KURATKO THE TERRIBLE
THERE was once an old couple who had no children.
“If only we had a chick or a child of our own!” Grandmother used to say. “Think how we could pet it and take care of it!”
But Grandfather always answered:
“Not at all! We are very well off as we are.”
At last the old black hen in the barnyard hatched out a chick. Grandmother was delighted.
“See, Grandpa,” she said, “now we have a chick of our own!”
But Grandfather shook his head doubtfully.
“I don’t like the looks of that chick. There’s something strange about it.”
But Grandmother wouldn’t listen. To her the chick seemed everything it should be. She called it Kuratko and petted it and pampered it as though it were an only child.
Kuratko grew apace and soon he developed an awful appetite.
“Cockadoodledoo!” he shouted at all hours of the
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