is forty years I have been pasturing on these fields; not one bird has ever flown by, not one wild beast has ever rambled by.”
So they returned home.
“Your Imperial Majesty, we saw no one on the road; we only saw a shepherd feeding a little sheep.”
“Why did you not take it? That was themselves!” said the Sea Tsar. And he sent out a second hunt.
But Iván Tsarévich and Vasilísa the Wise were leaping far off on their swift steeds. “Now, Iván Tsarévich, put your head to the grey earth and listen whether there is no hunt from the Sea Tsar.”
Iván Tsarévich leapt off his horse, put his ear to the grey earth and said, “I hear the talk of people and the hoppety-hop of horses.”
“This is the chase, that is the steeds,” said Vasilísa the Wise; and she turned herself into a church, and Iván Tsarévich into an elderly pope and the horses into trees.
So the hunt went by.
“Ho, bátyushka, have you seen a shepherd with a little lamb passing by?”
“No, good people, I have not. I have been working for forty years in this church; not one bird has flown by, not one beast has rambled by.”
So the hunt went back and reached home.
“Your Imperial Majesty, we could not find the shepherd with the little lamb: the only thing we saw on the road was a church and an old man as pope.”
“Why did you not break down the church and capture the pope? That was themselves!” the Sea Tsar exclaimed, and he himself leapt out to hunt after Iván Tsarévich and Vasilísa the Wise.
So they went far, and again Vasilísa the Wise said, “Iván Tsarévich, put your ear to the ground; can you hear any hunt?”
Then the Tsarévich leapt down, put his ear to the grey earth, and said, “I hear the talk of people and the thunder of horses’ hooves faster than before.”
“This is the Sea Tsar himself who is galloping.”
So Vasilísa the Wise turned the horses into a mere, Iván Tsarévich into a drake, and herself into a duck. The Sea Tsar came up to the lake and he instantly guessed who were the duck and the drake, so he struck the grey earth and turned into an eagle. The eagle wanted to smite them to death, and it might well have been; but, as soon as ever he struck at the drake, it dived into the water, and whenever he struck at the duck the duck dived into the water, and whatever he might do was all in vain.
So the Sea Tsar galloped back to his own kingdom under the seas, and Vasilísa the Wise with Iván Tsarévich waited a while and then returned to Sacred Russia. It maybe long, it maybe short, at last they came into the thrice-ninth realm. When they arrived home his father and mother were overjoyed to see Iván Tsarévich, for they had given him up as lost. And they made a great feast and celebrated the marriage.
I was there, I drank mead and wine: it flowed up to my beard, but it never entered my mouth.
The Animals’ Winter Quarters
Once an Ox was wandering in the wood, and a Ram met him. “Where are you going, Ram?” asked the Ox.
“I am seeking summer in winter,” answered the Ram.
“Come with me.”
So they went together. And they met a Pig.
“Where are you going, Pig?” asked the Ox.
“I am seeking summer in winter.”
“Come with us.”
So they all went together. And they then met a Goose.
“Where are you going, Goose?” said the Bull.
“I am seeking summer in winter,” said the Goose.
“Well, come with us.”
So the Goose came with them. So they went on, and they met a Cock.
“Where are you going, Cock?” asked the Bull.
“I am seeking summer in winter.”
“Then come with us,” said the Bull again.
So they went on their road and way, and began speaking amongst each other. “What shall we do, brothers and comrades? the cold time is approaching: how shall we have warmth?”
So the Ox said, “We will build an izbá,46 and we shall not freeze during the winter.”
Then the Ram said: “My shúba is very warm; I will pass the winter in this fashion.”
Then the Pig said, “I do not mind any frost whatsoever: I will burrow into the ground and do without any izbá.”
Then the Goose said, “I will sit in the middle of this spruce, lie on one wing, and cover myself over with the other, and the cold cannot touch me. That is how I shall pass the winter.”
Then the Cock said, “I shall do the same.”
Then the Ox saw he could not do any good: every man must do as he likes. “Well,” he said, “as you wish. I am going to build an izbá.”
So he built himself an izbá, and he lived in it.
Then the cold time came, and earth began to feel the frosts. And the Ram, who could not help himself, came to the Bull and said, “Brother, let me in.”
“No, Ram, you have a warm shúba; that is how you are going to pass the winter! I shall not let you in.”
“But if you do not let me in, I shall run up and will dislodge the joists of the izbá, and you will feel much colder.”
So the Bull thought, and on second thoughts said, “Very well, I will let you in. Otherwise I might freeze.” And he let the Ram in.
Soon the Pig felt frozen, and came to the Bull and said, “Brother, let me in.”
“No, Pig, I will not let you in. You need only burrow down in the ground: that is how you are going to pass the winter!”
“But if you will not let me in, with my snout I will drill all of your uprights and will knock your izbá down.”
Well, there was no help for it, and
