When the magician found himself face to face with Iwanich , without hope of escape , he turned to him with false friendliness and said : ` Thrice my kind benefactor ! ' But the Prince , without saying a word , seized him at once by his beard and dashed him to the ground . At the same moment the foal sprang on the top of the magician and kicked and stamped on him with his hoofs till he died . Then Iwanich found himself once more in the palace of his bride , and Militza herself flew into his arms . From this time forward they lived in undisturbed peace and happiness till the end of their lives . THE MAGIC RING Once upon a time there lived an old couple who had one son called Martin . Now when the old man 's time had come , he stretched himself out on his bed and died . Though all his life long he had toiled and moiled , he only left his widow and son two hundred florins . The old woman determined to put by the money for a rainy day ; but alas ! the rainy day was close at hand , for their meal was all consumed , and who is prepared to face starvation with two hundred florins at their disposal ? So the old woman counted out a hundred of her florins , and giving them to Martin , told him to go into the town and lay in a store of meal for a year . So Martin started off for the town . When he reached the meat-market he found the whole place in turmoil , and a great noise of angry voices and barking of dogs . Mixing in the crowd , he noticed a stag-hound which the butchers had caught and tied to a post , and which was being flogged in a merciless manner . Overcome with pity , Martin spoke to the butchers , saying : ` Friends , why are you beating the poor dog so cruelly ? ' ` We have every right to beat him , ' they replied ; ` he has just devoured a newly-killed pig . ' ` Leave off beating him , ' said Martin , ` and sell him to me instead . ' ` If you choose to buy him , ' answered the butchers derisively ; ` but for such a treasure we wo n't take a penny less than a hundred florins . ' ' A hundred ! ' exclaimed Martin .
` Well , so be it , if you will not take less ; ' and , taking the XXXXX out of his pocket , he handed it over in exchange for the dog , whose name was Schurka .
beard friendliness happiness magician moment money palace son treasure widow