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Two Tales
away. She thought it had died
from the fall. But no. Nothing
actually had happened to
the child. It’s very difficult to
take a child, like drunks, to
the point of death. They have
an extraordinary tenacity
for life. Just like cats.
Grandmother sat till evening
in the forest not far from her
father’s house. She looked
out for what was happening
in the house from behind the
bushes. But her step-mother
knew where grandmother
was hiding. When it began
to get dark, her step-mother
stepped out into the yard
and shouted:
“Come home! I’m not going
to beat you! Come home!
It’s late already. You haven’t
eaten anything all day! Come
home, child, I’ll give you
some really tasty birch kasha
to eat! Come home, don’t be
afraid!”
Grandmother believed her.
She came out from behind
the bushes to her step-
mother because she was
really hungry. Grandmother
always used to be hungry as
a child, and later, even in her
old age, was always hungry.
She stepped out to her step-
mother and said:
“Where is the kasha?”
“Go inside, it’s in the house.”
Grandmotherwent inside,but
her step-mother already had
prepared the birch switches.
She grabbed grandmother by
the arms and began to whip
her on her legs, her back,
her behind. Her face. She
screamed out:
“You little bitch! You wanted
to kill my child, did you? You
shoved her off the stove shelf
on purpose?!”
She
beat
her
until
grandmother’s father came