"Buy me some kumach[1] for a sarafan,[2] father," answered the eldest daughter.
"And me some nankeen," said the second. The youngest daughter alone did not ask for a present. The peasant was moved with compassion for the girl; although a simpleton she was still his daughter. Turning to her he asked,—"Well, Little Simpleton, what shall I buy for you?"
Little Simpleton smiled and replied,—
"Buy me, dearest father, a little silver plate and a little apple."
"What do you want them for?" asked her sisters.
"I will make the little apple roll round the plate, and will say some words to it which an old woman taught me because I gave her a cake."
The peasant promised to buy his daughters what they asked of him, and then started for market. He sold his hay, and bought the presents: some nankeen for one of his daughters, for another some kumach, and for Little Simpleton a little silver plate and a little apple. Then he returned home and gave these things to his daughters.
The girls were delighted; the two elder ones made themselves sarafans, and laughed at Little Simpleton,
