Pagina 266 de 626

went the water; it sounded as if he were calling them, and the

whole crowd plunged in after him as one man. Then the entire

village was dead, and the small peasant, as sole heir, became a

rich man.

FREDERICK AND CATHERINE

There was once a man called Frederick: he had a wife whose name

was Catherine, and they had not long been married. One day

Frederick said. 'Kate! I am going to work in the fields; when I

come back I shall be hungry so let me have something nice cooked,

and a good draught of ale.' 'Very well,' said she, 'it shall all

be ready.' When dinner-time drew nigh, Catherine took a nice

steak, which was all the meat she had, and put it on the fire to

fry. The steak soon began to look brown, and to crackle in the

pan; and Catherine stood by with a fork and turned it: then she

said to herself, 'The steak is almost ready, I may as well go to

the cellar for the ale.' So she left the pan on the fire and took

a large jug and went into the cellar and tapped the ale cask. The

beer ran into the jug and Catherine stood looking on.