“Well, it is dark now; we had better take shelter somewhere in the thickets, and to-morrow I will show you the way.”
So they went to look where they might pass the night, went on and on, and they saw a little hut. “Oho! God has sent us a bed for the night; let us go there,” said the soldier. So they went into the little hut.
There an old woman sat. “Hail, bábushka!”
“Hail, soldier!”
“Give us something to eat and drink.”
“I have eaten it all up myself, and there is not anything to be had.”
“You are lying, old devil!” said the soldier, and began rummaging about in the stove and on the shelves. And he found plenty in the old woman’s hut: wine and food, and all ready. So they sat down at the table, feasted to their fill, and went to lie down in the attic.
Then the soldier said to the Tsar, “God guards him who guards himself; let one of us rest and the other stand guard.” So they cast lots, and the Tsar had to take the first watch. Then the soldier gave him his sharp cutlass, put him at the door, bade him not go to sleep, and arouse him if anything should happen. Then he himself lay down to sleep. But he thought, “Will my comrade be able to stand sentry-go? Possibly he is unaccustomed to it; I will take watch over him.” Then the Tsar stood there and stood, and soon began to nod.
“What are you nodding for?” asked the soldier: “are you going to sleep?”
“No!” said the Tsar.