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24 world and put in at the island. The Tzaritza welcomed them and she and her seven sons gave them such feasts and amusements that for delight they would have remained there for ever. "O merchant-travelers," she asked them, "in what cargoes do ye traffic, and whither go ye from here?"

"We have sailed about the whole world," they answered, "with goods of every sort that tradesmen carry, and from here our course lies eastward to the Tzardom of Tzar Saltan the Splendid."

"Fair weather to you," she said, "and take a greeting to Tzar Saltan from me and from these my seven sons."

The ship departed, and when it was come to the Tzardom of Tzar Saltan, he made the merchants yet again his guests. And as they ate and drank and made merry, he said to them: "O tradesmen and far-journeying adventurers, ye have sailed to the uttermost lands. What strange thing have ye seen, and is there any new wonder in the white world?"

"O great Tzar Saltan!" they replied, "thou didst hear from us before of the island in the blue sea-ocean, of its Tzaritza and her Tzarevich, and their Palace of white stone, with the marvels there to be seen. On our way hither we again stopped