Produced by Janet Blenkinship and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) MORE RUSSIAN PICTURE TALES [Illustration] [Illustration] MORE RUSSIAN PICTURE TALES BY VALERY CARRICK [Illustration] TRANSLATED BY NEVILL FORBES NEW YORK FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY PUBLISHERS _Copyright, 1914, 1920, by_ FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY _All Rights Reserved_ Printed in the United States of America [Illustration] CONTENTS. PAGE 1. The Cock and the Bean 1 2. The Goat and the Ram 11 3. The Hungry Wolf 25 4. The Peasant and the Bear 39 5. The Dog and the Cock 45 6. King Frost 53 7. The Bear's Paw 67 8. The Bear and the Old Man's Daughters 73 9. The Straw Ox 87 10. The Fox and the Blackbird 103 THE COCK AND THE BEAN. A cock was scratching one day in the earth under the wall of a cottage when he found a bean. [Illustration] He tried to swallow it, and choked himself. He choked himself and stretched himself out, and there he lay, and couldn't even breathe. [Illustration] And his mistress saw him, ran up to him, and asked: "Mr. Cock, what makes you lie there like that, so that you can't breathe?" [Illustration] "I've choked myself with a bean," he answered. "Go and ask the cow for some butter." And his mistress came to the cow and said: "Mrs. Cow, give me some butter! My cock is lying there and can't even breathe, he has choked himself with a bean." [Illustration] And the cow answered: "Go and ask the hay-makers for some hay." [Illustration] And she came to the hay-makers and said: "Hay-makers, give me some hay! The hay's for the cow who will give me some butter, and the butter's for my cock who is lying there and can't breathe, he's choked himself with a bean." And the hay-makers answered: "Go and ask the oven to give you some loaves." And she came to the oven and said: "Oven, oven, give me some loaves! The loaves are for the hay-makers, who will give me some hay, the hay's for the cow, who will give me some butter, and the butter's for my cock who is lying there and can't breathe, he's choked himself with a bean." [Illustration] And the oven answered: "Go and ask the wood-cutters for some wood."