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!’
‘Ah, Prince Ivan! he is sure to catch us and hew you in pieces.’
‘Let him hew away! I cannot live without you.
So they got ready and fled.
Koshchei the Deathless was returning home when his good steed stumbled beneath him.
‘Why stumblest thou? Scentest thou any ill?’