268 COSSACK FAIRY TALES.

to another land and to another tsardom, to the
empire of Thrice-ten. And the serpent was the Tsar _
of that tsardom. Vast were his palaces, iron railings
surrounded his courtyards, and the railings were
covered with the heads of various warriors; only on
the twenty huge pillars in front of the gate were there
no heads. As they drew nigh, deadly fear oppressed
the heart of the prince, and he said to Ivan: “ Mark me,
Ivan! those pillars yonder are meant for owr heads!”
—“ That remains to be seen,” replied Ivan Golik.

When they arrived there, the serpent at first
treated them hospitably as welcome guests. They
were all to come in and make merry, he said, but the
prince he took to his own house. So they ate and
drank together, and the thoughts of their hearts were
joyous. Now the serpent had twenty-one daughters,
and he brought them to the prince, and told him
which was the eldest, and which the next eldest, down
to the very last one. But it was the youngest
daughter of all that the prince’s fancy fed upon more
than on any of the others. Thus they diverted them-
selves till evening, and in the evening they made
ready to go to sleep. But the serpent said to the
prince: “ Well, which of my daughters dost thou
think the loveliest ?”

“The youngest is the most beautiful,” said the
prince, “and her will I wed.”