Page:The Russian Garland of Fairy Tales.djvu/115

 Thereupon sixty of Saltan's knights rode forth, surrounded Bova, and led him into the open fields to hang him. On the way Bova bethought him how he could have deserved such a shameful death, and to lose his life in the flower of his days. "Better had it been," said he, "if my mother had killed me in the city of Anton, or if I had been slain by Marcobrun's nobles or by Lukoper in the field." And with that he rose up, overthrew all the sixty knights, and fled out of the kingdom.

When the Tsar Saltan heard this, he instantly commanded the trumpets to sound, and collected his knights to the number of a hundred thousand, pursued Bova Korolevich, and surrounded him on all sides. Bova had neither a good steed, a sharp sword, nor a steel lance—he had nothing with which to defend himself. Then he seized one of Saltan's warriors, and began to fight with him; but he saw that he could not slay them all, and gave himself up prisoner. So they seized him, bound his hands, and led him before Saltan Saltanovich. As soon as the Tsar saw Bova he ordered the hangman to be fetched, to hang him.

Just then the Tsar's daughter, the fair Princess Miliheria, fell on her knees before her father and said: "My gracious lord and father, do not let Bova be hung, but allow me to speak: his death