“My trusty servants, zealous friends, grind this my wheat!”
There appeared three pairs of hands, which gathered up the wheat, and carried it out of sight. The Baba Yaga supped, went to bed, and again gave her orders to Vasilissa:
“Do just the same to-morrow as to-day; only besides that take out of the bin the poppy seed that is there, and clean the earth off it grain by grain. Some one or other, you see, has mixed a lot of earth with it out of spite.” Having said this, the hag turned to the wall and began to snore, and Vasilissa took to feeding her doll. The doll fed, and then said to her what it had said the day before:
“Pray to God, and go to sleep. The morning is wiser than the evening. All shall be done, Vasilissa dear!”
The next morning the Baba Yaga again drove out of the courtyard in her mortar, and Vasilissa and her doll immediately did all the work. The hag returned, looked at everything, and cried, “My trusty servants, zealous friends, press forth oil from the poppy seed!”
Three pairs of hands appeared, gathered up the poppy seed, and bore it out of sight. The Baba Yaga sat down to dinner. She ate, but Vasilissa stood silently by.
“Why don’t you speak to me?” said the Baba Yaga; “there you stand like a dumb creature!”
“I didn’t dare,” answered Vasilissa; “but if you give me leave, I should like to ask you about something.”
“Ask away; only it isn’t every question that brings good. ‘Get much to know, and old soon you’ll grow.’”
“I only want to ask you, granny, about something I saw. As I was coming here, I was passed by one riding on a white horse; he was white himself, and dressed in white. Who was he?”