So the king began to praise his groom, even to his daughter, though she had already taken notice of the young man.?Her curiosity piqued, she waited until the groom had taken his horses to water, then searched his room.? There she found, and kept for herself, all his magic possessions.?Now misfortune fell upon the kingdom.

A seven–headed demon, the most terrible of enemies, laid siege to the realm. His troops seemed to be beyond number and surrounded the kingdom.? The demon demanded the princess as his bride and tribute. She could be given up freely, or he would take her by force, but he was determined to posses her.?The poor king was tormented. In desperation he offered half his kingdom and her hand in marriage to any knight who could defeat the seven-headed demon and liberate the nation.

So all the king’s knights and dukes set out to battle the enemy. Even the poor groom, now reduced to riding the most ancient of nags, went off to join the fight.? But as the prince and his bony mare trailed behind the advancing army, the wood sprite again called to him.? “You will not get far on that pitiful creature,? the sprite laughed.?“Come sup with me,?he suggested, offering the groom who was really a prince an inviting glass of vodka.

After the prince had drunk one glass, he began to feel very strong and full of courage.? After two, he felt even more powerful.? “I could wield a hundred-pound club,?he declared. “I could toss it higher than the clouds and not feel the blow even if it fell upon my skull.?span style="mso-spacerun: yes">? After a third glass, he was ready to topple the universe.? The sprite gave him a fourth glass, but this was from another flask.?Now the youth felt that his strength was within his control.?Then the sprite called out to the woods. Soon a great black steed, a ferocious stallion snorting flames and sparking crackles of fire beneath its hooves, emerged from the forest.? “This is a horse worthy of a great warrior,?said the sprite. “Ride it.?Take these weapons. Defeat your enemies and claim your rightful reward,?he ordered, handing the young man a great club and a silken whip.

Each reaps his true reward

The prince rode off to war. On the way he encountered his former servant, fleeing from the scene. He lashed the man with his great whip, then left the traitor cowering in the branches of a tree.?Now the prince rode into battle. He battered and crushed hordes of the demon’s troops with his great club, trampled hundreds beneath his steed’s fiery hooves, lashed others into submission. Soon he faced the seven-headed demon itself.?Even this dreadful creature could not withstand him.?