the way in which
he had been betrayed. When he reached the river he sprang into the
ferryboat. The ferryman, however, did not get in but pushed the boat
off....

Vassili led a good and happy life with his dear wife, and his kind
mother-in-law lived with them. He helped the poor and fed and clothed
the hungry and naked and all Mark's riches became his.

For many years Mark has been ferrying people across the river. His face
is wrinkled, his hair and beard are snow white, and his eyes are dim;
but still he rows on.

(From the Serbian.)

SCHIPPEITARO

It was the custom in old times that as soon as a Japanese boy reached
manhood he should leave his home and roam through the land in search of
adventures. Sometimes he would meet with a young man bent on the same
business as himself, and then they would fight in a friendly manner,
merely to prove which was the stronger, but on other occasions the
enemy would turn out to be a robber, who had become the terror of the
neighbourhood, and then the battle was in deadly earnest.

One day a youth started off from his native village, resolved never
to come back till he had done some great deed that would make his name
famous. But adventures did not seem very plentiful just then, and he
wandered about for a long time without meeting either with fierce giants
or distressed damsels. At last he saw in the distance a wild mountain,
half covered with a dense forest, and thinking that this promised well
at once took the road that led to it. The difficulties he met with--huge
rocks to be climbed, deep rivers to be crossed, and thorny tracts to be
avoided--only served to make his heart beat quicker, for he was really
brave all through, and not merely when he could not help himself, like a
great many people. But in spite of all his efforts he could not find his
way out of the forest, and he began to think he should have to pass the
night there. Once more he strained his eyes to see if there was no place
in which he could take shelter, and this time he caught sight of a small
chapel in a little clearing. He hastened quickly towards it, and curling
himself up in a warm corner soon fell asleep.

Not a sound was heard through the whole forest for some hours, but at
midnight there suddenly arose such a clamour that the young man, tired
as he was, started broad awake in an instant. Peeping cautiously between
the wooden pillars of the chapel, he saw a troop of hideous cats,
dancing furio