Atondido Stories
"We are here and we're here to help you!"
And sure enough there they were, the very ants that he sup-
posed were far away!
"What do you want us to do?" they asked.
"Find me all the pearls that are scattered in this meadow. I
can't find one of them."
Instantly the ants scurried hither and thither and soon they
began bringing him the pearls one by one. Yirik strung them to-
gether until the necklace seemed complete.
"Are there any more?" he asked.
He was about to tie the string together when a lame ant,
whose foot had been burned in the fire, hobbled up, crying:
"Wait, Yirik, don't tie the string yet! Here's the last pearl!"
Yirik thanked the ants for their help and at sundown carried the
string of pearls to the king. The king counted the pearls and, to
his surprise, found that not one was missing.
"You've done this well," he said. "Tomorrow I'll give you
your second task."
The next day when Yirik presented himself, the king said:
"While my daughter, Zlatovlaska, was bathing in the sea, a
golden ring slipped from her finger and disappeared. Your task
is to find me this ring before sundown."
Yirik went down to the seashore and as he walked along the
beach his heart grew heavy as he realized the difficulty of the
task before him. The sea was clear but so deep that he couldn't
even see the bottom. How then could he find the ring?
"Oh dear," he said aloud, "if only the golden fish were here! It
could help me."
"I am here," a voice said, "and I'm here to help you."
And there was the golden fish on the crest of a wave, gleam-
ing like a flash of fire!
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