Page:Russian Wonder Tales.djvu/247

Rh had eaten something without salt, and his bright head hung lower than his shoulders, and when the frog saw him, she said:

"Kwa! Kwa! Kworax! Tzarevich Ivan, why art thou so sad? Hast thou heard a harsh, unfriendly word from the Tzar thy father?"

"Why should I not be sad?" answered Ivan. "The Tzar my father has bidden that thou bake him for to-morrow a loaf of soft white bread."

"Mourn not, Tzarevich Ivan. Be not sad for nothing. Go to bed and sleep in comfort. The morning is wiser than the evening."

When he was asleep she ordered servants to bring a pastry-pot, put flour and cold water into it and make a paste. This she bade them put into the cold oven, and when they were gone she hopped before the oven door and said:

Instantly the oven door flew open and the loaf rolled out, cooked crisp and white.

Now the two Tzarevnas, the wives of the other brothers, hated the frog because of the shirt she had made, and when they heard the command of the Tzar, the wife of the eldest brother sent a little