Will you tell me what it means ? ' ` Out with it then , quick ! What was it ? ' ' I dreamt I was walking on a wide road , and an oak tree said to me : `` Ask the king this : Rotten at the roots , half dead , and yet green stands the old oak . Is it to stand much longer on the earth ? '' ' ` It must stand till some one comes and pushes it down with his foot . Then it will fall , and under its roots will be found more gold and silver than even Mark the Rich has got . ' ` Then I dreamt I came to a river , and the old ferryman said to me : `` For thirty year 's the ferryman has rowed to and fro . Will the tired old man have to row much longer ? '' ' ` That depends on himself . If some one gets into the boat to be ferried across , the old man has only to push the boat off , and go his way without looking back . The man in the boat will then have to take his place . ' ` And at last I dreamt that I was walking over a bridge made of a whale 's back , and the living bridge spoke to me and said : `` Here have I been stretched out these three years , and men and horses have trampled my back down into my ribs . Must I lie here much longer ? '' ' ` He will have to lie there till he has thrown up the twelve ships of Mark the Rich which he swallowed . Then he may plunge back into the sea and heal his back . ' And the Serpent King closed his eyes , turned round on his other side , and began to snore so loud that the windows rattled . In all haste the lovely girl helped Vassili out of the chest , and showed him part of his way back . He thanked her very politely , and hurried off . When he reached the strait the whale asked : ` Have you thought of me ? '
` Yes , as soon as I am on the other side I will tell you what you want XXXXX know . '
For If across at in into on than to without