and burned it in the fire.

Vassilissa, when she came back, searched for the skin, and when she
could not find it her beautiful face grew sad and her bright eyes
filled with tears. She said to Tsarevitch Ivan, her husband:

"Oh, dear Tsarevitch, what hast thou done? There was but a short time
left for me to wear the ugly frogskin. The moment was near when we
could have been happy together forever. Now I must bid thee good-by.
Look for me in a far-away country to which no one knows the roads, at
the palace of Kostshei the Deathless;" and Vassilissa turned into a
white swan and flew away through the window.

Tsarevitch Ivan wept bitterly. Then he prayed to the almighty God,
and making the sign of the cross northward, southward, eastward, and
westward, he went on a mysterious journey.

No one knows how long his journey was, but one day he met an old, old
man. He bowed to the old man, who said:

"Good-day, brave fellow. What art thou searching for, and whither art
thou going?"

Tsarevitch Ivan answered sincerely, telling all about his misfortune
without hiding anything.

"And why didst thou burn the frogskin? It was wrong to do so. Listen
now to me. Vassilissa was born wiser than her own father, and as he
envied his daughter's wisdom he condemned her to be a frog for three
long years. But I pity thee and want to help thee. Here is a magic