The Wise Girl and the Riddles

The Wise Girl and the Riddles Read by Jana Adapted by Bertie. Sponsored by the wonderful Out school Hello, this is Jana and I’m here with a Russian folk tale. It has some interesting characters including a very clever little girl.And if you like solving riddles, you will love this story. Later we are going to hear from our wonderful sponsor. Outshool, and then we will have some music for you. This story is about a Russian country-man. His name was Ivan Ivanovich. People said that he had an unbuttoned soul, meaning he was open and sincere. Not entirely by coincidence, he also happened to be rather poor. But he was happy. He lived in a small hut with his seven-year-old daughter who was the apple of his eye. She was extremely bright, and full of wisdom. For instance, when her dad complained that they had nothing for supper, she would say: “Without effort, you won’t even pull a fish out of a pond.” And he would understand her meaning, and take his net down from the hook on the wall, and go and catch a fish. And when he was angry with himself for leaving the milk to boil over, she would say: “Don’t worry Papa, even a grandmother can make mistakes.” She was so clever, that sometimes her father wondered if she was the grown up, and he was the child. When he said this to her, she replied, “You can live for 100 years and learn for 100 years.” And he was even more in awe of his little daughter’s clever sayings. Ivan Ivanovich had one possession that was of any value, and that was his horse, or more exactly, his mare, because she was a she-horse. As Ivan Ivanovich did not have anywhere to keep the mare, she lived in the stable belonging to his neighbour. Now the neighbour was a widow known for being less than truthful. In fact, people said that she had spit in her soul. Perhaps not entirely by coincidence, she was rather rich. One day, the rich neighbour opened up the stable door and found a newly born foal lying under her cart. In case you don’t know, a foal is a