"Kra, kra, my darling loveys! Kra, kra, my little doveys! I brought you up in woe and fears, I nourished you with grief and tears, Dark night it brought no sleep to me, No food was sweet because of ye." And the Prince heard the lament, called the witch to him, and said: "Wife, hast thou heard this thing, this thing unheard of?"--"Thou dost only fancy it! Hi! my serving-men, drive me this duck out of the courtyard!" They began driving her out, but she flew round and round, and again said to her children: "Kra, kra, my darling loveys! Kra, kra, my little doveys! The old, old witch your bane hath been, The old, old witch, that cruel snake, That cruel snake that lurks unseen; Your father from you she did take, Your father dear, my husband true; Us in the running stream she threw. She changed us into ducks so white, And prospers as if wrong were right!" The Prince felt that there was something wrong here, and he cried: "Bring me that white duck hither!" They all hastened to fulfil his command, but the white duck flew round in a circle, and none could catch her. At last the Prince himself went out on the balcony, and she flew upon his hands, and fell at his feet. The Prince took her carefully by her little wing, and said: "White birch-tree stand behind me, and fair damsel stand before me!" Then the white duck turned into her former shape of thrice-lovely Princess, taught them how to get a little bladder of living and speaking water in a magpie's nest, sprinkled her children with the living water, and they shuddered; then she sprinkled them with the speaking water, and they began to speak. And the Prince suddenly saw himself surrounded by his family all alive and well, and they all lived together, and lived happily, and chose good and avoided evil. But the witch, by the Prince's command, was fastened to the tail of a horse and dragged away over the open steppe. The fowls of the air picked her flesh, and the wild winds of heaven scattered her bones, and there remained not a trace or a memorial of her behind. THE TALE OF LITTLE FOOL IVAN. Far, far away, in a certain kingdom, in a certain Empire, stood a city, and in this city reigned Tsar Gorokh, [45] and the Tsaritsa Morkovya. [46] They had many wise Boyars, rich Princes, strong and mighty heroes, and of the common run of warriors 100,000 at least. All manner of people dwelt in this city, worshipful, well-bearded merchants, cunning open-handed sharpers, German mechanics, Swedish beauties, drunken Russians; and in the suburbs beyond the town dwelt peasants who tilled the earth, sowed corn, ground it into meal, took it to the bazaar, and drank away their hard earnings.