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But then Baba Yaga is usually bad, as in the case of Vasilissa the Very Beautiful, who was only saved from her iron teeth by the cleverness of her Magic Doll." "Tell us the story of the Magic Doll," begged Maroosia. "I will some day," said old Peter. "And has Baba Yaga really got iron teeth?" asked Vanya. "Iron, like the poker and tongs," said old Peter. "What for?" said Maroosia.
The bells rang out and the trumpets sounded, and at the noise of the horns and the ringing of the bells the Princess Vasilissa woke up and looked about her. "What is this ringing of bells," says she, "and this noise of trumpets? And where, oh, where is the blue sea, and my little silver boat with its golden oars?" And the Princess put her hand to her eyes.
After a little time the sea was disturbed again, and the lobsters in their thousands came to the shore, and with them they brought a golden casket in which was the wedding dress of the Princess Vasilissa. They had taken it from under the great stone that lay in the middle of the sea.
And the end of the story? They buried the Tzar, and made the young archer Tzar in his place. He married the Princess Vasilissa, and lived many years with her in love and good fellowship. And he built a golden stable for the horse of power, and never forgot what he owed to him.
"The Tzar has ordered me to go to the land of Never, and to bring back the Princess Vasilissa." "Do not weep do not grieve. The trouble is not yet; the trouble is to come. Go to the Tzar and ask him for a silver tent with a golden roof, and for all kinds of food and drink to take with us on the journey."
The young archer said not a word, but went on regaling himself on the pleasant dishes he had set out there in the tent. At last the Princess Vasilissa came up to the tent and looked in. The young archer rose and bowed before her. Says he, "Good-day to you, Princess! Be so kind as to come in and take bread and salt with me, and taste my foreign wines."
"Fear not," says the horse of power, "for the Princess Vasilissa has made him do this, and the end of these things is better than I thought. Go back, and when they are ready to throw you in the cauldron, do you run boldly and leap yourself into the boiling water." The young archer went back across the courtyard, and the servants made ready to throw him into the cauldron.
"I told you that there would be trouble if you picked up the golden feather from the fire-bird's burning breast. Well, do not be afraid. The trouble is not yet; the trouble is to come. Up! into the saddle with you, and away for the wedding dress of the Princess Vasilissa!"
The Princess Vasilissa dipped her golden oars in the blue water, and the little silver boat moved lightly through the dancing waves. She sat in the little boat and looked over the blue sea to the edge of the world, and there, between the golden sand and the green earth, she saw the tent standing, silver and gold in the sun. She dipped her oars, and came nearer to see it the better.
And she looked with love at the young archer; and there was no wonder in that either, for he was a young man fit to ride the horse of power. The Tzar was angry with the Princess Vasilissa, but his anger was as useless as his joy. "Why, Princess," says he, "will you not marry me, and forget your blue sea and your silver boat?"
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