A Tale Without a Name Read Online Free Page B

pockets.
    “The way is long,” she said. “Godspeed to you, my children.”
    They bid goodbye to Knowledge, and then the siblings picked up once more the way back to the palace.
    Every now and then Little Irene would turn her head to look at the small, hospitable white cottage, which was still visible through the leafy trees. And when that was lost from sight, she sighed heavily and looked at her brother who was walking straight ahead, with steady step, his head held high.

IV
On the Way Back
    T HEY WALKED for many hours across the dry, boundless valley. Eventually they came to a desolate hamlet, where barely two or three dwellings still stood erect.
    They stopped in front of the first and knocked at the door.
    A middle-aged man with a crotchety face and unkempt clothes opened the door.
    “What do you want?” he snapped.
    “Just a place to sit down for a while. We are exhausted,” replied the Prince.
    “This is not an inn,” said the man.
    And he shut the door.
    The siblings sat on the doorstep, and took out their bread to eat.
    Before long, they heard the window open cautiously. They turned around, and saw the same man.
    “What’s the idea of sitting in front of my house like this?” he snapped again.
    “Are we disturbing you?” asked the Prince, without rising.
    “You most certainly are! Away with you!” retorted the man. “I don’t like beggars.”
    “We ask you for nothing,” said the Prince quietly.
    The man became irascible.
    “The doorstep is mine!” he yelled. “Be gone with you, or I shall give you a thrashing you’ll never forget!”
    The two siblings got up and went farther down the road. The spring sun, however, was strong and hot; seeking to find some shade, they returned to the back of the house, where amidst some rubble and ruins they lay down in a shady corner and fell asleep.
    A light tapping noise awoke the Prince. It seemed to him that he could hear voices.
    He rose carefully, peered through the stones without being seen, and saw the same inhospitable man: he was now speaking from his window to a child laden with a sack; his voice was hushed and secretive.
    “Did anyone see you?” asked the man lowering his voice to a whisper.
    “No, of course not! What am I, a fool to get caught?” answered the child. “But come, unload my burden, the sack is heavy!”
    “What’s in it?” asked the man, leaning out of the window to catch hold of it.
    “A flask of wine, three apples, a shoe, two pies and a woolly hat.”
    “You found these things all together in one place?”
    “No. Bittersuffering was at home when I went there. I snatched the wine and the apples, which he kept on the windowsill so they might stay fresh and cool, and took to my heels. The rest comes from Badluck. He was away to town where he was to be a witness at Miserlix’s trial; so I took care of his house at my leisure.” And with that the child broke into a guffaw. “Yet you have not seen the real booty,” he went on, taking out of his pocket a silver watch. “I got this one last night, out of Miserlix’s pocket. Ain’t it a beauty?”
    “Is that so? And where did you come across Miserlix?”
    “Hah! I was there when the palace courtier with the chain thrust him down the mountain in order to take his haversack from him. So then down I scrambled myself as well, and, finding him unconscious, I groped about in his pockets and took his watch and two silver five-crown coins. Do I get no praise from you?”
    “Come in,” said the man delightedly. “Give me the silver coins, and you shall receive the very best praise! You have earned it!”
    The window was then pulled shut and the child disappeared to the back of the house.
    The Prince woke up his sister. His face was dark and clouded.
    “Come,” he said. “We must leave this place.”
    Little Irene got up and followed him.
    “Who is chasing us away this time?” she asked.
    “Little Irene,” said the Prince, his eyebrows furrowing. “Do you know why the