4 Koschchey the Deathless

Chapter 4 Koshchey the Deathless Prince Ivan left the palace, and found Silver Wolf in a ruined house nearby. For the first time, the wolf looked anxious.

"Koshchey's castle, is it?" he asked. "You'll need all your strength and courage there. Climb on." Silver Wolf leaped into the sky, and they soared over teeming cities and dusty deserts. Finally, in the evening light, they saw the high, dark walls of a castle.

They landed on a mountain crag, and watched the castle from a knot of fir trees. "We must wait until Koshchey is asleep," Silver Wolf advised. "He will know we are here soon enough."

After a while, Silver Wolf said "Now!" They leaped over the castle wall, and landed in a garden filled with rose trees and statues. Twelve beautiful girls were dancing around a fountain and laughing. Startled to see Ivan, they stopped, and a gentle voice called, "What is it? What's the matter?"

A princess came into the garden, even more beautiful than the girls. For a moment she looked overjoyed to see Ivan, then frightened. "Go, quickly!" she insisted. "If Koshchey finds you, he will turn you to stone, just like the others."

Ivan looked more closely at the statues. With horror, he saw that they were all knights and princes. Many had their swords raised, stone-frozen in rage and defiance. "Then you must come with me!" said Ivan. "Silver Wolf and I have come to take you home. Koshchey is sleeping. Let's go now while we have the chance."