Page:Russian Fairy Book (N. H. Dole).djvu/107

 The next day the Tsar went hunting again, but Aliona lay at home sick.

The witch came to her and said: "Would you like me to cure you? Go to a certain lake at dawn and drink the water there."

The Tsaritsa heeded her, and in the early morning she went to the lake, but the witch was there waiting for her and seized her, hung a stone around her neck, and flung her into the water. Aliona went to the bottom. The Kid came running down to the water and bitterly, bitterly lamented.

Then the witch took the shape of the Tsaritsa, arrayed herself in her fine clothes, and went to the palace.

The Tsar came home and was delighted because the Tsaritsa was restored to health again. They sat down to dinner and began to eat.

"But where is the Kid?' demanded the Tsar.

"We do not need him," replied the witch. "I would not let him come in, he smells so goaty."

The next day, as soon as the Tsar had gone off hunting, the witch began to beat the poor little Kid. She pounded him and pounded him, and said in threatening tones: "When the Tsar comes home I will ask him to have you killed."