The Witch.[206]
There once lived an old couple who had one son called Ivashko;[207] no one can tell how fond they were of him!
Well, one day, Ivashko said to his father and mother:
“I’ll go out fishing if you’ll let me.”
“What are you thinking about! you’re still very small; suppose you get drowned, what good will there be in that?”
“No, no, I shan’t get drowned. I’ll catch you some fish; do let me go!”
So his mother put a white shirt on him, tied a red girdle round him, and let him go. Out in a boat he sat and said:
Canoe, canoe, float a little farther,
Canoe, canoe, float a little farther!
Then the canoe floated on farther and farther, and Ivashko began to fish. When some little time had passed by, the old woman hobbled down to the river side and called to her son:
Ivashechko, Ivashechko, my boy,
Float up, float up, unto the waterside;
I bring thee food and drink.