the top of a hill and lay down in the grass, and
as he thought under the shadow of a big tree. But it was no tree he
leant against, but a gallows on which two ravens were seated. The one
was saying to the other as the weary youth lay down, 'Is there
anything the least wonderful or remarkable about this neighbourhood?'

'I should just think there was,' replied the other; 'many things that
don't exist anywhere else in the world. There is a lake down there
below us, and anyone who bathes in it, though he were at death's door,
becomes sound and well on the spot, and those who wash their eyes with
the dew on this hill become as sharp-sighted as the eagle, even if
they have been blind from their youth.'

'Well,' answered the first raven, 'my eyes are in no want of this
healing bath, for, Heaven be praised, they are as good as ever they
were; but my wing has been very feeble and weak ever since it was shot
by an arrow many years ago, so let us fly at once to the lake that I
may be restored to health and strength again.' And so they flew away.

Their words rejoiced Ferko's heart, and he waited impatiently till
evening should come and he could rub the precious dew on his sightless
eyes.

At last it began to grow dusk, and the sun sank behind the mountains;
gradually it became cooler on the hill, and the grass grew wet with
dew. Then Ferko buried his face in the ground till his eyes were damp
with dew-drops, and in a moment he saw clearer than he had ever done
in his life before. The moon was shining brightly, and lighted him to
the lake where he could bathe his poor broken legs.

Then Ferko crawled to the edge of the lake and dipped his limbs in the
water. No sooner had he done so than his legs felt as sound and strong
as they had been before, and Ferko thanked the kind fate that had led
him to the hill where he had overheard the ravens' conversation. He
filled a bottle with the healing water, and then continued his journey
in the best of spirits.

He had not gone far before he met a wolf, who was limping
disconsolately along on three legs, and who on perceiving Ferko began
to howl dismally.

'My good friend,' said the youth, 'be of good cheer, for I can soon
heal your leg,' and with these words he poured some of the precious
water over the wolf's paw, and in a minute the animal was springing
about sound and well on all fours. The grateful creature thanked his
benefactor warmly, and promised Ferko to do him a good turn