Volgá the Chief flew down from the window-ledge to the ground and turned himself into a grey wolf and jumped into the stable yard. He picked out all the good horses and tore out the throat of every one. Then Volgá turned himself into a little ermine and slipped into the armoury, where the Cham kept a great stock of weapons for his men. Volgá broke all the tough bows, tore out the silken bow strings, destroyed the sharp arrows, bit notches in the sharp swords, and bent the steel maces into a bow. Then he turned himself again into a little bird and soon flew back to Kiev town, where he turned himself back into his own shape, and was once more a goodly youth. Volgá came to his body-guard of good comrades. “My brave comrades,” said he, “let us go to the land of the Tartars!” And they went to the land of the Tartars, and they took all the Tartar army prisoners. II. MIKÚLA THE VILLAGER’S SON. Next we come to the story of Mikúla, the villager’s son, and how he meets with Volgá and joins his band of heroes. Young Volgá had an uncle who was a prince in the land, and the prince gave Volgá for his own three towns, and the towns were to pay him a yearly tribute, and so he set out with his body-guard of brave youths to collect this tribute. Volgá set out, and as he rode through the free and open plain he heard a ploughman in the open field. The ploughman’s plough could be heard scraping over the ground and scrunching over the stones, but the ploughman and his plough were out of sight on the boundless plain. Volgá rode towards the ploughman all day from morning till evening with his brave body-guard, but he could not come up with the ploughman. And Volgá rode on the whole of another day, another day from morning till evening, but he could not come up with the ploughman. The ploughman was ploughing the field and still drove on. The ploughman’s plough scraped on and the ploughshare creaked over the stones, but still Volgá could not come within sight of him, and on the third day Volgá and his comrades rode from morning till midday, and at midday they came up with the ploughman in the open field. The ploughman was ploughing in the field, and on he drove. From edge to edge he swept the long furrows. When he reached the edge of the field he could not see the other edge. He cast out the stumps and stones, and all the large stones he piled up in a trench. The ploughman had a light bay mare, and the stock of his plough was of maple wood. His mare was harnessed with ropes of silk. When Volgá came up with the ploughman he spoke to him and said: “God help thee, good ploughman, to plough the field and till the ground, and to do thy labour, to sweep the furrows from edge to edge of the field, and to turn out the stumps and stones from the ground.” The ploughman looked at Volgá and said: