little Two Eyes," said the wise woman; "I will
tell you something to do which will prevent you from ever being hungry
again. You have only to say to your own goat:
"'Little goat, if you're able,
Pray deck out my table,'
and immediately there will be a pretty little table before you full of
all sorts of good things for you to eat, as much as you like. And when
you have had enough, and you do not want the table any more, you need
only say:
"'Little goat, when you're able,
Remove my nice table,'
and it will vanish from your eyes."
Then the wise woman went away. "Now," thought little Two Eyes, "I will
try if what she says is true, for I am hungry," so she said:
"Little goat, if you're able,
Come and deck my pretty table."
The words were scarcely spoken, when a beautiful little table stood
really before her; it had a white cloth and plates, and knives and
forks, and silver spoons, and such a delicious dinner, smoking hot as
if it had just come from the kitchen. Then little Two Eyes sat down
and said the shortest grace she knew--"Pray God be our guest for all
time. Amen"--before she allowed herself to taste anything. But oh, how
she did enjoy her dinner! and when she had finished, she said, as the
wise woman had taught her:
"Little goat, when you're able,
Remove my nice table."
In a moment, the table and everything upon it had disappeared. "That
is a pleasant way to keep house," said little Two Eyes, and felt quite
contented and happy. In the evening, when she went home with the goat,
she found an earthenware dish with some scraps which her sisters had
left for her, but she did not touch them. The next morning she went
away with the goat, leaving them behind where they had been placed for
her. The first and second times that she did so, the sisters did not
notice it; but when they found it happened every day, they said one
to the other, "There is something strange about little Two Eyes, she
leaves her supper every day, and all that has been put for her has
been wasted; she must get food somewhere else."
So they determined to find out the truth, and they arranged that when
Two Eyes took her goat to the field, One Eye should go with her to
take particular notice of what she did, and discover if anything was
brought for her to eat and drink.
So when Two Eyes started with her goat, One Eye said to her, "I am
going with you to-day to see if the goat gets her food properly while
you are w
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