this bit of chalk, and go to the palace and say you have come to measure
the king.' The old man did not see the use of this, but Maria had so
often helped him before that he had confidence in her, so he put the
chalk in his pocket and went to the palace.

'That is no good,' said the king, when the merchant had told him what he
had come for.

'Well, I can't make the coat you want,' replied he.

'Then if you would save your head, hand over to me your daughter Maria.'

The merchant did not reply, but went sorrowfully back to his house,
where Maria sat waiting for him.

'Oh, my dear child, why was I born? The king says that, instead of the
coat, I must deliver you up to him.'

'Do not be unhappy, dear father, but get a doll made, exactly like
me, with a string attached to its head, which I can pull for "Yes" and
"No."'

So the old man went out at once to see about it.

The king remained patiently in his palace, feeling sure that this time
Maria could not escape him; and he said to his pages, 'If a gentleman
should come here with his daughter and ask to be allowed to speak with
me, put the young lady in my room and see she does not leave it.'

When the door was shut on Maria, who had concealed the doll under her
cloak, she hid herself under the couch, keeping fast hold of the string
which was fastened to its head.

'Senhora Maria, I hope you are well,' said the king when he entered the
room. The doll nodded. 'Now we will reckon up accounts,' continued he,
and he began at the beginning, and ended up with the flower-basket, and
at each fresh misdeed Maria pulled the string, so that the doll's head
nodded assent. 'Who-so mocks at me merits death,' declared the king when
he had ended, and drawing his sword, cut off the doll's head. It fell
towards him, and as he felt the touch of a kiss, he exclaimed, 'Ah,
Maria, Maria, so sweet in death, so hard to me in life! The man who
could kill you deserves to die!' And he was about to turn his sword on
himself, when the true Maria sprung out from under the bed, and flung
herself into his arms. And the next day they were married and lived
happily for many years.

[From the Portuguese.]

The Magic Kettle

Right in the middle of Japan, high up among the mountains, an old man
lived in his little house. He was very proud of it, and never tired of
admiring the whiteness of his straw mats, and the pretty papered walls,
which in warm weather always slid back, so that the s