whole army with a single thread; the middle one wants to marry the royal steward and promises to cook food for the whole army with a single grain; the youngest wants to marry the king's son and promises to bear three children, the oldest a daughter, all with hands of gold, legs of silver, a moon on their temples; the Ursa Major on the shoulders and the stars in their back. The children are born, but the sisters replace them by animals and cast in the water. The children are saved by a gardener and, years later, are sent for a fountain of water of life, the ringing tree and the talking bird. In a Russian-language tale from Vodlozero given the title "Чудесные дети" ("Wonderful Children"), a merchant has three daughters, who one day talk about their abilities: the elder boasts she can weave a shirt from a single thread of linen; the middle one that with a single grain she can bake 40 pies, and the youngest promises to bear 9 sons with arms of silver and legs of gold. Ivan Tsarevich just happens to pass by them and overhear their conversation. He takes the youngest sister to the palace and marries her. One day, she asks her husband about who will help her in labour, and Ivan Tsarevich says a woman named Egi-baba will be her midwife. When the princess gives birth to her sons, in three pregnancies, Egi-baba takes the boys and replaces them for puppies, save for a little boy the princess hides in her sleeve. The princess is cast with her only son in a barrel in the sea, and it washes ashore on an island. The princess's son wishes for a house to be built for them, with tables and food, and his wish is granted. Later, a kaliki visits Ivan Tsarevich and tells him about a woman living on an island with a boy with legs of gold, arms of silver, stars on his back, a red sun on the front and a bright moon on the back of the neck. Later, the boy asks his mother to bake him a cake with her breast milk, and then departs to an oak where his eight elder brothers are hiding out. The eight boys recognize the smell of their mother's milk and go with their younger brother back to their mother. The kaliki visits