Chapter 154 181. The Old Woman in the Garden

Once upon a time there was a cabbage garden.There was a famine that year, and two women went out in search of food. "Sister," said one, "let's go into this vegetable garden and pick some cabbages." Another said, "But there will be people inside." The previous one went to have a look. "Nobody. Go." The two went into the vegetable garden and picked two large bundles of cabbages.They took the vegetables home, made a nice dinner, and went to the garden the next day to pick two more bundles. This vegetable garden belongs to an old lady.She returned to the vegetable garden and saw that the cabbages had been stolen. "Now I have to think about it," she said. "I'm going to catch a dog and tie it to the door."

When the two women saw the dog, one said, "No, I won't pick the cabbage this time." And another said, "Come on, let's buy two sourdoughs and throw them to the dog, so we can take as much as we like." They bought bread, and before the dog could say "woof," they threw it out.The dog jumped on the bread and fell silent.The two picked the cabbage and left. The old lady looked into the vegetable garden and saw this tragic scene. "Ah! You've had vegetables picked right under your nose! You're not fit to be a guard. Go away!" So she let a cat watch over the vegetable garden. "When it called 'meow meow', I jumped out and caught the thief."

The two ladies came to pick the cabbage and saw the cat.They bought the lungs for two sourdos, and before the cat could say "meow," they threw them to him, and the cat shut up.They left after picking the vegetables, and the cat yelled, "Meow, meow" after eating the lungs. The old lady jumped out, but neither the vegetables nor the thief were seen.So she was angry with the cat. "What shall I put now? A rooster! This time the thief will not get away." One of the two women said, "I'm not going this time, there's a rooster there." Another said, "We threw it some chicken food and it stopped barking."

When the roosters peck at the chickens, they scoop up the cabbages.When the rooster had finished eating the chicken food, he cried out, "Cuckoo!" The old lady ran out and found that the cabbage had been taken away, so she grabbed the rooster and slaughtered it.Then he said to a farmer, "Dig me a ditch as long as I am." She lay in the ditch and had her buried, leaving only one ear out of the ground. The next morning, the two women came, and they searched the garden, but did not find a living animal.The ditch that the old lady had asked to be dug was on the path they had to pass.When they came in, they found nothing, and when they took the cabbage and left, the first woman saw the ears sticking out of the ground, and said, "Oh, sister, look, what a mushroom!" She knelt down , began to pull mushrooms.Pull and pull, pull and pull, she jerked, and the old lady jumped out.

"Ah!" cried the old lady, "it's you who stole my food? I want to show you! She grabbed the woman who had pulled her ear, and the other ran away quickly. The old lady grabbed her fiercely: "Now, I will eat you alive." And the woman said to her, "Wait a minute, I'm going to have a child soon; if you spare my life, I promise you, whether it will be a boy or a girl, I will give him to you at the age of sixteen. You agree ?" "Agreed!" said the old lady, "you can pick as many vegetables as you want, and then go. But don't forget your promise."

The woman returned home half dead. "Sister, you escaped, I'm in trouble, I promise to the old lady, no matter if you have a boy or a girl, you will give it to her when you are sixteen." Two months later, the woman gave birth to a little girl. "Oh, poor daughter!" said the mother to her, "I fed you, I raised you, and you will be eaten at last!" and cried. When the girl was about to turn sixteen, she went to buy oil for her mother and met the old lady. "Whose daughter are you, girl?" "Mrs. Sapeta's." "She raised you up so big...you should be delicious..." and stroked her, "you, take this fig, take it to your mother, and say to her, 'Where's your promise ?'"

The girl came home and told her mother everything. "...she also asked me to say to you: 'Where's your pledge?'" "Promise?" said the mother, and burst into tears. "Why are you crying, mother?" But the mother didn't answer, and after crying for a while, she said, "If you meet an old lady, tell her: 'I'm still young.'" But the girl was already sixteen years old, and she was ashamed to say that she was still young.Therefore, when I met the old lady again and heard her ask "What did your mother say to you?", I replied: "I am already old..."

"Then come with grandma, and I'll give you a lot of good things," said the old lady, and grabbed the girl. She took the girl home, put her in a chicken coop, and fed her so she could gain weight.After a while, the old lady wanted to see if she had gained weight, so she said to her, "Listen, show me your little finger." The girl caught a mouse that was making a nest in a chicken coop, and gave the old lady its tail instead of her fingers. "Well, you're thin, you're still thin, my little one. Eat, eat." But after a while, the old lady could no longer bear the thought of eating her, so she was released from the coop. "Ah, you've gotten fat. Now let's heat up the stove, and I want to bake bread." They made the bread, and the girl heated the stove, cleaned it, and got ready to bake.

"Now bake the bread." "I can't bake, Grandma. I can do anything but bake bread." "Then look at me. You bring me bread." The girl handed her the bread, and the old lady baked it. "Now you take the big stones and cover the stove." "How do I get the boulder up, grandma?" "I'll get it," said the old lady. As soon as she squatted down, the girl grabbed her legs and threw her into the stove.Then he picked up the big stone and shut the old lady in the stove. The girl immediately ran to her mother, and they became masters of the garden.

(Province of Caltani Saida)