Page:Tales and Legends from the Land of the Tzar.djvu/157

Rh Now this horrid witch was watching behind a tree, and, when the young queen knelt down to drink, the hag rushed at her, seized her, tied a heavy stone round her neck, and pushed her into the water. Olga sank to the bottom, while the witch assumed the appearance of the beautiful young queen and went to the palace. When the king came home, he was delighted to see what he supposed was his wife, well and beautiful as ever.

When they sat down to dinner, the king noticed that the kid was not present at table.

"Where is the little kid?" asked the king.

"Oh, we don't want him," replied the witch. "I have forbidden him to be let in."

The next day, when the king had gone off to the hunt, the witch seized the kid, and began to beat it, saying,—

"When the king returns, I shall ask him to have you killed."

And she kept her promise. The moment the king came home, she begged him to have the kid killed. He was greatly surprised, and could not make out what had so suddenly come over his usually gentle wife; but the witch begged so hard that he could not refuse her, and agreed.

As soon as the kid saw the people grinding and sharpening the large knives, he began to cry, and ran to the king and asked him to let him go to the shore of the lake to have a drink. The king consented, and the kid ran off to the lake, and cried out,—

Olga! sister dear, awake!Swim to the surface of the lake.