Run, Boy, Run(14)

She called the dogs and left Srulik with the sheep. Sleeping on straw was fine with him. At home, his mother had stuffed their mattresses with it.

In the middle of the night he was woken by the sound of rain. A cold wind blew through the open window of the shed. Too drowsy to think, he crawled in among the sheep and fell back asleep.

When the woman came to wake him in the morning, it was a beautiful, sunny day. The only sign of the rain were the puddles in the yard. He followed her to the barn. She milked the cows and gave him a cup of milk to drink again. Then she slung a knapsack over his shoulder, handed him a walking stick, showed him how to drive the cows and sheep ahead of him, and accompanied him to the pasture. The two dogs came, too. It wasn't far from the farm to a broad, green meadow.

"Your job is to keep the cows and sheep from wandering into the neighbor's field," she explained. "That's all you have to do. When the sun is low, bring them home."

"How?"

"Just say: 'Home, girls!' You'll see they know the way better than you do."

She pointed to the knapsack and said, "There's a lunch for you there. Eat it at noontime."

"How will I know when it's noontime?"

The woman laughed.

"That's when the sun is directly overhead. You'll learn. In the evening, you'll eat your supper with me."

She called to the dogs. "Once you're friends with them," she said, "you can take them along with you."

Srulik didn't wait for the sun to be overhead before examining the knapsack. There was half a loaf of bread, a bottle of water, and some farmer's cheese wrapped in newspaper. He ate some bread and cheese and left the rest for later.

The work was easy. Although he was more frightened of the cows than of the sheep, he was able to head them off each time they neared the neighbor's field by shouting and waving his stick. To his surprise, they obeyed him. Instead of using their horns to drive him off and go where they wanted, they backed away and returned to the meadow.

The day passed without a dull moment. He lay in the grass and watched the cows eat, cropping the grass with their tongues. Strangely, they had no upper teeth. The sheep, on the other hand, used their lips and teeth as though they were eating from a plate. When he was tired of studying them, he turned his attention to the grass in front of him. Beetles, ants, and other little bugs were crawling around in it. It was a different world from in the rotting leaves and pine needles on the damp forest floor. A brightly colored butterfly flew by and he raised himself on his elbows to follow its flight. He didn't want to risk hurting it by trying to catch it. He did try catching some darning needles—without success.

Two boys were pasturing cows in the distance. He gazed at them, wondering if they might someday become friends. One was in charge of some cows and the other of a few sheep. In a meadow nearer to him was a girl. She was guarding two cows who were tethered to a stake in the ground.

The sun began to set. Big and red, it sank into the clouds on the horizon. Srulik brandished his stick and called out:

"Home, girls!"

To his astonishment, the cows lifted their heads, mooed in agreement, and began walking back to the farmhouse. The sheep followed.

They entered the farmyard. The dogs let out a few barks and ran to greet them, tails wagging. The woman fed the cows and sent Srulik to water and feed the sheep. By the time he returned to the barn, she was done milking. She told him to wash at the trough and join her in the house.

The house had only one room, just like their old house in Blonie. The stove was lit and food was cooking, filling the room with a mouth-watering smell. The woman sat him at a table and filled two plates. On them was an omelet and noodles mixed with something orange.

"It's pumpkin," said the woman. "Don't you know what that is?"

"No," Srulik said.

"I'll show you in the garden."

She poured cream over it all and handed him a glass of milk.

"After supper, you'll take off your clothes," she said. "I'll wash them and give you something to wear while they're drying."

Later she gave him a grown man's nightshirt. Srulik took his butterfly and piece of glass from his pants pockets, undressed, and put it on.

In the morning the woman told him, "I burned all your clothes. They were so full of lice that they would have walked away by themselves if I had put them on the floor."

She gave him a large shirt with sleeves she had cut and a pair of pants she had shortened. The waist was folded over and had a rope belt.

Now I look like Yosele, Srulik thought.

He wore his new clothes to the pasture. After a while he decided to introduce himself to the two boys. Yet as soon as he started in their direction, the cows headed for the neighbor's wheat field, forcing him to turn around and hurry back. The girl was in her meadow again, too. She had the same two cows tethered to the same stake, around which they grazed in a circle. But although she was nearer and easier to reach than the boys, she was only a girl.