“When the moon is young and new
Take the cherry-stick with you,
Throw it up into the sky,
Where it falls there let it lie;
Dig beneath it in the grass,
Who knows what may come to pass?”
It happened that that night was the first night of the new moon, so they took the cherry-stick into a field and the gardener’s son tossed it high into the air. It fell a little way off, and when they had run to the place where it lay, Sootface began digging with his paws underneath it. Soon he came upon something hard, and, when they had taken it out of the hole, they found a leather bag stuffed full of gold.
After this their troubles vanished, and they began to live in a very grand manner; at each town through which they passed they hired splendid lodgings and gave largely to beggars, and instead of travelling afoot, they bought two fine horses; Sootface sat on the crupper behind the gardener’s son, bowing affably to the people who passed. They bought some magnificent new clothes—those they wore being nearly worn out—and thus they proceeded till the next new moon, when they again tossed up the cherry-stick and found another bag of money.
In time they drew near their journey’s end and approached the capital town in which the Princess’s sister lived, and they halted and sent the cat before them with a letter to the palace.
When Sootface arrived at the town he took some gold, and, going into a shop, bought a feathered hat and two yards of green satin ribbon with which he ornamented his tail. He then went to an inn, where he purchased a fine piebald horse with an embroidered saddle, and, having thus prepared himself, galloped to the palace. Everyone in the street turned round to look at him, and all the little boys cried “Hooray!” as he thundered by.