
There wasn’t a mouthful of bread in the house, nor a cent of
money.
As Lukas entered the room, he said: “Weep no more, dear
wife. Here is your little Marishka. But before you kiss the child,
take out the christening gift that you will find tucked away in
her clothes. From it you will know what an excellent godmother
she has.”
The wife reached into the clothes and pulled out not one duc-
at but a whole handful of ducats!
“Oh!” she gasped and in her surprise she dropped the ducats
and they rolled about in the straw that littered the wretched
floor.
“Husband! Husband! Who gave you so much money? Just
look!”
“I have already looked and at first when I saw them I was
more surprised than you are. Now let me tell you where they
come from.”
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