The Frost knew all about the weakness of human beings; he knew very well that few of them are really good and kind.
The poor lady gave birth to two beautiful boys, when just as she was pressing them to her bosom a huge bear rushed upon her, and snatching up one of the babes in its mouth, darted off into the thickest of the forest with it.
Our old man lived on with his sons until finally his hour came to die. He called his three sons and said to them: ‘Dear children of mine, my dying hour is at hand and ye must fulfill my will.’
‘Get up, wise man!’ repeated the chancellor in French. ‘Do you mean me?’ exclaimed Pinchauvas. And with one bound he stood up.
The good maid, wishing to save her fellow-damsel so long a suffering, tried with might and main to bear in mind the name of the potent herb. At length she dropped asleep, and when she opened her eyes, she knew nothing at all about the matter.
Koschei the Deathless seized Marya Morevna and carried her off, and Prince Ivan sat down on a stone and wept. He wept and wept and started off in search of Marya Morevna.
‘You must take great pains to make my bed well, and shake it up thoroughly, so that the feathers fly about, and then in the world it snows, for I am Mother Hulda.’
There sat some giants by the fire, and each had a roasted sheep in his hand. The little tailor looked round and thought, ‘There is more elbow-room here than in my workshop.’
‘I am going to put your obedience to a new and final test,’ the King told his sons. ‘Go and travel for another year and whichever one of you brings back with him the most beautiful Princess shall marry her and be crowned King on his wedding day.’
Every day at dinner, after the table had been cleared, a trusty servant had to bring in one other dish. But it was covered up, and the servant himself did not know what was in it.