“Oh, Ivan Tsarevich, if ’tis thy wish to put me to death by the executioner, better let me die of myself; only let me speak three speeches.”
Bulat told about the first night, how twelve doves flew to them in the open field, and what they said. That moment he was stone to the knees; he told of the second night, and was stone to the girdle. Now Ivan Tsarevich begged him not to speak to the end. Bulat answered: “’Tis all the same now, I am stone to the girdle; it is not worth while to live.” He told of the third night, and was all stone.
Ivan Tsarevich put him in a chamber apart, went there each day with Vassilissa, and wept bitterly.
Years passed on. Once Ivan Tsarevich was weeping over the stone hero Bulat, and heard a voice coming out of the stone: “Why dost thou weep? It is hard for me even as I am.”
“Why should I not weep? How can I help it? Thou knowest I destroyed thee.”
“If thou wishest, thou canst save me. Thou hast two children,—a son and a daughter. Kill them, pour their blood into a vessel, and rub this stone with the blood.”
Ivan Tsarevich told this to Vassilissa Kirbítyevna. They grieved and mourned; decided to kill their children. They killed them, gathered the blood, and rubbed the stone.
When Bulat the hero came to life he asked the Tsarevich and his wife, “Were ye grieved for the children?”
“We were grieved, Bulat.”
“Well, let us go to their room.”