School: Ardvarney (roll number 15116)

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1. A Story

   

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   Once upon a time there was a boy who had two step-sisters and a step-mother. His mother was very cruel to him she used to give the daughters all the the nice things to eat and to him their leavings and bad crusts. In the presence of the father she used to put all sorts of nice things before him and before the father would come in she would tell him not to each much or she would beat him when the father would go out.
   But one day the boy went out and there was a speckled bull in the field and the bull said twist off my horn and you will get various kinds of food. When the boy came home the step-mother had food ready for him and he didn’t eat much and she was wondering why he ate so little. The next day he went as usual to the speckled bull and the mother sent one of her daughters with him to see where he was getting the food. The bull had a fiddle and he began to play on it to put the girl to sleep and while she was asleep the boy got the food and when they went home the mother asked her what she saw and the girl said she saw nothing and she beat her. The next day she sent out the other girl and the bull put her back to sleep but she had an eye in the back of her head and she saw all. When she went home she told her mother all. The mother got very angry and pretended to be sick. The father didn’t know what to do. She told him she would get well if she got a bit of the speckled bull’s flesh. The father told her that he would give her

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   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Folktales index

   AT0300: The Dragon‑Slayer

   AT0510: Cinderella and Cap o' Rushes

   Language

   English

   Collector

   Veronica Mc Govern

   Gender

   Female

   Age

   13

   Address

   Cleen, Co. Leitrim

   Informant

   Tom Mc Govern

   Gender

   Male

   Age

   44

   Address

   Cleen, Co. Leitrim