 | The epic songs of Russia |  |
Merchant Sadko the Rich Guest
of Novgorod
IN the glorious city of Novgorod dwelt Sadko[1]
the gusly-player. No golden treasures did
he possess; he went about to the magnificent
feasts of the merchants and nobles, and made all
merry with his playing.
And it chanced on a certain day, that Sadko
was bidden to no worshipful feast; neither on the
second day nor the third was he bidden. Then
he sorrowed greatly, and went to Lake Ilmen, and
seated himself upon a blue stone. There he began
to play upon his harp of maple-wood, and played
all day, from early morn till far into the night.
The waves rose in the lake, the water was
clouded with sand, and Sadko feared to sit there:
great terror overcame him, and he returned to
Novgorod.
The dark night passed, a second day dawned,
and again Sadko was bidden to no worshipful feast.
Again he played all day beside the lake, and
returned in terror at nightfall.
And the third day, being still unbidden of any
man, he sat on the blue burning stone, and played
upon his harp of maple-wood, and the waves rose
in the lake, and the water was troubled with sand.
But Sadko summoned up his courage, and ceased
emerged from the lake, and spake these words:
"We thank thee, Sadko of Novgorod! Thou
hast diverted us of the lake. I held a banquet
and a worshipful feast; and all my beloved guests
hast thou rejoiced. And I know not, Sadko, how
I may reward thee. Yet return now, Sadko, to
thy Novgorod, and to-morrow they shall call thee
to a rich feast. Many merchants of Novgorod
shall be there, and they shall eat and drink, and
wax boastful. One shall boast of his good horse,
another of his deeds of youthful prowess; another
shall take pride in his youth. But the wise man
will boast of his aged father, his old mother, and
the senseless fool of his young wife. And do
thou, Sadko, boast also: `I know what there is in
Lake Ilmen—of a truth, fishes with golden fins.'
Then shall they contend with thee, that there are
no fish of that sort,—of gold. But do thou then
lay a great wager with them; wager thy turbulent
head, and demand from them their shops in the
bazaar, with all their precious wares. Then weave
thou a net of silk, and come cast it in Lake Ilmen.
Three times must thou cast it in the lake, and at
each cast I will give a fish, yea, a fish with fins of
gold. So shalt thou receive those shops in the
bazaar, with their precious wares. So shalt thou
become Sadko the Merchant of Novgorod, the rich
Guest."
Then Sadko returned again to Novgorod. And
the next day he was bidden to a worshipful feast
of rich merchants, who ate and drank, and boasted,
one of this thing, and the other of that thing.
And as the rich merchants of Novgorod sat there,
they spoke thus to Sadko:
"Why sittest thou, Sadko, and boastest not
boast?"
Sadko spoke: "Hey, ye merchants of Novgorod!
What have I, Sadko, that I may boast
of? No countless treasures of gold are mine, no
fair young wife; there is but one thing of which
I may boast; in Ilmen Lake are fishes with fins
of gold."
Then began the rich merchants to contend with
him; and Sadko said: "I stake my turbulent head
upon it, and more than that I have not to wager."
Said they: "We will stake our shops in the
bazaar, with their precious wares—the shops of
six rich merchants."
Thereupon they wove a net of silk, and went to
cast it in Lake Ilmen. At the first cast in Ilmen,
they took a little fish with fins of gold, and likewise
with the second and the third cast.
Then the rich merchants of Novgorod saw that
there was nothing to be done, for it had happened
as Sadko had foretold; and they opened to him
their shops in the bazaar, with all their precious
wares. And Sadko, when he had received the
six shops, and their rich goods, inscribed himself
among the merchants of Novgorod; he became
exceeding rich, and began to trade in his own
city, and in all places, even in distant towns, and
received great profit.
Sadko the rich merchant of Novgorod married,
and built himself a palace of white stone, wherein
all things were heavenly. In the sky, the red sun
burned, and in his palace likewise a fair red sun;
and when shone the lesser light, the moon, in
heaven, in his palace it shone also; and when the
thick-sown stars glittered in the sky, stars thickly
sown gleamed within his towers. And Sadko
adorned his palace of white stone in all ways.
After this was done, lo! Sadko made a banquet
and a worshipful feast, and called to it all the rich
merchants, the lords and the rulers of Novgorod,
and the rulers were Luka Zinovief and Foma
Nazarief. As they sat and feasted, after they had
well eaten and drunken, they began to boast,—
one of his good steed, one of his heroic might,
another of his youth; the wise of his aged parents,
the foolish of his young wife. But Sadko, as he
walked about his palace, cried out: "Ho there, ye
rich merchants, ye lords, rulers, and men of Novgorod!
ye have eaten and drunk at my feast, and
made your boasts. And of what shall I vaunt
myself? My treasures of gold are now inexhaustible,
my flowered garments I cannot wear out, and
my brave body-guard is incorruptible. But I will
boast of my golden treasure. With that treasure
will I buy all the wares in Novgorod, both good
and bad, and there shall be none for sale any more
in all the city."
Then sprang the rulers, Foma and Luka, to
their nimble feet, and said: "Is it much that
thou wilt wager with us?" And Sadko answered:
"What ye will of my countless treasure of gold,
that will I wager." Then said the rulers, for the
men of Novgorod: "Thirty thousand, Sadko, shall
be thy stake against us." So it was agreed, and
all departed from the feast.
The next morning, right early, Sadko rose, and
waked his brave body-guard, and gave them all
they would of his treasure, and sent them to the
marts. But he himself went straight to the
bazaar, and bought all the wares of Novgorod,
both good and bad. And again, the next morning
he rose, and waked his troop, and giving them
great treasure, went to the bazaar; and finding
wares yet more than before, he bought all, of
came to the market, he found, to the great glory
of Novgorod, that vast store of goods had hastened
thither from Moscow, so that the shops were full
to overflowing with the precious stuffs of Moscow.
Then Sadko fell into thought: "If I buy all
these goods from Moscow, others will flow hither
from beyond the sea; and I am not able to buy all
the wares of the whole white world. Sadko the
merchant is rich, but glorious Novgorod is still
richer! It is better to yield my great wager, my
thirty thousand."
Thus he yielded the thirty thousand, and built
thirty great ships, thirty dark-red ships and three.
Their prows were in the likeness of wild beasts,
their sides like dragons; their masts of red wood,
the cordage of silk, the sails of linen, and the
anchors of steel. Instead of eyes were precious
jacinths; instead of brows, Siberian sables; and
dark brown Siberian fox-skins in place of ears.
His faithful guards, his clerks, loaded these red
ships with the wares of Novgorod, and he sailed
away down the Volkof to Lake Ladoga, and thence
into the Neva, and through that river to the blue
sea, directing his course towards the Golden Horde.
There he sold his wares, receiving great gain, and
filling many casks of forty buckets, with red gold,
pure silver, and fair round pearls. They sailed
away from the Golden Horde, Sadko leading the
way in the Falcon ship, the finest of all the vessels.
But on the blue sea the red ships halted; the waves
dashed, the breeze whistled, the sails flapped, the
ships strained,—but could not move from that
spot.
Then Sadko the merchant, the rich Guest,
shouted from his good Falcon ship: "Ho there,
friends, ship-men, lower ye iron plummets, sound
or sand-bars here!" So they sounded, but found
nothing.
And Sadko the merchant spake to his men:
"Ho there, my brave body-guard! Long have we
sailed the seas, yea, twelve full years, yet have
we paid no tribute to the Tzar Morskoi,[3]
and now
he commandeth us down into the blue sea. Therefore,
cast ye into the waves a cask of red gold."
And they did so; but the waves beat, the sails
tore, the ships strained, yet moved not.
Again spake Sadko the rich Guest: "Lo, this
is but a small gift for the Tzar Morskoi, in his
blue sea. Cast ye another cask, a cask of pure
silver, to him." Yet the dark-red ships moved not,
though they cast in also a cask of seed-pearls.
Then spake Sadko once again: "My brave,
beloved body-guard, 'tis plain the Tzar Morskoi
calleth a living man from among us into his blue
sea. Make ye therefore lots of alder-wood, and
let each man write his name upon his own, and the
lots of all just souls shall float. But that man of
us whose lot sinketh, he also shall go from among
us into the blue sea." So it was done as he commanded:—but
Sadko's lot was a cluster of hop-flowers.
And all the lots swam like ducks save
Sadko's, and that went to the bottom like a stone.
Again spoke Sadko the rich merchant to his
troop: "These lots are not fair. Make ye to
yourselves others of willow-wood, and set your
names thereon, every man." This they did; but
Sadko made his lot of blue damascened steel from
beyond the sea, in weight ten poods. And it sank
while all the others swam lightly on the blue sea.
After that he essayed divers woods, choosing
ever for himself the lighter when his men's heavy
to the depths. Nevertheless, his lot would by no
means float, and the others would not sink.
Then said Sadko the rich Guest: "'Tis plain that
Sadko can do nothing. The Tzar Morskoi demandeth
Sadko himself in the blue sea. Then ho!
my brave, beloved guards! fetch me my massive
inkstand, my swan-quill pen, and my paper."
His brave, beloved men brought him his inkstand,
pen, and paper; and Sadko, the rich merchant
of Novgorod, sat in his folding-chair, at his
oaken table, and began to write away his possessions.
Much gave he to God's churches, much to
the poor brethren, and to his young wife. And
the remainder of his possessions he bestowed upon
his brave body-guard.
After that he wept, and spake to his men:
"Aï, my men, well loved and brave! Place ye
an oaken plank upon the blue sea, that I, Sadko,
may throw myself upon the plank; so shall it not
be terrible to me to take my death upon the blue
sea. And fill ye, brothers, a bowl with pure silver,
another with red gold, and yet a third with seed-pearls,
and place them upon the plank."
Then took he in his right hand an image of
St. Mikola, and in his left his little harp of maple-wood,
with its fine strings of gold, and put on him
a rich cloak of sables; and bitterly he wept as he
bade farewell to his brave company, to the white
world, and Novgorod the glorious. He descended
upon the oaken plank, and was borne upon the
blue sea, and his dark-red ships sped on and flew
as they had been black ravens.
Then was Sadko the rich merchant of Novgorod
greatly terrified, as he floated over the blue sea on
his plank of oak; but he fell asleep, and lo! when
he awoke it was at the very bottom of the ocean-sea.
clear waves, and saw that he was standing beside a
palace of white stone where sat the Tzar Morskoi,
with head like a heap of hay, on his royal throne.
The Tzar Morskoi spake these words: "Thou
art welcome, Sadko, thou rich merchant of Novgorod!
Long hast thou sailed the seas, yet offered
no tribute to the Lord of the sea. And now thou
art come as a gift to me. I have sent for thee that
thou mayest answer me, which is now of greater
worth in Russia: gold or silver or damascened
steel. For the Tzaritza contendeth with us on
this matter."
"Gold and silver are precious in Russia," Sadko
made answer; "but damascened steel no less. For
without gold or silver a man may well live; but
without steel or iron can no man live."
"What hast thou there in thy right hand, and
what in thy left?"
"In my right hand is an ikóna[4]
of St. Mikola;
in my left, my gusly."
"It is said that thou art a master-player on the
harp," said the Tzar Morskoi then; "play for me
upon thy harp of maple-wood."
Sadko saw that in the blue sea he could do
naught but obey, and he began to pluck his harp.
And as he played, the Tzar Morskoi began to jump
about, beating time with the skirts of his garment,
and waving his mantle; fair sea-maidens led choral
dances, and the lesser sea-folk squatted and leaped.
Then the blue sea was churned with yellow
sands, great billows surged over it, breaking many
ships asunder, drowning many men, and engulfing
vast possessions.
Three hours did Sadko play; and the Tzaritza
said to him:
"Break thy harp of maple-wood, merchant
Sadko the rich Guest! It seemeth to thee that
the Tzar is dancing in his palace, but 'tis on the
shore he danceth, and many drown and perish, all
innocent men."
Then Sadko brake his harp, and snapped its
golden strings; and when the Tzar Morskoi commanded
him to play yet two hours, he answered
him boldly that the harp was broken; and when
the Tzar would have had his smiths to mend it,
Sadko said that could only be done in Holy Russia.
"Wilt thou not take a wife here?" the Tzar
Morskoi said; "wilt thou not wed some fair maid
in the blue sea?"
And Sadko answered: "In the blue sea, I obey
thy will."
Then the Tzaritza said to him: "Choose not,
merchant Sadko the rich Guest, any maid from
the first three hundred which the Tzar shall offer
thee, but let them pass; and the same with the
second three hundred; and from the third, choose
thou the Princess who shall come last of all: she
is smaller and blacker than all the rest. And look
to it that thou kiss not, embrace not thy wife; so
shalt thou be once more in Holy Russia, so shalt
thou behold the white world and the fair sun. But
if thou kiss her, never more shalt thou behold the
white world, but shalt abide for ever in the blue
sea."
So Sadko let the first three hundred maidens
pass, and likewise the second, and of the third he
chose the last of all, the maiden called Chernava.[5]
Then the Tzar Morskoi made him a great feast;
and afterwards Sadko lay down and fell into a
heavy sleep. And when he awoke, he found himself
on the steep banks of the Chernava river.
speeding up the Volkof, and his brave body-guard
were thinking of Sadko under the blue sea. When
also his brave troop beheld Sadko standing upon
the steep bank, they marvelled; for they had left
him on the blue sea, and lo! he had returned to
his city before them.
Then they all rejoiced greatly, and greeted
Sadko, and went to his palace. There he greeted
his young wife; and after that, he unloaded his
scarlet ships, and built a church to St. Mikola,
and another to the very holy mother of God, and
began to pray the Lord to forgive his sins.
And thenceforth he sailed no more upon the
blue sea, but dwelt and took his ease in his own
town.
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