Atondido Stories
"Yes, we know," the ravens said. "Wait here and we'll soon
fetch you water from both springs."
They flew off and in a short time returned, each bearing a
gourd of the precious water.
Yirik thanked the ravens and carefully filled his two flasks.
As he was leaving the forest, he came upon a great spider web.
An ugly spider sat in the middle of it sucking a fly. Yirik took a
drop of the Water of Death and flicked it on the spider. The spi-
der doubled up dead and fell to the ground like a ripe cherry.
Then Yirik sprinkled a drop of Living Water on the fly. The fly
instantly revived, pulled itself out of the web, and flew about
happy and free once again.
"Thank you, Yirik," it buzzed, "thank you for bringing me
back to life. You won't be sorry. Just wait and you'll soon see that
I'll reward you!"
When Yirik returned to the palace and presented the two
flasks, the king said:
"But one thing yet remains. You may take Zlatovlaska, the
Golden-Haired, but you must yourself pick her out from among
the twelve sisters."
The king led Yirik into a great hall. The twelve princesses
were seated about a table, beautiful maidens all and each look-
ing much like the others. Yirik could not tell which was Zla-
tovlaska, the Golden-Haired, for each princess wore a long
heavy white veil so draped over her head and shoulders that it
completely covered her hair.
"Here are my twelve daughters," the king said. "One of them
is Zlatovlaska, the Golden-Haired. Pick her out and you may
lead her at once to your master. If you fail to pick her out, then
you must depart without her."
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