"Why are you sitting here so sad and forlorn, Prince Ivan?" asked Grey Wolf.
"How can I help being sad, Grey Wolf? I have lost my trusty steed."
"It was I who ate up your horse, Prince Ivan. But I am sorry for you. What are you doing so far from home and where are you going?"
"Father has sent me out into the wide world to seek the Fire-Bird."
"But you could not reach the Fire-Bird on that horse in three years. I alone know where it lives. So be it—since I have eaten up your horse, I shall be your true and faithful servant. Get on my back and hold fast."
Prince Ivan got on to his back and Grey Wolf was off like a flash. Green forests swept by, blue lakes skimmed past, and at last they came to a castle with a high wall round it.
"Listen carefully, Prince Ivan," said Grey Wolf, "and remember what I say. Climb over that wall. You have nothing to fear—we have come at a lucky hour; all the guards are sleeping. In a chamber within the tower you will see a window, in that window hangs a golden cage, and in that cage is the Fire-Bird. Take the bird and hide it in your bosom, but mind you do not touch the cage!"
Prince Ivan climbed over the wall and saw the tower with the golden cage in the window and the Fire-Bird in the cage. He took the bird out and hid it in his bosom, but could not tear his eyes away from the cage. "Ah, what a handsome golden cage!" he thought longingly. "How can I leave it here!" And he forgot the wolf's warning. The moment he touched the cage, a hue and cry rose within the castle—trumpets trumpeted, drums drummed, the guards woke up, seized Prince Ivan and marched him off to King Afron. |