Page:Russian Wonder Tales.djvu/200

162 The Mouse-Tzar called his subjects together, great and small, and questioned them, whereupon a mouseling came forward and said: "O Tzar's Majesty, I know well the Palace and have often been in the Tzarevna's sleeping chamber. She wears the ring on her little finger by day, but at night, when she lies down to sleep, she puts it in her mouth."

"Bring it to me," said the Tzar, "and thou shalt have the chief place of honor about my person!"

The mouseling hastened to the Palace, and at nightfall crept into the Tzarevna's bedroom, and when she had fallen asleep, jumped to her pillow and thrust his tail into her nostril. It tickled her so that she sneezed and the ring flew out of her mouth and rolled to the floor, where the mouseling instantly seized it and carried it to the Mouse-Tzar who delivered it to the dog and cat.

Jourka and Vaska bade the Mouse-Tzar farewell and prepared to return. "Give me the ring," said the cat. "Thou, Jourka, must always be barking, but I shall carry it in my mouth safer than one of thine eyes." The cat put it in her mouth, therefore, and they set out. When they came to the sea-ocean, she mounted on Jourka's back, gripped his coat with her claws, and the dog began to swim across.