“All right,” answered the Simpleton, and he went to the field and began to scare the sparrows.  But as soon as the brothers left home, Ivanoushka started to the wide field and shouted out loud with a mighty voice: 

  “Arise, bay horse—­thou wind-swift steed,
  Appear before me in my need;
  Stand up as in the storm the weed!”

—­and here came the horse, the earth trembling under his hoofs, the sparks flying around, his eyes like flames, and out of his nostrils smoke curling up.

“For what dost thou wish me?”

Ivanoushka the Simpleton crawled into the left ear of the horse, and when he appeared out of the right ear, oh, my! what a fellow he was!  Even in fairy tales there are never such handsome fellows, to say nothing of everyday life.

Ivanoushka lifted himself on the iron back of his horse and touched him with a strong whip.  The noble horse grew angry, made a jump, and went higher than the dark woods, a little below the traveling clouds.  One jump, one mile is behind; a second jump, a river is behind; and a third jump and they were at the hall.  Then the horse, with Ivanoushka on his back, flew like an eagle, high up into the air, passed the thirty-first circle, failed to reach the last one, and swept away like the wind.

The people shouted:  “Take hold of him! take hold of him!” The Tsar jumped to his feet, the Tsaritza screamed, the princes and boyars opened their mouths.

The brothers of Ivanoushka the Simpleton came home.  They were wondering at the fellow.  Yes, an amazing fellow indeed! one circle only was unreached.

“Brothers, that fellow over there was I,” said Ivanoushka to them.

“Keep still in thy own place, thou fool,” was their sneering answer.

The third day the brothers were going again to the strange entertainment of the Tsar, and again Ivanoushka the Simpleton said to them:  “Take me along with you.”

“Fool,” they laughed, “there is food to be given to the hogs; better go to them.”

“All right,” the younger brother answered, and quietly went to the back yard and gave food to the hogs.  But as soon as his brothers had left home our Ivanoushka the Simpleton hurried to the wide field and shouted out loud: 

  “Arise, bay horse—­them wind-swift steed,
  Appear before me in my need;
  Stand up as in the storm the weed!”

At once the horse came running, the earth trembled; where he stepped there appeared ponds, where his hoofs touched there were lakes, out of his eyes shone flames, out of his ears smoke came like a cloud.

“For what dost thou wish me?” the horse asked with a man’s voice.

Ivanoushka the Simpleton crawled into his right ear and jumped out of his left one, and a handsome fellow he was.  A young girl could not even imagine such a one.

Ivanoushka struck his horse, pulled the bridle tight, and lo! he flew high up in the air.  The wind was left behind and even the swallow, the sweet, winged passenger, must not aspire to do the same.  Our hero flew like a cloud high up into the sky, his silver-chained mail rattling, his fair curls floating in the wind.  He arrived at the Tsarevna’s high hall, struck his horse once more, and oh! how the wild horse did jump!