Page:The Strand Magazine (Volume 3).djvu/534

 you up like a fly; even I am afraid of him. For a hundred years I have not stirred out of this cabin, for fear lest he should bear me away to his mountain which touches the clouds."

"He will not carry me off, for I am not so beautiful; and he will not carry me off for another reason—I have a hand of gold with which I can break everything."

"Well, my dove, if you are not afraid, I will help you; but give me your word that you will bring me from that mountain some of the water of Jouvence, which possesses the virtue of instantly restoring to youthfulness whoever sprinkles herself with it."

"I promise to bring you some of it."

"This is what you must do, then. I'll give you a ball of thread to guide you; you must throw it before you and follow it wherever it goes. It will lead you up the mountain which touches the clouds, which, in the absence of Storm, is guarded by the Tempest of the North and the Wind of the South. If, while following the ball of thread upon the mountain, you feel yourself being overcome by cold, put on this warming-cap. When you have gone further and a burning heat begins to suffocate you, drink of this refreshing flask. By the aid of these three things you will reach the summit of the mountain, where Vikhar has imprisoned the princess with the golden locks. As to how you will deal with him, that is your affair; only, don't forget to bring me back with you some of the water that restores lost youthfulness."

The prince took the warming-cap, the refreshing-flask, and the guiding-ball of thread, and bowing to old Yaga and her two pretty daughters, sprang upon his horse, threw the ball of thread as far as he could throw it, and galloped away in the direction it indicated. After passing across two kingdoms, he found himself in the centre of a third, in a beautiful and far-extending valley, above which rose a mountain, the top of which touched the clouds; its summit, indeed, was so prodigiously high as almost to reach the moon.

Leaving his horse to feed at liberty, the prince, still following his guiding-ball of thread, began to ascend the steep and stony side of the mountain. Higher and higher he mounted, until he had accomplished half the ascension.

Suddenly the north wind began to blow violently; the cold became so intense that the trunks of trees creaked and the breath congealed into ice. The young prince felt himself becoming benumbed.

Instantly he drew from his pocket the warming-cap and placed it on his head, crying as he did so—

"Warming-cap, lend me your warmth, that the cold may harm me not."

The north wind redoubled its fury at that moment, but the prince was so warm as to be obliged to unbutton his doublet, and with his handkerchief to wipe the perspiration from his brow.

Still upwards he followed the guiding-ball of thread, which, after a while, stopped short upon a little eminence covered with snow. The prince cleared away the snow from the surface, and discovered two frozen bodies, which he concluded must be those of two former adventurers. Kneeling down, he uttered a prayer over them. That done, he followed the guiding-ball,