Tanka was surprised. His child had been visited by an angry fairy, just as in the old story, and had been given the gift of evil. Evil? Would this be helpful to the baby? Little Ak hardly seemed the evil type; he didn’t even have teeth yet. And why, he wondered, was his wife so full of happiness?
Ak gurgled in his crib, pulling fitfully at the tuft of his toy. Evil how? And evil when? Today?
Tanka turned away from the nursery and approached his wife in the sitting room. She was sitting in a rocker, facing away from him, gazing out the window and stroking the cat. She didn’t hear him approach; when he touched her shoulder, she gave a start and scared the animal away.
“Tanka, my dear, hurray for good news at last,” she said, smiling up at her husband. “Imagine such a fate for our child!”
“Darling, why are you so pleased about this? Why are you glad we have an evil baby?” Tanka asked.
“Evil? She didn’t say evil! She said regal.”
Tanka frowned. His ears were also bad. “Let’s call the fairy back.”