Then he went his way, and the poor brother returned home. He found Poverty under the stove, seized it, and flung it into the river. After this, everything which he undertook succeeded with the poor brother, and it was a real marvel to see how he got on. His fields grew fine harvests, and his barns and stables were soon more imposing than his rich brother's. When the rich brother saw it, he grew envious, and wanted to know how the other had got wealthy. He was always teasing him to know how it was, and at last the other got tired of it, and said,[Pg 270] "How did I get rich? I dragged Poverty out from under the stove, and threw it in the water. That's how it was!" "That's how it was," cried the rich brother. "Wait a bit! your sort shan't outdo me!" So he went to the river and fished for Poverty, from whom he supposed that his poor brother had received everything. He fished and fished, and would do nothing else, till at length he held Poverty fast. While he inspected and examined it at home, it slipped through his fingers and hid under his stove, and nobody could get it out again. After this everything went worse and worse with the rich brother, till he became at last quite poor, and remained so. This story, which I have not abridged, is a well-known Sclavonic legend. It is probably connected with the story of the three apes which forms the introduction to that of "Khaleefeh the Fisherman," in the _Thousand and One Nights_. [Pg 271] SECTION XIII _PLAGUE-LEGENDS_ The plague continued to rage in Eastern Europe long after it had disappeared from the West, and down to a very recent period. Consequently we find plague-legends, which have almost died out in the British Islands, except in Scotland, rife among all the Eastern nations. The Plague-demon is usually represented as female, but in the Esthonian legends it is masculine. The Plague once seated himself in a boat which was returning to the Island of Rogö,[75] which had hitherto escaped his ravages, in the shape of a tall black man with a great scythe in his hand. He arrived among the dead crew, and at once sprang on shore and began to destroy the inhabitants. Some saw the Plague himself, and others not. If any one saw him, his heart froze with terror[Pg 272] before he could speak a word.[76] One night during a violent storm, an old woman saw him enter her cottage as she was sitting alone spinning; but she gathered courage to cry out, "Welcome, in God's name." He stopped short, muttering, "That's enough," returned to the boat in which he had come, and went out to sea. The storm ceased as he departed, and since then he has never reappeared.