"Come, I will tell you one," said the good old woman. The children approached. Anis took up his position on the empty earthen pot, and the grandma commenced a story to amuse the little children. She had hardly finished the relation of this story when a great noise was heard. The dog rose up, pointed his ears, and put himself on the defensive. The cat bristled her hair and prepared to fly. But the succeeding laugh very soon was frightful: it was Anis, who fell asleep during the recital of his grandmother. It happened that the prophecy of his mother was fulfilled as to his falling into the earthen pan, where all his little person disappeared except his legs, which stuck out like plants of a new species. His mother, rendered impatient, seized with one hand the collar of his vest, raised him out of this depth, and despite his resistance held him suspended in the air for some time--in the style represented in those card dancing-jacks, which move arms and legs when you pull the thread which holds them. As his mother scolded him, and everybody laughed at him, Anis, who had a brave spirit,--a thing natural in an infant,--burst out into a groan which had nothing of timidity in it. "Don't weep, Anis," said Paca, "and I will give you two chestnuts that I have in my pocket." "True?" demanded Anis. Paca took out the two chestnuts, and gave them to him. Instead of tears, they saw promptly shine with joy the two rows of white teeth of the young boy. "Brother Gabriel," said Maria, "did you not speak to me of a pain in your eyes? Why do you work this evening?" "I said truly," answered brother Gabriel; "but Don Frederico gave me a remedy which cured me." "Don Frederico must know many remedies, but he does not know that one which never misses its effect," said the shepherd. "If you know it, have the kindness to tell me," replied Stein. "I am unable to tell you," replied the shepherd. "I know that it exists, and that is all." "Who knows it then?" demanded Stein. "The swallows," said José. "The swallows?" "Yes, sir. It is an herb which is called 'pito-real,' which nobody sees or knows except the swallows: when their little ones lose their sight the parents rub their eyes with the pito-real, and cure them. This herb has also the virtue to cut iron--everything it touches." "What absurdities this José swallows without chewing, like a real shark!" interrupted Manuel, laughing. "Don Frederico, do you comprehend what he said and believes as an article of faith? He believes and says that snakes never die." "No, they never die," replied the shepherd. "When they see death coming they escape from their skin, and run away. With age they become serpents; little by little they are covered with scales and wings: they become dragons, and return to the desert. But you, Manuel, you do not wish to believe anything. Do you deny also that the lizard is the enemy of the woman, and the friend of man? If you do not believe it, ask then of Miguel." "He knows it?"