Page:Tales and Legends from the Land of the Tzar.djvu/155

Rh But this time Oleg would not listen to his sister, so he went and drank some of the water and was immediately turned into a kid, and began to jump and skip before his sister, screaming, "Me-ke-ke! Mekeke! Mekeke!" all the time.

Princess Olga cried bitterly. She tied a silk ribbon round his neck, and for some time led him along with her; but the little kid soon loosened himself, and began jumping and frisking about till he came into a garden, which belonged to the young king of that kingdom.

The servants, when they saw the princess and the kid, went to the king and said,—

"There is a little kid in your garden, your majesty, and by its side is a beautiful damsel."

The king was much interested, and ordered his courtiers and servants to go and ask the young girl who she was and what she wanted?

The courtiers went up to her and did as the king had commanded them.

"I am the daughter of the late king and queen of the next kingdom to this," said Olga in reply to their inquiries. "They left me and this little kid, my brother, alone and unprovided for. We have been wandering about everywhere, until my brother became very thirsty and drank some water in a lake where a great many goats were feeding, and so he was changed into a little kid. That is the whole of my story; go and tell it to the king, your master."

After the people had submitted all this to the young king, he at once ordered them to bring this beautiful princess and the little kid, her brother, before him.