The Shepherd of Salisbury Plain, and Other TalesMore, Hannah
General
The Shepherd of Salisbury Plain, and Other Tales
More, Hannah
Christian life -- Fiction; Conduct of life -- Fiction; Short stories
in less than forty-eight hours. "If," added she, "you closely follow
these directions, then, by the power of my art, you will find the
basin conveyed to the very stone under which the money lies hid, and
a fine treasure it be!" Mrs. Jenkins, who firmly believed every word
the woman said, did exactly as she was told, and Rachel took her
leave with a handsome reward.
When Farmer Jenkins came home he desired his wife to draw him a cup
of cider; this she put off so long that he began to be displeased.
At last she begged he would be so good as to drink a little beer
instead. He insisted on knowing the reason, and when at last he
grew angry, she told him all that had passed; and owned that as the
pot of gold had happened to be in the cider cellar, she did not dare
open the door, as she was sure it would break the charm. "And it
would be a pity you know," said she, "to lose a good fortune for the
sake of a draught of cider." The farmer, who was not so easily
imposed upon, suspected a trick. He demanded the key, and went and
opened the cellar door; there he found the basin, and in it five
round pieces of tin covered with powder. Mrs. Jenkins burst out
a-crying; but the farmer thought of nothing but of getting a warrant
to apprehend the cunning woman. Indeed she well proved her claim to
that name, when she insisted that the cellar door might be kept
locked till she had time to get out of the reach of all pursuit.
Poor Sally Evans! I am sure she rued the day that ever she listened
to a fortune teller. Sally was as harmless a girl as ever churned a
pound of butter; but Sally was credulous, ignorant, and
superstitious. She delighted in dream books, and had consulted all
the cunning women in the country to tell her whether the two moles
on her cheek denoted that she was to have two husbands, or two
children. If she picked up an old horse-shoe going to church, she
was sure that would be a lucky week. She never made a black pudding
without borrowing one of the parson's old wigs to hang in the
chimney, firmly believing there was no other means to preserve them
from burning. She would never go to bed on Midsummer eve without
sticking up in her room the well-known plant called Midsummer-men,
as the bending of the leaves to the right or to the left would not
fail to tell her whether Jacob, of whom we shall speak presently,
was true or false. She would rather go five miles about than pass
near a church-yard at night. Every seventh year she would not eat
beans because they grew downward in the pod, instead of upward;
and, though a very neat girl, she would rather have gone with her
gown open than to have taken a pin from an old woman, for fear of
being bewitched. Poor Sally had so many unlucky days in her
calendar, that a large portion of her time became of little use,
because on these days she did not dare set about any new work. And
she would have refused the best offer in the country if made to her
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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