ld Woman and the Old Man.

Once upon a time there was an old man and an old woman, who had not a
single child in their old age, and it was very hard for them, because
they had no help, not even to light the fire; when they came home from
working in the fields, they were obliged to begin with lighting the
fire and then prepare their food.

One day, when they were fretting and consulting each other, they
determined to look for children whatever might happen.

The old man went one way, the old woman another, to find a child
somewhere.

The old man met a dog, the old woman a mouse. When they met again the
old woman asked:

"Husband, what have you found?"

"A little dog. And you, wife?"

"A little mouse."

They now agreed to adopt the mouse for a child and drive the dog away,
so the couple returned with the mouse, greatly delighted because they
had found what they sought, that is, a child.

On reaching home the old woman began to make a fire; then she set the
pot of sour buttermilk on to boil, and left the mouse to watch that it
did not fall over, while she went to work with the old man in the
fields.

After she had gone, the porridge boiled and splashed over the top of
the pot; the mouse, which was sitting on the hearth, said:

"Porridge, don't jump on me or I'll jump on you." But the buttermilk
did not stop and still splashed over the brim. When the mouse saw
this, it grew angry and leaped straight into the pot.

When the old people returned from hoeing and called their child, there
was no child to be found. After searching for it a long time without
success, they sat sadly down to eat their dinner. Yet they ate the
porridge with great relish until, when the old woman emptied the dish
she found at the bottom--what? The little mouse, their child, dead!
She began:

"Husband, husband, here it is, our child is drowned in the
buttermilk."

"How is that possible, wife!" replied the bearded old fellow.

When they saw this terrible accident, they began to weep and lament
bitterly; the old man in his grief tore his beard, and the old woman
pulled the hair out of her head.

The old man left the house with tearful eyes and touzled beard; on the
bough of a tree, in front of the hut, perched a magpie, which seeing
him asked:

"Why have you pulled out your beard, old man?"

"Oh, my dear bird, how can I help tearing my beard, when my little
child has drowned itself in the pot of porridge and is dead?"

When t