7. Do As You Like
Antipka felt that he knew the answer. It must be the hobgoblin who was making the rich merchant’s daughter ill. Now was Antipka’s chance to catch the nasty little creature and to do the merchant and his daughter a service at the same time.
“My daughter is ill, my wife has taken to her bed with grief, and I am absolutely wretched with worry,” moaned the merchant. “If only I knew the man who could cure my beautiful girl, I would make him very rich indeed.”
But Antipka hardly heard this last remark. He laid his hand on the merchant’s shoulder and stood up. “I am not a doctor,” he said, “nor am I a very clever man. But I think I could cure your daughter if you would only give me the chance.”
He looked so confident that the merchant immediately cheered up. “My dear chap,” he cried, “if you think you can cure her, do as you like.”
“First I should like a word with your servants,” said Antipka, “and then I should like you to send all the doctor away and let me see your daughter alone.”
“Anything,” said the merchant, “anything, as long as my daughter recovers.”
And he led Antipka through the main hall and into the inner courtyard of his magnificent house, where he summoned all the members of his household.
“And now I’ll send the doctors away,” he said, leaving Antipka with the servants. When he had gone, Antipka whispered a plan to each of the servants, and then went back into the house and started to climb the grand staircase up to the daughter’s bedroom.
He passed the pins and needles doctor, the hiccoughs doctor, the sneezes doctor, the tummy-ache doctor and the purple spots doctor on their way down. They were all looking very puzzled and shaking their heads.
“A hopeless case, a hopeless case,” they kept repeating.
Outside their daughter’s door stood the merchant and his wife, who had got up on hearing about Antipka. She was dabbing her eyes with a lace handkerchief. very quietly the merchant opened the door and Antipka tiptoed into the room.
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