THE VOICES AT THE WINDOW. 45

an old mare fit for nought but the knacker,” They
brought the mare, and he mounted it and said: “ My
master, last midnight something came beneath the
window and said: ‘Oh, son of a dog! thou saidst if
only we had a warm hut, and a white bed, and soft
bread and sour kvas, we should grieve no more, but
tell tales and feign fables till dawn, and now thou
hast gone and forgotten thy promise. Wherefore this
shall befall thee on thy way home: thou shalt come
upon an apple-tree covered with apples by the way-
side, and straightway thou shalt long to eat of them,
and the moment thou tastest thereof thou shalt burst.
And if any of thy huntsmen hears this thing, and
tells thee of it, he shall become stone up to the knee.’ ”
When the huntsman had spoken so far, the horse on
which he sat became stone up to the knee. Then he
went on: “About the second cockcrow something
else came to the window and said the selfsame thing,
and prophesied: ‘He shall come upon a spring by
the roadside, a spring of pure water, and he shall long
to drink thereof, and the moment he tastes of it he
shall burst ; and whoever hears and tells him of this
thing shall become stone right up to the girdle.’ ”
And when the huntsman had spoken go far, the horse
on which he sat became stone right up to the breast.
And he continued, and said: “ About the third cock-
crow something else came to the window and said the