142 COSSACK FAIRY TALES.

bring it home all ready in the evening!” Then the
girl took the flax and drove the heifer out to eraze.

So the heifer began to graze, but the girl sat down
and began to weep. And the heifer said to her:
“Tell me, dear little maiden, wherefore dost thou
weep ?”—* Alas! why should I not weep ? My step-
mother has given me this flax and bidden me unravel
it, and reel it, and bleach it, and bring it back as
cloth in the evening.”—“‘ Grieve not, maiden!” gaid
elvewshentent a ont wall eval lercunesonits well alicia crn
to sleep!”—So she lay down to sleep, and when she
awoke the flax was all unravelled and reeled and
spun into fine cloth, and bleached. ‘Then she drove
the heifer home and gave the cloth to her mother-
in-law. The old woman took it and hid it away,
that nobody might know that the old man’s daughter
had brought it to her.

The next day she said to her own daughter : “ Dear
little daughter, drive the heifer out to graze, and here
is a little piece of flax for thee, unravel it and reel ites
or unravel it not and reel it not as thou likest best,
but bring it home with thee.” Then she drove the
heifer out to graze, and threw herself down in the
grass, and slept the whole day, and did not even take
the trouble to go and moisten the flax in the cooling
stream. And in the evening she drove the heifer
back from the ficld and gave her mother the flax.