A Survey of Russian Literature, with SelectionsHapgood, Isabel Florence
History
A Survey of Russian Literature, with Selections
Hapgood, Isabel Florence
Russian literature -- History and criticism
Then said the Drevlyans, "Here we have slain the Russian
Prince; let us now take his wife, Olga, for our Prince Malo;
and we will take also Svyatoslaff (his son), and will deal with
him as we see fit"; and the Drevlyans dispatched their best
men, twenty in number, in a boat, to Olga, and they landed
their boat near Boritcheff, and Olga was told that the
Drevlyans had arrived, and Olga summoned them to her. "Good
guests are come, I hear"; and the Drevlyans said: "We are come,
Princess." And Olga said to them, "Tell me, why are ye come
hither?" Said the Drevlyans: "The land of the Drevlyans hath
sent us," saying thus: "We have slain thy husband, for thy
husband was like unto a wolf, he was ever preying and robbing;
but our own princes are good. Our Drevlyan land doth flourish
under their sway; wherefore, marry thou our Prince, Malo" for
the Drevlyan Prince was named Malo. Olga said to them: "Your
speech pleaseth me, for my husband cannot be raised from the
dead; but I desire to show you honor, to-morrow, before my
people; wherefore, to-day, go ye to your boat, and lie down in
the boat, exalting yourselves; and to-morrow I will send for
you, and ye must say: 'we will not ride on horses, we will not
walk afoot, but do ye carry us in our boat.'" Thus did she
dismiss them to the boat. Then Olga commanded a great and deep
pit to be digged in the courtyard of the palace, outside the
town. And the next morning, as Olga sat in her palace, she sent
for the guests, and Olga's people came to them, saying: "Olga
biddeth you to a great honor." But they said: "We will not ride
on horses, nor on oxen, neither will we walk afoot, but do thou
carry us in our boat." And the Kievlyans said: "We must,
perforce, carry you; our prince is slain, and our princess
desireth to wed your prince," and they bore them in the boat,
and those men sat there and were filled with pride; and they
carried them to the courtyard, to Olga, and flung them into the
pit, together with their boat. And Olga, bending over the pit,
said unto them: "Is the honor to your taste?" and they made
answer: "It is worse than Igor's death"; and she commanded that
they be buried alive, and they were so buried.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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