mounted into the saddle, the horse spoke to him, with a man's voice: "Tsarevich Ivan, dismount! I will buffet thee thrice, to give thee the muscles of a hero." He buffeted once, he buffeted twice, but the third time he buffeted not at all. "I see," cried he, "that if I were to buffet thee a third time, the whole land would not be able to hold us both." Then the Tsarevich Ivan sat on the horse, put on knightly armour, took out of the armoury of his father's palace an old heroic, trusty blade, and set out upon his quest. He went for a day and for a night, for a month, and for two months, and three; and so he came to a place where his horse was in water up to the knees, and in grass up to the breast, while he, poor youth, had nothing to eat. And in the midst of this wilderness the Tsarevich Ivan found a miserable hut; this hut stood upon fowl's legs, and in it was the Baba-Yaga; the bony-legged witch was lying down, and her legs stretched from corner to corner. The Tsarevich went into the hut and cried: "Hail, Granny!"--"Hail to thee, Tsarevich Ivan; hast come to rest, or art thou in quest?"--"I am in quest of something, Granny. I am off beyond lands thrice-nine, to the Empire of Thrice-ten, I seek the Tsarevna Loveliness-Inexhaustible. I want to get from her the living-water for my dad, the Tsar." The Baba-Yaga answered: "Though I have not seen it with my eyes, I have heard of it with my ears; but thou wilt never get there."--"Wherefore?"--"Because there, there are three ferries; at the first they'll cut off thy right hand, at the second thy left, and at the third thy head."--"Well, Granny, one single head is not such a great matter. I'll go--and God's will be done!"--"Alas, O Tsarevich Ivan! 'twere much better to turn back; thou art still young and tender, thou hast never been in dangerous places, thou hast never run great terrors."--"Nay, Granny! He who tugs at the rope must not cry, I'm broke!" [34] So he took leave of the Baba-Yaga and went on further, and he came at last to the first ferry, and he saw the ferrymen on the other side, lying down asleep. The Tsarevich Ivan stood on the bank and thought to himself: "If I call to them, I shall deafen them for ever, and if I whistle with all my might, I shall upset the ferry-boat." So he whistled a half whistle, and immediately the ferrymen started from their slumber and rowed him across the stream. "What do ye want for your labours, my friends?" asked the Tsarevich Ivan.--"Well, what's the use of haggling? Give us your right arm!" cried the ferrymen, with one voice.--"Nay, nay; I want my arm for myself!" cried the Tsarevich Ivan; and drawing forth his stout blade, he struck to the right and to the left, and beat all the ferrymen till they were half dead, and then went on further. And in this way he crossed the other two fords also. At last he came to the Empire of Thrice-ten, and on the borders of it stood a wild man, in stature like a tree of