nd a needle-vender came
by and asked them why they were crying.

"A panther has devoured our mother and our brother," said the girls.
"He has gone now, but he is sure to return and devour us as well."

Then the needle-vender gave them a pair of needles, and said: "Stick
these needles in the cushion of the arm chair, with the points up."
The girls thanked him and went on crying.

Soon a scorpion-catcher came by; and he asked them why they were
crying. "A panther has devoured our mother and brother," said the
girls. "He has gone now, but he is sure to return and devour us as
well."

The man gave them a scorpion and said: "Put it behind the hearth in
the kitchen." The girls thanked him and went on crying.

Then an egg-seller came by and asked them why they were crying. "A
panther has devoured our mother and our brother," said the girls. "He
has gone now, but he is sure to return and devour us as well."

So he gave them an egg and said: "Lay it beneath the ashes in the
hearth." The girls thanked him and went on crying.

Then a dealer in turtles came by, and they told him their tale. He
gave them a turtle and said: "Put it in the water-barrel in the yard."
And then a man came by who sold wooden clubs. He asked them why they
were crying. And they told him the whole story. Then he gave them two
wooden clubs and said: "Hang them up over the door to the street." The
girls thanked him and did as the men had told them.

In the evening the panther came home. He sat down in the armchair in
the room. Then the needles in the cushion stuck into him. So he ran
into the kitchen to light the fire and see what had jabbed him so; and
then it was that the scorpion hooked his sting into his hand. And when
at last the fire was burning, the egg burst and spurted into one of
his eyes, which was blinded. So he ran out into the yard and dipped
his hand into the water-barrel, in order to cool it; and then the
turtle bit it off. And when in his pain he ran out through the door
into the street, the wooden clubs fell on his head and that was the
end of him.

Note: "The Panther" in this tale is in reality the same
beast as "the talking silver fox" in No. 49, and the
fairy-tale is made up of motives to be found in "Little
Red Riding-Hood," "The Wolf and the Seven Kids," and
"The Vagabonds."

X

THE GREAT FLOOD

Once upon a time there was a widow, who had a child. And the child was
a kind-hearted boy of whom e