“Go, and lay on to Koshchei.”
The club went and commenced to deal such blows upon Koshchei that the
king of the underground world commenced to grind his teeth, to roll his
eyes, and toss himself hither and thither. None else than Koshchei could
have borne the blows for an instant. He looked around him but could see
nothing, and his pain was so great that he howled so that the whole
island rang again. At length he came to the palace, and there he saw
Prince Junak.
“Ah!” said he, “you have put me to all this pain, have you?”
He was about to send his poisoned breath against him, when the prince
suddenly squeezed the egg he had in his hand. The shell broke, the yolk
sprang out and fell to the ground, and at the same moment Koshchei fell
dead. As he did so all his enchantments ceased. All the people in the
palace awoke, and the iron wall disappeared.
All then was happiness. In a few days the prince and the princess were
married, and they lived joyfully all their days.
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