e's fat enough yet to roast?"

Imagine poor Smolicheck's feelings when he found they were fattening him
on sweets because they expected to roast him and eat him!

Finally one day after they had been stuffing him for a long time they
cut his little finger with a knife to see how fat it was.

"Yum, yum!" the wicked little wood maidens cried. "He's fat enough!
Today we can roast him!"

So they took off his clothes and laid him in a kneading trough and
prepared him for the oven.

Smolicheck was so frightened that he just screamed and screamed, but the
louder he screamed the more the little wood maidens laughed and clapped
their hands.

Just as they were pushing him into the oven, Smolicheck roared out:

_"Oh, dear Golden Antlers, wherever you are
In valley or mountain or pasture afar,
Come quick! Don't delay!
The wicked wood maidens are roasting today
Your little Smolicheck!
Come quick! Don't delay!"_

Suddenly there was the sound of crashing branches and, before the wood
maidens knew what was happening, Golden Antlers came bounding into the
cave. He tossed Smolicheck upon his antlers and off he sped as swift as
the wind.

When they got home, he laid Smolicheck across his knee and gave him
something--you know what! And Smolicheck cried and said he was sorry he
had been disobedient. And he said he would never, never, never again
open the door.

And this time he never did!

BUDULINEK

THE STORY OF ANOTHER LITTLE BOY WHO OPENED THE DOOR

[Illustration]

BUDULINEK

There was once a little boy named Budulinek. He lived with his old
Granny in a cottage near a forest.

Granny went out to work every day. In the morning when she went away she
always said:

"There, Budulinek, there's your dinner on the table and mind, you
mustn't open the door no matter who knocks!"

One morning Granny said:

"Now, Budulinek, today I'm leaving you some soup for your dinner. Eat it
when dinner time comes. And remember what I always say: don't open the
door no matter who knocks."

She went away and pretty soon Lishka, the sly old mother fox, came and
knocked on the door.

"Budulinek!" she called. "You know me! Open the door! Please!"

Budulinek called back:

"No, I mustn't open the door."

But Lishka, the sly old mother fox, kept on knocking.

"Listen, Budulinek," she said: "if you open the door, do you know what
I'll do? I'll give you a ride on my tail!"

Now Budulinek though