They took him home on their wings up to the hut and placed Iváshechko in the loft.

Early next day the woman cooked a pancake on the stove, and whilst cooking it thought of her poor little boy Iván, and said: “Where is my Iváshechko? I dreamed of him last night!”

And gaffer said: “I dreamed last night the geese and swans were wafting our little Iván home.”

She had finished the pancake by now, and said: “Now, gaffer, we’ll share it, this bit for you, this bit for me!”

“And none for me!” Iváshechko chimed in.

“This is for you, and this is for me!”

“And none for me!”

“What’s that noise, gaffer?” the woman asked.