het, so that its chips
flew about in all directions. Now, in that Birch-tree there was
a hollow, and in that hollow some robbers had hidden a pot full
of gold. The tree split asunder, and the Simpleton caught sight
of the gold. He took as much of it as the skirts of his caftan
would hold, and toiled home with it. There he showed his
brothers what he had brought.

"Where did you get such a lot, Simpleton?" said they.

"A neighbor gave it me for my ox. But this isn't anything
like the whole of it; a good half of it I didn't bring home with
me! Come along, brothers, let's get the rest!"

Well, they went into the forest, secured the money, and carried
it home.

"Now mind, Simpleton," say the sensible brothers, "don't
tell anyone that we've such a lot of gold."

"Never fear, I won't tell a soul!"

All of a sudden they run up against a Diachok,[64] and says
he:--

"What's that, brothers, you're bringing from the forest?"

The sharp ones replied, "Mushrooms." But the Simpleton
contradicted them, saying:

"They're telling lies! we're carrying money; here, just take
a look at it."

The Diachok uttered such an "Oh!"--then he flung himself
on the gold, and began seizing handfuls of it and stuffing them
into his pocket. The Simpleton grew angry, dealt him a blow
with his hatchet, and struck him dead.

"Heigh, Simpleton! what have you been and done!" cried
his brothers. "You're a lost man, and you'll be the cause of our
destruction, too! Wherever shall we put the dead body?"

They thought and thought, and at last they dragged it to an
empty cellar and flung it in there. But later on in the evening
the eldest brother said to the second one:--

"This piece of work is sure to turn out badly. When they
begin looking for the Diachok, you'll see that Simpleton will tell
them everything. Let's kill a goat and bury it in the cellar, and
hide the body of the dead man in some other place."

Well, they waited till the dead of night; then they killed a
goat and flung it into the cellar, but they carried the Diachok to
another place and there hid him in the ground. Several days
passed, and then people began looking everywhere for the Diachok,
asking everyone about him.

"What do you want him for?" said the Simpleton, when he
was asked. "I killed him some time ago with my hatchet, and
my brothers carried him into the cellar."

Straigh