Page:Russian Wonder Tales.djvu/143

Rh death, and cut his body into small pieces. They then awoke Helen the Beautiful and began to question her.

"Lovely Tzarevna," they asked, "from what Tzardom dost thou come, of what father art thou daughter, and how art thou named?"

Helen the Beautiful, being roughly awakened, and seeing Tzarevich Ivan dead, was greatly frightened and cried with bitter tears: "I am the Tzar's daughter, Helen the Beautiful, and I belong to Tzarevich Ivan whom ye have put to a cruel death. If ye were brave knights, ye had ridden against him in the open field; then might ye have been victorious over him with honor; but instead of that ye have slain him when he was asleep. What praise will such an act receive?"

But Tzarevich Wassily set the point of his sword against her breast and said: "Listen, Helen the Beautiful! Thou art now in our hands. We shall bring thee to our little father, Tzar Wyslaff, and thou shalt tell him that we, and not Tzarevich Ivan, found the Glowing Bird, and won the Horse with the Golden Mane and thine own lovely self. If thou dost not swear by all holy things to say this, then this instant will we put thee to death!"