Mary and her husband Dimitri lived in the tiny village of



One of Mary's prize possessions was a little white lamb which



She kept it tied to a tree in a field during



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



so it was obvious that the lamb had been stolen.



When Dimitri came in from the fields, his wife told him



Dimitri at once set out to find the thief.



He knew it would not prove difficult in such a small



After telling several of his friends about the theft,



Dimitri found out that his neighbour, Aleko, had suddenly acquired a



Dimitri immediately went to Aleko's house and angrily accused him of



He told him he had better return it or he would



Aleko denied taking it and led Dimitri into his backyard.



It was true that he had just bought a lamb, he



but his lamb was black. Ashamed of having acted so rashly,



Dimitri apologized to Aleko for having accused him.



While they were talking it began to rain and Dimitri stayed



When he went outside half an hour later,



he was astonished to find that the little black lamb was



Its wool, which had been dyed black, had been washed clean