OHNIVAK 279

into the secret: but wait a little, we shall meet again to-
morrow.”

All that night the prince lay awake, wondering how he
should manage not to make a mistake on the morrow. At
dawn he was already at the palace gates, which he had
hardly entered when the princess clothed in white chanced
to pass: it was Zlato-Vlaska, and she had come to meet him.

“Tf it is your wish to choose me again to-day,” she said,
“observe carefully, and take the maiden around whose head
buzzes a small fly.”

In the afternoon the queen took the prince into a room
where her three daughters sat, and said: “If among these
princesses you recognise the one you chose yesterday she
shall be yours ; if not, you must die.”

The young girls stood side by side, dressed alike in costly
robes, and all had golden hair. The prince was puzzled, and
their beauty and splendour dazzled him. For some time he
could hardly see distinctly ; then, all of a sudden, a small fly
buzzed over the head of one of the princesses.

“This is the maiden who belongs to me,” cried he, “‘and
whom I chose yesterday.”

The queen, astonished that he should have guessed cor-
rectly, said, “‘ Quite right, but I cannot let you have her until
you have submitted to another trial, which shall be explained
to you to-morrow.” 5

On the morrow she pointed out to him a large fish-pond
which lay in the forest, and giving him a small golden sieve,
said: “If with this sieve you can, before sunset, empty that
fish-pond yonder, I will give you my daughter with the golden
hair, but if you fail you will lose your life.”