"
The three brothers took their aged father, conducted him into their
cottage, dug under the raised portion of the floor, made up a bed with
sheets and frieze-coats, for straw was scarce, and placed the old man
there, brought him a loaf of bread as black as the holy earth, and
covered him over with the floor. There the old man abode for two or
three months, and his sons brought him clandestinely all they had. The
summer passed without harvest, without mowing. September passed too.
Autumn passed without joy. Winter passed too. Now came spring; the sun
became warm. It was now time to sow, but there was no seed. The world
was large, but there was no seed-corn. When one kind was used up, the
people sowed others, hoping that there would be a crop; but when they
cast it into the holy earth, it rotted there. It seemed as if the end of
the world were come.
Then the three sons went to their father, and asked him: "Daddy, what
shall we do? It's time to sow. God is now sending showers of rain; the
earth is warmed and is crumbling like grits; but of seed there is not a
blessed grain," "Take, my sons, and strip the old roof off the house,
and thresh the bundles and sow the chaff." The lads stripped the house
and barn (anyhow, there was nothing in it), and threshed away till the
sweat ran from their brows, so that they crushed the bundles as small as
poppy-seeds.
Pages:
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111