grey fairy tale book

Chapter 6

"Don't ever leave this fire tonight," said old Peggy, "for the wind is blowing so hard that the house is shaking. Besides, it's Hallows' Eve tonight, and it's witch time, and their little ones The demon servants also dressed up in various forms and wandered around, harming human children."

"Why should I stay here?" said the oldest child. "No, I must go and see what old Jacob the rope maker's daughter is doing. If I don't call on her father before the moon goes down, She will never close her blue eyes."

"I must catch lobsters and crabs," said the second boy, "and all the witches and goblins in the world must come out to stop me."

In this way, the children all insisted on going about their own business or having their own fun, regardless of old Peggy's wise advice.Only the youngest child hesitated for a moment before speaking to her. "You stay here, my little Richard, and I'll tell you some nice stories."

But he wanted to pick a bunch of thyme leaves and black strawberries by moonlight, so he ran out with the children.As soon as they were out of the house, the children complained, "The old woman still says there is a strong wind and a storm, but there is no better weather and clearer sky than tonight. Look at the way the moon shines through the transparent clouds!"

Suddenly, they saw a black pony nearby.

"Whoa! whoa!" said they. "That's old Valentine's pony. He must have escaped from the stable, and is going to drink at the watering-pen."

"My dear pony," said the eldest, patting the pony, "don't go too far. I'll take you to the pool myself." Then he jumped on the horse The second child jumped on it too, and then the third child, and the fourth child, until at last everyone was on the pony's back, and finally little Richard, who didn't like to be left behind either.

On the way to the pool they met some companions and invited them to ride on the pony.They went up, but the pony didn't seem to mind the extra weight, jogging happily along the way.

The faster the pony runs, the happier these lads are.They held the pony's belly tightly and shouted loudly: "Run, pony, who is braver than the rider on your back!"

At the same time, the wind blew up again, and the waves began to roar, but the pony didn't seem to care about these. Instead of running towards the pool, it ran happily towards the seashore.

Richard was beginning to regret picking thyme leaves and black strawberries, and the oldest boy grabbed hold of the pony's mane and tried to redirect it, for he remembered the blue eyes of old Jacob's daughter, the rope maker .He tugged and tugged, but all his efforts were in vain.The pony ran straight into the sea until the waves touched its front hooves.As soon as it felt the water, the pony neighed cheerfully, jumped up with gusto, and dashed into the foaming swell.When the waves covered their laps, the children began to regret their hasty behavior, and cried out, "The damned black pony must be possessed. If we had listened to old Peggy's advice, we would have won't get lost!"

The farther the pony runs, the deeper the sea becomes.Finally, the waves covered the children's heads, drowning them all.

As morning approached, old Peggy went out of the house, for she was very worried about the fate of her children.She looked for them everywhere, but could not find them anywhere.She asked all the neighbors if they had seen any of her children, and no one knew except old Jacob the rope maker's blue-eyed daughter.

She saw a black pony coming towards her, hopping in all directions.As he passed her, the little black horse neighed loudly and then disappeared without a trace.

(End of this chapter)