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Instantly the oven door flew open and the loaf rolled out, cooked crisp and white.

Now the two Tzarevnas, the wives of the other brothers, hated the frog because of the shirt she had made, and when they heard the command of the Tzar, the wife of the eldest brother sent a little black slavegirl to spy on the frog and see what she would do. The black girl hid herself where she could watch, and went and told her mistress what she had seen and heard. Then the two Tzarevnas tried to imitate the frog. They dissolved their flour in cold water, poured the paste into cold ovens and repeated over and over again: 

"Bread, Bread! Be baked! Clean, white, and soft as snow!" 

But the ovens remained cold and the paste would not bake. 

Seeing this, in anger they gave the poor slavegirl a cruel beating, ordered more flour, made paste with hot water and heated the ovens. But the spilled paste had flowed all about and clogged the flues and made them useless, so that one had her loaf bumed on one side and the other took hers out underbaked. 

In the moming, when Tzarevich Ivan woke, the frog sent him to the Palace with his bread wrapped in a towel, and the brothers came also with theirs. 

The Tzar cut the loaf of the eldest son and tasted it. "Such bread," he said, "might be eaten only out of misery," and he sent it to the kitchen that it might be given to the beggars. He tasted that of the second son and said: "Give this to my hounds." When Tzarevich Ivan unwrapped his loaf, however, all exclaimed in admiration. For it was so splendid that it would be impossible to make one like it - it could only be told of in tales. It was adorned with all kinds of cunning designs and on its sides were wrought the Tzar's cities with their high walls and gates. The Tzar tasted it and sent it away, saying: "Put this on my table on Easter Sunday, when we shall have royal visitors." So Ivan went home rejoicing. 

A third time the Tzar sent for his three sons and said to them: "My dear children, it is fitting that all women should know how to weave and broider in gold and silver, and I would see if thy wives are skilled also in this. Take, therefore, each of you, from my storehouse, silk, gold and silver, and tomorrow morning bring me each of you a carpet."

When Tzarevich Ivan brought sa~lly home the silk, the gold, and the silver, the frog was sitting on a chair. "Kwa! Kwa! Kworax!" she said." Tzarevich Ivan, why cost thou mourn? And why cloth thy bright head hang down lower than thy shoulders? Hast thou heard from the Tzar thy father a cruel and bitter word?" 

"Have I not cause to mourn?" he answered. "The shirt thou hast sewn, and the bread thou has baked; but now my father has bidden that thou make for to-morrow a carpet of this gold, silver, and silk." 

"Fret not, Tzarevich Tvan," said the frog. "Lay thee down and rest. The day has more wisdom than the night." 

As soon as he was asleep she called servants and bade them take scissors and cut to pieces all the silk, the gold, and the silver, and then, sending them away, threw it out of the window, and said: 

"Winds! Winds! fly abroad with-these pieces of silk, of gold, and of silver, and make me a carpet such as my dear father used to cover his windows!" And hardly had she said the last word, when back into the room flew the embroidered carpet. 

Now again the wives of the elder brothers had sent the little black slave-girl to watch, and she ran quickly to tell them. And they, thinking that this time the charm must work, cut all of their silk and precious thread into pieces, threw them out of the window, and repeated: 

"Winds! Winds! tly abroad with these pieces of silk, of gold, and of silver, and make us carpets such as our dear fathers used to cover their windows." 

But though they waited a long time, the winds brought them no carpets. Then the Tzarevnas, angry at the loss of their rich threads, after beating the little slave-girl more cruelly than before, sent servants hastily for more material, and calling together their nurses and maidens to help them, began to work at weaving and embroidering. 

In the morning when Tzarevich Ivan arose, the frog sent him to the Palace to show his carpet with his brothers. 

The Tzar looked at the carpet of the eldest son and said: "Take this to the stables. It will do to cover my poorest horse when it is raining. "He looked at the carpet of the second, and said: "Put this in the hall; it may do, perhaps, to wipe my boots upon in bad weather." But when Tzarevich Ivan unrolled his carpet, so wondrously was it adorned with gold and silver fashionings, that its like cannot be imagined. And the Tzar ordered that it be kept with the greatest care, to be put on his own table on the most solemn feast-days.

"Now, my dear children," he said, "your wives, my daughters-in-law, have done all that I bade them do. Bring them to-morrow, therefore, to the Palace to dine, in order that I may congratulate them in person." 

The two elder brothers went home to their wives, saying to one another: "Now he must bring his frog-wife with him to the royal audience for all to see." But Tzarevich Ivan went home weeping, and his bright head hung down lower than his shoulders. 

When he reached home the frog was sitting at the door. " Kwa! Kwa! Kworax!" she said. "Tzarevich Ivan, why cost thou weep? Hast thou heard sharp and unfeeling words from the Tzar thy father?" 

"Why should I not weep?" he answered. "Thou hast sewn the shirt, thou hast baked the bread, and thou hast woven the carpet; but after all thou art but a frog, and to-morrow the Tzar my father commands that I bring thee to the Palace to royal audience. How, to my shame, can I show thee to the people as my wife?" 

"Weep no more," the frog said. "Go to thy bed and sleep. There is more wisdom in the morning than in the evening." 

The next day when Tzarevich Ivan awoke, she said: "Pay no heed to what others think. The Tzar thy father was pleased with his shirt, his bread and his carpet; maybe he will be pleased also with his daughter-in-law when I shall come. Do thou go to the Palace and I will come after thee in an hour. Make thy respects to the Tzar, and when thou hearest a rumbling and a knocking, say: "Hither comes my poor little frog in her little basket!" 

So Ivan drove away to the Palace somewhat cheered by her words. 

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