anywhere near his house, he would order the servants to drive him
away, or would set the dogs at him.

One day three very poor old men came begging to the door, and
just as he was going to let the fierce dogs loose on them, his
little daughter, Anastasia, crept close up to him and said:

'Dear daddy, let the poor old men sleep here to-night, do--to
please me.'

Her father could not bear to refuse her, and the three beggars
were allowed to sleep in a loft, and at night, when everyone in
the house was fast asleep, little Anastasia got up, climbed up to
the loft, and peeped in.

The three old men stood in the middle of the loft, leaning on
their sticks, with their long grey beards flowing down over their
hands, and were talking together in low voices.

'What news is there?' asked the eldest.

'In the next village the peasant Ivan has just had his seventh
son. What shall we name him, and what fortune shall we give
him?' said the second.

The third whispered, 'Call him Vassili, and give him all the
property of the hard-hearted man in whose loft we stand, and who
wanted to drive us from his door.'

After a little more talk the three made themselves ready and