The townspeople hearing the bagpipes ran out of their houses and cried to each other:
"The shepherd's come back!"
The Princess ran to her window and, when she saw the shepherd alive and well, she put her hand to her heart and said:
"Oh!"
Even the Tsar was pleased.
"I'm not a bit surprised that he's back!" he said. "There's something about this youth that I like!"
The next day the Tsar sent two of his trusted servants to the lake to see what was happening there. They hid themselves behind some bushes on a little hill that commanded the lake. They were there when the shepherd arrived and they watched him as he waded out into the water and challenged the dragon as on the day before.
They heard the shepherd call out in a loud voice:
"Ho, dragon, come out and we'll try a wrestling match! That is, if you're not afraid!"
And from the water they heard an awful voice bellow back: