broad it was and how
thickly covered with tall grasses his heart sank for he realized that he
could never search over the whole of it in one day. However, he got down
on his hands and knees and began to hunt.

Midday came and he had not yet found a single pearl.

"Oh dear," he thought to himself in despair, "if only my ants were here,
they could help me!"

He had no sooner spoken than a million little voices answered:

"We are here and we're here to help you!"

And sure enough there they were, the very ants that he supposed were far
away!

"What do you want us to do?" they asked.

"Find me all the pearls that are scattered in this meadow. I can't find
one of them."

Instantly the ants scurried hither and thither and soon they began
bringing him the pearls one by one. Yirik strung them together until the
necklace seemed complete.

"Are there any more?" he asked.

He was about to tie the string together when a lame ant, whose foot had
been burned in the fire, hobbled up, crying:

"Wait, Yirik, don't tie the string yet! Here's the last pearl!"

Yirik thanked the ants for their help and at sundown carried the
string of pearls to the king. The king counted the pearls and, to his
surprise, found that not one was missing.

"You've done this well," he said. "Tomorrow I'll give you your second
task."

The next day when Yirik presented himself, the king said:

"While my daughter, Zlatovlaska, was bathing in the sea, a golden ring
slipped from her finger and disappeared. Your task is to find me this
ring before sundown."

Yirik went down to the seashore and as he walked along the beach his
heart grew heavy as he realized the difficulty of the task before him.
The sea was clear but so deep that he couldn't even see the bottom. How
then could he find the ring?

"Oh dear," he said aloud, "if only the golden fish were here! It could
help me."

"I am here," a voice said, "and I'm here to help you."

And there was the golden fish on the crest of a wave, gleaming like a
flash of fire!

"What do you want me to do?" it said.

"Find me a golden ring that lies somewhere on the bottom of the sea."

"Ah, a golden ring? A moment ago I met a pike," the fish said, "that had
just such a golden ring. Wait for me here and I'll go find the pike."

In a few moments the golden fish returned with the pike and sure enough
it was Zlatovlaska's ring that the pike was carrying.

That evening at sundown the king acknowledged t