There he found a bed , on which he lay down to rest . Presently there came in a lady , more beautiful than can be imagined anywhere but in a fairy tale , who said : ` Thou who art in my house , name thyself ! If thou art an old man , thou shalt be my father ; if a middle-aged man , my brother ; but if a young man , thou shalt be my husband dear . And if thou art a woman , and an old one , thou shalt be my grandmother ; if middle-aged , my mother ; and if a girl , thou shalt be my own sister . ' Thereupon he came forth . And when she saw him she was delighted with him , and said : ` Wherefore , O Prince Ivan -- my husband dear shalt thou be ! -- wherefore hast thou come hither ? ' Then he told her all that had happened , and she said : ` That beast which thou wishest to overcome is my brother . He is staying just now with my second sister , who lives not far from here in a silver palace . I bound up three of the wounds which thou didst give him . ' Well , after this they drank , and enjoyed themselves , and held sweet converse together , and then the Prince took leave of her , and went on to the second sister , the one who lived in the silver palace , and with her also he stayed awhile . She told him that her brother Norka was then at her youngest sister 's . So he went on to the youngest sister , who lived in a golden palace . She told him that her brother was at that time asleep on the blue sea , and she gave him a sword of steel and a draught of the Water of Strength , and she told him to cut off her brother 's head at a single stroke . And when he had heard these things , he went his way . And when the Prince came to the blue sea , he looked -- there slept the Norka on a stone in the middle of the sea ; and when it snored , the water was agitated for seven miles around . The Prince crossed himself , went up to it , and smote it on the head with his sword . The head jumped off , saying the while , ` Well , I 'm done for now ! ' and rolled far away into the sea . After killing the beast , the Prince went back again , picking up all the three sisters by the way , with the intention of taking them out into the upper world : for they all loved him and would not be separated from him .
Each of them turned her palace into an egg -- for they were all enchantresses -- and they taught him how XXXXX turn the eggs into palaces , and back again , and they handed over the eggs to him .
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