Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes County, Ohio) 1856-1865, 1857-03-05
THE MILL IN THE Sc A.
= IL 70
A BEAUTIFUL FAIRY STORY.

In olden time there once lived Two bro
theirs, one of whom was rich, and the 9th
er poor. When Christmas was near al
hand, the poor one had not SO much as g
bit of meat or crust of bread in the house
so be went to his brother, and begged him
in Gods name to give him trifle. Now
it happened that this was not the first time
that the rich brother had given the pooi
one something, so he was not particularly
delighted when he saw him coming.
s.If you will do as l tell you," said he tc
the unwelcome visitor, "you will have q
whole ham that is hanging up to be smok-
ed" .l....- T u
The poor brother said he would do what
he told him, and thank him too. 7s,l.
sThere it is" said the rich brother, fling
ing him the ham, "and now go to the low
er regions" E
"Since 1 have promised it, l must co.
observed the other, taking up his ham, and
going away.
After wandering about the whole day,
just as it grew dark he perceived bright
light at no great distance from him. at
must be here" thought he. On going
somewhat further into the forest, however,
he found an old man, with a long white
beard, who was cutting wood.
@Good evening" said he with the ham.
"Good evening" replied the man;
sswhither may you be going?" r 5,s
"Ohl I'm only going to the lower re-
gions, only L don't know whether I've come
the right way" replied the simple-hearted
man. ,s.- ...f ~ .ieass ri IS s5d
"Yes, you are quite right said the old
man, "the entrance is just here;" and then
he added. "when you have got down below
they will all want to buy your ham, for
swine's flesh is a great rarity there; but
you must not sell it for money, so rather
ask to exchange it against the old hand
mill that stands behind the door. When
you come up again, then l will teach you
what to do with the mill; for it has its use,
l can tell you" -. --ogs.-* =-.,s
On entering the underground dwelling,
everything happened just as the old man
had told him. All the imps, great and
small, gathered round, and began outbid-
ding each other for the ham.
81 had intended feasting upon it on holy
Christmas eve, with my wife," said the
man; ''but as you seem bent on having it,
I'm willing to part with it: but. will not
take anything in exchange, except the old
hand-mill that stands behind the door"
The chief imp did not at all relish part
ing with this, and he began to bargain and
haggle with the man; but the latter re-
NAMED firm, so at last the imp was fain to
let him take the mill away. When the
man had emerged from the underground
dwelling, he asked the old wood-cutter
how he was to use the mill, and when he
had told him, he thanked him and returned
home; but let him make what speed he
would, he did not reach it until twelve
o'clock at night.
"Where in the world can you have been?"
said his wife as he came in. ave been
sitting here hour after hour, and had not
so much as couple of splinters to lay
across each other under the Cruel pot, to
cook our Christmas dinner" s---
"Ohr' replied the man, al could not
come sooner, for had some business to
mind, and was obliged to go long way
about il; but you shall see what l have
brought back with me-" t.,-
He then placed the mill on the table,
and made it grind first of all, candles, then
a table cloth, then food and beer,-in short
all that was wanting for Christmas feast;
and whatever he called for, the mill ground
it Immediately. His wife stood by, and
crossed herself many times over, and was
very anxious to know how her husband
had come by the mill. But this he took
care not to tell. e-..
at matters not how l got it wife" said
he: ''you see that it is good mill, whose
water does not cease to flow, and that is
enough" a., s--..-. q. --r ;.se a..t 81,
And then he ground eatables and drink
ables, and every possible dainty for Christ
mas week; and on the third day he invi-
ted his friends to a banquet When the
rich brother saw what a feast was in pre-
paration, he turned hot and cold with yex-
alton, for he grudged his brother the least
windfall. -
"On Christmas eve," said he to the 9th
er guests, she was so miserably poor that
he came to ask me for trife in Gods
name, and now all of sudden he is as
grand as if he had become an earl or king.
Then turning to his brother,-'Where on
earth," asked he, 'did you get all these
riches !'
"Behind the door," answered the other,
who had no mind to let the cat out of the
bag. But towards evening, when he had
taken drop too much, he could not keep
his own counsel any longer, but brought
out his mill ''' ,'i''.7
"Here is the golden goose that has
brought me all my riches" said he, and
made the mill grind one thing and then
the other. On seeing this, the brother
wanted TO buy the mill of him, but the
other would not hear of it at first. AT
length, however, as his brother seemed to
wish for it so very much, he said he would
take three hundred dollars for II, only he
had bargained not to part with 1t TIL mar
vest-time. "For," said he, "if | keep 1t I'LL
then, 1 shall be able to grind food enough
for many year to come" =.s-.i 81.
During this space of time, We may easi-
" imagine that the mill was not allowed
to grow rusty and when harvest time came,
the brother had it given him, only the 9th
er had taken good care not to tell him
how he was to manage it. 1t was evening
when the rich brother brought the mill
home, and on the following morning he
told his wife that she might go into the