few minutes the milk was so burnt
and smoked that no one could touch it, and even the pigs refused to
drink it.

"Ah, good-for-nothing hussy!" cried the housewife, as she refilled the
pan herself, "you would ruin the richest with your carelessness! There's
a whole quart of good milk wasted at once!"

"AND THAT'S TWOPENCE!" cried a voice that seemed to come from the
chimney, in a whining tone, like some discontented old body going over
her grievances.

The housewife had not left the saucepan for two minutes, when the milk
boiled over, and it was all burnt and smoked as before.

"The pan must be dirty," muttered the good woman in vexation, "and there
are two full quarts of milk as good as thrown to the dogs."

"AND THAT'S FOURPENCE!" added the voice in the chimney.

After a thorough cleaning the saucepan was once more filled and set on
the fire, but with no better success. The milk boiled over again, and
was hopelessly spoiled. The housewife shed tears of anger at the waste
and cried: "Never before did such a thing befall me since I kept house!
Three quarts of new milk burnt for one meal."

"AND THAT'S SIXPENCE!" cried the voice in the chimney. "You didn't save
the tinkering after all, mother!"

With that the Hillman himself came tumbling down from the chimney, and
went off laughing through the door.

But from then on the saucepan was as good as any other.

HOFUS THE STONE-CUTTER

A JAPANESE LEGEND

FROM THE RIVERSIDE THIRD READER (ADAPTED)

Once upon a time in Japan, there was a poor stone-cutter, named Hofus,
who used to go every day to the mountain-side to cut great blocks of
stone. He lived near the mountain in a little stone hut, and worked hard
and was happy.

One day he took a load of stone to the house of a rich man. There he saw
so many beautiful things that when he went back to his mountain he could
think of nothing else. Then he began to wish that he too might sleep in
a bed as soft as down, with curtains of silk, and tassels of gold. And
he sighed:--

"Ah me! Ah me!
If Hofus only were rich as he!"

To his surprise, the voice of the Mountain Spirit answered:--

"Have thou thy wish!"

When Hofus returned home that evening his little hut was gone, and in
its place stood a great palace. It was filled with beautiful things, and
the best of all was a bed of down, with curtains of silk and tassels of
gold.

Hofus decided to work no more. But he was not used to be