So the Tsar took the two coffers, bade farewell to the eagle, and went on the blue sea: and he went on and he arrived at an island, where the ship stopped. He got out on the shore, and he remembered the two coffers, and began to wonder what was in them, and why the eagle had bidden him not to open them; and he thought and thought, and his patience gave way. He so badly wanted to know, and so he took the red coffer, put it on the ground and opened it, and out of it all sorts of cattle came out, so many that the eye could not count, and they almost filled the entire island. When the Tsar saw this he was grieved, and began to weep and say, “Whatever shall I do now? how shall I collect all of this herd into such a tiny coffer?”

And then he saw that out of the water came a man, who went up to him and asked him, “Why are you weeping so bitterly, Tsar my master?”

“Why should I not weep?” answered the Tsar. “How can I put all this great herd into this tiny coffer?”