ABSTRACT
In a certain tsardom, in a certain land, there lived and dwelt a tsar, and in the courtyard of this tsar there was a pillar, and in this pillar there were three rings: one was gold, the second was silver and the third was bronze. One night the tsar had this dream: it was as if there were a horse tied to the gold ring by a strand of yam, or a silver thread, and on its forehead a bright crescent. In the morning he got up and ordered a general proclamation made: he would give his daughter in marriage and half his tsardom as a dowry to the one who could interpret this dream and acquire a certain horse. A host of princes and boyars and lords of all sorts gathered at the royal proclamation. They pondered and pondered, but no one could figure out the dream and no one would undertake to acquire the horse.
