m.'

'Certainly, neighbour. Take them and welcome.'

So the man left the house, and leading the mules from the stable,
placed two sacks on their back, and drove them to a field where he had
found a hidden treasure. He filled the sacks with the money, though he
knew perfectly well that it belonged to the sultan, and was driving
them quietly home again, when he saw two soldiers coming along the
road. Now the man was aware that if he was caught he would be
condemned to death, so he fled back into the forest. The mules, left
to themselves, took the path that led to their master's stable.

The wood-cutter's wife was looking out of the window when the mules
drew up before the door, so heavily laden that they almost sank under
their burdens. She lost no time in calling her husband, who was still
lying in bed.

'Quick, quick! get up as fast as you can. Our two mules have returned
with sacks on their backs, so heavily laden with something or other
that the poor beasts can hardly stand up.'

'Wife, I have told you a dozen times already that I am not going to
get up. Why can't you leave me in peace?'

As she found she could get no help from her husband the woman took a
large knife and cut the cords which bound the sacks on to the animals'
backs. They fell at once to the ground, and out poured a rain of gold
pieces, till the little courtyard shone like the sun.

'A treasure!' gasped the woman, as soon as she could speak from
surprise. 'A treasure!' And she ran off to tell her husband.

'Get up! get up!' she cried. 'You were quite right not to go to the
forest, and to await Fortune in your bed; she has come at last! Our
mules have returned home laden with all the gold in the world, and it
is now lying in the court. No one in the whole country can be as rich
as we are!'

In an instant the wood-cutter was on his feet, and running to the
court, where he paused, dazzled by the glitter of the coins which lay
around him.

'You see, my dear wife, that I was right,' he said at last. 'Fortune
is so capricious, you can never count on her. Run after her, and she
is sure to fly from you; stay still, and she is sure to come.'

[_Traditions Populaires de l'Asie Mineure._]

_THE ENCHANTED HEAD_

Once upon a time an old woman lived in a small cottage near the sea
with her two daughters. They were very poor, and the girls seldom left
the house, as they worked all day long making veils for the ladies to
wear over their faces,