Irit and Nurit
Part Three
Nurit hurried to the old man's house.
"I am Irit's sister," she said to him. "I have come to help you."
"Good," said the old man. "You can cook my food."
Nurit did not like to work. She cooked the old man's food badly. She only wanted gold.
"Here," she said to him. "It's ready. You can eat it now."
She put the food down on the floor. The old man was angry, but he did not say anything.
When it was night time, the old man went to sleep, but Nurit sat and waited.
"That stupid Irit is rich," she thought. "And I will be rich too."
Soon, black water began to come into the house. Nurit went to the old man and woke him.
"Wake up, old man," she said. "There is water in the house."
The old man woke up.
"You foolish, lazy girl," he said.
He picked Nurit up and threw her into the water. Then he went outside and looked up at the sky.
"Wind! Wind!" he called out. "Pick this girl up and take her to her father's house."
At once a strong wind began to blow. It picked Nurit up and carried her to her mother's kitchen. It blew her into a corner, under the injera pan.
In the morning, Nurit's mother came into her kitchen. She began to light her fire. Suddenly, she saw Nurit's foot under the injera pan.
"There's a cat in my kitchen," she said. "Pss! Cat! Go away!"
Nurit began to cry.
"Mother, it's not a cat. It's your daughter, Nurit," she said.
Her mother pulled her out from under the injera pan.
"Nurit! What has happened to you?" she said. "You are ugly! You are not a pretty girl now. You are ugly all over!"
"Irit did this to me," Nurit said. "She used magic on me, and made me ugly."
"Your sister is a wicked, wicked girl," her mother said. "Don't worry, my darling. I will punish her."
Nurit was sad now. She hid in her mother's house.
"No one will marry me," she thought. "I am ugly now."