what did he see? A maiden in white robes, young and beautiful. She
gave him her hand and with downcast, bashful eyes said to him:

"Thank you, good prince, for your kindness to me. You did me a favor, but
it will be of good service to you also. I am the daughter of the immortal
King Koshchey, Princess Mary. He has thirty daughters altogether. He is the
ruler of the underground kingdom. He has expected you as his guest for a
long time, and is very angry at your delay. But do not worry. Only follow
my advice. Now listen. As soon as you shall see King Koshchey, kneel and
creep before him upon your knees. He will stamp with his feet, but do not
be frightened. When he scolds you, do not listen, but keep on creeping
before him. What will happen, you will see later. Now we must go."

Princess Mary struck the ground with her small foot, the earth opened, and
they went down into King Koshchey's underground kingdom. They came to the
palace. It was built of precious stones and shone under the ground brighter
than the earthly sun. Boldly the prince entered. King Koshchey sat upon his
throne wearing a glittering crown, his eyes shone like emeralds. His hands
were like claws. Ivan immediately fell upon his knees. King Koshchey
stamped with his feet, his green eyes glittered frightfully, and he howled
so loudly that the vaults of his underground kingdom trembled. Remembering
the words of the Princess Mary, Ivan crept upon his knees toward King
Koshchey's throne.

The king howled and the prince kept on creeping. Finally it seemed funny to
the king. "Good for you, rogue," said he, "if you could succeed in making
me laugh, I will quarrel with you no longer. You are welcomed to our
underground kingdom, but know that for your disobedience you will have to
do three services for us. We will settle our accounts to-morrow. It is too
late to-night. Go!"

The courtiers quickly and politely took Ivan under his arms, and carried
him to a chamber, opened the door, bowed, and left him all to himself. He
lay down upon the bed and soon fell asleep. The next morning very early
King Koshchey called for Prince Ivan. "Well, Prince Ivan, now let us see
what you can do. For instance, build for us a palace for to-morrow. The
roof must be of gold, the walls of marble, the windows of crystal; around
it a regular garden, and in the garden a fish-pond. If you do it, you will
get into our favor; if not, do not blame us, but you shall be executed."

"O, you cr