there in it was a dish almost full of butter. When the good dame saw
that, she was so indignant that she quite lost all prudence.
"Shame on you," she cried to the little man. "Are you not ashamed to
be stealing butter from good folk who are less able to buy than
yourself."
The little man stopped and looked at her. "So you can see me, can
you?" he said.
"Yes, to be sure I can," said the old dame boldly.
"And how does that happen?" asked the little man smoothly, and without
any show of anger.
"Oh, when I was nursing your good lady, I managed to rub a bit of her
salve on one of my eyes, and that is how I can see you."
"And which eye did you rub with the salve?"
"My right eye."
"And it is only with your right eye you see me?"
"Only with my right eye."
When the little man heard that, quick as a flash he pursed up his lips
and blew into her right eye, and he blew so hard he blew the sight
right out of it. The old dame blinked and winked and rubbed her eye
with her fingers. The little man had vanished from before her. She
could see everything else, but what she saw was with her left eye
only, and she could see no fairies with it for it had not been touched
with salve.
So that was the end of it for Dame Pridgett, as far as the wee folk
were concerned, for she never got back the sight of her right eye;
only she still had the purse of gold pieces left, and that was enough
to comfort the old dame for a great deal.
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|Transcriber's Note: |
| |
|The page numbers numbers in the list of Illustrations have been|
|changed to match their position in this ebook. |
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End of Project Gutenberg's Tales of Folk and Fairies, by Katharine Pyle