man, tub and all; Grandmother, spinning-wheel and all; and
Grandfather, stool and all? But I'm still hungry, so now I'm going to
eat you!"

Before Kotsor, the cat, knew what was happening, Kuratko made one peck
at him and swallowed him down.

But Kotsor, the cat, was not a person to submit tamely to such an
indignity. The moment he found himself inside Kuratko he unsheathed his
claws and began to scratch and to tear. He worked until he had torn a
great hole in Kuratko's crop. At that Kuratko, the Terrible Chick, when
he tried again to crow, toppled over dead!

Then Kotsor, the cat, jumped out of Kuratko's crop; after him the
company of soldiers marched out; and after them the washerwoman with her
tub, Grandmother with her spinning-wheel, and Grandfather with his
stool. And they all went about their business.

Kotsor, the cat, followed Grandmother and Grandfather home and begged
them to give him Kuratko for his dinner.

"You may have him for all of me," Grandfather said. "But ask
Grandmother. He was her little pet, not mine."

"Indeed you may have him," Grandmother said. "I see now Grandfather was
right. Kuratko was certainly an ungrateful chick and I never want to
hear his name again."

So Kotsor, the cat, had a wonderful dinner and to this day when he
remembers it he licks his chops and combs his whiskers.

SMOLICHECK

THE STORY OF A LITTLE BOY WHO OPENED THE DOOR

[Illustration]

SMOLICHECK

Once upon a time there was a little boy named Smolicheck. He lived in a
little house in the woods with a deer whose name was Golden Antlers.

Every day when Golden Antlers went out he told Smolicheck to lock the
door after him and on no account to open it no matter who knocked.

"If you disobey me," Golden Antlers said, "something awful may happen."

"I won't open the door," Smolicheck always promised. "I won't open it
until you come home."

Now one day there was a knock on the door.

"Oh!" Smolicheck thought to himself, "I wonder who that is!" and he
called out:

"Who's there?"

From the outside sweet voices answered:

_"Smolicheck, Smolicheck, please open the door
Just a wee little crack of two fingers--no more!
We'll reach in our cold little hands to get warm,
Then leave without doing you the least bit of harm!
So open, Smolicheck, please open the door!"_

But Smolicheck didn't think he ought to open the door because he
remembered what Golden Antlers had told him. G