Page:Taras Bulba. A Tale of the Cossacks. 1916.djvu/290

284 from above; "remember me, and come hither again next spring to make merry!—What if ye have captured me, ye devilish Lyakhs? Think ye that there is anything in the world which the kazák fears? Wait; the time will come when ye shall learn what the Orthodox Russian Faith is like! Already the peoples, far and near, are beginning to understand it. A Tzar shall arise from the Russian soil, and there shall not be a Power in the world which shall not submit itself to him!" But the fire had already risen above the faggots: it was lapping his feet, and the flames spread to the tree… But can any fire, flames or power be found on earth capable of overpowering Russian strength?

Not small is the river Dnyeper, and in it are many deep pools, dense reed-beds, shallows and little bays; its watery mirror gleams brightly, resounding with the ringing plaint of the swan, and the proud wild goose glides swiftly over it; and many are the woodcocks, tawny-throated grouse, and various other sorts of birds to be found among the reeds and along its shores. The kazáks floated swiftly on in the narrow, double-ruddered boats,—rowed stoutly, carefully shunning the reefs, cleaving the ranks of the birds, which rose on the wing—and talked of their Atamán.