the old man had not gone far on his way down the mountain pass when the sky clouded and rain began to fall heavily. he looked about for some shelter, but there was not even a charcoal-burner's hut near. at last he espied a large hole in the hollow trunk of a tree. the hole was near the ground, so he crept in easily, and sat down in hopes that he had only been overtaken by a mountain shower, and that the weather would soon clear.