nto the cask by mistake. At once the brushes
disappeared and the cask began to fill itself with money. So now the
family became rich; for they could take as much money out of the cask
as ever they wished.

Now the man had an old grandfather at home, who was weak and shaky.
Since there was nothing else he could do, his grandson set him to work
shoveling money out of the cask, and when the old grandfather grew
weary and could not keep on, he would fall into a rage, and shout at
him angrily, telling him he was lazy and did not want to work. One
day, however, the old man's strength gave out, and he fell into the
cask and died. At once the money disappeared, and the whole cask began
to fill itself with dead grandfathers. Then the man had to pull them
all out and have them buried, and for this purpose he had to use up
again all the money he had received. And when he was through, the cask
broke, and he was just as poor as before.

Note: "The Magic Cask" is a traditionally narrated tale.
In Northern China wooden casks or barrels are unknown.
Large vessels, open at the top, of earth or stone are
used to hold water and other liquids.

VI

THE FAVORITE OF FORTUNE AND THE CHILD OF ILL LUCK

Once upon a time there was a proud prince who had a daughter. But the
daughter was a child of ill luck. When it came time for her to marry,
she had all her suitors assemble before her father's palace. She was
going to throw down a ball of red silk among them, and whoever caught
it was to be her husband. Now there were many princes and counts
gathered before the castle, and in their midst there was also a
beggar. And the princess could see dragons crawling into his ears and
crawling out again from his nostrils, for he was a child of luck. So
she threw the ball to the beggar and he caught it.

Her father asked angrily: "Why did you throw the ball into the
beggar's hands?"

"He is a favorite of Fortune," said the princess, "I will marry him,
and then, perhaps, I will share in his good luck."

But her father would not hear of it, and since she insisted, he drove
her from the castle in his rage. So the princess had to go off with
the beggar. She dwelt with him in a little hut, and had to hunt for
herbs and roots, and cook them herself, so that they might have
something to eat; and often they both went hungry.

One day her husband said to her: "I will set out and seek my fortune.
And when I have found it, I will com