ound the
corn, but charged them nothing on account of their poverty; and the
countryman set out on his return home with his pan full of flour. But
on a sudden there arose such a strong wind that in the twinkle of an
eye all the flour was blown out of the pan, which he carried on his
head. So he went home and told his wife; and when she heard it she
fell to scolding and beating him without mercy; and she threatened him
on and on, until at length she grew tired; then she ordered him to go
to the wind which had blown away the flour and get paid for it, either
in money or in as much flour as there had been in the pan.

The poor countryman, whose bones ached with the blows he had received
from his wife, went out of the house weeping and wringing his hands;
but whither to turn his steps he knew not. And at last he came to a
large and dark forest, in which he wandered here and there. At last an
old woman met him and said: "My good man, where are you going, and how
are you going to find your way? What has brought you into this
country, where rarely a bird flies, and rarely does a beast run?"

"Good Mother," replied the man, "force has driven me hither. I went to
the mill with some corn, and when it was ground I shook the flour into
a pan and went my way home; but suddenly a wind arose and carried off
the flour out of the pan; and when I came without it to the house and
told my wife, she beat me, and has sent me to seek the Wind, and ask
him either to give me back the meal or to pay me for it in money. So
now I go here and there to look for the Wind, and know not where to
find it."

"Follow me," said the old woman: "I am the mother of the Winds, and
have four sons; the first son is the East Wind, the second is the
South Wind, the third is the West Wind, and the fourth the North Wind.
Tell me, now, which Wind it is that has blown away your meal?"

"The South Wind, Mother dear," answered the countryman.

Then the old woman led the man deeper into the forest, and came to a
little hut, and said: "Here I live, master woodman; creep on to the
stove, and wrap yourself up; my children will soon be here."

"But why should I wrap myself up?" said the peasant.

"Because my son the North Wind is very cold, and you would be frozen,"
said the old woman.

Not long after, the old woman's sons began to assemble; and when at
length the South Wind came, the old woman called the countryman from
the stove and said to her sons: "South Wind,