“That shall be as it is,” said the Tsarevich, “and if you will not give me your blessing I fear I must marry without it.”
“Well, well,” said the Tsar, “may all good go with you.” Then he was not in the least surprised to see his son step down from the cradle a full-grown youth of goodly shape, call for clothes suitable to his age—they were all ready to hand—and then go forth to the stable. On the way across the courtyard he met an old man who looked at him and said:
“Young man, where are you going?”
“Mind your own business,” said the young prince. But when he had gone forward a little he stopped and said to himself, “That was a mistake. Old people know many useful things.” So he turned again and went after the old man.
“Stop, stop, grandfather,” he said, “what was the question which you put to me?”
“I asked you,” said the ancient, “where you were going, and now I add to my question. Are you going there of your own free will or against your will?”
“I am going of my own free will,” said the Tsarevich, “and twice as much against my will. I was in my cradle when my father came to me and promised to get me Peerless Beauty as a bride. She is the daughter of three mothers, the granddaughter of three grandmothers, and the sister of nine brothers. So I suppose I must go to seek her.”
“You are a courteous youth,” said the old man, “and deserve to take advantage of the knowledge of the aged. You cannot go on foot to seek out Peerless Beauty, for she lives at the edge of the white world at the place where the sun peeps up. It is called the Golden Kingdom of the East.”
“What shall I do?” asked the Tsarevich, thrusting his hands into his belt and standing with feet wide apart. “I have no horse of mettle or whip of silk for such a ride.”
“Why, your father has thirty horses of the best,” said the old man, “and the trouble with you will be to make a wise choice. Go to the stables and tell the grooms to take the thirty to bathe in the deep blue sea. When they come to the shore you will see one of them push forward into the water up to its neck and drink. When this happens watch with care to see if the waves rise high and break in foam upon the beach. If so, take that horse, for it will bear you safely to the edge of the white world and to the place where the sun peeps up, which is called the Golden Kingdom of the East.”