Story of the Foreign Fairy Chapter 37

A mother is sitting next to her child, very anxious because she is afraid that the child will die. There was no blood in his little face, and his eyes were closed. His breathing was difficult, and he only took deep breaths occasionally, as if sighing. The mother looked at the little creature, looking even more sad than before. There's a knock on the door. A poor old man came in. He was wrapped in a garment as large as a horse felt because it made him feel warmer, and he needed it. It's a cold winter outside, everything is covered with snow and ice, and the wind is blowing hard, stinging people's faces.

When the old man was shivering from the cold and the child fell asleep temporarily, the mother went over and poured some beer into a small pot on the stove to warm the old man. The old man sat down and rocked the cradle. The mother also sat down on a chair next to him, looked at her sick child who had difficulty breathing, and held one of his little hands.

"You thought I was going to hold him back, didn't you?" she asked. "Our God will not take him out of my hand!"

The old man, who was the God of Death, nodded in a strange gesture, as if he meant "yes" or "no". The mother lowered her head and looked at the ground, tears flowing down her cheeks. Her head was very heavy because she had not closed her eyes for three days and three nights. She was asleep now, but only for a moment; then she woke up shivering.

"What's going on?" she said, looking around. But the old man was gone; her child was gone too; he had taken him away. An old clock in the corner made a hissing sound, "Plop!" The old pendulum made of lead fell to the ground. The clock also stopped moving.