te ready," says she.

Thereupon he tore her to pieces.[291]

There is one other of those personifications of natural forces which
play an active part in the Russian tales, about which a few words may
be said. It often happens that the heroine-stealer whom the hero of
the story has to overcome is called, not Koshchei nor the Snake, but
Vikhor,[292] the whirlwind. Here is a brief analysis of part of one of
the tales in which this elementary abducer figures. There was a
certain king, whose wife went out one day to walk in the garden.
"Suddenly a gale (_vyeter_) sprang up. In the gale was the
Vikhor-bird. Vikhor seized the Queen, and carried her off." She left
three sons, and they, when they came to man's estate, said to their
father--"Where is our mother? If she be dead, show us her grave; if
she be living, tell us where to find her."

"I myself know not where your mother is," replied the King. "Vikhor
carried her off."

"Well then," they said, "since Vikhor carried her off, and she is
alive, give us your blessing. We will go in search of our mother."

All three set out, but only the youngest, Prince Vasily, succeeded in
climbing the steep hill, whereon stood the palace in which his mother
and Vikhor lived. Entering it during Vikhor's absence, the Prince made
himself known to his mother, "who straightway gave him to eat, and
concealed him in a distant apartment, hiding him behind a number of
cushions, so that Vikhor might not easily discover him." And she gave
him these instructions. "If Vikhor comes, and begins quarrelling,
don't come forth, but if he takes to chatting, come forth and say,
'Hail father!' and seize hold of the little finger of his right hand,
and wherever he flies do you go with him."

Presently Vikhor came flying in, and addressed the Queen angrily.
Prince Vasily remained concealed until his mother gave him a hint to
come forth. This he did, and then greeted Vikhor, and caught hold of
his right little finger. Vikhor tried to shake him off, flying first
about the house and then out of it, but all in vain. At last Vikhor,
after soaring on high, struck the ground, and fell to pieces, becoming
a fine yellow sand. "But the little finger remained in the possession
of Prince Vasily, who scraped together the sand and burnt it in the
stove."[293]

* * * * *

With a mention of two other singular beings who occur in the Skazkas,
the present chapter may be brought to a close