I am going to the Serpent King . ' ` Then think of me and say to the king : `` For thirty years the ferryman has rowed to and fro . Will the tired old man have to row much longer ? '' ' ` Very well , ' said Vassili ; ` I 'll ask him . ' And he walked on . In time he came to a narrow strait of the sea and across it lay a great whale over whose back people walked and drove as if it had been a bridge or a road . As he stepped on it the whale said , ` Do tell me where you are going . ' ' I am going to the Serpent King . ' And the whale begged : ` Think of me and say to the king : `` The poor whale has been lying three years across the strait , and men and horses have nearly trampled his back into his ribs . Is he to lie there much longer ? '' ' ' I will remember , ' said Vassili , and he went on . He walked , and walked , and walked , till he came to a great green meadow . In the meadow stood a large and splendid castle . Its white marble walls sparkled in the light , the roof was covered with mother o ' pearl , which shone like a rainbow , and the sun glowed like fire on the crystal windows . Vassili walked in , and went from one room to another astonished at all the splendour he saw . When he reached the last room of all , he found a beautiful girl sitting on a bed . As soon as she saw him she said : ` Oh , Vassili , what brings you to this accursed place ? ' Vassili told her why he had come , and all he had seen and heard on the way . The girl said : ` You have not been sent here to collect rents , but for your own destruction , and that the serpent may devour you . ' She had not time to say more , when the whole castle shook , and a rustling , hissing , groaning sound was heard .
The girl quickly pushed Vassili XXXXX a chest under the bed , locked it and whispered : ` Listen to what the serpent and I talk about . '
For across as at from in into on till to