336 SLAV TALES

or when he was too warm and wished to lie on the other side,
or when, hungry and thirsty, he wanted food and drink.

His father had no love for him, and called him a ne’er-do-
well. His brothers often tormented him by dragging him off
the stove, and taking away his food—indeed, he would many
a time have gone hungry if his mother had not been good to
him and fed him on the quiet. She caressed him fondly, for
why should he suffer, thought she, if he does happen to have
been born a fool? Besides, who can understand the ways of
God? It sometimes happens that the wisest men are not
happy, while the foolish, when harmless and gentle, lead con-
tented lives.

One day, on their return from the fields, the fool’s two
brothers dragged him off the stove, and taking him into the
yard, where they gave him a sound thrashing, they turned him
out of the house, saying, ‘‘Go, fool, and lose no time, for you
shall have neither food nor lodging until you bring us a
basket of mushrooms from the wood.”

The poor lad was so taken by surprise he hardly under-
stood what his brothers wanted him to do. After pondering
for a while he made his way towards a small oak forest, where
everything seemed to have a strange and marvellous appear-
ance, so strange that he did not recognise the place. As he
walked he came to a small dead tree-stump, on the top of
which he placed his cap, saying, “‘ Every tree here raises its
head to the skies and wears a good cap of leaves, but you,
my poor friend, are bare-headed ; you will die of cold. You
must be among your brothers, as I am among mine—a born
fool. Take then my cap.” And, throwing his arms round
the dead stump, he wept and embraced it tenderly. At that