l grow, blossom, and bear fruit tonight. Tomorrow morning bring me
the ripe fruit. Here is a wooden hoe with which to work."

"Alas," thought Raduz to himself, "did ever a man have such a task as
this? What can I do on that rocky hillside with a wooden hoe? How can
I finish my task in so short a time?"

He started to work but he hadn't struck three blows with the wooden
hoe before it broke. In despair he tossed it aside and sat down under
a beech tree.

In the meantime wicked old Yezibaba had cooked a disgusting mess of
toads which she told Ludmila to carry out to the serving man for his
dinner. Ludmila was sorry for the poor young man who had fallen into
her mother's clutches and she said to herself: "What has he done to
deserve such unkind treatment? I won't let him eat this nasty mess.
I'll share my own dinner with him."

She waited until her mother was out of the room, then she took
Yezibaba's magic wand and hid it under her apron. After that she
hurried out to Raduz, whom she found sitting under the beech tree with
his face in his hands.

"Don't be discouraged," she said to him. "It is true your mistress
cooked you a mess of toads for your dinner but, see, I have thrown
them away and have brought you my own dinner instead. As for your
task," she continued, "I will help you with that. Here is my mother's
magic wand. I have but to strike the rocky hillside and by tomorrow
the trees that my mother has ordered will spring up, blossom, and bear
fruit."

Ludmila did as she promised. She struck the ground with the magic wand
and instantly instead of the rocky hillside there appeared an orchard
with rows on rows of trees that blossomed and bore fruit as you
watched them.

Raduz looked from Ludmila to the orchard and couldn't find words with
which to express his surprise and gratitude. Then Ludmila spread out
her dinner and together they ate it, laughing merrily and talking.
Raduz would have kept Ludmila all the afternoon but she remembered
that Yezibaba was waiting for her and she hurried away.

The next morning Raduz presented Yezibaba a basket of ripe fruit. She
sniffed it suspiciously and then very grudgingly acknowledged that he
had accomplished his task.

"What am I to do today?" Raduz asked.

Yezibaba led him to a second window and asked him what he saw there.

"I see a rocky ravine covered with brambles," he said.

"Right. Go now and clear away the brambles, dig up the ravine, and
plant it in grape v