Page:The shoemaker's apron (1920).djvu/71

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been validated.
THE SHEPHERD’S NOSEGAY
51

So the princess herself came out to Yan and said:

“Yanitchko, give me that nosegay.”

But Yan smiled and shook his head.

“Whoever wants this nosegay must say: ‘Yanitchko, please give me that nosegay.’”

The Princess was a merry girl, so she laughed and said:

“Yanitchko, please give me that nosegay.”

Yan gave it to her at once and she thanked him sweetly.

The next day Yan went again to the castle garden and plucked another nosegay. Then in the afternoon he drove his sheep through the village as before, playing his pipe. The princess was standing at the palace window waiting to see him. When the wind brought her a whiff of the fresh nosegay that was even more fragrant than the first one, she ran out to Yan and said:

“Yanitchko, please give me that nosegay.”

But Yan smiled and shook his head.

“Whoever wants this nosegay must say: ‘My dear Yanitchko, I beg you most politely please to give me that nosegay.’”

“My dear Yanitchko,” the princess repeated de-