orse carried him higher than
the trees of the forest, but lower than the clouds of the sky. At last
they sank down among the woods and came to Oh's hut, and Oh went into
his hut and left his horse outside on the steppe. "This son of a dog
shall not escape from my hands so quickly a second time," said he to
his wife. At dawn Oh took the horse by the bridle and led it away to
the river to water it. But no sooner did the horse get to the river
and bend down its head to drink than it turned into a perch and began
swimming away. Oh, without more ado, turned himself into a pike and
pursued the perch. But just as the pike was almost up with it, the
perch gave a sudden twist and stuck out its spiky fins and turned its
tail toward the pike, so that the pike could not lay hold of it. So
when the pike came up to it, it said, "Perch! perch! turn thy head
toward me, I want to have a chat with thee!"--"I can hear thee very
well as I am, dear cousin, if thou art inclined to chat," said the
perch. So off they set again, and again the pike overtook the perch.
"Perch! perch! turn thy head round toward me, I want to have a chat
with thee!" Then the perch stuck out its bristly fins again and said,
"If thou dost wish to have a chat, dear cousin, I can hear thee just
as well as I am." So the pike kept on pursuing the perch, but it was
of no use. At last the perch swam ashore, and there was a Tsarivna[5]
whittling an ash twig. The perch changed itself into a gold ring set
with garnets, and the Tsarivna saw it and fished up the ring out of
the water. Full of joy she took it home, and said to her father,
"Look, dear papa! what a nice ring I have found!" The Tsar kissed her,
but the Tsarivna did not know which finger it would suit best, it was
so lovely.

[5] Russian _Tsarevna_, _i.e._ a Tsar's daughter.

About the same time they told the Tsar that a certain merchant had
come to the palace. It was Oh, who had changed himself into a
merchant. The Tsar went out to him and said, "What dost thou want, old
man?"--"I was sailing on the sea in my ship," said Oh, "and carrying
to the Tsar of my own land a precious garnet ring, and this ring I
dropped into the water. Has any of thy servants perchance found this
precious ring?"--"No, but my daughter has," said the Tsar. So they
called the damsel, and Oh began to beg her to give it back to him,
"for I may not live in this world if I bring not the ring," said he.
But it was of no avail, she would not g