The seventh Simeon showed the lovely guests everywhere. He was talking
smoothly while leisurely unfolding his precious goods. The korolevna
listened attentively, looked around curiously, and seemed well
pleased.

At the same moment the fourth Simeon, watching the proper moment,
snapped the prow and down to mysterious depths went the ship where no
one could see her. The people on the king's vessel screamed in terror,
the warriors looked like drunken fools, and the guards only opened
their eyes wider than before. What should they do? They directed the
vessel back to the island and appeared before the king with their
terrible tale.

"Oh, my daughter, my darling princess Helena! It is God who punishes
me for my pride. I never wanted thee to marry. No king, no prince,
would I consider worthy of thee; and now--oh! now I know that thou art
wedded to the deep sea! As for me, I am left alone for the rest of my
sorrowful days."

Then all at once he looked around and shouted to his men:

"You fools! what were you thinking about? You shall all lose your
heads! Guards, throw them into dungeons! The most cruel death shall
be theirs, such a death that the children of their great-grandchildren
shall shiver to hear the tale!"

Now, while the king of Buzan raved and grieved, the ship of the
brothers Simeon, like a golden fish, swam under the blue waters, and
when the island was lost from sight the fourth Simeon brought her to
the surface and she rose upon the waters like a white-winged gull. By