IVAN GOLIK AND THE SERPENTS. 269

“Good!” said the serpent, “but I will not let
thee have my daughter till thou hast done all my
tasks. If thou doest my tasks, thou shalt have my
daughter ; but if thou doest them not, thou shalt lose
thy head, and all thy suite shall perish with thee.”

Then he gave him his first task: “In my barn are
three hundred ricks of corn ; by the morning light thou
shalt have threshed and sifted them so that stalk lies
by stalk, chaff by chaff, and grain by grain.”

Then the prince went to his own place to pass the
night there, and bitterly he wept. But Ivan Golik
saw that he was weeping, and said to him: “ Why
dost thou weep, O prince ?”

“Why should I not weep, seeing the task that the
serpent has given me is impossible ?”

“Nay, weep not, my prince, but lie down to sleep,
and by the morning light it will all be done!”

No sooner had Ivan Golik left the prince than he
went outside and whistled for the mice. Then the
mice assembled round them in their hosts: “ Why
dost thou whistle, and what dost thou want of us, O
Ivan Golik ?” said they.

“Why should I not whistle, seeing that the serpent
has bidden us thresh out his barn by the morning
light, so that straw lies by straw, chaff by chaff, and
grain by grain?”

No sooner did the mice hear this than they began