The Voices At the Window, part 2 · page 21 2101Then he shouted to the dogs, and they sat down quite still.102Then she said to him, "I am so ill, brother, that nothing will make me well but hare's milk.103Go and get it for me."--"I'll get it," said he.104[10] Little Wolf.105But first he laid him down to sleep.106Nedviga lay at his head, Protius at his feet, and Vovchok and _Medvedik_[11] each on one side.107He slept through the night, but at dawn he mounted his steed, took his pack with him, and departed.108Again he came to a little thicket, and a she-hare popped out.109Protius ran her down, Nedviga held her fast, then he milked her and let her go.110Then the hare said, "Hail to thee, little Tsar Novishny; because thou hast let me go--I thought thou wouldst have torn me to pieces with thy dogs--I'll give thee a leveret."111But to the leveret she said, "Obey him, as though he were thine own father."112Then he went home, and again they saw him from afar. "113What a wily rogue it is!" said they. "114All five are following him, and he is as well as ever!"--"Ask him to get thee fox's milk!" said the serpent; "perhaps when he goes for it his beasts will leave him in the lurch!"115Then he changed himself into a needle, and she stuck him still higher in the wall, so that the dogs could not get at him.116The Tsar again dismounted from his horse, and his dogs rushed up to the hut and began snuffing at the needle.117But his sister fell a-weeping, and said, "Why dost thou keep such monstrous dogs?"118He shouted to them, and they sat down quietly on their haunches.119Then his sister said again, "I am ailing, my brother; go and get me fox's milk, and I shall be well."--"I'll fetch it for thee," said her brother.120[11] Little Bear.121But first he lay down to sleep.122Nedviga lay at his head, Protius at his feet, and Vovchok, Medvedik, and the leveret by his side.123The little Tsar slept through the night, and at dawn he arose, mounted his horse, took his pack with him, and went off.124They came to a little thicket, and a vixen popped out.125Protius ran her down, Nedviga held her fast, and the little Tsar milked her and let her go.126Then said the vixen to him, "Thanks to thee, little Tsar Novishny, that thou hast let me go.127Methought thou wouldst tear me in pieces with thy dogs.128For thy kindness I'll give thee a little fox."129But to the little fox she said, "Obey him as though he were thine own father."130So he went home, and they saw him coming from afar, and lo! now he had six guardians, and yet had come by no harm. "'131Tis no good; we shall never do for him," said the serpent. "132Look, now!133Make thyself worse than ever, and say to him, 'I am very ill, my brother, because in another realm, far, far away, there is a wild boar who ploughs with his nose, and sows with his ears, and harrows with his tail--and in that same empire there is a mill with twelve furnaces that grinds its own grain and casts forth its own meal, and if thou wilt bring me of the meal that is beneath these twelve furnaces, so that I may make me a cake of it and eat, my soul shall live.'"--Then her brother said to her, "Methinks thou art not my sister, but my foe!"--But she replied, "How can I be thy foe when we two live all alone together in a strange land?"--"Well, I will get it for thee," said he.134For again he believed in his sister.1 2← previousThe Voices At the Window, part 1next →The Voices At the Window, part 3↑ back to Cossack Fairy Tales and Folk TalesThis page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/5/page/2/