stasia has been torn away by a whirlwind
from her husband "Tsar Byel Byelyanin" [the White King]. As in the
variant of the story already quoted,[312] her sons go in search of
her, and the youngest of them, after finding three palaces--the first
of copper, the second of silver, the third of gold, each containing a
princess held captive by Vikhor, the whirlwind--comes to a fourth
palace gleaming with diamonds and other precious stones. In it he
discovers his long-lost mother, who gladly greets him, and at once
takes him into Vikhor's cellar. Here is the account of what ensued.

Well, they entered the cellar; there stood two tubs of water,
the one on the right hand, the other on the left. Says the
Queen--

"Take a draught of the water that stands on the right
hand." Prince Ivan drank of it.

"Now then, how strong do you feel?" said she.

"So strong that I could upset the whole palace with one
hand," he replied.

"Come now, drink again."

The Prince drank once more.

"How strong do you feel now?" she asked.

"Why now, if I wanted, I could give the whole world a
jolt."

"Oh that's plenty then! Now make these tubs change
places--that which stands on the right, set on the left: and
that which is on the left, change to the right."

Prince Ivan took the tubs and made them change places.
Says the Queen--

"See now, my dear son; in one of these tubs is the 'Water
of Strength,' in the other is the 'Water of Weakness.'[313] He
who drinks of the former becomes a mighty hero, but he who
drinks of the second loses all his vigor. Vikhor always quaffs
the Strong Water, and places it on the right-hand side; therefore
you must deceive him, or you will never be able to hold
out against him."

The Queen proceeds to tell her son that, when Vikhor comes home, he
must hide beneath her purple cloak, and watch for an opportunity of
seizing her gaoler's magic mace.[314] Vikhor will fly about till he is
tired, and will then have recourse to what he supposes is the "Strong
Water;" this will render him so feeble that the Prince will be able to
kill him. Having received these instructions, and having been warned
not to strike Vikhor after he is dead, the Prince conceals himself.
Suddenly the day becomes darkened, the palace quivers, and Vikhor
arrives; stamping on the ground, he becomes a noble gallant, who
enters the palace, "holding in his hands a battle mace." This Prince
Ivan sei