THE STORY OF UNLUCKY DANIEL. 115

once thou hast it on, none will be able to seize thee.
And now go on thy way till thou come to an inn, and
there they will tell thee that the Tsar of that land is
seeking warriors. Go and offer thyself to him, and
thou shalt marry his daughter, but tell her not the
truth for seven years!” Then they took leave of
each other, and he departed. He came to the inn,
and there they asked him whence he came. And
when they knew that he came from a strange land,
they said to him: “A strange land has attacked our
Tsar, and he cannot defend himself, for a mighty
warrior has conquered his tsardom and carried off his
daughter, and worries him to death.—‘‘ Show me the
way to your Tsar,” said Daniel. Then they showed
him, and he went. When he came to the ‘Tsar, he
said to him: “1 will subdue this strange land for
thee. All the army I want is a couple of Cossacks,
but they must be picked men.” ‘Then the heralds
went through the tsardom till they had found these
two Cossacks, and Daniel went forth with them into
the endless steppes, and there he bade them lie down
and sleep while he kept watch. And while they
slept the army of the strange country came upon
them, and cried to Daniel to turn back if he would
escape destruction. And then they began to fire
with their guns and cannons, and they fired so many
balls that the bodies of the two Cossacks were quite