“Little boat, little boat, float a little nearer.
Little boat, little boat, float a little nearer.”
The boat floated up to the shore; Peter took the cake and went back to his fishing again.
Now it so happened that a Baba Yaga, a terrible witch, was hiding in the bushes near-by. She heard all that passed between the woman and the child. So after the woman had gone home, the Baba Yaga waited for a while, and then she went down to the edge of the river and hid herself there, and called out:
“Peter, Peter, bring your boat to the shore, for I have brought another little cake for you.”
But when Peter heard her voice, which was very coarse and loud, he knew it must be a Baba Yaga calling him, so he said:
“Little boat, little boat, float a little farther.
Little boat, little boat, float a little farther.”
Then the boat floated away still farther out of the Baba Yaga’s reach.
The old witch soon guessed what was the matter, and she rushed off to a blacksmith, who lived over beyond the forest.