ould give him
a little fish for his supper in payment for his strong young arms.

And it happened that one evening the fishermen asked him to watch
their nets for them on the shore, while they went off to take their
fish to sell them in the square at Novgorod.

[Footnote 1: The Volkhov would be a big river if it were in England,
and Sadko and old Peter called it little only because they loved it.]

Sadko sat on the shore, on a rock, and played his dulcimer and sang.
Very sweetly he sang of the fair lake and the lovely river--the little
river that he thought prettier than all the girls of Novgorod. And
while he was singing he saw a whirlpool in the lake, little waves
flying from it across the water, and in the middle a hollow down into
the water. And in the hollow he saw the head of a great man with blue
hair and a gold crown. He knew that the huge man was the Tzar of the
Sea. And the man came nearer, walking up out of the depths of the
lake--a huge, great man, a very giant, with blue hair falling to his
waist over his broad shoulders. The little waves ran from him in all
directions as he came striding up out of the water.

Sadko did not know whether to run or stay; but the Tzar of the Sea
called out to him in a great voice like wind and water in a storm,--

"Sadko of Novgorod, you have played and sung many days by the side of
this lake and on the banks of the little river Volkhov. My daughters
love your music, and it has pleased me too. Throw out a net into the
water, and draw it in, and the waters will pay you for your singing.
And if you are satisfied with the payment, you must come and play to
us down in the green palace of the sea."

With that the Tzar of the Sea went down again into the waters of the
lake. The waves closed over him with a roar, and presently the lake
was as smooth and calm as it had ever been.

Sadko thought, and said to himself: "Well, there is no harm done in
casting out a net." So he threw a net out into the lake.

He sat down again and played on his dulcimer and sang, and when he had
finished his singing the dusk had fallen and the moon shone over the
lake. He put down his dulcimer and took hold of the ropes of the net,
and began to draw it up out of the silver water. Easily the ropes
came, and the net, dripping and glittering in the moonlight.

"I was dreaming," said Sadko; "I was asleep when I saw the Tzar of the
Sea, and there is nothing in the net at all."

And then, just as the