Page:Tales and Legends from the Land of the Tzar.djvu/339

Rh self: "Close, little eyes, and both go to sleep!" But she forgot all about the third eye; so two of the eyes went to sleep, while the third was wide-awake and saw Princess Marie run up to the little brown cow and climb in at its right ear, and come out of its left, beautifully dressed, and then set to work to eat and drink all kinds of good things, after which she walked about and looked after the little brown cow, until the evening, when she came up to her supposed sleeping sister and woke her, saying,—

"Get up, dear sister, for it is time to go home!"

When they returned to the palace, Princess Marie gave the piece of dry bread back to her step-mother, and left the room.

"Well," asked the wicked queen of her three-eyed daughter, "did you see what Princess Marie ate and drank?" Three-Eyes at once told her mother everything that she had seen with her third eye. When the queen heard all, she at once sent for the cook, giving him the following order: "Go, man, and kill the little brown cow, and cut her into small pieces."

The cook obeyed; but as soon as Princess Marie heard what was going to be done to her pet animal, she ran into the fields and said to the cook: "If you must kill the little cow, give me at least her little heart."

This the cook did. The princess took it and planted it in the palace garden. In a very short time a bush grew in that very spot, covered with lovely sweet fruit, and a number of beautiful singing birds, which sang royal songs all day long, and sometimes even the songs of the peasants.

Now a certain young prince, by name Ivan, heard