` Yes , and as soon as you have ferried me across I will tell you what you want to know . ' When they had crossed over , Vassili said : ` Let the next man who comes stay in the boat , but do you step on shore , push the boat off , and you will be free , and the other man must take your place . Then Vassili went on further still , and soon came to the old oak tree , pushed it with his foot , and it fell over . There , at the roots , was more gold and silver than even Mark the Rich had . And now the twelve ships which the whale had thrown up came sailing along and anchored close by . On the deck of the first ship stood the three beggars whom Vassili had met formerly , and they said : ` Heaven has blessed you , Vassili . ' Then they vanished away and he never saw them again . The sailors carried all the gold and silver into the ship , and then they set sail for home with Vassili on board . Mark was more furious than ever . He had his horses harnessed and drove off himself to see the Serpent King and to complain of the way in which he had been betrayed . When he reached the river he sprang into the ferryboat . The ferryman , however , did not get in but pushed the boat off ... Vassili led a good and happy life with his dear wife , and his kind mother-in-law lived with them . He helped the poor and fed and clothed the hungry and naked and all Mark 's riches became his . For many years Mark has been ferrying people across the river . His face is wrinkled , his hair and beard are snow white , and his eyes are dim ; but still he rows on . -LRB- From the Serbian . -RRB- SCHIPPEITARO It was the custom in old times that as soon as a Japanese boy reached manhood he should leave his home and roam through the land in search of adventures . Sometimes he would meet with a young man bent on the same business as himself , and then they would fight in a friendly manner , merely to prove which was the stronger , but on other occasions the enemy would turn out to be a robber , who had become the terror of the neighbourhood , and then the battle was in deadly earnest . One day a youth started off from his native village , resolved never to come back till he had done some great deed that would make his name famous . But adventures did not seem very plentiful just then , and he wandered about for a long time without meeting either with fierce giants or distressed damsels .
At last he saw in the distance a wild mountain , half covered XXXXX a dense forest , and thinking that this promised well at once took the road that led to it .
For On as from of off over than through with