Page:Russian Fairy Book (N. H. Dole).djvu/137

 So they got their things and started off.

Now Koshchei was out hunting, but toward evening he returned home. His good steed stumbled under him.

"What is the matter with you, you hungry jade? What makes you stumble? Do you scent some misfortune?"

The horse replied: "Prince Ivan has come and carried off Marya Morevna."

"But we can overtake them, can't we?"

"One may sow wheat and wait till it grows, till it is harvested, till it is ground, till it is made into flour, till it is baked into five loaves of bread, and all that time you would be in pursuit of them. But if we are going to try, it is time to start." Koshchei galloped away and overtook Prince Ivan.

"Now look here," said he, "I will forgive you this once on account of your kindness to me in giving me a drink of water, and a second time I will forgive you; but the third time beware. I will chop you up into mincemeat!"

He seized Marya Morevna and carried her off, and Prince Ivan sat down on a stone and wept. He wept and wept and started off again in search of Marya Morevna. When he at last found her again,