Mary and her husband Dimitri lived in the tiny



One of Mary's prize possessions was a little white



She kept it tied to a tree in a



One evening, however, the lamb was missing. The rope



so it was obvious that the lamb had been



When Dimitri came in from the fields, his wife



Dimitri at once set out to find the thief.



He knew it would not prove difficult in such



After telling several of his friends about the theft,



Dimitri found out that his neighbour, Aleko, had suddenly



Dimitri immediately went to Aleko's house and angrily accused



He told him he had better return it or



Aleko denied taking it and led Dimitri into his



It was true that he had just bought a



but his lamb was black. Ashamed of having acted



Dimitri apologized to Aleko for having accused him.



While they were talking it began to rain and



When he went outside half an hour later,



he was astonished to find that the little black



Its wool, which had been dyed black, had been