Page:The Russian story book, containing tales from the song-cycles of Kiev and Novgorod and other early sources.djvu/161

 "My Lord," he said, "if this young man is a truth-teller, let us send talesmen who can compute and count to India the Glorious, to make lists of all his boasted possessions in treasure and goods and herds and flocks."

"Whom shall we send?" asked Prince Vladimir.

"Let Alyosha go," answered Churilo.

"Nay," said Diuk quickly, "Alyosha shall not go; for he hath greedy eyes and pilfering fingers, and he will never, I assure you, come back again to Kiev town." Then he sat down at the table of the banquet hall, where the whole company was now gathered, and wrote a message upon a parchment and fastened it to one of his flaming arrows. To this he whispered a word of direction, and then, fitting it to his bow, he shot it forth from the open window across the boundless plain. The winged messenger found Ilya of Murom near the door of his pavilion where he was resting with Nikitich, and as soon as he had read the scroll the Old Cossack said to his wise companion:

"Go thou to Diuk in Kiev town and tell him that, if Nikitich is not an army in himself, then Ilya will come who is a host."

As soon as he saw Nikitich, Diuk's eyes shone with welcoming pleasure. "Ah, Nikitich," he said, "you shall go as talesman with two others to India the Glorious, to make lists of all my possessions in treasure and goods and herds and flocks.

"Take parchment sufficient for three years and three days," the young man went on, "and I promise you in prophecy that you will do homage to my