THE UNGRATEFUL CHILDREN. 217

if these few silver pieces have been waiting for their
master all this time! Let us dig and see.’ So I dug
and found them, and have brought them home to you,
my children, I shall keep them till I die; but after
my death consult together, and whosoever shall be
found to have cherished me most and taken care of
me and not grudged me a clean shirt now and then,
or a crust of bread when I’m hungry, to him shall be
given the greater part of my money. So now, my
dear children, receive me back again, and my thanks
shall be yours. You can manage it amongst you, and
surely ’tis not right that I should seek a home
among strangers! Which of you will be kind to
your old father—for money?”

So the old man returned to his children with the
purse in a casket, and when he came to the village
with the casket under his arm, one could see at once
that he had been in a good forest! When one comes
home with a heavy casket under one’s arm, depend
upon it there’s something in it! So, no sooner did
the old man appear than his eldest daughter-in-law
came running out to meet him, and bade him welcome
in God’s name. “ Things don’t seem to get on at all
without thee, dad!” cried she, “and the house is
quite dreary. Come in and rest, dad,” she went on:
“thou hast gone a long way and must be weary.”

1 I. e. a forest where treasure is hidden.