y labourer into the courtyard that
he may chop wood and draw water." So they took him into the courtyard,
but instead of chopping any wood he lay down and went to sleep. Oh
came out to see how he was getting on, and there he lay a-snoring.
Then Oh seized him, and bade them bring wood and tie his labourer fast
to the wood, and set the wood on fire till the labourer was burnt to
ashes. Then Oh took the ashes and scattered them to the four winds,
but a single piece of burnt coal fell from out of the ashes, and this
coal he sprinkled with living water, whereupon the labourer
immediately stood there alive again and somewhat handsomer and
stronger than before. Oh again bade him chop wood, but again he went
to sleep. Then Oh again tied him to the wood and burnt him and
scattered the ashes to the four winds and sprinkled the remnant of the
coal with living water, and instead of the loutish clown there stood
there such a handsome and stalwart Cossack[3] that the like of him can
neither be imagined nor described but only told of in tales.

[3] _Kozak_, a Cossack, being the ideal human hero of the Ruthenians,
just as a _bogatyr_ is a hero of the demi-god type, as the name
implies.

There, then, the lad remained for a year, and at the end of the year
the father came for his son. He came to the self-same charred stumps
in the self-same forest, sat him down, and said, "Oh!" Oh immediately
came out of the charred stump and said, "Hail! O man!"--"Hail to thee,
Oh!"--"And what dost thou want, O man?" asked Oh.--"I have come," said
he, "for my son."--"Well, come then! If thou dost know him again, thou
shalt take him away; but if thou dost not know him, he shall serve
with me yet another year." So the man went with Oh. They came to his
hut, and Oh took whole handfuls of millet and scattered it about, and
myriads of cocks came running up and pecked it. "Well, dost thou know
thy son again?" said Oh. The man stared and stared. There was nothing
but cocks, and one cock was just like another. He could not pick out
his son. "Well," said Oh, "as thou dost not know him, go home again;
this year thy son must remain in my service." So the man went home
again.

The second year passed away, and the man again went to Oh. He came to
the charred stumps and said, "Oh!" and Oh popped out of the tree-stump
again. "Come!" said he, "and see if thou canst recognize him now."
Then he took him to a sheep-pen, and there were rows and rows of