Ivan was stunned when he realized that he could not get down from the mountain. But he realized that there was nothing he could do. He walked to the Copper kingdom, then to the Silver Kingdom and the Golden Kingdom. But there was no one there.
He finally came to the Diamond Kingdom too, but there was no one here either.
Strangely, here in the window of the Diamond castle, Ivan saw a whistle. He decided to blow on it, just to ward away the weariness he felt.
When Ivan blew on the whistle a creature called Lame and Crooked appeared before him.
“What is your wish?” Lame and Crooked asked Ivan Tsarevich.
Ivan was hungry and asked for food. He was stunned when the table was set with the best food he had seen in his entire life.
Then Ivan used the whistle again and this time asked Lame and Crooked to make the bed ready for him.
Ivan lay on the bed and blew on the whistle and that was when Ivan learnt about Lame and Crooked. “Until now, we have served Whirlwind and now we will serve you. We will serve whoever has the whistle and blows on it. But remember that you must have the whistle with you, at all points of time.”
Ivan thought for some time and then understood it. “I want to be back in my own kingdom, this instant.”
No sooner had Ivan spoken, he was back in his kingdom, right in the middle of its market square.
All the other people in the kingdom were going about their usual work, when Ivan appeared there.
Adapted from the Russian Folktales
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