But the old man replied: “I shall not tell you a story, only the truth. Do you know what I have just dreamed? I went to sleep and thought I saw two candles blazing in front of the images and two birds fluttering inside the hut.”
“Those are my two angels fluttering about.”
“And I also saw a snake lying between your son and his wife.”
“That is because they quarrel.”
“And I looked also at your second son, and there was a cat sitting on his wife, and yawning at the man.”
“That means that they are bad friends, and the wife wants to get rid of the husband.”
“Then, when I looked at your next son, I saw a youth lying in between them.”
“That is not a youth, but an angel who was lying there; and that is why they are on such good and loving terms.”
“Why is it, then, master of the house, when I slipped off the sleeping shelf that there were newts running on the floor; and, when I wanted to drink at the table, I saw frogs leaping about and croaking?”
“Because,” the peasant answered, “my daughters-in-law do not sweep up the lathes; but put the kvas on the table when they are sitting round together without saying grace.”