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Ivan shook the straws on the ground, and, as he expected, each straw
turned into a soldier, and they began marching with a band at their
head.
"Ishty [look you], that was well done! How it will delight the village
maidens!" he exclaimed.
The small devil now said: "Let me go; you do not need me any longer."
But Ivan said: "No, I will not let you go just yet. You have converted
the straw into soldiers, and now I want you to turn them again into
straw, as I cannot afford to lose it, but I want it with the grain on."
The devil replied: "Say: 'So many soldiers, so much straw.'"
Ivan did as directed, and got back his rye with the straw.
The small devil again begged for his release.
Ivan, taking him from the pitchfork, said: "With God's blessing you may
depart"; and, as before at the mention of God's name, the little devil
was hurled into the earth like a flash, and nothing was left but the
hole to show where he had gone.
Soon afterward Ivan returned home, to find his brother Tarras and his
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