Page:Tales and Legends from the Land of the Tzar.djvu/98

82 him as dearly as if he had been her own child. She took great care of him, fed him, and clothed him in rich garments, and made a regular pet of the young prince.

But one day, after the lapse of a great many years, the prince, who had now grown into a tall handsome man, with golden hair, and a long drooping moustache, wished very much to see how things were getting on in his father's kingdom, so he got on to his flying horse and flew to the top of a great mountain, where he could see everything that was going on at home. He looked, and behold! everybody had been eaten up; there was not a soul alive, all the houses, shops, and streets were one mass of ruin. Even the very palace, in which he had spent his childhood, was torn down with the exception of one wing, in which dwelt his sister, the witch, by herself. He looked and wept, a thing which he had not indulged in for many a long year. He returned with a sad face and tearful eyes, to the Sister of the Sun, who felt very sorry and anxious about him, and wondered greatly what had happened.

"What is the matter?" she asked "I don't like to see you look so sad."

"The wind was a little too much for my eyes, madam, that is all," he replied.

But the Sister of the Sun did not believe him, and as he continued going up the mountain every day, and returning with a tearful face, she wondered more and more what the reason could be; but she could get nothing out of him, all he answered was that the wind had been too much for his eyes. At last the