and as a result he was walking on the left and Stasiek on the right.
Then Slimak boxed both their ears, after which they were both walking
on the left, Jendrek in the ditch, so that he could threaten his
brother with his fist.

'Bless them, they always find some nice amusement for themselves,' she
whispered, smiling, and went back to put on the dinner.

Having settled the misunderstanding between his sons, Slimak sang
softly to himself:

'Your love is no courtier,
my own heart's desire,
He's riding a pony on his way to the squire.'

Then in a more melancholy strain:

'Oh dearie, dearie me
This is great misery,
What shall I do?...'

He sighed, and felt that no song could adequately express his anxiety.
Would the squire let him have the field? They were just passing it; he
was almost afraid to look at it, so beautiful and unattainable did it
seem. All the fines he had had to pay for his cattle, all the squire's
threats and admonitions came into his mind. It struck him that if the
field lay farther off and produced sand instead of good grass, he would
have a better chance.

'Eh, I don't care!' he cried, throwing up his head with an air of