than she; there is no bridegroom worthy of her in any place under the
bright sun, no tsar, no king, no tsarevitch, no korolevitch. To no one
will I ever give my daughter, the princess Helena, and whoever
shall dare to court her, on such an one will I declare war, ruin his
country, and capture himself.'"

"And how great is the army of that king?" asked the Tsar Archidei;
"and also how far is his kingdom from my tsarstvo?"

"Well, according to the measure of my eyes," answered Simeon, "I fancy
it would take a ship ten years less two days; or, if it happened to be
stormy, I am afraid even a little longer than ten years. And that
king has not a small army. I have seen altogether a hundred thousand
spearmen, a hundred thousand armed men, and a hundred thousand or more
could be gathered from the Tsar's court, from his servants and all
kinds of underlings. Besides, there is no small armament of guards
held in reserve for a special occasion, fed and petted by the king."

The Tsar Archidei remained for a long time in thoughtful silence and
finally addressed his court people:

"My warriors and advisers: I have but one wish; I want the princess
Helena for my wife. But tell me, how can I reach her?"

The wise advisers remained silent, hiding themselves behind each
other. The third Simeon looked around, bowed to the Tsar, and said:

"Tsar Archidei Aggeivitch, forgive my simple words. How to reach the
island of Buzan there is no need to worry about. Sit down on my ship;
she is simply built, and equipped without any wise tricks. Where