So they got ready and fled. As Koshchei the Deathless was returning home, his good steed stumbled beneath him.
“Why stumblest thou, sorry jade? scentest thou some ill?”
“Prince Ivan has come and carried off Marya Morevna.”
“Is it possible to catch them?”
“It is possible to sow barley, to wait till it grows up, to reap it and thresh it, to brew beer, to drink ourselves drunk on it, to sleep our fill, and then to set off in pursuit—and yet to be in time.”
Koshchei galloped off, caught up Prince Ivan:
“Didn’t I tell you that you should not see Marya Morevna any more than your own ears?”
And he took her away and carried her off home with him.
Prince Ivan was left there alone. He wept and wept; then he went back again after Marya Morevna. Koshchei happened to be away from home at that moment.
“Let us fly, Marya Morevna.”