More Russian Picture Tales | Page 2

but I
found a little coin, and I bought a little scarf, and gave it to a pretty
girl."
[Illustration]
And that's all about it.

THE GOAT AND THE RAM.
Once upon a time there lived a man and his wife, and they had a goat
and a ram.
[Illustration]

[Illustration]
And one day the man said to his wife: "Look here, let's get rid of the
ram and the goat; why, they only keep eating our corn, and don't help to
feed us at all!"
So he told them: "Be off, goat and ram, and don't dare to show
yourselves at my gate ever again."
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
So the goat and the ram made themselves a bag, and went off. And they
went on and on, when suddenly they saw a wolf's head lying in the
middle of the field.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
And they picked up the head, put it in their bag, and went on again.
And they went on and on, when suddenly they saw a fire burning, and
they said: "Let's go and spend the night there, lest the wolves should eat
us." But when they got there, lo and behold! it was the wolves
themselves who were cooking their porridge, and so they said: "Good
evening, young fellows, and good appetite to you!" And the wolves
answered: "Good evening, Mr. Goat and Mr. Ram! We're just boiling
our porridge, come and have some, and then we'll eat you both up." At
this the goat took fright, while as for the ram, his legs had been shaking
with fear for some time. Then the goat began to think, and he thought
and thought and at last he said: "Come now, Mr. Ram, let's have a look
at that wolf's head you've got in your sack!" And the ram took out the
wolf's head, when the goat said: "No, not that one. Let's have the other
bigger one!" And again the ram gave him the same head, but he said:
"No, not that one either! let's have the largest of all!"
And the wolves looked, and thought the ram had a whole sackful of

wolves' heads, and each one of them said to himself: "Well, these are
nice guests to have! I'd better hop off!" And first one said aloud to the
others: "I like your company all right, brothers, but somehow, the
porridge doesn't seem to be boiling very well. I'll just run and fetch
some sticks to throw on the fire." And as he went off, he thought to
himself: "You and your company be bothered!"--and never came back.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
Then the second wolf kept thinking how he could get away, and he said:
"It seems very funny, our brother went to fetch the wood, but he hasn't
brought the wood, and hasn't come back himself. I'll just go and help
him!" So off he went too, and never came back. And the third wolf was
left sitting there, and at last he said: "I must really go and hurry them up.
What are they dawdling all this time for!" And as soon as he was gone,
he set off running and never so much as looked back.
[Illustration]
And at that the ram and the goat were delighted. They ate up all the
porridge and then ran away themselves.
[Illustration]
Meanwhile the wolves had all three met, and they said: "Look here,
why were we three frightened of the goat and the ram? They're no
stronger than we, after all! Let's go and do them in!"
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
But when they came back to the fire, there was not so much as a trace
of them left. Then the wolves set off in pursuit, and at last they saw
them, where they had climbed up a tree, the goat on an upper and the
ram on a lower branch. So the eldest wolf lay down under the tree, and

began to show his teeth, looking up at them, and waiting for them to
climb down. And the ram, who was trembling all over from fright,
suddenly fell down right on top of the wolf, and at the same minute the
goat shouted out from up above: "There, that's the one! get me the
largest of all!" And the wolf was terrified, because he thought the ram
had jumped down after him, and you should just have seen him run!
And the other two followed after.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
What a lucky boy is Pat, He's got a dog and a cat!

THE HUNGRY WOLF.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
There was once a wolf, and he got very hungry, and so he went to have
a look to see what he could find for dinner. After a bit he saw a ram
feeding in a meadow, so he