to
come and see the fun, he lost no time in pronouncing the words 'Rise up,
Stick.'

The moment he spoke the stick jumped up and beat the landlord so
unmercifully that he and his wife ran screaming to Antonio, and, waking
him up, pleaded for mercy.

When Antonio saw how successful his trick had been, he said: 'I refuse
to help you, unless you give me all that you have stolen from me,
otherwise you will be beaten to death.'

The landlord, who felt himself at death's door already, cried out: 'Take
back your property, only release me from this terrible stick;' and with
these words he ordered the donkey, the table-cloth, and other treasures
to be restored to their rightful owner.

As soon as Antonio had recovered his belongings he said 'Stick, lie
down,' and it stopped beating the landlord at once.

Then he took his donkey and table-cloth and arrived safely at his home
with them. This time the magic words had the desired effect, and the
donkey and table-cloth provided the family with treasures untold.
Antonio very soon married off his sister, made his mother rich for life,
and they all lived happily for ever after.

[From the Italian, Kletke.]

A Fairy's Blunder

Once upon a time there lived a fairy whose name was Dindonette. She was
the best creature in the world, with the kindest heart; but she had
not much sense, and was always doing things, to benefit people, which
generally ended in causing pain and distress to everybody concerned. No
one knew this better than the inhabitants of an island far off in the
midst of the sea, which, according to the laws of fairyland, she had
taken under her special protection, thinking day and night of what she
could do to make the isle the pleasantest place in the whole world, as
it was the most beautiful.

Now what happened was this:

As the fairy went about, unseen, from house to house, she heard
everywhere children longing for the time when they would be 'grown-up,'
and able, they thought, to do as they liked; and old people talking
about the past, and sighing to be young again.

'Is there no way of satisfying these poor things?' she thought. And
then one night an idea occurred to her. 'Oh, yes, of course! It has been
tried before; but I will manage better than the rest, with their old
Fountain of Youth, which, after all, only made people young again. I
will enchant the spring that bubbles up in the middle of the orchard,
and the children that drink of it shall