The Stranger
The Old Woman
Well, of course, well! He isn’t sick. He is only cutting teeth. I have a wolf-tooth in my sack. We’ll tie it round his little neck. And you—big, big girl—think you’re the mamma already, and so you cry! (She peers under the pillow at the bread.) Aha! It stirs! Let’s see what’s doing in the oven. Nu—not enough wood. Go and bring in a few pieces of wood. (Fraidele goes out. The old woman opens her sack and searches in it.) Troubles everywhere! In the town little children die! In the villages the mammas die! Troubles everywhere—wherever you go!…Such a foolish little child to cry into the bread.
Fraidele (returns with an armful of wood)
Will four more pieces of wood be enough?
The Old Woman
Throw it into the oven. If it gets too hot we can cool it off a bit. No need to stint on the wood. (Fraidele tends the fire.) In already? Then, come here. Here’s a wolf-tooth on a string. Go in and put it round his neck. Here.
Fraidele
Is it really from a wolf, the little tooth?
The Old Woman
From a she-wolf, the front tooth. Go in and
put it on him.
Fraidele
I’ll go right now. (She goes into the other room.)
The Old Woman (searching in the sack)
Measles are going round and pox is going round.
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