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Rh The first said: "We will give him the name of Wassily and let him be called the Unlucky. But what inheritance shall we grant him?"

And the third replied: "Let him have for his own all the wealth of Marko the Rich in whose stable we have spent the night." Having so spoken, they said a prayer before the holy images and left the place, while little Anasthasia, wondering at their strange words, ran back to the house, woke her father and told him what she had seen and heard.

The merchant was troubled and sent messengers after the three old men, but they could not be found; and at length, desiring to learn if by any possibility there could have been truth in their words, he ordered horses to be put to his gorgeous sledge and drove post-haste to the next village, where he went to the priest and inquired whether a child had been born there that morning.

"A son has indeed been born to the poorest serf in the village," answered the priest. "I myself named him Wassily, but I have not yet baptized him, since, on account of the father's poverty, no one is willing to be godfather to the poor child."

"I will be his godfather," said Marko the Rich, and went out and ordered food and drink and made