So the hunt went back and reached home.

“Your Imperial Majesty, we could not find the shepherd with the little lamb: the only thing we saw on the road was a church and an old man as pope.”

“Why did you not break down the church and capture the pope? That was themselves!” the Sea Tsar exclaimed, and he himself leapt out to hunt after Iván Tsarévich and Vasilísa the Wise.

So they went far, and again Vasilísa the Wise said, “Iván Tsarévich, put your ear to the ground; can you hear any hunt?”

Then the Tsarévich leapt down, put his ear to the grey earth, and said, “I hear the talk of people and the thunder of horses’ hooves faster than before.”

“This is the Sea Tsar himself who is galloping.”