University of Virginia Library

Diuk Stepanovich

BEYOND the sea, the blue sea, from glorious
Volhynia town, from Galicia the Fair,
from Korela the Perverse, from India the
Rich, came young Lord Diuk[1] Stepanovich. Like
a white gerfalcon fluttering, like a small white
ermine coursing, like a small, clear goshawk flying,
rode Lord Diuk forth. Like the bright falcon he
sat his dapple-bay; his bow-case and his quiver
beat his hips, and like a wild beast was his good
steed Shaggy beneath him.

The young lord's casque and armour were of
pure silver, in value three thousand roubles; his
shirt of mail was of fair red gold, in value forty
thousand. His good steed was worth five hundred
roubles;—for at rivers he required no fords, but
leaped a stream of five hundred versts, from shore
to shore, at a bound. His stout bow was prized
at three thousand; for its stem was of pure silver,
the tips of red gold, the cord of white silk of
Samarcand. Each burning arrow in his quiver
was valued at ten roubles.

Lord Diuk rode a-hunting, beside the broad
blue Ocean-sea, and peaceful bays, shooting foxes,
martens, blue-gray eagles, geese, white swans and
small gray, downy ducks. By day he shot, by

night gathered up his arrows. Where his arrows
flew, a flame seemed to burn; where they fell and
lay, rays streamed as from the bright, clear moon.
Three hundred arrows he shot and three: the three
hundred he found again, but not the three; and
he marvelled thereat.

"I know the value of the three hundred, but of
the three which are lost, I know not the value—
for they are priceless. They were made of the
reed tree, smoothed upon twelve sides and gilded,
the shafts set with precious jacinth stones, so that
they darted rays like the fair red sun. They were
feathered with the plumes of the blue-gray eagle,
fast set with sturgeon glue:—not the plumes of
the eagle which flieth over the meadows, but of
that eagle which hovereth over the blue sea, and
reareth his young thereon, and alighteth upon the
white Alatyr[2] stone. When he ruffleth his feathers
the sea is tossed, the cocks crow in the hamlets;
and as he plumeth himself, he droppeth his feathers.
Ships came on a day with sailor guests, and gathered
up three feathers, the eagle plumes, more precious
than satin or cut velvet, and brought them as gifts
to kings and princes and Diuk Stepanovich."

Then young Diuk mounted his good steed, and
rode towards home. On the broad highway he
met one and thirty wandering psalm-singers, and
shouted in piercing tones: "Are ye thieves, highwaymen,
midnight prowlers or church robbers?"

The psalm-singers made answer: "Young Lord
Diuk! we are no robbers; we go as pilgrims from
Kief the famous to Volhynia town in broad
India."

"Tell me, ye pilgrims, is the way long from
Kief to Volhynia; to India the Rich?"

"Great is the way, Lord Diuk, from India to

Kief town. A whole year mayest thou journey
on foot, and three months must thou ride."

Then said Diuk: "I thank you, pilgrims;" and
so rode back to Volhynia.

It was the solemn Easter Even, and young Diuk
went to vespers. 'Twas not the silken plume-grass
waving, nor the white birch bending low, but the
goodly youth, Diuk Stepanovich, bowing there
before his mother, the most honourable widow
Amalfya Timofeevna.

"Fair my lady mother! Must I live long thus
at home, roaming the wide streets and solacing
myself with childishness? 'Tis time for me to ride
far, far across the open plain, to throw back my
heroic shoulders, urge on Shaggy, my dapple-bay,
and prove my youthful prowess and daring; to
see people and to show myself. Many fair towns
have I seen, but never have I been in Kief the
glorious, nor beheld Prince Vladimir and his fair
Princess Apraxia. Give me thy leave and blessing
now, my lady-mother, to journey to Kief town, to
view it and them."

Amalfya Timofeevna made answer: "Aï, my
dear child! Thou hast never been on the open
plain, nor heard the roar of wild beast, the shriek
and yell of Tatar; thou hast essayed no heroic
quests. Thou wilt not be able to bring back thy
head in safety from the plain.—And go not to
Kief, my fair child, thou lordly young scion, Diuk
Stepanovich! There dwell evil people, who will
squeeze thee as though thou wert a fine, juicy
apple. I will not give thee my blessing to go
to Kief, to courteous Prince Vladimir. Moreover,
there stand three great barriers on the straight
road. The first is the clashing mountains. Each
second time they clash,—each second time they
part: thou mayest not pass these, Diuk, and

remain alive. The second barrier is the pecking
birds: they will tear thee from thy good steed,
Diuk, and them thou mayest not escape. And the
third barrier is the Dragon of the Mountain with
twelve tails. He will devour thee:—thou canst
not escape."

But young Lord Diuk heeded not his mother's
words. He went to the stall and curried his good
steed with a fine comb of fishes' teeth. Winged
Shaggy's mane swept the damp earth, on the left
side; his flowing tail wiped out traces of hoofs as
he passed over. On him Diuk put his braided bit,
his metal-bound Cherkessian saddle, with felt on
felt, saddlecloth on saddlecloth beneath; and one
of these was striped of red gold, pure silver, and
bronze of Kazan, more precious than either of the
first. These he made fast with twelve stout girths,
and a thirteenth—not for beauty or for youthful
vanity, but for heroic strength, that the heroic
steed might not leap from under the saddle, and
overturn the good youth in the open plain. The
girths were all of the silk of Samarcand which
teareth not, weareth not; the buckles of fair gold,
the tongues thereof of silver, which corrodeth not;
the stirrups of damascened steel from beyond the
sea, which cannot be destroyed.

When Diuk had caparisoned his heroic steed,
and plaited fair jewels in his mane, he went off a
little from him and gazed upon him. "Art thou
a horse, my good steed, or a wild beast? For
under the trappings the good horse cannot be seen."

Then the horse answered him with human voice:
"Tear not my sides with thy spurs, Diuk Stepanovich;
lash me not with thy silken whip, tighten
not my plaited bridle: but cling thou to my sacred
mane; bind handfuls of damp mother earth under
thy two arms, that thou mayest not fear to ride

with me; for I shall leap from mountain to mountain,
lakes and rivers I shall clear at a bound; and
so shall I serve thee well."

Then Diuk took off his armour, and put on
garments fitting for a journey, took his stout bow
and a quiver full of burning arrows on his hip,
and touched the earth with his brow in reverence
before his mother.

His mother instructed him: "Aï, my dear
child! when thou shalt come to famous Kief
town and to Prince Vladimir the Fair Sun, and
he shall make a banquet and an honourable feast
for thee, then boast not of thy orphan possessions,
of thy wealth, or of me, thy mother." Therewith
she gave him her leave and blessing, and kissed
him. And he mounted and rode.

They saw the good youth as he mounted, but
saw him not as he rode—'twas but a pillar of
dust afar in the plain, a little darkening of the
heavens, and he was gone.

And as he rode, he came to the first barrier, the
clashing rocks; but his good dapple-bay sprang
between, and they crushed him not. And at the
second barrier likewise, his good steed leaped past
ere the pecking birds of prey could spread their
wings; and past the third barrier, the dragon of
the mountain, ere he could uncoil his tails, faithful
Shaggy bore him.

So the good youth came forth in safety, and rode
farther over the open plain until he came to a
damp, ringbarked oak, whereon sat a black raven
cawing, and spoke this word: "Aï, thou cawing
raven, thou bird of omen! I will bend my stout
bow, I will lay a fiery arrow to the silken cord, I
will scatter thy feathers over the open plain; I
will spill thy blood on the damp oak, and give
thee over to vain death."

Then spoke the raven with human tongue:
"Shed not my hot blood, young Lord Diuk, but
ride onward over the open plain, and thou shalt
find an adversary, one befitting thy stature."

Diuk rejoiced greatly that he should prove his
heroic might, and so rode on, and came upon the
traces of a horse. A hero had passed that way,
and damp mother earth was furrowed with horse's
hoof-marks like to a mighty grating. After that
the bold youth came to where the hero had pitched
a pavilion of white linen; and beside it stood a
white, heroic steed, before whom was spread fine
white Turkish wheat.

The bold youth reflected, and began to weep.
"Now may I not pursue my way," he said, "and
to enter that pavilion the courage faileth me. The
hero will kill me in that white pavilion, and my
head will fall.—But I will place my good steed
beside this steed at the white wheat; if the horses
eat the wheat in peace together, then will I enter
the tent, and the hero shall not touch me. But
if the horses begin to fight, I will go my way, for
so I may."

When he beheld the good steeds feed in peace,
side by side, he entered the linen pavilion, crossed
himself as enjoined, did reverence as prescribed;
and behold! in one corner, slumbered a hero and
snored until the threshold rang. Then he saw by
the heroic inscription that this was the Old Kazák
of the Don, Ilya of Murom the Son of Ivan. He
essayed to wake the hero, shouting with all his
might:

"Rouse thee, Old Kazák, Ilya of Murom! 'Tis
time to fare to glorious Kief town, to royal Prince
Vladimir, to matins on Easter morn." But the
hero slept on, and woke not. At Diuk's third shout,
the warrior woke from his deep sleep, and spoke:

"Aï, good youth! tell me thy land and horde,
and how thou art called." And Diuk told him all
this.

"And why hast thou wakened me from my deep
heroic sleep? Wilt thou fight the accursed Tatars
in the plain? Or wilt thou come with me thyself,
good youth, to the plain, and prove thy youthful
might and valour—which of us shall bear away his
head, and which joyful news?"

Then Diuk wept and humbled himself before
him. "Why should I go to the open plain with
thee, Ilya of Murom, thou Old Kazák? For thy
death is not decreed in battle. Nay, there is but
one sun in heaven, and one moon—and but one
Kazák of the Don in Holy Russia, Ilya of Murom,
son of Ivan."

This speech pleased Ilya: he sprang to his
nimble feet, caught Diuk by his white hands, his
golden ring, kissed him on his sugar mouth, and
swore brotherhood with him, exchanging crosses.
Then they sat down to eat, drink, and make merry.
And when they had had their fill, Ilya said: "Go
now, young Lord Diuk, to royal Kief town, and if
any there shall offend thee, send me word of it,
and I will defend thee. But make no boasts."

So Diuk rode forth; and when he was come to
Kief, he leaped the walls, passed the three-cornered
towers, and came to the royal palace of white stone.
In the spacious court he sprang from his good steed,
struck the butt of his far-reaching lance into the
earth, and flung his good steed's bridle over the
point.

The Princess Apraxia was there, looking out.
"Lo! the washerwoman," quoth Diuk, and bowed.
"And where is courteous Prince Vladimir, the
Fair Sun?"

Then was Princess Apraxia very wroth, and the

serving-men made answer: "Royal Vladimir is at
the Easter mass."

So Diuk, that good youth, vaulted quickly into
his saddle, and rode to the cathedral church.
There he dismounted, and left Shaggy, his little
dapple-bay, unbound and without orders. In the
cathedral, he took his stand in the place of the
ambassadors, the left porch. While the mass
was sung, he prayed not so much as gazed about:
—he gazed at the church and gulped, at Prince
Vladimir and shook his head, at the Princess
Apraxia and dropped his hand.

When the Easter mass was at an end, Prince
Vladimir sent to bid the strange and goodly youth
to his honourable feast. "Eh, brothers!" Diuk
made answer to the messengers: "Ye have had
spring weather. I have ridden far over swamps
and mosses, and my flowered garments are bemired."
Nevertheless he followed them, and bowed
before Prince Vladimir until his yellow curls swept
the damp earth.

As they came from the cathedral, they found
a great throng of people gathered about Diuk's
Shaggy, marvelling much at the good steed's rich
trappings. Diuk followed Prince Vladimir to his
princely dwelling, and the good steed came after
his master.

Now great rains had fallen on the black earth
with which the way was covered, and the road was
heavy with mud to the knee. Diuk looked upon
his little shoes of green morocco, and then upon
Prince Vladimir, and shook his head. But Prince
Vladimir heeded not, and began to inquire of him
his name and country. This Diuk told him, and
how he was come to view royal Kief of which he
had heard great marvels, to greet the Fair Sun
Vladimir, and to pray to God in his temples.

Then Vladimir took him by his white hands,
kissed him on his sweet mouth, and led him to the
palace. When Diuk beheld the palace, he shook
his head, and said to his good steed: "They will
starve thee here, good Shaggy; they will give thee
frozen oats to eat; and at home thou wouldst not
touch the finest of white wheat."

And when Diuk beheld the banquet hall, with
its tables of oak, and cloths patterned with drawn-work,
he shook his head yet more.—As they sat
about the board, Vladimir inquired of Diuk if it
were far from India to Kief town.

"I set out after vespers on Holy Saturday,"
Diuk made answer, "and lo! I was in Kief at
early mass on Easter Day!"

"And are such steeds as thine dear in thy
country?"

"We have them for a rouble, and for two
roubles, and for six roubles; but my good steed is
priceless."

Then spoke up Vladimir's heroes and nobles:

"Nay, lord, that may not be! For by the
straight road it is a three-months journey, and by
the way about six months, and that when a man
hath relays, and springeth from horse to horse,
from saddle to saddle, tarrying not."

But Vladimir said nothing.

Then all began to make great brags, some of
one thing and some of another; and Diuk alone
sat sad and silent, eating not nor drinking nor
carving the white swan. And courteous Prince
Vladimir spoke:

"Aï, thou bold and goodly youth! is the feast
not to thy liking? Or art thou poor, perchance,
with nothing whereof thou mayest vaunt thyself?"

"Fair Sun Vladimir, Prince of royal Kief," said
Diuk, "I have far greater possessions than thou.

My father left me a little lad and rich, and I am
not used to eat black bread." Yet courteous
Prince Vladimir was not affronted by his speech.

Then green wine was brought, and liquors, and
kalachi[3] of fine wheaten flour. Diuk drank but
the half of his wine—the other half he poured
under the table. The top crust of the cakes he
laid upon the table, the middle he ate, and cast
the under crust to the dogs beneath the board.

Seeing this, Vladimir's princes and nobles sprang
to their nimble feet, and cried: "What discourteous
churl is this? He is not Lord Diuk
Stepanovich; never before this day hath he
quaffed noble liquors, or tasted wheaten cakes;
he knoweth not royal courtesy. He is a herdsman,
the fugitive serf of some noble, who hath
murdered his master or a merchant, stolen his
flowered garments, and driven off his good steed!
He is come hither that thou mightest make an
honourable feast for him, royal Vladimir, and give
him golden treasure, as is thy usage. He mocketh
thee, Prince Vladimir; he is not noble, for he
looked upon his shoes as he walked; and his
mantle of sables he never earned."

"I want not thy treasure," quoth Diuk. "I
possess inexhaustible store of golden treasure,
and bread and salt in abundance. I heard great
marvels of glorious Kief town, and so came hither.
But things are not with you as they are with us
in India."

"Why didst thou gaze about thee at mass,
noble Diuk," said Prince Vladimir then, "in place
of praying God?"

"I gazed, royal Vladimir," Diuk made reply,
"because thy churches here are not the tenth part
of the churches with us. Thy raiment is like the

raiment of the very poorest among us, and the
Princess Apraxia, likewise, is apparelled like our
poorer women. Thy churches are of wood with
domes of aspen wood: ours are of stone with
roofs of purest gold. Our meanest huts exceed
thy fairest palace of white stone. Thy streets are
foul: ours are cleaned, tawny-yellow sand is strewn
upon them, with rugs spread thereon. The steps
of thy palace are of black stone, with railings of
turned wood fastened with wooden pegs which
catch the garments: our steps are of ivory spread
with silken rugs, and the railings are carved of
pure gold. The floor of thy banquet hall is of pine
planks, and uneven, the walls and ceiling are unpainted,
the tables of oak, the cloths patterned
with drawn threads. But the floors of our halls
are of ash, the walls and ceilings all painted, the
tables of gold and ivory; our cloths are of silk,
and at their corners hang tassels of gold. Over
my mother's gate are seventy ikóns,[4] and you have
not even ten. From our churches to the palace,
pavements of arrow-wood are laid, spread with fine
crimson cloth."

"Why dost thou throw away my wine and
cakes?" asked courteous Prince Vladimir. And
Diuk replied:

"I cannot eat thy wheaten cakes. The upper
crust tasteth of pine, and the lower crust of
clay. For your ovens here are of brick, your
oven-brooms of pine. But my mother's ovens in
India the Rich are of glazed tiles, and her oven-brooms
are of silk dipped in honey-dew. He who
hath eaten one of my lady mother's cakes longeth
for another; when he hath eaten that, his soul
burneth for a third; and having devoured the
third, the fourth will not depart from his mind.—

Thy wines and sweet liquors I cannot drink, for
they are musty and ill-flavoured. But in India
the Rich, my mother's sweet mead and old liquors
are kept in silver casks of forty buckets hooped
with gold, and hung by brazen chains in caverns
forty fathoms deep. From these vaulted caverns,
pipes run to the fresh air of the open plain; and
when tempestuous breezes blow, they enter the
caverns, and the silver casks rock in their chains,
and murmur like swans at play upon the bosom
of quiet bays. Our fair liquors never grow musty.
Having drunk one cup, the soul burneth evermore
for another, and the merit of those liquors no
words can equal. The store of my lady mother's
flowered garments is never exhausted; for the
sewing-women are ever at work,—when one throng
quitteth the court, another throng arriveth. My
mother's under-garments are of precious stones,
the upper of gold brocade; her cap is of fair round
pearls, with jewels of great price in the front; and
I wear a different dress each day. Our horses are
fed only on fine Turkish wheat, and sport upon
the plain. And we have twelve deep vaults strewn
full of gold and silver and fair pearls. One vault
alone would purchase royal Kief, and even Chernigof
beside."

Then spake royal Vladimir in displeasure:

"I would that Churilo Plenkovich the Fop were
here; for he would know how to answer thee as
thou deservest."

Thereupon the oaken doors of the banquet hall
were opened wide, and Churilo entered, clad in a
fine white blouse without a girdle; he crossed himself,
and bowed to all save to Diuk Stepanovich.

Then said Diuk: "The fame of Churilo's beauty
was not false,—for his neck is like the driven
snow, his face red as the poppy. But the fame of

Churilo's courtesy was false,—he knoweth not how
to do homage nor to salute."

Quoth Churilo: "Dost thou boast, thou nobleman's
serf, of thy wealth and possessions? Lay
a wager, now, with me, a great wager of thirty
thousand roubles. For three years we shall go
about Kief; each day we shall wear fresh apparel;
—each day ride a horse of different colour. And
he that hath the fairest shall be adjudged the
victor."

"Thou dwellest here in Kief, Churilo Fop," said
Diuk; "and thy presses are full to overflowing
with raiment, while I have but my travelling garb;
and it is well worn."

Nevertheless, Diuk made that great wager, for
three years and three days. Then he sat down at
the oaken table, in a folding-chair, wrote in haste
a scroll to his mother, and went forth with it to
the court, where stood his dapple-bay. He laid
the scroll in the saddle-bags beneath the rich
Cherkessian saddle, and spoke: "Speed home, my
Shaggy, to India the Rich; and when thou comest
to my lady mother's palace, neigh loudly."

So the good bay flew swiftly to India the Rich.
And when the honourable widow Amalfya Timofeevna
beheld the empty saddle, she wept sore;
for she thought her dear child had laid down his
bold head upon the open plain, in Holy Mother
Russia. But when the grooms unsaddled good
Shaggy, they found the scroll, and gave it to
Diuk's lady mother, who rejoiced greatly that her
son still lived.

"Alas! the foolish child hath boasted," she
said, when she had read the scroll: "yet I must
save his honour and his head."

Then she took her golden keys, and packed up
changes of raiment for three years and three days,

—three changes for each day,—and bound them
on the good steed's back. Over all she put an
old and much-worn garment.

"Spring forth, good steed, to thy young lord!"
she cried: "and apprise him of thy coming with
a neigh."

—Then Churilo Fop and young Lord Diuk
began to ride about Kief town with new garments
and horses every day. Churilo had great herds
of horses driven in from Chernigof; but Diuk
anointed his Shaggy each morning with dew, and
so changed the colour of his hair. Three years
they rode thus through Kief. The last day was
Easter, and they went to mass, and stood in the
porch on either hand.

The raiment of Churilo Fop was rayed with gold
and silver; his clasps were figures of stately youths,
his loops in semblance of fair maidens. Beneath
the high heels of his slippers of green morocco,
nightingales might fly—from their awl-sharp tips
curving to the instep, eggs might roll. His black
murman[5] cap drooped soft and downy, so that
his clear eyes might not be seen in front nor his
white neck behind. His mantle was of black
sables from over the sea.

But young Lord Diuk went all unadorned
through Kief town that day;—save that the points
of his foot-gear, woven of the seven silks, and the
insteps thereof, were studded thick with precious
stones, in value above all that city save only the
settings of the Virgin and the Saints.—For over
all, concealing utterly his egg-shell raiment, he had
put that worn garment sent by his lady mother.

Churilo took his stand upon Vladimir's right,

and fingered his carven clasps:—when he touched
the clasps, the fair maids poured green wine and
gave to the comely youths; when he pulled the
loops, the good youths plucked their little guslys
solacing the maidens fair.

Then spake Prince Vladimir: "In sooth the
young Lord Diuk hath forfeited his wager! For
such devices, Diuk, thou surely canst not show to
us, how fair soever thy garb may be."

"I care not for the thirty thousand of coin,"
quoth Diuk, "but for my own good fame I have
a care. The gold I now bestow upon thy town
of Kief." And therewith he cast aside his mean
garment, and his apparel beneath gleamed fair, so
that all the people fell to the earth in wonder at
its beauty. In the front of his cap sat the fair
red sun; on its back, the radiant moon; on his
crest a flame seemed ever burning.

Then he touched his clasps in semblance of
small singing birds—they straightway hopped and
twittered. He pulled his loops—dragons and
fierce lion-beasts were they, that crawled and
leaped, and hissed and roared. Then all the folk
were terrified, and fell to the damp earth, and
with them Churilo the Fop. Lord Diuk alone
stood firm.

"Thou hast won, good youth," spake Vladimir;
and besought him: "Spare me at least a remnant
of my people. Call back thy beasts and
birds."

This Diuk did, and all Kief gave him thanks for
having outshone Churilo in foppery. And with
the thirty thousand, Churilo's wager, he bought
green wine, and gave to all the people freely.

But Churilo Plenkovich was out of measure
wroth, and said: "Aï, young Lord Diuk Stepanovich!
let us make yet another great wager. Let

us prove now whose horse shall leap the Dnyepr
river (for Mother Dnyepr is three versts in breadth),
and our turbulent heads shall be the stakes. He
whose horse leapeth not over shall yield his turbulent
head to be hewn off by the other."

"I have but my poor travelling nag," young
Diuk made answer. Yet did he accept the challenge;
and going forth to his good steed in the
stall, he wept.

"Aï, my Shaggy, my good dapple-bay!
Knowest thou not of my great misfortune? If
thou leap not fairly over Mother Dnyepr river,
they will cut off my tempestuous head:—and the
breadth of Mother Dnyepr is three versts. But if
thou canst not leap the Dnyepr flood, then will I
go seek my cross-brother, Ilya of Murom, the Old
Kazák. He will aid us."

Good Shaggy replied in human speech: "Weep
not, pathetic master mine! Not over Mother
Dnyepr's flood alone will I leap, but yet three
versts upon the further shore will I bear thee on
my outstretched pinions. If I yield not to my
elder brothers, much less will I give way before
the younger. For my eldest brother is with Ilya
of Murom, my second with Dobrynya Nikitich: I
am the third, and Churilo's steed is but the fourth
of us."

Then Diuk saddled his good steed with his own
hands, and rode far out over the open plain, with
Churilo Fop to Mother Dnyepr river. Many
mighty heroes, princes, nobles, and of the common
folk of Kief not a few, went also to view that
contest.

"Do thou leap first," said Churilo Fop.

"Nay," quoth Diuk; "leap thou the first. And
when we leap together in India, then will I take
the lead."

So Churilo made ready to leap. His good steed
reared upon his hind legs on the bank, and essayed
the flight, but floundered in mid-stream.

Then Diuk essayed. His good steed bore him
in safety past the flood, and turning leaped back
whence he came. As he flew, Diuk grasped
Churilo by his yellow curls, and dragged him to
the shore, and so to Prince Vladimir's presence,
where he would have cut off his turbulent head.

But all the old women, young wives, and lovely
maids of Kief began to beseech Diuk urgently that
he would spare the life of Churilo the handsome
Fop; and royal Vladimir spoke also in his behalf.

Then Diuk gave Churilo a mighty kick: "Go,
Fop, bewept of women, since Prince Vladimir
entreateth; go sit among the women, and dally
with the maids. But come thou never more into
the company of heroes, weak dangler after women,
and beloved of ancient crones!"

But Churilo spoke with malice: "Fair lord,
Prince Vladimir, if this child boasteth with reason,
let us send talesmen to the splendid Indian land,
to take lists of all his cattle and possessions."

"Whom shall we send?" said courteous Prince
Vladimir.

"Let Alyosha Popovich go."

"Nay! Alyosha shall not go to my India,"
quoth Diuk: "for he hath pope's eyes, greedy eyes,
and pope's pilfering hands. He will never return."

Then he sat down in a folding-chair at the
oaken table, and wrote a billet with haste. And,
having fastened it to an arrow, he shot it, bidding
it fly forth to Old Kazák Ilya in the open plain,
and crave his aid.

Then Ilya sent Dobrynya to inquire what aid
Lord Diuk required; and if Dobrynya might not
render it, then would he come himself.

"Ho, Dobrynya Nikitich! Thou shalt go to
my India," said Diuk then; "but not Alyosha with
his greedy pope's eyes and thieving fingers."

So Vladimir appointed Dobrynya and two more
to make the lists. If Diuk had the greater possessions,
then should Vladimir become his vassal: and
contrariwise, if Diuk's brags were not established,
then should he serve Vladimir loyally so long as
he lived.

"Take paper for three years and for three days,"
quoth Diuk, "for six scribes may not write the
tale of my possessions in twenty years. And of a
surety, ye shall do homage to my serving-maids,
mistaking them for my lady mother."

Then the talesmen set out, and with them went
three great carts of paper. When, after long
wanderings, they came to India the Rich, they
climbed a lofty mountain, and beheld the land
glowing before them. And one said: "Of a
surety, Lord Diuk hath sent warning to his native
land, that they should set on fire great India the
Rich, for lo! it burneth!"

But when they drew near they saw that it was
but the golden roofs of the dwellings flaming, and
the temples' precious domes which glowed, and the
ways strewn with tawny-yellow sand and spread
with fair cloth of scarlet. Diuk's palace of white
stone had three and thirty towers which flowed
together at one point; their domes all were sheathed
with green copper, more precious than red gold.
About the palace lay a garden of seventy versts,
set with all manner of pleasant fruit-trees and of
shrubs, walled about with a lofty railing of carven
pillars of gold, surmounted by knobs of copper,
and the gates were of fair brass. In the court,
maids richly apparelled walked with the serving-men,
or played at chess.

Within, the palace was reared upon three hundred
pillars of silver, four hundred of gold, and
others innumerable of precious copper and of iron.
In all Kief was nothing like it, and all Kief town
would not suffice to purchase that palace alone;
and through the town flowed a river of gold.

The talesmen feared to enter; but when at
length they did so, and came to the first tower,
they found an aged woman of motherly aspect:
her garments were of pure silver, with but small
admixture of silk, and they bowed to the earth
before her.

"Hail, most honourable widow, Amalfya Timofeevna,
mother to Lord Diuk Stepanovich!" they
said.

"I am not the Lord Diuk's mother," said the
woman. "I am his cowherd."

Then the talesmen were sore vexed and shamed,
that they should have done reverence to Diuk's
cowherd because of her rich array, and inquired
no further that day, but went and pitched a tent
without the town, and there abode that night.

The next day they came again to the lordly
palace, and essayed the second tower. There they
found an aged woman of reverend mien, clad in
silver and gold; and to her they did homage. But
she refused it, saying, "I am the Lord Diuk's
washerwoman."

And in like manner, to their exceeding shame
and great amaze, they bowed before Diuk's cook,
his chamber-women, his baker of cakes, his nurse,
and others,—all women of stately mien and venerable
aspect, and more richly arrayed than the
Princess Apraxia on festal days.

At length the nurse told them that the honourable
widow was gone to the long mass, and that
they might know her as she came thence by these

signs: Before her would come a host with shovels,
and then a host of sweepers, to make all clean, and
sprinkle orange-tawny sand, and others still spreading
cloth of scarlet. Then would follow the most
honourable widow, Amalfya Timofeevna, supported
on either hand by scores of maidens.

"Ye must not salute all the women in rich
raiment like this of mine, whom you shall meet,"
spoke the nurse; "for of such there are very many
in this town, and ye would never make an end."

So they went forth to meet the honourable lady,
and when she came, attended as had been described
to them, they were dazzled, and bowed to the
earth. The red sun glowed upon her brow, the
bright moon and thick-clustering stars gleamed fair
behind, and her attire was rich beyond compare.

The lady returned their greeting courteously,
and inquired why they were come thither.

"Lord Diuk sent us," they made answer, "to
take rate of his cattle and goods."

"That ye cannot do," quoth she; "yet come
first and eat bread and salt with me, and feast:
then will I show you what ye list."

—At that feast were white swans, and great
abundance of all choice viands, green wine and
sweet liquors, and cakes of fine wheaten flour, such
as Diuk had spoken of in Kief, for which their
souls burned. After they had eaten and drunken
all they would, the honourable widow showed them
first, Diuk's horses; and they would have counted
them—but could not. Then she showed them
Diuk's foot-gear; this also they would have reckoned—and
could not. After that, she led them
to the deep vaults with vents to the open plain,
where swung the gold-hooped casks of silver in
their chains of brass, and murmured like white
swans in sweet converse on the bosom of tranquil

bays; and to the treasury of trappings for the
horses. Three years they sat and reckoned what
might be the value of the Lord Diuk's saddle of
state, incrusted with jewels, and of exceeding rich
workmanship—and could not so much as begin to
compute it.

Then they sent word to Kief, to royal Vladimir:
"Sell Kief for paper, and Chernigof for ink, and
then, mayhap, we may make a beginning of reckoning
Diuk's great possessions."

When courteous Prince Vladimir heard that, he
spoke: "I pray thee, Lord Diuk, be my guest in
the lofty palace, taste of my bread and salt, and
carve the white swan; and trade thou evermore
in Kief without tax."

"Nay, Prince Vladimir," young Diuk made
answer; "the Fair Sun gave forth no warmth in
the morning, and at eventide he will give no heat.
No courtesy hast thou used with the youth when
he came, and thou shalt have no profit of him
now."

A little space thereafter, went Prince Vladimir
and Churilo Fop, and all the princes, nobles, and
scribes, to Volhynia town in India the Rich, to
view and compute Diuk's possessions. When they
came to Diuk's dwelling, they marvelled greatly,
for such a palace even royal Vladimir himself had
never yet beheld,—and they feared to enter.

So young Lord Diuk took the Fair Sun by the
hand, and led him in. One half the floor was of
crystal; beneath flowed limpid water, and in the
water swam fishes of many hues, and sported.
When they lashed the water with their tails, the
crystal floor resounded. Prince Vladimir held back,
fearing to tread thereon, but Diuk led him still
forward, for so they must needs go; and at the
golden tables they feasted on viands such as they

had never so much as heard of, and drank liquors
which they had never seen, no whit worse than
Lord Diuk had bragged.

Then Prince Vladimir inquired for his talesmen,
and they were led to him; and lo! they were all
withered up like shavings, for grief that they could
not compute the value of so much as one saddle.

But Vladimir looked on the saddle, and said:
"Of a truth, he who wrought that may alone
compute its worth."

So Prince Vladimir acknowledged himself vassal
to Lord Diuk, as they had agreed; but Diuk said:

"I need thy service not. Go home, and look to
it that henceforth the unknown man and stranger
suffer no offence in thy house."