THE TWO PRINCES. 205

other mountains opposite to each other, and there
thou wilt find an old man, who will put thee on thy
’ So he went up the high mountain till he came
to two other mountains that were opposite each

way.

other, and there he saw two old men sitting, and
they asked him straightway : “Little Prince! little
Prince! whither dost thou go, and what dost thou
seek ?”—“T am going in search of my brother,” said
he, “my dear elder brother who is perishing, and I
can find him nowhere.”—Then one of the old men
said to him: “If thou canst scale those two moun-
tains yonder without falling, I'll give thee all that thou
dost want.” Then he scaled the two mountains as
nimbly as a goat, and the old man gave him a bast
rope, three fathoms long, and bade him return to the
mountain where was the fire and the old woman who
had asked him to stay and warm himself, and bind
this old woman with the cord and beat her till she
promised to bring his brother back to life again, and
not only his brother but a Tsar and a Tsaritsa! and a
Tsarivna,’? who were also turned to stone there. “ Beat
her till she has brought them all to life again,” said
they. So be took the cord and went back to
where the fire was burning. An apple-tree was
there, and beneath the apple-tree was the fire, and
the old witch came out to him and said: “ Little

1 The wife of a Tsar, 2 The daughter of a Tsar.
5S