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his brother’s hands.
Jonek was overcome with despair and anger at how his own brother could treat him so
callously. He took the bone and ran from the farm into the cold, dark night.
It was not long before Jonek found himself on the bank of the river. A strange voice inside
his head whispered: ‘Why must you suffer so? Jump in, jump in. The water is deep. You can
finish this.’
But Jonek knew that he could not leave his family to fend for themselves. He slumped down
onto the damp grass and began to gnaw on the scraps of meat still left on the bone his
brother had given him.
Suddenly, Jonek felt a cold hand on his shoulder, then a quiet voice said: ‘Give some meat to
me. Give some to me too.’
The poor farmer slowly turned around and took in the strange sight that stood before him: a
tall creature, thin and bony with skin almost translucent in the moonlight. The creature was
very pale with dark, sunken eyes. It had red lips that seemed to glow in the darkness, and it
wore upon its shoulders a cloak made from spider weds. Atop its head there sat a wreath
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