Page:Tales and Legends from the Land of the Tzar.djvu/247

Rh At midnight the King of the Sea took Simeon, and putting him again on the shore, left him there.

Simeon-the-Youthful began at once to pray to the saints for sunlight.

This time the rays of the sun shed so powerful a light over the whole earth that the King of the Sea was unable to show himself, and take Simeon captive.

Simeon-the-Youthful then changed himself into a stag, and bounded away with all possible speed to his master's kingdom; on, on he ran, changing himself into a hare and then into a bird, until he at last reached the palace.

While all this had been taking place with Simeon, the king had returned from the war, and had given his lovely daughter, the Princess Nastasia, in marriage to the deceitful general.

When Simeon-the-Youthful came to the palace, he walked into the very hall where the king, his daughter, the general, and some of the courtiers were seated at table, dining. The moment Princess Nastasia beheld Simeon, she rose from the table, and turning to the king, her father, said,—

"Father, I should like to be allowed to speak."

"Speak out, my darling daughter. What is it you wish to say?"

"That man who has just entered is my bride-groom, and not the one who is seated at table!"

Then turning to Simeon, she said,—

"Show my father how you managed to get here in three days from the battlefield, to fetch his sword and mace."