Page:RussianFolkTales Afanasev 368pgs.djvu/335

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been validated.
SUN, MOON, AND CROW CROWSON
319

my sons-in-law." So he went to the Sun, and at last he arrived there.

The Sun asked him, "With what shall I regale you?"

"Oh, I don't wish for anything!"

So the Sun bade his wife make a custard ready. So the daughter prepared the custard; the Sun sat down in the middle of the floor, and his wife put the pan on him and the custard was soon cooked. So they gave the old father refreshment.

Then the old father went back home and bade his wife make him a custard; and he sat down on the floor and commanded her to put the pan with the custard on to him.

"What are you talking about? Bake it on you!" said the old wife.

"Go on!" he replied. "Put it there; it will be baked!"

So she put the pan on him, and the custard stood there for ages and was not ever cooked, only turned sour. It was no good. So in the end the wife put the pan into the stove, and this time the custard was baked and the old man got something to eat.

Next day the old man went to stay as a guest with his second son-in-law, the Moon, and he arrived.

And the Moon said, "With what shall I regale you?"

"I do not wish for anything," said the old man.

So the Moon got the bath heated ready for him.

The old man said, "Won't it be very dark in the bath?"

"No," said the Moon to him, "quite light; only step in."

So the old man went into the bath, and the Moon twisted his little finger into a chink, and it was quite light in the bathroom. So the old man steamed himself thoroughly, went back home and told his wife to heat