第30章
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  ’Allright’saidIván。’Ifyouwantmore,comeback,andI’llmakethem。Thereisplentyofstrawthisseason。’

  SimontheSoldieratoncetookcommandofhisarmy,collectedandorganizedit,andwentofftomakewar。

  HardlyhadSimontheSoldiergone,whenTarástheStoutcamealong。He,too,hadheardofyesterday’saffair,andhesaidtohisbrother:

  ’Showmewhereyougetgoldmoney!IfIonlyhadsometostartwith,Icouldmakeitbringmeinmoneyfromallovertheworld。’

  Ivánwasastonished。

  ’Really!’saidhe。’Youshouldhavetoldmesooner。Iwillmakeyouasmuchasyoulike。’

  Hisbrotherwasdelighted。

  ’Givemethreebaskets-fulltobeginwith。’

  ’Allright,’saidIván。’Comeintotheforest;orbetterstill,letusharnessthemare,foryouwon’tbeabletocarryitall。’

  Theydrovetotheforest,andIvánbegantorubtheoakleaves。

  Hemadeagreatheapofgold。

  ’Willthatdo?’

  Taráswasoverjoyed。

  ’Itwilldoforthepresent,’saidhe。’Thankyou,Iván!’

  ’Allright,’saysIván,’ifyouwantmore,comebackforit。

  Thereareplentyofleavesleft。’

  TarástheStoutgatheredupawholecartloadofmoney,andwentofftotrade。

  Sothetwobrotherswentaway:SimontofightandTarástobuyandsell。AndSimontheSoldierconqueredakingdomforhimself;

  andTarástheStoutmademuchmoneyintrade。

  Whenthetwobrothersmet,eachtoldtheother:Simonhowhegotthesoldiers,andTaráshowhegotthemoney。AndSimontheSoldiersaidtohisbrother,IhaveconqueredakingdomandliveingrandstylebutIhavenotmoneyenoughtokeepmysoldiers。’

  AndTarástheStoutsaid,’AndIhavemademuchmoney,butthetroubleis,Ihavenoonetoguardit。’

  ThensaidSimontheSoldier,’Letusgotoourbrother。Iwilltellhimtomakemoresoldiers,andwillgivethemtoyoutoguardyourmoney,andyoucantellhimtomakemoneyformetofeedmymen。

  AndtheydroveawaytoIván;andSimonsaid,’Dearbrother,I

  havenotenoughsoldiers;makemeanothercoupleofricksorso。’

  Ivánshookhishead。

  ’No!’sayshe’’Iwillnotmakeanymoresoldiers。’

  ’Butyoupromisedyouwould。’

  ’IknowIpromised,butIwon’tmakeanymore。’

  ’Butwhynot,fool?’

  ’Becauseyoursoldierskilledaman。Iwasploughingtheotherdayneartheroad,andIsawawomantakingacoffinalonginacart,andcrying。Iaskedherwhowasdead。Shesaid,“Simon’ssoldiershavekilledmyhusbandinthewar。“Ithoughtthesoldierswouldonlyplaytunes,buttheyhavekilledaman。Iwon’tgiveyouanymore。’

  Andhestucktoit,andwouldnotmakeanymoresoldiers。

  TarástheStout,too,begantobegIvántomakehimmoregoldmoney。ButIvánshookhishead。

  ’No,Iwon’tmakeanymore,’saidhe。

  ’Didn’tyoupromise?’

  ’Idid,butI’llmakenomore,’saidhe。

  ’Whynot,fool?’

  ’BecauseyourgoldcoinstookawaythecowfromMichael’sdaughter。’

  ’How?’

  ’Simplytookitaway!Michael’sdaughterhadacow。Herchildrenusedtodrinkthemilk。Buttheotherdayherchildrencametometoaskformilk。Isaid,“Where’syourcow?“Theyanswered,“ThestewardofTarástheStoutcameandgavemotherthreebitsofgold,andshegavehimthecow,sowehavenothingtodrink。“

  Ithoughtyouwereonlygoingtoplaywiththegoldpieces,butyouhavetakenthechildren’scowaway。Iwillnotgiveyouanymore。’

  AndIvánstucktoitandwouldnotgivehimanymore。Sothebrotherswentaway。Andastheywenttheydiscussedhowtheycouldmeettheirdifficulties。AndSimonsaid:

  ’Lookhere,Itellyouwhattodo。Yougivememoneytofeedmysoldiers,andIwillgiveyouhalfmykingdomwithsoldiersenoughtoguardyourmoney。’Tarásagreed。Sothebrothersdividedwhattheypossessed,andbothbecamekings,andbothwererich。

  VIII

  Ivánlivedathome,supportinghisfatherandmotherandworkinginthefieldswithhisdumbsister。NowithappenedthatIván’syard-dogfellsick,grewmangy,andwasneardying。Iván,pityingit,gotsomebreadfromhissister,putitinhiscap,carrieditout,andthrewittothedog。Butthecapwastorn,andtogetherwiththebreadoneofthelittlerootsfelltotheground。Theolddogateitupwiththebread,andassoonasshehadswalloweditshejumpedupandbegantoplay,bark,andwaghertail——inshortbecamequitewellagain。

  Thefatherandmothersawitandwereamazed。

  ’Howdidyoucurethedog?’askedthey。

  Ivánanswered:’Ihadtwolittlerootstocureanypain,andsheswallowedone。’

  NowaboutthattimeithappenedthattheKing’sdaughterfellill,andtheKingproclaimedineverytownandvillage,thathewouldrewardanyonewhocouldhealher,andifanyunmarriedmancouldhealtheKing’sdaughterheshouldhaveherforhiswife。ThiswasproclaimedinIvan’svillageaswellaseverywhereelse。

  HisfatherandmothercalledIván,andsaidtohim:’HaveyouheardwhattheKinghasproclaimed?Yousaidyouhadarootthatwouldcureanysickness。GoandhealtheKing’sdaughter,andyouwillbemadehappyforlife。’

  ’Allright,’saidhe。

  AndIvánpreparedtogo,andtheydressedhiminhisbest。Butashewentoutofthedoorhemetabeggarwomanwithacrippledhand。

  ’Ihaveheard,’saidshe,’thatyoucanhealpeople。Iprayyoucuremyarm,forIcannotevenputonmybootsmyself。’

  ’Allright,’saidIván,andgivingthelittleroottothebeggarwomanhetoldhertoswallowit。Sheswallowedit,andwascured。Shewasatonceabletomoveherarmfreely。

  HisfatherandmothercameouttoaccompanyIvántotheKing,butwhentheyheardthathehadgivenawaytheroot,andthathehadnothinglefttocuretheKing’sdaughterwith,theybegantoscoldhim。

  ’Youpityabeggarwoman,butarenotsorryfortheKing’sdaughter!’

  saidthey。ButIvánfeltsorryfortheKing’sdaughteralso。

  Soheharnessedthehorse,putstrawinthecarttositon,andsatdowntodriveaway。

  ’Whereareyougoing,fool?’

  ’TocuretheKing’sdaughter。’

  ’Butyou’venothinglefttocureherwith?’

  ’Nevermind,’saidhe,anddroveoff。

  HedrovetotheKing’spalace,andassoonashesteppedonthethresholdtheKing’sdaughtergotwell。

  TheKingwasdelighted,andhadIvánbroughttohim,andhadhimdressedinfinerobes。

  ’Bemyson-in-law,’saidhe。

  ’Allright,’saidIván。

  AndIvánmarriedthePrincess。Herfatherdiedsoonafter,andIvánbecameKing。Soallthreebrotherswerenowkings。

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