"What is the frozen sea?" asks Busie.
"You don't know what the frozen sea is? It is a sea whose waters are thick as liver and salt as brine. No ships can ride on it. When people fall into it, they can never get out again."
Busie looks at me with big eyes.
"Why should you go there?"
"Am I going, little fool? I fly over it like an eagle. In a few minutes I shall be over the dry land and at the twelve mountains that spit fire. At the twelfth hill, at the very top, I shall come down and walk seven miles, until I come to a thick forest. I shall go in and out of the trees, until I come to a little stream. I shall swim across the water, and count seven times seven. A little old man with a long beard appears before me, and says to me: 'What is your request?' I answer: 'Bring me the queen's daughter.'"
"What queen's daughter?" asks Busie. And I imagine she is frightened.
"The queen's daughter is the princess who was snatched away from under the wedding canopy and bewitched, and put into a palace of crystal seven years ago."
"What has that to do with you?"
"What do you mean by asking what it has to do with me? I must go and set her free."
"You must set her free?"