Page:Russian Wonder Tales.djvu/49

Rh how he had purposed to sail thither until he had heard of the fir-tree, the squirrel and the nuts of gold and emerald.

When they had departed, Tzarevich Guidon struck together his flint and steel, and the ax and hammer, appearing, said: "Master, we are here! By God's blessing, by the Order of the Pike, what wilt thou that we accomplish?"

"Plant me here," said the Tzarevich, "a fir-tree. On it let there be a squirrel which cracks with its teeth nuts whose shells are of gold and their kernels of emerald."

The ax and hammer disappeared and next day, when he arose, the Tzarevich found all done as he had commanded. He bade them build a summer-house of crystal for the squirrel to live in, and the golden shells and emeralds he put into the Palace treasury till the wealth could not be reckoned.

It befell at length that the merchants' ship returned from its voyage and cast anchor at the island. The Tzaritza met and welcomed them, giving them to eat and drink till for rich feasting they scarce remembered their names. "O shipmen and merchants," she said, "what merchandise do ye bear and whither fare ye from here?"

They answered: "We are laden with steel