Ilya Muromets and Kalin the Tsar. Ilya Muromets and Kalin the Tsar Read Ilya Muromets and the Tsar Kalin
It’s quiet and boring in the prince’s upper room. The prince has no one to advise him with, no one to feast with, no one to go hunting with...
Not a single hero visits Kyiv.
And Ilya sits in a deep cellar. The iron bars are locked with locks, the bars are filled with oak and rhizomes, and covered with yellow sand for strength. Not even a little gray mouse can get to Ilya.
Here the old man would have died, but the prince had a smart daughter. She knows that Ilya Muromets could protect the city of Kyiv from enemies, could stand up for the Russian people, save both mother and Prince Vladimir from grief.
So she was not afraid of the prince’s wrath, took the keys from her mother, ordered her faithful maids to dig secret tunnels to the cellar, and began to bring Ilya Muromets sweet food and honey.
Ilya sits in the cellar, alive and well, and Vladimir thinks that he has been gone for a long time.
Once the prince was sitting in the upper room, thinking bitter thoughts. Suddenly he hears someone galloping along the road, their hooves pounding like thunder. The plank gates fell down, the whole room shook, the floorboards in the hallway jumped. The doors fell off their forged hinges, and a Tatar, an ambassador from the Tatar king Kalin himself, entered the room.
The messenger himself is as tall as an old oak tree, his head is like a beer cauldron.
The messenger gives the prince a letter, and in that letter it is written:
“I, Tsar Kalin, ruled the Tatars, the Tatars are not enough for me - I wanted Rus'. You surrender to me, Prince of Kiev, otherwise I will burn all of Rus' with fire, trample it with horses, harness men to carts, chop up children and old people, I will force you, Prince, to guard the horses, and make the princess bake cakes in the kitchen.”
Then Prince Vladimir burst into tears, burst into tears, and went to Princess Apraxia:
- What are we going to do, princess?! I angered all the heroes, and now there is no one to protect us. I killed the faithful Ilya of Muromets with a stupid death, by starvation. And now we have to flee from Kyiv.
His young daughter says to the prince:
- Let’s go, father, to look at Ilya, maybe he’s still alive in the cellar.
- Oh, you unreasonable fool! If you remove your head from your shoulders, will it grow back? Can Ilya sit without food for three years? His bones have long since crumbled to dust...
And she repeats one thing:
- Send the servants to look at Ilya.
The prince sent to dig out the deep cellars and open the cast-iron grates.
The servants opened the cellar, and there Ilya was sitting alive, with a candle burning in front of him. The servants saw him and rushed to the prince.
The prince and princess went down to the cellars. Prince Ilya bows to the damp ground:
- Help us, Ilyushenka, the Tatar army has besieged Kyiv and its suburbs. Come out of the cellar, Ilya, stand for me.
“I spent three years in the cellars by your order, I don’t want to stand up for you!”
The princess bowed to him:
- Wait for me, Ilya Ivanovich!
“I won’t leave the cellar for you.”
What to do here? The prince is silent, the princess is crying, and Ilya does not want to look at them.
A young prince’s daughter came out and bowed to Ilya Muromets:
- Not for the prince, not for the princess, not for me, young man, but for the poor widows, for the small children, come out of the cellar, Ilya Ivanovich, stand for the Russian people, for your native Rus'!
Ilya stood up here, straightened his heroic shoulders, left the cellar, sat on Burushka Kosmatushka, and galloped off to the Tatar camp. I rode and drove and reached the Tatar army.
Ilya Muromets looked and shook his head: in an open field, the Tatar army is apparently invisible, a gray bird cannot fly around in a day, a fast horse cannot ride around in a week.
Among the Tatar army there is a golden tent. King Kalin sits in that tent. The king himself is like a hundred-year-old oak, his legs are maple logs, his hands are spruce rakes, his head is like a copper cauldron, one mustache is golden, the other is silver.
Tsar Ilya of Muromets saw and began to laugh and shake his beard:
– The puppy ran into big dogs! Where can you cope with me? I’ll put you on the palm of my hand, I’ll slap you with the other, only a wet spot will remain! Where did you come from, that you are yapping at Tsar Kalina?
Ilya Muromets tells him:
- You, Tsar Kalin, are bragging ahead of your time! I am a small hero, the old Cossack Ilya Muromets, and, perhaps, I am not afraid of you!
Tsar Kalin heard this and jumped to his feet:
“The earth is full of rumors about you.” If you are that glorious hero Ilya Muromets, then sit with me at the oak table, eat my sweet dishes, drink my overseas wines, do not just serve the Russian prince, serve me, the Tatar king.
Ilya Muromets got angry here:
– There were no traitors in Rus'! I didn’t come to feast with you, but to drive you away from Rus'!
The king began to persuade him again:
– Glorious Russian hero, Ilya Muromets, I have two daughters, they have braids like a raven’s wing, their eyes are like slits, their dress is sewn with yachts and pearls. I will give anyone in marriage to you, you will be my beloved son-in-law.
Ilya Muromets became even more angry:
- Oh, you, stuffed animal from overseas! I was afraid of the Russian spirit! Come out quickly to a mortal battle, I will take out my heroic sword, I will marry you on your neck.
Here Tsar Kalin also became furious. He jumped to his maple legs, waved his curved sword, and shouted in a loud voice:
- I, hillbilly, will chop you with a sword, stab you with a spear, and cook a stew from your bones!
They had a great fight here. They cut with swords - only sparks splash from under the swords. They broke the swords and threw them away. They prick with spears - only the wind rustles and the thunder thunders. They broke the spears and threw them away. They began to fight with their bare hands.
Tsar Kalin beats and oppresses Ilyushenka, breaks his white arms, and bends his quick legs. The king threw Ilya onto the damp sand, sat on his chest, and took out a sharp knife.
- I will rip open your mighty chest, I will look into your Russian heart.
Ilya Muromets tells him:
– In the Russian heart there is direct honor and love for Mother Rus'.
Tsar Kalin threatens with a knife and mocks:
“You really are not a big hero, Ilya Muromets, you probably eat little bread.”
- And I’ll eat the kalach and I’ll be full from there.
The Tatar king laughed:
“And I eat three baked kalachs, and I eat a whole bull in cabbage soup.”
“Nothing,” says Ilyushenka. - My father had a gluttonous cow, she ate and drank a lot and burst.
Ilya speaks, and he presses himself closer to the Russian land. From the Russian land power comes to him, rolls through Ilya’s veins, strengthens his heroic arms.
Tsar Kalin swung his knife at him, and as soon as Ilyushenka moved... Tsar Kalin flew off him like a feather.
“I,” Ilya shouts, “have received three times the strength from the Russian land!”
Yes, when he grabbed the king Kalin by the maple legs, he began to wave the Tatar around, beat him and destroy the Tatar army with him. Where he waves, there will be a street, and where he waves, there will be an alley! Ilya hits and destroys and says:
- This is for your little children! This is for peasant blood! For evil insults, for empty fields, for dashing robbery, for robbery, for the entire Russian land!
Then the Tatars started to run away. They run across the field, shouting in a loud voice:
- Oh, if we didn’t get to see Russian people, we wouldn’t meet any more Russian heroes! Since then it’s time to go to Rus'!
Ilya Kalin threw the king like a worthless rag, went into the golden tent, poured a glass of strong wine, not a small glass, into one and a half buckets. He drank the charm for a single spirit. He drank to Mother Rus', to her wide peasant fields, to her trading cities, to green forests, to blue seas, to swans in the creeks!
Glory, glory to our native Rus'! Don’t let the enemies gallop across our land, don’t trample the Russian land with their horses, don’t eclipse our red sun for them!
Once there was a big feast at Prince Vladimir's, and everyone at that feast was cheerful, everyone at that feast was boasting, but one guest sat sadly, did not drink honey, did not eat fried swan - this is Staver Godinovich, a trade guest from the city of Chernigov. Read...
Ilya spent a lot of time traveling in open fields, he grew older and had a beard. The colored dress he was wearing was worn out, he had no gold treasury left, Ilya wanted to rest and live in Kyiv.
Bylina
(Retold by A.N. Nechaev)
Prince Vladimir started an honorable feast and did not invite Ilya of Muromets. The hero was offended by the prince; He went out into the street, pulled a tight bow, began to shoot at the silver church domes, at the gilded crosses and shouted to the Kyiv peasants: “Collect the gilded crosses and silver church domes, bring them to the circle - to the drinking house. Let’s start our own feast for all the men of Kyiv!”
Prince Vladimir of Stolno-Kiev became angry and ordered Ilya of Muromets to be imprisoned in a deep cellar for three years.
And Vladimir’s daughter ordered the keys to the cellar to be made and, secretly from the prince, she ordered the glorious hero to be fed and watered, and sent him soft feather beds and down pillows.
How much time has passed, a messenger from Tsar Kalin galloped to Kyiv. He swung the doors wide open, ran into the prince’s tower without asking, and threw a messenger letter to Vladimir. And in the letter it is written: “I order you, Prince Vladimir, to quickly clear the Streltsy streets and large princely courtyards and supply foamy beer, standing mead and green wine throughout all the streets and alleys, so that my army will have something to treat themselves to in Kyiv. If you don’t follow the order, you have yourself to blame. I will shake Rus' with fire. I will ruin the city of Kyiv and put you and the princess to death. I give three days.”
Prince Vladimir read the letter, sighed, and became sad. He walks around the room, sheds burning tears, wipes himself with a silk scarf:
- Oh, why did I put Ilya Muromets in a deep cellar and ordered that cellar to be filled with yellow sand! Guess what, our defender is no longer alive? And there are no other heroes in Kyiv now. And there is no one to stand up for the faith, for the Russian land, no one to stand up for the capital city, to defend me with the princess and my daughter!
“Father Prince of Stolno-Kiev, don’t order me to be executed, let me say a word,” said Vladimir’s daughter. Our Ilya Muromets is alive and well. I secretly gave him water, fed him, and looked after him. Forgive me, my unauthorized daughter!
“You’re smart, smart,” Vladimir the prince praised his daughter.
He grabbed the key to the cellar and ran after Ilya Muromets. He brought him to the white stone chambers, hugged and kissed the hero, treated him to sugar dishes, gave him sweet overseas wines, and said these words:
- Don't be angry. Ilya Muromets! Let what happened between us grow into reality. Misfortune has befallen us. The dog Tsar Kalin approached the capital city of Kyiv and brought countless hordes. He threatens to ruin Rus' and destroy it with fire. To destroy the city of Kyiv, to overwhelm all the people of Kiev, but today there are no heroes. Everyone is standing at the outposts and gone on the road. I have all my hope in you alone, glorious hero Ilya Muromets!
Ilya Muromets has no time to chill out and treat himself at the princely table. He quickly went to his yard. First of all, I checked on my prophetic horse. The horse, well-fed, sleek, well-groomed, neighed joyfully when it saw its owner.
Steamer 1
Ilya Muromets said to his friend:
- Thank you for taking care of the horse! And he began to saddle the horse. First, he put on a sweatshirt, and on the sweatshirt he put felt, and on the felt, an incontinent Cherkassy saddle. He pulled up twelve silk girths with damask pins, with red gold buckles, not for beauty, for pleasure, for the sake of heroic strength: silk girths stretch and do not tear, damask steel bends and does not break, and red gold buckles do not rust. Ilya himself also equipped himself with heroic battle armor. He had a damask club with him, a long spear, he belted a battle sword, grabbed a shalyga 2
road and drove out into an open field. He sees that there are many Tatar forces near Kiev. The cry of people and the neighing of horses makes the heart sad
Ilya Muromets rode out, climbed a high hill, looked towards the east and saw white linen tents far, far away in an open field. He directed there, urged the horse, and said: “Apparently, our Russian heroes are standing there, they don’t know about the misfortune.”
And soon he drove up to the white linen tents, went into the largest tent 3
hero Samson Samoilovich, his godfather. And the heroes were having lunch at that time. Ilya Muromets said:
- Bread and salt, holy Russian heroes!
Samson Samoilovich answered:
- Come on, perhaps, our glorious hero Ilya Muromets! Sit down to dine with us, taste some bread and salt!
Here the heroes stood up on their brisk feet, greeted Ilya Muromets, hugged him, kissed him three times, and invited him to the table.
- Thank you, brothers of the cross. “I didn’t come for dinner, but brought gloomy, sad news,” said Ilya Muromets. – There is an army near Kiev – a countless force. The dog Kalin the Tsar is threatening to take and burn our capital city, to cut down all the Kyiv men, to drive away wives and daughters, to destroy churches, to put Prince Vladimir and Princess Apraxia to an evil death. And I came to invite you to fight with your enemies!
The heroes responded to those speeches:
“We, Ilya Muromets, will not saddle our horses, we will not go and fight for Prince Vladimir and Princess Apraxia.” They have many close princes and boyars. The Grand Duke of Stolno-Kiev waters and feeds them and favors them, but we have nothing from Vladimir and Apraxia Korolevichna. Don't persuade us, Ilya Muromets!
Ilya Muromets did not like those speeches. He mounted his good horse and rode up to the enemy hordes. He began to trample the enemy’s strength with his horse, stab him with a spear, chop him with a sword, and beat him with a road shawl. It hits and hits tirelessly. And the heroic horse under him spoke in human language:
- You cannot beat the enemy forces, Ilya Muromets. Tsar Kalin has mighty heroes and glades 4
they are daring, and deep trenches have been dug in the open field. As soon as we sit in the tunnels, I’ll jump out of the first tunnel, and I’ll jump out of the other tunnel, and I’ll carry you out, Ilya, and even if I jump out of the third tunnel, I won’t be able to carry you out.
Ilya did not like those speeches. He picked up a silk whip, began to hit the horse’s steep hips, and said:
- Oh, you traitor dog, wolf meat, grass bag! I feed you, sing you, take care of you, and you want to destroy me!
And then the horse with Ilya sank into the first tunnel. From there the faithful horse jumped out and carried the hero on his back. And again the hero began to beat the enemy’s force, like mowing grass. And another time the horse with Ilya sank into a deep tunnel. And from this tunnel a fast horse carried the hero.
Ilya Muromets beats the Tatars and says:
– Don’t go yourself and order your children and grandchildren to go and fight in Great Rus' forever and ever.
At that time, he and his horse sank into the third deep tunnel. His faithful horse jumped out of the tunnel, but he could not bear Ilya Muromets. The Tatars came running to catch the horse, but the faithful horse did not give in, it galloped far into an open field. Then dozens of heroes, hundreds of warriors attacked Ilya Muromets in a tunnel, tied him up, shackled his arms and legs and brought him to the tent to Tsar Kalin. Tsar Kalin greeted him kindly and affably and ordered him to untie and unchain the hero:
- Sit down, Ilya Muromets, with me, Tsar Kalin, at the same table, eat whatever your heart desires, drink my honey drinks. I will give you precious clothing, I will give you, as needed, the golden treasury. Do not serve Prince Vladimir, but serve me, Tsar Kalin, and you will be my neighbor prince-boyar!
Ilya Muromets looked at Tsar Kalin, grinned unkindly and said:
“I won’t sit with you at the same table, I won’t eat your dishes, I won’t drink your honey drinks, I don’t need precious clothes, I don’t need countless golden treasuries. I will not serve you - the dog Tsar Kalin! And from now on I will faithfully defend, defend Great Rus', stand for the capital Kyiv City, for my people and for Prince Vladimir. And I’ll also tell you: you’re stupid, dog Kalin the Tsar, if you think you’ll find traitorous defectors in Rus'!
He swung the carpet door wide open and jumped out of the tent. And there the guards, the royal guards, fell like clouds on Ilya Muromets: some with shackles, some with ropes - they were trying to tie and shackle the unarmed.
No such luck! The mighty hero strained himself, strained himself: he scattered and scattered the infidel and jumped through the enemy’s army into an open field, into a wide expanse.
He whistled with his heroic whistle and, out of nowhere, his faithful horse came running with armor and equipment. Ilya Muromets rode out onto a high hill, pulled his bow tight and sent a red-hot arrow, he himself said: “You fly, red-hot arrow, into the white tent, fall, arrow, onto the white chest of my godfather, slip and make a small scratch. He will understand: it can be bad for me alone in battle.” An arrow hit Samson's tent.
Samson the hero woke up, jumped up on quick feet and shouted in a loud voice:
- Arise, mighty Russian heroes! A red-hot arrow arrived from his godson - sad news: he needed help in a battle with the Saracens. It would have been in vain that he would not have sent the arrow. Saddle up good horses without delay, and we will go to fight not for the sake of Prince Vladimir, but for the sake of the Russian people and to the rescue of the glorious Ilya Muromets!
Soon twelve heroes rode up to help, and Ilya Muromets was with them in the thirteenth. They attacked the enemy hordes, beat them down, trampled under their horses all their countless forces, captured Tsar Kalin himself and brought him to the chambers of Prince Vladimir. And King Kalin said:
“Don’t execute me, Prince Vladimir of Stolno-Kiev, I will pay you tribute and will order my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren for eternal centuries not to go to Rus' with a sword, but to live with you in peace.” We will sign the document.
Here the old epic ended, the blue sea for silence, and good people for obedience.
1 Parobok is a squire.
Like Vladimir Prince
yes Stolnokievsky
I got angry with the old Cossack Ilya Muromets,
I planted him in a deep cellar,
Into a deep cellar in the cold
Yes, for three years or so.
And the glorious Prince Vladimir
There was a daughter and the same
She sees: this is no small matter,
What did Prince Vladimir plant?
yes Stolnokievsky
Old Cossack Ilya Muromets
Into the cold cellar.
And he could stand alone for the faith,
for the fatherland,
I could stand alone for Kyiv-grad,
Could stand alone for the church
for cathedrals,
He could have taken care of the prince
yes Vladimir,
I could have taken care of Opraxa the Queen.
She ordered that the keys be made fake,
She put people and hidden ones,
She ordered me to go to the cellar for a cold one
Yes, tear down the feather beds and down pillows,
She ordered the warm blankets to be taken down,
She can put a good one
And change clothes from new to new
That old Cossack Ilya Muromets.
But Vladimir the Prince does not know about this.
And then the dog Kalin the Tsar flared up in Kyiv-grad,
And he wants to ruin the capital city of Kyiv,
He will knock out all the little peasants,
Let God's churches go up in smoke,
Prince Vladimir's head should be cut off
Yes, with that Opraxa Korolevichna.
The dog Kalin the Tsar sends an envoy,
And the envoy to the capital Kyiv city,
And he gives him a messenger letter.
And he punished the envoy:
“How will you go to the capital
Kyiv-grad,
You will be, envoy, in the capital Kyiv
Yes, from the glorious Prince Vladimir,
You'll be in his wide yard
And you will get off the good horse like you did here,
Let your horse go to the messenger yard,
Go yourself into the white stone chamber;
May you pass through the white stone chamber,
You will enter his dining room in the little room,
Swing the door on your heel,
Don’t take the shako off your head,
Come to the oak table,
Stand opposite Prince Vladimir,
Put the letter on the table;
Tell Prince Vladimir:
“You are Vladimir, prince and Stolnokievsky,
Just take the messenger letter
Yes, look what is written in the letter,
Look what’s printed in the document;
Clean up all the Streltsy streets,
All the great courts and princely ones
All over the city in Kyiv,
And all along the wide streets
Yes, along all the princely lanes
Instruct sweet intoxicating drinks,
So that they stand side by side
close-close,
So that the dog Tsar Kalin has something to stand next to
With our own troops with the great
In your city in Kyiv."(The ambassador came to the capital Kyiv city
To Prince Vladimir in the wide courtyard.
Unleashes the horse to the messenger yard,
He himself goes to the white-stone chamber;
He swung the door on his heel,
He did not lay the cross as written,
And he didn’t bow like a scientist
Not to Prince Vladimir himself,
And not to his kneeling princes.
He placed the messenger letter on the gold table.)
Prince Vladimir is here
yes Stolnokievsky
He took the book from the messenger,
Yes, and I printed out that letter,
And I looked at what was written in the letter,
And I looked at what was printed in the letter,
And what was ordered to clear the Streltsy streets
And the large princely courtyards,
Yes, instruct sweet intoxicating drinks
And along all the wide streets
Yes, along all the princely lanes.
Here Vladimir is Prince and Stolnokievsky
He sees: this is no small matter,
And it’s no small thing, it’s a great thing,
And Vladimir sat down on a scarlet chair.Yes, after all, he wrote a letter of confession:
“Oh, you’re a dog and Kalin the Tsar!
Give me some time
for three years,
Give me three years and three months,
For three months and three more days,
I should clear the Streltsy streets,
All the great courts and princely courts,
Smoke me some sweet, intoxicating drinks
Yes, give instructions throughout the city in Kyiv
Yes, all along the wide streets,
Along all the glorious princely lanes.”
Sends this letter of confession,
Sends him to the dog Tsar Kalin.
And that dog and Kalin the Tsar
He gave him time for three years,
He gave for three years and three months,
For three months and three more days.
And week after week, like a river, it flows,
Some time and three years have passed,
And three years and three months,
And three months and three more days.
Then the dog Kalin the Tsar arrived,
I drove up near Kyiv-grad
With our own troops and the great ones.
Here is Prince Vladimir and Stolnokievsky,
He began to walk around the mountain,
With clear eyes he sheds burning tears,
The prince wipes himself with a silk handkerchief,
Prince Vladimir says these are the words:
“The old Cossack is no longer alive
Ilya Muromets,
Ilya Muromets and Kalin the Tsar. Bylina
It’s quiet and boring in the prince’s upper room. There is no one to advise the prince, no one to feast with, no one to go hunting with... Not a single hero visits Kyiv. And Ilya sits in a deep cellar. The iron bars are locked with locks, the bars are filled with oak and rhizomes, and covered with yellow sand for strength. Not even a little gray mouse can get to Ilya. Here the old man would have died, but the prince had a smart daughter. She knows that Ilya Muromets could protect Kyiv-grad from enemies, could stand up for the Russian people, save both mother and Prince Vladimir from grief.
So she was not afraid of the prince’s wrath, took the keys from her mother, ordered her faithful maids to dig secret tunnels to the cellar, and began to bring Ilya Muromets sweet food and honey. Ilya sits in the cellar, alive and well, and Vladimir thinks that he has been gone for a long time. Once the prince was sitting in the upper room, thinking bitter thoughts.
Suddenly he hears someone galloping along the road, their hooves pounding like thunder. The plank gates fell down, the whole room shook, the floorboards in the hallway jumped. The doors fell off their forged hinges, and a Tatar, an ambassador from the Tatar king Kalin himself, entered the room. The messenger himself is as tall as an old oak tree, his head is like a beer cauldron. The messenger gives the prince a letter, and in that letter it is written: “I, Tsar Kalin, ruled the Tatars, the Tatars are not enough for me, I wanted Rus'.
You surrender to me, Prince of Kiev, otherwise I will burn all of Rus' with fire, trample them with horses, harness men to carts, chop up children and old people, I will force you, Prince, to guard the horses, and make the princess bake flatbreads in the kitchen." Then Vladimir the Prince became very hungry, burst into tears and went to Princess Apraksin: “What are we going to do, princess?! I have angered all the heroes, and now there is no one to protect us. I have killed the faithful Ilya of Murom with a stupid death, of starvation. And now we will have to flee from Kiev,” his young daughter says to the prince. : - Let’s go, father, to look at Ilya, maybe he’s still alive in the cellar. - Eh, you foolish fool! If you take his head off, will it grow back for three years without food? the ashes scattered... And she kept repeating one thing: “Send the servants to look at Ilya.”
The prince sent to dig out the deep cellars and open the cast-iron grates. The servants opened the cellar, and there Ilya was sitting alive, with a candle burning in front of him. The servants saw him and rushed to the prince. The prince and princess went down to the cellars. Prince Ilya bows to the damp earth: “Help, Ilyushenka, the Tatar army has besieged Kyiv and its suburbs.” Come out of the cellar, Ilya, stand for me. - I spent three years in the cellars by your order, I don’t want to stand up for you! The princess bowed to him: “Wait for me, Ilya Ivanovich!” - I won’t leave the cellar for you.
What to do here? The prince begs, the princess cries, but Ilya does not want to look at them. Here the young prince's daughter came out and bowed to Ilya Muromets - Not for the prince, not for the princess, not for me, young man, but for the poor widows, for the little children, come out, Ilya Ivanovich, from the cellar, stand for the Russian people, for your native Rus'!
Ilya stood up here, straightened out his heroic
shoulders, left the cellar, mounted Burushka-Kosmatushka, and galloped off to the Tatar camp. I drove and drove and reached the Tatar army. Ilya Muromets looked and shook his head: in an open field, the Tatar army is visible and invisible, a gray bird cannot fly around in a day, a fast horse cannot ride around in a week.
Among the Tatar army there is a golden tent. Tsar Kalin sits in that tent. The king himself is like a hundred-year-old oak, his legs are maple logs, his hands are spruce rakes, his head is like a copper cauldron, one mustache is golden, the other is silver. Tsar Ilya of Muromets saw and began to laugh and shake his beard: “The puppy ran into the big dogs!” Where can you cope with me? I’ll put you on the palm of my hand, I’ll slap you with the other, only a wet spot will remain! Where did you come from, that you are yapping at Tsar Kalin?
Ilya Muromets tells him: “You, Tsar Kalin, are bragging ahead of your time!” I’m not a great hero, old Cossack Ilya Muromets, but perhaps I’m not afraid of you either! Hearing this, Tsar Kalin jumped to his feet: “The earth is full of rumors about you.” If you are that glorious hero Ilya Muromets, then sit down with me at the oak table and eat my dishes. sweet ones, drink my overseas wines, don’t just serve the Russian prince, serve me, the Tatar king. Ilya Muromets got angry here: “There were no traitors in Rus'!” I didn’t come to feast with you, but to drive you away from Rus'! The king began to persuade him again: “Glorious Russian hero, Ilya Muromets, I have two daughters, they have braids like a crow’s wing, their eyes are like slits, their dress is sewn with yachts and pearls.” I will give anyone in marriage to you, you will be my beloved son-in-law. Ilya Muromets became even more angry: “Oh, you stuffed animal from overseas!” I was afraid of the Russian spirit! Come out quickly to a mortal battle, I will take out my heroic sword, I will marry you on your neck. Here Tsar Kalin became furious. He jumped to his maple legs, waved his crooked sword, and shouted in a loud voice: “I, hillbilly, will chop you with a sword, stab you with a spear, and cook a stew from your bones!” They had a great fight here. They cut with swords - only sparks splash from under the swords. They broke the swords and threw them away. They prick themselves with spears - only the wind rustles and the thunder thunders. They broke the spears and threw them away.
They began to fight with their bare hands. Tsar Kalin beats and oppresses Ilyushenka, breaks his white arms, bends his quick legs. The king threw Ilya onto the damp sand, sat on his chest, and took out a sharp knife. - I will rip open your mighty chest, I will look into your Russian heart. Ilya Muromets tells him: “In the Russian heart there is direct honor and love for Mother Rus'.” Tsar Kalin threatens with a knife and mocks: “You really are not a big hero, Ilya Muromets, you probably eat little bread.” - And I’ll eat the kalach, and that’s why I’m full. The Tatar king laughed: “And I eat three baked rolls, and I eat a whole bull in cabbage soup.” “Nothing,” says Ilyushenka. - My father had a cow - a glutton, she ate and drank a lot, and burst. Ilya says, and he presses himself closer to the Russian soil. From the Russian land strength comes to him, rolls through Ilya’s veins, strengthens his heroic arms.
Tsar Kalin swung his knife at him, and as soon as Ilyushenka moved... Tsar Kalin flew off him like a feather. “I,” Ilya shouts, “have received three times the strength from the Russian land!” Yes, when he grabbed Tsar Kalin by the maple legs, he began to wave the Tatar around, beat and destroy the Tatar army with him. Where he waves, there will be a street, and where he waves, there will be an alley! Ilya hits and smashes and says:
- This is for your little kids! This is for peasant blood! For evil insults, for empty fields, for dashing robbery, for robberies, for the entire Russian land! Then the Tatars started to run away. They run across the field, shouting in a loud voice: “Oh, if we didn’t see Russian people, we wouldn’t meet any more Russian heroes!”
Since then it’s time to go to Rus'! Ilya Kalin the Tsar threw him like a worthless rag into the golden tent, went in, poured a glass of strong wine, not a small glass, into one and a half buckets. He drank the charm for a single spirit. He drank to Mother Rus', to her wide peasant fields, to her trading cities, to green forests, to blue seas, to swans in the creeks! Glory, glory to our native Rus'! Don’t let the enemies gallop across our land, don’t trample the Russian land with their horses, don’t eclipse our red sun for them!
Evil, envious people told Prince Vladimir about the old hero Ilya of Muromets, as if Ilya boasted of surviving the prince from Kyiv and sitting in his place. Vladimir got angry and ordered Ilya to be imprisoned in an underground prison, in deep cellars. Ilya did not argue with the prince. He said goodbye to his beloved horse, the shaggy Burushka, and allowed himself to be led into a damp, cold, dark dungeon.
It would be bad for the hero there. Yes, fortunately, the young princess, Vladimir’s daughter, took pity on him: secretly from her father, she sent down pillows, silk blankets, a warm dress and hearty food to the dungeon. The hero lives in a dungeon.
And trouble is gathering over Kiev: the Tatar enemy, Tsar Kalin, writes that he will soon come to Kyiv in his own way; demands that he be greeted in every alley with barrels full of sweet wines. Prince Vladimir asked Kalin for a delay of three years, three months, in order to prepare for his arrival. Tsar Kalin agreed. And the appointed time passed - and the Prince of Kiev began to cry and mourn:
“We no longer have the glorious hero Ilya Muromets!” There is no one to stand up for our native land, no one to save Kyiv! And why did I destroy him in the cellars!
And the young princess says to her father:
- Ilya Muromets is alive, father! He didn't die in the cellar!
Vladimir rushed into the dungeon, and Ilya was there: alive, healthy, shod, dressed. The prince was delighted, took the hero to his white-stone chambers, began to treat him and beg:
— The dog Kalin the Tsar walked around our Kyiv City. Help, Ilya, stand for the fatherland, go against the enemy army!
Ilya Muromets began to prepare for his campaign. His beloved young servant took care of his horse all these years. Ilya went out into the open field. In the field, the Tatar army is visible and invisible. And on the other side there are white tents: twelve Russian heroes live in them. Ilya began to persuade them to go with him against Tsar Kalin. The hero Samson Samoilovich tells him:
“We don’t want to help Vladimir: he feeds and favors his boyar servants, but we, the heroes, get nothing from the prince.”
No matter how Ilya asked his comrades, no one wants to go to defend Prince Vladimir. Ilya went alone into the open field.
His departure was unhappy: he beat, trampled his enemies, and in the end he was captured by them. The Tatars brought him to Tsar Kalin. Kalin the Tsar greeted Ilya kindly. He began to persuade:
- Do not serve, Ilya, Prince Vladimir. Serve me, King Kalin. I will give you precious clothes, I will give you countless treasures of gold.
Ilya Muromets answered him:
“I don’t need your rich gifts.” I will not serve you, but my native land!
And I wanted to leave. But the Tatars are pressing him in and won’t let him out. Then Ilya grabbed one Tatar and began to beat others with it like a club. He made his way into an open field, jumped on his horse and galloped off. He had a tight bow and red-hot arrows. And he shot an arrow in the direction where the heroes, his comrades, had pitched their tents. The heroes slept in tents. An arrow flew in and fell on Samson Samoilovich’s chest. The hero instantly woke up and woke up the others.
- Glorious heroes of the Holy Russians, apparently, Ilya is having a bad time: a red-hot arrow flew from him. We must rush to help him. The heroes mounted their good horses and rushed to help Ilya Muromets. They all went out together with Ilya against the Tatar army. The army was killed, Tsar Kalin was taken prisoner. They wanted to cut off his head, but Ilya stopped him:
“We’ll take him to Kyiv,” he says, “let Prince Vladimir decide what to do with him.”
They brought Tsar Kalin to the glorious Kyiv City.
Kalin begged Vladimir:
- Don’t cut off my violent head! I will pay you tribute forever.
Vladimir agreed. With that they ended the feud.