o>@ 



old labourer, bent double with age 

 and toil, was gathering sticks in a 

 forest. At last he grew so tired 

 and hopeless that he threw down 

 the bundle of sticks, and cried out : " I cannot 

 bear this life any longer. Ah, I wish Death 

 would only come and take me ! " 



As he spoke, Death, a grisly skeleton, 



