money altogether was worth more than two hundred and fifty roubles.[1]
II.
A moujik used once to sleep in a deserted room. Sometimes, just as he was about to fall asleep, a cat of a reddish colour would jump up from he knew not where, and run about the room. The cat shone like gold, and when its tail came into contact with anything hard it made a ringing noise like that of small money. The moujik took council with the wise-men about this apparition. Their answer was,—
"Catch the cat by the tail, and before it can escape from your hands, call out three times, "Amen! Amen! crumble thou into pieces!"
The moujik followed the advice. At the third repetition of the words the cat crumbled into gold pieces of five roubles each.
III.
In a certain village the moujiks had noticed that, for several years past, and as they had heard, for at least a century before, in the spring, when the rain came on or the snow melted, a hole that was in the back grounds becoming full of water there would appear a duck
- ↑ About £32.
