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THE SWINEHERD |
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Then the swineherd went behind a tree, washed the stains from his face, threw away the shabby clothes, and stepped forth in his princely attire, so handsome that the Princess was fain to bow before him.
' I have come to this, that I despise you,' said he. ' You would not have an honest Prince ; you did not value the rose and the nightingale, but for a plaything you kissed the swineherd, and now you have your reward.'
And then he went into his kingdom and shut the door in her face, and put the bar on. So now she might stand outside and sing—
Oh, my darling Augustine, All is lost, all is lost. |
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THE BUCKWHEAT
Often, after a thunder-storm, when one passes a field in which Buckwheat is growing, it appears quite blackened and singed. It is just as if a flame of fire had passed across it; and then the countryman says, ' It got that from lightning.' But why has it received that ? I will tell you what the Sparrow told me about it, and the Sparrow heard it from an old Willow Tree which stood by a Buckwheat field, and still stands there. It is quite a great venerable Willow Tree, but wrinkled and old : it is burst in the middle, and grass and brambles grow out of the cleft; the tree bends forward, and the branches hang quite down to the ground, as if they were long, green hair.
On all the fields round about corn was growing, not only rye and barley, but also oats, yes, the most capital oats, which when ripe look like a number of little yellow canary birds sitting upon a spray. The corn stood smiling, and the richer an ear was, the deeper did it bend in pious humility.
But there was also a field of Buckwheat, and this field was exactly opposite to the old Willow Tree. The Buckwheat did not bend at all, like the rest of the grain, but stood up proudly and stiffly.
* I'm as rich as any corn ear,' it said. ' Moreover, I'm |
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