The young archer wept bitter tears, and went out into the courtyard,
where the horse of power was waiting for him, champing its golden bit.
"There is no way of escaping death this time," he said.
"Master, why do you weep?" asked the horse of power.
"The Tzar has ordered me to ride to the land of Never, to fetch the
wedding dress of the Princess Vasilissa from the bottom of the deep
blue sea. Besides, the dress is wanted for the Tzar's wedding, and I
love the Princess myself."
"What did I tell you?" says the horse of power. "I told you that
there would be trouble if you picked up the golden feather from the
fire-bird's burning breast. Well, do not be afraid. The trouble is not
yet; the trouble is to come. Up! into the saddle with you, and away
for the wedding dress of the Princess Vasilissa!"
The young archer leapt into the saddle, and the horse of power, with
his thundering hoofs, carried him swiftly through the green forests
and over the bare plains, till they came to the edge of the world, to
the land of Never, where the red sun rises in flame from behind the
deep blue sea. There they rested, at the very edge of the sea.
The young archer looked sadly over the wide waters, but the horse of
power tossed its mane and did not look at the sea, but on the shore.
This way and that it looked, and saw at last a huge lobster moving
slowly, sideways, along the golden sand.
Nearer and nearer came the lobster, and it was a giant among lobsters,
the Tzar of all the lobsters; and it moved slowly along the shore,
while the horse of power moved carefully and as if by accident, until
it stood between the lobster and the sea. Then, when the lobster came
close by, the horse of power lifted an iron hoof and set it firmly on
the lobster's tail.
"You will be the death of me!" screamed the lobster--as well he
might, with the heavy foot of the horse of power pressing his tail
into the sand. "Let me live, and I will do whatever you ask of me."
"Very well," says the horse of power; "we will let you live," and he
slowly lifted his foot. "But this is what you shall do for us. In the
middle of the blue sea lies a great stone, and under that stone is
hidden the wedding dress of the Princess Vasilissa. Bring it here."
The lobster groaned with the pain in his tail. Then he cried out in a
voice that could be heard all over the deep blue sea. And the sea was
disturbed, and from all sides lobsters in thousands made their way
towards the bank. And the huge lobster that was the oldest of them all
and the Tzar of all the lobsters that live between the rising and the
setting of the sun, gave them the order and sent them back into the
sea. And the young archer sat on the horse of power and waited.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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