The Clay Boy

Once upon a time, there lived an old man and an old woman. They had no children.

The old woman said:

"Old man, mold a little boy out of clay, as if he were our son."

The old man molded a little boy out of clay. They placed him on the stove to dry. The boy dried and began asking for food:

"Granny, give me a tub of milk and a piece of bread."

The old woman brought him these, and he ate everything and asked again:

"I'm hungry! I'm hungry!"

And he ate all the bread and drank all the milk of the old man and the old woman, and then he shouted again:

"I'm hungry! I'm hungry!"

There was nothing left to give him. The clay boy jumped off the stove and ate the old woman with her spinning wheel, the old man with his walking stick—and then he went outside.

He met a bull. The clay boy said to him:

"I've eaten five pieces of bread, five tubs of milk, the old woman with her spinning wheel, the old man with his walking stick—and now I'll eat you, bull!"

And he ate the bull.

He walked further. He met woodcutters with axes.

The clay boy said to them:

"I've eaten five pieces of bread, five tubs of milk, the old woman with her spinning wheel, the old man with his walking stick, the bull with his horns—and now I'll eat all of you!"

And he ate the woodcutters with their axes.

He walked further. He met men with scythes and women with rakes.

The clay boy said to them:

"I've eaten five pieces of bread, five tubs of milk, the old woman with her spinning wheel, the old man with his walking stick, the bull with his horns, the woodcutters with their axes—and now I'll eat all of you!"

He ate the men with scythes and the women with rakes and walked on.

The clay boy met a goat and said:

"I've eaten five pieces of bread, five tubs of milk, the old woman with her spinning wheel, the old man with his walking stick, the bull with his horns, the woodcutters with their axes, the men with scythes, the women with rakes—and now I'll eat you, goat!"

But the goat said:

"Don't trouble yourself. Stand at the bottom of the hill, and I'll stand at the top, run down, and jump right into your mouth."

The clay boy stood at the bottom of the hill, and the goat ran down from the top and rammed him in the belly with its horns! The clay boy fell apart.

And out of his belly came the old woman with her spinning wheel, the old man with his walking stick, the bull with his horns, the woodcutters with their axes, the men with scythes, and the women with rakes.

The goat had saved them all.

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The Clay Boy

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