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made from dried ferns. This was a truly ghostly apparition, but Jonek was not afraid.

‘What do you want me to give you?’ asked the poor farmer. ‘You see for yourself that this

bone is almost stripped bare of all meat.’

‘You just give me the final scraps,’ whispered the creature. ‘Let me lick the juices clean from

the bone. I am Poverty who has been following you for many years. We share everything

you and I.’

Jonek jumped to his feet and cried out: ‘You pest! You nuisance! It is your fault that my

family and I are suffering from hunger and cold. It is you who has brought on this

wretchedness and misery that plagues my life! I will get rid of you once and for all!’

But Poverty did not move, did not seem disturbed by the poor man’s outburst. She simply

looked at him and asked: ‘What will you do to me when no man can hurt me nor kill me? I

am an apparition and cannot be harmed. Give me the bone and I will leave you and your

family in peace for one whole day.’

Jonek was very hungry, but he could not resist the offer of one whole day of peace; one

whole day without Poverty preying on his family.

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