ix
The godson walked the whole of that day, and in the evening came to another forest. There he found a hermit's cell, at which he knocked.
'Who is there?' asked a voice from within.
'A great sinner,' replied the godson. 'I must atone for another's sins as well as for my own.'
The hermit hearing this came out.
'What sins are those that you have to bear for another?'
The godson told him everything: about his godfather; about the she-bear with the cubs; about the throne in the sealed room; about the commands his godfather had given him, as well as about the peasants he had seen trampling down the corn, and the calf that ran out when its mistress called it.
'I have seen that one cannot destroy evil by evil,' said he, 'but I cannot understand how it is to be destroyed. Teach me how it can be done.'
'Tell me,' replied the hermit, 'what else you have seen on your way.'
The godson told him about the woman washing the table, and the men making cart-wheels, and the drovers fighting their fire.
The hermit listened to it all, and then went back to his cell and brought out an old jagged axe.
'Come with me,' said he.
When they had gone some way, the hermit pointed to a tree.
'Cut it down,' he said.
The godson felled the tree.
'Now chop it into three,' said the hermit.
The godson chopped the tree into three pieces. Then the hermit went back to his cell, and brought out some blazing sticks.
'Burn those three logs,' said he.
So the godson made a fire, and burnt the three logs till only three charred stumps remained.
'Now plant them half in the ground, like this.'
