as.[379]

Of a heavenly or upper-world home of departed spirits, neither the
songs nor the stories of the people, so far as I am aware, make
mention. But that there is a country beyond the sky, inhabited by
supernatural beings of magic power and unbounded wealth, is stated in
a number of tales of the well-known "Jack and the Beanstalk" type. Of
these the following may be taken as a specimen.

THE FOX-PHYSICIAN.[380]

There once was an old couple. The old man planted a cabbage-head
in the cellar under the floor of his cottage; the old
woman planted one in the ash-hole. The old woman's cabbage,
in the ash-hole, withered away entirely; but the old man's grew
and grew, grew up to the floor. The old man took his hatchet and
cut a hole in the floor above the cabbage. The cabbage went on
growing again; grew, grew right up to the ceiling. Again the old
man took his hatchet and cut a hole in the ceiling above the cabbage.
The cabbage grew and grew, grew right up to the sky.
How was the old man to get a look at the head of the cabbage?
He began climbing up the cabbage-stalk, climbed and climbed,
climbed and climbed, climbed right up to the sky, cut a hole in
the sky, and crept through. There he sees a mill[381] standing.
The mill gives a turn--out come a pie and a cake with a pot of
stewed grain on top.

The old man ate his fill, drank his fill, and then lay down to
sleep. When he had slept enough he slid down to earth again,
and cried:

"Old woman! why, old woman! how one does live up in
heaven! There's a mill there--every time it turns, out come a
pie and a cake, with a pot of _kasha_ on top!"

"How can I get there, old man?"

"Slip into this sack, old woman. I'll carry you up."

The old woman thought a bit, and then got into the sack.
The old man took the sack in his teeth, and began climbing up
to heaven. He climbed and climbed, long did he climb. The
old woman got tired of waiting and asked:

"Is it much farther, old man?"

"We've half the way to go still."

Again he climbed and climbed, climbed and climbed. A
second time the old woman asked:

"Is it much farther, old man?"

The old man was just beginning to say: "Not much farther--" when
the sack slipped from between his teeth, and the old
woman fell to the ground and was smashed all to pieces. The
old man slid down the cabbage-stalk and picked up the sack.
But it had nothing i