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publisher, Desmond Fitzgerald, New York.

THE STRAW OX

_A Russian Tale_

An old man and an old woman lived in an old house on the edge of the
forest. The old man worked in the field all day and the woman spun flax.
But for all of their hard work they were very poor--never one penny
could they save. One day the old man said to the old woman:

"I would like to give you something to please you, but I have nothing to
give."

"Never mind that," said the old woman, "make me a straw ox."

"A straw ox!" cried the old man. "What will you do with that?"

"Never mind that," said the old woman.

So the old man made a straw ox.

"Smear it all over with tar," said the old woman.

"Why should I smear it with tar?" asked the old man.

"Never mind that," said the old woman.

So the old man smeared the straw ox all over with tar.

The next morning when the old woman went out into the field to gather
flax she took the straw ox with her and left it standing alone near the
edge of the forest.

A bear came out of the woods, and said to the ox: "Who are you?"

"I am an ox all smeared with tar,
And filled with straw, as oxen are,"

replied the ox.

"Oh," said the bear. "I need some straw to mend my coat, and the tar
will keep it in place. Give me some straw and some tar."

"Help yourself," said the ox.

So the bear began to tear at the ox, and his great paws stuck fast, and
he pulled and he tugged, and he tugged and he pulled, and the more he
pulled and tugged, the faster he stuck, and he could not get away.

Then the ox dragged the bear to the old house on the edge of the forest.

When the old woman came back with her apron full of flax and saw that
the straw ox had gone she ran home as fast as she could. There stood the
ox with the bear stuck fast to him.

"Husband, husband! Come here at once," she cried. "The ox has brought
home a bear; what shall we do?"

So the old man came as fast as he could, pulled the bear off the ox,
tied him up, and threw him into the cellar.

The next morning when the old woman went into the field to gather flax
she again took the straw ox with her, and again she left him standing
alone near the edge of the forest.

A wolf came out of the woods, and said to the ox: "Who are you?"

"I am an ox all smeared with tar,
And filled with straw, as oxen are,"

replied the ox.

"Oh," said the wolf, "I need some tar to smear my coat so that the dogs
cannot