l entered after him, and said grace, and had supper, and laid
them down to sleep.

[7] A sourish drink.

They all slept, all but one, but to him slumber would not come. About
midnight he heard a strange noise, and something came to the window
and said, "Oh, thou son of a dog! thou didst say, 'If we had but a
warm hut, and a white bed, and soft bread, and sour kvas, we should
have naught to complain of, but would tell tales and feign fables till
dawn'; but now thou hast forgotten thy fine promise! Wherefore this
shall befall thee on thy way home. Thou shalt fall in with an
apple-tree full of apples, and thou shalt desire to taste of them,
and when thou hast tasted thereof thou shalt burst. And if any of
these thy huntsmen hear this thing and tell thee of it, that man shall
become stone to the knee!" All this that huntsman heard, and he
thought, "Woe is me!"

And about the second cockcrow something else came to the window and
said, "Oh, thou son of a dog! thou didst say, 'If we had but a warm
hut, and a white bed, and soft bread, and sour kvas, we should have
naught to complain of, but would tell tales and feign fables till
dawn'; but now thou hast forgotten thy fine promises! Wherefore this
shall befall thee on thy way home. Thou shalt come upon a spring by
the roadside, a spring of pure water, and thou shalt desire to drink
of it, and when thou hast drunk thereof thou shalt burst. But if any
of these thy huntsmen hear and tell thee of this thing, he shall
become stone to the girdle." All this that huntsman heard, and he
thought to himself, "Woe is me!"

Again, toward the third cockcrow, he heard something else coming to
the window, and it said, "Oh, thou son of a dog! thou didst say, 'If
only we had a warm hut, and a white bed, and soft bread, and sour
kvas, we should have naught to complain of, but would tell tales and
feign fables till dawn'; but now thou hast forgotten all thy fine
promises! Wherefore this shall befall thee on thy way home. Thou shalt
come upon a feather-bed in the highway; a longing for rest shall come
over thee, and thou wilt lie down on it, and the moment thou liest
down thereon thou shalt burst. But if any of thy huntsmen hear this
thing and tell it thee, he shall become stone up to the neck!" All
this that huntsman heard, and then he awoke his comrades and said,
"It is time to depart!"--"Let us go then," said the nobleman.

So on they went, and they had not gone very far when they saw a