And all turned out as he had said, for no sooner was the tree replanted than it was covered with blossoms that gave it the appearance of a sea of roses.  The delighted King gave him twelve raven-black horses, laden with as much wealth as they could carry.  He then journeyed to the shores of the Black Sea.  There the boatman questioned him as to what news he had brought respecting his release.  Plavacek first crossed with his twenty-four horses to the opposite bank, and then replied that the boatman might gain his freedom by placing the oars in the hands of the first traveler who wished to be ferried over.

Plavacek’s royal father-in-law could not believe his eyes when he saw Dede-Vsevede’s three golden hairs.  As for the Princess, his young wife, she wept tears, but of joy, not sadness, to see her dear one again, and she said to him, “How did you get such splendid horses and so much wealth, dear husband?”

And he answered her, “All this represents the price paid for the weariness of spirit I have felt; it is the ready money for hardships endured and services given.  Thus, I showed one King how to regain possession of the Apples of Youth:  to another I told the secret of reopening the spring of water that gives health and life.”

“Apples of Youth!  Water of Life!” interrupted the King.  “I will certainly go and find these treasures for myself.  Ah, what joy! having eaten of these apples I shall become young again; having drunk of the Water of Immortality, I shall live forever.”

And he started off in search of these treasures.  But he has not yet returned from his search.

A MYTH OF AMERICA

HIAWATHA

ADAPTED FROM H.R.  SCHOOLCRAFT’s VERSION

Hiawatha was living with his grandmother near the edge of a wide prairie.  On this prairie he first saw animals and birds of every kind.  He there also saw exhibitions of divine power in the sweeping tempests, in the thunder and lightning, and the various shades of light and darkness which form a never ending scene for observation.  Every new sight he beheld in the heavens was a subject of remark; every new animal or bird an object of deep interest; and every sound uttered by the animal creation a new lesson, which he was expected to learn.  He often trembled at what he heard and saw.  To this scene his grandmother sent him at an early age to watch.  The first sound he heard was that of an owl, at which he was greatly terrified, and quickly descending the tree he had climbed, he ran with alarm to the lodge.  “Noko!  Noko!” (grandma) he cried, “I have heard a momendo.”  She laughed at his fears, and asked him what kind of a noise it made.  He answered, “It makes a noise like this:  Ko-ko-ko-ho.”  She told him that he was young and foolish; that what he had heard was only a bird, deriving its name from the noise it made.