294 KOSHCHEI THE DEATHLESS 
has been done the prince wrings the parrot’s neck, and 
the magician dies. 
From the Deccan to Argyleshire this story is told, 
with hardly any variation, the most familiar version of 
it being the Norse tale of “The Giant who had no 
Heart in his Body.” But we are now looking at these 
stories analytically, and what we have chiefly to notice 
are the ubiquity, the persistence, and the manifold re- 
combinations of the mythical incidents. These points 
are well illustrated in the Russian legend of “ Marya 
Morevna,” that is, ‘‘ Mary, Daughter of the Sea.” This 
beautiful princess marries Prince Ivan, — the everlast- 
ing Jack or Odysseus of popular tradition, whom the 
wise dawn goddess ever favours, and insures him ulti- 
mate success. Marya Morevna is an Amazon, like 
Artemis and Brynhild, and after the honeymoon is 
over the impulse to go out and fight becomes irresist- 
ible. Ivan is left in charge of the house, and may do 
whatever he likes except to look into “that closet 
there.” This incident you have met with in the stories 
of “ Bluebeard” and the “ Third Royal Mendicant” in 
the Arabian Nights, and there is hardly any limit to its 
recurrence. Of course, the moment his wife is out of 
the house, Ivan goes straight to the closet, and there 
he finds Koshchei the Deathless, fettered by twelve 
strong chains. Koshchei pleads piteously for some 
water, as he has not tasted a drop for ten years; but — 
after the charitable Ivan has given him three bucket- 
fuls, the malignant giant breaks his chains like cob- 
webs, and flies out of the window in a whirlwind, and 
overtakes Marya Morevna, and carries her home a pris- 
oner. To recount all the adventures of Ivan while 
seeking his wife would be to encumber ourselves too 
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