But his father would not let him go, saying, “Your brothers are no more; if you likewise go away, I shall die of grief.”
“Not so, father. But if you bless me I shall go; and if you do not bless me I shall go.”
So his father gave him his blessing.
Prince Ivan went to choose a steed, but every one that he laid his hand upon gave way under it. He could not find a steed to suit him, so he wandered with drooping brow along the road and about the town. Suddenly there appeared an old woman, who asked:
“Why hangs your brow so low, Prince Ivan?”
“Be off, old crone,” he replied. “If I put you on one of my hands, and give it a slap with the other, there’ll be a little wet left, that’s all.”[113]
The old woman ran down a by-street, came to meet him a second time, and said:
“Good day, Prince Ivan! why hangs your brow so low?”
Then he thought:
“Why does this old woman ask me? Mightn’t she be of use to me?”—and he replied: