the little Tsar saw it, he said,
"Oh, my dear brother-in-law!" (for without his dogs he must needs be
courteous to the serpent) "pray let me climb up that whitethorn-tree,
and have a good look about me!" But the sister said to the serpent,
"Dear friend, make him get ready boiling water for himself, and we
will boil him, for it does not become thee to dirty thy hands."--"Very
well," said the serpent; "he shall make the boiling water ready!" So
they ordered the little Tsar to go and chop wood and get the hot water
ready. Then he went and chopped wood, but as he was doing so, a
starling flew out and said to him, "Not so fast, not so fast, little
Tsar Novishny. Be as slow as thou canst, for thy dogs have gnawed
their way through two doors."

Then the little Tsar poured water into the cauldron, and put fire
under it. But the wood that he had cut was rotten and very very dry,
so that it burned most fiercely, and he took and sprinkled it with
water, and sprinkled it again and again, so that it might not burn too
much. And when he went out into the courtyard for more water, the
starling said to him, "Not so fast, not so fast, little Tsar Novishny,
for thy dogs have gnawed their way through four doors!" As he was
returning to the hut his sister said to him, "That water does not boil
up quickly enough! Take the fire-shovel and poke the fire!" So he did
so, and the faggots blazed up, but when she had gone away he sprinkled
them with water again, so that they might burn more slowly. Then he
went into the courtyard again, and the starling met him and said, "Not
so fast, not so fast, little Tsar; be as slow as thou canst, for thy
dogs have gnawed their way through six doors." Then he returned to the
hut, and his sister again took up the shovel and made him poke up the
fire, and when she went away he again flung water on the burning
coals. So he kept going in and out of the courtyard. "'Tis weary
work!" cried he; but the starling said to him, "Not so fast, not so
fast, little Tsar Novishny, for thy dogs have already gnawed their way
through ten doors!" The little Tsar picked up the rottenest wood he
could find and flung it on the fire, to make believe he was making
haste, but sprinkled it at the same time with water, so that it might
not burn up too quickly, and yet the kettle soon began to boil. Again
he went to the forest for more wood, and the starling said to him,
"Not so fast, not so fast, little Tsar, for thy dogs have already