hy way." So he went up the
high mountain till he came to two other mountains that were opposite
each other, and there he saw two old men sitting, and they asked him
straightway, "Little Prince! little Prince! whither dost thou go, and
what dost thou seek?"--"I am going in search of my brother," said he,
"my dear elder brother who is perishing, and I can find him
nowhere."--Then one of the old men said to him, "If thou canst scale
those two mountains yonder without falling, I'll give thee all that
thou dost want." Then he scaled the two mountains as nimbly as a goat,
and the old man gave him a bast rope, three fathoms long, and bade him
return to the mountain where was the fire and the old woman who had
asked him to stay and warm himself, and bind this old woman with the
cord and beat her till she promised to bring his brother back to life
again, and not only his brother but a Tsar and a Tsaritsa[23] and a
Tsarivna, who were also turned to stone there. "Beat her till she has
brought them all to life again," said they. So he took the cord and
went back to where the fire was burning. An apple-tree was there, and
beneath the apple-tree was the fire, and the old witch came out to him
and said, "Little master! little master! let me come and warm
myself."--"Come along, little mother!" cried he; "come and warm
thyself and make thyself comfortable." Then she came out, but no
sooner had she done so, than he threw the cord around her and began
flogging her. "Say," cried he, "what hast thou done with my
brother?"--"Oh, dear little master! dear little master! let me go, let
me go! I'll tell thee this instant where thy brother is." But he
wouldn't listen, but beat her and beat her, and held her naked feet
over the fire, and toasted and roasted her till she shrivelled right
up. Then he let her go, and she went with him to a cave that was on
that mountain, and drew from the depths of it some healing and
life-giving water, and brought his brother back to life again, but it
was as much as she could do, for she was half dead herself. Then his
brother said to him, "Oh, my dear brother, how heavily I must have
been sleeping! But thou must revive my faithful dog too!" Then she
revived the faithful dog, and she also revived the Tsar and the
Tsaritsa and the Tsarivna, who had been turned to stone there. Then
they left that place and when they had gone a little distance, the
elder brother bowed to the ground and went on his way alone.

[23]