Chapter III. MYTHOLOGICAL, part 4 · page 21 2101"Dissolve, my son, into a wide and deep river.102Flow past towns, and bathe villages without number as far as the blue sea.103Thy brother shall be thy servant.104Be rich and prosperous to the end of time!"105Dnieper turned into a river, and flowed through fertile meadows and dreamy woods.106But after three days, Sozh returned home and began to complain.107"If thou dost desire to become superior to thy brother," said his father, "speed swiftly by hidden ways, through dark untrodden forests, and if thou canst outstrip thy brother, he will have to be thy servant!"108Away sped Sozh on the chase, through untrodden places, washing away swamps, cutting out gullies, tearing up oaks by the roots.109The Vulture[270] told Dnieper of this, and he put on extra speed, tearing his way through high hills rather than turn on one side.110Meanwhile Sozh persuaded the Raven to fly straight to Dnieper, and, as soon as it had come up with him to croak three times; he himself was to burrow under the earth, intending to leap to the surface at the cry of the Raven, and by that means to get before his brother.111But the Vulture fell on the Raven; the Raven began to croak before it had caught up the river Dnieper.112Up burst Sozh from underground, and fell straight into the waves of the Dnieper.113[271]114Here is an account of--115THE METAMORPHOSIS OF THE DNIEPER, THE VOLGA, AND THE DVINA.116[272]117The Dnieper, Volga, and Dvina used once to be living people.118The Dnieper was a boy, and the Volga and Dvina his sisters.119While they were still in childhood they were left complete orphans, and, as they hadn't a crust to eat, they were obliged to get their living by daily labor beyond their strength. "120When was that?"121Very long ago, say the old folks; beyond the memory even of our great-grandfathers.122Well, the children grew up, but they never had even the slightest bit of good luck.123Every day, from morn till eve, it was always toil and toil, and all merely for the day's subsistence.124As for their clothing, it was just what God sent them!125They sometimes found rags on the dust-heaps, and with these they managed to cover their bodies.126The poor things had to endure cold and hunger.127Life became a burden to them.128[273]129One day, after toiling hard afield, they sat down under a bush to eat their last morsel of bread.130And when they had eaten it, they cried and sorrowed for a while, and considered and held counsel together as to how they might manage to live, and to have food and clothing, and, without toiling, to supply others with meat and drink.131Well, this is what they resolved: to set out wandering about the wide world in search of good luck and a kindly welcome, and to look for and find out the best places in which they could turn into great rivers--for that was a possible thing then.132Well, they walked and walked; not one year only, nor two years, but all but three; and they chose the places they wanted, and came to an agreement as to where the flowing of each one should begin.133And all three of them stopped to spend the night in a swamp.134But the sisters were more cunning than their brother.135No sooner was Dnieper asleep than they rose up quietly, chose the best and most sloping places, and began to flow away.136When the brother awoke in the morning, not a trace of his sisters was to be seen.137Then he became wroth, and made haste to pursue them.138But on the way he bethought himself, and decided that no man can run faster than a river.checked by a teacher139So he smote the ground, and flowed in pursuit as a stream.140Through gullies and ravines he rushed, and the further he went the fiercer did he become.141But when he came within a few versts of the sea-shore, his anger calmed down and he disappeared in the sea.142And his two sisters, who had continued running from him during his pursuit, separated in different directions and fled to the bottom of the sea.143But while the Dnieper was rushing along in anger, he drove his way between steep banks.144Therefore is it that his flow is swifter than that of the Volga and the Dvina; therefore also is it that he has many rapids and many mouths.145There is a small stream which falls into Lake Ilmen on its western side, and which is called Chorny Ruchei, the Black Brook.146On the banks of this brook, a long time ago, a certain man set up a mill, and the fish came and implored the stream to grant them its aid, saying, "We used to have room enough and be at our ease, but now an evil man is taking away the water from us."147And the result was this.148One of the inhabitants of Novgorod was angling in the brook Chorny.149Up came a stranger to him, dressed all in black, who greeted him, and said:--1 2← previousChapter III. MYTHOLOGICAL, part 3next →Chapter III. MYTHOLOGICAL, part 5↑ back to Russian Fairy Tales: A Choice Collection of Muscovite Folk-loreThis page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg22373/38/page/2/