The Water King and Vasilissa the Wise.[143]
Once upon a time there lived a King and Queen, and the King was very fond of hunting and shooting. Well one day he went out hunting, and he saw an Eaglet sitting on an oak. But just as he was going to shoot at it the Eaglet began to entreat him, crying:—
“Don’t shoot me, my lord King! better take me home with you; some time or other I shall be of service to you.”
The King reflected awhile and said, “How can you be of use to me?” and again he was going to shoot.
Then the Eaglet said to him a second time:—
“Don’t shoot me, my lord King! better take me home with you; some time or other I shall be of use to you.”
The King thought and thought, but couldn’t imagine a bit the more what use the Eaglet could be to him, and so he determined to shoot it. Then a third time the Eaglet exclaimed:—
“Don’t shoot me, my lord King! better take me home with you and feed me for three years. Some time or other I shall be of service to you!”
The King relented, took the Eaglet home with him, and fed it for a year, for two years. But it ate so much that it devoured all his cattle. The King had neither a cow nor a sheep left. At length the Eagle said:—
“Now let me go free!”