p all the ashes on her tail,
and scattered them to the four winds. Then he took the Tsarivna by the
hand, and led her to the Tsar, and the people rejoiced because their
water was free again. And the Tsarivna gave him the nuptial ring.

Then they set off home again. They went on and on, for it was a long
way from the tsardom of that Tsar, and at last he grew weary and lay
down in the grass, and she sat at his head. Then his lackey crept up
to him, unfastened the self-slicing sword from his side, went up to
the little Tsar, and said, "Self-slicing sword! slay him!" Then the
self-slicing sword cut him into little bits, and his beasts knew
nothing about it, for they were sleeping after their labours. After
that the lackey said to the Tsarivna, "Thou must say now to all men
that I saved thee from death, or if not, I will do to thee what I have
done to him. Swear that thou wilt say this thing!" Then she said, "I
will swear that thou didst save me from death," for she was sore
afraid of the lackey. Then they returned to the city, and the Tsar was
very glad to see them, and clothed the lackey in goodly apparel, and
they all made merry together.

Now when Nedviga awoke he perceived that his master was no longer
there, and immediately awoke all the rest, and they all began to think
and consider which of them was the swiftest. And when they had thought
it well over they judged that the hare was the swiftest, and they
resolved that the hare should run and get living and healing water and
the apple of youth also. So the hare ran to fetch this water and this
apple, and he ran and ran till he came to a certain land, and in this
land the hare saw a spring, and close to the spring grew an apple-tree
with the apples of youth, and this spring and this apple-tree were
guarded by a Muscovite, oh! so strong, so strong, and he waved his
sabre again and again so that not even a mouse could make its way up
to that well. What was to be done? Then the little hare had resort to
subtlety, and made herself crooked, and limped toward the spring as if
she were lame. When the Muscovite saw her he said, "What sort of a
little beast is this? I never saw the like of it before!" So the hare
passed him by, and went farther and farther on till she came right up
to the well. The Muscovite stood there and opened his eyes wide, but
the hare had now got up to the spring, and took a little flask of the
water and nipped off a little apple, and was off in a trice.