“I have seen,” said Ivan, “various sights; and beyond the sea there was an affair of such kind that no man knew how to settle it.”
“What was the affair?”
“Well, this is the kind of affair it was; and if thou art a wise man, decide it according to thy wisdom of Tsar: A husband had a wife, and while he was living she found a sweetheart for herself; she robbed her husband, and went away with the sweetheart beyond the sea; and now she is with that man. What, to thy thinking, should be done with that wife?”
“According to my wisdom of Tsar I will utter the following sentence: Tie them both to the tails of horses, and let the horses loose in the open field,—let that be their punishment.”
“If that is thy judgment, very well,” said Ivan. “Come with me as a guest; I will show thee other sights and another wonder.”
They went to Ivan’s castle, and found there the Tsar’s daughter and the servant. As Ivan had commanded, they were still asleep.
There was no help for it; according to the word of the Tsar they tied them both to the tails of horses and urged the horses into the open field,—that was their punishment. But Ivan afterwards married that beautiful, most beautiful maiden whom he had saved from the fire, and they began to live and win wealth.